I finally got my sniper to 50 last weekend (thanks 2x XP) and started PvPing (valor 26, LOL).

I'm a slow learner so not surprisingly I'm terrible at PvP MM Sniper. Can anyone recommend some sniper PvP videos that are instructional? E.g. do any snipers from rated teams have videos/streams over at twitchtv?

I'm going to re-read the PvE and PvP sniper guides over at mmo-mechanics. Any tips for an aspiring marksman are appreciated.

I've pretty much played the sharpshooting gunslinger exclusively since launch, out of all three trees. I messed around with the other trees on the PTS, but sharpshooter is my bread and butter.

As you may have figured out, you're stupidly squishy. However, if you position yourself correctly, enemies will have a tough time getting to you in the first place.

Your role in the team is not going to be storming nodes like John Rambo, killing three defenders on your own. Your role is to hold and deny. Your position should always be behind the melee, near the healers in the backline. You want to be separate from your healers because they are leap targets and can use your teammates to close the gap. The only exception to this rule is if a healer is getting focused, I will pop Hunker Down and my static field, then drop an AoE on top of myself which the healer and I will sit in. If a melee wants to engage us, he will end up getting kicked in the nuts, hunched over in my flyby.

We are obviously really bad at killing healers because they can simply LoS away. However, when they run behind a pillar to heal themselves, that leaves an opening to pick off a player that is engaged in the melee. We don't require any set-up time for dropping our big burst so we can switch targets on a dime without missing a beat.

Don't forget to reset ballistic dampers and insta charged burst. Use Smuggler's Luck to ensure you get the 1.5s proc for Aimed Shot. Speed Shot and Trickshot will probably be the two abilities that do the most damage overall.

If you want, I can copy and paste the guide I wrote for my guild. It's specific to sharpshooters, but I'm sure you can figure out the imperial equivalents. I hope this helps

<good advice>

 

If you want, I can copy and paste the guide I wrote for my guild. It's specific to sharpshooters, but I'm sure you can figure out the imperial equivalents. I hope this helps

Thanks! If the guide is more extensive I'd like to see it. I have no problem translating smuggler terminology to agent terminology.

The slinger's greatest strength is his/her range. Their weakness? Any object that breaks LoS.

If you've played against a sniper or slinger, you probably know that engaging that person head-on will probably result in you laying in a crumpled heap a few feet away from his smoking barrels. Any player worth his salt will know not to stand in the open while taking sustained sniper fire. When engaging a slinger, a smart melee DPS will run between pillars, never allowing the slinger to get a good shot off until the melee is on top of him.

This is why the most important aspect of playing a slinger (or any class) is positioning, in my opinion.

Positioning:

First and foremost, you want to be within range of the objective (if you're defending). You're best in a supporting role, so utilize that 35m range efficiently and let your teammates soak up the damage. Your best bet is to take cover in the peripheries of the battle where you will be ignored more often than not. Ideally, your flanks will be covered and your back will be against a wall to make it more difficult for stealthers to stab you in the back. We don't have many tools in the way of escape (yet), but have a good deal of CC in the event that melee close you down.

Learn to use your tools and play them to your advantage. You can't be leapt to while in cover (notable exception: zealous leap) nor can you be pulled. You're vulnerable when you're stunned, but the key there is to pop your Hunker Down when the enemy turns their attention to you. You will have 60% damage reduction so this is a bonus against smashers.

You want to stay in cover to prevent warriors from leaping to you and to keep your energy regeneration rate at its max. Exiting and entering cover quickly to regain your ballistic dampers and no-cast charged burst is a good idea, but make sure to make it quick and fluid.

To give one example of the utility gunslingers have, camping right below the spawn point in Voidstar while on offense lets you knock all the enemies back into the wall when they pop out of spawn. After that, you can toss a Flash Grenade at them in case any of them break the root. After that, you've still got a legshot and a dirty kick to mop up the stragglers. Of course, for this to work you need teammates that understand when the appropriate time to STOP SHOOTING/SWINGING/STABBING is, namely when the enemies are rubbing their eyes.

