Question for uber-snipers: does SS/MM get used in rated outside of huttball? I've played rated very little but I was under the impression that MM was only used to grab the huttball (roll to the middle, knock enemies back and grab) and that the right tree was the tree for DPS. Edited July 30, 2013 by funkiestj

Hot topics portion. Made some changes on the spreadsheet. Check it out. Hopefully i did not miss anything.

 

Also Day today - Tuesday. Eric said he'll get back to me on Thursday to have the questions "finalized" for Friday. 2 days left.

 

GalnarDegana, being a pvper hopefully you can chime in on this thread. We are short on time for the sniper batch and eric knows this >_>

Edited July 30, 2013 by paowee

I'll throw my vote in now, since question submission seems to have slowed down.

 

PvE #3

PvP #3

PvP #4

 

Obviously a bit biased as I only PvP. I wish all of them could be answered, especially the very short ones like color crystals being so underwhelming for tech classes. Maybe the devs will be generous and throw in a few extra short answers anyway.

I'll throw my vote in now, since question submission seems to have slowed down.

 

PvE #3

PvP #3

PvP #4

 

Obviously a bit biased as I only PvP. I wish all of them could be answered, especially the very short ones like color crystals being so underwhelming for tech classes. Maybe the devs will be generous and throw in a few extra short answers anyway.

 

Updated. Any comments/votes from your other ranked bastion sniper buddies?

Edited July 30, 2013 by paowee

Will roll into cover ever work as intended?

 

It's a key mechanic and 3/4 times you will simply roll in place rather than roll to the object with the green outline of yourself as the intended destination.

Will roll into cover ever work as intended?

 

It's a key mechanic and 3/4 times you will simply roll in place rather than roll to the object with the green outline of yourself as the intended destination.

 

I'm secretly hoping that when they fix roll-in-place this will get fixed with it, since they're similar issues. Wishful thinking, though

Will roll into cover ever work as intended?

 

It's a key mechanic and 3/4 times you will simply roll in place rather than roll to the object with the green outline of yourself as the intended destination.

i've added it as part of PVP 11. From eric's sample of questions, it looks like we are able to submit multiple questions as long as they are similar to the issue we want answered. In this case, Covered Escape/Hightail It.

I would really like to emphasize the Cover bugs with question 10. Even some little random edges can cause the "Unable to take cover" bug. It is such a crucial part of GS/Sniper gameplay.

 

I would also like to know what the devs think our purpose is in ranked PvP. Are we healer killers? Then question 6. Are we supposed to be general focus targets? Then why do we have a cooldown on Flourish Shot/Shatter Shot. It could be changed to have a lower or no cooldown and only be able to be on one target at a time like Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe.

 

Paowee, are we going to do an official "poll" or just have votes in-post?

delete Edited July 30, 2013 by paowee

What we have so far: PVP

 

It seems like a popular topic for PVP snipers/slingers according to the various (few) posts in both threads is about

 

1) Our offensive cooldowns. They are too "passive." The question for this is PVP 3. It also has an "offshoot" in the form of the Laze Target question in PVE 6 with a more detailed post abotu offensive cooldown ideas by Angelsfluttersky outside.

 

2) Other issue is about the QoL buff that Full Lethality got (in the form of spammable CG) and in some people's eyes seemed to have "dumbed down" the spec.

 

3) Another hot topic is on Engineering (both in the PVP and PVE sheets). PVE Engineers are asking the question, is this how BW intended us to play? PVP Engineers mention how they can potentially deal up to 25k damage using (a soon to be fixed) roll in place. Both PVP and PVE snipers have the question in mind "Are you guys planning on letting us keep the roll as it is or will we be seeing a nerf? If roll does get changed will anything be added to compensate for it? Also any fix on the bugs to covered escape?"

 

I would really like to emphasize the Cover bugs with question 10. Even some little random edges can cause the "Unable to take cover" bug. It is such a crucial part of GS/Sniper gameplay.

 

I would also like to know what the devs think our purpose is in ranked PvP. Are we healer killers? Then question 6. Are we supposed to be general focus targets? Then why do we have a cooldown on Flourish Shot/Shatter Shot. It could be changed to have a lower or no cooldown and only be able to be on one target at a time like Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe.

