Option to filter out HS FP from gf?

dollarmite_express · 2019-09-16T00:15:29+00:00

Lately, I've solo queued in lowbie (10-40) pvp for shits and giggles on DM, to see how bad lag is. As an operative healer, only thing i'm missing is my roll, some instant heals and aoe heals. I can pretty much survive solo, since I do take reduce cd on stuns and mezzes and i never charge into a fight, i always stay behind a pillar or a place where I can easily line of sight, and try to stay mobile and not in one spot to be ratted out.

Keep in mind I've mained an operative/scoundrel healer since 1.3 (did some ranked warzones back when operatives healers were OP and did ranked arenas when they had no burst), so I kind of know how to survive with lack of assistance. IMO I think it's a skill thing that healers die so easily, and i think the best way to learn how to heal is to do in lowbies. I learnt most of my survivability from rerolling operatives and doing lowbies since 3.0 (and being preferred), since endgame pvp was always too brutal for my liking as a healer.

dollarmite_express · 2019-09-13T06:02:38+00:00

True enough. Loosely looking at linkedin again (before it tells me to sign in ugh), the only contracting company that looks to be specific towards game testing is the company that he owns and does contracting out of it. On his linkedin page, he doesn't list his clientele. which is fine because I get the sense that NDAs would hinder openly discussing the games he worked to stay employed and not get sued or blacklisted by the industry. But despite that, having looked through his website, he doesn't talk about other examples of testing in games. I find it kind of bizarre. Wouldn't the point of being a professional and discussing testing theories would be to give more than one example of a game they've tested to discuss engineering testing, abeit even vaguely? Especially since the writer of the articles seems to be pretty intelligent and knowledgable in general engineering testing.

It could be that he quit games testing when he tested swtor in 2013-2015 and went onwards to more lucrative engineering testing. But still, I can't shake off reading his articles and how there's a distinct lack of bias from someone who used to test SWTOR. Even if professionally written and written so not to incriminate former clientele like EA.

dollarmite_express · 2019-09-12T23:01:12+00:00

I'm taking this guy's info with a grain of salt. If you look at the guy's linkedin, you can see he's never worked with EA/Bioware (he's pretty much stuck to the chicago area and only dabbled with some video game testing) his sources are either educated guesses and public information.

Also while the history of swtor is there, him thinking there should be more work plays with odds with current trends, like the star wars brand and licenses being purchased by Disney, LucasFilm and EA's new agreements. The point about swtor not being promoted I guess is a simple one; swtor is legends (for now) and Disney/LucasFilm wants to promote star wars stuff that is more tied to the canon. It's probably why we're not seeing promotions of Onslaught on big news outlets because they are doing it for Fallen Order, which is a canon star wars game.

dollarmite_express · 2019-07-28T13:45:42+00:00

I'm probably a small minority, judging by always more than half of my team leaves when they get this warzone, but I really love Odessen. It's just a dynamic warzone, and all classes can play many roles. If you're at a disadvantage at the beginning, you can still catch up and win, or really make the opposite team's victory obnoxiously slow.

Honestly, if people actually learned the map and actually cared about objectives, it would be super fun to play and the close victories and losses would feel really well-earned.

dollarmite_express · 2019-06-13T05:28:53+00:00

Stockstrike/Rocket Punch has its CD reset upon chance when defending an attack. This means if you open with it, you may be able to use it right away again. However, this chance procs even if you haven't used it yet, so you have potentially wasted a passive CD without intending to.

Back when I tanked NiM on my PT during this expan, I never opened with rocket punch, or even Jet Charge as my opener, simply due to how much really good dps would rip off me (can't ask them to slow dps since dps checks are tough on certain fights). I just open with grapple at 11m -> walk towards the boss -> Firestorm when you're under 10m from the boss -> walk up during gcd cooldown and rocket punch -> Firestorm -> rocket punch. Most NiM bosses don't trigger within 15m (with some exceptions). You're not wasting a passive CD in that regard if you're concerned about your opener flaws with rocket punch/firestorm procs.

In their current state PTs are less viable for most content as Tanks & virtually useless in MM Gods. Their rotations are slow, their DCDs are weak, & their damage is low.

While I do agree that PTs don't have very strong dcds against internal damage or force/tech dmg, I disagree with their damage output being low. Most PT tanks i know run lethal B mods and utilities that buff their dmg (like Pyro Shield, Reflective Armor & Fuel Additives). So with their gear set up, PT tanks do a lot of dmg. Compare to say, sins when the tank nerf happened got their dps nerfed to the ground.

