^ You can also refer to my PT tanking guide (my sig) if you have questions.

Fortitude augments for pvp.

It is way more tankier i believe. However, not picking-up jet charge and flame surge will give you heat problems than my spec if you want to maximize the use of PFT. Flame surge is important in my hybrid to get the 2 stacks of PFT without even producing any heat. Mine has more mobility too due to a gap closer with increased up-time of guarding and dealing damage.

One reason for me to bring our class is for more unmitigated damage due to our elementals. Most skills we have ignore mitigation stats with only minimal resistances. Perfect for melting down a tank and his guarded target. Problem is, high-level teams are all playing inside the box and does not want to try something new. Pyros can deliver, but needs to be baby-sitted for their squishiness. APs lack a little more burst to be optimal.

Thanks Jerc! I don't really consider us real melee because most of our damaging skills are at 10m. Melee classes operate at 4m range. So, i would consider PTs semi-melee/mid-range.

Here's my take to PT Tanking in Rated PvP. Right now, the current Meta in ranked is to bring 2 tanks (1 Main-Tank, 1 Node-guard). Juggs are good choice for main-tanking due to their interrupts, good number of defensive CDs, and excellent mobility through jumps to both hostile and friendly. For node-guarding, Sins will always be the best choice since they have the ability to stealth, proficiency in 1v1 because of interrupts, sap and good burst. As for PTs, the way devs assigned skills on our tanking tree only explain that they want us to be viable on both node-guarding and main-tanking with no role specialization. This is the main reason why our class have been second rate tanks to run in rateds. The only way to fix this is to balance out PT with Jugg tanks. To be effective in tanking role, we need to take considerable damage by using defensive CDs, mitigate incoming damage from our teammates through guard-switching and taunts, peel for teammates via stuns/interrupts, and have good overall mobility to stay in range of guarded teammate and allow easy switches. Amongst these warzone roles, PTs fell behind on defensive CDs, and mobility. I would also like to add peeling, but i think combust is already a filler for PT's lack of peels. Defensive CDs I know that PTs are considered passive tanks, but with the buff to the immortal tree and the addition of a mechanic cheeser to Juggs, they are now both at the same level with taking smooth damage. I agree that the problem comes from how they buffed Juggs post 2.0, and not a fault in the ST tree. To fix this, my suggestion is to increase PTs passive mitigation (armor/shield/absorb) if they don't plan to give us another CD. Sorry, but i have to bring this up here. One idea that came up in the tanking board is the redoubt talent of Paladins in WoW. Something similar to that would be good or a proc that increases our shield for 2-3 seconds in a 10-15 second lockout. or Give us another defensive CD. A rider on Oil Slick or another talent that is high up the ST tree. I would also like to add that Shoulder Cannon is a little clunky in some situations where you need the quick boost of health and would be more effective if all 4 missiles are automatically loaded instantly. I prefer replacing the 5% damage boost of SC in shield cannon for the auto-fill of 4 missiles. Mobility Intercede is something that PTs can never match, especially in Huttball. But it's a map bias imo. If we have a capture the flag map, i think PTs will have be ahead of Juggs too. However, i find it really easy for Juggs to utilize their jumps around the battlefield making guard-switches a breeze. While PTs only have one jump without reset and Hydraulic Overrides to close the distance. In addition, HO as a gap-closer is easily countered by stuns, which makes it impossible to close the distance in an emergency situation. To fix this, my suggestion would be a faster run speed with HO for PT tanks. or Add CC-immunity on the first 3-4 seconds of HO. or A talent rider in jet charge that allows us to jump to a friendly only when HO is up. ___________________________ I don't really have experience with progression PvE tanking, but here's what i found in the tanking board worth noting. Willlongstick summarized the balance between the 3 tank classes in terms of self-heals, defensive CDs and mechanic cheesers.

This change will affect all PT trees, but will have the most impact on AP>ST>Pyro. It's a situational talent for ST and lacks kick in pyro tree. This recommendation is completely biased on AP tree. I would rather see a switch between Flame Engine for Stabilized Armor or Energy Rebounder.

Grats vod! I am with Jerc on this one. Even though PT is not as appealing for others due to nerfs, i will never abandon it. It's the main reason i played this game, and will always be my main toon.

I skipped all most dps talents to put points on talents that improves tankiness and utility. FT as a talent is okay in pvp, though it's not ideal in fast-paced coordination plays like rateds it's still useful in some situations in regs. However, as a main tank for rated games we are not expected to put high numbers and kill targets. In addition, flame engine's 18 sec lockout is not appealing, or even worth taking in pvp as in fights you will be constantly moving and switching guards around trying to be an annoyance to the opposing team. Grapple is a really important PT dynamic that Jugg tanks do not have. Having its lower CD is a must for peels and pulling enemies to overextend and be an easy prey to your teammates. Our pull has a 3 sec root which makes using it a nice team utility outside HB. Lastly, mobility is important for tanks. In rated games, aoes are everywhere and a controlled tank is no good for a team. Having the extra speed will keep you close to your guardee and easily transition to another focused teammate. Improving mobility to its maximum potential is the only thing PT tanks can do to match or get close to Juggs intercede.

