Official Gunslinger Class Representative Questions

[MasterJacer]

hey fellow gunslingers,

 

if we have skilled `stay low` and `heads up` as a sharpshooter we are suppossed to be immune to movement impairing effects and be 50% faster after using `hightail it` - thats buggy ! sometimes it works sometimes it doesn`t! or do i oversee something?

 

also, there is a delay after using vital shot. the shot doesn`t come as you press it - always a delay. anybody notice that or is it just me?

 

thanks in advance for your answers!

 

Heads up makes it so after Hightail it you get Hunker Down for 3 seconds. Stay low makes you immune to movement - impairing effects, and increased speed after hunker down ends, not hightail it.

[MasterJacer]

bump. And believe pvp questions 3 and 7 are more or less the same, and question 6 also ties in to at least 7. Edited August 12, 2013 by MasterJacer

[Ashuranrx]

Voting for PvE 1.

 

My PvP question: Can we make the buff from Charged Burst that reduces Aim Shot cast time last longer? To like 30s or something? Because I often find the buff duration too short and it expires before I get to cast aim shot in PvP. In a controlled and predictable PvE environment, it is not a probblem. But in a PvP environment, where there are CC, repositioning, movements, and defensive cooldowns used, the buff often expires before I get to cast Aim Shot.

[CJNJ]

Judging from pts should we try having a question on how they feel we stand? To me it seems like only 1 spec is truly viable while the others fall due to their design(AOE + dots = bad for CC and long buildups for burst) but I'm not the sole opinion on the matter

[fire-breath]

I would really go for PvE question 4 (the setbonus issue) It just seems so strange to me that we need to PvP in order to get BiS. (ergo my vote goes to PvE 4)

 

Also I would recommend against a wildcard tab. A wildcard maybe either PvE, PvP, roleplay, esthetics or whatever you like. Therefore you really cant formulate the wildcard options in 1 tab.

[GalnarDegana]

Judging from pts should we try having a question on how they feel we stand? To me it seems like only 1 spec is truly viable while the others fall due to their design(AOE + dots = bad for CC and long buildups for burst) but I'm not the sole opinion on the matter

 

I will try to formulate a question like this tomorrow. I think we are middle tier dps in arenas, which is not good.

[GalnarDegana]

I would really go for PvE question 4 (the setbonus issue) It just seems so strange to me that we need to PvP in order to get BiS. (ergo my vote goes to PvE 4)

 

Also I would recommend against a wildcard tab. A wildcard maybe either PvE, PvP, roleplay, esthetics or whatever you like. Therefore you really cant formulate the wildcard options in 1 tab.

 

I agree with that one being quite annoying. I will put you down for that as a PvE question vote.

 

The Wildcard tab is simply necessary for the fact that the two questions there don't belong in PvE or PvP. Any question can be a wildcard question. I will rename it to "Other," if that makes it better, though.

[GalnarDegana]

Voting for PvE 1.

 

My PvP question: Can we make the buff from Charged Burst that reduces Aim Shot cast time last longer? To like 30s or something? Because I often find the buff duration too short and it expires before I get to cast aim shot in PvP. In a controlled and predictable PvE environment, it is not a probblem. But in a PvP environment, where there are CC, repositioning, movements, and defensive cooldowns used, the buff often expires before I get to cast Aim Shot.

 

I'm going to attempt to make this a bit more general, but I will add it tomorrow.

[GalnarDegana]

I have added some votes. Let me know if I assumed too much from the discussion, or if you would like to change your votes. I will be combining some questions and adjusting some others to get better versions, so some votes may eventually count towards a combined question that includes the original's meaning.

[CJNJ]

I will try to formulate a question like this tomorrow. I think we are middle tier dps in arenas, which is not good.

 

It's not that we are bad damage per se, it's just not practical to take 2 of the 3 specs because of how they function ya know? SS is good imo, just doesn't live as long as smashers

 

Sab tree falls behind the other 2 major AOE specs just because how drawn out the damage is. Plus flyby won't be simple to use either...

