11/11/24 Workhorse type build for PvP.

[MyDominion]

The idea behind this build is based off of the new 'changes' to our class in 2.0. We use to be the high burst DPS, low survivability one trick pony. That has now been changed, I feel our class is now the 'workhorse' of this game. I'll explain what I mean by illustrating: With various jobs and companies that I've worked for over the course of my life, there is usually atleast one workhorse at each place. He is the guy that is reliable, hard working, and adds value to the company. May not be very flashy, he keeps his head down so to speak and lets his work ethic speak for itself and is respected as a result.

 

I feel our class now embodies that, we lost our flash, but we can still contribute in PvP with our utility and 'workhorse' type DPS. I know there are alot of catchy names for different builds, but I gave it some thought and figured this name would suit this build. We can't change what the developers did to our class, but this post/build is just designed to stimulate thinking on how we can work with what we have.

 

http://www.swtor-spy.com/skill-tree-calculator/powertech/16/?build=023200300010000000000000000000000223120000100000000000000000000003200322221002100220000000000000&ver=20

 

I'd like to explain my reasoning behind my choices and why I did'nt chose certain things. Keep in mind that this is build is based off of trying to make the pyro tree work and synergize with how the class has been changed.

 

I felt that full pyro has too many dead points to assign in it. And I don't like the idea of wasting valuable spec points into things that give little to no value to our class.

 

Degauss: Not as useful because we now have Hydraulic Overrides.

 

Burnout: I like the 3% tech crit,(because of the change to crit in general) but see very few situations where our now nerfed CGC makes much of a difference sub 30%. (Using Incendiary missile which is 18 seconds to complete does'nt do much if someone is sub 30% because they will likely be dead well before the 18 seconds are up, and the high heat cost).

 

Rapid Venting: Alacrity is useless and I don't use vent heat on cool down. With proper heat management it voids Thermal sensor overide cool down reduction

 

Power Bracer: Nice addtition, for a bit more dmg on rocket punch and thermal detonator. But not worth going this high in the tree for (due to other damage increases from other trees that boost more abilities).

 

Automated Defenses: I don't use Kolto overload on cool down, and it can be largely useless against burst classes where they will just blow you up and Kolto overload makes little to no difference. (or being focused)

 

Thermal Detonator: Nerfed down, hardly worth being a 36 pt. talent. Half of the damage is now D.o.T. based and not worth wasting all the points in pyro to get.

 

Also keep in mind that trying to avoid putting points in the skills above, you'll be forced to choose between more endurance or just spending them in some of these bad options I mentioned above. All of this results in wasted points in the upper end of this tree.

 

Also the reason there is 24 points in this tree is to aquire both Oil Slick and Retractable blade. (At the lost of 3% dmg on rail shot and 3% dmg on rocket punch, on burning targets.)

 

The reason I enjoy this build is you retain almost all of your DPS from a basic pyro rotation based off of PPA proc (minus the 3% on RS and RP as mentioned above). While gaining the best and most underutilized Powertech ability Oil Slick.

 

Oil slick is an ability that can be used offensively and defensively. Healer getting trained by melee? Oil slick. You get jumped by melee dps? Oil slick. Running down a corridor in Void Star? Oil slick. Fighting a melee/ranged that relies on white hits for their big attacks? Oil Slick. Any node fights going on? Oil Slick. Have strong GTAOE on your team? Oil slick. Have buddies that are min/maxed power Smash spec that run trains? Oil slick.

 

Retractible blade is loved by some but useless to others. Yes, there is no burst. But the overall dmg over 15 seconds is good due to the dot dmg being internal which much like our elemental dmg is only checked by specific tree's that boost resistance and the sorc/sage buff. So there are low resistance to this attacks dot. The dots can crit and so can the initial DD from the move. The ability will do around 4k dmg none crit, which is pretty impressive,especially if you look at your main abilities and the damage they do none crit. So in a 15 second + fight it can prove useful.

 

The other case I'll make for DOTS is this. You get stunned or CC'd your DD (direct damage ceases except for rockets from your back). But if your dots are rolling your still DPS'ing. Putting pressure on a healer? Yes burst is best, but your dots will force globals to be used on cleanse as opposed to other options. Another nice option with this build is RB, RS, TSO, IM, RP, RS, FB, Three dots rolling burst mixed in (our version of burst, based off of RS) and you continue in your FB filler and PPA procs. Also if your dots are rolling and you need to peel/pull/taunt a DPS your globals are being used for utility purposes, but your still doing dmg while your dots are rolling. With Direct dmg it's one or the other.

