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Koozie's Powertech PvP Pyrotech Guide


Kooziejr

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Yep. Unload in general is a terrible move for powertechs. Especially Pyrotech ones, as due to Rain of Fire and pushback on Unload, 2x Rapid Shots ends up being better than unload.

 

As for Missile Blast its sole use is stopping caps from multiple people. I almost took it off my quickbar until someone pointed it out to me, so now its just in an obscure location (next to all my legacy abilities for dailies)

 

Missile blast is very situational. Only use it when you're way out of range, your pull is on CD, rail shot is down, and explosive dart is down, and the guy is one hit from death. I've used it effectively to kill near dead people trying to escape, a week ago I killed a merc running for a green health power up after he punted me, yesterday I capped a rolling operative who had the huttball inches from our goal line. Once or twice I've killed a low health sniper camping up high, because well, everyone hates snipers.

 

It's a terrible move to use, I only pull it out if the other guy has low health and MUST die next shot, or multiple spam cappers need to be interrupted. I'm sure Koozie will point out that rapid shots are better for heat and damage, and it is 99.999% of the time. Except that rapid shots is white damage, while missile blast is tech. My ranged crit is like 24%, and my tech crit is over 32% or so. In any other situation rapid shots is better, because it will likely apply or refresh CGC, hit harder overall (because of the three DOT ticks) , and cost less heat.

 

The merc I killed was one step from the health power up, literally right there. I claimed it instead and got right back into the fight. The guy is a friend of mine and he sent me a tell "Missile blast? ***! You're bad!" I laughed, because it worked.

Edited by Brunner_Venda
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I agree with the above post almost completely! Just a few minor preferences from me:

 

1) do the rotation that was stated - try to stay below 40 heat, use thermal sensor override diligently and vent heat when you are well and truly overheated.

2) Pyro is not that "squishy" - learn to use chaff flare, your stuns, shield, adrenals, and kolto appropriately as pointed out in the guide.

3) This is a bad habit. ED on CD is not wise for multiple reasons. First and foremost because it is a 30m attack and when you get knocked back to 30m you use that as your "gap closer" - that is you do damage from 15 metres still and then get back into range. Secondly as stated above it doesn't ignore armour so a direct attack like flame burst is better - people who use ED when they are standing next to you don't know how to play PT properly.

4) Those are the crit ratings I prefer

5) I don't play much ranked on my PT (usually heal) but both of these are very good. I personally prefer pyro against hybrid tanks and AP against full tanks. Just my preference though.

 

Just to comment on these, eat CCs. CCs regen a lot for Pyro. You should beg your opponent to CC you, unless you are being focused, or mid burst with CDs up. Don't blow your heat unless you are near death, can secure a kill / out of combat, or have vent heat up.

 

CC for Pyro is both offensive and defensive. A well timed stun can be the difference between a solo/group ranked match. Many times I've Thermal'd someone, and stunned them just as it was about to go off, and nuked them. Carbo, on the other hand, is very defensive, allowing you to retreat, or push a single target while controlling the rest.

 

AP against full tank is a must. The sustainability and aoe/internal pressure allows it to wear down tanks better than any class, no question. Pyro, while burst, is easy to counter, and can lead to overheating against tanks, due to prolonged matches. AP against hybrids isn't great, since hybrids offer more burst, making the match more of a race than a wear-down match, making AP a poor choice.

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hey koozie, i got some questions :

1- i always overheat with my pyro and i dont have that issue with my AP, that is why i avoid pyro though i really want to play it, any tips to control the heat like when i should use rapid fire ?

2- i die a lot when i play pyro, i feel am squishier with it >,<

3-i always use ED on CD is that a bad habit when i run ap or pyro is that a bad habit ?

4- is 210 crit for pyro and 250 crit for AP is the way to go ?

5- pyro is better in ranked arena ? AP is beats in regs ?

 

I know this isn't directed at me, but I figure if Koozie is leaving for Wildstar soon I might as well try to help out some of the up and coming struggling PTs.

