Packing heavy armor and an arsenal more befitting in Doom than an MMO, the Bounty Hunter knows “hyperbole†doesn’t exist in his vocabulary when engaging in ranged combat. If the problem isn’t solved by the time the smoke clears, keeping steady pressure on the trigger should fix things.
Of note is the Bounty Hunter’s peculiar resource system. Instead of carrying a flat cost, abilities generate Heat that slowly discharges during battle. Let your Heat creep up to 100 (minds out of the gutter, kids), and your attacks will lock up until your weapons cool down.
Mercenary
Mercenaries, like the Republic’s Gunslinger, favor dual blaster pistols, hairpin triggers, and an insatiable hunger for credits. But they’ve also taken the plunge into overkill territory with a flamethrower. And a missile launcher. And a jetpack. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they walked up to a weapons vendor and said, “I’ll buy the lot. Just shove ‘em under my armor.â€
The centerpiece of the Arsenal tree is the Tracer Missile ability, a stackable debuff that should stick on a target at all times for maximum damage. As a result, an Arsenal specialization plays much like the Warlock due to the importance of weaving in crucial debuffs among other attacks.
The Mercenary doesn’t skimp on pimping the heals, either. The Bodyguard specialization’s fast, instant heals has Holy Paladin written all over it, but the former wins an extra million style points for the simple fact that rendering aid sometimes involves slugging a healing rocket at an ally. Now I know I’m in another galaxy.
Powertech
The Powertech takes advantage of the run-and-gun nature of the Bounty Hunter when assuming the role of a skilled ranged tank. The defense-oriented Shield Tech specialization operates similarly to the Protection Paladin’s strong AoE threat generation (such as when using Oil Slick, an AoE debuff that lowers accuracy).
The Advanced Prototype specialization draws the Powertech even closer to his target, granting movement boosts and upping his Rocket Punch and flamethrower attacks for bonus damage. The combination of a heavy melee strike earned through talents – Retractable Blade – and close-in ranged abilities make this playstyle equatable to the Retribution Paladin.