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Mercenary Manifesto


cashogy

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Just my opinion here, but if one of our missile abilities were to undergo a few effective changes, perhaps our survivability, or our inability to deal with melee classes, would be in a better situation.

 

We could be given something similar to Missile Blast where a long-range knockback could be applied to, with of course a reasonable cooldown or long enough cast time to prevent knockback-chaining.

 

There is of course the possibility of just increasing the threshold and duration of Energy Shield. Nothing near static barrier, but enough to increase our utility in PvP.

Edited by Bryyn
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- change Jet Escape, a tier 4 ability, to the following: Reduces the cooldown of Jet Boost by [2.5 seconds / 5 seconds] and Determination by [15 seconds / 30 seconds] AND you have a [50 / 100]% to increase your movement speed by 30% for 4s

 

I don't have read the full thread, but I assume that the bonus on speed occurs on use of previously said abilities... Because it's not perfectly clear.

 

But I have to say it's rare to see a buff request which doesn't go obviously overboard by asking damage bonuses here and there. I'm not a position to say that the proposed changed are fine, but at least, I say they seem fine.

 

I'm just a bit worried about Muzzle fluting because I'm used to have the cast time to help managing ammo (Commando) and not burn my ammo too fast and then gimping myself because of low ammo regeneration. The proposed talent make also arguable the usefullness of Stabilizers, because it would work only on Unload (I hardly see any pushbacks on channeled abilities even without talent reducing them) and Concussion Missile.

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Insta tracer/grav would be kind of cheat tbh and would really break the balance. I'm commando since beta and returned to the AC after vanguard/sniper valor 70+. I wish i had this insta cheat but having 2 pieces of pve set bonus we'd become ultra insta terminators dealing 9k every 3 casts. Unacceptable.

 

ES/RS with immunity to knockbacks and other CC sounds more realistic to me. We'd have time to burst our melee target being unCCable just like sniper/GS with their 20sec immunity to EVERYTHING. ES/RS can become a mirror of the snipers skill. 1 min CD, 20 sec immune in their case. In Commando/merc case it could save RS/ES timers, coz we are still able to heal.

 

Yes, we definitely need roots/stock strike pushback+roots/pure kite abilities. Not that Fullauto/Unload shi* with 2sec kite but REAL insta kite skill which wouldn't need to be supported by constant shooting or chanelling like it happens in pyro/assault tree with autoshot. Let it be Explosive round - an ABSOLUTELY USELESS(!) skill today. It's instant and deals crap damage but could slow targets for 30-40-50% i don't know.

 

The only fear i have is that devs will delay any works on merc/mando till 1.7 which could take place only in march/april 2013. I'm inclined to believe it coz BW devs are not designers but decorators now. They prefer giving us great looking gear and doesn't matter that you're smashed in 3 seconds after a marauder/sent attacked you. Who cares except trooper/BHs themselves.

 

and how is the damage different now from when youre able to freecast? every 3 casts you can do 9k damage. making them instant does not change the amount of damage they do all of the sudden.

 

you cannot just change Energy Shield as you suggest. it is already a key function of the combat medic tree, and doing what you suggest would made it massively OP for that tree.

 

regarding what you call "insta-kite", i suggested that for arsenal spec, Jet Boost give a 4s, 30% speed boost after the knockback. i think that would fulfill what youre looking for there.

 

Explosive Round is a good candidate for an on-demand snare. Ive actually posted in the posted in the past for it to fulfill that function, but it looks like I forgot to include it here. Thanks for reminding me, I will add it to the original post.

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I don't have read the full thread, but I assume that the bonus on speed occurs on use of previously said abilities... Because it's not perfectly clear.

 

But I have to say it's rare to see a buff request which doesn't go obviously overboard by asking damage bonuses here and there. I'm not a position to say that the proposed changed are fine, but at least, I say they seem fine.

 

I'm just a bit worried about Muzzle fluting because I'm used to have the cast time to help managing ammo (Commando) and not burn my ammo too fast and then gimping myself because of low ammo regeneration. The proposed talent make also arguable the usefullness of Stabilizers, because it would work only on Unload (I hardly see any pushbacks on channeled abilities even without talent reducing them) and Concussion Missile.

