Indeed, imo Lethality Hybrid has as good burst as MM with CG - CD - EP (with all scatterbombs) - Cull. Its even poisen and kills heavy armour targets alot easier. Been playing 2x Lethality Hybrid snipers a few times, we can kill anything except tanks with those 4 abilties assuming target is stunned for that short time. Its intense dmg. if interested check http://www.twitch.tv/blueseale/b/479395063, we are playing 2x lethality/engineer hybrid from 3h 5 min mark.

First of all mercs are lower I think the case simply is, Snipers and Gunslingers as an archtype, is not a very popular class. I have alot of guildies leveling it, but none seems to really like the mechanics. That said, snipers are perfectly fine for arena's. As it has been mentioned in another thread, solo que can be very frustrating at times, cause we do recieve alot of focus, but im sure every player from every class feels the same at times. For my own part, i only play 2-3 nights a week, so im pretty happy with my rating so far, not logged in atm but I think my stats are like 87 wins and 27 losses. There are 4-5 strong teams queing reguarly on ToFN, and agianst these sometimes its a win, sometimes its a loss. Weak teams usually only que for 1 game, get smashed then stop, meaning a good part of my games have been agianst 2x smash PT combo's which for a sniper can be quite an ordeal to live through if you are the one getting tunnelled. Lastly, for grouped arena's only MM, Lethality and Hybrid Lethality/Engineer will work. For solo que, engineering can be tempting due to the extra roll and shield, but even here I wouldt recommend it. But yea, snipers are fine and will be even more fine when marauders recieve their coming nerf to undieing rage, which is the main reason why its silly to bring any other dps class to a serious rated team. Edit: I see your post is likely directed 100% towards solo que. Snipers are not the best solo que class for sure, we are support class, with alot of CC. CC in a solo que game is meaningless, since most of players are brainless and will break your CC's instantly anyway, meaning a sniper looses a great deal of survivability. This said, we cant really say snipers are underpowered due to how we perform in solo que. Game has to be balanced towards grouped 4 v 4.

In normals, this can be a problem when opposing team has +2 scoundrels and a few commandos running around. In Arena's, this is not an issue. If a scoundrel healer as enough time to cleanse both himself and his teammates in a 4v4, then your team is just not putting on enough pressure to win no matter what specs you where playing. Lingering Toxins exist to make sure that when the scoundrel cleanses himself, then you can still cull him for full effect. Constantly cleansing is time and energy consuming, and not worth it. I always tell my own Operative Healers never to cleanse anybody but themselfs if we are playing a lethality ops or sniper. Unless ofc they have nothing else to do. There is a team on ToFN, rather good one at that running 1 healing operative and 1 lethality operative. In these matches I do feel a slight decrease in overall dps, because they both cleanse every know and then, but still, I can play these guys in my hybrid lethality spec, and still do good. I get the feeling that you are talking more 1 v 1? And yes, as a lethality sniper you will never kill an operative 1 vs 1, but then agian, there is very little that can kill a healing operative 1 vs 1

MM and Lethality are both very competitive specs for arena's. Solo que is hard for snipers though, but I certainly dont feel we need a buff to survivability. If we get buffed mercs, sorcs and Operative dps needs to be super buffed.

Well, the obvious one is a carnage marauder. Both have high singletarget burst, and between flashbang and fear + another fear from a jug tank, alot of hard switches can be made. This setup is not easy though, agianst teams that put out alot of AoE pressure, the clock is ticking against you from the first second of the game. Double MM sniper is the same thing, it works, but you will never kill an enemy healer due to LoS issues. Concidering every second team I play is 2x smash pretty much, this aint such a bad setup tbh. Another way to go double sniper is for you to play MM and for the other to play Lethality/engineering hybrid. This is a really powerfull setup, had alot of succes running it. The lethality sniper can dwindle down an entire team, whilst having almost the same single target burst of the MM sniper when explosive probe is up. Going 2x sniper has one really sweet feature, and that is 3 flashbangs, 2 of them on a 45 sec cd. Extremely powerfull. Been running for fun with an Arsenal Merc aswell, but yea, this really only works when none of the strong teams are queing.

