you have to know what you are doing. No more just clicking one skill and that did the job, when we were all totally overgeared for the old FPs..

Once healed HM D7 with nothing but Diagnostic Scan, only time I ever was almost kicked from a random group. The tank was ticked that I wouldn't use any other heals. I know he wanted to kick me, but no one ever dropped below 80% and he was also a officer in my guild that I just got stuck randomly grouped with. Still pretty sure he would have kicked, but our guild is short of healers, so they put up with a lot from me. Knew it was possible before I did it, since we had gone through HM D7 on a guild run without a healer or tank, with 4 dps.

 

These remind me more of HM LI before all the nerfs, I can't see ever doing these without a proper group or on a single low output heal.

Edited April 30, 2013 by mikebevo

Tanks do take a crap load of damage. I agree with that. When I'm in a FP, it reminds me of pre-2.0 NiM EC Kephess, when the tank is in the middle with all the adds, taking a crapload of damage. Lol

 

That said, I still don't find these flashpoints difficult. Actually, I think the bosses are easier than the trash pulls with tons of dogs; the bosses do less damage, which is kind of lawls.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Radzkie

I think the changes to tank mitigation and the increased damage done by enemies in L55 Flashpoints are highlighting a lack of skill. Prior to 2.0 it was common to breeze through flashpoints without a care in the world and didn't require much talent.

 

A recent run of Mandalorian Raiders is an example. I was on a dps, and the whole FP was a struggle, but we finally made it to the last boss, only to wipe wipe wipe. The tank couldn't hold aggro, and the healer couldn't keep the tank alive. Enrage wasn't the problem so I switched to off-healer / occasional dps and the tank was still dying. After 15+ tries we called it quits.

 

BUT, the other dps and myself stayed in the instance, and re-queued for a another tank and healer. When the replacements showed up, we one-shot the boss with the entire group at 75%+ health the entire time.

 

The second tank was able to hold aggro, knew when to use mitigation cooldowns, and was able to manage the fight. The healer managed his resources and used HoTs and big heals appropriately.

The healer managed his resources and used HoTs and big heals appropriately.

 

manage resources? Was it a smuggler? If so there is no managment any longer. Did story mode TfB the other night, Sage healer DC right at the pull for Kephess. I single healed almost the entire fight and never used CoolHead once. (in 63 gear, except boots which was 69) Even when first doing these hard mode flashpoints the first time, I never had a energy problem, my problems were getting out heals fast enough to keep up with the damage the tank was taking. I had to be proactive and put out big heals even before the tank was taking damage. Now that I know when to expect damage, they are becoming easy, but still keeping me on my toes.

 

For a sawbones:

1. (Depending on spec) Stealth, coming out of steath now gives upperhand, provided you are spec for it.

2. Remember Pugnacity now grants upper hand, use it when your tank is taking more damage than you can keep up with. Save adreanal and realic for those times too.

3. Keep HoTs up on everyone, which keeps Upper hand up.

4. Remember your new ability. Roll, roll away from AoEs and danger. Wasn't really excited about the roll until the other night when I was "Marked for Death" and didn't need the sage to pull me away. Great to get away from those bosses that pull you in.

 

PS: I think I am a tank smuggler healer now. Did SM TfB and part of SM S&V Sunday night, went from 24 K HP to 30 K HP. Have more HP than one of the tanks in our group.

Edited April 30, 2013 by mikebevo

I ran 3 LVL 55 HM's yesterday, I tanked all three. This is a summary of the things I noticed that led to quite a bit of frustration. The first Atthis was flawless, no problems. This was a first run for all four of us, but everyone had good mechanics and good gear (156). The second one, we pug'ed for a DPS. We had one guy join and drop because we were "undergeared". Seriously! I guess he is one of those guys that got spoiled by running through the old FP's willy nilly. The second and third guys had a mix of greens and blue 46/48 mods. Furthermore, neither had ever run a flashpoint much less a LVL 55 HM. The second never got through the first boss because we couldn't get a decent DPS. The third run, Athiss again, was a pretty good run. The sawbones healer had a difficult time staying up, once he figured out that he needed hots on the tank just before the pull the healing became much easier. Cooldowns on the tank at very specific points, combined with de-aggro (DPS and heals) were essential.

 

In summary,

1. Don't come into a LVL 55 HM and expect to blow through it. The odds of getting a full group of pug's that know the fights AND have solid mechanics is pretty low.

2. Don't try to get "carried" through a LVL 55 HM by showing up in greens and sub 50 blues. I mean come on Rakata mods (58's) can be purchased from the makeb vendor and you can get full classic/campaign gear in less than a week by doing LVL50 flash points, LVL50 HM's and dailies. Questing makeb also gives you a chance of picking up very good blue implants and earpieces.

3. Conversely, if you are a DPS and show up and leave, before the first pull, because the rest of the group (tank, DPS, and healer) are in 156 or higher (healer was almost full 69's) because our "gear was too low"...well you might as well quit q'ing because it doesn't get much better than that right now. Yes, that would be you raven. The drops are elite gear and comms 156 (basic gear) is appropriate.

