4.0 - PLEASE make Pyro/Plasma better <<< I want to play this spec

[Hawk_IV]

I have recently come across this chart that shows the PVE potential output of each spec in the game (or input for tanks).

Discipline Numbers Chart

It shows here that Pyro/Plasma is the WORST dps in the game atm.

 

I love Pyro/Plasma, it's fun and I enjoy playing it. It should be a good sustained spec.

But my raiding team and I have decided that I must run AP/Tactics because I will be able to hit MUCH better numbers and hit my dps potential, unlike in Pyro/Plasma where I'm at a BIG disadvantage in numbers.

I completely agree with them at the moment - I will run AP/Tactics because it does much better.

 

If you look at the chart, AP/Tactics is the third best dps in the game, whereas Pyro/Plasma is the WORST.

 

BIOWARE FIX THIS. MAKE PYRO/PLASMA BETTER.

[Cuiwe]

I have recently come across this chart that shows the PVE potential output of each spec in the game (or input for tanks).

Discipline Numbers Chart

It shows here that Pyro/Plasma is the WORST dps in the game atm.

 

I love Pyro/Plasma, it's fun and I enjoy playing it. It should be a good sustained spec.

But my raiding team and I have decided that I must run AP/Tactics because I will be able to hit MUCH better numbers and hit my dps potential, unlike in Pyro/Plasma where I'm at a BIG disadvantage in numbers.

I completely agree with them at the moment - I will run AP/Tactics because it does much better.

 

If you look at the chart, AP/Tactics is the third best dps in the game, whereas Pyro/Plasma is the WORST.

 

BIOWARE FIX THIS. MAKE PYRO/PLASMA BETTER.

 

What can I say? Devs obviously hate PyroTech with a passion.

 

-> Bad(like REALLY bad) leveling curve

-> Not enough damage(just look at the Flame Burst damage: it's equal or sometimes lower than the Rapid Shot damage!)

-> Gains better functionality against elite enemies(due to the ratio of armour : ele resistance being skewed in a favour of ele dmg that is PyroTech) and there are not many of those

-> AP is FLATOUT better at EVERYTHING PowerTech should be doing...

-> AP has flatout too much Armor Penetration

-> AP has better passives

etc

 

Not only that, but it got NERFED in 4,0 because Firebug passive got nerfed from +30% crit dmg to +10% crit dmg. But the disciplines like Inn.Ord or AP don't get nerfed lol...

 

Better NERF PyroTech / Sentinel, Bioware!

Edited October 29, 2015 by Cuiwe

[Hawk_IV]

And to make matters worse, 2 of the most fun specs in the game are the worst dps specs... they're worse than Fury/Concentration! You know, the spec that's been overshadowed by it's Rage/Focus counterpart for the entire game?

 

Concealment/Scrapper is the second worst - which is stupid because it's one of the most fun specs ever.

 

And then our spec Pyro/Plasma over here is sitting here being the worst... and yet it's my favourite spec to play.

 

NOTHING beats a Flame Fist to the face! I love it. I feel like I'm doing a Dragon punch.

Yet Pyro/Plasma just doesn't cut it in end-game content

[Cuiwe]

And to make matters worse, 2 of the most fun specs in the game are the worst dps specs... they're worse than Fury/Concentration! You know, the spec that's been overshadowed by it's Rage/Focus counterpart for the entire game?

 

Concealment/Scrapper is the second worst - which is stupid because it's one of the most fun specs ever.

 

And then our spec Pyro/Plasma over here is sitting here being the worst... and yet it's my favourite spec to play.

 

NOTHING beats a Flame Fist to the face! I love it. I feel like I'm doing a Dragon punch.

Yet Pyro/Plasma just doesn't cut it in end-game content

 

Dragon punch? How many people will recognise that? Try its Japanese name:

 

Shoryu-Ken

 

Better?

 

To me, it's not about Fire Punch / Flaming Fist(whatever name it has), but about the Flamethrower. Immolate + F.Burst + F.Thrower is simply GLORIOUS(F.Sweep is kinda meh). Plus I LOVE DoT stuff in games I play.

