QoL/Balance changes we would like to see

[Megatfx]

Oh... then give me 5-10% more damage as well I'll take it. Edited November 8, 2013 by Megatfx

[Ottoattack]

Pyro does not need more damage. In fully min/maxed obroan pyro is putting out pre 2.0 burst damage, what Pyro simply needs to overtake AP in Arena is 30% AoE Damage reduction. Redesign flame suit to give 30% aoe damage reduction then Pyro will become the spec to play again. The buffs in 2.5 however subtle where fantastic.

 

Pyro can put reasonable damage, but with much of the damage is dot and cleansable, I can't really say it is on the same level of AP in terms of output and reliability. I would also argue that AP burst is better, due to SC and PFT and can put a lot of aoe pressure with PFT. This is just damage compassion. Defense wise they are not remotely close.

 

I agree that pyro does not need more damage (it needs a bit of buff though). It needs more reliable damage. 3 dots, with one on 15 sec CD, is not exactly great dps. Just remember after you just managed to get all your dots on an operative healer, he hits evasion or cleanse, and all your damage goes down the drain, and you have to re-cast IM and wait for TD. Many classes have similar capabilities, and especially in arenas small environment, healers are much more aware of dots.

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

We can't have a charge in all specs, hydraulic override, and a pull. All our abilities are 10 meters which favors us. I haven't found a need for a charge.

 

Here's my Idea,

 

Shield Tech:

 

Removed Jet Charge (Became Jet Charge a talent learned at level 20)

 

Added Harpoon in place of Jet Charge (Same place)

 

Changed Flame Surge and Jet Speed to include Harpoon and Jet Charge

 

General:

 

Added Jet Charge

[Megatfx]

Pyro - boost it's damage to be in line for PvE purposes.

 

Most important of all... add 30% AoE damage reduction to Flame Suit or move the talent in AP that gives 30% AoE damage reduction in a tier low enough that Pyro can take it. AP gets 30% AoE damage reduction AND 30% damage reduction from all sources while stunned while Pyro gets... 15% damage reduction to dots... SERIOUSLY?

 

Pyro's survivability in Arenas is severely limited by it's inability to get 30% AoE damage reduction. Every spec for Marauders and the highest DPS spec for Assassins can pickup this talent, why is it limited to ONLY AP for Powertechs?

 

Take away Degauss if you want... but let us get 30% AoE damage reduction... I'd give up 9% aim for 30% AoE Damage reduction. It would suck, but I would.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Megatfx

[ceelaniri]

Pyro:

 

Change to Burnout (3/3):

description: You are positively bored of tickling your enemies to death.

1% crit tech/point

+

Activable ability (like supercharged gas from Merc bodyguard):

after putting down 30 Dots (number not written in stone) on any targets, Burnout becomes activable for 30 sec.

The next Dots ability (1/point, up to 3) you use, within 10 seconds of Burnout activation, will see their ticks accumulate with base ability damage.

 

It would work pretty well with the AOE Dots and give Pyro the burst it needs but not on demand.

Edited November 10, 2013 by ceelaniri

[Willzilla]

I'd like to see flame engine done away with and replaced by something boosting our shield chance or adding internal/elemental resistance. Flame engine would be better suited in ap or pyro. Edited November 11, 2013 by Willzilla

[ScytheEleven]

I'd like to see flame engine done away with and replaced by something boosting our shield chance or adding internal/elemental resistance. Flame engine would be better suited in ap or pyro.

 

False.

 

Flame Engine is an AMAZING threat generator for PVE tanks. If you don't use it, you're doing it wrong.

[Willzilla]

Threat generation is not that difficult. We need more passive mitigation. I'm sure most healers will agree. It wouldn't hurt to have another cd too.

[Tsura]

We need more passive mitigation.

 

Passive mitigation is ok (below assassins, above juggernauts). We lack defensive cooldowns. That's the problem.

[AceofHeartz]

Pyro (PVP):

-Change Prototype Particle Accelerator to have rocket punch 100% chance and flame burst 50% chance to finish the cooldown on railshot.

 

-Increae IM range to 15m.

