mercenary power tech rotation

[chrissythepoet]

I seem to be building up a lot heat and unable to kill thingd at level 13.

 

what rotation and skill tree is good to use?

 

also what is good armour for me an Mako?

 

Last question, I promise...do all the quests that Im on side quests and class quests, do they give me the armour I need? or do i need to buy armour from somewhere? (not GTN Im too poor for that)

 

thanks

your poet,

chrissythepoet

[Mmurph]

At level 13 there is no real rotation yet. The center tree is a lot of armor piecing, the right is dot and left is healing. I generally use a hybrid of the center and right trees.

For armor, you use armor that has Aim (only comes in heavy) and Mako uses Cunning (only comes in medium). If you can get moddable gear, do so and upgrade it with planetary comms that match your level any time you go to the fleet. Make sure you're keeping Mako's gear up to date with the random drops and quest rewards.

[Mmurph]

Also, you'll get most of the armor you need form the quests, although if you do all the planet and class missions, you will very quickly out level your gear. Flashpoints will get you better gear.

[JacksonMo]

I seem to be building up a lot heat and unable to kill thingd at level 13.

 

what rotation and skill tree is good to use?

 

also what is good armour for me an Mako?

 

Last question, I promise...do all the quests that Im on side quests and class quests, do they give me the armour I need? or do i need to buy armour from somewhere? (not GTN Im too poor for that)

 

thanks

your poet,

chrissythepoet

 

From the title I'm not sure if you're a mercenary or power tech. This will make a HUGE difference in how you play.

As was suggested, doing every quest you find will be a big help as you'll be a few levels above whatever you're fighting and will help you buy better gear as well.

 

Stop by the skill trainers and pick up Scavenging. If you're a subscriber you can also pick up two others. I recommend slicing and underworld trading.

Slicing will give you credit boxes, tech parts and missions.

Don't mess with any UT missions except metals. The purple ones are worth big bucks, as are the purple tech parts.

Scavenging is all profit except the flux missions. Keep those companions busy if they aren't with you fighting.

I don't recommend crafting to new players because it's too easy to sink too much money into training and you end up broke. There's plenty of time for that later.

 

With the money you make gathering you'll have plenty for speeder training and gear upgrades.

[Eternalnight]

Every bounty hunter spec has different skills to help manage heat. At level 13 heat management will suck either way as you don't have everything needed for it.

 

Don't go hybrid. Stick to one skill tree and you'll get them sooner.

 

Like for Pyrotech you want those skills that make you vent some heat when you use Rail Shot on burning targets and those skills that make your next Rail Shot refresh cooldown and make it become free of heat cost.

After having all of those the heat management will be easy.

 

You still need to get the rotation right.

 

Pyrotech can get rotation that starts to resemble their proper attack rotation earliest at level 25 if you take the right things from your skill tree as soon as possible.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Eternalnight

[Mmurph]

I did forget to mention that I don't go hybrid until fairly high levels.

[Khevar]

Assuming that you meant Mercenary Pyrotech, here's a couple of suggestions.

 

First, make sure you are using Combustible Gas Cylinder.

 

At level 13, you won't have unlocked much. Your tree might look something like this:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300ZZcz.3

 

You'll be using a lot of Rapid Shots (the free ability), Power Shot, Unload and Rail Shot. When you have clustered enemies, you can use Death from Above every 60 seconds. Sweeping Blasters tends to be really expensive for not a lot of damage, I'd recommend avoiding it. Fusion Missile can be used every 30 seconds, but it's both expensive and has a cast time -- you could open a fight with it, however.

 

Keep an eye on your heat. Try to use your expensive abilities when your heat is between 0-40 and Rapid Shots when it is >= 40 to bring it back down. The higher your heat is, the slower it regenerates. If you stay in the "safe" range, you'll be able to use your harder-hitting abilities more frequently.

 

You won't have a lot of changes until you hit 21, and you get the "Superheated Rail" ability:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300ZZcGMb.3

 

This changes things up, as using Rail Shot on a burning target vents heat, making things easier for your heat management.