 

yeah, the speed boost would come after you used the knockback skill, sorry if it sounds a little vague.

 

the GCD and cast time are the same (1.5s) so you actually would not notice any averse ammo problems.

 

i think that stabilizers would still be worthwhile, as pushback on Unload can cause you to lose a tick of damage if you suffer enough of it, and concussion missile has such a long cast time that without the pushback resistance, it is almost un-usable against someone attacking you. Maybe, to continue having it be appealing to take, make it extend to ALL casted abilities while using the High Velocity Gas Cylinder?

Edited by cashogy
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the GCD and cast time are the same (1.5s) so you actually would not notice any averse ammo problems.

 

Hm it changes things a little, because even if the time used doesn't change, the instant when ammo is consummed is not the same. With instantaneous abilities, ammo is consummed at t=0s, while with cast time it is consummed at t=1.5s. I use it as a short regeneration time frame for exemple after a Plasma Grenade because its cost is very high. I guess using Hammer shots inbetween will do the same while adding damage during the time frame...

Edited by Altheran
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Hm it changes things a little, because even if the time used doesn't change, the instant when ammo is consummed is not the same. With instantaneous abilities, ammo is consummed at t=0s, while with cast time it is consummed at t=1.5s. I use it as a short regeneration time frame for exemple after a Plasma Grenade because its cost is very high. I guess using Hammer shots inbetween will do the same while adding damage during the time frame...

 

the time passed between ammo consumption is still 1.5s though. so the only difference is on the first use of the skill. during the GCD you will be regen'ing ammo the same as if you were casting another grav round.

 

so it would go like this:

 

GR (consume 2 ammo) -> 1.5s GCD (regen ammo during this time) -> GR (consume 2 ammo) -> etc

 

currently, it goes like this:

 

start GR cast -> 1.5s -> GR (consume 2 ammo) -> start GR cast -> 1.5s (regen ammo during this time) -> GR (consume 2 ammo)

 

the time between grav rounds would remain the same

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and how is the damage different now from when youre able to freecast? every 3 casts you can do 9k damage. making them instant does not change the amount of damage they do all of the sudden.

 

Yes, but while casting you can be shutdown somehow. If you're unshutable it's just senseless and game breaking thing. Imagine if maras could deal their damage at 20m or so :) There's no sense to call them melee then. THere must be some kind of restrictions on a class to make the whole gameplay balanced. If rangers can deal their full ultra damage without restriction, what's the sence to play a melee then? We play rangers coz we don't like to wave a stick and do our work without melee mess. It's kind of price for being rangers.

 

If we can insta shoot grav/tracer+HIB+Demo, stickynade, full auto, it's just insane unstopable burst mate. :) The devs just won't do it. I would really love to try your insta boom plan on PTS and see what happens. But i don't think it's reasonable even to ask.

 

You're absolutely right saying that we are so easily shut down and i really want to change it. It would be fair if we have a possibility to cast our grav/tracer without interruption. But I don't know how it can be realised. WIth RS/ES or somehow else but we must think it up to solve the "shutdown problem".

 

Maybe we can involve Charged round/Power shot to find the way out.

What if CR/PS are instant and could stack the GravR/TracerM or Charged barrel/Tracer lock bonuses or BOTH of them? They are Kinetic and don't deal too much damage even now. Their damage can actually be even reduced and it wouldn't harm PVEers anyhow who don't use it anyway.

 

-So, our ChargedR/PowerS will become our instant stacker ability activating HIB/RailS and DemoR/HeatS. Its spam wouldn't be hurtfull for whiners dealing say 2k crit. And when we are untouched we can keep spaming our channeling GR/TM with its full elemental damage. PVPers and PVEers are happy.

 

What do you think?

