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Engineering Sniper (Saboteur Gunslinger) Compendium
Engineering Sniper (Saboteur Gunslinger) Compendium
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Engineering Sniper (Saboteur Gunslinger) Compendium
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03-25-2012, 12:52 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-20-2012 04:44 PM by Leafblight.)
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 Engineering Sniper (Saboteur Gunslinger) Compendium
Engineering Sniper (Saboteur Gunslinger) Compendium
April 18, 2012 This compendium is focused on optimizing an Engineering Sniper (or with a reference, Sharpshooter Gunslinger) for end-game flashpoints and operations (there will however be the occasional snippet of PvP related material). For the purposes of this compendium, an Engineering Sniper is defined as any sniper whose skills include EMP Discharge. Special thanks goto Tibbel, for without whom there would not be this. Quick Answers to Common Questions:
I. Abbreviations and Terminology I.1. Abbreviations I.1.1. General Abbreviations
I.1.2. Ability and Skill Abbreviations
I.2. Mirrored Terminology This compendium references sniper ability and skill names. In all cases, except where noted, gunslinger mechanics function identically to sniper mechanics. Reference the Smuggler/Imperial Agent Terminology Mirror Dictionary for a complete translation list from sniper to gunslinger terminology and vice versa. II. Skills, Abilities, and Mechanics II.1. Abilities II.1.1. Attacks
Plasma Probe Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 18 secs Damage Type: Elemental Mirror: Incendiary Grenade Deploys a plasma drone over the target area that deals ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.024 + SpellPower * 0.44) * 6) - ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.064 + SpellPower * 0.44) * 6) elemental damage over 18 seconds to up to 3 enemies within 5 meters. Ambush Ambush Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -15 Range: 30m Activation time: 2.5 secs Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Aimed Shot Fires a high-powered shot that deals (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.329 WeaponDamage * 3.29) weapon damage. Must be in cover to use. Snipe Snipe Imperial Agent Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: 1.5 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Charged Burst Shoots a target for [?] weapon damage. Can only be used from cover. Series of Shots Series of Shots Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -20 Range: 30m Channel time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Speed Shot Unleashes a series of shots that deals ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.098 WeaponDamage * 0.98) * 4) weapon damage over the duration. Must be in cover to use. Orbital Strike Orbital Strike Imperial Agent Energy: -30 Range: 30m Activation time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 60 secs Damage Type: Elemental Mirror: XS Freighter Flyby Calls in support from orbiting warships, dealing ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.177 SpellPower * 1.77) * 3) elemental damage over 9 seconds to all enemies within 8 meters of the targeted area. Standard and weak enemies are additionally knocked down by the blasts. Explosive Probe Explosive Probe Imperial Agent Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 30 secs Damage Type: Kinetic Mirror: Sabotage Charge Puts an explosive probe on the target that detonates when the target takes damage, dealing [?] kinetic damage to the target. Standard and weak targets are additionally knocked down and set on fire, dealing [?] additional elemental damage over 3 seconds. Can only be used from cover. Corrosive Dart Corrosive Dart Imperial Agent Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Vital Shot Fires a dart at the target that deals [?] internal damage over 15 seconds. Interrogation Probe Interrogation Probe Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 18 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Shock Charge Summons an interrogation probe that clings to the target and deals ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.055 + SpellPower * 0.55) * 7) energy damage over 18 seconds. Rifle Shot Rifle Shot Imperial Agent Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Weapon Fires 2 quick shots, dealing [?] weapon damage. Fragmentation Grenade Fragmentation Grenade Imperial Agent Energy: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Kinetic Mirror: Thermal Grenade Throws a fragmentation grenade that deals [?] kinetic damage to up to 5 enemies in an 8-meter radius. If the primary target is standard or weak, it is knocked down by the blast. Suppressive Fire Suppressive Fire Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -35 Range: 30m Channel time: 4.0 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Sweeping Gunfire Sprays a wave of bolts over the target area, dealing ((LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.0277 WeaponDamage * 0.277) * 9) weapon damage over the duration to up to 3 targets within 5 meters. Overload Shot Overload Shot Imperial Agent Energy: -17 Range: 10m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Quick Shot Blasts a target for [?] weapon damage. Takedown Takedown Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -15 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 12 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Quickdraw Attempts to take the target down with a single powerful shot that deals (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.27 WeaponDamage * 2.7) weapon damage. Only usable on targets at or below 30% max health. Headshot Headshot Smuggler Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Weapon Fires a carefully placed shot that deals [<1>] weapon damage to weak and standard targets, and [<2>] weapon damage to strong targets. Only usable on incapacitated targets. Shares a cooldown with Cheap Shot. Fires both blasters if dual wielding. II.1.2. Group Utility Abilities
