Star Wars Galaxies: Random notes on Bounty Hunter and Jedi expertise

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After spending a lot of time over the past week experimenting with the Jedi and Bounty Hunter expertise systems on Test Center, I've put together a few notes and observations.

With Chapter 2 looming on the horizon, I thought now would be a good time to share them. Since I've played a Bounty Hunter since way back in Beta, most of them are from that perspective, but I did take the chance to familiarize myself with teh Jedi side of things. "Know thine enemy" is always good advice. Plus, it was a lot of fun to swing a lightsaber.

Most of the things I've noted relate specifically to the classic matchup of Jedi vs. Bounty Hunter.

• Auto-aim and auto-attack make me feel confident - and competent - again. Maybe it means I'm lazy (or getting old), but the new system makes it much easier to keep up with a zigzagging opponent with a mad-on for my PvP points.

  As for Chapter 1, CounterStrike was never this hard. Then again, in CSS, I can fire my weapon without having to put the crosshairs on my target. I guess there's no such thing as supression fire in Star Wars.

• When you first log in with your CL 90 Jedi, you'll only get nine expertise points to spend. Since the Jedi profession has already received its upgrade, this is a way to put you in exactly the same postion you were in before Chapter 2.

  Don't worry, though ... a quick trip to a profession counselor (found near the starport in several major cities) for one of the free expertise resets will let you take full advantage of your points.

• From the Jedi perspective, if a Bounty Hunter wants to melee with you, that means he has Shields and bought the Razor Net upgrades. Stay away and shoot him in the face with ranged powers or weapons until he decides to give it up.

  That's actually pretty easy to do. According to HanseSOE (and a little independent verification), all Jedi ranged attacks are up to 32 meters now. The strikes and sweeps are based on saber weapon range.

• As a Bounty Hunter, Razor Net is your friend. Use it properly and you can get a Jedi to not only waste his big heal for the DOT immunity but also his Force Run to break the snare.

  That big 10k heal everyone talks about is nice, but you can beat the recharge timer with a little careful planning, and the Force Run timer as well.

• I'm not ashamed to kite a Jedi. Face it ... Jedi are going to run, no matter what. Whether it's toward you to get in melee range or for the hills to get away, they're going to be moving. So am I. I really don't want to get hit.

• Pay attention to what state a Jedi is in. If he's using his defensive stance, you'll be in for a tough fight. Just play it smart and stick it out.

  If he's using his focus skill, pour it on. His attacks will hit harder, but you'll do more damage. Once again, play it smart and don't forget to heal.

• Bounty Hunters only have a 3500 heal. Hit it every time it recharges.

• With the right setup, Jedi get a 10k heal. Expect every Jedi to have this. It may seem like you'll have to kill them twice, but if you can get them to use it early, they'll be in trouble later on when they really need it.

• Jedi, don't get fooled into burning your 10k heal too quickly. Razor Net does a good bit of damage, but it's not too much to tough out. With a heal that large, you shouldn't use it until you're almost out of health. The recharge timer can be a little long, especially when you're getting pounded, but it's worth waiting for. Meanwhile, the Bounty Hunter is trying to make do with a 3500 heal. Take advantage of that and just keep pounding away.

• A full-on Light Jedi template seems to be the best, at least in my opinion. Not only do you get the 10k heal, but you also get all the nice bonuses that go along with the defensive stance. Dark Jedi have to spend points on an offensive focus that they'd be crazy to use. The extra damage output just doesn't make up for the defensive hit.

• Expect most Bounty Hunters to take Shields (+10000 Energy/Kinetic Protection, +50 Glancing Blow chance for 20 seconds, 5 minute cooldown). The defensive bonus is too great to ignore, even on such a short timer and such a long recharge. I didn't take it, but like I said, I don't plan to stand still.

  Used effectively, though, it can really make or break a fight. One strategy would be to battle a Jedi until he pops his heal, then hit shields, drop a Razor Net and pull a melee weapon. The Jedi can't really hurt the Bounty Hunter, and the Bounty Hunter is still free to use many of his special attacks (only Assault, Sniper Shot and Burn require ranged weapons).

