It's just a trait of the class. Really need to be hitting from stealth to have any remote chance of winning a fight. As soon as you are in the open you will get mushed. I tend(ed) to play a defensive role in games on my op(same sort of level), defend doors in voidstar/ try to cap during the offensive half. Defend bases in Civil War and Novare, and stealth around top levels attacking people nuking the ball spawn or getting into pass positions in huttball. Best thing is to hit and run. Open from stealth, snare,shiv (preff specced for the root) then dot, then debilitate. shiv should be back up then. Re - snare then restealth and open up again. Not saying you'll win these fights, but if defending you'll usually survive long enough. (another hint for defending is to sleep dart a single opponent from stealth, may encourage them to use their cc breaker, if not it gives you time to call inc if you haven't already)

The main problem is other classes are mainly clueless. If people aren't taunting, ccing or focusing the PT Pyros then what do you expect? Why people are even mentioning 1v1 situations is beyond me. In pugs I manage to take people out, I get taken out as many times. Instead of blaming the class, maybe you should be looking to the people you play with and serve up some L2P. If a pure DPS class is allowed to run abount nuking everyone, maybe put a mark on them? Can't educate pork.

A quick search of the powertech forum should give you all the info you need. Although you'd probably be better off just going pyro and saving taunt/cc/grapple for people attacking the healer. Being able to burn down people attacking your healer fast =/= better survivability and a slower kill rate,

And how do you know that Bioware isn't working their azzes off to make PvP a viable feature in SWTOR? Okay, yeah, I admit that after 6 months of release PvP is still an issue, so does that mean Bioware gave up?world pvp/ Ilum, yes they have given up. The engine cannot handle mass pvp. For all you know, they could be cooking up something great for us for a later patch.Then why all the secrecy? You act or talk as if Bioware isnt trying to make things better when you really do not know what is going on in the hallways of Bioware Austin. It seems not even Bioware know what is going on in their own hallsYou are just sitting at your PC throwing out opinions based on emotion.Emotion? No tears here kid, I'm voting with my wallet. A car company tries to release a line of cars that are fuel efficient and they fail, hard! But does that mean that they cannot go back to the drawing board to create something that isn't a failure?Tehy would have put adequate testing procedures in place before making the vehicle public, such a vehicle would not even leave the test track. You have typical rose tinted goggle syndrome, the only reason you're so vehemently defending Bioware is due to your own fear that they will/ are failing. I've paid around £100 of my money into this game. I've been made promises which have not materialised. I'm going to cut my losses and try something else. Good luck to those that are staying but realise it's the IP cash cow you're feeding.

December 2011 - I am promised balanced PvP, free for all PvP zones, World PvP and the jewel in the crown, Ilum. May 2012 - I have unbalanced attention deficit disorder WoW style pvp, no world PvP, the gates of Ilum are shut and have a big for sale sign on them. 6 months, still huge problems. April 2012 - Guild Wars 2, not star wars BUT some of the most enjoyable PvP I've had in years... and it's a beta. If Bioware was able (or allowed by EA) to make things better then why haven't they done so? All that's happened here is th Star Wars ip has been used to mug fans yet again. This is why people are angry with Bioware and EA. Promised the earth and delivered mud.

I heard some guy say something about something and he said it sucked..badly. Even in Beta GW2 managed PvP that made Ilum look like a ZX Spectrum game. All this game is, is a potential cash cow for EA. I think the cow now has TB.

I hear they have pet bears that shoot lazerbeams out of their eyes, and fart sonic booms, and are ninja's... immortal ninja's.....immortal ninja wizards... with machine guns. all 100% true facts.

Unlikely. Many looked forward to Ilum being a similar environment to the RvR of Warhammer, with something to fight over, smaller groups roaming and rolling larger groups, a faction working together to control a zone. That is what was promised, we were delivered the sad excuse for a PvP zone that is Illum now. This comment has materialised after the GW2 Beta, no doubt BW had people in that Beta checking it out. No doubt they were schooled in how to do PvP, hence the comments. I had no expectations of GW2, never played GW1, not a fanboy in the slightest. Read up on it and it sounded ok so bit the bullet and pre purchased. Even in a beta state the game was fantastic, each PvP fight was epic. TTK was immense with all players having defensive cd's, heals, cc and ranged/melee dmg potential. Those of you moaning about 'cartoon' graphics, no doubt you run about with your tauntaun pet out? The combat system is by far the best I've encountered. Strategic use of weapon swapping, + skill point spends to suit your playstyle. Anyway I digress, this is a SWTOR forum after all. Horrendous decisions have been made regarding PvP, and someone needs firing. If Alan Sugar had this lot in the board room I very much doubt there would be any of them left. Shambolic to be fair. Sadly after test driving the Aston Martin of pvp (and some pretty good pve too, even kept me amused and I'd generally rather stab myself in the eyes with a wooden spoon than PvE) I can no longer return to this, the Ford Fiesta of PvP. It does the job, but you just want more out of it.

