I'm wondering if anyone else has been experiencing the issues my guild has had over the last couple weeks. The last 4 raids we have run are Dxun SM x 1, TFB HM x 1 and EV HM x 2. For Dxun and TFB between the entire raid group we maybe got 1 or two upgrades total and no set bonus pieces or tactical. For EV HM, on both runs every boss dropped either a set piece or tactical for group loot and everyone was getting multiple gear upgrades. Small sample i know but the difference is glaring and substantial. Anyone else seeing this issue?

Are you going to address the insane amount of stat variation on the same type and item level for all mods and pieces of gear, and the fact that it is all RNG? It's been mentioned by quite a few of us.

I understand where you are coming from. Having different options for min maxing (particularly for tanks) could be interesting but ONLY if there were a vendor that allowed you to choose exactly which variation of a mod you want. It's the RNG upon RNG upon RNG that i find ridiculous. It also shouldn't be on every single item. Mods and enhancements are fine (and maybe ear and implant) but armorings, barrels, hilts and relics?

I think they are making a few big mistakes in this gearing system, like not having unassembled drops from ops bosses to choose the specific piece of gear you want, or have a separate pvp currency so pvp'ers can buy the specific piece they want. What you mentioned here though is what i find the most absurd. When i first heard about this i assumed it was restricted to mods, which i thought was ridiculous enough, only to find out that it applies to all pieces of gear. Last night my raid group went into the new op (which we very much enjoy, kuddos Matt) and i was playing the RNG wheel to try and get my item level up to see how a couple of the specs i play were performing. I stopped at level 300 and then purchased 25 302 versatile barrels just to see how much discrepancy there could be. The Mastery stat ranged anywhere from 432 on the low end to 451 on the high end. As you said, Insanity.

Thanks for the info, appreciate it. All things being equal i don't doubt you are right. It may be interesting to have all these options to fine tune your gear to that level, if you could specifically choose which mod you want. My issue is this sounds like its layering an absurd amount of RNG onto an already RNG heavy system.

I'd really like to know why all of this can't be supplemental and we can have the following: Ops/Fp's- Unassembled Tokens...I need a chest piece so i need to kill boss X, kill the boss then take token to my class vendor. Have never heard one complaint from anyone I've raided with about this system. You've already had to move back to this once after the disaster of 5.0 Pvp- Tech Fragments(or whatever currency) acquired through matches, daily and weekly PvP missions that i can then take to a vendor and buy what i need. I'm not a big PvP'er these days but most i know don't have any interest in running dailies, flashpoints or ops just to gear up so they can compete in PvP. I'd be totally fine with that flow chart you showed in the live stream you did for the new gearing system if it was supplemental to the above options. On a side note i have a question hopefully someone can clarify for me as i haven't been on the PTS for the last couple weeks. I'm reading people talk about the many different lettered mods (used to be just non lettered, A's and B's). Is that really a thing, how many different variations are there and what kind of stats do they have?

Agreed! Was fun testing the new op last night with him in there giving some assistance. Thanks Matt.

I think they said in the Live Stream yesterday that those terminals wouldn't be there for this round of testing. This round is meant for us to use the Character Transfer to the PTS.

Character copy is turned off for this phase of testing

Completely agree with this. Hope the devs read this and take note.

Another PVE perspective: Haven't really done a deep dive into the numbers so i'll give my impressions on what I have tested so far in regards to the feel of how they play. Set Bonuses Established Foothold- Interesting set bonus, not sure how viable it will be in a raid setting if you are needing to save entrench for certain fight mechanics. Precise Targeter- I was very interested in this set bonus but as has already been mentioned by Dracmor something seems off with the way the cooldown for this is working. I'd much prefer you get all 3 stacks on activation then you build back up 1 stack every x amount of seconds similar to how the new Warrior ability works. Beserker- As i mentioned i haven't done a deep dive into the numbers but as things stand right now i'm not sure how this set bonus isn't the only viable option for a dps. Tacticals: Virulence: Poison Choke-I share the same feelings voiced by Ryann and Laet regarding this tactical. I was very interested in this when i first read it but in practice it turns Virulence's rotation into a mess. Culling Shots-Considering the issues with Poison Choke this seems to be the only viable single target choice for viru. It's fine, if not a bit underwhelming. My issue is with the loss of the energy regen from Target Acquired you can't squeeze in as many lethal shots in your weakening blast windows without risking your energy going all to hell, that's a bit of a downer. Marksmen: Corrosive Followthrough-Need to do more testing with this but this is more underwhelming than i hoped. My first impression is damage wise, as Laet mentioned, there seems to be an issue (bug?) with corrosive dart and while i thought it was going to make the rotation smoother it actually seems to be worse than having to reapply corrosive dart. The rotation does not flow very well making you have to add in an extra snipe in places which will get you in energy trouble eventually (loss of Target Acquired set bonus issue coming into play again) or you throw in some rifle shots, which is always depressing to have to do. Engi: Ruthless Interrogation-I play engi the least of the 3 specs but i found this to be the most enjoyable of all the tactical items i tried and really enjoyed how the rotation felt.

Do we have an ETA on phase 1.5 yet?

Want to add my concern about ability bloat with the additions of new abilities. Heidyn talked about the Madness rotation already feeling a bit bloated, which i agree with, but there are definitely other dps specs where this could be a problem also. Is this something the team is taking into account and keeping an eye on?

No mention of the Weekly Event: Star Fighter bug? We only get 3 crystals on a toon per week (4 if you pay the ridiculous cost on second UC purchase). Seems kind of important, any update or at least acknowledgement?

Is it too much to ask to at least get an acknowledgement that you guys are aware this is an issue?