The problem with getting higher force regen is that the other 2 trees would also benefit from it unless you made it a Decption only skill and placed it high enough the tree so that only hybrids could get it. Having played with a hybrid using Blood of Sith + Dark Embrace + Darkswell + Deceptive power + set bonus w/+50 force, I can say the force regen is insane. The build I used to get it wasn't bad but overall I felt full Deception had more burst damage. Blood of Sith would fit perfectly in our tree. Darkness dps is more sustained and you can manage your force a lot better. Moving this skill over and replacing it with something more "tanky" for them sounds good to me. I wholeheartedly agree with lowering some specials either passively (for all specs) or via skills, especially with such a small force pool (compared to Sorc).

Armor pen, in and of itself, isn't enough. Even going from 9-20% would only net about a 3% damage boost in total. IMO the spec isn't all that terrible save for some odd skills that could be moved around (to other trees perhaps) and others that need to be reworked. Some examples could be: -Deception is a fairly "speedy" spec. I'd like to see the Force Speed skills from Lightning Recovery and Disjunction moved over from the Darkness tree to reinforce that sense of speed. -Insulation needs a buff period. Enough to get us to ~30% damage reduction before picking up Sith Defiance. For an off tank we are extremely squishy. My Mercenary can probably off tank better than Deception spec and he has 31ish% in heavy armor. -Duplicity needs a total overhaul. First off, the proc chance could use a boost to perhaps 15/30/45%. Secondly, instead of the proc giving half cost and 50% armor pen on the next Maul, change it so that it's good for EVERY Maul used within the proc timer (currently 10s). Reduce the proc duration to 6-7.5s and keep the time between procs at 10s. -Along those same lines, it would be nice to have a skill that gives a chance to remove the directional requirement for Maul for a short period. More on this later. -Darkswell and Deceptive power can probably be combined into one skill for the same cost. If made into a 2pt skill have it also increase Dark Embrace to last 8-9s. -Saber Conduit has a pretty hefty price for a mediocre skill. 100% chance to gain force on an attack that has a 25% proc chance and only every 10s. Make this a 2 point skill (50/100% chance) and reduce the time between procs to every 6s. -Entropic Field...what a waste of points IMO. What makes it worse is that it's so high up the tree. I'd just as soon trade this for Unearthed Knowledge from the Madness tree which fits better with Deception style of play (mostly melee). -Resourcefulness just doesn't make any sense for Deception. Lacerate is used more in Darkness spec (to proc Energize) and Overcharge Saber (OS) still relies on Surging Charge low proc rate. I'd like to see this changed to a 5/10 point reduction for Maul and probably a better OS buff. A nice buff would be to remove the directional requirement of Maul while OS is active but remove the CD reduction of OS. -Static Charge needs to have its description fixed as it does not increase Surging Charge damage (it increases Discharge damage while in the SC stance). If you were looking to buff it I'd include SC damage as well. Otherwise it's a very good skill. -Low Slash and Voltaic Slash aren't bad but they are weapon damage. Perhaps modify the crit multiplier behind the scenes to try and increase crit damage or make it a skill along the lines of Induction and Claws of Decay (Madness tree). If beggars were choosers I'd want it all. I know it's not goign to happen, but even a few of the above would be nice to see.

Most teams are running 2 PT's if not 3+ for the overkill factor. You might see 2 Op healers but never 2 Merc or Sorc healers. You almost always see 1 Marauder, usually Carnage spec for predation. If you see 2 Maras, the second is usually Annihilation. You only really need 1 tank, usually Darkness Sin, to solo guard nodes. If you use a second, they are typically Juggs who are probably the best ball runners in the game with Sins a very close second. If you don't use a second Mara or Tank, the rest of the team is either more PT's or perhaps a DPS Sorc with pull. Now, and I know this is going to be hard for you since counting above 2 is fairly difficult, that generally leaves DPS Ops, Mercs, Sins (aka Deception), Juggs, tank PT's, and maybe Snipers left out to dry on a rated team. Why? Because pound for pound, Pyro PT's can push out more single target damage than any other class in the game while maintaining resources and providing mobility and utility with off guards and a pull. When you have Pyro PT's saying it needs a nerf (and there are) you know it's an issue. You refuse to see it because it would mean throwing out the Atari 2600 joystick you use to play the class.