 

Paowee, are we going to do an official "poll" or just have votes in-post?

 

Galnar do you have a gmail account so i can give you permission to edit the google doc? Is it possible for us to set up a poll in this forum? o_O

 

EDIT: Regarding cover bug. The thing with asking a specific question about a potential bug in one ability is.....

 

well you see what i did there. i don't think we should burn a question on ONE specific question asking if/when/how/why/what they are going to do about one ability bugging out and asking for it to be fixed. i think that should be in the bug report forum instead.

 

e.g. covered escape buggy, cover buggy, sos - add dies - ft does not proc "bug"

Edited July 30, 2013 by paowee

Galnar do you have a gmail account so i can give you permission to edit the google doc? Is it possible for us to set up a poll in this forum? o_O

 

yes, it is thefanaticalswordsman@gmail.com. And, I must have been thinking of another forum, because shockingly, that feature is missing from this one. How annoying.

 

EDIT: Regarding cover bug. The thing with asking a specific question about a potential bug in one ability is.....

 

well you see what i did there. i don't think we should burn a question on ONE specific question asking if/when/how/why/what they are going to do about one ability bugging out and asking for it to be fixed. i think that should be in the bug report forum instead.

 

e.g. covered escape buggy, cover buggy, sos - add dies - ft does not proc "bug"

 

True, I was thinking of phrasing it more in the manner of "what specifically are you doing to improve the cover-using experience?" That is still rather specific. You may be right on that one...

 

I think you are right. The major questions are with Hightail It/Covered Escape and its design, the place in Ranked PvP that we are expected to play, and the intention behind all three of our specs. I feel that SS/MM got weaker against healers in 2.0, was already weaker against tanks, and so we are left with sniping other DPS, which is fine, but seems odd. We have a good balance of utility and burst DPS with Sab/Eng, but DF/Leth is really weak against healers due to cleanses. I really want to know our place with regards to curbing rampant healing.

 

EDIT: I should say that I actually believe we are in a pretty good place with PvP at the moment. I am more worried about nerfs than about getting the right buff at this point lol.

Edited July 30, 2013 by GalnarDegana

Be careful what you wish for. Don't get corrosive grenade nerfed.(don't let them nerf sniper -__-) Edited July 31, 2013 by MarkXXIV

Any more votes from the pvpers?

This question isn't really sniper exclusive, but it is something I've noticed more on my gunslinger than any other class (prolly because that's the toon I'm on more than any other ):

 

At times when trying roll away in pvp I will "rubberband" back to where I started my roll, leaving me in the exact spot I started and with my roll on cooldown. This link from BaineOs shows the issue perfectly.

This seems to happen - while not every time - when rolling after certain stuns/roots (whether they were cleansed by cc-breaker/evasion or just ran out) or when rolling just as a root is applied. Like I said, this is not a sniper only issue and I've had it happen when on my sage and merc as well (with Egress specced Force Speed and Hydraulic Overrides, respectively).

 

To keep it short, I guess the exact phrasing of my question would be something like:

 

"Using escape abilities shortly after/just before being affected by some controlling effects seems to sometimes cause the player to "rubberband" back to his original position multiple times, effectively making the escape ability (or part of it) wasted. Is this issue something you're aware of and if so, how high a priority is it to fix?"

 

I realize there are reasons why this shouldn't qualify as a sniper question (it not being an exclusively sniper issue for one, it being a bug fix rather than about the actual class for another), so if it's left out I understand. It is the only urgent issue I have with the class, though, so I thought I'd at least throw it out there.

 

I also realize it's probably too late for this question to get enough votes even if people are interested, but I give one vote to it anyway.

 

My other votes go to pvp 4 and pve 8.

This happened to me last night in a warzone rhuarc Bug needs to be fixed. XD

Submission is now closed. Will only be accepting votes from now on and we should also start on fine tuning the potential questions we ask BW this Friday.

This happened to me last night in a warzone rhuarc Bug needs to be fixed. XD

 

Yah, makes me almost as sad as the Op IX datacore bug.