 

Tho I like Ruffian better than I like Scrapper. Sho...Scattergun to the face .

[fire-breath]

If you like the spec than just play it .....?

Yes, there might be better classes to play but as long as you have the correct gear every class is viable for operations.

 

For example I like saboteur and have played it since patch 1.2 when I created my slinger. My class has been on the low end of the bracket for quite some time. On the other hand it has seen nicer days too. Regarless the performance I like the style and won't ever stop playing it.

Edited October 29, 2015 by fire-breath

[Gyronamics]

Not only that, but it got NERFED in 4,0 because Firebug passive got nerfed from +30% crit dmg to +10% crit dmg. But the disciplines like Inn.Ord or AP don't get nerfed lol...

 

AP is a league above the very nerfed 4.0 IO which is an extremely small amount better than Arsenal as long as theres no AOE or burst or target swapping needed. Because then Arsenal stomps all over IO.

 

AP and Pyro PT numbers are also completely wrong. Add a boss fight, some aoe damage and you can stick another 500dps onto the numbers for both specs.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Gyronamics

[TACeMossie]

If you like the spec than just play it .....?

Yes, there might be better classes to play but as long as you have the correct gear every class is viable for operations.

 

For example I like saboteur and have played it since patch 1.2 when I created my slinger. My class has been on the low end of the bracket for quite some time. On the other hand it has seen nicer days too. Regarless the performance I like the style and won't ever stop playing it.

 

On the other hand it has seen nicer days too

 

Ultimate Exarch (224 ilvl) DPS Ranking

Rank - DPS - vs Average (6915) DPS --- Imperial || Republic

01 - 7233 - +4.60% --- Sniper - Engineering || Gunslinger - Saboteur

 

Yeah...

[fire-breath]

Yes sab seems to be very good in 4.0. Hence why I included that I have been playing it from patch 1.2 tace. You know that the spec has seen dark days. We were considered close to worst spec to play for a very long time.

 

Also it shows my point that while pyro might be in bad place atm that there have been and there will be better times again. You should never cease to play a class because its on the lower end.

Edited October 29, 2015 by fire-breath

[Bonzenaattori]

Nothing about plasmatech makes sense

 

Plasmatech uses ion pulse more than tactics... tactics gets the revamped ion pulse

Plasmatech uses pulse cannon more than any other spec... shield specialist gets the revamped pulse cannon

tactics and shield specialist use stockstrike more than plasmatech needs to... plasmatech gets the revamped stockstrike...

 

just nothing in this spec is dynamic... its a cringeworthy spec with recycled design and its viability was not considered for a nano-second

 

You cannot even compare Inn.Ord to Plasmatech as a shared spec anymore... its probably the most spaced out 'shared' spec in the entire game.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Bonzenaattori

[TACeMossie]

Nothing about plasmatech makes sense

 

Plasmatech uses ion pulse more than tactics... tactics gets the revamped ion pulse

Plasmatech uses pulse cannon more than any other spec... shield specialist gets the revamped pulse cannon

tactics and shield specialist use stockstrike more than plasmatech needs to... plasmatech gets the revamped stockstrike...

 

just nothing in this spec is dynamic... its a cringeworthy spec with recycled design and its viability was not considered for a nano-second

 

I dunno what your smoking about that first comment, but Tactics uses Tactical Surge every ~4.5 seconds. Plasmatech uses Ion Pulse every ~9 seconds.

 

Shield Tech uses Pulse Cannon just as much as Plasmatech, because its CD Reset proc is on a 15 second CD and has no RNG to it. If Plasmatech's pulse cannon was twice as strong before even looking at pulse generator though, that would cause problems with damage distribution.

 

So that leaves the following as options to replace for Plasmatech:

 

High Impact Bolt.

Stockstrike.

Rapid Shots

No replacements

 

Of the 4 options, Stockstrike makes the most sense. High Impact Bolt is better suited to Tactics/AP anyway, and IO/Assault got the replacement for that

Rapid Shots is a stupid idea for "lets replace this skill". Ok, not that bad, but the only time it actually happens is a utility for snipers. Well that, and the replacement for concealment.