Ballistic Shield Imperial Agent (Sniper) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 180 secs Mirror: Scrambling Field Deploys a ballistic shield that spans 10 meters around you, reducing the damage taken by all allies that remain inside by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds. Can only be used from cover, and exiting cover ends the effect. Distraction Distraction Smuggler Activation time: Instant Debilitate Debilitate Imperial Agent Energy: -10 Range: Melee (4m) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 45 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Dirty Kick Does [?] energy damage and stuns the target for 4 seconds. Flash Bang Flash Bang Imperial Agent Energy: -10 Range: 10m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 60 secs Mirror: Flash Grenade Detonates a flash bang that blinds up to 5 targets within 5 meters for 8 seconds. Damage causes this effect to end prematurely. Cover Pulse Cover Pulse Imperial Agent (Sniper) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 30 secs Mirror: Pulse Detonator Detonates an emergency charge that knocks all nearby targets back several meters and immobilizes them for 5 seconds. Damage dealt after 2 seconds ends the effect prematurely. Only usable in cover. Countermeasures Countermeasures Imperial Agent Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 45 secs Mirror: Surrender Activates countermeasures, instantly lowering threat by a moderate amount. Leg Shot Leg Shot Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -12 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Leg Shot Fires a shot that deals (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.08 + WeaponDamage * 0.86) - (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.1 + WeaponDamage * 0.86) weapon damage and immobilizes the target for 5 seconds. Damage dealt after 2 seconds ends the effect prematurely. Shatter Shot Shatter Shot Imperial Agent (Sniper) Energy: -10 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 5 secs Damage Type: Weapon Mirror: Flourish Shot Fires a high-impact shot that deals [?] weapon damage and reduces the target's armor by 20% for 45 seconds. Slice Droid Slice Droid Smuggler Range: 30m Activation time: 2.0 secs Hacks a droid, incapacitating it for 60 seconds. Damage causes this effect to end prematurely. Only one droid can be sliced at a time. II.1.3. Other Abilities
Adrenaline Probe Imperial Agent Energy: +50 Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 120 secs Mirror: Cool Head Shield Probe Shield Probe Imperial Agent Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 45 secs Mirror: Defense Screen Summons a probe droid that projects a shield around the Agent, absorbing a moderate amount of incoming damage for 15 seconds. Does not break stealth. Evasion Evasion Imperial Agent Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 60 secs Mirror: Dodge Increases your chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 100% for 3 seconds. Does not break Stealth. EMP Discharge EMP Discharge Imperial Agent (Sniper) Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 60 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Sabotage Discharges an electromagnetic pulse from an active Interrogation Probe on the target, immediately dealing (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.07 SpellPower) - (LvlRankDmgAmnt * 0.13 SpellPower) energy damage to the affected target. Also immediately finishes the cooldown on Adrenaline Probe and Shield Probe. Target Acquired Target Acquired Imperial Agent (Sniper) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 120 secs Mirror: Illegal Mods Increases alacrity by 20% for 10 seconds. Laze Target Laze Target Imperial Agent (Sniper) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 60 secs Mirror: Smuggler's Luck Increases the critical hit chance of your next Snipe by 100%. Entrench Entrench Imperial Agent (Sniper) Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 60 secs Mirror: Hunker Down Entrenches you into cover, becoming immune to all controlling effects. Only usable in cover. Ends prematurely if cover is exited. Lasts 20 seconds. Escape Escape Smuggler Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 120 secs Breaks you free from all incapacitating and movement-impairing effects. II.2. Skills II.2.1. Skill Builds The following two builds have been optimized for maximum effectiveness. Which performs better for each sniper could very well depend on stats, on the mechanics of each fight, and on the fluidity of the rotations. Due to the dearth of Engineering players/testing up to this point, additional viable builds or critiques are greatly desired.