Edited by dejavy
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Yes, but while casting you can be shutdown somehow. If you're unshutable it's just senseless and game breaking thing. Imagine if maras could deal their damage at 20m or so :) There's no sense to call them melee then. THere must be some kind of restrictions on a class to make the whole gameplay balanced. If rangers can deal their full ultra damage without restriction, what's the sence to play a melee then? We play rangers coz we don't like to wave a stick and do our work without melee mess.

 

If we can insta shoot grav/tracer+HIB+Demo, stickynade, full auto, it's just insane unstopable burst mate. :) The devs just won't do it. I would really love to try your insta boom plan on PTS and see what happens. But i don't think it's reasonable even to ask.

 

You're absolutely right saying that we are so easily shut down and i really want to change it. It would be fair if we have a possibility to cast our grav/tracer without interruption. But I don't know how it can be realised. WIth RS/ES or somehow else but we must think it up to solve the "shutdown problem".

 

Maybe we can invole Charged round/Power shot to find the way out.

What if CR/PS are instant and could stack the GravR/TracerM or Charged barrel/Tracer lock bonuses or BOTH of them? They are Kinetic and don't deal too much damage even now. Their damage can actually be even reduced and it wouldn't harm PVEers anyhow who don't use it anyway.

 

-So, our ChargedR/PowerS will become our instant stacker ability activating HIB/RailS and DemoR/HeatS. Its spam wouldn't be hurtfull for whiners dealing say 2k crit. And when we are untouched we can keep spaming our channeling GR/TM with its full elemental damage. PVPers and PVEers are happy.

 

What do you think?

 

Charged Bolts/Power Shot being instant and functioning the same as Grav Round/Tracer Missile is the same as Tracer Missile being instant.

 

I can hit for 2.5-3k with Power Shot on crits. Occasionally I have ~3.5k crits on it that come out of the blue. The damage between tracer missile and power shot is not that different; the difference is that Power Shot suffers from defensive rolls, while Tracer Missile does not.

 

The ability to be shut down should not be a balancing mechanic. Merc should not be balanced around the idea that we need to be interrupted in order for things to be fair. I dont even understand where that mindset comes from.

 

Right now, if you are left to free-cast as a Merc you can barely keep pace with the damage output of any other DPS class. Is our burst insane-unstoppable right now? I continually see people actually say that Merc DPS needs a buff, because our burst is sub-par (not that I agree with those people, but it seems to be a widespread opinion).

 

So how drastically different would our damage output be with TM/PS on instant casts? Free-casting damage would not change one bit, the change would be that when melee opponents decide its our turn to die, we actually have a shot at killing them, rather than just hoping to run away and that they give up chasing so we can heal up and get back to the fight.

 

Merc is a DPS class. Let me do my job as effectively as other DPS classes.

Edited by cashogy
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Well, Ok

BTW, if it's instant, we'll be able to spam only gravs then recharge and spam only them again. How many can we spam in a row then? 10? I'm afraid we'll become arcane wow hunters then :) 5 gravs, demo, hib, full auto and if the target is still alive, grav the rest of your ammo and it's done. Nice gamepley.

Edited by dejavy
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Making tracer missile/ power shot instant cast does not make mercs unstoppable. Unload, Death from above, and such are still cast abilities that can be interrupted. Tracer is our set-up ability, not our main damage dealer. It would still cost heat to cast so only inexperienced players would try to spam it endlessly. And then, of course, get slaughtered once they overheat.

 

A merc can still be shut down and defeated with instant cast. With Cash's proposed changes we have a chance to escape and to go down fighting if it comes to it. Left unchanged, mercs are free kills that can not flee and who's feeble attempts to fight back get interrupted.

 

Cash is being reasonable with his suggestions. There is no request for damage buffs or even new abilities. He doesn't even ask for interrupt immunity for our cast abilities. Instead, he asks for tweaks to existing game abilities that would take minimal Dev effort to implement. These suggestions do not give mercs any undue advantage over another class. Instead, they offer the opportunity for the merc to be competitive in PvP.