 

And no replacement means the rotation would have to get complicated cause of all the moves being juggled around in it.

 

So Stockstrike was the best idea for the replacement move.

[Cuiwe]

I dunno what your smoking about that first comment, but Tactics uses Tactical Surge every ~4.5 seconds. Plasmatech uses Ion Pulse every ~9 seconds.

 

Shield Tech uses Pulse Cannon just as much as Plasmatech, because its CD Reset proc is on a 15 second CD and has no RNG to it. If Plasmatech's pulse cannon was twice as strong before even looking at pulse generator though, that would cause problems with damage distribution.

 

So that leaves the following as options to replace for Plasmatech:

 

High Impact Bolt.

Stockstrike.

Rapid Shots

No replacements

 

Of the 4 options, Stockstrike makes the most sense. High Impact Bolt is better suited to Tactics/AP anyway, and IO/Assault got the replacement for that

Rapid Shots is a stupid idea for "lets replace this skill". Ok, not that bad, but the only time it actually happens is a utility for snipers. Well that, and the replacement for concealment.

 

And no replacement means the rotation would have to get complicated cause of all the moves being juggled around in it.

 

So Stockstrike was the best idea for the replacement move.

 

Tac, I respect you very much, BUT!

 

Without thinking about mechanics(which can be adapted as necessary), what's your first discipline link of the following:

 

Firestorm

Fire Punch

?

 

As you quite obviously see, one has got to be semi insane to first think of a SHIELD tech(a TANK discipline!) when someone mentions Flamethrower / Firestorm. It's equally easy to mentally link Fire Punch(Rocket Punch upgrade) with a shield tech: melee move, physical, involves using your armour as a weapon(Shield Bash anyone?) etc. Meanwhile FIRE, or in other words, PYROSTORM evokes which discipline exactly? PYROtech, naturally!

 

Anyhow, why don't they nerf the **** out of AP already? Is it the favourite discipline of a dev or something?

[Zunayson]

Both moves are equally as applicable lorewise to each spec. Shieldtech really is a burn them down tank.

 

I don't know what that guy meant when he said a stronger flame thrower would result in a problem of "damage distribution." Does he mean the AOE would be too good? It's the least pyrotech could get. Right now I barely feel like using flame thrower. Considering the mobility meta atm, I'd recommend FT to deal twice as much damage.

 

It may break things in pve, idk anything about that department.

[TACeMossie]

Both moves are equally as applicable lorewise to each spec. Shieldtech really is a burn them down tank.

 

I don't know what that guy meant when he said a stronger flame thrower would result in a problem of "damage distribution." Does he mean the AOE would be too good? It's the least pyrotech could get. Right now I barely feel like using flame thrower. Considering the mobility meta atm, I'd recommend FT to deal twice as much damage.

 

It may break things in pve, idk anything about that department.

 

What I mean by damage distribution is that, right now, 20% of your damage is tied up in a 3 second channel that can be walked out of, cancelled with a stun, push, pull, etc...

 

Pyro already had issues competing with AP in PvP/A raid when it was on par with AP because of its reliance on Flamethrower.

 

Now what happens when you increase that reliance on flamethrower by 50+% (cause let's be honest - no chance of the 100% bonus tanks got would make it into the pyro version)?

Edited October 29, 2015 by TACeMossie

[Hawk_IV]

So in order to make Flamethrower and Pyrotech competitive with AP, then we need to give some kind of utility.

How about a 60% AOE damage reduction while casting Flamethrower, hm?

 

BIOWARE: BUFF PYROTECH/PLASMATECH ALREADY. Why do we have to be the worst?

[Ottoattack]

Pyro/Plasma has many issues. To summarize:

 

1. Lack of survivability. That is debatable, but pyro is probably the dps spec with lowest survivability, particularly in PvP.

2. Pyro's damage mechanics do not work in PvP. Even in PvE are inferior. And yes, it mainly is flame thrower.

3. Pyro does not offer any burst what so ever.

4. Utility wise, while okay, there little to no incentive to use pyro for utility, when AP has access to same utilities.

 

The suvivability for pyro is highly depended on two long CDs. Outside of these two CDs you have nothing. And aside from reduced dot damage and slightly reduced elemental damage it has no passive mitigation tools. In fact, outside kolto overload you will be annihilated by focus fire.