• Here's my best bet for a Bounty Hunter build, with the resulting skill mods:
  

  
  You'll notice that, while I didn't take Shields, I did take every bit of energy protection I could. On TC, I was using a set of crafted BH armor with base stats of 6944 kinetic and 4944 energy. With the 500 kinetic and 3000 energy protection from the expertise choices, that made my armor 7444/7944. On live, with my capped and layered assault armor (I use composite and Rebel Assault with identical stats), this build will leave me with an armor rating of 8016 kinetic and 8516 energy - all the time.

  The agility and precision mods from the expertise set those abilities at 140. Add in Healer's Touch gloves (+20 Agility, +20 Stamina), a Faultless Bandolier (+20 Precision), some assorted jewelry and a Miner's Medallion (+100 Agility) and my stats on live will read something like this:

  Strength 90
  Constitution 16
  Stamina 20
  Precision 200
  Agility 272
  Luck 90

  The hole in this build is easy spot. I'll need more Constitution items to boost my health. Stamina isn't as much of a worry because of the action cost mods I picked up, including the chance for a free shot in the carbine tree.

  This build does limit me to only Assault armor and carbines, but that's what I already use.

  For more specific information on Bounty Hunter expertise choices, click here.

• For Jedi, after a little experimentation, I landed on this Light Jedi build:
  
  
  This is definitely a defense-oriented template. Damage conversion, damage mitigation, defensive stance enhancements, improved saber block and the powerful 10k heal are all intended to keep a Jedi alive as long as possible.

  With this build, a light Jedi takes the field with 13542 health (with defensive stance activated) and 7859 action. If the action seems low, don't worry - that's what the "damage added to action" mod is for.

  As for stats, with the aforementioned Healer's Touch gloves and Miner's Medallion, Jedi Knight Robes (+40 Agility, +80 Constitution, +20 Strength), a +16 stamina bracelet and a +16 Strength bracelet, this light Jedi clocks in as follows:

  Strength 176
  Constitution 190
  Stamina 61
  Precision 90
  Agility 300
  Luck 90

  The only real variation I would consider would be abandoning the shockwave ability for the improved force throw. The snare chance would be most useful against a kiting Bounty Hunter and the damage is quite nice with the upgraded version. Jedi still have the basic force throw, and I like the shockwave animation.

  For more specific information on Jedi expertise choices, click here.

• As for hard numbers, dashx2525 put together a list on the official forums (keep in mind these are all PvE numbers; PvP numbers are not nearly as high):

  BH and Jedi damage stats for all damage skills in the expertise on TC

  
  I just made this for those of you who are curious

  Initial notes:

  1) all skills are the highest level, and the characters are lvl90. if there is a skill such as ambush for the BH where the highest version of the skill (mark 8) had to be unlocked with the expertise, i unlocked it. otherwise, using the same example the ambush attack would stop at mark 2 (the default level with no expertise)

  2) no damage bonuses or cooldown reduction bonuses were purchased unless listed otherwise.

  3) sometimes the damage listed will be just 1 number and not a range. when i list that, it means that that skill hits for that damage every time. The ones with range numbers mean that thats the range most of the specials landed in. it could be higher or lower than the range, but the majority of them fell within the range listed.

  4) i left the buffs out of the testing, as well as action reductions. this is merely a test of the dmg/effect skills.

  5) the numbers for the cooldowns may have an error of about a second or so, as i just counted them in my head.

  6) all of my testing was done on dantooine. i started by attacking lvl90 janta. i then realized that no matter what i attacked whether it be lvl63 or lvl90, it did the same dmg. so i think started widening my targets to basically anything in the area. all were regular creatures/npcs. none of the things i attack were white shevron elites, or gold chevron bosses.