[fire-breath]

I have added some votes. Let me know if I assumed too much from the discussion, or if you would like to change your votes. I will be combining some questions and adjusting some others to get better versions, so some votes may eventually count towards a combined question that includes the original's meaning.

 

Since paowee submitted PvE 4 I think its safe to assume his vote goes to PvE 4? I know he's a sniper, but since we are mirrored that shouldnt matter I think.

 

Also for the wildcard i vote for PvE-1 (the alacraty issue). for PvP I vote number 7 (which is about the same as 3 and 6 tbh). Maybe incorporate those ones into a single question?.

 

Anyway, this makes my votes:

PvE: 4

PvP: 7

Wildcard: PvE - 1

 

EDIT:

I've got a submission for the 'other' tab (more an addendum tbh). WC2 about the colour crystals could be extended by not only affecting personal shields but also our scrambling fields. I'm not a fan off the uggly generic green field that both snipers and slingers got. Colour crystals could give it some more juice

Edited September 10, 2013 by fire-breath

[ScytheEleven]

It seems as if they answered our question about the PVP + PVE set bonus...as in, they are going to make the Flyby/Orbital extra tick the 4pc reward (2pc = range of Quickdraw/Takedown increased, 4pc = extra tick of Flyby/Orbital).

[CJNJ]

K new random thing I would like to ask but don't know how to say it:give us your data. Where are we supposed to be and what rotations/skills are we supposed to be using. What spec choices do they use and what gear do they use, and how they feel the gearing we choose. How are we supposed to stand on their paper they got drawn out.

[fire-breath]

It seems as if they answered our question about the PVP + PVE set bonus...as in, they are going to make the Flyby/Orbital extra tick the 4pc reward (2pc = range of Quickdraw/Takedown increased, 4pc = extra tick of Flyby/Orbital).

 

Jip

But ....... we still have a chance. Afterall, the intention is to comunicate with the devs about it.

We can formulate the question a bit different. Also they havent answered the real question (about how they perceive the damage increase of the current 4 piece set bonus PvE.

 

Clearly we need a different 4 sb PvE.

If I make a tour at the other AC's I see:

Tanks:

- Guardian - blade barrier absorbs 20%-point more

- Vanguard - 2%-point melee/ranged/tech/force defense

- Shadow - 2%-point all damage reduction

 

DPS:

- Guardian - blade storm 8% damage increase

- Sentinel - after ZEN'ing 4% extra damage for 15 seconds (a good sent will have at least a 50% uptime on this, Focus nearly 80/90%)

- Sage - Weaken mind gives 5%-point alac for 15 seconds every 20 seconds (in every spec WM should be always up)

- Shadow - DS and Clair voyant get 15%-point critchance

- Commando / Vanguard - HiB deals 8% more damage

- Scoundrel - 5 extra energy

- Gunslinger - Quick draw costs 7 energy less

 

Healer:

- Sage - 50 extra force (don't know how good this is mathmaticly speaking)

- Commando - cooldown reduction advanced mp and bacta infusion

- Scoundrel - 5 extra energy

 

What I notice here is quiet big difference between set bonusses.

Tank are nicely balanced imo

For the healers commando setbonus seems not in line with the other healers

 

For DPS it seems that every class gets a setbonus which increases either all damage or the (crit)damage from core abilities. The only 2 classes which seems exempt from this are the gunslingers and scoundrels. Sages get extra alacrity, alltough I dont have sage dps as a main I know that having alacrity for sage dps is good (according to Nibbon's guides at least).

 

Maybe we should formulate the question more in the lines of this?

 

A lot of work has been done to shift the emphasis away from PvP grinding for the sake of PvE gearing with recent changes made to many relics. However, many Snipers and Gunslingers are still finding it far more advantageous to stack a 2 piece PvP set bonus along with their 2 piece PvE set bonus, largely because the 4 piece PvE set bonus is *bad*. The PvP set bonus not only provides more DPS in most single target situations, but provides significantly more utility in giving our best AoE a longer uptime...meaning less time your group has to spend on adds, or less "precision" with how you well you time your cast. Our 4 piece PvE set bonus, on the other hand, is almost useless for every spec except for pure Lethality, and with the changes made to energy costs (along with the inevitable increase in crit% with more gear to proc Lethal Purpose) even for Lethality it seems far less mandatory than other classes which receive a straight DPS increase. When answering the scoundrel questions you have made the intention clear of moving the 2 piece PvP set bonus to the 4 piece PvP set bonus, are there any plans to (once again) rework any of the PvE set bonuses with a future tier?