Rotation:

The sharpshooter rotation is not at all complicated, but you always want to keep your energy in the +60% range to maximize your energy regen. When you start dipping below, think about exiting/entering cover, using Diversion to reduce an enemy's accuracy, or just use your auto-attack to fill in while you regain your energy.

Activate Smuggler's Luck, which will make your next Charged Burst a critical hit. Your first Charged Burst will also be an insta-cast, and the crit will proc a 1.5 second Aimed Shot. Always make sure to follow through with Trickshot. Trickshot should always be on CD. It hits hard and is an insta-cast. Another really important ability to sharpshooters is Speed Shot. Like Trickshot, Speed Shot should always be on CD. After you fire off a Speed Shot, activate Burst Volley which finishes the CD on Speed Shot, gives you some extra energy regen and extra alacrity. To take advantage of that extra alacrity, have your Aimed Shot ready after your second Speed Shot and throw in a Freighter Flyby. When the enemy is under 30%, always use your Quickdraw ability, which now will proc a Trickshot. Quickdraw is a great finisher, especially since you can practically use it on someone halfway across the map. For a little extra burst, use Sabotage charge on an enemy, either right before you use Aimed Shot or Quickdraw. This should be a knockout punch unless the target is being guarded or has a defensive CD up.

To clarify, a normal rotation might look something like this (not including DoTs or Flourish Shot):

Smuggler's Luck --> Charged Burst --> Trickshot --> Aimed Shot --> Speed Shot --> Burst Volley --> Speed Shot --> Freighter Flyby --> Aimed Shot --> Trick Shot --> Quickdraw

The most important part of the rotation is to try to keep your energy above 60%. Use your Flurry of Bolts as filler if you're dipping below 60%. If you need big burst and have to use a lot of energy, try to use Cool Head at around 40-50% energy. Using it when you get too low will not elevate your energy levels into the fastest energy regeneration tier.

One of our greatest strengths is the ease in which we can switch targets without having to alter the rotation. On heavy armor opponents, I make sure to use Flourish Shot and Illegal Mods to give me a little more armor penetration.

I spec'ed into quicker Leg Shot which helps keep melee at bay (or healers from running away), as well as a 45s Flash Grenade, which times up perfectly for when the spawn door opens in Voidstar.

Gear:

My aim was to get at least 100% accuracy with 35% critical chance and 75% critical multiplier. The rest can go into power. I run with 1390 Expertise, which in my opinion gives me a slight damage boost as well as some extra survivability at the expense of some more power.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the slinger is a great class capable of swinging the tide of a battle, but we require support and judicious use of our defensive CDs. You won't be able to capture a node in Civil War 1v1 against a competent opponent, but when it comes down to whittling down the enemy team, we provide a steady stream of fire along with some quick burst to finish off the job. We make great 'anchors' for Guardians to leap up to in Huttball and if we slip by the enemy's front lines, we can wreak havoc on the enemy's back lines, causing their healers to run away to heal themselves while all friendly DPS switch their focus to someone else.

I'm sure this guide has many gaps which I will attempt to address with your feedback which I would really appreciate.

T

Gear:

My aim was to get at least 100% accuracy with 35% critical chance and 75% critical multiplier. The rest can go into power. I run with 1390 Expertise, which in my opinion gives me a slight damage boost as well as some extra survivability at the expense of some more power.

appreciate.

Thanks!

Is 100% (ranged) accuracy the ideal that theory crafters have identified for PvP? Don't all other opponents have at least 5% defense, making 105% range accuracy reasonable?

I've seen the crit and surge DMR graphs so I know that somewhere around 350 crit, 300 surge is good before switching to power.

In playing my marksman sniper in PvE it is easy to follow a rotation, re-cover to get ballistic dampers et cetera all without focusing very much attention on mobs because they either don't move or move very predictably. With all classes I've played I find it takes me a while of doing PvP before I know my moves well enough that I have enough attention left over to see more and start thinking about things.

I have yet to learn when other people are likely to try and stun me so I am not yet able to recognize when I should hunker down.

Thanks again for the guide.

Thanks!

 

Is 100% (ranged) accuracy the ideal that theory crafters have identified for PvP? Don't all other opponents have at least 5% defense, making 105% range accuracy reasonable?

