Last Update to Guide: 05/04/14

Last Update to Parses/Gear: 04/25/14

Disclaimer:

There are many ways to play the Mercenary Arsenal spec and Bioware doesn't endorse just "one way" to play any class or spec. The suggestions I have in this guide are strictly what I, with the help of many others, have found to be the most optimal. You’re encouraged to experiment and find what works best for you and contribute your own feedback for discussion.

In addition to showing you some of the changes 2.0 has brought to the Merc Arsenal spec, the intention of this thread is to help Arsenal Mercs take their PVE game to another level. It’s easy to bash 4-5 buttons without putting much thought into it and be an alright Merc. Don’t settle for being good, be great!

First and foremost, don't be lazy. Go get your datacrons (Aim and Cunning for dps) and max out your companion's affection for a 1% boost to Acc/Crit/Surge.

[aname=table]Table of Contents:[/aname]

1. [jumpto=skill tree]Skill Tree[/jumpto]
   
2. [jumpto=gear]Gear & Stat Goals[/jumpto]
   
3. [jumpto=abilities]Arsenal Abilities & Priority System[/jumpto]
   
4. [jumpto=tips]Arsenal Tips & Tricks[/jumpto]
   
5. [jumpto=pguide]Pyro Abilities & Priority System[/jumpto]
   
6. [jumpto=credits]Credits & Achievements[/jumpto]

[aname=skill tree]I. Skill Tree[/aname]

[jumpto=table]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Mercenary - Arsenal 6/36/4

*Decoy can be used in place of Energy Rebounders and Afterburners can be used in place of Jet Escape Depending on the fight

Mercenary - Pyrotech 0/10/36

*Hired Muscle can be used in place of Stabilizers if the encounter suffers little pushback from damage taken.

[aname=gear]II. Gear & Stat Goals[/aname]

[jumpto=table]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Gear:

Dread Master BiS Chart (Theoretical)

Dread Forged BiS Chart

Kell Dragon BiS Chart (Archive)

Underworld BiS Chart (Archive)

Set Bonus: You will deck yourself out in Eliminator Set Bonus gear. The 2pc grants you 15% crit bonus to Power Shot & Tracer Missile, while the 4pc grants 8% damage increase to Rail Shot. Both a must have for either dps spec.

 

BiS Augments: Advanced Reflex Augment 28

BiS Relics: Dread Master Relic of Serendipitous Assault | Dread Master Relic of Focused Retribution.

BiS Stats In Full 81 Gear: Aim > Accuracy (100/110%) > Crit (~315 rating) > Power > Surge > Alacrity

Accuracy: Goal = 408 rating = 99.67/109.67%. Get this to at least 99/109% before worrying about Surge.

Surge: Goal = 612 rating = 75.60%

Power/Crit: Using Keren's Simulator as a base, it's seen there is a rather large sweet spot for crit in full 81 gear. You can fall anywhere between 150-375 crit and not see a noticeable difference in average dps output. I’m going to shoot for around 315 crit.

 

This is a small sample size of scatter plots, but done with several thousand iterations at various crit ratings: (Crit/DPS Simulation Scatter Graph), this could be gained a number of ways through mods/enhances/ear/implants...I’m planning to use a crit crystal and 4 enhancements, but if loot RNG presents other options I will adjust

[aname=abilities]III. Arsenal Abilities & Priority System[/aname]

[jumpto=table]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Heat Control Is Key:

Mercs follow a priority system based on damage and heat cost. Our heat dissipation is greatest (5 heat/s) when we stay between 0-40 heat. Therefore, you should do your best to always stay below 40 heat (also be careful not to allow your heat to reach zero for more than an instant) unless the situation allows you to burn. This could be the end of a fight, or a time within the fight where you know a short break of dps is coming up where your heat will have time to dissipate. You should ALWAYS burn the target (ignore rapid shots) when your Vent Heat ability cd<~10s; this includes your opening sequence. The only exceptions are situational, usually the end of a boss fight when you'll need to be going all out. In these cases, wait on using vent heat if you'll need it before the two minute cd is over.

Single Target Priority:

*Power Surge, DFA and Fusion Missile are situational, i.e. you usually want to save Power Surge for using casted abilities on the move instead of wasting it in stand still position (but on a dummy use it to open and when your heat is going to hit 0)...or adds are prominent in the fight where DFA or TSO + Fusion Missile would be better used for AoE rather than single target.

Let's begin with a legend of abilities:

TM = Tracer Missile

HSM = Heat Seeker MissileIM = Incendiary Missile

RS = Rail Shot

UL = Unload

EN = Electro Net

TSO = Thermal Sensor Override

FM = Fusion Missile

RP = Rapid Shots

DFA = Death From Above

VH = Vent Heat

Opening Burst

There are a lot of quality openers you can use, I encourage you to experiment with them. This is the one I've found to work best for me, I’ve broken them down in combos that have a resemblance to Pyro combos, but centered around Barrage procs rather than PPA procs. This opener could get broken up early in many boss fights, but in a sustained fight and/or a dummy session, I’ve listed an opener that will get you to the Vent Heat stage:

1. Power Surge* + TM > Arenal + RS** > HSM > EN > UL > TM

2. UL > DFA*** > TM

3. RS > HSM > TSO + FM*** > UL > TM

4. UL > TM > TM > RS > TM

5. HSM > UL > TM > TM > TM

6. UL > RS > Vent Heat + TM > HSM > TM

*Power Surge is situational, most fights allow for it to be used in the opener as it only has a 45s cd and usually not needed again in that time frame. It allows you to front-load the heat from your first TM and dissipate 7.5 heat during the GCD of your first TM.

**With no more need for multiple Tracer Missiles to get the armor debuff and damage gain to HSM, there's no need to open with multiple Tracer Missiles. Some players will wait for 4 tracer locks to fire off their first Rail Shot. Perfectly acceptable, I choose to open with it sooner because it makes my flow easier going forward.

***I’ve thrown DFA and FM into the opener here for dummy sessions, these are situational in boss fights. You may want to save them for AoE if they won’t come off cd soon enough to use them when AoE damage will first be needed.

2.7 Priority System

In Arsenal Spec, we center our priority system/rotation around Barrage proc. This proc has an 8s internal CD, which means as soon as it’s proc’d, there will be a 6 GCD time frame (illustrated below) to squeeze in the proper abilities.

GCD1 > GCD 2 > GCD 3 > GCD 4 (use UL no later than here) > GCD 5 > TM (procs Barrage)

The 6th GCD should always be a TM. UL & DFA shouldn’t be used beyond the 4th GCD since they take up 2 GCDs. Keeping those two things in mind the priorities are similar to life before 2.7:

Heat > 24: RS > TSO + FM > RP

24 > Heat > 17: RS > HSM > EN > TSO + FM > UL > RP

Heat < 17: RS > HSM > EN > UL > Power Surge + TM (Power Surge situational)

The only thing changed from pre-2.7 priority system during these GCDs is that stated in the previous paragraph and I don't use TM in that middle heat window (24 > Heat > 17) I always use Rapid Shots instead to keep my heat low.