Unfortunately it'll get a lot worse before it gets better as the next balance pass isn't slated to hit until 1.4 (ETA October/November). The over saturation of PT/Van has destroyed rateds, normal warzones, and even guilds are being affected. Mine in particular won't even play rateds, much less stay logged in, if our PT's aren't playing. What's left is a shell of a guild that barely logs in anymore. It's not just my guild either. Others are feeling the crunch to get as many geared PT's as possible and shunning long time players who play other classes. Does PT/Van have their weaknesses? Sure, but the sheer amount of damage they can push out with an extremely small rotation more than makes up for their shortcomings.

Looking for another fun spec to mess around with? I've been running this all day and having a ton of fun with it. It's still squishy but it plays fast enough that you can get out of trouble fairly easily. The highlights are Disjunction, Lightning Recovery, 100% run speed in combat, great Maul and Thrash crits, reduced cost Chain Shock with Induction, and Death Field for some light healing. I run it using Surging Charge (for the armor pen on all attacks) and have seen Maul crits as high as 6k with EW. It's probably not something I'll stick with very long but for those looking to mix things up, give it a try.

I remember those days and sorry a level 20 could still not compete with a level 50. I would have 3 lowbies on me in a WZ (as a merc of all things) and coming out with 3 easy solo kills. I will agree about them changing to a single stat for most everything made things way too easy for players to min max their gear. Expertise in and of itself isn't much of a problem as the difference between Recruit, BM, and WH isn't that large. The problem is in main stat and endurance. The difference can be staggering. As if having 5-6k more health wasn't enough, the 500+ extra main stat is overkill over Recruit gear. Tertiary stats like power, crit, surge, etc are just as bad. IMO, there are a number ways to adjust this for both current and future players. 1-Give recruit gear a huge Expertise boost while leaving the stat differences alone. By huge I mean ~35% damage boost in full recruit with damage reduction and healing getting boosts as well. 2-Make commendations tradable again. This was one of the single best features I miss from beta. This could also be a source of income for players who don't wish to do PvE dailys for credits as they could just as easily sell comms. 3-Remove the level requirements to buy end game PvP gear. This was another feature I loved from beta. Being able to have some level 50 gear before you finished your grind was a huge plus. Removing the level requirement for rated comms would be a plus as well. 4-In addition to or in lieu of the above, remove or massively increase the commendation caps. This would allow low level players to save up for a better set of gear as soon as they hit 50. There are players that do a ton of PvP at low levels only to waste thier comms on useless gear because of the caps. Both this and the previous idea would give a nice incentive for players to start PvPing as soon as they hit level 10. The way it is now, it almost seems as if players are punished for hitting level 50. If you don't have alts and use the inheritance items to move mods around, you're pretty much screwed as a fresh 50.

This. I've been messing around with quite a few specs and I keep coming up with needing at least the 23/x/x to have some kind of survivability while keeping the utility that pull and out of stealth spike brings. I'm really liking 23/15/3 and will play with it for at least a few more days. You can swap out Avoidance for Recirculation but I like having the interrupt on a shorter timer. While I wasted a point on Surging Charge I run Dark Charge and did so only to get the higher Maul crit damage. Force regen hits 14.4 when stealthed or using Blackout. I though it would be slightly higher (15.6) but it seems to add the 50% to the base regen instead of the higher one while using Blood of Sith. The last few days messing around with specs have been interesting to say the least. 31/x/x will probably get toned down again in the next balance pass so nows a good time as any to play around with other possibilities.

