Top 3 Questions From Mercenary Community to Developers - Odawgg

[Qaletaqaa]

Pyro PT's skill also does elemental damage, not white damage. People's armor/shield/DCD's is more than enough to compensate them for Sweeping Blasters. Maybe just have the first tick that hits an enemy the 100% CGC proc.

 

Except, armor mitigates kinetic and energy damage. Elemental damage and internal damage ignores armor.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Qaletaqaa

[cashogy_reborn]

I'm starting to doubt your resolve about Merc/Mando's Cash. Methinks you have a warrior you're prepping for 2.4.

 

BTW I've been leveling a powertech this past week, and the way Pyro plays is so much more.... effective. I just wish Merc wasn't so damn clunky.

 

And I think you have no real grasp of class balance, or how to accomplish it.

[KhalDrogoe]

Except, armor mitigates kinetic and energy damage. Elemental damage and internal damage ignores armor.

 

I think you need to reread what I posted.... My point is that PT's ignore armor with Flame Sweep, whereas Sweeping blasters does not.

 

And I think you have no real grasp of class balance, or how to accomplish it.

 

I know that Merc Pyro is vastly inferior, and in order to be viable in Arenas we need a run'n'gun build that arsenal does not accomplish. 9/10 the opposing team will target the Arsenal merc first, before the healer. Nothing like a sitting duck with LONG CD's to get the first kill.

Edited September 18, 2013 by KhalDrogoe

[cashogy_reborn]

 

I know that Merc Pyro is vastly inferior, and in order to be viable in Arenas we need a run'n'gun build that arsenal does not accomplish. 9/10 the opposing team will target the Arsenal merc first, before the healer. Nothing like a sitting duck with LONG CD's to get the first kill.

 

Its not hard for a free-casting healer to keep someone alive under the pressure of 2-3 DPS, especially is that someone has a tank that is taunting + guarding.

 

 

And you need to play Arsenal as a hit-and-run type if you want to be good. Continue demonstrating that you do not understand high level PvP or class balance.

[Sylvane]

I know that Merc Pyro is vastly inferior, and in order to be viable in Arenas we need a run'n'gun build that arsenal does not accomplish. 9/10 the opposing team will target the Arsenal merc first, before the healer. Nothing like a sitting duck with LONG CD's to get the first kill.

 

Yeah and 2 dps are not going to kill an arsenal merc with a tank and healer helping out, sitting duck or not we aren't that squishy. People seem to doubt the single target burst that the spec brings and i find that to be quite funny. Straight slug fests arsenal will win out over pretty much every class to the point where they are going to have to keep pressure on us and off the healer or it'll get out of hand rather fast.

[LordKantner]

I see people are still arguing here, even though the questions have already been asked, so let me be brief.

 

 

Questions were good Odawgg!

 

 

Okay resume your futile banter!

[windogie]

Are they even gonna answer our questions before 2.5? Or are they canceling all the answers. I for one am kinda pissed by this, since mercs had more than enough for another set of questions.

[cashogy_reborn]

Are they even gonna answer our questions before 2.5? Or are they canceling all the answers. I for one am kinda pissed by this, since mercs had more than enough for another set of questions.

 

As it said in Musco's post, this round of questions will be answered.

 

The reason they are suspending the questions is that there is not going to be class balance changes made by the time some of the mirror ACs ask a 2nd round of questions. In which case, the questions are probably going to be basically the same as the mirror AC's first go-round.

 

IMO this is a good thing, but it depends greatly on how quickly the next round of class balance changes come. If we have to wait until 2.6 (or later) its not going to go well

[Amantino]

Merc is the best healing-class for endgame PvE, and you want to buff them? Anyone that says merc heal is bad, has never raided with a merc healer.

[MVaglin]

IMO this is a good thing, but it depends greatly on how quickly the next round of class balance changes come. If we have to wait until 2.6 (or later) its not going to go well

 

You class balance changes after the ones in 2.5 that Musco mentioned in his post? Pretty sure there won't be any between 2.5 and 2.6.

[KhalDrogoe]

Its not hard for a free-casting healer to keep someone alive under the pressure of 2-3 DPS, especially is that someone has a tank that is taunting + guarding.

 

 

And you need to play Arsenal as a hit-and-run type if you want to be good. Continue demonstrating that you do not understand high level PvP or class balance.

 

Okay you play Arsenal, I'll play Pyro. By December for the 2nd anniversary we will compare solo arena rankings and see exactly who understands their Merc/Mando better.

 

When an Arsenal is moving, their DPS drops to close to zero. Same with Snipers (which also are a liability).

 

If you haven't gotten on and played Arenas you guys are just as clueless as the Devs.