Edited by Nassik
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Well, Ok

BTW, if it's instant, we'll be able to spam only gravs then recharge and spam only them again. How many can we spam in a row then? 10? I'm afraid we'll become arcane wow hunters then :) 5 gravs, demo, hib, full auto and if the target is still alive, grav the rest of your ammo and it's done. Nice gamepley.

 

You would be able to fire the same number of instant cast Grav Rounds in a row as you could casted ones. 1.5s cast time is equal to 1 global cooldown. Ammo/Heat management would not change.

 

Actually, I think that the Tracer Missile spammers would end up thinking this to be a nerf, as they would attempt to run-n-gun with Tracer Missile spam, and find that they are out of ammo/heat after 10s

Edited by cashogy
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Making tracer missile/ power shot instant cast does not make mercs unstoppable. Unload, heatseeker, and such are still cast abilities that can be interrupted. Tracer is our set-up ability, not our main damage dealer. It would still cost heat to cast so only inexperienced players would try to spam it endlessly. And then, of course, get slaughtered once they overheat.

 

A merc can still be shut down and defeated with instant cast. With Cash's proposed changes we have a chance to escape and to go down fighting if it comes to it. Left unchanged, mercs are free kills that can not flee and who's feeble attempts to fight back get interrupted.

 

Cash is being reasonable with his suggestions. There is no request for damage buffs or even new abilities. He doesn't even ask for interrupt immunity for our cast abilities. Instead, he asks for tweaks to existing game abilities that would take minimal Dev effort to implement. These suggestions do not give mercs any undue advantage over another class. Instead, they offer the opportunity for the merc to be competitive in PvP.

 

I think you mean a different ability than Heatseeker Missile can be interrtuped, that one is an instant cast :D

 

But you are correct, we would still have a handful of key abilities that could be interrupted. Unload, Death From Above, Fusion Missile, the 2 heals we have, Sweeping Blasters, Concussion Missile and Flamethrower.

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the reason we are not accepted in warzones is because we are the most easily shut down DPS class in the game.

 

zero instant abilities? hmm, there is some irony there.......

 

*** is instant air mez? that is not a real thing.....

 

a 10m mez? are you aware that we already have a 30m mez? id rather not have that bit of CC nerfed too........

 

the mechanics of arsenal merc is this: rely on tracer missile to buff Rail Shot, Unload, and Heatseeker Missiles. under pressure, good luck being able to stand and cast 1, let alone the 3 you really need, tracer missiles in order to be effective. and good luck proc'ing barrage when you cant get a single cast off.

 

the things you say we need to be viable, we dont need. i dont need an escape mechanism so that i can run away more effectively. i dont need "instant air mez", whatever the heck that is.

 

what i need is a way to continue being an effective DPS class. instant tracer missile/power shot actually provide utility at the same time as providing mobility. you want better kiting effectiveness? you will never, ever be effective at kiting even a little bit when relying on casted abilities. instant abilities gives you the ability to kite more effectively that we can now currently.

 

and, can i also point out that i suggested a ton of other things besides instant tracer missile/power shot? did you even read my entire original post, or did you just come to jump on the bandwagon of people calling me a moron for thinking that instant cast tracer missile/powershot would drastically improve Mercs effectiveness, and bring us up to the balance of other DPS classes.

 

About the "air mez": I was posting form my phone and auto correct was being stubborn. I meant "AOE mez".

 

I read your entire post, yes, and agree with the rest of your changes. All of them EXCEPT the changes to TM/GR. Sorcs are a semi-caster class. They have escape tools if at least not kiting abilities. And yes I am totally aware that we have a 30M mez called Concussive Round. I know my class in and out as I said. But that mez requires a two second cast. I'm saying I would settle for an additional 10M AOE mez as an escape tool, a la gunslinger. The 10M range would make it more balanced.

 

And yes, what you are saying WILL CHANGE THE CLASS MECHANIC. We are a ranged caster class, not a mobile turret of death. That would be super ******, but would get shut down by the dev team. What we need is utility and maneuverability. Whether that is kiting through instant proc casts or mere escape tools, I have no preference.