 

Another case I'll make is that you get the stuff like steely resolve, Hyper fuel, Hot Iron, Prototype burn enhancers, Prototype cylinders. All of which increase your overall DPS. You also get the 5% dmg reduction from combust and 2% flat reduction for yourself from power armor. Combust adds more utility for your team, and between those 2 skills if someone turns on you you have 7% dmg reduction at all times pretty much.

 

I feel that other than maybe combust and power armor, there aren't many debatable skill points in this build. (other than RB, which I like personally) Any critisism or thoughts, comments are welcome. My intention with this is to stimulate conversation and maybe look at our class for what it is now, no longer burst, but a utility workhorse type of class.

Edited May 10, 2013 by MyDominion

[MyDominion]

I just wanted to take a moment to speak a bit more about how useful Oil Slick is. I cover it a bit above, but it becomes invaluable at times against melee DPS. If you learn to play in the 5-10 meter range (which is where we live most of the time as Pyro based PT's), you can basically pick apart melee dps with Flame burst and RS for the duration of Oil Slick. If you hav'nt tried it, it's fantastic. The key is though knowing your distance and using your 10 meter abilities. With certain builds/classes they are almmost helpless as they move at 30% speed while you flame burst and RS them down lower and lower.

 

You can also use oil slick real well with DFA, and carbonize, they synergize so well. Even if you hate my build, think of incorporating oil slick somehow into your build. IMO it's the most OP ability we have now.

[Dampeer]

been trying this out all morning, actually really digging it. been making full pyro PTs eat **** and topping damage charts and actually taking down people. mostly cause i survive longer

[MyDominion]

Glad your liking it. What's nice about it too is the dps is deceptive, instead of hard burst it comes in strong waves if some dots are rolling and your FB and RS are critting. Flame Burst (FB) hits the hardest it can with this build. I get 4200-4600 crits with it (with PvP relics running) and I think even higher.

 

Healers and others will love you, once they get used to what oil slick is. It's just underused at the moment, and most hav'nt caught on to how effective it can be. Mixing OS with your Taunts/Pull/Carbonize you can really help peel dps.

Edited May 10, 2013 by MyDominion

[CommanderZander]

Oilslick is pretty cool. When it looks like a "team member" gave up. I drop it on them, showing how much i appreciate their effort.

[Jayshames]

it's something similar to what I run on my Vangaurd, though I'd take the 2 points from Combust and add them to Volatile Igniter. The little loss in survivability is a good tradeoff for the increased damage of the AoE CGC effect. it works especially nice when Oil slick is down at the likes of an opened Voidstar door (PvP)

[Pearlie]

Spec looks good. It's almost exactly what I run, except I don't take RB (3/3 Rain of Fire instead), and I take Advanced tools instead of Power Armor.

[Brunner_Venda]

I like the idea, and may try it.

 

Question: What's the cooldown of oil slick?

 

One thing the pyro spec needs is a decent defensive CD. Shields take forever to cool off, and you're basically stunned and dead after using them without rebounder. Hitting enemy accuracy by 30% accomplishes goal.

 

Well done, and you didn't even come up with some asinine forum name for it. (Happy feet, mandalorian terminator, blah blah).

[Aetrus]

Nem'tk, that you?

 

This guy is a talented Pyrotech. Most solo kills I've ever seen on a Pyro post-2.0. Consistently, every game. So, endorsed. I've seen the build work. I switched to full AP but after I min-max my Combat Tech set I might switch back and use something like this myself. I'd drop the points in Pyro Shield which I feel are almost useless in PvP and put 2 points into Infrared Sensors instead.

 

Nice job.

 

 

EDIT: For the question above, Oil Slick's CD is 60 seconds. It lasts 15. So the effective CD is 45 seconds.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Aetrus

[MyDominion]

Oilslick is pretty cool. When it looks like a "team member" gave up. I drop it on them, showing how much i appreciate their effort.

 

Lol the animation does look like you had a long night eating low quality mexican food.

[MyDominion]

it's something similar to what I run on my Vangaurd, though I'd take the 2 points from Combust and add them to Volatile Igniter. The little loss in survivability is a good tradeoff for the increased damage of the AoE CGC effect. it works especially nice when Oil slick is down at the likes of an opened Voidstar door (PvP)

 

The reason I don't take volatile igniter is, I don't like the idea of dotting multiple people in case a healer/dps needs to drop flash grenade. It will boost your overall DPS, but can mess up someone elses CC. Thanks for comments.

 

This reminds me too, you can use flame sweep to land combust on multiple targets, so if your healer is getting trained using TSO (thermal sensor override), then flame sweep (let's say 3 melee) combust will debuff those 3 melee for 10 seconds. (lowering each of there dmg by 5% for a total of 15% across the 3). You combine that with your AoE Taunt and you have just lowered their dmg by 35% each.

