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Basic "how to play DPS" for all classes


NayaruLovegood

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Because SWTOR's community seems to be swamped with DPS players who don't know how to play a DPS I thought I'd write this little "How to". Once you have read this you will be under no mistake about what your role is as a DPS.

 

1) Do good damage. This means read through your proficincies and utilities and set bonuses and tacticals and then figure out what combination of skills is going to cause the most damage. Just using your favourite damage skills whenever they're available does not mean you are doing good damage. That one awesome skill hitting a big number does not mean you have good DPS.

 

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first and it doesn't matter if you're single target DPS or AoE - you do this, it is your job to do this.

 

Why? Several main reasons. I'll explain:

 

Lots of small enemies do more damage than one big enemy. If you don't kill them then the tank has to kill them and everyone knows that tank damage is not great. The tank should try to aggro these things so they're taking the damage but defeating them is your job. If the tank has to kill the trash around the big enemies (whether it's bosses or gold mobs) then you are not doing your job. The tank can lose aggro on the big important thing because you are not doing your job and are attacking it still instead of the small stuff. The healer can pull aggro when tanks mass taunt ends because you are not doing your job and then the healer dies, and then the tank dies, and then you die. It may be that the tank can keep aggro on everything but maybe the healer can't outheal the damage of everything for long enough and so the tank dies, and then the healer dies, and then you die.

 

If the small enemies outlive the big enemies this is a sign you are not doing your part in the trinity setup, your tank+healer are sighing behind their monitors. Once the small enemies are all dead you can go back to staring at your perfect rotation making the big numbers happen on the boss.

 

There are some situations where this is not important, your tank/healer will usually tell you when to ignore adds if this is the case.

 

3) Don't stand in AoE's (AoE stands for "Area of Effect"). These are usually big red circles (sometimes they are blue or purple or triangular) and you need to move out of them ASAP because they are hurting you or are about to hurt you. Looking at your skillbar and doing a good rotation is completely unimportant if you're dead. Healers can only heal so much, if you're not moving out of AoE's then your healer is having a heart attack healing you and will start to have trouble keeping up with healing the rest of the party. Get out of the big round colourful things! If you can't get out of it because it's stuck to you then take it away from everyone else until it's gone!

 

4) This is less common but if you steal aggro from the tank the best thing you should do at that point is hold off on your damage. Let the tank get aggro back and build a little threat before you start hammering away again. It is cool knowing you do so much damage you can steal aggro from a boss but it is not helpful for the healer's blood pressure.

 

In this game I have seen more wipes due to bad DPS players than I have to bad tanks or bad healers.

 

Please SWTOR community, teach DPS how to play their role. Bad tanks and bad healers are actually really uncommon in group finder. A huge proportion of DPS are awful, though.

 

Thanks for reading, see you in the fray.

Edited by NayaruLovegood
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2) When there's multiple targets you target the weak ones first and it doesn't matter if you're single target DPS or AoE - you do this, it is your job to do this.

 

Why? Several main reasons. I'll explain:

 

 

If the big enemies outlive the small enemies this is a sign you are not doing your part in the trinity setup, your tank+healer are sighing behind their monitors. Once the small enemies are all dead you can go back to staring at your perfect rotation making the big numbers happen on the boss.

 

These contradict each other.

 

 

Please SWTOR community, teach DPS how to play their role. Bad tanks and bad healers are actually really uncommon in group finder. A huge proportion of DPS are awful, though.

 

Not according to the "Weird people you meet in Group Finder" thread. In fact, the very first post in there is about a bad tank.

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These contradict each other.

I just figured it was a typo. I know exactly what they mean, even as a healer I end up dps'ing some of the 'weaker' enemies down because it's easier than trying to outheal their damage.

 

Reminder to dps: weak enemies are not weak because they have low damage output, but because they die easily.

 

Not according to the "Weird people you meet in Group Finder" thread. In fact, the very first post in there is about a bad tank.
A bad player can show up in any role, but the problem is unless a boss enrages it's harder to spot bad dps then bad tanks/heals. That plus some dps are clueless about fights, and will rage at the tank/heals even when something (like a scripted aggro drop) is not the tank/healer's fault. A good dps uses target of target and pops a defensive when needed.

