Best Sniper spec for PvP / Ranked?

[Cary]

My pvp MM spec,

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400rsbrdRkRMfozZbI0r.3

 

Massive damage from explosive probe with the SS, TA, EP, ambush, FT combo. Then follow it up with SoS to use the 2 cluster bombs up. Usually they are dead before SoS finishes. But if the opening combo all crits they are toast.

[stupidsyrup]

This. MM CAN take down a tank, but it takes a lot of work. Only bad tanks 'melt' to MMs. Lethality dots and cull hurt tanks more then anything either a MM or Engineer can put out if we're talking a duel with all CD's available.

 

You guys must be doing something horribly wrong. I can murder any Tank in a 1v1. Snipe>Snipe>Followthrough>Knockback>SoS>Followthrough>Explosion Probe>Ambush>Takedown.

 

^And that's if they pop their defenses.MM can take out Tanks so easily because the faster cast times, all the crit bonuses in the tree, and the KB from Ambush that will get them out of your face.

[Technohic]

You guys must be doing something horribly wrong. I can murder any Tank in a 1v1. Snipe>Snipe>Followthrough>Knockback>SoS>Followthrough>Explosion Probe>Ambush>Takedown.

 

^And that's if they pop their defenses.MM can take out Tanks so easily because the faster cast times, all the crit bonuses in the tree, and the KB from Ambush that will get them out of your face.

 

You start with snipe>snipe for the ambush cooldown reduction? I thought about that, but I feel like I waste a follow through CD reset when I can insta-snipe > FT > SOS > FT > sniper volley (to get the little alacrity boost and energy and be ready for another SOS) > SOS > FT > covered escape > insta snipe > ambush > EP > FT > takedown > FT

 

Now; I do not stick to that long *** rotation, but that is if I have a target I anticipate living either by tanking or heals or both, so I have the ambush > EP > FT>Takedown>FT at the end to burst that last 30% I move that up if I am trying to front load. I'm still working on it though. I had alt-idus and am finding I am doing better and better the more I stay dedicated to my slinger.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Technohic

[Danapa]

Toxic regulators dont worrk on other people's mezz/sleep efects and in ranked mezzs are very important i dont know how people use lethality for ranked... Edited July 5, 2013 by Danapa

[islander]

You guys must be doing something horribly wrong. I can murder any Tank in a 1v1. Snipe>Snipe>Followthrough>Knockback>SoS>Followthrough>Explosion Probe>Ambush>Takedown.

 

^And that's if they pop their defenses.MM can take out Tanks so easily because the faster cast times, all the crit bonuses in the tree, and the KB from Ambush that will get them out of your face.

 

Yeah, how are those white attacks doing for you when he pops saber ward and then saber reflect? Meanwhile, you do realize they are hitting you too. A good tank has 35-40k health when he chooses to. not including his 30% temporary buff.

 

Crits don't mean anything if you literally can't hit them reliably. Hell, your rotation is awful because it looks to me that by the time you get to that ambush will reset back to 2.5 seconds...you're cutting it pretty close given GCD lag and all.

 

Additionally, If you were actually doing it right, you'd do a FT after the first snipe to start with - there's no CD on it to begin with. You could as a result get 2 FT's for 3 snipes. Also, no FT after the Ambush? How cute. Finally, did you remember you could reset your cover every 6 seconds for an instacast snipe (this one , to be fair, is tough to remember).

 

You also assume the tank is liiterally just sitting there and taking it. Sure, I could burn down a tank who wasn't fighting back too. Duh.

 

Just stop. I'm going to need to get a new keyboard if you keep showing us your expertise here.

Edited July 5, 2013 by islander

[Rendolphe]

MM required a really good assist target, which is suppose to be the case in ranked, but it's not always in reality ... MM most attack are ranged and tank doesn't really get hurt from a MM if he manage his def cooldown.

 

Lethality will give you top dps most of the time, but that doesn't mean your dps was effective. Spreding DOT and sometimes pop a cull and a finisher don't have the same burst on call like the MM. Lethality need to ''Prepare'' his target with dot and debuff. On the other side MM can switch really quick and burst on call.

 

Engineering have really good utility and are more objective based. They have good AOE to maintain a door or a node ''uncappable''. If they are in a good team fight like alderaan mid, they can manage to do big DPS with their AOE. I already saw an engineering sniper guarding a node in alderaan (The ranked team didnt have an assasin) and he was able to keep the grass for long while the back up arrive with his fire trap and def cooldown.

