We are mostly satisfied with Sage/Sorcerer survivability in Operations. If you are a Sage/Sorcerer that specializes in dealing damage, we do not expect you to use Force Armor/Static Barrier on yourself or others in an Operation. If you find this to not be the case in any given encounter, please feel free to post in the Flashpoints, Operations, and Heroic Missions forum, and let the Operations team know specifically which mechanic in which encounter is making you feel like you are required to use Force Armor/Static Barrier on yourself to survive. Also, please note that depending on how you and your healer specialize (if your group has a Sage/Sorcerer healer), your own Force Armor/Static Barrier is likely weaker and more expensive than your Sage/ Sorcerer healer’s Force Armor/Static Barrier. In addition, using your own Force Armor/Static Barrier will lockout your Sage/Sorcerer healer’s stronger and cheaper version of the ability.

I find this to be very odd, Force Armor is about the only 'heal' that damage specs can reliably use and you're saying we shouldn't be. I'm assuming you mean ONLY Operations as that is nutty in PvP and even in Flashpoints if the healer needs help.

Usually, damage dealt to the whole Operation group or to random Operation group members is dealt as elemental or internal damage, so that the classes with higher armor values do not have an advantage over classes with lower armor values, like the Sage/Sorcerer. Sometimes, the Operations team will intentionally decide to not make this damage elemental or internal (as is currently the case in the Dread Master Brontes encounter). If you feel that such practices leave the Sage/Sorcerer in a position that is too vulnerable, then please let us know in the Operations forum (linked above) so that we can address the issue.

I like this part of the answer because it speaks to something I've always thought. Modifying the content has to be a balance option. Buffing isn't always the answer.

Now with that said, we will definitely consider taking the global cooldown off of Force Mend/Unnatural Preservation, but the global cooldown on Force Armor/Static Barrier is there to stay, since it can be placed on others and we do not expect you to use the ability in Operations if you are a damage dealer.

Fair enough, Force Mend off the GCD would be very helpful.

Sage/Sorcerer healers, we hear you and we see that our data validates what you are saying – as it shows you are currently performing behind both Scoundrel/Operative healers and Commando/Mercenary healers in PvP. We do not currently have any plans to share with you on how we intend to improve Sage/Sorcerer healing in PvP, but it is a priority for us, and we would love to hear your own ideas on how you would like Sage/Sorcerer healing to be improved in PvP without also making Sage/Sorcerer healing too good in PvE. We will say in advance that, “make such-and-such ability activate instantly,” is not a solution we are likely to consider (unless it is a temporary buff triggered by something else, and not a permanent reduction of activation time). Our goal is to keep Sage/Sorcerer healing as close as possible to the way it is in PvE, while improving how it performs in PvP.

I don't think making any new powers instant is advisable, but improving Force Armor and Rejuvenate could help a lot. For example, lowering the lockout on Force Armor would be great. Removing the cooldown on Rejuvenate would also help a lot. It would be a quick combo you can put on people then when under pressure.

Thanks, reserved for feedback on Nobel Sacrifice.

I know I don't post often on the forums here, but as a sorc healer I can say that removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice is not something I will strive to in PvE. I don't think I was ever concerned with that particular aspect of it, the debuff is far more concerning to me in PvE.

So yes reducing/removing the cost is great, but I don't think I will sacrifice the current PvE set bonus for it.

Now here are some questions for the Sage/Sorcerer community, regarding Noble Sacrifice/Consumption. Do you believe removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice/Consumption as a PvP set bonus would be something that PvE Sage/Sorcerer healers also feel like they need, or are PvE Sage/Sorcerers happier with their current set bonuses? If it is something that PvE Sages/Sorcerers would rather have as well, then which current PvE set bonus would you want to give up for it? Do you think that having a health-cost-free Noble Sacrifice/Consumption would be too good for PvE? Do you believe it might take away too much of the challenge for healing in PvE situations?

