2.2 UPDATED~ Arsenal Bounty Hunter: Are YOU Doing It Right?

[Forsedar]

The travel times won't really affect our current DPS. It was more or so for a systematic change.



ALL 2.0 DISCUSSION BEYOND THIS POINT.


Okay, so I 'somewhat' updated this guide. A lot of things are still left unclear so I can't be 100% exact on things just yet, so don't expect anything to be set in stone just yet.

[MattiasV]

Hi,

I've been following this thread for a long time, but haven't had anything to contribute until now, but do appreciate the great work you guys have all put into thse disussions.

It's good to see the guide getting updated, though there are a couple of details you may have missed. First, rail shot is no longer a free cast in 2.0, that set bonus has been changed to have it deal more damage isntead (and this is basically the source of people having heat problems, railshot is no longer heat positive). It costs 10 heat, same as electro net, though with the increased damage I think it might get pushed past unload in the priority list anyway (at least that's my experience from the PTS).

Second, the gearing advice is a bit off for 2.0. Getting 100% accuracy isn't quite as easy anymore, it requires a rather strong dedication. And getting 30% crit will mean going all out on crit more or less. All I've seen and my own experiences tell me that crit should be dumped completely, as in 0 points in crit. Which in turn makes surge a lot worse, but that's ok because we won't get that much if we're boosting up accuracy first anyway.

But it'll be interesting to see what the revamped HSM and Tracer Missile will do for the feel of our class. It'll improve target switching by a lot, and it will create a natural separation between HSM and Rail Shot, which I think will make our rotations a bit easier under the new system.

[Requiem4aDr3am]

on PTS I think I used 432 acc rating to get just under 100% acc. That left me enough leeway to dump everything else into power. Think I was around 1350-1400 power when fully buffed on PTS. I def agree about crit and surge it looks like we just stack dat power unless they make improvements to the heat regeneration from alacrity or alter DR on crit/surge. Also, I noticed slightly more dps by dropping main stat off my aug slot and stacking pow augs instead. It seems with the changes to crit that mainstat isn't worth choosing over power.

[Forsedar]

I put at the end that the stat balances would most likely change, especially if they fix the DR on Crit. If not, then its more or less all power with an emphasis on Accuracy... like we did back in Rakata.

[odawgg]

Hey there guys, just wanted to say thank you to Forsedar for putting the guide together, and welcome back for 2.0! I'm a newly registered to this forum and it's IMO the most accurate written guide available, however I do have some suggestions that would make it even better.

A little about myself: SWTOR is my 4th attempt at an MMO. SWG, FFXI, and WoW were short-lived attempts. So really, this is my 1st MMO I've spent considerable time on and it was a huge learning curve for me, but I've thoroughly enjoyed it and like most of you have developed probably an unhealthy OCD for it . My merc was my first and only toon for several months. I eventually created other toons, even switched to a sin tank as a main for a while because of guild needs, but since 1.4 hit, I've put a LOT of time and effort into my merc from a gearing and priority system standpoint. Went to the far reaches of the internet (including this site) to see what the community has come up with, studied simulators for rotations, and developed some of my own little tricks with experience. When it comes to pre-2.0 raw rotation/priority system for sustained dps (i.e. banging on dummies, no moving, no distractions) and skill from practice to properly execute it, I can confidently say I've mastered it.

That being said, there's a few changes I would like to see in the guide to take it from being excellent to elite. The changes I'm referring to are related to the following sections of the guide

There are multiple other changes such as the [Improved Vents] talent. Its old form was just an additional 16 heat being vented, but it now adds a 10% Alacrity boost which lasts for 12 seconds. This is a great change for many reasons. When we used Vent Heat before, we would gain back more heat than we could spend. With 10% Alacrity, it allows us to spam more Tracer Missiles (or other abilities) faster than we can regen, giving us the option to overextend our boundaries. This represents quite a DPS change and adds Vent Heat to the list of abilities to be used during Burn Phases.

~Proper Rotation Etiquette~

Depending on the fight, we will open up with different things. Since most fights seem to be pretty similar in length, I will just talk about one rotation that basically works with every fight in the game and move on to more interesting matters.

