5361

My Powertech is only level 17, but in groups I’ve gone:

  1. Death from Above to start
  2. Electro Dart on any Elite mobs or annoying long-range enemies
  3. Rail Shot
  4. Explosive Dart
  5. Unload
  6. Flamethrower to make sure I have all aggro
  7. Rocket Punch
  8. Flame Burst

I try to alpha-strike with abilities, then Vent Heat and go into a more balanced rotation of:

  1. Unload
  2. Flame Burst
  3. Rocket Punch
    (Mix in basic attacks to mitigate heat)

Situationally, I’ll use:

  • Neural Dart to refocus aggro from a particularly tough mob
  • Death from Above
  • Power Shield (or whatever it’s called) when I’m getting pounded
  • Rail Shot whenever I can
5362

Yeah, did hammer station the first time last night. The first flashpoint I did that called for standard holy trinity MMO approaches and also had a guy (marauder of course) who would just charge in and not let me pull. Didn’t take the hint when he died on the first pull, so didn’t worry as much about pulling mobs off of him.

Also with the dynamic movement of the mobs, it’s really too bad they don’t have a better nameplate system. But I guess I’m just way spoiled by threat plates in WoW.

5363

Oh and thanks for the input, all. I’m not talking about the situational stuff as much as ability order in the initial pull, then maintaining high threat either single target or AoE. So used to reams of information that is pre-digested and theory crafted to death, it’s kind of cool being in a situation where this can be discussed.

5364

Also, you really have to pay attention to the mob classification when you target them. Sometimes you can tell, visually, if the mob is Strong, Elite, or Champion, but if you wade in thinking you’re going to stomp something that’s a few levels below you without checking first, it can really hurt.

I think at level 16 I took on a level 11 Elite mob that I didn’t realize was Elite, and was shocked at how much punishment it took to put down, and how much damage it was doing in return.

I noticed this happens much more frequently in groups. There’s just too much group pressure to constantly keep moving forward, so group members rarely pause to assess a situation, and it leads to lots of battles getting much hairier than they should.

5365

I think Bounty Hunters are so interesting in that they have so many tools at all ranges at their disposal. Their versatility is really enjoyable.

5366

That was it. Shortly after I posted, I got both upgrade schematics. Yay :)

I’m enjoying Balmorra a lot so far, which is a surprise – I was thinking “bugs, boring”, but killing them is so strangely enjoyable that I went well past what the quests had asked, gathering resources along the way.

By this level (34) my guardian has lots of tools, and they complement each other nicely. You can CC the heck out of any single target with relative ease while killing it (which was lots of fun last night when getting jumped by the usual DPS-focused Sith on Alderaan – haha, surprise!), and holding aggro on groups is easier now.

Between the fun tanking mechanics and crafting (keeping my companion’s damage-dealing as high as possble helps a ton, esp. in PvP where she’s often ignored while they try to damage my guardian, which, if the cooldowns are all up, is pretty futile) I’m really enjoying the game.

5367

Two questions regarding Guardians, as that AC will be my first alt after my Gunslinger reaches the cap:

  1. Is it viable to level using a tanking spec (i.e. Defense tree) or is combat painfully slow?
  2. Is it viable to tank lower level flashpoints and heroic group quests using a dps spec (i.e. Vigilance tree)?
5368

1.yes(it’s recommended you level using your tank stance if not tank spec)
2.yes

5369

Don’t know why you’d level in tank spec unless you want to be tanking.

I’ve been swapping between the two quite frequently and your killing speed is incredibly fast with both you and Vette as dps.

5370

The story of the promised ones, in taris, I think is really good. Nice game :D

5371

You can use paypal.

Anyway, having fun as a BH.

5372

I’ve been playing a Vanguard and leveling in tank spec. I dunno why, it feels like fun. Doesn’t the cost of respeccing your talent points go up each time you do it?

5373

Agreed, that one along with the Alderaan Three Spires Quest chain are my two must play non-class quests.

5374

Yep, that was my Jedi Knight Zhu.

5375

Why did nobody tell me there would be 400 person queues in the middle of the afternoon on a Friday - I could have logged in earlier!

5376

The queues started much earlier today than yesterday. All I can think of is maybe more people are off for the holliday.

5377

Logging in just now, I was put in a queue of ~50. Not too bad. Not even bad enough to get me angry after a morning spent in retail hell.

5378

Is that on Harbinger? I actually was in a longer queue than that when I logged in around Noon PST.

5379

Again i see the power of biochemistry. It just seems like you would be significantly less powerful without all of these buffs running and access to the best health packs.

I managed to complete the 30+ sith warrior quest line at level 28 (well, i turned 29 when it ended). The end is a lot of fights against higher level elite enemies, sometimes in pairs. The last fight is an extremely difficult fight against a very powerful 32 elite boss.

I did sort of have to “exploit” to beat these fights though. These enemies were so much more powerful than me that i had to jump in, go through my defensive cooldowns and then kite the boss(es) while my ranged dps companion wore them down. Obviously it isn’t quite this easy as the jedi bosses tend to jump and have ranged attacks/cc and so i died quite a few times on the way.

I also had to use my armor absorb adrenal every boss fight, as well as every cooldown except the 20 minute one.

It was a very satisfying feeling though because i got the companion i wanted earlier than intended.

5380

27 person queue on Wall of Light. That’s new.