[LF In-Depth Advice] Ranked PvP DPS - Viability, team value, and troll prevention.

[ACGOG]

Howdy,

 

First and foremost, did a search for this and the only post seems to be from a few years ago and isn't quite as in-depth as I'd like. I also currently play on Satele Shan so I'm hoping to get some advice from some of the more active servers. I also apologize for the long-winded post but I'm trying to find the right balance between fun and value in ranked and want to provide my experiences to see if they coincide with ranked. I also want to preface this by stating that I am by no means the best PvPer or even close to it, but I'm not completely a noob either.

 

A quick breakdown of the top-50 ranked people as of 11/01/20, Patch 6.1.4.

 

• Sniper - 11
  
• Powertech - 8
  
• Sage - 6
  
• Juggernaut - 6
  
• Marauder - 6
  
• Mercenary - 5
  
• Operative - 5
  
• Assassin - 3
  

 

The class breakdown is very interesting to me. I also know that top-50 isn't quite indicative of the rest of ranked as a whole... but it's interesting nonetheless. I also wish that it would show spec as I can't differentiate between healer and DPS.

 

Servers

• Darth Malgus - 27
  
• Star Forge - 17
  
• Satele Shan - 3
  
• The Leviathan - 3
  

 

The purpose of this is I'm looking to start ranked PvP. I've invested in my Assassin heavily, getting to ilvl 306 with proper set, tactical, fully augmented and (mostly) min-maxed. After playing the class for so many years though it isn't quite as interesting as it used to be to me. On top of that I want to invest in another character, hence this post.

 

I have a level 75 Marauder, a level 75 Mercenary, on top of a level 70 Operative and Sorcerer. I haven't rolled a PT or Sniper yet. All have been played at their respective maxes, even if I haven't hit the current top level. A few observations from perusing the forums and from playing in general.

 

• The Assassin is very versatile. The DCD's are great, the damage is great. I'm honestly surprised there aren't more in the top-50. People here seem to be under the assumption that they can 1v1 anything; I haven't quite discovered this yet.
  
• My Mercenary is incredibly fun to play. It has a ton of escapes and if I'm not focused the damage output is great. Being able to heal is a plus and I can generally respond to any situation. That being said, I feel like I'm always focused 100% of the time and spend the vast majority of the arena doing nothing but trying to stay alive. This is as the Arsenal spec.
  
• The Marauder has great damage output and is also fairly versatile as well. Seems to be along the same lines as the Assassin with a great amount of DCD's while also providing even more burst. This might be why there are more Mara's than Assassins.
  
• I'm legitimately surprised at how many PT's are on this list. People seem to ***** about them non-stop here on the forums. I feel like they do have decent burst and have decent survivability. Being able to pull a target toward the group I'm sure is also immensely valuable.
  
• Good Sorcs are hard as hell to bring down. I cut my teeth on my Sorc back-in-the-day when Madness was amazing; it seems like it's shifted considerably towards Lightning.
  
• My Operative is squishy as hell. I've always heard about them being the kings of 1v1's - and while that might be the case, I don't seem to be able to do a whole lot in a group setting. I'll do my best to put pressure on non-guarded targets, shift focus to quickly stun, but it just doesn't seem as team oriented as the other classes. Likewise it doesn't seem like a class that can carry like the others. This is one of my least played classes so it could absolutely be a L2P issue.
  
• Only because I've been playing for a long time, I understand the Snipers to a certain extent. I know that they are the hardest class to master but seem to be able to carry the hardest. I've run into a handful of really good Snipers who are tanky as hell, but it seems that if you can LOS them you can generally ignore them.
  

 

So again, I'm wondering if my experiences have any type of comparison to actual ranked PvP. I thought that my next invested character was going to be my Mara but I really enjoy playing my Merc, and am open to working on my Sorc and Operative again.

 

However, how valuable are those classes in actuality? Those three I listed are the least played classes. I also don't know how many of them are healers compared to DPS.

 

If I do decide to invest in one of these classes next as DPS, how will the Ranked Community react? I've seen and heard the complaints here about how toxic it is and would like to minimize the negative feedback as much as possible. For the time being, I honestly want to get my Arsenal Merc up to snuff next but I haven't heard very good things in how people react to that, even with how much fun it is to play.

