AP PVP rotation?

[Durbenmewgen]

I've never played AP spec so, i'm not sure what "rotation" to use for pvp, any advice?

[Brunner_Venda]

http://www.noxxic.com/swtor/pve/bounty-hunter/powertech/advanced-prototype/rotation-and-cooldowns

 

Basically, work toward proc for the prototype flame thrower. Use it on the guy on the other side who is standing still and casting all of the healing spells. Carbonize/electro stun with the prototype thrower works as well.

 

The rest is retractable blade for the dot, immolate, rocket punch, and rail for the crit in that order. Then spam flame burst and flame sweep to build the three-stack for PFT . Then work on making someone sit still for a sec so you can hit them with it. When that's done, everything is off CD. Use explosive fuel with this and everything usually crits, that's where our damage comes from, stack power and surge.

 

Save your shoulder rockets for when you are stunned and punish the idiot who did it to you. Don't break the stun, hit the shoulder rocket and give them 10-14K of damage, while you take 30% less. Then finish them off when the stun breaks.

 

You'll want the combat tech set for the rocket punch crit. Eliminator is 100% useless because rail crits 100% of the time after a rocket punch. Min max the set for power and surge, and don't forget the explosive fuel.

[dannycarr]

I have a level 30 AP PT and want to know how you guys feel about it in PvP as I am thinking of levelling it to 55 so I have an imp toon (mainly play rep).

[Aetrus]

Rotation I use looks like Immolate>R-Blade>Rocket Punch>Railshot>Flame Burst spam. Only use Flamethrower when you have 3 stacks up, preferably on the healer. And if you're close to finishing off someone, Shoulder Cannon spam.

[PhatMcMuffins]

Retractable blade first. Blood tracker: Damage increased to bleeding targets by 6%. Immolate will do more after RB. Edited June 7, 2013 by PhatMcMuffins

[Ganrich]

Rotation I use looks like Immolate>R-Blade>Rocket Punch>Railshot>Flame Burst spam. Only use Flamethrower when you have 3 stacks up, preferably on the healer. And if you're close to finishing off someone, Shoulder Cannon spam.

 

This, more or less, but I tend to use Flame Burst > R-Blade > Immolate > Rocket Punch > Railshot > Flame Burst > Flamethrower. The reason is, as someone else said, the DoT on R-Blade makes everything hit harder, and you want that with Immolate, RP, and Railshot. So, I tend to save those until after R-Blade. I also like tossing an Explosive Dart just before R-Blade for a little more burst when you need it.

 

Learn to monitor your Resolve. When that bar gets full make use of PFT as they cant stop it unless they can get out of range at that point. Also, use HO when you don't have full resolve. I can't tell you how many Inqs/Cons and merc/Mandos try to use their AoE knockbacks in response to Flamethrower. HO makes that useless. Make good use of the Carbonize/Flamethrower combo as it works really well.

 

Another thing, Grapple is like a force charge... don't use it right off the bat. Save it for runners. Another use of it is to use it to pull the tank guarding that healer you are focusing just before a Flamethrower. Tank will take full damage plus the half he splits with the healer he has guarded.

 

Get use to making use of Stealth Scan on Operatives, Sins, and Maras. The reduced CD on Quell makes us really good vs casters. Dat Quell eats those Gunnery/Arsenal specs up.

 

RB can be spammed, and that means (with the 6 second snare it gives + the movement speed buff you might have specced + HO) you can kite melee (Warriors, Concealment, Sins), and keeping them at around the 5-10m range means you can use everything except RB and RP while they are given less options. You have mediocre defensive CDs with hefty cooldowns, and this helps you take less damage from melee. Basically stay at that 5-10m range until you need to RB and/or RP them... move in, use them, and move out. Use a CC, if they are up, when you do this when your life is getting low. In other words, don't face tank the other melee classes as you don't have to.

 

I use Shoulder Cannon as burst when targets are low on health, and to prevent caps. Basically, my burst rotation is something like Explosive Fuel> Explosive Dart> R-Blade> Shoulder Cannon > Immolate > Shoulder Cannon > RP > Shoulder Cannon> Railshot> Flamthrower. Use Shoulder Cannon liberally or conservatively. I tend to change depending on the target: Healers get spammed with it when low, some DPS do, and I tend to be more frugal on bad DPS and many tanks.

 

These are just some tips that make things easier, and some others may have differing tips or tips I am not thinking of at the moment.