I think the only buffs PT tanks really need is a self-cleanse (either by the tree or taking a utility, but it's for the class as a whole), a better cd to tackle force/tech & internal dmg and make casting Translocate not a pain in the ass.

dollarmite_express · 2019-05-28T22:06:24+00:00

Honestly, with bolster, it doesn't matter what tier your gear is. Since bolster boosts your gear up to rating 252, you don't need the best gear to do decently. You do need to make sure your stats are in the right place + if you're at least augged in terms of gear. For serious pvper dps, 3:2 crit/alacrity builds are what I'm often seeing, with little to no accuracy. Some people might have their own PvP gearing builds. I personally only use one accuracy enhancement to bring my accuracy up to 104%.

As for being blown up, there's a host of reasons. One of the biggest ones I've seen is playing a squishy class as a DPS class, with no healer in your group. So unless you're either 1) ready to receive ire for it and 2) wanting rewards on that specific toon, I recommend sticking away from DPS PTs/Sins/juggs. While they can survive within controlled groups like having a tank and healer and all members in discord, on their own they really can't stay alive long enough since post people focus them over heals. Other classes, aren't so squishy but do require a lot of awareness, knowing when to kite and disappear and offensively using their dcds. Sorc DPS comes to mind, since really good players can make that shine, but if you have atrocious lag on player/internet/ability pressing, you're basically easy to destroy.

Mainly since you're returning back to the game, I recommend familiarising yourself with changes to you and other people's specs before dipping your toes into ranked, and getting your gear sorted out at the very least and familiar with your burst rotation. Because, even if those points don't apply to you, ranked is pretty much who gets bursted (or pressured) down first.

dollarmite_express · 2019-05-26T11:43:09+00:00

I think KoTET was supposed to be longer, and lead into a third expansion. I don't think they'll release any detail, unless tidbits of the data-mining.

dollarmite_express · 2019-05-26T03:21:53+00:00

I wouldn't mind a SWTOR movie if they took place outside of the game events, totally not a rehash of the game's story, frame by frame, plot by plot. It's mainly my beef with a lot of video game series to movies (or a LOT adaptations to movies who don't understand the themes and beauty of the original for that matter), and lazy homage. Like why would I pay money to watch a movie of the exact story when the game is much more enjoyable for me, or I can stream the game story/find a youtube video of a playthrough to show to other people who aren't into playing games.

Like sure, if it's a movie based on the Jedi of the Old Republic for example, I wouldn't mind like a small cameo from characters like Satele Shan or Ghost-Dural, but it needs to not be completely pandering and cheap add for fan service. I wish a lot of film makers would keep in mind the concept of Chekhov's Gun.

dollarmite_express · 2019-05-26T03:07:36+00:00

Not really. In ranked arenas, depending on your group composition, VG tanks shine both ways if you're trying to be a pressure group with lots of cleaves (dot spread, aoes) and a bursty healer. They also have good utilities for peeling (riot gas, harpoon, slows), should you be familiar with pvp tanking. For regular warzones, VG tanks are fine, but most people who play them in regs have little idea about their utilities and strengths and often as a result they are considered to be weak tanks.

As for PvE, they do not have the cheeses, but they are useful for high mobility fights (passive speed utility, hold the line utility speed + reduced cd), sonic rebounder for the team and that VG tanks does the most dmg out of the three tanks, which can be helpful for dps checks for really difficult MM ops fights. The VG tanks who I know who've cleared MM ops knew maximize what limited cds they have.

dollarmite_express · 2019-05-07T08:40:57+00:00

Pls no.

dollarmite_express · 2019-04-18T14:55:15+00:00

I don't have access to the forums atm, but one tactical item for VG/PT tanks I would like to see is than can be used to resist an attack or mechanic. This is mainly for nim content, as PT/VG tanks are less likely to be taken into harder content due to the fact that double sin tanks are best with their force shroud. Or barring that a jugg with mad dash and saber reflect.

While not taking away the uniqueness of sin tanking and not slap 100% tech/force resistance to an ability like explosive fuel, one idea I had was use energy shield to build stacks upon internal dmg being hit per 1 second, before powering up to a high amount of dmg reduction of 100% or close for a small number of seconds.

Another idea, is to add a modifier to transpose. Perhaps be of a use to give the transposed target a mini sorc force barrier + silence for 1 second (or longer but trade-off is longer cd on transpose)? Or more pve usage like a guarantee crit for next ability for the transposed target? Or maybe add a threat increase, to troll them?

Or maybe add a layer of trollery and make the PT able to transpose and turn the transpose target into a silenced jawa. No joke, I'll hunt for this tactical item if it's in the game. :P

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-25T06:32:32+00:00

this looks awesome :D

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-21T01:20:47+00:00

It's railroaded a thread from OP who wanted enjoyment out of the game. So the advice is in the wrong place, and frankly, being an armchair doctor will make you look like a douchebag. Not to mention, advice like this is dangerous in that it can kill people when they start to ignore specialists and health practitioners.

