Been DF Spec, thinking of switching to SS

[JBagKY]

I have been a DF gunslinger for a while, but with 2.0, I feel sort of weak compared to what I was doing. I was thinking of switching to SS. This would be purely for PVE. I have the 2 piece bonus from PVP and while it might hurt me, I won't be swapping those armorings for a while. Here is the build that I have been thinking about going with. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#700rsrbbRkRMfkbzZbfZh.3

 

I like that I get the extra crit from the DF tree and I have seen that others suggest getting the 2 alacrity points. But, will they make more of a difference than an extra 3% crit overall? That does hinder me from getting the 15% bonus for Flyby, but I can still get 10% which is good with the extra 3 seconds from the PVP bonus.

 

Just looking for some feedback on what you think. Also, what would a rotation or priority look like for SS?

[Tiranagoth]

In our guild I run a DF spec and a friend is SS and my Parse logs show us fairly even DPS wise.

In short fights vs trash mobs he has the DPS edge, in longer fights with Golds and Bosses I pull ahead after a minute or two but it still stays fairly even.

 

Both have their strengths and are fun to play, SS offers better burst at the cost of mobility, DF give better sustained dps but takes a rotation to get rolling out the omg numbers.

[SamuelAU]

I know how you feel. I ran with the Saboteur / Dirty Fighting hybrid for a long time but the DPS requirements and mechanics for many of the new fights absolutely kills DoT specs. Running DF on, to name a few, Terror From Beyond, Olok the Shadow and Dread Master Styrak will put you at a severe disadvantage due to regular target changes. In Dread Master Styrak this is super important with the tight enrage timer.

 

Your skill tree looks fine. I take 2% alacrity in favour of +10% damage to XS Freighter Flyby but I don't think this will have any affect on your DPS. Rotation-wise you can move a few abilities around. The bulk of your damage, upwards of 40%, comes from speed shots and trickshot so the rotation is centred around using trickshot as many times as you can and also using speed shots every time it comes off CD.

For an opening rotation:

Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> (Smuggler's Luck) Instant Charged Burst -> Charged Burst -> Trickshot -> Vital Shot -> Aimed Shot -> Trickshot -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> XS Freighter Flyby -> Burst Volley -> (Illegal Mods + Relic + Adrenal if applicable) -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot

Your next two rotations will look like:

(Drop Out Of and Into Cover) Instant Charged Burst -> Charged Burst -> Trickshot -> Vital Shot -> Aimed Shot -> Trickshot -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot

 

And every third rotation will be:

(Drop Out Of and Into Cover) Instant Charged Burst -> Charged Burst -> Trickshot -> Vital Shot -> Aimed Shot -> Trickshot -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> XS Freighter Flyby -> Burst Volley -> (Illegal Mods) -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot

 

That's the rotation I follow and last I checked that was good enough for 2.5k on the dummy. Hope that this made things a bit clearer and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Edited May 8, 2013 by SamuelAU

[Whojoo]

Your build looks fine, but I am not a big fan of Bravado. With SS you practicly don't run out of energy. Might it ever happen, then Bravado wouldn't help much either. The energy regain skill (forgot name) has a low enough cooldown to cover for the once in a 20 fights energy leak.

 

For an opening rotation:

Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> (Smuggler's Luck) Instant Charged Burst -> Charged Burst -> Trickshot -> Vital Shot -> Aimed Shot -> Trickshot -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> XS Freighter Flyby -> Burst Volley -> (Illegal Mods + Relic + Adrenal if applicable) -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot

 

And every third rotation will be:

(Drop Out Of and Into Cover) Instant Charged Burst -> Charged Burst -> Trickshot -> Vital Shot -> Aimed Shot -> Trickshot -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot -> XS Freighter Flyby -> Burst Volley -> (Illegal Mods) -> Speed Shots -> Trickshot

 

Why first XS Freighter Flyby and then Burst Volley? I prefere to use Burst Volley first for faster activation. The energy regen after using XS Freighter Flyby is still (in my experience) long enough to compensate for the huge energy spend.

[SamuelAU]

Why first XS Freighter Flyby and then Burst Volley? I prefere to use Burst Volley first for faster activation. The energy regen after using XS Freighter Flyby is still (in my experience) long enough to compensate for the huge energy spend.

It's not something I've ever really considered and it probably doesn't matter. Only problem I can think of is you're wasting 2 seconds of extra energy regen when you cast Flyby but I can't see that being a contributing factor to running out of energy.

 

Probably comes down to personal preference, numbers-wise I doubt it'll have any affect. Thanks for bringing that up, I'd never thought about it.

 

I'm also going to play around with dropping Bravado in favour of something else, probably Mortal Wound. Very helpful post, thanks!

[JesterStryke]

The only thing i would change with ur build is move the 1 point in Percurssive Shot (the knockback on aimed shot), Since u said this is mainly got PvE bosses are not affected by knockbacks, i would put that point into Stay Low The increased hunker down by 3 secs and hightail puts u in hunker down for 3 secs. The reason for this is there are a lot of bosses that knockback or pull in or do something that hunker down negates. The second thing i would do is move the 2 points in Kneecappin' (the increased duration on trauma and leg shot immobilize) into Heads Up (Speed boost after hunker down ends). The reason for this is the same as before... Trauma and leg shot have no affect on ops bosses and the increased speed even applies to the hunker down u get after using high tail it so it makes a very immobile a bit more so.

