Trooper Vanguard/Bounty Hunter Powertech

Trooper Vanguard/Bounty Hunter Powertech PVE Guide
Trooper Vanguard 33/2/6http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801GMGrdorogzZMZbco.1Bounty Hunter Powertech 33/2/6http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301GMGrdorogzZMZbco.1Vanguard and Powertech are the tanking oriented Advanced Class for Trooper and Bounty Hunter, respectively.DPS wise, they are sub-par compared to other classes, but that’s mainly to balance the fact that they are exceptional tanks with excellent survivability and threat management.The main goal of the VG and PT are to mitigate damage to themselves, via usage of cooldowns, and to protect the party from gaining aggro. In some cases, it will be difficult, but being a tank can be highly rewarding.

For ease of use, I will split this breakdown into VG rotations and PT rotations, so you can just pick the one that you are, rather than get mucked up trying to decipher the different names of skills that do and are the same thing.  Trooper Vanguard RotationStarting out a fight, you’ll want to open with Storm. Follow up with Explosive Surge for some heavy AoE threat. Use Smoke Grenade to lower the enemies chance to hit by 20%, thus gaining you more survivability. Next up is Pulse Cannon for some more AoE threat and then Ion Pulse on your main target. That gets the basic initiation out of the way and gets you on the path to sustaining yourself and holding aggro.Now, use Stockstrike on your main target and follow that up with High Impact Bolt. The combination of these two skills will immediately deal a massive amount of single target damage, and thus, threat.

Also, be sure to spam Energy Blast whenever it is up. It may not do a ton of damage, but it generates one cell on every use. Use Hammer Shot whenever you are out of cells or have nothing else to cast.You will be using Ion Cell and as such should have your Guard ability on a nearby melee DPS or, failing that, the healer. The healer will have to know to stay within 15 meters, otherwise they will gain no benefit from Guard.So, easy breakdown is as follows:1) Storm2) Explosive Surge3) Smoke Grenade4) Pulse Cannon5) Ion Pulse6) Stockstrike7) High Impact Bolt8) Energy Blast (whenever it is ready)9) Make sure 3-8 are on CD and then Hammer ShotNow,

I’m sure you have noticed that you have many other skills that are not listed here. Most every other skill, that is not part of this core rotation, is situational. For example, Mortar Volley is a great skill, but on a minute cooldown, I find it is best to save it for when you need to generate a little extra threat or when you are saving someone from a loose mob and your taunts are on cooldown. Play with all of them. Get used to the way the skills work and use what you feel most comfortable with.Finally, we cover the survivability skills. This part will be short, because it’s basically just a priority system. Reactive Shield will be your go to, followed by Neural Surge and then Adrenaline Rush (NOTE: Adrenaline Rush will not save you if you wait until the last minute to use it. I find that at about 30% is a safe time for its activation). No Retreat should be saved for tough boss fights, as it has a 20 min.

CD and you don’t want to waste that on trash mobs.  Bounty Hunter Powertech RotationStarting out a fight, you’ll want to open with Jet Charge. Follow up with Flame Sweep for some heavy AoE threat. Use Oil Slick to lower the enemies chance to hit by 20%, thus gaining you more survivability. Next up is Flamethrower for some more AoE threat and then Flame Burst on your main target. That gets the basic initiation out of the way and gets you on the path to sustaining yourself and holding aggro.Now, use Rocket Punch on your main target and follow that up with Rail Shot.

The combination of these two skills will immediately deal a massive amount of single target damage, and thus, threat. Also, be sure to spam Heat Blast whenever it is up. It may not do a ton of damage, but it lowers your heat by 8 on every use. Use Rapid Shots whenever you are maxed on heat or have nothing else to cast.You will be using Ion Gas Cylinder and as such should have your Guard ability on a nearby melee DPS or, failing that, the healer. The healer will have to know to stay within 15 meters, otherwise they will gain no benefit from Guard.So, easy breakdown is as follows:1) Jet Charge2) Flame Sweep3) Oil Slick4) Flamethrower5) Flame Burst6) Rocket Punch7) Rail Shot8) Heat Blast (whenever it is ready)9) Make sure 3-8 are on CD and then Rapid ShotsNow, I’m sure you have noticed that you have many other skills that are not listed here. Most every other skill, that is not part of this core rotation, is situational.

For example, Death from Above is a great skill, but on a minute cooldown, I find it is best to save it for when you need to generate a little extra threat or when you are saving someone from a loose mob and your taunts are on cooldown. Play with all of them. Get used to the way the skills work and use what you feel most comfortable with.Finally, we cover the survivability skills. This part will be short, because it’s basically just a priority system. Energy Shield will be your go to, followed by Carbonize and then Kolto Overload (NOTE: Kolto Overload will not save you if you wait until the last minute to use it. I find that at about 30% is a safe time for its activation). On the Trail should be saved for tough boss fights, as it has a 20 min. CD and you don’t want to waste that on trash mobs.