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Operative and Sniper on the PTS!


JackieKo

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  • Dev Post

Hello everyone,

 

Welcome to the next phase of PTS featuring the Sniper and Operative Combat Styles. In case you missed it, we go through a bit of the philosophy behind the updates we’re making to Combat Styles in this article.

 

As with the Jedi Knight, we are still focused on streamlining ability sets in order to enable more player choice and maintain the unique identity of the class. All the constructive feedback we have been receiving from players who have dived into PTS has been helpful in identifying what experiences are crucial to players.

 

This phase of PTS will be slightly different than previous phases that have been tested. This will be the first time that players will see the work in progress (WIP) UI for the ability tree. You will no longer need to speak to a droid to select your Discipline. This is also the same for Guardian and Sentinel.

 

As always, please keep in mind the following reminders and a couple of new notes:

 

  • You will be be capped at level 75
  • Character copy is still not available at this time
  • Set bonuses are not enabled during this phase of PTS. Gear will still grant you their stats, but the set bonuses will not work.
  • Most ability mods are functional, but some will be marked as [iN DEV] to clarify that some may be in various stages of development and not 100% functional.
  • As the ability tree is a WIP, please note that some icons are duplicated.

One note I did want to add was regarding the feedback we have seen about gearing for PTS. The current experience is that players have to take some additional time to gear to their liking, and that is intentional. While 306 gear could be provided, customizable stats would not be available, so we opted to allow players to customize their stats to match their live experience as closely as possible. As we continue to release 7.0 content to be tested, we will continue to look for ways to make it simpler for players to gear up on PTS.

 

Additionally, I wanted to reiterate in this post that level 3 Speeder Level Piloting is granted at the Onderon Daily Board. Be sure to travel to Onderon to acquire this before venturing out to test any of the available Combat Styles.

 

For details on how to access the PTS server, please go here

 

For details on how to try out Sniper and Operative, please go here.

 

Feedback threads can be found in the following places:

 

Be sure to check out the Status Update post as well. I have added a Change Log that covers changes that were made to Guardian and Sentinel and have updated the known issues there.

 

Thanks!

Edited by JackieKo
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Before I hop onto the PTS I just want to say thanks so much for including all the Guardian and Sentinel changes on the status post - that is very much appreciated. Secondly, I am really really glad to see a lot of the changes the community has been requesting have made it into this new build such as saber throw being a baseline ability, preparation and contemplation being standard passives across all disciplines and transcendence not using centering. These are some great changes and I'm sure will make many people feel a lot better about these changes.
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As with the Jedi Knight, we are still focused on streamlining ability sets in order to enable more player choice and maintain the unique identity of the class.

That, is a fallacy.

How does "less" abilities = "more" choices.

Leave it as is, and let me chose what I put in my quick bar. Please!

You might like your change, it is your game after all, but find (or provide) a better reason.

 

Unique identify of the class : For the Jedi Sentinel, I read that (couldn't test myself) the devs had removed the Force Stasis, and your acknowledgement of the feedback about it didn't clarify if BW was still planing on removing it or not, no matter the feedback. Your post on "Jedi Sentinel Feedback | 08.11.2021, 09:39 PM", simply say that you see the sentiment and that it is noticeable for Force Stasis (and Awe). If these (and Force Stasis in particular) are not a unique identify of the Jedi Knight (along with twin saber/saber throw), I don't know what is.

So again, the reason provided above to justify streamlining ability sets are fallacious.

 

I'll soon watch the interview of Chris Schmidt posted on the 20th. Maybe I'll find something.

For now, I just pulled my subscription automatic renewal (that's my vote against this whole streamlining thing)

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Hi Jackie,

 

Just waiting for my PTS to update.

 

It’s good to see from others posts that you have made some meaningful changes to the warrior classes based on our feedback.

 

But can I suggest you keep the Sent and Guardian threads as forum Stickies so all the class feedback threads are together. It will make it easier for people to find when browsing and will keep the official feedback threads seperate from the player generated threads that might confuse some people wanting to give meaningful feedback when testing.

 

Also, we all understand the UI is a WIP, but could we get a txt list posted in the feed back threads on each on passive/ choice. Once again, this makes it easier to test.

 

Thank you in advance

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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But can I suggest you keep the Sent and Guardian threads as forum Stickies so all the class feedback threads are together. It will make it easier for people to find when browsing and will keep the official feedback threads seperate from the player generated threads that might confuse some people wanting to give meaningful feedback when testing.

 

The alternative to keeping them as stickies would be to have one permanent master thread that contains links to all the feedback threads for all classes. I can understand why the devs might not want to keep everything stickied, but doing something to keep them visible would help a lot.

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The alternative to keeping them as stickies would be to have one permanent master thread that contains links to all the feedback threads for all classes. I can understand why the devs might not want to keep everything stickied, but doing something to keep them visible would help a lot.

