I'm not sure if any posts similar to this have been created, but I have an idea that would eliminate bounty hunter heat problems. When you use Recharge and Reload, the animation is of your bounty hunter venting heat via flame thrower. Does it not make sense that the Flame Thrower skill should not only be an aoe damage ability, but also double as a channeled heat-venting ability? This would be a great way to maintain heat which is by far the hardest source to manage. As far as Bodyguard Mercenaries go, we only have 1 way to instantly deplete some of our heat, and it is on a 2 min cooldown. Operatives have stim boost, crits from scanning, and their immediate energy regain ability also on a 2 min cooldown. Any thoughts?

I'd imagine a flamethrower generates heat, not the other way around.

Does it not make sense that the Flame Thrower skill should not only be an aoe damage ability

 

Flamethrower kind of already IS an AoE ability..

 

it hits all targets in its range with damage AND (as long as you stay in place) you can turn yourself around and light every mob around you on fire..

 

an AoE trait if I ever saw one.

Im not saying it already isnt. Im saying it should not only be this but ALSO the aforementioned.

It's a issue on PTS 2.0 update as it sits.

It's not just your play style you need to look at if you are overheating.

 

Specced as Arsenal, I can easily keep heat below 60%ish just using Tracer a lot + rail shot and Unload. Can even throw a missile blast in there every so often.

 

Bodyguard, however, the demands are a little different - spamming Scans can generate a lot of heat. If you are having to do this with a group, it may be them - under geared, dps biting off more than they can chew, under lvl for an FP, etc.

 

Then again, you may want to do a gear check of yourself. I.E. are you stacking to right stats to get the most out of your Scans?

 

But, the idea of an extra method by which to dump some heat is not a bad one. That 2 min CD really can be the suck when the fit hits the shan

Looking at the new Talent tree, I saw 5 talents that vent heat, then I stopped counting. SO, if you are overheating a lot, I would think that either you are still below level 20, or you are not managing your heat well. You may need to modify your attack rotation.

Splice in some rapidshots after a powershot or tracer. You'll find that extra two GCD's that encapsulate them will usually lower your heat by 6-8 points.

Looking at the new Talent tree, I saw 5 talents that vent heat, then I stopped counting. SO, if you are overheating a lot, I would think that either you are still below level 20, or you are not managing your heat well. You may need to modify your attack rotation.

 

If you're talking about on 2.0, there's major heat issues due to Rail Shot now costing 10 heat instead of being free.

Rofl lets lower the armor penetration and raise the heat cost. Yay for making bounty hunters less feared. I guess there's

Not enough glowbat users out there, they want more i guess. Thanks for ruining my first character at level 49 bioware wtg

yea it would make sense because all the heat you gathered could be let out via flamethrower because if you say it should generate heate then why is the out of combat heal got a jetpack and a flamethrower?

I very rarely overheat. like 1 fight in 100. you need a better rotation.

We now have to add rapid shots in somewhere in our rotation (or just slow down) Since they got rid of our set bonus we're just not going to put out as much dps as before. Cant go full out now... Suuuucks

Rofl lets lower the armor penetration and raise the heat cost. Yay for making bounty hunters less feared. I guess there's

Not enough glowbat users out there, they want more i guess. Thanks for ruining my first character at level 49 bioware wtg

 

The one ability that can reverse (in a very minor way) the headache of stun kill stun again (except they do not feel helpless they just take more damage faster) gets messed with. I am biased though

Bounty Hunter heat is an issue that seriously needs to be addressed, particularly when it comes to dueling and P.V.P in general. I have seen people state that Bounty Hunter damage needs to be improved, I disagree, I feel as though the class can put out D.P.S that is acceptable in comparison to that of other D.P.S classes, arguments have been made to lower the cool down on their 'Vent Heat' ability, once again, I don't think this is the answer.

 

The real issue, in my opinion, is in adaptability. I do not use the same rotation in P.V.E as I use in other scenarios and when it comes to P.V.P there is no ideal rotation, now many might argue and say I'm wrong, that's fine it's your opinion but in P.V.P there's no way of knowing precisely what your opponent is going to do so you are constantly fighting based on reaction and capitalizing on opportunities when they present themselves. Furthermore, there's no point in having such a wide array of abilities on any class if you're not truly free to use them. It becomes a cruel temptation if you have a really nice flame skill that you can't really slip into your rotation because it will mess up your heat management.

