I've got to say, the hysterical crying in this thread is really funny. So is the made up "math" being thrown around. (Here's a hint for the logic-impaired: a radius reduction of x% is not a damage nerf of x%. It is a radius reduction of x%). Mathematics - how do they work?!

 

I played around with the new DFA for about three hours last night. The damage is identical; the radius is smaller. If I placed the reticle properly, even level standard mobs within it were reduced to a sliver of health, every time, just like before the patch. This is over more than a hundred a hundred applications.

 

I believe the perceived "damage nerf" is people not yet used to the fact that you can't just drop the reticle anywhere within 20 feet of the mob group and have everything anywhere near it fall over dead.

 

In short: The ability is working exactly as described in the patch notes. L2P.

 

 

made up math? so the fact that it's hitting 39.0some percent of the origional area and is not capable of hitting the same number of mobs means you're still hitting the same number of mobs? I don't think we're the ones with screwed up logic...

 

not to mention a little experiment I ran last night. I just hit 50 on my agent, so I dismissed my companion, went to ilum, and used orbital strike on trash mob groups of 5. Only paid attention on those groups since they are the largest found. my agent does not have a single purple item, all orange and green. I would have to hit 1 or 2 of the 5 mobs once to finish them off. I then did the same thing with my BH (full columni set and the rest also purple) and never hit more then 3 targets, and never had more then 1 of the targets take more then 1 tick off DfA because they were knocked out of the radius.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WarpedWiseMan

you guys are all going to see less damage there WAS A CHANGE TO EXPERTISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! you are going to do less damage overall in pvp. Base your DAMAGE in pve in a set enviroment to test damage. THERE WAS NO NERF TO DEATH FROM ABOVE!

 

Ummm...YES, there was. DFA in practice does less damage now (even in PvE) because of the imbalance between its blast radius and its knockback. If you're not seeing this, you must be blind.

 

Simple example (I even explained this earlier in this very thread):

 

Group of 4 Eshka trash mobs in Belsavis...

 

Pre 1.2 - All mobs knocked down and either dead or close to it.

 

Post 1.2 - The mobs that manage to be in the blast radius the entire time (maybe 1 or 2 of them) get up with half their health remaining. The ones that get knocked OUTSIDE of the blast radius barely have a scratch. And this isn't even accounting for the mobs I can no longer even hit because the radius was reduced so much.

 

 

The whole point being...DFA used to be a good situational AoE/CC skill in PvE. But now it's broken and practically not worth using anymore.

The whole point being...DFA used to be a good situational AoE/CC skill in PvE. But now it's broken and practically not worth using anymore.

 

This is exactly why I have abandoned my second BH. I was going to make him a powertech tank because I enjoyed playing my merc, however, DFA was the best pull ability for a BH, and it now does almost nothing. Can't gain agro on a group if you can't hit most of them. Yes there are other abilities for the powertech tank, but none of them had the agro capability needed to start a fight.

you guys are all going to see less damage there WAS A CHANGE TO EXPERTISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! you are going to do less damage overall in pvp. Base your DAMAGE in pve in a set enviroment to test damage. THERE WAS NO NERF TO DEATH FROM ABOVE!

 

And what about those like me who don't do PVP and now have an ability that used to be usefull, but now without it take more then tripple the damage just doing dailies. I have to heal myself up after every fight instead of 4-5 pulls before stopping to heal. With full columni set, and every other slot a purple item as well, this isn't OP. I know a few people who do all of Ilum without ever stopping to heal who are less geared then I am.

 

 

My suggestion would be to give us the radius back but nerf the damage if you need to. at least we'd be able to hit more then 2 or 3 mobs, and wouldn't knock all but one of them out of the radius with the first tic. I guess warriors have less AOE capability, but agent and inquisitor both have bigger AOEs that do more damage. DFA is now a fluf ability, I've stopped using it, and only run dailies now to farm money for my other toons. Won't play any FP or OP on my BH until we have a usable DFA again.

 

Not to mention, the repair bills are now much higher because I'm fighting with no AOEs and have to one by one kill each target in a pull where I used to hit the full group, then 1 or 2 shots on each of the remaining targets.

 

Instead of NERFING BH PVE, try to find a way to make things work better in PVP without affecting PVE.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WarpedWiseMan

they ninja nerf ALOT more then just that... Range is nerfed, jet boost is nerfed, tracer ok that we knew about... Unload nerfed, we are like walking target DUMMIES.. Time to quit the game! at least for me, we are a laughing class, i enter WZ and all i mean ALL go for me as they know i have ZERO mobility and don't have the dps anymore!!!!

You guys realize the radius of DFA was bugged at launch and was well outside the intended radius? Edited April 13, 2012 by Notannos
rude

instead of trolling, try to find something constructive to say.

 

Indeed, he don't play merc no way!

You guys realize the radius of DFA was bugged at launch and was well outside the intended radius?

 

 

you obviously don't play a BH, either that or your seriously unobservant. the radius reduction can't account for how it ticks for far less damage now then it did before (talking about the primary-centered target here).