 

Your original skills help when dealing with trash im sure but you want to maximize your dps and effectiveness on bosses.

 

And i mainly run dirty fighting and didnt have much issue with styrak on Hm... i even beat the SS slinger what was in the same fight. However SS does have much much more burst which is good for a lot of fights. I just personally like the DF rotation and play style better

[nateslice]

I'll second that suggestion to ditch Percussive Shot. When the knockback does work in a flashpoint, it'll annoy tanks and melee DPS because you're forcing them to move around more and possibly interrupting their cast/channel attacks.

[SilverMagnum]

I'd suggest having two builds (one for PvP and one for PvE)

 

your PvP build needs Percussive Shot and the buffs to leg shot. Your PvE build doesn't really.

[JBagKY]

I think that I put that point in Percussion Shot to get up to the next tier, wasn't really thinking. When I tank (Guardian) I hate when the DPS pushes the enemy back. So, I would move that. Thanks for point that out.

 

Thanks for all the suggestion. I like the DF spec, but I just want to bring all that I can to the table. I might just need to work on my rotations and get my gear up. That might be part of my problem right now. Here is a typical rotation:

 

0. Flourish Shot (use at start or every 3rd rotation)

1. Vital Shot

2. Sharp Bomb

3. Hemorrhaging Blast

4. Illegal Mods (if off CD)

5. Wounding Shots (usually procs Quickdraw with this spec and I hit that)

6. Speed Shot

7. Aimed Shot /XS Freighter Flyby if off CD (though, I don't get to use Flyby this as much as I would like in most fights)

8. Charged Blast (if Smuggler's Luck is off CD which makes it crit) and sometimes if I need the extra second to regen energy (since it takes the energy after the cast)

9. Wounding Shots (Quickdraw on every proc)

10a. Flurry of Bolts (if energy below 90% otherswide do 10b)

10b. Sabotage Charge (if off CD) (Quickdraw when below 30% HP)

11. Flurry of Bolts (as required until energy is +95%) (though if Cool Head is off CD, i will pop that and keep DPSing)

[genesiser]

Technically, you really should have two specs, or at least be proficient in two. One for dirty fighting and one for sharp shooter. The reason for this is because SS far exceeds dirty fighting when fighting bosses with adds and you have to switch to them quickly. With SS you can front load your damage and keep a steady amount of damage going out, even as soon as you swap targets. With DF, you have to re-apply your dots and hope that wounding shot isn't on cd.

 

With that said, DF does more dps on fights where there are no target swaps and ones with a lot of movement. Luckily, the gear setup is fairly close to each other and you can get high numbers with the same gear, as long as you are playing your character correctly. With the field respec available to us, there's no reason to not do it. Also, the more times you switch and get used to switching, you can swap specs, put in your talents, and put your skills on your bar in like 15 seconds.

[adezero]

dont know why you're sticking with that pvp 2set.

 

the pve 4 set is really good, especially for DF.

 

maybe that's why you arent liking DF, the energy regen goes up big time with the 4set

[bryceman]

Why not Saboteur? I run sab and out dps everyone on most fights even the ones where I cannot get the full benefit of the hightail it bombs. I am talking about PVE btw. Edited May 21, 2013 by bryceman

[deeceed]

Why not Saboteur? I run sab and out dps everyone on most fights even the ones where I cannot get the full benefit of the hightail it bombs. I am talking about PVE btw.

 

Saboteur is my favorite spec for mobility and fluidity of abilities, not to mention AOE. Particularly when the boss has a large hitbox, or if there are repeated spawns of grouped adds, then the Hightail It bombs are the honeypot! Titan boss in S&V, for example, or Lord Styrak's adds: these are terrific fights for Saboteur slingers.

Edited May 21, 2013 by deeceed

[SamuelAU]

Saboteur is my favorite spec for mobility and fluidity of abilities, not to mention AOE. Particularly when the boss has a large hitbox, or if there are repeated spawns of grouped adds, then the Hightail It bombs are the honeypot! Titan boss in S&V, for example, or Lord Styrak's adds: these are terrific fights for Saboteur slingers.

Saboteur gunslingers can get almost a third of their total damage from scatter bombs, and this is the only reason they outperform other specs in certain fights. The fact that saboteur is only good for certain fights is mainly what led me away from it and to sharpshooter.

[bryceman]

Saboteur gunslingers can get almost a third of their total damage from scatter bombs, and this is the only reason they outperform other specs in certain fights. The fact that saboteur is only good for certain fights is mainly what led me away from it and to sharpshooter.

While we do only excel in certain fights, even on the ones where we cannot use hightail it to it's fullest potential we can pull enough dps to not fall too behind. You could change for certain fights but I just don't find that very fun.

[Jurugu]

the pve 4 set is really good, especially for DF.

 

The sad thing is the 4 piece PvE bonus is almost worthless for SS. If you have no energy problems without it, what good is it supposed to do for you?

[SamuelAU]

The sad thing is the 4 piece PvE bonus is almost worthless for SS. If you have no energy problems without it, what good is it supposed to do for you?

When you're on an energy pool of 100 it definitely helps, even if it's not essential.