As with every update, the stat distribution and formulas affecting alacrity, accuracy, critical chance and so on change. With game update 7.0, we’re seeing quite a bit less extra leeway with tertiary stats as SWTOR has moved into a non-modular gearing system (i.e. you can’t min-max until very late endgame and very high gearing levels). If you want to know more about alacrity, visit the What is the alacrity stat? article.

Recommendations for 7.0 #

DPS should target a 1.4 second GCD, particularly if you do not have a discipline-based alacrity boost. This is 7.1429% or 7.15% rounded.

Tanks may invest moderate points in this (such as a single ear piece) provided they are in a guild with the Zeal perk and not doing master mode operations. Else, run a 1.5s GCD with 0 points.

Healers want to target a 1.4 second GCD plus a fair few extra points (600 – 800) for energy management, cast time, and channel time. This is largely going to be up to the individual healer’s preferences, though be careful not to dip too far into your critical stat.

Considerations #

Gear and Stat Pool #

In 7.0, gear stat makeup is rather set, aside from a larger stat pool depending on your gear’s item rating, quality and type. Healers will have 2-3 gear pieces with alacrity (Med-Tech has 2, Force-Healer and Mender has 3). DPS will have 2 pieces with alacrity. Offhands for DPS and Healers will have alacrity. Main hands will have critical. Tanks will receive no alacrity gear pieces.

With accuracy minimums for PVE endgame content requiring significant investment (anywhere from 11 to 14 augments required to reach 110%), extra alacrity may be hard to come by for DPS. You will have more leeway the higher your gear item rating and as you move from Tionese to Columi and, possibly, to Rakata.

Combat Style and Discipline #

Some disciplines have buffs that modify alacrity % directly. This includes:

• Telekinetics/Lightning (+5%)
• Combat/Carnage (+3%)
• Gunnery/Arsenal (+3%).

These disciplines, as a result, can invest less points in alacrity to receive the same benefits to GCD reduction.

Guild Perks (Zeal) #

The Zeal guild perk adds a flat 5% alacrity boost to all guild members. This is granted if guilds choose at least 4 perks from the Zeal perk set (indicated by a teal color and hourglass icon). This perk also has the chance to grant a 25% alacrity increase for 30 seconds, up to every 30 minutes. This perk is inactive in any PVP or master mode operations content. It is also not present if you are parsing on dummies.

The Zeal perk can therefore reduce the number of points in alacrity that your guild members must invest, allowing you to reach lower GCDs with less effort. In game update 7.0, anyone in a guild with the zeal perk will receive a 1.4s GCD with only 560 points.

For guilds that largely focus on PVE content and don’t have any interest in the other set bosues, this perk may be helpful as it’s a flat % increase and does not affect the number of points in the alacrity stat, meaning it’s unaffected in level sync areas.

Any progression teams doing master mode content remain unaffected by guild perk choice, as none of the other combat-related guild perks work in master mode content either.

It’s more than just GCD #

While the tenth of a second breakpoints for GCD are the major consideration for alacrity, note that SWOTR has hundredth of a second breakpoints in between (i.e. 1.37) that affect channel, cast and skill cooldown times beyond the global cooldown. As such, avoid falling just below a breakpoint, but going just over by a couple hundred points will see some benefit to your cast/channel times, DoT tick rates, GCD consistency, and skill cooldown times.

Ping/Latency, Computer and Internet Speed #

When in doubt or if you’re not getting a consistent GCD due to ping, internet speed, or computer speed, we advise running slightly OVER the breakpoints suggested anywhere from 200 to 400 points (whatever makes your GCD more consistent). To check your GCD, Starparse is helpful.