When we start a fight, we instantly want to put on 5 stacks of Heat Signatures. This will only require you to cast ONE [/COLOR]Tracer Missile off of the bat. Before tossing that Tracer Missile, try to line up your Explosive Dart with the tank pull. As your tank is pulling, your Dart should be ticking off its damage as your Heatseeker is traveling to its target. Barrage will most likely proc after your Tracer Missile is tossed out, and what I do is actually USE Unload before tossing out a Heatseeker Missile. After Unload I immediately drop into a Thermal Sensor Override + Instant Cast ​Fusion MissileFrom there, use the new ability Electro Net to stack with the dot provided by Fusion Missile.

It is hard to predict when certain talents will proc, but following my priority system at the top will yield you maximum DPS. Just be aware of your heat level at all times. You do not want to go above 40% heat unless you have Vent Heat available. If you hit 40% heat, Rapid Shots is your friend. If you are under 40% heat- continue your rotation with the priority system.


Over 23 heat: Rail Shot > Fusion Missile with Thermal Sensor Override > Rapid Shots.
23 heat or less: Heetseeker Missiles > Unload > Tracer Missile>Electro Net (unless off CD)

The first paragraph I think is worth expanding on. IMO vent heat should be used on cd in "most" cases. Starting with opening your fight and then when you see vent heat's cd<~10s, you should be ignoring rapid shots altogether, ramp it up to over 80 heat (I personally use about 85 as my trigger) and vent heat (which will now be off cd). Few exceptions would be nearing the end of the fight, if using vent heat would put it on cd for the remainder of the fight, you might want to save it for an end of fight burn phase in some situations.

Your opener is very good, I don't personally use that one, but there's a lot of ways to open IMO. I would just suggest you layout an opener in list form; step by step, keeping your paragraph explaining it if you want the elaboration. for 2.0 I'm probably going to use the following:

(Explosive Dart on tank pull for boss fights)
1. Relic/Adrenal
2. Tracer Missile
3. Power Surge(x2 from talent)_Tracer Missile
4. Electro Net
5. Thermal Sensor Override_Fusion Missile (Power Surge is still queued)
6. Rail Shot
7. Heat Seeker's Missile
8. Unload

Reason I'm liking this one is it's pretty simple, gets at least 2 tracer locks for Rail Shot (armor debuff and HSM gain it's effect from one TM, but not Rail Shot from what I understand), starts a natural rotation of having Rail Shot and HSM coming off cd back to back which I think is easier to manage. Eventually Rail Shot and HSM might be separated by a Rapid Shots, but will eventually fall back into line. It also allows all ticks from Electro Net and Fusion Missile to be tied with the Relic/Adrenal. Again, this is just my preference, don't expect you to change your opener for the guide by any means. When I was playing on PTS, I fell in love with this opener even without TM/HSM QoL buff.

Where I really think this guide could receive an "elite" buff is with the priority system. The order in which you have the abilities, I completely agree with. The heat windows I don't fully agree with. Even pre-2.0, the floor heat for Rail Shot and TSO_FM shouldn't be listed as 23, it's technically 17. So it actually overlaps with the other abilities. I originally learned of this when researching the following simulation site: simulationcraft.org/swtor/130/Mercenary_Raid_Campaign_BiS.html (site no longer kept up to date, but reflects optimal rotation pre-2.0) and I further explored this theory using a very nice simulator at mmo-mechanics.com/swtor/forums/thread-1176.html. So this would bring an optimal priority system for pre 2.0 as follows:

Heat>23: Rail Shot>TSO_FM>Rapid Shots
24>Heat>17: Rail Shot>HSM>TSO_FM>UL>TM
Heat<18: HSM>TM

And personally, for QoL, I ignored the 17 heat floor since it's a rarity to drop below that after an ability is finished casting. And with 2.0, Rail Shot is no longer free, bringing it's heat floor even lower. Since no simulator is available yet for 2.0, I'm making some educated guesses on the new optimal rotation. I feel it's going to be something like this (simplifying ignoring heat floors as I did pre-2.0 for QoL):

Rail Shot (heat <30)
HSM (heat <24)
Electro Net (Heat<32)
PS_TSO_FM
UL (heat<24)
TM (heat<24)
Rapid Shots
*In addition, rapid shots should be used when Rail Shot/HSM/UL cd<1.5s)

I also think Power Surge is a good ability to touch on for the guide. In a lot of boss fights I refrain from using PS from stand still position, and even from attack abilities altogether, saving it for Rapid Scan when I'm in health pinch to make it easier on healers. During trash it's fun to tie it together with Concussion Missile for a quick CC.

