Turns out auguments reduce your DPS, at least at low levels. Anything else I should know about gearing? I've been inspecting people in WZs and it seems that they have higher bonus damage and critical rating (talking about 40-69 WZs) than I do, despite keeping the gear updated and even using some crafted purples. As for the Lethality - I'm still doing good, at least in lower levels, we'll see how it'll be later on. For now I disagree about fluff damage If I play my cards right, I'm a murder machine, able to offer some healing to team-mates too. We'll see if it'll hold up...

You're right, that seemed more like a temporary thing, maybe bugged somehow? And perhaps I shouldn't be expecting to beat Commando/Mercenary DPS

Hey, I've returned to the game after about 2 years and got back to PVP. After a while I've started reading about best gear for my class (Lethality operative). I'm now at level 28 and I've updated all of my equipment with adapative armour and appropriate modifications. But from what I've seen my damage seems to have actually taken a sharp decline, whereas I was doing very good at earlier levels, when I had some greens without even simplest mods. Is that the cause of it?

About time.

Oh and one more thing: due to the mobility changes in 4.0 Flamethrower is even tougher to land. It really needs major changes.

They're very sturdy now, true. And thanks to the 30% increased crit damage (only class to get it along with AP Powertech) they're super bursty.

They need to make Superheated Flamethrower hit much harder. As it is, APs get 30 second Death from Above (with 10% increased damage) and Shieldtechs get Firestorm (which screams Pyrotech ability, by the way), which deals more damage and requires no setup. On my char, fully charged Superheated Flamethrower deals 9056 damage and when I look at the Shieldtech tree Firestorm deals staggering 12938 damage. Even if we account for the fact that tanks will use different gear (though most people forgo shield chance anyway), that's a huge difference (nearly 4k damage). And again, it requires no setup, can be used everytime it's off the cooldown (no snare on it though).

AP PT players keep repeating that, but it wasn't true the first time and isn't true after 1000 posts. Are they very durable? No, that'd be juggernauts. But are they "super squishy"? Not really. First of all, they all have Stabilized Armour, which reduces damage taken from AoE and when stunned by 30%. And we all know that the "S" in SWTOR stands for Stuns. They also have Sonic Defense which grants 30% increased defense every 45 seconds. They also have Energy Rebounder, which greatly reduces the cooldown of Energy Shield. Now add 2 hard stuns, 10 second 75% movement increase (with immunity to movement impairment), a charge, a self heal (Adrenaline Surge) + Shield Cannon (35% of total health healed). You're kidding yourself if you think that's "super squishy".

Relax, no need to get defensive. Just wanted to point out that it's only two screenshots and the conditions in one of these games (can't see the amount of deaths on the other one) are rather skewed in Pyro's favour, because your team was clearly dominating. Hence my skepticism. As for ranked - I don't claim to have large amounts of Ranked experience (back in the game after a long break), but in my experience you will often get targeted first and quickly globaled before the cooldown reduction can take effect. That said, in one of the other topics you've agreed that Pyro needs some adjustments, particularly to the Flamethrower, which is supposed to be their signature move, here are some of your proposals: I definitely agree that the Superheated Flamethrower is super disappointing, particularly if you compare it with Shieldtech's Firestorm. It's hard to land reliably and it requires a setup (not a long one, granted - but still, there will be times you'd wish it was on demand). And yet it deals rather pitiful damage. Some possible solutions: - Make the channel 2 seconds, - Allow it to stack 3 or even 4 (probably too much) times - Make it usable on the move - Each stack increases damage by 30% instead of 20% In short, make it actually worth the hassle. As for the additional defenses, I think attaching something else to Flame Suit would be best. I like your proposed solution of flat 5% DR (maybe 3 or 4% instead?). Just attach it to Flame Suit.

That's a bit disingenuous though, no one died on your team, skewing the numbers in Pyro's favour (all those dots running all the time). And looking at that screenshot - I'm assuming that's AP Powertech directly below you? If so, he has 7 more kills. And you didn't mention anything about Ranked.

Thanks for this post. The Adrenaline Rush change is definitely nice - but will it be enough? As you've mentioned, having Stabilized Armour on a melee caster class seems like the most logical choice. And it'd double as an AP nerf, which is definitely deserved.

Giving Pyros Stabilized Armor really seems like the most logical choice. APs are performing a bit too well at the moment and Pyros are underpowered. This small change would get them both in line. There's a reason why Pyros used to have Stabilized Armor in their tree - we're very vulnerable when we try to use our signature ability - Superheated Flamethrower.