 

I've seen the crit and surge DMR graphs so I know that somewhere around 350 crit, 300 surge is good before switching to power.

 

In playing my marksman sniper in PvE it is easy to follow a rotation, re-cover to get ballistic dampers et cetera all without focusing very much attention on mobs because they either don't move or move very predictably. With all classes I've played I find it takes me a while of doing PvP before I know my moves well enough that I have enough attention left over to see more and start thinking about things.

 

I have yet to learn when other people are likely to try and stun me so I am not yet able to recognize when I should hunker down.

 

Thanks again for the guide.

100% "ranged" is your normal attack (rifle shot) accuracy. All "special attacks" are at 110%, thus making any basic defense void.

Of course tanks will still be able to parry your shots, but thats not an MM specialty to take those down. Let force/tech users take care of them. You are not defenseless if needed, but less good at it since the majority of your damage is mitigated + can be parried.

Aim mostly for enemy dps and healers. Nobody can heal through MM burst. If you catch an healer in your range, he needs either his escape move or some object to cut your LoS.

Avoid dueling madness sorc if they have something nearby to cut it btw. They'll just dot and instant cast you till you die, healing themselves behind it. Yummy food caught unaware tough.

If you're going to PvP as a sniper why play Marksman? It's such a waste when I see these marksman full min/maxed war hero's on my server doing below 300k dmg. The only real thing snipers bring to the table in pvp is dmg, why not play a real spec for pvp?

Marksman is good for a PvE play style when playing against stupid AI that doesn't LoS but against big boys in PvP it lacks.

Hmmm.. not seen any good MM Snipers I suppose? Looking at damage alone, all I can say is that MM doesn't pad the numbers. 200k or 900k isn't important at all. Look at killing blows, mine's usually around 40-60% of my total kills.. LoS isn't much of an issue if you play it right, let the melee hunt down the wall huggers.

If you're going to talk **** about a Sniper spec, it should be Lethality. Now _there_ is a team dependent spec, takes too long to set up. Good thing it's getting a nice buff in 2.0 ^^

Hmmm.. not seen any good MM Snipers I suppose? Looking at damage alone, all I can say is that MM doesn't pad the numbers. 200k or 900k isn't important at all. Look at killing blows, mine's usually around 40-60% of my total kills.. LoS isn't much of an issue if you play it right, let the melee hunt down the wall huggers.

 

If you're going to talk **** about a Sniper spec, it should be Lethality. Now _there_ is a team dependent spec, takes too long to set up. Good thing it's getting a nice buff in 2.0 ^^

Killing blows and kills mean absolutely nothing in terms of individual performance unless they are solo kills. It just means you got he last hit, and no-skill bads love to use that to try and make up for their lack of dmg overall. You gain a "kill" stat for simply auto attacking someone. Dmg puts pressure on healers, overall high dmg means you did that consistently. Consistency is king and good players are consistent.

Sorry, when you're throwing down 280k dmg vs a lethality throwing down 880k it's like having three more people in the wz with you. Regardless of burst, that's dmg that either had to be healed or mitigated. This is a team game, the more dmg you do the more you're helping your team. The only way to possibly justify low dmg is when you're a solo killing machine or doing objectives. Most MM snipers are too scared to leave their little cover system to even think about capping/soloing a node.

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

Knew you'd say that, which is why I said team dependent

Agree with everything else you said, just not the way you talk about MM. Makes you seem ignorant.. Also true that most MM Snipers are baaaaaad. Good for the other team though hahaha!

PS. Consistently top total damage MM Sniper, just to disprove your entire point!

To add to the discussion above:

• Make sure you've keybound your key defensive abilities and can comfortably hit them instantly when you need them: Entrench, Diversion, Shield Probe, Evasion, Cover Pulse, and Flashbang.
   
   
  
• Practice using Diversion on cooldown; if there's not a fellow sniper to take out of cover, there's probably a marauder somewhere who could use a nice accuracy debuff.
   
   
  
• Entrench maybe isn't to be used on-cooldown -- if no one has noticed you, there's no need for it -- but don't hesitate to use it, early and often, if it looks like that might change. It is a key ability, it comes back up fast, and failure to use it early and often is the the easiest way to be a bad PVP sniper (or to identify one).
   
