The Jedi Knight, and Sith Warrior classes need a huge buff.

[ProfessorWalsh]

I would also like to give you some general understanding about approach to class balancing and how you can aid us with your feedback:

 

• Now that we're out of the first few weeks of launch madness, you will see class and combat balance issues addressed with increased frequency. Larger scale gameplay changes and features are more likely to coincide with major content releases, but smaller scale changes and improvements can be expected to become part of our regular update schedule.

 

The problem with this is that for many players these aren't issues that are a few weeks old. These are issues that were discussed at length in the beta. These were flaws that were apparent for months. That is why people are upset, because to those of us with those classes as their mains, these aren't small issues and these are issues that most of us feel are too long overdue.

 

Statements that we hate a specific class or faction, or that we intentionally underbalance certain classes to make it less popular are conspiracy theory territory. We have nothing to gain from such an approach – we want players to pick the class and faction they want to play and have confidence that they are able to perform their chosen role in the game. Anything that comes in the way of that goal is considered a balance issue for us.

 

Unfortunately you can clearly see why people think this. The Marauder and the Sentinel in particular are very poorly designed in many players eyes. The classes that you responded to often in the pre-launch days (Sorcerer and Agent to name two) are doing very well. The classes that we, as fans, first saw (namely Trooper, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, and Imperial Agent) all feel much better fleshed out and seem to have better performance.

 

In the Jedi Knight, for example, two of our big companions (Kira and Doc) are both bugged and we can't do anything with them past a certain point.

 

Personally... I don't think this is a hated... Possibly an unintentional bias, yes, but not a hatred.

 

I do think that, for some reason, the Jedi and Sith flagship classes were designed last and received the least amount of testing and that quite frankly does anger me as a Star Wars fan. I do not know if this is true, but it is certainly the impression I have received. I would think, in a Star Wars product, the highest priority would be given to the flagship classes of the series.

 

We make our balancing decisions based on a combination of internal and external testing and metrics. We don't make decisions based on who is the loudest on the forums. Community feedback is valuable in bringing issues to our attention and even to highlight possible solutions, which means that well written, constructive posts are the most effective way to communicate your wishes and feedback to us, rather than petitions and calls to nerf specific classes.

 

Petitions are made because the fan base wants to show you that a certain issue is important. They are usually made out of frustration. The devs have a habit of, unfortunately, not responding to well thought out posts. This is also a backlash of hearing the "BioWare response" (namely: "We aren't talking about that.") way too often during the course of the pre-launch.

 

Many such posts are made because people truly do believe that there is no open line of communication.

 

Please understand that balance issues during the leveling process are different than issues at level 50 and are handled in different ways. If you feel your class has issues during your journey to 50, especially communicate the level range and area of the game where you are experiencing issues to aid our investigations. Player versus Player situations in during the leveling process are not always balanced at every level (a mathematical impossibility), but we are always willing to investigate.

 

There are absolutely some serious problems during the leveling process. Valorious Call, for example, an ability that gives Jedi Sentinels Centering (and one of the few ways we can get it in PVP since we are often unable to kill things in it) is a level 50 ability. That is the only way to guarantee that you can get Centering while being smacked around by level 50's in full Epic gear.

 

This should have been far lower as the people it can help the most are those who can't access it.

 

Just because we haven't mentioned the specific issue close to your heart in a post (such as the one above) doesn't mean we are unaware of it or that we don't want to address it. It would be impractical for us to comment on all investigations currently in the pipeline. That said, we definitely want to take a more open approach in regards to upcoming class changes.

 

Okay.

 

Here, how about this.

 

Why not make a list of all the classes that have issues. A master list as it were.

 

Don't tell us necessarily what they are precisely.

 

But something like: (This is an example.)

 

Jedi Knight:

 

Guardian:

Issues under investigation

• PVP Mobility.
  
• Survivability issues on DPS tree users.
  

 

Sentinel:

Issues under investigation

• Usability issues.
  
• Lack of a push/pull mechanic.
  

 

 

Etc.

 

That way we can look and see:

"Okay, they are looking at X, Y, and Z right now."

 

Rather than trying to guess what you could possibly be thinking.