 

- And a ranged finishing move would be nice.. maybe only available when shoulder canon is active?

[Melon_Lord]

Passive mitigation is ok (below assassins, above juggernauts). We lack defensive cooldowns. That's the problem.

 

Are you saying Sins have the best passive mitigation?

[Tsura]

Yes, they are. Here is a topic that mathematically proves it.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=687924

[Melon_Lord]

Yes, they are. Here is a topic that mathematically proves it.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=687924

 

It seems like they'll be the best in 2.5, but not right now. Also I said *passive* mitigation meaning, not activating anything to increase survivability.

[Tsura]

Read it again Topic clearly states and proves that Assassins are currently the best and will be even better after 2.5.

 

Passive? So you don't count Heat Blast or just Energy Shield? Mitigation can only by considered as a whole, you cannot separate one skills from another, because they are part of tank job.

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

Pyro:

 

Change to Burnout (3/3):

description: You are positively bored of tickling your enemies to death.

1% crit tech/point

+

Activable ability (like supercharged gas from Merc bodyguard):

after putting down 30 Dots (number not written in stone) on any targets, Burnout becomes activable for 30 sec.

The next Dots ability (1/point, up to 3) you use, within 10 seconds of Burnout activation, will see their ticks accumulate with base ability damage.

 

It would work pretty well with the AOE Dots and give Pyro the burst it needs but not on demand.

 

If it was more on the line of, using Flame Burst, Flame Sweep, Incin Missile, and Thermal Det. which would gain stacks of Burnout, which then you can activate Burnout which lasts 15 seconds and does some buffs like Supercharged Gas in Merc Heals, i would be all up for it!

[Melon_Lord]

What about this? Much like how Jugg's Saber Ward is different than Marauders, because they have the passive Ability Blade Turning (The first 2 seconds of Saber Ward grants 100% melee and ranged defense.). What if Powertechs had the passive ability of the first 2 seconds of Hydraulic Overrides grants a greater speed boost (maybe 80%) to really help us get around since they don't want to make Jet Charge a class ability.

[ceelaniri]

If it was more on the line of, using Flame Burst, Flame Sweep, Incin Missile, and Thermal Det. which would gain stacks of Burnout, which then you can activate Burnout which lasts 15 seconds and does some buffs like Supercharged Gas in Merc Heals, i would be all up for it!

 

Using the different DoT abilities of the pyrotech to increase the Burnout stack was the idea

 

the bonus that it unlock can differ but I thought that it would render the rotation a bit more interesting and original while not being a massive change.

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

Using the different DoT abilities of the pyrotech to increase the Burnout stack was the idea

 

the bonus that it unlock can differ but I thought that it would render the rotation a bit more interesting and original while not being a massive change.

 

Well, My idea, is pretty much similar. But just using the abilities grants 1 stack of Burnout per attack, though to balance it, the attack has to hit, that way we cant just spam Flame Sweep before combat and have a Burnout ready for combat.

 

Also, another idea is an ability called Fuel Spray, it's a Pyro ability.

 

Fuel Spray: Sprays the target with combustable fuel. Deals ~1000 - ~1200 Elemental damage and hits the target with 10 Stacks of Combustable Fuel, increasing the damage of the Powertech's Damage Over Time abilities by 15%. Lasts 15 Seconds, Cooldown of 18 Seconds.

 

This would make our DoT damage go up really nicely. and it would be a welcome addition to the tree because of it's DoT like nature. I wouldnt call Pyro a true DoT tree, but more of a Hybrid DoT/Burst Tree.

[DieGhostDie]

Here some changes I want to see with Powertechs

 

1.) Find ways to discourage Powertech Hybrid specs (2/22/22 or 8/22/16). While this is a new, fun way to play them, it ultimately ruins the incentive to play single specs fully. This is exactly the same situation with Sniper Hybrid Lethality (5/18/23) in which BioWare will make changes to discourage such spec in the near future. In this case, they are in a right direction in discouraging Hybrid Specs and making Advanced Prototype and Pyrotech more viable but in actuality, this is not enough to avoid Hybrid.