   
  
• Use Evasion when someone starts a Master Strike/Ravage (the LONNNG knight/warrior channeled melee attack) against you, or when a Carnage marauder is in your face spamming Massacre at you (you'll notice them because they'll be attacking you faster than 1.5 GCD normally allows it), and you don't have your knockback available.
   
   
  
• Use shield probe the instant someone attacks you.
   
   
  
• Cover Pulse: Try NOT to use it when someone has positioned themselves so that they'll be knocked right into a wall (and stay next to you).
   
   
  
• Do not use your Big Bubble Shield as a last-ditch defensive measure. It will not save you. It's best to use the Big Bubble when you have full heath, and have all your defensive cooldowns up, because people will target you to get it down. Use it to protect your teammates in those big melee fights. (Initial fight over Mid in Civil War/Novare, at the heavy door in Voidstar, etc.).
   
   
  
• As a MM, you are very squishy, and very reliant on roots, knockbacks, and CC to survive. Get practiced at NOT breaking your roots before time. Roots from legshot/cover pulse last 5 seconds, but damage after the first 2 seconds breaks the root -- so you get ONE instant attack after you legshot someone, and you have to make it fast. -- because there's a 1.5 seconds GCD, you have 0.5 seconds to make the one attack that won't prematurely break the root. Then you need to avoid damaging them so they eat the full root, either by using non-damaging set-up abilities, or switching targets. Fighting a marauder, for example, you might legshot - [instant snipe/frag grenade] - [Explosive Probe] - [Orbital Strike, or Ambush if you don't have the 1.5 s proc].
  

Also, consider trying out Engineering and Lethality. I used to PVP as a MM. I tried out Engineering and never went back. It's just so much fun and it's so annoying to play against. MM is the best at target-switching, Engineering has the best up-front burst (but only every 30 seconds), utility, and survivability, and Lethality pressures the healers best.

(I tried Lethality too, but I just don't want to play a Mezz Killer spec.)

The only real thing snipers bring to the table in pvp is dmg, why not play a real spec for pvp?

 

Marksman is good for a PvE play style when playing against stupid AI that doesn't LoS but against big boys in PvP it lacks.

My goal is to try something different, not play the most bestest flavor of the month. Once I feel like I'm playing MM competently I'll try the other trees.

The long term goal is to play each tree of each AC a bit so.

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

Just be glad you're not on my server.

When I play against snipers/slingers on my powertech, I make sure to throw taunts on the dangerous ones. I don't disagree that there are a lot of trash snipers/slingers, but then I thought about it and realized that all classes have really bad players. However, because of the higher skill cap on playing a sniper versus a powertech for example, a bad player will struggle even more.

The reason I'm a fan of marksman/sharpshooter is because it allows me to switch targets with almost no downtime in damage. I admit that the spec is not ideal for taking out tanks due to its exclusive white-damage output. However, a well-positioned MM sniper can tear a team apart and I can force healers to run away, leaving their teammates to die out in the open.

Killing blows and kills mean absolutely nothing in terms of individual performance unless they are solo kills. It just means you got he last hit, and no-skill bads love to use that to try and make up for their lack of dmg overall. You gain a "kill" stat for simply auto attacking someone. Dmg puts pressure on healers, overall high dmg means you did that consistently. Consistency is king and good players are consistent.

 

Sorry, when you're throwing down 280k dmg vs a lethality throwing down 880k it's like having three more people in the wz with you. Regardless of burst, that's dmg that either had to be healed or mitigated. This is a team game, the more dmg you do the more you're helping your team. The only way to possibly justify low dmg is when you're a solo killing machine or doing objectives. Most MM snipers are too scared to leave their little cover system to even think about capping/soloing a node.

 

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

I respectfully disagree. A MM sniper is capable to deliver a killing blow to a target being healed while lethality will just continue to pump DPS into the target which is under heals. MM is capable to catch healers off guard, lethality can rarely do that.

Also 1.7 MM has the highest mobile DPS of all sniper specs. Lethality is limited to just dot spamming, any serious damage comes from channeling spells like Cull and SoS.

