Playing an imperial agent sniper I want some advice on what skill tree would be the best to explore. Im on a pvp server and have heard that MM is the best. That is the one Im leaning toward, any advice/suggestions.

They all have their advantages. Engineering is the best PvP spec due to shield probe reset and the utilities of plasma probe. (top talent in Engineering tree). MM is very good at focus target damage but dies very quickly. Lethality is a mobile spec, and should be the choice if you solo queue. So it's really a matter of playstyle rather than 'what is best'.

Playing an imperial agent sniper I want some advice on what skill tree would be the best to explore. Im on a pvp server and have heard that MM is the best. That is the one Im leaning toward, any advice/suggestions.

 

As far as I know, the MarksMan tree is the best one to deal single target damage.

 

My 34 sniper is spec'ed with it and I can deal massive damage with it, each ambush deals around 1400 dps no critical followed by a snipe dealing others 1000 dps non critical most of the times, since there's an option there that if you aply your skill points, whenever you go behind cover it grants you an instant snipe, so you just need to click on ambush and right after snipe and it'll fire 2 shots dealing that damage I said.

 

But once again, it is better for single target damage.

 

In PvP it also works, but you better use it for those "lonely" enemies that stay from far useing elemental abilities against groups of team mates.

 

Also, in that PvP map you need to reprogram the turrets to fire the enemey's ship (that I forgot the name), you can stay defending one turret against single targets approaching, you just need to shoot their legs to make them get "stuck" and then start unloading all you've got on them.

 

I did this a few days ago and I managed to kill 10 dudes in a row.

Since other people covered PVP stuff I will cover PVE leveling from my experience. I don't know jack about end game stuff for sniper/GS but I have a 40 GS and late 30 sniper now so I can tell how that went for me.

 

Toss out lethality for leveling, it is energy hungry, slow damage and not great for multi-target killing like you mainly do while leveling. Great sustained Boss DPS end game, but 90% of what you kill leveling is not boss type mobs.

 

I would say stick with Engineer till about the 30s. It gets you 10 more energy and a 3 second frag grenade early on. Both great to have when murdering groups of bad guys. The Frag will have a knockback and knock down on normal/weak mobs which is handy for keeping that one melee in the pack of melee so everyone is getting grenade love. You later get Interrogation probe at 25 which isn't all that great on its own, longish CD for solo work and most mobs will be dead before it can really do enough damage to justify the energy but can be talented for a 30% movement debuff for its entire long duration. Super useful when you need to kite some story elites and what nots. Some other nice talents to have while leveling mixed in but pretty flat after Imperial Methodology. IMO Engineer has some great survivability abilities for tough bad guys you will run across now and again but I prefer to just out level the content by a good 5 levels. You also can abuse the Stroke of Genius bug, if its a bug. There is no ICD on how often it will proc so pretty much every time you leave cover you can fire overload shot for free for 6 seconds or whatever. Overload shot isn't all that grand but its a tad more than rifle shot and hell its free when your low on energy.

 

At around 30 Marksman becomes awesome purely because you get follow through. After you get two points into its follow up talent it because a 6 second low energy use talent. You get great killing power off the bat with some very solid defense when you in cover and very nice energy regen to keep you going. I prefer this build once I can get follow up for leveling opposed to Engineer but its really your play style since you end up losing the quick frags and extra energy for a few. I say try all the specs out, get a feel for them, leveling is about learning your class too.

The Lethality tree is almost exclusively suited for endgame use, due to the requirement for a high crit chance for energy recovery from DoT ticks and the importance of the top tier talent Weakening Blast. The lower tier talents are of relatively little use until you are level 50 with great gear. Similarly, Marksmanship shines at endgame when you can pick up the extra Cunning from Engineering and have a higher Crit chance for more frequent Reactive Shot procs, plus the top tier talent Sniper Volley is out-and-out amazing as a burst DPS cooldown.

 

That leaves Engineering. You get a lot of useful bonuses and buffs very early on in this tree, including a 9% boost to Cunning, 10 extra Energy and 4% extra Endurance. The only bummer is that it loses a bit of its edge at endgame, and is considered the weakest of the raiding specs. In flashpoints, though, the amount of AOE damage is second to none. A well played Engineering Sniper can clear the map in no time.

Thank you guys for the great advice. I appreciate it seeing as the imperial agent wasva class I didnt know much about. These are extremly usefull advice that has been given.

I personally use a hybrid marksmanship-engineering spec (25-16 or 26-15, I use the 26-15 recently out of personal preference). This spec hits like a truck and allows more mobility than a pure marksmanship. Its primary use is to kill the target as quickly as possible at as long of a range as possible. The multiple explosive probes makes every attack do that much more damage. That and the quick ambush from sniper or series of shots critical hits makes this spec fast and deadly. I felt it gave me the best both specs had to offer and I love it in pvp and played correctly I can solo any non-tanks.

 

However, like most everyone else has said, it depends on how you play. Its that very reason (the flexability in effective playstyles) that I love the sniper for.

I personally use a hybrid marksmanship-engineering spec (25-16 or 26-15, I use the 26-15 recently out of personal preference). This spec hits like a truck and allows more mobility than a pure marksmanship. Its primary use is to kill the target as quickly as possible at as long of a range as possible. The multiple explosive probes makes every attack do that much more damage. That and the quick ambush from sniper or series of shots critical hits makes this spec fast and deadly. I felt it gave me the best both specs had to offer and I love it in pvp and played correctly I can solo any non-tanks.

 

However, like most everyone else has said, it depends on how you play. Its that very reason (the flexability in effective playstyles) that I love the sniper for.

 

Same here. I did a 5 minute dummy test, and added 100k damage over my marksman build.

Same here. I did a 5 minute dummy test, and added 100k damage over my marksman build.

 

If the actual difference between those 2 specs was over 300 dps, I would be very surprised.

Could you post the spec for the 25-16?

I also play a MM/ENG Sniper. Figure I would post since there hasn't been any replies to your request for the 25-16 build yet. Mine is 28/13 so you would just have to make a few adjustments. MM Tree: 2/2 Steady Shots 3/3 Marksmanship 1/1 Heavy Shot 2/2 Precision Ambush 2/2 Imperial Demarcation 2/2 Reactive Shot 1/1 Diversion 2/2 Snap Shot 2/2 BTE 1/1 Sector Ranger 3/3 Sniper Volley 1/1 Sniper's Nest 1/1 Followthrough 2/2 Recoil Control 3/3 Imperial Assassin. Eng Tree: 2/2 Energy Tanks 3/3 Gearhead 2/2 Vitality Serum 3/3 Explosive Engineering 2/2 Cluster Bombs 1/1 Int Probe. I'm guessing the 25-16 is taking the three from Imperial Assassin and maybe getting the 2/2 Efficient Engineering and 1/1 Imperial Methodology. I mainly PvP on my Sniper but find it does pretty well in PvE as well. Any other Sniper's prefer dropping the points in Imperial Assassin and putting them into those skills in the Eng tree? Oh and any other Sniper's have any tips or things they have found to work well when facing them damn Scoundrel's!?! They hands down wreck me everytime and I just can't seem to figure out how eliminate them quickly...

Could you post the spec for the 25-16?

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#400bI0rRoZZbsrdbRsR.2 This is my 26-15, the last ones for the follow through (the part that reduces its energy useage) are optional and you can reapply if you want.

Edited July 27, 2012 by StarSquirrel