the post they referred to was people using AP/Tactics and Pyro DPS, so he was lying. those were not tank DPS numbers. they also can't guard without giving up their CGC proc, their PPA proc, and their heat venting. a good pyro will almost never bounce over to IGC and guard, unless they're medal farming. powertechs already have the most gimped cross stance access in the game compared to juggernauts/guardians, who can instantly stance dance and apply guard. powertechs must do a 1.5 second cast, which if interrupted leaves them with no stance and no access to guard OR PPA.

everyone started out with OP sorcerers, and operatives. QQ about asssassins was in there too. so; the OP classes - sorcerers (nerfed) mercenaries (nerfed) operatives (nerfed) powertechs marauders snipers (QQ is starting and will pick up more) assassins (nerfed) juggernauts (in smash spec) seems to me if nerfs were left out the game would be damn near perfectly balanced. there hasn't been any major changes to make classes more powerful except snipers, powertechs saw a big NERF in 1.2 to burst potential, and marauders saw a mild buff to carnage to make the spec actually competetive with the DoT spec.

for the love of god... having a tank specialization doesn't make you a tank AC, because otherwise you'd best nerf juggernaut DPS further, commando DPS, operative DPS, sorcerer DPS (MORE) and assassin DPS. they all have healing and tanking options, and by your logic should thus take those. the difference in mitigation from heavy to light armor is a paltry 10% extra mitigated off energy and kinetic attacks. 5% difference from medium armor. let's look at our light armor users; assassins - stealth based class, decent burster, has a good mix of defensive cooldowns and escape mechanisms sorcerers - ranged class, fantastic kiting capability. also; if heavy armor is such a big deal, why don't I see QQ about commando/merc survival, or juggernaut/guardian DPS survival? its because its not a big deal. hell, commandos and mercs even have the EXACT SAME DEFENSIVE COOLDOWN as powertechs, and yet they melt damn fast outside of healing spec. difference between them and powertechs in terms of raw survival numbers? essentially zero.

ops is just based off some arbitrary system of who has most VP at the time, no guarantee the leader is smarter, or more experienced. I'll go ahead and follow my own strat in pugs, usually consisting of finding and murdering enemy healers.

warzones have a cap on number of players in them at one time. if you hit this cap, no more new WZ's until a current one ends. bad engine.

how about the suggestion box at the top subsection of the forum you just posted this in? fail.

kiting is an important method for dealing with mobs. in foundry I will gladly kite the melee adds to death while the tank focuses on HK, with my AOE CC and instant proc snare I generally take little to not damage. on trash pulls if I pick up an elite or strong mob I'll be strafe-kiting through precleared areas while I burn him down, I'll be fine, he'll be dead, we can move on. I wouldn't have to kite if it weren't for almost every pugged tank I get not understanding 1) how guard works and 2) how taunts work. your taunt should come at least a few seconds AFTER a dps has pulled aggro, giving you the best threat returns. Practically no boss hits hard enough to make this a problem until you're in operations, and if you're losing operation aggro after the first 10% you're a bad tank. Guards should always go on MDPS. MDPS will always out threat healers. if you have powertech DPS that goes triple for them as the class has 0 threat dumps.

after reading the account of the fight in the middle of the thread the duration is, in fact, grossly exaggerated. I wouldn't be surprised if the OP simply ignored their health while they were being shot, but the OP went through the following actions; 1) engaged first PT with a legshot and got tagged with a TD (fight starts, first GCD) 2) travel time for GS to get inside the area surrounding turret, pops into cover after seeing second PT, pops into cover and drops 20% DR cooldown, and the root has expired by now (5 seconds unless degaussed or CC breakered) 3) flashbang attempt (next GCD, + 1.5 seconds) 4) attempted freighter flyby - dead. minimum time of encounter - 6.5 seconds, assuming 0 ability delay, server lag, or reflex lag. potential duration - 7 to 10 seconds.

oh, so you'll just negatively impact the leveling experience for the spec and how helpful it is against trash pulls in ops and flashpoints. well I guess that's okay. not.

except that the OP says they popped evasion, which means no railshot. no railshot is a 60% loss on damage for the PT's, and a huge cut to burst. which means the window is much LONGER than the OP admitted initially. this includes the fact that the OP didn't engage fully until AFTER they had been marked with a detonator, which is another knock against them as that is essentially 2 free GCD's, or 3 seconds, in which the OP was simply waiting to take damage. I stand by my statement, put in two infiltration assassins, two DPS operatives, two marauders and the OP would have died just as fast, ESPECIALLY if he gave them the same 3 second grace period he gave to the powertechs.

you realize they could have popped offensive cooldowns of their own to counter, right? cooldowns tip the balance in 1v1's effectively, in 2v1's cooldowns are generally meaningless if you're against competent players. pop evasion? they'll use tech damage. as an assassin pop force shroud? okay, unloads and rapid shots filler till it falls off. what exactly are you defining as a defensive, as well? your cover? 20% extra defense. nice, but not a life saver. shield probe? absorbs a paltry amount of damage when set up against a pair of bursters. entrench/hunker down? CC immunity, no other significant benefit to resisting single target damage. so, really you used ONE significant defensive cooldown (evasion). what went unused; enagaging at max range, rooting, knockbacks, shatter shots, debilitate if they were in melee range. seriously, you're a RANGED dps, and you didn't take advantage of the range part. I don't see why a range should ever survive a 2v1 if they step into melee range, ever. maybe a 1v1 if they're smart with KB/root, 2v1 and its a brain fart.

a gunslinger complaining about a powertech is strictly a player skill issue. say what you will about powertechs, marauders, whatever. the sniper/GS is the HARD counter to PT's in the pyro spec, especially caught in the open without LoS at their disposal. the problem with this thread is that its using an anecdote of a gunslinger playing poorly and engaging two burster DPS that out geared him/her to try and solo cap a node at the last minute. its about as relevant to discussions of class balance as me running through my history of duels.

