Class balance

[ErikGW]

That's the thing. :/ People QQ, ask for changes, cry and nerdrage all the time. And bioware is afraid to make changes because of how no one wants to see their class nerfed and only want to see their class buffed and everyone else nerfed. Then Bioware believe people will quit if they try to change the balance of the game.

Even if they did something that would nerf every classes equally, people would go in a rage outburst about how they are getting nerfed.

Bioware needs to understand that nerfs and buffs need to be done in order to reach true balance in a game. And stop being scared about everyone crying and yelling saying they are gonna quit.

People are gonna quit if nothing is done, if the broken mechanisms that has been there since the start are not fixed. Simply because people yell that they don't want to see anything changed since it's gonna break their class.

 

The day when they will make big changes, people will QQ, yell and say this or that class will be utterly OP when the patch hit. Then the patch will hit and the game will suddenly be better because the changes are good.

But they don't want to change any of the broken mechanisms because so many people defend them so valiantly in scare of seeing their class nerfed or think it will break the already broken gameplay.

 

Personally, I'd rather try to repair a broken object and risk breaking it even more then leaving it broken. Because even if I break it more, I can always try to repair it again and try to undo the damage I done.

But Bioware is reluctant and don't want to make it worst. Keeping it broken and unbalanced.

 

This is true. Bioware needs to realize this is their game. They need to own this game by development. The dev team needs a vision and they need to tell us "this is our vision, and here's how we are making changes to get there". Then they should just ignore the whiners.

 

Bioware would end up with a better game by ignoring the players that cry constantly. The devs need to play the game and shape it to their vision. When they run out of ideas they should go read what the players say.

 

As it is now, i bet they never actually sit and do warzones. And i think that if they are dedicated to the pvp dev team, that should be an assigned portion of their work time lol

[sithBracer]

That's the thing. :/ People QQ, ask for changes, cry and nerdrage all the time. And bioware is afraid to make changes because of how no one wants to see their class nerfed and only want to see their class buffed and everyone else nerfed. Then Bioware believe people will quit if they try to change the balance of the game.

Even if they did something that would nerf every classes equally, people would go in a rage outburst about how they are getting nerfed.

Bioware needs to understand that nerfs and buffs need to be done in order to reach true balance in a game. And stop being scared about everyone crying and yelling saying they are gonna quit.

People are gonna quit if nothing is done, if the broken mechanisms that has been there since the start are not fixed. Simply because people yell that they don't want to see anything changed since it's gonna break their class.

 

The day when they will make big changes, people will QQ, yell and say this or that class will be utterly OP when the patch hit. Then the patch will hit and the game will suddenly be better because the changes are good.

But they don't want to change any of the broken mechanisms because so many people defend them so valiantly in scare of seeing their class nerfed or think it will break the already broken gameplay.

 

Personally, I'd rather try to repair a broken object and risk breaking it even more then leaving it broken. Because even if I break it more, I can always try to repair it again and try to undo the damage I done.

But Bioware is reluctant and don't want to make it worst. Keeping it broken and unbalanced.

 

I honestly don't think they are scared about one small board where maybe 30-50 people post regularly. It is mostly apathy on their part due to the fact that PvP just doesn't generate the money that PvE generates. If they are scared of anything it's that any nerfs or buffs will break PvE, their bread and butter. I still remember the answer they gave to us when we were asking for sorc/sage buffs: "sorcs are easy to play, but hard to master. You need to heal to full, los and then make them pay for trying to kill you" or something along those lines.

[snaplemouton]

I honestly don't think they are scared about one small board where maybe 30-50 people post regularly. It is mostly apathy on their part due to the fact that PvP just doesn't generate the money that PvE generates. If they are scared of anything it's that any nerfs or buffs will break PvE, their bread and butter. I still remember the answer they gave to us when we were asking for sorc/sage buffs: "sorcs are easy to play, but hard to master. You need to heal to full, los and then make them pay for trying to kill you" or something along those lines.