 

1) Use the burst rotation in Koozie's guide. ED, TD, IM, Railshot, RP, Railshot. After that you can Rapid Shots once or twice (depending on your heat) and then Flame Burst. If you're lucky, Railshot will have reset and you can use that again. An important thing to remember is that it takes 2 GCDs for the proc on Railshot to reset. So if you spam Flame Burst immediately after your first reset you're not accomplishing anything except overheating yourself. Try to stay below 40 heat. Using Rapid Shots when you have nothing up but Flame Burst is a good way to do that.

 

2) Use your CDs. Pyro is so much tankier than AP in solo arenas its not even comparable. In 4 DPS vs 4 DPS matches, if you get focused in AP you're dead. Period. You're going to get bursted through your Kolto Overload, take 36-40k in damage, and die. If you're Pyro, you can force them to blow all their burst on you and still survive, take maybe 54k in damage before dying. It's a massive advantage that Pyro has over AP in yolos.

 

3) If you're in AP and using ED on CD yeah, I'd say its a pretty bad habit. Your Flame Burst is going to do more and you can spam that pretty reliably without overheating. If you're Pyro, I always time ED and TD together and use them pretty much on CD unless a target is really low and I can kill him with something more direct, faster.

 

4) Right now, I think 3 crit pieces (about 230 crit rating with the new gear) are the way to go for Pyro. You can put up DPS like this using only ED and single target attacks (and I'm missing 3 Brutalizer armorings, an enhancement, a relic and the fleet datacron.) I've gotten significantly better results than rolling full Power/Surge. However, for AP, I've gotten better results running full Power/Surge. I know some others disagree. But honestly, AP is all about consistent pressure and damage rather than burst, and so stacking power over crit maximizes what AP is good at. Come June 10th, I'm going to run with 1 crit piece instead of 3 on my Pyro set. I anticipate that that will get me the best results with the incoming buffs.

 

5) Pyro is better in yolo queue. You can run either Pyro or AP in group arenas, it just depends on what best compliments your team's composition. In regs, same thing. You can run Pyro or AP. Hell, anything is viable in regs, including Madness Assassins. If you have a 4 man premade with a healer and tank, you can get significantly higher numbers running AP because hey, it's an AoE spec. It's just dependent on what you like and what you're best at playing.

 

Why should you listen to my advice? :D I don't make videos like Koozie does (my laptop would explode), but I do plenty of ranked on my PT and Vanguard. This season I've been playing my Vanguard more frequently. As soon as my guildmate levels a sentinel I'll be transferring him to Harbinger for better/more group ranked action. Last season I played my PT, Aetrus, for ranked. You'll have to search by season 1 stats for him, because I've done almost nothing season 2. His epeen is very tiny because of it.

 

The most important tip I'd have if you want to learn Pyro is...move. A lot. It's an insanely mobile spec. Kiting and circle strafing is going to help you avoid a lot of incoming damage and keep you alive longer so you can dish out the pain.

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What do you guys think? With tuesday's changes to rapid venting, we get 2% crit chance from skill tree, can I replace crit in my gear with power mods, or should I keep it the way it is now? I have 227 crit rating.

 

If it were only the crit buff then yes, I would.

 

However, for PvE situations with Dread Forged gear, optimal crit for pyro is currently 261. When 2.8 hits, this goes up to 309 crit rating, because of the DoT boost as well.

 

With that in mind, I would actually say take a little more crit after patch 2.8 comes out, as it increases the percentage of your damage that gets the surge boost, making crit better.

Or at least keep it the same.

I know come 2.8, my lazy self is gonna get enough crit for 29% ranged crit chance, because I got the Combat Tech's set bonus a while ago and I wouldn't mind a 50% rocket punch crit rate.

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What do you guys think? With tuesday's changes to rapid venting, we get 2% crit chance from skill tree, can I replace crit in my gear with power mods, or should I keep it the way it is now? I have 227 crit rating.

 

I run with Crit implants, earpiece and relic. When 2.8 hits I'm going to replace my crit implants with power on my PT, and replace my crit relic with mainstat on my vanguard. That'll let me test which setup is better.

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If it were only the crit buff then yes, I would.