 

Good dps will both put out the damage and avoid taking too much damage themselves.

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These contradict each other.

 

 

 

 

Not according to the "Weird people you meet in Group Finder" thread. In fact, the very first post in there is about a bad tank.

 

You will need to explain which two bits contradict each other because I'm not sure what you mean. I've changed "weak" to "small" to be clearer if that was what the issue was. I'm not really following though so.. x)

 

Also the first post in that thread is 7 years old. Things have changed.

 

Edit: It's now corrected. Sleep deprivation doesn't make for good writing. x)

Edited by NayaruLovegood
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You will need to explain which two bits contradict each other because I'm not sure what you mean. I've changed "weak" to "small" to be clearer if that was what the issue was. I'm not really following though so.. x)

 

Also the first post in that thread is 7 years old. Things have changed.

Hes nitpicking here:

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first

And

If the big enemies outlive the small enemies ...

 

Per the first quote the big enemies should outlive the small ones, thus the second quote should read:

"If the small enemies outlive the big ones..."

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First, you tell DPS to target the weak/small enemies first.

 

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first and it doesn't matter if you're single target DPS or AoE - you do this, it is your job to do this.

 

Then tell them that if the big enemy outlives the small enemies then they're not doing their job right. Even in that second part you contradict yourself.

 

If the big enemies outlive the small enemies this is a sign you are not doing your part in the trinity setup, your tank+healer are sighing behind their monitors. Once the small enemies are all dead you can go back to staring at your perfect rotation making the big numbers happen on the boss.

 

Maybe just a typo but it contradicts itself.

 

 

I'm not going to link specific posts, or tell you the post number, as that could be construed as calling out people. Now bear in mind that I have my forum settings to show 40 posts per page, so this is all on the last page of that thread for me. There are 20 posts on that page, 6 of them are about problematic tanks, and 3 of them are about problematic healers. Yes, some of those posts are about the individual's attitude, but there seem to be a lot of posts about people with bad attitudes, and only one of the posts on that page is about a poorly played DPS. Even on the page prior with 40 posts there are plenty of posts about tanks and healers. You want to say that the community is swamped with DPS players who don't know how to DPS, but it really seems like there is an even split across the board of people who just don't know how to play their class and have an attitude if you try to help them. While some will consider bad attitude a separate issue I have found that bad attitude often goes hand-in-hand with poor player skill.

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Ok Let me really explain how to DPS cause OP needs some pointers.

 

1 Do good damage Hit that Dummy Hit that Dummy a lot get star parse if your not over 23k DPS then keep hitting the dummy until you get there.

 

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first. Hit them all why just the small one. Hit them all, all the time, hard swap them targets.

 

3) Do stand in AOE's make sure to keep your healers hps up. They need to pull good numbers too dont be stingy.

 

4) This is less common but if you steal aggro Keep stealing Aggro force that tank to throw guard on you. Make sure he knows hes in for an aggro battle.

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Ok Let me really explain how to DPS cause OP needs some pointers.

 

1 Do good damage Hit that Dummy Hit that Dummy a lot get star parse if your not over 23k DPS then keep hitting the dummy until you get there.

 

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first. Hit them all why just the small one. Hit them all, all the time, hard swap them targets.

 

3) Do stand in AOE's make sure to keep your healers hps up. They need to pull good numbers too dont be stingy.

 

4) This is less common but if you steal aggro Keep stealing Aggro force that tank to throw guard on you. Make sure he knows hes in for an aggro battle.

 

Show me your 23k+ 10m dummy parse so we know its not crit outlier and you are not a keyboard warrior.

 

Good dps is the one that knows when to use rebounders, when to pop dcd's, how to not get damage by able to follow mechanics on time. Only then your dps matters.

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Show me your 23k+ 10m dummy parse so we know its not crit outlier and you are not a keyboard warrior.