Hell Yes I believe removing the Health Cost of Noble Sacrifice as a Set Bonus should happen. I would GLADLY trade the extra 50 focus I get from the 4 piece set bonus for it. I don't need that extra 50 focus, when I'm down to 50 Focus crap is liable to hit the fan.

I consider myself to be "decent" at managing my focus and when crap starts to get a little sour in Ops I find myself practically depending on the Healing Trance and Noble Sacrifice combo to keep up with the damage being dealt out but it can be in vain if I'm just killing myself to keep someone else alive when no one can afford to go down. Granted this is a relatively uncommon situation but still it would be extremely useful.

Where the hell is concerns related to TK sages?

Are you sages all gone mad, why didn't any of you ask about them?!

First off, I'm disappointed that we didn't get a more fleshed out response on the animations issue. I know it is in some sense trivial, but I'm really, really tired of shoveling gravel…

More substantial feedback follows below…

---

Usually, damage dealt to the whole Operation group or to random Operation group members is dealt as elemental or internal damage, so that the classes with higher armor values do not have an advantage over classes with lower armor values, like the Sage/Sorcerer. Sometimes, the Operations team will intentionally decide to not make this damage elemental or internal (as is currently the case in the Dread Master Brontes encounter). If you feel that such practices leave the Sage/Sorcerer in a position that is too vulnerable, then please let us know in the Operations forum (linked above) so that we can address the issue.

Using just nightmare mode content, looking through TfB, S&V and DF, I can think of the following places where I (as a DPS sorc/sage) am called upon to at least bubble myself, and sometimes bubble others. I'm backporting strategies to at gear level, since obviously a good chunk of this content can be simply smashed through at this point.

• Dread Guard (lightning field and sometimes with the DoT in the third phase)
  
• Operator IX during Black Obtuse in order to even survive the agro dump mechanic (kinetic/energy damage!)
  
• Kephess in order to survive Dread Bomb (kinetic/energy again!)
  
• Titan VI sub-20% soft enrage (note that the damage here is kinetic/energy and not internal/elemental)
  
• Thrasher double sniper spawn (internal/elemental damage, but still substantial; note that the sniper attacks, which cannot be avoided for a period of about 7 seconds, are kinetic/energy)
  
• Warlords the entire first phase (damage here is highly varied, but most of the unavoidable damage is kinetic/energy)
  
• Styrak during during the "Summon" cast for the reincarnated dragon (internal/elemental raid damage during soft-enrage). Also during spines.
  
• Draxus just before Phase 5 (triple bulwark + boss + double corrupter in back), often including bubbling other raid members.
  
• Draxus going into final phase
  
• Grob'thok sometimes at Overhead Smash (kinetic/energy damage again)
  
• Brontes before clockwork phase (kinetic/energy damage)
  
• Brontes when taking an orb (internal/elemental, mercifully)
  
• Brontes before six finger phase (I think internal/elemental, but it might be kinetic/energy)
  
• Brontes before final phase (internal/elemental damage)
  
• Brontes following both hand pushes before "Punish Betrayal" finishes casting
  

A lot of the raid damage on this list is kinetic/energy. I really don't think you can safely claim that the majority of raid damage is internal/elemental, because so much of the really concerning damage doesn't fall into that category. Brontes's Fire and Forget is even worse, because not only is it kinetic/energy, but it also carries a roughly 10% boost in accuracy, meaning that the consular/inquisitor class intrinsic 5% boost to defense chance is largely negated.

On a note about the meta-game, the recent buffs to commando/mercenary healers together with positional mechanics in the current tier of content have resulted in the commando/mercenary + scoundrel/operative healing combo being by far the most favored healing pair by top-tier nightmare raid groups. I personally believe that sage/sorc is undervalued as a healer, but that's not really the point. The point is that, due to the very common absence of a sage/sorc healer in top-tier raids, sage/sorc DPS are burdened with an extra emphasis on the use of Force Armor/Static Barrier as a raid utility. They have no lockout to conflict with, and thus bubbling essentially represents comparatively cheap off-healing with significant strategic benefits. This is most commonly felt by TK/Lightning spec, as that tree contains the talent which increases the amount absorbed, while also providing a more lenient force regen mechanic (i.e. freedom to off-heal).

