Weekend Pass: Chose a gunslinger. Is this a pvp joke by Bioware?

[ThaSpacePope]

I created a republic cyborg smuggler as I was told the republic side of things is very sparse so queues in warzones would be quick. So far this is true.

At level 10 I chose gunslinger and now I am wondering if this is just like, some sort of cruel bioware joke. Absolutely no slows or CC abilities? Just a single 4 second MELEE stun which is instantly trinketed out of. And all my other CCs are broken by dmg. So even if I manage to get away slightly, theres no possibly way to keep melee away. None.

I would have posted this to the SWTOR forums but weekend pass has no ability to chat or post, etc.

So I post here wondering if maybe I am wrong or if I can change it or if there is some sort of hope. If not, I am left scratching my head as to why bioware did this.

[Brooxi]

Because in every single MMO you have all the abilities a max level does at level 10.

[Raeli]

I believe as a Gunslinger, you get access to a knockback at the very least, and you have a ranged shot which slows an enemy by I believe 50%. There's also talents that help, there's one that causes you to knock your target back if they're close to you when you use one of your abilities too.

You generally will get new skills every level or two all the way up to 30, and even then on to 50,although it slows up a bit after 30. By 35 you should have the vast majority of your skills and talents to give you a reasonable impression.

Entering at level 10 or level 20 and expecting you to have all the tools at your disposal is just like doing the same in WoW, L19 twinks have bugger all, skill wise too.

[ThaSpacePope]

I should clarify that my character is level 15. (corrected)

I never said I was level 10 going into warzones. I said at level 10 I chose gunslinger.

I looked through the list of abilities for gunslinger and saw not a single slow or cc worth anything. The point of this post was to see if I missed something.

---------- Post added 2012-03-17 at 07:39 AM ----------

This is the source I was looking at:

h t t p : / / w ww.swtoritem.com/Smuggler/Gunslinger/Abilities[/url]

I see not a single slow. Is there a talent that creates a slow? 1s immobilize that breaks on dmg is almost worthless.

[Idoru]

How do you get to level 26 on a weekend pass?

[Deleted]

I seem to do quite alright with my gunslinger and have done alright with him all the way from 12-50 in PvP. But then you have to understand how each class works, have a good build, change it as you gain levels (switch trees etc, some builds work great at lvls 10-20, other are better from 20-30, others are better later etc). You have the longest range in game (35m I think for most your abilities), some of the highest burst in game (but not at lvl 26 I think), good CC (a 4s stun, a large AOE knockback, a single target, medium range knockback (talented Aimed shot), an 8 second AOE break on damage stun/sap, a 15 sec cd Root that is not - as all roots/slows - influenced by enemy resolve, if you spec Sabotage you get a 30% single target permaslow etc). Try playing a Sentinel in PvP at low levels and then come back.

Honestly it seems just a L2P issue, which is fine seeing as you've played the game what - 12 hours?

P.S.

Positioning is everything. Of course you'll die instantly if you plant your shiny cover in front of the whole enemy team. Try using the maps to your advantage.

[gualdhar]

did you look at the smuggler skills too? that just shows the gunslinger-specific ones.

EDIT: flash grenade works as a stun. Also, keep in mind as gunslinger you're really more about good positioning and doing shittons of damage, and you have a lot of abilities that break or make you immune to cc so long as you're in cover.

[ThaSpacePope]

I seem to do quite alright with my gunslinger and have done alright with him all the way from 12-50 in PvP. But then you have to understand how each class works, have a good build, change it as you gain levels (switch trees etc, some builds work great at lvls 10-20, other are better from 20-30, others are better later etc). You have the longest range in game (35m I think for most your abilities), some of the highest burst in game (but not at lvl 26 I think), good CC (a 4s stun, a large AOE knockback, a single target, medium range knockback (talented Aimed shot), an 8 second AOE break on damage stun/sap, a 15 sec cd Root that is not - as all roots/slows - influenced by enemy resolve, if you spec Sabotage you get a 30% single target permaslow etc). Try playing a Sentinel in PvP at low levels and then come back.

