Sup? I'm Overheated.

[iYukiFox]

I generally find it fairly easy to manage, here's my thoughts:

 

• 
   
  
• Get Rail shot to cost 0 heat (skill+set bonus).
   
  
• Unload proc is the only RNG to our rotation. Use with caution when at medium/high heat.
   
  
• Utilize cast/channel time to dissapate heat (avoid consecutive instant casts like Unload+Heatseeker).
   
  
• Use Thermal Sensor Override to avoid high heat, not when you already have high heat. (Example: start rotation: Tracer -> Tracer -> Thermal Sensor Override -> Tracer -> Heatseeker etc.)
   
  
• The loss in dps of fitting in Rail shot (w/o 5/5 target lock) and rapids is less than overheating.
   
  
• Crit relics and crit mods can help because of the Terminal Velocity skill.
   
  
• Vent heat is for when you reach high heat by mistake, or need extra nuking for a brief spot.
   
  

 

I like the system, because it is not just a massive mana pool you slowly drain/regen, but a resource you consistently have to monitor and adapt to.

 

Have fun.

 

/Khairn, Mercenary @ Bloodworthy

 

NEVER EVER EVER use TSO on anything BUT Unload; SERIOUSLY! It will make your unload free and then while you are channeling it you are vent even more heat while still doing damage. Then depending on your cooldowns you will vent for another 1.5 seconds because you might be using tracer immediately afterwards.

[stephenjohnp]

Sorry, to say this but, manage your heat. You're clearly awful at it. Practice.

[Snagulus]

NEVER EVER EVER use TSO on anything BUT Unload; SERIOUSLY! It will make your unload free and then while you are channeling it you are vent even more heat while still doing damage. Then depending on your cooldowns you will vent for another 1.5 seconds because you might be using tracer immediately afterwards.

 

 

If you use Unload right at the end of a TM, TSO will apply to both for even more free heat.

 

Edit: This is true for any ability with an upfront heat cost cast immediately following an ability with cast time that has its heat applied on cast completion.

 

Double Edit: Abilities that use a targeting circle(Sweeping Blasters, Death From Above) are currently an exception, because the game doesn't allow you to spell queue them very nicely. It's still possible, but we're talking you casting the ability within a very small number of milliseconds after your cast.

 

For example: Tracer Missile -> Unload = Both get TSO

Fusion Missile -> Unload = Both get TSO

Tracer Missile -> Fusion Missile = Just Tracer Missile

Tracer Missile -> Death From Above = Just Tracer Missile

Edited February 8, 2012 by Snagulus

[iYukiFox]

If you use Unload right at the end of a TM, TSO will apply to both for even more free heat.

 

Edit: This is true for any ability with an upfront heat cost cast immediately following an ability with cast time that has its heat applied on cast completion.

 

Double Edit: Abilities that use a targeting circle(Sweeping Blasters, Death From Above) are currently an exception, because the game doesn't allow you to spell queue them very nicely. It's still possible, but we're talking you casting the ability within a very small number of milliseconds after your cast.

 

For example: Tracer Missile -> Unload = Both get TSO

Fusion Missile -> Unload = Both get TSO

Tracer Missile -> Fusion Missile = Just Tracer Missile

Tracer Missile -> Death From Above = Just Tracer Missile

 

Really? I would expect that to get fixed though. hmm

[Snagulus]

While I cannot say for certain without a parser to test, I do not think unload is worth casting unless you are overheating. I mean I'm constantly critting for 3400 on my Tracer and I crit far less of the time for 2400 a tick on Unload. This is why I need a damn parser.

 

Don't need a parser for something like this.

35% crit(with IA), 80% surge, over 3 seconds while under 40 heat

 

2xTracer Missile vs. 1xUnload

 

2TM = 3400 + 1890 (3400/1.8) = 5290 for 9 heat

 

Unload = 2400 + 1335 + 1335 (2400/1.8) = 5070 for -7 heat

 

 

Using your numbers, Unload is still pretty damn useful, and I think you may have underestimated Unload's damage a little bit. Not much, but its pretty damn close as is. With this in mind, it might be more valuable to delay your unload a cast or two to make sure you never ever hit 0 heat for a vent tick.

 

Added:

 

Really? I would expect that to get fixed though. hmm

 

It's pretty damn hard to fix in a good way*.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Snagulus

[TempestasSilva]

So lets look at this a little differently. I think we can all agree that damage for Aresenals is limited by heat.

 

So lets say you have a 3 minute boss fight and you have 3 different Mercs going nuts with Tracer missile and its related skills.

