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Saboteur/Engineering Guide 3.0+


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The Camel's Saboteur/Engineering Guide!

 

(Last Update: 3.2.2)

 

Testing/Statistics

 

Testing for 3.2 changes. Last PTS patch: 4/2/15

 

Testing is done. Might fiddle with crit if I feel like it in the future. Check gearing for more Info.

 

Reserved for possible future updates on the PTS.

 

 

 

 

Known Oddities/Bugs

 

 

This is something new that I feel like is important to take note. These aren't ground breaking (and pretty well known at this point) but hopefully Bioware will take note of this and hopefully correct it.

 

The only one I know of is the auto-crit on the first set of contingency charges after a Sabotage Charge consumes the first of the smuggler's luck charges. I do not know if this is a thing for Snipers as well, but it's a thing for Gunslingers.

 

 

Introduction

 

Howdy fellow Gunslingers and Snipers! I’m the entity known as the Camel on Begeren Colony. Now I know what you are thinking… “oh look at this guy from an RP server posting a guide.” Here’s my background: 4/5 on NiM DF pre-nerf (missed it by 3%. Much anger), and only 1/5 pre-nerf for NiM DP due to prog team difficulties. Post nerf we’ve cleared up to Council, however, I actually took a small break at this point because I actually got burnt out. After about a month break, I came back to raid in 3.0. My guild <Don’t Worry ‘Bout It> is currently 4/5 and 4/5 on both Ravagers and ToS. Ok, so I’m not in the BEST raiding guilds. However, I would like to think that I’m more than qualified to write up a guide about the spec I love to death. (or fire. Lots of fire.) I’ve already written a guide for Dulfy, but I think that since it’s been almost a month since I’ve really gotten to know the spec, I feel a lot more comfortable writing this guide AND have learned a couple more things that I didn’t know when I wrote the guide. To those of you who have viewed the Dulfy guide already, one big change is that I’ve pretty much scrapped the Experimental Rotation. After finally fixing my internet, I run with approx. 80ms compared to the 200ms I was running with earlier. Thus, my Hightail It seemed to come off cooldown after each CGD per rotation (if you read the guide you know what that means). Since there is a .5 second gap between that and the next time to pop some ability, I’ve gone to keeping it structured rather than using Scatter bombs more often. Gearing and the AoE rotation is a little different as well. Thanks everyone for viewing this, and I hope that it serves you well! Please feel free to comment about the rotation, gearing that you prefer, or if you’d really like, go ahead and yell at me for being dumb. As long as you are constructive in some sense, I’ll probably laugh at myself a little bit as well. Onward with the guide! (Note: I will typically refer to many of the general spec descriptions as Sabo. I main Gunslinger, so I will be more familiar with Republic terms. Just keep that in mind as you read.)

 

 

What is Saboteur/Engineering?

 

The Saboteur/Engineering discipline is an Area of Effect/Damage over Time based spec. It revolves around the use of explosives and other fun toys to dwindle down an opponent’s HP. Of the three specs, Saboteur/Engineering uses the most abilities, and has the biggest potential single target DPS. Potential is the key phrase here; not all fights are optimal for this spec. Here’s the checklist I typically run through my head prior to running into a boss fight: Does the fight have adds? If yes, then Sabo is good. If no, then see other items. Does the main target move constantly? If no, then Sabo is good. Is the fight movement intensive? If yes, then Sabo maybe a better option than the other two specs. If no, Sabo may still be very handy. What are my “Safe Zones” (will explain this shortly)? After running through this checklist, you will be able to predict how well this spec may perform on a certain boss fight. I also prefer to use this during long, no burst zone fights. Since this spec revolves around keeping dots up as much as possible, the less you have to reapply them the better.

 

One of the major changes from 3.0 is the fact that Saboteur is INCREDIBLY mobile. Everything in the spec besides Freighter Fly-by/Orbital Strike and Sweeping Gunfire/Suppressive Fire can be used out of cover. And the only channeled ability in the rotation (constantly) is Speed Shot/Series of Shots. 2/3 of your abilities can be used while moving. That is a big change.

 

 

Gearing *Finalized*

 

Again, for those of you returning from the Dulfy guide, you may find some differences here with Critical Rating. I believe the one mentioned there is just a *bit* too high.

So let’s start here. Gear is important ya?

Priorities (Highest at the top):

 

Accuracy: 100% RANGED/110% TECH. This is the same for EVERY DPS class out there. This should be achieved ASAP.

 

Critical Rating: I recommend going in between 250-350 rating with Cunning Augments or 300-400 with Power Augments. The class has a 30% surge buff to most abilities in the tree, so a good chunk of Crit Rating is ideal.

 

Surge v Alacrity: Here you have a couple of choices:

a) 0-240 Alacrity (Strictly enhancements)

b) 630-740 Alacrity (1 Enhancement, 12 Alacrity Augments.)

 

If you decide a) I reccommend 120 Alacrity Rating (1 enhancement), 69% surge (3 enhancements).

If you decide b) Stick to A gearing but with Alacrity augments instead of Main Stat or Power

 

Augments: After looking at some interesting statistics in the other threads, it looks like Cunning Augments (when you reach the 4k MS mark) has some Diminishing Returns on Crit Chance by a good margin. For the most optimal DPS, I'd use power augs.

The debate between Power v MS is actually is little tough. Since the tech crit is very useful here, I think I've actually seen more DPS come from full Cunning Augs rather than full Power Augs, but the choice is up to you.

 

Relics: Serendipitous Assault and Focus Retribution. Hands down. For this spec, I don’t even recommend a Boundless Ages relic for burn phases because it does not perform burst DPS as well as the other two specs do. Still handy to have one in stock for if you need to use it.

 

Set Bonus: 6-piece Field Tech/Professional Set Bonus. Both stack together, so pick up whatever you need to reach the above optimization.

 

 

Preferred PvE Utilities

 

These are the Utilities I typically use from fight to fight.

Skillful:

Ballistic Dampeners: Entering cover grants 3 charges of Ballistic Dampers. Each charge absorbs 30% of the damage dealt by an incoming attack. This effect cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds. Ballistic Dampers can only be gained once every 6 seconds.

 

Efficient Ammo/Imperial Efficiency: Increases the damage dealt by Sweeping Gunfire/Suppressive Fire by 25%.

 

Cool Under Pressure/Vital Regulators: While in cover, you heal for 1% of your total health every 3 seconds.

Note: This ability is almost useless, however, in most cases, it’s better than Snap Shot because you don’t use Charged Burst often.

 

Snap Shot: Entering cover makes the next Charged Burst/Snipe or Dirty Blast/Lethal Shot activate instantly. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 seconds.

Masterful:

Heads Up/Seek Cover: When Hunker Down/Entrench ends or you leave cover while Hunker Down/Entrench in active, you gain Heads Up/Seek Cover, which increases your movement speed by 50% and grants immunity to movement impairing effects. Lasts 6 seconds.

 

Hotwired Defensives/Augmented Shields: Increases the amount of damage absorbed by Defensive Screen/Shield Probe by 30%.

Lay Low/Pillbox Sniper: Reduces the cooldown of Hunker Down/Entrench by 15 seconds and Pulse Detonator/Cover Pulse knocks targets back an additional 4 meters.

