Hi guys, I've really loved the Commando gameplay from 11 to 53 so far and I've tried both Gunnery and Assault Specialist for extended periods (field respec to Medic for FPs). However, some things that have put a crimp into my enjoyment of the class are some NPCs on Makeb, particularly the Regulator Officer, Regulator Comm Officer, and the Assault Battle Droid (all 3 of them are elite). Their NPC "class" is Tech Rifleman, if that helps.

The problem is that matter what I seem to do, it's very very hard to beat one of them. They have abilities like Terminate or Ambush that suddenly take out a huge chunk of my life. Distract isn't sufficient to prevent them from using one of those abilities, and I have to pretty much run into melee range so that I can use Cryo Grenade and Concussion Charge to interrupt as well. Even with that, and using a medpack and defensive cooldowns, I often get defeated. Any advice for dealing with these?

Is this on a Heroic 2?

I recall there being a bunch of heavy hitters on one of those missions. Like heroics in general you need to overlevel it if your class mechanics don't allow you to win otherwise.

If it's a pack are you using concussive round first on one?

A tip Im throwing in there, though you may or not be aware of this:

Being level 53 has just opened you up to Artifact gear, which is rating 156. This gear is incredibly useful to have, and is very easy to optimize at least the enhancements thanks to literally every rating 156 enhancement being craftable with artifice.

As such, you should head out and buy a bunch of new gear. And in addition to that, get your hands on the 4-piece set bonus from classic comms at least, if not the Dread Guard gear from EC HM.

Your gear should look something like this when you are done:

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/d5686435-d884-4225-9bde-ba9ad52dedb6

Also, keep that set bonus until you get the Dread Forged 4-piece. Its as good as you are gonna get until then.

Why the power/alacrity earpiece instead of a crit/surge one or a different crafted one? Because alacrity doesn't hurt gunnery much at all, as the important proc has a 12.5% alacrity leeway on it.

EDIT - Of course! I forgot companions!

Use Elara Dorn for this. Gear her up in full rating 156 gear as well, making it power/surge for everything where possible, and crit/surge where not (earpiece/implants). After all, with a powerhouse healer behind you, everything becomes a lot easier. Just look at my vanguard where I dump my PvP gear on treek, and even in DPS gear the only stuff he can't solo is tactical flashpoints. And swap to tank stance and use tank gear with the DPS gear on treek, and suddenly those are soloable too.

And the advantage to this? When you hit 55, you can use that gear in every single SM operation. You just have to get a couple of relics, which come from the operations. And once you augment it all with reflex augments, you're ready for all HM operations not called dread palace... assuming you can find a group skilled enough to run it (and assuming you are skilled enough to run it yourself)

Hi guys, thanks for the responses.

These mobs weren't encountered on Heroic 2+quests actually. It's not like there were multiples of them. In each case I encountered them singly and still had a very tough time.

Forgive my newbness, but how would I acquire such artifact gear? I didn’t find grinding dailies for classic commendations to be very engaging. Should I just go back to the previous areas on Makeb to grind Basic comms?

I equipped that earpiece because for now my gearing goal is to get to the 110 accuracy target. I just equip any Aim gear I pick up that also has accuracy.

So is it just a matter of being undergeared? Hmmm, didn't think that gear would be so crucial in solo content.

Hi guys, thanks for the responses.

 

These mobs weren't encountered on Heroic 2+quests actually. It's not like there were multiples of them. In each case I encountered them singly and still had a very tough time.

 

Forgive my newbness, but how would I acquire such artifact gear? I didn’t find grinding dailies for classic commendations to be very engaging. Should I just go back to the previous areas on Makeb to grind Basic comms?

 

I equipped that earpiece because for now my gearing goal is to get to the 110 accuracy target. I just equip any Aim gear I pick up that also has accuracy.

 

So is it just a matter of being undergeared? Hmmm, didn't think that gear would be so crucial in solo content.

The artifact gear is either crafted or bought from the GTN. The only stuff that needs dailies is the classic 4-piece bonus.