Are there any CORE abilities we dont use?

[Brolaf]

Given the states of my cool downs I open with sonic to get teh immediate snap agro from the group then i use the flame cone to build agro.

 

Don't use sonic for initial agro, just use death from above, or rocket jump and tab flame burst if thns are cced nearby. Sonic is important to have in case of cc breaks and more adds comn in durng a fight.

[Trungalung]

...PT's are a ranged tank...

 

No, they are not. They are designed as melee with some range capability.

[MigSebes]

PT's are a ranged tank.

 

Almost not even worth correcting you just because of that. We are melee tanks. You might want to read some PT tanking guides. And FS should be part of your rotation with multiple targets. If you don't spam it heat is not a problem.

[The_Stig]

Flame sweep is a great damage padder in the WZ. If you are getting pummeled in the WZ by 4+ enemies, pop your expertise buff/shields/HOT/stim. Pop oil slick, spam FS, drop the sticky missile, pop the vent heat and keep spamming FS. Easy 20-25k damage to your name and five enemies at half health. Helps your team score, keeps enemy busy and weakens them. Edited January 6, 2012 by The_Stig

[DynamiteHeart]

Reading this thread makes me wonder if I just play wrong. I'm level 36 right now, but I pretty often will Explosive Dart a target, then Missile Blast to knock him into range of more people for the Explosive Dart explosion. I also sometimes use Missile Blast when I'm kiting an elite, but it isn't used too often.

 

I feel like I use Explosive Dart too often. I don't see it listed in peoples rotations but I almost always open with it while leveling. I also rarely use Unload. I know it does pretty good damage but I can't move while channeling it and it is single target. Though I guess there is no reason to use Flame Burst over Unload if Unload is off CD and I need filler.

[xioix]

The one where it knocks back weak/standard enemies and deal a laughable amount of AOE damage. Oh, and it also uses 25 Heat. :/ Forgot the name because I dropped it as soon as I got it.

 

Also Shoulder Slam? Forgot the name too but it only works on weak/standard enemies but I've yet to see the icon lit up since I got it.

[xioix]

Sonic missile is on CD, flamethrower is a cone effect and is channeled.

 

And Flamethrower also has an 18s CD.

[Triforcedragon]

Reading this thread makes me wonder if I just play wrong. I'm level 36 right now, but I pretty often will Explosive Dart a target, then Missile Blast to knock him into range of more people for the Explosive Dart explosion. I also sometimes use Missile Blast when I'm kiting an elite, but it isn't used too often.

 

I feel like I use Explosive Dart too often. I don't see it listed in peoples rotations but I almost always open with it while leveling. I also rarely use Unload. I know it does pretty good damage but I can't move while channeling it and it is single target. Though I guess there is no reason to use Flame Burst over Unload if Unload is off CD and I need filler.

 

Well there is all the reason to use Flame Burst over Unload as AP since it can proc our free Rocket Punch and stacks damage on FT, not even mentioning higher crit chance and crit damage on it from talents, but I guess as Pyrotech there is no reason

[Rabbitofdoom]

In early lvls dart is usefull but at higer the issue is that it will knock ranged mobs out of the flame sweep range. While its not that much spamy ability it can do a decent damage if you are speced for shield tech with flame surge.

 

Atm most of time in open world on weak mob packs i start with death from above then just follow up with rocket fist, rail shot the mob mako stasis fields, unload on third, if i dont get too many crits i finish them with 1-2 flame sweeps.

Then rest to drop heat move to next stack flame sweep spam/vent heat/flame spam, basic attack as a finisher.

 

Dart is ok if you fight a pair of strong/weak mob. I fire dart on weak mob to get some extra damage on strong one/then usualy follow with a flame thrower to finish weak one while dealing damage to strong one.

[blobafat]

I do tank and I literally never use it. Not good damage, doesn't aggro much (not to mention you have far better options) and it's a heat hog. If there's something I'm missing, please tell me, because I have far better options, and the thing is a heat hog.