 

While ever we are testing new changes and providing feedback, I believe those feedback threads need to be stickied so they are easy to find and feel relevant. At the moment they feel like they’ve been cast aside.

That is unless bioware have decided to stop reading those feedback threads and making changes based on said feedback.

If that’s the case, then it would be good to know if we should bother testing those classes so we don’t waste our time on something that isn’t read.

 

Jackie, if you are reading this, can you provide some clarification on this.

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  • Dev Post
While ever we are testing new changes and providing feedback, I believe those feedback threads need to be stickied so they are easy to find and feel relevant. At the moment they feel like they’ve been cast aside.

That is unless bioware have decided to stop reading those feedback threads and making changes based on said feedback.

If that’s the case, then it would be good to know if we should bother testing those classes so we don’t waste our time on something that isn’t read.

 

Jackie, if you are reading this, can you provide some clarification on this.

 

Hey TrixxieTriss,

 

We haven't stopped reading the feedback on the Guardian and Sentinel threads. I still provide the team with the constructive feedback from the threads when they are updated. It's why I heavily linked them in the OPs for the Sniper and Operative general and 'how to access' posts and also provided the Change Log.

 

We do plan on offering more classes to be tested in future PTS phases, so having all the individual feedback threads stickied would become a bit cumbersome. Even with everything stickied now, there's quite a bit. That said, I can work on LordCamTheGreat's suggestion with having a master feedback thread that is stickied as a compromise. Additionally, I'll be leaving a note for myself to consolidate the general and how to access posts for future PTS phases to save more room on the first page of threads.

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Hey TrixxieTriss,

 

We haven't stopped reading the feedback on the Guardian and Sentinel threads. I still provide the team with the constructive feedback from the threads when they are updated. It's why I heavily linked them in the OPs for the Sniper and Operative general and 'how to access' posts and also provided the Change Log.

 

We do plan on offering more classes to be tested in future PTS phases, so having all the individual feedback threads stickied would become a bit cumbersome. Even with everything stickied now, there's quite a bit. That said, I can work on LordCamTheGreat's suggestion with having a master feedback thread that is stickied as a compromise. Additionally, I'll be leaving a note for myself to consolidate the general and how to access posts for future PTS phases to save more room on the first page of threads.

 

I have a quick question regarding feedback in general.

 

On the PTS there are currently no functioning set bonuses and old tacticals. I believe the old tacticals and set bonuses are being removed in 7.0, but they are on the vendors, and we are encouraged to use them.

 

It's virtually impossible to give feedback on incomplete changes. I have many complaints at the moment, but a new tactical or set bonus might rectify those things. All I can do is give incomplete feedback that is irrelevant, it's like baking a cake halfway and then asking for feedback on how it tastes.

 

Once again you've done literally nothing to incentivise people to test on the PTS, no titles or just stupid cosmetics, so when I've logged on, there have been under 20 people and no way to test actual gameplay without manually organising. I understand getting the community to do your job for you probably saves costs, but it would be nice if you learned anything from all the failed PTS's before this one.

 

There isn't even a readily available target dummy for people to use, it's an absolute shambles. Luckily, you have a whole 4 months to fix this lol.

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I have a quick question regarding feedback in general.

 

On the PTS there are currently no functioning set bonuses and old tacticals. I believe the old tacticals and set bonuses are being removed in 7.0, but they are on the vendors, and we are encouraged to use them.

 

...

 

There isn't even a readily available target dummy for people to use, it's an absolute shambles. Luckily, you have a whole 4 months to fix this lol.

 

We have been told that current set bonuses won't work at level 80, so there's no point testing what's on the PTS with the set bonuses functional. What does matter is the iRating of the gear which is why we are encouraged to use the gear - just not to worry about the set bonuses.

 

I agree about the tacticals however, as they can drastically change how classes feel. Combat without twin fanged form is horrible for example, so it would be really good to know exactly which tacticals are going to still be in the game and which ones are going to be baked into the classes themselves (something Chris mentioned in the interview).

 

Lastly, there are target dummies to use!!! Go to the bridge of the Ziost Shadow for Empire, or the bridge of the Gav Daragon for Republic. They both have combat dummy sections to test rotations on. I have seen people using them and use them myself.

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We have been told that current set bonuses won't work at level 80, so there's no point testing what's on the PTS with the set bonuses functional. What does matter is the iRating of the gear which is why we are encouraged to use the gear - just not to worry about the set bonuses.

 

I agree about the tacticals however, as they can drastically change how classes feel. Combat without twin fanged form is horrible for example, so it would be really good to know exactly which tacticals are going to still be in the game and which ones are going to be baked into the classes themselves (something Chris mentioned in the interview).

