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How do you survive in ranked arena?


Ralph_Panda

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How I play PyroTech in SR (and I am doing pretty well mostly, as well carrying some games)...

 

4 Damage Dealer match:

In the beginning, stay a bit back. It's important to not stay back for too long, your timing needs to be as good as possible. Usually you won't have 3 Mercenaries in your team, so unless you have 3 wannabe tank DDs in your team matched, you should be aware that if you keep back for too long, your second weak DD will die, and it's gonna be your fault if you loose, even if you survive longer. Keep back until you can see the enemy your team wants to focus drops in life / you can spot him at a proper position. Wait a bit until one of your team mates starts to drop, then jump into combat.

Pop Warzone Adrenal (15 seconds damage reduction increased by 15%), use Kolto Overload early if you don't have the utility for breaking hardstuns with it. Do as much damage as you can (single target, probably scorch the 2nd target as well).

After Kolto Overload wears off, pop Energy Shield + Med Pack, finish your burst phase. Now pop your Hydraulic Override and kite away. Don't run straight, do it smart, LoS as much as possible, confuse your enemies. Start running in one direction and jump down a different one.

If enemies don't chase you, go for regenerating and healing up back to full HP. If someone chases you, try to survive as long as possible.

If you manage to heal up, wait for Kolto Overload to be ready before you jump back into combat (cooldown should be at 40 seconds or less, it will be ready when you need it).

 

3 Damage Dealer and 1 Heal match:

Also keep a bit back, jump in. Do as much damage as you can.

First, pull your Hydraulic Override and kite as much as you can, damage from range, kite enemies mDDs. After Hydraulics wear off, activate your Kolto Overload with Warzone Adrenal. After Kolto ends, activate Energy Shield and Med Pack. After that your Hydraulics should be ready, use them again. After that your Kolto Overload should be ready again.

Focus on kiting, give your team mates the possibility to kite. Watch out when your heal is CCed. If your heal needs to cast, don't LoS him.

 

2 Damage Dealer, 1 Heal and 1 Tank match:

Do your DPS, use DCDs properly. Pretty much like Team Ranked.

 

Just BTW I main PyroTech in all contents, TR, SR and PvE (if I ever do PvE lol).

 

Let me know what you think.

 

Some general informations:

ALWAYS remind your team mates to place HoTs on you, to use dcds for you if they can. Tell them to knock the enemies when you kited them to an edge.

Explain people how Kolto Overload works and that they must not break the first CC to keep you up.

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  • 2 months later...

Yeah, PTs and Vanguards melt like butter in Ranked Matches, let alone any Warzone out there. The defensive abilities don't last long enough, and I haven't exactly found viable rotations for both AP/Tactics or Pyrotech/Plasmatech. If anybody has a link to rotations for either of them, please post one on here, thanks!

Thomas

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I had a good night in the arenas tonight, and let me tell you, its no easy feat to stay alive. I had many matches where I did less than 100k dmg in a round. Anyone who laughs, feel free to roll a PT and find out. We just don't have any survivability whatsoever.

 

That being said, when the enemy team didn't focus me, I was on top of the damage output for the match. If they buff dcds, they will need to nerf damage.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You basically have limited amount of time you can dps then you die. I mostly stay in the back, once game is underway charge, upload damage, try to kite. Still die half of the time but sometimes you can survive and do it again.

 

U get lucky sometimes and they don't focus you, they pay for it.:eek:

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  • 1 month later...
Yeah, PTs and Vanguards melt like butter in Ranked Matches, let alone any Warzone out there. The defensive abilities don't last long enough, and I haven't exactly found viable rotations for both AP/Tactics or Pyrotech/Plasmatech. If anybody has a link to rotations for either of them, please post one on here, thanks!

Thomas

 

I tend to leap, having 'crit' Plasma Flare/Immolate(It is your biggest hit so might, as well, just use it), Shockstrike/Flaming Fist to root, cast both dots in one target, use dotpsread on as many as possible, Deadly Onslaught/Artillery Blitz(If you are tight on Energy/Heat, use Reserve Powercell/Thermal Sensor Override to mitigate some of the 'unwanted' energy waste on this ability), then spam of Flame Sweep/Explosive Surge as much as possible before resuming on doing the same. You can try also spreading the 30s dot to every target if you find the opportunity. If you're a full dot spec then you should be aiming to screw with everyone.

 

In defensives, wait for Kolto Overload to trigger and use DR Stim along with it because Kolto + the 30% DR from Pyrotech is not enough to be 'unkillable', most of the times, that is. Just a safety measure. If you can save the DR stim for later then that's great. After Kolto is done, Medpac + Reactive Shield/Energy Shield(take the utility that deals damage to targets if you get attack while this is up. Just extra damage to bite back) + Shoulder Cannon with heal utility and DR (utility) from using Explosive Fuel/Battle Focus to bring you back to top.

After all of this, all you can hope for is that you can survive for a 2nd Kolto Overload. If you do, you're already surviving for far longer than you should be and that is great.