 

 

Flame sweep is an aoe that puts the burning de buff on all targets. Crits also proc the cooldown on the punch. Which helps on threat.

[DarrkLore]

Assuming they are all close enough, could be viable. But generally you want to save your heat, and 25 can make much more of a difference. Besides, damage reduction really only makes a noticable difference on bosses. From all the upper flashpoints I've done, none of the elite enemies have been close enough for a flame sweep, let alone once I've started kiting. PT's are a ranged tank, so if you're tanking, you should be at range. Outside of using RP on NPCs that chase, I don't get close to any enemies.

 

To each his own. I still don't see a good use for flame sweep for tanks that are kiting properly.

 

Dear God just no... Just because PT is a ranged class doesn't mean you should tank from range. You're seriously making your job a lot harder if you're trying to tank from range. Most importantly, your threat generation is higher in melee range. And besides that most of your useful abilities, like FLAME SWEEP are in melee range. If you want to be a top notch tank, you gotta get up close and personal.

 

And as for Flame Sweep, maybe the difference isn't too noticeable with the non-bosses. However, it's an AoE debuff which can affect up to 5 targets. That adds up to a decent amount of damage reduction. And like the others have said, it has a high crit chance and a chance to reset Rocket Punch.

Edited January 6, 2012 by DarrkLore

[Vidrak]

I do kind of consider the BH a "ranged" tank, though, when I do tank, I am in melee almost exclusively. But the one huge advantage we have over other tanks, especially in some situations, is we can kite bosses and still do damage and hold hate at range. Sure it isn't optimal, but none of the other tanks can really do it. I can move out of AoE's and still hit the boss at ranged, it is incredibly useful. Or even backing up, continuing to do damage and using jet charge to interrupt. There are lots of advantages to ranged combat and tanking.

 

I probably use Missile Blast and Unload the least of anything. However, I use Missile blast a lot when fighting weak mobs. As someone else mentioned with opening with Explosive dart and then Missile blasting the mob into position so it hits everything else, I do this all the time questing. Plus, 30M range, you might as well use something to start doing some damage, though, I guess I could just jet charge in. Either way, I still find it useful for knocking stuff back into position so I can Flamethrower everything down in one blast. It really just depends on the situation, but I find many groups are VERY spread out to begin with, making many of the melee options not all that viable. Also, Missile Blast is still useful in PvP at times when you don't want to jet charge in but still add whatever damage you can.

 

I might remove Unload from my bar as I hate the channel, even if the damage is descent. It also gets knocked back/down when you take damage, making it even weaker. With basically all our moves being instants, the channel feels very out of place and seems to fit more with the Mercenary line. The only time I really use it is right after I Electro-Dart something so I can get the full channel off.

[Dharknite]

Reading this thread makes me wonder if I just play wrong. I'm level 36 right now, but I pretty often will Explosive Dart a target, then Missile Blast to knock him into range of more people for the Explosive Dart explosion. I also sometimes use Missile Blast when I'm kiting an elite, but it isn't used too often.

 

I feel like I use Explosive Dart too often. I don't see it listed in peoples rotations but I almost always open with it while leveling. I also rarely use Unload. I know it does pretty good damage but I can't move while channeling it and it is single target. Though I guess there is no reason to use Flame Burst over Unload if Unload is off CD and I need filler.

 

There is nothing wrong with ED infact sometimes I feel I dont use it enough, it is good fire and forget damage. If you plan on going 31 Pyrotech then you will easily slip into using Thermal Detonator.

[JaxinRiens]

Flame sweep is a great damage padder in the WZ. If you are getting pummeled in the WZ by 4+ enemies, pop your expertise buff/shields/HOT/stim. Pop oil slick, spam FS, drop the sticky missile, pop the vent heat and keep spamming FS. Easy 20-25k damage to your name and five enemies at half health. Helps your team score, keeps enemy busy and weakens them.

 

To add to this...

when you get them this low if you are still alive.

 

Carbonize, move 5 meters DFA you should catch a couple in the aoe. I have killed 4 players like this before since they were not focusing me well.