Now granted this is really becomes a rotation when it comes to dummy parsing because there's never any other factors, but I like to think of it in these terms because few bosses are like dummies

Note: You can use DFA in single target situations when AoE is not needed for at least the next 60s. For maximum dps it should be used right after a barrage proc'd UL when all other abilities are on cd and heat < 20. Also FM is situational in single target rotation for same reason.

Note: We aren't the most mobile class, we put out much more damage when we can turret down our target. But if HSM and Rail Shot are on cd when you need to move and your heat is sitting fine so you don't want to spam rapid shots. Consider using Explosive Dart>Missile Blast while on the move and your heat is low. I like to rotate between those and rapid shots in these situations. Also, you could throw in a PS+TM or PS+TSO+FM so they can be used on the run.

Multiple Target Priority:

Mercs have beastly AoE damage and the priority system is as follows:

1. Death from Above

2. Flame Thrower

3. *TSO+FM

4. Sweeping Blasters

*You don't necessarily have to use FM with TSO. It does produce higher DPS, but isn't as heat efficient, so if you're not worried about heat, use it without TSO if you like. But unless you're going to get some downtime after your burn, I would wait for TSO.

Also, while you're running up to the mob you want to annihilate or waitiing for them to position themselves in a nice pile for you, throw an Explosive Dart OR Fusion Missile (with or without TSO depending on asterick'd note above) in there for a bit extra delayed AoE damage.

[aname=tips]IV. Arsenal Tips & Tricks[/aname]

[jumpto=table]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Action Queue

Don't Delay Barrage Proc!

Anticipate

How To Analyze Your Parses

[aname=pguide]V. Pyro Abilities & Rotation[/aname]

[jumpto=table]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

As Barrage is to Arsenal, Prototype Particle Accelerator (PPA) is to Pyrotech. PPA resets the cooldown on Rail Shot (RS) and makes the next use free to use. RS is a powerful hit by itself, but because of another talent Super-Heated Rail, which buffs RS more AND causes it to vent 8 heat on use AND refreshes the Combustible Gas Cylinder’s burn if present, it’s even stronger. Since the number one rule for a mercenary is to maximize output while minimizing heat use, RS is divine in nature

The Pyrotech uses a sort of rotation/priority system hybrid. More or less, it is a rotation….but because there is some RNG factors that can slightly alter your rotation, a priority system still does exist. You can reliably proc PPA every 6s if you follow a strict pattern in your rotation. Let’s begin with a legend for the abilities:

PS = Power Shot

TD = Thermal Detonator

IM = Incendiary Missile

RS = Rail Shot

UL = Unload

EN = Electro Net

TSO = Thermal Sensor Override

FM = Fusion Missile

RP = Rapid Shots

PPA = Prototype Particle Accelerator

VH = Vent Heat

So we base our rotation around procing PPA every 6s, this is feasible MOST of the time, occasionally you will have a delay on this rate by 1 GCD (1.5s) making it 7.5s between procs. You should NEVER make PPA wait more than 7.5s or you’re hurting your sustained dps significantly. How do we do this? Well 6s is equivalent to 4 GCDs, one of those GCDs is going to be RS from your previously proc’d PPA, the other 3 GCDs are what you need to figure out what to do with. For maximum efficiency, always use PS on the 4th GCD (3rd filler) to attempt to proc PPA. So your basic rotation will have a series of combos that follow the below pattern.

RS > Filler 1 (F1) > Filler 2 (F2) > PS (If no PPA; then UL or PS; else end of combo)

Furthermore, you want to give yourself as many “auto-procs” of PPA as possible. The way pyro is working currently, you can auto proc PPA when F1 or F2 above is also a PS or if you use UL’s 3s channel to cover both F1 & F2. Hence, the goal is to squeeze in a PS or an UL in accordingly during every combo. This means if F1 or F2 (or both) are already prioritized to maximize PPA proc potential, that only leaves one filler for us to figure out. The two abilities that come off cd most frequently to mix into those slots are TD and IM (we’ll get to EN and FM later), and for heat management occasional RPs will be necessary.

So before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s start with a solid opener. After a LOT of testing on this matter, I’ve found the best opener for me to be (I’m listing the opener in a similar style to how I am laying out the priority system, using combos):

Opening Burst

TD > EN > Adrenal+IM

RS > PS (If Necessary > PS)

RS > PS > TSO+FM > PS

Begin Rotation/Priority System

The easiest way for me to explain the general priority system is to lay out the possible combos you may use and order them in highest to lowest DPS illustrated below:

Possible Combos To Use

1. RS > TD > PS > PS

2. RS > IM > PS > PS

3. RS > PS > PS > PS

4. RS > TD > RP > PS *(If Necessary > UL or PS)**

5. RS > IM > RP > PS *(If Necessary > UL or PS)**

6. RS > UL > PS (make sure not to clip UL, timing on the PS is challenging since you can’t queue)

7. RS > RP > PS > PS (rarely used)

*UL to proc PPA

**In combos 4,5 - F1&F2 can be swapped depending on heat, more to come on this but just keep in mind that if IM gets bumped to F2, try to maintain IM in F2 going forward as to not clip it. The next combo that gets backed up a GCD will bring it back in line with F1.

Now we need to squeeze in EN and TSO+FM in somewhere. I’ve been inserting both of these abilities into F1 and/or F2 only in place of PS,RP,UL as they come off cd, keeping everything else intact. So for example, if I’m about to use a combo 6, I would use (EN or FM) > PS > PS instead. Or a combo 1 or 4 would become TD > (EN or FM) > PS …. I prioritize EN over FM unless I need heat regen. I only use FM with TSO and I make sure using it won’t follow with me sitting at zero heat for more than an instant. Albeit all these conditions, they pretty much just end up being used very close to on cd of EN/TSO.

So the only thing left to do is assign scenarios/heat windows that each of the above combos can be used. It’s fairly simple, When VH is off cd you’ll only use combos 1-3 and that includes EN/FM replacement combos. I start ignoring RP combos around 15-18s cd on VH and start ignoring UL around 9-12s cd on VH. It’s kinda just a feel from practice, but the goal is to use VH as close to cd as possible…by pushing your heat at just the right moment…but not overheat in the process. Some players may prefer to save VH for mess-ups, but you will maximize dps by utilizing VH as an offensive cd.

Below is the priority system with conditions, I’ve kept the structure to reflect highest combos 1st so some of these windows overlap each other. Please note that the Heat conditions are referring to where your heat is after the proc’d RS.

