The first set of class balancing changes for SWTOR’s new expansion Onslaught are starting to roll out with Game Update 6.1. The first candidates that have been approved for changes are Inquisitor’s Corruption Sorcerer, Powertech’s Advanced Prototype, Operative’s Concealment and Lethality and their Republic mirror versions. A few more bug fixes have also been revealed and a word on the upcoming PTS with the Alderaan Stronghold also found its place in community manager Eric Musco’s forum post!
BioWare did not wait long after 6.0 and Onslaught to start rolling out class changes. First batch arrives with Update 6.1. The list below is taken from Musco’s recent forum post and will show you exactly what is being changed and how. Some of these are result of player feedback, others are forced into the game for balancing purposes and/or class targeted performance numbers thresholds.
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Sorcerer
- Enduring Bastion (after Force Barrier) now absorbs roughly 18% less damage
- Update to the Gathering Force 6pc set bonus: Using Force Speed now reduces the active cooldown of Polarity Shift by 5 seconds (down from 10 seconds). The duration of Polarity Shift is now increased by 5 seconds (down from 10 seconds) and requires Polarity Shift to be used while Force Speed is active.
- Corruption
- Sustaining Darkness now heals for roughly 12% more
Powertech
- Reduced Meteor Brawler Firefall damage by 25%
Dev note: Meteor Brawler’s Firefall affect was doing more burst damage than intended overall and so it is being reduced. - Fixed an issue where Veteran Ranger set bonus was not getting a benefit from Power Loaders
- Update to the Veteran Ranger 6pc set bonus: Each Shoulder Cannon rocket has a 75% chance to trigger an additional rocket. When Shoulder Cannon is put on cooldown, it applies Autocannon to you for 60 seconds, firing a rocket at your current target whenever you deal damage. This additional rocket can fire once every 10 seconds.
Dev note: The Veteran Ranger set was intended to be the more sustain-focused set for Advanced Prototype discipline, and we realized it was underperforming in that regard. We have slightly modified its functionality to improve its effectiveness and give more consistent damage. - Advanced Prototype
- Energy and Kinetic damage buff from High Energy Gas Cylinder increased to 5% (up from 3%)
- Power Bracer damage buff increased to 10% (up from 5%)
- Blood Tracker damage buff increased to 5% (up from 3%)
Dev note: Advanced Prototype was underperforming in DPS output, so we slightly increased their passive damage bonuses in the above three changes. - Powerlode tactical now increases Energy Burst’s crit chance by 100%
Dev note: We noticed this tactical wasn’t getting a lot of use and was extremely situational, so we’ve added an auto-crit aspect to it to solidify it as the burst tactical choice for Advanced Prototype players.
Operative
- Concealment
- Acid Lash tactical now increases Acid Blade damage by 60% (down from 100%)
Dev note: Concealment Operatives with the Acid Lash tactical are doing a bit too much damage and so we are reducing the benefit of this tactical.
- Acid Lash tactical now increases Acid Blade damage by 60% (down from 100%)
- Lethality
- Synox Shots now increases Toxic Blast’s damage by 75% (down from 100%)
Dev note: Lethality Operative’s Toxic Blast was becoming their highest priority ability with this tactical and changing their rotation in a way we did not intend. Because of this, we are reducing the damage buff given by the Synox Shots tactical while ensuring it remains a competitive choice.
- Synox Shots now increases Toxic Blast’s damage by 75% (down from 100%)
Sage
- Enduring Bastion (after Force Barrier) now absorbs roughly 18% less damage
- Update to the Gathering Force 6pc set bonus: Using Force Speed now reduces the active cooldown of Mental Alacrity by 5 seconds (down from 10 seconds). The duration of Mental Alacrity is now increased by 5 seconds (down from 10 seconds) and requires Mental Alacrity to be used while Force Speed is active.
- Seer
- Soothing Protection now heals for roughly 12% more
Vanguard
- Reduced Meteor Brawler Ionfall damage by 25%.
