ROTHC/2.0 Update initial Impressions

[Marrkin]

So I'm starting this so the information doesnt get muddled with the other threads thus far, but I would like to know what people think of the changes made in the 2.0 update...

I can say so far that I am satisfied with the skill tree changes. All in all it seems that what they have done was not at the detriment of the way the classes play, which makes me happy. What I mean by this is that they made little tweaks, but they are mostly in the skill result such as proc effects. I can't say this is the case on every change, but it is what I have noticed for myself.

Shattner: feels a little more durable, but since all we have run thus far is HM FP's and I'm used to seeing raid damage, that may just be a misconception. However, I have not had to change my skill rotations from the tanking point of view unless I need certain procs at certain times. Energy Blast seems to be up frequently enough that I don't believe there will much of a need to "balance" the use of that vs. just letting Power Screen stack. I am looking forward to the Shoulder Cannon and seeing how that works. Energy managment seems about the same if not a bit better with the 100pt change. Also interesting is they granted us a new Aggro dump.

Simmet: Talks like a Sentinel, Leaps like a Sentinel... must be a Sentinel. All in all, not many changes here just yet. I actually see the majority of improvement coming post-51. If I had to choose anything, they REALLY focused on Watchmen's DOT damage and application with the skill tree changes. Managing my focus pool seems about the same.

Marrkin: Big improvement on Healing trance from what I can tell. Before I would crit around 1100-1200 and then it would drop to 700-900 per tick. Last night it was doin Crits over 1600 and the ticks were frequently popping over 1100 (non-crit). Otherwise not alot of change to the gameplay except the changes to Resplendence. Now it is a choice between Noble Sacrifice without a Force cost, or Salvation with a 33% increased activation. Interestingly Resplendence is stackable, so multiple NS uses are possible without force cost. Salvation wipes all stacks.

Managing my force Pool seems about the same.

Also, no CD on Force Armor was great Even with the reapplication lockout.

Also: It was friggin awesome running stuff with guildies again. No pressure, no BS, We had fun and even picked up a number of BH pieces lol. (Boo to the double Esseles!)

[Blackferne]

So far I just had Joun and Olivya go to Makeb, get crew skills rolling and stop outside meeting the surface contact. My favorite part is instead of "Interlude" now on the loading screen it says "Chapter 4".

[TimmySchneeks]

So far satisfied as well, but I see a lot of testing/tweaking in the future!

Boccior - hybrid dirty/sab is still "viable," but I have a strong feeling that max DPS will be in a single-tree build. Energy management is WAY easier, (crits mildly nerfed, but a new ability that buffs all bleed crits well above what they used to be) and I think as a result I'm leaving some DPS on the table sitting at 100% energy. Definitely need to work on the rotation, the old one "works" though.

More thoughts on the others later, hate typing on this phone.


Also, impromptu Alvis flashpoint fiesta was delightful. I'll be on tonight for more of the same if there's still interest!

[Maizan]

So far I havn't see much, but I do not have early access (although I thought I did).

I respected to Sabatour and doing death by AOE and have been giddy as a school boy, blowing the crap out stuff. low dps was 1100 high was 12000...

Joy,

Maizan

[Marrkin]

I'll be on tonight for more of the same if there's still interest!

Definitely, I got alot more gearing work to do on Marrkin. Poor guy has been neglected for so long...apprently he took up the hobby of playing with himself and is now Blind!!!

Yeah I dont have the early access either, and wish I did now....

[Fynn]

Only played a little bit of Makeb, but did get the opportunity to heal the first Herioc-4. In the interest of full disclosure, I was part of Makeb closed beta, so I've already played through once. Story is GREAT, so don't rush through it. As far as Scoundrel healing...meh. I think we were nerfed by the buffing of everyone else, if that makes sense. We were middle-of-the-road healers, better than commandos, inferior to Sage (in some circumstances). Now we are on par with Commandos and inferior to Sages in all circumstances...sorry for whining

Scoundrel energy management is a bit easier, and the gear will have to be adjusted due to crit nerfs (while we are on that, can anyone post a link for the final changes to crit calculation) and Alacrity Buffs; though not much in my circumstance. I've always thought alacrity was undervalued and sacrificed a small amount of Surge for it, I just have to go a little further! I love the changes to kolto medpack (or whatever it is called by the public...to me it is #2 ), making it more useful than a Underworld Medicine 1a. I am up in the air on the changes to Pugnacity. It's easier not to have to be sure it is up, but I'm not sold that trading some energy regen for an alacrity cooldown will benefit the class. More time will tell.