Now with that said, we will definitely consider taking the global cooldown off of Force Mend/Unnatural Preservation, but the global cooldown on Force Armor/Static Barrier is there to stay, since it can be placed on others and we do not expect you to use the ability in Operations if you are a damage dealer.

Good good good good good. I'd much rather have FM/UP off of the GCD than the bubble, given the lockout situation.

Now here are some questions for the Sage/Sorcerer community, regarding Noble Sacrifice/Consumption. Do you believe removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice/Consumption as a PvP set bonus would be something that PvE Sage/Sorcerer healers also feel like they need, or are PvE Sage/Sorcerers happier with their current set bonuses? If it is something that PvE Sages/Sorcerers would rather have as well, then which current PvE set bonus would you want to give up for it? Do you think that having a health-cost-free Noble Sacrifice/Consumption would be too good for PvE? Do you believe it might take away too much of the challenge for healing in PvE situations?

It really should be the 4pc PvP set bonus. I do not want Noble Sacrifice/Consumption to lack a health cost in PvE. I think it's really, really important to keep the cost, in fact, because otherwise we're back to pre-1.2 days where sages/sorcs could heal indefinitely in PvE with absolutely no worries about resources. Keep the PvE set bonuses for sage/sorc healers (though consider improving the 4pc slightly, perhaps by adding a lockout reduction on Force Armor/Static Barrier similar to the PvP 2pc).

Eliminating the Noble Sacrifice/Consumption health cost on the 4pc PvP bonus would categorically rule out any thought of PvP sage/sorc healers using the 2pc PvE set bonus, which is currently quite common.

Where the hell is concerns related to TK sages?

 

Are you sages all gone mad, why didn't any of you ask about them?!

But you asked for more melee damage. I mean, that's what sages need right? More melee damage. And being in melee range will help with the glass cannon part also. New ability when level increases they'll give you Super Saber Strike.

But seriously, no health loss on noble sac would be kind of OP. Maybe when NS is used give a 15 second buff that doubles force regen in addition to its current benefit? Would still need to use it but would be needed a lot less... at least every 15 seconds and use it as a pre-cast ability to begin fights.

Where the hell is concerns related to TK sages?

 

Are you sages all gone mad, why didn't any of you ask about them?!

I asked the same question. Especially the melee question was outrageous. No clue what the "community" was thinking when they "voted" for this question.

The first answer was inevitable in an Operations context. Though there could have been some hints towards PvP - like Barrier being of of GCD when applied to yourself.

Well at least it is not as crappy as the last set of answers.

 

Now here are some questions for the Sage/Sorcerer community, regarding Noble Sacrifice/Consumption. Do you believe removing the health cost of Noble Sacrifice/Consumption as a PvP set bonus would be something that PvE Sage/Sorcerer healers also feel like they need, or are PvE Sage/Sorcerers happier with their current set bonuses? If it is something that PvE Sages/Sorcerers would rather have as well, then which current PvE set bonus would you want to give up for it? Do you think that having a health-cost-free Noble Sacrifice/Consumption would be too good for PvE? Do you believe it might take away too much of the challenge for healing in PvE situations?

 

As a strictly PvE sage who has never even queued for a PvP match, if you put a 2 piece set bonus on pvp gear that takes the health removal away from noble sacrifice, you can bet your *** I'll get 2 pieces of that gear. That is so far above & beyond my current 4 piece PvE set bonus of 50 extra force as to be laughable.

As a long time sage healer main, including back when they added the health cost back to Seer's NS casts, it's interesting they're considering removing it again, since it made force management trivial. It's certainly better than the 50 extra force from the 4pc bonus could ever be.

Using just nightmare mode content, looking through TfB, S&V and DF, I can think of the following places where I (as a DPS sorc/sage) am called upon to at least bubble myself, and sometimes bubble others...

