Karandor
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Posts posted by Karandor
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with the way its changing in 1.2 you will ALWAYS have RS crits. so there is no point not taking it.
Still not sure it's worth it. It's 6 points for a 2.5-3k crit every 15s. You can save 5 points and get a shorter CD on CC and 4% less damage on anyone you hit with FB.
You also build up stacks faster since you can ignore RB and RS.
I've been trying it out and so far I don't miss the RS crits at all.
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There's a 23+ page thread with someone asking for video proof of resolve not working and there still isn't a single video.
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I am actually looking forward to 1.2 changes. Those who currently play AP regularly correct me if I am wrong on this.
Live Rotation (without Rail shot) The proc rate is so low that it's not even worth bothering to use it unless you want to screw up your rotation. A Crit based RS hits for less than Immolate, rocket punch, or Flame burst crit. Since th e proc rate is so low is there any reason to use it except in pvp situations where you have a runner?
So your inherent priority rotation would change to:
Prototype Flame Thrower (5stacks)/Pulse Generator
Rocket Punch (free RP)/Stockstrike
Immolate/Fire Pulse
Rocket Punch (non-free)/Stockstrike
Retractable Blade/Gut
Flame Burst/Ion Pulse
We essentially take Rail Shot/High Impact Bolt out of the rotation due to it's heat/bullets cost and it's lack of damage compared to the alternative. Granted this is without any sort of testing except in terms of fluidity of rotation.
Your PVE rotation would essentially look like this:
Missle as you approach, Immolate, RP, RB, FBx4, RP (if Proc), FB, PFT Rinse and repeat
In 1.2 with RB proccing the RS crit, it might be worth weaving RS back into the rotation because your proc would be more often.
Priority for 1.2
PFT (5 stacks)
RP (free)
Imm
RB
RS (Charged Gauntlets)
FB
RP (cost)
Your PVE rotation would essentially look like this:
Missle as approach, Imm, RP, RB, RS (if procced) FBx4, PFT (rinse and repeat)
The reason for dumping the costed 25 to the bottom is because we need room for RS. The only thing is that you never want to use RP if you have RS on Proc because RP has a chance to proc the crit.
PFT x 5 = more important than using your free RB or procced crit unless the proc would wear off before the end of the PFT. At this point, you would use them. Though I think PFT followed by RB/RS would be some serious damage.
I've removed RS (well HiB, I'm a VG) from my rotation and all talents associated with it and it works out just fine.
Basically I've removed gut and HiB from my rotation unless I need gut on a stealther. I've see no noticeable reduction in my effectiveness.
This has been a great thread for me because I've really been able to look at the spec objectively and peel off anything that doesn't really help. Gut and HiB are better off as 2X ion pulse for PG stacks. The damage is better with 2X IP and I'm 3s closer to having a 5 stack pule cannon ready. Also my targets do 4% less damage and I can easily get the CD reduction on my stun.
After 1.2 I may change back but I'm not sure. 6 talent points on an ability I can only use once every 15s is seeming more and more like a waste.
ALSO CONFIRMED: PULSE GENERATOR STACKS ALSO INCREASES MORTAR VOLLEY DAMAGE.
No idea if this also works for Powertechs with DFA.
Note: This is purely PvP. I have not done any PvE testing.
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However I completely disagree with you, it is about building up to hammer them with PFT. The playstyle is about maximizing contact time and setting up the opponent for the PFT burst. Otherwise what exactly is the playstyle. What is the point of AP if it's not about PFT? Immolate/RP/FB don't hit hard enough to scare anyone. Is the point to mindnumbingly wittle them down and then occasionaly use PFT when it's perfect?
I am sorry, but I just can't believe that BW setup a tree to be that bad. It's all about PFT for this tree. Immolate/FB/RP are nice, but the main burst is PFT. It's just badly designed on live to play that way. In 1.2 with the no interrupt 70 percent slow PFT it will be much much better.
I see what you mean about 8/31/2, but losing the imp electrocute seems like a loss. Maybe taking the two points out of Puncture and going something like this
8/33/2 while simply moving the points back to imp RS for pve purposes. Does that make sense?
