It's definitely manageable. I'm only a few points away for TD and i'm looking forward to getting it in my rotation. You're still able to burn things down pretty well. I haven't noticed it being any slower or faster than Arsenal, but it's definitely more useful if I want to kite a mob.

Also tried this spec over the weekend and I find the comparison to WoW Warlock to be pretty spot on. I played a Lock in WoW so I'm used to having mobility and great damage. Pyrotech is pretty close to matching this play style (at least more so than the Arsenal spec). It'll be interesting to see where things go with this build but so far I'm having much more fun managing heat and skill priorities for max DPS over just spamming Tracer Missiles and not being able to move. I highly recommend everyone at least try this build.

Hey Boba, Thanks again for your tips. I guess that sort of answers my question about Tracer Spam and Arsenal play styles. I guess there's just something not that interesting about sitting there and spamming tracer missiles as the primary source of damage. I can see where the whole "Turret of Doom" aspect might work well for some people...but it's not exactly my play style. That being said, I switched over to a quick Pyrotech build and I'm really enjoying it. I'm not sure of the difference in DPS (since there's really no way to pull that data right now as far as I know) but it seems comparable and i'm killing things just as fast as I was. The added mobility is nice and managing your skill priorities between Incendiary, RailShots, PowerShots and Unload just seems a little more interesting to me. I highly suggest anyone interested in more mobility and a more interesting skill usage set (at least in my opinion) check out the Pyrotech guide as well and give it a shot (pun intended).

Thinking about switching over to Pyrotech. Subscribed.

Hey again guys, Checking in on the thread and it's great to see it continue to grow and increase everyone's knowledge base. I did have a few questions/concerns that I'm hoping you guys might be able to answer. So let me preface this by saying that I'm currently a level 35 Aresenal Specced Merc. I've obviously got a few more abilities to unlock and talents to pick up, but this is the general build that i'm currently heading for: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rc0MZrIkroMdRzfz.1 I'm primarily trying to focus on PvE right now since that's generally what I focus on when I get to end game. I've skipped several of the survivability/CC focused PVP talents. There were also a few talents I decided to pick up along the way because I had to put points into something just to get to the next tier. Feedback/Notes on the build are appreciated. My first real question is related to Skill usage/rotation. I've asked this of Werdan previously, who answered by saying that he doesn't really stick to a certain rotation because things are far too situational in PVP and it gets boring in PVE. That makes perfect sense to me, but I am curious/concerned about achieving the best sustained damage I can in groups so I'm positive I'm pulling my weight. Throughout the thread there have been a few smaller discussions about abilities and how effective they are compared to others. I'd love get a better idea of what abilities you should be focusing on for maintaining damage output (i.e. What's the ability priority) My current ability selection mentality is as follows: Groups/AOE - (Note: This is the general series I use if Death from Above is down) Fusion Missile to apply a group DOT/debuff & CC -> Explosive Dart to continue the apply another CC/knockdown and additional AOE damage -> Clean up whatever targets are left with Missile Blast for additional AOE damage & knockdowns Single Targets - Tracer Missile x3 to apply debuff stacks to target -> Rail Shot if it's available -> Unload if it's available -> Power Shot if it's available. From here I maintain my 5 debuff stacks with Tracer Missiles as needed, and use a Power Shot or Basic White Damage Attack to fill in gaps while I wait for Unload and Rail Shot to come off of cooldown. Just curious what you guys think of this setup. There seem to be some talks about Power Shot not really being worth the effort or heat and that it makes sense to spam more Tracer Missiles (especially since I just realized the self buffs provided still require 5 shots instead of 3 like the armor debuff does...). I assume that eventually some of the other abilities I get (Like Heat Seeking Missiles) will replace something in this priority list? I've had a pretty decent time playing the Arsenal Merc, but I'm starting to become concerned that it's just all about Tracer Missile spam, which seems sort of boring to me. Also, the lack of mobility is somewhat of a concern now that I'm actually playing the class first hand. I'm giving some serious thought to trying out the PyroTech build to see what I think of that. I loved playing my Warlock in WoW and being able to run around, do damage and inflict DoTs so maybe a PyroTech is more my style after all. A few additional questions: Werdan - Are you still using the hybrid spec posted up on your first page. I'm also thinking of trying this build as well to see what I think. How difficult is it to get people off of you in PvP with some of the additional PVP based talents with knockbacks and slows? I'm built pretty much completely PVE so I don't want to pass judgement on anything without trying it, but the few PVP situations I've gotten into have gone horrible due to a lack of maintaining distance and getting all of my casts interrupted. I don't want to jump on the "ZOMG WE HAS NO SURVIVABILITY" bandwagon because I understand that classes have to have counters, but it just seems extremely frustrating to have to sit still and keep people off you in order to maintain high DPS in PVP. Thanks in advance for your tips and advice. Happy hunting.

