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Gear for Sniper?


migzmando

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Hello, I have read somewhere that it is not wise to get all Field Tech gear. What other gear should I get with my commendations then? Or should I get the first 4 of a set to get the bonus, and then the last few parts to get a different type of gear? Also, my dps seems to be very low compared to others in my Guild that I raid with.. Granted, the other DPS that uses mox is nearly in all dread guard, and I'm in part tionese, exotech, and rakata now.. But my damage was roughly half.

 

My rotation is: CG--->CD---->WB----->Cull----->OS if Adrenaline probe is up---->snipe with laze target----->Cull------>SOS------>Ambush.. I'm relatively new to being a sniper, at least a level 50 Sniper. Any tips would be much appreciated, or any guides for gearing, that are out there?

 

 

Thank you for your time!

Edited by migzmando
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If you have two field tech battlemaster shells you want to use them because of the extra tick of OS.

 

My rotation (as lethality) usually is CG CD WB Cull OS Ambush Cull CG CD WB Cull SoS Ambush (repeat) its basic easy to do and gets good numbers to boot! You are able to experiment freely if you like. Never saw the point in snipe but what ever works for you. But you pretty much wanna keep Cull and OS on cooldown ALWAYS. You might not get the best numbers out of everyone else (especially if you don't have the two battlemaster bonus) but you'll be better than alot of other DPS.

 

Go for the 4 piece pve bonus if you want, I always viewed it as it helping you at some point, but its not NEEDED. Heck not even the 2 piece is needed (I went the longest time without it and did fine)

 

Personal preference is a big thing when it comes to DPS, but that rotation is pretty much what I do and I out DPS most other people on my server. Feel free to try different things, I did and stuck with the one I liked.

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Lethality's rotation is based on 2 principle:

 

2 Full Poison on target at all time.

Cull every 9 seconds.

 

So your rotation will be

 

CG -> CD -> WB -> Cull ->Ambush -> SoS -> Cull -> X , where X is a filler (Rapid shot or Shatter Shot). When you're starting out, forget about Orbital strike, and concentrate on the above rotation instead.

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If you have two field tech battlemaster shells you want to use them because of the extra tick of OS.

 

My rotation (as lethality) usually is CG CD WB Cull OS Ambush Cull CG CD WB Cull SoS Ambush (repeat) its basic easy to do and gets good numbers to boot! You are able to experiment freely if you like. Never saw the point in snipe but what ever works for you. But you pretty much wanna keep Cull and OS on cooldown ALWAYS. You might not get the best numbers out of everyone else (especially if you don't have the two battlemaster bonus) but you'll be better than alot of other DPS.

 

Go for the 4 piece pve bonus if you want, I always viewed it as it helping you at some point, but its not NEEDED. Heck not even the 2 piece is needed (I went the longest time without it and did fine)

 

Personal preference is a big thing when it comes to DPS, but that rotation is pretty much what I do and I out DPS most other people on my server. Feel free to try different things, I did and stuck with the one I liked.

 

 

 

Thank you for the prompt replies, both of you.. Hyperdragon, what are field tech battlemaster shells? Are those the relics? Also, Currently I have 5 pieces of field tech gear. Columi Head piece, Rakata Chest piece, Rakata legs, Rakata boots. If I don't go for Field tech in these slots, what should I go for? I mean it seems like the only option for Sniper because it gives the set bonus and has the stats that I need. Also, I'm curious, what secondary attributes should I be aiming for? Cunning, End are the main ones I know, but what is more important between, Crit, Alacrity, Power, Surge?

 

 

Thank you again, and sorry for the noobie questions.

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Thank you for the prompt replies, both of you.. Hyperdragon, what are field tech battlemaster shells? Are those the relics? Also, Currently I have 5 pieces of field tech gear. Columi Head piece, Rakata Chest piece, Rakata legs, Rakata boots. If I don't go for Field tech in these slots, what should I go for? I mean it seems like the only option for Sniper because it gives the set bonus and has the stats that I need. Also, I'm curious, what secondary attributes should I be aiming for? Cunning, End are the main ones I know, but what is more important between, Crit, Alacrity, Power, Surge?