I don't take the buffed up hydraulics to 'kite away' because rarely a PT manages to escape the mayhem. It is a gamble that rarely works.

 

I have no idea how AP PT rotation of offensive and defensives should be played out but I believe its harder.

Edited by memerobot
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I had a good night in the arenas tonight, and let me tell you, its no easy feat to stay alive. I had many matches where I did less than 100k dmg in a round. Anyone who laughs, feel free to roll a PT and find out. We just don't have any survivability whatsoever.

 

That being said, when the enemy team didn't focus me, I was on top of the damage output for the match. If they buff dcds, they will need to nerf damage.

 

Anyone who laughs at that is a fool tbh. PT dps is a struggle in 4v4's dps v dps. Tank heals, or heals games are not that bad tholl. But man when you are only a dps in a dps only match, and the other team has half an inclination of what to do, you gonna die. But sometimes you can pull some los trickery on them but your team needs to be bought in as well. Usually ill tell the op, sorc, or merc to throw an off heal here or there op being pref because of kolto probes. But I switched to tank which makes life alot easier.

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I've tried playing pyro but found its damage to be too unreliable in PVP. Terrible dot spread mechanic and subpar burst. I find AP has the best burst in the game and also has very effective AOE. The way I see things for this class right now is it can't win fights of attrition, so I play towards ending engagements as quickly as possible. AP can global someone and pyro can't. That way the survival issue doesn't always become a problem.

 

When I PVP on this class I bring with me 4 stuns that I can use. The 2 that come baked into the class, a grenade, and I use the stun from grapple utility. That helps for moments when you don't have a defensive cooldown and you need to stop damage.

 

I take utilities that increase mobility, control, and survival. Here is my usual setup. I find the only talent that is changeable is dropping pyro shield damage for something else. Anything else I find I can't live without. The extra 10m on grapple is unreal.

 

Kiting with hydraulic override can't be overstated in how effective it is. Server interpolation causes other people to see you as warping all over their screen, so people have an incredibly difficult time trying to attack you. You can exploit this fact by fighting melee at range while kiting them in circles. It's also effective against ranged classes with good positioning. You can use LOS to expose yourself only briefly to fire an ability and duck back behind LOS. Ranged classes have to constantly reposition or they just die from standing still.

 

At competitive levels of PVP, you know the PT is a prime target, so you have to use this knowledge against your opponents. Your team must start any engagement by positioning themselves between you and the other team. It forces the other team to engage in a way they don't want to. If they ignore your team though and go straight after you, they will eat damage for free and open themselves up to bad positioning. Long range grapple is amazing at initiating a fight, as you can pull them into a checkmate style move almost immediately.

I made of such an example.

 

In the end, the bag of tricks you can use will run out and nature will take its course a lot earlier for you than other classes. This is just part of what you accept when you play this class right now. The class is definitely in need of balance and If I were serious about playing ranked at the highest level, I would not be running this class. It's too much of a liability. I do still enjoy the class, but I accept I am playing a class that is sub-optimal for PVP.

Edited by Fellow-Canadian
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I've tried playing pyro but found its damage to be too unreliable in PVP. Terrible dot spread mechanic and subpar burst. I find AP has the best burst in the game and also has very effective AOE. The way I see things for this class right now is it can't win fights of attrition, so I play towards ending engagements as quickly as possible. AP can global someone and pyro can't. That way the survival issue doesn't always become a problem.

 

The main problem with Pyro spec is that you're forced to play in clumped up places to make the dotspreading/aoe effective. The damage that the spec can do can actually be higher when properly landed but its gimmicky in the way it works but I stick to it because its fun to use :D It would be nice if both dots would spread but sadly only one does. The way I 'negate' the downsides of this is to play around 'LoS' to force Ranged classes to 'be together' as they stalk me and/or play tight places/gaps (Favorite spots list: Orbital Station/Rishi Cove/Mandalorian Battle Ring ramps/corners + Makeb Mesa on the metal ramps or around the hut on one of the sides, Corellia Square behind the crates on the tight spaces + Tatooine Canyon huts or those pipe things next to each respective spawn area) to make the job easier. Standing out in the open is basically letting yourself eat free damage from ranged. Plus, everyone knows that if you play PT, you're there to dish out as much damage and die by doing that. :p

Still, I agree, Pyro is far less appealing than AP when you look at the cards you got.

 

I take utilities that increase mobility, control, and survival. Here is my usual setup. I find the only talent that is changeable is dropping pyro shield damage for something else. Anything else I find I can't live without. The extra 10m on grapple is unreal.

 

Kiting with hydraulic override can't be overstated in how effective it is. Server interpolation causes other people to see you as warping all over their screen, so people have an incredibly difficult time trying to attack you. You can exploit this fact by fighting melee at range while kiting them in circles. It's also effective against ranged classes with good positioning. You can use LOS to expose yourself only briefly to fire an ability and duck back behind LOS. Ranged classes have to constantly reposition or they just die from standing still.

