Pyrotech Merc is fine. Arsenal isn't great, but as Pyro, you really only have to cast 2 abilties. One is channeled, and if it gets interupted, you still get the proc of railshot. Then you have Powershot. A 1.5 second cast when specced, and you only need to use it once in awhile. If it gets interupted, keep going. Rapid Shots is your friend.

if i may...

Pyrotech is NOT fine.

First, unload does not proc 100%, if interrupted. Well, not since the last time i PvP'd on mine.

Second, power shot is our other RS proc'ing ability!! use it once in awhile...no, it needs to be a consistant part of a Pyro's rotation in order to maintain even a decent level of DPS, especially compred to Powertech shared tree, which can do all this while having it be elemental damage and uniterruptable, and kiting!!! at the ideal range of 7-9m.

depending on rapid shots while kiting, to be even in the same ballpark as effective as what other classes do while your rapid shotting it up, is NOT fine...you will die, fast.

Merc pyrotech is NOT fine.

*if* unload procs PPA, it procs it at the start of the channel. so you can stop-cast it if you are trying to kite and attempt to get a quick Rail Shot reset. iirc it has like a 75% chance to proc, so it usually does if the internal cooldown is not active

pyrotech really has the same problems that arsenal does. both specs have 2 casted abilities as the main focus of their rotations. the main difference is that arsenal has its instant cast abilities at the end of the rotation, and pyrotech has its instant cast abilities at the start of the rotation.

and yes, there are lots of Merc/Mandos that are able to be successful in warzones. but it is only because the mean skill level in this game is exceptionally low. if you set skill to a constant, Merc will lose to any other DPS class as far as damage-on-target and group utility is concerned

Kinda like a stripper pole?

I LOLed.

But I don't believe BW's PvP team (if it even IS a team any more) has the faintest idea what happens in RWZs. They are outliers to the general metrics the devs seem so fond of.

There is no reason BW can't filter matches by some criteria (e.g. RWZ matches between teams that both have rating above X) and then run metrics. Presumably they do this today.

I think the problem is more a matter of BW managers always seeing other features as better business cases than putting serious work into PvP WZ.

There is no reason BW can't filter matches by some criteria (e.g. RWZ matches between teams that both have rating above X) and then run metrics. Presumably they do this today.

 

I think the problem is more a matter of BW managers always seeing other features as better business cases than putting serious work into PvP WZ.

i would hope that is how they do the metrics. i bet that if you looked at all players with a rating above 2,000, you would see very few Merc/Mandos

So I have been playing more pyro for pvp since it is slightly better then arsenal.

Arsenal is easily shutdown with 1 interrupt, pyro is less reliant on casts to have high dmg output.

The problem still remains that 1 good melee can own you in no time flat since you cant keep them off you.

Shocking that this class has been left in the wilderness for over 6 months get it sorted BW

much closer to a year tbh

Once again short answer- NO.

thanks for contributing some meaningful and constructive thoughts to this discussion

I don't play commando // merc, but it makes me cringe a few things i read on this forums.

Why is people even talking about "the old days 1.2". The class was always ****, i remember how ****** it was on beta, and still people complained about the "spamming missiles" which were totally countered by somebody with half a brain to interrupt. Hell when i played at release with watchman i could totally counter a single merc so they wouldn't get a single cast off. It was always the OBVIOUS focus since they did decent damage if left alone, but with somebody on top of it it did nothing and could not escape. Every teamfight involving a merc means they got one guy less.

The problem with the class it needs a ROLE as a ranged DD nuker and fulfill it. Snipers are the best at burst with a decent CC and suvirval toolkit, sorcerers at mobility and crowd control. Mercs ? At having heavy armor, which is totally overrated.

The problem with the class it needs a ROLE as a ranged DD nuker and fulfill it. Snipers are the best at burst with a decent CC and suvirval toolkit, sorcerers at mobility and crowd control. Mercs ? At having heavy armor, which is totally overrated.

Agreed.

Problem I see is that BW does not seem to know what to actually do with the class to have them fill a role.

Agood portion of the datamined abilities are defensive in nature, which is fine, except it still does not address the issues of mercs/mandos actually getting their damage out.

I don't play commando // merc, but it makes me cringe a few things i read on this forums.

