http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=724264

Finally, the CD reduction of Power Surge that we've been asking for! I'm sure I posted this while some of these changes were in the works, but the Unload issue was spot on. Thank you for fixing that, BW.

No love for pyro mercs?

Power Overrides now reduces the cooldown of Power Surge/Tech Override by 7.5/15.

Barrage now has a 33%/67%/100% chance to occur when using Tracer Missile or Power Shot.

45sec Power Surge x2 and 100% Barrage! Cmon, buff pyro in 2.7 too!

So the power surge and power shield changes are obviously a huge deal, but I'm also excited about the changes to unload and barrage. More pushback protection, guaranteed proc, and an immediate hit are pretty nice improvements.

Oh, and I won't grumble about the small buff to thermal sensor override

I like most of the changes, but I'm actually not sure what I think about the change to Barrage. I certainly welcome a change from the original 45% (if it ever actually was that, many times it feels like a much lower chance), but I'm not sure about 100%. Doesn't that remove all RNG from the spec?

If my timing is correct wouldn't that reduce the entire rotation to nothing more than the following?

TM -> UL -> HSM -> TM -> UL -> RS -> TM -> UL -> TM -> return to beginning

I'd have to try it tomorrow when PTS launches, but it seems like this might make the already super-simple merc rotation even simpler. It feels like the complete lack of RNG might make the spec too boring.

No love for pyro mercs?

 

 

 

45sec Power Surge x2 and 100% Barrage! Cmon, buff pyro in 2.7 too!

Shhhh pyro is already edging nerf bat zone. Power shield and 60sec power surge is buff enough for pyro

No love for pyro mercs?

 

 

 

45sec Power Surge x2 and 100% Barrage! Cmon, buff pyro in 2.7 too!

Buff pyro? Yeah right...

Shhhh pyro is already edging nerf bat zone. Power shield and 60sec power surge is buff enough for pyro

Should be interesting how Pyro spec's out though.

You got 36 for Pyro.

I guess if you only put 2 into Ironsights, then you have the one needed to grab Power Shield but you'd lose 6% ranged crit. A slight bit more with only 2 in Ironsights.

I think the real seller of this buff is the combo of Power Shield and Energy Rebounder weighing in heavy favor for Arsenal.

What do you think about how Pyro will spec out now?

Hey folks,

 

Here is a list of the currently planned changes for the Mercenary in 2.7:

 

General

• Power Surge now has a base cooldown of 60 seconds.
  
• Unload will now deal 4 ticks of damage instead of 3, with the first tick of damage occurring at ability activation. The total damage of the ability is unchanged, so each new tick of damage will do slightly less than before.
  

 

Bodyguard

• Power Shields is now a Tier 2 Skill.
  
• Heat Dampening is now a Tier 3 Skill.
  

 

Arsenal

• Power Overrides now reduces the cooldown of Power Surge/Tech Override by 7.5/15.
  
• Stabilizers now prevents 50%/100% of pushbacks towards Unload, Power Shots and Tracer Missiles.
  
• Barrage now has a 33%/67%/100% chance to occur when using Tracer Missile or Power Shot.
  
• Upgraded Arsenal will now reduce the cost of Rail Shot by 3/6/9 Heat while in High Velocity Gas Cylinder.
  

Thanks everyone, see you on PTS!

 

-eric

Thanks for the buffs, I'm still skeptical that this will change being locked out from healing. We still only have 1 move that does immediate, pvp worthy healing, and doesn't have a cd (that's right, only one good move with out a cd.) Maybe make supercharged gas require 10 less stacks or make kolto missile grant 6 stacks? I'm also curious as to whether or not we will see a diminishing return added to interrupts. Like interrupting twice in a row clears the lockout of the first interrupt? Ex: healing scan gets interrupted, then rapid scan gets interrupted, I can immediately use healing scan now that rapid scan has been interrupted.

Again, thanks for the buffs, but I'm very skeptical ATM.

Should be interesting how Pyro spec's out though.

 

You got 36 for Pyro.

I guess if you only put 2 into Ironsights, then you have the one needed to grab Power Shield but you'd lose 6% ranged crit. A slight bit more with only 2 in Ironsights.

 

I think the real seller of this buff is the combo of Power Shield and Energy Rebounder weighing in heavy favor for Arsenal.

 

What do you think about how Pyro will spec out now?

I doubt you can get it as Pyro, even if you only put 5 point into Arsenal (for pushback protection and 9% aim) you still lack 1 more point. Pyro builds right now have 7-10 points in Arsenal. If you really REALLY want Power Shield I guess you could drop 3% aim.

I doubt you can get it as Pyro, even if you only put 5 point into Arsenal (for pushback protection and 9% aim) you still lack 1 more point. Pyro builds right now have 7-10 points in Arsenal. If you really REALLY want Power Shield I guess you could drop 3% aim.

