Rage Juggernaut
This is a preliminary guide that provides details on abilities and skill changes and initial recommendations for skill tree choices and an overview on the changes to the rotation. I suggest reading this guide in combination with the 6.0 class guide to understand the previous rotation to then adapt to 7.0 as discussed briefly herein. More detailed guides will be forthcoming after preliminary guides are posted for all disciplines.
Combat Style Abilities & Passive Skills
Discipline Passive Skills
Shii-Cho Form
(Not on skill tree) Utilize a balanced lightsaber form, increasing all damage dealt and reducing all damage received by 3%.
Shii-Cho Mastery
Increases armor penetration and critical hit damage by 15% and Force attack damage by 3%.
Battle Cry
Reduces the cooldown of Obliterate by 3 seconds and causes Force Charge and Obliterate to make your next Force Scream deal 5% more damage and generate 1 rage, rather than consume rage.
Cascading Power
Increases all damage dealt by 5% for 6 seconds after dealing damage with Smash or Raging Burst. This effect cannot occur more than once every 6 seconds.
Dominate
Force Charge and Obliterate make your next Smash or Raging Burst used within 20 seconds an automatic critical hit.
Overpower
Assault, Sundering Assault, Vicious Slash, Sweeping Slash, Retaliation, Force Scream, Vicious Throw, and Furious Strike reduce the active cooldowns of Smash, Raging Burst, and Obliterate by 1 second and Enrage by 2 seconds.
Shockwave
Enrage and Force Crush grant Shockwave, increasing the damage dealt by your next Smash or Raging Burst by 15% and making your next Smash or Raging Burst consume no rage. Additionally, the cooldown of Enrage is reduced by 15 seconds, and Enrage generates 6 additional rage over 6 seconds when used.
Force Lash
Furious Strike enables Retaliation and beats down its target for 45 seconds. Beat Down targets take 5% more damage from melee attacks. Vicious Slash, Sweeping Slash, and Retaliation deal additional Force energy damage.
Fuming Rage
Force Crush grants Fuming Rage, making your next Obliterate or Furious Strike consume no rage.
Enveloping Rage
Activating Raging Burst or Smash increases your damage reduction by 10% for 6 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds.
Discipline Abilities
Threatening Scream
45s cooldown. Immediately reduces threat towards all current enemies by a moderate amount. Player targets deal 30% less damage for 6 seconds when attacking anyone other than you.
Force Choke
10m range, 1.5s channel, 60s cooldown. Chokes the target, stunning it for 4 seconds. Deals kinetic damage and builds 3 rage over the duration. This ability can be channeled while moving.
Endure Pain
60s cooldown. Temporarily increases your maximum health by 30% for 20 seconds and removes all cleansable effects. When the effect ends, the health is lost.
Discipline Skill Tree
Recommendations
Level 23
Dark Synergy
Dark Synergy synergizes well with Indignant Rumination to greatly increase the damage dealt by Furious Strike. Even without Indignant Rumination Zenith should outperform Unrelenting Rage.
Subjugate
Subjugate is an option for multi-target encounters, though in most cases Dark Synergy should still be taken to maximize damage on the main target.
Level 27
Projected Scream
Projected Scream is the most convenient option since Force Scream is used rotationally.
Level 39
Seething Defense
Seething Defense is not super powerful but the only skill that is useful here. You should not need the cooldown reduction from Rage Engine for the rotation. Obliteration is a good alternative for fights with lots of target swapping.
Level 43
Indignant Rumination
Indignant Rumination is the best option by far since it allows double the uses of Furious Strike from 2 to 4 uses per 12 GCDs and provides a useful buff to energy management.
Level 51
Warmonger
All are situational but Warmonger is most likely to be useful for movement purposes.
Level 64
Hardened Defense
Hardened Defense is a great choice since most fights have predictable AoE damage.
War Master
War Master adds a damage buff through extra uses of Dispatch so should be taken anytime you can live without AoE DR and are using Force Charge regularly.
Level 68
Mad Dash
Saber Reflect is situational for damage disciplines as it is typically not needed as a defensive cooldown, so Mad Dash is the better option for movement and wider range of applications to mitigate damage.
Saber Reflect
Saber Reflect should be preferred in encounters where it can be used to increase damage.
Level 73
Pooled Hatred
All are situational. Pooled Hatred can add damage on some fights so it is the default choice for me. Crushing Fist is useful for multi-target fights for the AoE sunder. Through Passion is good for fights with steady group damage.