 

To take a headstart about what we could have for the 4 piece set Bonus:

- Swap the 4th flyby tick from 4 set PvP to 4 set PvE

This shouldnt be a tough short term change to make imo. This however may cause problems for the 4 set PvP bonus. It can either remain the same, or changed entirely.

 

- Increase xxx damage done by 8%

This should be a skill all 3 trees are using. Like for example speedshot, vital shot, charged burst (lesser extend for DF) or even quickdraw. Enhancing quickdraw should also make it more likely that we would go full DF instead of hybrid (since wounding shots resets quickdraw for above 30% usage)

 

- Increase crit chance of xxxx by 15%

same as the damage done (speedshot, vital shot, charged burst or quickdraw).

 

- Increase cirtchance of bleeds and burns by 15%

This would make sure that dirty fighters would have less issues with their energy. This would affect SS because they use vital shot, Sab with the vital shot and blazing speed.

 

- Increases all damage done by 5% for after smugglers luck

You stated in the sniper answers that you wanted to change laze target / smugglers luck to get more usefull. This would kinda function as with the sentinel set bonus. Only downside is that smugglers luck is to controlable/predictable with its fixed cooldown. On the other hand it has a cooldown of 60 seconds while a good watchman/combat sent can pop ZEN every 30 seconds if I'm correct. A good focus sent can even achieve a 15 seconds cooldown on ZEN.

Edited September 11, 2013 by fire-breath

[paowee]

DPS:

- Guardian - blade storm 8% damage increase

- Sentinel - after ZEN'ing 4% extra damage for 15 seconds (a good sent will have at least a 50% uptime on this, Focus nearly 80/90%)

- Sage - Weaken mind gives 5%-point alac for 15 seconds every 20 seconds (in every spec WM should be always up)

- Shadow - DS and Clair voyant get 15%-point critchance

- Commando / Vanguard - HiB deals 8% more damage

- Scoundrel - 5 extra energy

- Gunslinger - Quick draw costs 7 energy less

 

Do you guys know how much of an actual DPS increase the set bonus gives? computing for this is way too much work for a game (that's supposed to be fun). They take a lot of things into account. Just because Juggs get 8% dmg increase that Snipers should get X% dmg increase because ("hey we PURE DPS class w can not tank!!!1111).

 

From parsing it looks like our 2-pc PVP bonus gave us 60-100 extra DPS. We're getting a bunch of nerfs and it looks like we are gona be in line with other ranged DPS classes (Single target). We will still do more in raids because of orbital (unless they change it to a channel ability lol). Anyway bacl to the Jugg set bonus.. despite the 8% increase they have, Snipers still does better than jugg dps single target. In a raid the melee are disadvantaged even more due to boss running around and red circles. I think asking for set-bonus buffs is just asking too much.

 

The only time i think Snipers should ever ask buffs, is when your raid runs 2 snipers 2 mercs, and you guys hit enrage and wipe 80 times when new content comes out. And BW nerfs the boss and you STILL wipe 80 times in the same boss. And the meters look something like

 

Merc 1 =============== DPS

Merc 2 =============== DPS

Snipr 1 ===========- DPS

Snipr 2 ==========- DPS

 

in equal skill/gear.

 

Remember we are getting Engi and Lethality buffs (reworks) as well. Set bonus question... meh.. >_<;

 

just my /2c. ^_^ <3

Edited September 11, 2013 by paowee

[GalnarDegana]

K new random thing I would like to ask but don't know how to say it:give us your data. Where are we supposed to be and what rotations/skills are we supposed to be using. What spec choices do they use and what gear do they use, and how they feel the gearing we choose. How are we supposed to stand on their paper they got drawn out.

 

They actually sort of answered the last part of this in the Sniper questions. The others seem unlikely for us to get access to. That would be playing the game for us practically.