 

Merc A Keeps his heat around 35.

Merc B Keeps his heat in the 40 to 79 range.

Merc C Keeps his heat in the 80 to 100 range.

 

We are told, that Merc A does more DPS, but he never pushes it. B pushes it sometimes and maybe C pushes it too much. Maybe its B who does more DPS?

 

The real answer is that you are not limited by by heat, but actually heat disapation.

 

If you could build up 100 heat and it automatically dissipated to zero each time, you would do more DPS, right?

 

Stealing from Chorusgirl:

Heat dissipation is as follows –

lvl 1 = 10-39 - Heat dissipates at 5/sec

lvl 2 = 40-79 - Heat dissipates at 3/sec

lvl 3 = 80-100 - Heat dissipates at 2/sec

 

So over a 3 minute boss fight:

Merc A disapated a whopping 900 heat.

Merc B dissapated 540 heat.

Merc C dissipated 360 heat.

 

So at 16 heat, if they each just used tracer missile, Merc A was able to shot 22 more tracer missiles than Merc B and he shot 33 more than Merc C.

 

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

By managing your heat, you are not throttling back your DPS, but rather you are gaining more of your resource to use for DPS.

[Crestlin]

Well said Tempest. Understanding tiers of heat dissapation is key here. Not sure how I feel about advertising the fact we can double up on TSO here, but with that said the ideal use of this skill is absolutely not on unload. Take it in terms of heat usage avoided. I customarily use TSO on a fusion missile into an explosive dart. WHAT you might say. Well neither of these are normal rotation items I would use in an ideal conservation rotation. Timing on using heatseeking missile can occasionally be iffy and you can miss the combo and burn heat for the HS at times. I use 3 skills on every cd. Rail shot, HS, and unload, so why not use your freebie when these are all down and you need something to make the imaginary DPS meter in your head spike like a boss. Edited February 9, 2012 by Crestlin

[Yazule]

thank you tempest, i didnt want to write all of that up fyi, subscribing this so that i can pass it on to my fellow BH in guild

[Yazule]

Don't need a parser for something like this.

35% crit(with IA), 80% surge, over 3 seconds while under 40 heat

 

2xTracer Missile vs. 1xUnload

 

2TM = 3400 + 1890 (3400/1.8) = 5290 for 9 heat

 

Unload = 2400 + 1335 + 1335 (2400/1.8) = 5070 for -7 heat

 

 

Using your numbers, Unload is still pretty damn useful, and I think you may have underestimated Unload's damage a little bit. Not much, but its pretty damn close as is. With this in mind, it might be more valuable to delay your unload a cast or two to make sure you never ever hit 0 heat for a vent tick.

 

Added:

 

 

 

It's pretty damn hard to fix in a good way*.

 

Unload should be cast any time it is up imo, most under-rated attack (by BH in general) that we have.

 

you say it best 5070 for -7 heat (venting heat and doing damage ftw) vs 5290 and +9 heat ...9% closer to the 40% evilness (so 24% of "useable" heat used)

[Snagulus]

Unload should be cast any time it is up imo, most under-rated attack (by BH in general) that we have.

 

you say it best 5070 for -7 heat (venting heat and doing damage ftw) vs 5290 and +9 heat ...9% closer to the 40% evilness (so 24% of "useable" heat used)

 

 

Hitting 0 while dealing damage is bad. Any heat regen ticks that occur during this time are completely wasted, and turn in to heat you can't spend.

 

If you do it often, you start losing whole ability casts that you could have otherwise used. Throwing an extra ability before your Unload when you would hit 0 heat is more of a damage per fight gain than casting Unload immediately.

 

I want to be clear though, I agree that this is pretty much the only case in which you should be delaying a Barrage Unload in your regular rotation, and that its a pretty rare case.

 

Edit:

The is a similar case to when you overheat in the 90s, but in that case the resource you're forced to waste is Time.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Snagulus

[Yazule]

Hitting 0 while dealing damage is bad. Any heat regen ticks that occur during this time are completely wasted, and turn in to heat you can't spend.

 

If you do it often, you start losing whole ability casts that you could have otherwise used. Throwing an extra ability before your Unload when you would hit 0 heat is more of a damage per fight gain than casting Unload immediately.

 

I want to be clear though, I agree that this is pretty much the only case in which you should be delaying a Barrage Unload in your regular rotation, and that its a pretty rare case.

 

Edit:

The is a similar case to when you overheat in the 90s, but in that case the resource you're forced to waste is Time.

