My fellow SWTOR goers, there is a common misconception that snipers/gunslingers (which will no be abbreviated as S and GS, respectively) are underpowered, or can't offer the same utility of some of the other classes in the game. This is VERY untrue. I have played a GS from day one (back when the game first came out) and I have learned to play this class to its highest potential. Why mention this? I want to let people know the extreme beauty of having a good S or GS in your warzone. (and yes, I do know that S is the symbol for Sulfur on the periodic table)Also, this guide was printed from the PoV of a Sharpshooter GS.

Utility

As has been touched in the sniper PvP guide, a S or GS has a lot of utility that can be offered to a team.

a) Scrambling Field: 20% Damage reduction that is an AoE is VERY powerful in warzones where people are clustered for longer periods of time, esp. in Voidstar or Novare Coast. Combined with Hunker Down this can be a game changer in taking nodes.

b) Healer Defense: With all the melee running around, a S or GS that knows their classes mechanics can be very useful to have around. Leg Shot, which is an immobilize, allows for a healer to get away and get heals off for a couple of seconds, and the melee (especially maras/sents/juggernauts/guardians) can't leap to the target! Also knockbacks (talented) from Aimed shot/ambush and cover pulse can really annoy melee who can't kill healers because they can never actually get to their target.

c)Capping: With cover making one immune to leaps/pulls, a GS or S can be very useful in taking a node, mainly in Ancient Hypergates. kncokback melee--> begin taking node. If they trinket --> flash grenade and cap the node.(solo, but easier with another person).

They can also eliminate targets quickly, and because they are ranged, running away is not extremely helpful, especially if one just got leg shot and now has to take a combo of aimed shot/sabo charge/instant charged burst!

XS Freighter Flyby/Orbital Strike: This ability can cut off chokepoints(get it..force choke..nevermind) and also defend doors in the voidstar.

Cover: Cover is very good for a ranged class, as immunity to interrupts as well as leaps/pulls is very useful.

1v1: a GS can solo many classes 1v1 due to their burst capabilities, as well as overall good soloing mechanics.

Thanks for reading this post, and don't reroll knight/warrior, reroll S/GS!

(P.S, the IA story is awesome;))

My fellow forum goers, there is a common misconception that snipers/gunslingers (which will no be abbreviated as S and GS, respectively) are underpowered, or can't offer the same utility of some of the other classes in the game.

Really, are there people who are saying that Gunslingers or Snipers are bad these days ?

When i read the forums, I rather get the feeling that people are aguing about the fact that Snipers and Gunslingers are either fine or OP.

Really, are there people who are saying that Gunslingers or Snipers are bad these days ?

 

When i read the forums, I rather get the feeling that people are aguing about the fact that Snipers and Gunslingers are either fine or OP.

Irritating play of the day: In Huttball, instead of moving with the team-zerg to the ball pedestal, take a right, then a left past both fire traps. Fall into cover, and grief people. Depending on your effectivess, either your team will love you, or their team will hate you. Tough decision, huh?

Irritating play of the day: In Huttball, instead of moving with the team-zerg to the ball pedestal, take a right, then a left past both fire traps. Fall into cover, and grief people. Depending on your effectivess, either your team will love you, or their team will hate you. Tough decision, huh?

yeah i have done that before, 52 kills

yeah i have done that before, 52 kills

I didn't quite go that far; but, I did discover that to effectively execute this strategy, your S/GS needs to be at least Lv.14 so you get the knockout punch shot!

Well i have to admit that i love the gunslinger and he is (together with my sentinel) my favorite class in the game!

For a couple of weeks ive been trying a 0/21/20 (Full DOT/AOE) specc and if you play with the right setup this is just pure fun. And its extremly deadly too:

I just broke my sentinels dps record today with 1089 DPS and a 870k of total damage - that was one crazy fight and im not even fully modded.

So to everyone who thinks that snipers/revos are underpowered i can only say that it is probably the rarest class in pvp and therefore there are not many very good players. But a sniper in the hands of a good player can be as deadly as a marrauder or vanguard (if he runs with a capable healer)

GS/Snipers are perfect. BW... Do not nerf... Do not buff... keep your meddling hands off of them please.

(Except DF/Lethality... feel free to buff those poor bastards, if there're any left).

i dont think ive ever seen anyone say gunslinger/sniper was underpowered. probably one of the most balanced classes in the game imho

I 100% agree with this statement.

I haven't seen anyone complaining about Sniper/Gs being bad

I currently have a 41 sniper and I love it, though it does get a bit boring only being able to DPS all the time.

Maybe full optimized aug'd WH is a big, powerful tool, or my eng sniper is op lol. When I go up against any single opponent, and I want them dead, then they're dead.

"You're already dead, just lie down!"

-HK-51

GS/sniper class WAS underpowered.

It was utter crap compared to powerhorses in the game launch.

But then, powerhorses were nerfed here and there, but GS/sniper was only buffed, buffed, buffed.

Now GS/sniper is just a good playable balanced class.

GS/sniper class WAS underpowered.

 

It was utter crap compared to powerhorses in the game launch.

 

But then, powerhorses were nerfed here and there, but GS/sniper was only buffed, buffed, buffed.

 

Now GS/sniper is just a good playable balanced class.

I'll tell you what really happened:

• Sorcs dominated PvP before 1.2, Snipers couldn't even one-shot bubbles back then, which means extra GCD for them to get away.
  
• Operative Concealment plaguing warzones insta-killing any sniper that would dare to play.
  
• Healers were extremely overpowered, they had it very easy to undo all the damage sniper did.
  
• Tanks were flourishing with warzones being full of them. At the same time they did more damage than now.
  
• MM was complete crap against tank before 1.3 changes.
  
• MM had no AoE damage reduction before 1.2.
  
• Lethality had horrible energy problems and the healers could cleanse its DoTs thus negating Cull damage
  
• Engineering had a horrible plasma probe, damage was spread even across 18s making it crap against any enemy that had functional 2 legs. Also engineering had less cluster bombs.
  
• Pyrotech was powerful from the very beginning with PTs having Termal Detonators and Incendiary Missles 30m range. They could start their rotation on snipers long before reaching 10m range.
  
• Sniper being a class that needs many stats to be good, had a shortage of stat points to distribute with the previous PvP gear. Even getting 100% ranged accuracy wasn't so easy without sacrificing other stats.
  
• Arsenal/Gunnery got completely destroyed, thus eliminating the only rDPS competition for Snipers.
  
• The emergence of warriors, forced many classes to focus primarily at fighting them rather than snipers.
  

HOWEVER:

• Assassins feel comfortable just as before against any class. There is no shortage of them in any warzone. Deception got tremendously buffed.
  
• Carnage marauder got some very important buffs useful against snipers.
  
• Operative healers have become completely immortal in PvP with only 4 specs being able to kill them in the entire game, sniper being unable to do crap against them.
  

All this stuff prettu much balanced itself out. I am quite often the only sniper queueing in warzones. It is a very rare sight for me to end up with other 2 snipers in a team.

Sniper/GS is for sure the most balanced class in the game.

Not just balanced overall, but balanced within its spec as well. All three DPS specs provide a certain role the others can't do as well. Whether it's long range, single target assassin; defensive and AOE specialist; or good ol' tank buster...the sniper/GS brings some very interesting things to the table.

Oh, and mara's off of saber ward CD hate us. So I mean...there's that.

Meh, its the easiest AC to pvp with by far and away. Completely idiot proof.

PT is way easier. Far less buttons to bind. I was actually surprised how many keybinds I actively used. About as many as my marauder. My sorcerer has quite a few less.