just an idea... What if they DID lower the damage say 15%-20% or so and made it insta cast... or gave it a small like 3 sec cd instead.. fixes our mobility issues and makes up for us not having a TRUE interrupt! What do you guys think?

 

I DO NOT THINK THAT TRACER HITS TOO HARD OR IS OP!!! i just hate having to cast and then getting chain interrupted and killed instantly and los'd all day long...

if they lowered the damage we'd be worthless. if they eliminated the activation for a 3 sec cd we'd be op. not really any middle ground here unless buffs/debuffs were moved to other skills

with GCD of 1.5 insta cast tracer would be the same cast times as chaneled, so assuming tracer missle is around 40-50% of your casts to keep buffs/heat sig up and stack debuffs for railshot the net dps loss would be 1/2 of whatever % you reduce the damage, making them pve gimped.

 

realistically not reasonable but maybe if they made it insta, and spec in double debuffs (halving our casting of it) then we would be getting closer to a solution

 

reality is that most classes use one attack for at least 30% of their attacks, sorc lightning is a good example of a skill used more (in time being used, not casts) than TM...

 

change the animation and most people will start complaining about unload (our actuall biggest hitter and other obnoxiously obvious attack)

 

when TM/HS/Unload hits people dont even realize they were hit by 3 things in .3 seconds and scream "TRACER SPAMMER"

You can always respec to pyro if interrupts are a problem. Then you can be the one kiting and LOSing all day long while you light them on fire. It's a bit more complex than arsenal but alot more mobile in pvp.

You can always respec to pyro if interrupts are a problem. Then you can be the one kiting and LOSing all day long while you light them on fire. It's a bit more complex than arsenal but alot more mobile in pvp.

 

yeah i agree, if you cant figure out what to do when interrupted (and there is plenty to do) then you should go pyro...

 

does that make pyro the real /easymode bh?

 

lol

 

(waits for the pyro's to flame me... pun intended)

I have done pyro a lot and i just dont like it.. the burst, if you even call that burst, sucks... and thats WITH casting a powershot/rail/TD crits... im at 40 tech crit as pyro 35ish% crit and it still just seems... mehhhhh.. I know what to do by the way when i get interrupted its just you can hardly do damage at all.. followed by a stun.. followed by another interupt.. while the other guy is doing all the damage he can do minus the electro dart i might have got off....

also i was thinking.. PTs get 15 seconds of 25% crit.. and we get ONE insta cast 1.5 sec cast ability.. that seems uhhhh not even close to the same? it would be nice if we got say 3.. or rail shot/unload has chance to insta cast tracer? idunno.. something just seems like it needs to be fixed. Please dont comment about how im wrong if you dont have a level 50 merc and have played both specs a lot in pvp! thanks guys! just trying to make our spec a bit more polished

I just rebuilt my skill tree yesterday to an arsenal build, previously I was strictly pyro. I don't know what anybody is talking about when they try to say that pyro has it easier/is better than arsenal just because of casts. Admittedly I'll probably go back to pyro just because I love mobility and standing in one place for too long gives me a headache, but arsenal kicks pyro's butt when it comes to damage potential. If anything, pyro needs some love, not arsenal.

 

I've been reading a lot of people saying TM is bad, TM spam, wah wah, etc. OK, after playing it, I admit that I have already become a bit reliant on it, but that's the fault of the mechanic of the ability and the prof... not the player.

 

How are you going to tell someone "here's one of the highest damage attacks you have, and it puts down a stacking debuff that can reduce the target's armor by 20% and give you up to 30% additional damage on one of your other best attacks... please don't spam this at everyone you see"? Of course people are going to spam it... heck, I spammed the crap out of it, I made some toast and had a TM spam sandwich... and that thing was GOOD.

