This +1 Edit: https://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=9990255 Known issue from PTS it seems

Credit where credit is due - Matt is a stand-up guy; 10/10 would raid with again! (even if he did forfeit a duel to me)

Amen fellow swtor brother; much respect to those doing the testing and wholeheartedly agree there needs to be open communication on both sides to make the PTS effective and efficient

It concerns me that you didn't even look at the spec before replying, but I guess that is your prerogative. Had you looked at it you would see that I do in fact keep the 2% healing received. Obviously the point of the spec is not to use this new cooldown with some type of unattainable clairvoyance. However, the problem I am running into is getting hit with a series of unlucky/unmitigated attacks during which time I (a) have no cooldowns available, and (b) cannot receive heals in time before I die. This spec adds 1 more cooldown to use in those situations, it basically buys 6 seconds to get some big heals cooking on me. Like I said in the original post, the reason sin/shadow tanks are failing is because of the burst. If I increase the heals I need in the aggregate by 5-10% at the cost of not dying during a boss pull then I count that as winning. Let's face it, healing in this game is more than capable of taking up the long term incoming damage this spec creates; and the spec prevents the short term damage from causing a wipe. Baring a real fix to the sin/shadow tanking tree/kit I will be playing this spec to clear NiM content as it is the only way I feel safe handling the massive burst damage that we are seeing. By no means does anyone else have to bow down and worship this option, just consider it before uninstalling your game. It does have the added benefit of making the sin/shadow require even more skill to play.

Here, I have come up with a spec that helps to solve sin tank spikiness at the cost of taking greater damage over time. 32/11/3 The spec revolves around taking darkswell in the middle tree to give us one more cooldown to be used when needed, because lets face it; we take such huge spikes that all the standard cooldowns aren't enough. Note the spec does have threat issues in the opening as well as threat issues in trash pulls, but NiM is about the bosses. Spec here: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200RIroddfdM0MZfrz0zZbz.3 Log of NiM TFB 1st boss: http://www.torparse.com/a/318208/8/0/Damage+Taken Video of 1st fight here: http://www.twitch.tv/ftom14cat/c/2515552 This is not meant to be a critique of my play, only meant to be a suggestion for a tool to use to mitigate how spiky sins are.

Some general tips on engi before i get into my specific rotation for a stationary boss. - the pvp 2 set bonus that grants an extra tick on orbital strike is basically a must if you want to have competitive dps to mm or leth - the pve 2 piece set that grants energy back from target acquired is extremely useful in (my) opening rotation - dots are your friend, including corrosive dart. Make sure you always have interrogation probe, plasma probe, and corrosive dart up at all times, and you are specced into the extra tick chance on the dart - if you are biochem (which you probably should be if you are trying for max dps) make sure you time your adrenal with your orbital and all your dots up, along with exp probe and sos My rotation on a typical single target stationary fight: (shatter shot if no one else is debuffing armour) interr probe, corrosive dart, start orbital cast, plasma probe, power adrenal+target acquired, ambush+exp probe, sos, adrenaline probe+emp, refresh interr probe, corrosive dart, laze+snipe Depending on how good your timing is in that rotation, you will be able to reach the adrenaline probe+emp discharge step with about 1 second left on your initial interrogation probe (keep in mind i have the extra alacrity from the skill tree - no alacrity on gear) After that initial heavy energy cost opening you will basically just want to settle into a "rotation" per se that is more of a skill priority use list. - interr probe, plasma probe, corrosive dart should be up at all times - i like to use ambush a lot because it is extremely energy efficient - try to time exp probe+satchel charges with sos to make it energy efficient - orbital should be used on cooldown with the exception of setting up a burst to coincide with adrenal Typical adrenal burst would be: (shatter shot if necessary), interr probe, corrosive dart, orbital cast, plasma probe, adrenal, laze+snipe+exp probe, sos, (either sniper or ambush depending on time left on adrenal) One last thing to note about the engi spec...your energy should look like a roller coaster at all times!! This is a must to squeeze maximum dps out of the class, by the same token this means you have to be using adrenaline probe once a minute courtesy of emp. Do not be afraid to throw rifle shots in your rotation to detonate stacks of satchel charges that sos misses/doesnt get