Thanks! Actually, i included the matrix-cube in place of redoubt relic the first time i posted this guide. I just prefer the redoubt as it is also better in duels, and pvp outside warzones due to absence of bolster. But yah, the matrix-cube is better for flat stat increase in end inside warzones. Another thing i noticed is dps classes gain more from cubes than tanks, that's why i dropped it. And in a maximum endurance build, the increase in mitigation stats from redoubt is preferable than minimal hp increase from the cube. I'll put it back in the guide though, just for preference.

Glad to help! Yah, I it should be 9 mods and 7 enhancements. Thanks for the correction. I have also tried full mitigation before heading this path. I wasted a lot of comms just to test it as i don't want to rely on someone else's opinion. I was at 20/35/35 with 30k hp with full mitigation at that time. I have also tried KBN's and dipstick's optimization for 60% M/R and 40% F/T in 1900~ stat budget, however it is not that ideal because compositions vary. For PvE it will always be mit>end, but in pvp, mitigation stats are not as effective as stacking your hp sky high. Especially for PTs that has 3% increase in endurance talent and SC & Kolto Overload hp regen.

It does not matter what the 5th piece is since you won't get any bonus for it. However, i would suggest to get supercommando for the last one for faster tank gearing. The best pieces are chest and hand for supercommando as they both carry absorption on mods and enhancements. For the third piece, you can pick-up head or leggings. Don't bother with boots as it has alacrity that we don't need. The rest will then be combat-tech. Here are the set bonuses we are aiming for: Supercommando 2-piece: Reduces the cooldown of Heat Blast and Jet Charge or Energy Blast and Storm by 1.5 seconds. Combat Tech 2-piece: Increases the duration of Carbonize or Neural Surge by 0.5 seconds, and reduces the cooldown of Determination or Tenacity by 15 seconds.

It is the bread and butter of ST tree. It boosts your absorption to high levels, hence you will be wanting reasonable amount of shield stat for it to be effective. Do not compare it to other tank classes' top skill as we get our debuffs from our instant skills. Just imagine, with 0 absorption stat from your gear, you can already bring it to 49% every 6 seconds with heat blast assuming you take ablative upgrades.

Please, no. The devs made a good job of balancing and making classes unique from each other. Doing so will just make PT's gameplay like warriors who force leap before going to their rotation. Worse, PTs will have an edge 'cause we can do damage from 10m range. And as far as grapple is concern, it has better utility and wide range of uses than jet charge for all specs.

I like the idea of adding something on EF or HO. I would like to add that flame engine can be replaced by something else as it is not viable for pvp. Staying alive is important than a quick fluff damage on an 18 sec lockout.

It's actually cool imo. Spraying fuel and igniting it with flame is a really good way to deliver damage to enemies.

Hey man, you're in the wrong board. lol Seriously, you should try tanking on your VG sometime.