See the bold italics underlined part. Yes that is basically it. Though I find the damage is far better than just "whittling" them down. When you save it for the perfect moment it wins fights brutally and totally. When you use it as much as you can, 1/2 the time or more it's pretty much a waste of 3 ammo. 1.2 will completely change this mentality but for now it holds true.
I don't think pyrotechs realize just how far ahead of every other class they are on burst damage, especially on heavy armor classes. Compared to pyro it is much slower damage but no other class in the game comes close to the damage pyro does. AP's damage holds up to any class in the game except pyrotech. I top the meters with AP pretty much constantly.
I think I may go with the changes to spec that you suggest. RS bonuses really aren't needed since I use it even less than an IF spec does.
Going to try that tonight.
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I just hope the damage is no longer delayed by half a second or so.
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I love seeing people whine about stuff like this when there are pyro/assault PTs/VGs running around killing anything (including tanks) in 6-10s.
I know all about it, my main is a Vanguard.
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HO/HtL also makes you immune to knockbacks AND knockdowns (like the assassn skill spike). It is actually a great skill for offense and defense.
Combined with your 6s CD interrupt mercs/commandos are food for AP and you deal with snipers/gunslingers WAY better than pyro does. Also is great against the ubiquitous sorcerors and sages.
Pyro is a better spec than AP right now but I think after the patch in PvP AP will be equal or better.
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Trying to use flamethrower whenever you have 5 stacks is not the way to play. You have to make sure you can stun + use HO so that you can't be knocked around. With it getting a snare in 1.2 the stun won't be needed but you should still use it with HO up.
Flamethrower/pulse cannon is very good damage but situational. You will hurt yourself if using that is what you are focusing your playstyle around.
The initial burst of the spec is quite good when you blow adrenal and relic to Immolate, RP, FB until RP or immolate is back up. Retractable blades really is only useful if you're fighting a stealther and want a DoT up or you need the DoT to use a crit RS.
Flameburst/ion pulse hits incredibly hard in this spec. With adrenals going you can easily crit for 2.7-3k with 2.2-2.5k crits the norm without. Gut/RB is a waste of a GCD/ammo to use it instead when you want to go for a quick kill unless you have a crit RS/HiB proc from RP/SS. Once it has a snare it will be much more useful but with your increased movement speed the snare still won't be needed much of the time. It really needs an increase in damage.
Killing healers shouldn't be much of an issue since you have a 6s CD interrupt. Knowing what to interrupt is the key which will be easier once there is a customisable UI and you can have the cast bar with the name of the spell more central. 6s CD with a 4 sec lockout means that unless the caster is standing still and mashing a 1.5s cast (lol flamethrower/pulse cannon) you should be able to keep it permanently interrupted. The best use for FT/PC is to take out guarded healers by nailing the healer and the tank in the burst. It will hit the tank for 1.5X damage meaning they can easily take 3k+ per tick often allowing you to do a quick target switch to burst the tank down before the healer can react. When interrupting and DPSing a healer you can easily run out of ammo (the 1 ammo for interrupt every 6s counteracts the HE bonus ammo), looking forward to having our interrupt be no cost.
Another key to using the spec is popping HO/HtL BEFORE you get into combat with anything with a KB. You can often make an entire group waste their KBs on you while you are immune. It makes killing snipers and mercenaries extremely easy. It also causes a ton of confusion as they see you're not at full resolve and often they'll blow their stuns and other CC on you (generally wasting it because you take less damage) giving you full resolve by the time your HO/HtL runs out.
The spec is NOT better than pyro/assault right now but should be at least as good after 1.2 and possibly better simply due to better heat management. I have to say the the 8/31/2 spec is better than the 6/33/2 spec. The increased aim is very important for having that super hard hitting FB/IP. If you focus only on using FT/PC you are hurting yourself.
Also something I want other people to try: I think using mortar barrage/death from above with 5 stacks does more damage. Maybe I'm crazy and I haven't done an absolute test yet but I have had MB critting for 2.5-3k (on multiple targets) without adrenals or anything going. Normally it crits for 2k or so. Going to do a proper test today as it may just have been from the marauder party buff or something else I didn't notice at the time.