Skill Tree
Level 15 - Gain 2 Abilities
Raging Burst
10m range, 12s cooldown, costs 3 rage. Blasts the enemy target with a powerful burst of Force energy, dealing kinetic damage.
Enrage
30s cooldown. Instantly generates 6 rage and increases movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds.
Level 23 - Pick 1 Upgrade for Focused Burst
Dark Synergy (passive)
Dealing damage with Raging Burst or Smash increases your critical hit chance and critical hit damage by 20% for 6 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds.
Subjugate (passive)
Raging Burst unleashes a burst of energy around the primary target dealing kinetic damage to nearby enemies.
Unrelenting Rage (passive)
Raging Burst deals 15% more damage and applies Trauma to targets. Trauma reduces the healing received by 20% for 10 seconds.
Level 27 - Pick 1 Ability or Passive Skill
Sweeping Slash (ability)
5m range, costs 2 rage. Slashes up to 8 enemies within 5 meters in front of you for weapon damage and inflicts the targets with Trauma, which reduces the healing received from all sources by 20% for 5 seconds.
Overwhelming Slashes (passive)
Ravage immobilizes the target for 3 seconds and generates 1 rage.
Projected Scream (passive)
Force Scream does damage to additional enemies in a cone in front and slows them by 50% for 6 seconds.
Level 35 - Gain Ability
Obliterate
10m range, 12s cooldown, costs 2 rage. Jumps to a target, dealing weapon damage and immobilizing the target for 1 second. Can be used while immobilized. Strikes with both weapons if dual wielding.
Level 39 - Pick 1 Upgrade for Zealous Leap
Rage Engine (passive)
Activating Obliterate reduces the cooldown of Enrage by 3 seconds.
Seething Defense (passive)
Activating Obliterate puts a mini ward on yourself, which absorbs damage. Lasts up to 10 seconds.
Obliteration (passive)
Killing an enemy within 3 seconds of dealing damage with Obliterate resets the cooldown of Obliterate, Smash, and Raging Burst and increases its damage by 25% for 6 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 6 seconds.
Level 43 - Pick 1 Ability or Passive Skill
Furious Power (ability)
30s cooldown. Consumes all ability charges of Force Clarity and applies Force Clarity stacks to you. Each stack increases your next direct single target melee attack by 25% and is consumed whenever you deal damage with these attacks. Recharges 1 ability charge every 30 seconds.
Domination (passive)
Critically hitting with a force-based kinetic attack reduces the cooldown of your Enrage by 1 second. Enrage purges movement impairing effects and triggers Dominate, which now stacks up to 2 times.
Indignant Rumination (passive)
Each time you deal damage with a force-based kinetic attack, you generate 1 rage. Rage spending attacks have no cooldown during Enrage.
Level 47 - Gain Ability
Force Crush
10m range, 18s cooldown, costs 3 rage. Progressively slows the target from 50% to 5% movement speed over 3 seconds and deals kinetic damage each second. At the end of the duration, the target is crushed and takes additional kinetic damage.
Level 51 - Pick 1 Passive Skill
Extending Roar
Increase the range of Force Scream to 30 meters, but Force Scream deals reduced damage beyond 10 meters. Additionally, Force Push deals 20% more damage and grants Extending Roar, allowing your next Force Scream to deal full damage regardless of the distance from the target.
Warmonger
Getting attacked reduces the active cooldown of Force Charge by 1 second. This effect cannot occur more than once every 1.5 seconds.
Unyielding
You generate 4 rage when stunned, immobilized, put to sleep, or knocked around.
Level 60 - Gain Ability
Furious Strike
4m range, 9s cooldown, costs 5 rage. Strikes the target for weapon damage.
Level 64 - Pick 1 Passive Skill
War Master
Force Charge grants Unstoppable, granting immunity to movement-impairing effects and effects that push or pull you around for 4 seconds. In addition, Force Charge enables your next Vicious Throw or Hew to be used against a target with any percentage of health.
Hardened Defense
All damage is reduced by 30% while stunned.
Payback
Reduces the cooldown of Unleash by 30 seconds and causes Unleash to heal you for 10% of your maximum health when used.
Level 68 - Pick 1 Ability
Saber Reflect
60s cooldown. Reflects all single target ranged, Force and tech attacks back to the attacker for 5 seconds. The damage done by each reflect is capped, and the cap rises with each new rank of the ability. In addition, Saber Reflect generates a high amount of threat on all engaged enemies within 30 meters when activated.