 

And yes, I agree with you that we are too easily locked down. Making Hold the Line a universal Trooper ability would be fabulous for PvP. It would provide us with escape and interrupt immunity. Or just making Tech Override do pretty much the same thing or give us 5 instant casts instead of one, that would be a cool change as well.

 

Sages have bubble mez and knockback root. They also have speed getaway. Gunslingers have charge immunity, but are less mobile since they use cover. They have 20% reduction shield for team utility as well as CC immunity for holding nodes. They also have Dodge which is short but still helps.

 

And when I say "Zero instants" I mean that we have none that are effective without setup. And I don't think "Irony" was the proper choice of words. inigomontoya.jpg

 

Commandos need something comparable to this. Not instant casts. Not even a buff to HSM/DR would fix the 15% nerf to TM/GR. I like some but not all of your ideas.

 

There is more than one road to Rome my friend.

Edited by gluefoot
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About the "air mez": I was posting form my phone and auto correct was being stubborn. I meant "AOE mez".

 

I read your entire post, yes, and agree with the rest of your changes. All of them EXCEPT the changes to TM/GR. Sorcs are a semi-caster class. They have escape tools if at least not kiting abilities. And yes I am totally aware that we have a 30M mez called Concussive Round. I know my class in and out as I said. But that mez requires a two second cast. I'm saying I would settle for an additional 10M AOE mez as an escape tool, a la gunslinger. The 10M range would make it more balanced.

 

And yes, what you are saying WILL CHANGE THE CLASS MECHANIC. We are a ranged caster class, not a mobile turret of death. That would be super ******, but would get shut down by the dev team. What we need is utility and maneuverability. Whether that is kiting through instant proc casts or mere escape tools, I have no preference.

 

And yes, I agree with you that we are too easily locked down. Making Hold the Line a universal Trooper ability would be fabulous for PvP. It would provide us with escape and interrupt immunity. Or just making Tech Override do pretty much the same thing or give us 5 instant casts instead of one, that would be a cool change as well.

 

Sages have bubble mez and knockback root. They also have speed getaway. Gunslingers have charge immunity, but are less mobile since they use cover. They have 20% reduction shield for team utility as well as CC immunity for holding nodes. They also have Dodge which is short but still helps.

 

And when I say "Zero instants" I mean that we have none that are effective without setup. And I don't think "Irony" was the proper choice of words. inigomontoya.jpg

 

Commandos need something comparable to this. Not instant casts. Not even a buff to HSM/DR would fix the 15% nerf to TM/GR. I like some but not all of your ideas.

 

There is more than one road to Rome my friend.

 

ok, "aoe" mez makes a lot more sense than air mez lol. and i appreciate the inigo montoya reference :D

 

i think i have a decent compromise, and based on your posts i think you will agree that it would be a good solution.

 

Power Surge/Tech Override becomes a 60s cooldown ability, that grants 5 charges of "Power Surge/Tech Override". Abilities with a cast time will activate instantly, and consume 1 charge of "Power Surge/Tech Override". Lasts 30s, or until all charges are consumed

 

i think this strikes a good balance between providing Merc with a way to fight back under pressure of melee (cant interrupt instants even with CC/knockbacks/leaps/etc), while at the same time it does not turn Merc into a run-n-gun missile spewing machine that it could be perceived as.

 

i would find this an acceptable solution to the problem, as Merc is not under pressure 100% of the time

 

edit: im going to go ahead and update the original post with that, and remove the instant TM/PS suggestion to avoid further confusion

Edited by cashogy
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The five charges of Tech Override will get you nicely through a single rotation, but then you're back to being shark bait unless that post- jet boost speed burst can get your butt out of there. Then it's hide until Tech Override comes off cool down for another go.

 

This is a good idea for an opening rotation, but you're back to constantly interrupted business as usual after that. There would be no sustainable DPS because you'll be constantly interrupted again and again until Tech Overrides comes off cool down. And I thought that was one of the main points of these suggestions... to allow the merc to dish out sustainable and reliable DPS while under pressure.

 

The instant cast TM/ PS is a better idea for us.