Honestly it seems just a L2P issue, which is fine seeing as you've played the game what - 12 hours?

P.S.

Positioning is everything. Of course you'll die instantly if you plant your shiny cover in front of the whole enemy team. Try using the maps to your advantage.

This is the kind of post I was looking for. I see now that in the 3rd level of sab there is a talent called sapping charge. Yes I am new but that was the point of this post - to find out why bioware has gimped this class so badly. But, looks like there is some hope yet.

---------- Post added 2012-03-17 at 07:58 AM ----------

How do you get to level 26 on a weekend pass?

By pressing 2 and 6 instead of 1 and 5, LOL. Sorry about that, my char is level 15.

[Deleted]

Ah, well at 15 you really can't do much. You have basically no talents and almost no abilities aside from what... Charged Burst, Aimed Shot and Quick Draw?

Trick Shot after lvl 30 is where it's at. That baby hits like a truck, costs virtually no energy when fully talented. Or Dirty Fighting and rip tanks apart. But at 15 every class is more or less crap compared to others, you simply don't have the tools.

[Ixator]

I play an engineering sniper dunno what the rep equivalent is but there is loads of control. Debilitate, legshot, flash, interrogation probe (30% slow with talents) and cover pulse

[Deleted]

My imperial operative (smuggler mirror class) has flash grenade (aoe stun) and a ranged slow with a very short cooldown besides the melee stun.

[kenn9530]

I created a republic cyborg smuggler as I was told the republic side of things is very sparse so queues in warzones would be quick. So far this is true.

At level 10 I chose gunslinger and now I am wondering if this is just like, some sort of cruel bioware joke. Absolutely no slows or CC abilities? Just a single 4 second MELEE stun which is instantly trinketed out of. And all my other CCs are broken by dmg. So even if I manage to get away slightly, theres no possibly way to keep melee away. None.

I would have posted this to the SWTOR forums but weekend pass has no ability to chat or post, etc.

So I post here wondering if maybe I am wrong or if I can change it or if there is some sort of hope. If not, I am left scratching my head as to why bioware did this.

at high levels you get access to a stun that last for like 8 secs which is allot, you cant be charged or pulled in coved, you have insane burst dps, you get a knockback that knockbacks very far, you get a slow and some dmg reduction cooldowns and a heal i beleive, under lvl 20 your will not have a great deal of utility but after lvl 30 you should have most of your utilities by then so complaining is pointless, pvp is not balanced around lower levels so you just have to deal with it until you have all the basic skill or you max out your level.

im not 100% on the knockback but im sure it also has an immobilsation effect but that just may be a flashbang straight after knockback, this class has one of the highest burst potential and mellee will have a hard time killing you if you play properly.

[Migey]

I play a Sniper (mirror of Gunslinger) at lvl 50 and i'm one of the most feared damage dealers Empire side on my server (which isn't hard - theres usually only 20 people on fleet max, and about 20 or so active Empire pvpers, maybe 10 active Republic pvpers...). Snipers/Gunslingers when used well have a ton of cooldowns, utility, damage, etc. They have some severe problems but can be very powerful.

Of COURSE they dont have all or even half of their abilities at level fucking TEN? What the hell are you thinking? Not to be rude but your judging an entire class based on your experience of it at level 10? That makes no sense.

[thewallofsleep]

I'm not much of a PvP'er, but I rarely even start messing with instances/dungeons at level 15, let alone PvP warzones. And this goes for any MMO. The reason being that you don't have a lot of abilities at your disposal. I'm new to the game as well, and at level 10 my Jedi guardian ability bar wouldn't inspire me to get into some PvP.

[jaakkeli]

I looked through the list of abilities for gunslinger and saw not a single slow or cc worth anything. The point of this post was to see if I missed something.

Gunslingers have a better than average set of ccs in the game. Long lasting AoE cc from 30 yard range and the very short cooldown ranged immobilize are something that no other class in the game has. Once you PvP more and get used to the resolve system you'll understand why the immobilizing shot is great.