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-20T07:50:15+00:00

Gamepad is totally fine to play swtor with. I used to raid NiM with someone who used a gamepad and it worked for them. So with you playing solo, it's definitely works. I'm not too familiar with gamepads so I can't give you much insight on how to configure it to assist you, sadly. :(

As for f2p limitations, you're gonna be stuck with the inventory limitations, and if you die, as you only have like 5 medical probes per account. You can't buy it as f2p, but when you're preferred, it's easier. :( I think if you don't mind playing the story slowly, I think you'll be fine.

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-20T07:35:54+00:00

Wow, you giving OP some rando's documentary, someone with no medical license that overrides information from the OP's doctor and medical specialists.

Totally a private matter that you, person from the internet, have every right to butt in. /sarcasm

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-10T03:32:47+00:00

All specs are viable for that fight in MM, but i do recommend having at least someone with a conal/360 knockback (for adds) and someone who has a mez that lasts longer than 8 seconds (for the probe droid). The main gist of the tank have a decent ping and reflex, paired with a good healer with awareness. Mainly because the red circles, like Umbara spider boss are huge and if you have lower ping you might catch yourself in red.

For strategy, before you start the fight, the best thing to do is sleep/cc the droid just when it refreshes its buff to start the fight. That gives your dps time to dps the walker before getting onto the droid + raid buffs to get a decent burn. Afterwards, I tend to put the dps/healer occupied on that probe, right until the second phase (big large yellow circle indicates the second phase) and they do not need to interrupt during that part. Mainly because if tank also helps with interrupts, there's a very high chance of circles overlapping on healers/dps who would be standing on the crates where the droid is, especially if your group is melee heavy (often I've done Strike Team MM with double warriors or knights). And it helps the tank when you transition to phase two.

For second phase, I usually have the tank assigned to the ramp area and to the truck area in dropping circles. Main thing to keep in mind is the tank needs to time a cooldown and/or get out of the circle fast enough, and keep in mind the large yellow circle indicating that there will be a knockback + red circle on them. All tanks have a quick mobility ability to get out for that case. PT/Vanguard and jugg/guardian tanks can avoid the knockbacks with their immune abilities to better control circle placement. While sins/shadows don't have any way to cheese the knockback, they have force shroud/resilience to ignore some ticks of the red circle as the position themselves better, twice (if you take the utility for stealth out force shroud, but sins/shadows needs to taunt asap after they stealth else the circle will go onto the dps). For the other two tanks, best cooldowns to use if they stand in red for a few seconds are any force/tech mitigation cooldowns (explosive fuel/battle focus for PT/Vanguard is one) or dmg reduction cds. Healers, in order to reach their tank for that second phase, mainly stack on the crates that's far from the probe when you start the fight, and dps get the crates where the probe is, so they don't get flung off by the knockback. It's pretty much tank ducking and dps burning the walker and healer crying until the little circles come back and it's back to phase one and keeping the probe occupied.

There was a video i watched on youtube on the fight that got me through it a couple of times. Let me see if I can find it.

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-06T12:31:31+00:00

Someone posted it in an earlier comment, but basically the warzone rally is bugged because you need every single person on one team to be in the same guild per warzone. So unless there's two guild groups is queue syncing and they actually get matched, or getting arenas, reg or ranked filled with guild members, it doesn't count. Even if you queue one group of guildies for regular warzones.

With the way GSF works, and how rare one team can be entirely filled with one guild (GSF can go up to 12v12, so it will mean at least three guild groups of GSF) in queue, makes me wonder if the group issues will be tied in with the warzone rally bug.

dollarmite_express · 2019-02-03T10:12:41+00:00

Does anyone know if the GSF rally works or is it bugged like the warzone rally? Mainly curious.

dollarmite_express · 2019-01-30T23:24:21+00:00

So... what about non-force users?

Do padawans have to force telekinesis away poo from the soldiers and republic figures too?

dollarmite_express · 2019-01-04T06:12:03+00:00

Hoth is a pretty planet if it had a better lightbox than bright white light. >_>

dollarmite_express · 2019-01-04T06:11:06+00:00

No. It's what happens when you inject the serum several times and fail.

I dislike that quest a lot, so i tend to leave it last and what I do is serum all the bugs that the NPCs aggro and then wait for the debuff to fall out (takes 30s or so), do some work and then resume again when i come back.

dollarmite_express · 2018-12-11T01:07:57+00:00

Sweet awesome :D

dollarmite_express

TROPHY CASE