This build desires to take skills that can assist in any increase to potential damage, without regard to other concerns. "Utility" Pure Eng: 7/31/3 In contrast, here we forego two of the more minor (some would argue, completely neligible) boosts to potential DPS to make a sizable investment in personal survivability. II.2.2. Specific Skill Notes Marksmanship
(T1) Cover Screen – Defensive skill. Not as good as Ballistic Dampers, however this is a decent place to put filler points since many mobs use ranged attacks. (T1) Steady Shots – Improves the damage by +6% of two of our fairly often used abilities. Not very interesting, but still beneficial to DPS. (T1) Marksmanship – Operation bosses have an approximately 10% defense chance, so this skill goes a decent way toward reaching that accuracy goal. That said, there is currently a lot of accuracy on the current tiers of gear, so you may easily find yourself over the softcap without points here. (T2) Heavy Shot – Primarily a PvP and soloing skill. Knocking back a target in group PvE generally reduces the tank’s effectiveness at holding aggro and reducing incoming damage, so having a knockback tied to one of our essential abilities could cause unwanted effects. (T2) Ballistic Dampers - Defensive skill. When incoming damage is expected, jumping out and back into cover can greatly reduce the damage we take. If used properly, this can soak a huge amount of potential damage, easily being the boost to save a raid/match. (T2) Precision Ambush - +20% Armor Penetration to Ambush that stacks with Shatter Shot. Variable usefulness based upon how often you expect to use Ambush in an encounter. (T2) Imperial Demarcation - Reduces the cooldown of Leg Shot. Not generally very useful for group PvE since bosses are immune to CC, though can be used often to great effect on the adds some bosses summon. Engineering
(T1) Engineer's Tool Belt – Reduces the CD of Fragmentation Grenade, which allows Suppressive Fire to be completely ignored in most situations, increasing our sustained AoE DPS and greatly increasing our burst AoE DPS. (T1) Energy Tanks – Increases maximum energy to 110 and the range of the highest energy regeneration bracket to 66-110. Beneficial for sustained DPS and very beneficial for burst DPS. (T1) Gearhead – Increases cunning, which is simply a benefit to DPS. (T2) Explosive Engineering – Increases AoE damage as well as the damage done by EP, which is part-and-parcel with your energy regeneration mechanics. Clearly the strongest T2 Engineering skill. (T2) Vital Regulators – A small heal attached to an ability that we can use about every 60 seconds. A decent choice to hit the next tier and a noticeable bump to survivability in sustained fights. A strong choice at max level. (T2) Stroke of Genius – In group PvE play, Cover Pulse is a very situational ability, making this skill only rarely usable and even more rarely actually useful. (T2) Vitality Serum – A slight increase to survivability. No benefit to DPS, but useful while leveling to lessen the squishiness. (T3) Cluster Bombs – A powerful increase to EP’s damage and a stepping stone to decreasing your energy woes. (T3) Efficient Engineering – Increases the DPE of EP, IP, and (later on) PP. Very good synergy with several of the other skills throughout the tiers of Engineering. Should honestly be renamed to "Efficient Probing." (T3) Interrogation Probe - A strong DoT with a high DPE, increased by Efficient Engineering. Note that it deals energy damage, which is mitigated by armor. (T3) Inventive Interrogation Techniques – Adds a slowing effect to IP. Bosses are immune, but this skill could be useful in some situations where an add needs to be kited. (T4) Imperial Methodology – While a small bump in DPE, the real draw is the font of energy that EP becomes. An engineering sniper isn't possible without this. (T4) Calculated Pursuit – This skill allows Overload Shot to cost no energy for up to 6 seconds after leaving cover. The effect has a 20-second internal cooldown. Obviously, its needed to be in cover as often as possible to make use of your abilites, but when we must leave cover, the internal cooldown on this ability makes it impossible to depend on. Even if we could make full use of it, the small difference