SWTOR Mercenary Pyrotech Guide

SWTOR Mercenary Pyrotech Guide by tconeal

So you want to be a pyrotech? Well you got a few things you need to know before you start blowing folks up.

The common consensus of merc players see the big numbers from arsenal and think pyro cannot achieve the burst that merc can…..thats where your wrong XD.

Pyro is by NO means worse than arsenal. Being 48 valor rank and having spent around 600k credits from respeccing between the two I’ve gotten an experienced feel for both and they both have their pros and cons.

I’ll keep this short and simple. For gear you want PURE power. The full eliminator champion set has Power stats all over it so it makes it easy for you. Alacrity is nothing for a Pyrotech merc because you barely cast. Once u get a good amount of power your Thermal Detonator/Rail shots start to hit insanely hard, along with your dots. Surge and Crit are also important stats to make everything hit much harder, but never neglect that endurance for pvp

Pyrotech has a very flexible talent tree, but this is the build I currently use:
http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300MzZMckZMIrbzGGMs.1

In this build you are picking up your most needed talents. Alot of people like the Degauss talent, but you would never pop a survivability cooldown just to rid yourself of a snare. Despite that, Degauss and Energy Rebounder work very well together. Automated Defenses in pyro does not work well in pvp. I have tested this and even though you can benefit from a reduced Kolto Overload cooldown,its more of a pve talent because you would benefit more from constantly doing a rotation to proc the cd reduction.

You could also swap out Improved Vents and the 1 point in Hired Muscle for Stabilizers in arsenal if you suffer from alot of pushback. Personally I would prefer the heat and crit, considering if your in melee range while casting Power Shot your doing it wrong.

I know pvp does not have “rotations” but there is an order of skills you should use before the others:

1. Trinket
2. Incendiary Missile
3. Thermal Detonator
4. Rail Shot
5. Unload(hopefully resets Rail Shot)
6. Power Shot (hopefully resets Rail Shot)
(Opponent below 40%? Thermal Sensor Override and Fusion Missile)
(Opponent over 40%? Continue using Power Shot and Unload)

Weave in a few Rapid shots after step 5 and 6 to manage that heat. That would be the basic skills you would use when going against other players. Use Rail Shot everytime it comes off of cooldown; its the core skill for Pyrotech because it hits like a truck while refunding you 8 heat.

When I line up Thermal Detonator with a casted Power Shot into a Rail Shot, I do magic and make 50% of my targets hp disappear, 40% on geared players. Many players do not anticipate this burst and you can instagib them EASILY if they are already around 70% hp before you start.

The end-teir pyrotech talent “Burnout” is SO golden for this tree. This skill makes your dots do 30% more damage to targets below 30% health, which is why I advise the Fusion Missile to be used when your enemy is around 40%.

I am almost in full champion gear and on a target below 30%, my Incendiary Missile crits for 700-800 while my Combustible Gas Cylinder dot crits for 900-1000 and thats instantly on attack. No exaggerating here folks. Those dots stacked with your auto shots make low health opponents drop like flieeeeees in a beehive!

The usual complaint about pyrotech is that it doesn’t have the knockbacks that arsenal does, or my favorite one, “Pyrotech is too RNG for PVP!” You dont need your rocket punch knockback when you can permakite someone with your Sweltering Heat. As arsenal if you get interrupted once, your dead, plain and simple.

As Pyrotech you can stay at max range and kite any melee that advances towards you. Range classes should not be a problem for you #lineofsight About the RNG factor, if we “werent” RNG we would be beyond overpowered. Rail Shot does too much damage “without” having to be reset. If we could constantly use it on a short cooldown we would receive a swift nerf to the knee.

Well thats all guys and gals, thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments, concerns, or questions about anything mercenary, and remember, MANAGE DAT HEAT!