Zephury Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Well.. I know this question has been asked many of times, but with all the updates and my lack of knowledge, I'm going to have to ask it again, sorry! Anyhow, I'm back after 11 months or so of being gone.. I quit right before The Rise of the Hutt Cartel. So, I don't remember anything. With the tree's being reset, I forgot which Tree I used before.. and I'm having to contemplate on which to try now. Since there's so many changes,, I'm not sure what to go with. I ONLY PvP, so disregard anything that would help someone in a PvE situation. I suppose I'm looking for the easiest one to play now since I'm just getting back in to it.. I've forgotten how to fight all together and it's something I'm going to have to re-teach myself hopefully in the next day or two here. If someone could either list a good tree here or link me to a good build that focuses on this current update, I'd really appreciate it. Oh, and.. I really do prefer DPS over anything, but if you guys think tanking or whatever is better, please let me know. Just that DPS has always been my preference. If something else is far easier or more efficient, I'm not totally against changing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kindust Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 All three trees are viable. Combat is currently the most used and arguably the best tree for pvp. If you know how to control it and watch your RNG you can shred some pretty high dps numbers Focus aka smash is OP easy class however after 2.7 it won't be worth anything. Its being nerfed to hell. It has an easy rotation with plenty of easy dps. pretty much the sent's exclusive AOE tree. Watchman is still viable although it's dots are now cleanable. I still use it all the time and it does okay for me. I personally hope that come 2.8 they will make some of the dots uncleanable or maybe a buff. If you know how to use it, it can still be god mode. To Sum it up I would say go combat if you think you're skilled enough to grasp its complexity. Its very fast and very dependant on split decisions. Go watchman if you want a steadier pace. It still has heavy dps and great heals if used correctly. Go smash if you want to be overpowered for now, just realise come 2.7 it won't be as good.:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusFTW Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) lol its pushing it to say that watchman is "viable" in wzs tbh and the dots have always been cleansable It was just quite powerful back in the early days when most healers didn't even realize they had a cleanse and your merciless crit more because of the old drs on crit (you had a much bigger chances) Edited February 24, 2014 by AngusFTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordorian Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Since the OP is just returning, i would recommend to start slowly and go focus just to get used to the game and the combat mechanics again. It offer the most damage in return for effort invested, since it is really easy to play (not to master there are some insanely good smashers out there), and you won't be as annoyed of being perma, slowed, rooted, knocked back and stuff the like. It is reliable damage, so you don't even have to watch out for procs all the time, or performing kung foo moves on the keyboard. Even with the heavy nerfs in 2.7 all what said will still hold true, though you will no get such ridiculous damage anymore. Anyway once you feel comfortable with the game again and get bored by smash (which will probably happen quite quickly), you can switch to combat, which definitely is a challenging and fun tree to play. From all i have played in this game, combat is about the hardest spec to master, basically because of have tons of procs to watchout for, a rather tight focus management, you get annoyed by cc thrown at you (you only know how much cc there in this game once you played combat), getting careful of your resolve level and get a ton of situational awareness (focus more or less make me always play like moron, in combat i pay a bit more attention). If you wanna see well played combat, watch the Stream of Bleezar (AngusFTW... aka the poster above me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCourier- Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Combat is sntinel's only viable spec. Watchman spec has been very underpowered ever since patch 1.5, and focus spec is getting one of the biggest nerfs in SWTOR history in patch 2.7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teclado Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) Focus is EZ-mode and current FoTM, but is getting nerfed around April with the 2.7 patch. 10K+ smashes are common. I have seen up to 15K smashes. Get two or more smashers working together and you can practically 1-smash groups of enemies due to the fact that it is an AOE ability. The 2.7 nerf is making it so that the auto-crit and damage multiplier effects that make force sweep (smash) so effective will only apply to the targeted opponent. The standard AOE damage from force sweep will still apply to others within range. So, in my opinion, the spec will still be viable for bursting individuals down. It just won't be laughably easy anymore. Oh and not that you really care, but interesting to note: the nerf will not affect PVE - PVE'ers will still be able to auto-crit AOE mobs. Combat is really quite good, but is more difficult to play well. Everything centers around precision slash. I actually think it's more satisfying to play than focus and can do plenty well in the burst department. I've been playing combat lately and really enjoying it. Combat is also effective for running PVE dailies (for credits), so it's nice to get used to the one spec and not have to go back and forth depending on what you are doing. Watchman is weak for pvp because of its