The thing is, they don't take in consideration stuff that affect only PvP. Such as Guard transfer damage, the resolve system being utterly broken since the beginning and interrupts in PvP.

It doesn't affect PvE at all.

And hell, they are free to make spells do different things between PvE and PvP. Like making a spell do additional damage against monsters. If people complains, like the poster above you said, it's their game. People will complain before the patch hit. Cry and QQ, then the patch will hit and the crying and QQ will go unto something else. Whatever people think is OP.

[ErikGW]

The thing is, they don't take in consideration stuff that affect only PvP. Such as Guard transfer damage, the resolve system being utterly broken since the beginning and interrupts in PvP.

It doesn't affect PvE at all.

And hell, they are free to make spells do different things between PvE and PvP. Like making a spell do additional damage against monsters. If people complains, like the poster above you said, it's their game. People will complain before the patch hit. Cry and QQ, then the patch will hit and the crying and QQ will go unto something else. Whatever people think is OP.

 

Yeah you can't chain cc or interrupt raid bosses, so yeah, fixing ccs and interrupts in pvp would have little to no effect on pve

[sithBracer]

Yeah you can't chain cc or interrupt raid bosses, so yeah, fixing ccs and interrupts in pvp would have little to no effect on pve

 

I probably misworded it. I meant to say "bioware doesn't care about anything that isn't PvE since it doesn't bring in the same amount of money". PvE is their primary concern, it always will be and if they ever have a couple of dollars remaining they might throw it into the PvP pot. The "heal2full" thing is an example of how much they don't care. Fear of a couple of PvPers leaving the game is IMO not even in the equation.

Edited September 25, 2013 by sithBracer

[PloGreen]

I don't really agree with your opinions on balance at all, and I am not saying this to be mean. You are pretty much way off on sages for instance - balance is not superior to Tk in most situations, and many sages run heavy hybrids anyway (tk heavy, or dot heavy builds). What about balance between classes? Certain ac's counter other ac's so surely balance will feel different dependant on your class, experience and level?

 

Where does player skill fit in to the equation? Synergy? Maps also have a bearing on what spec to play further complicating the issue.

 

I think its interesting what you have tried to do but I just don't agree with most of your conclusions and I think there are far too many variables in order to present an accurate picture. Just my opinion though, don't want to piss on your bonfire too much.

[Stavroz]

Please take everything I write underneath with a grain of salt.

 

I find that some of the classes are not really that unbalanced when they are alone but when combined with someone else the end result itself leads to them being overpowered. It becomes like 1 + 1 = 4 instead of 1 + 1 = 2.

 

For example, rage marauders (once again, please take this with a grain of salt, I never played marauder only against them); a rage marauder by himself is not really that tough or hard to beat. But when you have 3 rage marauders working together (which is way too easy to do imo) they become too overpowered considering the fact they could could wipe a team in 3 GCDs. I know that teams shouldn't stack close together but the way the objective wz are designed, stacking is a realistic result.

 

Same thing for tanks and healers. By themselves, they are not too much (except for jugg tank and only in huttball), but when a tank guards a healer and AoE slows, and healer in turns pocket heals for the tank, they could hold off a lot of people. Me and a powertech held off 4 people on both my op healer and my sorc healer (might have been able to do more and for a longer time period if it was a jugg). I feel like the sorc + tank combo was much stronger and easier than the op + tank combo, since I could easily use AoE to heal not just us but others as well, I could forcefield him and extricate when they tried to separate us. When they separated us and I couldn't extricate, the tank used his AoE slow (oil spill) to slow them down and his harpoon to pull them off me, giving me enough time to get back in range (the jugg has a spammable AoE slow with no CD btw).

 

Maybe this is what bioware was intending on doing by creating these types of combinations, I honestly don't know, but some combinations really are pretty tough-and it's not just one particular classes fault, its just the end result of the combo.

 

Anyway, that's my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.

 

I agree in principal with what u say. Some classes just stack better and 1+1 =3 as u say.