Rotation/Priority System Of Combos

VH < ~10s or Heat < 15

1. RS > TD > PS > PS

2. RS > IM > PS > PS

3. RS > PS > PS > PS

VH > ~15s and Heat < 31…If Heat > 24 then swap F1&F2

4. RS > TD > RP > PS (If Necessary > *UL or PS)

*If Heat <32

4b. RS > PS > (If Necessary > PS)

5. RS > IM > RP > PS (If Necessary > *UL or PS)

If Heat <24 and TD is off cd

5a. RS > TD > PS (If Necessary > PS)

If Heat <32

5b. RS > PS > (If Necessary > PS)

VH > ~9s and Heat < 28

6. RS > UL > PS

Else

7. RS > RP > PS > PS

Because of the conditions laid out above, your opener is going to be a rotation for quite some time using only the first 3 combos. After you VH you’ll almost immediately start using combo 6 and a short while later you’ll start to look to the remaining combos 4,5,7 and the subsets based on your heat and VH cd. The first use of VH will be roughly around the 3rd use of TD or IM depending on your initial PPA proc…It’s difficult to tell you exactly when to use it following the first use, but somewhere around 50-60 heat is the trigger. Practice will show you how to not use it too early or too late. You want the use of it to bring you close to 0 heat without hitting 0 for more than an instant.

Cruise Control Mode

Ok so since this rotation is excellent and requires very little thought to use, I'm adding it in to the guide. Advantages are it's extremely consistent due to the rinse & repeat aspect...and it relies on zero PPA proc RNG. It is a popular dummy rotation and it can be translated to many boss fights. I'm not a big fan of it...because well...it's a little boring, but it's arguably as good as anything written above in this guide. I would say it's potential high dps is less, and potential low dps is more due to having less PPA proc RNG. Anyway here it is, the opener is the same in the guide, and ignore UL combos until after you vent heat and then you fall into this rotation:

RS>UL>PS

RS>TD>PS>PS

RS>UL>PS

RS>IM>PS>PS

Rinse and repeat until VH is coming off cd at which point you can ignore the UL combo and use one of the others or RS>PS>PS>PS as needed.

[aname=credits]

[/aname]

Special Thanks

Personal Bests

Here's some parses if you like to disect them. Will update them when I can.

Dummy:

1 Mil Dummy Arsenal: 3730 DPS

1 Mil Dummy Pyro: 4101 DPS

AMR Profile

[aname=commandonese]Commandonese Translation, courtesy of Benaiah. Very Special Thanks!!![/aname]

Disclaimer:

There are many ways to play the Commando Gunnery / Mercenary Arsenal spec and Bioware doesn't endorse just "one way" to play any class or spec. The suggestions I have in this guide are strictly what I, with the help of many others, have found to be the most optimal. You’re encouraged to experiment and find what works best for you and contribute your own feedback for discussion.

Last Update to Guide: 05/04/14

Last Update to Parses/Gear: 04/25/14

In addition to showing you some of the changes 2.0 has brought to the Commando Gunnery spec, the intention of this thread is to help Gunnery Commandos take their PVE game to another level. It’s easy to bash 4-5 buttons without putting much thought into it and be an alright Commando. Don’t settle for being good, be great!

First and foremost, don't be lazy. Go get your datacrons (Aim and Cunning for dps) and max out your companion's affection for a 1% boost to Acc/Crit/Surge.

[aname=tablecom]Table of Contents:[/aname]

1. [jumpto=skill treecom]Skill Tree[/jumpto]
2. [jumpto=gearcom]Gear & Stat Goals[/jumpto]
3. [jumpto=abilitiescom]Gunnery Abilities & Priority System[/jumpto]
4. [jumpto=tipscom]Gunnery Tips & Tricks[/jumpto]
5. [jumpto=pyrocom]Assault Abilities & Priority System[/jumpto]
6. [jumpto=creditscom]Credits & Achievements[/jumpto]

[aname=skill treecom]I. Skill Tree[/aname]

[jumpto=tablecom]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Gunnery 2.5 PVE Spec 6/36/4

*Decoy can be used in place of Reflexive Shield and Tenacious Defense can be used in place of Concussive Force depending on the fight

Assault 2.5 PVE Spec 0/10/36

*Field Training can be used in place of Steadied Aim if the encounter suffers little pushback from damage taken.

[aname=gearcom]II. Gear & Stat Goals[/aname]

[jumpto=tablecom]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

Gear:

Dread Master BiS Chart (Theoretical)

Dread Forged BiS Chart

Kell Dragon BiS Chart (Archive)

Underworld BiS Chart (Archive)

Set Bonus: You will deck yourself out in Eliminator Set Bonsu gear. The 2pc grants you 15% crit bonus to Charged Bolts & Grav Round, while the 4pc grants 8% damge increase on HiB

BiS Augments: Advanced Reflex Augment 28

BiS Relics: Dread Master Relic of Serendipitous Assault & Dread Master Relic of Focused Retribution

BiS Stats In Full 81 Gear: Aim > Accuracy (100/110%) > Crit (~315 rating) > Power > Surge > Alacrity

Accuracy: Goal = 408 rating = 99.67/109.67%. Get this to at least 99/109% before worrying about Surge.

Surge: Goal = 612 rating = 75.60%

Power/Crit: Using Keren's Simulator as a base, it's seen there is a rather large sweet spot for crit in full 81 gear. You can fall anywhere between 150-374 crit and not see a noticeable difference in average dps output. I’m going to shoot for around 315 crit.

 

This is a small sample size of scatter plots, but done with several thousand iterations at various crit ratings: (Crit/DPS Simulation Scatter Graph), this could be gained a number of ways through mods/enhances/ear/implants... I’m planning to use a crit crystal and 4 enhancements, but if loot RNG presents other options I will adjust [/Quote]

 

 

 

[aname=abilitiescom]III. Gunnery Abilities & Priority System[/aname]

[jumpto=tablecom]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

 

Energy Control is Key:

Mandos follow a priority system based on damage and energy cost. Our energy regeneration is greatest (5 energy/s) when we stay between 100-60 energy. Therefore, you should do your best to always stay above 60 energy (also be careful not to allow your energy to reach 100 for more than an instant) unless the situation allows you to burn. This could be the end of a fight, or a time within the fight where you know a short break of dps is coming up where your energy will have time to regenerate. You should ALWAYS burn the target (ignore Hammershots) when your Recharge Cells ability cd<~10s; this includes your opening sequence. The only exceptions are situational, usually the end of a boss fight when you'll need to be going all out. In these cases, wait on using Recharge Cells if you'll need it before the two minute cd is over.