 

Now, reducing the damage, or eliminating or extending the cast time or adding a cd isn't going to fix it. It's just too worth using. It's not the damage of the missile, it's the debuff that goes with it that makes it worth using. I'd spam it just for the debuffs even if it did no damage... build me a big old debuff stack and then have me a Rail Shot/Unload party. If you stretch out the cast or cd then you won't be able to build full stacks and it will be nerfed. And I surely don't see how making it an instant ability is supposed to solve a spamming issue.

 

The only thing that I can think of that is going to solve the issue is nerfing the debuffs, and nobody had better start campaigning for that.

I'm not saying they should make in insta (we'd be majorly OP) but I really hope they rework the skill/tree having most of our burst DPS utterly reliant on 1 skill with a cast animation so obvious that the opposition don't even need to look at our cast bar to know it's tracer is a big disadvantage against knowledgeable players.

 

For example I had a few 1v1's against a sorc in huttball yesterday first TM cast interrupted 4 second lockout, second attempt to cast TM I get a 4 second stun and then I'm sitting on low health having only knocked maybe 20% of his bar down with my second tier DPS skills (power shot, unbuffed HSM, unbuffed dart). I tried a number of tactics like spam healing when TM was locked out but that just delayed the inevitable and did terrible things to my heat bar.

I'm not saying they should make in insta (we'd be majorly OP) but I really hope they rework the skill/tree having most of our burst DPS utterly reliant on 1 skill with a cast animation so obvious that the opposition don't even need to look at our cast bar to know it's tracer is a big disadvantage against knowledgeable players.

 

For example I had a few 1v1's against a sorc in huttball yesterday first TM cast interrupted 4 second lockout, second attempt to cast TM I get a 4 second stun and then I'm sitting on low health having only knocked maybe 20% of his bar down with my second tier DPS skills (power shot, unbuffed HSM, unbuffed dart). I tried a number of tactics like spam healing when TM was locked out but that just delayed the inevitable and did terrible things to my heat bar.

 

You know i have been thinking about it and having it be the hub of the perverbial wheel is not that bad, My situational awareness in raids and pvp is higher than it has ever been in any game (except wow where you could make a macro or two and mash a button or two for all abiliites.. which was stupid fyi)

 

I have to pay attention to my heat more than anything and when available use unload/rail/hs ... my backup keys for aoe's and instants are there if things get hinky but I can assess the battlefield more than most classes can because i dont have to "tunnel vision" to get max dps...

 

I am calling out in raids for adds/effects/aoe's and I can look for targets and assess fights in pvp...

 

granted people are whining about noobs spamming TM but rather than be bored or watch tv i try to apply my "free time" mentally to improving the fight and tactis.

 

had to roll an alt though because i have the priortities down pat already so I need another class with more challenging rotations.

Lowering the damage, giving it a 3sec+ cooldown would make us more competative in PVP not to mention the mobility would equal to a pyro merc without the dot snare.

 

I'm sure people would move right over to the next missile attacks we have and cry about that instead.

 

I'd love to get more mobility in the arsenal tree that way, but it would mean tweaking commandos and their Grav Round to the same point.

 

Lowering damage and giving it a cooldown would also mean that they'd have to increase the damage elsewhere, Unload, Rail Shot and Heatseekers + mirror abilities.

 

I bet melees would cry because then the 12k hp mercs won't just be standing still anymore and be free kills and not able to nullify their damage by clicking interrupt once.

Lowering the damage, giving it a 3sec+ cooldown would make us more competative in PVP not to mention the mobility would equal to a pyro merc without the dot snare.

 

I'm sure people would move right over to the next missile attacks we have and cry about that instead.

 

I'd love to get more mobility in the arsenal tree that way, but it would mean tweaking commandos and their Grav Round to the same point.

 

Lowering damage and giving it a cooldown would also mean that they'd have to increase the damage elsewhere, Unload, Rail Shot and Heatseekers + mirror abilities.

 

I bet melees would cry because then the 12k hp mercs won't just be standing still anymore and be free kills and not able to nullify their damage by clicking interrupt once.

