Thermal detonator - pls explain

[DiabloVS]

Every singe guide on powertechs states that TD share cd with explosive dart, but it doesn't for quite a time already, as far as I started to understand shortly after speccing in it.

Now the forum search brings me only to the outdated posts and guides, so please share a link to any up to date guide or explain the usage of TD and ED in current state - should I use both in pvp/pve, or should I replace ED with TD. Thanks.

[wetslampigduex]

Honestly i never use Explosive dart at all. Not enough dmg for the amount of heat imo.

 

As far as the TD goes. I'd say in PvP it is a must i ran a 7/3/31 build and the burst you get with TD is nearly unmatched by any other class. Proper opening Rotation would be this..

 

TD>TSO>IM>EF>RS>RP>RS>FB then a rapid shot or 2 to keep the heat in the plus region aka 30 or below. If you get lucky and everything crits your looking at 4500 from TD hitting at the same time as a 5000 RS not to mention your IM hit for 1.5k when it landed and is ticking for nearly 1k every second, a 3800 RP, another 5k railshot, and roughly another 3k from Flameburst(plus the dot). So in roughly 7.5 seconds your pushing 23k dmg not including your dots. Aka Target better be getting heals or hes dead.

 

As for Pve(it took me a long time to give it up, like 6 months) a build without TD is the way to go. You don't often need the crazy burst in pve like you do in pvp. I've found it much easier to manage the heat without TD in long 5-15min encounters. While Running a TD build i often had to wait for TSO to be up to re apply IM because the cost of heat which in turn loses a ton of dps when the dots not up. The rotation for a non TD build is very similar except you take out the TD and add a lot more FB. TBH both builds rely on RNG form the RS proc and if your not getting the procs it's the quickest way to over heat yourself imo.

 

This here is what i use for PvE http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/4b7c61dd-12c1-4bad-946c-ec907838f039 ...

Always topping charts

Edited December 26, 2012 by wetslampigduex

[TheJackalistaken]

For PvP I use both, but only td on cd. I use ED at range, stacking with with non-proc'd RS. Then I TD>FB>RS(proc) at 10m. This will give you max burst, which is the name of the game in swtor pvp.

Edit: also don't use IM as the poster above stated, it is a complete waste of heat.

Edited December 27, 2012 by TheJackalistaken

[MantorokTwelve]

Really is there a good way to keep track of the RS proc? The cooldown for it is internal, so other than counting 4-5 seconds after every time I use a procced rail shot, I don't see a good way to keep myself from needlessly using flame burst/rocket punch.

 

From what I understand, the priority is keep IM up, rocket punch/flame burst to proc rail shot, rail shot when procced? What are my heat benchmarks to watch out for, at what point do I pew pew? I'm guessing save my heat override for refreshing IM if I'm getting hot, or to get a ghetto free rail shot if my procs are screwing me over and I'm too hot for anything else?

[OlosBC]

Really is there a good way to keep track of the RS proc? The cooldown for it is internal, so other than counting 4-5 seconds after every time I use a procced rail shot, I don't see a good way to keep myself from needlessly using flame burst/rocket punch.

 

From what I understand, the priority is keep IM up, rocket punch/flame burst to proc rail shot, rail shot when procced? What are my heat benchmarks to watch out for, at what point do I pew pew? I'm guessing save my heat override for refreshing IM if I'm getting hot, or to get a ghetto free rail shot if my procs are screwing me over and I'm too hot for anything else?

 

After a proc happens, there will be 4 gcds before it can trigger again. One of those is used by the ability that triggered the proc. One should always obviously be used with rail shot. So you have 2 Gcds to use on non proccing abilities.

[Consular_Bob]

Notice that you only have 104% accuracy. Does that not mean you hardly hit the Bosses? I was led to believe you eneded 110% minimum due to the 10% extra the bosses have? Also, you crit is way low. Edited December 27, 2012 by Consular_Bob

[Omophorus]

Notice that you only have 104% accuracy. Does that not mean you hardly hit the Bosses? I was led to believe you eneded 110% minimum due to the 10% extra the bosses have? Also, you crit is way low.

 

He'll miss 6% of his Rail Shots and 16% of his Rapid Shots. Not "hardly hit" by any stretch, but still not optimal.