 

I dissagree, doing damage while at 0 heat is free damage and maximum burstability, if i could just have unload constantly running and be at 0 heat i would be a beast.

 

With that being said, i do try to avoid being at 0 heat by throwing in a fusion missle or some other big heat shot before unloading, but as long as you are doing damage and your heat is below 40 there is no bad case scenario (except if you are just spammign rapid shots like a moron)

 

so i agree and disagree i guess lol

[Snagulus]

I dissagree, doing damage while at 0 heat is free damage and maximum burstability, if i could just have unload constantly running and be at 0 heat i would be a beast.

 

With that being said, i do try to avoid being at 0 heat by throwing in a fusion missle or some other big heat shot before unloading, but as long as you are doing damage and your heat is below 40 there is no bad case scenario (except if you are just spammign rapid shots like a moron)

 

so i agree and disagree i guess lol

 

As an extension of Tempest's example:

 

Mercenary A never lets his heat be at 0 for a regen tick and stays below 40: 900 heat

 

Mercenary D has his heat at 0 for a total of 8 regen ticks over the fight : 860 heat dissipated

 

Edit: To put that in perspective

 

Mercenary E has his heat above 40 for only 8 regen ticks over the fight, and never hits 0: 884 heat dissipated.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Snagulus

[ArmaGheddon]

If you're having heat issues ask yourself this question:

 

Given your heat is at 40, and all your abilities are UP what abilites do you cast?

 

Tracer missle or heatseekers perhaps? They do more damage but now you're heat bar is almost full.

 

I cast RS, then unload. Now my heat bar is empty and I didn't have to use vent heat. If you went the route of casting heat seekers and tracers then now you are one ability from a full heat bar and then you have to vent your heat.

 

To effectively manage your heat, you need to make proper decisions about your dps. This isn't WOW and there isn't a set rotation for you to follow. If your heat is getting high, you need to use abilities like unload that procs heat disapation or railshot that costs no heat at all to let it disapate. If you have to use rapid shots because your heat is too high, then you are doing something wrong.

[Yazule]

As an extension of Tempest's example:

 

Mercenary A never lets his heat be at 0 for a regen tick and stays below 40: 900 heat

 

Mercenary D has his heat at 0 for a total of 8 regen ticks over the fight : 860 heat dissipated

 

Edit: To put that in perspective

 

Mercenary E has his heat above 40 for only 8 regen ticks over the fight, and never hits 0: 884 heat dissipated.

 

yes for pure regen based you are right, but without crits being involved of course.

 

so in the end, if you stay below 40% the entire fight it does not matter if it is 0% or 39% ... in that case it is a pure dps proposition, and I would argue that specced right with barage proc'ed the best dps with zero heat would be barrage many times... casting barrage generates heat but you are at zero at the end of the fight, so be it.

 

adding in crits and venting into the equation muddies the waters though which is why i never mentioned it into the base calculation above because people will start thinking that 47% heat is ok because I am going to crit (when they cant garuntee that)

 

I understand the whole "if your mana bar is full your regen does nothing for you" mentality fyi, but I stand by my statement if i can chain cast unload from zero heat it is more than viable (assuming buff/debuffs are stacked) and your ability to burst goes through the roof before overheat.

 

some situations i agree with your philosophy, some i do not... I often vent tracer (proc barrage) and hit unload at zero heat because in that situation is is your best dps reguardless of heat.

[Yazule]

If you're having heat issues ask yourself this question:

 

Given your heat is at 40, and all your abilities are UP what abilites do you cast?

 

Tracer missle or heatseekers perhaps? They do more damage but now you're heat bar is almost full.

 

I cast RS, then unload. Now my heat bar is empty and I didn't have to use vent heat. If you went the route of casting heat seekers and tracers then now you are one ability from a full heat bar and then you have to vent your heat.

 

To effectively manage your heat, you need to make proper decisions about your dps. This isn't WOW and there isn't a set rotation for you to follow. If your heat is getting high, you need to use abilities like unload that procs heat disapation or railshot that costs no heat at all to let it disapate. If you have to use rapid shots because your heat is too high, then you are doing something wrong.

 

I agree with this to a point as well, but say early in a boss fight I will do the HS/TM combo to get heat up to use vent heat on purpose so it will cycle for the last burst of dps at the end.

 

Once you have a good low heat rotation that pours out damage you use vent heat to burst, as long as you have it up at the end of the fight you should burst and use it as many times as you can while still getting your heat below 40 at the end of a vent... that is another thing to be added into above calculations, add in the amount of heat released by vent heat.

