The damage comes out after the animation sweeps down and since it's a melee AoE if they're able to knock you back before it finishes, it will not hit them simple. There's nothing wrong with it as it's a way to prevent focus/rage burst from a guardian/juggernaut. Most people aren't in a hurry to try and knock you back so anticipate it and you'll be fine. Don't always charge right away to get on someone, if they're close enough, save it. Also if you're on voip with friends, have them call out when they're using KBs and such so you don't accidentally waste it then too.

Don't put points in Bursting Flame, if you're PvP focused with this build, you sit in Ion as a tank all day. Mazikeen has talent points boosting both cylinders which is nice for PvE when you need to switch between DPS or Tank. This is the variation of the ST/Pyro I use and its entirely PvP focused. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301rRGMbMboZ0MZbIbbdh.1 Play either the Iron Fist or ST/Pyro if you want to tank, one is more defensively inclined while one is more offensive, go full out Pyro if you wanna DPS. Lastly, the DoT from Ion doesn't do a whole lot of damage and is misleading on the talents; invest that point elsewhere. It's a name that somehow got attached through the means of a date looking like the talent spread. Not a fan.

I think what they really mean is it's not worth it to go far above 10%. A lot of people that have BM gear also wear a lot of rakata for much harder hits. Going from 5-10% expertise has a much bigger effect on your character's vitality than going from 11-13%. In full champ I have 12% expertise, it does go above 10%. OP definitely go with the Eliminator's set, if you have any duplicate gloves or are at a point where you're swimming in champ comms, consider buying more champ gloves to crit and surge mod the rest of the gear. PvP gear has more accuracy than it needs.

This is a 1st world problem for people who solo queue. It's not hard to group up and queue.

I don't understand why people dislike Huttball so much. I get that some people don't like seeing huttball pops 24/7, that can be said for anything but still imo Huttball > Voidstar > Civil War. Huttball is a much more dynamic game than the other two warzones and there's a lot more back and forth that goes on. Voidstar is simply zerging a side and ninjaing the other, Civil War is a ***** to get a win from especially if your teammates prefer roaming for kills or simply seem to enjoy being a lemming. It's much easier to carry a win in Huttball and I like the clutch plays that you can make to score a goal or the cluster **** of a keep-away match when the score is tied 1-1 with good teams on both sides. You don't even need a full pre-made or good gear to succeed in this one and 6-0 wins also mean faster daily/weekly completion. I also like that this is the one warzone where there's an emphasis on interacting your skills in consideration with the map. Another legitimate complaint I can see is that some classes are simply Huttball all-stars. You really get to see all types of neat tricks one can do with ones class in this map and that leads to inequality; but this type of skill usage is why it appeals so much to me in the first place. Other than that though I love it and it should stay, seeing as its the only warzone BW can somewhat make an original claim to. Lastly, allow the queuing system to stay as is on shuffle. I don't have it as bad as those guys on low-population realms on a "standard" realm but queue pops can take an upwards of 20 minutes sometimes 10:30-11pm ST. Separating warzone queues will make current situation worse and lead to less filled warzones ready to start.

Despite it's heavy heat cost, Incendiary Missile is great and extremely useful in PvP. As long as you don't spam it on targets you don't need to, you're gravy. The extra range it has over retractable blade gives you more freedom in which to start a rail shot combo at. Against healers if my grapple is on CD, I usually IM them followed by a rail shot, Jet Charge their cast and go in for a RP/FB. Talents wise it synergies really well with the ST/Pyro build as intimidation adding to it while isn't much, it isn't bad either.

I think he's a step up from the people who don't even know they're playing huttball.

If they can't keep themselves up 1v1, how are they supposed to keep a group alive. If a Marauder is on a healer and that healer doesn't get peels, it's going down geared or not.

You're a Pyro PT, arguably one of the strongest PvP classes right now. I dare say as a DPS spec they outshine both arsenal and pyro mercenaries, people just don't know it yet. No **** a Sorc isn't going to go down if you kick one heal. You have grapple and two stuns on top of that kick; footsies out to 10m and grapple that 2nd cast and stun again, congrats you just kicked three casts in a row. Healers are naturally going to hard to kill when they're good. If they trouble keeping themselves up, how are they supposed to keep the group up.