This is for a Pyrotech spec Powertech based on a friends account I have access to. 1. How do you think your Powertech spec is perceived by other classes? Overpowered single target damage dealer with no equal in the DPS department. If it weren't for Annihilation Marauders, this would be THE single best spec in the game when you take defensive cooldowns into consideration. 2. How do you perceive your own spec? Overpowered single target damage dealer with no equal in the DPS department. Simply put, this is the new Tracer Missile Spammer without the Tracer Missile AND it's instant casts. You can literally just spam 1 attack and be tops in DPS in every single warzone. Yes, I know it's more like a 2-3 button spec, but the fact remains this spec is ruining not only rated games (most teams wont even play unless they have 2 of them), but the entire game as a whole. The 2 PT's in my guild haven't been playing lately and my guild has died as a result as they won't even log in without them. Yep, I went over 3 sentences. This spec is THE FOTM at all levels and will only get worse before long. It needs a huge nerf in regards to damage output.

I won't argue about which spec is better as it's really subjective to the individual player. Plus, I don't like the idea of having a "best spec" for any class as it only promotes FOTM issues. While BW can surely do a much better job at class (and spec) balance, there are still players that enjoy (and excel at) different specs. I have a friend who not only loves Deception but does extremely well at it and hes not even full WH yet. As far as Maul vs thrash goes I don't know where you are getting your numbers from. From what I've been noticing since messing around with these alternative specs, 1 Maul = 2 Thrash, 1 crit Maul = 2 crit Thrash with Maul being better, and 1 crit Maul with Exploit Weakness and Induction is way better than 2 crit Thrashes and costs the same. Again I don't have any parsers to back this up and is based from what I personally am seeing. That said, Thrash has more utility in that it can proc multiple damage modifiers and is key in specs with HD. Will I keep one of these different specs? I'm not sure but I'm having even more fun with a class I was starting to get kind of bored with. It'll be interesting to see what additions/changes are made to this AC when they increase the level cap and I hope it's still as viable as a hybrid after.

I do mostly PvP so I hardly ever follow a strict rotation as everything is situational. That said, from stealth I'll always try a Maul spam, use Blackout, and either Spike (can be used out of stealth in this build) and Maul again if I don't crit a lot and/or Assassinate to finish them off. I prep for HD while in longer fights against multiple opponents, weaving in Thrash, Recklessness, and Shock to build up stacks while moving and positioning for Mauls. While it may sound a bit simple, I do use most of my other abilities in a warzone with pulls, slows, defensive CDs, etc. On that same note, I wish Static Cling was lower in the Deception tree as I love Force Slow. I'm going to try a 24/17/0 build (no HD) to see how it plays out. Like someone else pointed out, even with extreme high crit you're still a prisoner of RNG and can get a long string of no crits. I don't have any parsers but even with decent crit, I see quite a but of crits.

Torian is hands down the best companion for healer Mercs and IMO better than all the companions in the game. As a Pyro spec I use him for doing all my dailys including killing any trash mobs in heroics like Lights Out, Freeing the Fallen, Poisonous Strat, etc. I only use Mako for killing the bosses in those heroics. When I was Bodyguard spec I used Torian exclusively.

The three you can use on the move are Missile Blast, Explosive Dart, and Fusion Missile but only if you use Power Surge and only once very 2 minutes. Incendiary Missile is instant, single target, spammable, and has NO cooldown. As far as knockbacks go I'll say it again. There are too many variables with it that sometimes just makes it flaky. Try using it on the side in Huttball when the opposing player could hit the ramp and your KB is shortened considerably. For the amount of resolve they add, they should either have a root applied or make it like Force Push where it also applies a knockdown.

As of right now I am sitting on 150 force and trying a slightly different spec of 27/14/0. It adds back in HD and has upped my survivabilty quite a bit. Still playing around with ideas and haven't settled in on one sepc yet. Having a good time in the meanwhile. @150 (or even 160) force, regen is still insane when you stealth right after a kill or even use Blackout. Being able to get healed while stealthed is an added bonus as well. I was so used to using cloak when low on health only to pop out to grab a health node and wait for the cd to restealth.

