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Mercenary, Powertech, Juggernaut, and Marauder on PTS!


JackieKo

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Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to our fifth phase of PTS featuring the Mercenary, Powertech, Juggernaut, and Marauder 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 previous Combat Styles that have been released through PTS, 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 dove into PTS has been helpful in identifying what experiences are crucial to players.

 

Alongside the Mercenary, Powertech, Juggernaut, and Marauder Combat Styles available for testing, please note the following changes for this phase of PTS:

 

  • Players will find PTS Gear vendors on the fleet near the Onslaught SoW vendors providing gear at item rating 318.
  • Players should expect a smoother experience with game scaling when exploring planets
  • Reminder: Game scaling is NOT available for old operations (Ops outside of 7.0), or Veteran and Master modes in Flashpoints

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

 

  • Companion is not auto healing the player
  • Amplifiers will not be enabled for this phase of PTS.
  • When players first log in, mounts may be missing. Travel to a new area (planet or new instance) and they will reappear
  • Set bonuses are not enabled during this phase of PTS. Gear will still grant you their stats, but the set bonuses will not work.
  • Note the WIP markers on the UI.
  • The status update/known issues list has been updated, so please read through that before hopping into PTS.

 

How to access the PTS server and test out the new Combat Styles

 

First, ensure you are on the PTS server by following the steps here.

 

Though character copy is available for all the currently available Combat Styles, note that all PTS characters have been deleted in order to ensure 7.0 compatibility.

 

Steps for players not using character copy:

 

  • Create a new Mercenary, Powertech, Juggernaut, and Marauder
  • Walk outside of the cantina and you will see the PTS Fleet Transport Droid
  • Speak to the droid, and select yes to travel to the Fleet.
  • Head up to the main Fleet level
  • Go to the Combat section
  • Talk to the CD-3 Combat Specializer Droid
  • Press K to select your Discipline and go through selecting your abilities/passives from the Ability Tree. (Please note the WIP markers)
  • Talk to all of the vendors to gear your character
  • Talk to the Onderon Dreams: Travel Agent Droid to travel to Onderon
  • Head to the Onderon Mission Board (-725, -291). Special Note: Speeder Piloting Level 3 is granted through this terminal.

If you are using character copy, head straight to the fleet, select your Discipline and gear accordingly.

 

Please let us know if you experience any issues.

 

Your feedback on the new Combat Styles will help us determine if we are on the correct path to achieving our goals of making the class feel less encumbered and customization more concise.

 

  • Please note that all feedback threads that have been created up until now have been compiled into one post for convenience. The entire list (including the newly available Combat Styles) can be found here.
     
  • Game scaling feedback can be left here.

 

EDIT: Below is a list of the missing descriptions.

 

 

Powertech

 

Advanced Prototype

 

Lvl 15

  • [Mod] Heat Zone - When Energy Burst deals damage to a target, it hits up to 3 additional targets within 5 meters of the target.

Lvl 35

  • [Mod] Advanced Yield - Increases the range of Flame Burst, Magnetic Blast, Shatter Slug, Deadly Onslaught, Energy Burst, and Rail Shot to 15 meters. In addition, Retractable Blade ticks decrease the cooldown of Power Yield by 1 second. This effect can occur once every 5 seconds.
     
  • [Mod] Advanced Shielding - When activating Energy Shield you gain Advanced Shielding, making your next Kolto Overload heal to 45% health or your next Power Yield last for 15 seconds.

 

Pyrotech

 

Lvl 15

  • [Mod] Heat Stroke - Flaming Fist builds a stack of Heatstroke increasing the damage of your Combustible Gas Cylinder by 10% per stack. Lasts for 15 seconds. This effect can stack up to 4 times.

 

Lvl 20

  • [Mod] Heat Chain - Grappling Hook is engulfed in fire and places Heat Chain on the target. This deals elemental damage and slows the target over 6 seconds.