 

Damage is much more complicated. Wither its PvP or PvE, the damage relies heavily on flame thrower, which is a 3 second cast that requires you to be stationary. Back in the good old days, 2.4 - 2.10 era, the flame thrower damage was powerful, that it actually used to kill people. Between the changes in mobility in 3.0 going forward and the sever cut in flame thrower damage, flame thrower's only purpose in PvP now is to spread IM. In PvE as well, with 3.0 mechanics have evolved requiring mobility, in which 3 second stationary melee cast does not help.

 

The damage as well have so many components cleave, dot and direct. It is already established that flame thrower does not work. The dots, CGC and IM are pretty weak, and have terrible spread mechanics. Which finally leaves direct damage, primarily RS, FF and immolate. While their damage is not weak, CDs do not help, considering both RS and immolate are 15 secs CDs. Add to that the weak surge bonuses (fire bug, which was nerfed in 4.0 BTW. GENIUS!) leaves pyro absolutely burstless. On top of all of the above, elemental damage already does reduced damage to players, thus in PvP the damage is further diluted.

 

Without getting into specific suggestion, survivability needs to be upped significantly. Considering that even if pyro's damage is fixed, it will remain a sustained damage spec, thus should be ahead in survivability from AP. And to be clear, that does not mean AP's survivabilty should be nerfed; it is quite fine.

 

As for the damage, flame thrower does not need a buff or improvements, it needs to GO. It does not work. It only did when the damage was substantial, in the smashers era when mobility was limited. Even if it returns to its former damage glory, it will not work in PvP. From there, the damage can be re-distributed between the dots and direct damage, with some aoe alternatives, so pyro can play as a sustained damage spec. It could be similar to how pyro (now AP) played in 2.4-2.10 with a tad less burst and a bit more sustained.

 

To be honest, for pyro the biggest road block right now is devs arrogance to admit that it does not work and thus there is no cure. It will continue to suck on all fronts, and the BW will justify it by pulling out of their a** that it has "winning % in PvP," or something similar, because only few elite players are still sticking with it. I will be surprised if BW did more than the mumbo jumbo stupid changes done between 3.0 - 3.3, that netted zero change on all fronts.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Ottoattack

[Zunayson]

as bad as pyro is atm, the adren rush buff made pyro soooo much better. It's tied me over for awhile.

 

As to answer your question -

Now what happens when you increase that reliance on flamethrower by 50+%?

DPS that's better than the current flame thrower.

 

But yes you make a great point overall: Flame thrower is a ****** move, and it should be removed from the spec, and its damage should be refactored and rolled into all our other moves.

 

It's a statistically better outcome that will make this spec stronger.

[Cuiwe]

Pyro/Plasma has many issues. To summarize:

 

1. Lack of survivability. That is debatable, but pyro is probably the dps spec with lowest survivability, particularly in PvP.

2. Pyro's damage mechanics do not work in PvP. Even in PvE are inferior. And yes, it mainly is flame thrower.

3. Pyro does not offer any burst what so ever.

4. Utility wise, while okay, there little to no incentive to use pyro for utility, when AP has access to same utilities.

 

The suvivability for pyro is highly depended on two long CDs. Outside of these two CDs you have nothing. And aside from reduced dot damage and slightly reduced elemental damage it has no passive mitigation tools. In fact, outside kolto overload you will be annihilated by focus fire.

 

Damage is much more complicated. Wither its PvP or PvE, the damage relies heavily on flame thrower, which is a 3 second cast that requires you to be stationary. Back in the good old days, 2.4 - 2.10 era, the flame thrower damage was powerful, that it actually used to kill people. Between the changes in mobility in 3.0 going forward and the sever cut in flame thrower damage, flame thrower's only purpose in PvP now is to spread IM. In PvE as well, with 3.0 mechanics have evolved requiring mobility, in which 3 second stationary melee cast does not help.