Many of these examples, especially on DF NiM fights, are places where the bubbles are only required if your healers have fallen behind, and are unnecessary if your healers are executing properly. Bioware, PLEASE don't balance around sages/sorcs being considered a permanent offhealer.

Many of these examples are places where the bubbles are only required if your healers have fallen behind, and should be unnecessary if your healers are executing properly. Bioware, PLEASE don't balance around sages/sorcs being considered a permanent offhealer.

If you carry this argument to the logical extreme, there is no need for any DPS class to have defensive cooldowns, nor even natural damage reduction for that matter! I'm not saying your underlying point is wrong, but clearly there is some sort of balance between the "bubble on cooldown" approach that I take in PuG groups and the "remove your armorings and unbind your defensive CDs" that represents the opposite extreme.

Note that I only listed places where bubbling could be done without interfering with other important tasks, most notably DPS. It's trivially easy to bubble at least yourself (and sometimes others) at the end of Phase 4 on Draxus while the two Subteroths are popped. Similarly with Operator IX on Black Obtuse (remember, a sage DPS at level cannot survive the initial unavoidable hit of the random agro dump without a sage healer, gunslinger shield or self-bubble). The Brontes examples are also places where DPS is not inhibited by bubbling unless you're behind on force management.

More precisely to the developer's point though, here is the subset of my list where a sage/sorc DPS would be at a disadvantage relative to the other classes when they don't bubble themselves:

• Operator IX during Black Obtuse in order to even survive the agro dump mechanic (kinetic/energy damage!)
  
• Kephess in order to survive Dread Bomb (kinetic/energy again!)
  
• Titan VI sub-20% soft enrage (note that the damage here is kinetic/energy and not internal/elemental)
  
• Warlords the entire first phase (damage here is highly varied, but most of the unavoidable damage is kinetic/energy)
  
• Brontes before clockwork phase (kinetic/energy damage)
  
• Brontes before six finger phase (I think internal/elemental, but it might be kinetic/energy)
  
• Brontes before final phase (internal/elemental damage)
  
• Brontes following both hand pushes before "Punish Betrayal" finishes casting
  

Note that I'm ignoring the cases where sages/sorcs are at a disadvantage relative to the other DPS classes simply due to a lack of defensive cooldowns. The above are just the cases where sages/sorcs take more baseline unavoidable damage than the other classes, and thus bubble represents their only way to "level the playing field".

If you carry this argument to the logical extreme, there is no need for any DPS class to have defensive cooldowns, nor even natural damage reduction for that matter! I'm not saying your underlying point is wrong, but clearly there is some sort of balance between the "bubble on cooldown" approach that I take in PuG groups and the "remove your armorings and unbind your defensive CDs" that represents the opposite extreme.

 

Note that I only listed places where bubbling could be done without interfering with other important tasks, most notably DPS. It's trivially easy to bubble at least yourself (and sometimes others) at the end of Phase 4 on Draxus while the two Subteroths are popped. Similarly with Operator IX on Black Obtuse (remember, a sage DPS at level cannot survive the initial unavoidable hit of the random agro dump without a sage healer, gunslinger shield or self-bubble). The Brontes examples are also places where DPS is not inhibited by bubbling unless you're behind on force management.

Considering your reply was to a question asking if damage to the raid forced special measures to keep the sage alive ("too vulnerable"), I assume you bubble in all those places to keep yourself alive, which is unnecessary. Your list implies a much larger survivability problem than actually exists. You also included a number of soft enrages or phases where your GCDs are better used on DPS than trying to bubble when your healers should be capable of taking care of you. The only two cases on this list where a sage actually NEEDED a bubble were in NiM TFB, and design decisions from a year ago that have not been repeated are hardly compelling examples. A minor amount of extra damage taken as a tradeoff for superior damage (as the balance seems to be settling into in 2.8) isn't the same thing.

In regards to thoughts on animation changes as well as use of the lightsaber, I've liked the idea the shadow/assassin has.