Intimidating Roar
60s cooldown. Paralyzes up to 8 nearby enemies, preventing all action for up to 6 seconds. Damage ends the effect prematurely. In addition, targets affected by Intimidating Roar deal 15% less melee and ranged damage for 10 seconds after the confounding effect ends. Targets immune to the confounding effect will immediately suffer from this damage reducing effect.
Mad Dash
35s cooldown. Quickly dash forward 20 meters, dealing weapon damage to enemies in your path and increasing your defense chance by 100% while blitzing. Can be used while immobilized and purges movement-impairing effects when activated.
Level 73 - Pick 1 Passive Skill
Pooled Hatred
Whenever your movement is impaired, you gain a 10% damage bonus to your next ability that consumes rage. This effect can stack up to 5 times and lasts 15 seconds.
Crushing Fist
For the Immortal discipline, Smash slows the targets it damages by 60% for 10 seconds. For the Vengeance and Rage disciplines, Smash and Vengeful Slam sunder the targets they damage for 45 seconds. Sundered targets have their armor rating decreased by 20%.
Through Passion
Reduces the cooldown of Enraged Defense by 30 seconds.
Gearing in 7.0
Summary
Please see my initial 7.0 Gearing Guide for more information on gearing.
Preliminary gearing targets for Rage Juggernaut should be as follows:
Legendary: Fearless Victor and Champion's Precision
Tactical: Cauterized Coronary
Relics: Focused Retribution and either Serendipitous Assault or Devastating Vengeance
Crystal: Eviscerating or War Hero
Stim: Proficient stim (Versatile works too but Proficient is more convenient for Accuracy)
Adrenal: Critical or Attack adrenal
Regarding Relics and Crystals, Critical Rating will be more valuable in lower tiers of gear or gear that has not yet been augmented. As the player moves through Rakata gear up to item rating 330 and beyond, it is expected that Mastery will be preferred. As such, I'd mostly suggest using whichever is most convenient as the impact on performance will be relatively low.
Tertiary stats and augments should be allocated as follows:
Accuracy Rating: 2,694 (110% accuracy)
Alacrity Rating: 2,250 - 2,400 (1.4s GCD assuming no Zeal perk)
Critical Rating: All remaining tertiary stats
Legendary Implants
Fearless Victor Package
Whenever you use a focus spending damage ability, your melee damage is increased by 10% for 10 seconds. Package contains Critical Rating.
Comments: Fearless Victor is a simpler and better version of the 6.0 Descent of the Fearless 10% damage buff. This bonus is really good and should have very high uptime so is a must take for damage disciplines and tank builds prioritizing damage.
Champion's Precision Package
Activating Combat Focus, Burning Focus or Challenging Call grants Champion’s Precision, increasing your critical hit chance by 20% for 8 seconds. Package contains Critical Rating.
Comments: Champion's Precision is a new gear bonus that adds a new offensive cooldown element to the combat style's energy generation and AoE taunt / threat drop abilities. Good synergy between burst damage windows and this bonus will provide a nice overall damage boost. Great option for damage disciplines.
Tacticals
Cauterized Coronary
Concentrated Slice causes its targets to burn.
Comments: This tactical is the best option for Focus in all situations.
Rotation
Rage Juggernaut sees its rotation change in 7.0 due primarily to the Indignant Rumination passive skill, which removes the cooldown from rage spending attacks during the 6 second Enrage duration. Furious Strike deals the most damage and so should be spammed during Enrage.
This leads to a modified rotation where Enrage is used after Raging Burst to then spam x3 Furious Strike. Raging Burst should not consume rage due to the Shockwave passive skill and thus why Enrage is used after it.
The rotation should still begin each block with Raging Burst for its 5% damage buff from Cascading Power and the Dark Synergy passive to buff critical hit chance and damage by 20%. These buffs synergize to let Rage deal high damage while spamming Furious Strike. The rotation should also use Obliterate every 6 GCD rotation block and alternate blocks with Enrage and Force Crush just as in 6.x.
Rage Juggernaut cannot use Force Scream more than once per 12 GCD rotation due to the extra uses of Furious Strike and thus it, Retaliation and Sundering Assault are each used once per 12 GCD rotation.
Core Rotation - 1st Block
(opener only in parantheses)
(2)
(1)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Core Rotation - 2nd Block
*replace Riposte with Dispatch sub-30%
7
8
9
10
11*
12