It's not that great for kiting melee but then, the other ranged classes are even worse at kiting. Pretty much only Dirty Fighting Snipers and Pyro Powertechs can properly kite melee in this game, kiting as a sorc or a merc means you do next to no damage while they catch up to you anyway. The way you keep melee away from you is by finding high positions and sitting still in cover and running away if they're after you. And yeah, the playstyle is not very popular.

I see not a single slow. Is there a talent that creates a slow? 1s immobilize that breaks on dmg is almost worthless.

Gunslingers do not get a slow. Both Dirty Fighting and Sab trees give you an extra DoT to work with and the DoTs from both these trees can be talented for a 30 % slow which is pretty weak compared to most snares in the game.

Gunslingers together with Scoundrels are pretty much the weakest class in PvP at the moment but it's not because of lack of cc compared to other classes, it's more because of how easy it is to cripple their damage by losing and dispelling. The other ranged classes have even worse ability to deal with being trained by melee. The next patch is fixing some problems and nerfing the other ranged classes a bit, leaving GS possibly the strongest of the ranged... but looks like it's going to be all melee train in rateds.

[Migey]

Gunslingers/Snipers and Scoundrels/Operatives may be the weakest classes atm, but both are still very useful when used well. Op/Scounrdrel through REALLY needs severe changes - not more fucking nerfs like they are getting in 1.2.

I never have trouble with my Sniper controlling and CCing - you can kite fairly well even as MM if you know what your doing. Cover Pulse, Ambush with the Knockback talent, Leg Shot, Flashbang, etc, make it plenty easy to keep them at a distance. When running and kiting i often drop into cover to Snipe and then keep running, using Followthrough as i run - if the Snipe crits or i have Laze Target up i might also use and time Ambush to knock them back. Things like Shatter Shot, Overload Shot, Frag Nade, and Takedown fill in the gaps. Although usually i can burst them down from a position of cover before they get to me using my knockbacks + Leg Shot, never having to move.

[Norg]

I love playing my sniper and I think our CC is fine. I'm just gunna say that if you're opening up with a CC then you're doing it wrong. Snipers have insane burst esp my engi spec, I pump out as much damage as I can before having to cc. You really have no excuse for blowing your cc on every enemy you comes across with the range we get.

[-aiko-]

Stuns: Dirty Kick, Flash Grenade, Pulse Detonator
Snares: Leg Shot
Knockback: Pulse Detonator
Slows: Shrap Bomb (Dirty Fighting, talented)

Leg Shot is on a relatively short cooldown (combined with the other abilities in your arsenal) so it is really easy to kite people. This is the reason they gave Jedi Knights/Sith Warriors a way to reset their leap cooldown, they were being kited way too easily. Smugglers are actually really annoying to play against if they are smart. They can lock down a healer pretty soundly. Dirty Kick to force a trinket, Flash Grenade for an 8s CC, interrupt their first heal with Distraction, interrupt their second heal with Pulse Detonator, and by that time their heal target is either dead or out of range. Flash grenade is also an AoE CC, so it's invaluable for many situations (mainly Huttball!).

[Aundas]

Gunslingers are a very strong class with a good amount of CC, I'm not sure why you think you need to have all of the abilities right from the get go. If you get to the mid 30s and still think the class is weak I'm inclined to think you're playing it wrong.

[jaakkeli]

Gunslingers are a very strong class with a good amount of CC, I'm not sure why you think you need to have all of the abilities right from the get go. If you get to the mid 30s and still think the class is weak I'm inclined to think you're playing it wrong.

Gunslinger is ridiculously overpowered at the low level bracket, starting from level 10, since everyone has low health and low level people are still missing defenses and gap closers so the ranged burst is ridiculously good. At level 50 Gunslingers/Snipers are pretty clearly the weakest class in the game. If the original poster is fed up of being rolled in warzones, well, just roll a Marauder or Sentinel and try to do something useful warzones at level 15 - Gunslinger is one of the few classes that can actually PvP relatively well at low levels.

It is not a big deal since balance is fairly good at the moment and even being a really weak class doesn't mean being hopelessly weak, just worse off than others. The other ranged are getting nerfed in the next patch so Gunslinger will be relatively fine, most likely, but they are not a strong class at all.