 

He would be better served at 300/300 Accuracy/Surge due to the drastic DR curve on Surge past 300. Even with the relatively large percentage of yellow damage in PT's sustained DPS slightly devaluing Accuracy, Surge past 300 simply isn't a priority without some talent or stance to boost Accuracy and negate the need for it on gear.

Edited December 27, 2012 by Omophorus

[wetslampigduex]

Notice that you only have 104% accuracy. Does that not mean you hardly hit the Bosses? I was led to believe you eneded 110% minimum due to the 10% extra the bosses have? Also, you crit is way low.

 

I opened a thread about this yesterday, im kinda on the ropes about it. http://www.torparse.com/search?s=slammin

 

those are a bunch of random parses, if you look thru on the boss fights sometimes i miss RS 2-3 times a fight but some times its 0%. http://www.torparse.com/a/62369 thats a good one... some fights i miss 0 others i miss 1-3

 

as far as the crit, yeah i feel i need to bring it back up. I used to run 35% ranged crit buffed but since dropped a few enhancements with crit in favor of power. I think what i am going to do is switch out 3 enhancements with the power accuracy, switch my color crystal back to 41 crit, and one agile mod for a nimble and itll bring it to this http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/dcdefbea-e8bc-4915-9216-6beda7a2522d

 

which now that i look at it im very pissed that i have to go home and r/e 63 enhancements because that looks almost perfect to me the way i changed it... my dumbar$e shouldnt have bought that mask for 2 mill last night lol

[FeralPug]

I can only speak from a PVP perspective, but based on my parses and experience in WZ's, 31 pyro builds are simply better at burst. My parses yield significant dps increases with full pyro builds in short bursts, though non-TD builds might yield higher damage numbers over the course of a long match.

 

The beauty of TD is that if you line it up to go off with RS, which you should every time you can, you can (when properly geared) hit an unshielded target for 14k in what appears to be 2 global cooldowns (again, when geared. My power is sitting at 1475). If you're running anything less than a 31 point build you are still outputting tons of damage, but it's very even, predictable damage. This damage is relatively easy to heal through when compared to the spikey burst a full pyro can do.

 

You don't want to just blindlly go into your rotation though. You need to burst bubbles and wait out shields before you spool up your big burst.

 

What's great about the 1.4 'nerf' is that they moved TD and explosive dart to different timers. ED is absolutely perfect for popping sorc bubbles from a distance. Engage a sorc at 30 meters with ED, and by the time you reach your big RS/TD burst moment, the bubble is gone and the sorc takes the full brunt of your rotation. This can be 14,000 hitpoints gone in the blink of an eye. IM hits like a truck on targets below 30%, so if you are good on heat you can use it to seal the deal with some FB's for good measure. (I still rarely use IM, but with burnout it's a hard hitter on a target below 30%).

[snowmon]

personally this is my tree:

 

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/Powertech#i2i-32-32ik1ceif

 

imo TD is not worth the heat. flame bust gets me the dot i need and the damage/heat ratio from IM is pitiful

 

i will use the following skills:

 

Single Target:

Flame Burst

Rocket Punch

Rapid Shots

Rail Shot.

 

Multipule mobs:

Explosive Missile

Flame Thrower

DFA

[wetslampigduex]

personally this is my tree:

 

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/Powertech#i2i-32-32ik1ceif

 

imo TD is not worth the heat. flame bust gets me the dot i need and the damage/heat ratio from IM is pitiful

 

i will use the following skills:

 

Single Target:

Flame Burst

Rocket Punch

Rapid Shots

Rail Shot.

 

Multipule mobs:

Explosive Missile

Flame Thrower

DFA

 

So your the type of powertech i smash by 100-200k in wz?.. IM is a huge dps increase, you dont throw it every target tho cause you can burn down dps in about 4 gcd's only use it on healers ( i mean it only ticks for 1k every second lol)

 

And to the poster asking about a good way to keep track of the CD on RS proc. Turn on the CD timers in your prefs. if your doing it correctly and using RS right after you get a proc the CD time on RS should have 10 seconds left and it'll proc.

[Leira_Kheren]

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