Edited January 12, 2012 by ProfessorWalsh

[volander]

this is how the tank should be ..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0mZ6_da4YM

[Kerrai]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfE31V-fhU

 

this. everything is fine, learn to play etc etc. move along

[Draexnael]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfE31V-fhU

 

this. everything is fine, learn to play etc etc. move along

 

Killing low levels (he always trains to a low level over a 50) skilled erm not! Shows nothing.

[Segaki]

and use 1/4th of the buttons.

 

This is really an issue that is annoying me.

 

As I said earlier it is totally fine having to use almost everything at your disposal, but it should be rewarded.

 

Goes not only in solo vs. PVE, but also group as a tank.

 

I can't hear my assasin anymore: oh **** it procced, vanishing...

Or having to keep taunt on cooldown in mob groups.

 

I like being the keyboard DJ, I absolutely hate only using 2-8 skills and having the perfect prio rotation going for max DPS.

I like being versatile with my skills, yet currently it feels I am rather only competitive while having to maintain a very high level of attention to my skills.

 

... and no this does not improve with gear...

 

also this is supposed to be a rant or a: y u no make me class the imbaz?!

 

Just missing the love!

Edited January 12, 2012 by Segaki

[ZakPreston]

So, BW are buffing Jugg's utility which is even now vastly overshadows Marauder's?

• We (Marauders/Sentinels) have no stun
  
• We have no pushback/pull
  
• We deal rougly the same damage in PvP
  
• We have no tank-spec, therefore can't grind def medals
  
• We have much worse PASSIVE mitigation
  

 

And now you are telling that you even more buff their mobility (which is roughly the same), utility and survivability?

 

Question to Devs: Do you really assume that interface lags and delays are the only our (Mara/Sent) real issue?

 

 

I'm grealy sorry for my complains/whine/qq, but there is no fun being the only melee class with mediocre damage (full Champ Carnage spec), low passive def (24,5% kinetic/energy absorption and no elemental/tech def) and the lowest survivability while some of our def cds are down. No fun dying from 4.5-3-3-4.5k dmg combos of Opers or snipers.

 

[Noth]

So, BW are buffing Jugg's utility which is even now vastly overshadows Marauder's?

• We (Marauders/Sentinels) have no stun
  
• We have no pushback/pull
  
• We deal rougly the same damage in PvP
  
• We have no tank-spec, therefore can't grind def medals
  
• We have much worse PASSIVE mitigation
  

 

And now you are telling that you even more buff their mobility (which is roughly the same), utility and survivability?

 

Question to Devs: Do you really assume that interface lags and delays are the only our (Mara/Sent) real issue?

 

 

I'm grealy sorry for my complains/whine/qq, but there is no fun being the only melee class with mediocre damage (full Champ Carnage spec), low passive def (24,5% kinetic/energy absorption and no elemental/tech def) and the lowest survivability while some of our def cds are down. No fun dying from 4.5-3-3-4.5k dmg combos of Opers or snipers.

 

You do not have much worse passive mitigation. Heavy armor is only 5% more mitigation. Full champ I'm at 30% mitigation in heavy armor and that is with shii-cho. I get 4 shotted by scoundrle/ops and snipers. You are not any worse off than dps juggs in passive survivability and are leagues ahead of dps Juggs in actual survivability thanks to cloak of pain, force camo, obfuscate, undying rage, saber ward compared to the juggs saber ward and endure pain. That is only the baseline stuff. Tank is different since the goal of a tank is to mitigate and live and tank spec gives up a lot of damage.

 

On top of that, Marauders have more tools for actually staying on top of a target. Each spec has tools that many juggs would love to have to do so.

[Wefi]

isnt Def, Sheilds, and such broken in pvp?

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=155034

[G_Vega]

I agree with the OP. They need something

[Cartho]

 

It's absolutely true that Juggernauts do not do as much damage as other classes. But THEY'RE NOT MEANT TO. Juggernauts are meant to be tanks.

Juggys have 1 tanking tree and 2 DPS trees. Juggernauts are a heavy armour class which uses a single saber. They can Tank, or DPS. They are not "MEANT TO BE TANKS". Thye are in no more "meant to be tanks" than Arsenal Mercs are "meant" to be healers. They can heal, and Juggernauts can tank. They can also DPS.

 

 

I hear(although I don't know personally) that Powertechs are simply not as good at tanking.

