How do you feel about new abilities being introduced with 6.0?

[TheRandomWolf]

I'm personally not a fan since I already require three hotbars for every single character just to keep all the major abilities in check, and for advanced classes such as Mercenary/Commando I actually have to let go of one or two skills because there just isn't enough room. I would have very much have preferred to see a brand-new discipline added to all classes; now that would be quite interesting! Edited April 15, 2019 by TheRandomWolf

[Pirana]

Not needed. There's already enough abilities for each class. I can only assume being a 'clicker' vs a 'keybinder' is beneficial in this case. I'll remain a keybinder, but it's ability overload.

[SteveTheCynic]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

[TheRandomWolf]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

 

That is a fair point, actually. If it replaces one of the original skills, then it should be fine. Hopefully, that will be the case here.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

 

Good point. I still don't know why we need new abilities, but that would be better than trying to add something else to my priority keybind list.

 

They could be passive abilities too. That way they could balance defensive/offensive abilities without mucking up everyone's rotations.

[Elessara]

I am very much against a reduction in the number of abilities we have but I also agree that we do not need more than what we currently have. A replacement or a passive ... or maybe a long lasting buff similar to the current class abilities ... would be fine though. Just something you're not expected to use in active combat.

[FlameYOL]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

 

That as well, I don't mind new abilities either provided they are actually useful.

[TheRandomWolf]

Hopefully, someone over at BioWare will actually provide some insight about this. I'll keep my fingers crossed just in case!

[MorseGod]

New abilities always mean wild imbalance and a new Flavor of the Month™.

 

...and with the rate Bioware fixes things, that month could be several months or even years.

[TheRandomWolf]

New abilities always mean wild imbalance and a new Flavor of the Month™.

 

...and with the rate Bioware fixes things, that month could be several months or even years.

 

I don't even want to imagine. Whenever games like Guild Wars 2 and TERA introduce new specialization/ classes, the balancing becomes total chaos and it takes them a long time to actually keep things consistent once again. I wasn't really around (or paid any attention) when that was the case in SWTOR. How bad was it?

[Setokai]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

 

One ability i'd like to see for the guardian/jugg get an upgrade would be force choke/stasis to be an aoe one, much like malgus

[Taurax]

Its not going to 80, so we dont get another proficiency point. However, I'm hoping if they do increase the ability, it will be more of a replacement that something brand new. I'm not thinking we need passives either, with full 252+ gear we do pretty well as it is.

[Rion_Starkiller]

I imagine they will pare down some abilities when adding the new ability.

 

But I'm excited for new abilities. One of the best abilities they ever added to the game is Bushwack aka The Lawnmower.

[TUXs]

Nervous...that's how I feel. I'm nervous it's going to upset balance.

[Elessara]

Nervous...that's how I feel. I'm nervous it's going to upset balance.

 

Well ... to be fair ... balance never really existed to begin with.

[Rion_Starkiller]

new meta > balance

[SaerethDL]

The new ability should make us feel powerful :cool:

[Neulwen]

I'm quite worried how it will affect pvp and general play enjoyment. I'm also worried that some old abilities will be removed again. Please don't do this. Look what happened with WoW. Pruning is bad, mkay.

 

I'm mostly happy with how the current abilities, keybind amounts and playstyles are. On some specs I am fully content (like rage jugg and medic op which I mostly play), while on others (like veng jugg, MM sniper, hatred sin) I could do with one or two more abilities (ahem, bring back Shiv for sniper pls).

 

My hope is that these new abilities are some of the old ones that got previously removed being brought back, along with new ones, that perfectly complement and balance each class, making up for their previous underpoweredness or lack of buttons, but I'm not holding my breath too much.

 

My 2nd best hope is that it's some new ability with low impact on gameplay that works the same for all classes (but ofc is class-flavoured), but this seems kind of redundant.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Neulwen

[Sarova]

Not overly excited about new abilities as on some classes I have ability overload. It's taken me a while to sort of my bars being a clicker rather than a key-binder, however:

New abilities always mean wild imbalance and a new Flavor of the Month™.

 

...and with the rate Bioware fixes things, that month could be several months or even years.

Please let it be Lightning Spec Inquisitors! We are long overdue for some overpowered-godliness even if only for a month

[SiegePro]

I’d be okay with new abilities, but agree about the idea they should be replacements rather than new ones.

 

Honestly, with the level bump they’re going to reshuffle everything anyway so your capstone will come at 75 instead of 70... which probably means getting things at odd levels instead of evens.

 

So they’ll probably bump the levels you gain things for your spec tree by 1 (i.e. 11, 13, 15 instead of 10, 12, 14) and move the final utility choice to 75. Which probably means two new passives (71 and 73).

 

Maybe they’ll surprise us though and leave the utility where it’s at (or rather at 71) and give us a new passive at 73 and a capstone skill (that replaces something else) at 75.

 

A lot I think will depend on this new tactical item they’re mentioning that they say will be style defining. I’m skeptical it will make that big a difference unless they do something like offload the “role” (i.e. tank, heal, dps) to the tactical item, but another option might be offload some of the skills to it instead.

 

By that I mean drop a bunch of the skills from the class and then offer something like...

 

- Story Tactical Module: merge all similar powers with reduced cooldowns (ex. Instead of darkness tank’s discharge and wither as two aoe’s with 10 sec cool downs... make it one skill with a 6 sec cooldown) and provide defensive cooldowns and attack boosters that automatically trigger at certain health or energy levels the way the temp powers did in FE chap. 12. Provides baseline competency (good enough for story mode ops at appropriate gear rating).

 

- Veteran Tactical Module: Commonly used skills (attacks and DCDs) are used actively, rare skills are automated as with basic level. If active attacks and DCDs are used properly you’ll do better than baseline, but more poorly if you’re not using at the right times (can do Vet mode ops of the appropriate gear rating if using the available skills correctly).

 

- Master Tactical Module: All skills are activated by the player only. If used properly will be well above the baseline, but will fall way behind if you’re not making full use of all the abilities available (you’ll need to use all the skills correctly at the appropriate gear rating to beat Master mode ops).

[hillerbees]

I'd like Mercs to get a Jango Fett-esque head butt move that would act as a stun.....or else rear view mirrors for when we use our escape

[BelorfinSiana]

I'd rather get my old abilities back, like Flamethrower and Stockstrike.

[TrixxieTriss]

As long as they cull, replace or combine some abilities, I’ve no problems with new ones.

 

But I don’t like the idea of just adding new abilities ontop of the current ones because it will cause ability bloat. Some classes already have way more abilities than others. (I’m looking at you “sniper”). While you have other classes (sins) with much less abilities.

 

IMO, all classes should have close to “similar” number of abilities. Of course some will have a few more to add complexity (difficulty) or they may have a few more because they are classified as a utility type class. ie, Sorcs.

But they shouldn’t have so many that people end up taking some off the task bar or keybinds because they aren’t needed or used. ie, once you get past lvl 10, a Sorc shouldn’t be using their light sabre ability at all.

Edited April 16, 2019 by TrixxieTriss

[OlBuzzard]

Depends. If they are more abilities like Full Auto / Boltstorm, where a high-level one replaces a low-level one, it's not a problem.

 

Agreed... There are a few lower end abilities that could use some adjustment or replacement with a higher one! That might work.

[Quraswren]

I'm worried bioware wont get it even close to right as far as balance goes. Combined with how some classes just have a ton of things to mash already.

 

I like the idea mentioned above about taking a lower level ability and replacing it at higher level. Thats a good start and a great idea.