 

Likewise, I've been playing for a while and will continue to play for a while. I know that one of the general consensuses here is always "play what you want to play" and "try them all out" but I'm looking for more concrete feedback for the short term on what to work next. I'll eventually get them all to the same level I'm sure.

 

Thank you!

[TrueEquality]

so ya i'm pretty sure mara/sent deals with toxicity the least followed by op/scoun and to a lesser extent sage/sorc heals, i didnt think much on this but ya u cant go wrong with these classes to prevent being under the mircrosope of psychos while playing mediocre, at least on my server if you queue pub side you don't have to hear the psycho babble in fleet chat Edited November 6, 2020 by TrueEquality

[Enticy]

PT is so high on the list because they have immense burst. A well geared AP PT can kill you seconds. And everyone knows the class is squishy, so as long as you can kill at least one person before dying, no one gives you a hard time for getting tunneled. If you're good enough to survive the opening minute of a match, then you might as well be handed the win.

 

As for Snipers, what I've observed is that if a Sniper's team can peel for them, and keep everyone else occupied, then a Sniper can pretty much shoot forever, and lay down big numbers fast. Sorcs are in the same boat, but a Sniper's collection of DCDs blows the Sorc's right out of the water. The survivability is just not the same. A Sniper can somewhat stand and take punishment while dishing it out. The second a Sorc gets focused, it's time to run, which can cut DPS down by a third.

[JediMasterAlex]

The class breakdown is very interesting to me. I also know that top-50 isn't quite indicative of the rest of ranked as a whole... but it's interesting nonetheless. I also wish that it would show spec as I can't differentiate between healer and DPS.

 

I can only speak for SF with confidence, but what I'm going to say probably applies to DM as well. The snipers are mostly MM, but one is engie. The pts are all AP, the sorcs are all lightning, the juggs are all tanks, the maras are all fury, the mercs are arsenal or IO, the ops are all conc, and the sins are all deception. No healers that I'm aware of.

 

• The Assassin is very versatile. The DCD's are great, the damage is great. I'm honestly surprised there aren't more in the top-50. People here seem to be under the assumption that they can 1v1 anything; I haven't quite discovered this yet.
  
• My Mercenary is incredibly fun to play. It has a ton of escapes and if I'm not focused the damage output is great. Being able to heal is a plus and I can generally respond to any situation. That being said, I feel like I'm always focused 100% of the time and spend the vast majority of the arena doing nothing but trying to stay alive. This is as the Arsenal spec.
  
• The Marauder has great damage output and is also fairly versatile as well. Seems to be along the same lines as the Assassin with a great amount of DCD's while also providing even more burst. This might be why there are more Mara's than Assassins.
  
• I'm legitimately surprised at how many PT's are on this list. People seem to ***** about them non-stop here on the forums. I feel like they do have decent burst and have decent survivability. Being able to pull a target toward the group I'm sure is also immensely valuable.
  
• Good Sorcs are hard as hell to bring down. I cut my teeth on my Sorc back-in-the-day when Madness was amazing; it seems like it's shifted considerably towards Lightning.
  
• My Operative is squishy as hell. I've always heard about them being the kings of 1v1's - and while that might be the case, I don't seem to be able to do a whole lot in a group setting. I'll do my best to put pressure on non-guarded targets, shift focus to quickly stun, but it just doesn't seem as team oriented as the other classes. Likewise it doesn't seem like a class that can carry like the others. This is one of my least played classes so it could absolutely be a L2P issue.
  
• Only because I've been playing for a long time, I understand the Snipers to a certain extent. I know that they are the hardest class to master but seem to be able to carry the hardest. I've run into a handful of really good Snipers who are tanky as hell, but it seems that if you can LOS them you can generally ignore them.
  

 

Sins are good, but they're pretty squishy between their stealth outs. I don't play sin, but the good ones tend to know when they can stay in doing damage, when they need to play super defensively (like waiting in stealth before re-engaging), and when to apply guard (especially important with the recent dps guard nerfs).