  Jedi

  Weapon used: 1000dps kinetic sword (obsidian sword). 667-1333 default damage

  Force Lightning (Default/Expertise) - 3690 dmg. 12 second cooldown (can be upgraded with snare, no dmg increase)

  Force Maelstorm (Expertise) (The area attack version of FL) - not tested

  Force Choke (Expertise) - 1159 dmg. 5 second snare. 9 second cooldown (can be upgraded with longer snare, 10% root chance)

  Force Throw (Default) - same dmg as default attack. 5 second cooldown (can be upgraded with 25-100% snare, 15s duration for snare, 10% damage increase)

  Force Shockwave (Expertise) - 2029 dmg. cone attack. 9 second cooldown (can be upgraded with 6% dmg increase)

  Saber Strike (Default); - 1900-2300 dmg (roughly double of default attack). 4 second cooldown. (can be upgraded with 8% dmg increase)

  Saber Sweep (Default); - 1994 dmg. area attack. 9 second cooldown. (can be upgraded with 8% dmg increase)

  Note: All of the Jedi attacks can be increase an additional 4% in damage over what I listed (so if I listed 8% increase, you can get 12% max) with the fidelity skill which increases all Jedi attacks dmg by 4%.

  Bounty Hunter

  NOTE: All BH skills listed except for Assault, Sniper Shot and Burn can be used with both melee and ranged weapons.

  Weapon used: Disruptor rifle. 937 DPS with 35 electrical dmg. (535-1035 default dmg)

  Ambush (Default/Expertise)

  • 2300-2500 dmg. 8 second cooldown. (can be upgraded for -2 second on cooldown -20% action cost, 10% dmg increase)
  • 10% Critical Vulnerability for 14 seconds on target

  
  Assault (Default)

  • 2700-3000. 4 second cooldown.; (can be upgraded for -2 second on cooldown
  • 20% action cost, 10% dmg increase)

  
  Burn (Default)

  • 2600-3000. 8 second cooldown.

  
  Antagonize (Expertise)

  • Same dmg as default attack. 16 second cooldown.
  • Draws Aggro

  
  Dread Strike (Expertise)

  • Same dmg as default attack. 32 second Cooldown.
  • Minus 25% damage from target for 14 seconds.

  
  Cripple (Default)

  • 1200-1600 Dmg. 15 second cooldown. (can be upgraded by 25% dmg increase, 3 second snare increase duration)
  • 14 second snare.

  
  Fumble (Expertise)

  • Roughly Half the damage as the default attack. 15 second cooldown.
  • Trivial hit change modified by 20 for 14 seconds

  
  Razor Net (Default)

  • 383 damage x 6 ticks. 17 second cooldown. (can be upgraded with 3 second snare duration increase, 2m radius increase)
  • 10 second snare (snare resets to 10s each time the trap hits). Adds bleed.

  
  Intimidating Strike (Expertise)

  • Same dmg as default attack. 60 second cooldown.
  • Target is intimidated for 20 seconds

  
  Tangle Bomb (Default)

  • 1 damage x 6 ticks (Bugged?). 12 second cooldown. (can be upgraded with 3 second snare duration increase, 2m radius increase)
  • 12 second snare (snare resets to 12 seconds each time the trap hits)

  
  Stun (Expertise)

  • Same damage as default attack. 30 second cooldown.
  • Target is rooted/dazed for 3 seconds.

  
  Sniper Shot (Expertise)

  • 7000-7400 Damage. must be prone to fire. requires a rifle to fire. 30 second cooldown.

  
  All BH skills with the exception of the traps and sniper shot can be upgraded in addition to what I listed with -15% action costs and +5% damage if you buy the carbine/rifle upgrades and use the carbine/rifle with the upgrades.

Some Jedi stats from my balance spreadsheet.. The modified damage is with Fidelity, Exacting Strikes, Improved Force Shockwave, and Improved Force Choke.

Action Name	Level	Cooldown	DPS	Damage	Mod Dam	Mod DPS	Action Cost
Sai tok Jung Ma	82	5	380	1995	2234.4	425.6	1520
Sai cha Strike	88	3	340	1105	1237.6	380.8	1360
Force Garrote	90	7	160	1160	1299.2	179.2	960
Force Hurricane	90	10	360	3690	3837.6	374.4	1440
Force Shockwave	90	7	280	2030	2233	308	1120
				9980	10841.8

With all that said, don't take my word for it. Experiment. Try a few things out. Build a template that suits your style of play and keep in mind what kind of gear you have or can easily get.

Good hunting, and may the Force be with you.