 

 

NO, 3 second cooldown AND lowering damage is stupid, beyond stupid it is something that if i use the word i will get a warning about it... that is how stupid it is.

 

3 sec cooldown HALVES the dps.. and then you want to lower it more? Friggin rapd shots will do more damage, just let GCD handle it,

 

if you increase damage on HS, unload or rail... we will be nerfherded to oblivion, the only reason people are not screaming about it now is because TM is so in their face they cant see what is really killing them

just an idea... What if they DID lower the damage say 15%-20% or so and made it insta cast... or gave it a small like 3 sec cd instead.. fixes our mobility issues and makes up for us not having a TRUE interrupt! What do you guys think?

 

I DO NOT THINK THAT TRACER HITS TOO HARD OR IS OP!!! i just hate having to cast and then getting chain interrupted and killed instantly and los'd all day long...

 

 

This may sound harsh, but you sound like one of the folks who just spam tracer missile all day and give us other BH a bad rep. But I have great news, you have other abilities to use. If you get interrupted use powershot, use electric dart, rocket punch to name a few. You can be very mobile as arsenal, cause I am. Got a sentinel or marauder slicing at ya. No worries, if their resolve bar is 0, knock them away with jet boost, stun them with electric dart and move away from them. Taking damage? use your shield and kolto to stay alive. Know when to run yourself, LoS and then pop a few heals off.

 

Your target is almost dead and starts to run away? thermal sensor override and power surge combined with a number of abilities can help. Personal favorite is fusion missile, hits hard and lights them on fire.

Trust me i am not a tracer spamming turret noob.. i know what im doing and have played several MMOs over the years. PVP is my thing so i understand how it works and how balancing plays into it. I didn't mean you had to do BOTH lowering the damage AND give it a CD. It was only an out of the box thought that i wanted to mention to see if anyone's mind might get stirred up... who knows, maybe a great idea could pop up from people input... There is no need to be rude and measure epeens...

 

Maybe give us a cylinder that does something like instacast+damage reduction OR CD of some amount of time to be used in pvp and HVGC could still be used in pve or whatever cylinder you wanted to use! Powertechs getting so much CC (a lot is talented i know) 3 second stuns from grapple or popping out of stealth..6 sec interrupt giving things 4 sec CD+an electro dart to interrupt me again right after... carbonite, blah blah.. but the one thing reallyyyyy is the level 50 talent giving 15 seconds of TWENTY FIVE % CRIT vs mercs getting ONE instant cast 1.5second cast ability.. I usually end up using on fusion missile OR concussion depending on the situation... what if it let us fire off 3 or 5 but with a bit of time in between?? i dunnoo..Im only trying to make the class a bit better for EVERYONE thats all guys... and its only idea.. I know people are gunna flame me but hey Galileo was jailed for saying the earth went around the sun.... maybe if it was implemented people would be kissing my feet... lmao just messing around... but please guys i hope this gets your gears going!! I sure would like to see some tweaking to make arsenal a bit more mobile and pyro a bit more powerful =) LOVE TO ALL MY BOUNTY HUNTER BUDDIES<33

Edited February 18, 2012 by Iserath

I just rebuilt my skill tree yesterday to an arsenal build, previously I was strictly pyro. I don't know what anybody is talking about when they try to say that pyro has it easier/is better than arsenal just because of casts. Admittedly I'll probably go back to pyro just because I love mobility and standing in one place for too long gives me a headache, but arsenal kicks pyro's butt when it comes to damage potential. If anything, pyro needs some love, not arsenal.

 

I've been reading a lot of people saying TM is bad, TM spam, wah wah, etc. OK, after playing it, I admit that I have already become a bit reliant on it, but that's the fault of the mechanic of the ability and the prof... not the player.

 

How are you going to tell someone "here's one of the highest damage attacks you have, and it puts down a stacking debuff that can reduce the target's armor by 20% and give you up to 30% additional damage on one of your other best attacks... please don't spam this at everyone you see"? Of course people are going to spam it... heck, I spammed the crap out of it, I made some toast and had a TM spam sandwich... and that thing was GOOD.