Edited April 13, 2012 by Notannos
quote

you obviously don't play a BH, either that or your seriously unobservant. the radius reduction can't account for how it ticks for far less damage now then it did before (talking about the primary-centered target here).

 

It ticks for less cause it hits 2x as many times. pre 1.2 3 ticks, post 1.2 6 ticks. Same exact amount of damage done over time.

 

I play a BH and love it. I owned all day yesterday and until servers went down.

Edited April 13, 2012 by dardack

 

watch - new bug. more mercs= more dmg from heatseeker ( more traser debuffs on boss)

I'm not sure why you all are complaining. I play a commando at 50 and pre-patch no one even situational used Mortal Volley because of how slow the activation timer was. 3 senarios would happen A. they would see the aoe symbol and move out before it even cast one, B. You would get interrupted before it cast one, or C. Stunned before you could cast one. It was redicious how fast your Death from Above would cast and how many people it would it. So quit complaining at least now we are on a level playing field and I don't have to wait until 3/4's of the activation bar is gone before I cast one single shot.

 

As for the radius nerf are you seriously all upset over this? I top dps charts as a commando in warzones still after 1.2 and I've never had to use volley situational or not. As for the tanks who use it to pull aoe threat sure that hurts a bit but seriously its nothing compared to the absolute crap the guardians/juggernauts have to deal with. You guys are still easily the best tanks in the game so give it a rest.

First of all sorry if I repeat what may have been said but I couldnt be bothered to read the whole thread before posting my response to the OP.

 

I have played Merc from release and tbh I have to admit we are definately overpowered anyway, I really dont see a problem with any of the changes to Merc least of all Death From Above.

 

On my journey to level 50 my play style has evolved to be less reliant on certain abilities and as any experienced MMO gamer knows you have to adapt your class to all manner of situations, its comes with the territory and that includes changes to your class that you may consider a nerf.

 

It may be a cliche but "Get over it adapt" is exactly what you have to do, posting in the forums isnt going to change anything over night and not everyone will agree with you. I appreciate your frustrations but it really isnt that bad.

Edited April 13, 2012 by boldee

First of all sorry if I repeat what may have been said but I couldnt be bothered to read the whole thread before posting my response to the OP.

 

I have played Merc from release and tbh I have to admit we are definately overpowered anyway, I really dont see a problem with any of the changes to Merc least of all Death From Above.

 

On my journey to level 50 my play style has evolved to be less reliant on certain abilities and as any experienced MMO gamer knows you have to adapt your class to all manner of situations, its comes with the territory and that includes changes to your class that you may consider a nerf.

 

It may be a cliche but "Get over it adapt" is exactly what you have to do, posting in the forums isnt going to change anything over night and not everyone will agree with you. I appreciate your frustrations but it really isnt that bad.

 

my only real complaint comes from the fact, as I've stated before, agent and inquisitor AOEs have been bigger and more powerful then DFA from the start, yet the weaker DFA is the one that got nerfed. I kill 3-4 members of a group of 5 standard mobs on my agent who has not even run a single heroic FP, and has to one shot the 1-2 remaining mobs and take almost no damage. On my BH, who is in all purple gear, has been on a few raids, etc, I damage 1 of those same mobs significantly, scratch 1-2 of them before knocking them out of the radius, and take 50-70% damage before all 5 are dead. So in my PURPLE HEAVY armor I'm taking way more damage in the same fights as in my GREEN and ORANGE medium armor. That makes no sense. Both are DPS spec.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WarpedWiseMan

I'm not gonna lie, I leveled my BH Merc to 46 and loved every minute of it pre 1.2. I havnt had a chance to play him in 1.2 yet as I have been busy on my main but have been excitedly anxious to do so. But hearing all this just makes me scared of playing him. Are the nerfs really that bad? I knew they were coming but is the class still worth playing? I hope so. Cant wait till servers are back up so I can give my 2cents.

this post proves that the good BH's are comming on here to stand up for their beloved toons that we worked so hard for. it makes me kinda sickly knowing that ill have to shelf my favorite toon and reroll a mara or jugg---well maybe if they could carry pistols.

 

ehh i never used DFA very much--because it usually meant the BH died midaire, hehe, ehh in all seriousness though---Arsenal mercs mainly took the shaft on this patch

Edited April 13, 2012 by JTCK

this post proves that the good BH's are comming on here to stand up for their beloved toons that we worked so hard for. it makes me kinda sickly knowing that ill have to shelf my favorite toon and reroll a mara or jugg---well maybe if they could carry pistols.

 

OK because I don't see it as a nerf since it does the same EXACT TOTAL damage as before i'm somehow bad?

 

Yeah that totally makes sense.

 

I agree the radius nerf which was in patch notes sux, but it's fine if you pay attention.

 

I actually like it now, activates as soon as I click button and 6 ticks. Now i get 3-4 ticks off where before I'd get jumped to before it even ticked once a bunch of time (why I barely used it and still only situationally).

ehh sorry dude i never wasted time on DFA--most folks on my server knew better than stand in a circle of incomming missiles---dunno how i got to this post.

ehh sorry dude i never wasted time on DFA--most folks on my server knew better than stand in a circle of incomming missiles---dunno how i got to this post.