in damage of Overload Shot over Rifle Shot makes this skill a poor return on skill point investment unless you have a savant like awareness of both your positioning and the internal cooldown; witholding that, its a DPS bump. (T4) Experimental Explosives – Several of your "single target dps abilities" are in actuality AoEs (OS, PP, and a splash of Fragmentation Gernade), making this a solid dps bump. (T5) Energy Overrides – While it does raise the DPE of your key abilities it has a couple of inherit design flaws: an earlier skill (Efficient Engineering) already lowers the energy cost of these abilities and if you use EMP you are likely to have either used or be about to use Adrenaline Probe which can easily cap your energy making this "free" ability pointless. All told though, it still helps some and every bit of energy saved is just more dps you can pump out. (T5) EMP Discharge – A must have. Being able to use Adrealine Probe twice as often as our MM brothers (and 50% more than Leth) is what allows us to stay above the 60% threshold through our energy hungry "rotation." Free shield Probes are just icing on the cake. (T5) Augmented Shields – This makes that free-shield-probe-icing cream cheese instead of buttercream (aka "tastier"). (T6) Deployed Shields – A flat 6% reduction to damage while in cover (where you'll, surprise!, spend most of your time) is enticing enough, even without increased usage of Ballistic Shield a decreased cooldown allows. (T6) Electrified Railgun – This doesn't fully shine until completetly invested into. But, once there, this provides a substantial damage boost (to the tune of 40%+ against Operation Bosses; this percentage increases the higher a targets armor rating is) to an ability that is very convenient for popping all those lovely CB. If you are looking for synergy in Eng, here it be. (T7) Plasma Probe – What we've been building to this whole time. How useful can this really be for boss fights? It's obviously only useful for AoEing down trash or doing your dailies, you say? Well, every 60 seconds we can cast it for free and the other half the time it has a reduced cost. Two of your skills directly bump its damage (Explosive Engineering & Experimental Explosives) and its cooldown finishes the same time its effect does so you can constantly keep it up. And, oh, did I mention that's its still one of our highest DPE abilities even on a single target? Assuming your tank isn't gonna be dancing about the room with the boss more than every 20 seconds or so, what you have here is an AoE DOT that also makes a killer strategic point guard (Civil War turret controls, Voidstar doors, etc.). Some builds may eschew this, but if you go deep enough into Engineering, think hard before passing on it. Then, think again...and once more for good measure. Lethality
(T1) Deadly Directive - Increases alacrity by 4%. This is quite possibly the worst skill in all 3 sniper trees. (T1) Lethality - The +3% critical chance applies to all of our attacks, and makes this a pretty good DPS skill. Any points we have left from other trees should go here. (T1) Razor Edge – Shiv’s DPE is quite low and its use requires melee range. Not a strong skill for Snipers. (T2) Slip Away – Could be handy in some specific situations, but there are DPS-increasing skills that are better spots for these points. (T2) Flash Powder – Bosses are immune to Flash Bang, so this fairly weak defensive skill is largely useless in group PvE. (T2) Corrosive Microbes – We don’t use CD enough for this skill to be worth the points, especially considering the points needed to even reach this tier. (T2) Lethal Injectors – Again, CD is pretty low on the ability priority, so adding this skill doesn’t increase DPS enough to warrant its skill point. II.3. Rotation/Priority II.3.1. General Strategy Sniper damage is limited by our energy. To maximize our damage over any period of time, we have two objectives: A. Use as much energy as we can. This means our energy should start at full, finish at empty, and regenerate as much as possible in between. Over long fights, starting and ending energy levels make a much smaller difference than total energy regenerated. Energy regeneration rate is based on current energy, and is divided into four brackets.