4. Run Easier FP's and HM's prior to showing up for a LVL 55 HM for the first time.

finally, a thread where i can complain about the damage output of those blasted hounds. when u get 5 hounds on one target, somsones gunna die.

The new lvl 55 HM FPs are much better to be quite honest. I have played every kind of healer in the game, and have a Merc and Sorc healer as my mains on 2 different servers. I really don't run into too many problems very often, the hardest HM FP boss would probably be the Hammer Station Frog. The only times I am in a group that wipes is normally there and that can be due to a poorly geared tank, of course someone messing up mechanics can cause a wipe anywhere, it's just more rare anywhere else.

manage resources? Was it a smuggler? If so there is no managment any longer. ...

Commando healers. The first guy was running out of ammo, the second guy wasn't.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Khevar

Honestly - stop complaining

And no this isn't an "oh look at me I can heal it" post....this is a stop friggin complaining post.

 

None of the FP's are difficult to heal under-geared/well-geared/over-geared..whatever...does your gear help? of course...but your skill and common sense are more helpful to you.

 

So I'm sorry - but either you are lacking in some way, your tank is lacking in some way, your dps are smashing face into a wall somewhere and not killing things in a timely manner or some combination of the three.

 

How do we know this? Because an entire group of under-geared individuals can go into any of those FPs and down it no problem...why? because they use their damn heads!.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Nursejenna

I think the expected pre-requisite knowledge of some of the quirks in these flashpoints is unreasonable for pick up groups. Some of the hound packs don't spawn until the pull is triggered, which is is not very good at telegraphing danger to new groups. Trash should require tactics not strategy.

 

Tanks should use a cooldown when tanking large packs, or they will die. Large packs of strongs tend to be the problematic ones, but can be overcome with cooldowns if the group is ready for them. Groups of strong droids in hammer station will obliterate a tank when they all do their channeled attack, but it is nullified by deflection and saber reflect.

 

If a tank is not using cooldowns at the right time, a healer cannot carry them like in 50fp's. I think this is reasonable for boss encounters with specific mechanics, but not for group finder flashpoint trash.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Marb

Honestly - stop complaining

And no this isn't an "oh look at me I can heal it" post....this is a stop friggin complaining post.

 

None of the FP's are difficult to heal under-geared/well-geared/over-geared..whatever...does your gear help? of course...but your skill and common sense are more helpful to you.

 

So I'm sorry - but either you are lacking in some way, your tank is lacking in some way, your dps are smashing face into a wall somewhere and not killing things in a timely manner or some combination of the three.

 

How do we know this? Because an entire group of under-geared individuals can go into any of those FPs and down it no problem...why? because they use their damn heads!.

 

Video on youtube or it didn't happen.

It's not harder. People are just not geared up to the point where they can just face-roll these flashpoints like the old level 50 ones. Now, however, when I get a team where most of them have 69/72 level modifications healing is not an issue.

 

Exactly my point.

What class are you?

 

Im a sorc healer and could maybe give you a few tips on each boss.

 

Hammer Station is really just cleansing at 5 stacks and healing through. Most people actually find the bonus frog boss more difficult.

 

Athiss for the final boss your group just needs to 1) avoid fire and 2) not stand in purple circles. The boss also has a big dot that (without looking) I feel hits for something like 10-15k. You can cleanse it, but I generally just heal through it. Important to keep players topped off so that this dot doesnt kill them.

 

Which server? I am a sorc in Ebon Hawk.

Trash should require tactics not strategy.

tac·tics (Noun)

An action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end.

 

strat·e·gy (Noun)

A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

 

You're just trying to mess with me, aren't you? That beings said, I don't think your example places unreasonable requirements on pugs. It's basically recognising some new adds appeared, choosing aoe attack abilities to establish aggro, and popping a cooldown. Not exactly monumental levels of difficulty.

 

If a tank is not using cooldowns at the right time, a healer cannot carry them like in 50fp's. I think this is reasonable for boss encounters with specific mechanics, but not for group finder flashpoint trash.

True, but in 50 HM FPs any member of the group could basically carry.

 

As it stands, once you get geared up things become significantly easier. In my experience tank cooldowns are already largely unnecessary in a 69/72 mix.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Aurojiin

They were extremely hard to begin with. I actually had to learn to manage my resources properly and I'm actually still kinda poor at it, even though I can successfully heal all the fights. Trash fights can be a bit of pain, especially if they start hitting me.

 

Only fight that really pressed me enough to look for advice on what I was doing wrong was Asteroid Beast. I felt kinda silly after I got that advice.

Why do people think it's bad for things to be a little challenging? Where's the sense of accomplishment if there's no chance of failure?

 

It's not that bad. Sure, it's harder than it was at 50, but that's a good thing. In level 50 flashpoints, I would hardly need to heal at all, and would be DPSing about 80% of the time. Healing them in DPS spec? No problem. No tank? No problem. 3-manning the FP? No problem. These FPs were extremely boring.