 

notsureifsrs...orjusttrolling.jpg

[Hyperionthethird]

I see a lot of 'guardians should have lower damage than everyone else cus they're tanks, or sentinels should have higher dps because they have to use more buttons or are squishier or whatever.

 

That's not how it works. Because of pve balance you want everyone to do about the same damage when the class is played at it's best. Everything else like survivability and utility can be sort of different levels as long as they balance out overall, but damage over time has to be the same for everyone.

[Richoshist]

The devs have already said that JKs (guardian/juggs especially) are lacking in the survivability and anti-kiting departments. When they step up and say that, you KNOW it's pretty bad.

 

They also mentioned that our DPS, especially our burst DPS (meaning our 1-trick pony, Focus Tree-->Force Sweep) is ok. I personally think Vigilance could use a little damage increase but we'll see.

 

JKs were under-tuned at the start. Anyone saying anything different is wrong, according to the devs. Balance is an ongoing process. I'm just happy to see that Bioware is aware of the situation and are going to take steps to even JKs out.

[Noth]

The devs have already said that JKs (guardian/juggs especially) are lacking in the survivability and anti-kiting departments. When they step up and say that, you KNOW it's pretty bad.

 

They also mentioned that our DPS, especially our burst DPS (meaning our 1-trick pony, Focus Tree-->Force Sweep) is ok. I personally think Vigilance could use a little damage increase but we'll see.

 

JKs were under-tuned at the start. Anyone saying anything different is wrong, according to the devs. Balance is an ongoing process. I'm just happy to see that Bioware is aware of the situation and are going to take steps to even JKs out.

 

I'm glad they are finally recognizing the problem. People were so upset because these were issues brought up in beta as far back as the build that they removed pull form the JK/SW and were given a bit of a make over. They just said they were fine. Would had saved a lot of player disappointment and frustration if they just listened to us back then.

[OriginalBold]

This is my suggestions for fixing warriors, i have thought a lot about it and i honestly think it would help. I understand the Republic side are having the same issues, but I'm posting from a 50 Sith Juggernaught point of view.

 

The number one thing would be to change how rage works. Have it build on its own like other classes. Inquisitors-starts out full force and builds through the fight. Agent- starts out full energy and builds through the fight. Bounty Hunter- starts out zero heat.... see a pattern here? Every class but warriors have all their skills up for use from the start, or constantly building force/energy/reducing heat, by just not using a skill.

 

please remove the cool down from sundering assault Every class in the game gets an instant dps skill, they can just spam, that uses force/energy/heat build.

 

Every class in the game gets a nice ranged attack on the 4 or 5 second cool down. Lower the cool down of saber throw to 4 or 5 seconds and remove the min range.

 

Force Choke, just give it a 30m range, it would be nice to lower to the cool down, but extending the range would definitely help a lot, and bring some balance.

 

Force push, cut the cool down in half. this is just a single target knock back, and putting it on a 30 second cool down would bring us in line with other class's, and add balance.

 

Endure pain...working as intended? I have been gaming for years and seen versions of this skill in tons of games. But I have never seen it outright kill me before, if this was really how it was intended, it's ludicrous. You have "x" you use it now you have "y" so it increase you by a total of "z". when it wears off you if only have "z" or less you die....

 

You don't need to give us a pull just make taunt force a enemy to run to us, not range attack us for a couple seconds, then go back to killing whoever they were before....

 

err the Tank Form (cant remember name), should increase threat generation by 100%, and probably increase the tank skills you get from it... you should actually increase the stats from all the forms for warriors.

 

The only thing I use my 50 Warrior for now, is doing level 50 daily's to make cash to finance my other characters. Since then I have read the forums for other classes for advice and find them calm with people willing to help, there are occasional disgruntled folks, but nothing compared to the Sith Warrior forums. Do the developers even play the class?

Edited January 12, 2012 by OriginalBold

[Dfuen]

Sent/Mara minor junk

 

Defense skills - Why do we have so many of them and why are they complete garbage because of cool downs? I can't understand what the devs where thinking on how this is fun popping so many buttons. Here is a long/elite fight as a sent.

 

1. Pop Rebuke.

2. Pop Saber.

3. Pop Pacify. (If mob can be affected by it)

4. Pop Force at low HP.

 

Instead of all that, why not just give sents a paladin-ish bubble? Cut the HP sacrifice, give it a semi-longer timer, add the rebuke damage effect to it. This would far more easy and clear up a ton of clutter on our bars.