I've been messing around with alternative specs as the 31/0/10 was getting a little boring. I tried a 31/2/8 build for quite a few months. While similar to a 31/10, the added Maul procs were a nice little bonus. I did quite well with it in both PvP and solo PvE. After reading this thread it inspired me to break away from the 31 Darkness formula and find something a bit more bursty, faster, and worked best for my gear setup (which I'll get to later). I tried a 25/8/8 build first for about 20 warzones. PROS -Faster in combat run speed -Still has use of Chain Shock -Better regen while stealth -Still uses Force Pull CONS -No Wither...very useful in PvP and does extremely well for me doing all the PvE dailys solo (Including Torvix) -No HD FL...survivability goes down slightly and I did like the damage for the most part OVERALL Very fun spec. It took me about 10 or so games to stop using my normal keybind I used for Wither. Damn Muscle memory. Mauls hit quite hard and I was able to restealth much faster than normal. PvE seemed a bit slower than normal as I find it very diffiuclt to pull off consecutive Mauls, even while using Xalek or Khem Val to grab aggro. While I didn't get enough time to play with it before the servers went down, I also tried a 23/12/6 build. PROS -Similar to the above spec -Using Blackout while out of stealth is insane -Added force is a slight bonus but works for my gear (more on that soon) CONS -Same as the above spec -Lower chance to Chain Shock CONCLUSION Damn another fun spec. I was able to chain Mauls and finish with Assassinate and utterly destroy players before they had a chance to know what hit them (Including a Scoundrel healer who I crit 4 times in a row for an easy 1v1). Solo PvE still feels a bit slow due to not being able to chain Mauls as much as I'd like. This really shouldn't be much of an issue in groups unless I'm the "tank'. Now the reason these specs work for me is because of the way my gear is setup. I originally used the 4pc Stalker set and liked it but for some reason I always felt starved for force. I blame improper rotation for the most part but I was always pleased with my performance in WZ's, typically ending up in the top 3-4 on damage charts. Since the change with 1.3 and augment kits I decided to go a different route and picked up the PvE Force Mystic 4 piece set which gives an added +50 force. I lose out on a decent bonus from the Stalker set and the 2pc Mystic set is wasted on me but overall I like having the extra force. I can last longer in fights and have to rely on using Saber Strike a lot less. Today I'm trying the OP's spec. So far it's not bad. I feel a bit squishier for some odd reason but I'm going to chalk it up to me being more aggressive with this playstyle. Players still go down with ease and I can chain Mauls like crazy. I've lead in kills and killing blows in every match so far while still maintaining high damage totals (damn powertechs are still topping charts). Players I normally had issues with felt super squishy. I'll mess around with it for another day or so. I have yet to try PvE but I'm pretty sure it won't perform as well as my usual 31/2/8 spec. Overall it's a pretty decent option for those bored with the standard spec(s).

We've only been asking for an escape for well over a year since beta. I doubt we'll get one anytime soon. That said, I'd personally love to either see our jet packs used in one of 3 ways. The first being a ground target selectable movement ability. The second being a jet charge to friendly targets similar to intercede for Juggs. The third, like Operatives can spec into, would be a constant 15% movement speed. I'm for anything that makes us more mobile than what we currently are.