 

Now, reducing the damage, or eliminating or extending the cast time or adding a cd isn't going to fix it. It's just too worth using. It's not the damage of the missile, it's the debuff that goes with it that makes it worth using. I'd spam it just for the debuffs even if it did no damage... build me a big old debuff stack and then have me a Rail Shot/Unload party. If you stretch out the cast or cd then you won't be able to build full stacks and it will be nerfed. And I surely don't see how making it an instant ability is supposed to solve a spamming issue.

 

The only thing that I can think of that is going to solve the issue is nerfing the debuffs, and nobody had better start campaigning for that.

 

 

I wasn't saying that tracer hit too hard.... i was saying it sucks having to constantly stop to cast as a ranged spec... or getting chain interrupted+cc+interrupt and then dead.. Maybe I need to go bio to get some REAL heals or something... and as Ive said a few times... I have already played pyro and don't like the lack of burst.. yeah if you CAST with the rail+TD then you can get some nice burst but still.. casting vs so many instant cast interrupts and stuns out there is getting annoying.. but its never going to stop me from playing my bh!!

anyone have any ideas? Something to keep us from becoming a turret (NO I DONT JUST SIT AND TURRET THEN QQ ITS NOT A L2P ISSUE) instant cast tracer even if its just for the 15 seconds that our level 50 ability gives.. or what if instead of resetting unload its a free cast tracer? i dunno....

made a thread in the pvp forum... the first post in it i really go into detail about a few ways i think the problem with chain interrupts could be solved.. i get flamed but hey what else is new...

 

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=311032

This game has enough CDS on attack abill. already.

if they lowered the damage we'd be worthless. if they eliminated the activation for a 3 sec cd we'd be op. not really any middle ground here unless buffs/debuffs were moved to other skills

 

You wouldn't be useless with a nerf, you would be on an even playing field.

I remember you Iserath, lol.

You wouldn't be useless with a nerf, you would be on an even playing field.

 

nerfing our dps would make it even? pray tell what else does merc arsenal have that makes us even with everyone else?

Currently, because of heat management and tracer casting I find my arsenal merc harder to play than my wrath/chain sorc. Sorc consists of force lightning spam (instantly starts doing damage, ticks give you back force power AND it has multiple buffs from talents for crit/damage/knockbacks). You get a wrath proc and hit chain lightning which hits for 3k+ and is AoE to multiple targets (with a decent crit you can do 10k+ damage in that single attack to a team). If chain is down you can crushing darkness, you have deathfield for an AoE attack and affliction for dot spamming. All in all, that's FEWER abilites than I use on my merc, an easier rotation, almost all INSTANT casts and when up against a group of enemies puts out more damage than a merc to boot. Top all of that off with more utility, sprint and a shield and I find mercs need buffs more than nerfs.

 

Therefore, I propose following a similar pattern with our damage. Make tracer missle a spammable, channeled spell that instantly does damage but in smaller chunks over time (similar to unload but with mini-missles). Add a cast time to heat seeker missle but give it some utility (heal debuff? 3 targets instead of 1? finish the cooldown of railshot? I'm not a game designer...) and able to be instantly proced with tracer. Tracer can then be easily adjusted damage-wise up and down and the proc rate of heat seeker as well to adjust our damage if need be. We'd basically be a different flavor of sorc, but maybe this would allow a bit of utility AND would help on interrupts due to instant damage from channels.

 

Footnote: arsenal isn't as good as it was before the surge nerf, crit was the thing to stack because of heat returns and with crit surge was the obvious choice. Now, power for pyro seems like the most bang for your buck but I HATE using rapid shot and DoT ticks for 50% of my damage when we are lacking an interrupt. I find it impossible to burst down most healers as pyro whereas a good combo from arsenal can at least make them run for cover.