 

If we look at a class such as Marauder and their resource system, it's insanely superior to that of the Bounty Hunter. Here we have a class that has numerous methods by which they can generate their required resource (Rage) which fuels even more devastating attacks. A Bounty Hunter can use their basic pistol skill or simply stop attacking until enough heat has dissipated or they can use the skill 'Vent Heat' which has a two minute cool down.

 

If we look at extended combat, a Marauder never needs to stop attacking, they have no aspect in their combat mechanic that grinds them to a halt. They unleash their abilities to build rage, some of which have unacceptably brief cool down periods then hammer you with their superior attacks. It is true that with the correct rotation and timing a Bounty Hunter can attack indefinitely but they have to exercise restraint or risk overheating in a very brief period of time, there is no means by which they can blaze all of their most damaging abilities as soon as their cool downs complete. They will overheat. Bounty Hunters should not have to micro-manage their combat cycle so fiercely, particularly when other classes have a much easier time of it.

 

This article is only focused on the heat issues, let alone some of the other pressing flaws that impact the Bounty Hunter class.

 

Bounty Hunter has a wonderful array of death dealing abilities alas more than half of them will never see the light of day on any consistent basis because they're not truly viable. No one is forcing myself or anyone else to play a Bounty Hunter but the class is there and to some the notion of a Bounty Hunter is very enticing so it's a real shame, more than that, a disappointment that an otherwise great class is shackled by these rather outrageous heat issues. Many players who have Bounty Hunters are running extremely similar, if not identical, builds as one another because there's not a lot of room for flexibility if you want to get solid performance out of your build.

 

I've heard many weak arguments on this topic from the delightful player base on my chosen server:

 

* "Bro dun QQ bh's kill u from hell far so its fair"

 

Okay, in a game where closing the gap into melee is horrendously simple for any class that requires it. An Assassin/Shadow can stealth and walk to you at a leisurely pace.

 

A Sniper will just blow your head off then reflect upon the moment with a smile whilst they sip from their hip flask and smoke a cigarette.

 

A Marauder or Juggernaut will force leap, closing the gap in no time and proceed to introduce themselves with a light saber to your cranium.

 

A Sorcerer, if you're lucky, will 'bubble' then proceed to transform you into an impersonation of a microwaved meal via force lightning. Otherwise you get exposed to some of their more delightful surprises.

 

* "wha'eva u guys get tha stupid vent heat **** when ur stunned an stuff"

 

Yes, Bounty Hunters can obtain a one hundred percent chance to vent eight heat when stunned/under the influence of a control effect. It sounds wonderful unless you consider the trade off, let's say a Bounty Hunter gets afflicted with a generic three second stun effect, he/she vents eight heat and spends three seconds completely powerless to make use of this 'advantage' while he/she gets their *** kicked. I could use an ability to break the control effect then the situation looks slightly more promising, it's a shame that abilities to escape control effects have a lengthy cool down. I should not be in combat, hoping I get targeted with a control effect just so I cancel it and thank the offending player with a gout of flame to his or her face.

 

* "u just need to learn to kite man, get all dodgy an **** plus snipes have it harder bro"

 

Wow, I don't even know what to say to that, I'm not sure that needs a response really. Oh and my personal favorite comment which was stated during a debate in /group whilst myself and others were attempting Hammer Station.

 

* "bunty hunter? dude ffs theyre like haxor!!1! cus fire and i mean just nah bra its ????? (something) ????? u kno"

 

...

 

(I simply have nothing to say to that.)

 

Now I am not going to post this little foray into my thoughts on Bounty Hunter without also doing something productive such as suggesting a resolution to the matter.

 

Don't buff the classes D.P.S or add more heat venting skills with two minute cool downs etc. Simply re-work the heat dissipation system and eliminate the scaling decrease in venting speed vs. total heat and remove the skill 'Vent Heat'. I am certain that no Bounty Hunter would complain were this change to come into effect and it would not unbalance the class in comparison to the others. At least trial this idea, run some numbers and see what pops out at the end. Even if this proposal is not considered, at least propose a better solution but whatever you do, please don't leave the mechanic as is because it's truly unacceptable.

 

To any and all who bothered reading this entire article and have thus ended up down here, thanks for taking the time to hear me out. I appreciate it.

 

 

- NamelessMerc.

Edited June 4, 2013 by NamelessMerc
Forgot to addition a counter-balance along with initial solution at conclusion of original post.

I would complain, because the heat mechanic is different and unique to the play style. That said, Bounty Hunters are in a fairly weak position compared many other specs.

 

Arsenal is in a real good place regarding heat. I can spam about a dozen tracers back to back before I need to vent.

Pyrotech is a whole nother story. Is does have decent heat management with the Rail Shot proc, but the problem is that when you overheat, you barely deal extra damage.

