5 Skills, 11 Points .. but only 10 remain

[Fashooba]

looking at a deep Pyro build, putting 31 points into it. The problem starts with the remaining 10 points.

 

2 points for rail loaders

3 points for intimidation

2 points for puncture

3 points for prototype burn enhancers

1 point for prototype cylinders

 

Something has to go. I don't feel right taking a point out of fire damage since I will constantly be using at least 3 on every target.

Taking a point out of rail shot seems silly since its a very hard hitter

Taking a point out of tech crits seems silly when the whole purpose of the build is high burst damage.

 

Thoughts?

[Rancherman]

I took one out of railloaders since its only 3% less, crit is much more important

[Fashooba]

I took one out of railloaders since its only 3% less, crit is much more important

 

That's what I had originally .. then I started thinking about how much the build relies on rail and started doubting myself

[Athilias]

My thoughts? Burn Enhancers are only 2 points. So you can afford all of it.

[Fashooba]

Ah right.. burn is 2.. but puncture is 3 so you still can't.

[ReFlexionn]

looks like you are in a pinch!

[Da_Big_D__]

Essentially, what it comes down to is this: Rail Shot seems like it makes up a ton of your DPS, and while it is important, it's not the panacea you (or others) might think it is.

 

Analyzing the Pyrotech priority logically, we can conclude that Rail Shot like encompasses between 20 and 35 percent of all damage dealt by the Pyrotech. Rail Shot certainly is important, and as a single ability is likely the biggest contributor to your overall damage dealt. That said, you're not comparing Rail Shot to one other single ability - you're comparing its value to a different damage type.

 

For what should be obvious reasons, you want six points in Advanced Prototype in a maximum throughput build: the bonus crit chance applies to nearly every ability you use - ironically, except Rail Shot; Thermal Detonator, Rocket Punch, Incendiary Missile, Combustile Gas Cylinder, Flame Burst, and a very large number of more situational non-priority abilities all benefit from it. Since where you put points in the first tier of Advanced Prototype when seeking maximum throughput is straightforward, this leaves us with four points to fill five holes at the bottom of Shield Tech.

 

Thus the question is whether 3% Rail Shot damage or 2% fire damage is more beneficial. Thanks to our friend the combat lo-

 

Oh, wait.

 

So, as above, we estimate within reason the damage contribution in a single target situation - we'll talk about why single target and not AoE in a moment. Again as above, we say that Rail Shot contributes somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of overall damage output. While I personally believe it's closer to the lower end in reality, let's for the sake of argument say Rail Shot contributes about 30% of all damage. I think a reasonable assumption is to say that Thermal Detonator and Rocket Punch together contribute another 20% of all damage.

 

This leaves around 50% of damage. Where does it come from? A number of places, as it turns out:

-Flame Burst

-Combustible Gas Cylinder

-Incendiary Missile

 

Interestingly, all of these deal Fire damage. Yes, there is also Rapid Shots. No one cares about it.

 

So, which is bigger, .03*.3, or .02*.5? A calculator tells us that, given these estimates, the third point in Intimidation is better.

 

But Big D, you're *********** retarded! Clearly your estimates are flawed, I do no where near that much Fire damage!

 

Well, at the end of the day, the estimates are just that: guesses. They don't even have a terribly strong foundation, thanks to the absence of our friend the combat log. One quick thing to remember, though is that you also clearly do not do that much Rail Shot damage.

 

One must weight the versatility of a Powertechs fire damage, as well. In addition to the priority abilities, Flame Thrower and Flame Sweep also deal fire damage, meaning that while it's a close race in a single target situation, when it comes to area of effect damage there is a clear and decided victor. Further still, if you find yourself using Rapid Shots (which we conveniently ignore above), it has a chance to proc CGC. Similarly, if you're stuck at range and forced to use Unload (anyone who tells you to use Unload as a Pyrotech is retarded, by the way), that too procs CGC. Incendiary Missile can still be applied from a range - so can Rail Shot, but the cooldown on Rail Shot cannot be refreshed at a [long] range. This is an important consideration to make.

 

Also, don't forget that, due to the pure RNG that goes into deciding whether or not you finish the Rail Shot cooldown (as opposed to a stacking buff that gives you a free Rail Shot at regular intervals), it is entirely possible to go lengthy periods without refreshing Rail Shot - you will in fact have to wait out the whole cooldown on the ability, from time to time. In these situations additional fire damage is clearly the choice to make.

 

But of course, all of that is assuming you strive for maximum sustained DPS. If single-target burst is what you want, you ought to be putting everything you have into Rail Shot.

 

And given the above estimates are even the remotest bit accurate, the amount of DPS you're talking about gaining is ridiculously small; less than a couple of tenths of a percent in either direction.

 

So I would recommend 1 in Rail Loaders, and then fill out everything else you're looking at. But whether you do that or fill out Rail Loaders and go 2/3 Intimidation is largely negligible in terms of your overall performance.