In regards to your graph I would slightly disagree with some of your assessments.

I would say guardian tanks are a 5.5 while shadows are a 4.5 .

 

 

Also I think sage healers are perfectly balanced. Its saw bones scoundrels that are just too good to pass up on that sees sages excluded from ranked environments.

 

Gaurd is only a problem in an environment of strong OP/scoundrel healers. Tone down their healing output and/or the way they deliver those heals and you will see more kills happen. There is no prob with tanks.

[snaplemouton]

Gaurd is only a problem in an environment of strong OP/scoundrel healers. Tone down their healing output and/or the way they deliver those heals and you will see more kills happen. There is no prob with tanks.

Tell that to me on my mando or merc heal...

Even thought Combat medic/Bodyguard is considered the worst healing class in PvP by... mostly everyone.

It become OP to the point people complains, cry and QQ non stop if I'm guarded on my mando just because they'll never achieve to kill me.

 

Guard is really a problem. Because with all the things that affect balance in this game, guard is one of thoses who affect it the most. You would never think to go ranked without a tank or 2. And that's fine, you should have to bring a tank in competitive PvP. But it shouldn't be only because of guard. We should be able to say: I want a tank in my ranked group. Even if guard was removed entirely. Just for peels, CCs and taunt.

Which is why making guard more active then passive would help a lot to improve balance overall. As it would be considered like taunt is, rather then be considered as a steroid for healers. I'm not asking to remove guard. Else it would be too pointless to go tank since you can taunt, peel and CC in DPS spec.

 

Like I said before too, people don't want guard to be changed because it will "nerf" their class. Changing it doesn't mean removing it, and it certainly doesn't mean tanks are going to be useless. They'd still had all their peeling and CC capabilities but with a guard that require them to be more aware of their team. After all, tanking is all about protecting and supporting your team... so what's wrong in making tank job more focused toward your teammates?

Edited September 25, 2013 by snaplemouton

[Laforet]

Something bioware should consider since they are actually watching arena streams.

 

http://www.twitch.tv/hydramist/c/2761630

[sithBracer]

In regards to your graph I would slightly disagree with some of your assessments.

 

Not my graph.

 

Gaurd is only a problem in an environment of strong OP/scoundrel healers. Tone down their healing output and/or the way they deliver those heals and you will see more kills happen. There is no prob with tanks.

 

I always have an easier time being guarded on my sorc than my op. On my op the main thing that lets me survive is my mobility and the ability to use HoTs and emergency medpack while running. So if I'm under fire I just roll, move around and use heals while he chases me around, and in case I am in a lot of trouble either flash bang or combat stealth. If I am under guard it kind of requires me to be stationary, because if I move away too far I lose my guard advantage. This seems perfect for a sorc healer in my experience since I get more burst with innervate, higher casted numbers with dark infusion, more damage mitigation on the tank with static barrier, decent sustained healing on both of us with AoE (we have to be next to each other anyway) and extricate or force barrier or overload in case they separate us with force push. When I am guarded as an op healer, it sometimes gets very tough keeping the tank up when they focus on him as my heals usually cannot keep up with the damage of 3 or more dps once his DCDs run out. As a sorc healer, it's so much easier as long as I can hold out during the stunfest.

[smellmop]

There is a huge obsession with class balance it seems. Why do we all have to play the same homogenized class?

 

Key points of skills every class has that make this game too balanced.

- ccs. Every class has them. Way too many.

- interrupts. Everybody has interrupts. But why?

- survival abilities. Every class has a save me button, or 2, or in most cases 3. Combined with medpacks and adrenals, this is crazy.

 

Suggestions for fixing:

- ccs should be part of the dps trees of the heal classes (op, sorc, merc). This would make these dps builds much more valuable. The ccs should be on much shorter cooldowns and maybe even buffed a bit, but resolve should effectively prevent long stunlocks (8+ seconds) so people dont just spam ccs.