 

Sure, a couple bosses require cleansing. As long as you know you have to cleanse, it's easy. The Athiss boss, for example, is painfully boring, The droid laser beam is more dangerous, but still not difficult. Cleanse at 5 stacks, then cleanse again after the cast. Gil is easy (even without exploiting him) if people know his mechanics and what to do against them. Frog boss is annoying, but not too difficult (although I did think he was on my first run).

 

The only boss that is overly challenging is the Cademimu bonus boss, if you aren't exploiting him. And even then, I've only attempted him in one run without the exploit

Video on youtube or it didn't happen.

 

What a useless reaction. Carry on like that and you will never imagine what good group can do. Alternatively, do one of the following things:

 

1) Explain what parts are giving you the most trouble, so those of us who do them with ease can give advice.

 

2) Ask the poster what classes they bring, what their experience is, how they do certain pulls that are difficult, and other things that might explain why they have an easy time and you do not.

 

Or you can continue your hysterical caterwauling and continue to struggle while other, more practically minded people do not have trouble.

 

Finally, I did all of them in nothing but level 50 gear as a sentinel. I DPS'd them all on a sage that wasn't all that well geared even for level 50. I have tanked most of them on a shadow who still has rakata gear. I also don't care in the slightest whether you believe me, because if you don't that does not change the fact that I have done them.

 

Struggle and cry, or ask and improve. The choice is yours, but continue with the former and it will not be the content that is the problem.

The only boss that is overly challenging is the Cademimu bonus boss, if you aren't exploiting him. And even then, I've only attempted him in one run without the exploit

 

What is so hard about this boss? Running out of a circle every 30s? People are honestly having a problem with this?

 

If they dumbed these flashpoints down any more there would be no point in playing this game at all.

I healed on my fresh 55 sage which I've only healed one sub level 30 flashpoint before that so....yeah.

What is so hard about this boss? Running out of a circle every 30s? People are honestly having a problem with this?

 

If they dumbed these flashpoints down any more there would be no point in playing this game at all.

 

The mechanic seems simple, but there was just tons of damage coming out. It's possible people weren't running out of the circle quickly enough, but I didn't notice people continuing to stand in it, and I don't believe they were undergeared.

 

We wiped twice, and then easily killed him when standing behind the crate. Two pulls certainly isn't a large sample size, but fighting that boss legit is the only thing that I have perceived to be difficult.

snip

 

Where have you been baby.

 

I suppose I mean tactics as decision making in the heat of the moment, and strategy as a plan with a stronger element of preparation and anticipation. I think these words in the context I was using them is a D&D thing.

 

Even though we may not find these new FP's difficult, they are supposed to be an entry level point for players new to the end game, and for those players I think the trash is unforgiving, most of the bonus bosses and all of the lolbosses are fine.

 

I think the problem could be that all of the trash is identical to the lower level version, they have just been beefed up to 55, creating some trash packs that are more difficult then they should be. Sort of like nightmare Jarg and Sorno back in the day.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Marb

Wrong reply/post, my bad. Edited May 1, 2013 by deludedmusing
Mistake.

The mechanic seems simple, but there was just tons of damage coming out. It's possible people weren't running out of the circle quickly enough, but I didn't notice people continuing to stand in it, and I don't believe they were undergeared.

 

We wiped twice, and then easily killed him when standing behind the crate. Two pulls certainly isn't a large sample size, but fighting that boss legit is the only thing that I have perceived to be difficult.

 

To groups who have trouble doing it the 'legit' way, I encourage you to try it as intended:

 

With Force Speed you can get out of the circle before taking a single tick. I did it on a 58/61 geared sage. With Transcendence you can get out with only one tick, which is more than manageable. Hunker down also works here. Scamper works well. A guardian could Guardian Leap to a gunslinger. I'm not sure if the circle is force or melee damage, but either Resilience or Dodge will work. There are a myriad of ways to minimize the damage. The timing between pulls is very consistent, so you can pop a defensive cooldown or throw out bubbles preemptively. After it's over, ball up for a group heal. This is all basic stuff if a group plans to do further content, especially operations. Learn it here in a fight that is otherwise very simple.

 

I was astonished to see people complaining about this boss. Yes, if you don't notice the circle or get hit by too many ticks the fight will be a problem, but that's the whole point. I don't like the idea of exploiting this fight because it's a very common mechanic, and many fights that are much more difficult have something similar. If a group can't do it here, they'll have trouble elsewhere too.

the only FP I have gripes with is Mando Raiders. If you go in with a clueless tank, as a healer you're literally screwed.

 

and NO, boss fights are not the problem... its pulling mobs badly...

 

But then again always remember, you cannot heal stupidity

Edited May 1, 2013 by eventidephoenix

that dot in hammer station does tick a little fast, cleanse it at 5 stacks on your tank, by the time it gets back to 5 your cleanse is almost off cooldown.

 

would be nice if it ticked up the stacks a but slower. Been a couple of times where I had to get another group member to cleanse the second stack because it came too fast.