[Skiggity]

Gotta wait till sunday to hit 51, but I should have all 5 of my alts at the door by then. Only done an HM FP with each.

Skiggity: I think he already does more dps due to alacrity changes, and his gear feels far from optimized. Gotta head to the ops dummy to check for sure, but the hybrid build I started a few weeks ago REALLY benefits from alacrity, and the new alacrity-boost ability cranks his rock-chucking down as low as 1.2 seconds for a full cast, maybe 1.1 with the alacrity set bonus burning (compared to 2.8 sec for a full cast with no benefits going). Also, Force In Balance hits 5 targets instead of 3 now, and they cut the cooldown significantly so AOE a bit more useful.

Alephia: Doing area taunt grants a shield to all nearby friendlies or something like that (not sure how many can benefit), so that's pretty cool.

Butterchubbs: Nothing significantly changed so far, but I think I have way too much surge in him and prolly too much crit now. Also, zero alacrity, need to add some. Still does insane single-target deeps.

Anna'Molie: Got the most buffs from what I can tell. Kolto bomb now has an extra tick, the med probe has 13 charges instead of 10.

Little'Lincoln: Barely got to know him before changes, so doing the Timma-approved hybrid build until I learn something better. The new roll ability will be very useful in situations where slinger's lack of speed was a problem (EC HM Kephess pull-in purple circle of death comes to mind).


EDIT:
Well nuts, there are no more level 50 ops dummies. I can do 0 dps against a level 55 ops dummy that resists all my attacks....

only yardstick I have is the Level 10 dummy on fleet: 2350dps for an infinite amount of time (all buffs, no stims) with Skiggity. Seriously, the energy cost reductions meant I had a full bar when I finished....

EDIT EDIT:
Interesting, Butterchubbs is 2385 on the same dummy over a long fight; that's much less of a gap than before. Pretty sure Butter's build is the most outdated of my min-maxes with 2.0, he has ZERO alacrity right now.

[Staris]

I have to say my force pool is alot more manageable and easier to rebuild if I let that slip so should mean I can let loose more often without as much risk of running flat out which should mean more healing. I absolutely love my force barrier which should make the force lightening phase super easy.

Since I had stacked some alacrity pre 2.0 can say I like the changes they made there and will probably look to add a bit more after I get my crit back to where it needs to be.

[Blackferne]

EDIT:
Well nuts, there are no more level 50 ops dummies. I can do 0 dps against a level 55 ops dummy that resists all my attacks....

only yardstick I have is the Level 10 dummy on fleet: 2350dps for an infinite amount of time (all buffs, no stims) with Skiggity. Seriously, the energy cost reductions meant I had a full bar when I finished....

EDIT EDIT:
Interesting, Butterchubbs is 2385 on the same dummy over a long fight; that's much less of a gap than before. Pretty sure Butter's build is the most outdated of my min-maxes with 2.0, he has ZERO alacrity right now.

It could be that your crit chance is increased versus lower level targets so a level 10 dummy might be increase your dmg output artificially. It worked that was in WoW, not sure about here though.

[Skiggity]

Yeah, the raw number is useless for ops consideration, but it does at least serve as a temporary yardstick between alts. What it tells me is that either Skiggity got more powerful or Butters got a bit nerfed, and I suspect a touch of both. (at least with the minmaxed packages they had for 1.7)

[TimmySchneeks]

Pretty sure you are right Joun, I've been seeing my crit drop as I level on Boccior with identical gear (MrRobot says 39% at 50, in game I'm at 30% at 53)

[Skiggity]

Another odd observation: Timmah and I ran an ill-fated pug of EC HM, we did clear the drouks tho; he's level 54, I'm 50, and our gear is pretty much exactly what it was before, and so was our general DPS, or so it seemed, against the ops bosses and trash.