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Star Wars: The Old Republic |OT| EA: "Let's blow this thing and go home!"

Yaska

Member
Notes for those considering sentinel
It's a class that is hard to master, but after learning the ropes it's quite good. Also choosing right build is important, as watchman was pre 1.2 alot stronger than combat ( but both have their perks). If you can spare the time to master it, it's quite strong. If you can't master it, you will die. ALOT. Also it's pain in the ass to pve 'til you get the healing companion :p This from someone who mained sentinel since pre-release.
 

Sappy113

Member
I'd say the problem with PvP, if any, is the lack of rated warzones. Regular warzones are a mess because the gear discrepancy increased exponentially with this patch (battlemaster vs recruit/champion is HUGE), and all the battlemasters are stuck in regular wz's waiting for rateds. Once we get rateds, we get regular wz's for fresh 50s, alts, and decently geared peeps; while the coordinated groups of BMs move to rateds where we can see strats start to develop and get a better look at what truly is overpowered and uncounterable and what is just a pubstomper spec/class (operatives are probably the biggest example of this--I'm going to say they will be one of the weakest rated dps, but will still absolutely destroy regular warzones becaue they are pure gankers designed to win 1v1s and piss you off).

You're not wrong in this, but you also have to take into account how expertise works now. Since it buffs damage output a lot more than it does mitigation or, to an even greater extent, healing, burst damage is flying around a lot more wildly than is was before.

It just makes a lot of encounters more zergy and less tactical. I really don't like that change, but try to adapt, and, at least for now, accept that damage is pretty rampant. I do hope they scale it down, because it makes for more frantic, but not skillfull, combat.
 

antonz

Member
Eh idk; snipers are probably the most underrated class in the game right now and can do insane damage from 30 yards away, are unchargable, and have leg shot + a knockback to keep you away. Sorcs are pretty squish, but the amount of tools packed into that class is insane--most sorcs are baddies though so they try to fight melees IN melee and get punished. Mercs are the only real class I honestly feel a little bad for. No interrupt, good mitigation, but I feel like they do nothing to me--I just interrupt their tracer and dance around them; they might knock me back and pop a shield that allows them to live a lot longer, but they are finished.

Ranged classes are always the easiest to PvE with, but usually harder to PvP (at least from my perspective from playing different MMOs) with because they require careful positioning and lots of kiting. You can't fight a melee in melee as a ranged--you will lose. Because a melee can't have the uptime of a ranged, they deal a lot more damage but are more susceptible to slows, roots, etc... and need to be in the center of a fight while a ranged guy can stand 30 yards away and dps away.

Melee are too mobile? I don't know if I can agree with that, no dps spec has a grapple (except powertechs maybe?); and the rest have 1-2 abilities max to close the gap. Marauders have charge (they can use vanish offensively but then you can punish them as they won't have it to escape). Juggs have charge and force push which refreshes charge, but probably have the lowest PvP damage in the game of any dps spec. Operatives have stealth. Assassins have stealth and sprint. Powertechs have a charge and a grapple. I really don't see the problem. Most ranged classes in turn have 2+ abilities to deal with gap closers or an annoying melee.

I'd say the problem with PvP, if any, is the lack of rated warzones. Regular warzones are a mess because the gear discrepancy increased exponentially with this patch (battlemaster vs recruit/champion is HUGE), and all the battlemasters are stuck in regular wz's waiting for rateds. Once we get rateds, we get regular wz's for fresh 50s, alts, and decently geared peeps; while the coordinated groups of BMs move to rateds where we can see strats start to develop and get a better look at what truly is overpowered and uncounterable and what is just a pubstomper spec/class (operatives are probably the biggest example of this--I'm going to say they will be one of the weakest rated dps, but will still absolutely destroy regular warzones becaue they are pure gankers designed to win 1v1s and piss you off).

The issue in this game is the Melee DPS classes are not true melee DPS classes. They have far too much mobility in the fact they can jump all over the map like monkeys do tree to tree. Add on top of that Melee was basically the only specs buffed in 1.2 while they gutted healing and ranged DPS and you have the recipe for disaster that is 1.2. Its not a coincidence that warzones and even the Public Test Server became flooded with Marauders, and sentinels. Bioware screwed up and like with all MMOs the flavor of the month was found and half the population is in the reroll process.