 

I can't imagine they would answer this with specifics, due to the fact it could lead to people saying "well, that is the way the devs do it, so it must be right." We don't want that any more than they do.

[GalnarDegana]

Like Paowee said above, I am thinking the set bonuses are going to be addressed with this new arrangement they mentioned in the Scoundrel answers. I think we could formulate a question on if we are going to get more variety in set bonuses, but I think that conversation has played out as much as it can with them. I doubt we will get any more out of them until they try the new system.

[GalnarDegana]

It is time to get any questions in before Wednesday this week (9/18) so we can get them together to vote on, starting the Friday (9/20). We will then have voting until the following Thursday (9/26), and I will prepare the questions for that Friday (9/27).

 

Check the google doc for votes, and be aware that I may rearrange the questions. If you voted for a question already, I will add it to the rearranged or combined question.

 

Specifically, if someone wants come up with another question regarding the set bonuses they should do so quickly, because as the question stands right now, PvE 4 is all but irrelevant due to the responses on the Scoundrel questions. It might be good to ask regarding set bonuses in a future tier, or about the swap they intend to make, but like I said above, I think the question has run its course. Feel free to post another more specific question to prove me wrong! I will not be asking about PvP set bonuses being used in PvE though, as we have gotten our answer.

[fire-breath]

Agreed Paowee and Galnar. PvE-4 is irrelevant now since they allready got answered in the scoundrel thread. My post was made before it was clear that they will rework all setpiece bonusses. Its better to ask something different.

 

That having said, we should discuss about possible 4 setpiece bonusses which arent too powerfull. Eric IS reading these kind of threads and I guess all help is appreciated (and it gives us at least a chance on getting a better 4 setpiece bonus).

@ Paowee: that snipers and slingers are powerfull shouldnt be a reason for a crappy 4-setpiece bonus imo. IF we are really to powerfull they should balance our coreskills instead imo (like what they will do as it seems)

 

@ Galner: you may scratch my PvE-4 vote.

 

My voting will be:

PvE: PvE - 1

PvP: PvP - 7

Wildcard: WC - 2 (please add my idea about the colour changing scramblingfield too ;-) )

[GalnarDegana]

Agreed Paowee and Galnar. PvE-4 is irrelevant now since they allready got answered in the scoundrel thread. My post was made before it was clear that they will rework all setpiece bonusses. Its better to ask something different.

 

That having said, we should discuss about possible 4 setpiece bonusses which arent too powerfull. Eric IS reading these kind of threads and I guess all help is appreciated (and it gives us at least a chance on getting a better 4 setpiece bonus).

@ Paowee: that snipers and slingers are powerfull shouldnt be a reason for a crappy 4-setpiece bonus imo. IF we are really to powerfull they should balance our coreskills instead imo (like what they will do as it seems)

 

@ Galner: you may scratch my PvE-4 vote.

 

My voting will be:

PvE: PvE - 1

PvP: PvP - 7

Wildcard: WC - 2 (please add my idea about the colour changing scramblingfield too ;-) )

 

Alright, changed your votes, and I added the Scrambling Field thing. I believe the reason Scrambling Field is green is because all friendly effects were converted to green, and all enemy effects were converted to red. I think it might be confusing if you were able to apply a red crystal to it. People wouldn't know to get in it. I added it anyway, because there might be a compromise there.

[Bstr]

Could we have a Wildcard question like PvP question 2 be more general? It seems like past the first few planets, there aren't very many cover spots at all in group and solo content. Yes, we have our portable cover screen, but I originally chose this class partly in fact of using real cover and the animation of getting into cover. (Having more cover spots will help Scoundrels too, since they do not have a cover screen.)

 

The difficult part would be adding more cover without blocking the running of other classes.

 

I do think that adding cover in certain places on Warzones should be there first priority in adding cover, but they should add more cover to other places too.