Killing blows and kills mean absolutely nothing in terms of individual performance unless they are solo kills. It just means you got he last hit, and no-skill bads love to use that to try and make up for their lack of dmg overall. You gain a "kill" stat for simply auto attacking someone. Dmg puts pressure on healers, overall high dmg means you did that consistently. Consistency is king and good players are consistent.

 

Sorry, when you're throwing down 280k dmg vs a lethality throwing down 880k it's like having three more people in the wz with you. Regardless of burst, that's dmg that either had to be healed or mitigated. This is a team game, the more dmg you do the more you're helping your team. The only way to possibly justify low dmg is when you're a solo killing machine or doing objectives. Most MM snipers are too scared to leave their little cover system to even think about capping/soloing a node.

 

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

This is terribly mistaken. Both specs are good in their own regards. MM is sick for picking people off and sending them behind the doors. Lethality is great for putting pressure on healers , but when there are more than 1 healer around DoTs are fairly easy to heal through/purge. Also, a lot of the damage for lethality and eng is due to frag grenades.

IMO MM is one of the best specs in the game. It allows for those Pugs to play well and is considered the better team spec for RWZs.

Killing blows and kills mean absolutely nothing in terms of individual performance unless they are solo kills. It just means you got he last hit, and no-skill bads love to use that to try and make up for their lack of dmg overall. You gain a "kill" stat for simply auto attacking someone. Dmg puts pressure on healers, overall high dmg means you did that consistently. Consistency is king and good players are consistent.

 

Sorry, when you're throwing down 280k dmg vs a lethality throwing down 880k it's like having three more people in the wz with you. Regardless of burst, that's dmg that either had to be healed or mitigated. This is a team game, the more dmg you do the more you're helping your team. The only way to possibly justify low dmg is when you're a solo killing machine or doing objectives. Most MM snipers are too scared to leave their little cover system to even think about capping/soloing a node.

 

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

Lol....

If you see a Lethality sniper don't try to drop down to a knee and go for the whos better duel diversion is kinda useless against us I can still Cull your lil head off

9/10 Lethality will get slaughtered against a good MM Sniper. Fortunately, most Snipers suck ^^

PS. Diversion works on ALL types of attacks.

If you see a Lethality sniper don't try to drop down to a knee and go for the whos better duel diversion is kinda useless against us I can still Cull your lil head off

Rly, i mean O RLY?

Bad luck Bryan:

Tried to Cull under diversion

INTERRUPTED

Rly, i mean O RLY?

 

Bad luck Bryan:

 

Tried to Cull under diversion

 

INTERRUPTED

Your assuming a lot of ppl use interrupts and surprisingly they dont

 

When I play my other chars, I ignore MM snipers because I know deep down inside that any PvPer playing as MM isn't worth a crap and are probably not a threat.

Now that just hurts my feelings... but then again, being ignored is my favorite position in a warzone, while I hump your healers.

Now that just hurts my feelings... but then again, being ignored is my favorite position in a warzone, while I hump your healers.

The problem is most MM snipers are horrible, not that the spec is bad, too many of them use snipe spam

Mostly I play engineer, because it has so much control and denial and is easily the most survivable spec for a game based around node defense. however I frequently respec based on what I am playing, and if I am facing a team that doesnt have a lot of stealth or has a lot of smash monkeys, I default to MM, if theres enough tanks and I dont need the control I use lethality

This 'fotm sniper phase' I dont expect to last more than a week at most, because snipers are max level are

1) hard to play well compared to other classes

2) LoS is huge, most people arent patient enough to hold thier ground when you force someone to los you (this means you now control the area they left btw)

3) 7k smash is fun, double sabre throw is more fun

This 'fotm sniper phase' I dont expect to last more than a week at most, because snipers are max level are

1) hard to play well compared to other classes

2) LoS is huge, most people arent patient enough to hold thier ground when you force someone to los you (this means you now control the area they left btw)

3) 7k smash is fun, double sabre throw is more fun

4) snipers need a group to support them.

(not 100% true, but solo snipers can be very vulnerable, moving ones even more so)

Mind you, i suck at pvp, so anything i say should be taken with a mountain of salt.