You have no idea what cancer is until you fight 4+ Mercs/Commandos or Maras/Sents in a WZ in regs. Having a goon squad of Maras/Sent running around going gorilla on their keyboard is far more unpleasant to play than Sorc/Sage in mass.

I was tempted to post this in the PvP section, but that place is a graveyard and Bioware doesn't check there anyway. At any rate, is there any developer word on PvP Sorc/Sage getting any sort of love? Specifics wise, not just random hand waving "we're looking into it." I have a hard time believing a Bioware dev looked at a hotbar full of defensive cds/"oh ****" buttons on a Sent/Mara and nodded approvingly, then looked at the 2 options available to Sorc/Sage in Phase Walk and Barrier(both of which are awesomely disabled by Electro Net) and gave an ok hand. How a Scoundrel/Op can roll twice every 10 seconds, while a Sorc/Sage can use Force Speed every 20 seconds(15 if talented). Meanwhile as well the Scoundrel/Op roll also gives increased chances to dodge? I guess Han Solo should have taken a cue from the fat kid from Hook and curled into a ball when Vader confronted him on Bespin? Going back to the hotbar worth of nonsense a Sent/Mara has, their Transcendence/Predation also affords them an extra 10% defense "just because." What player was like "yeah I need that btw" This class as a DPS when initially envisioned was supposed to be a highly mobile, fragile class that excelled at kiting. With the amount of gap closers, movement speed reducing abilities, and movement skills literally every class now has that strength is gone or pales greatly. It doesn't help that as Lightning spec I have to time my Thundering Blast and Chain Lightning burst to hit close to 30k combined on a good day(when RNG decides to give me good Forked Lightning procs). Meanwhile a Commando/Merc player is running around drooling at the keyboard activating Boltstorm/Blazing Bolts to do massive amounts of damage(while also slowing, kiting for babies), only to have them blow you away with Demo Round/Heatseeker Missile for a 1/3 of your hp pool. This is of course WHILE face tanking an entire enemy team better than any tank spec can because of their (still) obscenely good defensive cds. This class feels woefully outdated given that even Assassin/Shadow can spec into their Force Speed to nip 60% of received damage while active. I don't even feel like this class is unviable for PvE content, but for PvP there is such a huge disconnect here that needs addressing...bad.

The amount of people up in arms over the Jet Rush/Storm no longer being tank spec is astounding. "How will I tank now while leveling?" The same way I tanked on my Shadow/Sin, by walking up and hitting them with my weapon. Christ.

I can only assume you merely read the title of the thread and decided to respond. I meant more along the lines of 64-bit client, DX11 capabilities, optimizations, multi-core support, etc. The whole thing is, the engine updates to the game have been minimal, as you've stated. It has been nothing "earth shattering." Honestly, I think a good majority of the engine tweaks have been on the latency, lag, and server side of things(such as the atrocious ability delay that plagued the game on separate occasions). I understand the need and want/push for new and more content, but this game runs awfully given how basic it looks and hogs an immense amount of resources given what little is actually going on. The game can look prettier with newer iterations of Direct X, and run better based on numerous different factors. Is Bioware working on these things? If so, what exactly are in the works?

Is this even on the scope of things "to do" at Bioware? This thought sparked when I noticed the Dota 2 Reborn beta on Steam not too long ago, with the Source Engine taking advantage of a 64-bit client among other things. Logically speaking, if you have the source code to something, you can always improve upon things. Not too long ago, with LucasArts dissolving, Raven had released the source code for Jedi Outcast/Academy, and immediately the theory crafting amongst the mod community began in what could be done. I even remember one larger mod team making note of all the improvements that could be made on the client-server side of things for efficiency sake. I moved that line of thinking over to SWTOR, given that the HeroEngine is still being updated, I'm curious if Bioware has even looked into the prospect of twiddling with what they're working with. Considering the next "major release" for the HeroEngine has 64-bit client and DX11 capabilities, it begs the question of if Bioware will do the same. I understand programming, and realize it's not a cut and paste job. Even a missed semi-colon can mean a non-functioning program. My point isn't "Bioware port over newest HeroEngine to SWTOR" but more are the Bioware devs even internally planning improvements similarly? Have they been in the works?

I appreciate the anecdotal evidence, it always brings so much to debates. World hunger? Nah, I went to bed with a full tummy last night! Your own success at a certain situation does not negate or discredit the existence of an issue or flaw. Also thank you for naming my own class abilities for me. I didn't realize what Gunslinger/Sniper had, even though I have both at level 60. I could name the multitude of other options the other advanced classes have available or ways they counter my own, but honestly it's not worth the time or effort to whack away at a straw man. At any rate Gunslinger/Sniper is a great ball carrier because we have X and Y. Sure, okay. But guess what. In comparison to what exactly? You're telling me your first option for a ball carrier is a Gunslinger/Sniper? If not, then please move along and quit that argument before you start it. It's moot. I digress. My initial argument is that mobility has become ridiculous in huttball. The coming expansion will make this much worse. There needs to be limitations on the ball carrier to prevent huttball from becoming worse off than it currently is. In Quesh Huttball you cannot use the grapple mechanic. Why is that? Because limitations of movement for the ball carrier is a good thing, correct? Even the Bioware devs realized this. They need to move that line of logic over to class mobility options as well.

