Got tired of seeing countless questions about how viable pyrotech is in pvp so I decided to write a little guide. Enjoy!

 

 

So you want to be a pyrotech? Well you got a few things you need to know before you start blowing folks up.

 

The common consensus of merc players see the big numbers from arsenal and think pyro cannot achieve the burst that merc can.....thats where your wrong XD.

 

Pyro is by NO means worse than arsenal. Being 48 valor rank and having spent around 600k credits from respeccing between the two I've gotten an experienced feel for both and they both have their pros and cons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll keep this short and simple. For gear you want PURE power. The full eliminator champion set has Power stats all over it so it makes it easy for you. Alacrity is nothing for a Pyrotech merc because you barely cast. Once u get a good amount of power your Thermal Detonator/Rail shots start to hit insanely hard, along with your dots. Surge and Crit are also important stats to make everything hit much harder, but never neglect that endurance for pvp

 

 

 

 

 

Pyrotech has a very flexible talent tree, but this is the build I currently use:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300MzZMckZMIrbzGGMs.1

 

In this build you are picking up your most needed talents. Alot of people like the Degauss talent, but you would never pop a survivability cooldown just to rid yourself of a snare. Despite that, Degauss and Energy Rebounder work very well together. Automated Defenses in pyro does not work well in pvp. I have tested this and even though you can benefit from a reduced Kolto Overload cooldown,its more of a pve talent because you would benefit more from constantly doing a rotation to proc the cd reduction.

 

You could also swap out Improved Vents and the 1 point in Hired Muscle for Stabilizers in arsenal if you suffer from alot of pushback. Personally I would prefer the heat and crit, considering if your in melee range while casting Power Shot your doing it wrong.

 

 

I know pvp does not have "rotations" but there is an order of skills you should use before the others:

 

1. Trinket

2. Incendiary Missile

3. Thermal Detonator

4. Rail Shot

5. Unload(hopefully resets Rail Shot)

6. Power Shot (hopefully resets Rail Shot)

(Opponent below 40%? Thermal Sensor Override and Fusion Missile)

(Opponent over 40%? Continue using Power Shot and Unload)

 

Weave in a few Rapid shots after step 5 and 6 to manage that heat. That would be the basic skills you would use when going against other players. Use Rail Shot everytime it comes off of cooldown; its the core skill for Pyrotech because it hits like a truck while refunding you 8 heat.

 

When I line up Thermal Detonator with a casted Power Shot into a Rail Shot, I do magic and make 50% of my targets hp disappear, 40% on geared players. Many players do not anticipate this burst and you can instagib them EASILY if they are already around 70% hp before you start.

 

The end-teir pyrotech talent "Burnout" is SO golden for this tree. This skill makes your dots do 30% more damage to targets below 30% health, which is why I advise the Fusion Missile to be used when your enemy is around 40%.

 

I am almost in full champion gear and on a target below 30%, my Incendiary Missile crits for 700-800 while my Combustible Gas Cylinder dot crits for 900-1000 and thats instantly on attack. No exaggerating here folks Those dots stacked with your auto shots make low health opponents drop like flieeeeees in a beehive!

 

 

The usual complaint about pyrotech is that it doesn't have the knockbacks that arsenal does, or my favorite one, "Pyrotech is too RNG for PVP!" You dont need your rocket punch knockback when you can permakite someone with your Sweltering Heat. As arsenal if you get interrupted once, your dead, plain and simple.

 

As Pyrotech you can stay at max range and kite any melee that advances towards you. Range classes should not be a problem for you #lineofsight About the RNG factor, if we "werent" RNG we would be beyond overpowered. Rail Shot does too much damage "without" having to be reset. If we could constantly use it on a short cooldown we would receive a swift nerf to the knee.

 

Well thats all guys and gals, thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments, concerns, or questions about anything mercenary, and remember, MANAGE DAT HEAT!

Edited February 7, 2012 by tconeal

What kind of burst do you usually get on the initial opening sequence against a player? And about how much AIM do you have? Just curious. I've been spending a lot of credits switching between bodyguard, arsenal, pyro, and hybrids. Bodyguard is pretty insane provided you have a premade or a team that actually knows what is going on.

The torhead spec just comes up as a blank page...maybe torhead is down? Or is there a problem with the link?

 

Would you say that the pyrotech is more viable in PVP than arsenal? I've been playing aresnal leveling up but I have been ganked a couple of times and done no warzones. Didn't seem to be able to get away from a melee that got the jump on me.

What kind of burst do you usually get on the initial opening sequence against a player? And about how much AIM do you have? Just curious. I've been spending a lot of credits switching between bodyguard, arsenal, pyro, and hybrids. Bodyguard is pretty insane provided you have a premade or a team that actually knows what is going on.