Any time spent outside of the maximum-regen bracket, whether below 60% energy or capped at 100%, translates into lower energy regeneration. Adrenaline Probe returns 50 energy as frequently as once every minute, via EMP. Sacrificing a small amount of energy regeneration by dropping briefly into a lower energy bracket immediately before using Adrenaline Probe can prevent capping energy (and therefore losing much more potential regen). The optimum use of AP is immediately following an activation-time ability which drops energy into the lower bracket, such as in the following example sequence:
B. Convert energy into damage at the highest possible rate. Over extended fights, where energy availability is the primary limiting factor for ability usage, prioritizing abilities and ability sequences with highest DPE allows for maximum overall damage (assuming we are using all available energy). Although the damage done by each ability depends on each sniper’s specific stats and other variables, the following ranking of abilities by DPE should be mostly accurate for all Eng snipers. Note that this ranking does not include the 4-piece PvE Field Tech set bonus, which vastly increases the DPE of TD. Also, the damage from ERG is included with SoS; similarly, the damage and energy return from CB and IM are included as part of EP. Single-Target DPE Ranking
For some fight mechanics, burst DPS is also important – fight mechanics such as switching to important adds or periods of line-of-sight interruption. For these situations, time becomes our DPS limiter moreso than energy, so prioritizing abilities with highest DPCT provides the most powerful burst in between periods of inactivity to regenerate energy. Note that some of the high-DPCT abilities are DoT effects, which can lose value if the target dies or becomes invulnerable before the end of the DoT’s duration. Also, EP assumes you detonate all CB. Single-Target DPCT Ranking
Note: EMP is left off of both charts as its a no cost ability off the GCD. Use it when its best for its effects, not to maximize burst or efficiency. II.3.2. Synergistic Ability Sequences
TA - OS - SoS - Ambush Maximizes your use of TA. Use this when the stars align the right way and all their cooldowns all come up at about the same time. II.3.3. Sustained Damage Rotation In practice, running an Eng build is less about maintaining a rotation than it is about oh so very carefully managing your energy level above the 60% mark while popping your cooldowns as quickly as they come up. Often, examples such as juggling your desire to expend SoS as soon as you can to maximize its up-time with your need to save it to handidly explode all of your CB, can be one of the larger challenges. Other blaster based classes (Mercenaries, Powertechs, Operatives, and additional Snipers) can help belay this particular problem, but in their absence be prepared to make the hard, split-second judgment calls on whether to delay using OS so you can Snipe/Rifle Shot that last Cluster Bomb. Try to be prepared to stay mobile via using your cover only (and OS) abilities while in cover (EP, SoS, Ambush, etc.) and use moments when you use other abilities (IP, PP, Shatter Shot, TD, CD) to reposition and refresh Ballistic Dampers if you have them. We should prioritize these based on DPE, with the following considerations:
II.3.4. AoE Eng snipers have access to four AoE abilities: OS, PP, Fragmentation Grenade, and Suppressive Fire.