 

fyi you can burst overheat, hit vent from full heat and then do the RS/unload and end the whole thing still at 0 heat if you want.

 

once you dont NEED vent heat, then you can start taking advantage of it, and fyi crit is the thing that makes you not NEED it anymore without sacrificing dps

[Crestlin]

Our rotation is FCFS with the inclusion of a regeneratively degrading consumption pool. You can grade skills based on HPS or DPS. At 0 or near 0 heat, using highest DPS skill will still net you higher DPS vs giving a crap about being at 0 or near 0. There are no opportunity costs you need to concern yourselves with when you are already using your highest damaging skills. Unload, HS, and rail shot on CD is a must imo, the only restriction will be heat constraints. Tracer missile is filler that does exceptional damage, and must stay at 5 stacks of heat signuature, minus rampup of course.

[devilinhell]

Excellent and informative thread, I just wanted to clarify a few things:

 

All of this is fine and dandy. When the dps meters come out and you guys are trying to stay steady at 40 and under. People will reconsider inviting you for dps. Just saying.

 

Obviously no numbers to back it up, but it is just a hunch.

 

It's also a hunch this is quite wrong.

 

Use a relic that gives either power or alacrity, you should have no use for a crit/surge one since you are already at the soft cap.

 

Merc A Keeps his heat around 35.

lvl 1 = 10-39 - Heat dissipates at 5/sec

Merc A disapated a whopping 900 heat.

 

So at 16 heat, if they each just used tracer missile, Merc A was able to shot 22 more tracer missiles than Merc B and he shot 33 more than Merc C.

 

http://www.torhead.com/ability/dgwdKFk/terminal-velocity

It is vitally important that you do NOT gain ANY alacrity on your gear however! What does alacrity do?

 

"Reduces the time needed to activate or channel abilities, so they can be executed more quickly."

 

So this applies to both Tracer Missile and Unload, two of your primary dps abilities, so it would seem alacrity is good for Mercenaries, as it allows them to damage their target quicker, right?

 

Wrong.

 

Heat build-up is the single biggest limitation on Merc dps. If you're reading this, I am assuming you have a Merc and are familiar with what happens when your heat bar fills up - you end up standing there just hitting your default attack. That's because heat management is a vital part of playing the Merc effectively.

 

If you take a careful look at Terminal Velocity, you'll see that it can only activate once every 3 seconds at most. However, Tracer Missile has a 1.5 second activation time, making two of them back-to-back exactly 3 seconds. Even with the ability queue system in place, you can maybe add a few milliseconds gap between them. Unload is handily 3 seconds on it's own.

 

If you gain ANY alacrity at all, then you'll bring a double activation of Tracer Missile, or a single activation of Unload, under 3 seconds and start to lose out on the important proc from Terminal Velocity.

 

 

So, this means that Mistato's hunch was right according to TempestasSilva's numbers and Gariuys was wrong twice in both disputing Mistato's hunch and for suggesting alacrity.

Edited February 9, 2012 by devilinhell

[Crestlin]

Alacrity is god awful bad and the lowest on terciary stat priority.

[Snagulus]

some situations i agree with your philosophy, some i do not... I often vent tracer (proc barrage) and hit unload at zero heat because in that situation is is your best dps reguardless of heat.

 

I see what you mean, but you're trading slightly more dps(questionable without proof, but I also think Barrage-Unload is excellent) now for less dps(for certain) later.

 

You cannot spend an equivalent amount of heat because you have less of it to spend, which means at some point, trying to force that additional TM cast(to put you at equal heat spent, and thus equal damage) would cause you to go over 40 heat. Instead, you have to use a Rapid Shots.

 

The dps difference between the two options isn't even close. Delaying your Unload means you are doing TM DPS for that GCD, which is a possible minor DPS loss(I think it is, but without a lot of hard testing I can't be certain). In return for that minor loss, you've gained the difference between a TM and a Rapid Shots, which for me is at least a couple thousand damage.

 

I'm really not sure if I made it clear what I mean. It's much easier to picture in my head with a timeline and heat/damage gauges.

[Yazule]

I see what you mean, but you're trading slightly more dps(questionable without proof, but I also think Barrage-Unload is excellent) now for less dps(for certain) later.

 

You cannot spend an equivalent amount of heat because you have less of it to spend, which means at some point, trying to force that additional TM cast(to put you at equal heat spent, and thus equal damage) would cause you to go over 40 heat. Instead, you have to use a Rapid Shots.

