As the title suggests, I'd like to find the pro's and the con's of each build. I was unable to test out SW during the beta, so I'd like your input.

 

Which one is more PvE friendly, and which is more suited for PvP?

Is one better at dealing with large mobs with AoE?

Is one build focused mainly on single target?

Does one focus on burst damage?

Does one focus on bleed damage?

 

What's your personal preference on the different builds?

Good question OP! I am looking forward to the answer as well

Carnage is more of the heavy burst, crit heavy DPSer, but Annihilation is the slowly build up damage with bleeds. Both of them should be equally strong in AoE, maybe Anni has a slight advantage being able to Force Jump more often and with greater ease.

When it comes to PvP, I feel they are both quite strong. Anni could be a bit stronger in closing in on ranged classes, but they do less damage over a short time span. So it's all a bit of a preference thing in PvP: Do you prefer to stay on your target more easily, but kill them slightly slower, or burn them down more quickly, but risk ranged classes to get away.

I, personally, prefer Carnage. I love being able to deal a LOT of damage in a very short amount of time, especially in PvP.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Senatsu

And how do both specs work ? I mean, ok burst and DoT, but what are the skills used, etc ?

And how do both specs work ? I mean, ok burst and DoT, but what are the skills used, etc ?

 

That could take a long while to explain, longer than my attention span care to go into. You just have to try them out.

Nothing against your question, but you can look up all of this information online. Use Youtube, there are guides, use the holonet on this site. there is also Torhead.com that is a huge database for the game

And how do both specs work ? I mean, ok burst and DoT, but what are the skills used, etc ?

 

Looks like time to read the skills and see what they do, analyze what they mean, and put it to good use. This early, not all of the answers will present themselves into a fine tuned spreadsheet that tells you exactly when, where and how to hit. Learning what moves do what and how to apply them to a certain situation is what makes us a better master of our class, not someone telling you what to do.

Nothing against your question, but you can look up all of this information online. Use Youtube, there are guides, use the holonet on this site. there is also Torhead.com that is a huge database for the game

 

Nothing wrong with just discussing either, that is kinda the whole point of a community

^exactly. I used carnage during beta and found it to fit my play style quite well.

Low tier Annihilation is the best for PvE through level 30ish.

 

For low level PvP, low tier Carn is better.

 

At high levels, Carn is better for group PvP and Annihilation is good for solo PvP.

 

They're both fine for PvE as far as people know currently. Annihilation probably has an edge for solo PvE at high levels.

 

 

Carnage is characterized by:

 

1. Heavy burst sequences on a 15s cooldown.

2. Proc damage.

3. Extra roots and CC breaks, and run speed.

 

Annihilation is characterized by:

 

1. Elemental damage (ignores armor).

2. Self heal ticks.

3. Faster/more flexible Force Charge.

4. Pulsing burst on a 7-10 second cooldown.

Carnage = Huttball

 

Nuff said lol...

Low tier Annihilation is the best for PvE through level 30ish.

 

For low level PvP, low tier Carn is better.

 

At high levels, Carn is better for group PvP and Annihilation is good for solo PvP.

 

They're both fine for PvE as far as people know currently. Annihilation probably has an edge for solo PvE at high levels.

 

 

Carnage is characterized by:

 

1. Heavy burst sequences on a 15s cooldown.

2. Proc damage.

3. Extra roots and CC breaks, and run speed.

 

Annihilation is characterized by:

 

1. Elemental damage (ignores armor).

2. Self heal ticks.

3. Faster/more flexible Force Charge.

4. Pulsing burst on a 7-10 second cooldown.

 

Thanks! I really appreciate this kind of breakdown!

Both are good anyway. Most people however prefer burst DPS - particularly true in pvp - for quicker taking down the targets.

I'm planning to roll a Sith Warrior when I get my Early Access and after checking some guides and read some forum posts about the state of Sith Warriors in the lauch, it seems Marauder is the way to go for PvP and PvE and since Juggernaut is lacking some damage to be on the equal level of other specs and you might have hard time against other people especially in PvP. Is this right?

Personally I do not consider PVP until I hit 50, I will of course take part on the way to 50 but all results can be basically ignored.

In Beta I had no big problems PVPing with any class and certainly not with a marauder or juggernaut.

Basically lets all wait up until we have reached decent levels and have experienced the game to its full.

Nothing against your question, but you can look up all of this information online. Use Youtube, there are guides, use the holonet on this site. there is also Torhead.com that is a huge database for the game

 

Nothing against your short sightedness, but that's what these forums are for.

I think that Carnage will be better for high level PvP simply because you cant get crippled as much by dispels, as you will be as Annhiliation.

 

This also means that its alot easier to set up burst and kills as Carnage, then it will be as Annhil.

I think that Carnage will be better for high level PvP simply because you cant get crippled as much by dispels, as you will be as Annhiliation.

 

This also means that its alot easier to set up burst and kills as Carnage, then it will be as Annhil.

 

Dispels aren't nearly as powerful as in other games. Toxic Scan (Operative) only purges Tech and Physical debuff effects; Purge (Sorcerer) only purges Mental and Force effects. If you look at most of the Annihilation bleed effects, they are elemental 'internal' damage effects.

 

So only one character (Smuggler) can purge our debuffs, and even then it's a very expensive dispel on a 5 second CD.

I for one am going with Anni, DOTs always did and always will rule in PVP.

Even if they can be dispelled, how many Dispellers are actually going to be doing just that? from my experience not many. And the beuty about DOTs is you can be dead and still be doing damage.