Plasma Probe - Places a stationary probe that "pulses" at differing rates and strengths during its duration. PP does more damage in its first 3 ticks (or 2s) over Fragmentation Grenade for most mobs. Fast moving targets, others using knockbacks, or a desire to knock normal type mobs to the ground may all affect your desicion though. For a breakdown of its mechanics see this table:
Fragmentation Grenade – This has a 6-second cooldown, which can be reduced to 3s with the skill Engineer’s Tool Belt. Its damage is applied instantly to as many as 5 targets, so this should be our primary AoE filler when OS/PP are on CD or otherwise occupied/reserved. Suppressive Fire – This AoE ability is outshone by Fragmentation Grenade in nearly every way: III. Stats, Gear, and Consumables III.1. Stats III.1.1. Primary Stats – The primary stats are Strength, Aim, Endurance, Cunning, Willpower, and Presence. Cunning - Increases the bonus damage of all our abilities by 0.20 per point, and additionally increases the critical chance of all our abilities. It also means we’re smarter than other classes. Aim - Increases our ranged bonus damage by 0.20 per point, and also increases our ranged critical chance. Not all of our attacks are technically ranged abilities, so cunning is always a better stat than aim. Endurance - Allows us to take more damage before we die. Each point of Endurance is equal to 10 additional health and completing all of the companion conversations for any melee tank companion regardless of class (Kaliyo on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% health to all characters within that character’s legacy. Because unavoidable damage exists in operations, we do need some endurance, but we should not prioritize this over DPS stats and completing all of the companion conversations for any melee tank companion regardless of class (Kaliyo on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% hp to all characters within that character’s legacy. Presence - Increases our companion’s damage, health, and healing; since we cannot use companions in operations, presence has no place in our gearing strategy. Strength - Does nothing for us, since we technically do not have any melee attacks. (Our knife abilities are officially tech attacks.) Willpower - Does nothing for us. Note: “Bonus damage” does not directly convert into increased damage; each ability has a coefficient to determine bonus damage’s contribution to final damage numbers. III.1.2. Secondary Stats – The secondary stats are Accuracy, Power, Alacrity, Critical Rating, Surge Rating, Defense Rating, Shield Rating, and Absorption Rating. Note that all of these stats except power are subject to diminishing returns; i.e. the more rating we have already, the less benefit we gain from each additional rating point. The following graph shows the diminishing returns' effects on stat scaling at level 50: ![[Image: Stat%2520Scaling.PNG]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YNT2GzCpKMw/T0vzUiNErrI/AAAAAAAAAnE/obYFNKw9qzA/s810/Stat%2520Scaling.PNG) Accuracy increases our chance to hit targets. Our base chance to hit is 90% with Rifle Shot and 100% with all other abilities, but operation bosses have 10% chance to dodge our ranged attacks (confirmed in the duscussion beginning with this post). Tech attacks cannot be dodged, but since most of our abilities are ranged attacks, we benefit greatly from having +10% accuracy. This is the accuracy soft cap. Accuracy beyond the soft cap increases our chance to hit with Rifle Shot until +20% accuracy, at which point Rifle Shot will always hit. This is the accuracy hard cap. Because Rifle Shot is a small part of our total damage, the hard cap is not worth pursuing. Gunslingers’ ranged abilities use both main-hand and off-hand pistols, but have a 33% lower accuracy with the off-hand. This means accuracy beyond +10% still increases the chance to hit with the off-hand portion of special attacks, and accuracy beyond +20% still increases the chance to hit with the off-hand portion of Flurry of Bolts. For gunslingers, the accuracy hard cap for all off-hand attacks is +53%, which is unattainable. (See the Hit Chance table below.) Because of off-hand miss chance, accuracy provides a slightly higher benefit for gunslingers than for snipers. Operations bosses do not have any avoidance chance against tech attacks, so accuracy does not benefit tech attacks at all. The Marksmanship skill in the MM tree grants 1%, 2%, or 3% accuracy, and completeting all of the companion conversations for any melee tank companion regardless of class (SCORPIO on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% accuracy to all characters within that character's legacy. Both of these are independent of DR from accuracy rating. 30% is the limit for accuracy received from accuracy rating. The following table shows the accuracy percentages and ratings needed to reach each accuracy cap.