This isn't wow where you stun melee in place get distance away then dps to death. They leap to me like a monkey hit attacks not on the GCD that suddenly go 5400,3500,4500 and then Ranged DPS dies. I already have actual war hero gear thats not crafted so as You can probably guess I PVP a ton. It has gotten to the point due to the buffs done to melee that even Tank Specced Warriors are turning into brutal killing machines.

Whats happened is alot of crappy players picked a moderately difficult class to play due to rotations etc and failed. With that failure they got bioware to drink the kool aid and step in. So Bioware fixed problems that didn't really exist and the results speak for themselves in terms of rerolls and general collapse of the PVP scene as healers refuse to run as healers in warzones now and warzones beginning to be overrun with nothing but marauders and sentinels.
 
Melee dps have one jump to ability, which is on a CD and we got virtually no CC abilities either or range usage. We didn't get suddenly buffed to be bouncing around like monkeys and more than we could before. Juggernaughts and guardians still get smacked around like before, we just no longer are completely useless outside of being ball carrier in huttball. Sents/Maurauders that were geared and knew what they were doing always were extremely deadly though, all the whining that came from them before 1.2 was such nonsense.

The game is still jammed packed with tons of cc, snares, roots, none of that changed in 1.2, and melee users suffer the most from all of this CC, nor do they have the ability to dish out there own CC.

The buffing of expertise is also causing some very heavy damage and really favoring the DPS specs who are mauling players quick.
 
Melee dps have one jump to ability, which is on a CD and we got virtually no CC abilities either or range usage. We didn't get suddenly buffed to be bouncing around like monkeys and more than we could before. Juggernaughts and guardians still get smacked around like before, we just no longer are completely useless outside of being ball carrier in huttball. Sents/Maurauders that were geared and knew what they were doing always were extremely deadly though, all the whining that came from them before 1.2 was such nonsense.

The game is still jammed packed with tons of cc, snares, roots, none of that changed in 1.2, and melee users suffer the most from all of this CC, nor do they have the ability to dish out there own CC.

The buffing of expertise is also causing some very heavy damage and really favoring the DPS specs who are mauling players quick.

I don't have any 50s yet, so this may colour what I have to say, but I do PvP a lot with the classes I have (a healy operative, shieldtech powertech, combat marauder, madness sorceror and tanky assassin) and I really think a lot of the complaining is to do with gear/ability rather than class balance. Given the low population of the servers, you tend to run into the same people, and a single well geared character or one where the player has really worked out the class can really skew your impression of balance. There are some horrifyingly good gunslingers on our server for example, and anyone looking at only the games that happen on our server would have nerfed them into the ground.

My shieldtech powertech (a character I have entirely for PvP) feels completely unstoppable, which lots of neat tools I can use in PvP (grapple, rocket-jump etc.) but I don't see anyone complaining about them on the forums. I've fought other people two on one and won relatively easily. On the other hand, I am total fail at sorceror PvP, and always have been even at the height of the anti-sorceror whining.

That's not to say that there aren't some big imbalances in the game, but I do think everyone is drawing from too small a sample size.

From the point of view of 1.2, I'm really pleased with the improvements to operative healing. I've had a couple of really fun evenings in warzones since the patch, the biggest improvement being the changes to TA. I no longer feel like I'm being carried in warzones which was the distinct impression I got before.

And no nerfs to shieldtech please. I love rocket-punching glowstick users after a bad day at work!
 

Calvinpewpewpew

Neo Member
Honestly, you seem to be enamored with the Sentinel (so that's why I'm ruling out the Guardian, I don't think it's worth having two of the same base class on the same side with the legacy change). What hurts the Guard/Sentinel is that you lack any decent cc, which hurts while leveling while the Shadow gets a sap which makes leveling/heroic groups easier.

In your case I would probably make the Shadow the main, and use the credits you earn from it to help supplement your Sentinel alt, so leveling the alt won't be as frustrating.

