Darth Hater

Georg Zoeller
A Warrior can still Force Leap onto a Sniper in cover right when they get within 30 yards but it does not have the same effect as players who are not in cover? I mean a Warrior should still be able to leap to close distance but the stuns etc that might follow may not be effective since the Sniper is in cover?

It would not be like the Sniper being in cover has some incredible ability to prevent the Warrior from leaping towards him, but a Sniper being fortified in cover would not suffer the same penalty as another type of toon being lept on who did not have cover?.

A Sniper being in cover should not have the ability to completely block a force leap. Protected from the after affects of the force leap sure, but to stymie it completely seems off. How could the Sniper in cover block the distant actions of a Warrior ability on a passive basis? Otherwise a Warrior is left having to run 35m to engage a Sniper? How is that balanced?It's much worse than you think.

No, a Sniper in cover cannot be charged with Force Leap. Yes, your warrior will have to move into melee range to engage the Sniper (or use ranged abilities like saber throw).

Marksman specced snipers specifically are a very defensive class.

You rarely see them leading the charge onto an objective, but they are masters of area denial. It's not just that you have to bridge 35 meters to them, with them getting the alpha strike. They got tools that will temporarily root you (Leg Shot), the force of impact from their Ambush ability pushes close range enemies back and their cover generator is fitted with the a pulse detonator that pushes attackers out of melee range (Cover Pulse). They can also become faster and faster the more they hit you (Sniper Volley). And did I mention that they can call down a powerful orbital satellite strike to protect the area around them?

You really don't want to charge these guys head on. Just like what I said about a Sage going into close range combat with a Melee DPS class, charging a good sniper head on alone will likely result in you dead on the ground and the Sniper mildly irritated.

How is it balanced? Carefully... We force you to be smart about moving into the area protected by these guys. If you're not smart about it and think you can charge into the fray, that's the wrong class to try that on. Their weakness is the fact that their most powerful abilities require them to be entirely static, that they have little ability to kite or establish range against a close range attacker.

You want to sneak up on them, distract them or eject them from cover (there's a very limited number of abilities that can do that), utilize environmental features to avoid line of sight, hit them with long range DOTs and wear them down, or gang up on them. If you manage to catch them close range without having lost too much of your health, they are in a lot of trouble and without Stealth generator or any kind of active escape ability, they are likely dead.

Georg Zoeller
Aren't IA's also set up with close combat melee moves? Its seems like an awesome class for pvp....It depends on your Advanced Class and Spec. Imperial Agent offers a very wide variety of different playstyles, from very long range tactical gameplay (Sniper) to mobile mid range explosive specialist (Engineer/Sniper) to Stealth capable healer (Scoundrel) to melee knife-and-fist stealth brawler.

Georg Zoeller
Two people can EASILY take down an IA. Long cast times and CC limited to one person mean that one person can get CCd while another runs up and melees them to death.This is pretty much true for any class assuming all involved are of equal skill level.

Some classes might have better ability to flee than others, but such is life. If all classes were the same in their capabilities, things would be terribly boring. 3 equally skilled players going 2:1 should always result with the 2 players winning in my book.

And you are correct, a stealth characters are probably your worst enemy as a sniper. Take a scoundrel: They have stealth, have absolutely devastating close range moves and have the ability to eject you from cover and prevent you from reentering it for a short time.

When they get close to you, you are going to go through a lot of hurt if you are alone. Time to hit that stun grenade in their face, legshot them or use that vibro knife attack to stun them and run like hell.

Shadows are painful too, their forcespeed makes it almost impossible to lose them once they are on you.

Which brings me to another point: Snipers are also not great as lone wolf players, as they lack mobility needed for guerrilla style gameplay. They are very much group characters that get their full potential from quickly picking off those engaged with others on their team, using their defensive setup to protect the healer or deploying their defense screen around your groups position, securing that objective.

If you have dreams about moving behind enemy lines, alone, picking off lonely targets, that's doubtful. People can and will use chat in the game and even if you find a lone player to kill, they'll be back with friends and as a sniper without backup, things will go dire at that point.

As mentioned several times before, Sniper, especially with the Marksman spec has a very unique playstyle not found in most other games. When you get the hang of it, you can be a very devastating weapon in your factions arsenal and a crucial element in warzones.

However, we're under no illusions about the class being something everyone will just pick up. People that prefer mobility and fighting in the heat of the battle will find other specs much more to their liking.

Allison Berryman
Hi everyone! We've seen some continuing confusion over this topic. Some of you have quoted text that appears on the Pre-Order Page that indicates you'll need to install Origin software to download the game. We are working to update the information on that page: you will not be required to install the Origin software in order to download, patch, or play the game (even during Early Game Access). You'll do that through our own site and launcher.