 

The damage as well have so many components cleave, dot and direct. It is already established that flame thrower does not work. The dots, CGC and IM are pretty weak, and have terrible spread mechanics. Which finally leaves direct damage, primarily RS, FF and immolate. While their damage is not weak, CDs do not help, considering both RS and immolate are 15 secs CDs. Add to that the weak surge bonuses (fire bug, which was nerfed in 4.0 BTW. GENIUS!) leaves pyro absolutely burstless. On top of all of the above, elemental damage already does reduced damage to players, thus in PvP the damage is further diluted.

 

Without getting into specific suggestion, survivability needs to be upped significantly. Considering that even if pyro's damage is fixed, it will remain a sustained damage spec, thus should be ahead in survivability from AP. And to be clear, that does not mean AP's survivabilty should be nerfed; it is quite fine.

 

As for the damage, flame thrower does not need a buff or improvements, it needs to GO. It does not work. It only did when the damage was substantial, in the smashers era when mobility was limited. Even if it returns to its former damage glory, it will not work in PvP. From there, the damage can be re-distributed between the dots and direct damage, with some aoe alternatives, so pyro can play as a sustained damage spec. It could be similar to how pyro (now AP) played in 2.4-2.10 with a tad less burst and a bit more sustained.

 

To be honest, for pyro the biggest road block right now is devs arrogance to admit that it does not work and thus there is no cure. It will continue to suck on all fronts, and the BW will justify it by pulling out of their a** that it has "winning % in PvP," or something similar, because only few elite players are still sticking with it. I will be surprised if BW did more than the mumbo jumbo stupid changes done between 3.0 - 3.3, that netted zero change on all fronts.

 

How about if Flamestorm got moved to PyroTech?

[Ottoattack]

How about if Flamestorm got moved to PyroTech?

 

Having a 1.5 sec cast defiantly will help, but is not enough. The spec has to be either dot or cleave. Both did not and will not work.

[Catholicc]

as bad as pyro is atm, the adren rush buff made pyro soooo much better. It's tied me over for awhile.

Adrenaline Rush was NOT buffed, it is finally working as intended- a year later....

 

This discipline is fun to play- sort of- but it is currently the weakest and most useless discipline in the game. Simple HoTs can easily out heal your damage output- DPS-wise, you shouldn't even bother with it unless your like fluff damage.

That said, they have buffed the discipline since it was first created- to an extent- a very minor one- pulse cannon only requires 2 stacks to maximize damage output- still bad- pulse cannon now spreads DoTs, before this was the only sustained damage discipline that could NOT spread DoTs by design- Explosive surge now properly applies DoTs... The DoTs are just too weak...they should really just reduce their duration...on the flip-side... they only Flame pulse makes your next Ion pulse free- the nerf to shoulder cannon hurt this spec the most as it was the only semi-burst it had...adding a DoT to it might've help..........other stuff...other stuff. off to bed.

 

To sum it up: Worst discipline in game

[Hawk_IV]

Soooo it should be changed for the better then, right?

 

BioWare! Revamp Pyrotech/Plasmatech please!

 

I personally like the animation of Flamethrower, it's just not a good move for the main spec. They should keep flamethrower as a DoTspread and take off it's cooldown, but don't make it apart of the main rotation. Make it like the other AOEs in the game - usable all the time but only good for AOE situations. NOT single target fights at all.

 

Like Cyclone Slash, Whirling Blow, Suppressive Fire, Hail of Bolts, etc.

Edited October 31, 2015 by Hawk_IV

[Glower]

As for the damage, flame thrower does not need a buff or improvements, it needs to GO. It does not work.

 

I hate this skill, for Pyro everything dances around flamethrower both in PvE and PvP (especially PvP!). And in both cases it's awfully bad.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Glower

[Catholicc]

Soooo it should be changed for the better then, right?

 

BioWare! Revamp Pyrotech/Plasmatech please!

 

I personally like the animation of Flamethrower, it's just not a good move for the main spec. They should keep flamethrower as a DoTspread and take off it's cooldown, but don't make it apart of the main rotation. Make it like the other AOEs in the game - usable all the time but only good for AOE situations. NOT single target fights at all.

 

Like Cyclone Slash, Whirling Blow, Suppressive Fire, Hail of Bolts, etc.

