PvP Pyro 1.2 Impressions so Far, Modding Tests.

Now that I have some time to sit down I will type a bit more in depth outlook on this. I'll continue to update this thread within this coming week as more testing is applied and new things changed or learned.

Current Gear Setup And Spec - Added 4/26/2012
I am going to keep this updated as best I can. Since there is no Armory this is a good, alternative:

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/characte...3-488a8402e1ee

Full Match Videos:
Started recording full matches for a bit. Staying away from "compilation" videos for now so you can see all the nitty gritty of Pyro now. The great burst, and some of the heat issues the build suffers. Giving you an overall idea of how it plays.

Huttball #3 - Spec 7/3/31- Added 4/26/2012

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Huttball #1 (Solo Queue)
Voidstar Full Match: First minute briefly shows the gear I am using as well.
Novare Coast (Some funny play moments)

Pyro Specs Tested /Used Today:

5/5/31: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hMZMcZfhMbdGGMs.1
7/3/31: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hMbZ0cZfhMbdGGMs.1
8/8/25: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hMhZMsMZfhMbdGhM.1
8/5/28: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hMhZMcZfhMbdGhMc.1


[SIZE="2"]Thermal Detonator vs Non-TD Builds
I am removing this section. I am 100% In favor of TD Builds again. They are providing the best overall damage with current heat changes for me in Warzones.

Modding and Gear

Current Stats: http://www.exphryl.com/warhero_crafted_new_stats.jpg

I started the day in regular BM Gear. I changed everything back before 1.2 so the new stats would upgrade appropriately. Being mildly disappointed at the amount of accuracy I went and gave it a shot.

Half a game later as I left the Warzone, I remodded the Enhancements with the Power/Surge ones I had left over from old IA Champion gear.

Unfortunately I can not see how this is attainable other then checking your GTN. It isn't practical now for new 50s. On the plus side the new War Hero gear has Power/Surge but that again, isn't a practical solution for most people.

I did however opt for more 38 Endurance / 18 Power / 48 Surge over the 23 End ones. It was amazing how much endurance I lost with the "upgrade" and It just didn't feel right PvP'n with 16K buffed (give or take) HP. So I stretched out as much as I could to get up to a little over 17K. I am also using Moddable Bracers and Belts with PvE Parts.

If you notice from the gear it's the new War Hero gear, crafted. I was able to on an alt Crit every piece for Augment slots. For the time being each augment slot is filled with the "new" Reflex Augment. (13 End/18 AIM I think they were off the top of my head). Trying to proc the Epic version but no luck yet. Either or that in each of the 5 pieces for me, outweighed the set bonus of 15% Crit on Rail Shot. I always believe consistent damage is better than chance damage so it's a preference. Figure out what works best for you. (On the plus side once I get the WH Gear officially, I'll have Augmented versions to just transfer that armoring over)

General Rotation and Heat Management

To not downplay it, the PPA change hurts Heat greatly in PvP. The few PvE Flashpoints I did today I had 0 heat problems on a boss since I could easily weave in rapid shots between attacks. However, lets not fool ourselves, there are more then enough times where we have no option for rapid shots when fighting an opponent and we need to desperately kill them before they kill us.

As such in a Warzone where we are not crushing the other team I do overheat more than I'd like. I still manage to kill whoever it is I want at that expense and in a lot of cases my demise right after, but taking out critical targets helps my team push more. In a Premade though I have a bit more flexibility as we focus targets and don't have to go all out myself all the time. In those cases heat isn't an issue.

Sitting at 0 Heat, my general rotation; considering cooldowns are available (This is obviously up for tweaking as I get more playtime in) :

Thermal Over-Ride > Incendiary Missle > Thermal Detonater > Rail Shot > Rocket Punch > Rail Shot (If PPA) > Flame Burst > Rapid Shots.

The reason I Rocket Punch before FLame Bursting (Which I normally didn't due to how RS resets CGC Proc) is due to it having a higher chance to proc a PPA. The earlier I get that on cool-down the better.

If this is a consistent battle I just reset the rotation on the next target. However, I'll never use IM again. It's to heat costly if Thermal Override isn't up. it's depressing really since it's damage is pathetic and it only used to not was a PPA proc initially. But in a group battle that is continuous it causes to much overheating and I'd much rather "miss" a potential PPA than overheat and be SOL.

Overall Thoughts On Pyro:

Generally speaking, I am very pleased with the way the class still continues to play. Survivability is still an issue which i don't think will ever be adjusted though.