Power increases the bonus damage of all our abilities by 0.23 per point. There is no diminishing return and no limit to the amount of bonus damage we can receive from power. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Alacrity directly reduces activation and channeling times. It does not reduce cooldowns, increase DoT durations, or improve energy regeneration. Alacrity reduces the GCD only for abilities for which it also reduces the activation or channeling time (see video evidence here). For example, a 1.4-second Snipe also has a GCD of 1.4s. The formula for calculating an activation or channeling time with alacrity is: ActivationTime = BaseActivationTime * (1 – Alacrity%) Because our DPS is mainly throttled by cooldowns and energy regeneration, neither of which benefit at all from alacrity, small increases to alacrity (less than 33%) do not provide much benefit to theoretical DPS. Alacrity does have some value in practice, however:
Large increases to alacrity (through cooldowns or on-use effects) can potentially gain enough time for an additional ability to be used during a rotation; however, since Eng snipers have a plethora of instant filler abilities whose GCDs cannot be reduced, it would take a tremendous boost to alacrity to gain enough time to fit in an extra ability. (Warp speed would be insufficient – we’d need ludicrous speed.) In general, alacrity is not a strong stat for Eng snipers or really snipers of any kind. The Deadly Directive skill in the Lethality tree grants 2% or 4% alacrity independent of DR. 30% is the limit for alacrity received from alacrity rating. Critical Rating increases our chance to deal a critical hit, which does much higher damage than a normal hit. 50% bonus damage is the base for crits, but that bonus can be increased with surge. Crit’s value is greatly increased with higher surge. 30% is the limit for critical chance received from critical rating. The Lethality skill in the Lethality tree grants 1%, 2%, or 3% critical chance with all attacks, and several other skills grant extra critical chance to specific abilities. Completeting all of the companion conversations for any ranged DPS companion regardless of class (Ensign Temple on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% critical chance to all characters within that character's legacy. All of those skills are independent of DR. Cunning and aim also increase our critical chance with ranged abilities, and cunning increases our critical chance with tech abilities. 30% is the limit for critical chance gained from cunning, and an additional 30% is the limit gained from aim. Both of these are on separate DRs from each other and from critical rating. Surge Rating increases the bonus damage of critical hits. As such, it is more powerful with higher critical chance. 30% is the limit for critical damage bonus gained from surge rating (added to the base 50% for a total limit of 80%). Several skills grant bonus critical damage to specific abilities, and completing all of the companion conversations for any melee DPS companion regardless of class (Vector on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% surge to all characters within that character’s legacy. These bonuses are independent of the DR from surge rating. Defense Rating increases our chance to dodge (i.e. completely avoid) incoming ranged or melee attacks. We have a base 5% ranged and melee defense chance, and being in cover grants 20% bonus ranged defense chance. Most incoming damage that we should expect in operations is from force or tech attacks, but some are not. Since we are primarily focused on providing DPS, defense rating should generally not have a place in our gearing strategy. The ability Evasion grants 100% increased defense chance for 3 seconds and can be used to survive brief periods of incoming ranged or melee attacks. Shield Rating increases the chance an incoming ranged or melee attack will be shielded for reduced damage, and Absorption Rating increases the percentage by which that shielded attack's damage is reduced. Both of these stats require a shield to be equipped, and since snipers and gunslingers cannot equip shields, these stats are useless for us. III.1.3. Weapon Stats – These stats appear only on weapons (main hand and off-hand): Minimum Damage, Maximum Damage, and Tech Power . Minimum Damage and Maximum Damage contribute to all ranged abilities. The coefficient at which weapon damage contributes to ability damage values varies between abilities, although no ranged abilities scale particularly better or worse with weapon damage versus bonus damage than any other ranged abilities. Tech abilities do not benefit from weapon damage at all; however, they do benefit from the tech power present on weapons. For snipers, the minimum and maximum damage of the