Dev note: Meteor Brawler’s Ionfall affect was doing more burst damage than intended overall and so it is being reduced. - Fixed an issue where Veteran Ranger set bonus was not getting a benefit from Charged Loaders
- Update to the Veteran Ranger 6pc set bonus: Each Shoulder Cannon rocket has a 75% chance to trigger an additional rocket. When Shoulder Cannon is put on cooldown, it applies Autocannon to you for 60 seconds, firing a rocket at your current target whenever you deal damage. This additional rocket can fire once every 10 seconds.
Dev note: The Veteran Ranger set was intended to be the more sustain-focused set for the Tactics discipline, and we realized it was underperforming in that regard. We have slightly modified its functionality to improve its effectiveness and give more consistent damage. - Tactics
- Energy and Kinetic damage buff from High Energy Cell increased to 5% (up from 3%)
- Riot Augs damage buff increased to 5% (up from 10%)
- Triumph damage buff increased to 5% (up from 3%)
Dev note: Tactics was underperforming in DPS output, so we slightly increased their passive damage bonuses in the above three changes. - Powerlode tactical now increases Cell Burst’s crit chance by 100%
Dev note: We noticed this tactical wasn’t getting a lot of use and was extremely situational, so we’ve added an auto-crit aspect to it to solidify it as the burst tactical choice for Tactics players.
Smuggler
- Scrapper
- Acid Lash tactical now increases Flechette Round’s damage by 60% (down from 100%)
Dev note: Scrapper Smugglers with the Acid Lash tactical are doing a bit too much damage and so we are reducing the benefit of this tactical.
- Acid Lash tactical now increases Flechette Round’s damage by 60% (down from 100%)
- Ruffian
- Synox Shots now increases Sanguinary Shot’s damage by 75% (down from 100%)
Dev note: Ruffian Smuggler’s Sanguinary Shot was becoming their highest priority ability with this tactical and changing their rotation in a way we did not intend. Because of this, we are reducing the damage buff given by the Synox Shots tactical while ensuring it remains a competitive choice.
- Synox Shots now increases Sanguinary Shot’s damage by 75% (down from 100%)
Gunslinger
- Dirty Fighting
- Fixed an issue where Dirty Blast’s DoT from the Exploited Weakness tactical was dealing more damage than intended
- Sharpshooter
- Fixed an issue where the Agitating Energies tactical was refreshing Vital Shot and ticking its damage more often than intended
Musco clarified that the Gunslinger changes are only happening to the Republic class and not to the Sniper, because there was a discrepancy found in comparison and the Republic class was discovered to be buggy in these areas.
In any case, these are not the final patch notes, so do not be surprised if there are further changes when Game Update 6.1 arrives to the live servers. There is no date for that yet, but all of these will be on PTS by the end of this week.
Speaking of PTS, as I said in my SWTOR 2020 plans article from two days ago, Bioware intends to bring back PTS online this week. It is likely that this will happen tomorrow afternoon or evening (Friday) – based on your time zone, of course.
This PTS will include the following Alderaan Stronghold changes:
- A variety of bug fixes throughout including issues such as expansion doors not opening after purchase.
- Made a number of changes throughout the Stronghold to hook quantity and placement.
- Hooks have been added to the Ancient Ruins area outside.
- Taxis will now be Thrantas!
The Taxi services and the map of the Stronghold will not behave properly as announced in the same post as a “known issue”. Remember that this is a test environment and if something isn’t working or bugged, you can help the developers by reporting it.
All of this results in Update 6.1 shaping up to be bigger than I thought. The class changes will likely reflect on some of the 6.0 Class Guides available on VULKK.com shortly after the update goes live. Add the Alderaan Stronghold and the Story element and I think this patch shapes up to be a rather interesting one.
Imagine if the “story element” as I called it turns out to be a one-hour mission in KOTFE’s post launch style or a new Flashpoint. The second one would have been discovered by the Dataminers long ago, but still…
It’s almost as if BioWare heard my / the community’s call for more activity regarding the next update(s). It’s not much. We only still know what is coming to 6.1 and perhaps not all of it.
The fact that PTS is just coming up at the end of the week, makes me think my prediction for a release date window around the middle of February still holds its ground.
What do you think now of 6.1? Did this new reveal change your opinion about the first “major patch” to SWTOR in 2020? Are you excited for it and why?
