Marksman vs. Virulence comparison question

[DarthShadex]

I've been trying to find some solid data now since I hear Marksman is bottom of the back sort of and since virulence has been nerfed a bit. Can someone help me with this. In terms of dps output I know one is dot based and another burst but I'm wondering if post nerf if virulence is still good or better than MM for both pvp/pve. Any tips would help as my sniper right now is MM and I'm fairly decent with it. I've tried virulence and I like it just kind of stuck between the two.

[Equeliber]

Virulence is still quite a bit higher in overall DPS than MM. The choice in favor of MM is still only on fights with very frequent target switching - like Styraids.

 

The Engineering vs Virulence though... Engi might be desired on more fights now.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Equeliber

[sumquy]

I've been trying to find some solid data now since I hear Marksman is bottom of the back sort of and since virulence has been nerfed a bit. Can someone help me with this. In terms of dps output I know one is dot based and another burst but I'm wondering if post nerf if virulence is still good or better than MM for both pvp/pve. Any tips would help as my sniper right now is MM and I'm fairly decent with it. I've tried virulence and I like it just kind of stuck between the two.

 

which spec is "best" depends very much on what you are doing. i am very experienced in all 3 of the specs and for a venue like pvp, where burst is king, mm is best imo. for pve, viru or engi are going to be your best options, with not much difference between them. some fights have a lot of widely spaced adds making engi the better option, while others are single target tank and spank, so viru is the better choice. but here is the thing that gets ignored in the never ending quest for "the best": every class and spec in the game is viable for everything up to and including hm ops and most nim bosses. there are a few bosses in nim mode that mm will struggle with, but unless that is what you are doing, what difference does that make? every nim raider that i know can run multiple specs on their main and usually their alts too, so if that is your ultimate goal, then you should learn the same at some point, but in the meantime play what you enjoy.

Edited July 25, 2017 by sumquy

[RikuvonDrake]

Virulence is still quite a bit higher in overall DPS than MM. The choice in favor of MM is still only on fights with very frequent target switching - like Styraids.

 

The Engineering vs Virulence though... Engi might be desired on more fights now.

 

I must disagree with this, unless you are talking about HM or SM for Styrak, where DPS isn't a major factor, you want to sit as Virulence on Styrak Nightmare to ensure highest DPS.

 

On topic tho, I really must echo what sumquy says above, there are simply no really though DPS checks on story or veteran content anymore, and this includes even quite a few Master Mode bosses. So play what you enjoy doing, sure Engi is highest DPS with Viru slightly after, but you will be able to clear the majority of the content as Marksman without having to be carried to much.

Edited July 25, 2017 by RikuvonDrake

[DarthShadex]

What about for pvp purposes? Ive noticed that I've been pvping a lot and when I compare the two it feels that viru is more fluid vs MM more clunky. I love the damage output of MM but viru seems to just do more damage outright just smaller numbers. Also I feel really squishy even with my defensive cooldowns. No matter the spec. Doesn't feel like the sniper for the most part is ever in a decent spot. Edited July 25, 2017 by DarthShadex

[sumquy]

What about for pvp purposes? Ive noticed that I've been pvping a lot and when I compare the two it feels that viru is more fluid vs MM more clunky. I love the damage output of MM but viru seems to just do more damage outright just smaller numbers. Also I feel really squishy even with my defensive cooldowns. No matter the spec. Doesn't feel like the sniper for the most part is ever in a decent spot.

 

viru is a lot more mobile than mm, and engi is even slightly more mobile than viru if you like that. the trade off is that a good chunck of your total damage with viru and engi is fluff, you're not killing them with it. mobility is actually a big help in pvp because despite what so many bads seem to think, sniper is squishy. you have to use your cooldowns very discriminately to avoid damage because they are very short duration or on a long cooldown and your self heals are very limited. one thing that will help a lot is learning to use your leg shot pretty much on cooldown (i like the extra slow utility) and your slows. i even take the utility that adds the slow to shatter shot and that is very helpful since it is spammable.

 

when an enemy closes with you, your combat should go something like roll away and leg shot him. get your shots in while he crawls back to you, then use knockback with root. as he closes again time your series of shots/penetrating blast knockback (utility) to push him off and leg shot him again. a lot of them run away/stealth at this point when they realize that are not facing a bad, lol, but if he closes again your roll should be coming off cooldown pretty quickly, but make sure you have the seek cover utility to give fast movement when coming out of entrench. if he uses root break or similar throw in some shatter shot with the slow to put his brakes back on, use a stun or two, and continue until dead. if necessary, use your imperial preparation to reset your cooldowns after you have used your evasion, knockback, and roll. be mindful of the various counters different classes have for these and adjust accordingly, for example good juggs take the immunity after leap utility and concealment ops get evasion on their roll. obviously, ranged have to be approached differently so your tactics here are to interrupt and use your roll and evasion to negate his big hitters. good luck!

Edited July 25, 2017 by sumquy