 

Offence skills - I'm going to be blunt, the focus/rage tree should not be a better DPS output for guardians/Jug's instead of Sents/Maras. I'm sure you don't need another lecture on why this is, but it's kinda ridiculous.

 

A DoT tree for melee is painful at best. I know it's stuck and will remain forever in game, but I don't get why we once again need so many buttons to push and so much resource dumps. Take the ability overload/deadly saber. Why do we need to click this to activate it and why does it take rage/force? How about it instead of that it's a free passive that comes up after every rupture/cauterize?

 

Deadly/crippling throw needs a bigger healing debuff. Right now, it's negligible at best when it comes to hurting heals. In a recent warzone, I had a commando who I was wailing on (I was about 12 levels higher) and despite having the crippling throw debuff on him, a sage the same level as me was keeping him up with full heals.

 

Debilitation/Overwhelm, why does this not work?

 

Also, why is it that sents/mara's get no knockbacks/CC at all? I understand not every class needs them, but it seems kind of odd that the only CC I have is a terrible AoE skill with a painful cooldown that doesn't last for long. For a class with the hardest leveling/story zones, it would be nice to have ONE cc worth a damn.

 

Those are just a few minor issues. I won't get into offhand saber damage or anything.

[Camryyn]

Lol@all the people sucking up to George for him spewing out a bunch of nonsense that they interpret as BW "addressing" problems. The post reminds me of congressional hearings that happened aimed at CEOs during bailout times, alot of talking to appease the masses (you and me) and nothing but future blunders ahead.

 

It's like BW isn't even playing the game they made. All of these problems were apparent during beta. Why was it not addressed BEFORE release. Little things like broken chats, or a bad UI, or a bad GTN or ah wtfever it's called, or buggy story quest lines, huge load times that sometimes disconnect, can be EASILY overlooked (sarcasm)but that post full of garbage is rediculous. Ninja fixing the /follow command and not addressing things like the ravage bug is nuts and tells me where their priorities are. Then to suggest fixing the kiteability of HALF of the MELEE classes by proposing a kb to reset a pull timer is insane.

 

I really do enjoy this game and I've enjoyed almost BW game since BG series, but I have to say, considering the budget and timeframe involved in this game, I'm disappointed with the release and I'm nervous going forward. I'm totally with the previous poster about nerfing ALL CCs. It's rediculous that most classes have 2-3 CCs and even more to make one with no CC at all.

[Narvakhan]

so basically, it seems like in order for a guardian tank to be viable in PVP, they have to spec specifically for pvp, which will hurt their ability to tank for pve,

 

I REALLY dont like this vision, I just want to play the game, I think devs should be smart enough to make a game where I can spec tank...and be able to tank BOTH pvp and pve just fine...or spec dps, and be able to fulfill that role in either outlet. I hate the idea that I have to respec EVERY SINGLE TIME that I want to try some pvp with my friends because I also enjoy the single player game....

 

and it seems that the ONLY real role for guardian tanks is to guard, whereas other class tanks can guard AND do viable damage AND provide some moderate CC..all that range, whereas guardians have a hard time even hitting targets outside that initial leap starter... which also ruins that aforementioned role of guarding b/c it takes us out of range of any ranged teammate we are trying to guard

 

and does Hilt strike work in PVP?

 

confused and a bit saddened if this is indeed BW's vision for guardians

 

About having to "spec" for pvp and hurt pve: No, because I use those skills and the reduced force cost in pve. Yes, hilt strike works in PVP, but the agro portion has no bearing, so yes on damage/stun no on large agro.

 

Yes, guardian tanks only real role is to guard and cc. In pvp you will find me bouncing around taunting, cc'ing and stalling while others do damage.

[DralenBrand]

Hi guys,

 

There are many different subjects discussed in this thread and I would like to take the opportunity to give you some information on the topics at hand.

 

First off, we currently have no indication that any class needs a huge buff. Class balance is defined by the interaction between classes and changes we make to one class will, inevitably, move the balance towards or from other classes. Our data and testing currently indicates that the Juggernaut and Guardian AC could use some buffing up in two areas where we see them underperforming against our expectations.