Edited by Nassik
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The five charges of Tech Override will get you nicely through a single rotation, but then you're back to being shark bait unless that post- jet boost speed burst can get your butt out of there. Then it's hide until Tech Override comes off cool down for another go.

 

The instant cast TM/ PS is a better idea for us.

 

while i agree that TM / PS being instant is a more thorough solution, having multiple options for a solution is never a bad thing.

 

Merc isnt always under pressure, so we dont always *need* instant cast TM / PS.

 

Here is how I see this new ability playing out:

 

Youre doing your normal Merc DPS thing, hanging on the edge of the fight free-casting. Suddenly, a Sentinel decides you need to die, and he engages you. Instead of only being able to cast off of your knockback and hard stun, you will be able to use Tracer Missile 5 times (or other cast time abilities if you want). Figure that in PvP, TM hits for ~2.5-3k, that is a total of 12.5-15k damage just from those 5 abilities alone. Now, you wouldnt have to immediately burn your knockback or hard stun to gain separation in order to cast; you could use the new Power Surge, get 5 instants, and then use your utility skills to finish them off.

 

I think the beauty of this compromise is that it opens a very large window of group utility for Merc in general

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Please explore the possibility of adding more utility/group utility to the merc and reverting 3/3 Hired Muscle back to 6% crit, and adding 3% accuracy in addition to 30% arpen for unload/railshot in the talent Advanced Targeting. The reason being that all other classes have high crit chance or auto crits or something else to compensate and have the ability to get high accuracy easy and almost auto crit so they can stack more power. Edited by DkSharktooth
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Here is how I see this new ability playing out:

 

Youre doing your normal Merc DPS thing, hanging on the edge of the fight free-casting. Suddenly, a Sentinel decides you need to die, and he engages you. Instead of only being able to cast off of your knockback and hard stun, you will be able to use Tracer Missile 5 times (or other cast time abilities if you want). Figure that in PvP, TM hits for ~2.5-3k, that is a total of 12.5-15k damage just from those 5 abilities alone. Now, you wouldnt have to immediately burn your knockback or hard stun to gain separation in order to cast; you could use the new Power Surge, get 5 instants, and then use your utility skills to finish them off.

 

I think the beauty of this compromise is that it opens a very large window of group utility for Merc in general

 

At this stage of the game I would argue that mercs are constantly under pressure (beings free kills). But that would likely change if we became more competitive.

 

Looking at the above example, let's play it out...

 

The sentinel Force leaps at you and begins his rotation. You pop Tech Override immediately and get off three Tracers (for the stack of five heat signatures). followed with an Unload and a power shot. If you're not dead yet and he's into his Master Strike, you can hit Heatseeker and hope it finishes him off before his master strike (uninterruptable) ends or you can pop jet boost and run. If he pursues, you're back to reliance on a cast ability. Fortunately, his Force leap is on cool down so you can breathe. You've gained enough range to get off a cast Tracer Missile. Perhaps that will finish him off.

 

What if you've been rooted or otherwise CCed, though? You've already popped your Tech Override and it's a long way from coming off its cool-down. You can't set up another stack of heat signatures because your Tracer is back to being cast and the sentinel is interrupting everything you've got. You watch the last of your health drain away and you find yourself in the respawn area. With all of the various CCs in SWTOR this is very likely to happen.

 

The above scenario is a 1v1 case, though, and those don't tend to be the norm in a war zone. That five charge Tech Override would let us burn into a single opponent as a starter but we'd never survive long enough to use it again. Add just one more opponent to the furball and you're likely dead before you finish your first rotation. In that case, you'd probably hit jet boost first to gain some space. After you've gained some range, you hit Tech Override and start attacking your first opponent. Once your first rotation is finished you're doomed. If Tracer Missile/ Power Shot were instant cast, though, you may still die, but not necessarily alone.

 

Modifying Tech Override to give us five instant casts provides us with an excellent opening rotation, but we're back to being dead meat until Tech Override comes off cool-down. If an encounter goes beyond a single rotation it will come down to survivability (something that mercs aren't known for). And conversely, other classes will only have to survive that first rotation before we become an easy kill.