I can't tell you for sure what I am doing yet, but I spent a lot of time comparing the Guardian to the Shadow at level 20 during the bonus series on Taris...the difference is so stark it is almost comical. The Shadow tanks better, DPS' better, takes less damage, and has vastly less downtime. Some of that is the fact that Consular companions are so much more effective than Knight companions early on, but...wow. I was shocked.

So I am going to do some more questing and PvP with my Sentinel today and compare it to the Guardian, then compare that to the Shadow and make my decision. I do appreciate all the help; it has absolutely helped me narrow things down.

If only the servers were up when I had a morning full of webinars and conferences I don't need to participate in!
 

Miletius

Member
I don't have any 50s yet, so this may colour what I have to say, but I do PvP a lot with the classes I have (a healy operative, shieldtech powertech, combat marauder, madness sorceror and tanky assassin) and I really think a lot of the complaining is to do with gear/ability rather than class balance. Given the low population of the servers, you tend to run into the same people, and a single well geared character or one where the player has really worked out the class can really skew your impression of balance. There are some horrifyingly good gunslingers on our server for example, and anyone looking at only the games that happen on our server would have nerfed them into the ground.

My shieldtech powertech (a character I have entirely for PvP) feels completely unstoppable, which lots of neat tools I can use in PvP (grapple, rocket-jump etc.) but I don't see anyone complaining about them on the forums. I've fought other people two on one and won relatively easily. On the other hand, I am total fail at sorceror PvP, and always have been even at the height of the anti-sorceror whining.

That's not to say that there aren't some big imbalances in the game, but I do think everyone is drawing from too small a sample size.

From the point of view of 1.2, I'm really pleased with the improvements to operative healing. I've had a couple of really fun evenings in warzones since the patch, the biggest improvement being the changes to TA. I no longer feel like I'm being carried in warzones which was the distinct impression I got before.

And no nerfs to shieldtech please. I love rocket-punching glowstick users after a bad day at work!

Things change quite a bit at 50. Shieldtech Powertechs are pretty awesome right now but you will get ripped apart, tank or no, unless you have a good healer to back you up (and you keep them alive via guard, cc and taunts. As a raw 50 my damage output was pathetic and the only way I could contribute was by guarding. Your damage goes up as you get expertise.
 
Things change quite a bit at 50. Shieldtech Powertechs are pretty awesome right now but you will get ripped apart, tank or no, unless you have a good healer to back you up (and you keep them alive via guard, cc and taunts. As a raw 50 my damage output was pathetic and the only way I could contribute was by guarding. Your damage goes up as you get expertise.

Quite possibly. Hence the infinitesimally slow pace at which I'm levelling my Powertech! I'm planning for Taugrim's Iron Fist build at 50 and we'll see how that goes.

Honestly, I've been rather put off levelling in general by the knowledge that I'm going to have a character that looks like everyone else at 50. I rather like being able to have a unique look. I know transferring mods is now possible which improves things a bit!
 

Tacitus_

Member
Melee dps have one jump to ability, which is on a CD and we got virtually no CC abilities either or range usage. We didn't get suddenly buffed to be bouncing around like monkeys and more than we could before. Juggernaughts and guardians still get smacked around like before, we just no longer are completely useless outside of being ball carrier in huttball. Sents/Maurauders that were geared and knew what they were doing always were extremely deadly though, all the whining that came from them before 1.2 was such nonsense.

Assassins don't even have a jump, just the same sprint that the casters also get for some reason so it's destined to shittiness.
 
Assassins don't even have a jump, just the same sprint that the casters also get for some reason so it's destined to shittiness.

Stealth class play is quite different from standard melee play though. None of them have jump abilities. You at least have the super useful speed boost that the other stealths don't have.
 

arimanius

Member
The issue in this game is the Melee DPS classes are not true melee DPS classes. They have far too much mobility in the fact they can jump all over the map like monkeys do tree to tree. Add on top of that Melee was basically the only specs buffed in 1.2 while they gutted healing and ranged DPS and you have the recipe for disaster that is 1.2. Its not a coincidence that warzones and even the Public Test Server became flooded with Marauders, and sentinels. Bioware screwed up and like with all MMOs the flavor of the month was found and half the population is in the reroll process.