You do realize number 4: smash requires a leap to set up crit, a full channel of force stasis or application of the 31 pt talent from the rage/focus tree to build up damage further, and is limited to melee range thus easily kited, yes? making it high threat is pointless, its the core burster of a DPS spec that doesnt WANT threat. you aren't fighting jug tanks smashing for that, maybe hybrids, but not full on tanks, and its not a tanking skill.

its all information that should have been edited into your first post. you're a failure at managing your own discussion, and you're a failure at your class.

premise; 16k damage in basically 1 GCD. that's 8k damage from each pyro. what range did you start at? I assume you got caught by them befor eyou could set up, because they were able to stick the Thermal Detonator to you and still have a few seconds before your 16k HP "disappeared". now, you say you popped evasion, in addition to hunkering down in cover. this, in essence, makes all railshots miss for the duration of the cooldown. in addition to this, railshot requires a periodic effect on target. so you would have to have been hit by an incendiary missile or a flame burst (1 more GCD on top of the few second window from T-Detonator). assuming you were against two experienced pyros, they would wait until your evasion dropped off before railshotting (3 seconds) or, an additional 2 GCD's. in that time they could hit you with flame burst (up to 2k crit from each), or rocket punch (up to around a 3k crit from each). in either case you're left with at least 2/5 to 1/3 of your health if the TD detonates in that time, after which your evasion falling off allows them to railshot you. the total duration of this from thermal detonator opener to railshots is maybe 5-7 seconds, a perfectly viable window to be bursted down when burst dps for burst specced classes in the burst window ranges from 2.5-3.5k DPS (x2 for two players attacking you means 5.0-7k DPS). insert any other class in place of pyro in that window that is burst, assassin, operative, marauder, and you're dead just as fast. also please note now I'm going to critique your strategy. 1) you allowed them to place a T-D on you and didn't do anything in response, such as flash banging. no mention is made of using your roots or knockbacks, or the range at which you engaged both pyros. this is all crucial information, because not only did you make the MISTAKE of attacking two burst DPS on your own, but you ALSO may have engaged them on favorable terms for the enemy. the key to capping in a 2v1 is surprise, an element you obviously didn't have.

if you can't be bothered to provide a proper introductory premise for your thread you have no credibility, i won't bother to read through your posts that aren't easily visible because you demonstrated a lack of common sense and restraint in your initial posting. if you want to be taken seriously, it should be a serious topic, and when questions are raised they should be addressed both by a response and an edit to the initial post to match the disputed and disproven sections.

sounds exactly like how pyro burst works

LOL! OP is taken down for presenting anecdotal evidence that accentuates the fact that they don't understand how powertechs/vanguards work, and is now having to go on the defensive about their class. enjoy it OP, you'll be dealing with the QQ when snipers/slingers are the new FOTM.

longer games = less comms. discourages farming kills and damage. win fast, win efficiently.

wouldn't change anything, people with war hero could still augment all their gear just like recruits, the gap would still exist. you'd just push net base expertise higher and make it harder for fresh 50s to get in.

whirlwind has to be talented to be instant, the other long mezzes must be done from stealth. concussion missile is a long term mez, not a stun. you also included force push, a knockback, but left out the mercenary knockback, including a talented additional KB.

I believe the shell armor's set bonus overrides the socketed armoring's set bonus.

except if they were in cover and popping the green shield, railshot can't hit. which is why I say either lag or liar for the OP.

just because the abilities you used are off the GCD doesn't mean you popped them within that time frame. and if they popped the electro dart before you got your hunker down off it wouldn't register, you'd just be CC'ed. A sniper caught out of cover is dead against pretty much anyone at that point. if your dodge (100% avoidance) was up, I don't see you dying in 1 GCD no matter what because the primary damage dealer (railshot) will miss on you. you also don't mention what range they were at. were you stupid and hunkered down inside 10 meters? or, god forbid, 4? did you get CC-grappled before you could hit your hunker down? 1 thermal detonator, even buffed, isn't causing enough damage to you to combien with 2 abilities to kill. sorry, not possible. MAYBE if they got off 2 GCD's each with fully buffed crits from a major ability, but since rialshot misses on you w/ cover screen + evasion (120% defense) I'm going to go ahead and call you a liar, or an incompetent. you have a combat log, you should have used it. no combat log, it didn't happen.

from what I've seen plasma probe is the single best defensive ability in the game as long as you avoid dying, full duration it interrupts all cap/disarm attempts on nodes/bombs.