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No.
This kills using PvP to level up an alt. Even with seperate brackets it's basically turns into getting roflstomped if you're not a twink until you hit 50.
I already run into twinked 45-49 pre-mades and it's not fun.
Let's say if you turn off exp you can only play against others who have turned off exp. Then i wouldn't have a problem with it. That, of course, defeats the whole point of why people want to do this, ie pwning with a gear/talent/ability advantage.
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My bad, this post is obviously too intelligent for the PvP forum, I should have whined
Nah, it's just that this has been discussed ad naseum in another thread or 2.
Tank stats don't do much in PvP and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.
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I actually play DPS spec instead of tank spec on my VG because of the lack of decent DPS in WZs. When I play tank spec I get tons of protection, good damage and do well but sometimes I get in a WZ and my team can't kill anything. When I go DPS I never have that problem.
12 wins in a row yesterday so it seems to be working for me.....
Healing right now is only too good in that the resources on a merc or sorc are nigh inexhaustible. The changes will make is so they will have a much tougher time managing resources.
Right now healers win because most DPS use up their resources before a healer is anywhere close to being out. The patch will even this out making an end (hopefully) to the ridiculous stalemates that could occur.
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Use both?
I keybind my rotation and frequently used skills and click most defensive CDs as well as medpacks and stims and such.
You better keybind "throw the huttball" though or I'll hunt you down Jay and Silent Bob style.
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I just PvP.... I'm at 1.3 million so far + hundreds of thousands on alts. WZs + dailies + bag credits add up.
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With the scaling and everything I'll be able to manage a nicely centralised UI. I'm VERY excited.
There's a link earlier where you can see what people have done with the UI and DL some XML files. The customisation is very, very good and the video really doesn't do it justice when you see what people have already come up with.
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Being able to occassionaly kill people on my own side is something I love about this game.
Nothing like kicking the crap out of an idiot who was smacking talking his team in a previous match.............
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Battlemaster Eliminator rifle is still my favourite.
I like me a big gun.
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The thing about tactics is that ion pulse hits super hard. While, with luck, assaault hits harder if you get any bad luck at all tactics will out perform it. Tactics also has higher sustained damage just due to better ammo efficiency and regen.
Having played both extensively I have to say that with the changes to pulse generator and with gut getting a snare tactics is going to be REALLY scary in 1.2.
The mobility that tactics has is also amazing. You can also kite melee at 10m extremely well doing circle strafe shennanigans.
My favourite part of the spec is you NEVER have a problem killing someone with low health who survived your burst. Ion pulse hits super hard and you ALWAYS have ammo. Firepulse also costs only 1 ammo and makes SS free, an easy 6-7k+ damage (with crits, which is very high for both) for 1 ammo. I always hated prolonged fights on my IF or Assault spec where I just didn't have the ammo to finish off a kill. Never a problem on tactics.
Assault right now is STILL a better spec just because the damage is insane. After the patch I think tactics will be the better PvP spec. Tactics damage right now is REALLY good, it's way higher than most people think, but assault is the highest PvP burst in the game and you can't really compete with that.
Be careful about modding your BM gear right now as you will want to put the original mods back in before the patch hits to get the expertise as it will be worth far more than the optimized stats.
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Full assault or full tactics is much better. Firepulse and Assault plastique are both much better abilities than gut or incendiary round and 30% increased crit damage on ion pulse/SS/firepulse is key to how hard tactics can hit. Assault plastique is a key part of the burst that assault provides. I wouldn't run assault without it.
The Carolina Parakeet build is the best hybrid with HiB shennanigans but it is going away in 1.2 so I reccomend you stay away from it and learn how to play Iron First or full tactics or full assault.
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champ is still better than recruit simply because the recruit stats are way lower.
BM gear will be really fast to get after the patch assuming they don't change the commendations per match we're currently getting. The daily/weeklies will also give WZ commendations.
Also you can trade merc for wz 1 to 1 after the patch so save up 1k/1k now and you can have 2k commendations to buy 2-3 BM pieces as soon as the patch hits.
People who play a lot will get a full BM set in under 2 weeks.