 

 

Thank you again, and sorry for the noobie questions.

 

For critcal rating, you want enough to have about a 38% critical chance with lethality to help with energy management. The exact amount of critical rating this will take varies, and is easier with better gear as Cunning will also increase your critical chance. About 300-350 critical rating is usually about right. After that, get power. (after the 2.0 patch hits, this should change).

 

Alacrity at this point is largely useless for lethality. You're limited by the recharge time on Cull, not by channel/cast times. So it helps very little/none. After 2.0 hits, it may be more helpful as it'll give some resource regeneration as well but you'll still be limited by the cooldown on Cull more than anything (which alacrity doesn't effect). If you have a little, it helps with a bit with compensating for lag but it's definitely not a priority stat to go after. The only alacrity I (and most other lethality snipers) usually have is the 2% boost from the teir 1 talent in lethality's skill tree.

 

Surge go for about 250. That should put you at 75% critical multiplier.

Edited by Infalliable
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For critcal rating, you want enough to have about a 38% critical chance with lethality to help with energy management. The exact amount of critical rating this will take varies, and is easier with better gear as Cunning will also increase your critical chance. About 300-350 critical rating is usually about right. After that, get power. (after the 2.0 patch hits, this should change).

 

Alacrity at this point is largely useless for lethality. You're limited by the recharge time on Cull, not by channel/cast times. So it helps very little/none. After 2.0 hits, it may be more helpful as it'll give some resource regeneration as well but you'll still be limited by the cooldown on Cull more than anything (which alacrity doesn't effect). If you have a little, it helps with a bit with compensating for lag but it's definitely not a priority stat to go after. The only alacrity I (and most other lethality snipers) usually have is the 2% boost from the teir 1 talent in lethality's skill tree.

 

Surge go for about 250. That should put you at 75% critical multiplier.

 

 

Thank you for this.. What about accuracy? Also, as far as gear goes, for rakata is it ok to get all field tech rakata pieces?

 

Thank you again for all the help and kind responses.

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Thank you for this.. What about accuracy? Also, as far as gear goes, for rakata is it ok to get all field tech rakata pieces?

 

Thank you again for all the help and kind responses.

 

The field tech bonuses are the only ones that are useful. The others that you would want are no longer available.

 

Accuracy you want 110% ranged accuracy.

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The field tech bonuses are the only ones that are useful. The others that you would want are no longer available.

 

Accuracy you want 110% ranged accuracy.

 

Okay.. Thank you! Could you answer one more question for me? With the rotation cg----cd----wb-----cull----SOS or ambush, etc what sort of dps can I expect? Currently I'm in rakata gear. Also are there other better rotations or builds that might help do more dps until I get to the higher gear? I want to compete with my guilds almost full dread guard marauder!! Lol

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I found the best dps for me came from the eng/lethality hybrid.

 

Exact spec is 2/16/23.

 

The rotation is largely lethality one, but the fillers are from eng, and specced fillers do a lot of damage.

 

The sacrifice is weakening blast, so cull is less impressive, however explosive probe is now energy positive from Cluster Bombs, and you gain a powerful DoT in IP.

 

Energy managemen is trickier, but i found the best results when I stopped trying to pull every single bit of damage from Eng.

 

Rotation is pretty much : CG->CD->cull->IP->EP->rifle shot->cull.

 

My gear is largely unaugmented tio/columni, i have a 63 barrel in my sniper, rest of the mods being tio, and WH offhand.

 

Result on the dummy : 1,5k dps on a 5 minute run.

 

Lethality hits around 1,35k, pure MM 1,27k, and MM/eng hybrid 1,3k

 

For solo PvE, MM does better for me, being vastly superior in less than 20 seconds encounters, but for ops my choice is clear.

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Lethality's rotation is based on 2 principle:

 

2 Full Poison on target at all time.

Cull every 9 seconds.

