3.1.2 IO Merc Gearing

[Hellhog]

I didn't see any specific threads regarding gearing an IO Merc post nerf and wanted other's opinions on what they're doing.

 

So before 3.1.2, I used to run 530 crit and 4 surge pieces (just over 72% multiplier) In a decent amount of 198 gear with a few 192 pieces (mainly mods and armorings) I could hit 4.7k pretty easily on a 1.5mil parse (give or take 50 dps).

 

As soon as I jumped in, first thing I noticed is the feel of the rotation without the 2% alacrity, it felt clunky and slow. Considering the dots lost their 30% multiplier bonus, I've been toying with running less crit and 3 surge pieces and 1 alacrity (essentially trading about 2.2% multiplier for 1.58% alacrity). I was averaging 4440 in my previous gear with a 4625 outlier. I'm getting about 4540 now with 450 crit and the 3:1 surge/alacrity ratio. I'm going to try lesser amounts of crit as well. I had 1 at 330 crit rating before I had to raid which was 4500 but that was only 1 test so I can't really take anything away from it.

 

So far I'm feeling fairly confident with sticking with the 3:1 ratio as that seemed to work in raid too against HM M&B. I still haven't found my sweet spot for crit yet. But I was wondering what others were doing now that 3.1.2 dropped, if anything at all.

[Goatwhore]

Right so, I can't bring any of that math nerd jazz to the table but I'll tell you what I found out. I did 5 parses each with about 10 different gear setups on 500k dummies and took averages on each gear setup's DPS. I realize this isn't the most exacting way to figure this **** out, but until the math nerds roll in deep it's all I got.

 

Note: Gearing is generally 198 BiS. Sorry can't help w/ 192 BiS, don't have numbers memorized.

 

The highest average parsing setup (4870) for me was 0 alacrity/480 surge/694 crit (aim augments + 1 acc).

 

A close second was 120 alacrity/360 surge.

 

I tried 292 alacrity (1.4s PS/SS 2.9sUL). Averaged in the 4.7ks. I tried power builds, alacrity builds, drop aim for alacritiy and surge builds, and they were all meh.

[Hellhog]

I think a 500k parse is too short though to be able to get a feel for sustained. That's a very bursty duration, which arguably is more attuned to some of the fights because of downtime though so may be a better tell for raiding.

 

I don't know, I finally turned in two of the pieces I got last night trading 2 192 crit mods and 2 192 armorings for their 198 versions. Around 430 crit (sitting at about 2020 tech bonus damage by the way). I seem to be averaging 4600-4650 on the 1.5mil parses now. Both of those being with a 3:1 surge/alacrity ratio and a 2:2 ratio. I presume the 3:1 will be better in boss fights just because of downtime. In all cases though I'm seeing much better performance than 4:0 surge/alacrity like I used to use pre 3.1.2.

 

Even though my DPS seemed fine for M&B with the trade off for a surge piece for alacrity. I looked back at Underlurker and my DPS definitely took a significant hit (albeit since there were two variables, the nerf and my gear, I cannot attribute which had the greater affect or if the gear was positive in anyway).

[kamenoko]

There's a post on the front page titled "Apologizes to the Assault Mando/IO Merc community ". The post 3.1.2 calculations are around page 6.

[RookB]

I’ve had some time to run simulations with the modified damage to IO since patch 3.1.2. Results show the following:

 

Accuracy: Still need to have as close to 110% without going over. Anything over is essentially wasted.

 

Surge & Alacrity: The low Alacrity stat distributions prior to the patch do not perform well now. I found 480 to 600 Alacrity gives the best DPS. This means sacrificing on Surge. The best rating came with 4*120 + 2 augments of Alacrity and 120 + 2 augments of Surge.

 

Crit & Power: These can be evenly swapped out without much variation in DPS. From about 200 to 600 Crit produces about the same DPS with no clear peak.

 

Aim: Remaining augments are Aim. In this distribution, it was actually beneficial to give up a few for tertiary stats. You could use Power or Crit augments instead of Aim as it doesn’t affect the results much.

 

The Attack adrenal, FR and SA relics are still the best options.

 

Stats detail and simulation results

SWTOR Mercenary DPS Simulator v3.1.2

 

Previous average DPS in min/max gear was 5170 . After the 3.1.2 patch, it is 4980. This results in a 3.7% DPS loss.

 

I look forward to see how other theory crafter’s and parser's results compare.

[Hellhog]

So pre 3.1.2, did people find your algorithm to be true for an actual parse or boss fight? I'm tempted to design this build for my gear. The thing I worry about is how much it will cost me to setup. The other thing I worry about, is if it is successful for parsing but detrimental in actual boss fights.

[TACeMossie]

I’ve had some time to run simulations with the modified damage to IO since patch 3.1.2. Results show the following:

 

Accuracy: Still need to have as close to 110% without going over. Anything over is essentially wasted.

 

Surge & Alacrity: The low Alacrity stat distributions prior to the patch do not perform well now. I found 480 to 600 Alacrity gives the best DPS. This means sacrificing on Surge. The best rating came with 4*120 + 2 augments of Alacrity and 120 + 2 augments of Surge.