Hot Pursuit/Calculated Pursuit: You gain 4 charges of Hot/Calculated Pursuit upon exiting cover, which reduces the energy cost of Quickshot/Overload Shot by 100%. Each use of Quickshot/Overload Shot consumes 1 charge, and consumption of the first charge triggers a 20 second rate-limit on this skill. This effect lasts 15 seconds but is also removed by consuming all charges or reentering cover.

Note: This is good for those who are getting energy strained or trying to learn the spec.

 

Heroic:

Holed Up/Siege Bunker: Reduces all area effect damage taken by 60% while Hunker Down/Entrench is active.

 

Riot Screen/Deployed Shields: Reduces all damage taken while in cover by 6% and reduces the cooldown of Scrambling Field/Ballistic Shield by 30 seconds.

Hold Your Ground: Reduces the cooldown of Escape by 30 seconds, Defensive Screen/Shield Probe by 4 seconds, and Pulse Detonator/Cover Pulse by 5 seconds.

 

 

The Tree:

 

This is going to be a simple rundown of all buffs granted in tree.

Saboteur’s Utility Belt: Increases Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade Crit Change by 10%, and upon successfully hitting a target, restores 5 energy.

Independent Anarchy: Increases Damage Dealt by Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe, Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs, Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade, Sweeping Gunfire/Suppressive Fire, Incendiary Grenade/Plasma Probe, XS Freighter Fly-by/Orbital Strike, and Scatter Bombs by 15%.

 

Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs: After Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe detonates, it leaves behind 2 Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs. These can be detonated by blaster fire, dealing X damage. Cannot be detonated more than once every half-second.

 

Insurrection: Increases number of Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs by 2, and restores total energy by 5 after each detonation.

 

Sapping Charge: Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe slows the target by 30%.

 

Arsonist: Increases Critical Damage dealt by Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe, Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe, Sabotage/EMP Discharge, and all area effects by 30%.

 

Blazing Speed/Electrified Railgun: Speed Shot/Series of Shots applies a DoT that does X damage over 6 seconds.

 

Hot Shot: Charged Burst/Snipe and Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade apply one stack of Blazing Speed/Electrified Railgun.

 

Dealer’s Discount: Reduces energy cost of Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe, Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe

Spacer: Reduces the cast time of XS Freighter Fly-by/Orbital Strike by 1 second and it’s CD by 15 seconds. In addition, Incendiary Grenade/Plasma Probe overwhelms it’s targets for 45 seconds. Overwhelmed targets take 10% more AoE Damage.

 

Scatter Bombs: Reduces the Thermal Grenade cost by 5. In addition, when rolling with Hightail It/Covered Escape, you drop a trail of 5 Scatter Bombs, dealing X kinetic damage. Each bomb immobilizes their targets for three seconds.

 

Jury-Rigged Mods: Reduces the energy cost of Speed Shot/Series of Shots by one per second, and it’s CD by 6 seconds. Also reduces the energy cost of Charged Burst/Snipe by 5.

 

Seize the Moment: After activating Sabotage/EMP Discharge, the next Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade costs no energy.

 

 

All da Abilities:

 

Main DPS abilities (in no particular order):

Speed Shot/Series of Shots: 3 second channeled ability, and has a cooldown of 9 seconds. Costs 20 energy (5 energy per tick), and deals ranged/energy damage. This is what the whole rotation revolves around, so this needs to be used on cooldown in 96% of all circumstances.

Incendiary Grenade/Plasma Probe: AoE DoT based ability. DoT lasts 9 seconds, costs 15 energy, and deals elemental damage. In addition, this ability overwhelms the target for 45 seconds, increasing the targets’ damage taken by AoE abilities by 10%. Also very important. This should be reapplied right when it wears off, unless the boss is able to avoid 3/4ths of its damage. (Either by moving or some invincible mechanic.)

 

Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe: Single Target DoT ability. Lasts 18 seconds, costs 10 energy, deals energy damage, and can only be applied to one target. Do not let the damage tooltip fool you; it does NOT do more damage than IG/PP. Since this is an ENERGY damage ability, the damage dealt by it is reduced by armor, unlike the other DoT. You must apply this to your main target to use Sabotage/EMP Discharge.

 

Vital Shot/Corrosive Dart: Single Target DoT ability. Lasts 18 seconds, deals internal damage, costs 15 energy, and can be applied to multiple targets. In addition, this ability marks its targets for 45 seconds. Marked targets take 5% more damage from ranged attacks. This is not a top priority of the rotation, however, should still be applied as soon as it wears off to ensure that the Marked debuff doesn’t wear off.

Sabotage/EMP Discharge: Single Target Direct damage ability, and has a cooldown of 18 seconds. Costs 15 energy, and deals energy damage. This ability can only be used on a target that is being affected by your Shock Charge/Interrogation Probe. Also, this ability makes your next Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade free. (Actually it regens 5 energy after hitting the target.) Should be used on cooldown to maintain energy.

 

Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe: Direct Damage dealing ability, and has a cooldown of 18 seconds. Costs 15 energy, and deals kinetic damage. This is one of the few instant damage abilities in the spec, but by far the hardest hitting one. (other than the debatable Scatter Bombs) Smuggler’s Luck/Laze Target makes the next (2) Sabotage Charges/Explosive Probes crit, so hint hint, you might want to use this on cooldown. Something that I’ve also didn’t notice until now is that in addition to the main ability critting, the following 4 Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs also crit. This has the greatest burst with the spec if you combine it with Speed Shot/Series of Shots.

Thermal Grenade/Fragmentation Grenade: Direct Damage Dealing ability, and has a cooldown of 6 seconds. Costs 15 energy, refunds 5, and deals kinetic damage. Unlike how it was in pre-3.0, this ability is now a small damage dealing single target ability. However, this is one of your main fillers of the rotation because it A) Costs less than using XS Freighter Flyby/Orbital Strike and Charged Burst/Snipe, and B) Applies one stack of Blazing Speed/Electrified Railgun to the main target. It also gives you energy after you use it following a Sabotage/EMP Discharge, making it very important for energy management.

XS Freighter Flyby/Orbital Strike: AoE kinda DoT ability which strikes the area every 3 seconds, and has a cooldown of 30 seconds. Lasts 9 seconds, costs 20 energy, and deals elemental damage. It does a little bit more damage than its similar counter-part Incendiary Grenade/Plasma Probe, however it also costs a little more energy, so it’s used should be limited to mainly AoE heavy fights or as an energy burn.

 

Sweeping Gunfire/Suppressive Fire: A channeled AoE ability. Costs 35..? energy, and deals weapon damage. This ability shines a lot more than it did in 2.0. It is now a viable AoE ability, however, in this spec, it is very hard to maintain energy while using said ability. Use it with caution.

 

Quickdraw/Takedown: Direct Damage Execute Ability, which has a cooldown of 12 seconds. Costs 15 energy and deals weapon damage. This can only be used on targets under 30% HP. Typically, you’d think an execute would actually be beneficial to use under 30%. However, in Saboteur/Engineering, that is not the case. With the energy reduction from the old 4-piece set bonus gone, this ability isn’t as friendly with energy as it once was. The damage it deals is also less than XS/OS, so this ability should only be used on adds with small HP left, or if energy is wonderful and every other ability is on cooldown (other than Fragmentation/Thermal Grenade).