 

Here are some of the things we're planning to roll out in the short term specifically regarding Sith Warriors and Jedi Knights :

 

• Mobility/Anti Kiting (PvP) – We agree with the sentiment voiced by the community that some Guardians and Juggernauts have to work harder than other classes to stay within effective combat range, putting them at a disadvantage. We intend to address this in an upcoming patch where, as a first step, Force Push will clear the cooldown of Force Leap, granting for more reliable in combat pursuit capabilities to the Advanced Class. Further changes will be made if necessary.
   
  
• DPS spec survivability (PvP and PvE) – The DPS specs on Guardian and Juggernaut are performing to our expectations when it comes to the ability to create damage, especially of the burst variety. However their survivability is lagging behind our expectations, especially in the later game, and we are going to start addressing that particular issue in an upcoming patch.

Our attention to the class obviously won't stop here. Balancing MMOs is a never ending endeavor and we're in for the long haul. For example, we are certainly aware that the Marauder and Sentinel are very gameplay intensive classes with some of the most complex rotations in the game. While we are currently looking at quality of life and usability improvements to increase the class' playability without compromising the unique aspects of the class, we don't have anything specific to announce just yet. We do however anticipate that some of the combat responsiveness improvements (AKA 'ability delay' - more on that here) being worked on by our engineering team will specifically aid both Marauder and Sentinel.

 

In regards to PvE balance, any place in the game where our data shows significant issues with the balance tuning for one or more classes or specs are of course also being looked at.

 

For example, Jedi Knights will be pleased to hear that we are working on tuning the final mission in their class chain to provide a better, more fun and more reliably solvable challenge (see a post from another member of my team here). Currently a large percentage of players bring a friend to solve this mission, which, while social and often more fun, is not in line with our stated goal of allowing players to progress solo through their class arc if they desire to do so. We're also looking at some companions with a critical eye to improve their viability for certain role/companion combinations.

 

I would also like to give you some general understanding about approach to class balancing and how you can aid us with your feedback:

 

• Now that we're out of the first few weeks of launch madness, you will see class and combat balance issues addressed with increased frequency. Larger scale gameplay changes and features are more likely to coincide with major content releases, but smaller scale changes and improvements can be expected to become part of our regular update schedule.
   
  
• Statements that we hate a specific class or faction, or that we intentionally underbalance certain classes to make it less popular are conspiracy theory territory. We have nothing to gain from such an approach – we want players to pick the class and faction they want to play and have confidence that they are able to perform their chosen role in the game. Anything that comes in the way of that goal is considered a balance issue for us.
   
  
• We make our balancing decisions based on a combination of internal and external testing and metrics. We don't make decisions based on who is the loudest on the forums. Community feedback is valuable in bringing issues to our attention and even to highlight possible solutions, which means that well written, constructive posts are the most effective way to communicate your wishes and feedback to us, rather than petitions and calls to nerf specific classes.
   
  
• Please understand that balance issues during the leveling process are different than issues at level 50 and are handled in different ways. If you feel your class has issues during your journey to 50, especially communicate the level range and area of the game where you are experiencing issues to aid our investigations. Player versus Player situations in during the leveling process are not always balanced at every level (a mathematical impossibility), but we are always willing to investigate.
   
  
• Just because we haven't mentioned the specific issue close to your heart in a post (such as the one above) doesn't mean we are unaware of it or that we don't want to address it. It would be impractical for us to comment on all investigations currently in the pipeline. That said, we definitely want to take a more open approach in regards to upcoming class changes.

 

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge, again, that we do understand that there is a desire for players to get more detailed information what happens to their character in combat. We agree with those requests and are working on various ways to, optionally, get more detailed data on your combat performance.

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

-- Georg

 

George,

 

I appreciate your post, and I appreciate some of the info - very reassuring that you are looking into this. However, I am concerned that the sentinel is not specifically mentioned vis-a-vis kiting issues and squishiness. From a PvP perspective, the kiting I experience sometimes kills PvP for me. I simply cannot stay in close - particularly in Huttball warzones. I am lvl 27 atm. My concern is that, with all the slow spells, and with all the ranged toons, my awesome dmg potential are sometimes useless even with the combat spec. My sentinel sometimes cannot stay in close enough to get the hits in, and often while I am being kited by melees, they are able to take me down quickly due to my extreme squishiness. It is good to see you are paying attention to the complexity issues concerning sentinels progressions, but it sure would give me some much-needed reassurance if you would post something to let me klnow these things are being looked at specifically in the context of sentinels and squishiness/anti-kiting. Thanks!

