Bump.

Thou shall not let this thread die.

But just in case BW doesn't like bumps...

Yeah, I must agree with someone on this thread. Good suggestions...Something.

Admittedly, I haven't touched my Commando since late January, due to the fact that I could see the train wreck that was coming later on. Once people figured out how to play their classes well, especially melee, it was apparent that DPS mercs/commandos would be at the bottom of the food chain.

 

Alas, I was vindicated, and at the present time DPS Mercs/Commandos are still in a bad place in PvP in the 50s bracket. Sure, they can do well in the 10-49 bracket, but that's irrelevant. The real balance should be in respect to the 50s bracket, and the fact is, Mercs/Commandos are severely under performing. They can do well when mostly ignored and allowed to free-cast, but in reality, this is almost never the case unless the opponent you're facing is awful. Any PvP'er worth his salt knows healers are the priority target, closely followed by Mercs/Commandos since they're basically free kills when under pressure. Whenever I log onto my Jugg/Sentinel/Shadow/Vanguard, I always consider Mercs/Commandos free kills, no matter how good the other player is. Some of them can put up a halfway decent fight at times, but even at their best, they can't get me below 40-50% health. It's a sad state of affairs for them.

 

So my question is, when is BW going to address the class? I think most can agree with me that it's in a bad spot. There's plenty of other threads regarding the issue, like this one: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=541411

 

That thread has hundreds of posts, some of them are pure whines, but many of them are filled with genuinely good ideas to improve the class. Yet, there hasn't been a single post from BW in response to the issue. Surely BW can throw the Mercs/Commandos in that thread a bone? If I were to post about the Coin Shop, I'd get a yellow post in an instant. Yet, this thread has hundreds of posts, but not even one response. What's the deal BW?

 

Merc/Commando damage is, for the most part, in a good place. Damage isn't really the issue. The problem with Mercs/Commandos is their extremely lacking utility/escape abilities. They have no disengage, they have no sprint, they only have 1 knockback, a root that only works in melee range (why?), a mezz (with cast time) on a 1 min CD and a 10m (why?) stun. Mercs/Commandos offer nothing that other classes don't also have, and other classes can do their job better. You don't see DPS Mercs/Commandos in rated warzones, why is that? It's because the other classes offer much more utility and survivability, and overall they do their jobs better.

 

In my opinion, Mercs/Commandos would have a lot less to complain about if they had some additional utility skills. If you parse that thread I linked, I'm sure you could find some gems that wouldn't overpower the class at all. For example, what if Mercs/Commandos gained 3-4 seconds of increased movement speed after using their knockback? What if their knockback also removed any snares they had on themselves? Why can't the root on stockstrike/rocket punch simply be added on to the knockback component it once had? What if unload/full auto was uninterruptible, like Tanksins' telekinetic throw/lightning and Warriors/Knights' ravage/master strike? What if they had a disengage/retreat that would send them back 20-30 meters on use with a cooldown? What if they had some type of sprint likes inquisitors/consulars? These kind of ideas are golden and would help the class immensely.

 

Please BW, I don't play my Commando anymore, but help these guys out and give them some love. I'm starting to feel bad every time I kill them in a warzone, it's just not fair. The class is in need of a much needed boost.

 

P.S. The interrupt you gave them should've been there at release.

 

Edit: Here's a list of good ideas that have been brought up in this thread and others, so that Devs could see them more easily:

Nice post, I would be happy if they just sorted out the Heat issues the Merc has to be honest. I find I do pretty good damage and have a reasonable survivability, but admittedly you have to be a lot more tactful in all WZs to be able to be highish on the damage and compete with the "easier to be pvp" classes. But the biggest issue to me is the heat problems you get, and with a 2 minute vent heat cooldown really can spoil a hard fought WZ for the Merc. Nothing worse than seeing people dishing out endless specials whilst you are waiting 2 minutes to use your Vent Heat and having the odd rail shot available to you along with just regular blaster fire.

Cheers

Fat

Nice post, I would be happy if they just sorted out the Heat issues the Merc has to be honest. I find I do pretty good damage and have a reasonable survivability, but admittedly you have to be a lot more tactful in all WZs to be able to be highish on the damage and compete with the "easier to be pvp" classes. But the biggest issue to me is the heat problems you get, and with a 2 minute vent heat cooldown really can spoil a hard fought WZ for the Merc. Nothing worse than seeing people dishing out endless specials whilst you are waiting 2 minutes to use your Vent Heat and having the odd rail shot available to you along with just regular blaster fire.

 

Cheers

 

Fat

heat management is actually fine imo

As a dps sorc player I can only hope they fix merc problems. My class has also generally been ignored when it comes to buffing the dps specs for pvp. The fundamental problems with DPS sorc in pvp are not exactly the same problems the DPS merc faces but still neither class has had its problems accurately addressed.

So Bump,

Hope bioware actually listens one day so eventually a ranged class other than sniper will be viable for pvp

yeah i agree to da bump

help the mercs cause i wanna lvl one

Time for the daily reply:

I have been hoping for instant cast power shots, but I would like to add to my list. (I try to suggest the smallest changes so they are more likely to be considered.)