- interrupts should be exclusive to tanks and dps tanks. Hard tanks should be able to interrupt more frequently tgat dps tanks, like every 2 gcds vs every 5 gcds.

- survival skills. Seriously, remove all the excessive survival abilities for everyone other than tanks. Or remove medpacks and adrenals. Survivng is really too easy in this game.

 

If these changes were made it would create class specific differences. The opposite of class balance. But it would come down to team balance and would diversify the playing field so people dont do things like spam smashmonkeys.

 

And op healers would be much less op if there were less save me buttons, because they have the weakest casted heals.

 

The argument for more balance is silly when the issue is really too much balance. Why play a sorc or merc dps when mara and sniper both have aoe cc? Why not stack a team with extra healers and just dump on people that have little chance to kill you?

 

Healers should be squishy and need to be defended. DPS should be able to kill them easily if they are unguarded. The versatile classes should be useful as a support role with ccs and off healing. The tanks should lead the charge and/or protect the healers.

 

That's why excessive balance has blurred those roles.

 

sorry if this has already been stated....but removal of interrupts for certain AC would destroy most end game pve content mechanics.

[ErikGW]

sorry if this has already been stated....but removal of interrupts for certain AC would destroy most end game pve content mechanics.

 

Not really, if the tank is given a much more frequent interrupt.

[MidichIorian]

Balance/madness sage/sorc above average?

 

ARE WE IN NARNIA?

 

Edit LOL@sawbones:5 Try 15 or 25.

Edited September 25, 2013 by MidichIorian

[Xertasian]

full tk sages should be higher up..when they are played correctly there burst and damage is brutal..i have streams of running full tk sage you will see how i melt through people like nothing..tk is basically a cast heavy spec but you have quick skills you can use to get away..force slow, project etc. these skills are instant..

 

alot of people go wrong with tk/lightning cause they stand in one spot to long trying to cast away and they get spotted and dps down..basically hit with your hvy hitters then move around.dont stay stationary for to long..in arenas they can hold there own as i said in the right hands of a skilled player..

 

sad to say probably 98.99% sages and sorcs dont play the spec to it full potential..yes tk should be at least 7 or higher..it is very brutal in the right hands..it burst so fast alot of times you realize it until you is dead or under 30% hp..

Edited September 26, 2013 by Xertasian

[snaplemouton]

full tk sages should be higher up..when they are played correctly there burst and damage is brutal..i have streams of running full tk sage you will see how i melt through people like nothing..tk is basically a cast heavy spec but you have quick skills you can use to get away..force slow, project etc. these skills are instant..

 

alot of people go wrong with tk/lightning cause they stand in one spot to long trying to cast away and they get spotted and dps down..basically hit with your hvy hitters then move around.dont stay stationary for to long..in arenas they can hold there own as i said in the right hands of a skilled player..

 

sad to probably 98.99% sages and sorcs dont play the spec to it full potential..yes tk should be at least 7 or higher..it is very brutal in the right hands..it burst so fast alot of times you realize it until you is dead or under 30% hp..

Don't worry I know a TK potential and I also know it is pretty much balanced. It always was left behind before and now it's where it should stand. TK damage is easy enough to avoid. The only problem I see is the 1.5 minute cooldown barrier they have in TK.

I explain in another post my thought on balance and why I gave it a 6.

[JP_Legatus]

READ BEFORE POSTING

This thread isn't for flaming. No L2P comments, no insults, no useless comment and please stay on topic!

Let's keep this civilized.

 

The following image is a chart with my PERSONAL OPINION on class balance.

5 being Balanced or very close to, lower than 5 needing a buff and greater than 5 needing a nerf.

Again, this is only my opinion.

 

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/3127/c95z.png

 

Edit : Tank are on the left side and healers on the right side. The reason I gave thoses numbers to healers is simple. I believe heals arn't OP. The main problem reside in guard and taunt screwing up the whole balance.

