Since it has not been made yet, i'm going to throw together a pve/pvp dps guide from the information taken from other sources,
currently my primary source is http://taugrim.com/ as his guides and streaming is the reason I rerolled a vanguard alt.
original guide with tanking overview mechanics as well http://taugrim.com/2012/01/04/guide-...anics-and-pvp/
Talent tree and stance overview :
Assault Specialist: this DPS tree provides mechanics that revolve around a proc-reset for the cooldown of High Impact Bolt and strong Damage Over Time (DoT) damage and related damage buffs. This tree provides the strongest > 10m ranged capability of the trees, a proc-snare effect, high sustained damage, and excellent burst via the talent to reset the cooldown of High Impact Bolt. The main downsides to this tree are the lack of movement capability and high ammo consumption
Plasma Cell: this DPS stance provides a chance for ranged attacks to proc a 6-sec elemental DoT
this pairing provides strong DoT capability, a ranged snare whenever your stance procs, excellent ranged burst with the proc-reset for the cooldown of High Impact Bolt, and excellent sustained damage
Talent Tree analyst :
Pyrotech (Assault Specialist)
Soldier’s Endurance should be skipped except for PVE tanking. For PVP, the exception to this rule is if you are investing 18 points in the tree to get Ionic Accelerator talent but are not using Plasma Cell, in which case this talent makes sense so you don’t waste talent points in Ionized Ignition
Parallactic Combat Stims should be skipped for PVE DPS. For PVP, if you are concerned about managing Ammo, consider taking Rapid Recharge instead of this talent, as PCS only procs when you are CC’d, and if you are stunned / knocked down / incapacitated, you are already passively regenerating Ammo instead of consuming it
Nightvision Scope should be skipped for PVE. For PVP, this provides not only better Stealth San capability but also increased avoidance against melee and ranged attacks (but not against Force or Tech attacks), and it is the best choice for the last 2 points to get to 15 to open up the 4th tier of the tree
Degauss should be skipped for PVE. For PVP, Degauss adds a root/snare-breaking effect to Reactive Shield which is situationally useful. That being said, my experience is that Nightvision Scope provides better utility in PVP, so I take that talent over Degauss to open up the 4th tier of the tree
Rapid Recharge is valuable in PVE for sustained DPS in long boss fights. It is also a very good choice to PVP
Reflexive Shield should be skipped for PVE but is useful for PVP. Given the internal cooldown, you get the most bang for your buck at 1 talent point
You can skip Adrenaline Fueled
Assault Plastique should be taken for full 31+ builds. Keep in mind that this ability replaces the base Sticky Grenade and has the 15-sec cooldown, so for PVP builds you may want to consider investing < 31 points in this tree and therefore passing on this talent ability
Ammo mechanics:
The “mana” bar for the AC goes different directions depending on your faction but they are functionally equivalent:
For Vanguard, Ammo cells are consumed as you use abilities
The most important thing to understand about our “mana” bar is that it depletes (regens) at a non-linear rate. This is a rather unique mechanic, and the implication is that if you spam mana-heavy abilities, you will bury yourself in a resource deficit. Therefore, you want to manage your ability use carefully.
To see the rates of ammo regen, mouse over the >>>> mini-bar to the right of your resource bar while using abilities.
There are talents that boost your ability to regen ammo, and there is an on-use ability on a base 2 min cooldown called Recharge Cells that will increase your regen ammo.
At level 42, we get the ability Reserve Powercell that causes the next ability to not consume ammo.
DPS Rotation
General
Weave in Hammer Shot as needed to keep your Ammo high
Use Battle Focus as needed for the huge buff to Ranged and Tech Crit Chance
AOE Rotation
Mortar Volley > Pulse Cannon
In PVE against standard and weak mobs, Sticky Grenade is a good damage + AOE knockdown, but remember that the AOE knockdown will disperse your targets.
Single-Target Rotation for 18+ in Assault Specialist
Specs with 18+ points in Assault Specialist revolve around the High Friction Bolts talent, which provides a proc to reset the cooldown of High Impact Bolt.
1. If the target is not going to die quickly, Incendiary Round for the DoT effect
2. High Impact Bolt – this will only cost a net of 1 Ammo when the target is burning
3. From range, Sticky Grenade or the 31-pt replacement Thermal Detonator (Assault Plastique). You can choose to open up with this ability for #1, but one minor consideration is you often want to use IR first due to the regen mechanics
4. While closing the gap, Hammer Shot
5. Stockstrike and Ion Pulse to try to proc the cooldown reset for High Impact Bolt
6. If you get a cooldown reset for High Impact Bolt, use it
7. Rinse and repeat
Do not overwrite your IR DoT unless there is a good reason to do so, e.g. you are about to die and hope to kill your opponent with the DoT, you are trying to DoT targets to prevent a node cap, etc.
Alacrity is similar to WoW’s Haste mechanic, and as the vast majority of your GCDs will be spent on instant-cast abilities, this stat is mostly wasted. Alacrity does shorten channeled ability cast times but all of our meaningful channeled abilities have a significant cooldown.
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