 

 

More Details:

Staying between 100-60 energy at all times, amongst other things, maximizes your dps. Consider your overall energy pool in a 1 minute span when you're staying within this range. You're regenerating 5 energy/s, your Cell Charger regenerates 8 energy every 6s (from talent), and you have a 60 energy window on top of that:

40+5*60+8*10=420 energy pool

Every second you spend below 60 energy, assuming you're above 20, you're losing 2 energy (you regen 3 energy/s between 59-20 energy) from that pool. Although you can afford to go above this limit here and there, I wouldn't make a habit of it and if you do go over, try to limit it to 1-2s tops. Otherwise your sustained DPS will suffer.

 

 

 

Single Target Priority:

 

*Tech Override, Mortar Volley and Plasma Grenade are situational, i.e. you usually want to save Tech Override for using casted abilities on the move instead of wasting it in stand still position (but on a dummy use it to open and when your energy is going to hit 100)...or adds are prominent in the fight where Mortar Volley or Reserve Powercell + Plasma Grenade would be better used for AoE rather than single target.

 

Let's begin with a legend of abilities:

 

GR = Grav Round

DR = Demo Round

HiB = High Impact Bolt

FA = Full Auto

EN = Electro Net

RP = Reserve Powercell

PG = Plasma Grenade

HS = Hammershots

MV = Mortar Volley

RC = Recharge Cells

 

Opening Burst

 

There are a lot of quality openers you can use, I encourage you to experiment with them. This is the one I've found to work best for me, I’ve broken them down in combos that have a resemblance to Assault combos, but centered around Curtain of Fire procs rather than Ionic Accelerator procs. This opener could get broken up early in many boss fights, but in a sustained fight and/or a dummy session, I’ve listed an opener that will get you to the Recharge Cells stage:

 

1. Tech Override* + GR > Adrenal + HiB** > DR > EN > FA > GR

2. FA > MV*** > GR

3. HiB > DR > RP + PG *** > FA > GR

4. FA > GR > GR > HiB > GR

5. DR > FA > GR > GR > GR

6. FA > HiB > Recharge Cells + GR > DR > GR

 

*Tech Override is situational, most fights allow for it to be used in the opener as it only has a 45s cd and usually not needed again in that time frame. It allows you to front-load the energy from your first GR and dissipate 7.5 energy during the GCD of your first GR.

 

**With no more need for multiple GR to get the armor debuff and damage gain to DR, there's no need to open with multiple GR. Some players will wait for 4 tracer locks to fire off their first HiB. Perfectly acceptable, I choose to open with it sooner because it makes my flow easier going forward.

 

***I’ve thrown MV andPG into the opener here for dummy sessions, these are situational in boss fights. You may want to save them for AoE if they won’t come off cd soon enough to use them when AoE damage will first be needed.

 

 

 

2.7 Priority System

 

In Gunnery Spec, we center our priority system/rotation around Curtain of Fire procs. This proc has an 8s internal CD, which means as soon as it’s proc’d, there will be a 6 GCD time frame (illustrated below) to squeeze in the proper abilities.

 

GCD1 > GCD 2 > GCD 3 > GCD 4 (use FA no later than here) > GCD 5 > GR (procs Barrage)

 

The 6th GCD should always be a GR. FA & MV shouldn’t be used beyond the 4th GCD since they take up 2 GCDs. Keeping those two things in mind the priorities are similar to life before 2.7:

 

Energy < 76: HiB > RP + PG > Hammershots

76 < Energy < 83: HiB > DR > EN > RP + PG > FA > HS

Energy > 83: HiB > DR > EN > FA > Tech Override + GR (TO situational)

 

 

The only thing changed from pre-2.7 priority system during these GCDs is that stated in the previous paragraph and I don't use GR in that middle energy window (83 > Energy > 76) I always use Hammershots instead to keep my energy up.

 

 

Now granted this is really becomes a rotation when it comes to dummy parsing because there's never any other factors, but I like to think of it in these terms because few bosses are like dummies

 

Note: You can use Mortar Volley in single target situations when AoE is not needed for at least the next 60s. For maximum dps it should be used right after a Curtain of Fire proc'd FA when all other abilities are on cd and energy > 80. Also PG is situational in single target rotations for the same reason.

 

Note: We aren't the most mobile class, we put out much more damage when we can turret down our target. But if DR and HiB are on cd when you need to move and your energy is sitting fine so you don't want to spam Hammershots. Consider using Sticky Grenade > Explosive Round while on the move and your energy is up. I like to rotate between those and Hammershots in these situations. Also, you could throw in a RP+GR or TO+RP+PG so they can be used on the run.

 

 

Multiple Target Priority:

 

Commandos have beastly AoE damage and the priority system is as follows:

 

1. Mortar Volley

2. Pulse Canon

3. *RP+PG

4. Hail of Bolts

 

*You don't necessarily have to use Plasma Grenade with Reserve Powercell. It does produce higher DPS, but isn't as energy efficient, so if you're not worried about energy, use it without RP if you like. But unless you're going to get some downtime after your burn, I would wait for RP.

 

Also, while you're running up to the mob you want to annihilate or waiting for them to position themselves in a nice pile for you, throw a Sticky Grenade OR Plasma Grenade (with or without RP depending on asterick'd note above) in there for a bit extra delayed AoE damage.

 

 

 

[aname=tipscom] IV. Gunnery Tips & Tricks[/aname]

[jumpto=tablecom]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

 

 

Action Queue

 

First thing you need to do as a Commando is turn on the "Ability Action Queue Window" and set it to 1s. This is found in Preferences>Controls. You should be utilizing this by queing nearly every ability throughout your "rotation" to minimize delay between actions. This will help maximize DPS.

 

 

Don't miss out on CofF proc!

 

We can do away with methods for fishing for Barrage procs as we now know exactly when they will be coming, the important thing is to recognize how long it’s been since the previous proc whether you’re counting GCDs in your head or just start getting used to the time with an internal clock in your brain, you want to make sure you have a TM casting when the ICD of Barrage is coming off cd.

 

 

Anticipate

 

You need to be thinking ahead at least 1 or 2 abilities. See what's coming off cd soon, see where your energy is. You need to be able to anticipate what your energy is going to be by the time your "next" ability fires. For instance, when I'm casting GR, I'm looking at the energy, at the very last split second, I look to see if my energy is dropping into single digits...

(((doesn’t work for Commandos since we don’t have a percentage display – what I [benaiah] do with my Mandos is using a transparent parser window as an overlay for a graphical indication of the 76 energy boundary)))

if it is, then I know my energy will be >76 when it finishes and I know I'm free to spam whatever ability is highest on priority list next. If not, I know I may need to queue a Hammershot filler.

 

This goes for other situations as well, anticipate when you're free to "burn" the target ignoring energy costs, know when a target switch is coming up. This all comes with practice and familiarizing yourself with the operations and programming your muscle memory.

 

 

How To Analyze Your Parses

 

Ever sat there banging on a dummy for hours/days/weeks…a long time…and when you get done you look at the parse you uploaded to torparse.com and just see a bunch of abilities and numbers and not really know what to do with it? This section is for you!

