Sawbones SWTOR Thread
MMO Mechanics. It is written for Imperial agents, but the info is 100% transferable
Just a couple of things I've picked up, too.
"Upper Hand" (from here on known as UH) is a critical part of your build. You can stack up to three, and you receive it by either casting " Underworld Medicine"(UM)(when trained) or criting on Slow-Release Med Pack(SRMP)(when trained). Using this logic, I've found that Crit and Alacrity are under-valued in the community for the Sawbones build.
- Alacrity: Alacrity will increase the speed at which a channeled heal will be cast. Alacrity is the only stat that will do this. Obviously, quicker cast times have two perceived effects. First, and most obviously, is the quicker delivery of a heal to its intended target. Second, more heals=less energy. To mitigate some of the negative side effects of point 2, we have a skill known as Diagnostic Scan(DS). When trained, this skill will not only grant 2 energy when crit'd, but will crit at a 24% greater rate. This heal is also affected by alacrity, and will INCREASE the amount of energy regen because of its increased casting (due to decreased channel). Further, you can increase your Alacrity by up to 6% through the skill tree, gaining more bang for your buck. Don't misinterpret this as me saying dump ALL of your skill into Alacrity. I'm simply saying that it is arguably a better choice once your Surge hits 70% and a significantly better choice once your Surge hits 75%
- Power VS Critical VS Skill: You will constantly hear the ongoing argument of Crit VS Power VS Skill. I would argue that there is no more important stat than Skill for two reasons. First, the 9% increase that can (and should) be trained in the skill tree. 10 points of power or crit is 10.9 Skill. Easy. Second is that Skill grants a bonus to both Healing bonus and Crit %. The bonus is not as large as it would be if invested in the appropriate stats, though, which may sway you when working BiS. Next, I would build my Critical Rating to AT LEAST 35%. There is diminishing return on this stat, so anything above 40% becomes inefficient (and some argue anything above 30-35% as well). I just feel the extra points are so beneficial for its chance of granting UH. UH grants Pugnacity (passive energy regen), Kolto Pack(faster then UM and less energy consumption), and Emergency Medpack (no cast time, small-ish heal) as well as grants a 6% increase to healing while active. So you cast SRMP on 3 people with a 38% ctir chance, and theoretically you will have UH generate with every tick of at least one of those SRMP cast. That's gold. Once you start getting to Campaing/Dread Guard gear, you'll find you may want to swap out some crit for some power, but I never let my crit drop below 36% unbuffed. Ever!
And now let that all sink in...sorry