 

However, for PvE situations with Dread Forged gear, optimal crit for pyro is currently 261. When 2.8 hits, this goes up to 309 crit rating, because of the DoT boost as well.

 

With that in mind, I would actually say take a little more crit after patch 2.8 comes out, as it increases the percentage of your damage that gets the surge boost, making crit better.

Or at least keep it the same.

I know come 2.8, my lazy self is gonna get enough crit for 29% ranged crit chance, because I got the Combat Tech's set bonus a while ago and I wouldn't mind a 50% rocket punch crit rate.

 

With my PT/VG i play pvp only.

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With my PT/VG i play pvp only.

 

I understand, but what I was getting at is in patch 2.8, the value of crit rating for pyro goes up, even though it gets more base crit. Where it was 210 crit in the past, I reckon its ~250 rating now for optimal crit

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This guide needs an update for 2.8, but most of the information is okay.

 

I only see Shoulder Cannon mentioned once in the entire guide. Shoulder Cannon is so clutch for so many reasons. It's literally free DPS which is off the normal GCD rate. It's used for burst, guarding nodes when you get mezzed/stunned, and stun retaliation. Always have it on CD, unless you're guarding a node. Don't activate it if you're guarding a node solo - wait until you get stunned, THEN activate it, because otherwise you might get mezzed while it's on CD because you didn't use any rockets for 5 min.

 

The 2 points in Pyro Shield should be spent in Infrared Sensors, and the points spent in Gyroscopic Alignment Jets should be spent in Volatile Igniter. IR gives a damage mitigation bonus, and WAY better stealth detection. The 2 additional points of detection is way underrated. VI is also more important now due to the changes in DOT damage through Power Bracer. Flame Sweep now does the channel damage of Flame Thrower without having to spend more than 1 GCD outside of your normal rotation. Don't use it as a DPS filler, only use it once every 4 GCD MAX when 4 or more enemies are grouped together, and ONLY when you are able to trigger Thermal Sensor Override (when using more than once in a single in-combat instance). In addition, it makes AOE cap stopping more heat effective.

 

Also, use of Explosive Dart is not recommended unless you're trying to juke soemone into blowing defensive CD's so you can line up your burst. The only time it should be used outside of juking is to plant on an enemy trying to cap if you're about to die. The splash damage will also interrupt other cappers nearby.

 

Your relics should be Serendipitous Assault (Power) and Focused Retribution (Mainstat). The mainstat relic works better for bonus damage + Crit due to our aim skill synergy. That's about 150 extra bonus damage and 1.4% crit if you only take 2/3 in Steely Resolve. Which brings me to my next point; Go 2/3 Steely Resolve and pick up Prototype Cylinders for the additional DOT crit. It's better than the ~90 AIM, at this point, due to our Power Bracers buff.

 

Otherwise, I agree with almost all of what the guide states. This is all my personal opinion, of course. It's just what I've learned from playing a Pyro PT/Assault Van for in pvp 2.5 years, and belonging to pvp-only guilds.

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This guide needs an update for 2.8, but most of the information is okay.

 

I only see Shoulder Cannon mentioned once in the entire guide. Shoulder Cannon is so clutch for so many reasons. It's literally free DPS which is off the normal GCD rate. It's used for burst, guarding nodes when you get mezzed/stunned, and stun retaliation. Always have it on CD, unless you're guarding a node. Don't activate it if you're guarding a node solo - wait until you get stunned, THEN activate it, because otherwise you might get mezzed while it's on CD because you didn't use any rockets for 5 min.

 

The 2 points in Pyro Shield should be spent in Infrared Sensors, and the points spent in Gyroscopic Alignment Jets should be spent in Volatile Igniter. IR gives a damage mitigation bonus, and WAY better stealth detection. The 2 additional points of detection is way underrated. VI is also more important now due to the changes in DOT damage through Power Bracer. Flame Sweep now does the channel damage of Flame Thrower without having to spend more than 1 GCD outside of your normal rotation. Don't use it as a DPS filler, only use it once every 4 GCD MAX when 4 or more enemies are grouped together, and ONLY when you are able to trigger Thermal Sensor Override (when using more than once in a single in-combat instance). In addition, it makes AOE cap stopping more heat effective.