 

By the time you reach 25, you can get "Prototype Particle Accelerator"

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300ZZcGMbdo.3

 

(Note that the 2 points in Infrared Sensors could be put anywhere else except for Systems Calibration and you'll be fine)

 

Once you have PPA, everything changes again. A proper rotation will allow you to use Rail Shot every 6-7 seconds, which is not only free but will vent 8 heat for every hit. It basically becomes:

 

Power Shot - Power Shot - Rail Shot - <something>

or

Unload - Power Shot - Rail Shot - <something>

 

The <something> should be Incendiary Round every 18 seconds (to refresh the burning effect), otherwise it will likely be another Power Shot or Hammer Shot (if heat is high). You can try other things such as Fusion Missile or Missile Blast, but you'll find they are not as efficient at lower levels. Fusion Missile is more useful at level 46 once you can instant / free cast it.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Khevar

[Kerensk]

I seem to be building up a lot heat and unable to kill thingd at level 13.

 

what rotation and skill tree is good to use?

 

I forget what the merc equivalent is called but trooper it's "hammer shot", weave it into your rotation to keep your heat in the lower third of the gauge. It's the basic filler attack that generates no heat, even at level 55 you have to be skilled at using it to control your heat levels.

The lower your heat is the faster it dissipates so you keep it low unless you need a burst and know you can cool off after.

[cxten]

The key to managing your heat: Don't go over 40 heat, and don't let your heat hit zero, more than momentarily.

 

[Reason: Under 40 heat you vent 5 per second, and only 3 or 2 per second of you're over 40. You want to keep this maximum rate, but you also don't want to waste heat by letting it hit 0, as then you're not venting.]

 

------

 

Most abilities cost 16 heat. The rule of thumb would then be: Use rapid shots if you're over 24 heat, and use an ability that requires heat (like unload or power shot) if you're under 24 heat.

 

For abilities that last one global cool down, which is 1.5 seconds: You'll vent 7.5 heat on average in this time, which is roughly half of 16 (the heat cost of most abilities). So you'll need to use rapid shots roughly every other ability (until you're higher level and get better heat management). If you use Unload, which is only 16 heat but lasts 3 sec =2 gcd, you'll vent almost the full amount (it's basically the same heat-wise as doing power shot and then rapid shots).

 

The main exception: You want to overheat at the very end of a fight because your heat level at the end won't matter. Rule of thumb is to stop using rapid shots about 8 to 10 seconds before the end of a fight.

 

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Another tip: Almost never use Missile Blast (or whatever it's called) past level 10. It costs 24 heat and does less damage than power shot.

Edited April 15, 2014 by cxten

[swtonewbie]

agree with most of what's being said...one common thing that i see a lot of new BH/Troopers doing is that they will spam missile blast and explosive round. Like somebody mentioned it eats up a lot of your resource and it doesnt do a lot of damage. I actually do use it but only if i want to knock down a standard mob so that i can hit it with a railshot or high impact bolt.

 

@ OP

 

What do you normally do when you are faced with these types of mobs/packs? like what abilities do you use the most?

 

1) tightly spaced pack of 3-4 mobs

 

2) widely spaced pack of 3-4 mobs (widely spaced so that death from above or flamethrower doesnt kill them all)

 

3) a single strong or elite

 

4) a single strong with 1-2 weak/standard mobs around him

 

Are you just going in and using a single ability like missile blast? and not using anything else?

 

EDIT: also take a close look at some of your abilities and take note of some of their secondary attributes. Explosive dart...causes panic to weak and standard mobs, and upon explosion knocks down nearby weak and standard mobs. Dont you think you could use that panic and knockdown to your advantage? 1 mob that is CC'd for 2-3 seconds and an explosion that knocks down a few other mobs for 1-2 seconds? mobs that are paniced and knocked down dont do damage, but also it makes them vulnerable to rail shot and high impact bolt. Shoot an explosive dart at a weak/standard mob watch it panic and you can use rail shot on him or anybody that gets knocked down from the explosion effect.

 

You also have unload and full-auto, which is mostly wasted on a weak mob but it will kill most standard mobs. But what if it doesnt kill that standard mob? unload's secondary effect is that it stuns any weak or standard mob that is getting shot at. Next time you use unload on a standard mob and while it is channeling use rail shot.

Edited April 16, 2014 by swtonewbie