Overall damage, with the Re modding didn't change much. I consistently get 4.5k Rail Shot Crits with the occasional 5k+. You still have more than enough burst potential to bring down a player of your choosing which I like as healers, even nerfed the way they were with the expertise change, can be a pain to kill. (I'm looking at you 3 TA Operatives).

However, one nice thing about how the BM Gear changed is everybody has these high accuracy enhancements hindering their gear so for now, MOST players are doing a lot less damage than they should so you can actually stay alive fairly long. This will change once remodding comes in to play for the masses so enjoy it now.

Pyro vs AP Preference:

The following is purely my opinion on the playstyle of the specs, and why I choose Pyro over AP (since there will be a lot of AP Threads popping up for sure)

I started the day with AP, since it got the brunt of the changes. I did have a BM Combat Tech set available to use to keep things consistent with other players using this build. I am familiar with the build and play-style just the same as I am with Pyro. If anything this patch made AP play-style easier to manage with the additional snares.

A few games in though some things were still glaringly obvious as to why I do not particularly like AP.

- Updated Flame Thrower was a nice addition, with the snare and easier to build stacks. But this ability, in PvP still suffers from the poor net-code this game has. A stunned target yes, it's very easy to hit them with a full duration which is significant damage. However, even with the snare, sometimes the player right in front of you is not being hit by the ability.

-In general I feel as if the ability is still easily avoided and is still to reliant on Stuns and immobilized opponents to get the maximum benefit. Perhaps if there was a root of some sort added in to the tree it would make more sense with current talents. Personally I'd like to see the snare added to RB be baseline, and specing up to the "new snare talent" added a 2sec root to the ability (Well, not a spammable root, but some type of ability on cooldown that roots. Similar to Operatives that are concealment that can spec in to it).

-I don't want to give the wrong impression, AP can do decent burst. There isn't enough control over that burst though which I find a personal dislike in the tree.

Anyways. That's about it in general for everything. Like I said i'll add, take away, update etc this post as the week progresses for people.

ok good to hear

Can you still strip out good mods from champion gear in 1.2 and put them in your battlemaster gear for an improvement?

If so what are you using, the imperial agent mods?

At work so I can't comment on live, didn't get to PVP on the PTR much either... However my guild did have the first HM Denova clear, and I play Pyro DPS.

In PvE, we're more than fine. In fact, I was top DPS when we got our parse set up. Beat our marauder by a fairly significant margin. I almost look at it as a buff, since it makes it a more reliable, less luck based class. I have to do a lot less praying to get free rail shots, and any person who isn't an idiot can work around and realize how insignificant the cooldown is.

We're fine. I expect to still melt people in PvP for a long time coming, and hope to continue to top damage in PvE.

Don't know. I'd assume so, I have no champion gear to test.

I did just save all the enhancements I had from before 1.2 Hit (So my gear would update) which is what I used.

Healers really got boned this patch so you do NOT need back to back PPA Procs to beat em, they die very very quickly now...

I'm running into problems with not wanting to flame burst to save the proc but needing the target to be on fire.

Also running into alot of famine situations still. the increased % on FB and RP isnt really noticeable.

Yeah. *HAVING* to use IM First is making my opening a bit clumsy as I'm so used to Flame bursting (when I know PPA isn't on cooldown that is).

I waste a lot of procs cause of that right now. heh

After playing a few WZs, the "nerf" wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just have to pay attention to your heat at first to get a feel for it, and you should be good to go.

I'm more curious about how AP is performing now.

Yeah I'm not having any issues with the RS GCD.

I am finding I am using Unload alot more, too. Flame Sweep puts 'em on fire too, I toss that out in melee so that I can take my pick of the litter for focus fire.

PS I for one don't call this a nerf at all. We needing slight adjustments. Have to think about heat management a hell of alot more now, that's a good thing I think. Baddies beware.

Only tryed 3 wz,s sens I got 1.2 down, still melt ppl and dont notice the 6sec ppm as a problem. I usualy always autospam rapid shots when im running and dont try focus somone down or closing in, often this give you the oppotuninty to "rapid, TD, rapid, rail (inrange) " RP, TD explode + new rail". about here first target often dead or so low its easy end hes suffering and start on next target.

The biggest nerf I feel atm is the owerall dmg and dream of 1000k get hit heavy by DFA nerf, and Im not talking range but the fact its not more a ROP "rain of pillows".

So as long we focus on get important targets as healers or ranged dps down we do alot for the team in terms lift preassure. Without that healer and one of the ranged the assult on our base is alot easier to handle etc etc.