This isn't wow where you stun melee in place get distance away then dps to death. They leap to me like a monkey hit attacks not on the GCD that suddenly go 5400,3500,4500 and then Ranged DPS dies. I already have actual war hero gear thats not crafted so as You can probably guess I PVP a ton. It has gotten to the point due to the buffs done to melee that even Tank Specced Warriors are turning into brutal killing machines.

Having 3 level 50 melee guys I have to disagree with this. There is so much CC in this game that if they didn't have a way to close the gap the melee classes would be useless. One of my 50s is an OP and I can tell you that it's painful to PVP with him without a gap closer(no stealth isn't a gap closer). The issue you are probably running up against is playing in pugs who cap someones resolve to fast which just makes me smack my forehead.

And thank god this isn't wow where range has a huge advantage over melee.
 

arimanius

Member
Assassins don't even have a jump, just the same sprint that the casters also get for some reason so it's destined to shittiness.

I will gladly take your force speed and give it to my OP. Force Speed rocks and has so many uses. I like force charge and force push a bit better when I play my Jugg, but I love force speed on my sin.
 

Draxal

Member
I will gladly take your force speed and give it to my OP. Force Speed rocks and has so many uses. I like force charge and force push a bit better when I play my Jugg, but I love force speed on my sin.

Ya, I really think ops/scoundrels need a gap closer (make it skilled if need be), i mean yeah they cane use quick shot from like 10 yards, but it's garbage. Just gimping yourself if you take a dps op instead of a marauder now.
 

GungHo

Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
The issue in this game is the Melee DPS classes are not true melee DPS classes. They have far too much mobility in the fact they can jump all over the map like monkeys do tree to tree.
I appear to be missing this mobility with my Operative. My assassin has some ability to speed up with force speed, but that's as close as he gets to any sort of battlefield movement. The only Melee DPS classes with any sort of this mobility are the Vanguard/Powertech or Knight/Warrior, and the Sentinel/Marauder are the only ones that get to use their leaps more than once or twice a fight, and that's only with talents. So basically, your statement should be "the melee dps class" rather than "classes".
 

Sappy113

Member
That's not to say that there aren't some big imbalances in the game, but I do think everyone is drawing from too small a sample size.

Perhaps, and it might not come down to class imbalances, but a few mechanics of the game itself, that enables burst damage on a level that's pretty out of whack. I think Bioware really screwed up with the expertise change, moreso because it went live on top other changes.

Thing is they buffed some Marauder high-damage abilities, changed expertise to add percentages to damage/removing percentages from mitigation and healing AND removed burst healing. All that, all on top of each other, might make it seem there are major class balances going on right now.

Either roll back the expertise percentage differences OR add some means of burst healing to help mitigate the burst damage, and I think PvP will take on less of a zerg-fest atmosphere again.
 

KePoW

Banned
This isn't wow where you stun melee in place get distance away then dps to death.

Are you kidding me? I'm glad no one else in this thread agrees with you and are calling you out for it. There's nothing wrong with melee DPS, it's the one thing SWTOR does right. Melee *should* have mobility to make it fun.

Instead you are suggesting that ranged should be able to stun them and DPS them to death in complete safety?
 

HBroward

Member
So, they fixed the containment title today. The catch? You have to kill Urtagh again to unlock it, even if you had already done it. Not really looking forward to that again.
 
Assassins don't even have a jump, just the same sprint that the casters also get for some reason so it's destined to shittiness.

Don't need a jump when you have a pull. Pull > leap any day as you can rip healers/ball carriers away from their zerg, pull them into fire, acid, into your zerg etc. Also sins can spec to reduce the cd on FS as well as make it break all movement debuffs, also knockdown.
 

HBroward

Member
Here is today's new mission. You get the leggings for doing it. To start it just kill an infected Sand People Watcher over by the Ridgeside taxi point. You have to have done all the daily missions yesterday to be eligible.