Edited January 12, 2012 by DralenBrand

[Tenacity]

Everything the OP is complaining about is true for powertech and assassin tanks as well, and even worse for healer specced classes due to the extremely poor damage mitigation offered by tanking companions.

 

This isnt a knight and warrior issue.

[Faolon]

Everything the OP is complaining about is true for powertech and assassin tanks as well, and even worse for healer specced classes due to the extremely poor damage mitigation offered by tanking companions.

 

This isnt a knight and warrior issue.

 

 

They nerfed tank companions in beta because healers were able to solo things they shouldn't be able to solo.

[kevshootit]

so much of this feels like BW was REALLY scared of everyone rolling Jedi melee, so they designed AWESOME non-jedi classes,

 

Feels like they thought through several cool mechanics to give each of the those classes a viable means of competing with Jedi. (cover, lots of CC's, short cool-down AOE ranged attacks, etc) Seems like all the ranged classes were giving SEVERAL tools to ensure that they each felt very capable and powerful in their own sense. Thats awesome.. I am VERY glad BW was able to figure out ways to make those classes feel EPIC in their story...

 

BUT.... then it just "feels" like when they were designing Jedi Knights, they were sure to put in lots of "safeguards" to make sure that the Jedi weren't OP. (long cool downs, attacks that only work in certain situations, less defense against certain damage types, complicated, multiple button mechanics mastery required just to survive, etc)

 

In the end, you get Jedi melee classes that feel very..... human

 

As I run around the planet my knight is currently on.. ALL I see are Jedi Knights that are 4-5 levels ABOVE the level of the content. I can see WHY BW's metrics are showing that people aren't having a problem in PVE, everything we fight in standard mission is way way below us. I only am able to do heroics and such because I am running 6 levels above my planet and I STILL don't feel OP running heroics with a full team.

 

I understand BW's fear that if Jedi's feel TOO awesome, then no one is going to roll a trooper or smuggler,

 

just don't go TOO extreme in that regards and make Jedi Melee a exercise in feeling weak

[DralenBrand]

so much of this feels like BW was REALLY scared of everyone rolling Jedi melee, so they designed AWESOME non-jedi classes,

 

Feels like they thought through several cool mechanics to give each of the those classes a viable means of competing with Jedi. (cover, lots of CC's, short cool-down AOE ranged attacks, etc) Seems like all the ranged classes were giving SEVERAL tools to ensure that they each felt very capable and powerful in their own sense. Thats awesome.. I am VERY glad BW was able to figure out ways to make those classes feel EPIC in their story...

 

BUT.... then it just "feels" like when they were designing Jedi Knights, they were sure to put in lots of "safeguards" to make sure that the Jedi weren't OP. (long cool downs, attacks that only work in certain situations, less defense against certain damage types, complicated, multiple button mechanics mastery required just to survive, etc)

 

In the end, you get Jedi melee classes that feel very..... human

 

As I run around the planet my knight is currently on.. ALL I see are Jedi Knights that are 4-5 levels ABOVE the level of the content. I can see WHY BW's metrics are showing that people aren't having a problem in PVE, everything we fight in standard mission is way way below us. I only am able to do heroics and such because I am running 6 levels above my planet and I STILL don't feel OP running heroics with a full team.

 

I understand BW's fear that if Jedi's feel TOO awesome, then no one is going to roll a trooper or smuggler,

 

just don't go TOO extreme in that regards and make Jedi Melee a exercise in feeling weak

 

 

^ I agree with a lot of this. I think your tone overstates the DEGREE of this issue, though. I would agree with you much more in PvP context than PvE, though certainly your point about the statistics being skewed in PvE makes sense: of course jedi look like they are doing just as well if they are soloing content that is lower level than similarly levelled ranged classes. My BH, I know, is WAY easer to use than my sentinel. I can solo heroics with my BH fairly easily, but not with my sentinel. It's just a fact. I think anyone playing a BH will find it far easier to solo htough missions than a sentinel. Still, 1-on-1, my combat sentinel doles out dmg fast and in a fun way. BW need sto address this disparity, sure, but I want to point out that sentnels are great characters. a Little work on the balance would go a long way.]