I didn't realize Bioware and this forum were advocating for balance changes or status quo based on ease of entry. Then again, I'm not surprised. Knights of the Fallen Empire is going to be abso****inglutely silly if some of the swtor miner changes are correct. And heals are already a HUGE part of HB. Tank Jedi/Sith and Trooper/BH are really good already as the go to ball carriers anyway currently. Also. Pick one.

You'll still get stunned and mauled. Your defensive abilities are atrocious in comparison. Most of my damage reduction comes while I'm IN cover and/or stationary. Not running without. And using my 6 seconds on a 45 second CD to run the ball? Compared to the other class options at lower CDs? Yeah. A+ ball carrier. Wasn't even my point, though. Mobility in Huttball is obscene. Has been an issue since release, even worse with Rise of the Hutt Cartel's new abilities, and will be EVEN WORSE with Knights of the Fallen Empire.

I don't understand why it's taken so long to implement such an easy fix. I've been around since release, and mobility as the ball carrier has always been silly with Force Speed or Sage pulls, but Rise of the Hutt Cartel just broke this map into a joke. Disable movement abilities such as Force Speed, Leap, Roll, etc. when holding the ball. Make people actually pass, y'know? What's so hard about this? As my Gunslinger and Sniper, I'm just sitting around holding my dick while every class zooms around. Come Knights of the Fallen Empire, it'll be even *********** worse. Imagine the Vanguards/PT swapping with teamates near the point, or Jedi/Sith zooming forward with yet another leap. Commandos/Mercs using the disengage to zoom backward towards the goal. Just...Christ. Stop that madness before it comes.

By this logic, all healers in any PvP game are broken and lack balance. This will always be the case, and always has been for all the MMOs I've played. No this isn't the problem with PvP. The problem is that Bioware for some reason, in their incredible wisdom, thought that increasing the amount of non-castable, instant heals each healer class has was a good idea. It seems the team that did the Warhammer PvP learned nothing from the frustration of Rune Priest sillyness. The days of a healer running around in *********** circles spamming their buttons were the greatest of times. Now I get to relive it. Further, what's worse is that Bioware decided to cave to the numerous DPS players crying their DoT specs aren't any good in PvP, because they get countered by cleanse. Now we have a bunch of uncleansable DoTs in PvP that can't be beaten by something that should naturally beat it. Instead we get a higher heal value to compensate for the guaranteed damage the DoT is going to continuously do. Hell, it got so bad that Bioware even put a minor heal on the cleanse ability. It's quite comical, honestly. Heals are so atrociously broken in this game, the moment you enter Player vs. Player you're struck with a "Trauma" debuff that reduces heal effectiveness by 35% right off the bat. That's pretty crazy.

How are Sentinels **** in proper pvp? They have loads of group buffs with full Rage/Centering. The only class that can claim is only good in 1v1s and offer nothing to proper pvp are DPS Operatives/Smugglers, especially Dirty Fighting/Lethality as a competent healer will be cleansing the DoTs on his targets. Smug/Op also don't have nearly as much survivability or sustained DPS as Sent/Mar. When properly played, honestly, I think Sniper/Gunslinger require more "skill" than all the other DPS given their lack of reliable resource regen and in PvP how much they lack mobility....severely. You have to be constantly moving in and out of the very mechanic that you're based on to remain effective, actually, as Sniper/Guns and you just overall lack escape mechanisms compared to other classes.

I agree with this. Marauder/Sentinel, in my opinion, is probably the strongest class in the game PvP-wise. Their damage output in all trees is pretty ridiculous, with even Combat/Carnage having 6 seconds of 100% armor penetration on a 15 second CD, and at least 8 seconds of full immobilize(9 seconds if you get the 1 extra second for force leap in Focus/Rage). More skill? The class has like 5 "oh ****" buttons; one of which reduces damage by 99%, and another that makes them invisible with a movement speed buff on a 30 second CD. The class probably requires more thought for rotations in PvE to maximize DPS and efficient resource expenditure, but PvP wise the class is right behind Sage/Sorc in potential whether it be utility or damage output. Nothing is easier than Merc/Commando, though, in my experience Watchman/Annihilation is a natural counter to them I find with their added interrupt of a point blank leap.

This is a good point, and one thing that concerns me is that Force Push has limited use in PvP situations as well. It builds enemy resolve which would be better spent on Hilt Strike, Force Stasis, or Awe. That change won't help at all vs. kiting when the enemy has a full resolve meter. It feels like they're buffing Vigilance in a way, rather than addressing any real concern with Defense/Immortal.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=1435443#edit1435443 Apparently they at least know there's a problem with the class. Here's to hoping they actually address tanking as well, guys.