 

The dps difference between the two options isn't even close. Delaying your Unload means you are doing TM DPS for that GCD, which is a possible minor DPS loss(I think it is, but without a lot of hard testing I can't be certain). In return for that minor loss, you've gained the difference between a TM and a Rapid Shots, which for me is at least a couple thousand damage.

 

I'm really not sure if I made it clear what I mean. It's much easier to picture in my head with a timeline and heat/damage gauges.

 

i think you missed me, tm putting me over 40, then vent to drop me down, then unload (adding heat but ending the fight at zero heat because of crits + vent activation)

 

any time you haev 0 heat you have your full burst potential, anytime you do not have 0 heat you do not have your full burst potential.

 

this only matters for finishing moves on a raid/world boss fyi... with agent buff putting my TM over 55% crits i have to work hard to front end load my heat so i can use vent asap (so that it will be up for the boss finish, or if the fight is longer to be able to get 3 vents in)

 

 

high heat does not reduce dps, just reduces the rate heat dissapates, if you plan on using vent there is nothing wrong with getting to 60 or 70% heat because your next action is vent.

 

i used vent because I had to for a long time, now i don't I use vent to front end load dps or to super burst (overheat, vent, unload(barrage), overheat with everything i have again)

 

these are the times i use Edart/fusion/TM/HS/TM combos to ramp up heat but put a beating out (with a dot)

 

most of the time we agree, i just see special situations where i can take advantage of the heat/vent mechanic to get an extra burst or two during a boss fight.

 

*edit* everyone ELSE reading (except for snag) this forget what you read, until you are splitting hairs over dps on boss fights and have NO heat issues. KEEP YOUR HEAT UNDER 40... I have spoken */edit*

Edited February 9, 2012 by Yazule

[Snagulus]

i think you missed me, tm putting me over 40, then vent to drop me down, then unload (adding heat but ending the fight at zero heat because of crits + vent activation)

 

any time you haev 0 heat you have your full burst potential, anytime you do not have 0 heat you do not have your full burst potential.

 

this only matters for finishing moves on a raid/world boss fyi... with agent buff putting my TM over 55% crits i have to work hard to front end load my heat so i can use vent asap (so that it will be up for the boss finish, or if the fight is longer to be able to get 3 vents in)

 

 

high heat does not reduce dps, just reduces the rate heat dissapates, if you plan on using vent there is nothing wrong with getting to 60 or 70% heat because your next action is vent.

 

i used vent because I had to for a long time, now i don't I use vent to front end load dps or to super burst (overheat, vent, unload(barrage), overheat with everything i have again)

 

these are the times i use Edart/fusion/TM/HS/TM combos to ramp up heat but put a beating out (with a dot)

 

most of the time we agree, i just see special situations where i can take advantage of the heat/vent mechanic to get an extra burst or two during a boss fight.

 

*edit* everyone ELSE reading (except for snag) this forget what you read, until you are splitting hairs over dps on boss fights and have NO heat issues. KEEP YOUR HEAT UNDER 40... I have spoken */edit*

 

We've been talking about slightly different situations this whole time. I agree, if you need as much burst as you possibly can(and it will die before you heat-cap), go right ahead and waste some heat, the fight is about to end anyway. I was looking at it from more of an efficiency side of things. Say, mid fight, you've been forced to move, Barrage is up but you'd be at 0 heat for a tick or two of regen. You don't need maximum burst, so instead you trade in the extra heat to make sure you don't waste any dissipation, and gain more damage done(long term) out of it.

 

Although, if your heat is low enough to begin with, you could TM -> Unload, and still end with 0-1 heat, which seems pretty much ideal. Unless the boss would die before you heat-capped the second time, I guess. Something to think about.

 

It'd sure be nice to spot on end fights with 95+ heat and no wasted extra time, but our group comp changes too much for me to ever get that good a feel on our raid's dps.

[Yazule]

We've been talking about slightly different situations this whole time. I agree, if you need as much burst as you possibly can(and it will die before you heat-cap), go right ahead and waste some heat, the fight is about to end anyway. I was looking at it from more of an efficiency side of things. Say, mid fight, you've been forced to move, Barrage is up but you'd be at 0 heat for a tick or two of regen. You don't need maximum burst, so instead you trade in the extra heat to make sure you don't waste any dissipation, and gain more damage done(long term) out of it.

 

Although, if your heat is low enough to begin with, you could TM -> Unload, and still end with 0-1 heat, which seems pretty much ideal. Unless the boss would die before you heat-capped the second time, I guess. Something to think about.