That is to say, they have lightsaber charges and whatnot that they use to channel to force through their lightsaber.

For example a sage casting their force barrier could appear to be holding their lightsaber in such a way that they are making use of it to block attacks (expanding the power of it outwards or something like that).

Most of the time, you're character is holding it up like a baton, deflecting the occasional bolt - not that exciting.

While I wouldn't want it to effect stats, I'd like to see the the lightsaber be used in some fashion other than just holding it up and deflecting the odd bolt.

Considering your reply was to a question asking if damage to the raid forced special measures to keep the sage alive ("too vulnerable"), I assume you bubble in all those places to keep yourself alive, which is unnecessary. Your list implies a much larger survivability problem than actually exists. You also included a number of soft enrages or phases where your GCDs are better used on DPS than trying to bubble when your healers should be capable of taking care of you. The only two cases on this list where a sage actually NEEDED a bubble were in NiM TFB, and design decisions from a year ago that have not been repeated are hardly compelling examples.

On the soft enrage point, note that I said before the soft enrage. I was very specific about that, because bubbling during a soft enrage is fundamentally self-defeating.

You're a raid leader, Smugglin, so let me put the question to you. You have two choices for a ranged DPS slot. Both of your options do exactly the same sustained damage, and have roughly comparable burst and AoE tools. However, one of your options takes 15-20% more damage than the other. Further imagine that these are both equally strong players. Ignoring raid utilities for the moment, which of them do you pick?

(…and don't say "gunslinger") ;-)

Taking FM/UP off the GCD resolves the survivability issue. It's not perfect, but it should bring overall healing required for sages/sorcs back in line with what the other ranged DPS specs experience. So, our argument here is largely academic.

A minor amount of extra damage taken as a tradeoff for superior damage (as the balance seems to be settling into in 2.8) isn't the same thing.

Citation needed. Remember that balance/madness actually has better survivability than tk/lightning. Vigilance/Vengeance has better survivability than Focus/Rage. Balance/Madness shadow/assassin is to have the best defensive cooldown in the game. Even looking cross-spec, scrapper/concealment has dramatically, absurdly better survivability than either of the sage/sorc specs, despite also having substantially better damage.

Basically, there is no consistent correlation between damage taken and maximum DPS. The "glass cannon" philosophy of DPS class balance has never held in SWTOR; not in 2.8, and not in any patch prior.

Taking FM/UP off the GCD resolves the survivability issue. It's not perfect, but it should bring overall healing required for sages/sorcs back in line with what the other ranged DPS specs experience. So, our argument here is largely academic.

This will be very helpful no doubt.

Basically, there is no consistent correlation between damage taken and maximum DPS. The "glass cannon" philosophy of DPS class balance has never held in SWTOR; not in 2.8, and not in any patch prior.

Agreed. But then I really don't even understand the reasoning behind Sages' lack of armor and such.

As far as offering alternate animations and visual effects via the Cartel Market is concerned, only time will tell. Your message has been passed onto the team responsible for Cartel Market updates, and if it is possible, then you might see those options appear in the future.

 

For the record, I for one would happily pay a large amount of Cartel points for new versions of animations.

For the record, I for one would happily pay a large amount of Cartel points for new versions of animations.

THIS! Yes yes yes.

If you are a Sage/Sorcerer that specializes in dealing damage, we do not expect you to use Force Armor/Static Barrier on yourself or others in an Operation.

What I'm utterly befuddled about is that the Devs think that sages are not supposed to use defensive cooldowns in operations?!? What...?

Also, please note that depending on how you and your healer specialize (if your group has a Sage/Sorcerer healer), your own Force Armor/Static Barrier is likely weaker and more expensive than your Sage/ Sorcerer healer’s Force Armor/Static Barrier.

You state above that you think sage healers are under performing and yet you frame your response with the assumption that all groups are going to have a sage/sorc healer in their lineup. While there have been groups that have cleared NiM DF with sage/sorc healers, quite a few groups don't even run one anymore and I hear a lot of complaints from sage/sorc healers about force management issues regarding how much raidwide damage they're absorbing and the need to pick when to kill themselves for force (not that this hasn't always been the case).

