sniper,even at lvl 13 i got a 4.3k ambush,and that's quite something.

That is because below 50 PVP all your skill and stats are scaled temporary to that of a 49 for the duration of the WZ. So by using that fact, what you should be saying is "I am hitting 4.3k Ambush at lvl 49"; which is quite pathetic, actually.

Sharpshooter spec Gunslingers is all about burst as all their core abilities triggers Trickshot 100% of the time and the buff last about 4.5 sec. This give GS a lot of freedom in how much they want to burst and when to do it.

It depends what you mean by burst.

0 set up, massive damage: Infil Shadow is probably best.

On demand short term burst windows: Combat Sentinel is awesome.

Low set up, repeatable burst while maintaining excellent sustained DPS: Pyro PT

Allowed set up, highest damage in shortest time period: Sniper hands down.

Exp. Probe + Ambush + Followthrough gives 13k+ in 1 GCD. Follow it with SoS to set off the Contingency Charges and you can push 20k in (effectively) 4.5 seconds if you're lucky on crits. That said, there is 4s of set up before any damage is dealt. 20k in 8.5s is a less impressive.

Compared to pyro and rage, both of which have some intervals between burst combo phases, MM has no such downtime, it is on a constant burst. Even our worst attack, snipe delivers 3200 on crit. It is trailing behind those two in the first global cooldowns but after that it rapidly catches up overwhelming them by a huge amount.

Same goes for canage, it is faster than MM when gore is up. But then MM catches up. This is what makes MM special, we never run out of "juice" when putting pressure on somebody, which means that MM is mrore capable to outlast when somebody used their defensive CDs to mitigate initial damage burst.

Compared to pyro and rage, both of which have some intervals between burst combo phases, MM has no such downtime, it is on a constant burst. Even our worst attack, snipe delivers 3200 on crit. It is trailing behind those two in the first global cooldowns but after that it rapidly catches up overwhelming them by a huge amount.

 

Same goes for canage, it is faster than MM when gore is up. But then MM catches up. This is what makes MM special, we never run out of "juice" when putting pressure on somebody, which means that MM is mrore capable to outlast when somebody used their defensive CDs to mitigate initial damage burst.

Flameburst crits far more than snipe when you include the dot it applies.

That is because below 50 PVP all your skill and stats are scaled temporary to that of a 49 for the duration of the WZ. So by using that fact, what you should be saying is "I am hitting 4.3k Ambush at lvl 49"; which is quite pathetic, actually.

 

Sharpshooter spec Gunslingers is all about burst as all their core abilities triggers Trickshot 100% of the time and the buff last about 4.5 sec. This give GS a lot of freedom in how much they want to burst and when to do it.

Stop looking down on him, it's not like that at all. Level 13 has literally no secondary stats on gear, i.e. crit/surge etc, so yes, 4.3k is pretty good.

Amateurs

On my Annihilation Marauder: Beserk > Deadly Saber > Ravage + 1 melee attack (usually vicious slash) and voila the tank must taunt to get it back or he must forget about getting his aggro back

For even more burst I replace the melee attack with rupture, but while it delivers even more damage in short period, it is better dps wise (if I am not messing with the tank) not to use rupture like that.

As pointed out, this really does depend on what sort of burst you're looking for. In terms of on-demand burst window, Combat Sentinels are basically the kings (both now and in 2.0). Sharpshooter Gunslingers also have extremely high (and immediate) burst, but a slightly shorter burst window. Infil Shadows burst pretty hard, but it takes a bit of setup to hit their optimal burst and the damage isn't as high as some of the other burst specs. Scrapper Scoundrels are somewhat unique in that they burst *instantaneously* (as in, their very first GCD) and maintain that burst level for two more GCDs, which is why they are usually the kings of tank-griefing. They have a hard time hitting that burst on demand though, so I wouldn't term them as "best". And of course, we have Assault Vanguards who burst pretty high pretty fast (especially if they spec into Assault Plastique) and Focus Knights (either AC). Focus spec is interesting in that it can burst on demand, but only within a fairly small burst window. It takes some pretty special circumstances for them to double-proc their hardest hitting attack, and most of their remaining abilities are fairly weak.

Honestly, my favorite high burst class at this point is hybrid gunslinger. (Wounding Shots -> Speed Shot) + Sabo Charge is an *absurd* amount of damage in a 6 second window. It requires a lot of setup though, and so it ranks a bit lower in the "on-demand" scale. As a result of that setup time (and the high energy costs), it also requires a much greater degree of skill to time the burst, so I wouldn't term it "best".

Overall, I would say Combat Sentinel wins out in terms of highest on-demand burst, followed closely by Sharpshooter Gunslingers.