 

Charged Burst/Snipe: Casted Damage Dealing ability. Costs 15 energy and deals weapon damage. This also applies one stack of Blazing Speed/Electrified Railgun, but this should rarely ever be used. Thermal/Fragmentation Grenade and XS/OS are better fillers to use in place of it. Once you become accustomed to the spec, you will see that there are a few practical uses for it, but for those learning the spec, don’t think about using it unless you absolutely need to use this as a filler.

 

Hightail It/Covered Escape’s Scatter Bombs: Costs no energy, and leaves a trail of 5 bombs along its path. Each bomb has a radius of 2 meters, and one is placed every 3 meters, assuming that the roll doesn’t bug like it sometimes does. This is no longer a viable dps ability. The damage, if all 5 bombs can hit a target, is equivalent to the AoE roll in Dirty Fighting/Virulence. During a boss fight, this should never be used. However, it does make a better filler than a free Quickshot/Overload Shot or a Flurry of Bolts.

 

Quickshot/Overload Shot: Weak direct damage ability. Costs 15 energy, and deals weapon damage. This should only ever be used if Hot Pursuit/Calculated Pursuit is being taken. Otherwise, flurry of bolts as a better substitute.

 

Flurry of Bolts/Rile Shot: Basic attack. Don’t spam it. More bullets does not equal more DPS.

 

 

Offensive Cooldowns:

 

Smuggler’s Luck/Laze Target: Increases the Critical Chance of you next (2 with 6-piece) Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe by 100%. Should be used on cooldown or saved for burn phases. Lasts (20/40 with 6-piece) seconds.

 

Illegal Mods/Target Acquired: Increases ranged and tech accuracy by 30% and armor penetration by 15% for 10 seconds. With the 4-piece set bonus, the cooldown of this ability is reduced by 15 seconds and generates 10 energy. Again should be used on cooldown or saved for burn phases. After the opener, I prefer to use it during the second half of the rotation, but that may change depending on energy constraints.

 

Cool Head/Adrenaline Probe: Restores 50 energy over the duration; I believe its 35 energy initially, then 5 over the 3 seconds? Might need confirmation on this little bit. Should be used at 40% energy for the most optimal regen. Do NOT combine this with a Speed Shot/Series of Shots + Contingency Charges/Cluster Bombs. You will go over 110 energy guaranteed, thus wasting energy.

 

Defensive Cooldowns:

 

Defensive Screen/Shield Probe: Absorbs a moderate amount of damage. Lasts 10 seconds, and has a cooldown of 30 seconds. (26 if specced into Hold your Ground). This is good for a couple of things, but should be used just about on cooldown, if you know if damage is coming your way. For example, good to mitigate DoT damage or AoE damage. As tempting as it may seem to pop this in combination with dodge if the defecation hits the ventilation, don’t do it. Try to save Dodge/Evasion for more severe circumstances. This is primarily used to prevent smaller amounts of damage.

Dodge/Evasion: Increases ranged/melee defense by 200%. In addition, with one of the new Gunslinger/Sniper passives, this ability now also reduces all tech/force damage (not including DoTs) taken by 75%. However, this ability no longer cleanses DoTs like it did in the past. This is best used for times you pull off the main tank, or in more general circumstances, big damage is inbound. (One example: In Underlurker HM, it is good to have a Slinger/Sniper stand in front of the boss during the cross phase. If the pop dodge right when it ends, they will received the damage taken debuff to the main tank doesn’t get it, and take no damage in the process.)

Hunker Down/Entrench with Holed Up/Siege Bunker: 60% AoE Damage taken during its duration. VERY useful for fights such as NiM Brontes. There are good examples in the new ones as well, but my god did it help there.

 

Surrender!/Countermeasures: Reduces all thread by a moderate amount. It’s best used after doing the opener, however, sometimes it may not be enough. Some of these aggro drops are pretty weak. Still worth it to use regardless.

 

Scrambling Field/Ballistic Shield: Reduces all incoming damage taken to members inside the “safety bubble” by 20% for 20 seconds. Use this at a healer’s discretion; this is an incredibly handy tool this class offers, but after its use, it goes on a cooldown of 3 minutes. (2:30 if specced into Riot Screen/Deployed Shields), so use it wisely.

 

 

Other CC/Utility Abilities:

 

Pulse Detonator/Cover Pulse: Knocks all enemies back within an 8-meter radius, and roots them for 5 seconds. Damage dealt after 2 seconds ends the root effect. Has a cooldown of 30 seconds (25 if specced into Hold your Ground). Useful for add phases that like to attack the healers. (Revanite Commanders is a good example.) Otherwise, this is mostly a PvP utility.

Flashbang: Stuns the target for 8 seconds. Ends prematurely after damage is dealt. Explanation: Eh.

Dirty Kick/Debilitate: “Quick! Kick him in the Dick!” Hard stuns the target for 4 seconds. Not terribly useful for PvE in the pulls I’ve done, but I’m sure there’s a use for it somewhere. (I guess the Revanite Commanders work.

 

Diversion: Reduces all accuracy to all targets within the 8-meter radius by 45%, and exposes enemies from cover. Cannot be used on Operation Bosses. This is a very nice addition to the Gunslinger/Sniper Arsenal. Great for a cluster of adds that are trying to eat away at the group.

Shatter Shot/Flourish Shot : Applies trauma to the target, reducing all healing taken by 20%. The only fight that I’ve seen so far where that has been useful is Brontes. Other than that, it’s limited to PvP now.

 

Leg Shot: Roots the target for 5 seconds. Direct damage after 2 seconds ends the root effect. Not terribly useful for PvE. I don’t see a use for it anywhere at all.

 

Hightail It/Covered Escape: Rolls 18 meters in the desired direction. While rolling, your chance to dodge incoming attacks is increased by 100%. This is wonderful for resisting huge damage spikes or ignoring mechanics, such as Doom on NiM Dread Dread Guards. Also handy if you need to get from point A to B quickly.

 

 

Mini Reminders (Read this before reading the rotation guides):

 

Some very important things to keep in mind while performing in this spec:

 

EMP Discharge/Sabotage will only work if Interrogation Probe/Shock Charge is on the selected target.

 

Fragmentation/Thermal Grenade refunds 5 energy AFTER it hits the target. Keep this in mind if/when you dip into the 70% energy mark.

 

I’m going to split this by Faction so there is a little less clutter when reading the rotations.

 

 

Gunslinger’s Rotation:

 

OPENER A:

 

Smuggler’s Luck (Pre-cast) – XS Freighter Flyby (Pre-cast) – Charged Burst (Pre-cast) – Adrenal/Illegal Mods – Sabotage Charge – Incendiary Grenade – Speed Shot

 

OPENER B:

 

Smuggler’s Luck (Pre-cast) – XS Freighter Flyby (Pre-cast) – Charged Burst (Pre-cast) – Adrenal/Illegal Mods – Sabotage Charge – Speed Shot

(No Incendiary Grenade)

 

After the opener you want to follow this priority list:

1. Speed Shot on Cooldown.

2. Incendiary Grenade

3. Sabotage Charge

4. Shock Charge

5. Sabotage

6. XS Freighter Flyby IF used with an energy regen or Free Thermal Grenade.

7. Free Thermal Grenade

8. Vital Shot

9. Quickdraw

10. Thermal Grenade

11. Charged Burst (if 7-10 are on CD, and energy is no concern)

12. Hightail it (Scatter Bombs)

13. Quickshot (with Hot Pursuit Taken)

14. Flurry of Bolts

 

A typical rotation (after opener A) would follow something like this:

Shock Charge – Sabotage – Thermal Grenade – Incendiary Grenade – Speed Shot

Vital Shot – Thermal Grenade – Sabotage Charge – Incendiary Grenade – Speed Shot

 

Opener B would look similar, just apply IG right after every Speed Shot instead of right before.