Edit: The website just got updated. They mentioned they will be adding new content to the Holonet also, although it doesn't appear to be new timeline stuff. Guild support will be added back in also.
 

HBroward

Member
Since the gear is all light, I'm assuming it's mainly for RPers?

Pretty much, or light armor users. When you can add augments in a future patch, they will be slightly more useful.


Until they get their tech implemented that adapts Social gear to your armor class which they've already said a couple times they're working on...

That's good to hear, as a medium armor user, that will be nice.
 

HBroward

Member
Georg Zoeller: Please note that switching areas, etc. will reset the timer on the plague's current phase. So if you keep travelling, you ward off the progress of the plague.

So if you want to explode quicker, don't zone. Then, once you get glowing eyes just suicide, it counts, and you get the 5 DNA.

Edit: They also announced that Asia Pacific server transfers go live April 24th, so it shouldn't be too much longer until it is available for all. When it goes live ditch your underpopulated servers and come join <The GAF Empire> on Keller's Void! Or you could join "those other guys," we can always use more republic GAF to beat on in pvp.
 

HBroward

Member
Another thing to remember is that the Jawa vendor will take extra DNA sometimes, whether a glitch or intentional, who knows. But to avoid getting screwed, split the DNA into stacks of the exact amount the items you want are. Then put the extras in the cargo bay, or bring someone with you to trade your extras to while making each purchase. That way you don't get screwed over by the randomness of this. Some people get screwed out of 3, some almost 30.
 
So if you want to explode quicker, don't zone. Then, once you get glowing eyes just suicide, it counts, and you get the 5 DNA.

Edit: They also announced that Asia Pacific server transfers go live April 24th, so it shouldn't be too much longer until it is available for all. When it goes live ditch your underpopulated servers and come join <The GAF Empire> on Keller's Void! Or you could join "those other guys," we can always use more republic GAF to beat on in pvp.

They will hopefully put limits on the transfers, because otherwise your doing to have a ton of servers with no rep players anymore as they all go to the same handful of rep heavy ones. They need to tightly control the options of where people can transfer to. Server merging is much more desirable.
 

HBroward

Member
The Rakghoul event ends April 24th, at 3AM EDT.

Attention citizens:

We are happy to announce that we are starting to make progress in the neutralization of the Rakghoul Plague Outbreak. It is our hope that the outbreak will be completely contained by April 24th at 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST). Citizens have until this time to completely avoid Tatooine and to not engage in investigations of suspicious wreckage on its surface.

Thank you.
 

gatti-man

Member
So are sorcs / sages still unstoppable healing/damage juggernaughts in pvp? I quit playing before March due to that.

No not damage. Now its the sent/Mar that are op and there is a problem with healer+tank combos. IMO pvp has become more frustrating than ever before because of these new issues.
 
I just respecced my gunslinger to dirty fighting for pvp because it's just impossible to compete only using stationary ranged attacks. Yes, saboteur has some great AOE attacks for keeping people from capping points or doors but it sucks to lose to a marauder that is hopping around like a spazoid while sitting in cover.
 
No not damage. Now its the sent/Mar that are op and there is a problem with healer+tank combos. IMO pvp has become more frustrating than ever before because of these new issues.

I could not agree more. Healing in PVP is also worst than ever, the damages are much higher and I can't heal fast enough to save anyone. They complain that operatives is broken because we have crazy burst pvp but now marauder burst dps is just insane, I went from almost full to dead in seconds.

Also I thought they were fixing que and group pvp with the patch this morning. I still zone in with half a team up against a full pre-made group. Of course people start zone in and out half way through and it just make experience horrible.
 

Enosh

Member
cleared the new ops on normal

the ending cut scene you get when you turn in the quest is really awesome
the dreadmasters are back, they think the emperor is dead (they can't "hear him" or something) and want to take power, iirc it said that they are behind the whole thing on denova

would know more if people on vent would know how to shut the fuck up -.-
 

gatti-man

Member
I could not agree more. Healing in PVP is also worst than ever, the damages are much higher and I can't heal fast enough to save anyone. They complain that operatives is broken because we have crazy burst pvp but now marauder burst dps is just insane, I went from almost full to dead in seconds.