 

So your rotation will be

 

CG -> CD -> WB -> Cull ->Ambush -> SoS -> Cull -> X , where X is a filler (Rapid shot or Shatter Shot). When you're starting out, forget about Orbital strike, and concentrate on the above rotation instead.

 

I've tested this rotation, buffed with self buffs and rakata cunning stim. 1100 dps average over 2-3 minutes or so. I don't understand why my dps is so low? Any advice?

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I've tested this rotation, buffed with self buffs and rakata cunning stim. 1100 dps average over 2-3 minutes or so. I don't understand why my dps is so low? Any advice?

 

You want your WB to be right before culls so it gets its charges, at least one out of two times.

 

For the rest : are you keeping your armor debuff on?

 

Are you refreshing your bleeds just as they pass to lingering toxin? (if you let them tick as their low damage version, its a massive dps loss)

 

Do you run in energy issue that force you to rifle shot?

 

 

And lastly that could be a stat issue (too much or too low crit (too much being a power loss) or same with acc/surge balance)

 

If I had money to put somewhere, I'd put it on you letting Lingering Toxin tick rather than refreshing.

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You want your WB to be right before culls so it gets its charges, at least one out of two times.

 

For the rest : are you keeping your armor debuff on?

 

Are you refreshing your bleeds just as they pass to lingering toxin? (if you let them tick as their low damage version, its a massive dps loss)

 

Do you run in energy issue that force you to rifle shot?

 

 

And lastly that could be a stat issue (too much or too low crit (too much being a power loss) or same with acc/surge balance)

 

If I had money to put somewhere, I'd put it on you letting Lingering Toxin tick rather than refreshing.

 

I try to refresh the poisons before they go to lingering toxins. Here are my ratings..

 

Power 500ish

Crit 400 or around 37-40% base.

Surge 68, I recently swapped to some relics that have power instead

Accuracy 99 tech accuracy 109%.

Rotation, in full lethality spec: cg----cd----rifle shot---wb----cull----Amb./SOS/ss depending on situation one of those used-----then cull.

 

I realize my crit is way too high but all my rakata gear pretty much has it and I don't have the cash to buy mods and armorings to replace. :( it sucks because I want to contribute more, but my crit is really screwing me, and the only source of money I have right now is dailies, being a biochemist I haven't figured out what to make to make cash. I have one exotech stim recipe but the purple crafting items are too hard to come by and too expensive if I buy the diplomacy mission.

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I've tested this rotation, buffed with self buffs and rakata cunning stim. 1100 dps average over 2-3 minutes or so. I don't understand why my dps is so low? Any advice?

 

I seem to remember around 1200 being good for rakata gear, optimized so it doesn't sound like you're too far off. It's a little tough to say what a rakata geared player should be doing dps-wise, since most of us who post on the sniper forum are much better geared and have been for some time.

 

The other way to increase DPS is appropriate use of Orbital strike. You can use it as filler between Culls by using a Cull - OS - rifle - rifle -Cull. SInce it can easily tick for 10k on it's own, it's a nice DPS gain if it'll hit the target each time.

 

The other trick is when ot use relics/adrenals. The benefit of biochem is the rakata adrenals are quite nice and essentially free. Timing them well also will boost DPS by alot compared to randomly using them. You want to use them right before Cull, and after your poisons have been refreshed. That way, you're not spending time applying poisons while your damage is boosted. You're throwing out your big hitters.

 

A great opener is also CG--CD--Orbital strike--WB--adrenal/relic--Cull--SOS--ambush--Cull and using your adrenaline probe in there when appropriate. It's also a good idea to aggro drop as well after the first Cull.

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Rakata should give 1,4-1,5k dps depending on class, since its the req to avoid enrage timers in HM EC (which drop the first BH grade pieces)

 

Your surge seems low, are you taking the 3 points in accuracy from MM tree? That would allow more place for surge.

 

Your crit is definitely atoo high. Also avoid any lettered mods if possible. At same grade the one giving 37 power/crit is better than the high mainstat one. Also if you didn't swap out enhencements some are typically...well crap (high end low dps stat)

 

Normally I min max with BH gear, and keep many columni around if the mods I get from rakata drop are bad.