 

It's called Explosive Surge and Flaming Ballerina Twirl.

 

I was just playing this discipline again, and it is the biggest joke out there. Other DoT builds (Sorc) brought be down to 25% while they were still at 75%... and fire pulse only crits for a measly 9k while cell burst can hit for 20k. yeah...................................................................

[Cuiwe]

It's called Explosive Surge and Flaming Ballerina Twirl.

 

I was just playing this discipline again, and it is the biggest joke out there. Other DoT builds (Sorc) brought be down to 25% while they were still at 75%... and fire pulse only crits for a measly 9k while cell burst can hit for 20k. yeah...................................................................

 

Not to mention that Tactics gets:

 

Tac Pulse: ~80% increase to Ion Pulse dmg( )

Gut: Actually more DoT than IR( )

Assault Plastique ( ok, now this is downright unfair )

Enhancements to Sticky( +75%, come on, not even Inn.Ord gets as much! ), Mortar Volley( at least +25% dps due to reduced cd ) and HIB( ok, SIX SECONDS CD??? ***! )

Cell Burst( ...whatever )

Mobility / Half range

 

Meanwhile PlasmaTech gets:

 

ShockStrike: what a joke! After all the dmg bonuses / armour pens Tactics has, ShS does like +5% dmg compared to StS!

IR: Total letdown

Fire Pulse: Complete joke

Scorch: ultra slow and semi-effective DoT

Enhancements to IonPulse(applies CGC yay!), Explosive Surge(applies CGC), CGC(+10% dmg , +10% chance to apply it-*** it at the very least needs another secondary bonus!) and Pulse Cannon(which was nerfhammer'd to oblivion) and HIB(the autocrit is actually the only positive side to this discipline mechanically speaking)

Static / Short range

 

...ok, does that sound balanced to you?

Edited November 2, 2015 by Cuiwe

[TACeMossie]

Not to mention that Tactics gets:

 

Tac Pulse: ~80% increase to Ion Pulse dmg( )

Gut: Actually more DoT than IR( )

Assault Plastique ( ok, now this is downright unfair )

Enhancements to Sticky( +75%, come on, not even Inn.Ord gets as much! ), Mortar Volley( at least +25% dps due to reduced cd ) and HIB( ok, SIX SECONDS CD??? ***! )

Cell Burst( ...whatever )

Mobility / Half range

 

Meanwhile PlasmaTech gets:

 

ShockStrike: what a joke! After all the dmg bonuses / armour pens Tactics has, ShS does like +5% dmg compared to StS!

IR: Total letdown

Fire Pulse: Complete joke

Scorch: ultra slow and semi-effective DoT

Enhancements to IonPulse(applies CGC yay!), Explosive Surge(applies CGC), CGC(+10% dmg , +10% chance to apply it-*** it at the very least needs another secondary bonus!) and Pulse Cannon(which was nerfhammer'd to oblivion) and HIB(the autocrit is actually the only positive side to this discipline mechanically speaking)

Static / Short range

 

...ok, does that sound balanced to you?

 

To be fair, Tac Surge (BTW its a 72% increase) does Kinetic damage, so its affected by armor (-35% in PvE), whereas Ion Pulse gets the +7% to I/E thanks to assailable.

 

Gut's bleed only does more damage than IR because its constantly refreshed to have a faster tick rate

 

AP is a burst move, it should be compared with Fire Pulse (and they do comparable damage)

 

Sticky Grenade is only +50% damage, and even with that its still less than Tactical Surge.

Mortar Volley shouldn't be used in a single target rotation

 

But yeah, Cell Burst is hilareously OP. 1 25k Auto-crit plz. Kthnxbai

[Cuiwe]

To be fair, Tac Surge (BTW its a 72% increase) does Kinetic damage, so its affected by armor (-35% in PvE), whereas Ion Pulse gets the +7% to I/E thanks to assailable.

 

Gut's bleed only does more damage than IR because its constantly refreshed to have a faster tick rate

 

AP is a burst move, it should be compared with Fire Pulse (and they do comparable damage)

 

Sticky Grenade is only +50% damage, and even with that its still less than Tactical Surge.

