This post will act as a sort of repository for all of the class changes coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic in patch 5.3. SWTOR is rebalancing all of it’s Disciplines and oh boy are these some massive changes. So rather than spam out multiple posts, we thought it best to contain the changes to as few posts as possible. The other previously announced changes were for Arsenal/Gunnery and Hatred/Serenity.
We’ll look at the changes in the following order. You can also click the heading of each section to be taken to the discussion thread for each Discipline.
Corruption Sorcerer / Seer Consular
Virulence Sniper / Dirty Fighting Gunslinger
Pyrotech Powertech / Plasmatech Vanguard
Madness Sorcerer / Balance Sage
First up, let’s take a look at the proposed, AKA NOT FINAL, changes that have been published for the healer Disciplines. As expected, these classes also seem to be getting a nerf, in tune with the overall design philosophy of “nerf everything to make it more challenging for everyone”. Whether you agree with that approach or not, it’s what we’ve got in SWTOR, so lets shove on.
SWTOR Patch 5.3 Class Changes: Corruption Sorcerer and Seer Consular
Sorcerer
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Dark Heal by 4.86%
- Increased the base Force cost of Resurgence from 40 to 50 and the amount of healing done by its initial heal by 10.59%, but reduced the amount of healing done by its heal-over-time by 14.29%
- Reduced the amount of damage absorbed by Static Barrier by 5.3%
Corruption
- Increased the base Force cost of Dark Infusion from 45 to 50 and the amount of healing it does by 3.38%
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Innervate by 8.74%
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Revivification by 10%
- Increased the base Force cost of Roaming Mend from 65 to 70 and reduced the amount of healing it does by 25.22%
- Force Bending now reduces the activation time of Dark Infusion by 0.25 seconds (down from 0.5 seconds) and the Force cost of Revivification by 20% (down from 30%); all other Force Bending effects remain unchanged
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Renewal by 14.29%
- Secrets of the Dark Side no longer increases the healing done by Roaming Mend by 5%, but still reduces its Force cost
- Reduced the healing done by Sustaining Darkness by 5.3%
- Twisted Force now makes Innervate channel 10% faster (down from 20%)
Sage
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Benevolence by 4.86%
- Increased the base Force cost of Rejuvenate from 40 to 50 and the amount of healing done by its initial heal by 10.59%, but reduced the amount of healing done by its heal-over-time by 14.29%
- Reduced the amount of damage absorbed by Force Armor by 5.3%
Seer
- Increased the base Force cost of Deliverance from 45 to 50 and the amount of healing it does by 3.38%
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Healing Trance by 8.74%
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Salvation by 10%
- Increased the base Force cost of Wandering Mend from 65 to 70 and reduced the amount of healing it does by 25.22%
- Conveyance now reduces the activation time of Deliverance by 0.25 seconds (down from 0.5 seconds) and the Force cost of Salvation by 20% (down from 30%); all other Conveyance effects remain unchanged
- Reduced the amount of healing done by Renewal by 14.29%
- Erudite Mender no longer increases the healing done by Wandering Mend by 5%, but still reduces its Force cost
- Reduced the healing done by Soothing Protection by 5.3%
- Force Warden now makes Healing Trance channel 10% faster (down from 20%)
Dev Note
The slight Force cost increases for Resurgence / Rejuvenate and Dark Infusion / Deliverance and the reducing of the cost reduction for Revivification / Salvation provided by Force Bending / Conveyance were necessary to keep Force management from being completely trivial at low levels of Force. These cost increases allowed an anomaly for Dark Infusion / Deliverance and Resurgence / Rejuvenate in that they both saw at least partial increases to their healing output while all other healing abilities saw a decrease.
The changes to Roaming Mend / Wandering Mend remove it from normal single-target healing usage. It still remains a valuable heal when more than one target requires healing, or when combined with Force Bending / Conveyance in single-target healing situations where the target simply will not survive if forced to wait for a heal with an activation time.
The rest of the changes for Corruption Sorcerers / Seer Sages all have one singular goal: wrangling their HPS down to the healing target while maintaining the Corruption / Seer playstyle with which players have become familiar.
Up next we have the balance pass for the Virulence Sniper and Dirty Fighting Gunslinger. Once again, it’s nerfs and mixed buffs for this discipline as well. The never-ending balance war of nerfs and buffs that is core to BioWare’s design philosophy is at it again.