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I see the suggestion to take the crit bonus in marksman tree instead of the extra damage to cull ect.

 

Is that worth it , should i change out a crit enhancement for a surge in that case ?

 

Any pure lethality build should be 5/5/31 imo. You don't use OS enough that its a bigger dps gain to take it over cull damage.

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My version of BiS for a Dread Guard MM Sniper: http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/dfcfc2a7-4ff2-4e11-977b-980db63bbb07

 

Disclaimer: Notice that I sometimes run Reflex Stim and 4% Alacrity build (31/5/5) for single target Boss fights (single adds), but switch over to the standard 31/7/3 build with Skill Stim where I will require more AoE/Orbital Strikes.

 

Search for "Svii" on torparse.com for my performance. I'm also one of the few Top 50 ranked MM Snipers on the 16HM operations. Especially Withering Horror! We don't run 8HM too often ;)

 

Yes, I do sometimes run the Hybrid build.. Honestly, it's easy mode to get "High Scores" in this build. I use the same itemization when in Hybrid mode.

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Rakata should give 1,4-1,5k dps depending on class, since its the req to avoid enrage timers in HM EC (which drop the first BH grade pieces)

 

Your surge seems low, are you taking the 3 points in accuracy from MM tree? That would allow more place for surge.

 

Your crit is definitely atoo high. Also avoid any lettered mods if possible. At same grade the one giving 37 power/crit is better than the high mainstat one. Also if you didn't swap out enhencements some are typically...well crap (high end low dps stat)

 

Normally I min max with BH gear, and keep many columni around if the mods I get from rakata drop are bad.

 

I did some adjusting, removing some crit enhancements for those with surge and or power, and some mods with power. My surge has now pushed me to 73% bonus damage, my power is around 540, crit now to around 35 buffed with agent buff and rakata stim. I will do a test on the dummy in full lethality to see if this helps. Also what did you mean by lettered mods? I've used some column gear tokens to buy some gear with surge and power on them instead of crit, since most of the rakata is crit. I swapped them with these. My power rating is around 540 and a friend says it needs to be around 1000.. I don't see how this is possible with rakata column gear.. Is this accurate to want power to be there? And if so, how?

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Also what did you mean by lettered mods? I've used some column gear tokens to buy some gear with surge and power on them instead of crit, since most of the rakata is crit. I swapped them with these. My power rating is around 540 and a friend says it needs to be around 1000.. I don't see how this is possible with rakata column gear.. Is this accurate to want power to be there? And if so, how?

 

Not the best to aim for 1000 power without sacrificing Critical rating for Snipers, balance is key. By unlettered mods we mean low endurance mods/enhancements with high secondary stats: Power/Crit.

 

Columi high power/crit mods/enhancements are better than low crit/power Rakata ones. More bang for your buck, so to say :)

Edited by Svii
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Not the best to aim for 1000 power without sacrificing Critical rating for Snipers, balance is key. By unlettered mods we mean low endurance mods/enhancements with high secondary stats: Power/Crit.

 

Columi high power/crit mods/enhancements are better than low crit/power Rakata ones. More bang for your buck, so to say :)

 

I understand. I switched out some of the enhancements/mods of my Rakata gear with columi power/surge ones. my surge is at 205 now or 71.52% crit bonus damage. Power is 521 now. and my crit is at 35.41% buffed. Should I see an increase in DPS now in full Lethality? I'm going to go check the ops dummy. I'll report my findings. lol. But is 35 crit good?

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I did a test on the ops dummy over 5 minutes.. DPS 1275. Which is still lower than what it needs to be.. Full lethality spec, 5/5/31. I'm at a complete loss now. I don't know what I can do to increase the DPS. It needs to be around 1500, doesn't it? The rotation used, CG-CD-WB-Cull-shatter shot-SoS-Cull and with a random Orbital Strike thrown in. I don't know what else I can do to increase the dps, I've increased surge, reduced crit rating, power rating around 540.
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Well there is that:

 

Relic?