 

All spec are good for ranked, but the team composition and your role will decide which one is better for the situtation.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Rendolphe

[stupidsyrup]

Yeah, how are those white attacks doing for you when he pops saber ward and then saber reflect? Meanwhile, you do realize they are hitting you too. A good tank has 35-40k health when he chooses to. not including his 30% temporary buff.

 

Crits don't mean anything if you literally can't hit them reliably. Hell, your rotation is awful because it looks to me that by the time you get to that ambush will reset back to 2.5 seconds...you're cutting it pretty close given GCD lag and all.

 

Additionally, If you were actually doing it right, you'd do a FT after the first snipe to start with - there's no CD on it to begin with. You could as a result get 2 FT's for 3 snipes. Also, no FT after the Ambush? How cute. Finally, did you remember you could reset your cover every 6 seconds for an instacast snipe (this one , to be fair, is tough to remember).

 

You also assume the tank is liiterally just sitting there and taking it. Sure, I could burn down a tank who wasn't fighting back too. Duh.

 

Just stop. I'm going to need to get a new keyboard if you keep showing us your expertise here.

 

A couple things wrong with this counter. Having a Guardian Tank as well, I know extremely well how to counter a Sniper, also knowing how to burn down a Tank. Saber Reflect lasts 5 seconds if you put the points in the tree. Sit there and do nothing, or use your KB. Obviously, if you weren't so tunneled on your Lethality, you would know that you switch rotations when needed.

 

Another thing: Let me know how much energy you have after using FT after each Snipe. Granted, FT will reduce the energy cost of the next 2 Snipes when applied, but to use it after every eligible attack will run you dry in a heartbeat.

 

Lastly, you say this would only work if the Tank just stood there. Did you not notice the placement of my KB and Ambush KB? These were designed so that by that point in your rotation, that Tank would be getting close enough to do damage, and you send him away.

 

Please, leave this discussion to the adults, little one.

[stupidsyrup]

You start with snipe>snipe for the ambush cooldown reduction? I thought about that, but I feel like I waste a follow through CD reset when I can insta-snipe > FT > SOS > FT > sniper volley (to get the little alacrity boost and energy and be ready for another SOS) > SOS > FT > covered escape > insta snipe > ambush > EP > FT > takedown > FT

 

Now; I do not stick to that long *** rotation, but that is if I have a target I anticipate living either by tanking or heals or both, so I have the ambush > EP > FT>Takedown>FT at the end to burst that last 30% I move that up if I am trying to front load. I'm still working on it though. I had alt-idus and am finding I am doing better and better the more I stay dedicated to my slinger.

 

That's a nice -30% HP rotation. I tend to save my EP combined with a Takedown will drop all light armor characters and occasionally the medium armor. After that, I use FT as well. Shatter Shot works extremely well on Tanks in that last 30% combined with that rotation.

[TheronFett]

You guys must be doing something horribly wrong. I can murder any Tank in a 1v1. Snipe>Snipe>Followthrough>Knockback>SoS>Followthrough>Explosion Probe>Ambush>Takedown.

 

^And that's if they pop their defenses.MM can take out Tanks so easily because the faster cast times, all the crit bonuses in the tree, and the KB from Ambush that will get them out of your face.

 

LOL. Jugg tanks will eat most Snipers for breakfast. Here, have all that DPS reflected right back at ya.

[Luckeyduckey]

LOL. Jugg tanks will eat most Snipers for breakfast. Here, have all that DPS reflected right back at ya.

 

I have to agree with Theron. Tanks eat MM, unless you have like, 150% Accuracy...

[islander]

A couple things wrong with this counter. Having a Guardian Tank as well, I know extremely well how to counter a Sniper, also knowing how to burn down a Tank. Saber Reflect lasts 5 seconds if you put the points in the tree. Sit there and do nothing, or use your KB. Obviously, if you weren't so tunneled on your Lethality, you would know that you switch rotations when needed.

 

Another thing: Let me know how much energy you have after using FT after each Snipe. Granted, FT will reduce the energy cost of the next 2 Snipes when applied, but to use it after every eligible attack will run you dry in a heartbeat.

 

Lastly, you say this would only work if the Tank just stood there. Did you not notice the placement of my KB and Ambush KB? These were designed so that by that point in your rotation, that Tank would be getting close enough to do damage, and you send him away.

 

Please, leave this discussion to the adults, little one.

 

Energy is a non-issue how I do it.

