Not really, because Rail Shot doesn't hit hard w/out Firebug and Rain of Fire. PPA 1.2 only procs every 6 seconds, so every 6 seconds I can do an attack for 3k damage, or every 15 seconds I can do 2 of them for 6k~ damage. Rail Shot, while nice, is pretty negligible for AP. I only use mine as a low-heat attack and finisher.

Rail Shot's issues with AP are well known and is the main reason for the Norse build. I am a little confused with your last comment. Rail shot should be your high heat ability since it vents 8 heat every time you use it with your build. The PPA procs are very important to Pyro, but that's not the deal here. Essentially you spent 11 points in a talent that you use only as a low-heat attack even though it's your only venting ability. Plus Rail Shot is the second hardest hitting attack in the PT line if properly talented with deep Pyro and the shield damage.

You also took Charged Gauntlets so not using it on CD means a waste of both CGC and Superheated Rail which leaves me still confused as to what your saying.

In that same time w/ 3 Flame Bursts, I would easily outdamage that and have the benefit of those attacks being Elemental.[/quote)

 

Except that's not true unless you are using HEGC. Flame Burst without HEGC and Intimidation and War Hero mods respecced to full Power Surge hits for significantly less than Rail Shot. All live and simulator testings reflect this. It's only at the far end of gear does Flame Burst surpass Rail shot. My Flame Burst hits for 2800 crit. RS hits for 3300 crit in AP.

 

For people who don't mind being tied to 10m at all times, there are other specs that can do that better, sure. I like being able to drop 6-7k on a target at range. : )

 

It is, indeed, very heat-intensive and that was the first con I listed for it for a reason. However, once you get used to it, it's really not all that hard. You have a free Rocket Punch and 8 heat Rail Shot to mix in, alongside TSO, Vent Heat, and of course, flat-out killing your target to vent. This spec has been very good at that last part.

 

That may be true in the fights you are in right now, but you are severly limited. The best ranged attack that Powertechs have is TD, and you don't have that. Your outside of 10m is Rail Shot and Rapid Shots which you don't really spec to fully utilize. So exactly what range do you gain from your spec? You don't have Immolate (hardest hitting Elemental instant), TD, fully specced RS, or any other ranged talents except Inciendary missle and Explosive dart both of which are extremely weak and cost a ton of heat.

 

I am not trying to demean your abilities. I am trying to understand your logic here. What ranged capabilities do you get that give you any advantage?

 

If a build does not give any advantages over another build, why use it?

Moved to http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4501818#post4501818

Sorry for clutter, Opf. : )

It's Physical damage so if you are facing a tankasin or some other force defense you can use it and feel a slight loss. Personally I just stun the Assassin as soon as he goes gold. Railshot is very very powerful in pyro it hits close to 30 percent harder. The Hardest i have ever hit anyone with Rail in Max AP is 3500. The max I have RS in Norse builds is 2200. So there is a disadvantage to Norse, I just prefer the utility and durability more.

You won't be able to rail shot since the shroud remove all dots (I have never been able to stun them either). Unload is pretty much all you can do.

You won't be able to rail shot since the shroud remove all dots (I have never been able to stun them either). Unload is pretty much all you can do.

Rapid Shots ftw haha! I forgot about the lack of a dot with the shroud. I rarely use Rail shot so never noticed it.

So I have a couple questions...

I am currently in full Combat Tech BM, with WH helm. Running with the NORS build I seem to have problems in a lot of 1 v 1 matches. I lose quite a few of them. I can almost never beat an Annihilation Marauder. Just wondering if I might be doing something wrong in my approach. Or if I need to pay closer attention to what my enemy is doing at all times...

Opf you wouldn't happen to have any in game footage of your pvp would ya?

So I have a couple questions...

 

I am currently in full Combat Tech BM, with WH helm. Running with the NORS build I seem to have problems in a lot of 1 v 1 matches. I lose quite a few of them. I can almost never beat an Annihilation Marauder. Just wondering if I might be doing something wrong in my approach. Or if I need to pay closer attention to what my enemy is doing at all times...

 

Opf you wouldn't happen to have any in game footage of your pvp would ya?

Go two piece Combat Medic BM 3 seconds of shield is amazing against them. I don't video tape myself because I don't know how. The only videos I am in are probably ones where I am fighting Taugrim or where my pub side scoundrel was video'd.

