you can also comfirm this if you press P to open up your abilities window, on the right hand side of every ability, it'll say either ranged or tech, that way you'll know which abilites are effected by ranged stats and tech stats

again read your talents and your abilities and your tool tips on your stats before commenting again and if you still dont find the problem you might want to go back to grade school to improve your reading skills

ive tested this out quite alot and though it does help quicken your rotation but it also increases heat generation by alot

this is just terrible, please read your abilities and talents before you even choose 1. combustion gas cylinder does not proc off tracer missiles because it only procs off blaster fire, thus your wasting your time casting tracer missiles. 2. majority of your if your pyro specs majority of your damage is gonna be from elemental damage thus your armor reduction from your tracer missiles will be pointless other than dealing slightly more damage from other's because armor only reduces damage from kinetic and energy damage 3. tracer missile only does more damage if you combine it with other abilities such as heat seeker missiles and rail shot with tracer lock which you dont have either one of them. 4. look at your numbers tracer missile does less damage than power shot, you have to cast 3 times before it can even get the same numbers from the armor reduction debuff, but power shot still will do more due to the combustion gas cylinder procing off of it. do I need to continue? or can you read the rest of your abilities on your own?

no thats not what im saying, arsenal mercs do not have a rotation where you can simply just cycle through a set of abilities because 1 cycle before it resets is VERY LONG your basically constantly casting tracer missiles until a certain event happens. and the priority list is Rail shot - if the target has 5 heat signatures and I have 5 tracer locks Unload - if the target has 5 heat signatures, also use thermo override sensors if my heat is 24 or higher Heat seeker missiles - if the target has 5 heat signatures Tracer missiles meaning if the conditions for that ability is not met, you go to the next ability, until you can cast something and then you restart the priority list. you might think this is a slow process but once you understand the conditions, it'll be second nature and thus run easily for example a starting rotation is 3 tracer missiles to apply the 5 heat signatures, because you cant cast anything else until you have 5 heat signatures now you'll cast unload since you only have 3 tracer locks and unload is the next ability. now you'll cast heat seeker missiles. now you'll cast 2 more tracer missiles cuz unload and HSM is on cooldown and this will bring tracer lock to 5 stacks now you cast rail shot. then you continue to cast tracer missile until either barrage procs to give you the ability to cast unload again. or until either one of the abilities finishes cooldown as you can see there is no set rotation cuz barrage can proc at any moment and you'll have to insert your unload at that moment, theres no blind rotation where no matter the situation you can just continue to cycle through skills

your just seeing things or have multiple people casting on you and its a trick of the mind. we've been casting it at 1.5 second per shot and theres nothing changed from it, unless your mistaken heat seeker missiles for tracer missiles since its 3 missiles at the same time. but no we're not casting it faster than 1.5 second per shot, and we just keep pressing the button over and over again to make sure it starts casting the exact moment we cast it

wow really? you just said you werent using combustion gas cylinder, yet you get the 2 specific talents that focuses on combustion gas cylinder, AND you get nothing to improve the use of high velocity cylinder, whats the point of this thread? stop spouting out nonsense and confusing other people plz, your just making yourself look retarded and confusion new players with false ideas

you got it all over the place and kinda in the wrong order, read my post at the bottom of this http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=304747&page=4 it'll explain it all

i've been running HM ops and all the HM FPs, my gear is pretty much almost all columni with rakata leggings and ear and implants. crit is at about 30-32% unbuffed. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300McZMIkrRrdokfzZc.1 with that build my rotation isnt much of a rotation but a priority list of skills in this exact order with these conditions Rail shot - if the target has 5 heat signatures and I have 5 tracer locks Unload - if the target has 5 heat signatures, also use thermo override sensors if my heat is 24 or higher Heat seeker missiles - if the target has 5 heat signatures Tracer missiles unlike others, i use unload whenever it is up because its a heat sink when being used when heat is 40 or lower, even at 80 or lower, it still vents a net of 1 heat as well, assuming that you get at least 1 crit out of it for terminal velocity and you let it run for it's full 3 seconds. and never use heat seeker missiles before unload if they're both up, cuz using heat seeker missile right after a tracer missile tends to bump you way into the 40+ heat, let unload vent that heat first before using heat seeker missiles. I also use my relic damage boost right after my 3 tracer missiles when all 5 heat signatures are up and right before i use my other abilities. with this priority system you'll never overheat especially when you have the 4 piece set bonus to get rail shot to be a free cast. also i do not use any aoe abilities in a single target rotation unless I know I will be able to vent that heat either through running into position or the boss will be stunning me for whatever reason. yes I understand death from above or fusion missile will provide more BURST damage, but I prefer sustained damage and burst at the end when I know I can vent the heat.