 

Good dps is the one that knows when to use rebounders, when to pop dcd's, how to not get damage by able to follow mechanics on time. Only then your dps matters.

I think you misread the post you quoted, which was clearly (to me, anyway) mockery of bad DPSes everywhere.

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First, you tell DPS to target the weak/small enemies first.

 

 

 

Then tell them that if the big enemy outlives the small enemies then they're not doing their job right. Even in that second part you contradict yourself.

 

 

 

Maybe just a typo but it contradicts itself.

 

 

I'm not going to link specific posts, or tell you the post number, as that could be construed as calling out people. Now bear in mind that I have my forum settings to show 40 posts per page, so this is all on the last page of that thread for me. There are 20 posts on that page, 6 of them are about problematic tanks, and 3 of them are about problematic healers. Yes, some of those posts are about the individual's attitude, but there seem to be a lot of posts about people with bad attitudes, and only one of the posts on that page is about a poorly played DPS. Even on the page prior with 40 posts there are plenty of posts about tanks and healers. You want to say that the community is swamped with DPS players who don't know how to DPS, but it really seems like there is an even split across the board of people who just don't know how to play their class and have an attitude if you try to help them. While some will consider bad attitude a separate issue I have found that bad attitude often goes hand-in-hand with poor player skill.

 

Oh that serves me right for coming on forums when I'm sleep deprived. I've swapped small for big on the part that was wrong. x)

 

I maybe don't disagree with what you're saying but I'm personally experiencing bad DPS a lot more than bad tanks or healers. but given that I'll see DPS players more than twice as much as healers or tanks then the ratio makes sense that I'll see more bad DPS players than bad healers or tanks I guess.

Edited by NayaruLovegood
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Show me your 23k+ 10m dummy parse so we know its not crit outlier and you are not a keyboard warrior.

 

Good dps is the one that knows when to use rebounders, when to pop dcd's, how to not get damage by able to follow mechanics on time. Only then your dps matters.

 

As Steve said it was a sarcasm post you're replying to. I just wanna add though I couldn't care less about what DPS people are hitting as long as they're pulling their weight within the role. Well, of course it's a problem if someone doesn't know how to DPS with their DPS spec class... I've seen some tele sages who really don't know what they're doing and don't like taking advice either.

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EVERYONE needs to be AWARE of what's going on.

 

Look at which NPC is shooting at whom.

 

DPS need to stop attacking some other target IF the healer is getting mauled by adds or one outlier enemy NPC.

 

Of course, if YOU are getting mauled, drag em to the tank or wherever the healer has planted the AoE heal.

 

No one should be laser-focused on one target unless there IS only one target.

 

Look around.

 

See what needs to be done.

 

Help whoever needs help.

 

Understand if the tank has to keep an NPC "over there" and can't run around the battlefield to draw aggro.

 

Keep an eye on each other.

 

Know YOUR characters' abilities.

 

But, you should know your teammates abilities, as well. At least in general.

 

Being helpful makes things more fun and goes faster and tends to not devolve into "toxic".

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Show me your 23k+ 10m dummy parse so we know its not crit outlier and you are not a keyboard warrior.

 

Good dps is the one that knows when to use rebounders, when to pop dcd's, how to not get damage by able to follow mechanics on time. Only then your dps matters.

 

Well since you asked parse and practical use. Parse is non-adrenal I consider that to be a little cheatish. As well as a practical application in PVP.

BTW no one parses to 10 Million lol

 

https://imgur.com/a/5Oz9leP

 

http://parsely.io/parser/view/504497/0

Edited by TmoneyTime
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Because SWTOR's community seems to be swamped with DPS players who don't know how to play a DPS I thought I'd write this little "How to". Once you have read this you will be under no mistake about what your role is as a DPS.

 

1) Do good damage. This means read through your proficincies and utilities and set bonuses and tacticals and then figure out what combination of skills is going to cause the most damage. Just using your favourite damage skills whenever they're available does not mean you are doing good damage. That one awesome skill hitting a big number does not mean you have good DPS.