I created this guide to answer the questions of some players in my server and also provide tips regarding PT tanking for both rated and non-rated games. Just to let you know, English is not my primary language so please bear with me. Updated Kolto Overload: 9/18/2013 ________________________________________________________________________ We know for a fact that PTs had been disfavored pvp tanks due to their lack of utility and CDs. That is no longer the case after patch 2.0. The changes in Shield Tech tree and improvement in pvp shield mechanics has made PT tanks heavy presence in warzones. PTs playstyle will always be the most passive among all tanks as we have flat mitigation talents on our ST tree, therefore adding more defensive CDs would put PTs ahead of the two classes. Though I would agree that Coolant or Oil Slick can be tweaked for the better, we are in a good standing at this moment. ________________________________________________________________________ Gearing Max Endurance > Max Mitigation 1. Elemental/Internal Damage: This type of damage is unmitigated by our armor and mitigation stats, therefore stacking HP is the only way to decrease incoming damage from this type. 2. Auto-crit attacks: In the 2 roll system of SWTOR, crit pushes shield off the table on the 2nd roll. Therefore, the only way to decrease incoming damage from this is by defense (RNG) or by increasing HP (flat increase). 3. Time to Kill is Increased: Mitigation stats all rely on RNG, while increasing HP is a direct buff to lower the % of damage taken from any source based on overall HP. 4. Shoulder Cannon & Kolto Overload: They increase in effectiveness as overall HP increases. 5. PvP is dynamic: Team compositions will always vary, meaning the % of incoming Force/Tech, and Melee/Range damage will always change, which makes optimizing mitigation stats flawed in pvp. Stat Prioritization: Endurance>Shield>Absorption>Defense 2pc Supercommando + 2pc Combat Tech Set: 5% buff to damage while guarding is nice but dps-ing is not our main role as a tank. Besides, all damage that we do is fluff and is not beneficial for our team in a rated setting. The decreased CD on our CC-breaker and increased duration of Carbonite is more favorable for objective plays and team utility. Armory 9 Advanced Weighted Mod 28BX 7 Advanced Vigilant Enhancement 28X 14 Advanced Fortitude Augment 28 1 Conqueror Supercommando’s MK-1 Module 2 Conqueror Supercommando’s MK-1 Implant Conqueror Relic of Shield Amplification Conqueror Relic of Fortunate Redoubt or Matrix Cube M7-Y3 You may wonder why I did not get that much defense. Based on my testing, all incoming damage is smoother with SH>ABS>DEF compared to SH>DEF>ABS. PT wants shield stat because of Heat Blast boosting Absorption to high levels. Absorption will only be effective with a reasonable amount of Shielding and vice versa. And since we’re gearing for max END, increasing the value of shield is better since it covers more damage types than defense. Lastly, dodging/parrying an attack will not give us the chance to shield it and activate procs in our tree such as shield vents, hydraulic shield, heat screen, and heat blast. Stacking defense might help you dodge some crits, but once it bypasses defense you will get more damage by not stacking abs. ________________________________________________________________________ My PvP Build: 36/7/3 I will not explain why I allocated a point on each and every skill in the Shield Tech tree. Instead, I’ll just focus on talents I ignored that some PT tanks use. The rest of the talents are all important and follow this prioritization: Tankiness>Utility>Damage. Dropped Talents Rail Loaders, Hyper Fuel, Hot Iron, Protype Burn Enhancers, Iron Fist, and Prototype Cylinders - We are not here to dps, so these talents will not benefit our tanking abilities. Flame Engine – It activates with all damage attacks, however for a 15% chance to proc in an 18 second rate limit, these 2 points are better somewhere else. _______________________________________________________________________ PvP Tactics Guard-Switching: This mechanic is only effective with good battle awareness offensively and defensively. We are responsible for everybody ‘s deaths including dps, healers, even friendly tanks if necessary. We are built to withstand damage so use it accordingly. A healer in full health is not worth guarding than a dps at 80-90% health taking damage. I would advise to zoom out your camera so you will have better view of most teammates and opposing team’s movements. Modifying the operation bar would also help you see clearly who’s low on health in areas with LOS mechanics and for easy clicking. Don’t hesitate to use Hydraulic Overrides to stay at range of your guarded target. Lastly, unguard the guardee when he/she is above 40% and you’re dropping <20% health to keep yourself up when all CDs are not ready yet. Peeling: Grapple - Should be always put on CD in any map except for Huttball. It pulls away enemies from healers and range dps, and you can also make an enemy to overextend that will give your team an advantage. Flame Sweep - Use these to slow enemies focusing your guarded teammate and apply a debuff on their damage. Carbonite & Electro Dart – Use to give teammates breathing room when focused. Neural Overload through Rapid Fire – This is the only thing you can do 30m away when JC, and Grapple is on CD. Taunting: Always keep your single-target taunt on CD. Watch out for those targets on cover, they bring good damage and most of the time isolated so using this on them is a good idea. Save your AoE taunts for multiple enemies in one area. Offensive AoE Opener: I just included this one because it is a good team play, and provides an advantage to your team, but requires coordination to set off. The main idea of this is for a PT tank to open and pull all melee firepower towards him, just like pulling aggro in PvE while the rest of the team throw their AoEs and focus fire on the trapped enemies. I know it sounds ridiculous in pvp setting, but I’ve pulled this off plenty of times with great success. Though it will not always be ideal, it will put the opposing team at a disadvantage when done correctly. Here’s the rotation: JC>(Oil Slick)FS>Grapple a target (preferably one that has overextended to your group)>FS>FT>Carbonize>DFA This can be applied at the beginning of every encounter at mid in Novare Coast, Civil War, Ancient Hypergates, and Voidstar. Node Guarding: PTs are 2nd to Sins in node guarding. The addition of SC made us a good option for this role. For cap breaking, always use SC missiles first as we have 4 on our disposal every CD. Do not use them quickly, wait for >70% cap channel before launching one. Use only 1 missile per cap. SC is only as effective as our positioning, so make sure you're inside the 10m range when guarding. Only use CC-breaker after all missiles are depleted. Hot key missile blast as it also provide good aoe and is instant, perfectly viable when opposing team is multi-spam capping, and your rooted 30m, with DFA, JC, HO, on CD. ________________________________________________________________________ Defensive CDs Energy Shield: Use it at or before dropping to 50% health. Shoulder Cannon: Only use it when your health dropped to 20-30% range. Always use all 4 to gain 20% heal with shield cannon talented. Spacing each missile out will only put you at a disadvantage when only 1-2 is left and you need a big boost of TTK. Keep an eye on the SC buff, use all your missiles before it goes on CD. *You can also combine this skill with Kolto Overload when medpacks are on CD. Kolto Overload>SCx4 below 30% HP. But I prefer to combine Kolto with Medpacks to have 2 good emergency CDs. Kolto Overload: I find that using it alone is much better in an endurance build as it makes you somewhat unkillable temporarily and not a good target for the opposing team. Using it alone will give you 3 good defensive CDs including medpack. For heavy damage situations, where KO is not enough to keep you alive, use medpacks as you gain a total of 16% HP in 8 seconds duration when above 30% with Coolant talented. Oil Slick: The only time you should use Oil Slick as a CD is when there’s no healer around and you’re guarding a node. Of course you need to base this on the incoming damage, like if it’s a concealment op, which is mostly tech damage then don’t use it. But if it’s a marauder or sniper, you would definitely want to take advantage of the 30% accuracy debuff giving you an overall 41% defense chance. Buy Stun Grenades: You can add it as a panic/get off me button. ________________________________________________________________________ Team Utility - Oil Slick Oil Slick with the addition of its slow effect has given PT some good pvp control both offensively and defensively. Its main utility is to slow opposing team as having the advantage in positioning is always crucial in winning a game. Use it to delay enemies from reaching objectives/teammates working on objectives (scoring a ball/capping a node). It also synergizes with Predation really well and can be further improved by spamming Flame Sweep. These are some areas in warzones where Oil Slick’s slow effect is maximized due to the narrow pathways/passageways. Pit/Bridges in Huttball Underpass, and Middle & Side Node intersection in Civil War Opposing team’s side at mid in Ancient Hypergates Corridors in Voidstar OS can also be used in an open area as long as a lot of enemies are in the vicinity. If enemies prefer to walk around or run away from it don’t be discouraged, you still helped your team by delaying the opposing team’s actions.