 

Also, use of Explosive Dart is not recommended unless you're trying to juke soemone into blowing defensive CD's so you can line up your burst. The only time it should be used outside of juking is to plant on an enemy trying to cap if you're about to die. The splash damage will also interrupt other cappers nearby.

 

Your relics should be Serendipitous Assault (Power) and Focused Retribution (Mainstat). The mainstat relic works better for bonus damage + Crit due to our aim skill synergy. That's about 150 extra bonus damage and 1.4% crit if you only take 2/3 in Steely Resolve. Which brings me to my next point; Go 2/3 Steely Resolve and pick up Prototype Cylinders for the additional DOT crit. It's better than the ~90 AIM, at this point, due to our Power Bracers buff.

 

Otherwise, I agree with almost all of what the guide states. This is all my personal opinion, of course. It's just what I've learned from playing a Pyro PT/Assault Van for in pvp 2.5 years, and belonging to pvp-only guilds.

 

1. I completely agree with you, shoulder cannon is the best thing a Powertech has in their arsenal. Having that extra damage in between global cool downs is amazing.

 

2. I am curious to your thoughts on switching out Pyro Shield for VI. Even with the dot damage increase I think having the shield reflect is more reliable. First it happens passively and therefore you don't need to activate a skill. Second Pyro shields reflect does more damage single target wise when it reflects.

 

3. I don't agree with your thoughts on Gyroscopic Alignment Jets because in pvp these days its just Stun Wars of the knock back republic. Having that heat reduction from being stunned helps your heat when already you have poor heat management in the spec.

 

4. I use ED to juke other players into popping cooldowns all the time but in all of the chaos there is so much confusion that people lose focus on whats happening and get tunnel vision and dont see the powertech on their screen lining up their burst and before they know it they are dead. Using ED to juke Guardians is a different story, when Guardians see something appear on their debuff bar they panic and press reflect. Then you are free to line up your burst. But you gotta get through the other DCDs then. lol

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1. I completely agree with you, shoulder cannon is the best thing a Powertech has in their arsenal. Having that extra damage in between global cool downs is amazing.

It's so highly underrated and I hardly see any PT's use it. Such a shame. :(

 

2. I am curious to your thoughts on switching out Pyro Shield for VI. Even with the dot damage increase I think having the shield reflect is more reliable. First it happens passively and therefore you don't need to activate a skill. Second Pyro shields reflect does more damage single target wise when it reflects.

While Pyro Shield can be an effective deterrent against incoming damage, it's my opinion the points are better spent into VI if we're talking about offensive tactics. My point of view lies on VI being decent aoe damage which keeps healers very busy, and it keeps their cleanse on CD. I can't count the times I've been sitting on top of a healer, they run through a group of their teammates, and I've been able to hit them with a Flame Sweep. Back and forth they go, through their group, for "protection." Which actually brings me to your next point:

 

3. I don't agree with your thoughts on Gyroscopic Alignment Jets because in pvp these days its just Stun Wars of the knock back republic. Having that heat reduction from being stunned helps your heat when already you have poor heat management in the spec.

I, personally, never really have an issue with heat management in this spec. Back years ago when I switched from NORS to Pyro, I had a hard time because NORS was definitely more heat efficient. However, in that time, I've learned how to effectively weave Rapid Shots in between abilities once-in-a-while, and it comes naturally at what could be considered barely even a marginal DPS loss. Before 2.8, when I was still running 2 points in GAJ, I found myself pretty much never using TSO or VH even a single time during a match.

 

4. I use ED to juke other players into popping cooldowns all the time but in all of the chaos there is so much confusion that people lose focus on whats happening and get tunnel vision and dont see the powertech on their screen lining up their burst and before they know it they are dead. Using ED to juke Guardians is a different story, when Guardians see something appear on their debuff bar they panic and press reflect. Then you are free to line up your burst. But you gotta get through the other DCDs then. lol

I seem to get a 50/50 reaction out of my ED juke. Like you said - people are either too tunneled or too unaware most of the time. ED is is just too expensive to use for as little damage as it does; except for juking and stopping caps right before you go down.

