I love it. Sure the map has its design flaws, but the ability to comeback from 0% - 98% down to win 100% - 98% makes for an exciting warzone.

Nice work Exphryl, appreciate the effort.

The general consensus is Pyro = Eliminator, ST or AP = Combat Tech. Since your going with an AP/Pyro hybrid build, I would suggest Eliminator, since you'll want as much emphasis on rail shot crits as you can get.

I cant say enough about the sheer awesomeness of PT, so I wont bother. I would however warn the OP against rerolling to a PT as a new main, just because we're in a good state at the moment. If there are nerfs in upcoming patches, as well as buffs to merc's/sorcs, you'll be looking around again in a few months for the next fotm class, and the vicious circle will begin. My opinion would be to stick it out with your merc, hope you get some buffs and not throw away all the grinding you've already done with it.

http://www.noxxic.com/swtor/pvp/bounty-hunter/powertech/pyrotech You'll find some good info there. It states 4-12-25 as "the most commonly used and effective talent build", but I prefer to roll with 31 in pyro.

Thought I'd add the link to some of the AP PvP vid's I've been watching. The commentator does a good job of explaining his specc and how he handles each encounter during a warzone. That's episode 3, his channel also has 1 & 2 to watch.

Hey, I mainly PvP, so my opinions may not compare with those who solely run PvE 5 nights a week etc, but I do run enough operations to have a fair idea. First off, I'd definitely say we're a viable melee dps, pulling substantial dps without the 'stand behind boss' requirements some other melee have to deal with. The only time I can see you getting 'shunned' for another dps is if that dps is ranged, since pretty much every boss fight is 100% easier without melee. Having run HM & NM mode EV/KP as both AP and Pyro, I would agree with the general consensus that pyro>AP. That opinion is based solely on the speed of which I tend to kill my marauder on infernal council with both speccs. Without an actual dps meter, who knows? As for gear, if the rest of your dps aren't up to scratch, it wont matter if your rolling in full rakata. As a starter dps, since you've opted out of the pvp gear, a quick fix for gear if you don't fancy running endless flashpoints would be to grab a load of the orange gear and simply throw in the highest lvl mods, armours etc like you said. Best you can do to keep competitive till you pick up some columi/rakata bits. After the surge rating nerf, I don't know where it stands in the stat priority queue, but I've always opted for power=crit anyway.

I'm afraid I have to agree with the other replies in this thread. Playing a valor 63 powertech (25/14/2) in nearly full BM/rakata, I find there aren't many classes I cant beat in a 1v1 situation. Perhaps its a gear issue?

Just thought I'd confirm what others have posted. Our nightmare ops team suffered with this bug for the past few raids till someone found out about the 'NSSN or SSSS' system. Although its an unnecessary bug to have to deal with every EV raid, I can confirm that if you simply follow 1 of those 2 systems (allowing south to finish first everytime etc), the pylons wont lockup.

Gotta agree, Bounty Hunter Powertech reminds me a lot of a retridin. Advanced Prototype with it's 'Hand of Freedom', or Pyrotech with its 'Pop all CD's and nuke, then hide in a cave till CD's are ready again' playstyle.

I currently have all 3 main hand pistols, both off hand generators and 2 sets of gloves, so it's very likely you'll be picking up plenty of duplicate items. Which sets you go for is personal choice, though unless you intend to go shieldtech and play ball carrier in huttball a lot, i dont think picking up the supercommando set would be worthwhile.

Nah, you won't wanna use IGC unless your levelling primarily as shieldtech, mainly due to each tree having talents beneficial to each cylinder. The damage reduction of IGC is hardly noticeable in comparison to the heat reduction of HEGC if your adv proto, or the DoT effect of CGC if your pyro.

Currently full combat tech (yes, even the bug helmet) and i just hide it. I would warn against going with the Supercommando set if you intend to go pyro in the future as the stats wont benefit you and you'll be forced to farm a whole new set. I find the set bonuses for both the Combat Tech and Eliminator set very good, but i'll be picking up the Battlemaster Eliminator set when i hit valor 60 (partly for the 15% rail shot crit chance, and partly because its the least ugly of 4 ugly sets).

Hey, welcome to the game. I levelled as Advanced Prototype and didnt have any problems, with Mako throwing out the heals, though i think you can easily level with any tree. So it comes down to personal preference really. The first few respecs at 50 are pretty damn cheap (the 1st is free) so dont worry about picking your end game spec as you level, just go for what feels comfortable. I found myself spamming just about every ability i had, with Rapid Shots thrown in to keep the heat low . You'll pick up new abilities from the trainer and tree (depending on what specc you go with) as you level and soon realise what are your bigger hitting moves and which moves blow your heat through the roof. I would agree with opening with DFA whenever you can (outside of the group quests), that ability is freaking amazing. I chose the same crew proff's (bio / bio / dip) but i waited till 50 before spending credits on missions, just scavenging whatever bio plants i could along the way. Mainly because i thought if i spent credits on crew missions, i wouldnt be able to afford the 3 mount certificates. In hindsight, i probably should have been sending out companions and skilling up diplomacy as i levelled since this game throws credits at you. Its more than likely you'll hit 50, buy all 3 mount certificates and still have a million credits in the bank.

I didnt do much PvP while levelling so i cant really comment on the state of PT's at lower levels, and without getting into a childish L2P debate, i would say hit 50 and grab some PvP gear before feeling like we're a gimped class. When it comes to warzones at 50, i actually think we're extremely powerful with plenty of tools to take almost every other class down with ease (coming from a Pyro, i would assume ST's are just as awesome) and i cant see myself ever wanting to change class.