Hey all, been gone awhile. Coming back, rolling a class I never gave any time to which is an Agent. Planning on rolling a ranged class so Sniper it is.

Anyways, I'm going to just guess that engineering is best for leveling due to aoe, but I thought I would ask first. I normally prefer leveling in the spec I want to play at max level, but in this game, I generally prefer to use the fastest spec, then relearn once I get done leveling.

First off:

Welcome back

You have posted this in the operative/scoundrel forum, but I'll answer it for you. Marksmanship is the best for more HP targets, engineering for area damage and virulence (old name is lethality) is not viable for low level mobs, since you'll have to enable all your dots before killing them. I'd take engineering if you want to burn through the mobs, because you won't see that much more HP targets.

Note: If you want to PVP/PVE later, you can learn your rotation while leveling, which I think is great!

Hope this is enough info for you

First off:

Welcome back

 

You have posted this in the operative/scoundrel forum, but I'll answer it for you. Marksmanship is the best for more HP targets, engineering for area damage and virulence (old name is lethality) is not viable for low level mobs, since you'll have to enable all your dots before killing them. I'd take engineering if you want to burn through the mobs, because you won't see that much more HP targets.

 

Note: If you want to PVP/PVE later, you can learn your rotation while leveling, which I think is great!

Hope this is enough info for you

this isn't really true regarding leveling. once you get suppressive fire, the rotation of all 3 classes is exactly the same. suppressive fire>suppressive fire>suppressive fire. i do agree that he should level in the spec he wants to play at endgame, just not that it matters before that.

this isn't really true regarding leveling. once you get suppressive fire, the rotation of all 3 classes is exactly the same. suppressive fire>suppressive fire>suppressive fire. i do agree that he should level in the spec he wants to play at endgame, just not that it matters before that.

Not the way to level dude and you know it, if all you want is the class story hey sure go for it but if you want to play the class at endgame whether pve or pvp then you need to learn/play the spec whilst levelling. You aren't going to do that with spamming one skill.

Not the way to level dude and you know it, if all you want is the class story hey sure go for it but if you want to play the class at endgame whether pve or pvp then you need to learn/play the spec whilst levelling. You aren't going to do that with spamming one skill.

For a MM sniper I sort of disagree. 90% of the encounters you'll have while leveling are groups of 3-5 mobs and SF is indeed the "correct" means of handling such groups. Clean up the strong with a couple Snipes or Takedown.

Also, while MM is probably the single easiest spec to play in the game, learning it while leveling is actually counter productive as you do not get Followthrough until level 42. Until you get FT the spec really doesn't have any sort of meaningful flow. I've leveled 4 Sniper/Slingers and I've done nearly all of the leveling as "MM" - I consider it one of the most illogical specs to level (once you know how it's actually supposed to work) for the first 40+ levels.

You get Suppressive Fire at 10 and you can buff the damage with your first utility point. Use it a lot.

For a MM sniper I sort of disagree. 90% of the encounters you'll have while leveling are groups of 3-5 mobs and SF is indeed the "correct" means of handling such groups. Clean up the strong with a couple Snipes or Takedown.

 

Also, while MM is probably the single easiest spec to play in the game, learning it while leveling is actually counter productive as you do not get Followthrough until level 42. Until you get FT the spec really doesn't have any sort of meaningful flow. I've leveled 4 Sniper/Slingers and I've done nearly all of the leveling as "MM" - I consider it one of the most illogical specs to level (once you know how it's actually supposed to work) for the first 40+ levels.

 

You get Suppressive Fire at 10 and you can buff the damage with your first utility point. Use it a lot.

Even for a marksman sniper you don't learn the spec properly by simply spamming suppressive fire.

Even for a marksman sniper you don't learn the spec properly by simply spamming suppressive fire.

It would be helpful if you explained why, rather than saying "Nuh uh!"

The entire spec is built around an ability you do not obtain before level 42. Prior to that, you're not even beginning to learn the spec properly unless you interject RS or buffed OLS in its place. I suspect nobody does that.

As I said, nearly every time you initiate combat you will be facing multiple mobs. On any group of 2+ mobs SF is a DPS increase. It is correct play.

I would go so far as to say that no class really learns a proper endgame spec via leveling but I think it is magnified on this spec in particular. Personally, I think MM should get FT at level 20 at the latest.

Lastly, "learning" MM does not require 65 levels. The actual rotation requires about 10 minutes to understand.

Really, truly "learning" MM is all about becoming comfortable with energy management around CD, execute range TD and extra snipes on longer encounters. Until you get the ability which reduces the energy on snipes (which I don't recall exactly when that is but I am guessing it is probably closer to level 50) you are learning nothing that is actually translatable to endgame content.

Spamming SF on single mobs is obviously not smart but I do not see even a small problem with saying someone will be using it on nearly every fight, because they probably should.

Not the way to level dude and you know it, if all you want is the class story hey sure go for it but if you want to play the class at endgame whether pve or pvp then you need to learn/play the spec whilst levelling. You aren't going to do that with spamming one skill.

as others have said, the reason i don't recommend the correct rotation during leveling anymore, is because so much of it is missing. not just for mm but all specs and classes. once you get to around level 50 or so, then learning by doing is the best way to go, but before reaching endgame, levelers just don't have the abilities they need to do the rotation correctly. i suppose you could use rifle shot in place of missing abilities, but really? who is going to do that?

Hello, I've been playing a sniper for a while, she's my favorite toon.

As has been pointed out, having a companion in tank mode, with a good influence level, to gather all the mobs together and then nuking them with suppressive fire, is the fastest way to handle them. Standard strength mobs will go down very quickly and with a good rifle kept up to date with level appropriate modding, even strongs will fold quickly to this tactic.

That being said, this is very poor preparation for endgame. If you have to fight more than one gold, or a champion, they will turn, sneer at you, say, "Okay, have a taste of THIS..." and thwack you all around the battlefield before giving you a sound thrashing. And despite snipers having good survivability, if a powerful mob is focusing entirely on killing you, it's a safe bet they will.

Unfortunately, SWTOR LEVELING can be done in a way, and in fact is even BEST done in a way, that doesn't give you diddly-squat in preparation for the fights that most people, say, 'matter.' That is, endgame fights. And fighting Champion mobs, in general. For that, you need to learn rotations, priority scales, even positioning. High ground is only so useful, because if the mob can't reach you, they will go into evade mode and reset.

I'd say, while leveling, use the suppressive fire nuke technique, but in between, invest a few cartel coins in an operations training dummy for your personal starship, and in between leveling, spend some time practicing on it. Learn endgame rotations and priorities. Learn to use your defensives-- shield probe, ballistic shield, your defensive roll, all your miscellaneous utilities. They WILL make a difference. If you're in engineering spec, the scatter bombs will make your defensive roll even more important. It's rare you'll be able to deposit the scatter bombs right in the big mob's path, but when you can, extra dps is extra dps.

Leveling and endgame are two entirely different styles of play. I agree that this is not the way it should be, but what "should be" and what "IS" are often two different things.