 

Lvl 30

  • [Mod] Whistling birds - Incendiary Missile deals damage up to 4 targets and applies a detonator to each target it hits. When the targets are hit by Searing Wave each detonator explodes dealing damage to each target.

 

Shield Tech

 

Lvl 15

  • [New] Heavy Flamer - Torches everything in a 10-meter radius cone with a flamethrower, dealing X elemental damage to up to 8 targets and generating 28 heat over the duration. Affected targets are imparied for 45 seconds, reducing their Force and Tech damage by 5%. Replaces firestorm.
     
  • [Mod] Target Rich Environment - Firestorm grants you a stack of Target Rich Environment increasing the damage of your Tech and Elemental attacks by 3% per stack. Lasts for 10 seconds and stacks up to a max of 8 stacks.
     
  • [Mod] Counter Attack - Shielding an attack grants Counter Attack, increasing the damage of your next Rail Shot by 10%. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.

 

Lvl 20

  • [Mod] Extraction Plan - Fires a grapple line that pulls the target to the Bounty Hunter and generates a high amount of threat. In addition, grapple can also pull allies. Cannot be used on targets in cover.

Lvl 30

  • [Mod] Contracted Defense - Firing Heat Blast grants you a stack of contracted defense. This increases your shield chance by 1% per stack. In addition flame burst and flame sweep also generate a stack of Contracted Defense. Max stack of 5.
     
  • [Mod] Heat Release - Grants a stack of Heat Release for every target hit by Heat Blast. Each stack increases Shield Rating by 1%. Max stacks of 4 for 10 seconds. In addition targets are slowed by 20% for 6 seconds.
     
  • [New] Payday - Fires a shot that consumes all Heat Screens to deal x elemental damage, and increase shield absorption by 25% for 6 seconds. This ability is only usable with 3 Heat Screens, generates 25% additional threat, and does not respect the global cooldown. This ability only deals damage to a single target but does increased damage. In addition it grants 3% shield rating and reduces the cooldown of Neural Dart by 3 seconds.

Lvl 35

  • [Mod] Mandalorian Iron - Taking damage during Explosive Fuel reduces the cooldown on Energy Yield by 2 seconds. This can only occur once every 1.2 seconds. In addition taking direct damage builds a stack of Mandalorian Iron increasing your damage reduction by 1%. Stacks up to 3 times.

Lvl 40

  • [New] Rising Phoenix - Jet to a distant target dealing X kinetic damage, interrupting the targets current action and immobilizing the target for 2 seconds. In addition, when reaching the distant target, up to 4 targets within 10 meters are immobilized. Cannot be used against targets in cover. In addition increases the damage dealt by Flame Sweep by 15% and Jet Charge grants 2 charges of Flame Surge, which makes your Flame Burst and Flame Sweep generate no heat. Each use of Flame Burst and Flame Sweep consumes a charge of Flame Surge.

 

Mercenary

 

Bodyguard

 

Lvl 15

  • [Mod] Residual Globules - Healing a friendly target with Healing Scan leaves behind a Residual Globule for 10 seconds. A different friendly target can move into the REsidual Globule and be healed for x health.
     
  • [Mod] Integrated Scanning - Activating Healing Scan grants Integrated Scanning for the next 15 seconds, increasing all healing you do by 3%.
     
  • [Mod] Critical Scanning - increases the critical chance of Healing Scan by 5%.

Lvl 20

  • [New] Stealth Scan - Fires off probes that scan the area for stealth opponents for 15 seconds and grants a charge of Battlefield Protocols, increasing the damage or healing dealt by your next non channeled direct damage or healing ability by 20%. For each target revealed from stealth, you generate an additional charge of Battlefield Protocols. This effect stacks up to 5 charges.

Lvl 30

  • [Mod] Efficient Shells - When Kolto Shell heals its target, there is a 25% chance it does not lose a charge.
     