At the macro level, I never run out of energy unless I get a little too crazy mixing in frag grenades as well, or I'm impatient after dropping an orbital (neither applies to a one one one scenario against a tank).

 

I couldn't help noticing all of the DPS you were leaving on the table. Sure, you have your ambush knockback, but its a waste unless its at 1.5 seconds. You have this thing called a roll you can make space with also, and oh hey bonus: you get 3 seconds of entrench so he cant leap to you. The only excuse to ever execute a 2.5 second ambush is if you're just killing time/regnerating energy while you wait for your flash bang to expire, and just want to make them angry by having that targeting icon on their chest all that time. I'm leveling a guardian now coincidentally, and it's irritating

 

No one's arguing MM don't have enough cc to deal with tanks defenses, but this takes time and patience. Compared to "I burn them down easy, don't know what the rest of you are doing" claim you made previously.

 

Then again, your screen name is stupidsyrup, so I shouldn't expect different.

Edited July 6, 2013 by islander

[islander]

LOL. Jugg tanks will eat most Snipers for breakfast. Here, have all that DPS reflected right back at ya.

 

forget it, this kid is a lost cause. Spreading his namesake.

[islander]

I have to agree with Theron. Tanks eat MM, unless you have like, 150% Accuracy...

 

I actually ran 115% accuracy early in on 2.0. it was like 900 accuracy points, I think.

It's better then you might think, but admittedly the burst is weaker. Overall warzone output was about the same, but in the end burst on demand was just sacrificed too much, and in the meta game, that's too important, versus being able to blast 3 out of 4 series of shots through a saber ward.

Edited July 6, 2013 by islander

[stupidsyrup]

forget it, this kid is a lost cause. Spreading his namesake.

 

You noticed he said "most Snipers" correct? That rotation is an example and besides, even with the GCD, Ambush is still ready to go at 1.5 secs.

 

And about the name, only the idiots and trolls point to the "stupid" part of it. Most refer to it as "syrup". I beg you to go run along now while you think you're still ahead.

[Thrangbrand]

People claim Lethality is effective with DOT's in Warzones. The good thing about tick damage is you quite often get the killing blow. However I didn't really like the style of Lethality.

 

I really rate Marksmanship as I good DPS burst, especially later on when you get Followtrough. You can easily unlock constant Followthrough shots by 2 snipes or an ambush attack. Also ambush gets a boost in casting time with Marksmanship. With the other specs Ambush is too slow to cast with the boost it pumps out fast damage. With the right rotation you can take down Marks fast.

 

Engineering seems more for PVE to be honest. Or Area of Effect as it increases grenades cool down and final abiltily is an area attack. Never really been it so can't judge. The probes look okay but I much prefer singular DPS burst and I really rate Marksmanship.

 

The end game Marksmanship skill tree point seems a bit weak to me. Cool down on Series of Shots which is no biggy, slight damage bonus and energy regen. That's why you have Adrenaline Probe for. So I decided to do a Hybrid spec getting Followthrough and the one point in the skill tree that unlocks cooldown for Followthrough. I am level 40 and started working on Lethality but Corrosive Dart even with its bonuses isn't anything special. So I am going to respect to Marksmanship/Engineering.

 

I use:

<Snipe> <Followthrough> <Laze Target> <Snipe> <Snipe> <Normal attack> <Followthrough> <Ambush> <Followthrough> <Series of Shots> <Takedown>

<

For when an enemy gets too close to me.

<Debilitate> <Ambush> (gets knocked back because of marksmanship <legshot> <Followthrough> <Cover Pulse> when close again <Snipe> <Snipe> <Followthrough> <Ambush> <Series of Shots> <Takedown>

Usually is effective.

 

I find in PVP Snipers a little squishy when you get swarmed but with a good Snipers nest you pump out vicious DPS. When you are hidden behind a box and seem unnoticed you can take down 5 or 6 enemies in a row easy. Although not the best class for PVP they are pretty good.

[Luckeyduckey]

Nice necro. MM still sucks. It's white damage get's rolled over by tanks and DCDs. Healers LoS it. It requires so much support to be made viable, unlike the Sorc DPS, which is higher due to AoE and DoTs, but has better pressure on healers. Go figure.

[ErikGW]

MM or engineer is all i will really play, and i feel engineer is the most useful dps build in the game.

 

You can aoe with frag grenades doing damage superior to any smashmonkey, you can still spike healers (probe, series, takedown), and you are the most mobile sniper with 4 free overloads while you are on the move. Plasma probe is an aoe persistent anti-cap but it can also double as a ranged stun with interrogation probe.