I do not know how many snipers out there raid with engi, but I have encountered a unique problem, where in the second phase of the 4th boss in TFB I cannot drop my plasma probe or orbital strike on the boss. This effectively removes almost 1/3 of the damage an engi sniper has in his/her rotation. Please provide a solution to this BW, as you have stated that all content should be able to be cleared by all classes and this seems like an unintentional nerf to my favourite sniper class.

It is misleading to say that engi is highly reliant on procs for energy regen, as the spec has 1 ability on a long cooldown that actually has that feature (explosive probe charges). For the most part your energy will be bouncing all over the place, as you can use adrenaline probe once a minute, there is no real reason to be energy conservative. Engi is fantastic for aoe damage (extra damage on frag grenades and orbital, plasma probe), it has enhanced survivability over the other two snipers (interr probe can refresh shield probe, extra absorb on shield probe), but it is the weakest single target spec. If you want to burst a target to mush (pvp mostly) you cannot do so very often (explosive probe again). The sustained dps against a 'stationary' target seems to be sufficient for raiding though (it just requires you to place your plasma probe well and have the tank keep the target on top of it)

If you have fun playing engi then that should be what matters. I have been rocking engi since release, through the thick and thin of this class, and the dps is certainly good enough to clear the same content mm can. That said, mm and leth are still noticeably better for single target boss fights. I will say, it would be nice for the countermeasures ability to get some beefing up from the engi tree, just so we can avoid trash aoe.

I just want to point out here that guard is doing nothing for either player if the tank and the guarded target are not close together. All you pvp tanks out there, drop your guard on a healer when you are at snow or grass and I am at mid trying to keep said healer alive. I do not throw a guard on someone until I see them get focused, and when the focus is over so is my guard. That way I can put it on the next unlucky soul. Off topic a little, but had to be said.

Until you reach a high enough lvl to actually get plasma probe there is no point in investing fully in the engi tree. Go as far as explosive probe and the extra charges it gives you...these will be the bread and butter of you bursting healers to nothing. Then at around lvl 40 or so consider re-speccing to get plasma probe for defending objectives and the extra stun from interrogation probe.

Use presence augments. They make everything about your companion better in every way.

1. I have played an Engineering sniper since release, and it is currently viewed by the general community as an oddity that cannot compete for damage with either of the other two specs. However, the pvp sniper community seems to realize that engi snipers are fantastic at defending an objective and have extremely competitive burst damage compared to mm. 2. Engineering for me is the ultimate support dps role. Plasma probe+stronger orbital+better frag grenades means adds just melt in pve. (make my threat dump better btw...all that aoe is impossible for a tank to hold) However, single target pve it is hard to maintain competitive dps on mobile bosses for the simple reason that they leave the effect of plasma probe. (personally i consider this to be an added challenge for cooperation between the tank and dps and I enjoy it) PVP wise, I think if more snipers start rolling engineering you will soon hear the community at large calling for the nerf bat. Back-to-back shield probes make us super durable. Objectives cannot be taken while we are live. Period. (see plasma probe and orbital) Certainly the uniformed SWTOR players see leth snipers as an easy way to do top damage pvp and pve. However, I think the sniper (with all its tricks, roots, cc, whatever) only really shines in the hands of a practiced player.

Why is having an invisible pet monster a bad thing again?

Plasma probe can be specced into a short single target stun on use...which makes it just one more trick in my bag of trades. That short stun plus all the other roots and stuns we have means you are almost guaranteed to get the first couple ticks off. Not to mention any engi sniper can guard both doors on voidstar with it. I really do not see what you have against it.