  • [Mod] Splashing Shells - When Kolto Shell heals its target, it also heals up to two additional friendly targets within 5 meters for 541.
     
  • [Mod] Shell Shield - When Kolto Shell heals its target, the target will gain a Shell Shield, which lasts up to 4 seconds and absorbs up to 1050 damage. This effect cannot occur more than once every 4.5 seconds.

 

Arsenal

 

Lvl 15

  • [Mod] Triple Trace - tracer missile fires up to two additional half strength missiles at other enemies within 5 meters of the primary target.
     
  • [Mod] Signature Shot - [NYI] Priming shot deals 50% more damage to targets affected by your Heat Signature.
     
  • [Mod] Proficient Tracing - Reduces the activation time of Tracer Missile by 0.2 seconds and the heat it generates by 2.

Lvl 20

  • [New] Stealth Scan - Fires off probes that scan the area for stealth opponents for 15 seconds and grants a charge of Battlefield Protocols, increasing the damage or healing dealt by your next non channeled direct damage or healing ability by 20%. For each target revealed from stealth, you generate an additional charge of Battlefield Protocols. This effect stacks up to 5 charges.

Lvl 30

  • [Mod] Customized Warhead - Increases the critical chance and critical damage of Heatseeker Missiles by 10%.
     
  • [Mod] Tracing Residue - [NYI] Heatseeker Missiles apply a residue to the target, increasing your Tracer Missile damage against the target by 5%.
     
  • [Mod] Thermonuclear Fusion - Fusion Missile spreads your Tracer Missile’s Heat Signature to the targets it damages, if it damages at least one target already affected by your Heat Signature. Heatseeker Missiles fire additional quarter-strength missiles at nearby targets affected by your Heat Signature.

Innovative Ordnance

 

Lvl 15

  • [Mod] Eruptive Flames - Periodic damage from Incendiary Missile has a 60% chance to erupt, burning up to 4 additional targets within 5 meters of the primary target.
     
  • [Mod] Incendiary Ignition - Periodic damage from Incendiary Missile has a 50% chance to trigger Combustible Gas Cylinder on the target.
     
  • [Mod] Volatile Cinders - Periodic damage from Incendiary Missile has a 20% chance to trigger Volatile Warhead, regardless of the target's health percentage. This effect cannot occur more than once every 15 seconds.

Lvl 20

  • [New] Stealth Scan - Fires off probes that scan the area for stealth opponents for 15 seconds and grants a charge of Battlefield Protocols, increasing the damage or healing dealt by your next non channeled direct damage or healing ability by 20%. For each target revealed from stealth, you generate an additional charge of Battlefield Protocols. This effect stacks up to 5 charges.

Lvl 30

  • [Mod] Impact Explosives - Thermal Detonator deals 50% more kinetic damage but no longer deals elemental damage and Power Shot and Mag Shot cannot detonate it early.
     
  • [Mod] Heavy Shrapnel - Thermal Detonator can hit up to 8 additional enemies within 8 meters of the primary target for a quarter of the damage it deals to the primary target.
     
  • [Mod] Slow burn - Periodic damage from Thermal Detonator is 25% stronger and burns for 6 seconds longer.

Lvl 50

  • [Passive] Relentless Ordnance - Elemental attacks deal 3% more damage to bleeding targets, and periodic effects deal 30% more damage to targets below 30% max health. In addition, once every 10 seconds, gaining a stack of Supercharge grants Relentless Ordnance, increasing your critical chance by 10% for 10 seconds

 

 

Edited by JackieKo
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Ok so jackie is there a reason 6 passives for the merc and 4 passives for the PT arent working(no text shown and nothing to base it on) cause was trying to playtest them and cant do that if passives are missing to make it fully playtestable
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Hi all,

 

We've received reports that some of the passives are missing descriptions. The team is aware of this issue. I'll be updating the OP with the relevant info once I have it.

 

Thanks, Jackie! I hope it gets fixed soon I'm anxious to see the different passives.