 

Then repeat.

After this rotation, the underlined abilities would then be good spots to incorporate other fillers, such as extra Thermal Grenades, Scatter Bombs, Freighter, Quickdraw, etc. The non-underlined abilities shouldn’t be moved from their positions, unless a mechanic deems it otherwise. I would like to emphasize that this is more targeted toward a stationary target, or a dummy parse. When mechanics do occur, you may want to reconfigure this rotation so that you gain more burst, or more uptime from your DoTs. In short, try to keep the same rotation throughout the fight, but don’t be afraid to change it to make the best out of certain mechanics as well.

 

The rotation may not be as easy as Sharpshooter, but is still very simple to follow in fights because of these key point to keep in the back of your mind: The whole rotation revolves around the use of Speed Shot, and one full rotation is 18 seconds long. It is split into 2 different 9 second windows. Each window, if done correctly, should be the exact same each time. For example, we’ll use Incendiary Grenade as a reference. In the opener we used Incendiary Grenade right before Speed Shot. Incendiary Grenade lasts 9 seconds, and Speed Shot has a cooldown of 9 seconds. What a coincidence! Therefore, every 9 second window, your IG will wear off one GCD before you use Speed Shot. Makes sense right?

 

The same can be said for Shock Charge, Sabotage, and Vital Shot. All have a cooldown or wear off at 18 seconds. Let’s say we use Shock Charge as our next example. We applied Shock Charge immediately after Speed Shot ended in the opener. Since Speed Shot has a 9 second cooldown, and Shock Charge wears off after 18 seconds, Shock Charge will wear off immediately after every OTHER Speed Shot. Then Sabotage will come off cooldown right behind that, and so forth.

 

The most important part of the spec is to keep it structured. You keep the rotation intact, then you find re-applying dots very simple.

 

*NEW*Note the change in the priority list. As I'm sure someone else has found out already, XS Freighter Fly-by is a far better choice to use over say Vital Shot. What the new priority list is telling you is to include Freighter as much as possible, and it is fairly easy to do. A typical segment of a rotation while you incorperate Freighter would look like this:

 

IG - ShC - Sabo - Free Ability (Not TG) - SS - IG - XS - TG (Free) - SaboC - SS

 

The free Grenade will allow you to use XS without worrying about dipping below 60% energy. In addition, about every other time you use XS, you should have an energy regen ability up (Not 100% exact, but fairly close.) Then when Freighter is on CD, you just swap the freighter for Vital Shot, and now you are left with a free Thermal Grenade in either the first GCD Block or the Second (GCD Blocks are separated by Speed Shot. 1st 4 GCDs + SS = GCD Block 1, 2nd 4 GCDs + SS = Block 2). However, don't use this exact rotation during boss fights unless the boss is purely single target (Bulo for instance would be a good boss to use this rotation on, just make sure he doesn't jump out :rak_03:)

 

AoE Rotation:

Now, after experimenting on certain boss fights with this spec, handling an AoE rotation while managing energy is very difficult. However, I believe that in combination with some single target DPS, it is very possible. Now if we are talking add pulls, this is a very simple priority list to follow:

1. XS Freighter (Pre-Cast)

2. Incendiary Grenade

3. Sweeping Gunfire

 

You can play around with whatever you feel like on trash pulls to get used to it, but if we want to talk about bosses such as Underlurker or Torque, then the explanation will not be as easy. Underlurker you can get away a little bit with energy strain because of the 6 second down time behind the rocks. (If above 60% energy, that 30 energy that you get back.) But Torque is very tricky because you can only do single target on the boss, and there are no times to regen energy (other than clicking the panel.) So I’ve hypothesized a possible strategy that could do both single target and a bigger chunk of AoE damage. But I currently do not have a lot of experience doing it (other than the obnoxious trash pulls of HM ToS).

 

I think it would be better with a priority list. It will be a little odd, but bear with me.

1. XS Freighter (3+ targets)

2. Incendiary Grenade (Regardless of targets)

3. Sabotage Charge (Main Target)

4. Sweeping Gunfire (with the main target being hit by the attack)

5. Shock Charge (Main Target)

6. Sabotage

7. Free Thermal Grenade (Preferably main target)

8. Speed Shot (Energy Regen, again, main target)

Note: After #4, the rest are used to maintain energy.

 

This should only be done while taking the 25% damage boost from Sweeping Gunfire. If you aren’t then use the two main AoE’s and continue the single target rotation. Since Saboteur doesn’t benefit from extra energy regen in cover (a Sharpshooter passive), Sweeping Gunfire is very energy strenuous to use, and should only be used if some target with contingency charges is being hit by it, Illegal mods is up, or you have Cool Head ready to go. Otherwise, try to follow this list, or make one up yourself. I’m very interested to see how people handle Underlurker and Torque with Saboteur.

 

 

Sniper’s Rotation:

 

OPENER A:

 

Laze Target (Pre-cast) – Orbital Strike (Pre-cast) – Snipe (Pre-Cast) – Adrenal/Target Acquired – Explosive Probe – Plasma Probe – Series of Shots

 

(You could also delay the first Plasma Probe until after Series of Shots.)

 

After the opener, you should follow this priority list:

1. Series of Shots on Cooldown

2. Plasma Probe

3. Explosive Probe

4. Interrogation Probe

5. EMP Discharge

6. Orbital Strike with energy regen or free Frag Grenade

7. Free Fragmentation Grenade

8. Corrosive Dart

9. Takedown

10. Fragmentation Grenade

11. Snipe (if 7-10 are on CD, and energy is of no concern)

12. Covered Escape (Scatter Bombs)

13. Overload Shot (with Calculated Pursuit)

14. Rifle Shot

 

Then a typical rotation would look something like this:

 

Interrogation Probe – EMP Discharge – Frag Grenade – Plasma Probe – Series of Shots

Corrosive Dart – Fragmentation Grenade – Explosive Probe – Plasma Probe – Series of Shots

 

With opener B, apply Plasma Probe immediately after SoS.

 

After this rotation, the underlined abilities would then be good spots to incorporate other fillers, such as extra Fragmentation Grenades, Scatter Bombs, Orbital, Takedown, etc. The non-underlined abilities shouldn’t be moved from their positions, unless a mechanic deems it otherwise. I would like to emphasize that this is more targeted toward a stationary target, or a dummy parse. When mechanics do occur, you may want to reconfigure this rotation so that you gain more burst, or more uptime from your DoTs. In short, try to keep the same rotation throughout the fight, but don’t be afraid to change it to make the best out of certain mechanics as well.