theres no point in getting it until you have terminal velocity like the above have said because whats the point of having higher crit chance if you haven't gotten the main talent that uses it? its like why bother trying to buy something when you dont even have the money to buy it. also you want the heat seeker missiles asap since its your main damage dealing ability and it rounds out your rotation

for 1. armor does not reduce your elemental damage, it only reduces energy and kenetic damage, so if you were using combustion gas cylinder, you got all that elemental damage ignoring 100% of their armor already 2. how the hell are you gonna get further into pyro tree without getting any of the combustion gas cylinder talents? by getting alacrity? inferred sensors? gyroscopic alignment jets? really? your gonna waste talents into those just to avoid the combustion gas cylinder talents? honestly your really arent thinking through this at all just to avoid playing a set way that works

just an fyi, if you require the use of rapid shots in your rotation, your obviously doing something wrong and you need to revise your rotation. i've gotten my rotation down to the point that im constantly under 40 heat with only some situations that might bring me over it but that is remedied by vent heat and it never happens more than twice in 2 mins so my vent heat is always back off cooldown if it happens again. not saying you shouldnt use it if you go over heat and your vent heat is on cooldown, just you might wanna rethink your rotation if you do

well if your worried about the crits, then I can understand your fustration, but dont forget that aim also gives crit chance as well, just not enough to keep that 35% magic number what you can do is just get the set peices, then swap the non set peices for others that do have crit, such as the medic's bracers and implants. and that should give you enough crit to satisfy your needs. also since your locked at lvl 50, the more aim you get the less crit rating you'll need, which should be substitued with either power or surge. so just dont look at rating numbers, but the crit chance as a whole

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rfR0RzfdzZrIkbM.1 thats the best I can come up with if you wanted a healing/combat support style hybrid what this will do is allow your power shots to be uninterruptable, gives you the knock backs from 2 abilities making you more supportive in hutt ball (knock them off the ledges when heading to the goal) and still have strong heals. your damage wont be spectacular, but you will be able to do some damage but this is more of a heal and support in pvp. still I dont support the hybrid idea but if you really were set on doing one, this is what I would choose

theres a big reason why BH hybrid specs dont work as well as most people hope for, and that is because of the cylinder system. if you pay close attention and read the abilities, you will notice you require a certain cylinder to be active before they can be effective. for example your supercharge gas requires you to use the combat support cylinder but the terminal velocity talent requires high velocity cylinder. so no matter what, you got wasted talent points cuz you have to choose one or the other, you cant run both at the same time. also even though people complain about tracer missiles, tracer missiles alone is fairly weak, damage wise your power shot does more damage per shot than tracer missile does and without light em up your not gonna get much armor reduction on the target before they disappear (if they stand there and take 5 shots then they're just bad) so if you truly want to try and build a hybrid talent tree you'll first have to figure out what cylinder you'll be using and stick with it and build around it, but currently the way the mercenary trees are built, you'll find a very difficult time trying to get around it. also dont forget that tracer missiles dont work with combat support cylinder's charge up, nor does it work with pyro's combustion gas cylinder either.

im guessing your the type that doesnt bother with bonus series quest and/or only does the class quests. well sure you'll get to new places faster and what not, but your missing out on a ton of experience and extra gear i've always been out leveled for every planet and i've never had any troubles as an arsenal merc and with no defensive abilities, shes never had trouble keeping me alive. she's also mandatory for elite pulls as well. now I did turn off all her dps abilities and only left her healing abilities, but did you also took away her stun? the CCing ability she has. that will cause you a lot of problems as well. the only time she should be attacking is if all her abilities are on cooldown,

right now I've been playing around with my rotation, and I find that I can go on forever without ever overheating unless I mess up my priority. always remember, cast times and channeling = heat venting. instant cast will cause you to build heat rapidly. I have a 4 piece set bonus to give me that free rail shot and I have about 30-35% crit chance, so im constantly venting 8 heat every 3 seconds. unlike most people who uses fusion missiles in their rotations, I dont bother with it since I use my thermo override sensors on unload. like the above poster said, I found using unload before heat seeker will cause your heat to be reduce a lot more than otherwise, cuz using heat seeker will most likly push you over the 40 heat mark and thus reduce your venting from 5 to 3 thus while you use unload your venting will be around 9 instead of 15. also using thermo override sensors on unload will not only make it free, but will force your heat to be venting for the 3 seconds and also the proc of 8 vented heat. so priority should always be rail shot (if tracer lock is at 5) unload (with thermo sensor override if heat is at 24 or more) heat seeker missiles (if heat signatures at 5) tracer missile and use vent heat when your heat reaches 80

so you want to be a gimped arsenal merc thats in a pyrotech tree? like seriously? your basically saying "Im a rich bastard but I'd rather live in poverty" it just doesnt make sense, you can do it, but it doesnt make sense. your damage will be crap compared to others due to the the wasted amount of talent points you've put into pyrotech

or you can just solo BT normal like a boss and get your light/dark side points from that, works for any flash points