[Torleen]

Hi guys,

 

There are many different subjects discussed in this thread and I would like to take the opportunity to give you some information on the topics at hand.

 

First off, we currently have no indication that any class needs a huge buff. Class balance is defined by the interaction between classes and changes we make to one class will, inevitably, move the balance towards or from other classes. Our data and testing currently indicates that the Juggernaut and Guardian AC could use some buffing up in two areas where we see them underperforming against our expectations.

 

Here are some of the things we're planning to roll out in the short term specifically regarding Sith Warriors and Jedi Knights :

 

• Mobility/Anti Kiting (PvP) – We agree with the sentiment voiced by the community that some Guardians and Juggernauts have to work harder than other classes to stay within effective combat range, putting them at a disadvantage. We intend to address this in an upcoming patch where, as a first step, Force Push will clear the cooldown of Force Leap, granting for more reliable in combat pursuit capabilities to the Advanced Class. Further changes will be made if necessary.
   
  
• DPS spec survivability (PvP and PvE) – The DPS specs on Guardian and Juggernaut are performing to our expectations when it comes to the ability to create damage, especially of the burst variety. However their survivability is lagging behind our expectations, especially in the later game, and we are going to start addressing that particular issue in an upcoming patch.

Our attention to the class obviously won't stop here. Balancing MMOs is a never ending endeavor and we're in for the long haul. For example, we are certainly aware that the Marauder and Sentinel are very gameplay intensive classes with some of the most complex rotations in the game. While we are currently looking at quality of life and usability improvements to increase the class' playability without compromising the unique aspects of the class, we don't have anything specific to announce just yet. We do however anticipate that some of the combat responsiveness improvements (AKA 'ability delay' - more on that here) being worked on by our engineering team will specifically aid both Marauder and Sentinel.

 

In regards to PvE balance, any place in the game where our data shows significant issues with the balance tuning for one or more classes or specs are of course also being looked at.

 

For example, Jedi Knights will be pleased to hear that we are working on tuning the final mission in their class chain to provide a better, more fun and more reliably solvable challenge (see a post from another member of my team here). Currently a large percentage of players bring a friend to solve this mission, which, while social and often more fun, is not in line with our stated goal of allowing players to progress solo through their class arc if they desire to do so. We're also looking at some companions with a critical eye to improve their viability for certain role/companion combinations.

 

I would also like to give you some general understanding about approach to class balancing and how you can aid us with your feedback:

 

• Now that we're out of the first few weeks of launch madness, you will see class and combat balance issues addressed with increased frequency. Larger scale gameplay changes and features are more likely to coincide with major content releases, but smaller scale changes and improvements can be expected to become part of our regular update schedule.
   
  
• Statements that we hate a specific class or faction, or that we intentionally underbalance certain classes to make it less popular are conspiracy theory territory. We have nothing to gain from such an approach – we want players to pick the class and faction they want to play and have confidence that they are able to perform their chosen role in the game. Anything that comes in the way of that goal is considered a balance issue for us.
   
  
• We make our balancing decisions based on a combination of internal and external testing and metrics. We don't make decisions based on who is the loudest on the forums. Community feedback is valuable in bringing issues to our attention and even to highlight possible solutions, which means that well written, constructive posts are the most effective way to communicate your wishes and feedback to us, rather than petitions and calls to nerf specific classes.
   
  
• Please understand that balance issues during the leveling process are different than issues at level 50 and are handled in different ways. If you feel your class has issues during your journey to 50, especially communicate the level range and area of the game where you are experiencing issues to aid our investigations. Player versus Player situations in during the leveling process are not always balanced at every level (a mathematical impossibility), but we are always willing to investigate.
   
  
• Just because we haven't mentioned the specific issue close to your heart in a post (such as the one above) doesn't mean we are unaware of it or that we don't want to address it. It would be impractical for us to comment on all investigations currently in the pipeline. That said, we definitely want to take a more open approach in regards to upcoming class changes.

 

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge, again, that we do understand that there is a desire for players to get more detailed information what happens to their character in combat. We agree with those requests and are working on various ways to, optionally, get more detailed data on your combat performance.

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

-- Georg

 

Finally....

[Socron]

Why would they buff this class when its a skill issue you are having?

[Shrick]

Word, I feel like a marshmallow as a Marauder in PvP