 

The rotation may not be as easy as Marksman, but is still very simple to follow in fights because of these key point to keep in the back of your mind: The whole rotation revolves around the use of Series of Shots, and one full rotation is 18 seconds long. It is split into 2 different 9 second windows. Each window, if done correctly, should be the exact same each time. For example, we’ll use Plasma Probe as a reference. In the opener we used Plasma Probe right before Speed Shot. Plasma Probe lasts 9 seconds, and Series of Shots has a cooldown of 9 seconds. What a coincidence! Therefore, every 9 second window, your PP will wear off one GCD before you use SoS. Makes sense right?

 

The same can be said for Interrogation Probe, EMP Discharge, and Corrosive Dart. All have a cooldown or wear off at 18 seconds. Let’s say we use Interrogation Probe as our next example. We applied IP immediately after SoS ended in the opener. Since SoS has a 9 second cooldown, and IP wears off after 18 seconds, IP will wear off immediately after every OTHER Speed Shot. Then EMP will come off cooldown right behind that, and so forth.

The most important part of the spec is to keep it structured. You keep the rotation intact, then you find re-applying dots very simple.

 

*NEW*Note the change in the priority list. As I'm sure someone else has found out already, Orbital Strike is a far better choice to use over Corrosive Dart. What the new priority list is telling you is to include Freighter as much as possible, and it is fairly easy to do. A typical segment of a rotation while you incorperate Freighter would look like this:

 

PP - IP - EMP - Free Ability (Not FG) - SoS - IG - OS - FG (Free) - EP - SoS

 

The free Frag Grenade will allow you to use OS without worrying about dipping below 60% energy. In addition, about every other time you use OS, you should have an energy regen ability up (Not 100% exact, but fairly close.) Then when Freighter is on CD, you just swap the freighter for Vital Shot, and now you are left with a free Frag Grenade in either the first GCD Block or the Second (GCD Blocks are separated by Speed Shot. 1st 4 GCDs + SoS = GCD Block 1, 2nd 4 GCDs + SoS = Block 2). However, don't use this exact rotation during boss fights unless the boss is purely single target (Bulo for instance would be a good boss to use this rotation on, just make sure he doesn't jump out :rak_03:)

 

AoE Rotation:

Now, after experimenting on certain boss fights with this spec, handling an AoE rotation while managing energy is very difficult. However, I believe that in combination with some single target DPS, it is very possible. Now if we are talking add pulls, this is a very simple priority list to follow:

1. Orbital Strike (Pre-Cast)

2. Plasma Probe

3. Suppressive Fire

 

You can play around with whatever you feel like on trash pulls to get used to it, but if we want to talk about bosses such as Underlurker or Torque, then the explanation will not be as easy. Underlurker you can get away a little bit with energy strain because of the 6 second down time behind the rocks. (If above 60% energy, that 30 energy that you get back.) But Torque is very tricky because you can only do single target on the boss, and there are no times to regen energy (other than clicking the panel.) So I’ve hypothesized a possible strategy that could do both single target and a bigger chunk of AoE damage. But I currently do not have a lot of experience doing it (other than the obnoxious trash pulls of HM ToS).

 

I think it would be better with a priority list. It will be a little odd, but bear with me.

1. Orbital Strike (3+ targets)

2. Plasma Probe (Regardless of amount)

3. Explosive Probe (Main Target)

4. Suppressive Fire (Must hit main target)

5. Interrogation Probe (Main Target)

6. EMP Discharge

7. Free Fragmentation Grenade (Preferably Main Target)

8. Series of Shots (for Energy Regen, and again, main target)

Note: After #4, the rest are used to maintain energy.

 

This should only be done while taking the 25% damage boost with Suppressive Fire. If you aren’t then use the two main AoE’s and continue the single target rotation. Since Engineering doesn’t benefit from extra energy regen in cover (a Marksman passive), Suppressive Fire is very energy strenuous to use, and should only be used if some target with Cluster Bombs are being hit by it, Target Aquired is up, or you have Adrenaline Probe ready to go. Otherwise, try to follow this list, or make one up yourself. I’m very interested to see how people handle Underlurker and Torque with Engineering.

 

Raid Videos / Stream

 

My progression group is on a break for now. I probably won't be streaming Gunslinger runs for a while. Although I've been streaming Fractured Space every once in a while. If you don't know what it is, look it up. It's pretty killer.

 

http://www.twitch.tv/camelpockets

 

Acknowledgements:

 

I’ve got a lot of people to thank for getting me where I am today. First off, hats off for my guild for teaching me from scratch. Secondly, I’d like to thank all of the Snipers and Gunslingers that got me where I am now.

Names that I do remember, but not limited to: Zah’ik, Claimed, Yolo, Rickmyron, and many other people I’m drawing a blank to, as well as future posters to this guide.

 

Please leave me comments, questions, concerns, rants, hate mails, and whatever else you feel is appropriate. I hope you enjoyed reading!

 

A final Note: By no means is this the "Perfect Saboteur/Engineering Guide" This will become a little more perfected over time for sure, however, there will be flaws, such as those that people have already stated. Please, do post feedback about what you think about the guide overall, and perhaps any additional tips or tricks that I missed or possibly even other things that I don't know.

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Good job on the guide overall. You may want to put some space between your paragraphs, though, as the information is hard to read with all those blocks of text. Besides that, there are a few issues I want to point out.

 

Hightail It/Covered Escape: Rolls 18 meters in the desired direction. While rolling, your chance to dodge incoming attacks is increased by 100%. This is wonderful for resisting huge damage spikes or ignoring mechanics, such as Doom on NiM Dread Council. Also handy if you need to get from point A to B quickly.

 

It might be good to mention that the roll causes the player to move in the direction where the camera is pointing and not where the player is pointing. Also, I think you're talking about Doom on NiM Dread Guards since that ability is not present in the Dread Council fight.

 

Gunslinger’s Rotation:

A typical rotation (after the opener) would follow something like this:

Shock Charge – Sabotage – Hightail It – Incendiary Grenade – Speed Shot

Vital Shot – Thermal Grenade – Sabotage Charge – Incendiary Grenade – Speed Shot

Then repeat.

 

I don't really understand why you split up Shock Charge and Vital Shot into different 9 second rotations instead of including them together on the same one (aka Shock Charge -- Vital Shot). Personally, that's what I do in general as keeping the DoTs aligned is easier to keep track of (especially on fights like Sword Squadron where your target goes immune) and as far as I've seen, Vital Shot does about the same DPS as Sabotage.

 

 

AoE Rotation:

Now, after experimenting on certain boss fights with this spec, handling an AoE rotation while managing energy is very difficult. However, I believe that in combination with some single target DPS, it is very possible. Now if we are talking add pulls, this is a very simple priority list to follow:

1. XS Freighter (Pre-Cast)

2. Incendiary Grenade

3. Scatter Bombs

4. Sweeping Gunfire

You can play around with whatever you feel like on trash pulls to get used to it, but if we want to talk about bosses such as Underlurker or Torque, then the explanation will not be as easy. Underlurker you can get away a little bit with energy strain because of the 6 second down time behind the rocks. (If above 60% energy, that 30 energy that you get back.) But Torque is very tricky because you can only do single target on the boss, and there are no times to regen energy (other than clicking the panel.) So I’ve hypothesized a possible strategy that could do both single target and a bigger chunk of AoE damage. But I currently do not have a lot of experience doing it (other than the obnoxious trash pulls of HM ToS).