 

Being able to double entrench, double shield probe, makes engineer a perfect solo guard but also a perfect sniper to push up and control a zone (plasma probe + orbital strike + frag grenades and wall bang to make a melee heavy team all group up at a door in voidstar.)

 

Also great for a sniper duel... engineer should win every time with no outside interference.

 

MM is great for single target focus fire. Huge burst and spikes, but easy to kill.

 

Lethality is more of a pest and isnt really dangerous without other supporting dot spammers. Cull is basically a weaker series of shots. Lethal takedown attempts to make up for what it lacks, but falls short.

 

There's very little a lethality sniper can do that engineer can't (engineer interrogation probe is a dot+slow too)

[Luckeyduckey]

MM or engineer is all i will really play, and i feel engineer is the most useful dps build in the game.

 

You can aoe with frag grenades doing damage superior to any smashmonkey, you can still spike healers (probe, series, takedown), and you are the most mobile sniper with 4 free overloads while you are on the move. Plasma probe is an aoe persistent anti-cap but it can also double as a ranged stun with interrogation probe.

 

Being able to double entrench, double shield probe, makes engineer a perfect solo guard but also a perfect sniper to push up and control a zone (plasma probe + orbital strike + frag grenades and wall bang to make a melee heavy team all group up at a door in voidstar.)

 

Also great for a sniper duel... engineer should win every time with no outside interference.

 

MM is great for single target focus fire. Huge burst and spikes, but easy to kill.

 

Lethality is more of a pest and isnt really dangerous without other supporting dot spammers. Cull is basically a weaker series of shots. Lethal takedown attempts to make up for what it lacks, but falls short.

 

There's very little a lethality sniper can do that engineer can't (engineer interrogation probe is a dot+slow too)

Lethality's cull hits for around 9k, or higher, and is mostly internal. That's non-crit. Please show me a 9k SoS non-crit.

[ErikGW]

Lethality's cull hits for around 9k, or higher, and is mostly internal. That's non-crit. Please show me a 9k SoS non-crit.

 

Cluster bombs combined with SOS hit for more than 9k then the takedown with the last cluster bomb is a very huge hit.

 

Lethality has some redeeming features. You are certain to get high damage points from all the dots, and you aren't required to be as mobile because your dots often finish of the almost dead guy hiding from you.

 

I view lethality as the build for scoreboard whores, because that's what it is really for, very much like madness sorc (except lethality still has good spikes due to being a sniper)

[Luckeyduckey]

Cluster bombs combined with SOS hit for more than 9k then the takedown with the last cluster bomb is a very huge hit.

 

Lethality has some redeeming features. You are certain to get high damage points from all the dots, and you aren't required to be as mobile because your dots often finish of the almost dead guy hiding from you.

 

I view lethality as the build for scoreboard whores, because that's what it is really for, very much like madness sorc (except lethality still has good spikes due to being a sniper)

 

Cull - Takedown > Cluster SoS. Cull has a shorter CD, does more damage, and is mostly internal.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400bZrI0bRRZGbbkrroRMo.3

[ErikGW]

Cull - Takedown > Cluster SoS. Cull has a shorter CD, does more damage, and is mostly internal.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400bZrI0bRRZGbbkrroRMo.3

 

You seem quite fixated with internal. I sense deeper issues at play here :-p

[ZipZep]

For good old 8 v 8 rated, engineer for all maps except Huttball.

 

For arena, im gonna say that Hybrid Lethality/engineer will be the best.

Take a look at the stream from last nights event.

 

http://www.twitch.tv/mmorpgcom/b/463577699

 

2 great teams, but the one running MM gets destroyed and switches to Lethality him self for the next games.

If you play MM, and face a good tank and healer, your single target dmg is simply not as big a threat as DoTs + Cull (and explosive probe if you play hybrid).

 

Cull - Takedown > Cluster SoS. Cull has a shorter CD, does more damage, and is mostly internal.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400bZrI0bRRZGbbkrroRMo.3

 

I would spent the 2 points from Int. Probe slow for something else, you already picked up the slow from Corrosive Grenate and they dont stack. Ballistic Dampeners are extremely nice for PvP. A bit random, but 30% of an 8K smash is not to be frowned upon. Your healer will love you. (unless he's trying to break his hps record maybe...)

 

Been using this in Arena with great succes. Lingering Toxins is needed, so it looks like this.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400rZbI0roRZhrbkrMRRMo.3

Edited September 20, 2013 by ZipZep