 

I think it really comes down to playstyle and personal preference. At the end of the day, not all players are going to have the exact same methods, and my playstyle allows me to shift around a few points to better suit my highly aggressive style of offense. There is no perfect "god" spec, and sometimes it pays to play around with points.

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Not really sold on a lot of what you said besides the Shoulder Cannon, Malkiv, but keeping an open mind I am actually curious: If you're not using Explosive Dart, what are you filling that GCD with? Rapid Shots? Flame Sweep? Edited by Aetrus
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Not really sold on a lot of what you said besides the Shoulder Cannon, Malkiv, but keeping an open mind I am actually curious: If you're not using Explosive Dart, what are you filling that GCD with? Rapid Shots? Flame Sweep?

 

I'm not 100% with you on what you mean by "filling that GCD," so, sorry if I don't hit the nail on the head here.

 

I used to use ED as a normal part of my rotation back in 1.7 because IM was expensive and didn't do a lot of damage. I'd basically ED (closing-in) , TD, FB, RS, RP, RS. It was an extra bit of damage. Now, however, I find it the opposite in regards to the damage IM does per its heat cost. It's been fixed for a long time, but it's especially effective since 2.8, right? Well, now I'm basically going RpS (closing-in), TD, IM, RS, RP, RS and then a bunch of FB and RpS depending on heat and other factors - then my RS procs, and hit with that. Then a couple more RpS or FB until TD is off CD, and I save my RP for the RS proc. You know how it works from there.

 

In a perfect world, that would be my static rotation, but there are chances I get to throw out a Flame Sweep for the dots, or an ED for the juke, or to keep an Op/Sin from stealthing out (just in case the Sin's tech/force immunity is on CD). It's just all extremely situational and completely depends on who or what I'm fighting; that's why I don't include it in a static rotation. I still use it often, though, just more for utility rather than applying it for straight offensive DPS.

 

I really hope that answers what you are asking, and it helps you understand where I'm coming from.

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I'm not 100% with you on what you mean by "filling that GCD," so, sorry if I don't hit the nail on the head here.

 

I used to use ED as a normal part of my rotation back in 1.7 because IM was expensive and didn't do a lot of damage. I'd basically ED (closing-in) , TD, FB, RS, RP, RS. It was an extra bit of damage. Now, however, I find it the opposite in regards to the damage IM does per its heat cost. It's been fixed for a long time, but it's especially effective since 2.8, right? Well, now I'm basically going RpS (closing-in), TD, IM, RS, RP, RS and then a bunch of FB and RpS depending on heat and other factors - then my RS procs, and hit with that. Then a couple more RpS or FB until TD is off CD, and I save my RP for the RS proc. You know how it works from there.

 

In a perfect world, that would be my static rotation, but there are chances I get to throw out a Flame Sweep for the dots, or an ED for the juke, or to keep an Op/Sin from stealthing out (just in case the Sin's tech/force immunity is on CD). It's just all extremely situational and completely depends on who or what I'm fighting; that's why I don't include it in a static rotation. I still use it often, though, just more for utility rather than applying it for straight offensive DPS.

 

I really hope that answers what you are asking, and it helps you understand where I'm coming from.

 

Do you plan on making a new guide Malkiv for pvp to kinda pick up where Koozie left off? I did enjoy your vids but you didnt really keep up with posting them. =P

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Do you plan on making a new guide Malkiv for pvp to kinda pick up where Koozie left off? I did enjoy your vids but you didnt really keep up with posting them. =P

 

I keep on telling myself I'll do it later, but you know how that goes. I stopped making videos because I was having issues with encoding, and I had to format my boot drives to do a clean install of Win7. It was just a huge pain in the ***, and I spent weeks battling the encoding issue, so I was really burnt-out on making videos.

 

I'm actually leveling a Shadow to 55 right now, but I'll be making a new Pyro/Assault guide for 2.8...later. lol

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Can someone post a good PvP spec for Pyro? I think I have the jist of it, but there are a few points here and there I am wondering about. It would be nice to have a 2.8 version of Pyro and advanced prototype maybe in another thread.
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Can someone post a good PvP spec for Pyro? I think I have the jist of it, but there are a few points here and there I am wondering about. It would be nice to have a 2.8 version of Pyro and advanced prototype maybe in another thread.