 

I usually take off 40 to 50% of a targets hp on my opener. ATM im sitting at 1381 aim. But yes bodyguard is pretty good, I use it when I premade with guildies.

 

@scott The link should be fine, it's probably torhead. And I wouldnt say its "better" or worse than arsenal, they both have their perks.

Nice writeup.

Survivability Yeaaa...suuure. Any class and spec at 50 can rаpe merc pyro easely in secs. That's surely will be in cons section. Survivability is zero.

Pyro is by NO means worse than arsenal.

Same player skills, same reaction, same gear will give you more Damage Per Match in WZ, when you in arsenal spec.That's not empty words.... I 'm lvl 50 valor 50 Merc Pyro. And I must say that there is nothing in Pyro spec exept mobility that better than Arsenal spec. Concentrated damage per one target is surely worse than Arsenal. 1 vs. 1 is worst than Arsenal.

For gear you want surge/crit stats.

That is not the only one variant. It can be power/accuracy or power/defense. Edited January 13, 2012 by Sobakozoid

Please tell me you dont stack accuracy/power.....this isnt a boss fight. I know accuracy benefits but its not nearly enough of a bonus that surge/crit gives you.

 

If you want to impress a "scoreboard" at the end of a match then please...be my guest but I would like to see your k/d ratio at the end of that match. If an arsenal merc is ignored, yes he will pump out continous damage 24/7....if hes "ignored". If 1 melee sits on you then I wish you the best of your days

Please tell me you dont stack accuracy/power.....

No, initially i was focused on crit/surge... it was +35% chance, +75% multiplier, but then, after dealing with republic sentinels, shadows, guardians, I realized that when you hit them for 10-20... (!!!)... crit+80% wouldn't help at all. You need to penetrate their defenses, you need accuracy and power or at least accuracy + crit. Edited January 13, 2012 by Sobakozoid

...if hes "ignored". If 1 melee sits on you then I wish you the best of your days

Merc Arsenal at least has "Jet Escape" and "Afterburners" in its skilltree and NOTHING of that kind in Pyro tree.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Sobakozoid

The knockback of your punch is worthless...its a 4 meter pushback with no slow...and afterburners is nice but arsenal has that because it has to cast 24/7, pyro doesnt have to stay still to do rediculous damage. With Pyro, our shield turns into a 1 minute cd on average which is extremely effective for survival. Im not saying pyro or arsenal are better than each other, I'm just giving the info of the underrated pyro spec.

 

I'm not sure about you, but I would rather have more burst with mobility. Then have sustained burst while having to stand still while melee wail on me. Just sayin.

Edited January 13, 2012 by tconeal

Survivability Yeaaa...suuure. Any class and spec at 50 can rаpe me easily.

 

I fixed that for ya.

 

Also a rank 50 pyro merc, and I am killin' it. The group I run with has an arsenal merc, too, and we both do fine. You may not be quite as good as you want to think you are.

The knockback of your punch is worthless..

 

That punch is actually pretty good to keep trace missile monkeys locked down. Too bad its in arsenal :\

Huge thanks for posting this guide. I would love to see the same for PvE. I'm getting very currious about Pryo as it looks lots of fun!

Merc Arsenal at least has "Jet Escape" and "Afterburners" in its skilltree and NOTHING of that kind in Pyro tree.

 

(i dont play pyro.)

 

 

Pyro has a weaker Jet Boost as well as the (likely) constant slow from the talent that makes the cylinder dot a slow.

 

I would rather have an actual slow (something i dont see a lot of here, unlike wow) for kiting, than knocbacks.

 

@OP: thank you very much for this post. Im about to hit 50 and i was considering trying out pyro but i didnt know how to play it. This will help.

Same player skills, same reaction, same gear will give you more Damage Per Match in WZ, when you in arsenal spec.That's not empty words.... I 'm lvl 50 valor 50 Merc Pyro. And I must say that there is nothing in Pyro spec exept mobility that better than Arsenal spec. Concentrated damage per one target is surely worse than Arsenal. 1 vs. 1 is worst than Arsenal.

 

I've never read anything more wrong in my life, pyrotech will ALWAYS have more damage overall than arsenal just because of how many dots you are tossing around and you dont need to be turreting to do it.

 

pyro will **** arsenal 1v1 in any environment with LOS, being able to just pop out and keep dots / thermal detonator / rail shot on cooldown lets you roll over arsenal who is forced to land tracers.

