Ranged Powertech, viable?

[Direksone]

Hi guys,

 

I am sorry if this has been discussed already, but is there a specc that works to be ranged as a Powertech? I was drawn to mercenary because of it but instead rolled Powertech to notice it SEEMS it is a somewhat melee-ish class. Could someone give me some insight on this? I am talking about dps btw.

[Anderofindel]

In the end, Powertech is going to be a melee class. Are there some abilities that can be used at range? Yes. Can you do great DPS in PvE or PvP from range? No.

 

If you want to be a ranged BH, reroll Mercenary; Powertechs need to be 10m or closer to be really effective!

[Direksone]

As I feared, that is unfortunate. Don't really look forward to leveling another character just to be able to go Mercenary. I guess I'll just roll with this for now and see if I can get into it or not, perhaps even go tank, who knows. A shame really as I was drawn to being a ranged dps.

[Agooz]

Stick to powertech, alot more fun, more useful, and more powerful in both PvE and PvP.

 

Pyro tree is the most range experience you can get on a powertech. You still need to be within 10m but only need to be in melee range every 9sec. The 10m range is actually the advantage of being a powertech. If you learn the class well, you can kite melee opponents withing those 10m and be extremely effective. Another HUGE advantage of Powertechs is that all their main abilities are instant, as opposed to Mercernaries.

The only time a mercenary beats a powertech is when the powertech is fighting someone else at a distance and the mercenary is just wailing on him from far. Otherwise, going against a Merc 1v1, powertech will win 9 out of 10 times.

 

On the otherhand, I would recommend Merc, if you also have an inclination to heal.

[Mapex]

Hi guys,

 

I am sorry if this has been discussed already, but is there a specc that works to be ranged as a Powertech? I was drawn to mercenary because of it but instead rolled Powertech to notice it SEEMS it is a somewhat melee-ish class. Could someone give me some insight on this? I am talking about dps btw.

 

You might want to save yourself time if you prefer a ranged DPS character and reroll Mercenary ASAP.

 

The closest to a ranged character you can be as a Powertech is via the PyroTech tree. There are a couple of problems with this:

1) Depending on how strongly you feel about being a ranged DPS, you are locked into one skill tree for the rest of that character's life. This defeats the point of having skill trees.

2) You still have to be in close range often enough to use Flame Burst and Rocket Punch to maximize the effectiveness of the spec, so you are really not as ranged as you may want to be.

 

Every spec of the Mercenary is a ranged fighter, on the other hand, and the class uses blasters and missiles, both ranged weapons, very frequently to Powertech's melee gauntlet and close range flamethrower attacks.

 

If you want to be a ranged heavy armor class, choose Mercenary. It's a great class and equally effective and you will enjoy it a lot.

[Fredcat]

In the end, Powertech is going to be a melee class. Are there some abilities that can be used at range? Yes. Can you do great DPS in PvE or PvP from range? No.

 

If you want to be a ranged BH, reroll Mercenary; Powertechs need to be 10m or closer to be really effective!

 

This is right on. You might want to stick with PT though, unless you want to be a turret. Mercs are getting nerfed hard in this patch too. They will actually have to use a rotation now instead of being TM spammers.