 

2.) Shoulder Cannon CD after missiles have been used up is a bit problematic. A minute and thirty seconds seems like a long stretch of a CD just like Mercenary's Electro Net. But to avoid making this overpowered, I would suggest Shoulder Cannon to IMMEDIATELY go on CD the first time this skill is used (During Loading Missiles phase). This is similar to a situation where Marauders unable to stack up more Fury during Bloodthirst (in which BioWare will actually fix in 2.5 where Fury can now be built during Bloodthirst). I think Powertechs should deserve that QoL improvement with Shoulder Cannon.

 

3.) For Powertank Tanking, we will be slightly inferior to Assassins in terms of Damage Mitigation so this somehow discourages using Powertech Tanking in raids. That being said, I want to see some more QoL changes with Powertech's Mitigation. As Stryvah implied, Juggernauts were given a passive class ability where the first 2 seconds of Saber Ward grant 100% Defense. From here I can think of a few changes...

- Add or rework a spec where Hydraulic Overdrives grant 50% more defense for the first 3 seconds. Considering that it only lasts 6 seconds (unless it's specced from Advanced Prototype for an extra 4 seconds which is highly unlikely), this seems like a good active CD to use along with its passive bonuses. This way, Hydraulic Overdrives can act as both a movement-utility CD and a active CD.

(OR Give Hydraulic Overdrives a +30% speed boost (80% Maximum) instead of the defensive boost)

- Rework Shield Cannon. I definitely love the idea of threat-boosting the skill as well as giving us a 5% heal per missile used. However, I've mostly seen Powertech tanks barely using the skill at all. To make Shield Cannon true to it's name, why not add a Shield Chance bonus? For example, every time a missile is used, you gain 10% Shield Chance for 10 seconds but missiles cannot stack Shield Chance bonus (10% maximum) to ensure the balance needed.

Edited November 22, 2013 by DieGhostDie

[Melon_Lord]

There hasn't been much complaining lately, has everyone given up or are people becoming satisfied with their class capabilities? I vote for a damage buff on Flame Burst or Power Shot be nerfed.

 

I am still mystified by the disparity between the spam move damage. ie: The difference in potential output between Power Shot and Flame Burst, or Charged Bolts and Ion Pulse. Power Shot and Charged Bolts hits for 1k or more damage on average over Flame and Ion Pulse based off numbers from Torparse. You might say well they have a cast time so it should be stronger, and I can understand that reasoning, however, the differences in APM between top Merc and Top Pt are a mere .3 in favor of Pt. So cast time versus instant cast has little or no implact.

 

Also note the Top Pt parse is a hybrid which means it's getting an additional 6% fire damage and 6% Flame Burst damage for a total of 12% more damage to Flame Burst it would not otherwise have if using full Pyro like the top Merc. It's disappointing to buff a skill by 12% and have it do 1000 or more less damage than it's AC brother's similar move.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Melon_Lord

[DAMossimo]

There hasn't been much complaining lately, has everyone given up or are people becoming satisfied with their class capabilities?

 

I'm in the "given up" camp. I tried hybrid but found the spec too unpredictable to rely on for hardcore raiding.

 

I have one of each advanced class so there's no reason for me to gimp myself (and my group) trying to run a dps PT in raids. Much more efficient to run a sniper or marauder with thier much higher dps overhead.

 

And, I don't PvP so I have absolutely no use for a powertech dps. If and when they get looked at seriously, I'll revisit their effectiveness, but for now, he's mothballed.

[Melon_Lord]

Now that full Merc Pyro is capable of over 3800 DPS, and PT Pyro is trailing behind somewhere around 3100-3400 why do Mercs have a brainstorming thread created by Eric to help them out? Aside from Scatter Bomb Shenanigans I'd argue Mercs are top DPS in the game with a great off heal, and are ranged to avoid lots of annoying boss mechanics. Mercs already have the love damn it! We want hugs too!

 

If a Bounty Hunter class needs assistance it's us PT.

[ScytheEleven]

Now that full Merc Pyro is capable of over 3800 DPS, and PT Pyro is trailing behind somewhere around 3100-3400 why do Mercs have a brainstorming thread created by Eric to help them out? Aside from Scatter Bomb Shenanigans I'd argue Mercs are top DPS in the game with a great off heal, and are ranged to avoid lots of annoying boss mechanics. Mercs already have the love damn it! We want hugs too!