My votes:

 

1. PvE 8 (set bonus)

2. PvP 6 (ranged dps vs. healers)

3. PvE 5 (engineering; viable for all end-game)

Not sure if Reps should vote, so I will refrain for the moment. Trying to get as much attention to this thread as possible, as well as the PvE one. Questions are due on Friday, no? Whew...

Not sure if Reps should vote, so I will refrain for the moment. Trying to get as much attention to this thread as possible, as well as the PvE one. Questions are due on Friday, no? Whew...

 

reps should vote...!

Not sure if Reps should vote, so I will refrain for the moment. Trying to get as much attention to this thread as possible, as well as the PvE one. Questions are due on Friday, no? Whew...

 

Reps should definitely vote. The way I see it is Snipers = Gunslingers, so whatever we ask about Snipers will answer questions about Gunslingers as well.

Voting: PvP 3 and PvP 6.

 

Comment on PvP 5: Z-axis is not really an advantage for Snipers in arenas. In WZ where there is focus objective play, yes it is an advantage, because the Snipers can shoot unwary enemies who are too focus on the objectives to pay attention to the Sniper. But in small scale skirmish deathmatches, the enemies can simply run under and hide from LoS. Wait until out of combat and heal, and takes his time to find a way to the Sniper. Sniper may also become isolated from the group and become vulnerable to stealthers. The Sniper may also become out of LoS for his healer when his healer is being chased.

 

If "wallbanging" is not fixed by 2.4, walls are snipers' best friend in arenas.

Cant rememeber where i read it but some pvp snipers in this forum were talking about how "everybody knows Engi will be the spec for arena". Got me really curious. What do you guys think? Initially i thought, hey Engi snipers have great defensive cooldowns, area denial (probably very desireable in arenas), plus you get an extra stun every 18 seconds. Not to mention EMP Discharge for double roll, double shield probe and double entrench. Primarily a dot spec BUT has burst capabilities whenever EP is up. Big problem for you though is when you fight against cleanse spammy lineups. Edited August 1, 2013 by paowee

Voting: PvP 3 and PvP 6.

 

Comment on PvP 5: Z-axis is not really an advantage for Snipers in arenas. In WZ where there is focus objective play, yes it is an advantage, because the Snipers can shoot unwary enemies who are too focus on the objectives to pay attention to the Sniper. But in small scale skirmish deathmatches, the enemies can simply run under and hide from LoS. Wait until out of combat and heal, and takes his time to find a way to the Sniper. Sniper may also become isolated from the group and become vulnerable to stealthers. The Sniper may also become out of LoS for his healer when his healer is being chased.

 

If "wallbanging" is not fixed by 2.4, walls are snipers' best friend in arenas.

 

I'll elaborate a bit on this since it was one of the questions I wrote.

 

Z-axis maps (elevated ramps, bridges, platforms) are major advantages for ranged DPS because they have an easier time establishing map control over melee. You say that melee can "simply LoS under the ramp" as if it's the melee who has the advantage in this case - he doesn't. If a melee is forced to hide out of LoS, it is the sniper's team who has the advantage. Even more so if it's the entire enemy team hiding, as you seem to be describing. There's no situation where you'd just camp on a ramp or bridge for an entire match. Elevated terrain is easier for ranged to take advantage of as both teams reposition as a fight goes on.

 

Additionally, there are so many knock backs in SWTOR that I can see z-axis based maps being absolute hell for melee classes in general.

 

Regardless, my point about z-axis was posed more as a subject for discussion on map design than a formal question for the devs. Players who have tried arena-style PvP already--in SWTOR or in other games--know exploiting z-axis design is a major advantage ranged have over melee. I was hoping to spark some talk on the importance of map design for snipers and other ranged DPS, because I think it will be far more impactful on the class's success than any small class balance tweaks could ever be.

 

I suppose we won't really know until the maps have been publically released for testing, though. I will remain optimistic in the mean time.

Teacher it looks like your question #3 is popular at the moment. Your PVP 3 question has

perfect format

so there's no need for editting there

 

See spreadsheet for new comment by eric