Yeah, on things like Gharj you can run in and run out, but on ranged bosses that will start damaging you within 30m, you're going to take a lot more damage than a ranged class.

It's your friends' AOE that's bringing down that pack of players, not Flame Sweep. Flame Sweep is good for interrupting a group, but spamming it isn't a great idea.

Some encounters can be more difficult if all DPS is melee, but they're all still doable if your team is on the ball.

I've tried hybrid builds and didn't care for them. If you're going to DPS, then go balls out and DPS with a real DPS spec. If you play smart and don't charge right into the middle of a group of players, you're still going to have good survivability.

Burnout is for "periodic elemental damage" while the bleed is kinetic. I'm not a fan of the overall build, but I would take TD over RB any day.

Have you tried Impotent Sloth yet?

I think Pyro has an earlier payoff than the other trees

I can check when I get home. I've got a crapload of modable gear in my cargo hold, and I'm pretty sure I've got stuff that matches.

Well, there is a tanking tree and two DPS trees. Since you've tried one of the DPS trees and didn't like it, try the other DPS tree?

Lets all be honest here. Shieldtech isn't that fun until you get Jet Charge. I'd go with another spec (Hint: Pyrotech) until at least 30.

I leveled to 50 with Cybertech and switched to Biochem for raiding. In retrospect, this wasn't too bad, because my gear was always kept up-to-date with mods, grenades were fun, and I had the best spaceship gear.

You should only be in melee range for Rocket Punch, and even then, it's an instant cast so you can hightail it out of there immediately. I would tell your group/guild that they're being overly anal, and if they're absolutely convinced they can't get past an encounter without a "true" ranged DPS, there is probably something else wrong.

That sucks that it's bugging out for you. Basically, the gist of the build is that you put points into

The combustible cylinder talents are just a necessary evil to get to the higher talents.

There's a known bug with this build and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, FYI

No you won't

Weird, it works for me. Maybe a different site will work better: http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/bounty_hunter/powertech/#:::

For this build to work properly, you have to "activate" your gear by pulling up your character sheet and right-clicking every item.

Nobody has mentioned it yet, but I think one of the biggest strengths of the build is how it performs equally well using any of the cylinders.

It's impossible to provide a set rotation because you have a) abilities with different cooldowns b) abilities whose cooldowns can be randomly reduced or reset c) the heat mechanic. My take: The priority is to keep heat at maximum regeneration, fire off Rail Shot whenever it's up, favor Rocket Punch over Flame Burst because it has a higher chance to proc a Rail Shot refresh, and maintain the Incendiary Missile DoT. Unload/Flamethrower/Thermal Detonator are used in burn situations (e.g. you popped your adrenal/relic/Explosive Fuel and either the boss is about to die or you have Vent Heat available), when you're well below the threshold of going into a lower heat regen rate, or in combination with Thermal Sensor Override.

Nah, I think I'll just use Rapid Shots periodically rather than gimp myself using a cylinder that I'm barely specced into.

I don't know what your spec is, but as a pyro, I consider myself a mobile melee/ranged hybrid. Many bosses have some sort of melee-range AoE, so I find myself at max range for Rail Shot/Rapid Shot/Unload, running in halfway for Flame Burst, running into melee range for Rocket Punch, and then running back out ASAP. If you're good at timing your abilities, you won't get hit by any boss AoE but you'll still do your maximum DPS.

Nice video. Looks like you're a Biochem, you went with the Eliminator set, and you've got at least 31 points in Pyrotech. What talents did you pick up in Shieldtech and AP?

You just have to keep one eyeball on your heat meter and become disciplined about not spamming Flame Burst. It takes some practice, but it's not too hard. In PvP, with as much as you'll get stunned, heat is rarely a problem. Edit: There's not really a "rotation" but more of a priority system. What I typically do: Rail Shot > Rapid Shots (if above 40% heat) > Incendiary Missile (if not present and it's a long fight) > Thermal Detonator (if plenty of spare heat and target won't die before it explodes) > Rocket Punch > Thermal Sensor Override + Flamethrower > Flame Burst

I use it as an immediate follow up to explosive dart when clearing trash...