 

That being said, my votes are as follows:

 

PvE: Q1

PvP: Q5 or if my question doesn't go through, Q2

WC: My question or if it doesn't go through, Q1

 

EDIT: On a side note, even though GS are my main, I would like GS to not have interrupt immunity in cover: seems too OP compared to other classes, especially at low-levels. A question on why we do have interrupt immunity might be nice for the next round of questions.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Bstr

[GalnarDegana]

Could we have a Wildcard question like PvP question 2 be more general? It seems like past the first few planets, there aren't very many cover spots at all in group and solo content. Yes, we have our portable cover screen, but I originally chose this class partly in fact of using real cover and the animation of getting into cover. (Having more cover spots will help Scoundrels too, since they do not have a cover screen.)

 

The difficult part would be adding more cover without blocking the running of other classes.

 

I do think that adding cover in certain places on Warzones should be there first priority in adding cover, but they should add more cover to other places too.

 

That being said, my votes are as follows:

 

PvE: Q1

PvP: Q5 or if my question doesn't go through, Q2

WC: My question or if it doesn't go through, Q1

 

EDIT: On a side note, even though GS are my main, I would like GS to not have interrupt immunity in cover: seems too OP compared to other classes, especially at low-levels. A question on why we do have interrupt immunity might be nice for the next round of questions.

 

I added your question as a WC question, incorporating all cover-related issues. I am still allowing people to vote on the PvP version too (though I will incorporate all of the feedback relating to cover on it). This way, people can use it as their PvP or WC question, since Cover is pretty pervasive.

 

Yikes on the interrupt immunity thing. I think Commandos should get an interrupt immunity on their shield all the time, not just while specced into it.

 

Gunslingers are required to be in cover for most of their abilities. This is a serious hindrance if they don't get some major boosts for it. 20% ranged defense is crap against most of the advanced classes, so interrupt immunity is an actual tool that they can use. If that was taken away, I shudder to think how warzones would go for us.

 

For one thing, we would never get a full Speed Shot off. With a 12 second cooldown (minimum), it would be off cooldown as often as the longest-cooldown interrupt, meaning that would effectively cripple Saboteurs. Aimed Shot is a 9-second cooldown, so against some classes that would work, but against the big hitters (Maras and Juggs), Sharpshooters would never get it off if they were in melee range, which ironically is one reason why you would use it, to knock them back. Dirty Fighters' already low burst would be lowered even more by a cut-short Wounding Shots and no proc for Quickdraw. This tiny adjustment would be a MAJOR nerf, probably making the class unplayable.

 

Sorry to be so vehement, but I heard that complaint recently from a Commando buddy, and I had to point out that our cooldowns would have to be much lower to make this even close to okay.

[AngelFluttershy]

Here are my ideas for questions:

 

• Wildcard: Recoil Control was a welcomed addition to the Sharpshooter tree in 2.0. Allowing the core abilities of a Sharpshooter (Charged Burst, Aimed Shot, Quickdraw, and Speed Shot) to reset the cooldown and activate Trickshot were great improvements to the rotation. However, when Speed Shot ends prematurely Recoil Control does not fire. This tends to be problematic when combating enemies that die before finishing the cast, enemies who stealth away during a cast, enemies who stun or knock the caster back, line of sight troubles, or when the Gunslinger is forced to interrupt their own cast in order to move. Losing that additional Trickshot opportunity can produce a noticeable loss in DPS and burst potential. Why was Recoil Control designed to only activate once Speed Shot has been completed instead of part-way through the cast?
   
   
  
• PvE: From the previous class question answers, particularly the Sniper and Scoundrel answers, the player community has inferred that Dirty Fighting/Lethality was meant to produce the highest single-target sustained DPS (further reading, Paowee's Orbital Strike-less parse comparison). In practice, this doesn't always prove true due to the mechanics of some Operation encounters favoring the Sharpshooter spec. Fast target swapping and on-demand burst are required to pass some of the elder game's most punishing boss mechanics (e.g. Dread Master Styrak, Operations Chief, Dread Guard, etc.). It's difficult for a Dirty Fighting spec'd Gunslinger to keep their energy balanced when there are many close back-to-back phases of quick burst or target swapping. The 2.0 energy cost reductions of Shrap Bomb and Vital Shot helped to alleviate this issue, but the increased energy cost of Wounding Shots has kept the difficulty of changing targets while maintaining strong DPS. This is in addition to the standard slow ramp up time Dirty Fighting has compared to the other two specs (Dirty Fighting has two DOTs and sometimes Hemorrhaging to apply before engaging Wounding Shots). Are there options for improving Dirty Fighting's target swapping potential by taking a smaller toll on the energy poll and/or guaranteeing more damage upfront?
  