 

It'd sure be nice to spot on end fights with 95+ heat and no wasted extra time, but our group comp changes too much for me to ever get that good a feel on our raid's dps.

 

yep, mid fight you should only hit 0 heat for a split second i agree, we are gearing up our raid group still, i am top two dps most of the time (damn sniper i think is beating me out)... so when we are on the 4th boss run and the last one had 10k health when we wiped i have to squeeze out every point of damage possible, that is when i came up with the super overheat rotations, you have to plan them because to do it max dps for 35 to 40 sec you have to start at zero heat.

 

we are talking the same language, and it is definitly as advanced a dps discussion as you can have for a game as easy as this one

 

+1 to ya

Edited February 9, 2012 by Yazule

[TempestasSilva]

Excellent and informative thread, I just wanted to clarify a few things:

 

So, this means that Mistato's hunch was right

 

NO!!!

 

This is why I wish these forums had where you could downrate someones post.

 

Mistato - Completely wrong. My post illustrates why you want to stay under 40 heat as much as possible. To vent as much heat as possible. Mistato's hunch that people who try to saty under 40 heat will be shunned when damage meters exist is completely wrong. He does LESS DPS than if he used the "try to stay under 40 heat" rule.

 

 

and Gariuys was wrong twice in both disputing Mistato's hunch and for suggesting alacrity.

 

Gariuys - Partially wrong. There is no "soft cap", its diminishing returns. And you probably don't want an alacrity relic either. Also partially right - Mistato was wrong, A power relic is ok, 35% crit seems ok, accuracy is a good stat, etc.

 

There is a LOT of bad info in this thread. Best advice I can give you is listen to about 70% of what I say, 80-90% of what others like Crestlin, Yazule, and Snagulus say, and like 20% of what anyone else says. I dont even agree with them all the time, like TSO IMO has nothing to do with why alacrity is bad, but that would be a long discussion with Crestlin to explain my logic, have him counter and for us to come up with decent final answer, but the point is that either way alacrity is still bad.

 

 

Soapbox:

 

 

This thread is a good example of why you should listen to People like Yazrule and Snagulus. They have opinions, state them, back them with logic and facts, and defend them, but they are also open minded and listen to the other person and try to work out where reality lies. Without combat logs, parsers, etc. its the best way to move the discussion forward.

A lot of other people in this thread are of the "Earth is Flat" mind frame. They have an opinion based on reading it somewhere or a hunch, and they are very vocal about shouting down anyone with a differing opinion. They are closed minded and regurgitate falsehoods as if they were the laws of physics. They are also usually the type spouting L2Play, etc. Beware of them, they are not as elite as they think they are. The end result is confusing people like devilinhell who come here to actually try to learn something.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2012 by TempestasSilva

[devilinhell]

NO!!!

 

Haha, ok fair enough, if it helps, I actually misunderstood that 'People will reconsider inviting you for dps', to mean the opposite, such as people would reconsider in wanting low-heat mercs even more than other classes. Ok, in any case, good to have that clarified.

 

In other news, I discovered the cause for the heat problems I was facing, which originally started my reading threads like this in the first place... somehow 'High Velocity Gas Cylinder' accidentally got switched off and so no cylinder was ticked. Imagine the agony of doing a full day of quests with a broken linear heat system (the horror *shudders*, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy). I did find it sort of reassuring though that I was still managing enough heat/damage to be able to beat all the silver/gold bosses even with almost no procs for my levels.

 

But, on the bright side I now have as a consequence read tons of guides and relevant info, so very quickly now at level 41, everything falls into place instead of seeming random. I see it as simple as playing a mini-game inside the game, kind of named 'Unlock-the-Icons':

 

while prioritizing heat below 40:

3 Tracer Missiles = 5 heat signatures = hit Heatseeker Missile (this occurs routinely)

Tracer Missile until something procs:

5 Tracer Locks = hit Rail Gun

1 Barrage = hit Unload

 

The first time properly using a Heatseeker with 5 signatures for +2k damage was like the first hit of a drug, a clear incentive to use the system instead of strong-arming through baddies.

 

I could visualize coding a script to juggle these variables and balance them together with pattern matching. Anyway, I can't wait to get 30% crit gear and hopefully by then update patches will allow it so it can be added to my cool looking Mercenary Elite orange armor.

Edited February 10, 2012 by devilinhell

[bahdasz]

Stop spamming all your specials constantly.

 

Done.