off-hand vibroknife has no effect on any ability damage calculations. However, gunslingers’ off-hand pistol minimum and maximum damage contributes to ability damage values at a rate equal to 30% of the rate for the main-hand pistol. Tech Power is simply power that only applies to tech abilities. Because weapon damage values do not contribute to tech ability damage at all, this serves as a way for tech abilities to scale with weapon upgrades to a similar degree that ranged abilities do. Tech power increases the bonus damage of all our tech abilities by 0.23 per point. Furthermore, completing all of the companion conversations for any healer companion regardless of class (Doctor Lokin on the Agent, for example) grants an additional 1% bonus healing to all characters within that character’s legacy. While bonus healing is not the same as Tech Power, it is directly derived from both it and power: (Power + TechPower) * 0.17. Like power, tech power is not subject to DR and there is no limit to how much bonus tech damage we can receive from tech power. III.1.4. Stat Weights – Due to diminishing returns and the interaction between stats, stat weights cannot be accurately generalized for all Eng snipers across all gear levels. To find your own, experiment with the latest version of the Sniper/Gunslinger Spreadsheet. (See section IV. Resources.) UNDER CONSTRUCTION III.2. Gear III.2.1. Gear Sets – There are three sets of PvE gear with cunning, each with their own set bonuses. Field Tech gear is designed for Snipers, with the most beneficial set bonuses for us. Admittedly, the 2-piece bonus is extremely weak, but the 4-piece is somewhat better. Tionese, Columi, Rakata, and Champaign gear can be mixed and combined to count toward the set bonuses. For further discussion about the benefits of our set bonuses, see this post.
4-piece bonus: Reduces the energy cost of TD by 7. – With this set bonus, TD jumps several slots up the priority list due to its vastly increased DPE.
III.2.2. Mods – For all gear, mods should be prioritized based on the stat weights at your current gear level (see section III.1. Stats). To decide between two or more potential mods (or pieces of gear which are unmoddable), compare each option using the Sniper/Gunslinger Spreadsheet (in Section IV. Resources) or the general stat priority list (in Section III.1.4. Stat Weights). Note that if the results using either method are very close, then the difference between the options is likely within the margins of error for the calculations, for random crits and procs, and for your own execution. III.3. Consumables & Relics III.3.1. Stimpack Stimpacks offer a long-term buff to a primary stat. We want to use the cunning version:
III.3.2. Adrenal Adrenals offer a temporary boost to a secondary stat for a short duration. Power may not always be our best stat, but it is close enough that its immunity to diminishing returns makes it our best choice for a large temporary increase, such as provided by an adrenal:
III.3.3. Relics Most relics have endurance as a static stat, with a usable temporary stat increase effect similar to an adrenal. On-use relics cannot be used within 30s after using another on-use relic; however, an on-use relic can be used at the same time as an adrenal. For these, similarly to adrenals, a large stat increase makes power the best choice due to its immunity to diminishing returns. Some relics, instead of offering a usable effect, grant a proc chance to deal additional damage. (An example is the Dark Energy Surge.) The DPS benefit provided by these relics competes with that of on-use power relics, but it is spread out evenly over the duration of a fight. This means these relics do not provide disproportionate gains during burn phases as on-use relics do. A third type of relic is Matrix Cube M7-R3. This provides static stat increases to cunning, crit, and endurance. Similarly to the proc relics, this relics' benefit cannot be concentrated into a burn phase, however it does compete with Rakata-level relics for overall sustained DPS and can be obtained solo outside of operations or flashpoints. For more information about relics, see this post. IV. Resources IV.1. SWTOR Formula List
>> Click here for a link to the SWTOR Formula List. << IV.2. Smuggler/Imperial Agent Terminology Mirror Dictionary
>> Click here for a link to the full Smuggler/Imperial Agent Terminology Mirror Dictionary. << IV.3. The Sniper/Gunslinger Spreadsheet
For the most current verison and information regarding it, please click the link below. ^^ >> Click here to show slightly more modest praise to the humble Tibbel. << "Success comes to you with luck and a lot of hard work, but it doesn't give you the right to be any better than anybody else." - Nick Nolte |
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