[MyDominion]

I like the idea, and may try it.

 

Question: What's the cooldown of oil slick?

 

One thing the pyro spec needs is a decent defensive CD. Shields take forever to cool off, and you're basically stunned and dead after using them without rebounder. Hitting enemy accuracy by 30% accomplishes goal.

 

Well done, and you didn't even come up with some asinine forum name for it. (Happy feet, mandalorian terminator, blah blah).

 

Oil slick is on a 1 minute cooldown, and last 15 seconds. It's pbaoe (point blank area of effect). It is an effective cool down, and is usually up. The best sentinels/marauders will use leg slash to snare you while you use Oil Slick, to mess up your mobility. So I suggest using your Hydraulic overrides in conjunction with Oil Slick. But it can be real satisfying, to watch most of the less competant sentinels/marauders just flounder in there while you dance at 5-9 meters (out of melee/inside leap range) blasting them with FB and RS.

 

Make use of this if your server has a glut of FOTM sentinels/marauders.

[MyDominion]

Nem'tk, that you?

 

This guy is a talented Pyrotech. Most solo kills I've ever seen on a Pyro post-2.0. Consistently, every game. So, endorsed. I've seen the build work. I switched to full AP but after I min-max my Combat Tech set I might switch back and use something like this myself. I'd drop the points in Pyro Shield which I feel are almost useless in PvP and put 2 points into Infrared Sensors instead.

 

Nice job.

 

 

EDIT: For the question above, Oil Slick's CD is 60 seconds. It lasts 15. So the effective CD is 45 seconds.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate your kind words. I still like full AP too, I just like this build so I can make my eliminators set bonus work and I just have alway's loved the mechanics of PPA. The reason I like the Pyro shield is I think it crits at time and is elemental dmg (which is barely mitigated). But there is room for personal preference in this build for sure. I appreciate your comments, and look forward to seeing you in the WZ's soon.

[Durbenmewgen]

Would you recommend using this build pre 55?

[Dampeer]

Would you recommend using this build pre 55?

 

yes very much so

[Durbenmewgen]

Do sorcs just straight up own us?

[Aetrus]

Do sorcs just straight up own us?

 

Remember to use your Hydrolic Override to close distance and Quell for Force Lightning/Thundering Blast.

[Sardonyyx]

Why do people insist on making these hybrid specs with cute little names. No other class' forums do that lol.

 

Good looking spec, looks like the old Carolina Parakeet spec though. Another weird name. Although that spec kicked ***

[Durbenmewgen]

There's gotta be something i'm doing wrong. The good classes, like sage/sorc are just jacking me. I don't feel like i even do 75% of the output they can on me. Overload doesn't seem to do THAT much, and quell you can only use so many times.

[jillun]

Why does everyobdy always take Power Armor in the AP tree? 2% damage reduction for two points is meaningless! I'd rather take prototype electro surge or advanced tools. Edited May 12, 2013 by jillun

[Aetrus]

There's gotta be something i'm doing wrong. The good classes, like sage/sorc are just jacking me. I don't feel like i even do 75% of the output they can on me. Overload doesn't seem to do THAT much, and quell you can only use so many times.

 

Sure you're geared? What's your bolstered expertise at? I haven't had a whole lot of trouble with DPS Sages but I won't dispute the fact that they might be able to beat you. But beat you easily? Shouldn't happen.

[MyDominion]

Why do people insist on making these hybrid specs with cute little names. No other class' forums do that lol.

 

Good looking spec, looks like the old Carolina Parakeet spec though. Another weird name. Although that spec kicked ***

 

I think you answered the question yourself. Our PT forefathers gave their builds rediculous names, so we just follow in the tradition.

[MyDominion]

Why does everyobdy always take Power Armor in the AP tree? 2% damage reduction for two points is meaningless! I'd rather take prototype electro surge or advanced tools.

 

I choose it because I don't use electro dart or flame thrower or grapple on cooldown. I do like advanced tools though, 35 second grapple is nice for hutball. In my post I mentioned that power armor and combust are the 4 moveable points.

[Durbenmewgen]

Sure you're geared? What's your bolstered expertise at? I haven't had a whole lot of trouble with DPS Sages but I won't dispute the fact that they might be able to beat you. But beat you easily? Shouldn't happen.

 

level 44, using basically the 40 pvp set.

[MyDominion]

level 44, using basically the 40 pvp set.

 

Your gear is'nt the issue. The key with DPS sage/sorc is to interupt and time your CC to interupt them. If your specc'd into pyro your Rail shot should tear through their armor pretty well. I find most DPS sage/sorc don't do well with alot of pressure on them, so keep up the pressure/interupts/CC and they should fold without too much trouble.