I play as a PT Pyro, and tbh have no issues with dmg output, BUT you can't judge everything by those damn WZ charts. Just because somebody hasn't done 300k, does not mean they can't potentially do 300k.... Some people like to play the objectives, defend, protect their healers etc. It sickens me that these games turn into who can do the biggest numbers. In fact if I do see people with 400k dps + in games like huttball (snipers especially) I know for a fact they can't have been helping kill the carrier or assisting with running the ball in any way, just on their own little farming session ignoring the group.

I am in two minds about this purely down to the stat distribution on war hero gear. The combat tech war hero gear seems to have far less accuracy and more crit/surge. I currently use eliminator BM, bar chest which is CT as pre 1.2 I'd planned to go tank for rated(hahahahaha). The only problem with this is the need to virtually buy a second set, also there's the combat medic 2 piece (3 sec longer shield) which itself could outweigh the 15% crit bonus( if you survive 2 more gcd's then you could do far more dmg than a 15% chance to crit) Am likely to eventually go 2x CT and 2x CM for bonuses. Damage is not really a problem in BM gear, survivability these days is much more of a prio than a crit boost to one ability.

WZs don't match classes, gear levels or even numbers anymore. How is it fair to penalise the least favourably 'matched' team as heavily as they are now? 60 - 75% of the rewards of a win for random pug game losses should be acceptable. Same for credits, which the removal of in lower levels is of a window licking level of stupidity. In rated WZ's i'd expect the penalties to be harsher...NOT in normal WZ's which people use to improve gear to compete in rated games(eventually....) The whole situation is just a lazy disregard on BW's part. I mean without character copy how can this stuff get tested??

Just been in a losing WZ on an alt. Myself at 31 and a 49 were the highest levels. The WZ (voidstar) had 4 operatives (dps). The sum total usable rewards was 25 commendations. Zero credits. How does this encourage people to level or even partake in pvp pre level 50? This is the level range that's supposedly been tested. Basic fact is BW couldn't give a flying fornicate about PvP. They've just given up and think the PvE will carry them through...

I will give pyro a good go, but am drawn to a more defensive 'iron fist' type build for rated teams. Think a tank spec designed to protect healers and be very heat efficient when being attacked will work well in a rated team environment. Also the slightly better mitigation will make ball running in huttball and defense in void/ civil war much more viable than as pyro. I'm not sure pyro will be hit that badly in all honesty, I get FB spam runs as often as I get back to back PPA procs atm so the balance of the internal cd may not be that bad with a TD pyro build.

Not wanting to urinate on your chips here, but LoL is one of the higher pop servers. WZ Q's solo are what 3 minutes at the most? As for 'premades' I think most people look to their guilds and/ or alliance guilds. Would suggest you look to maybe moving guilds or merging guilds or sort some kind of 'premade' group with other guilds. After all a random 'premade' on the same server is basically a pug that could be generated by those same random people pressing 'join' at roughly the same time.

I understand what you mean (play as powertech) in terms of mitigation, BUT you need to adjust your perspective a bit. Tanks are more of a support role, whilst we can't wade in to 3-4 people and soak up all the dmg like the afore mentioned WoW. We can reduce the damage our team-mates take (taunts and guards). Control people attacking our team mates, and 'carry the ball' in huttball. Basically need to have what I can only describe as a 'healer' mentality. I.e watch and assist team members rather than put yourself in the mosh pit and hope to get healed. Powertech is great for this, even as Pyro you can taunt/grapple/stun people attacking your healers and even guard teammates if needed. Not advised as pyro but can still be done. So i think the 'pvp tank' is perfectly fine as is, even considering the mitigation limitations. It's more down to play style and perception of being a tank rather than the mechanics of the game.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hRGbbMrozZMcRMoZbcb.1 My own(not legally binding!) personal variant on the RB based pvp tank build. Emphasis on getting GAJ which when combined with shield venting should mean as long as we're getting hit heat will never be an issue. Still not 100% on the AP spend but think it's a nice balanced spec as is.