Male Merc named Venaris (based off the Latin word Venari for hunt) Female PT named Fettish LEgacy - Aurion

So, essentially you can "grind" your Light/Dark side points once you've gotten max points anyways?

Wow! Awesome link! Thanks so much!

I'm just curious if there's a way to tell what sort of gear stats you should be focusing on for your companion. I assume each of the companions fall under some sort of class similar to those available to the player. However, I don't entirely understand how to determine this (outside of just guessing based on their abilities) which makes it difficult for me to determine what stats I should focus on for my companion. Am I missing something obvious here? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide!

This is actually a concern of mine as well. I'm making the decisions that I would genuinely make in these given situations but that ends up with me being nice on moment and then not so much the next. I maintained a "Neutral" standing up until level 30 when eventually the light side barely won out and I now have a ranking of Light Side 1. I'm concerned that I'm going to miss out on some loot by not being good or evil enough and that impedes on the true "role playing" experience that I'm trying to get from the game. I love that my I really have to think about my decisions and actions in this game but I also don't want to end up being penalized in terms of gear availability somewhere down the road because I played the game the way I wanted to.

I was curious if you had any insight into skill rotations? I'm primarily interested in PVP and most likely looking at going Arsenal, but if you have suggestions for Pyrotech or the hybrid build you've posted and are using, I'm sure others would love to know. Thanks!

Also, preferred professions for Merc? Biochem or Cybertech?

You and this thread have sold me. Merc it is.

Ya, I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out. Blasting **** down from far away sounds kind of fun but there seems to be less "gadgets" and options compared to the PowerTech, which seems like that would be what a Bounty Hunter is all about. Still having trouble choosing...

fantastic thread with awesome information. subscribed.

Awesome thread guys! I'm finally level 10 and I'm trying to decide on an AC but I haven't been able to yet... In WoW I played a Shammy so I'm used to Ranged DPS/Healing but I'm sort of looking for something new. Playing a tank is always something that intrigued me (being the ****** meatshield who everyone counts on!). However, I'm a little concerned about the Powertech's required range and abilities to be DPS. One of the Bounty Hunter guides I read made it sound like PowerTech was all about Melee range abilities to generate threat and dps. That just feels a little...odd for a bounty hunter. I'm not completely sold on this just yet so I thought I'd ask you all just how dependent on close range a PowerTech is and if there's any room at all to be a Range DPS/Tank. Is this a misconception here? P.S. this is the thread in question: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=544

This is probably a simple question for the people in this thread but I'm sort of just wondering how everyone is enjoying the Merc AC? I'm level 10 now so it's time for me to pick an AC but I'm not sure what I want to do just yet. I leveled to 10 in Beta but never really picked a side and didn't get to try anything out. I'm sort of afraid of picking a class I'm not going to enjoy. In WoW I played a Shammy so I was all about Healing/DPS. However I don't know if that's something I want to do again. Tanking has always been something I wanted to try (played a DK alt in WoW as well). Right now it's a toss up. As someone already mentioned it seems that the different ACs have been explained so far that Powertech is all about Melee and close range damage (which feels weird for a Bounty Hunter) and Mercenary is all about stationary ranged nuking (which a lack of mobility then becomes a concern for me). One other question I have is what sort of CC/Lockdown or escape abilities does the Merc class have if they're all about keeping distance so they don't get smashed in the face. Thanks in advance and great thread!

So it's possible for them to simply take away your force sensitivity? If that's the case then why not just take it away from dark side users such as the sith? I'm a little confused about this process. What happens to Jedi that simply leave the order because of disagreements or broken codes? Do the Jedi make any attempt to stop them or keep them from becoming sith, or do they simply let them go along their merry way without and care or concern? I mean, what would have been the Jedi Order's reaction had they found out Anakin and Padme we're married and having kids against the code if Anakin wouldn't have flipped out on his own? Would they have intervened? Would they have taken the kids away?

I'm just curious what forms of punishment the Jedi order would exercise against members of the order that break the Jedi Code? How strict are they about the Code itself? Many of the rules seem extremely rigid (especially regarding things such as emotions and relationships) and I'm wondering how people who break these codes are actually dealt with.