 

 

Sorry I don't have another PvP question, but it seems that there are already some pretty good ones up for voting.

 

BONUS ROUND: Holdout Defense is almost useless for a Gunslinger in terms of utility and especially DPS. Is it possible we could see a change where it increases the damage of Blaster Whip and makes it a 35m ability? Tie some medical tubing to the blasters and allow me to throw my guns at the dang enemy and catch them back like a boomerang tied to a slingshot!

[GalnarDegana]

Why was Recoil Control designed to only activate once Speed Shot has been completed instead of part-way through the cast?

 

I believe this was answered in the dev posts or at a community cantina. I am still looking for the link, maybe someone else can help me out there.

 

PvE: Are there options for improving Dirty Fighting's target swapping potential by taking a smaller toll on the energy poll and/or guaranteeing more damage upfront?

 

I will modify a few of the Dirty Fighting questions, but I don't want to repeat the last question. I'll get back to you.

 

BONUS ROUND: Holdout Defense is almost useless for a Gunslinger in terms of utility and especially DPS. Is it possible we could see a change where it increases the damage of Blaster Whip and makes it a 35m ability? Tie some medical tubing to the blasters and allow me to throw my guns at the dang enemy and catch them back like a boomerang tied to a slingshot!

 

I love Holdout Defense as it is now. I like having speed boosts for PvP. If you are serious about this adjustment, I will add it...but no offense, I think the implementation would have to work drastically different to not look...idiotic LOL.

[Bstr]

Gunslingers are required to be in cover for most of their abilities. This is a serious hindrance if they don't get some major boosts for it. 20% ranged defense is crap against most of the advanced classes, so interrupt immunity is an actual tool that they can use. If that was taken away, I shudder to think how warzones would go for us.

 

You are forgetting these other boosts from cover:

• Increase stealth detection
  
• Immunity from ability pushback (a big one)
  
• Extra ranged defense if in actual cover. (Ranged attacks cannot hit you between attacks in cover.)
  
• Cannot be leaped to or pulled from cover. (Huge against melee opponents.)
  
• Rolling into cover from a long distance. (Can be a hindrance at time when you don't want to, but that is more of a control problem.)
  
• Looking awesome.
  

 

I would still keep these buffs from using cover.

 

I would still keep interrupt immunity when using Hunker Down/Entrench.

 

Also, all long ranged classes in this game have moves with long cast times yet do not have interrupt immunity except on cooldowns. My Sage gets his Healing Trance (3 second cast, 9 second cooldown w/o set bonus) interrupted constantly, yet I still have success with that class. (My Merc also gets interrupted a lot, but I don't have as much success with him because, well, he is a merc.)

 

EDIT: Saboteurs wouldn't be hurt too much with an interrupted Speed Shot: we have Charged Bursts and Quickshots to apply the burning DOT and blow up the Contingency Charges if Speed Shot is interrupted. Speed Shot is occasionally stopped with a knockback or stun, but it isn't a game breaker for me.

For SS, Aim Shot has more of a problem with adding interrupts, but that can be fixed with a bigger buff in the Charged Aim skill.

Finally, for DF, why does Wounding Shots have a cooldown for GS when it does not for Scoundrels? They both have the same energy costs. Remove the cooldown for GS and it will be the same as Scoundrels: able to be interrupted, but easy to recast after 4 seconds.

 

Having more cover points to roll to would be a good trade-off for not having interrupts. Also, not having immunity to interrupts will make lower level GS weaker while not really impacting endgame performance and teaches players how to combat against interrupts.

 

EDIT: Commandos and Mercs having interrupt immunity with their shields would be good too. That way, all long ranged classes have a cooldown with interrupt immunity.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Bstr