I'll say another time what I'd love to see done for guard : Make it a 30-40% passive with an ability to increase that number to 50-60%. This way, guarded target won't be invulnerable all the time from 50% damage reduction but will be able to survive big burst if the guarder knows when to use his active.

 

I gave thoses numbers by taking a look at all specs without discrimination.

I have at level 55 : Scoundrel, Gunslinger, Commando, Guardian and Mercenary.

My other toons are : Sage (51), Vanguard (41), Shadow (50), Sentinel (32), Sniper (15), Juggernaut (50) and a trooper (41. Yes trooper, no AC)

 

Feel free to post your own chart about your personal opinion on class balance. And feel free to ask me why I gave a certain number to a certain class or why you think a class should get a different number.

Once again, this is my personal opinion.

 

Note : Sentinel Watchman/Combat and Vanguard Tactics/Combat spec are more of an approximate of what I saw since I didn't play or saw them enough to give a more thought note.

 

Edit : Note 2 : Yes I did more then enough rankeds, normals warzones, duels, 4v4 on tatooine, open world PvP etc. I am an hardcore PvPer and I don't do PvE.

 

IDK, a lot of specs in there could be +1/-1 from where they are and a few are way off.

 

Jugg tanks are miles above sin tanks (and probably PT tanks) in terms of actual mitigation and teammate protection. They probably do double the actual protection sin tanks do, and the personal mitigation of jugg tanks is just insane compared to a sin tank. IDK anything about PT tanks, but jugg tanks (defense guardians) would definitely be 7 if not higher.

Seer, despite not being the best healing class, is still really good (5ish). Sawbones you have at 5, for the life of me I can't think why you'd think sawbones is at 5.

 

Basically, my tiers would go like this:

 

GOD TIER

Jugg tank

Op healer

Mara dps (any spec, maybe not anni idk)

 

LEET TIER

Sniper dps (any spec)

 

I-CAN-STILL-PLAY-SWTOR-TIER

All the other specs

 

WHY-AM-I-STILL-PLAYING-THIS-GAME-TIER

madness assassin

concealment operative

 

But I don't know **** about where bounty hunters go cuz I don't have those classes at 55

Edited September 26, 2013 by JP_Legatus

[Stavroz]

Tell that to me on my mando or merc heal...

Even thought Combat medic/Bodyguard is considered the worst healing class in PvP by... mostly everyone.

It become OP to the point people complains, cry and QQ non stop if I'm guarded on my mando just because they'll never achieve to kill me.

 

Guard is really a problem. Because with all the things that affect balance in this game, guard is one of thoses who affect it the most. You would never think to go ranked without a tank or 2. And that's fine, you should have to bring a tank in competitive PvP. But it shouldn't be only because of guard. We should be able to say: I want a tank in my ranked group. Even if guard was removed entirely. Just for peels, CCs and taunt.

Which is why making guard more active then passive would help a lot to improve balance overall. As it would be considered like taunt is, rather then be considered as a steroid for healers. I'm not asking to remove guard. Else it would be too pointless to go tank since you can taunt, peel and CC in DPS spec.

 

Like I said before too, people don't want guard to be changed because it will "nerf" their class. Changing it doesn't mean removing it, and it certainly doesn't mean tanks are going to be useless. They'd still had all their peeling and CC capabilities but with a guard that require them to be more aware of their team. After all, tanking is all about protecting and supporting your team... so what's wrong in making tank job more focused toward your teammates?

 

When considering what is OP and what is not OP you have make sure you observing performance of classes in a high competitive environment. I can guard a mando healer and have him face tank 4 bad dps players in a reg wz and troll the team or i can get smashed by 2 high level DPS in a competitive ranked.

The truth is in a competitive environment tanks are not the issue.

 

The bottom line is if you watch and/or play ranked at High level where games are competitive you will see class balance.

The biggest issue with ranked is the stacking of OP/scoundrel healers to stale mate games not the stacking of tanks. Hypergates that end after 30min with no pylon cap and endless 0-0 voidstars with almost no kills b/c teams run 3 healers.