Pyrotech needs some love in PvP. Here are proposals (posted in an earlier topic): 1. Advanced Prototype has much better survivability - namely Stabilized Armor and Energy Rebounder. Especially the former is huge with 30% decreased damage while stunned (which in PvP, is pretty damn often). While Pyrotech gets piddly 15% decrease in DoT damage (Flame Suit) received and a 30% damage reduction effect plastered onto Kolto Overload (Automated Defenses). Pyrotech used to have 30% decreased damage while stunned, which was one of its high points. I see no reason why Pyrotech should have inferior defenses than Advanced Prototype, especially if we're expected to get stuck in with the flamethrower quite often. Proposed Solution: Give Pyrotech Stabilized Armor and Flame Suit to the AP or redesign Flame Suit. 2. Superheated Flamethrower lacks proper punch - for an ability that's fairly difficult to land in a PvP environment it really doesn't deal that much damage. Most reliable way to land is to use our AoE stun. But when you do (or when the enemies graciously bunch up) land it, it really doesn't seem to affect the fights that much - I've rarely seen anyone react to it. Proposed Solution: Let it stack 3 times or increase the snare to 75%. That way even if it doesn't deal that much damage, it'll set up the kills for the rest of the team. I'm partial to more debuff effects actually, like Flame Barrage's Overwhelmed mechanic. That'd give the Pyrotechs a more clear role too. 3. Scorch - deserves its own paragraph. It might be decent in PvE, but it's positively awful in PvP, 30 seconds is simply way to long to do any good in such environment. Proposed Solution: Decrease the duration to 15-20 seconds. Won't affect PvE too much, but it'll be a huge difference in PvP. Though truth to be told, something like Operative's Volatile Substance would fit a lot better. 4. Closing thoughts - Pyrotech, at least for me, lacks a clear vision. We've got good AoE, decent DoTs and single target damage, which makes it rather muddled. I think that the class needs its own niche, as Lethality/Ruffian already fills the DoT role. What I think could be interesting is a more prominent debuffer role - give the Pyrotech tools that help the team overcome their enemies (be it in PvE or PvP). What could it be? The possibilities are endless: healing debuffs, marking targets so that the team would deal increased damage to them (already partially in the game, but it does sound very bounty hunter-ish, doesn't it?), debuffing target primary stats, debuffing targets' defenses, more roots etc. ---

Pyro's perfectly playable and viable in regular scenarios. That said, you will definitely not be as effective as APs, who get pretty much all the goodies (Stabilized Armour, come on, tha's probably the best PvP discipline in the game and they get it for free - it used to be in Pyro tree). In the right settings you can however deal serious damage (if you manage to land those Superheated Flamethrowers, that is). You won't set the world alight in ranked. That said, some playstyles fit us better than the "obvious best" choices. Try it out, see if you enjoy it. If you do, don't look back. Oh and real men play Pyros, APs are for FOTM rerollers The added bonus of playing as a pyro is pretty much no one will know how to react to you (since it's a fairly rare occurance to actually fight one), which can give you an early advantage.

I haven't played as a Pyrotech for that long, but here's my 2 cents: 1. Advanced Prototype has much better survivability - namely Stabilized Armor and Energy Rebounder. Especially the former is huge with 30% decreased damage while stunned (which in PvP, is pretty damn often). While Pyrotech gets piddly 15% decrease in DoT damage (Flame Suit) received and a 30% damage reduction effect plastered onto Kolto Overload (Automated Defenses). Pyrotech used to have 30% decreased damage while stunned, which was one of its high points. I see no reason why Pyrotech should have inferior defenses than Advanced Prototype, especially if we're expected to get stuck in with the flamethrower quite often. Proposed Solution: Give Pyrotech Stabilized Armor and Flame Suit to the AP or redesign Flame Suit. 2. Superheated Flamethrower lacks proper punch - for an ability that's fairly difficult to land in a PvP environment it really doesn't deal that much damage. Most reliable way to land is to use our AoE stun. But when you do (or when the enemies graciously bunch up) land it, it really doesn't seem to affect the fights that much - I've rarely seen anyone react to it. Proposed Solution: Let it stack 3 times or increase the snare to 75%. That way even if it doesn't deal that much damage, it'll set up the kills for the rest of the team. I'm partial to more debuff effects actually, like Flame Barrage's Overwhelmed mechanic. That'd give the Pyrotechs a more clear role too. 3. Scorch - deserves its own paragraph. It might be decent in PvE, but it's positively awful in PvP, 30 seconds is simply way to long to do any good in such environment. Proposed Solution: Decrease the duration to 15-20 seconds. Won't affect PvE too much, but it'll be a huge difference in PvP. Though truth to be told, something like Operative's Volatile Substance would fit a lot better. 4. Closing thoughts - Pyrotech, at least for me, lacks a clear vision. We've got good AoE, decent DoTs and single target damage, which makes it rather muddled. I think that the class needs its own niche, as Lethality/Ruffian already fills the DoT role. What I think could be interesting is a more prominent debuffer role - give the Pyrotech tools that help the team overcome their enemies (be it in PvE or PvP). What could it be? The possibilities are endless: healing debuffs, marking targets so that the team would deal increased damage to them (already partially in the game, but it does sound very bounty hunter-ish, doesn't it?), debuffing target primary stats, debuffing targets' defenses, more roots etc.