 

I’ve analyzed more parses than I can remember and I’ve learned a lot from them. One thing I noticed is that it’s actually relatively easy to glance at a Commandoenary – Gunnery parse and get a pretty good idea of what can be improved on. My goal is to show everyone how they can look at their own dummy parses and see what they can do to improve their own dps without relying on others to tell them. There are three things that I immediately look at when someone asks me to look at their parse…I call them “The Big Three”.

 

The Big Four:

 

APMs: Optimal APMs for Gunnery is ~34+. What affects APMs?

 

Action: Unnecessary Delay between abilities will lower your APMs.

Solution: Increase reaction time/anticipation. Queue ALL abilities (only exception is during FA/Mortar Volley cast) using ability action queue.

Note: Lastly if you don’t use MV in your dummy rotation, your APM should be closer to 35+

 

 

CoF Procs: See FA Usage in parse breakdown, should be every 9s

 

 

How to improve FA usage: Two things: Keep track of the time between procs & make sure to use the proc’d FA within the first 4 GCDs following the proc. These two things will maximize CoF procs

 

 

HiB/DR Usage: Optimal usage for HiB/DR is every 15s, so naturally 4/min will be the goal (20 in 5 minutes). HiB/DR usage could be “slightly” lower due to prioritizing CoF proc, but keep it as close to 15s as possible without sacrificing CoF procs.

 

 

How to improve HiB/DR usage: Anticipation, anticipation, anticipation! You need to be aware when these abilities are coming off cd. 3s cd of either of these abilities is your queue to start preparing. If you just unleashed an FA or MV when </=3s is left on cd, you know you will be firing it right when it’s over. Otherwise, you know you have 2 GCDs to prep for it. Unless your heat is dangerously close to 100 energy, expect to use Hammershots in at least 1 of those 2 GCDs to keep your heat low enough to fire at will.

 

Note: The ONLY time either of these abilities can/should get delayed is if you are in the middle of an FA or MV cast when they come off cd OR when CoF is ready to be proc’d. This could potentially push them back ~1.5s and can add up over time.

 

 

 

Hammershots Usage: Optimal usage of HS is ~5-6/min (3-4/min with DG 4 piece Set Bonus).

 

Under-using HS? Your APMs are likely low from unwanted delays between abilities. These delays allow you to regain more energy, reducing HS need, but in turn are lowering your overall DPS.

 

Over-using HS? You are either A) under-energying (spending too much time under 60 energy) and needing more HS to bring it down, or B) Using HS too liberally and spending too much time at 100 energy. Both of these habits result in a dps loss.

 

Note: You could be hitting this HS usage goal, but still not optimized. You could be doing a combination of the two above that balance out usage. The only way to know for sure is your own eyes watching your energy level during your parses, if you’re spending more than an instant at 100 or less than 60 energy at any time you are not optimized.

 

 

Now, there are a few other nuances in a parse that go above and beyond “The Big Four” but if you combine this analysis with the information in the rest of the guide and you’ll be well on your way to hitting the big numbas!

 

 

[aname=pyrocom]V. Assault Abilities & Rotation [/aname]

[jumpto=tablecom]Back To Table of Contents[/jumpto]

 

As Curtain of Fire is to Gunnery, Ionic Accelerator (IA) is to Assault. IA resets the cooldown on High Impact Bolt (HiB) and makes the next use free to use. HiB is a powerful hit by itself, but because of another talent High Friction Bolts, which buffs HiB even more and causes regeneration of 8 energy cells on AND refreshes Plasma Cell burn if present, its even stronger. Since the number one rule for a Commando is to maximize output while minimizing energy use, HiB is divine in nature.

 

The Assault uses a sort of rotation/priority system hybrid. More or less, it is a rotation….but because there is some RNG factors that can slightly alter your rotation, a priority system still does exist. You can reliably proc IA every 6s if you follow a strict pattern in your rotation. Let’s begin with a legend for the abilities:

 

 

CB = Charged Bolts

AP = Assault Plastique

IR = Incendiary Round

HiB = High Impact Bolt

EN = Electro Net

FA = Full Auto

RP = Reserve Powercell

PG = Plasma Grenade

HS = Hammer Shots

IA = Ionic Accelerator

RC = Recharge Cells

(TO = Tech Overide (Merc's Power Surge)

 

So we base our rotation around procing IA every 6s, this is feasible MOST of the time, occasionally you will have a delay on this rate by 1 GCD (1.5s) making it 7.5s between procs. You should NEVER make IA wait more than 7.5s or you’re hurting your sustained dps significantly. How do we do this? Well 6s is equivalent to 4 GCDs, one of those GCDs is going to be HiB from your previously proc’d IA, the other 3 GCDs are what you need to figure out what to do with. For maximum efficiency, always use CB on the 4th GCD (3rd filler) to attempt to proc IA. So your basic rotation will have a series of combos that follow the below pattern.

 

HiB > Filler 1 (F1) > Filler 2 (F2) > CB (If no IA; then FA or CB; else end of combo)

 

Furthermore, you want to give yourself as many “auto-procs” of IA as possible. The way Assault is working currently, you can auto proc IA when F1 or F2 above is also a CB or if you use FA’s 3s channel to cover both F1 & F2. Hence, the goal is to squeeze in a CB or a FA in accordingly during every combo. This means if F1 or F2 (or both) are already prioritized to maximize IA proc potential, that only leaves one filler for us to figure out. The two abilities that come off cd most frequently to mix into those slots are AP and IR (we’ll get to EN and PG later), and for energy management occasional HSes will be necessary.

 

So before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s start with a solid opener. After a LOT of testing on this matter, I’ve found the best opener for me to be (I’m listing the opener in a similar style to how I am laying out the priority system, using combos):

 

Opening Burst

 

AP > EN > Adrenal+IR

HiB > CB (If Necessary > CB)

HiB > CB > TSO+PG > CB

Begin Rotation/Priority System

 

The easiest way for me to explain the general priority system is to lay out the possible combos you may use and order them in highest to lowest DPS illustrated below:

 

Possible Combos To Use

 

1. HiB > AP > CB > CB

2. HiB > IR > CB > CB

3. HiB > CB > CB > CB

4. HiB > AP > HS > CB *(If Necessary > FA or CB)**

5. HiB > IR > HS > CB *(If Necessary > FA or CB)**

6. HiB > FA > CB (make sure not to clip FA, timing on the CB is challenging since you can’t queue)

7. HiB > HS > CB > CB (rarely used)

 

*FA to proc IA

 

 

For me, If FA is off cd, it takes priority over CB. An alternative priority system would be to never use FA to proc IA and I think end results will be similar. My thought process behind this is if FA is off cd, it was lined up to be your next combo anyway. Using CB in this spot will probably cause your energy to be too high to follow with a combo 6 so might as well use it now, get better return on energy than CB (potentially reducing HS usage) and proc IA at the 6s mark and still give yourself a “chance” on a lucky proc to keep the 6s rhythm going. If you use FA, it will look like this:

 

4/5. HiB > F1 > HS > CB > FA > HiB

 

Then follows a subset of combos to choose from, IM is not powerful enough to include in the subset IMO.