I think it would be better with a priority list. It will be a little odd, but bear with me.

1. XS Freighter (3+ targets)

2. Incendiary Grenade (Regardless of targets)

3. Sabotage Charge (Main Target)

4. Sweeping Gunfire (with the main target being hit by the attack)

5. Shock Charge (Main Target)

6. Sabotage

7. Free Thermal Grenade (Preferably main target)

8. Speed Shot (Energy Regen, again, main target)

Note: After #4, the rest are used to maintain energy.

This should only be done while taking the 25% damage boost from sweeping gunfire. If you aren’t then use the two main AoE’s and continue the single target rotation. Since Saboteur doesn’t benefit from extra energy regen in cover (a Sharpshooter passive), Sweeping Gunfire is very energy strenuous to use, and should only be used if some target with contingency charges is being hit by it, Illegal mods is up, or you have Cool Head ready to go. Otherwise, try to follow this list, or make one up yourself. I’m very interested to see how people handle Underlurker and Torque with Saboteur.

 

AoE rotations vary a lot based on how much AoE your team puts out and the strategy you use in each boss fight. If you were the only one using AoE the adds on Torque/Underlurker, you can get significantly higher DPS than if you have other people helping (even though that'd be obviously better for the team). On Torque/Underlurker, any adds should die in less than 15 seconds unless something has gone horribly wrong. Rolling for DPS on both fights is not something I do because it requires me to take extra damage to do so and one of the big reasons I just run Sharpshooter nowadays for them. Without the extra energy management for rolling, the adds pretty much have to die in around 9 seconds to make it worth it since you can't afford to throw out an extra Incendiary Grenade with how much it costs. There are other specific issues I'll list below.

 

On Torque, you can only reach 3 tampering devices with your bigger AoEs (Sweeping Gunfire + Flyby) and 2 with Incendiary Grenade. As far as I can tell, getting into position to roll means you have to stand on the consoles, which puts you in a terrible spot for avoiding damage. Since you still need to kill the 1 add on that side and then another 4 on the opposite when the repair droid is done, the energy cost is painful. You are only going to have Cool Head to get that energy on every other set of tampering device spawns as well since we don't have resets on it anymore.

 

One of the more important reasons to run Sharpshooter on that fight is that you really want to kill the Shoots Laser add ASAP so unless you have Sabotage Charge + Speed Shot available at that time, you aren't going to be that much help in finishing it quickly. This is especially true since our target switching in 3.0 is not as good as it used to be in Saboteur with Sabotage requiring Shock Charge to be on the target first.

 

For Underlurker, every group I've played with has had at least 2-3 people mainly AoEing the two adds closer to the exit (east side) so they die pretty quickly. However, due to the movement of the boss, I find I have to delay Incendiary Grenade a lot and we don't have good movement so it's tough to get into range to roll. Every team I've played with has the entire team group up on the west side when getting behind rocks, which is farthest from the adds. One possible solution to this is to take the utility that gives a speed boost upon using Hunker Down to get you in range of the adds to use your skills. Another is to simply have the team group up behind a rock on the east side instead when possible or whichever rock is closest to the add spawn. This gives you time to get to the adds more quickly, but might make dealing with the cross more painful than needed.

 

When it comes to rolling, we get slowed while the adds are out so that reduces the range of our roll to only 9 meters, which is awful and the adds aren't big. I haven't tested this, but if you take the Dirty Trickster heroic utility that removes your slow when using Surrender, you may have to time to do a full roll, which would allow you to get both adds on the east side plus the boss (who should be tanked in between them) for maximum damage.

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Kinda ironic,but I just posted in your dulfy guide yesterday with some tips and tricks. Figured I'd add them here.

 

I've Been running engineering for awhile now and I really enjoy it. After some experimenting, I've found that the using roll as often as possible in the listed rotation has some drawbacks. Mainly, EMP discharge has a static, 18 second cooldown, so "rotating" covered escape passed it gets kind of wonky. If you raise EMP above covered escape in priority the rotation smooths out again, but then you lose the opportunity to use frag grenade for energy management. A fix I have found for this is to change the order of the rotation:

 

SoS > PP > IP > CD > (filler) > SoS > PP > EMP > (filler) > EP > (back to start)

 

This allows covered escape to rotatate through and delay (if necessary) IP, CD, and either filler. Using this rotation, Covered escape is used on cooldown for 4/5 of rotations (as opposed to 2/3 rotations if using the standard engineering rotation. However, if I'm not using covered escape exactly on cooldown, I prefer to split up my dots when possible as using EMP discharge immediately after interrogation probe ensures that the target will not die before getting to use emp discharge. (Note: you can certainly switch the oder of SoS and PP here, I simply find it easier to keep track of PP by using it after SoS even at the expense of capping out on energy on occasion)

 

In situations where AoE is important, an alternative to any of the listed rotations (including the one I have above) is to change the rotation from an 18-second rotation to a 20 second rotation. This pushes back all of your abilities by 1 gcd every rotation, but allows covered escape to be used on cooldown. While this alone is a slight dps loss, every other pass through your rotation, Orbital strike will be off cooldown and can be cast without the use of energy cooldowns. The end result is damage approximately equal to the standard engineering rotations but with increased AoE potential. The rotation ends up looking like:

 

SoS > PP > IP > EMP > FG > CE > SoS > PP > CD > (filler) > EP >

SoS > PP > IP > EMP > OS > CE > SoS > PP > FG > CD > EP > (back to start)

 

Using the free proc'd frag grenade before corrosive dart after using orbital strike is to limit time spent in the secondary regen range (can generally avoid it entirely). While at first glance delaying CD in the orbital strike-containing pass through the rotation seems like a DPS loss, in fact, as you let the dots fall off for a GCD in the 20-second rotation, it's exactly the same as the next pass through re-applies without a GCD delay.

 

As noted in the guide, but not explicitly stated, another quick trick with this spec for AoE situations is using explosive probe in combination with suppressive fire. Putting cluster bombs up on a target will make the energy drain from suppressive fire far less severe, allowing you to more easily continue into a single-target rotation or use suppressive fire longer before requiring energy cooldowns.

 

Enjoy.

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Good job on the guide overall. You may want to put some space between your paragraphs, though, as the information is hard to read with all those blocks of text. Besides that, there are a few issues I want to point out.

 

 

 

It might be good to mention that the roll causes the player to move in the direction where the camera is pointing and not where the player is pointing. Also, I think you're talking about Doom on NiM Dread Guards since that ability is not present in the Dread Council fight.

 

Thus why I said formatting is coming soon, this is just simply what I had from my word document. The only thing that I've added was the spoiler tags so people knew what they were reading. I'll be doing fixing the formatting over the course of the weekend.

 

Also, good catch on the Dread Council thing. I did mean to say Dread Guards, but I guess since the names are almost the same it just happened to slip by.

 

 

 

I don't really understand why you split up Shock Charge and Vital Shot into different 9 second rotations instead of including them together on the same one (aka Shock Charge -- Vital Shot). Personally, that's what I do in general as keeping the DoTs aligned is easier to keep track of (especially on fights like Sword Squadron where your target goes immune) and as far as I've seen, Vital Shot does about the same DPS as Sabotage.

