Advanced Prototype PowerTech PVE + PVP Guide For Beginners (SWTOR Patch 7.7)
Hi guys, Ivano here with a beginner's guide to the Advanced Prototype PowerTech class for Star Wars The Old Republic Patch 7.7. It covers both PvP and PvE, including gear, stats, and rotations.
This is up-to-date for Patch 7.7
The video version of this guide is available on my YouTube channel here:
Quick Summary
About the class
Advanced Prototype PowerTech (aka AP PT) is a direct damage melee class, that is very strong both in PVP and PVE. It’s easy to learn, fun to play, and very versatile due to its 15m range. Its playstyle revolves around one-shotting enemies with its insane burst potential and building up relentless pressure by staying in the fight rather than running away.
Gear
First, let's talk about gear. For PvP, get a set of Thyrsian 336 gear from the PvP vendor. For PvE, aim for modded gear with item rating 340 or go directly for Rakata gear, which is the best at item rating 344. You can find more detailed gearing tips in my dedicated gearing guide here.
For relics in PvE, use Rakata Relics of Serendipitous Assault and Focused Retribution (Mastery and Power proc). For PVP, the equivalent Thyrsian Relics will give you the same stats in a Warzone.
For Legendary Implants in PvE, I recommend Shock Trooper and Mandalorian Armaments. In PvP, you might replace Mandalorian Armaments with Stimulated for more mastery or Second Wind for a strong heal and speed boost after kills or assists. I recommend Second Wind over Stimulated if you play Solo.
For tactical items, Overwhelming Offense is generally the best as it gives a steady 5% damage boost but Energized Vambrace can be better if you have perfect uptime.
Stats
Now let's look at stats. For PvE, 110% accuracy (2700 accuracy rating) is a must-have. Then focus on alacrity (2100-2200), and put the rest into crit.
In PvP, you don't need accuracy; so shoot for the same alacrity, get about 4800 crit, and put the rest of your augments into Mastery (Versatily Augments).
PVE Build
Here's my PvE build: choose single-target options to maximize boss damage. Adjust between the 15-meter range or advanced shielding based on the fight. Pyro Shield is great to gain free dps, when taking AOE from the boss. Use hydraulics to avoid mechanics and rebounders to help your team.
PVP Build
For PvP, I use Retracted Refresh for more AOE damage and Heat Zone on occasion for additional AOE burst. 15m range on level 43 is a must. If you play Terminator Droid I will personally pull you into a firetrap. Gyroscopic Alignment Jets can help a lot with heat management and Efficient Suit gives you a much-needed second stun breaker.
How To Do Damage
Your resource is called Heat and understanding how it works is crucial for learning PowerTech.
In a nutshell:
Using abilities makes your heat go up.
As long as you stay below 40 heat, your heat is automatically reduced by 5 per second
But if it goes above 40, the speed at which your heat is reduced becomes slower. This can lead to a situation where you are “overheating” and cannot use any more abilities.
So the goal of your rotation is to do the maximum amount of damage, while keeping your heat below 40.
This can be done by managing your heat by using abilities like Railshot after applying Retractable Blade's dot, which will vent 6 heat. Also: use Rapid Shots or Jet Charge instead of Magnetic Blast if you are at 25-30 heat.
The next most important thing is that you can reset the cooldown of Railshot every four abilities due to the Prototype Particle Accelerator passive. So use Magnetic Blast or Rocket Punch to reset Railshot's cooldown every four abilities.
Energy Burst is your big finishing move and it always crits, but only use it when glowing (four stacks). Before fights, build energy lodes by using your regeneration ability to prep Energy Burst.
Also: Power Yield instantly gives four stacks of Energy Burst, so you can combine that for a nice burst combo.
Offensive cooldowns include Explosive Fuel (boosts crit chance) and Shoulder Cannon (can be used at the same time as other abilities). Combine these with your opener for maximum burst.
Rotation
Open fights with your burst combo by
Throwing Thermal Detonator
Applying Retractable Blade,
then pop Explosive Fuel and start spamming shoulder cannon while using
Energy Burst → Power Yield → Energy Burst for massive damage.
Rail shot to vent some heat and build an energy lode
Rocket Punch to reduce the target’s armor
Magnetic Blast to proc your Shock Trooper implant
Finish up with another Rail Shot and go into part two of your rotation
Once your Explosive Fuel is over, start part two of the rotation:
reset the cooldown of rail shot every fourth ability with Magnetic Blast or Rocket Punch when available.
Use Energy Burst and when it glows and Thermal Detonator as often as you can without overheating. But the railshot reset every 4 abilities is the most important thing, so never delay it unless you have energy burst ready and can get a guaranteed kill in PVP.
Repeat this rotation until explosive fuel is ready again. By then, your shoulder cannons will be ready too. Then you can do another burst combo.
Remember: never let your heat go above 40 unless you have Vent Heat to reduce it quickly.
AOE
For your AOE rotation, make sure you are specced into Retracted Refresh. This makes rail shot or shatter slug trigger extra damage in a five-meter area around the target with your dot on them.
Energy burst with the Heat zone build is another AOE ability but mainly for PvP. Use it when you have 4 energy lodes and you can hit more than one enemy. The AOE will not do full damage, but it will also always crit.
Shatter slug is very important for overall damage. It resets the cooldown of rail shot and triggers retracted refresh. So run up to your enemies, dot them all, and use shatter slug to cause a chain reaction of damage.
Deadly onslaught is a ground-target AOE that does not get interrupted when running around corners. Can be used situationally for PvP but it’s less important than Energy Burst or Shatter Slug.
Finally, Flame sweep should only be used before a fight or when running between targets as it gives a free rail shot but unless you can hit 4 or more targets, it’s damage is not worth the heat cost.
Defensives
Energy shield offers damage reduction and its cooldown is reduced when you get hit. Use it liberally!
Kolto Overload heals you up to 35% health when you fall below that percentage but has a long cooldown so use it wisely. Efficient suit in PvP makes Kolto cleanse stun effects.
Sonic Missile is an AoE taunt or threat drop that also gives a 30% defense chance for six seconds – useful in both PvE and PvP.
Power Yield increases armor rating by 40%, making it both an offensive and defensive tool.
That's all for today! Hope this guide was helpful. Let me know in the comments what you thought, and if you want more guides like this.