SWTOR Patch 5.3 Class Changes: Virulence Sniper and Dirty Fighting Gunslinger
Time to take a look at the upcoming changes to Virulence Sniper and Dirty Fighting Gunslinger. Here is what Bioware’s Combat Team is planning to do for Patch 5.3.
Sniper Virulence
- Cull deals 25% less damage
- Weakening Blast deals 11% more damage, costs 5 energy, and is no longer triggered by weapon damage from Cull
- Increased Lethal Shot weapon damage by 13% and reduced its poison damage by 35%
- Toxic Surge deals 20% more damage
- In addition to its previous effects, Lethal Takedown now also reduces the energy cost of Takedown by 3
Gunslinger Dirty Fighting
- Wounding Shots deals 25% less damage
- Hemorrhaging Blast deals 11% more damage, costs 5 energy, and is no longer triggered by weapon damage from Wounding Shots
- Increased Dirty Blast weapon damage by 13% and reduced its bleed damage by 35%
- Bloody Mayhem deals 20% more damage
- In addition to its previous effects, Dirty Shot now also reduces the energy cost of Quickdraw by 3
Dev Note
The changes to the Virulence Sniper / Dirty Fighting Gunslinger are meant to bring the discipline down to its target DPS. The damage reduction to Cull / Wounding Shots and the changes to Weakening Blast / Hemorrhaging Blast and Lethal Shot / Dirty Blast brought Virulence / Dirty Fighting slightly below its target DPS, so we increased the damage of Toxic Surge / Bloody Mayhem to get it back to the target.
The change to Lethal Takedown / Dirty Shot addressed a situation where it was better to use Lethal Shot / Dirty Blast while the target was under the effect of your Weakening Blast / Hemorrhaging Blast.
Finally, there are the proposed changes to the Pyrotech Powertech and Plasmatech Vanguard in Patch 5.3. These DPS specs received a combination of nerfs and buffs. The aim of this initial balance pass is clearly to bring these lesser-used Disciplines back into rotation in DPS roles for raids and PvP.
SWTOR Patch 5.3 Class Changes: Pyrotech Powertech and Plasmatech Vanguard
Powertech Pyrotech
- Increased the Searing Wave damage bonus given by Superheated Flamethrower from 20% to 50%
- Reduced the burn damage of Incendiary Missile by 10%
- In addition to its previous effects, Rain of Fire now increases the damage dealt by Incendiary Missile by 10%
- Increased the critical damage bonus given by Firebug from 10% to 15%
Vanguard Plasmatech
- Increased the Ion Squall damage bonus given by Pulse Generator from 20% to 50%
- Reduced the burn damage of Incendiary Round by 10%
- In addition to its previous effects, Rain of Fire now increases the damage dealt by Incendiary Round by 10%
- Increased the critical damage bonus given by Plasmatic Assault from 10% to 15%
DevNotes
The changes to Pyrotech / Plasmatech are aimed at bringing the discipline up to its intended target DPS. With the change to Superheated Flamethrower / Pulse Generator, we wanted to make Searing Wave / Ion Squall more than just an ability used to buff the next Immolate / Plasma Flare. It can now pack quite a punch of its own.
We reduced the damage dealt by Incendiary Missile / Incendiary Round as part of our changes to bring the Innovative Ordnance Mercenary / Assault Specialist Commando down to its target DPS, but the Pyrotech Powertech / Plasmatech Vanguard did not need this change, so we offset it with the change to Rain of Fire.
Finally, we wanted to give the all-too-predictable Pyrotech / Plasmatech a little more variability with their damage, so we increased the critical damage bonus slightly for some of their abilities with the change to Firebug / Plasmatic Assault. On the whole, Pyrotechs / Plasmatechs should see a significant DPS increase and parse in the realm of the new Hatred Assassins / Serenity Shadows.
SWTOR Madness Sorcerer and Balance Sage Class Changes for 5.3
Sorcerer
Madness
- Changed Deathmark’s periodic damage boost from 10% to 15%
- Devour now gives Force Leech a 30% damage bonus (up from 25%) when damaging enemies suffering from Affliction
Sage
Balance
- Changed Force Suppression’s periodic damage boost from 10% to 15%
- Mind’s Eye now gives Force Serenity a 30% damage bonus (up from 25%) when damaging targets suffering from Weaken Mind
DevNotes: The changes to Madness / Balance bring it up to its target DPS. We improved Deathmark / Force Suppression to boost the sustained damage that the Discipline can deal, and we improved Devour / Mind’s Eye to give Madness / Balance a survivability boost and damage increase in one fell swoop.