Just FYI, I'm planing on starting a Marauder Annihilation guide this afternoon, based only on theorycrafting. Though, it'll be my very first attempt for this kind of stuff, so any help when the first version is posted will be much appreciated =) then again, if anyone more competent than me wishes to do a guide, please help yourself, I'll then let it slip and try to help on yours.

I think that Carnage will be better for high level PvP simply because you cant get crippled as much by dispels, as you will be as Annhiliation.

 

This also means that its alot easier to set up burst and kills as Carnage, then it will be as Annhil.

 

Also, the dot durations are very short compared to a lot of other games so with a 1.5 second global cooldown gl to any healer attempting to dispel anni dots and heal at the same time. Infact, please DO stop healing and dispel...

I liked (in beta played up to 40), still like and will play Carnage when I get in the game. More of a personal preference, however let's take a look at what these trees offer.

(My analysis, you are obviously free to disagree):

 

Carnage tree - A steady DPS / PvP-oriented tree. No need to keep stuff up.

 

Notes:

 

Ataru Form: Enters an acrobatic lightsaber form, increasing accuracy by 3%. In addition, your successful melee attacks have a 20% chance to trigger a second strike that deals 229 energy damage. This effect cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds.

 

Ataru form hit: Has 1.5 second internal CD, does energy damage. Talents boost that damage, its crit chance and it periodically boosts the damage of your other finishers.

 

Fury: Activating an attack that spends rage and defeating opponents builds Fury. When 30 stacks of Fury are built, you become Furious, enabling the use of Berserk, Predation and Bloodthirst.

 

Berserk: Requires and converts 30 stacks of Fury to go Berserk. Lasts for 6 charges. This effect varies based on your current lightsaber form:

 

Shii-Cho Form: Vicious Slash costs no rage and strikes 1 additional nearby enemy.

Juyo Form: Increases the critical chance of your bleed attacks by 100% and causes bleed damage to heal your party for 1% of max health each tick.

Ataru Form: Reduces the rage cost of Vicious Slash and Massacre by 1 and reduces their global cooldown by 0.5 seconds.

 

Predation: Requires and converts 30 stacks of Fury to issue Predation to you and your party, increasing movement speed by 50% and melee and ranged defense by 10%. Lasts 10 seconds.

 

Bloodthirst: Requires and converts 30 stacks of Fury to issue Bloodthirst to you and your party, increasing all damage and healing dealt by 15%. Lasts 15 seconds.

Pros:

 

- Revolves around a steady (1.5 second internal CD) proc.

- Can generate Fury while being hit, letting you get to 30 stacks faster.

- Increased Movement Speed

- Lots of rage to use (well, I had no problems until 40)

- No need to keep up abilities on the target. (Not even bleed, it is not cost efficient)

- Easier to level up with

 

Cons:

 

- Revolves around a steady (1.5 second internal CD) proc.

- Fairly boring to play, nothing exciting happens.

- Figuring out what abilities to NOT use is a pain.

 

Annihilation tree - A steady DPS / PvE-oriented tree. Keeping Rupture up and hitting Deadly Saber and Annihilate on CD makes all the difference .

 

 

Notes:

 

Rupture: Stabs the target for 111 - 170 damage and deals an additional 3590 internal damage over 6 seconds. Requires two lightsabers.

 

Deadly Saber: Charges your lightsabers with deadly energy for 15 seconds, causing your next 3 successful melee attacks to make the target bleed for 402 internal damage over 6 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds.

 

Annihilate: Strikes the target with both lightsabers for 528 - 808 weapon damage. Each use of this ability grants Annihilator for 15 seconds, lowering the cooldown of your next Annihilate by 1.5 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times. Requires two lightsabers.

 

Pros:

- In a long fight, the Annihilation tree can dish out the greatest dps out of all 3 of the trees.

- Fun to play, a good amount of buttons to press

- Self-heal

- More Fury from rage spenders

- Can charge from up-close, generating more rage

 

Cons:

- You get the "get more rage" talents later than the Carnage spec

- Considerable learning curve

- In a fight that requires movement (and there is a fair amount of them), this spec is downright weak

- Harder to level up with

 

That would be it. Please keep it civil and let's discuss the difference of our opinions, if any. Keep in mind that I haven't seen the endgame, so this mostly derives from playing up to level 40 and a little bit of guesswork.

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

Edited December 15, 2011 by J-Slh

Nice analysis, although I think Carnage is as good for PvE than Annihilation. Think about all those boss fights on other MMO's when there are some time when you can't hit the boss, i.e. he becomes invulnerable. I prefer then having an epic burst to use on him than DoTs =) Same thing for bosses which are more vulnerable for 15 seconds like the big lava worm in WoW Cataclysm.

 

Of course, for traditional fights, annihilation is surely as good, maybe even better, but hey, depends on the situation =)

Pros:

- In a long fight, the Annihilation tree can dish out the greatest dps out of all 3 of the trees.

 

Evidence for this?

 

The only hard numbers I've seen point to Carnage significantly out-DPSing Annihilation, although there were a few flaws with the analysis that would narrow the gap.

Hey guys interesting posts right now, honestly for beta i went carnage up to level 30. I was wondering, my guild i am in most of the marauders are going Carnage, would it be worthwhile from a end game perspective for me to go annihilation? is this spec viable end game from what has been seen so far? or would carnage be the way to go for end game events. Thanks all look forward to seeing you in game ^^