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A couple of questions:

[NEW] Guardian Leap now a baseline ability for all disciplines

[NEW] Defense Guardians now can choose between two passives or the Thwart utility at level 35

Guardian Leap / Intercede is now a level 35 choice for Defense discipline only. It replaces Awe from the old PTS build.

 

Is this third line just a mistake?

Also, the utility Thwart is indeed available for Defense, but Guardian Leap is not available for any of the 3 disciplines.

 

Edit - Correction: It is available if you create a new character, but characters created before the update didn't receive the ability even after talking to the droid that grants max level and abilities.

Edited by celsomergulhao
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  • Dev Post
Hi all,

 

We've received reports that some of the passives are missing descriptions. The team is aware of this issue. I'll be updating the OP with the relevant info once I have it.

 

The first post has been updated with the missing descriptions.

 

Something I was noticing while checking things out earlier and didn't see in the known issues: the class buffs don't seem to be applying to the player, at least not visually. I can see them on my companion's buff bar, but for me they don't show up.

 

Missed this. I will be updating the known issues list. Thanks for flagging it.

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Posting it here because it seems to be getting more attention, but Marauder's Predation choice and Sentinel's Transcendence choice are different. Predation has the old tooltip and functionality, which is the same as both abilities are in 6.0 without taking the utility (Requires secondary class resource, no cooldown, 50% speed boost), whereas Transcendence functions as though the utility is selected (No secondary class resource, 30 second cooldown, 50% speed boost, purges movement impairing effects).

 

Which of these is intentional? It seems to me that removing access to (With it costing all of your fury, that's essentially what it does for every spec other than Annihilation) one of Marauder's only utility abilities for a party would be a really bad move, and Sentinel's was previously updated from the 50% version to the 80%. Making it cost fury again would cause numerous problems with nearly half of the core choices you make with Carnage/Combat that can affect your damage output as well.

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I tried to select PTS and it started redownloading the entire game.

Eh, what the ****, man?

 

They don't tell you, but access to the PTS requires a complete separate install of the entire game, also, they're not the only game who does this with their test servers, STO, NWO, are just 2 examples, but honestly it's rare to find a online multiplayer game that doesn't require a separate game install for testing.

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In general, the idea of taking away skills we already have, and moving them to lvl 80, is a horrible idea in my opinion.

This will be the second time you guys have done this in lieu of new skills.

Dont do this, please.

Augment them at lvl 80, give us ways to modify them, almost anything other than taking them away only to give them back 5 lvls later.

For me skills shouldnt be in the trees, period, just ways to augment them, change them around such as adding more single target or more AoE punch to them as you have done with some.

If you cant give us new ones that fine, but at least dont take stuf away like a dangled carrot.

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So I haven't commented on the last few rounds of this, but now I'm getting a little worried/curious: are characters visuals...squished for anyone else? My character's portrait and the one in the target bar, the display in the preview window, they're all really skinny and not showing up properly. Is this something to do with a setting I missed on PTS that didn't copy from live? Is it part of the new visual changes (there are some other font and window updates I've noticed) that's known currently to be bugged? Or is this something that's happening to just me?
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So I haven't commented on the last few rounds of this, but now I'm getting a little worried/curious: are characters visuals...squished for anyone else? My character's portrait and the one in the target bar, the display in the preview window, they're all really skinny and not showing up properly. Is this something to do with a setting I missed on PTS that didn't copy from live? Is it part of the new visual changes (there are some other font and window updates I've noticed) that's known currently to be bugged? Or is this something that's happening to just me?

 

Yes this was caused by something in the last round with Sorc/Sin.

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Is the intention for the A, B, C builds as they are on the PTS to be the default choices we have or do we get to pick any one of the three choices per level available when 7.0 goes live? Can we mix and match and create our own builds or are we limited to the pre-determined set of abilities confined to the A, B, & C builds?
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