cleansable DoTs. It is not viable for pvp. Anybody who says otherwise is welcome to play that spec, but they are not going to have much fun (unless they define "fun" = "getting owned repeatedly"). Edited February 25, 2014 by teclado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tevzz Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Go Combat, might be a bit harder to learn, but definitely worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smuglebunny Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Focus/ Rage spec total DPS and AOE damage has been reduced but single target they will still hit just as high as they have been... Its a nerf to the spec but, its still very comparable to combat in that combat is single target and now rage is moreso but rage still has SOME AOE damage in addition to its very high single target so while smashers may not get top dps anymore they will still kill their target just like they can now. Nothing will change for a target of a smasher. Just for the bystanders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teclado Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Focus/ Rage spec total DPS and AOE damage has been reduced but single target they will still hit just as high as they have been... Its a nerf to the spec but, its still very comparable to combat in that combat is single target and now rage is moreso but rage still has SOME AOE damage in addition to its very high single target so while smashers may not get top dps anymore they will still kill their target just like they can now. Nothing will change for a target of a smasher. Just for the bystanders. I agree completely. For single target, absolutely nothing is going to change. Basically what 2.7 will do is give a player two options for pvp: 1. Focus for good damage, easy to play 2. Combat for excellent damage if used properly, poor to mediocre if not - more difficult to play Come 2.7, if you are willing to put in some effort, go combat. If you want EZ mode, go focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tevzz Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Focus/ Rage spec total DPS and AOE damage has been reduced but single target they will still hit just as high as they have been... Its a nerf to the spec but, its still very comparable to combat in that combat is single target and now rage is moreso but rage still has SOME AOE damage in addition to its very high single target so while smashers may not get top dps anymore they will still kill their target just like they can now. Nothing will change for a target of a smasher. Just for the bystanders. The point of Smash isn't single target kills...its to pump out big AoE pressure to prevent people from stacking for heals, it's not made to solo kill people in the first place. You're comparing two things that have completely different purposes, one's job is to burst singe targets fast with very mediocre AoE dmg, whereas the other is supposed to be making the enemy healer's life hell by creating a very big (too big in my opinion, reducing the overall dmg of smash to 6k for every target is more than enough) sudden HP loss in many players thus preventing the healer from being able to bring them all back to full HP. Ask any good or decent healer how easy it is to heal through a smasher's dmg on a single target... Smash isn't for single target DPS, Combat/Carnage is. By making Smash single target they killed the whole point of the spec, and tried to turn it into something which it obviously isn't supposed to be, just take a look at the Skill Tree. There's a reason why it focuses on smash and not another single target attack, so if bioware actually want to make it a decent single target tree they need to completely remove the focus from smash...I mean look at what happens when you come face to face with a class that has a 30% AoE dmg reduction...you can say goodbye to a good portion of your single target dmg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodrin Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 The point of Smash isn't single target kills...its to pump out big AoE pressure to prevent people from stacking for heals, it's not made to solo kill people in the first place. You're comparing two things that have completely different purposes, one's job is to burst singe targets fast with very mediocre AoE dmg, whereas the other is supposed to be making the enemy healer's life hell by creating a very big (too big in my opinion, reducing the overall dmg of smash to 6k for every target is more than enough) sudden HP loss in many players thus preventing the healer from being able to bring them all back to full HP. Ask any good or decent healer how easy it is to heal through a smasher's dmg on a single target... Smash isn't for single target DPS, Combat/Carnage is. By making Smash single target they killed the whole point of the spec, and tried to turn it into something which it obviously isn't supposed to be, just take a look at the Skill Tree. There's a reason why it focuses on smash and not another single target attack, so if bioware actually want to make it a decent single target tree they need to completely remove the focus from smash...I mean look at what happens when you come face to face with a class that has a 30% AoE dmg reduction...you can say goodbye to a good portion of your single target dmg. This is pretty much it. Smash single target damage is not taking a hit in 2.7, and remains easy to apply. But combat/carnage just can hit so much harder on a single target. I almost giggle how quickly I kill things sometimes. It takes a good deal of practice and regular play to learn when you can unleash your burst without being CC'd and when you need to use you DCD's, but once you get it down the spec is simply devastating. It has the best single target burst in the game when the RNG gods are on your side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts