Hey Guys, I was wondering if you could help me decide between playing a Mercenary or a Powertech. I have already played a tank juggernaut to max level so I was thinking I might want to play mercenary for a change and I think it will be awesome to be duel-wielding blasters. The part that is not so appealing to me about the merc is that apparently it has little mobilty and you are mostly just standing still with lots of cast time. Having played a juggernaut and having a lower leveled marauder I find that a large part of the fun for me (especially in PvP) is being able to be mobile and run around(also the powertech grapple looks very nice).

 

I was wondering how you guys feel about merc vs powertech asI will probably be playing both of them as DPS.

 

 

EDIT: I would like to Thank Everyone who has contributed to this post (there have been a lot of you ) and say that I decided to go Powertech in the end.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Doominater

If you enjoy being mobile and having most of your attacks be instant, go with the powertech. They hit the hardest 4-10m but have solid 30m options by being a BH. Consider the mercenary if you do want to try out healing and a ranged class at some point otherwise arsenal is a turret caster. The shared tree makes the merc more mobile than its arsenal cousin but is still by and large more restricted than the PT.

Mercenary dps is only worth it if you go arsenal, which means less mobility, and more casted/channeled nukes.

Because if you plan to go pyro, powertech is much better for it. Powertech gets additional talents that improve railshot that mercs do not get.

 

So if you want to dps:

ranged, cast, turret style=merc

dots, instants, closer=powertech.

Having played both I enjoy the mobility more of the Powertech in PVP. Honestly I got sick of the interrupts and decided to give PT a try. Haven't looked back since.

PT= more mobility

 

merc= more damage

 

thats pretty much it in a nutshell

PT= more mobility

 

merc= more damage

 

thats pretty much it in a nutshell

 

eeehhhh

PT= more mobility

 

merc= more damage

 

thats pretty much it in a nutshell

 

Nope. Powertech and merc do similar damage in their pve specs. The difference is that powertech is close quarters and merc is ranged.

The thing to keep in mind is that if pyro is your preferred playstyle, powertech has better synergy than merc. Powertech gets an additional 60% armor penetration on railshot, a 100% change to keep combustible gas up with flameburst, and other talents that are a flat increase to railshot damage.

 

So the decision is:

want to play healer or stationary turret style? merc

want to play tank or pyro/melee style? powertech

Mercenary dps is only worth it if you go arsenal, which means less mobility, and more casted/channeled nukes.

Because if you plan to go pyro, powertech is much better for it. Powertech gets additional talents that improve railshot that mercs do not get.

 

So if you want to dps:

ranged, cast, turret style=merc

dots, instants, closer=powertech.

 

So Basically If I went Merc Pyrotech even though it isn't as good as the Powertechs pyro would that give me a lot more mobility than arsenal? How many cast times does a merc powertech have because both the ability to heal ( I have already played a tank) and the duel wielding factor make me want to play the mercbut If the playstyle fits me more ii will play a Powertech.

Merc = Healer or DPS

 

PT = Tank or DPS

 

Don't let people tell you PT can't DPS. I've seen pyro speced PT's break 500k in a WZ with 300-400k being common.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Fredcat

Merc = low mobility, lots of range abilities bar rocket punch (can spec for a second knockback after jet boost), and makes a great healer.

 

PT = great mobility, best optimized in melee range, option to pick up jet charge (amazing in many cases) and has a handful of procs (spammable rocket punch on shield hits, railshot resets, etc), and pyro can do dpsdpsdpsdps- a proper pyro PT will eat you in seconds. And can be main tank in HM/operations (and still do better damage output than a juggernaut can).

 

 

So Basically If I went Merc Pyrotech even though it isn't as good as the Powertechs pyro would that give me a lot more mobility than arsenal? How many cast times does a merc powertech have because both the ability to heal ( I have already played a tank) and the duel wielding factor make me want to play the mercbut If the playstyle fits me more ii will play a Powertech.

A merc pyro is viable, way more mobility, but the damage output won't even be close to PT pyro, it's weird since both classes share the same tree aside a couple changed boxes.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Sookster

I'm having the same problem choosing which to roll, I prefer mobility but I obviously want what is best dps, dont want to touch heal as my main is a jedi sage, wouldnt mind tanking when dual spec comes out but I want mainly dps for pve, only do warzones for leveling, any advice?

Thanks in advance

 

EDIT: I'd also like one thats easy/quick at leveling

Edited March 4, 2012 by BMGBen

Mercenary pyro uses Unload and Powershot to proc Rail Shot while the Powertech uses Flame Burst and Rocket Punch.

 

One uses 30m casted abilities while the other uses two instants meaning for PvP, its burst potential greatly exceeds the Mercenary's, the window of burst is much shorter and back to back rail shots are much harder to recover from when it's the PT unloading the shots. Talents synergy and what not aside, this is the biggest difference between the PT and Merc in Pyro.

 

Dual pistols are pretty cool but they actually don't increase your damage that much as it only helps skills that are determined by weapon damage. With most of the BH's moves falling under kinetic or elemental, dual wield vs single pistol is just a difference in aesthetics with Unload hitting harder on the merc than PT.

 

From a similar thread.

 

Reasons why Pyro PT > Pyro Merc for PvP:

 

-Better talent synergy from the other trees allow Pyro PT rail shots to have 90% ArP.

-Spammable 10m (Flame Burst) to proc rail shots allow the PT to dance in and out of 4m range to GCD starve other melee while continuing their rotation.

-Flame Burst talented has 100% chance to proc CGC giving you a spammable easy way to apply a DoT and snare if you picked up corresponding talents.

-Despite losing Jet Charge as deep pyro, they still have access to grapple, carbonize, and quell. Quell, stun, quell, move out grapple is a shut down combo the Merc Pyro cannot replicate.

-Despite being more melee oriented, they're still able to start out ranged without much penalty and work their way up personal once the initial cluster**** is over.

-Still has the ability to peel for teammates with a combination of taunts/cc's.

-Explosive Fuel makes it faceroll to line up burst.

-Carbonize and Grapple are clutch in Huttball.

 

I would take a Powertech DPS over Merc DPS for PvP simply because they are much harder to shut down and are more threatening (opinion) despite being a "melee" class. I would however always roll heals as a Merc as those played right are the most durable healers, add in tank support and you are indeed unkillable unless half their team focuses you.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Rykke

I got a lvl 50 PT and I played a merc to 30 during the beta weekend. Having tried both, I have to admit that mercs seem to be more fun in combat and have more of an identity than powertechs.

 

That said, I've invested a lot of time into my PT so it's unlikely that I'll be re-rolling, and every class in the game is fun to play, it's just that I had more fun playing on my mercenary.

 

The other issue, is that you'll probably end up only using Mako if you're a powertech since you won't be able to heal yourself. If you're a merc you'll be more comfortable using companions that don't have healing abilities ( every companion except the droid and Mako.) Other mercs have told me that they just use whatever companion they feel like or require for a fight and heal them if they need to.

 

The companion issue is probably my major beef with powertechs 1-50, but I also ran into trouble with my higher level class quests because of a lack of CC. For example, at one point I had two high level strong NPCs that I needed to kill, but both had healing abilities so it was difficult to do. A mercenary could have just crowd controled one mob and burned the other one down.

 

However, if you like to pvp I will admit that it's more fun with a PT than a merc what with guard and taunts being the valor sponge that they are right now compared to heals and DPS.

 

TL;DR Merc if you like pve and leveling, PT for pvp.

I found leveling as a Powertech really easy, no problem with elites etc, and I was almost dissapointed with how easily i blew through the last parts of my class storyline. Finished it off at 47 and I'm sure I could have done it even earlier. Edited March 4, 2012 by Lundli

Nope. Powertech and merc do similar damage in their pve specs. The difference is that powertech is close quarters and merc is ranged.

The thing to keep in mind is that if pyro is your preferred playstyle, powertech has better synergy than merc. Powertech gets an additional 60% armor penetration on railshot, a 100% change to keep combustible gas up with flameburst, and other talents that are a flat increase to railshot damage.

 

So the decision is:

want to play healer or stationary turret style? merc

want to play tank or pyro/melee style? powertech

 

they do? then explain to me why you never see pyros in HMs or raids?

Mercenary Pyro FTW Edited March 2, 2014 by -Sullster-

So Basically If I went Merc Pyrotech even though it isn't as good as the Powertechs pyro would that give me a lot more mobility than arsenal? How many cast times does a merc powertech have because both the ability to heal ( I have already played a tank) and the duel wielding factor make me want to play the mercbut If the playstyle fits me more ii will play a Powertech.

 

Yes, a lot more mobility than arsenal, but you would still need to stay still occasionally after your opening rotation. You will have to cast unload and powershot to proc rail shot. Also, in terms of healing, if you spec dps you will have a 2.5 spammable heal and a 1.5 sec. heal with a cooldown. So in the middle of a fight you will really only heal yourself if powersuge is up.

 

Now, it all depends on what you prefer. If it is pve, lack of mobility really doesn't matter and in most fights being ranged can be a huge advantage.

 

I have a vanguard (the trooper powertech version) and a merc. In PVE, most encounters are much easier as ranged dps than melee dps, so merc has an advantage there, especially as arsenal. It is simply a lot easier to deal with bonethrasher, gharj, Soa's lightning balls, and karagga as ranged dps instead of melee. Even as a merc pyro your dps should be enough to kill most bosses before the enrage (though, again, arsenal is just better for pve). So if pve dps is your goal, merc is probably better in the current state of end game, especially if you are open to arsenal.

 

 

For PvP, it is no comparison. Powertech dps is much better. Only real advantage merc dps has is cure (removing dots), and, if you are part of an organized premade, you can help control middle and knock people back in huttball. But powertech pyro relies pretty much only on instants, which makes it almost impossible to shut down, and has much, much better burst with railshot. A merc's railshot will have only 30% armor pen, will rely on casts to eliminate cooldown, and doesn't really have any merc specific talents that benefit it. A pyro's railshot will get its cooldown reduced with instants, will have 90% armor penetration, and will benefit from a plus 6% damage to rail shot talent. Also, keep in mind that mercs have no interrupts.

So Basically If I went Merc Pyrotech even though it isn't as good as the Powertechs pyro would that give me a lot more mobility than arsenal? How many cast times does a merc powertech have because both the ability to heal ( I have already played a tank) and the duel wielding factor make me want to play the mercbut If the playstyle fits me more ii will play a Powertech.

 

Yes, a lot more mobility than arsenal, but you would still need to stay still occasionally after your opening rotation. You will have to cast unload and powershot to proc rail shot. Also, in terms of healing, if you spec dps you will have a 2.5 spammable heal and a 1.5 sec. heal with a cooldown. So in the middle of a fight you will really only heal yourself if powersuge is up.

 

Now, it all depends on what you prefer. If it is pve, lack of mobility really doesn't matter and in most fights being ranged can be a huge advantage.

 

I have a vanguard (the trooper powertech version) and a merc. In PVE, most encounters are much easier as ranged dps than melee dps, so merc has an advantage there, especially as arsenal. It is simply a lot easier to deal with bonethrasher, gharj, Soa's lightning balls, and karagga as ranged dps instead of melee. Even as a merc pyro your dps should be enough to kill most bosses before the enrage (though, again, arsenal is just better for pve). So if pve dps is your goal, merc is probably better in the current state of end game, especially if you are open to arsenal.

 

 

For PvP, it is no comparison. Powertech dps is much better. Only real advantage merc dps has is cure (removing dots), and, if you are part of an organized premade, you can help control middle and knock people back in huttball. But powertech pyro relies pretty much only on instants, which makes it almost impossible to shut down, and has much, much better burst with railshot. A merc's railshot will have only 30% armor pen, will rely on casts to eliminate cooldown, and doesn't really have any merc specific talents that benefit it. A pyro's railshot will get its cooldown reduced with instants, will have 90% armor penetration, and will benefit from a plus 6% damage to rail shot talent. Also, keep in mind that mercs have no interrupts.

Merc pyrotech here.

 

Both AC's have their tradeoffs. I love being one of the few pyrotech mercs on my server while outperforming most people who play assault in warzones. A properly played merc pyrotech can bring just as much to a team as a properly played powertech pyrotech.

 

I chose merc because I like to heal too. When they implement dual spec I can have the best of both worlds. I also have a melee marauder at 50. I wanted a class that was more long ranged damage than close/medium range that can kite and be mobile.

 

Needless to say Merc Pyro is my new main

I started a Merc /alt he's now 33. So far all points have gone into arsenal. Right off the batt I'll say the Merc has all the aspects needed for a rip roaring time in combat. I feel very versatile and formidable. With my healer companion, there isn't much I can't handle. Elites 2 levels over me don't concern me much at all.

 

I've played...sniper,shadow,vanguard,commando...most fun has been had with my Merc.

I can't speak for the PT side of things but I'd be surprised if it wasn't as much fun for different reasons as the Merc.

 

Death From Above..still makes me smile. Jet hovering 30ft above the ground and dispatching all the normal mobs in my range of fire, is just so satisfying.

Merc pyrotech here.

 

Both AC's have their tradeoffs. I love being one of the few pyrotech mercs on my server while outperforming most people who play assault in warzones. A properly played merc pyrotech can bring just as much to a team as a properly played powertech pyrotech.

 

I chose merc because I like to heal too. When they implement dual spec I can have the best of both worlds. I also have a melee marauder at 50. I wanted a class that was more long ranged damage than close/medium range that can kite and be mobile.

 

Needless to say Merc Pyro is my new main

 

nope, and I say this as a merc pyro battlemaster.

In warzones, any class and spec is viable in the right team. But PT pyro brings more to the table than merc pyro. The advantages of merc pyro over PT pyro in warzones:

- power surge + heal can help out survivability in a pinch.

- 1 mez on a 1 minute cooldown.

- Aoe knock back (but it is even better for arsenal).

- Fusion missile and sweeping blasters as additional ranged AOE options to help prevent caps/disarms.

- Cure, which removes some dots.

 

 

The advantages of PT pyro over merc pyro in warzones:

- Interrupt. great for when you are fighting healers and casters

-grapple. While jet boost is aoe and can knock people off platforms in huttball or off the bridge in voidstar, grapple is nicer, especially in huttball, since it has a 30 yard range and you have some control of where the person is going to land.

- If mercs have concussive missile, which is a nice mez, PT have carbonize, which is an aoe 2.5 second stun.

- Mercs depend on low chance procs to snare someone as pyro, while powertechs have a 100% chance to snare someone with flame burst as pyro.

- you have taunts even as pyro, which can significantly decrease enemy's dps.

- Harder hitting and more frequent railshots, leading to more burst.

- Explosive fuel for more crits, adding to burst.

i was in no doubt i wanted to be a Bounty Hunter, during the Betas i tested both merc and PT, ended up playing Pyro cause i always prefer the melee style (Warrior+Rogue for 7yrs in WoW) i also tested all 3 specs, originally went with Tank and geared up through raiding, atm i have respeced dps for PvP and im rolling Pyro in both HMs and PvP, i just couldnt get on with AP, so ill be sticking with Pyro from now on.

 

tl dr: im PT Pyro

they do? then explain to me why you never see pyros in HMs or raids?

 

Dunno you tell me? Because where are the damage meters? How do you know that Mercs do more damage in PVE?

I can tell you one reason why you see more Mercs in HMS or Raids, because they are over populated imo.

 

But if you look Warzones wise i see PT rocking in the top of most damaged done, same as the mercs.

they do? then explain to me why you never see pyros in HMs or raids?

 

Missed this the first time around. Just because your guild doesn't use them doesn't mean others don't. My 8 man group always has at least one powertech pyro, and we've cleared everything.

I would expect the pt to have a lot of room to grow in class balancing and expac additions. The middle tree is a very likely candidate for improvements and leaves room for new forms of utility to be added to the class. The only nerf I would expect is possibly something like a 3sec internal cooldown on rail while switching it to a faux random PPM instead of a true random system. I've seen that happen with similar mechanics in other games.

 

If they were short sighted and double hit railshot by reducing the armor pen they could break the spec. The sustained damage comes from flameburst and the dot cylinder which are prime candidates to fall behind over other sustained damage abilities in gear scaling.

 

The merc I believe is always going to be one of those flux classes. Its CC and mobility always limited either by its high burst damage or its tanky healing role.

 

It also has a disturbing over reliance on hard cast and los, a combo which never seems to work if Bioware were to introduce a more arena style pvp system. However if they build exclusively around warzones I think it will excel due its great scaling. I have bad memories of wow arena season 1 elemental shaman getting trained and interrupted locked and merc skill set seems similar to the point that it makes me slightly leery.

 

Both classes seem to run off the same role, high damage little utility or escape mechanisms. Hard to nerf because high damage is all they have, but also hard to buff for the same reason. I'd call picking either a wash with the dps merc getting the edge for casual play.