 

also the burst in pyro requires much less setup than arsenal, arsenal needs 5 heat signatures stacked on a target and preferably 5 tracer locks on yourself, pyro just needs incendiary missile on someone

 

Pyro is an amazing spec and the damage it puts out just completely ***** on arsenals considering you dont need to be standing still to do it

Edited January 14, 2012 by Juicenewtonz

pyrotech will ALWAYS have more damage overall than arsenal just because of how many dots you are tossing around

 

1 thing wrong there, pyro doesnt have more damage than arsenal because of the dots. If we actually try to spreadd dots our heat will be full by the third person : / Its just pure raw thermal/railshot damage, the dots dont really magnify until they are below 30% hp.

I definitely like Pyro for PvP on my 42 Merc. What I had a problem with was going out and questing. It seemed like multiple weak mobs just didn't die fast enough. Any tips?

1 thing wrong there, pyro doesnt have more damage than arsenal because of the dots. If we actually try to spreadd dots our heat will be full by the third person : / Its just pure raw thermal/railshot damage, the dots dont really magnify until they are below 30% hp.

 

you dont need to be spamming dots, throwing in a rapid shots after every incendiary missile will go a long way towards keeping your heat at a manageable level

I definitely like Pyro for PvP on my 42 Merc. What I had a problem with was going out and questing. It seemed like multiple weak mobs just didn't die fast enough. Any tips?

 

use Mako and sweeping blasters. you will usually max out your heat but heat vents fast when you rest. 3x sweeping blasters + 1-2 rapid shots will clean up most groups, rest for like 2-3 secs and move on. alternate dfa opener +1 sweeping baster and fusion missile +1 sweeping blaster+rapid to clean up, then 3 sweeping blaster+ 2 rapid shots.

 

if you get gas procs off sweep it goes much smoother, the rapid shot use is for when you do not get a proc on 1-2 mobs and they have like 10% left. jet boost that 1 ranged mob that is usually 20 feet away into the others and turn off Mako's stun, it will just screw you up.

Edited January 14, 2012 by archfiend

This thread is about pvp pyro, I dont pve much.

I fixed that for ya.

 

Also a rank 50 pyro merc, and I am killin' it. The group I run with has an arsenal merc, too, and we both do fine. You may not be quite as good as you want to think you are.

Dude, we will speak again when patch 1.1 with its bracket for 50s hit the servers. It will be very soon. Then you return here and tell us how good you are against whole team of champion equipped 50s. Edited January 14, 2012 by Sobakozoid

Ive been playing with pyro today per the OP's post. I recently switched from Arsenal to Pyro to test out.

 

Keep in mind, I only have 2 champ pvp pieces, and the rest are my lvl 40 pvp pieces. I do fairly well on the DPS charts at the end of the round, but my issue is that the damage is way too slow and not enough burst. 1 on 1 against a tracer spammer (and from lag), I'll usually get owned even when I'm hiding behind some obstacle (again this is due to Bioware's or Mythic's failure at coding LOS with latency in mind).

 

The one thing that I DO enjoy about playing the pyro is that I can move around and I just dot people while doing mobile damage. I hate sitting in one spot because 2 of my main skills require me to cast/channel them.

 

I'll probably play with the merc pyro for a bit

Ive been playing with pyro today per the OP's post. I recently switched from Arsenal to Pyro to test out.

 

Keep in mind, I only have 2 champ pvp pieces, and the rest are my lvl 40 pvp pieces. I do fairly well on the DPS charts at the end of the round, but my issue is that the damage is way too slow and not enough burst. 1 on 1 against a tracer spammer (and from lag), I'll usually get owned even when I'm hiding behind some obstacle (again this is due to Bioware's or Mythic's failure at coding LOS with latency in mind).

 

The one thing that I DO enjoy about playing the pyro is that I can move around and I just dot people while doing mobile damage. I hate sitting in one spot because 2 of my main skills require me to cast/channel them.

 

I'll probably play with the merc pyro for a bit

 

just takes getting used to the build and learning it's strengths and weaknesses, the burst requires just as much setup as arsenal. the build is good in group play, 1 on 1 you will have a problem, if a melee gets on you about all you can do is rapid shots and hope for the best. it does require more thinking than arsenal (imo) because you rely on many of the default merc skills.

 

been playing it for a long time now and although I liked it better before the talent change it's still more fun to me than arsenal despite its large weaknesses.

I dont think some of you are reading the guide. Most of the things your saying in your posts I have already addressed in the guide.

I read your guide and am incorporating it into my style. It definitely is a class that you should kite with or use LOS. When I try to go toe to toe with any DPSer i tend to lose pretty badly haha but I will say it's probably my gear. I'm currently only at 12k HP even with the 2 champ pieces. Bolstered lower lvl pcs are 12k+. I have been called a coward because I would just DOT guys and kite them relying on rail shot procs, dots, and quick power shots when possible.

 

I will say this is much funner to play than pew pew TM/missile_shot/unload/etc combo.