As for beating an Anni Mara, that's always tough, I have one piece of advice don't face him 1 on 1. If you must, use your stuns on the eyes on fire ability and the 5 second God mode. He will trinket one, which means he won't be able to break the other. When you stun move 10m away or los him, than come back and hit him again. He will eventually go down, but it comes down to timing your stuns, and popping your shiedl up during the master strike or bleeds. If you are successful and keep him from healing himself too much you will eventually win by having pft hit him at least 3-4 times.

Immediately break his force choke, than pop HO and burn him repeatedly. Keep HO on CD with them so he can't push than jump to you.

Go two piece Combat Medic BM 3 seconds of shield is amazing against them. I don't video tape myself because I don't know how. The only videos I am in are probably ones where I am fighting Taugrim or where my pub side scoundrel was video'd.

 

As for beating an Anni Mara, that's always tough, I have one piece of advice don't face him 1 on 1. If you must, use your stuns on the eyes on fire ability and the 5 second God mode. He will trinket one, which means he won't be able to break the other. When you stun move 10m away or los him, than come back and hit him again. He will eventually go down, but it comes down to timing your stuns, and popping your shiedl up during the master strike or bleeds. If you are successful and keep him from healing himself too much you will eventually win by having pft hit him at least 3-4 times.

 

Immediately break his force choke, than pop HO and burn him repeatedly. Keep HO on CD with them so he can't push than jump to you.

Thanks for the advice Opf. I wasn't aware that Taugrim was still playing. He still using Ironfist?

Thanks for the advice Opf. I wasn't aware that Taugrim was still playing. He still using Ironfist?

I was referring to the past. Currently he is playing mainly GW2 but he is still on his slinger and Vanguard from time to time.

Thinking of this as a cross between the survival and max dps AP build...

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301G0hZrkrrorfkds.1

Thinking of this as a cross between the survival and max dps AP build...

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301G0hZrkrrorfkds.1

Might as well go Norse than. Losing the speed bosst is definitely not worth it. CGC without the Rail-shot bonus talents is also worthless. I am going to take the Max Survival off, it's close to being ineffective, and it would be better to go ion cell with Max Survival which is horrible.

Okay, so like many, many, many others I started a Powertech Pyro. And after about 35 levels I was underwhelmed. Constant heat monitoring, low surviveability..basically all the complaints against it that I see here. Sure, the burst was nice when it came, but the cost was just too much.

Then on a whim, I dropped into the AP Max DPS spec and it was like night and day. It just seems so much smoother and more natural to me; maybe I was just a nabcake at Pyro and couldn't grasp the whole thing.

My favorite part? Surprising people in PVP who think I'm a Pyro, then quicky find out the opposite. I think, on my server at least, everyone is so used to going against Pyro's that they are a little rattled when they see and AP smacking them with Immolate instead of Thermal Detonator.

Two thumbs up for the spec and the guide!

Any advice on taking out a merc healer 1v1 with the max damage build?

I'm having some trouble with their interrupt immunity and it seems like I'm not doing enough burst, just a difficult matchup?

Okay, so like many, many, many others I started a Powertech Pyro. And after about 35 levels I was underwhelmed. Constant heat monitoring, low surviveability..basically all the complaints against it that I see here. Sure, the burst was nice when it came, but the cost was just too much.

 

Then on a whim, I dropped into the AP Max DPS spec and it was like night and day. It just seems so much smoother and more natural to me; maybe I was just a nabcake at Pyro and couldn't grasp the whole thing.

 

My favorite part? Surprising people in PVP who think I'm a Pyro, then quicky find out the opposite. I think, on my server at least, everyone is so used to going against Pyro's that they are a little rattled when they see and AP smacking them with Immolate instead of Thermal Detonator.

 

Two thumbs up for the spec and the guide!

Thanks I appreciate the compliments. I prefer AP over Pyro for the same reason. I can't seem to get the timing and rng of Pyro down. I really like AP for the simplicity of it.

Any advice on taking out a merc healer 1v1 with the max damage build?

 

I'm having some trouble with their interrupt immunity and it seems like I'm not doing enough burst, just a difficult matchup?

When their bubble is up you just keep burning them. You can't really do much, because I think it prevents stuns as well. So you just slow down ramp up and wait for the bubble to come down at which point you burn them down. A really good healer is a tough matchup regardless of class. Especially if they don't worry about damage.

When their bubble is up you just keep burning them. You can't really do much, because I think it prevents stuns as well. So you just slow down ramp up and wait for the bubble to come down at which point you burn them down. A really good healer is a tough matchup regardless of class. Especially if they don't worry about damage.