 

I always have an easier time being guarded on my sorc than my op. On my op the main thing that lets me survive is my mobility and the ability to use HoTs and emergency medpack while running. So if I'm under fire I just roll, move around and use heals while he chases me around, and in case I am in a lot of trouble either flash bang or combat stealth. If I am under guard it kind of requires me to be stationary, because if I move away too far I lose my guard advantage.

 

That's b/c there are a lot of bad tanks out there that throw gaurd on a healer then proceed to tank from an other node and don't guard switch at all. It ha nothing to do with you rolling way or losing enemy players. It has everything to do with some tanks need to L2P.

 

Again you need to observe how classes perform in a competitive environment in order to really assess how strong they are.

There is a reason that ranked teams rely heavily on OP/Scoundrel healers, Smash/sweep classes and Sniper/gunslingers.

 

As it stands guard in its current form is not the problem.

 

The reason why tanks perform stronger with Op/scoundrel healers then the other 2 healers in PVP is simply b/c of the the way they deliver there heals vs the other 2 healing classes.

 

OP/scoundrel healers have many insta casts that are delivered while being mobile. They don't have to stand still to cast as many heals running the risk of interrupts and losing GCD's due to healers not being cast.

Also being mobile decreases over all dmg as opposed to being stationary which the other 2 healers have to do to be more effective. So the more dmg you take the pressure is on the tank to receive more healing b/c it starts taking more guard dmg.

The more heals the tank needs the less the rest of the team gets and the pressure builds up and the team simply folds.

A classic example of delivery of heal is salvation vs Kolto cloud.

Due to the fluid dynamic of PvP a sage placing a salvation at his feet to help heal himself and his tank is wasted many times.

Due to the mobile nature of combat and having to constantly stay on the move when taking dmg the tank and healer do not get the full benefit of the salvation.

 

On the other hand Kolto cloud is placed on all targets in a specific area and then stays on the target as a buff. Even if you were to move 30m away from the original area it was cast b/c its a buff the heal moves with you.

Its a similar issue with Kolto bomb although most of Kolto bombs healing is up front, but the full potential of the hot effect in many pvp encounters is lost..

Edited September 26, 2013 by Stavroz

[Sakuzhi]

They need to do something about gunslingers/snipers.

 

Having the ability to be immune to push affects -and- stuns is pretty stupid.

[PloGreen]

They need to do something about gunslingers/snipers.

 

Having the ability to be immune to push affects -and- stuns is pretty stupid.

 

Nah that's the whole point of the class. They have their counters to.

[PloGreen]

Don't worry I know a TK potential and I also know it is pretty much balanced. It always was left behind before and now it's where it should stand. TK damage is easy enough to avoid. The only problem I see is the 1.5 minute cooldown barrier they have in TK.

I explain in another post my thought on balance and why I gave it a 6.

 

You did explain it but it was not a valid explanation.

 

Balance is not in a good place since the crit nerf. Tk is easy to avoid? Balance dots can be cleansed and healed through...Tk has an autocrit, and is easier to gear for. Better on demand burst, tk is in a good spot tbh.

 

As I stated before, not many people run full balance anyway, a lot of sages run hybrids (heavy dot, or heavy tk).

Play one at 55 you might get a better perspective.

[TheCourier-]

Annihilation is the second worst spec in SWTOR. The only spec worse than annihilation is pyro mercenary.

[glocklB]

Haha personal opinion is personal opinion but putting balance/madness sage as stronger than TK/Light sounds wrong to me.

 

During the PTS tests Lightning was THE ONLY viable sorc skill tree for arenas.

 

I would put sawbones and smash like 15/10 in the power scale, those specs are utterly and completely broken. Tank guardian is also far from balanced.

 

Personal opinion.

 

I demand nerf to balance sages RITE NAO!!!111eleven

[glocklB]

I have to disagree on this. If one team has a healer/tank combo, and the other does not, who's fault is this? Additionally, what do the other team have as a replacement for them, 2 stealthers maybe to wreak havoc at the objectives.