 

EDIT: On the Burst Rotation... Sometimes it is good to save Explosive Dart and a Shoulder Cannon just before you use Flamethrower. That means you will have those 2 hit during your flame thrower channel.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Ganrich

[Brunner_Venda]

I'll give the RB combo a try. The problem is that immolate still probably won't hit for more than 5K. That sums up my beef with AP - NOTHING hits for more than 5k, and thus it takes 2-3 GCD's to actually hit for that kind of damage. Healers can get rid of that kind of damage in less than 2-3 GCD's. See the issue?

 

I have both sets of PVP armor (combat tech and eliminator), and mostly conqueror stuff. So I can switch for a few matches.

 

I've tried the resolve trick with PFT and it doesn't work. What happens in real life is that resolve decays enough in a seconds or two, that you still get bumped. You almost need overrides on for that, and then the Jedi types still just leap away, and the operatives just roll away.

 

When PFT hits, I won't argue it's effectiveness. Hit explosive fuel and PFT, bad players melt. Good players escape, and in most premade and ranked matches the channel is a handicap. Remember guys, most good players carry grenades. It makes HO a requirement to cast.

 

TL;DR Basically, it was a stupid idea to make AP's signature damage ability a *********** channel. It ruins the spec for PVP. The PVE heroes like to tell everyone that the spec is fine, but their heroic meat lump mobs just sit there and die. Real people don't.

[Ganrich]

I am definitely not saying AP is Rated viable, but it does consistently well in Regs. It has good healer pressure, but sometimes has trouble closing the deal on healers for lack of heavy burst. It also does really well vs Warriors and Casters while it has trouble with snipers (depending on CDs), Assassins, and some operatives (the ones that are good at waiting for the right moment).

 

EDIT: admittedly my matchup assessment above could be me as I am still shaking the rust off after coming back.

 

Resolve is bugged at times, but... it helps to use PFT at full resolve more often than not for me. I tend to use HO anyway, like you said, but it is mostly habit to hit it before Flame Thrower.

 

I agree, having the major damage of a primarily melee class on a 3 second channeled cone attack isn't the pinnacle of brilliance, but I find that giving the Shield Tech something like Flame Engine when they have to know it would help AP more is worse IMHO. PT tanks needed a solid AoE threat builder, and there are 4 choices on the table... Flame Sweep ( it already uses this to some effect), DFA which no spec really uses specifically, and Explosive Dart. Any of those could have been buffed to fill that roll... Although DFA may be a bit OP to have on a reset lol. In the end, I don't know what I would have done for the ST specs for PvE tanking and AoE threat, but not giving Flame Engine to AP was silly. The spec could have had its day in the sun, after the Pyro nerf, with that single ability.

 

I rolled a BH for the AP spec, I was forced to play Pyro, left the game for a bit, and came back and now I can play AP. I am sad the BH was nerfed to where it currently is, but I am glad no one has a reason to force me to play Pyro anymore.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Ganrich

[Brunner_Venda]

Tell me about it.

 

They gave automated defenses to PT, which reduces the CD for kolto overload. That only works at 30% health, so PT's just die regardless as soon as you hit the button. Tank tree should have gotten that, because they have a lot more health, and they have defenses to survive at less than 30%. It would make them even more survivable.

 

They gave oil slick to Tank, even though that's more of a gadget thing that belongs in AP. It's also a great melee defense, which AP could actually use when trying to apply the stupid channeled flame thrower.

 

They took energy rebounder and the redoubt proc from pyro, even though the spec NEEDS shields the most because it has zero other useful defensive CD's. Smarter people put it in pyro tree to begin with. Dumber people moved it.

 

It's laughable the idiot decisions the PVP balance team make.

[Luckeyduckey]

What do you guys' Immolate hit for? Fully geared. Not yet 55 on my PT, but with my 2.3k Aim, I get around 4.5k crits

[Aetrus]

Mine hits for 5-5.5k. When I play AP, my biggest hit usually comes from Rocket Punch, which has hit 6.1k for me before. (Definitely an exception.)

[Luckeyduckey]

Link me a build for full AP?

[Brunner_Venda]

Link me a build for full AP?

 

The noxxic build isn't bad. Some people take the points from combust and hit man, and put them into hyper fuel, which makes flame burst nasty.

 

Me? I prefer two points in hit man, and spam quell like it's going out of style. It murders healers and it makes DPS sorcs cry. Basically you pistol whip them and put their best cast abilities on a four second cooldown - every five or six seconds. Lol!

 

http://www.noxxic.com/swtor/pvp/bounty-hunter/powertech/advanced-prototype/talent-build