 

Kiting is questionable. Sure you can work up to 'live longer' that way but its a bit of a gamble because you just need to get slowed down/rooted/stunned to have plans ruined xD

I just tend to build up every DR available in the utils tree and equip anything that can hit back while I'm alive and being damaged. Stuff like gambling on LoS to get out of combat is just asking to your opponents to not be smart :D

 

Also, doesn't the Carbo + grenade give full resolve?

Edited by memerobot
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The main problem with Pyro spec is that you're forced to play in clumped up places to make the dotspreading/aoe effective. The damage that the spec can do can actually be higher when properly landed but its gimmicky in the way it works but I stick to it because its fun to use :D It would be nice if both dots would spread but sadly only one does. The way I 'negate' the downsides of this is to play around 'LoS' to force Ranged classes to 'be together' as they stalk me and/or play tight places/gaps (Favorite spots list: Orbital Station/Rishi Cove/Mandalorian Battle Ring ramps/corners + Makeb Mesa on the metal ramps or around the hut on one of the sides, Corellia Square behind the crates on the tight spaces + Tatooine Canyon huts or those pipe things next to each respective spawn area) to make the job easier. Standing out in the open is basically letting yourself eat free damage from ranged. Plus, everyone knows that if you play PT, you're there to dish out as much damage and die by doing that. :p

Still, I agree, Pyro is far less appealing than AP when you look at the cards you got.

 

I have experienced the peaks of pyro and I've hit some crazy numbers. Visually it's great with everybody burning alive and running all over the place. It's fun to see it, but the stars have to align perfectly to hit that full potential. There is a high risk but the reward is sort of meh. You're not really killing anyone that fast so the payoff isn't that great. The bulk of the damage comes from keeping dots up and consistent cleave damage. It exerts strong pressure but not strong enough to surprise a lot of healers.

 

The biggest problem is the AOE dot-spread is too hard to land properly. You need people to group up tightly while you maintain the correct distance and position. You have to do this in order to maximize the cone effect. If you're too far away you won't hit things in the back and if you're too close you may not hit them at all. To compensate for how perfect things have to be, I found myself setting up dots and then proceeded my dot-spread with either an AOE stun or if I had the talent, the 75% snare utility. I needed people to stop moving for a second or it seemed either lag or bad luck meant I would occasionally misfire. The cooldown on the dot spread feels too long for how clunky it is to use.

 

I also found using cooldowns to cover for dot-spread felt like such a waste because I really needed them for other things. AP doesn't have to make that choice because the damage lands 100% of the time. This is true for both single target and AOE.

 

Chasing down healers as pyro and killing them felt really hard to do. I wasn't seeing as many kills when I was played pyro, despite the higher theoretical DPS. I saw much more success killing people with AP because I think its damage is way easier to apply. It comes on strong and it's consistent. The burst can be too much to handle at times and people will die within a cc chain no problem.

 

Kiting is questionable. Sure you can work up to 'live longer' that way but its a bit of a gamble because you just need to get slowed down/rooted/stunned to have plans ruined xD

I just tend to build up every DR available in the utils tree and equip anything that can hit back while I'm alive and being damaged. Stuff like gambling on LoS to get out of combat is just asking to your opponents to not be smart :D

 

Also, doesn't the Carbo + grenade give full resolve?

 

There is flexibility for change in the utility tree. If your team is more geared for endurance then you may go with different choices.

 

I kite like you wouldn't believe when I PVP, but a lot of that is to maximize the use of good positioning. I need to make myself as difficult to engage as possible. Using LOS to prevent range or melee from hitting me is ideal. I survive by completely avoiding as much damage as possible. For me, playing a vanguard has become the art of Player-Versus-Pillar and kiting. A lot of people will give up and switch targets if you are good enough at it. If they don't swap they often see their output falls off a cliff. I try to fight at max range to counter melee when outside of my hydraulic override window. When they get too close is when I start using my cc or defensive cooldowns.

 

The sad reality of the class is everyone can outlive you, so there is always a timer on how long it's going to take before the tricks run out.

 

I never count on being able to run away to reset a fight. Sometimes I'm chased down or an eternity passes and I may as well be dead. My plan is usually to keep pushing buttons until everyone around me is dead and drop combat that way.

 

Off the top of my head, I can't say how much resolve is added with a grenade, I would have to test or watch a video to see. My use of any stun is usually based on the given needs of any situation, so I never really noticed. I pay attention to their resolve bar and if I need to chain cc I will.

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  • 4 months later...
How do I survive ranked pvp you ask? Simply said... You don't. Iknow everyone hates me on these threads for pointing out the obvious but I can't help it. The truth just comes out. They are going to nerf pt. Just accept it. Adapt and overcome. This is what I do. Dash in unload your payload and run out of the fight. Reset cell burst. ( Im a apt) then rinse repeat till you are eventually snared and die.
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