Not really a hybrid spec, but http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hRGbbMrozZMcRMoZbcb.1 seems to be a more rounded 'pvp tank' kind of spec. Still not too sure on the AP spend, but think GAJ is definitely worth the 7 points. For a tanky spec I'm not sure hitman will offer any benefits, it's not like we'll be trying to kill healers anyway. More like protecting your own healers. With GAJ and Shield vent's we'll be like the duracell bunny whilst we're taking a beating. As for RB, it seems like a decent point spend. I had contemplated combust, especially when combined with taunt, but think you need to have a bit more in your locker dmg wise to draw people into hitting you rather than ignoring you. Contemplating mixing up the 2 piece CT and SC bonuses, but think overall a DPS set such as CT might be as useful as the SC set, bearing in mind shield mitigation in pvp. Obviously this would be an ok PvE tanking build, but no use at all for PvE dps. (Currently off tank as pyro for HM's, seems to work ok in most cases and be a much more balanced PvE spec)

If he's running HEGC then the snare from the ST tree wouldn't proc anyway. The 15% speed boost might compensate for the loss of snare since it's up 100% and jet charge will provide an additional gap closer. you will need a snare. Absolutely no doubt about it. Run speed buff sounds like decent compensation but in reality you'll be snared yourself in most cases. Sad thing is the IGC snare is 2 secs, but minimum CD in RP is 4.5 secs. (Pyro is linked to FB so even though same duration it can be up permenantly) Although you get JC in compensation. Is that not the exact same thing? Just your version is bit more dumbed down? It's pretty obvious that the choices are HEGC for run speed and IGC for snare is it not? What is it with people needing the obvious stated ? Did comprehension die suddenly?

you will need a snare. Absolutely no doubt about it. Run speed buff sounds like decent compensation but in reality you'll be snared yourself in most cases. Sad thing is the IGC snare is 2 secs, but minimum CD in RP is 4.5 secs. (Pyro is linked to FB so even though same duration it can be up permenantly) Although you get JC in compensation. Still wouldn't run without a snare though in PVP http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hRGbbMrozZMcRMoZbcb.1 seems like a better balance of defense and Retractable blade.

This change just makes controlling mid far more important. With no easy access to sides(speeders) all ressers will be channeled through spawn. Whover has mid will now control the game.

I would say definitely move 2 points into sweltering heat. Not having a snare would make life difficult. Would personally sacrifice the 2% endurance to get this. Also maybe lose the points in rebraced armour in favour of energy rebounder. One thing about pyro is our cd's always seem to be on cooldown and I think overall it would mitigate more dmg than rebraced armour in PvP. Not sure how these builds do dps wise. It'spossible that TD will become more important for burst in 1.2 with the changes to PPA and the rail shot internal CD.

Fixed Totally agree with what you said about grapple's utility, but sometimes you just need to pull people into the puddles of pain

Thanks guys, explained alot of the problems, esp the resolve issue. That one really annoyed me, but seems it's 'working as intended'. Still so annoying that especially in huttball the resolve bar is full/dropping 90% of the time an opponent has the ball close to the last fire

Basically I've noticed (in Huttball especially) that Grapple has a really random element to it. Before people mention resolve, i'm sensible enough to be aware of resolve bars etc before trying to grapple. so, the problem(s)... 1) Grapple often does not work on targets who'se resolve bar is dropping and has fallen to around 50%. The animation kicks off but no effect. 2) Line of Sight issues. A player can be in line of sight and range when grapple is activated but if they go around a corner/clip an object during the animation no effect is applied. 3) No likey 3D, Often when grapple up or down a level it just gives up and drops short. 4) Inquisitors/sages sprint, how is it their speed buff is never cancelled out and the grapple effect applied? It's a great ability and causes alot of tears for opponents, but It is so unreliable that when it works it feels more like a major achievement than working as it should. I've seen no mention of any fixes to these problems in the notes and was wondering if any people on PTS had noticed any improvements?

The point of the build is to spend the 'useless' portion of the full tank spec somewhere where it'll have more impact. Whats the point of filling up the ST tree when the vast majority of the point spend will not mitigate the dmg based on the cost. IF is about an extra attack while making our defensive abilities a bit better (the points to retractable blade) It is a tank spec primarily, BUT it's more of a PVP tank spec as opposed to a PVE spec. My 'IF' build will be more defensive, and hopefully more heat friendly for PvP with (I Hope) a better balance of defense and dmg. It may hit like a wet noodle, but it's not a DPS spec, it's a more useful tank (healer protector) spec. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301hRGr0MrozZdMdMoZbcb.1 The only trouble with the spec is it's heat management is entirely based around getting hit which may or may not work dependant on the opponents, but then shorter cd's on defensive abilities should compensate when protecting healers.