Mortar Volley shouldn't be used in a single target rotation

 

But yeah, Cell Burst is hilareously OP. 1 25k Auto-crit plz. Kthnxbai

 

Ok, let's compare DATA. Awesome stuff, love it!

 

dot interval for calculating effective DoT dmg:

3s for Gut, IR and Plasmatise(?)-not sure about the last one

2s for CGC

 

Tactics numbers:

 

Tac Pulse: 2676 pre armour mit, 2140 with 20% DR, 1766 with 34%-avg post mit dmg: 1953

Gut: 1477 DD 0% mit, 1181 DD 20% mit, 980% DD 34% mit, avg: 1080 + 2653 dot / 18s ( dmg / interval = 442 )

AP: 3695 0% mit , 2956 20% mit, 2439 34% mit, average: 2697

High Impact Bolt: 3260 Damage, 543,41 dps ( TRUE dmg lol )

Cell Burst: Even though it does have high burst(bugged crit calculation?), it's actually not THAT strong. It deals 1307 dmg / lode on 0% mit target for a total sum of 5227 dmg. On an average mit target(26%), it deals 3852 dmg. Which is not that high when you compare it to Ambush(5040), Overhead(4085) or Merciless(4311). The dps gain is, to put it honestly, pathetic: some 187 dps again compared to Ambush(420), Overhead(454) and Merciless(480 at max stack, ~440 average). The crit damage calculation must be bugged.

EDIT: An armour set bonus gives a guaranteed CB crit every 30s(or whatever), right? If that is so, it'd crit for 17,6k dmg(:eek:) on 20% mit. Giving it, get these kicks, 776,66 DPS!!!!! Ok, Bioware, you really need to work on your intra company communication. I bet this is caused by item balance / design etc team not communicating with character balance / design team. This is very easy to nerf: get rid of ANY stuff that gives a forced crit(especially post 4,0 due to changed crit calcs) to CB. IT MUSTN'T EXIST! Hell, IT MUSTN'T EVEN BE THOUGHT OF! IT'S HERESY I tell you .

 

PlasmaTech numbers:

 

Ion Pulse: 1318 core, 1400 with susceptible, 1660 with buffed CGC(10%), 1703 with buffed CGC(original 30%)

Incendiary: 540 core, 567 with susceptible + 2241 dot / 15s ( dmg / interval = 448 )

Fire Pulse: 2459 core, 2632 with susceptible

High Impact Bolt: 7824 Damage, 520 dps pre mit, 468 dps 10% mit ( average mit = 24% -> 24 * 0,4 = 9,6 ~ 10% )

Plasmatise: 5634 dmg, 563,4 dmg / interval. It NICELY surprised me! It's above average dps for a DoT ability, to be sure. But still nowhere near the league of broken DoTs(Interro probe: 880dps, Serenity F.Breach: 840dps ). If only PT could spread it, ah well.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

 

TP >> IP:

Tac Pulse deals more damage than Ion Pulse does in any scenario. Given that you use TP more often than you do IP just further aggravates the issue. The only positive side to IP is that it can be free with Plasma Barrage and that got nerfed way back in 3.x. Remember when both ShS and FP triggered TWO free IPs ?

 

Gut > Incendiary:

Gut's direct damage on application is OBSCENE for a DoT attack. If you compare it with Corrosive Dart / Vital Shot which deals ~474 dmg on hit or even something as strong as Cauterise(1064 dmg hit), but it's still lol compared to the DD portion of Plasma Brand(1557!!!). DoT components are almost equal.

 

AP > Fire Pulse:

It's just much more applicable + it deals more damage. What's not to like ?

 

HIB (Tactics) > HIB (PT):

The very fact that Tactics HIB deals true dmg(almost no dmg reduction!) coupled WITH 6s effective CD, gives it unparalleled dps: 63 dps more than its PT counterpart which would say 63 / 530 = 12% more dps! Which is ~661 damage more over 10,5s(median CD between Tactics and PT HIB CD). lol

 

...really does anything more need to be said?

Edited November 2, 2015 by Cuiwe