 

I would like the heat system stay as it is, but when I choose to overheat, I want to be able to dish a LOT of damage in short time. Currently Arsenal is alright, but Pyrotech is plain horrible to burst.

I would complain, because the heat mechanic is different and unique to the play style. That said, Bounty Hunters are in a fairly weak position compared many other specs.

 

Arsenal is in a real good place regarding heat. I can spam about a dozen tracers back to back before I need to vent.

Pyrotech is a whole nother story. Is does have decent heat management with the Rail Shot proc, but the problem is that when you overheat, you barely deal extra damage.

 

I would like the heat system stay as it is, but when I choose to overheat, I want to be able to dish a LOT of damage in short time. Currently Arsenal is alright, but Pyrotech is plain horrible to burst.

 

You are correct, the heat system is rather unique and I do feel that it suits the class very well myself but I disapprove of it crippling the class in the way that it can. There are other factors to be taken into consideration, it's a lot easier for other classes to manage their resources than it is for a Bounty Hunter, particularly a Power Tech which is what my character is, it's not just about whether or not Bounty Hunter can be effectively played, because clearly it can be, so much as fairness or equality.

 

The Marauders and Juggernauts resource system cannot cripple them, Sorcerers have five hundred force, six hundred with the investment of two points on a skill available at tenth level on their skill tree which is more than enough to carry them through any situation without much hassle at all, I know this as I also have a Sorcerer. With even the most basic understanding of the Sniper or Imperial Operative classes it's simple to manage their resource.

 

My point is, the resource system for Bounty Hunter punishes and limits the class and it's the only class in the entire game with such a strict resource. The changes I proposed to the class aren't drastic either, I would see the class retain it's heat resource, I simply proposed that we have a continuous dissipation rate for our accumulated heat rather than slower dissipation due to higher heat levels and as a trade off to balance this and prevent the class from becoming unbalanced with the others, we sacrifice the 'Vent Heat' skill.

 

In this way the class would work largely the same as it currently does, it would not be any more powerful than it currently is, none of the skills would do more damage, the cool downs would remain the same, it would simply allow players far more flexibility in how they approach combat without punishing them for it. It would offer the class diversity which I strongly believe would make it more fun for all and might lead to some interesting new builds etc. There's a lot of good that could come of it and were it trialed, which is not an unrealistic request at all, and it proved a detrimental change, there's nothing to stop it from being reverted to the way it works presently.

 

Now, whilst I do see a certain appealing cinematic quality to your idea of a Bounty Hunter choosing to go all out and overheating in exchange for a damage buff, I can't honestly say I support the idea because the class already has decent D.P.S and allowing it to be further increased, even temporarily could see balance issues arising.

 

It could be argued that it's not an issue because the Bounty Hunter will end up overheated but if you're in a duel or something similar, so what if you wind up overheated, so long as you kill your opposition during your super-heated session it really doesn't matter, you could engage them normally until they're on forty percent health for example then go inferno on 'em and it's all over. I would understand players being unhappy about that.

 

Having said that, I am really glad that you have taken the time to read my post and even given me some feedback on it and I appreciate it, a lot. If you have any more ideas you'd like to throw this way then please be my guest as I'm more than happy to discuss them with yourself and anyone else who would care to join in.

 

I really want to see some changes to the heat system and hope we find something less limiting.

yea it would make sense because all the heat you gathered could be let out via flamethrower because if you say it should generate heate then why is the out of combat heal got a jetpack and a flamethrower?

 

That's not how a flame thrower works.

 

I always found the BH's recharge animation loop misleading. People think the flame thrower animation is the BH venting heat, but it's not. The BH is simply checking his/her flame thrower to make sure it works. The actual venting of heat is not shown in the animation loop.

LVL 55 PT DPS and i never over heat so i dont see how heat venting is a problem the only time i really over heat was when i was under lvl 35. So if your over heating as a Tank/DPS or Even heals you need to come up with a better Rotation I spam Flame Burst and Rail Shot my Shoulder missiles and Flame sweep and i never go about 30% heat

LVL 55 PT DPS and i never over heat so i dont see how heat venting is a problem the only time i really over heat was when i was under lvl 35. So if your over heating as a Tank/DPS or Even heals you need to come up with a better Rotation I spam Flame Burst and Rail Shot my Shoulder missiles and Flame sweep and i never go about 30% heat

 

My point was then, as it is now, that our resource system is rather inferior to that of the other classes, there's no equality there whatsoever. Let's say you're right and somehow the class magically makes a miracle comeback at level thirty five and beyond.