It doesn't prevent stuns. Save your stuns for when they pop the bubble. Carbonize first in hopes they blow their trinket on it, then the dart stun. And don't stun right away, wait for a cast to be like 50% through. So you get an extra second or 2 without heals. Since it lasts 12 seconds and your stuns will only at best get you through 6.5 sec of that.

It doesn't prevent stuns. Save your stuns for when they pop the bubble. Carbonize first in hopes they blow their trinket on it, then the dart stun. And don't stun right away, wait for a cast to be like 50% through. So you get an extra second or 2 without heals. Since it lasts 12 seconds and your stuns will only at best get you through 6.5 sec of that.

Thanks, Dardack, I can never remember about commando's because there are so few good healers that are commando's.

It doesn't prevent stuns. Save your stuns for when they pop the bubble. Carbonize first in hopes they blow their trinket on it, then the dart stun. And don't stun right away, wait for a cast to be like 50% through. So you get an extra second or 2 without heals. Since it lasts 12 seconds and your stuns will only at best get you through 6.5 sec of that.

For most straight healing mercs the bubble should be at 15 seconds from the two piece. But yeah, save your stuns for a few seconds after the bubble goes up.

Am I the only AP who gets Pyro envy from time to time? I seem to have a hard time breaking the 250k dmg mark and often see a Pyro with over 300-400k Granted those are the Pyros in full Augmented WH. I am in BM with a couple WH pieces. Maybe I am just doing something wrong.

I only get Pyro envy when I watch a good one wreck a healer in a few seconds. I also feel jealous in Ops when their random burst damage is better in high movement fights in Denova and therefore ends up being more consistent due to high up time on boss.

I don't feel jealous when I mow them down with my operative because they are squishier than a roll of wet toilet paper, or I watch them get slowed and kited like a pro by a sniper. I don't feel jealous when I see them using Rapid shots every few seconds to help manage heat. I don't feel jealous when I mow down 3 people with some beautiful pft.

so the Tibetan Candle build is a rail shot build?

just wondering because all the builds you have listed are no rail shot yet you still have the priority rotation for a rail shot build

so the Tibetan Candle build is a rail shot build?

 

just wondering because all the builds you have listed are no rail shot yet you still have the priority rotation for a rail shot build

Every build but Norse is a rail shot build. I will double check the order to make sure it reads more clearly. The Tibetan Candle simply substitutes HEGC for IGC, you could take out PFT and Immolate, and add the Venting from Rail shot, but if you are going to do that you might as well go for the Hybrid Maverick.

I only get Pyro envy when I watch a good one wreck a healer in a few seconds. I also feel jealous in Ops when their random burst damage is better in high movement fights in Denova and therefore ends up being more consistent due to high up time on boss.

 

I don't feel jealous when I mow them down with my operative because they are squishier than a roll of wet toilet paper, or I watch them get slowed and kited like a pro by a sniper. I don't feel jealous when I see them using Rapid shots every few seconds to help manage heat. I don't feel jealous when I mow down 3 people with some beautiful pft.

for someone who was so anti AP a few months ago you seem to of changed your toon, how does it make you feel when you know there were people out there that saw what you now see months before you did?

for someone who was so anti AP a few months ago you seem to of changed your toon, how does it make you feel when you know there were people out there that saw what you now see months before you did?

I am lost on your question. I think anyone who knows me from before I studied it, and saw me now would be happy for my progress ;p. I decided to test something. I still find AP to be a significanlty easier pvp spec, but I find it much less effective in pve in Denova. The first two bosses especially I found especially troubling for PFT where constant movement is required, Pyro just outshined them AP by a significant amount.

I find CGC to be the game breaker damage wise. They are very similar up to CGC. CGC's dot is too powerful, and it makes Pyro's damage anywhere from 5-10 percent better in any fight.

For PVP, I prefer the non-rng playstyle of AP. However pre 1.2 there was zero reason to play AP compared to Pyro, the unlimited RNG of RS made it significantly more powerful, and pre 1.2 there was no slow attached which made it perhaps the most difficult pvp style.

Now, AP is very simple, easy, and efficient. I actually recommend to all lvl 50's. To start off as Norse for pvp and AP for pve until they get a handle on their rotation and heat and then step up to Pyro. Pyro requires much more micro managing leaving AP with a better gameplay feel and a more enjoyable raid experience.