 

If a Bounty Hunter class needs assistance it's us PT.

 

Pyro/Assault Merc/Mando is indeed very, VERY strong in PVE right now. Anyone who suggests otherwise is foolish. However, both Merc/Mando specs still need help in PVP...hence, the brainstorming thread.

 

Thoughts on how to improve PVE DPS (assuming they lock PFT to HEGC to combat AP/Ion Cell users in PVP, thus killing our hybrid):

 

- Rework set bonuses based on cylinders for tier 1. Tier 2 (8% damage to Rail Shot stays), but Tier 1 is now "Increases the critical hit chance of Flame Burst by 15% while CGC is active, or increases the critical chance of Retractable Blade by 15% while HEGC is active"

 

- Another idea is for Tier 1 of the set bonus to increase our heat pool by 10. So now, we still dissipate 5 heat while <50 instead of <40.

 

- Explosive Fuel is now a 1:45 cool down permanently.

 

- Slightly increase the damage of both Retractable Blade and Incendiary Missile (to the levels they were before 2.4)

 

- Prototype Cylinders now increases internal and elemental damage while HEGC by 3% (up from 1% to it's old levels)

 

- In Power Bracer talent: While Incendiary Missile is on the target, Thermal Detonator's kinetic explosion gains 15% armor penetration. OR: Each rocket from shoulder cannon burns the target, doing an additional xxx amount of elemental damage over 6 seconds. Stacks up to 4 times.

Edited December 5, 2013 by ScytheEleven

[TACeMossie]

I did some maths using a series of parses and came to this conclusion to get the non-hybrid specs to go slightly stronger than the hybrid spec:

 

Pyro

 

Thermal Detonator does +10% damage up front, and +20% damage with its DoT

Thermal Detonator leaves the debuff "Prototype Accelerant", which causes all burns to do 20% more damage for 15 seconds. (if you want PvP fun as well, make it so while this is active your burns can't be cleansed. Also does the QoL thing for mercs/mandos in PvP).

Rapid Venting changed: It now increases Energy Regen Rate by 1/2 energy/second instead of increasing alacrity by 1/2%. Still reduces cooldown of Vent Heat and Thermal Sensor Override.

Power Bracer increases Tech Damage by 6% Replaces Rocket Punch, Incendiary Missle and Thermal Detonator. Well not really, they are still affected by it, just now Flame Burst is also affected, as is CGC, flame sweep (if you use it), ect...

 

Advanced Prototype

 

Prototype Cylinders damage boost increased from 1% to 3%

Power Loaders also increases the damage of Immolate and Flame Burst by 20%

Immolate damage increased by 20%

 

Oh and Obligatory Tanking QoL thing:

 

Jet Charge replaces Hydrolic Override.

Torque Boosters now causes Jet Charge to grant 6 seconds of uninteruptability when used.

Jet Speed no longer requires Jet Charge

 

New Skill replaces Jet Charge: Shield Overcharge

Upon activation, the PTs shield chance is increased by 100% for 15 seconds. This has a 90 second cooldown.

 

Flame Surge: Instead of granting 1/2 flame sweeps for free after jet charging, you now automatically use a free flame sweep off the GCD by shielding an attack during Shield Overcharge. Now requires Shield Overcharge.

Edited December 5, 2013 by TACeMossie

[-Duality-]

For PVP Pyro:

 

1) Incendiary Missile - Add 20 second cooldown but have it's effect apply to up to 5 players within 5 meters of the target. Increase heat to 24 and range to 15 meters

2) Flame Suit - Reduces all damage taken by 3%

3) Burnout - changed to all elemental damage instead of just periodic

4) Steely Resolve - decreased to 2/4/6% (Obviously with this change something would need to be done to help tanks; I think AP would still be fine.)

 

 

Another suggestion to Burnout that I'm not sure how to balance properly would be to have it cause DoTs to tick faster and do more damage to targets below 30%.

Edited December 8, 2013 by -Duality-