Regarding the prior post referring to Annihilation as a burst spec…uh? You run with derp tanks, sorry. Watchman sentinels do not pull off a tank who knows how to manage threat (1.x guardians excluded). I've run with sentinels who can parse in the 2.1k-2.2k range. They will certainly pull off me early if I'm not concentrating, but I can reliably keep ahead of them so long as I care enough to execute my rotation correctly.

Regarding the prior post referring to Annihilation as a burst spec…uh? You run with derp tanks, sorry. Watchman sentinels do not pull off a tank who knows how to manage threat (1.x guardians excluded). I've run with sentinels who can parse in the 2.1k-2.2k range. They will certainly pull off me early if I'm not concentrating, but I can reliably keep ahead of them so long as I care enough to execute my rotation correctly.

It requires usually an extra attack to do so, but you are forgetting that in these 9~12 seconds window you are not just hitting bleed damage, there is the white damage that is triggering the bleed stacks. I can hit around ~22k damage from bleed alone (auto crits) in that window.

Ps, I find it usually hard to take aggro from Assassins, usually it easier with juggernauts.

EDIT: Looking back at my post I see I made a mistake, the rotation is a bit off, ravage usually arrives after I have applied 2 stacks of deadly saber.

It requires usually an extra attack to do so, but you are forgetting that in these 9~12 seconds window you are not just hitting bleed damage, there is the white damage that is triggering the bleed stacks. I can hit around ~22k damage from bleed alone (auto crits) in that window.

Ps, I find it usually hard to take aggro from Assassins, usually it easier with juggernauts.

 

EDIT: Looking back at my post I see I made a mistake, the rotation is a bit off, ravage usually arrives after I have applied 2 stacks of deadly saber.

I would correct KBN here, not only are you running with derp tanks, you are DPSing like a derp. The idea is NOT to pull of the tank while still maintaining the highest DPS possible. On my VG I can burst instantly and for 2.6-3.2k DPS for 15 seconds if I pop everything, depending on crits. Doesn't mean its a good idea; in fact, aside from trying to train other tanks in my guild how to burst their threat, its a really bad idea.

I would correct KBN here, not only are you running with derp tanks, you are DPSing like a derp. The idea is NOT to pull of the tank while still maintaining the highest DPS possible. On my VG I can burst instantly and for 2.6-3.2k DPS for 15 seconds if I pop everything, depending on crits. Doesn't mean its a good idea; in fact, aside from trying to train other tanks in my guild how to burst their threat, its a really bad idea.

I agree with this. With that said, I tell the DPS I run with to burst their hearts out and I'll do my best to hold it. This isn't for epeen reasons; I just think that it's my job to manage agro and their job to kill as fast as possible. I wouldn't hold other tanks to that same standard, but I do hold myself.

I agree with this. With that said, I tell the DPS I run with to burst their hearts out and I'll do my best to hold it. This isn't for epeen reasons; I just think that it's my job to manage agro and their job to kill as fast as possible. I wouldn't hold other tanks to that same standard, but I do hold myself.

On my Shadow I do the same, they have the AoE to hold groups and the ST to hold bosses. On my Guardian I ask them to wait at least until I've leaped in and positioned a group rather than bursting (or raining down Mortar Volley) when I Saber Throw.

I would correct KBN here, not only are you running with derp tanks, you are DPSing like a derp. The idea is NOT to pull of the tank while still maintaining the highest DPS possible. On my VG I can burst instantly and for 2.6-3.2k DPS for 15 seconds if I pop everything, depending on crits. Doesn't mean its a good idea; in fact, aside from trying to train other tanks in my guild how to burst their threat, its a really bad idea.

Oh definitely, I love doing that to tease my guild mates in flashpoints, but when we are doing OPs then the goofing stops.

It is funny to pull revan like that from the tank, but when attacking TFB in the first phase well no, because I would probably die if I take aggro for too long and put too much pressure on the healers.

on a side node, best test for DPS (self control and manage overall DPS) is to go over-geared on T+Z. If your tanks keep on dying well your dps need to learn to self control.

On my Shadow I do the same, they have the AoE to hold groups and the ST to hold bosses. On my Guardian I ask them to wait at least until I've leaped in and positioned a group rather than bursting (or raining down Mortar Volley) when I Saber Throw.

Regardless of anything, DPS should wait a GCD or 2 before attacking.

I'm just going to throw out there that, in 2.0, Arsenal Mercs have some good burst potential if they have some luck with crits and an instant Barrage proc.

TM + HSM + Barrage'd Unload as an opener can be devastating. That said, there's no autocrit on it and it's only a 45% chance to proc Barrage.

I have no idea how well it stacks up against the other classes now, though.

I've only tried commando and sage.

Sage on TK. Glass cannon is the right word for it.

Commando also has amazing burst on short time period with tech override.

But i can never race with slingers, when it comes to burst .