jibboo Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm only 26 at the moment, but I've noticed quite a few free slots in my action bars and I didn't remember having this many free by 26 on my other characters. So, I counted up a few classes abilities, and this is what I've come up with (this does not include stances/sprint/default attack/primary class buff/talented abilities): Maruader - 29 Assassin - 28 Mercenary - 26 Powertech - 24 I might have missed one or two, but I'm pretty sure this is accurate. I love the class as it is, but maybe it could use a couple more abilities? Often times I find myself using the default attack more than my other characters, but maybe my rotation is missing something that I already have access to? On a single strong+ NPC: Make sure Flame Burst debuff (talented) is up Rocket Punch Railshot when up Flamethrower when up Default attack Should I be spamming Flame Burst/Missile Blast? Unload doesn't seem viable if I'm being beat on. I know it's a tank class and it really isn't meant to do a ton of damage, but it would be nice if if there was another debuff ability to throw up, or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashooba Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I know it's a tank class and it really isn't meant to do a ton of damage, but it would be nice if if there was another debuff ability to throw up, or something like that. Saying powertech is a tank class iis like saying sorcs mercs and ops are healers and assassins and Juggernauts are tanks. Just because ONE tree fills a support role doesn't mean it defines the class. Tell a Pyro pt he doesnt do damage.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dharagada Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Saying powertech is a tank class iis like saying sorcs mercs and ops are healers and assassins and Juggernauts are tanks. Just because ONE tree fills a support role doesn't mean it defines the class. Tell a Pyro pt he doesnt do damage.... It's true I don't do enough damage. Maybe let me have one of those rocket launchers from Illum as a new attack... Edited January 25, 2012 by Dharagada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibboo Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 You're right, I should've specified Shieldtech spec for that comment as that's what I was referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobkeen Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Don't worry, by the time you're lvl 50 you'll wish you had less skills than you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashooba Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) In that case, I feel like I didn't start feeling like a powertech til my 30s. I got rid of missile blast almost instantly and got rid of unload later. Flame burst rocket punch and railshot are your core abilities. AP powertech is the only spec I feel that needs to pay any decent attention to cooldowns and procs. I didn't try shieldtech til 30 and even then only briefly... and you're still only using a few abilities. Edit :I'm a 48 Pyro now with 3 full bars of stuff. Although I only use 6ish skills in my normal rotation, I have a ton of situational stuff. Shields healthpack stealth scan stances etc etc Edited January 25, 2012 by Fashooba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibboo Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Don't worry, by the time you're lvl 50 you'll wish you had less skills than you do. That may be true. I spend a lot of time staring at the action bar on my marauder...seeing which abilities are activated, which ones are off cooldown, which ones have enough rage to use, etc. Afraid I might miss what's going on right in front of me sometimes. Edited January 25, 2012 by jibboo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maschovy Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm mystified by your post. Ironically, I have a 26th level PT ST and I have plenty to keep me busy. As a tank, you don't need A LOT of abilities, you need a few that gets the job done. I'd rather have 10 great abilities that I use almost every battle than 30 crappy ones that I use once in awhile. If I had more abilities, I'm not sure what I'd do with them and the extra heat they would generate. I do use unload a lot. It does more damage than your default attack but generates less heat that FB. I found if I use FB - RP - RS - UL (if RP isn't back up already) and repeat, I don't really have time for much else, especially when you throw in a few cooldowns and perhaps an occasional taunt if you need it. Also, having the Flame Shield talent makes a big difference. It finishes the cooldown on RP a lot, allowing this awesome ability to be used far more often. Where PT ST really shines is ranged tanking / mobility. See below, I copied this from another post I made on another thread. As a tank, I have no problems whatsoever with damage mitigation or holding aggro and I don't even have RC or SM yet! Popping OS and ES always seems to help on the tougher battles. I like to pop them early to give my wife's sorc time to do some damage up front, mostly via dots, and then I have them available again on long fights when she might be low on mana. I actually started playing SWTOR as a Jugg, but hated it. Now that my PT is a little higher level, I understand why. Basically, the mobs in this game tend to be really spread out and tend to do a lot of knockbacks and jumping around. That requires either a very mobile tank or a ranged tank. The BH PT is blessed to be both. This is where I think people that play Juggs get so frustrated. Juggs just don't have the ability to ranged tank and they just aren't that mobile. Playing my Jugg, I feel like I spend most of my time chasing the mobs around in a frantic attempt to get them all close enough to use smash. Playing my PT is completely different. If I get knocked back, I can do ranged dps while running back, or better yet, grapple the mob to my new position. One of the most frustraing things that can happen to a tank is to be knocked back and slowed at the same time. Ironically, the devs seem to have taken a twisted pleasure in combining these two abilities at an alarming frequency. When this happens to me, I simply stay put and tank at range until the slow wears off rather than trying to make that long slow walk of shame back to the mob I'm supposed to be tanking. I can imagine how awesome life will be after SM and JC. With multiple mobs I use ranged dps / taunt / grapple to convince mobs at range to pay a little more attention to me and use my melee dps to convince mobs that are already hitting me to keep doing so. I do wish they'd remove the minimum range on grapple. It's annoying to have a mob just outside of melee range but too close for grapple. That seems to happen a lot and drastically reduces the functionality of this awesome ability. Plus it just doesn't make sense. I can hook onto you with a cable and pull you in from 10-30 yards away, but not at 5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffAlmighty Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 And yet still I suspect a great skillcap to fully utilize all the abiltieis in the correct manor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dharagada Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 The Marauder is probably the most complex class in swtor (well rage less so) and there are more things to keep track off with than probably just about any other class in SWTOR. So yeah a powertech will probably have less abilities and things to track than a marauder, that being said I still use more abilities on my pyro than most other mmos I've played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducksmyth Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 You really do have the least amount of abilities, it makes PTs a joy to level because you have all your main skills by 24 ish. My sniper and Op didn't / don't feel right that early because they are missing some really key things or their commonly used skills are talents meaning you need to get to 30 before they even fill their role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durcbjorn Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Good god no, please don't add more abilities. I use 1-9,0,-,= main bar, Shift 1-9,0,-,=, CTRL 1-9, and ALT 1-9. That's four full bars of stuff I need quick access to while tanking. A lot of it's situational, and as the tank I need to respond quickly or people die. It's already a lot. Don't need to add more. I already hear about some dps classes just spamming 2 or 3 abilities, along with 2 or 3 cooldown abilities, and I'm like wow that's so easy. Tanking is hard enough as is, with situational awareness, assisting correctly, knowing the fight mechanics... plus 4 bars worth of stuff I use frequently. Don't need to complicate it further for us. If anything, I think tanks should have it the easiest, and make dps rotations harder. For some reason that's never the case though lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dharagada Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 You really do have the least amount of abilities, it makes PTs a joy to level because you have all your main skills by 24 ish. My sniper and Op didn't / don't feel right that early because they are missing some really key things or their commonly used skills are talents meaning you need to get to 30 before they even fill their role. Er, what spec of powertech are you playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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