4a/5a. HiB > AP > CB (If Necessary > CB)

4b/5b. HiB > CB > (If Necessary > CB)

 

It’s important to note that by using FA to proc IA, you’re backing up the proc by about .2s. This means you need to delay about .2s after FA finishes it’s cast to use HiB above. This will give you the chance of CB procing IA again right away in combo 4b/5b.

 

I recommend you try FA procing and see what works best for you.

 

 

 

**In combos 4,5 - F1&F2 can be swapped depending on energy, more to come on this but just keep in mind that if IR gets bumped to F2, try to maintain IR in F2 going forward as to not clip it. The next combo that gets backed up a GCD will bring it back in line with F1.

 

Now we need to squeeze in EN and RP+PG in somewhere. I’ve been inserting both of these abilities into F1 and/or F2 only in place of CB,HS,FA as they come off cd, keeping everything else intact. So for example, if I’m about to use a combo 6, I would use (EN or PG) > CB > CB instead. Or a combo 1 or 4 would become AP > (EN or PG) > CB …. I prioritize EN over PG unless I need energy regen. I only use PG with Reserve Powercell and I make sure using it won’t follow with me sitting at 100 energy for more than an instant. Albeit all these conditions, they pretty much just end up being used very close to on cd of EN/RP.

 

So the only thing left to do is assign scenarios/energy windows that each of the above combos can be used. It’s fairly simple, When Recharge Cells is off cd you’ll only use combos 1-3 and that includes EN/PG replacement combos. I start ignoring HS combos around 15-18s cd on RC and start ignoring FA around 9-12s cd on RC. It’s kinda just a feel from practice, but the goal is to use RC as close to cd as possible…by pushing your ammo at just the right moment…but not have insufficient energy in the process. Some players may prefer to save RC for mess-ups, but you will maximize dps by utilizing RC as an offensive cd.

 

Below is the priority system with conditions, I’ve kept the structure to reflect highest combos 1st so some of these windows overlap each other. Please note that the energy conditions are referring to where your energy is after the proc’d HiB.

 

 

Rotation/Priority System of Combos

 

RC <~10s or Energy > 85

1. HiB > AP > CB > CB

2. HiB > IR > CB > CB

3. HiB > CB > CB > CB

 

RC > ~15s and Energy > 69 … If Energy < 76 then swap F1&F2

4. HiB > AP > HS > CB (If Necessary > *FA or CB)

*If Energy > 68

4b. HiB > CB > (If Necessary > CB)

5. HiB > IM > HS > CB (If Necessary > *FA or CB)

If Energy >76 and SG is off cd

5a. HiB > AP > CB (If Necessary > CB)

If Energy > 68

5b. HiB > CB > (If Necessary > CB)

 

RC > ~9s and Energy > 72

6. HiB > FA > CB

 

Else

7. HiB > HS > CB > CB

 

Because of the conditions laid out above, your opener is going to be a rotation for quite some time using only the first 3 combos. After you RC you’ll almost immediately start using combo 6 and a short while later you’ll start to look to the remaining combos 4,5,7 and the subsets based on your energy and RC cd. The first use of RC will be roughly around the 3rd use of AP or IR depending on your initial IA proc…It’s difficult to tell you exactly when to use it following the first use, but somewhere around 50-60 energy is the trigger. Practice will show you how to not use it too early or too late. You want the use of it to bring you close to 100 energy without hitting 100 for more than an instant.

 

 

Cruise Control Mode

 

Ok so since this rotation is excellent and requires very little thought to use, I'm adding it in to the guide. Advantages are it's extremely consistent due to the rinse & repeat aspect...and it relies on zero IA proc RNG. It is a popular dummy rotation and it can be translated to many boss fights. I'm not a big fan of it...because well...it's a little boring, but it's arguably as good as anything written above in this guide. I would say it's potential high dps is less, and potential low dps is more due to having less IA proc RNG. Anyway here it is, the opener is the same in the guide, and ignore FA combos until after you vent heat and then you fall into this rotation:

 

HiB>FA>CB

HiB>AP>CB>CB

HiB>FA>CB

HiB >IR>CB>CB

 

Rinse and repeat until RC is coming off cd at which point you can ignore the FA combo and use one of the others or HiB>CB>CB>CB as needed.

 

 

[aname=creditscom]

***Credits + Achievements***

[/aname]

 

Special Thanks

 

Keren's Commandoenary DPS Simulator: Many thanks for all Keren's hard work, unfortunately, this tool is no longer up to date, but still worth giving credit as it's played a big role in previous versions of the guide and I still use it from time to time in evaluating crit/power weights.

 

Aerro's Gunnery DPS Guide: This was one of the OG guides for Arsenal spec, it's no longer kept up to date, but thanks Aerro for your hard work in the past.

 

Commando - Assault Spec Hybrid 2.0 PVE Guide: Thank you to LordKantner for jumpstarting the Pyro/Assault bandwagon and creating his guide. I had been dabbling in Pyro since 2.0 PTS, but it wasn’t until reading this and utilizing the use combos to proc PPA as often as possible, that I was able to build a foundation that bumped the spec up another level for me.

 

Burning your way through your enemies - Pyrotech PvE Guide:: Combining thanks to MVaglin and Kinslayer (AKA Marisi). MVaglin continued further Pyro discussion with his guide. I recommend this read as well, it lays out nice descriptions of all the abilities, outlines a very similar priority system, minus a couple of tweaks. Marisi and I have been constantly sharing information back and forth to really hash out some of the subtle details of the optimal rotation/priority system and I will eventually lay out an extremely simplified rotation Marisi came up with that will pump out top knotch dps without complicating things much. It can currently be found in the discussion on MVaglin’s thread.

 

Also, Benaiah and leto_cleon for your Commando translations and everyone who's participated on this thread or the ones I've linked above, many many thanks. Keep the discussion going!

 

Personal Bests

 

Here's some parses if you like to disect them. Will update them weekly as I gear.

 

Dummy:

1 Mil Dummy Arsenal: 3730 DPS

1 Mil Dummy Pyro: 4101 DPS

AMR Profile

 

 

At 99.70% accuracy you're going to start missing stuff. Champions now have a built-in 10% defense.

EDIT: Also, you left FM out of the AOE priority list. If its damage is good enough to throw in for single-target fights, it's amazing for AOE. Definitely better than Sweeping Blasters.

At 99.70% accuracy you're going to start missing stuff. Champions now have a built-in 10% defense.

 

EDIT: Also, you left FM out of the AOE priority list. If its damage is good enough to throw in for single-target fights, it's amazing for AOE. Definitely better than Sweeping Blasters.

