by David Piner on Sep 02, 2012
The Commando is built to do two things: dish out damage and heal injured allies in the field. By combining the firepower of a mini-gun blaster with the ability to heal they form an excellent hybrid class capable of taking on almost any situation. By speccing into the Combat Medic tree, the Commando sacrifices some of their firepower for more effective healing and new healing abilities. Players who prefer to focus on the damage-dealing aspect of the class can follow the Gunnery or Assault Specialist trees, giving them powerful short-range and damage-over-time attacks, respectively.
The Trooper’s "combat currency" is Ammo, which will deplete when using certain attacks. When the ammo bar is empty you must either wait for it to fill back up or use the Troopers Ammo generating abilities. Recharge Cells has a rather long cooldown, so ammo must be managed carefully, especially at lower levels. The less ammo you have, the longer it takes to refill - at 7 to 12 ammo you build .6 ammo per second, but as your ammo level depletes, this rate decreases. Big-damage skills require more ammo, so spacing them out instead of burning them all in rapid rotation will prevent an empty clip. You can also use Hammer Shot to drop a tiny bit of heat while still doing damage, and treeing up in Tactics allows you to generate ammo more efficiently.
Troopers of all flavors use different energy cells to achieve different effects. These are essentially the equivalent of stances for melee classes - you want the right cell for the scenario.
Plasma Cell- Loads your blaster rifle with combustible gas, giving all your blaster attacks a chance to deal additional elemental damage over time. For players going the Assault Specialist route, this is the ideal cylinder to use. Assault Specialist is all about elemental damage and High Impact Bolt a powerful ranged tech attack that can only be used against enemies who are incapacitated or suffering from a damage-over-time effect. This is the first cell you get, and is shared with Commandos.
High Energy Cell - All internal and elemental damage is increased by 5% while active. This is another good cylinder for DPS-spec, as it makes stacked damage-over-time effects do more damage per tick.
Combat Support Cell - While active, Hammer Shot charges your powercell with each use. Charges increase all damage and healing dealt, up to a maximum of 3% at 30 charges. In addition, targeting an ally with Hammer Shot will heal the target for 100% of your tech bonus healing. Only one cell can be active at a time. Always be sure to have this on when performing healing of any kind.
Healing as a Commando can be both a challenge and rewarding role to play depending on the situation you’re in. While they lack a traditional heal over time ability that many of the other classes have, they do have a proc that deals HoT and also Trauma Probe, which provides a small shot of health whenever the recipient is hit. Even though they may not be putting out the top healing numbers, they are one of the tougher healing classes. Heavy armor coupled with a variety of knockbacks, incapacitating effects and shields for mitigation keep you healing longer.
When specced as a DPS the Commando has no shortage of powerful and unique attacks in their arsenal. The source of all the Commandos powerful attacks comes from their mini-gun, which they use to dish out Hammer Shot and the high damage channeled Full Auto. Although they don’t pack as large a variety of weapons as their Bounty Hunter nemesis the Mercenary, they more than make up for it with a wide range of rounds they can fire from their Blaster Cannon. Grav Rounds to deal damage and weaken armor, Plasma Grenade for damage over time, and of course the always popular Mortar Volley which is capable of decimating anyone caught within its area of effect. If an enemy survives all of this long enough to get up close the Commando can employ a Hail of Bolts, or Pulse Cannon to finish them off.
Warzones can be a little tricky for Commandos whether they choose the healing or DPS route. This is due to many of their most powerful abilities requiring you to be stationary in order to use. Anyone who’s entered a PVP situation can tell you that standing still for any amount of time usually doesn’t end well. How the Commando makes up for this is with a variety of useful (and lifesaving) utility abilities that can either mitigate incoming damage, slow the enemy target, or knock them back a considerable distance. The most effective of these is Concussion Charge, not only will it knock back any nearby enemies quite a piece, it also applies a slowing effect to them. Concussion Charge is perfect for knocking opponents into the various traps in Huttball. If you’re taking damage from a ranged enemy throw up your Shield, this will mitigate 30% of all incoming damage for 12 second. Just enough time to make an escape or throw yourself a heal.
Why choose the Commando you ask. Do you want to wield a powerful Assault Cannon and wear heavy suits of high tech armor? Are you looking for a ranged class that has a devastating AoE impact and enough tools to handle any situation effectively? Do you want the option to heal? If you answered yes to even one of the above questions then the Commando may just be the advanced class for you.
Commandos also transition from PVE to PVP very easily. Many of the same rotations you will find yourself using in a Flashpoint will be the same as those used in a warzone. This makes enjoying all the different game style SWTOR has to offer a lot easier and more…enjoyable.
Commandos have two main stats: Aim and Endurance. Both of these stats are important to consider when selecting new gear. Both DPS and Heal spec Commandos will get the biggest bang for their buck out of Aim, which affects ranged, tech damage, and healing power. Decent Commando gear is fairly common - heavy armor with Aim and Endurance is used by a quarter of all the advanced classes, and drops fairly often.
When using customizable gear, look for mods with the Commando description. Commando armoring and barrels have lots of Aim and heavy Endurance. For mods, look for Agile or Nimble mods - Agile adds Power, Nimble adds Critical Rating, and both add Aim and Endurance. Both DPS and Heal spec Commandos will want to look for Power, Critical Rating and Surge.
When gearing for PvP, Expertise rating will affect how much damage the Commando is able to shrug off and how much damage they do to other players. Since the Commando is something of a switch-hitter in PvP, stacking up on Expertise is even more important than picking which talent tree to use.
The Trooper has five companions, each of which assists the Vanguard/Commando in combat and throughout their storyline. The Vanguard and the Commando each have different needs when it comes to companions, although they share the same five, which you will find listed below.
Companion utility varies a bit between the two classes. The Vanguard can take a sustained beating and has excellent survivability, but a healer will help him last longer in tough fights. The Commando will get more use out of a tank, especially if he is heal-spec.
Aric Jorgen
Jorgen is the first companion you pick up on Ord Mantell and functions as a ranged DPS. For those looking to add another trooper to the mix he’s a good fit, but in terms of survivability it may be best to switch him out for a tank or heal type companion when they become available.
Elara Dorne
Elara may not be the best bet for heal specced Commandos but can be a big help if you’ve taken the DPS route. For a little more damage you can switch her into DPS stance, where she will continue to heal you albeit in smaller amounts.
M1-4X
The big droid is another Vanguardesque companion and functions as a ranged tank. If you’re going purely a DPS spec then he may work well in keeping the attention of you. Those who like to dive right into the action however should probably stick with Elara.
Tanno Vic
The melee tank of the group tanno makes a good fit for the Commando, and does a good job of keeping the attention on him. If you want to do a little more damage however you may want to stick with the ranged tank M1-4X.
Yuun
The final companion you will receive is Yuun a melee DPS class. Like the other DPS characters he may not be the best fit for the Commando. If you’re only dealing with lots of normal strength MoBs and want to deal with them quickly then he may be a good choice. Any other situation though, you’ll want to go with Elara or a Tank companion for the safest combination.