 

AP pts do absurd amounts of damage with the powerlode tactical. And they're pretty simple to play ultimately. You jump in, basically pop all your dcds at once and just do as much damage as possible until you die.

 

Ops and snipers are probably the two hardest classes to play to their fullest potential, but they also have the highest ceilings when mastered for sure.

 

Lightning sorcs are very good. Madness, while playable, is inferior to lightning in every way, even cleave.

 

So again, I'm wondering if my experiences have any type of comparison to actual ranked PvP. I thought that my next invested character was going to be my Mara but I really enjoy playing my Merc, and am open to working on my Sorc and Operative again.

 

However, how valuable are those classes in actuality? Those three I listed are the least played classes. I also don't know how many of them are healers compared to DPS.

 

If I do decide to invest in one of these classes next as DPS, how will the Ranked Community react? I've seen and heard the complaints here about how toxic it is and would like to minimize the negative feedback as much as possible. For the time being, I honestly want to get my Arsenal Merc up to snuff next but I haven't heard very good things in how people react to that, even with how much fun it is to play.

 

The only classes that people would get mad at you for just for playing them are rage jugg, hatred sin, madness sorc, sin tank and pt tank.

 

Arsenal merc is a good choice to start ranked pvp on in my opinion. Once you get used to popping your dcds correctly, you can take a good amount of damage before you die, and you're not as susceptible to getting globaled like many other classes (though it can still happen if you pop reflect or kolto when you're really low).

 

Lightning sorc, conc op and fury mara are all fine choices too. No one would bat an eye at any of them.

 

Whatever class you decide to play, make sure you have the correct set bonus and tactical(s), stats that at least make some sense, and have practiced a decent amount in regs.

Edited November 2, 2020 by JediMasterAlex

[EnzoForMe]

For dps, arsenal and concealment are very consistent performers and don't require a ton of experience to be good with. Both have excellent dcds and an easy damage rotation, with some nice group utilizes like mez and cleanse. I usually recommend Arsenal to new or less experienced solo ranked players as it's one of the more forgiving classes defensively and offensively.

 

Fury maras excel against opposition that chases ineffectively. The playstyle is very... unique when equipped with Defel Spliced Genes tactical in that you run all over the map trying to out of combat heal. Fairly gimmicky imo, and not a top tier class in the current state of the meta against good players.

 

AP is the most straightforward dps class - go in and do as much damage as possible before you die (you are virtually always focused first before any other class). The main difference here is APs that run Meteor Brawler tend to die in 15-30 seconds, while PTs running Emergency Power can reliably live longer, but not that long. Since crossguard was nerfed I wouldn't consider these a top spec in dps games anymore, but they are absolutely top tier in heal/dps games due to the raw damage outpout with powerlode tactical.

 

Lightning and Marksman in my opinion have the highest skill cap and carry-potential for 4 dps games. Both are very unforgiving though, and even an average player at these specs will often die fairly easily. Would not recommend for less experienced solo ranked players.

 

Deception is also a fairly high-skill cap class, and brings a ton of utility to the table with more stuns than any other class along with two stealth outs per round to heal. The raw damage is fairly meh though since maul spam was nerfed. A well-played deception can help shut down the other team while providing many stun chains for your burst dps to kill a target.

 

Would not recommend playing jug dps in the current meta - poor survivability and cleave-y damage that doesn't help a lot in getting that first kill. Rage, madness, and hatred are the bottom 3 solo ranked specs atm. Vigi, Anni, Carnage, and Pyro aren't much better.

Edited November 3, 2020 by EnzoForMe

[ACGOG]

This has all been great so far, thank you.

[TrueEquality]

ultimately you're never gonna be able to prevent trolls from getting on you, wether you're good enough or not, just like society, ranked is full of tribalists (cults) and psychopaths, people who try to manipulate you into playing bad by belittling or to put them on some creepy *** pedestal, if it were up to these .... ranked would pop for like 1 hour of the day then be dead for the next 23, they really should just push people to q granked and stick with that, sometimes is tough love, sometimes is delusional expectations and sometimes it's ..... the world is hellish enough as it is, sometimes i wonder why would i choose to be around and listen to these ughs by choice Edited November 8, 2020 by TrueEquality