 

(to the point where you can spam flame burst, rail shot, rockets and flame sweep, which I do not believe for a second, no offense intended. It's a system where the more heat we have, the slower it vents and I know those abilities produce a moderate amount of heat plus flame burst has no cool down and is not channeled thus can be used consistently just like the basic rocket shot, using either of those too frequently will overheat you in no time, you would have to space your uses of those skills with your basic pistol attack or another skill that does not produce heat, to avoid overheating.)

 

That's no justification for having to endure thirty five levels of character progression prior to suddenly discovering we can walk on water, which turns to wine upon contact with our toes and heat's now our friend but a distant one who suddenly understands even best friends sometimes need a little space and time apart.

 

I am not debating whether or not the class is playable, as I have stated previously, it is and I know this but that does not mean it doesn't need some fine tuning. If you believe it's on equal footing with the other classes then that's your opinion, I think it needs work and could be better than it is. Please don't confuse 'better' with more powerful, any class could be made more powerful, that's easy. No, I would like to see it improved, not buffed.

 

You yourself said "So if your over heating as a Tank/DPS or Even heals you need to come up with a better Rotation" and again, I disagree. I should not have to come up with a better rotation, I should be able to play my class as I see fit, without being punished for it and not by another player but by the games mechanic itself.

 

Once again I will use the Marauder for my example. If a Marauder messes up their P.V.E rotation at say, level twenty, it means it's going to take them a fraction longer to kill the mob(s) they're combating. If a Bounty Hunter messes up their P.V.E rotation, the repercussions are potentially far more penalizing. That's a simple fact. It should not be this way. Look at how swiftly a Marauder can obtain and spend Rage in comparison to how rapidly a Bounty Hunter can obtain heat yet how slowly it dissipates, particularly if something has gone wrong (human error) and your heat dissipation is at the second, third, or God forbid fourth tier rate and if the skill 'Vent Heat' happens to be on cool down then you're really... Well, you're in hot water.

 

Were I wise I'd elect to be the Marauder each and every time but alas I'm a glutton for punishment it seems. At the end of the day, all I'm saying is, let's iron out one or two little kinks in an otherwise great class. I'm not screaming for more power etc. Each class has their place, the Sorcerer is a fantastic healer, Assassins seem to be the kings and queens of P.V.P combat, I just don't want the Bounty Hunters place to be:

 

"That rather uncomfortable looking, sweaty tin can, in the corner who looks like they could do with a glass of water and a bath."

 

(My currently expected reception if ever my Power Tech walks into a grand dining hall for a fancy dinner with the Imperial Brass.)

For the record, Imperial Agents have the same tier-based regen system as Bounty Hunters.

 

With that said, they have built-in means in their rotation or otherwise to reduce their resource expenditure or increase their regen, better than Bounty Hunters do.

My point was then, as it is now, that our resource system is rather inferior to that of the other classes, there's no equality there whatsoever. Let's say you're right and somehow the class magically makes a miracle comeback at level thirty five and beyond.

 

(to the point where you can spam flame burst, rail shot, rockets and flame sweep, which I do not believe for a second, no offense intended. It's a system where the more heat we have, the slower it vents and I know those abilities produce a moderate amount of heat plus flame burst has no cool down and is not channeled thus can be used consistently just like the basic rocket shot, using either of those too frequently will overheat you in no time, you would have to space your uses of those skills with your basic pistol attack or another skill that does not produce heat, to avoid overheating.)

 

You Really Need to Take a Better look at the Pyrotech Tree I can Spam Flame Burst and not overheat mainly because there are a Few skills in Pyro that 1 Reduce the amount of Heat Flame Burst generates and another skill and Lets me automatically vent heat every time Rail shot hits a Burning target. If you Dont Believe me my toons name is in the Signature join me on Harbinger and ill tell you exactly how im spec and show you first hand how i dont overheat at all

You Really Need to Take a Better look at the Pyrotech Tree I can Spam Flame Burst and not overheat mainly because there are a Few skills in Pyro that 1 Reduce the amount of Heat Flame Burst generates and another skill and Lets me automatically vent heat every time Rail shot hits a Burning target. If you Dont Believe me my toons name is in the Signature join me on Harbinger and ill tell you exactly how im spec and show you first hand how i dont overheat at all

WHY are you so focused on the certain build. I am not arguing that your bild could have No issues with heat. But if you are going to make other build not like yours , then it Will have heat venting issues, and that in my opinion isnt good. I think every build should have a right to exist with equal opportunities in the game.