The last thing (for now anyway hehe) I think is a must for Mercs is the action queue. It should be turned on in preferences and used throughout the entire rotation. A very handy trick I think should be added to the guide. It only pertains to the situation when all high priority abilities' cd>1.5s, your next TM would result in heat<24 (or vent heat cd<~10s), and you're fishing for an unload proc:

1. Press hotkey for TM
2. Press hotkey for UL during cast of TM
3. Immediately after TM cast is finished, tap hotkey for TM

When step 3 is timed properly, it allows for 2 things:

A. UL to cast immediately if Barage procs.
B. TM to cast again with minimal delay if Barage doesn't proc.

The benefit of A outweighs the minimal delay from B.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of my findings with ya'll, I hope it proves to be beneficial for the guide. Can't wait for 2.0!

[Deathztalker]

On the PTS on the last build I thought I remember rail shot costing 2 heat not 10 heat? At one point on the PTS power was worth more to BH than aim but later they were messing around with aim, any idea if power is still worth more than aim?

On the PTS I was finding if I wanted above average DPS I needed to use less of rotation and more of a shot priority list because of the cool downs on electro net, Power Surge and Thermal Sensor Override. I’d uses TM to get the armor debuff then pop on electro net for the dot, Power Surge I was paring with TSO with FM and TM or 2x TM to try and pop unload. I would try to pop TSO near the beginning of the fight because of the 2min cool down so that I would have it available again sooner.

[Forsedar]

Odawgg, thank you very much for that generous post. After this 10-stack Dreadtooth, I will surely start editing things in. You raised a few great points that I have clearly overlooked. Unfortunately I haven't had much testing time on the PTS considering I had just returned to the game.

[odawgg]

[/COLOR]

Odawgg, thank you very much for that generous post. After this 10-stack Dreadtooth, I will surely start editing things in. You raised a few great points that I have clearly overlooked. Unfortunately I haven't had much testing time on the PTS considering I had just returned to the game.

Not a problem, did you get him down? We've only been able to organize one attempt at it, but people had to leave after not very many attempts, doesn't look like we'll be able to try again before 2.0 hits. We're notorious for our 8 man operations, but these bigger group things we can't seem to organize

[MattiasV]

Which is why the ones who did have time to test are chiming in.


This guide has been a collaboration in the past, so it's great that new voices (mine included) are joining.

The rotation and priority Odawgg posts makes a lot of sense, my last run on the PTS I used something similar, but not with the numbers, just going by instinct. I was on the old opener though, and the one suggested here looks a lot better, especially now with us only needing one TM before HSM gets to do it's cool stuff.

The trick Odawgg mentioned at the end when fishing for barrage procs is pretty sweet, but it takes some practice to get right. A lot of the time when I tried it I ended up cancelling the unload by activating the second TM too fast or too slow. So while it's definitely worth doing, it needs a lot of practice to get down right.

[Forsedar]

[/COLOR]

Not a problem, did you get him down? We've only been able to organize one attempt at it, but people had to leave after not very many attempts, doesn't look like we'll be able to try again before 2.0 hits. We're notorious for our 8 man operations, but these bigger group things we can't seem to organize

We are strictly 16man, so getting together 30 people for it really isn't all that hard XD

[odawgg]

Which is why the ones who did have time to test are chiming in.


This guide has been a collaboration in the past, so it's great that new voices (mine included) are joining.

The rotation and priority Odawgg posts makes a lot of sense, my last run on the PTS I used something similar, but not with the numbers, just going by instinct. I was on the old opener though, and the one suggested here looks a lot better, especially now with us only needing one TM before HSM gets to do it's cool stuff.

The trick Odawgg mentioned at the end when fishing for barrage procs is pretty sweet, but it takes some practice to get right. A lot of the time when I tried it I ended up cancelling the unload by activating the second TM too fast or too slow. So while it's definitely worth doing, it needs a lot of practice to get down right.

Agreed and agreed. It is an instinct thing, I'm happy if I'm within 2 or 3 of those heat ceilings so I only end up in lower regen state for maybe a second. Lag is the primary enemy to the UL proc trick, but I've gotten to a point now where I only accidentally cancel an UL once in a blue moon.

[Forsedar]

Agreed and agreed. It is an instinct thing, I'm happy if I'm within 2 or 3 of those heat ceilings so I only end up in lower regen state for maybe a second. Lag is the primary enemy to the UL proc trick, but I've gotten to a point now where I only accidentally cancel an UL once in a blue moon.