 

They are just about the same DPS, and I do swap these two abilities around from time to time on certain fights, especially Sword Squadron. I guess why I do this is because it is slightly easier on energy to pop Sabotage over Vital Shot, but the difference is actually only minor (by about one 9-second window.) I'll be sure I add in that change. I will note that that is typically what I do during dummy parses because you can actually use a couple extra Hightail It's this way without messing up the structure of the rotation too much.

 

 

AoE rotations vary a lot based on how much AoE your team puts out and the strategy you use in each boss fight. If you were the only one using AoE the adds on Torque/Underlurker, you can get significantly higher DPS than if you have other people helping (even though that'd be obviously better for the team). On Torque/Underlurker, any adds should die in less than 15 seconds unless something has gone horribly wrong. Rolling for DPS on both fights is not something I do because it requires me to take extra damage to do so and one of the big reasons I just run Sharpshooter nowadays for them. Without the extra energy management for rolling, the adds pretty much have to die in around 9 seconds to make it worth it since you can't afford to throw out an extra Incendiary Grenade with how much it costs. There are other specific issues I'll list below.

 

On Torque, you can only reach 3 tampering devices with your bigger AoEs (Sweeping Gunfire + Flyby) and 2 with Incendiary Grenade. As far as I can tell, getting into position to roll means you have to stand on the consoles, which puts you in a terrible spot for avoiding damage. Since you still need to kill the 1 add on that side and then another 4 on the opposite when the repair droid is done, the energy cost is painful. You are only going to have Cool Head to get that energy on every other set of tampering device spawns as well since we don't have resets on it anymore.

 

One of the more important reasons to run Sharpshooter on that fight is that you really want to kill the Shoots Laser add ASAP so unless you have Sabotage Charge + Speed Shot available at that time, you aren't going to be that much help in finishing it quickly. This is especially true since our target switching in 3.0 is not as good as it used to be in Saboteur with Sabotage requiring Shock Charge to be on the target first.

 

For Underlurker, every group I've played with has had at least 2-3 people mainly AoEing the two adds closer to the exit (east side) so they die pretty quickly. However, due to the movement of the boss, I find I have to delay Incendiary Grenade a lot and we don't have good movement so it's tough to get into range to roll. Every team I've played with has the entire team group up on the west side when getting behind rocks, which is farthest from the adds. One possible solution to this is to take the utility that gives a speed boost upon using Hunker Down to get you in range of the adds to use your skills. Another is to simply have the team group up behind a rock on the east side instead when possible or whichever rock is closest to the add spawn. This gives you time to get to the adds more quickly, but might make dealing with the cross more painful than needed.

 

When it comes to rolling, we get slowed while the adds are out so that reduces the range of our roll to only 9 meters, which is awful and the adds aren't big. I haven't tested this, but if you take the Dirty Trickster heroic utility that removes your slow when using Surrender, you may have to time to do a full roll, which would allow you to get both adds on the east side plus the boss (who should be tanked in between them) for maximum damage.

 

Again, this is why I love feedback. So starting with Torque, yes, I agree heavily with the fact that since Saboteur has very little burst besides Sabotage Charge and Speed Shot. Overall, the only things I could see working are those two abilities, Thermal Grenade, and maybe a Quickdraw if you happen to catch it under 30%. Thus why I don't run Saboteur for this fight, unfortunately.

 

As for Underlurker, I typically don't even attempt to roll on the adds. Maybe if I have to move from point A to B and it's in the way sure I'll do it, but it's not normally for a DPS increase. I believe my group's strat for that boss is since we have 3 melee and 2 ranged DPS, we have each of our melee take their own, and the ranged help out where it's needed. So what I will do is put a IG down between the boss in one add, Freighter one side of the adds, and pop Sabotage Charge on another add, and Sweeping Gunfire down the opposite end. As long I make sure that I hit the add with the Sabotage Charge with it, I normally don't get too energy strained there. I'll keep my other two DoTs on the boss, and use Sabotage on the boss if I start to dip below 70% energy. Normally it doesn't always work like that, but when it does it's largely successful.

 

Regarding Dirty Trickster for that fight, I don't think it would be beneficial to use in combo with the roll on multiple adds simply because that is quite risky. If you get caught within melee range of one of the adds, and don't have the HD speed boost perk, you will get smashed. Plus, that utility and the Hunker Down reduced CD utilites overpower that by a large amount.

 

SoS > PP > IP > EMP > FG > CE > SoS > PP > CD > (filler) > EP >

SoS > PP > IP > EMP > OS > CE > SoS > PP > FG > CD > EP > (back to start)

 

Using the free proc'd frag grenade before corrosive dart after using orbital strike is to limit time spent in the secondary regen range (can generally avoid it entirely). While at first glance delaying CD in the orbital strike-containing pass through the rotation seems like a DPS loss, in fact, as you let the dots fall off for a GCD in the 20-second rotation, it's exactly the same as the next pass through re-applies without a GCD delay.

 

As noted in the guide, but not explicitly stated, another quick trick with this spec for AoE situations is using explosive probe in combination with suppressive fire. Putting cluster bombs up on a target will make the energy drain from suppressive fire far less severe, allowing you to more easily continue into a single-target rotation or use suppressive fire longer before requiring energy cooldowns.

 

This is actually a pretty good example of what I do for Underlurker, except, I swap out that 3rd SoS for the Suppressive Fire to ensure that all the adds are dying, plus getting to add in a little more kick to the boss.

Edited by Camelpockets
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Update inbound!

 

So I'm playing around with some different optimization ideas to see what is the most "optimal". My gunslinger now has full 198's (Minus MH and Bracer armoring), so I think it's time to experiment what would be the best for a Saboteur/Engineer.

 

These are the options I will be exploring for now:

 

1 Alacrity Piece, 3 Surge pieces (roughly 69%)

2 Alacrity Pieces, 2 Surge pieces (64.8%)

2 Alacrity pieces , 2 Surge Pieces, 1 Surge Augment (66.8%)

 

I'll be doing 14 Minute parses each day with each build (when I can), all done WITHOUT using Hightail it/Covered Escape. I'll post my results here so you folks can see. If anyone wants to help, post your parses here so we can get a better estimate. (If you wish to help, you must be very close to full 198's so crit is not tampered with too much. Crit and Power will be factors here as well, but I can't control those factors very well. Also, I'm running with 302 crit rating, for those who are wondering.)

 

Results:

 

Day 1

2 Alac - 4640

1 Alac - 4700

2 Alac + Surge Aug - TBD

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Update inbound!

 

So I'm playing around with some different optimization ideas to see what is the most "optimal". My gunslinger now has full 198's (Minus MH and Bracer armoring), so I think it's time to experiment what would be the best for a Saboteur/Engineer.

 

These are the options I will be exploring for now:

 

1 Alacrity Piece, 3 Surge pieces (roughly 69%)

2 Alacrity Pieces, 2 Surge pieces (64.8%)

2 Alacrity pieces , 2 Surge Pieces, 1 Surge Augment (66.8%)

 

I'll be doing 14 Minute parses each day with each build (when I can), all done WITHOUT using Hightail it/Covered Escape. I'll post my results here so you folks can see. If anyone wants to help, post your parses here so we can get a better estimate. (If you wish to help, you must be very close to full 198's so crit is not tampered with too much. Crit and Power will be factors here as well, but I can't control those factors very well. Also, I'm running with 302 crit rating, for those who are wondering.)