 

Also, i have to say, having been in the position myself as either healer/tank, or one of the dps trying to take down the healer, that, if all 4 dps target the healer, you will kill them, if not, people are doing something wrong.

 

It seems that quite often this team has 2 morons in random specs as trade off for healer+tank pair.

[sithBracer]

That's b/c there are a lot of bad tanks out there that throw gaurd on a healer then proceed to tank from an other node and don't guard switch at all. It ha nothing to do with you rolling way or losing enemy players. It has everything to do with some tanks need to L2P.

 

It was the exact same tank in both cases-a friend, so his play style was pretty much the same in both cases.

 

Again you need to observe how classes perform in a competitive environment in order to really assess how strong they are.

 

In the case of the op we were playing against one of the lowest ranked guilds on our server (still better than pugs though), in the case of the sorc, it was a mid ranked guild I believe. (I could pm you their names, can't post them because of rules).

 

There is a reason that ranked teams rely heavily on OP/Scoundrel healers, Smash/sweep classes and Sniper/gunslingers.

 

The reasons are pretty simple:

op/scoundrel : mobility, easy to put HoTs on the team

marauders : best AoE burst, some of the strongest DCDs

snipers: best ranged damage, immunity to stuns ability (not sure how this one works as I never rolled sniper but have read about it, correct me if I'm wrong), stealth detection.

 

OP/scoundrel healers have many insta casts that are delivered while being mobile. They don't have to stand still to cast as many heals running the risk of interrupts and losing GCD's due to healers not being cast.

 

They have 2 that are used often. One requires a TA which will regenerate if target is under 30%, the other is HoT and does not heal immediately-need to wait for the first tick. They also have the AoE which has a long CD. So on a regular basis they only have 1 immediate heal-emergency medpack-and it can only be used if you have a TA. I don't know how this will help keep a tank who is being focused alive. Sorcs have static barrier, an instant channeled heal which will burst at least once on a regular basis (can guarantee one strong with proc from their HoT), a long sustained AoE (which can be made instant with innervate procs), and a stronger casted heal (casting can be sped up and made uninterruptable with polarity shift, an ability a lot of people ignore for some reason). In a ranked, the dps would have to do some serious coordination to make sure to switch focus and constantly interrupt the healer and switch focus back on the tank (in most cases they will just use CCs on the healer and attack the tank which has the same result no matter what healer you use, but the op healer has an slight advantage if he put HoTs on the tank before getting CCed). In this case I would agree that the op healer would do better.

 

 

Also being mobile decreases over all dmg as opposed to being stationary which the other 2 healers have to do to be more effective. So the more dmg you take the pressure is on the tank to receive more healing b/c it starts taking more guard dmg.

 

Being mobile gets you away from one guy. When you are focused and stunned you are not getting away from anyone, you are dying. 2 strong dps can burst you down before one stun ends. The thing that will save you in ranked is a tank who switches guard and at least 1 other healers, in which case it's at least 3 man action.

 

The more heals the tank needs the less the rest of the team gets and the pressure builds up and the team simply folds.

 

Yes but at the same time you are taking dps away from their team to focus on the tank, the less dps the other team has the less healing the rest of the team needs (unless they are dumb enough to stack around the tank and get hit with smash).

 

Due to the fluid dynamic of PvP a sage placing a salvation at his feet to help heal himself and his tank is wasted many times.

Due to the mobile nature of combat and having to constantly stay on the move when taking dmg the tank and healer do not get the full benefit of the salvation.

 

The tank and healer need to stay close to each other for the combo to work. If I need to, I extricate him into the revivification circle (and out of focused attacks); and anyone can walk into it, it has a pretty big radius, a ranked team should know how to stand on the edges and still be able to avoid an AoE smash.

[JediMasterSLC]

Annihilation is the second worst spec in SWTOR. The only spec worse than annihilation is pyro mercenary.

 

Madness sin is probably even worse too.