 

Yeah I saw your edit afterwards. Was curious why you were posting in this if you didn't use it.

 

Eh I'm not a merc, I know healing on sorcs/mercs were nerfed hard in PvP at least. Ops still OP in healing in PvP. Anyways, GL finding the right thread.

OK because I don't see it as a nerf since it does the same EXACT TOTAL damage as before i'm somehow bad?

 

Yeah that totally makes sense.

 

I agree the radius nerf which was in patch notes sux, but it's fine if you pay attention.

 

I actually like it now, activates as soon as I click button and 6 ticks. Now i get 3-4 ticks off where before I'd get jumped to before it even ticked once a bunch of time (why I barely used it and still only situationally).

 

exact same total to fewer targets, and if you are not in PVP, knocks most if not all targets out of the area with the first tic. So no, not the "same EXACT TOTAL damage as before" If they wanted to nerf it, they should have lowered the overall damage, not made it so you cannot hit 1/2 as many targets.

 

I can't say for myself, but have heard it was OP in PVP, but that requires people to stand there and take the damage instead of taking 3 steps to get out of it. They made the change to balance PVP, and in the process made it pointless in PVE.

exact same total to fewer targets, and if you are not in PVP, knocks most if not all targets out of the area with the first tic. So no, not the "same EXACT TOTAL damage as before" If they wanted to nerf it, they should have lowered the overall damage, not made it so you cannot hit 1/2 as many targets.

 

I can't say for myself, but have heard it was OP in PVP, but that requires people to stand there and take the damage instead of taking 3 steps to get out of it. They made the change to balance PVP, and in the process made it pointless in PVE.

 

I used it in PVE yesterday also. It was fine. You just have to know where to aim it. Again same Exact total damage output.

 

I did dailies, and groups of mobs that died in pre 1.2, died in 1.2. Just have to be more careful of aim so they don't get knocked out.

 

Again, not a deal breaker.

Ummm...YES, there was. DFA in practice does less damage now (even in PvE) because of the imbalance between its blast radius and its knockback. If you're not seeing this, you must be blind.

 

Simple example (I even explained this earlier in this very thread):

 

Group of 4 Eshka trash mobs in Belsavis...

 

Pre 1.2 - All mobs knocked down and either dead or close to it.

 

Post 1.2 - The mobs that manage to be in the blast radius the entire time (maybe 1 or 2 of them) get up with half their health remaining. The ones that get knocked OUTSIDE of the blast radius barely have a scratch. And this isn't even accounting for the mobs I can no longer even hit because the radius was reduced so much.

 

The whole point being...DFA used to be a good situational AoE/CC skill in PvE. But now it's broken and practically not worth using anymore.

This is how i feel about it too.

I used it in PVE yesterday also. It was fine. You just have to know where to aim it. Again same Exact total damage output.

 

I did dailies, and groups of mobs that died in pre 1.2, died in 1.2. Just have to be more careful of aim so they don't get knocked out.

 

Again, not a deal breaker.

 

I find reading this pretty humorous concidering dead center placement between 3 mobs I hit none of them yesterday. Simply not possible to hit more then 2 of many groups unless somehow you have a larger area being covered. We all know you have the same area as the rest of us, so that leaves one possibility.

 

I'm done reading big claims of the same capability for today. can only handle so much of people making stuff up. If you have to resort to lying in order to say it's not a nerf, don't post.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WarpedWiseMan

I find reading this pretty humorous concidering dead center placement between 3 mobs I hit none of them yesterday. Simply not possible to hit more then 2 of many groups unless somehow you have a larger area being covered. We all know you have the same area as the rest of us, so that leaves one possibility.

 

I'm done reading big claims of the same capability for today. can only handle so much of people making stuff up. If you have to resort to lying in order to say it's not a nerf, don't post.

 

Yep I ride in there on my bike, get the melee to follow me group up on 1 gunner, grapple the other, DFA, only loose 5-8% of my HP and they all die.

 

Again learn to use the lower radius. Again same exact damage is outputed total by DFA just in a smaller circle. Learn to adjust.

 

Or qq more and quit. I really don't care. I like the changes esp in PvP because of quicker activation.

 

I'm done reading big claims of the same capability for today. can only handle so much of people making stuff up. If you have to resort to lying in order to say it's not a nerf, don't post.

 

What's going to convince you? A video of DFA pre 1.2 and after 1.2 on same mobs?

 

Never made a vid of DFA pre. Not lying. What mobs do you want dead in a group from DFA and I'll go do it.

Yep I ride in there on my bike, get the melee to follow me group up on 1 gunner, grapple the other, DFA, only loose 5-8% of my HP and they all die.

 

Again learn to use the lower radius. Again same exact damage is outputed total by DFA just in a smaller circle. Learn to adjust.

 

Or qq more and quit. I really don't care. I like the changes esp in PvP because of quicker activation.

 

interesting how you hit guys grouped up on you when you cannot hit within a certain distance of you. Not to mention, I'm not powertech so I can't grapple them in.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WarpedWiseMan