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You fail to mention the fact that he was talking about the fact that WoW was not balanced for PvP AT ALL at that point. They never had to, because WoW PvP was tacked on, and not designed to be a part of the game from the start like SWTOR. SWTOR class balance already trumps WoW class balance at the beginning of S1 by miles.
You also fail to mention the fact that WoW's Arenas were picked up as an e-sport INCREDIBLY early in their lifespan (during S2, iirc), due to the huge potential audience. This created an extreme focus on an area of the game that was never intended to be balanced around: small-scale PvP.
Third, you've failed to mention that at the inception of Arenas, there was NO other form of competitive PvP in the game at all. Rated BGs didn't come out until 2 expansion cycles (almost 4 years) later. The measure of a player's "skill" was solely dictated by their Arena rating, which was mostly determined by their team composition. I played Mage/Lock 2v2 during the first 3 seasons, and never made it past 1800. People probably don't recall this, but it was not a great time to be a mage back in TBC era.
And lastly, you failed to mention that the highest-end PvP rewards were given out only through Arena, w/ gear that rivaled top-end raiding gear in some slots. This funneled pretty much EVERYONE into Arena, whether they liked PvP or not, because they wanted to remain competitive in Battlegrounds, raiding, world PvP, etc. Arena was the gateway for pretty much anything you wanted to do for a long time.
Those are some pretty important points you failed to mention, and it seems like assuming that SWTOR Arena and WoW Arena would be the exact same thing is just silly, because there are already huge, glaring differences already.
You need to take all of these things into consideration when talking about that quote, which is why I said you were taking it out of context.
Good points. If arena isn't the only way to get PvP gear then the pressure to balance around it will be much lower. Blizzard shot themselves in the foot with that implementation.
Having rated WZs exist before any arenas happen could help solve the problem.
Also in Guildwars it was implemented fairly well with there being both arena style PvP and objective based PvP (which was taken more seriously). The key is making rewards available for all styles of play.
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Oh wow this is gonna be a crazy WZ now. I can't wait.
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On Alderaan it's easier as you can smash one point and then have 2-3 break off when they leave another point weak (because you're attacking with 6-7) and grab the other point. Works all the time.
On Void Star I find that if you can't kill them you're probably just out-classed or have a bad match-up. What works best is zerging one point, have one person break off to the other point to distract and have a stealther come behind to cap, make sure to save your CC for when the cap starts.
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Often people get too locked in defense mode in a slowly lost fight and forget they can attack the other node while the battle is going on and often take it very easily.
I generally run with at least 2 other people though so it makes things easier, we'll just group up and go smash the point with 1 or 2 defenders while the rest of our team is distracting. I think the OP was a victim of this and it is pretty hard to stop with just team chat as the fight in middle (or on the other side) seems REALLY crazy and people get scared to leave and then lose the fight.
People who are good at Civil War are already running to defend the other point while the last couple of enemies are being mopped up by defenders/attackers. Though this actually screwed me once as the entire team followed me and no one actually capped the point that we had just taken =/
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Darkness Falls is, to this day, the best way to make people PvP in an MMO ever.
I have no idea why no one has ever copied the idea.
In SWTOR the equivalent would be having a huge planet unlocked with content from lvl 20-50+ with a bunch of progressively harder world raid bosses and an awesome amount of crafting materials available. Also, everything gives double xp on this planet.
The planet is available when you control the majority of illum (just saying as an example, current illum mechanics would make this a bit ludicrous) and then switches when the enemy grabs control. You can stay on the planet after you lose control but the enemy will be free to come and kill you.
What does this do for an MMORPG? Well it gets people out in PvP because they want the rewards from the crazy super ****** planet. Also since a ton of people will be going to that planet when it opens for them often the faction that controls it has a handicap when it comes to population in PvP.
It was a glorious time in DAoC, then ToA hit and ruined the game for me utterly and completely.
3 Days as an Advanced Prototype on live: An in-depth Pyro BH’s look
in Vanguard / Powertech
Posted
Confirmed them both on a Vanguard.
3k crits on motar volley and sticky grenade is pretty awesome.