Yeah I don't cancel an unload unless I'm not paying attention, which means I'm not doing anything all that important anyways.

Also I will be trying to finish updating this guide today, but Bioshock Infinite needs to be beat.

[odawgg]

At one point on the PTS power was worth more to BH than aim but later they were messing around with aim, any idea if power is still worth more than aim?

my limited theory crafting on power vs aim for augments shows about an even wash right now...that's just with full 69s though. As the total stats increase with 72s, I'm pretty certain Aim will prevail...I'd stick with aim.

[Deathztalker]

my limited theory crafting on power vs aim for augments shows about an even wash right now...that's just with full 69s though. As the total stats increase with 72s, I'm pretty certain Aim will prevail...I'd stick with aim.

What we were finding is when they devaluated Crit for BH they also devaluated aim making power worth more. I never ran the numbers as things were in flux but if you ran the number and you say that power and aim were worth about the same we will go with your math (^_^) Just out of curiosity did you run the numbers on a armor pen build to see if that might work better for us then a crit build for 2.0?

[Forsedar]

Aim was never devalued because of the crit DR.

We get a base 9% increase for Aim and 5% ontop of that with buffs making Aim still better than Power.

As it stands right now, crit is something we don't won't be focusing around at all. I have heard some rumors about the DR being changed for launch which will make crit as valuable as it is currently.

2.0 is looking to be: Get 100% Accuracy ---> Focus on as much Power as possible. I'm not quite sure which Armor Pen build you're talking about, as there is only 1 talent for it aside from our High Velocity Gas Cylinder. Now, that talent is mandatory as it gives 3% Accuracy in 2.0 as well as the 30% ArP for Unload, etc.

[odawgg]

What we were finding is when they devaluated Crit for BH they also devaluated aim making power worth more. I never ran the numbers as things were in flux but if you ran the number and you say that power and aim were worth about the same we will go with your math (^_^) Just out of curiosity did you run the numbers on a armor pen build to see if that might work better for us then a crit build for 2.0?

Well power vs. crit is another matter, and to be honest I have no idea lol...at level 72 BiS I'm not sure how much if any crit will be needed, my instincts say we're gonna want some crit. I can't imagine BW intending for peeps to go all power looking at historical BiS tendencies.

Reason aim>power stems from the 9% talented boost we have to aim, so every aim we add really adds .2x1.09=.218 bonus damage vs .23 from power. Then you add in the value the crit from mainstat. With full 69s I'm not 100% sure the added value outweighs the .012 increase in bonus damage, but I think it's really really close.

crit vs power is a difficult calculation, I usually wait for the math wizards to figure it out, it's best to use simulator's cuz there's so many factors. Currently on live, there's an optimal crit/power value based on ALL you're other stats that impact damage. It changes as you gear, it's not just "put on 260 crit" cuz that's only optimal when you're absolutely BiS on everything else, not if you have a bunch of 61s still. Another factor for mercs is the talent that boosts bonus damage by 30% to HSM and UL critical hits. That increases the value of crit but to know exactly how much it increases the value you have to know how often you're using those abilities compared to others.

Quite frankly it makes my head spin haha. Waiting for Keren to update his simulator that works beautifully for live right now.

[odawgg]

What Foresdar said

[Forsedar]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time an MMO just said "screw you" to almost all secondaries except one. I know for my main in WoW, I literally geared around Haste and Mastery. Crit for most classes was absolutely horrible and people just ignored it or reforged out of it.

I feel SWTOR is going the same route because of stat scaling. Naturally, our Crit is going to be lower for the first tier of 2.0 because if Crit starts out strong, then getting near cap towards the end of this content would be likely. We have to remember that content is scaled around the stats we have access to, so ignoring Crit and going straight Power isn't actually going to hurt us. We will be keeping our 2pc, which gives us 15% Crit to Tracer Missile.

[Deathztalker]

Good point on Aim Forsedar.

Correct me if I'm wrong Accuracy > 100% reduces the target's defense.

Even if we stack power on every piece of gear we have we are still going to have ear piece. implants and Enhancement that will have one secondary stat other then power.

My quest is how much does 101% Accuracy reduces the target's defense by and does that give us a better return on DPS than stacking Crit and surge for the remainder of the secondary stats?

[Forsedar]

It does reduce your targets defense, but we don't know exactly how much that will help us. Its still not viable to stack Accuracy over Power once at 100%.