Some serious brownie points for this feat.

We're close to the enemy's end zone in Huttball. They just dropped our ball carrier and are moving as a group up the side of the pit. You see this and knew it was coming, you're waiting for that pad to glow orange on the catwalk facing the pit. Enemy ball carrier is whipped up away from his teammates and roasts in fire. The enemy spawn opens and a Juggernaut charges you with a Marauder. Laugh as you rocket punch their carbonized frame and walk the ball to finish. This class is the best.

The 4pc +15% crit to rail shot is extremely good for assault vanguards. Right now tanking stats are useless in PvP and so the smart people are either wearing Combat Tech or Eliminator's. Shield vanguards work fine in DPS gear, in fact they are more than fine. Even with an off healer, you will be able to **** face.

Speaking from a PvP pespective I think really the only useless skills a PT has would be Shoulder Slam and Missile Blast. Flamethrower is also nice on a carbonized clump if DFA is on CD, people also seem to not interrupt it as much and it hurts, a lot!

I started playing TOR on the Imperial side with a powertech. In the process of searching for a good alt to play I dabbled a little bit with the assassin, sage, commando and guardian. It is stupid to think that this situation does not warrant more attention than it does right now. The empire side characters as a whole are a lot more responsive and fluid in their combat compared to their republic counterparts. That slight delay means everything when you're trying to prevent a node cap or trying to execute the ball carrier inches before the line. Is it possible to adapt and work around it? Sure, the differences are mild inconveniences at best but it still doesn't justify that two mirrored factions actually heavily favors one.

Gear: Trooper Animations: Bounty Hunter

Leveling as a Powertech, Shield Tech is king until ~30s. That's when the DPS specs start to catch up. You can spec into a variation of the Iron Fist build at around ~40 with enough points to get Jet Charge and several points into Adv. Prototype for Retractable Blade. To really get the ball going on the ST/Pyro, you want to wait until 48 as it is the earliest you'll be able to grab both Prototype Particle Accelerator in the Pyro tree and Jet Charge in the shield tree. Still though leveling is leveling, anything works.

As Pyrotech it's not your main job to Guard but do off-guard when needed. If you're playing a tank by all means sit in Ion all day. Compared to the Juggernaut tank stance there is no dps penalty, just extra bulkiness. Also the silent treatment happens but check the scoreboard, maybe they're just shy! And Pugs will always be pugs, try not to overestimate their ability and play accordingly, Good luck!

It boils down to the class specific skills and talents you get from it. From the choice of the AC you also determine if you want to be more of a ranged nuker or a close-mid range skirmisher. The Mercenary uses Unload and Powershot to proc Rail Shots while the Powertech uses Flame Burst and Rocket Punch. The powertech also has an easier time applying a DoT as Flame Burst becomes an on-demand DoT in Pyrotech. Powertechs arguably has better synergy with the Pyrotech tree due to the amount of control the it has. Between Grapple, Carbonize, Quell, and Electro Dart (shared), the powertech has it easy to shut down and burst anyone. Tier 1 Advance Prototype talents also increases the armor penetration of rail shot by 60% making the the main burst move of the tree all the more threatening.