 

First post contains the link on pretty decent pyro build.. Have you read it?

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The 2 points in Pyro Shield should be spent in Infrared Sensors, and the points spent in Gyroscopic Alignment Jets should be spent in Volatile Igniter. IR gives a damage mitigation bonus, and WAY better stealth detection. The 2 additional points of detection is way underrated. VI is also more important now due to the changes in DOT damage through Power Bracer. Flame Sweep now does the channel damage of Flame Thrower without having to spend more than 1 GCD outside of your normal rotation. Don't use it as a DPS filler, only use it once every 4 GCD MAX when 4 or more enemies are grouped together, and ONLY when you are able to trigger Thermal Sensor Override (when using more than once in a single in-combat instance). In addition, it makes AOE cap stopping more heat effective.

 

Well if you're trying to farm numbers then i suppose taking VI over GAJ would be good, but I NEVER use flame sweep in my rotation unless I'm trying to stop a cap. The additional CGC dots on the affected targets is fluff damage.

 

GAJ is amazing for heat management, because if you're playing pyro to it's full potential you WILL over heat at one point or another, so it just makes it easier to manage your resources.

 

Pyro shield is especially good for 1v1s when you're defending or attacking a node by your self, as the damage reflection is passive over the duration of Energy Shield; which is why I take it.

 

But i suppose to each their own, right :D?

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Well if you're trying to farm numbers then i suppose taking VI over GAJ would be good, but I NEVER use flame sweep in my rotation unless I'm trying to stop a cap. The additional CGC dots on the affected targets is fluff damage.

 

GAJ is amazing for heat management, because if you're playing pyro to it's full potential you WILL over heat at one point or another, so it just makes it easier to manage your resources.

 

Pyro shield is especially good for 1v1s when you're defending or attacking a node by your self, as the damage reflection is passive over the duration of Energy Shield; which is why I take it.

 

But i suppose to each their own, right :D?

 

So much this.

 

VI is 'meh' at best, and only good for applying sweltering heat slow to multiple targets. But it also breaks mez, which is bad. I only use FS when I'm trying to pull a sin out of stealth.

Infrared sensors is terrible. The mitigation is a non factor and the passive detection bonus is laughable.

Pyro shield can do an extra 5K or so to a target every 2-3 minutes, which is probably the best of these three (terrible) abilities.

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Pyro shield is especially good for 1v1s when you're defending or attacking a node by your self, as the damage reflection is passive over the duration of Energy Shield; which is why I take it.

 

I killed someone the other day with Pyro Shield for 1736 damage. Dat crit.

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This guide needs an update for 2.8, but most of the information is okay.

Your relics should be Serendipitous Assault (Power) and Focused Retribution (Mainstat). The mainstat relic works better for bonus damage + Crit due to our aim skill synergy. That's about 150 extra bonus damage and 1.4% crit if you only take 2/3 in Steely Resolve. Which brings me to my next point; Go 2/3 Steely Resolve and pick up Prototype Cylinders for the additional DOT crit. It's better than the ~90 AIM, at this point, due to our Power Bracers buff.

 

Except dots are secondary. Pyro is PvP is biased entirely off of burst. The dots are just secondary damage, particularly since in any competitive situation you are unlikely to be able to get all your dots up consistently anyway. Taking a little extra dot crit is so weak in a PvP scenario compared to a talent that increases upfront damage of all your burst abilities and dots

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I killed someone the other day with Pyro Shield for 1736 damage. Dat crit.

 

Whats even better is when you kill some balance sage that just force sped around to the far side of the novare bunker and is 3/4 done casting deliverance with pyro shield.

 

That's what they get for tab dotting.

 

 

On a side note when are they going to fix pyro shield and shoulder cannon? Pyro shield shouldn't be blue and electro shield shouldn't be orange. And a trooper's shoulder cannon shouldn't look like something Blizz made either.

Edited by Zoom_VI
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