If there's one thing I noticed during the short bit I tried pvp, it's that between the bolster system (which appears to equalize levels, but not gear) and their design choices, the game isn't especially bursty. I had a fight between my Jedi Sentinel and a Sith Inquisitor that lasted a full minute and went down to the wire.

It felt pretty balanced, and respawns are done in a way that means the long fights don't become a game of trying to beat your enemy before yet another wave of reinforcements comes in.

Didn't have any noticable lag problems.

 

Its less about actual damage of abilities and more how limited the Focus/Rage system is.

JK/SW have to use their basic level one ability more then anyone else, simply to maintain their ability to use any of their other abilities. Especially Jugg/Guardian dps, you have to hit Sundering Strike/Assault every third gcd, and then there are times where you need to hit regular Strike/Assault right afterwards... They just can't maintain high output because of that.

 

Seeing as the sniper damage output is based on correct positioning I can accept it being high when properly entrenched, this promotes use of tactics instead of mad zerging straight on as most pvp I've experienced.

Would you say that the Sorcerer damage output compared to Assassin is acceptable due to the stealth mechanic advantage? Though on a whole with the fights designed to last longer, and depend less on burst the whole stealth concept lose a bit of it's advantage. The primary advantage is of course to be able to lock down and defeat key targets without having to run through the entire front, in WoW it was mainly healers, here it seems to be healers and as previously mentioned entrenched Snipers.

Also on the topic of Focus limitations, doesn't it expand whilst leveling up? Inquisitors force pool did atleast... Could become a non-issue in late game pvp.

 

I'm quite sure the sorcerer force pool didn't expand beyond 500 non talented, 600 talented.

I found the Sorcerer quite overpowered in early PvE, your companion is a beast of a tank, if you talent Lightning you can improve your shields, which are already quite powerfull and you can heal, also you have a fairly long cc.

These four things made you very powerfull to the 2+ and rarely, depending on the mechanics of the quest, the 4+ heroic quests.

Also is it me or is the spell check broken?

 

In a PvP situation? I would say it would take a very, very good Assassin player to capitalize on the Stealth mechanic to make up for the lesser damage output and stay just as useful/viable. But it COULD be done.

It would just take far more skill.

Sorcerers are going to get nerfed or Melee is going to get buffed. But as it is right now there is a definite gap between the two. And anyone who spent a fair amount of time with the game could see it.

 

I hear a lot of you saying that meele is crap or range is OP but why?

I mean, JK get their leap ability, and JC have slows and stuns.

 

It's not so much that melee is crap, per se, or that Ranged is OP entirely. It's that both are just a tad bit off. Melee is somewhat under-powered and ranged is somewhat overpowered.

Nothing huge on either side, but put together and the gap is fairly large.

For instance, the JK/SW may get their leap, but it can't be used on the IA/Smuggler if they're smart at all. Since gap-closers can't be used on characters that are 'in cover'.

Stealth may be nice, but right now (in PvP) unless you specialize specifically into being hard-to-see through, it's an unreliable (at best) mechanic. The skill cap for using it well is just.. too high.

The Consular/SI get their slows and stuns, but they also do a lot of damage as well. The combonation of CC + Lots of damage + gap creators + heals (if you go sage/sorcerer) is just too much.

Don't even get me started on the Tanky Ranged, the nasty things a Trooper/BH in heavy armor can do to you is just.. wow.

 

Trooper/BH wearing heavy armour and dishing out incredible damage and disables is a fair point. Cover can be countered by the anti cover bombs and running around them. I.e. they go into cover and get maybe, 65-90 degrees range of protection, even if they turn around(staying in cover) they don't get any defence bonus on you.

 

Final weekend Beta test starting tomorrow at 13:00 Cst. This weekends test will be smaller than last weekends stress test, so less invites going out but check your inbox anyway.

I'll probably be trying the non force classes out more this time, spent most of my last weekend on SI and JW.

 

No invite so far, not hopeful either. Anyhow, I managed to try everything I wanted last weekend except pvp, I'm set for launch. Enjoy though.

 

Got myself an invite, glad they saw that I was actually interested in testing, not in just figuring out what class I wanted to main when the game came out.

At which point the operative stealths and finds a better position. As soon as you choose to go off after someone else he follows you, and when you find someone and engage in melee unstealths just long enough to disable your ass and call in a nasty air-strike.

The sniper, however, unloads massive damage on you as soon as he sees you flanking him, and when the flanking maneuver is finished he throws out a stun, you pop your anti-CC ability, and he tosses out another stun, this one lasting even longer, moves back a bit, and settles back into cover, only to start unloading massive damage on you once more.

If he hasn't killed you by then, or at least whittled off enough of your health that continuing to engage is uncomfortable.. he deserves to get killed.

Also, note, a good sniper will take up position somewhere that makes it much harder than just flanking him. He'll set himself up on a level higher and blast at you from the above position while you have to take a circuitous route to get to him, he'll sit behind a screen of team-mates and rip you apart from range, he'll wait till you engage someone else and take REALLY bursty potshots at you while you can't ignore your current opponent.

Ranged characters that work with the cover mechanic and are played well are nasty to deal with.

1v1 if you don't close significantly before they get into cover... GG.

Team vrs Team and you've got more in-your-face problems to worry about.

Like that Sith Assassin who just dropped a debuff on you that means attacking ANYONE but him causes you to lose a flat 30 percent of your damage output.

 

I dunno, I played sniper til level 20 or so and never got any stuns. Awesome that we get some at higher level though ^_^

 

The horrible things this does to canon.

 

Then you were either totally ignoring or did not see one very important ability.

That being the Flashbang a targeted-AOE (up to six targets) "Blind" (stun) that lasts for several (up to eight) seconds and has a fair range on it.

Then there is also Debilitate, that is a short stun, but becomes longer as it ranks up, I believe.

Or Cover Pulse...

Or Leg Shot...

Aw hell:

Imperial Agent Abilities

Note that a lot of the tooltips when it comes to duration are incorrect.

 

Here's a review by some guy.

 

That's actually a really, really good review.

---------- Post automerged 12-02-2011 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 12-01-2011 at 11:22 PM ----------

This is C-canon at best. Almost N-Canon.

Don't worry about it.

 

Oh, I know, I know. That's not what bothers me. What bothers me is the inevitable influx of new star wars 'fans' who have a completley skewed vision of compared power of a Jedi, a Sith, and a trooper/bounty hunter: the community gets enough of that shit from Clone Wars fans.
I appreciate the (inevitable) decision in favor of game balance over canon, of course.

 

Yep. He touched on a lot of points, especially about the 'single playerness' of the game. And he is totally right. When I was playing I found myself seeking out others to party with more than I ever did in WoW, which is very much a solo game until the level cap, that is unless you are playing with a friend.

 

So it is more like how WoW used to be in vanilla? I only got to level 7 last weekend and didnt have much time to talk to others ingame, but the need for groups and interaction with other people was the thing that really appealed to me back in the beginning of WoW.

 

Well I never played WoW in vanilla, but I have heard a lot of people comparing them.

There is a lot of ironing out to do, and in the second last beta there was way too many bugs. As well as load times that are somewhat insane. But I really think Bioware made a winner here, at least until they fuck it up.