 

Crit & Power: These can be evenly swapped out without much variation in DPS. From about 200 to 600 Crit produces about the same DPS with no clear peak.

 

Aim: Remaining augments are Aim. In this distribution, it was actually beneficial to give up a few for tertiary stats. You could use Power or Crit augments instead of Aim as it doesn’t affect the results much.

 

The Attack adrenal, FR and SA relics are still the best options.

 

Stats detail and simulation results

SWTOR Mercenary DPS Simulator v3.1.2

 

Previous average DPS in min/max gear was 5170 . After the 3.1.2 patch, it is 4980. This results in a 3.7% DPS loss.

 

I look forward to see how other theory crafter’s and parser's results compare.

 

Was hoping for a better Sim/Stat calculator than my rather primitive model. Good to see one, and also good to see my primitive model wasn't that far off.

[mrvwbug]

Is there any data on how much the gap between IO and Arsenal has narrowed?

[Gyronamics]

Is there any data on how much the gap between IO and Arsenal has narrowed?

 

On a dummy?

 

From huge to slightly less huge.

 

On Revanite Commanders?

 

IO increased its negative lead over Arsenal slightly.

[NaiBlo]

I’ve had some time to run simulations with the modified damage to IO since patch 3.1.2. Results show the following:

 

Accuracy: Still need to have as close to 110% without going over. Anything over is essentially wasted.

 

Surge & Alacrity: The low Alacrity stat distributions prior to the patch do not perform well now. I found 480 to 600 Alacrity gives the best DPS. This means sacrificing on Surge. The best rating came with 4*120 + 2 augments of Alacrity and 120 + 2 augments of Surge.

 

Crit & Power: These can be evenly swapped out without much variation in DPS. From about 200 to 600 Crit produces about the same DPS with no clear peak.

 

Aim: Remaining augments are Aim. In this distribution, it was actually beneficial to give up a few for tertiary stats. You could use Power or Crit augments instead of Aim as it doesn’t affect the results much.

 

The Attack adrenal, FR and SA relics are still the best options.

 

Stats detail and simulation results

SWTOR Mercenary DPS Simulator v3.1.2

 

Previous average DPS in min/max gear was 5170 . After the 3.1.2 patch, it is 4980. This results in a 3.7% DPS loss.

 

I look forward to see how other theory crafter’s and parser's results compare.

 

Hey, it's easier to ask, which rotation do you use?

[RookB]

So pre 3.1.2, did people find your algorithm to be true for an actual parse or boss fight?

Honestly, I haven't got a lot of feedback from other users. It's not really tailored to boss fights since there can be a lot more going on. I can say that it matches parses very well. I've been using it a lot while getting new and better gear and it has correlated well with actual parses.

 

Hey, it's easier to ask, which rotation do you use?

This is the rotation I used for the simulation and what I use for parses.

For those interested, the simulator's main interface uses a priority based rotation, which works well for Arsenal. It's OK for simulating IO, but when I do more detailed analysis I use a hidden ability. On the hidden tab "Ref", you can enter the full parse, step-by-step. With this I've been able to compare other people's parses and calculations more accurately. It does take more time to get this level of accuracy. I just use the main interface most of the time to compare gear and upgrades.

[AgustusCaesar]

Some food for thought.

 

I have no idea if the gear calculator take this into consideration but both heat generation and ICD are huge problems when you start messing with alacrity.

 

If you are having ICD problems you will notice it very quickly.

After 1 - 3 rotations your Mag-Shot will not proc.

To fix this issue a slight increase or decrease in alacrity ( adding or removing 1 augment ) Will usually fix it.

 

Heat generation is a much harder problem to spot. This has to do with both server lag and how random your alacrity rating might be.

A great way to check is to do 3-4 rotations in a row with the same alacrity build. What your looking for is how much heat you have going into the 4th rotation. At the beginning of the 4th rotation you will be between 40 - 89 heat depending on how much your alacrity you have. You need to be @ 48 heat or less. If you are over 50 heat you will be to hot, and will not make it to TSO ( 8th rotation).

 

Again, I don't know if calculators will take into consideration the heat management or the ICD issues.

 

Here are 2 builds that I have put together that work very well.

 

 

Crit : 374

Surge : 240

Alacrity : 620

1M parse : 4820

( this is also with 192 Mh and with the Reusable nano-attack adrenal )

 

Crit : 374

Surge : 240

Alacrity : 932

1M parse : 4826

( this is also with 192 Mh and with the Reusable nano-attack adrenal )

Edited April 10, 2015 by AgustusCaesar

[Hellhog]

I’ve had some time to run simulations with the modified damage to IO since patch 3.1.2. Results show the following:

 

Accuracy: Still need to have as close to 110% without going over. Anything over is essentially wasted.

 

Surge & Alacrity: The low Alacrity stat distributions prior to the patch do not perform well now. I found 480 to 600 Alacrity gives the best DPS. This means sacrificing on Surge. The best rating came with 4*120 + 2 augments of Alacrity and 120 + 2 augments of Surge.