For the record, I just tested this right now. Since I do not have Tracer Missile or Heatseeker Missiles I did not test them but assume they works with the skill. I used the following abilities, noting the tooltip damage without MIW, respeccing, then noting them WITH MIW. Incendiary Missile Without MIW 541-606 and 1833 over 18s With MIW 574-642 and 1833 over 18s Conclusion. It works though the damage range is so small the benefits of using this skill as a Pyro spec over another is pretty small. Another thing to note is that MIW does not affect the DOT. Fusion Missile Without MIW 1391-1484 and 1743 over 6s With MIW same Conclusion- Does not work. Thermal Detonator-MIW does not affect it. Explosive Dart-MIW does not affect it. Missile Blast Without MIW 1272-1281 and 173-180 splash damage With MIW 1348-1358 and 184-190 splash damage Conclusion-It works but honestly, if you're using this on a regular basis you're doing something wrong. Death From Above Without MIW 4784-5068 With MIW 5072-5372 Conclusion-I'm actually shocked MIW affects DFA. I checked it on a hunch and it actually works. Unfortunately DFA just isn't what it used to be and I probably still wouldn't use it (MIW) as a Pyro spec especially since Rain of Fire (Pyro skill) does not include it any longer. Derp. I forgot to check Power Shot ranges but I know from using it previously that it worked. That said, the skill is questionable for Pyro spec players. They should change the skill to include any and all tech attacks. EDIT I used Ironsights in both tests. I also went back and tested Power Shot to ensure it worked and it does.

Basicially this. I also went from BG to Pyro while in full healer gear. It was even worse for me because I hadn't played my BH since patch 1.1 (before all the gear changes). I wouldn't worry so much about the set bonus as I was still using the healer bonus up until about a week or 2 ago and still did incredibly well. It's a shame they don't have it set it like before in that you could trade any set piece for the upgraded version. IE if you have a spare BM Combat Medic glove to trade up for a WH Eliminator glove.

This is a multipart question. Can the warzone (both ranked and unranked) caps be increased/removed so that we can make fewer trips to the fleet? On that same note, can you change the PvP daily and weekly be remotely turned in (ie not have to go to fleet to get the rewards)? While fleet can be a great place to interact with other players, the constant trips do nothing but add time sinks. I miss the days in beta when you could not only accept, but turn in pvp quests on our ships and having GTN vendors on every planet. Fleet can still be a social hotspot without having to have to go there multiple times a day.

FYI 20% armor pren (it's actually armor reduction in case you didn't know) on a player with 5950 armor roughly translates to them having ~5% less damage reduction (before any expertise, defenses or defense cooldowns). While this might seem acceptable for PvE, it means nothing in PvP for a group. If you're going to get focused in PvP you're going to die anyway and you have to spend another 4.5s to reapply a full stack on another SINGLE target. That "group utility" isn't very effecient. Sorcs of equal skill level can crap all over Mercs, especially Arsenal specced ones, while still providing way better utility. Sweeping Blasters (high heat), Flamethrower (high heat) and DFA (not as good as it used to be) are channeled abiliies. Both are easily avoidable with their ground targets. You can't spam DFA/Flamethrower and if you even try with SB you're going to overheat pretty quickly. Missile Blast does mediocre single target damage and laughable AOE splash damage not to mention high heat cost with no added benefit. If you're spamming this you really don't know how to play Merc. Explosive Dart AOE splash damage can be avoidable (Thermal Det does way better single target damage) and can't be spammed. Fusion Missile (high heat) does very good AOE but splash damage is avoidable. Can only be used as an instant cast every 2 minutes with Power Surge. As a mostly instant cast Pyro, most of my damage is single target. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've been outdamaged by an Arsenal/Gunnery spec in the thousands of matches I've played. . Rocket Punch is only good if the target is near the edge where they can fall back into. It also adds fairly decent amount of resolve. Against classes than can resist tech damage as a defense CD, both the damge and KB are useless. Jet Boost adds way too much resolve. Both are near useless on flat surfaces against players with gap closers and their distances can be shortened by objects (lol at stairs/ramps). That said, Pyro can be beast damage wise but still lacks a ton of utility when compared to other classes. If I see an Arsenal/Gunnery spec Merc/Comm I usually aim for them first as they are easy kills on all my toons.