Mobile Cylinder Changing! When running from node to node I want to be able to change to the Combat Support Cylinder and heal people while we run.

Bumpity bump bump bump!

My Commando is only level 21 but it's my favorite class that I've played so far. The style and the way it's played suits me well. A utility or defensive buff and we'd be holding our own just fine.

Wonder what if they made our cast's mobile? Casting grav round while its casting, you will be able to move during the whole cast. not sure if we will be slowed during the duration or not.

Have already discussed it. It won't work coz they still remain interruptable.

So, we stopped at:

1. Commandos need RANGE root. (concusive charge would be also nice (gs/sniper analogue)

2. Instant casts of charged bolt/grav round

3. RS upgrade (immunity to CC/snare for some seconds)

I believe commandos/mercs have future. We don't need NEW abilities but some additional utility to what we already have.

Dear Developers, you do realize that mercs and commandos are a DPS class correct? How does upping our survivability help with DPS? Also, I would imagine any class would have issues surviving when multiple targets attack them. This thought process is the real reason why you guys are failing to make the needed changed this game needs for pvp. I can't wait to see the next warrior buff.

spending less time in the cloner, you are in the fight more= more damage= more dps.

Have already discussed it. It won't work coz they still remain interruptable.

So, we stopped at:

1. Commandos need RANGE root. (concusive charge would be also nice (gs/sniper analogue)

2. Instant casts of charged bolt/grav round

3. RS upgrade (immunity to CC/snare for some seconds)

 

I believe commandos/mercs have future. We don't need NEW abilities but some additional utility to what we already have.

or maybe you should just stop playing poorly.

I think survivability is needed somehow, I just don't see how BW is going to implement it in our class.

How does survivability help you win a fight? If they upped both the dps and the survivability, then we would have something going for us. As it is right now though, we're just fodder on the field. Just upping the survivability means were longer fodder on the field. They need to do something with the DPS. One of the biggiest problems with Mercs is one of the DPS tress is worthless due to interupts.

Commando needs: escape mechanic, movement buff, proc'd interrupt immunity.

Nice to have additions: situational immunity to leaps, greater group utility, a decent buff to reactive shield, and some channeled/casted abilities usable while in motion.

Even with interrupt immunity the commando will still be challenged to get damage out when faced with good melee. The combination of stuns and KBs and mez's that melee dish out is often sufficient the reduce a commando's damage output to negligible levels.

Overall damage output is otherwise fine, although it tends to be sustained damage with no front-end burst (Gunnery burst is back-loaded), so if the TTK is short due to all if the above then you'll never get much damage out. Fix the other problems and the damage issue will resolve itself.

mec/commando dps is not broken. its fine.

you let a merc free-cast for the entire warzone, and they will put up stupidly high numbers.

the problem is we have no way to maintain that DPS output when we are pressured by as little as even one person. with all the ways to be interrupted, instant cast tracer missile/grav round and charged bolts/power shot would be a very smart fix. it would allow us to fight back against melee opponents much more effectively than we can now, and would also prevent a couple of interrupts from locking us down from using our set-up attacks.

as far as survivability goes, the only real change i think should be made is to return power barrier/charged barried to granting 2% damage reduction per stack (aka undo the unnecessary nerf we got back in 1.2).

you have to remember that bioware, if they do anything at all, is going to likely go with the least path of resistance. meaning they are going to be unlikely to add in new abilities, which is a multi-departmental task.

the problem is we have no way to maintain that DPS output when we are pressured by as little as even one person. with all the ways to be interrupted, instant cast tracer missile/grav round and charged bolts/power shot would be a very smart fix. it would allow us to fight back against melee opponents much more effectively than we can now, and would also prevent a couple of interrupts from locking us down from using our set-up attacks.

I can almost guarantee that if they do that, they'll nerf the damage - in effect raising the effectiveness of bad commandos, and hurting the good ones. That'd be the last straw for me.

I can almost guarantee that if they do that, they'll nerf the damage - in effect raising the effectiveness of bad commandos, and hurting the good ones. That'd be the last straw for me.

That's what I'm afraid of. At this point a bad fix is worse than no fix at all. The optimist in me wants to think that the reason they're waiting so long is because they've got something really well-planned that they're just waiting for the right moment to roll out...

Btw I like your vids. It's inspiring to see a "hobbled" AC like the commando maximized so effectively in PvP.

or maybe you should just stop playing poorly.

Maybe you should play a gunslinger/sage and compare?

Dear Mercenaries & Commandos, REJOICE !

From here: http://dulfy.net/2012/11/16/swtor-f2p-future-content-interview-with-damion-schubert/

18. Will be there any faction or Advanced Class change option available for purchase in the future?

We have had serious talks recently about offering an Advanced Class change option – I think that one will likely happen eventually. Species is likely as well.

PT/VANGUARD FOR EVERYONE YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY !!!

*sigh*