Which classes reign supreme in patch 7.1?

More of the Star Wars: The Old Republic story content promised by Bioware this year has been released with the recent patch, titled Game Update 7.1: Digging Deeper.

Update 7.1 was a much bigger patch than 7.0 overall. With more exploration of the beloved character Darth Malgus as part of the Legacy of the Sith, and the expansion of Manaan–a location featured in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic–it’s a good time to jump back in. All that includes another round of balance changes, so it’s also a good time to explore which advanced classes rose to the cream of the crop, and which ones are the chaff.

While we’ll be ranking the classes in a tier list, it’s important to note that Bioware has a good track record of not letting any one class dominate or become obsolete. Some classes perform better than others on each specific end-game boss and all are useful in PvP. A Sawbones Scoundrel / Medicine Operative might do better at keeping the entire group topped up on health, but a Combat Medic Commando / Bodyguard Mercenary could be crucial in rapid single-target healing to keep the tanks alive.

That being said, here are the top performers in each role category, based on a statistical aggregate of parsed combat data. Factors considered were pure DPS (Damage Per Second) leaderboard position, as well as average boss DPS, HPS (Healing Per Second) for the healers, and DTPS (Damage Taken Per Second) for the tanks with lower DTPS being preferable.

First, we’ll tier rank them, and then briefly mention how each advanced class plays.

Damage

S-Tier

• Shadow / Assassin (Jedi / Sith)

• Sentinel / Marauder (Jedi / Sith)

• Vanguard / Powertech (Republic / Empire Tech)

A-Tier

• Guardian / Juggernaut (Jedi / Sith)

• Sage / Sorcerer (Jedi / Sith)

• Scoundrel / Operative (Republic / Empire Tech)

B-Tier

• Gunslinger / Sniper (Republic / Empire Tech)

• Commando / Mercenary (Republic / Empire Tech)

Tank

S-Tier

• Defense Guardian / Immortal Juggernaut (Jedi / Sith)

A-Tier

• Kinetic Combat Shadow / Darkness Assassin (Jedi / Sith)

B-Tier

• Shield Specialist Vanguard / Shield Tech Powertech (Republic / Empire Tech)

Healer

S-Tier

• Sawbones Scoundrel / Medicine Operative (Republic / Empire Tech)

A-Tier

• Combat Medic Commando / Bodyguard Mercenary (Republic / Empire Tech)

B-Tier

• Seer Sage / Corruption Sorcerer (Jedi / Sith)

Advanced Classes

Since 7.0, the Class Story of each character refers to the narrative path you pick to follow: Jedi Knight being complemented by Sith Warrior for example for lightsaber-focused Force Users.

The choice of Advanced Classes is what determines the style of gameplay. This is an important decision as it cannot be changed, although you can later pick a Secondary Advanced Class. Advanced Classes can be divided into Force Users and Tech Users, with the Classes Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Sith Warrior, and Sith Inquisitor being able to pick any of the four Jedi / Sith Advanced Classes, and the Classes Trooper, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, and Imperial Agent able to pick any of the Tech Advanced Classes.

Each Advanced Class further has several specializations called Disciplines that can more easily be switched between mid-game, with some specific classes offering a tank, healer, or stealth Discipline.

Jedi / Sith

Guardian / Juggernaut (S-Tier Tank, A-Tier DPS)

With excellent damage potential and exceptional damage mitigation abilities, the Guardian / Juggernaut is excellent all around.

• Tanks are always in demand, and the other Disciplines are there for when you just want to wreck stuff.
• Defense / Immortal Discipline boasts the lowest overall DTPS, meaning they take the least effort to keep alive and can weather hard-hitting bosses.
• For newer players, the Vigilance / Vengeance mechanics are more straightforward, while also having better AOE (Area of Effect) damage, great for solo story content.
• Focus / Rage has a much more complex interaction of abilities that work better when certain debuffs are applied, but it pays off with a stronger burst and sustained damage potential.

Sentinel / Marauder (S-Tier DPS, A-Tier Tank)

Sentinels and Marauders used to easily dominate DPS leaderboards, but the 7.1 changes brought an end to the brief era of uncontested glory.

• The Concentration / Fury Discipline holds many of the DPS leaderboard spots at the top with the ability to burst down bosses and clear mobs with AOEs; it’s also a dominant PVP spec. Before and after the 7.0 changes to mechanics, this remains one of the premier DPS Disciplines game-wide.
• Watchman / Annihilation is useful for PVE as it has lots of passive healing, but is harder to master for endgame due to its DOT (Damage Over Time) abilities and synergies relying on smaller timers.
• Combat / Carnage is meant to be good at single-target burst but is easily the weakest Discipline of the three; this says little as the Sentinel / Marauder is a powerful Advanced Class in general.

Sage / Sorcerer (A-Tier DPS, B-Tier Healer)

Do you want to get Force Lightning? Because this is how you get Force Lightning.