This is what I run. It differs slightly from Ifrits as I put more points in Bodyguard. The extra heat dissipation from Improved Vents coupled with Rapid Venting gives me slightly more burst every 90s IMO. I hardly use Power Shot so Muzzle Fluting, Stabilizers, and Mando Iron Warheads (which does not affect Fusion or Incendiary Missile) is wasted for how I play. Upgraded Arsenal is nice but only provides tech crit whereas Hired Muscle gives both ranged and tech (but costs 3 points vs 1). Finally, the slightly faster heals from Med Tech means I can quickly use LOS to my advantage to heal up and get back to dpsing. They're both good specs. Try them both and see what feels more comfortable for your playstyle. I used to run this which is similar as well.

This. Also Knowing when to use it in your opening rotation is key. For example (as Pyro) opening with Thermal Det, Rapid, Fusion Missile, Rapid, and either Rail Shot or Incendiary (or both with rapid in between) can cause massive amounts of burst and still keep your heat managable. I always use it multiple times each WZ. When used with little to no heat you'll actually burn off a few tics of heat in the process before getting hit with the high cost. On that same note Sweeping Blasters burns off heat while channeling after the initial heat cost (same for Unload and Flamethrower). IMO these are excellent AOE abilities to use at low heat levels. As far as the MIW skill goes this has been reported since beta and has yet to be adjusted. They should just change the skill so that the bonus is applied to all Tech Damage abilities, Kolto Missle and Power Shot.

I only took a brief look at the build you listed but I ran (and take credit for ) a hybrid build since the August beta (I was in beta sine June '11) up until January of this year. Here is my original thread that has since been unstickied. I stopped playing Merc after the drastic changes to Ilum and had moved on to other classes. In the last month I've come back to Merc but as a Pyro DPS spec. Even without having played it in so long (with all the subsequent changes to Merc since then) I can pretty much tell you it won't be much of a viable spec in PvP. Every single hybrid I see either gets creamed or doesn't do much to contribute to their teams in PvP. For normal PvE it might still do well but most likely not enough to contribute in Ops or tier 2 content.

I never use it unless I actually need to. IE I'm actually stuck in geometry or something. Because of that, they probably won't adjust it much unless they can make a WZ only version of /stuck. On top of that it doesn't work for certain situations when you actually need it too and wind up being kicked from the match (stuck in respawn bug, stuck inside voidstar door bug, etc). A respawn timer sounds interesting (30 secs to revive) but then the deserter debuff needs to be extended to reflect that, especially in rated games.

I currently play a 31/2/8 Darkness spec wearing DPS gear (PvP) and a focus instead of a shield. I've tried Deception and Madness specs but not to the extent I have with Darkness. 1-People generally think of my spec as a little OP in that I have good DPS, decent defenses, and self healing. 2-The spec does feel a bit OP at times, especially when in top tier gear as DPS, though overall DPS isn't as great as Pyro Powertechs. Unfortunately it is the best all around spec of the three for the AC. On the rare occasion I do PvE (normally hard mode flashpoints) in tank gear (with a shield) I don't feel as tanky as other tanks (specifically Juggernauts).

While I've played all 3 specs, I've mostly played as Rage spec (5/5/31). I'll comment on all 3. ANNIHILATION 1-Generally perceieved as FOTM and overpowered. 2-Probably the most played spec, it's one of the best 1v1 classes in the game and beastly in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. Not as hard to master as some would have you think. Even poorly geared but well played can make this spec look OP. CARNAGE 1-Predation buff bot and excellent CC. 2-I hate looking for procs which is why I never really enjoyed the spec much. Can do rediculous amounts of Scream/Ravage damage. Not many play this spec due to the popularity if Annihilation but is almost a neccessity for group PvP (particulary Huttball and Civil War). RAGE 1-Most people scoff at this spec thinking it's a one trick pony. 2-While Smash can do great AOE damage it's easily avoidable and needs a range increase to a 7.5m radius. It's also not always instant as if I get knocked back at the same time as I use it, it will usually miss altogether. Obliterate needs a buff to at least 20m range and/or damage increase. Force Crush slow could use slightly lower cooldown (from 18s to 15s) and range increase (from 10m to 15m).