 

Lastly, there are target dummies to use!!! Go to the bridge of the Ziost Shadow for Empire, or the bridge of the Gav Daragon for Republic. They both have combat dummy sections to test rotations on. I have seen people using them and use them myself.

 

Yes, they're level 80. Unless I'm missing some boost I'm still 75

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Hey TrixxieTriss,

 

We haven't stopped reading the feedback on the Guardian and Sentinel threads. I still provide the team with the constructive feedback from the threads when they are updated. It's why I heavily linked them in the OPs for the Sniper and Operative general and 'how to access' posts and also provided the Change Log.

 

We do plan on offering more classes to be tested in future PTS phases, so having all the individual feedback threads stickied would become a bit cumbersome. Even with everything stickied now, there's quite a bit. That said, I can work on LordCamTheGreat's suggestion with having a master feedback thread that is stickied as a compromise. Additionally, I'll be leaving a note for myself to consolidate the general and how to access posts for future PTS phases to save more room on the first page of threads.

 

Thanks Jackie, I was worried the threads would drop off page 1 as more classes were added and people would assume the team wasn’t reading them.

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Yes, they're level 80. Unless I'm missing some boost I'm still 75

 

There is a level 10 combat dummy as well. The difference between level 75 and 80 is mostly irrelevant for testing rotations. What does matter and what I've seen a lot of people complaining about in game is the fact that you can't reach 110% accuracy (at least from what we can tell). It would be nice if this could be addressed, though it's not that high a priority until parsing capabilities are reintroduced and the focus is less on functionality and more about class balance.

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  • Dev Post

Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to let you all know that the PTS server will be going down shortly to implement the following fixes:

 

  • Sleep Dart is a back for Operatives (it was never intended to be removed)
  • Combat Dummies will be level 75
  • Engineering Sniper has Orbital Strike baseline
  • Some tooltip clarifications/typo fixing

Down time is estimated to be approximately 30 minutes. Will update this thread when the server comes back up.

 

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Will Operative healers still have Diagnostic scan? It is like our free heal and helps with energy management?

 

Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to let you all know that the PTS server will be going down shortly to implement the following fixes:

 

  • Sleep Dart is a back for Operatives (it was never intended to be removed)
  • Combat Dummies will be level 75
  • Engineering Sniper has Orbital Strike baseline
  • Some tooltip clarifications/typo fixing

Down time is estimated to be approximately 30 minutes. Will update this thread when the server comes back up.

 

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There is a level 10 combat dummy as well. The difference between level 75 and 80 is mostly irrelevant for testing rotations. What does matter and what I've seen a lot of people complaining about in game is the fact that you can't reach 110% accuracy (at least from what we can tell). It would be nice if this could be addressed, though it's not that high a priority until parsing capabilities are reintroduced and the focus is less on functionality and more about class balance.

 

Yes, I unlocked the rishi SH and dummy area to test, I also spent 30 mins grinding gear at the vendors so I can test for them.

 

If you don't see why this is a problem I can only assume you love the taste of boot.

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  • Dev Post
Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to let you all know that the PTS server will be going down shortly to implement the following fixes:

 

  • Sleep Dart is a back for Operatives (it was never intended to be removed)
  • Combat Dummies will be level 75
  • Engineering Sniper has Orbital Strike baseline
  • Some tooltip clarifications/typo fixing

Down time is estimated to be approximately 30 minutes. Will update this thread when the server comes back up.

 

 

The PTS server is now back up. Thank you for your patience, everyone.

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Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to let you all know that the PTS server will be going down shortly to implement the following fixes:

 

  • Sleep Dart is a back for Operatives (it was never intended to be removed)
  • Combat Dummies will be level 75
  • Engineering Sniper has Orbital Strike baseline
  • Some tooltip clarifications/typo fixing

Down time is estimated to be approximately 30 minutes. Will update this thread when the server comes back up.

 

 

Good news and thanks for fixing, but why did it take 2 days to tell us about the glaring errors?

However your Release process is being run getting to the wire it seems to have incredibly poor post-deployment contingency practices despite the very public consequences, reputational impacts and unnecessary exasperation of volunteer customers doing you favours.

Edited by Zorii_Bliss
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Unless I have to recreate my entire character, sleep dart seems to have not been put back in still.

 

I didn't have an Operative before today's update (had been looking at Sniper instead), but an Operative I created today did have Sleep Dart, so you might have to recreate your character if it's just not in your ability list and talking to the droid doesn't put it there.

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Unless I have to recreate my entire character, sleep dart seems to have not been put back in still.

 

Indeed you need to recreate your toon (I already had an operative prior to the patch and sleep dart was nowhere to be found BUT showed up on a new toon

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Dev Post

Hi all,

 

We will be taking down the PTS shortly to perform character wipes in order to prepare for the next phase. We intend on launching the next phase sometime this week. All relevant info will be posted once it is live. Should any of this change, we will let you know.

 

Thank you,

Jackie

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