I think PTs and Juggs are both at the same level with main tanking, and bodyguard role. Juggs have good leaps for mobility, but lacks slow/root immunity that puts them on a disadvantage when all jumps are on CD when lots of movements are needed. On the other hand, PTs have good mobility with jet speed refreshes and ability to control physics to stay on your guardee with ease. For node guarding, I believe sins are still the best on that department due to stealth and mez. Stealth is always best for defending as it increases its effectiveness the longer you stay hidden. PTs SC are not recommended in civil war as it can be LOSed. Also, a node guarding PT who has SC on CD is no good, as compared to a sin that can easily access stealth.

Finally, someone with a sensible mind. I would agree to this idea. I don't get people suggesting things without the ability to back-up their points.

For the record, I ran both pyro and AP till post-2.0. It does not need an additional mobility as it can deal damage at 10m range even at 30m with basic skill. I've already explained why juggs and sins have these mobility and escape skills. AP has defensive talents up on the tree so there's no problem with survivability. As for pyro, I agree that automated defenses is not enough and would need an increase in survivability, but not a gap closer. PT is focused on elemental-based specs which is unmitigated by shield, defense and armor, and would therefore require a lower overall damage or it will be OP.

They don't.

Yah, it's not new for PT tanks in pvp to pull high damage especially when targets are stacking up on one teammate. PTs have good variety of AoE skills. Just remember that pulling up high damage is not your main priority as a tank. Your teammates general well being comes first. Shieldtech's damage output is not vital to the game's outcome, the debuffs it applies are what really matters.

PT DPS specs don't need a jump. I have played dps since launch till post-2.0, and pt dps is more than viable. Just no longer a faceroll easy pyro spec that used to be pre-2.0. AP has it strengths as long as you play it right. Juggs need the jumps as they don't have slow/root immunity that all BHs have now. Also, PT can do damage in 10m while juggs need to close melee range to do so. Regarding sins, they wear light armor and would therefore require escape mechanics. PT tanks need the charge to stay with guardee in pvp and close-gap for aggro in pve. PT DPS are fine in terms of mobility. Nerf to CGC is needed a long time ago. What PTs really need is a buff on defensive CDs.

That is based on Dipstik's optimization. If PTs/VGs are gonna run with conq supercommando implants the lowest budget for absorption will be 102, that falls around 1450-1490 budget range imo. Here is the link for the page: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=639861&page=4 Also, why not use two end crystals instead of one? The increase in hp still outweighs the bonus mitigation without exp crystals.