[ArchangelLBC]

As it said in Musco's post, this round of questions will be answered.

 

The reason they are suspending the questions is that there is not going to be class balance changes made by the time some of the mirror ACs ask a 2nd round of questions. In which case, the questions are probably going to be basically the same as the mirror AC's first go-round.

 

IMO this is a good thing, but it depends greatly on how quickly the next round of class balance changes come. If we have to wait until 2.6 (or later) its not going to go well

 

You're taking this better than I am.

 

I think you're crazy though. I know for a fact that pretty much every class had more than enough questions for a second round. Classes like Merc and Shadow could have gone a third or even fourth round without repeating themselves.

 

Honestly, I think they just got tired of their glaring class balance issues being pointed out to them.

[Gyronamics]

Well I'm pissed off.

[KhalDrogoe]

BW's Logic. If they just ignore it, it'll go away.

[BigDumbViking]

Merc is the best healing-class for endgame PvE, and you want to buff them? Anyone that says merc heal is bad, has never raided with a merc healer.

 

I'm guessing that you are raiding with an exceptional merc healer. Please be sure to let him/her know how good they are. Equal skill and gear, The Merc healer is 15-25% behind an Op or Sorc in almost every fight you'll find.

 

Just look at Torparse for the top 100 HPS records. The top commando comes in at #72 with 3657 HPS. Only 3 commando/mercs exist in the top 100. 22 of the top parses for Op and Sorc are over 4k HPS, with the tops being a sorc that hit over 5k HPS.

 

So if you average the top 5 of each AC, Merc is upwards of 25% under the other 2 classes at high level end game. In PVP that holds true as well.

Edited September 19, 2013 by BigDumbViking
Added TorParse #'s

[Zoom_VI]

You class balance changes after the ones in 2.5 that Musco mentioned in his post? Pretty sure there won't be any between 2.5 and 2.6.

 

In his post he pretty much declared that 2.5 will be the balance patch.

[Zoom_VI]

What's wrong with that? Would also be an option for Healers. Maybe put the 30% surge in place of barrage and stick barrage down at tier 2. Maybe have Sweeping Blasters proc CGC 100%! That seems like the right fit and go along with Pyro theme, as well as give Pyro's the much needed on-demand snare.

 

You do realize that pyro doesn't actually use unload all that much? With how effective power shot is at proccing RS there is little reason to use it in the rotation, unless you are running a hybrid. (dat ionic accelerator tooltip lies)

[venomlash]

When an Arsenal is moving, their DPS drops to close to zero.

 

That is the point. Gunnery/Arsenal is a turret class, not a run-and-gun class. That doesn't mean we can't use hit-and-run tactics, though.

If we're given any time at all to set up and start letting loose, we become very very dangerous, but we're vulnerable until we've done that. When we can get the drop on an enemy, we set up, burn them hard, and then scoot before they close in and/or their backup arrives. (We can buy ourselves some extra time with Electro Net, which is basically a "you're screwed" button on a long cooldown.) We're not as dependent on the element of surprise as Scrapper/Concealment is, but if an enemy gets to us before we get our opener set up, either we keep DPSing and get hit hard, or we book it and don't get much damage done until we re-establish our position.

 

If you're good, you can work around this. Demo Round/Heatseeker Missiles and High Impact Bolt/Rail Shot are instant casts that we use every 15 seconds or so, so when I know they're coming up, I think about where I want to be and use the 3 seconds they take up to get there. It's about planning your rotation to fit with your movement pattern. (Don't forget Kolto Bomb/Kolto Missile either. If we need another GCD of movement and we and/or teammates could use a heal, it's a useful option, and one that only we bring to the DPS table.)

 

We also have some very useful cooldowns that allow us to maneuver under pressure; Tech Override/Power Surge lets us make the next two casts instants, which can be used offensively to Grav Round/Tracer Missile while on the move, or defensively to pop Medical Probe/Quick Scan when low on health. Hold The Line/Hydraulic Overrides can either help us escape from pressure without fear of being grappled or slowed or allow us to move further during a limited window of mobility.

 

I've been playing Gunnery since day 1. Let me tell you, it's not as clunky as a lot of people think.

 

 

 

You do realize that pyro doesn't actually use unload all that much? With how effective power shot is at proccing RS there is little reason to use it in the rotation, unless you are running a hybrid. (dat ionic accelerator tooltip lies)

 

Unload is a good thing for three reasons:

-It hits three times in two GCDs, rather than one in one, which makes it better for trying to proc CGC by hand.

-It does about the same damage as Power Shot x 2 but costs half as much heat, making it very useful for resource management.

