Somehow, I manage to play the game and PvP a lot without any trash talking or vulgarity at all. I see others use it, but it seems like a bunch of chest-beating on the internet to me.

Best post I've seen here.

I would argue that there is value in keeping the healers tied up cleansing DOTs. Pyros can kick out a lot of DOTs in a short time. A healer would have his/her hands full cleansing, not to mention trying to keep everyone healed from other's damage. In addition, we have a number of abilities that aren't DOTs.

Thanks for that. I use Cure, but wasn't sure that was considered to be our Cleanse.

My question is what will happen to the whole MMO genre. Stick-fetch questing has been done to death in almost every MMO. PvP is always an issue. What will MMOs become that will engage the jaded players? The sameness of it all burned me out a few years ago, and I only recently came back to online gaming. SWTOR has done little differently from past MMOs.

I believe that Merc Pyros should get more defense capability as was alluded to earlier in the thread. That is, if they're going to lessen our burst, limit our DFA radius, etc. Pyro Merc isn't a particularly popular or overpowered class, and we are squishy to boot. However, it's a fun class to play. My concern is that we are going to be irrelevant or last pick for the team after 1.2. While my main focus is PvP, I can foresee being passed over for flashpoints and ops in favor of other dps classes. We are being packaged with the PT Pyros in this nerf and I don't think that BW understands the differences between the two specs.

Indeed. I usually put the insta-cast in the mix with fusion and TSO.

It won't change and will not be replaced with blue gear.

Absolutely right. I think the nerfs affect us as much or more than any other spec.

Given the time available to play, the decrease in warzone credits, requirements to buy new armor and weapons, and the necessity for PvE gear for non-PvP encounters, this game is beginning to look like a huge time sink that I cannot afford. However, I will wait and see.

Failing to recognize the value of fire teams. Sure, we could spread out all over the map and go 1/1, but wouldn't it be better to stay together in small groups so that we can do things like control the middle and ramps in Huttball?

Exactly what I'm doing as I rustle up my last few Champ items. I want to hit the patch with Champ comms as close to zero as I can get while having 1000 WZ comms saved.

I share your questions and concerns on the 1.2 changes to Pyro Mercs per my posting in the linked thread. From my reading, it looks like the nerfs that are directed at PT Pyros are going to hit us hard.

I'm the "other" Pyro... a Merc. I haven't seen complaints about us being overpowered, yet these changes will reduce our damage output as well since they are in the shared tree. I'll be curious to see if the 1.2 changes hurt the spec. Based on the numbers posted by the OP, it looks like we'll be negatively affected by the changes while still lacking some abilities (interrupt for example) that make the PT such a good spec. I have the feeling that LoS will become more of a part of my rotation than it is currently. Sadly, my alt is an... Operative.

Good thing there are Pyros, then.

Exactly, while guarding the middle I'm often the person closest to the ball. I take it and move it forward until the carriers respawn or come back from the opposing team's goal. Another thing that Mercs are very good at it is distracting 2-3 of the opposing team who will jump to focus on a kill rather than the objectives. From the middle, or after a pass, a few well-placed shots will usually turn several of their team to hunting for me. If I LoS a bit and do things properly, I can take them from the middle and tie them down long enough for my team to score. It's not glamorous work, but it's effective if my team is organized and not being drawn off into the far corners of the map. I need wins, not just comms!

Great post, that's exactly what I do. Although... I do score now and again, or carry briefly and pass. Clearing the ramps is also something that's well suited for Mercs. Clear the way, and protect the middle. As a Pyro Merc.

I suppose that a solution to the ranked gear vs. orange critted gear would be to add the appearance tab that's so often discussed. That would seem to be a fix for this problem.

A lot of PvP threads refer to cleansing DOTs and make it sound like every class has this ability. Can Mercs self-cleanse, and what ability is used to do so? I'm a bit embarrassed to post this question, but I've been wondering if there's some great secret that I somehow missed. Googling didn't produce anything.

This. Don't forget to use all your skills. With Pyro, we have a lot of non-AOE damage abilities like IM, RS, PS, RF, etc. Put one mob to sleep and plow through the remainder, saving the boss for last.

In addition to the above, I'd suggest working through the Pyro tree rather than spreading your first points across other trees. It takes some abilities to bring the Pyro spec around. It's not nearly as powerful at low levels.

Glad you picked up that gem. I remember when the album came out in the early seventies and a friend's sister bought it. It was titled "The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy". One side of the album was whimsical stuff like "Bilbo" and the other was the logical Spock material. Bad, even in it's day.

There's a discussion thread going in the crew skills section. Georg stated that they'd like to include some way to add an augment to existing gear. Of course, wild speculation ensued, but there is some movement in that direction at BW.

I find it a bit amusing that we're talking about buying orange gear as if it were the grind to Battlemaster.

The "fetch" missions and gear progression have been with us a long time. Frankly, I burned out on this mechanic years ago and only came back to online games recently. SWTOR doesn't deviate from the tired mechanic, but does add the cutscenes and voiceovers to make things more interesting. I'm left wondering what the next revolutionary MMO will be. I'm not seeing it out there on the horizon.