So I'm going to post my fairly simple take on Sawbones...will likely just do it here, rather than create another new thread.
Basically, hit me up in game if anything here doesn't make sense.
First, I'll reference njessi's article she wrote concerning Upper Hand, since she wrote it very simply and eloquently. This is the most important mechanic for sawbones spec scoundrels. The biggest thing for me at first was learning which of my scoundrel abilities trigger it, and visually recognizing if I had 1-2 stacks up. I recommend always trying to have two stacks active as much as possible. This will give you flexibility of using ALL your healing abilities, and keeping one UH in your back pocket in case of emergency.
http://hawtpantsrepublic.com/2012/01/17 ... that-work/
You'll know when the stacks of UH are triggered since your toon will laugh nervously (Yes - EVERYONE IN YOUR PARTY CAN HEAR YOU LAUGH, and when you gain UH repeatedly, your toon sounds a bit like a moron with anxiety issues).
Next comes energy management. If you spam your heals, you will run out of energy and be unable to further heal. In boss fights and flashpoints (particularly Ops and HMs), this typically equates with a party wipe.
The Scoundrel energy mechanic works in the following simple way...the more you energy have, the quicker it regenerates. You should ideally try to keep it at 75% or higher at all times, to ensure it regens as quickly as possible.
Pugnacity is arguably your most important healy-sustainability power for energy. You should trigger it at the beginning of a big fight or a mob pull, and keep it up all the time. If you do this, you will have more staying power in combat. I have two talent points in
exploratory surgery, which means I automatically gain UH when I cast underworld medicine. When I fight in HMs and Ops, I usually start before combat by casting
underworld medicine on my main tank to gain auto UH, then slapping
Pugnacity down immediately. By the time my tank pulls the mob, I have full energy again, and I'm starting off the fight with quick energy regen. Then I keep my two UH stacks up, when pugnacity cools down, I cast it again. Repeat and rinse.
Cool Head is a good quick energy boost, but has a cooldown. So save it for emergencies only.
If you're starting to deplete your energy, consider
diagnostic scan, assuming you have talent points invested in
prognosis critical and
patient studies, which you should. Yes, the heals are insignificant, but think of it primarily as a means of regaining energy, with a healy side-effect.
Kolto Pack is a nice, big fat heal, but consumes your UH. Consider using it only while you have 2 stacks of UH up, or if you really, really need it.
Emergency Medpac is a nice heal, but beware, it also consumes UH.
Next are HoTs (Heal over Time). Use them a lot. They are:
-
slow release medpac - can grant you UH if specced in
medpac mastery
-
kolto cloud - group heal! (assuming you are specced for it) This is sucky in Operations - only heals 4 toons at a time.
So my basic rotation should look like:
-
underworld medicine
-
Pugnacity
-
underworld medicine
-HoT:
Slow Release Medpac
-I will likely have 2 x UH now, if not, then another
underworld medicine for good measure.
-Ensure
Pugnacity is still up.
-More heals as needed (start consuming your UH, but use them with discretion and keep them restored as much as possible).
-If I start drawing aggro or getting hurt, I'll pop defensive cooldowns and use medpacs from my inventory, and throw in
surrender for good measure. Save your focus and energy for the others as much as possible, but healing yourself can also strategically help gaining more UH.
-Don't die. This is pretty important. Make sure your tank isn't a n00b. If he is, be sure to call him names, cause drama and quit group immediately.
I'll post my endgame spec eventually when I'm at home. I also need to talk about stacking stats, and which ones I use, and why. I tend to favor criticals when I heal...casting a nice fat critical heal of 5K+ feels pretty damn good. So I will add more, eventually when I get around to it.
Hope this helps a bit.