I am a new player and still haven't much experience in FPs, however I have been doing Hammer Station a lot of times that always went smooth, but yesterday I met some guy who suddenly started accusing me on doing something wrong, which he didn't explain because he just wanted to insult me, but I suppose was me waiting for someone to pull the mobs right on the map start instead of pulling myself and corner. He was shadow and normally I see shadows to pull/tank mobs on this instead of sages, that normally have lower HP and are lowered faster.

We were same 75 levels, everything went smooth and I still didn't get what happened from his point of view.

My question is should I, as a sage dps, pull first in those situations or wait for someone else to do it (which i usually do)?

Edited September 19, 2020 by padawanjka

Well, as you are ranged, it's easier for you to pull in this case. Shadow has only one 30m range ability. Still, that one abilityis enough to start a corner pull, so he definitely shouldn't have insulted you. Hell, he could simply taunt one of the mobs, whatever discipline he is playing.

 

As for shadows being sturdier than sages. Well, that's not really true. In terms of survival power, I would say it's Telekinetics Sage > Infiltration Shadow >= Balance Sage > Serenity Shadow. Telekinetics has tons of Damage Reduction buffs and plenty of self heals, Infiltration has similar Damage reduction levels (but lower than telekinetics) and some good DCDs but almost no self heals, Balance has very good self heals but almost no mitigation, Serenity has weaker self heals than Balance and roughly the same DCD power.

 

Overall, Telekinetics Sage is pretty much a half of a tank. Balance Sage can be very sturdy when it can just outheal small frequent hits but collapses under big burst. Infiltration is good against burst damage, Serenity is alright against frequent small hits but their self heals are just much much worse than sage. So, in a veteran flashpoint and when having no healer, the kind of pull you have at the start of Hammer Station is better done as a Sage.

 

P.S. Another thing to note, all classes have identical HP in lvl70 content, it all comes down to their gear. Identically geared shadow and sage will have the same amount of HP. In lvl75 content DPS Shadows have 2% more endurance due to a passive but it doesn't mean much.

 

Also, if you are playing Telekinetics, here are some tips how to stack up Damage Reduction if you are holding aggro or pulling. Put Force Armor on yourself whenever it is available. On top of being a good Absorb shield, it also gives you a 10% Damage Reduction boost, as long as you have a debuff from it on yourself. Then, make sure you use 3x Telekinetic Bursts as soon as possible (of course, still prioritize your correct opener, but if you are tanking mobs, it's worth re-arranging your rotation a bit to get these DR stacks earlier), they give you 3x5% = 15% more Damage Reduction. That's +25% Damage Reduction, more than 2x more than your base Damage Reduction from Armor. Add a 3% damage reduction utility to it and you have around 45% Damage Reduction permanently (as long as you refresh Force Armor on cooldown and don't drop stacks from Telekinetic Burst). That's pretty much on par with tanks.

 

I also suggest to read your passives to know more.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Equeliber

Unfortunately, the appropriate response to that person would contribute to toxicity, so ignoring it is probably best. 🙂

Equeliber has an informative post above, but my focus is more directly on the OP's main concern as I see it.

 

My own view on that: There's no reason for anyone to "expect" a DPS to tank an FP, especially one without a Taunt ability. There is absolutely no justification for such a person to then go on and insult or berate the DPS. My own response in such a situation would be to not respond with a view to just completing the FP; if that becomes impossible, I'd either start a Vote Kick or leave. Of course, based on the severity of the misbehavior, I might put that player on Ignore so they don't show up in any future group.

 

The game, like most online activities, attracts a lot of immature people who hide behind anonymity to behave badly and it is just not healthy to take any of this personally.

Of course, based on the severity of the misbehavior, I might put that player on Ignore so they don't show up in any future group.

I think there should be no hesitation about putting the person on ignore. It won't get better if you run across that person again, and doubly so if the person remembers you as "that stupid scrub who didn't know that DPS are supposed to pull ahead of off-tanks"... (Yeah, I know, he's wrong, but...)

I think there should be no hesitation about putting the person on ignore. It won't get better if you run across that person again, and doubly so if the person remembers you as "that stupid scrub who didn't know that DPS are supposed to pull ahead of off-tanks"... (Yeah, I know, he's wrong, but...)

On the other hand, that other person may have just been in a bad mood. 🙂

Edited October 8, 2020 by JediQuaker

On the other hand, that other person may have just been in a bad move. 🙂

Is that supposed to excuse the offender's behaviour? If you go into group PvE content, take it out on the trashmobs and the bosses. If it's PvP content, take it out on the other side. Sheesh.

There are excuses, and then there are reasons.

 

If you start putting everyone who's just in a bad mood on your ignore list, you might end up with no one to play with. 😂

Edited October 8, 2020 by JediQuaker

Unless you are a tank, there is really no obligation for one class to pull over another one. I'm pretty sure every class has something that allows them to attack from 30m away, so every class is capable of pulling. If somebody is getting angry about another player not pulling, then they should take the initiative and do it themselves.

Unless you are a tank, there is really no obligation for one class to pull over another one. I'm pretty sure every class has something that allows them to attack from 30m away, so every class is capable of pulling.

 

Sage/Sorc and Commando/Merc are the only classes that have the 60s in-combat cc.

 

For Hammer specifially: Most times it doesn't matter who pulls for that first fight, but for weaker groups it helps to start the fight by using that long CC on one of the elite droids. It makes the fight easier and less likely to kill half the group.

 

For other vet fp with no high level tanks: Most fights should be started by the dps player with the highest level and/or best gear, mainly because they have the best defenses and the highest health.