In other words, it isn't worth the global cooldown because the damage bonus you get is very minuscule. In raid groups where you have 5-14 other dps, then go ahead and use it. But when soloing or doing pvp, it just isn't worth your time or energy.

It's a convincing argument you make, it would be interesting to run the numbers bearing in mind FS does hit for damage as well (granted, not much).

My gut feeling tells me you are right but at the same time in the hunt for the 5k WZ medal, even as a loss I imagine most will still be using it, especially on sorcs.

For solo, or short encounters I think the original advice applies. If it'll last the 45 seconds, it's worth having up.

Im currently 23 ss / 18 sab and finding it pretty fun.

Anyone comment on how it compares

(contingency charges/shock are nice)

Hard to say without the exact spec you're running and some idea of why you've built it, can you post more info?

And @Shewe I am clocking round 4-500 on average as well which is encouraging as I think our builds were quite similar.

Breaking 700 is a pretty big achievement Grats.

I'm noticing with quite high regularity the game seems to be ignoring some of the damage I do. I've actually got video footage of a 6k + hit that does not award the 5k medal. I was told if it was a killing blow the overkill didn't count.

However I've seen numerous occasions where my 5k hits do not award the medal even on targets I do not kill with it.

I'm left wondering if this damage is recorded in our WZ totals at all. I've recently discovered the biggest hit record on the summary screen so I'll try to research it a little more but I for one am getting a little tired of being denied at least one if not more of my medals in a large number of games.

Anyone else seeing this?

I'm noticing with quite high regularity the game seems to be ignoring some of the damage I do. I've actually got video footage of a 6k + hit that does not award the 5k medal. I was told if it was a killing blow the overkill didn't count.

 

However I've seen numerous occasions where my 5k hits do not award the medal even on targets I do not kill with it.

 

I'm left wondering if this damage is recorded in our WZ totals at all. I've recently discovered the biggest hit record on the summary screen so I'll try to research it a little more but I for one am getting a little tired of being denied at least one if not more of my medals in a large number of games.

 

Anyone else seeing this?

From what I've seen, you have to do the actual dmg to the opponent, so if you kill someone with a 5k hit and actually only did 3k to them (that's all the HP they had let) you won't get to medal.

Good SS Guide - vote for sticky

I am a bit surprised how little people play this spec. It certainly has its flaws as you are mostly a standstill turret... but what a turret you are. Having played hunter type classes in WAR, EQ, WOW, Aion, etc., I tend to lean toward the... how much dps does a dead hunter do? Thus, my spec (below) gives me the lower cooldown on Hunker down and more Endurance. I try to think defense first, then let the bullets fly. I am certainly not the best GS in the world, not even on my server... but I am top 3 in DPS in about all of the WZs. The burst damage is very strong IMO.

One just as to think like a sniper. Positioning is key. Hunker down / defense shield are a great combo. Flash grenade is outstanding for AoE CC.

I do not overly analyze every details so perhaps I could tweak a point or two.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#700bsrrdMoRgzZMc0MZh.1

Uller Azurer

Gunslinger - Level 50 / Valor 62

House of Vengeance

The Jekk'Jekk Tarr

From what I've seen, you have to do the actual dmg to the opponent, so if you kill someone with a 5k hit and actually only did 3k to them (that's all the HP they had let) you won't get to medal.

I wish it was as simple as this but I actually have video footage of where a6k hit has failed to kill the target and credit was not awarded.

I'm starting to feel that if they manage to absorb/mitigate part of the damge in some way, this may also not count. I am starting to get the medal more often, but that's just because I am getting more 5k+ hits, there are still plenty that dont register the medal.

When you hover over your damage it isn't counted as your highest hit either from what I have seen. That seems even more unfair as even if it doesn't want to award you the medal, the hit still hit for x. Slightly broken system imo but we do what we can eh.

I wish it was as simple as this but I actually have video footage of where a6k hit has failed to kill the target and credit was not awarded.

 

I'm starting to feel that if they manage to absorb/mitigate part of the damge in some way, this may also not count. I am starting to get the medal more often, but that's just because I am getting more 5k+ hits, there are still plenty that dont register the medal.

 

When you hover over your damage it isn't counted as your highest hit either from what I have seen. That seems even more unfair as even if it doesn't want to award you the medal, the hit still hit for x. Slightly broken system imo but we do what we can eh.

First of all, I agree. Those 6k hits should give you the 5k medal, but it is not that the hit didn't count, its how GS's damage is calculated and shown.

Your 6k hits are actually 2 hits (Main hand and Off hand) combined into 1 number. Your actual damage was something in the range of a 4-4.5k main hand and a 1.2-1.4k off hand giving you the 5-6k hits.

Unfortunately, to get the 5k medal for a GS, you have to get roughly 6.5k+ (5k + 1.5k) you have to put in some wiggle room for offhand critting harder etc, but you get the point. (*There is also the chance of hitting for 5k and getting the medal if your off hand misses btw*)

Your 6k hits are actually 2 hits (Main hand and Off hand) combined into 1 number. Your actual damage was something in the range of a 4-4.5k main hand and a 1.2-1.4k off hand giving you the 5-6k hits.