 

 

An instant cast Tracer Missile/ Power Shot would allow mercs to keep others at range or at least enable us to fight our way out to range. It would be a steady and reliable heat signature builder that would allow us to kite. The fact that our heavy hitting abilities still require cast times prevents us from being over-powered.

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I believe 5 stacks of Instant-Tracer Missiles is a bit much.

 

 

But, I'm not against 5 stacks of using Tracer Missile while running. (Channels like normal, but allows movement during channel time).

 

I see no mention of Tracer being uninterruptable. Without that, mercs are no better off than they are now.

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I believe 5 stacks of Instant-Tracer Missiles is a bit much.

 

 

But, I'm not against 5 stacks of using Tracer Missile while running. (Channels like normal, but allows movement during channel time).

 

It would do no more damage than 5 normally casted Tracer Missiles would. It simply allows Mercs to use Tracer Missiles while they are pressured by opponents.

 

Merc's largest weakness is being interrupted (not just by interrupts, buy by knockbacks/leaps/CC/etc), and a brief period of being able to use casted abilities instantly would give Merc a tool with which to fight back and try to win a fight, rather than just run away

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At this stage of the game I would argue that mercs are constantly under pressure (beings free kills). But that would likely change if we became more competitive.

 

Looking at the above example, let's play it out...

 

The sentinel Force leaps at you and begins his rotation. You pop Tech Override immediately and get off three Tracers (for the stack of five heat signatures). followed with an Unload and a power shot. If you're not dead yet and he's into his Master Strike, you can hit Heatseeker and hope it finishes him off before his master strike (uninterruptable) ends or you can pop jet boost and run. If he pursues, you're back to reliance on a cast ability. Fortunately, his Force leap is on cool down so you can breathe. You've gained enough range to get off a cast Tracer Missile. Perhaps that will finish him off.

 

What if you've been rooted or otherwise CCed, though? You've already popped your Tech Override and it's a long way from coming off its cool-down. You can't set up another stack of heat signatures because your Tracer is back to being cast and the sentinel is interrupting everything you've got. You watch the last of your health drain away and you find yourself in the respawn area. With all of the various CCs in SWTOR this is very likely to happen.

 

The above scenario is a 1v1 case, though, and those don't tend to be the norm in a war zone. That five charge Tech Override would let us burn into a single opponent as a starter but we'd never survive long enough to use it again. Add just one more opponent to the furball and you're likely dead before you finish your first rotation. In that case, you'd probably hit jet boost first to gain some space. After you've gained some range, you hit Tech Override and start attacking your first opponent. Once your first rotation is finished you're doomed. If Tracer Missile/ Power Shot were instant cast, though, you may still die, but not necessarily alone.

 

Modifying Tech Override to give us five instant casts provides us with an excellent opening rotation, but we're back to being dead meat until Tech Override comes off cool-down. If an encounter goes beyond a single rotation it will come down to survivability (something that mercs aren't known for). And conversely, other classes will only have to survive that first rotation before we become an easy kill.

 

 

An instant cast Tracer Missile/ Power Shot would allow mercs to keep others at range or at least enable us to fight our way out to range. It would be a steady and reliable heat signature builder that would allow us to kite. The fact that our heavy hitting abilities still require cast times prevents us from being over-powered.

 

i fully agree with this entire post.

 

5 instants is a band-aid fix for sure, but it is better than no fix at all.

 

do i support instant cast Tracer Missile / Power Shot? absolutely, i think it is the one change that would have the largest impact on bringing Merc DPS up to the level of other DPS classes.

 

but i think we may need to make small improvements, and compromises. i think this new Power Surge would be a step in the right direction for sure

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See previous page for my response to your example. I don't think a five-charge Tech Override is going to do the job. :)

 

my reply is the post above yours :D

 

i do agree with you, and would much prefer to see instant Tracer Missile / Power Shot than a band-aid, compromise fix. but in all honesty, something is better than the nothing we have now

Edited by cashogy
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