Thx I will edit in FM for AoE, forgot about that! I don't always use it (unless I have TSO) cuz it's not as heat efficient as Sweeping Blasters, but it's worth adding for sure. As far as acc goes, 99.7% ranged and 109.7% tech won't miss (I will edit in the tech %), you can see this from the parse posted in OP. Only the offhand hits miss sometimes and those are very minor.

Hello Oda,

Sorry but could you explain how you get 2.100 power, i'm just curious because before 2.0 i was at +- 1.000 ?

Thanks in advance

this is great stuff. I am a new player at level 29 and do not have things like heat seeker missiles and power surge. I am using this rotation now. is anything wrong with this?

explosive dart

tracer missile

unload

tracer missile X2

rail shot

fusion missile

Hello Oda,

 

 

Sorry but could you explain how you get 2.100 power, i'm just curious because before 2.0 i was at +- 1.000 ?

 

Thanks in advance

Sorry I must be dyslexic lol...fixed OP: ~1200 Power, not 2100

Why would you use the Underworld Kinetic Tempest relic instead of the Seredipitious Assault relic, seems like the power proc would be better for dps.

SA relic doesn't theoretically or practically out-dps KT or BA relics from my findings

Wouldn't you replace Boundless Ages before Kinetic Tempest? Pre-2.0 Kinetic Tempest gave the highest dps output by a fair margin.

I didn't actually have them in any particular order. I'll switch them around to avoid confusion, the KT is the top DPS relic for us, you're correct.

this is great stuff. I am a new player at level 29 and do not have things like heat seeker missiles and power surge. I am using this rotation now. is anything wrong with this?

 

explosive dart

tracer missile

unload

tracer missile X2

rail shot

fusion missile

I don't see any problem with that at least for an opening sequence...I leveled my BH back at launch and I was clueless so I don't remember what I did, but that looks fine...

I might remove Power Surge from my opener anyway...TM/FM have 1.5s casts and the GCD is about that anyway...really not saving time, but I just get anxious waiting for cast lol...better to save it for on the move to get instant casts off or in a health pinch with Rapid Scan

Update: Changed build to 6/36/4 from 5/35/5. It's what I used on PTS and since heat regen is fixed with alacrity, this is best.

Why is this the best to be specific? With our extra emphasis on NOT taking crit, why would we grab a talent that revolves around a stat we won't have a lot of? Its great for Tracer Missile, but if that talent doesn't have an uptime of 98% or more, its a DPS loss.

I've been LoA the past week from the game and wasn't there during your HM SnV clear... but, the ~2700 parse looks like it was achieved using the BiS Underworld MH. My question is is this a general standard as far as Merc DPS capabilities go or is it a "lucky parse"? Using Arkanian~ish gear on the PTS and the lower grade 2.0 MH, it took a couple of tries before i was able to pull before 2700 as a Hybrid Sniper.

I'm leaning towards this being one of those lucky parses... :-\ because that is JUST 100 DPS behind Anni Marauders which are pulling 2800 DPS in the PTS with 2.0 BiS MH..

2800 Anni Marauder - http://www.torparse.com/a/171179/time/1364189675/1364189970/0/Overview

I've been LoA the past week from the game and wasn't there during your HM SnV clear... but, the ~2700 parse looks like it was achieved using the BiS Underworld MH. My question is is this a general standard as far as Merc DPS capabilities go or is it a "lucky parse"? Using Arkanian~ish gear on the PTS and the lower grade 2.0 MH, it took a couple of tries before i was able to pull before 2700 as a Hybrid Sniper.

 

I'm leaning towards this being one of those lucky parses... :-\ because that is JUST 100 DPS behind Anni Marauders which are pulling 2800 DPS in the PTS with 2.0 BiS MH..

 

2800 Anni Marauder - http://www.torparse.com/a/171179/time/1364189675/1364189970/0/Overview

Always trying to stir the pot my brotha I should clarify though that this is the max parse I got on the PTS, I did surpass 2700 several times in a 5 minute window (this is the time required by the DPS thread Gyronamics was maintaining), but 2727 was my absolute highest. Our goal on that thread was to push the limits of every class as much as possible. If I had to put an average to it, I would say around 2600-2625 is a good guestimate, but I'm trying to show what the Arsenal is capable of at that gear level. Just as u did with your sniper, and as our boy Gorband did with the Annhi Mara

Also to clarify what a 72 MH does, at least with the gear I had surrounding it, it added about 25 dps compared to the 69 MH

Overall point is though, we'll compete with snipers and mara's in 2.0 just fine.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=615432

Also, I used to run the 'Double Dipping' build back in 1.7, but with changes to crit being terrible I thought that it would not be viable anymore. However, after further reading that the heat dissipation/Alacrity was fixed, I'm happy to hear that I can continue once again with this build!

Yeah I've been friggin' going back and forth on the alacrity build...I intend to settle it once and for all by thoroughly analyzing some extended parses I did back on PTS. I'm doing it as we speak, I'll be able to figure out the total uptime of critical reaction and from there see what gives overall highest alacrity. TBC.....

Yeah I've been friggin' going back and forth on the alacrity build...I intend to settle it once and for all by thoroughly analyzing some extended parses I did back on PTS. I'm doing it as we speak, I'll be able to figure out the total uptime of critical reaction and from there see what gives overall highest alacrity. TBC.....

Let me know how that goes. Before, it was like 98% uptime and higher for a DPS increase, but... if it gives us a noticeable heat dissipation, then the DPS increase won't show correctly, but we'll know its for the best.

Hey guys,

 

There's other good guides out there, but I've created my own as well. Mercs are looking good in 2.0 and I spent quite a bit of time on the PTS with mine. This guide is assuming you know the basics at the very least but want to bring it to another level. So far I've finished the DPS portion, which lets face it, is what peeps really want to know .

 

It's on my guilds website, I don't believe you'll be able to post on the guide's thread itself, but feel free to post your questions & feedback right here. I'll be completing the suplemental sections in time, but this should be a good launching point.

 

Link: Mercenary - Arsenal 2.0 PVE Guide

 

Here's a dummy parse from the PTS if you'd like to disect it, I'll post more as I gear up now that it's live. 2727 DPS

 

Gear included full Arkanian and included an Underworld MH. I used the highest tier reflex augments, reusable stim and adrenal:

(To the best of my remembrance)

6/36/4

Aim~ 3100

Acc~ 432 (99.7% / 109.7% Tech)

Power~ 1200

Crit~ 197 (26% / 26.5% Tech) *Possibly not the way to go, but I was experimenting

Surge~ 295 (67.9%)

 

I'm certain there will be several changes as we learn more, your input is welcome!

Nice post from a fellow merc.