Now on to the real issue in which we're apparently not supposed to use our one universal defensive cooldown for current NiM ops (note that we run a scoundrel/mando healer combo)...

-Nefra: Not too much need to use it on yourself here, though I've definitely saved our raid with a well-timed bubble on a low tank. I play Balance for this fight and picking up 5-6 cleanses a minute (as we have 4.5 people who can't self-cleanse) sucks the force right out of me, so if I did need to use a bubble for anything, I don't have much force to spare and often end up using consumption toward the end of the fight.

-Draxus: You can't possibly tell me that I'm supposed to get through this fight without ever using my bubble. I play a hybrid for this fight so force isn't an issue, but I use a bubble:

• before I pop my subteroth in the first phase
  
• usually whenever I get focused by lightning spammers (which absolutely destroy sages if more than one are on you at a time)
  
• and if I happen to pull any subteroths during the 2nd/1st guardian phases due to my AOEs, before the tanks can pick them back up.
  

I generally save my force barrier for one of two things during the guardian phases 1) Something goes wrong and a conal gets pointed the wrong way and I can't get out; 2) The guardian DOT can be cleansed by force barrier if healing is tight or I'm low

-Grob: I use it if I'm low before an overhead smash and always if we end up getting two pipe smashes. If I'm not topped up in the case of the latter it comes pretty close as to whether I survive or not without bubbling myself. I save the occasional tank with a bubble here again too. I'm Balance here again so having to use bubbles hurts force on this fight and it's not uncommon to need to life-tap to get force back.

-CZ: A few things I use bubble for on CZ (I stay out and get mines while the rest of the group stacks for non-add phases):

• Concussion mines, if I'm low or there was some miscommunication/stacking issues and I need to wait for higher stack levels to clear my mine
  
• Missile salvo, always
  
• I spend most of my time on the repair droids/the gold, though I can easily pull the smaller adds with a mis-placed AOE (and considering that the adds don't always render properly for me, I often have to guess where they are)--they hit a sage like a truck, especially if I'm running around clearing mines or otherwise taking damage from another source
  
• To occasionally save one of our sentinels who is out interrupting the gold droid and occasionally out of range of the healers
  

And now for Brontes:

• Obviously before popping energy spheres. The thing to keep in mind here is that force barrier is utterly worthless for spheres, because if you pop it, the ball will go on someone else and if they're not paying attention or it's in the middle of a group, that can be a wipe (did this my first time in DF HM and wiped a group before I knew not to use force barrier). I'm surprised I haven't heard complains about this in the sage/sorc community, but the way that barrier functions with agro needs to change. It's not exactly fair that I can't use my one cooldown where I'm assured to survive on an energy sphere, especially if:
  
• Kephess clone jumps on me. This is a huge hit for a sage. If I have a mid/high stack ball and kephess on me at the same time (which has happened more than a few times), it's pretty much a guaranteed death for me. I can't barrier because the ball could take out multiple people, so I just have to sit there and take the hit. This prompted me to quit playing my sage and get on my slinger the other night because I was pissed that there wasn't really anything I could have done to avoid that outcome.
  
• I generally bubble a few folks right before the 6-finger phase starts to make it a bit easier on the healers and allow them to DPS for a few seconds before the raid starts taking damage again. I do this only because I know that I can life-tap when Brontes puts up her shield and begins her cast; ditto when we enter the shields for the in-between phases
  

But apparently I've been doing it wrong this entire time by using defensive cooldowns.