Snipers cant really be buffed, we are already super powerfull in grouped PvP. Solo que is different yes, but lets be fair here, game cant really be balanced towards solo que, its completely random and no matter how good you are every know and then you will get facerolled. I struggle in solo que aswell, but only thing to do is to stand behind your allies and make it as hard as possible to get to you. See so many snipers/slinger in solo que just run to the front line, take cover and for some reason expect to survive the first 10 seconds in a 4 dps vs 4 dps.

Well I dont know. Check: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=674592

Will report this, very nicely spotted.

Laze Target is already being changed, so this will be a buff for us at some point. I wouldt say no to more armour penetration either, MM snipers can have a hard time agianst tanks, but then agian, we shouldt really be hitting tanks I guess. At the moment i find snipers to be in a very good spot for group arena's. Solo que is another thing, but I think everybody on all classes get this feeling of hopelesness when getting teamed with the same 3 ******* 5-6 games in a row.

Class balance cant really be judged from solo que. Most people in those think "solo" is the key word and that no assistance to team mates are required. Snipers as a class do not excell under these circumstances, mainly because our CC's will be broken ahead of time 99% of all solo que games, meaining enemies will have full resolve after 4 sec of fighting at which point the sniper is as dead as a rooted sorc without bubble For premade 4 vs 4, I wont complain. Agianst some teams, lethality is best, agianst others MM, but all in all Its a powerfull class. flashbang is likely a little to powerfull, and our own defenses + our teammates helping goes a very long way to keep us up. Not saying mercs and sorcs dont rely on peels from teammates aswell, cause they certainly do, and I have all the respect in the world for teams queing with these classes and making it work.

I see some people saying reps do best on ToFN. This may be in normals, but thats because alot of reps are actual regstars who apperently dont want to go play the good imperials who only que arenas. Man up and start queing arena's.

Wasnt this question PvP related? In that case, stop running parses, and go play warzones and get a feel for the burst. Who cares what dps you can run 100% without getting any interupts or the like? This is a PvE thing, its useless in PvP, and tells a very small story only of the spec.

Is the HoT's cancelling out the DoT's or are the DoT's cancelling out the HoT's, that is the question... When ever a healer is clicking Kolto Probe or Kolto Missile, hes using a GCD which heals a very small amount (compared to other heals) and this adds to the overall pressure. Lethality is powerfull, just a powerfull as MM. In a normal warzone agianst a team with several commandoes and operatives, sure it can be a little tidious, but still possible thanks to lingering toxins. In arena's lethality is absolutely insane, and requires nearly as little tactics as 2x smash. You need a talented healer and tank to keep the battle going for +2 min, at which point the enemy team wil either all be low, or healer will be out of resources. Been playing 3/16/27 for a while now in arena's, usually with an MM sniper and Full PT tank. Lethality delivers the overall pressure, and the MM sniper finishes the job. I dont see how "objectives play" in normals change, wether you are one spec or the other? All 3 specs are ranged dps class, each with its own speciel kick. If a lethality sniper is doing +1600 dps, but fails to interupt caps because he's busy spamming DoT's to buff his dmg, then he's indeed a horrible sniper, same goes for MM and Engineer.

I have tried this, but never found it as potent as its cousin, the Lethality/engineer hybrid. For MM, snipers volley is simply to good imo not to take, especially for arena's, seeing as its not only an extra extremely deadly SoS but also gives 1 more FT. As MM SoS crits nearly all the time, so you are missing out on like 7k more dmg at least, which is basically what you gain from Explosive Probe. I dont think its bad, its actually rather funny, the same way that Cull+explosive probe is, but its not a very big single target burst gain over full MM, the way Lethality/Engineer gains single target burst gain over full lethality. To do this you also sacrifise some survivability seeing as you loose entrench on rolls and maybe even seek cover depending on how you spec?

If stealthers cant beat us coming from stealth, its pretty pointless opening on anybody. Both concealment and deception sins are weak in open fights, their time of glory exists only those few seconds following their exit from stealth. We snipers have been given a chance to deny them even this. Operatives can be beaten of playing MM and engineer, unless the OP takes his time, LoS and heal up. Deception assassins, the really good ones (thank god, not alot of these exist) will win 99% of their duels, no matter the opponent. Having tried both classes I dont envy them their strength in these situations, they suffer in so many other area's and spotter did not make their lives any easier. Spotter strong, we cant ask for any more than this. And nice field testing mate, very good effort