One thing i've been playing around with a lot more since 2.0 hit is our crit rating. We've been given some insane burst buffs and i'm noticing a lot higher critical hits that are making it worth it. Right when the class changes went live, first thing i did was go to the ops dummy to see some of the class changes without gear change. With the same gear i noticed HSM went from critting (rarely) at 6.8k to constant 7.5k-8k HSM>Tracer crits. I find the biggest overall buff we got is the insta heat stack off of one tracer

I'll post more as i find out to help with imput

Nice post from a fellow merc.

 

One thing i've been playing around with a lot more since 2.0 hit is our crit rating. We've been given some insane burst buffs and i'm noticing a lot higher critical hits that are making it worth it. Right when the class changes went live, first thing i did was go to the ops dummy to see some of the class changes without gear change. With the same gear i noticed HSM went from critting (rarely) at 6.8k to constant 7.5k-8k HSM>Tracer crits. I find the biggest overall buff we got is the insta heat stack off of one tracer

 

I'll post more as i find out to help with imput

Thank you buddy,

Yeah this is another thing I'm not sold on (the all power, 0 crit). There's a lot of factors and math that aren't easily seen on the surface....I can't prove it yet, but hoping someone comes out with a simulator...every time i tried to go all power on the PTS my dps dropped...now...was that just peak dps? or was it sustained dps that went down? IDK, way too difficult with RNG for mercs to just run a 30 minute parse and get the sustained dps. You need thousands of parses to find a legit average.

@Keren! If you're reading, can't wait for your 2.0 simulator, the pre-2.0 one was fantastic.

P.S. I'm loving the new TM QoL buff as well

Let me know how that goes. Before, it was like 98% uptime and higher for a DPS increase, but... if it gives us a noticeable heat dissipation, then the DPS increase won't show correctly, but we'll know its for the best.

Ok Herewego. I took this data from this parse log:

http://www.torparse.com/l/154474

put it into a spreadsheet, figured out the total uptime/downtime of Critical Reaction:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag6q-YECIHkFdFJLZHJucldRODJ0ZHB1SHlsZ2VuZHc#gid=0

Head down to the bottom of the spreadsheet, there's the following data:

05:45.7 Total Downtime

14:49.5 Total Uptime

20:35.2 Total Time of Parse

Which leaves an "average" alacrity boost of 3.16% when you combine critical reaction and the 1% static alacrity from System Calibrations. Now granted, this is with 197 crit, which gives an extra 3%ish crit, let's say that doesn't affect the average alacrity to a great deal, it's still above 2% static from doing 2pts in system cal. It's also better than if you put 2pts in Crit Reaction and had 100% uptime (which isn't the case of course).

Edit: Also note that before it was 2/4% for System cal and 5% for crit reaction whereas now it's 1/2% and 3% respectively...I think they made this change specifically because crit had been lowered. the 3:1/2 ratio is much better now than the previous 5:2/4...increasing the effectiveness of crit reaction given the same crit %.

So, logic tells me that even if it's spuratic with a roughly 70-75% uptime for critical reaction, the average alacrity should be what's most important? Especially since alacrity doesn't even hurt our heat anymore like it previously did. If I'm mistaken on that, someone can plz shed some light given this data. I know there's old pre-2.0 data regarding this on one of the MMO forums, but there's too many pages for me to look for it right this moment.

Hi odawgg!!!

I really enjoyed of your guide and i would ask to you if it's a problem if i make a translate for my guild members.

Obviously with direct link and credits to you.

Regards

Hi odawgg!!!

 

I really enjoyed of your guide and i would ask to you if it's a problem if i make a translate for my guild members.

Obviously with direct link and credits to you.

 

Regards

Go for it! Glad you found it helpful

This isn’t groundbreaking news or anything, I’m certain others have already discovered this, in fact I think I stumbled upon a youtube video once that demonstrated it, but it didn’t originally sink in for me. I did some further research on the effect of using Power Surge in a normal rotation/priority system. It's something I've suspected to be of minimal gain but I wanted to verify. I've taken snippets from a log both with using power surge for TM and/or FM and without.

I wanted to share this because I know a lot of mercs try to incorporate this ability into their rotation, at the very least into their opener (myself included here).

39:16.155 Captaincoke gains Power Surge.

39:18.199 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile.

39:19.651 Captaincoke activates Electro Net. Time (s) between activations = 1.452

39:21.146 Captaincoke activates Fusion Missile.

39:21.146 Captaincoke loses Power Surge.

39:22.543 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile. Time (s) between activations = 1.397

39:23.976 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile.

39:25.482 Captaincoke activates Rail Shot.Time (s) between activations = 1.506

40:09.841 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile.

40:11.348 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile. Time (s) between activations = 1.507

41:39.273 Captaincoke activates Power Surge.

41:39.494 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile.

41:40.886 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile. Time (s) between activations = 1.392

41:40.887 Captaincoke loses Power Surge.

41:42.278 Captaincoke activates Tracer Missile. Time (s) between activations = 1.392

41:43.696 Captaincoke gains Barrage.

41:43.700 Captaincoke activates Unload. Time (s) between activations = 1.422

Times between activations using Power Surge are in Yellow and times while not using Power Surge are in Cyan. As you can see, there is very little difference in time between activations whether your using it or not when it’s an ability that is has a standard cast time of 1.5s, making it really unnecessary. This is because the std GCD is right about 1.5s anyway.

HOWEVER, there is one gain you can receive from this, and it is when you heat is either at or very near zero. This includes your very first ability casted in your opener (Tracer Missile). Why? Because it makes your ability hit instantly instead of at the end of the cast and begins your heat dissipation during the GCD. For example take this opener:

1. TM

2. TM (could be any other abilityl, this is just an example)

By the time the cast or GCD is finished on the second ability, you’ve generated 32 heat and dissipated 7.5 heat (since the TM doesn’t generate heat until the end of the cast and there’s only 1.5s has gone by at the end of the 2nd ability) = 24.5 heat

Now take this opener:

1. Power Surge + TM

2. TM (if power surge is talented for 2x, this will also be surged, but makes no difference due to the previous claims)

Now you will still have generated 32 heat, but have given 3s of heat dissipation (15 heat), so you’re at 17 heat at the end of these two casts instead of 24.5.

This is very small gain, but thought I’d throw it out there for ya guys. It may not even be worth using in the opener, you may want to save it for instant casts when you’re on the move or need to avoid a potential pushback on the cast or a knockback interrupting the cast altogether (or my personal favorite, using it as a def cd type ability pairing it with Rapid Scan for 2 quick self heals). My overall point though is it’s only going to give you a significant gain in a stand still rotation when your heat is at or very near zero.

Happy Hunting!

Still trying to figure out base stats on 55 now.

So lets say i want

100/110 accuracy = 448 rating ?

75% surge = 450?

Havent seen any one make a guide on what pref base stat shold be now? You run with low mutipler? why?