Recently just got off of a very long PvP binge, and the failure of Arenas has left a bad taste in my mouth, so i decided i'm going to raid with some old friends from another server. Already have my tank leveled (Shadows forever) but want to level a DPS to fill in when people can't make raid time. Everyone tells me gunslingers are the way to go, because they have the highest parsing DPS in the game (17 out of the top 20 dummy parses on torparse.com are gunslingers), but I was looking into Commando and Sage (and I guess even Scoundrels are viable in PvE?) parses and they pull pretty damn close to what gunslingers can do. Am I gimping myself if I level something other than a gunslinger, or am I safe to play whatever, as long as I know what I'm doing? People with experience in the above classes feel free to shoot me your advice Edited December 28, 2013 by NvrShoutNvr

There is no one answer to this question, and I am sure others will disagree with me, so don't take my answer to seriously.

You are right in that Slingers are currently very strong, but honestly, if the player can play his class, I don't really care which class it is because the DPS are not that much different from class to class. None of the slingers I play with are able to get 4k on the dummy, and in each fight a different player will have top DPS, since following boss mechanics is always more important than DPS.

 

When I look for new DPS for my raid group, I don't look at a class too much based on how they perform in the DPS leaderboards, but on what utility they bring to my raid group.

- Slingers are good not because of their DPS, but mostly because of their orbitals. For certain fights with many adds, like Fortress bosses 2 + 4, it is much easier if you have two orbitals from the slingers and two orbitals from the scoundrel healers. That way, you can totally ignore certain add groups which are much more dangerous for other comps.

- Commando and Sage dps on the other hand, are good in that they can aid in healing in some cases. Of course, for a DPS, healing will take a huge hit on his DPS and energy management, so I rarely ask them to do it. For Nefra, they are irrereplacable in cleansing the DOTs; the enrage timer is not that tight on the boss, but the tanks require very much healing. Sages are good in that they can pull a player out of voids or other places. I mostly prefer a Commando over a Sage due to the heavy armor but that doesn't mean Sages are bad DPS.

- Any time a Guardian or Vanguard DPS is in my group, I expect them to be able to use their taunts. If a tank dies, this DPS needs to immediately taunt the boss and take a few hits for the 3-5 seconds it takes until the tank is back up.

- Shadow DPS are currently my least favorite class, but that's probably bias from the time before 2.5. Still, I feel they don't bring as much utility as the other classes and they have light armor, so I rarely take them.

- Sentinels are of course very helpful because of their Inspiration, but that also means a second Sentinel does not add much utility to the group since with 2.5 Inspiration has the global cooldown. And of course, Transcendence is also helpful.

- Scoundrel DPS can be very good. Since you are looking specifically for a ranged DPS, I am surprised that you even mentioned them, but they can definitely keep up with the other classes DPS wise. Most people don't think of Scoundrel DPS since most Scoundrels are healers, not DPS. In fact, I only know about 2-3 Scoundrels on my server who play as DPS, so I usually don't consider them for a DPS spot. Utility-wise, they also have an orbital, they have their roll which is a BiS gap closer for certain fights, they can help with healing/cleansing debuffs and they can go in stealth. If a good scoundrel DPS were looking for a group, I would probably take him.

 

So to sum it up, Slingers are always a good class to pick, but it often depends on which DPS are currently in the raid group, and which ones would be most helpful.

Play the class you like playing, be good at it and I'm sure you won't have problems finding a group.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Jerba

Snipers are currently the best pve dps class in the game and provide arguably the best utility and raid survivability. That's just the way it is, and it's not merely because of orbital strike. Edited December 30, 2013 by FridgeLM

I already told you, I only take slingers, scoundrels and sentinels on my raid teams.

I already told you, I only take slingers, scoundrels and sentinels on my raid teams.

 

You will take my mediocre Commando DPS and you will like it.

I run 8man team and i play gunslinger. Not because its top dps ATM but this is a calls i played from beginning and will stay on it even if it gets nerfed.

 

If one of my team mates will want to change to another class and roll a range, I will be happy with any choice they make under one condition:

 

- they know this calls very well and know how to play it well.

 

Sages, Troopers, Smugglers - if you think about DPS only, it doesn't matter.

 

If you think of raid utility i love my Gunslinger Shield. reduced damage for whole group for long period of time. This is best group defensive cooldown any ranged DPS have. There are times when you need to help your grpup by limiting the damage they take and this one saves the day. Gunslinger is also very mobile. Hightail it - is one of my favorite skills. I have to admit when they announced it - i was like "who cares" **** skill for PvP. Now this is bread and butter for me to go out of boss AoEs, get to dedicated spot quicker. Only matched by Sage's Force Speed. If we would have a heal just like Commando or Sage does i don't think you would need others.

 

However Sage and Commando do bring few things that make them good choice. Dispells - if you don't have Sage or Commando in your raid group then rolling one will help your team as two extra dispells in 5 seconds come in very handy for certain fights. Off heals. sometimes commando heal will be make or break for a boss kill. If you have few people very low and there is an AoE incoming that would kill 3-4 people, Commando's kolto bomb can save them. Not sure what Sage can do for heals but at least he can heal some and dispell as well.

 

If you are good at what you doing, roll what you like playing best or check group setup and if they have gunslinger or two already but don't have commando or sage then you can choose them.

 

Enjoy playing first, then worry about results

I would go with commando. I like their play style more and also it will be easier to get queue pops for flash points by switching to heal spec (providing you know how to heal).

 

As for pure dps numbers, it always depends on the player. A gunslinger should get higher numbers all else being equal, but either is fully capable of doing any ops. As long as you are not a dps shadow or a dps operative you should be fine in raids.

Actually DPS Operatives can do very well in raids if played correctly. Its just they are melee and they are squishy as hell. If I were going to play a melee dps class I would go sentinel or vanguard with operative being a close third.

Duran'del here:

 

Commandos are excellent support classes. They've got excellent off-healing capability, and also one of the best KBs in the game. Hold The Line is also an awesome ability.

Vanguards are possibly the best class to have for the 10m range. Tactics gets a +3% damage buff to bleeding targets, and this goes for everyone. They can also hybridize to get Riot Gas, which is by far the best Defensive CD you can spec into IMHO. Now, if VG tanks could spec it so HtL is raid-wide...

Haven't really played any other DPS class(Going to level a Lightning Spec and Immortal Juggernaut, and a Shield tech Powertech), but Lethality Operative is good because of Kolto Injection giving Tac Advantage if they spec it, plus Kolto Infusion being an insta-cast and free if you roll. The DoTs are very useful for bleeds, too.

Duran'del here:

You seem to start your answers with that always. Who is Duran'del?