This is about the most likely explanation, I've seen so far. Thanks for that Achyllez, I'll add that into the guide when I do the 1.2 update.

The Sharp Shooter videos sorted:

Will bung it in the guide as well, hope it's found interesting

Will be rolling a slinger when 1.2 hits and reading up on them. Great guide! Wonder which spec ill feel most comfortable with...

Ghrunn Felshard, DS Vanguard

Order of Methedras

Corellians Run

7.2k crit, my highest yet

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5339/screenshot2012040500510.jpg

7.2k crit, my highest yet

 

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5339/screenshot2012040500510.jpg

Outstanding, you should probably share some more info about specs and gear etc

Excellent guide, but just one question. Do you really think that the boost from cover screen is worth giving up just for a 2% boost to accuracy? It is primarily for PVP; but still, the 2 extra points into sharpshooter seem a little unnecessary.

All spec related questions are probably moot now anyway as the whole tree has been altered. But just for the sake of posterity, I felt this way yesterday:

As I spend so much time in cover I found cover screen to be mediocre at best. Increasing accuracy, even at cap, increases damage dealt.

I personally spec for PVE so more damage always takes priority for me, in a pvp build I wouldnt say any of the 3 jugglable talents at the bottom of the tree are deal breakers, you just need to go with whatever you feel you're getting best value from.

I'll sit down and revise some builds and update the thread once we've had a chance to assess how everything is performing in the cold light of day.

7.2k crit, my highest yet

 

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5339/screenshot2012040500510.jpg

And wha'ts your skill tree look like?

And wha'ts your skill tree look like?

Currently switched back to DF, but this is what I was running when I was SS

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/smuggler/gunslinger/#::f20e2fe9fe7f13ef3efe:

In a healer-heavy perfect world scenario warzone ( like 0-0 Voidstar where most of the fighting takes place in a centralized area ), Dirty Fighter can put up 500-700k numbers while a SS puts up around 400-600k, but SS has better instant burst damage, which is essential for knocking out prime targets before they get a chance to heal or receive a heal. This is why IMO I think SS will be a more efficient killer when rated warzones come out than Dirty Fighter, especially when the upcoming increase to Gunslinger weapon damage finally comes in. With the right rotation and target, you'll get a 7-10k burst hit which is actually three specials going off at the same time in about a second.

The earlier picture I posted was again, a perfect world scenerio. The guy had to be a fresh 50 with poor gear. I had Flourish Shot on him and there had to have been a 3 stack armor break from a JK. I had popped all my adrenals, stims, relic, and got a good roll on Aim Shot. My highest prior and after that has been in the 5k region.

1.2 updated specs are in, I've been trialling a DF and a DF/Sab hybrid build a little over the past week, the Hybrid build is still a little energy hungry for my liking and only really viable for someone with an absolute ton of crit (40%) buffed approx.

The pure DF build really got some love with the 1.2 patch and now flows from one fight to the next a lot better than it used to. I've done some PvE testing (soloing dailies) and found it to be competitive with SS specs for taking things down if you have the gear to take quite a bit of damage yourself, there's less CC with Shrap Bomb involved and without involving it you're nerfing your Wounding Shot damage, but it's a decent trade off as the overall damage is a lot higher.

For PVP the DF and DF hybrids are good for pressure, there's about 20-25k of damage in my opening rotation, the problem is that it's not very quickly delivered, and any half decent player will either pop mitigation while you're doing it, or interrupt your Wounding Shots. That said, if you're looking for a build that allows you to apply and sustain considerable pressure on healers, DF might just be the way to go. Personally, I am leaning back to good old SS builds where most targets are dead before they realise what's happening to them.

Will do a bit more testing with the both over the coming weeks, would be interested to hear more about how others are finding the core builds since 1.2.

I'm hearing a lot of positives from the DF/Sab hybrid build again, my personal experience was lacklustre, but I have no real experience of the rotation and as such was able to muster about 1200 dps on the training dummy. That's wearing near full Rakata so it's not quite on par. With SS I was able to go slightly higher, but this is in a build and rotation I know very well which tells me there's mopre PvE damage potential in DF/Sab or DF builds at the moment.

Much as it pains me to say it.

Excellent guide, thank you.

"6. If it looks like you're STILL losing, omg get more gear nub!!1 or else, you may have picked on someone who's a bit bad ***, it's NOT over yet!!

7. Prepare to use your stuns and kiting CD's to stay alive longer. "

I honestly lol'd at this hilarious moment.

Very good guide. Unfortunately 1.3 seems to have shaken our foundations, so I think quite a bit is up for debate again. For instance the fact that Rapid Shots no longer resets Speed Shot, and that Burst Volley does reset the timer, but only once, not allowing us to use it back to back anymore...

3. Use your “Rapid Fire” ability which resets Speed Shot and allows you to use it twice in conjunction with DPS Relics to maximise damage, if you have consumable stims to boost power, those work too. I personally favour Power over Crit/Surge as you get the benefit on every single shot you fire. Just remember you have 20 seconds, so dont just spam speed shot back to back, use it as a part of your rotation to accelerate your aimed shots.

I am wondering if SS is still the best bet for a PvE gunslinger...