The Rules Of Engagement – Gut
The Rules of Engagement is the column that provides Republic Troopers with highly detailed intel on everything a Trooper needs to know to adapt and overcome on and off the battlefield.
Written By: Mike Kern
For those new to the Trooper class, trying out a new advanced class, or just looking for more information on certain abilities, Republic Trooper is pleased to highlight a number of essential Trooper abilities, skills and the tactics for using them.
Today we focus on the Vanguard’s Gut ability, which can be obtained at level 20 in the Tactics tree.
Skill Focus: Gut
Unlocked in the third tier of the Tactics tree for the Vanguard Advanced Class, Gut is a key ability when utilizing Tactics for DPS. Bioware designers have called the Tactics Vanguard a “Wrecking Ball” and Gut is one of the abilities that give them this distinction.
As an instant ability, it costs 2 Ammo at Melee Range (4m) and does a significant amount of damage plus a bleed effect over 15 seconds. The initial damage is Kinetic and therefor subject to armor reduction. The bleed effect is Internal damage and not subject to armor reduction.
Unlike many of the other abilities a Trooper gets, Gut does not upgrade as you level, but instead is unlocked in your Skill Tree. To make Gut even more effective you have to invest more skill points into Tactics. We have highlighted a few of these “modifier” skills below.
Modifier Skills
Frontline Offense: Obtained in the second tier of Tactics, Frontline Offense increases the damage of Gut by 3% with 1 point invested and 6% with 2 points invested.
Serrated Blades: This skill is found in the fourth tier of Tactics, directly linked to Gut and increases the damage of Gut’s bleed effect by 5% with 1 point, 10% with 2 points and 15% with 3 points invested. At max, this skill brings Gut’s bleed effect in line with many of the most damaging DoTs in the game.
Combat Tactics: This is a fifth tier skill of Tactics and gives the Gut a 25% chance to make your next High Impact Bolt automatically Crit.
Blaster Augs: This second tier skill is important because while your High Energy Cell is active, it increases all internal (as well as elemental) damage by 3%. Gut’s bleed effect is considered internal damage and therefor, increased by this skill.
Tactical Information
So when is Gut most useful? When do you get to bring all of these skill points to bear most effectively?
In PVP, while DoTs no longer interrupt captures, this ability should not be ignored. When a team is attacking your location in force, Gut can be used to create a string of DoTs on lesser armored enemies such as casters (wearing down bubbles or just helping other DPS in reducing their health) and offering a quick, instant cast ability that’s sure to do damage even if you’re defeated.
In PvE this ability becomes one of your primary up-keeps on boss fights. With a protracted fight, bringing high-damage, high-burn abilities to bear is necessary for keeping your Ammo regen high. At just 2 Ammo, Gut is one of those abilities you will want to keep active on your enemies at all times.
It lasts 15 seconds however, so be sure to keep an eye on the timer. When it’s gone, Gut them again. With Combat Tactics selected in your tactics tree, this also will open up the opportunities to Crit with High Impact Bolt more often. This is useful both in PvE and PvP for obvious reasons.
On a slightly less effective note, we here at Republic Trooper have also found it amusing to gather up strings of lesser enemies (such as those irritating mobs of rakghouls on Taris), gutting them all in a row and watching with satisfaction as they slowly fall down dead at your feet.
Have you found other uses for this ability? Do you have insight to share on its effectiveness? Leave us a comment below!
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Tags: Advanced Class, Ammo, Bioware, Blaster Augs, Combat Tactics, DoT, DPS, EA, Electronic Arts, Frontline Offense, Gut, LucasArts, Mike Kern, PvE, PvP, Republic Trooper, Serrated Blades, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, Tactics, Taris, TOR, Trooper, Vanguard