-If you are trying to proc RS while racing to an objective, you can hit Unload and break the channel after the first tick, rather than having to wait the full 1.5s to cast Power Shot.

Hell, it even stuns standard and weak enemies. That's three and a half, I guess.

Edited September 19, 2013 by venomlash

[Gyronamics]

Unload also does 2/3 damage if you take any damage

[windogie]

I myself only use the heat seeker and rail shot when paired with casts for the extra burst. I do on the other hand start out a rotation moving every 1 minute 30 seconds when power surge and electro net come off cd. Which is Electro net->power surge->tracer x2-> heat seeker-> rail shot. I then plant and use unload and use my main rotation. I myself don't use electro net as a oh **** button because it prevents jumps and mobility boosts(except for smashers, which is ********.) which are used by melee at the beginning of the fight more than they are used to chase you down, if you are needing a oh **** button like electro net in arenas your team more than likely aren't going to win. Arsenal as a spec has the most dps against tanks which means if it ends up being one of those long *** battles that comes down to sudden death then your attacks deal more damage than any other dps since you can have up to 85% armor pen with unload and rail shot which can make a huge difference in the tank vs tank survival match that sudden death comes down to.

 

Also arsenal will be more useful than pyro even though pyro will have more survivabilty. Most teams will be running a operative healer and pyro is almost all the time useless against a good operative since if they know you are there they can wait for you to stack incendiary then thermal detonator then cleanse them both. If pyro has to reapply even with the heat lowered it still will build more heat than damage. With lots of your dps being simply cleansed by the healer not to mention another merc,operative or sniper with use of evasion lots of your dps as pyro will simply be lost. I love pyro as a spec but I've been cleansed way to many times to try and pull it off with a 4 man team where it's hard to be carried by a team.

[cashogy_reborn]

You're taking this better than I am.

 

I think you're crazy though. I know for a fact that pretty much every class had more than enough questions for a second round. Classes like Merc and Shadow could have gone a third or even fourth round without repeating themselves.

 

Honestly, I think they just got tired of their glaring class balance issues being pointed out to them.

 

Eh, no point in getting further frustrated from Bioware's lack of action. Ive lowered my expectations to sub-zero, so I was kinda half expecting this kind of thing to happen.

 

Okay you play Arsenal, I'll play Pyro. By December for the 2nd anniversary we will compare solo arena rankings and see exactly who understands their Merc/Mando better.

 

When an Arsenal is moving, their DPS drops to close to zero. Same with Snipers (which also are a liability).

 

If you haven't gotten on and played Arenas you guys are just as clueless as the Devs.

 

1. Solo arena rank? ROFL, cuz Im going to depend on 3 random potential bads to help me win?

2. Arsenal has the same amount of mobility that Pyrotech does

3. Snipers are a liability? OHSNAP youre a regular comedian

4. I played arenas when they first hit PTS, and pewpewed my way to many victories on a Gunnery commando. PTS has been dead for well over a month.

[ArchangelLBC]

Eh, no point in getting further frustrated from Bioware's lack of action. Ive lowered my expectations to sub-zero, so I was kinda half expecting this kind of thing to happen.

.

 

Absolutely true, but you're still taking this better than I am. Or than I was. Maybe I shouldn't read forums at 4am after a too long day.

[odawgg]

The deadline for questions snuck up quickly.....the wait for the answers feels like an eternity!

[ArchangelLBC]

The deadline for questions snuck up quickly.....the wait for the answers feels like an eternity!

 

man I hear that ._.

[TezMoney]

I'm guessing that you are raiding with an exceptional merc healer. Please be sure to let him/her know how good they are. Equal skill and gear, The Merc healer is 15-25% behind an Op or Sorc in almost every fight you'll find.

 

Just look at Torparse for the top 100 HPS records. The top commando comes in at #72 with 3657 HPS. Only 3 commando/mercs exist in the top 100. 22 of the top parses for Op and Sorc are over 4k HPS, with the tops being a sorc that hit over 5k HPS.

 

So if you average the top 5 of each AC, Merc is upwards of 25% under the other 2 classes at high level end game. In PVP that holds true as well.

 

Those number don't tell the whole story though. Damage mitigation and healing buff applied by merc healer abilities aren't factored in. Also if people don't or aren't able to stand in a sorc's happy circle their HPS drops dramatically, and not every fight allows for this. Also merc/commando's can't be beat when it comes to single target EHPS. Lastly if you look at individual 16 HM/NM boss fights you'll see mercs/mandos in top 5 on most lists.

 

I agree it takes more skill to be a great raid healer as a merc than a sorc or op, but that doesn't mean they can't be among the best.

Edited September 20, 2013 by TezMoney