Also I thought they were fixing que and group pvp with the patch this morning. I still zone in with half a team up against a full pre-made group. Of course people start zone in and out half way through and it just make experience horrible.

Yes the queing thing should have been fixed yesterday. That is really really bad.
 

Anbokr

Bull on a Donut
So are sorcs / sages still unstoppable healing/damage juggernaughts in pvp? I quit playing before March due to that.

Na, sorcs are pretty balanced now. Marauders are probably doing a little too much damage because ravage got a 23% buff (probably intended for vengeance juggs as apparantly they used this more than marauders?). The patch really brought heals + tanks back in line; having a 6 man team of healers and tanks is no longer a free win.

While damage "might" be a bit too high (I'd wait till rateds to say this), I think overall balance is better. Assassins are great, marauders are great, snipers are ranged beasts, my operative can take anyone 1v1 still (and I still feel pretty strong), sorcs are still able to kite very well, mercs can hit you with a 7k+ heatseeker if the stars align, operative healers are tough little bastards, merc healers are still beastly, and sorc healers still have the best utility/kiting mechanisms, etc... The only definitive spec I'd call underwhelming in PvP at the moment are vengeance juggs. Sucks to be a dps jugg right now, as every other damage class in the game outclasses you and your forced to go gimmick rage for pvp (which is boring and useless against a good team).
 

Zafir

Member
Na, sorcs are pretty balanced now. Marauders are probably doing a little too much damage because ravage got a 23% buff (probably intended for vengeance juggs as apparantly they used this more than marauders?). The patch really brought heals + tanks back in line; having a 6 man team of healers and tanks is no longer a free win.

While damage "might" be a bit too high (I'd wait till rateds to say this), I think overall balance is better. Assassins are great, marauders are great, snipers are ranged beasts, my operative can take anyone 1v1 still (and I still feel pretty strong), sorcs are still able to kite very well, mercs can hit you with a 7k+ heatseeker if the stars align, operative healers are tough little bastards, merc healers are still beastly, and sorc healers still have the best utility/kiting mechanisms, etc... The only definitive spec I'd call underwhelming in PvP at the moment are vengeance juggs. Sucks to be a dps jugg right now, as every other damage class in the game outclasses you and your forced to go gimmick rage for pvp (which is boring and useless against a good team).
A 6man team of healer and tanks only won if you let them capture in the first place. They can't do enough damage to kill people. They just survived. Now they can only barely survive. It's an instant loss now if you have too many tanks/healers.

As for imbalanced amount of players in games, yeah it still isn't fixed. Nor is the rewards for losing, or any of the other stuff that they said was in the patch.
 

gatti-man

Member
A 6man team of healer and tanks only won if you let them capture in the first place. They can't do enough damage to kill people. They just survived. Now they can only barely survive. It's an instant loss now if you have too many tanks/healers.

As for imbalanced amount of players in games, yeah it still isn't fixed. Nor is the rewards for losing, or any of the other stuff that they said was in the patch.

Idk what kind of teams you guys are playing but I've seen good balanced teams lose hard to the healer tank combo. It has not been brought in line at all.
 

gatti-man

Member
None of the pvp fixes went in today

Its a figure of speech. I meant that bug is obvious/commonest sense and should have been fixed immediately or never been in the patch at all. Its pretty game breaking too. Happened to me 8 times the last two days where we start with 5-4 people against 7-8.
 

KePoW

Banned
A 6man team of healer and tanks only won if you let them capture in the first place. They can't do enough damage to kill people. They just survived. Now they can only barely survive. It's an instant loss now if you have too many tanks/healers.

This is a complete exaggeration.
 

isny

napkin dispenser
cleared the new ops on normal

the ending cut scene you get when you turn in the quest is really awesome
the dreadmasters are back, they think the emperor is dead (they can't "hear him" or something) and want to take power, iirc it said that they are behind the whole thing on denova

would know more if people on vent would know how to shut the fuck up -.-

If you go through all the datamined info on torhead, they give write ups with all of the story details for the new raid, and the next few raids.
 
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