Now, I know someone will get smart and say something trying to discredit a DPS off-healing (or bubbling in this case), but **** happens in a raid setting and sometimes a well-timed bubble from a sage DPS will save the raid from wiping (or at least using a battle/stealth rez). You reference that the DPS checks are so high in NiM mode that we don't have time to use bubbles on ourselves, let alone the rest of the raid. That's utterly inaccurate beyond the last phases of Brontes and if I need to sacrifice a bit of DPS so prevent a wipe or at least give the raid a better chance at clearing content I will, and there is plenty of room to do so, even in NiM. And yes, I will use my one defensive cooldown (that isn't entirely situational) in a raid setting. Whether you need to fix bubbles is one thing, but to say that I shouldn't use cooldowns in a raid setting...I don't even understand how you could say something like that.

What I'm utterly befuddled about is that the Devs think that sages are not supposed to use defensive cooldowns in operations?!? What...?

I found that quite curious as well. I just assumed I was supposed to be using Force Armor. In absence of having other DCD, I'm not sure how you're expected to live through spikes.

i will trade the 50 force 4 set for not having to lose life when i consume, if i have stacks from innervate crits.

and take force mend off global cooldown lockouts.

You're a raid leader, Smugglin, so let me put the question to you. You have two choices for a ranged DPS slot. Both of your options do exactly the same sustained damage, and have roughly comparable burst and AoE tools. However, one of your options takes 15-20% more damage than the other. Further imagine that these are both equally strong players. Ignoring raid utilities for the moment, which of them do you pick?

 

(…and don't say "gunslinger") ;-)

Fortunately, this doesn't exist in 2.8, at least as far as the last PTS patch goes, because that would be extremely unbalanced. Maybe DF slingers or Assault Commandos will get buffed to 4.1k dps before it goes live, but I doubt it. TK outparses Gunnery and SS in 2.8, too, last time I checked.

...But obviously, you take the gunslinger.

Citation needed.

Remember that balance/madness actually has better survivability than tk/lightning. Vigilance/Vengeance has better survivability than Focus/Rage. Balance/Madness shadow/assassin is to have the best defensive cooldown in the game. Even looking cross-spec, scrapper/concealment has dramatically, absurdly better survivability than either of the sage/sorc specs, despite also having substantially better damage.

 

Basically, there is no consistent correlation between damage taken and maximum DPS. The "glass cannon" philosophy of DPS class balance has never held in SWTOR; not in 2.8, and not in any patch prior.

You know balance is more complicated than damage in vs damage out. Reducing it to simplistic terms to try to prove a point helps no one. Balance sage vs DF slinger vs Assault commando is a much better comparison than Balancs vs TK, as is TK vs Gunnery vs Sharpshooter. A direct comparison of scrapper scoundrel and sage dps survivability across all sage specs? You're smarter than that.

Just because the devs haven't reached balance yet doesn't mean we're not moving closer to it every balance patch (I did say it's the balance we "seem" to be approaching).

First, I'm utterly disappointed by the "Sage as a Jedi" answer. So the Lightsabre still remains to be a pure stat stick. I will continue calling it so. This will be my only name for that thing in the future.

Plus, to me this is proof of how broken the Sage Jedi" design is.

Second, I'm baffled by the response regarding survivability in OPs.

I ssume by now that they don't expect the Sage to be using Force Armor etc. because they believe that there exists nothing but internal & elemental damage.

Curiously, they exclusively mentioned DD Sages in that answer - no comment on the survivability of Seer Sages.

And no comment on survivability in PvP, either.

 

 

Respectfully, I disagree. There are no Jedi in the lore, who rely so little on the lightsaber. But I thank you for the answer. Please do allow Willpower to affect melee attacks. And consider that proliferating one-two of the animations from Guardians/Juggernauts could do this easily.

 

Resorting to lies in order to defend the question? A very good decision

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fay This link proves that it is a lie

 

...and we would love to hear your own ideas on how you would like Sage/Sorcerer healing to be improved in PvP without also making Sage/Sorcerer healing too good in PvE

 

Force mend of the gcd like you suggested in the pve answer would certainly help in pvp as well :-)

Also i feel like in arenas, i'm always either stunned or at full resolve, so in my opinion we would need either

1) damage reduction while stunned

2) stun immunity cooldown / proc

3) cooldown useable while stunned