1. Focus fire is always gonna end bad for you provided you do not have incoming heals. Be more aware of your surroundings and where your teammates are. Can they assist you if you need help? 2. Marauders do a sickening amount of damage. 3. Unbind S, bind A and D to left/right strafe respectively. Turn your direction you need to move with mouse and always move around like that. If you need to move back, strafe left or right while doing a sharper turn with the mouse. Get used to this and you will be able to deal with melee better. As a Powertech our central moves are within the 10m radius. When your rocket punch is on CD, try to kite out to the 10m range while flame bursting or something to GCD starve the melee on you. Meaning he wastes his GCD not being able to attack you because he's not within 4m. 4. Snares will be there for most of the game, luckily most of them are short in duration save a few 15s ones. General PT PvP Tips: -When you're on a caster/healer, use your kicks in and stuns in a cycle so you can keep up and kick a total of 3 casts. -If in Huttball, abuse the hazards. Pull healers and ball carriers into fire, it'll drive them crazy and that's good! Be on the higher levels if you can help it. Quick turn-overs to goals are easily achievable if you're in the right place for a grip as they come out from the pit. -You can Jet Charge across the 2nd room with the bridges if someone is in LoS on the other side. -Guard the most important member of your team at any given moment: healers, carrier, skilled-dps and so on. Bind F1 to Acquire Target's Target so you can quickly get the target of an enemy and guard to very well save them. If you see a healer, guard, taunt, and peel for them and make sure you let them know you're guarding them! If they are good, you will win games. As a tank your job isn't to charge in with guns blazing. It's to be in the way of the other team in everything they do. Though you are a melee class, in the initial clump of battle sit back for a bit. Look for people that would cause the more harm to your team. Grapple and displace those. Your job is to guard the most important people on your team while singling out and disrupting theirs. Don't be hanging around solo if possible, what you do best is setting up kills for other dps. If you see a healer consistently doing well, message him and see if he wants to queue. Healers always appreciate a good tank. Due to Jet Charge being on such a low cool down, you're always allowed to engage fights after having some sort of thought. Pop our defensive cool downs preemptively to get the most mileage out of them. If you do all of this right you'll find yourself very durable in fights and able to have an answer for most situations. Communicate when you can help to and always focus healers first. If they are guarded, kill the guarded target as he's going to the squishier target. Lastly, don't be a lemming but always try and be aggressive if you can. If you force them on the defensive, you're already winning. Later on, you should invest in DPS gear as PvE defensive tanking stats don't really add much to your bulk in PvP save for the extra endurance.

The mad is strong with this one.

I like your write up of the comparisons and I agree with you for quite a few points. The Powertech has a simple mechanic in which he does his rotation depending on his spec. Only thing remotely complicated about is rationally knowing when to overextend your heat for that burst or when to hold back. One of the biggest complaints PTs seem to have about their class is their defensive CDs. I'll admit on paper they aren't great, they still are base line and it isn't a fair comparison to look at a Juggernaut's Invincible, they have to spec for it. Despite its obviously inferiority, you're still able to grab good mileage out of them provided you preemptively pop them. The Assassin also has to deal with being kited more so than Powertechs as they are more melee than powertechs; if the powertech had anymore, they would be too OP. Force speed is a great ability and I think it synergies really well with the rest of the Assassin's tool kit no doubt about it. What Jet Charge its equivalents have over it however if the freedom in the Z-axis. Absolutely a god-send in Huttball and I argue equally as useful in Voidstar. When you're defending and they just broke through the first door and are trying to cross the bridge. Somehow you find yourself back at spawn thankfully run out before the bridges are down. It is possible to Jet Charge past that gap and assist whoever is still there (or die again!). Grapple/Force Pull while both have access to, for one it's base line and that is a huge difference. It's cheese alright to pull them into acid, fire, and off the bridge in voidstar, but these are all split second things you can do to greatly improve your team's chances on winning. I personally always try and remove a healer from the next assault as they run across the bridge in voidstar provided they have one. Also for straight hard peels, Grapple with No Escape is second to none. Lastly the one thing Carbonize has over Overload is that you're able to set up kills or LOLAOE for fellow Juggernauts and other Bounty Hunters with ease!

Worry about nerfs/buffs when they come, there's no point in thinking about it when all you have to base from is the recent Assassin changes. That being said the ST/Pyro is just the slightly angrier cousin of a ST/AP. Both fill similar roles just their specific niche is slightly different.

Burst is something most classes are capable of, they just have to spec into it. Both classes are more than capable of destructive burst provided they spec for it. It's the flavor in how you do it that differentiates them. You can't just pick by saying I want "burst" alone.

From a similar thread..

Grab Eliminator's. Defensive stats that do you wonders in PvE don't really offer much in PvP. The Combat Tech's 2pc does not actually make Carbonize better as it is currently bugged. Carbonize will stop working instead so really your only choice at this moment is Eliminators.