 

Results:

 

Day 1

2 Alac - 4640

1 Alac - 4700

2 Alac + Surge Aug - TBD

 

 

Oh I got another one I wanna see you look at:

600 Alacrity rating + 240-360 Surge rating.

Get there however you want, but I wanna see how it goes.

 

Before you laugh at me, it works for VGs, it works for Shadows, it works for Sents, and in theory it works with Mandos (haven't tested it on one of them yet).

 

If I have to wait till the next PTS cycle, so be it. I just wanna see how it would go.

 

The reason why it should work is we are currently at very high levels of Power + Cunning, as well as having a great contribution from Tech Power + Weapon damage, so that 0.2415 extra damage per point of power is not worth as much as the percent boost given by alacrity.

 

Regardless, it does need either acc augments or alac augments to pull it off, but regardless i'd be interested in seeing if my modeled estimation of ~600-720 alacrity + 240-360 surge for VGs/PTs carries into every spec in 198s.

Edited by TACeMossie
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Hey everyone and especially to camel. I made the switch to engineering from mm about a month ago and i really love.

 

Your guide helped me a ton and the work you've put into all this is really appreciated.

 

Anyway just wanted your opinion on my current stats/gear: i have full optimized 192 6 setpiece with 2 revanite implants and 1 revanite relic. (hoping to get the bulo hm head tonight). Also have some 198 enhancement from the mk-2 drops on hm.

 

  • So accuracy: 99,89 or 745
  • Crit:: 319
  • Surge: 351
  • Alacrity: 111[

Not sure if this is important but: endurance: 4330/ Cunning: 4351/power=1712

 

So if anyone could take a look at this, and suggest changes or smth that would be great. Ofcourse if it's already perfect that's fine too :)

 

Anyway first time posting on the forums; thanks again for the guide.

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Hey everyone and especially to camel. I made the switch to engineering from mm about a month ago and i really love.

 

Your guide helped me a ton and the work you've put into all this is really appreciated.

 

Anyway just wanted your opinion on my current stats/gear: i have full optimized 192 6 setpiece with 2 revanite implants and 1 revanite relic. (hoping to get the bulo hm head tonight). Also have some 198 enhancement from the mk-2 drops on hm.

 

  • So accuracy: 99,89 or 745
  • Crit:: 319
  • Surge: 351
  • Alacrity: 111[

Not sure if this is important but: endurance: 4330/ Cunning: 4351/power=1712

 

So if anyone could take a look at this, and suggest changes or smth that would be great. Ofcourse if it's already perfect that's fine too :)

 

Anyway first time posting on the forums; thanks again for the guide.

 

My only thing to add on is to drop a mainstat/power (looks like you are running MS) Augs for an Accuracy one to put you over 100%.

Edited by Camelpockets
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Oh I got another one I wanna see you look at:

600 Alacrity rating + 240-360 Surge rating.

Get there however you want, but I wanna see how it goes.

 

Before you laugh at me, it works for VGs, it works for Shadows, it works for Sents, and in theory it works with Mandos (haven't tested it on one of them yet).

 

If I have to wait till the next PTS cycle, so be it. I just wanna see how it would go.

 

The reason why it should work is we are currently at very high levels of Power + Cunning, as well as having a great contribution from Tech Power + Weapon damage, so that 0.2415 extra damage per point of power is not worth as much as the percent boost given by alacrity.

 

Regardless, it does need either acc augments or alac augments to pull it off, but regardless i'd be interested in seeing if my modeled estimation of ~600-720 alacrity + 240-360 surge for VGs/PTs carries into every spec in 198s.

 

That is some wacky set-up for sure lol. I just got some monies with nothing to do with it. I'll play with it cuz lol. Thanks for the suggestion Tac!

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Ok thx camel i'll put in another accuracy one. Btw is there a big difference between power/mainstat for augments ? Should i do full MS or power, or split between them ? (except for the accuracy ones ofcourse)
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Ok thx camel i'll put in another accuracy one. Btw is there a big difference between power/mainstat for augments ? Should i do full MS or power, or split between them ? (except for the accuracy ones ofcourse)

 

The difference between MS/Power is very minor. In a raiding scenario it won't matter. As long as the pieces are augged you're good :)

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The difference between MS/Power is very minor. In a raiding scenario it won't matter. As long as the pieces are augged you're good :)

 

 

Allright, then i'll leave the MS' in, handier to have the crit rate when switching to MM or viru.

 

Tho another question, last one for now i swear :D, is about crit rate, i've been changing things around from 400 to 360 to 319 (which i'm currently using) but haven't really noticed a difference. Does that sound right ? or were my parses not really representative ?

Edited by Steefr
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Allright, then i'll leave the MS' in, handier to have the crit rate when switching to MM or viru.

 

Tho another question, last one for now i swear :D, is about crit rate, i've been changing things around from 400 to 360 to 319 (which i'm currently using) but haven't really noticed a difference. Does that sound right ? or were my parses not really representative ?

 

I typically run with about 302 crit rating, which seems to work for me, but it's just really based on preference. I wouldn't go higher than 400. Though it seems like the closer to 300 I am the better. Just what I have seen though.

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OK back with more questions :p

 

So we just killed walkers and torque. I feel like engineering is no problem for master/blaster but was wondering which spec to run on Underlurker ? Feel like mm is a bit low on dmg tho burst is handy but virulence has no burst basically (and i'm not good at it yet) so guess what i'm asking is do you stick with engineering or go back to mm ?

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OK back with more questions :p

 

So we just killed walkers and torque. I feel like engineering is no problem for master/blaster but was wondering which spec to run on Underlurker ? Feel like mm is a bit low on dmg tho burst is handy but virulence has no burst basically (and i'm not good at it yet) so guess what i'm asking is do you stick with engineering or go back to mm ?

 

I run Engi for that fight. Typically what I do during that fight is keep dots on the boss, and proc the free thermal grenade just before adds pop. I'l try to save my explosive probe if I can as well. But since this doesn't happen all the time I'll two two different things:

 

1) With EP up, I'll target one lurkerling with the EP, make sure I have both PP and OS hitting 2 and 3 targets respectively, and suppressive fire the side I'm currently DPSing down. If the add is still up by the time I finish doing all of this, then I'll do a SoS, (Possibly a snipe if needed) and takedown. By that point if the add isn't dead that means dps is lacking somewhere.

 

2) If no EP is up, I'll just do a single target rotation on the lurkerling I'm trying to kill, regardless of how recently I just applied IP or PP. (With OS hitting 3 targets). I'd do DoTs first then whatever rotation you can formulate at that point in time, but don't bother trying to use Suppressive Fire. If you are on your own killing that add, you won't have time to use it.

 

Marksman is pretty much Suppressive Fire spam. Then a crit ambush where you need it.

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I think I've done at least 15 or so parses with the new build Tac has suggested in Melee sabo. I'm averaging around 5100 with 640 Alacrity Rating (2 enhancements & 8 Augs). I'm going to try 1 enhancement and 11 augs to see if the benefits of surge outweigh the overall damage.

 

Edit: Actually... I just hit 7% Alac flat with 1 enhancement and 9 augs. The DR is noticible at this point, so I might try a few with this setup.

Edited by Camelpockets
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