I dunno man. I've played Pyro with and without Stabilizers and I feel that I can play without it. I think the 3% Aim and damage buff from MIW are hard to trade out. I guess I could see putting one less point into Ironsights, which I think would be the less damaging of the dps loss as opposed to only putting one in MIW ... but the loss of 6% range crit might really hurt. Power Shield is going to be challenging to justify the trade off for Pyro and is going to be a no brainer for Arsenal now.

I love Pyro, don't get me wrong. It's my favorite spec to play in this game. However, this buff might really tip the scale towards Arsenal being that much more versatile and therefore superior, I think.

I could be wrong. Can't wait to try it.

PVP:

Really? You guys are looking under the wrong hood. WE ARE FINE in DPS (arsenal). WE need better DEFENSIVE abilites. Dont touch things that are not broken. I really thought we were getting better evasive/defensive abilities. We do good dps in pvp but our heavy armor is useless and even popping shield and Kolto Overload does not help to survive the endless stuns, mauls, smash, and lightning. Seems I just wasted my time even waiting.

PVE:

We are fine how we are.

PVP:

Really? You guys are looking under the wrong hood. WE ARE FINE in DPS (arsenal). WE need better DEFENSIVE abilites. Dont touch things that are not broken. I really thought we were getting better evasive/defensive abilities. We do good dps in pvp but our heavy armor is useless and even popping shield and Kolto Overload does not help to survive the endless stuns, mauls, smash, and lightning. Seems I just wasted my time even waiting.

 

PVE:

We are fine how we are.

/no/5char

No love for pyro mercs?

 

 

 

45sec Power Surge x2 and 100% Barrage! Cmon, buff pyro in 2.7 too!

Stop making unnecessary attention to Pyrotech. Mercs finally have a spec that puts them up there with others and people start clammering buff it more and others say nerf it. Leave it alone. These new Arsenal changes will be nice. It will help remove the RNG from the spec and make it much more viable. Plus there is a lowered amount of heat for rail shot. During Parses the biggest thing I found to cause your parse to be lower is the lack of barrage procs. Now it will proc consistently.

PVE:

We are fine how we are.

If by fine you mean the lowest ranged DPS spec in game, then yes, arsenal is doing 'Fine'. LOL

I like most of the changes, but I'm actually not sure what I think about the change to Barrage. I certainly welcome a change from the original 45% (if it ever actually was that, many times it feels like a much lower chance), but I'm not sure about 100%. Doesn't that remove all RNG from the spec?

 

If my timing is correct wouldn't that reduce the entire rotation to nothing more than the following?

TM -> UL -> HSM -> TM -> UL -> RS -> TM -> UL -> TM -> return to beginning

 

I'd have to try it tomorrow when PTS launches, but it seems like this might make the already super-simple merc rotation even simpler. It feels like the complete lack of RNG might make the spec too boring.

I almost wonder if the 100% barrage proc will end up being OP...And I share your concerns it might make the spec a bit more dull and simplified...Of course, there may be more of a challenge to manage heat and keep up on buffed rail shots.

IMO, a 70% or 75% chance for barrage to proc would have been fine.

Actually, I'd say mercs would be better off opening up with unload. Remember, there's still a six second limit on how often barrage can proc.

By the way, the extra tick on unload means pyro has an extra chance to proc rail shot. So, I'd say it did get a slight buff.

By the way, the extra tick on unload means pyro has an extra chance to proc rail shot. So, I'd say it did get a slight buff.

Rail Shot only procs at the beginning of Unload channel, not for every tick. So its not a buff. And no one uses unload to proc rail shot.

We still only have 1 move that does immediate, pvp worthy healing, and doesn't have a cd (that's right, only one good move with out a cd.)

That's healing in general, for all three classes. Most abilities get to pick two out of the three.

Instant, big heal, long cooldown: Emergency Scan, Healing Scan

Instant, small heal, no cooldown: Rapid Shots

HoT, big heal, no cooldown: Kolto Shell

All three: Rapid Scan

I almost wonder if the 100% barrage proc will end up being OP...And I share your concerns it might make the spec a bit more dull and simplified...Of course, there may be more of a challenge to manage heat and keep up on buffed rail shots.

 

IMO, a 70% or 75% chance for barrage to proc would have been fine.

 

Actually, I'd say mercs would be better off opening up with unload. Remember, there's still a six second limit on how often barrage can proc.

I agree with the last part, but left that off in order to have it be cyclical.

Rail Shot only procs at the beginning of Unload channel, not for every tick. So its not a buff. And no one uses unload to proc rail shot.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert player, but I use unload a lot to proc rail shot in PVP. It effectively works as an instant ability to get the proc, since like you said it procs right at the beginning, so it doesn't matter if the whole channel goes off or not. The alternative would be the 1.5s cast of power shot, which will often be interrupted in some form or another.