 

Crit & Power: These can be evenly swapped out without much variation in DPS. From about 200 to 600 Crit produces about the same DPS with no clear peak.

 

Aim: Remaining augments are Aim. In this distribution, it was actually beneficial to give up a few for tertiary stats. You could use Power or Crit augments instead of Aim as it doesn’t affect the results much.

 

The Attack adrenal, FR and SA relics are still the best options.

 

Stats detail and simulation results

SWTOR Mercenary DPS Simulator v3.1.2

 

Previous average DPS in min/max gear was 5170 . After the 3.1.2 patch, it is 4980. This results in a 3.7% DPS loss.

 

I look forward to see how other theory crafter’s and parser's results compare.

 

So I've tested out this gear so far. Just some insight. I have 4 198 armorings and offhand. Remainder of armorings and mainhand are 192. A mix of optimized 192/198 mods. All 198 optimized enhancements. 198 token implants. 192 token earpiece. And a 192 and 186 relic.

 

Before 3.1.2 I was running 6:4:0 accuracy, surge, alacrity ratio and 530 crit rating. 1 accuracy augment with 13 mainstat augments. I averaged in the ballpark of 4700 DPS on a 1.5mil dummy parse. Post 3.1.2 with the above gear I was getting 4450 DPS on average on a 1.5mil dummy parse.

 

Post 3.1.2. I change my gear to a 6:3:1 accuracy, surge, alacrity ratio and 440 crit rating. 1 accuracy augment with 13 mainstat augments. I averaged 4570 DPS with a 37.5 APM. This was on a 1.5mil dummy and averaged over 7 parses.

 

Now I modified my gear to the following: 5:1:4 accuracy, surge, alacrity ratio and 340 crit rating. 3 accuracy augments, 2 surge augments, 2 alacrity augments, and 7 mainstat augments. I averaged 4630 DPS with a 39.5 APM. This was also on on a 1.5mil dummy and averaged over 7 parses. (since I had 99.9% accuracy [1 in 1000 chance to miss] I did miss once across all parses, interestingly enough it was on the high outlier parse]).

 

So parsing wise I'm seeing about 60 DPS more and an increase in 2 APM using the gearing style of trading 6 mainstat augments (about 68.8 bonus damage and 0.5% crit) for tertiary stats. In boss fights, I honestly can't even tell a difference yet. I know my Merc definitely felt weaker in fights like HM Torque (post nerf in my 6:3:1 gear) where my job is to also DPS dangerous fire devices for my raid group. Underlurker my DPS was up 200 on the kill from before but it was also down on some of the wipe pulls so that tells me nothing. I play Arsenal for Commanders and my DPS there was pretty much the same. Even though I favor high surge for that fight, this gear is not exactly hot swappable without paying a high price. So the smaller bonus damage and surge for that fight was no different for me. So I'm not exactly sure if I will keep this build or not or if I will try to tweak it for myself. I do like having the high alacrity, it certainly is convenient.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Hellhog

[Darth__Reaver]

Right so, I can't bring any of that math nerd jazz to the table but I'll tell you what I found out. I did 5 parses each with about 10 different gear setups on 500k dummies and took averages on each gear setup's DPS. I realize this isn't the most exacting way to figure this **** out, but until the math nerds roll in deep it's all I got.

 

Note: Gearing is generally 198 BiS. Sorry can't help w/ 192 BiS, don't have numbers memorized.

 

The highest average parsing setup (4870) for me was 0 alacrity/480 surge/694 crit (aim augments + 1 acc).

 

A close second was 120 alacrity/360 surge.

 

I tried 292 alacrity (1.4s PS/SS 2.9sUL). Averaged in the 4.7ks. I tried power builds, alacrity builds, drop aim for alacritiy and surge builds, and they were all meh.

 

I loled so hard cuz this is what I do. "Wait for the math nerds to come" and I end up not understanding a single thing said so normally I do my own thing and that's stack power and surge baby!!!

Edited April 17, 2015 by Darth__Reaver

[Goatwhore]

Honestly, I haven't got a lot of feedback from other users. It's not really tailored to boss fights since there can be a lot more going on. I can say that it matches parses very well. I've been using it a lot while getting new and better gear and it has correlated well with actual parses.

 

 

This is the rotation I used for the simulation and what I use for parses.

For those interested, the simulator's main interface uses a priority based rotation, which works well for Arsenal. It's OK for simulating IO, but when I do more detailed analysis I use a hidden ability. On the hidden tab "Ref", you can enter the full parse, step-by-step. With this I've been able to compare other people's parses and calculations more accurately. It does take more time to get this level of accuracy. I just use the main interface most of the time to compare gear and upgrades.

 

Props for the simulator. I messed around with it for awhile, tried some different setups, and thanks to your simulator I got a 5156, so I'm happy. FYI it was a 172 alacrity, 480 surge, 694 crit, and 99.99% acc setup (198 BiS 192 MH). Although the crit to power ratio can be varied. This gear setup also got a higher median parse than any 240 alacrity setup. The thing is every now and then it doesn't work well with the resource system, so I still prefer 240 alac 360 surge in OPs.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Goatwhore