2 problems, why would you be using tracer missiles, like above have said, its a synergy ability, and without going deep into arsenal, you wont get that synergy. also if your pyrospec you'll most likly be using combustion cylinder, tracer missiles doesnt apply the proc, only ranged abilities do. so what was your plan? just spam a weak tracer missile and do absolutly nothing? and if you switch to high velocity cylinders, then you just wasted a ton of talent points that improves combustion cylinder. this is just a bad idea and absolutly not viable at all. no matter what you do, your just wasting points and damage potiental also if your gonna think outside the box, please actually do some thinking while your at it

a lot in the arsenal tree is optional and thus a lot of points will not be used. i'll list which are optional, which are required, and which are recommended arsenal Teir 1 requierd - ironsights, mandalorian iron warheads Optional - integrated systems (if you wanna double up as an off healer) Teir 2 required - upgraded arsenal, muzzle fluting recommened - stabilizers (just because in raids your not supposed to be hit), custom enviro suit (highly recommended since I believe in future raids there will be boss that will have you required to have a specific amount of health) Teir 3 required - tracer missile, target tracker recommended - power barrier (same reason as stabilizers) Optional - afterburners (if you want extra PvP utility) Teir 4 required - terminal velocity, light'em up optional - jet escape (if you want extra pvp utility) Teir 5 required - tracer lock, riddle recommended - kolto vents (helping healers is always a good idea) optional - pinning fire (if you want extra pvp utility but its fairly weak) Teir 6 required - barrage recommended - power overrides (more thermal sensor overrides will help heat management if combined with unload) Teir 7 required heat seeker missile Bodyguard Teir 1 requierd - hired muscle recommended - improved vent (just means you can go further into heat before venting, thus more damage potiential) optional - med tech (if you wanna be an off healer teir 2 everything here is only if you wanna be off healer, pyrotech teir 1 required - advance training optional - integrated cardio package (only if you dont want the pvp or off healing options) dont get alacrity stuff. Teir 2 dont get any of these since you wont be using that cylinder and you shouldnt be getting stunned, if you do in a boss fight it'll be long enough to fully vent your heat anyways. now you'll just have to use your own brain to figure out what is to your liking and what isnt

its a total balancing act. power is additive stat that adds to your damage. crit is a multiplier that multiplies your damage. so without power you crits arent gonna do much damage, and without crits, your power is just gonna feel weak. now arsenal mercs need that high crit chance because of our ability to vent 8 heat every time we crit every 3 seconds. for pyrotech it would be for automated defense if you have it, to reduce your kolto overload and thermal override sensors. if you talented yourself for that, then you'll most likly wanna get 30-35% crit as well so that you can use those abilities constantly.

there is no difference to light side and dark side. with certain companions you'll gain more points by choosing light or dark side choices but the amount isnt much and you can still get them to max by companion gifts. I went dark side and use mako and she still got to about 6k affection by lvl 45 and the light side or dark side choices is just for the relics while leveling which doesnt really improve your game by much especially if you dont use em much at all. also it determines what color crystals you gain benefits from. but theres no color crystal that has a specific stat, since all the colors have the same set of stats to chose from. also once you get into operations and hard modes, all the gear has no light side or dark side restrictions so really its all personal preference of how you want the story to progress. there are choices that will effect how the story goes such as if you let people go, it will be reflected in the story later on, but that will only affect the story of how it'll be told for just that one part, but not effect how the game will play out over all

........ your entire tree revolves around you having a dot up on the target to deal extra damage, if your gonna use HVC then why not just be an arsenal merc instead?

here is the thing about the "free rail shot" argument, if your not overheating with the 8 heat rail shot then of course making it free wont make any difference in your game play but if your not overheating, then are you using your heat to it's full potential? can you squeeze more damage in without using rapid shot? cuz if you ever use rapid shot then that 8 heat rail shot is costing you. cuz that rapid shot could have been replaced by the 8 heat rail shot and tracer missile. and if you never overheat then either you found a magical rotation that just out does everyone. or your just not doing the maximum amount of dps as possible. now without a meter and a dummy (something to shoot at while collecting data) its hard to tell wither or not we're doing maximum dps I would believe that the most optimal rotation would have you getting 80 heat every 2 mins, this way it'll cause you to use vent heat, and your rotation starts over and by the time you get to 80 heat again, your vent heat would be cooled down.