 

Why is people even talking about "the old days 1.2". The class was always ****, i remember how ****** it was on beta, and still people complained about the "spamming missiles" which were totally countered by somebody with half a brain to interrupt. Hell when i played at release with watchman i could totally counter a single merc so they wouldn't get a single cast off. It was always the OBVIOUS focus since they did decent damage if left alone, but with somebody on top of it it did nothing and could not escape. Every teamfight involving a merc means they got one guy less.

 

The problem with the class it needs a ROLE as a ranged DD nuker and fulfill it. Snipers are the best at burst with a decent CC and suvirval toolkit, sorcerers at mobility and crowd control. Mercs ? At having heavy armor, which is totally overrated.

while never great, they did do moderately well pre 1.2. That was before the stacking heat signatures from other people and the Aoe dmg/range/footprint were drastically reduced..

much closer to a year tbh

Sure longer but in the case of lower ttk and other classes getting overturned its been terrible for 6 months but your right its longer

"Admittedly, they can be very hard to catch when used correctly to hug corners, but a lot of that "escapability" falls aside when attacked by multiple melee enemies, at which point they just aren't quite tough enough to sustain without further escapes."

LOL

Still laughing at this crap to this day.

LOL

 

Still laughing at this crap to this day.

Politicians can talk rubbish like this as well lol

Politicians can talk rubbish like this as well lol

What is rubbish right now is the class, and BW's empty promises to fix it.

What is rubbish right now is the class, and BW's empty promises to fix it.

Hope you didn't think I was having a pop at you with my quote I am in total agreement with you on both counts Bw and balance has never went hand in hand don't know why I still play tbh

thats why im hoping that we see another dev post in here eventually. a lot of the info that was put into the OP wasnt there when that first dev post was made.

Hope is all we have they really should go back over the OP

I have a Commando. I started PvP'ing with him back when Battlemaster gear was top of the heap. I ground out a full set on an Imp heavy server. It was fun since I like playing the underdog, and a PvP Commando on a heavily outgunned Rep team definitely fit that bill. The class has serious shortcomings, but I was enjoying it nonetheless. It wasn't because the class was terribly fun in PvP thouguh, that's for sure. Still, the Reps slowly but surely played better as a whole, I got the occasional BM piece to finish my set, and Bioware had promises of improving Commando/Merc game play to address the problems. I had faith that my underdog would see changes that would let him perform as well as other classes in PvP.

Then the changes hit the preview server...

Well, so much for faith. I've been waiting since then for meaningful change. Luckily I was forced to change character names during the first server merge. I gave my Commando a promotion, stuck him in a desk job, and put my Gunslinger on the front lines in his place.

Captain Crunch is no more. Major Disappointment waits impatiently on Fleet, shuffling paperwork, until the expansion. Try harder this time Bioware...I hate paperwork.

Dear Bioware dev/mods, would you kindly post in this topic for some serious talk, because if you guys bother posting at an operative e-peen video and some "sdfsawer!" you can surely man up and post here, telling us what are you going to do for this class other than the datamined crap.

Or are you afraid?

Dear Bioware dev/mods, would you kindly post in this topic for some serious talk, because if you guys bother posting at an operative e-peen video and some "sdfsawer!" you can surely man up and post here, telling us what are you going to do for this class other than the datamined crap.

 

Or are you afraid?

just like the Rob Hinkle post, i expect to hear little from an actual developer concerning Merc/'mando issues.

it much easier to pop in here and say, "hey guys. check out my funny post. i talk just like you guys!!" it's an easy tactic to avoid confrontation yet still remain popular and "credible"...and still claim they communicate with they players.

all the people "quote" the dev in their repost, hinging on every word almost like some sort of celebrity. yet, they have said or done minimal to actually communicate with the community concerning any real issues or containing any real information.

i'm not sure "afraid" would be the right word.

i'd use ignorant. as clearly any and all BW devs have no idea, other than what they see in their metrics, how the game and classes even play or perform. it takes mere minutes to prove how lackluster and underperforming Merc/'mando is, in it's current state. yet, there is no communication as to how to improve. (other than the blasphemy that is pillar humping)

so, from my experience, i expect to see minimal changes, or even the direct addressing, to the actual issues and more fluff and "check out me, i'm a funny guy" posts, instead of facing these issues head on.

but, it's been nearly 9 months now? do we really expect anything different at this point? they have already set their expectations, most just hang around here on hope.