 

2) When there's multiple targets you target the small ones first and it doesn't matter if you're single target DPS or AoE - you do this, it is your job to do this.

 

Why? Several main reasons. I'll explain:

 

Lots of small enemies do more damage than one big enemy. If you don't kill them then the tank has to kill them and everyone knows that tank damage is not great. The tank should try to aggro these things so they're taking the damage but defeating them is your job. If the tank has to kill the trash around the big enemies (whether it's bosses or gold mobs) then you are not doing your job. The tank can lose aggro on the big important thing because you are not doing your job and are attacking it still instead of the small stuff. The healer can pull aggro when tanks mass taunt ends because you are not doing your job and then the healer dies, and then the tank dies, and then you die. It may be that the tank can keep aggro on everything but maybe the healer can't outheal the damage of everything for long enough and so the tank dies, and then the healer dies, and then you die.

 

If the small enemies outlive the big enemies this is a sign you are not doing your part in the trinity setup, your tank+healer are sighing behind their monitors. Once the small enemies are all dead you can go back to staring at your perfect rotation making the big numbers happen on the boss.

 

There are some situations where this is not important, your tank/healer will usually tell you when to ignore adds if this is the case.

 

3) Don't stand in AoE's (AoE stands for "Area of Effect"). These are usually big red circles (sometimes they are blue or purple or triangular) and you need to move out of them ASAP because they are hurting you or are about to hurt you. Looking at your skillbar and doing a good rotation is completely unimportant if you're dead. Healers can only heal so much, if you're not moving out of AoE's then your healer is having a heart attack healing you and will start to have trouble keeping up with healing the rest of the party. Get out of the big round colourful things! If you can't get out of it because it's stuck to you then take it away from everyone else until it's gone!

 

4) This is less common but if you steal aggro from the tank the best thing you should do at that point is hold off on your damage. Let the tank get aggro back and build a little threat before you start hammering away again. It is cool knowing you do so much damage you can steal aggro from a boss but it is not helpful for the healer's blood pressure.

 

In this game I have seen more wipes due to bad DPS players than I have to bad tanks or bad healers.

 

Please SWTOR community, teach DPS how to play their role. Bad tanks and bad healers are actually really uncommon in group finder. A huge proportion of DPS are awful, though.

 

Thanks for reading, see you in the fray.

 

LERRRROOOOYYY JJEEENNN***IINNSSS!!!!!!!!!!

 

I remember seeing that on what seemed like the week he did that. Good times....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay let's add more confusing explanations. OP is describing not godawful but still far from perfect dps.

 

  1. Be aware of your surroundings and learn thy enemy. In PvE, healer mobs (may have "medic", "sawbones" etc in the name) should usually die first.
  2. Things to know about the kill order: silver mobs usually hit the hardest, gold star mobs are tanky and weak mobs (without a star to their name) are just swarming but also have an added quality of being susceptible to lots of CC from damaging abilities. Not too dangerous, usually a good idea to clean them up first but don't go running 40 meters to kill one and then back just to preserve the "kill order". Be reasonable, try to AoE them down.
  3. Even if you're not a tank, try to control mobs so that they're easier to kill - gather them up, stun/interrupt heals and other nasty stuns, consider throwing in some group defensive like sniper's diversion when fighting big packs in FPs.
  4. Do not focus the big tanky guys (described above) but ideally don't tunnel vision and put down small mobs first no matter what. Commonly, a good idea is to use your big single target hitters on the big OR dangerous mobs while utilizing aoe skills to deal with more common rabble. For example, a lightning sorc should consider using thundering blast on the single gold star mob in the pack while rotating aoe skills (CL, force storm...) on trash.
    To this end, KNOW YOUR KIT and learn where your class stands in terms of aoe vs singletarget damage.
  5. IF you fear being overwhelmed, kill mobs one by one and rotate CC instead of the 4). 4) gives better dps, 5) (and the original post) gives better survivability.
  6. Parse on a dummy at least a few times if you're playing a dps spec.

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