• The Sage / Sorcerer plays as the most Force-intensive Advanced Class. Ranged classes also mean less running to chase enemies around. Healers also have little trouble securing spots in operations.
• Compared to the other two Healer Disciplines, Seer / Corruption is more of a jack-of-all-trades, able to top up the tanks with burst healing and keep the rest of the group topped up without changing much in the way of rotations.
• Telekinetics / Lightning can dish out the damage, appearing often on DPS leaderboards. It is best experienced as a Sith for Force Lightning purposes though still very satisfying as an earth-bender Jedi.
• The Balance / Madness is the last Discipline and excels in PVP with several AOE burst abilities and an arsenal of DOTs that can keep other players weakened.

Shadow / Assassin (S-Tier DPS, A-Tier Tank)

If you’ve ever wanted to play Darth Maul or Galen Marek, then the Shadow / Assassin stealth specialist is for you.

• This is probably the most played Tank Advanced Class but it also excels as a stealth DPS. The Advanced Class as a whole excels in PVP, and many of its abilities do more when made from behind an enemy.
• Of note is that Kinetic Combat / Darkness is the only tank Discipline that also has stealth, as the only other AC that can stealth is the Scoundrel / Operative. They also excel at keeping threat on groups unless the party runs around.
• The Serenity / Hatred Discipline currently holds the most records for DPS leaderboards across servers, though its reliance on DOT abilities means lower burst capability.
• The Infiltration / Deception is better for boss phases that need to be brought down with burst damage but suffers when considering sustained damage.

Republic / Empire Tech

Commando / Mercenary (A-Tier Healer, B-Tier DPS)

If you want healing and DPS that’s unafraid to get hit, then the Commando / Mercenary is what’s on the menu. All of its Disciplines boast great survivability, making it easy to play solo and take the stress off tanks and healers.

• Being one of three Healer Disciplines, Combat Medic / Bodyguard is the one that is simplest to learn with straightforward healing, and does better burst healing for when tanks especially are taking a ton of damage.
• Though it sees the least usage, Gunnery / Arsenal is recommended for newer players as the ability usage is simple, there are fewer mechanics to worry about, and it fares better when forced to switch targets.
• Innovative Ordnance / Assault Specialist is the better of the two Disciplines for DPS, boasting great burst damage, though has harder energy management and reliance on longer cooldown debuffs that make it struggle when switching targets, thus making it less appealing to new players.

Vanguard / Powertech (S-Tier DPS)

This class becomes invaluable in many end-game bosses while also boasting of claiming many DPS leaderboard top spots.

• Shield Specialist / Shield Tech is one of three Tank classes in the game and the only one that has some abilities that can be used at range. It’s probably the easiest tank Advanced Class to learn, but has less self-healing and more damage mitigation abilities, making it less appealing for solo play.
• While it sees the least use out of the three Vanguard / Powertech Disciplines, Tactics / Advanced Prototype has some niche uses such as being able to apply armour break debuffs, and having better ranged damage options.
• Late game content sees a lot of Plasmatech / Pyrotech usage, as it’s a Discipline that excels in both burst damage and sustained damage. This is the Discipline that gets the Vanguard / Powertech onto the leaderboards and top parses.

Gunslinger / Sniper (B-Tier DPS)

It’s hiiiiigh noon, and there’s Jedi to be hunted, space desperado.

• Though Vanguard / Powertech has a Discipline that can provide armour debuff from range, which is key in some boss fights, it’s the Sharpshooter / Saboteur that shines in this role. It’s also quite satisfying a class to play for solo content as it achieves the ‘one shot, one kill’ fantasy.
• Saboteur / Engineering does great AOE damage and takes a few spots on DPS leaderboards, taking the crown from Dirty Fighting / Virulence, but is less reliable when targets move around. It’s useful in certain PVP situations where there are areas that need to be defended.
• For a more roguish experience, the Dirty Fighting / Virulence Discipline excels at DOT abilities in the form of bleeds. While it suffers from mobility issues as it basically asks you to play as a turret, it used to take spots on DPS leaderboards and still carries the strengths that made that possible.

Scoundrel / Operative (S-Tier Healer, A-Tier DPS)

Taking the coveted top spot for Healer specs while also boasting great DPS capability, the Scoundrel / Operative is one of two stealth specialists.

• Having a healer that can also go into stealth to stun enemies or otherwise keep out of danger until the need rises makes this a very well-appreciated Advanced Class.
• For when you need to keep an entire 16-man operations group alive, Medicine / Sawbones excels at group and AOE healing, also making it top out the HPS leaderboard.
• Of note is that the Scrapper / Concealment Discipline also tends to claim and keep DPS leaderboard stats game-wide and plays more as a melee class that does more damage when behind an enemy.
• Lethality / Ruffian is for those wanting to play ranged DPS with the option of switching to the other specs, while also being a much simpler class to learn, as the Scrapper / Concealment has complicated ability priorities and positioning requirements.

As always, may the Force be with you. Cue Star Wars credits theme song!

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