Earpiece/implants are rakata?

Fully augmented?

 

Don't sacrifice too much surge for accuracy either, its not a ratio go fetch 100% ASAP. I personnaly run 178 acc, 300 something surge right now, altough thats with the BM relics for now (still haven't worked on those, since I need the daily comms for DG ones)

 

And as for the lettered mod, as a rule of thumb

 

Columni non-lettered > rakata A > tio non lettered > columni A.

 

The B letter is a TANK stat distribution, even if you shove crit on it.

 

Lethality over has most of its damage from tech. Cull will have a miss of (110%-your effective acc rating )/3 since only one of its 3 hit is ranged. Thats going to change in 2,0, but for now thats the way it is.

 

So as far as tier one of MM tree goes for lethality : 6% cull damage > 3% accuracy.

 

Surge is also slightly more important than acc, but excess of it won't help much due to the high DR pass 75-76%.

 

As for your power/crit, please show us your current tech bonus power when stimmed. Coupled with surge %, crit % and acc, its all the info needed to see if a problem is holding you back with your gear.

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Well there is that:

 

Relic?

Earpiece/implants are rakata?

Fully augmented?

 

Don't sacrifice too much surge for accuracy either, its not a ratio go fetch 100% ASAP. I personnaly run 178 acc, 300 something surge right now, altough thats with the BM relics for now (still haven't worked on those, since I need the daily comms for DG ones)

 

And as for the lettered mod, as a rule of thumb

 

Columni non-lettered > rakata A > tio non lettered > columni A.

 

The B letter is a TANK stat distribution, even if you shove crit on it.

 

Lethality over has most of its damage from tech. Cull will have a miss of (110%-your effective acc rating )/3 since only one of its 3 hit is ranged. Thats going to change in 2,0, but for now thats the way it is.

 

So as far as tier one of MM tree goes for lethality : 6% cull damage > 3% accuracy.

 

Surge is also slightly more important than acc, but excess of it won't help much due to the high DR pass 75-76%.

 

As for your power/crit, please show us your current tech bonus power when stimmed. Coupled with surge %, crit % and acc, its all the info needed to see if a problem is holding you back with your gear.

 

Apologies for the delay, currently buffed with agent buff and rakata stim, power is a total of 575, crit chance 34%, surge 71.52. As for relics, one relic is the dread guard relic that has 47 power, 64 end and the damage proc that does 230 damage 30% of the time. The other relic I use is the one with surge, crit, etc until I get the other dread guard relic which on use gives 350 more power. I'm not sure with the tech bonus damage is as I am at work currently, but I will post once I know. As far as augmenting, my rifle, head, chest, legs, gloves, boots and dread guard relic are all augmented with skill 22 the 18 cunning 12 end. The other stuff I have not augmented because I will replace that gear.

 

Edit: accuracy rating for ranged is 97%. Tech is 108%.

Edited by migzmando
Accuracy update
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As said, I'm interested in your Tech Bonus power, in the tech subwindow of your character screen.

 

Your crit seems low for lethality, with your 5% class buff as well.

 

350 crit rating gives me 40% crit without stim.

 

Power is important; but not at the cost of so much crit imo. Altough there are two schools of toughts here, one that says crit till X RATING, the other says crit till X %.

 

My own experience tells me crit should always be at 250-300 crit rating, and lethality energy mechanics also tend to prefer high crit ratings imo.

 

Lastest hybrid parses put me at 1700 dps with the BH pieces I acquired this week, bonus tech power at 894 unstimmed, 934 with an exotech stim, accuracy at 97,9%, surge at 78,31%, crit at 40,50 % (357 rating).

 

Full lethalithy damage is lower a bit, but should be around 1550-1600 I'd guess, fully buffed with exotech stim. Rakata really should hit at least 1400.

 

I know have the strangest mix of BH enhencements, tio/BH mods =D

 

Small note tough, have you completed all types of companions convos around your character?

 

This gives 1% bonus to crit, surge and acc, permanently.

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