you just need a high-level friend to carry you through. i did it with a friend. the first limit of where a char can or cannot go only starts after balmorra (correct me if i am wrong).

havent tried yet, but thanks for the help, will give all 3 a bash and see practically i think

there's seems to be a lot of needless hating here.. ***! all the guy tried to say was "here is a nerf, here is how i changed my gameplay, if anyone is interested or has any input on it".. at no point did he say he is out-healing the nerfs! awesome to see this forum slowly going back to being constructive!

my personal opinion is that you should first decide if you want to try hybrid or def tank.. i think hybrid tank requires a lot more moving around and def is a little bit more static. hybrid took a bit of a nerf, but has gained the chance to get Blade Barrier from def tree (since it moved to tier 4).. def got buffed since Guard Slash got an increase in aggro. so i think start with that.. once you've decided with that, there will be countless forums helping with how to build each build best. one thing that i found people debate about is the Accuracy ability - personal pref is always take it until you are above 100% accuracy. here is my current build in def tree, and here is the hybrid build i will definitely try soon.. hope this helps, and also try to take other opinions into account to.. some helpful people on here! Def Build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500GMGzudMdfzZcMMZzM.1 (while leveling, use Accuracy, because you won't be at 100% accuracy.. once you have gotten to 103% accuracy, feel free to reallocate those points, which is what i have done, since my rakata gear have me exactly 3% accuracy) master focus was simply because i prefered it to solidified force - you only use hilt strike once a minute, so it's not worth wasting 1 point on it imo. for pve, imo Command and Profound Resolution are not too important, and the gain you get in Focus tree on high priority attacks is much better justified. feel free to ask if u want any more explainin about my build.. Hybrid that i want to try http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500RMGzu0MZcRrRRhzz.1 (has 3 points left over - i am torn between Swelling Winds, Force Rush and Burning Purpose)

say for example u have an abılıty that gıves you a buff of 10% damage and ıt stacks 3 times. what that means if u use that ability once, you get one buff. if you use it twice, you will get 2 buffs that stack (so you will get 20% damage), and if you use it 3 times you will get a third stack (30% damage). if the buff didnt stack, every time you used the ability, it would simply reset the buff and you would only get 10%, no more. this is just an example ofc

you can hide this in settings. i think the simply distinct way we carry our saber has been a clear sign for 50 levels now! haha, and that's coming from a dps sage who's been targetted just for that reason alone!

bearing in mind that the nerfs happened and we cant do anything about it, heres the few upsides. (i am mainly pve) this will definitely get a few more people playing hybrid imo - even if hybrid lost protector. hybrids can now benefit from blade barrier set bonus, which for me was a reason i went Def tree after trying out hybrid. for now, im trying Def tree again, and have found that it opened up 2 skill points which i never had pre1.2. cant wait to try hybrid to see what the effects are. so far, defence is good, and the guardian slash aggro buff has been felt!

the only skill that i needed to PURCHASE was the new guardian ability (forget the name now). otherwise, you should have had all previously-bought abilities... unless you didn't buy all pre1.2?

again, not a big pvper on my guardian so dont have the luxury of enough experience with him ill give it a bash at some point i guess

yeah i figured as much regarding the pvp gear - i'm not too much of a fan of dipping into dps gear UNLESS i have started hitting dim returns on the important stats

Thank you for clarification - should have thought about that one a little harder before asking a simpleton's question

im only casual pvp, mainly pve - so just commenting on the dam red of riposte is better than none if you're a big riposte user? EDIT: correct me if i'm wrong, but strictly for PvP, is the 6% gain on defence from blade barricade not worth while? (excuse my ignorance in strict pvp)

and the dmg reduction is always a plus when tanking! i was also not a fan while leveling (have no idea why) and have changed my ways since

haha cap! agreed! although, even with the sages, i think will be interesting.. im playing a 50 tele dps sage alt, and for the first 50 levels i always wondered why people put skill points into extra focus so early in the game! i wasn't force starved once in 50 levels! so the force balancing i think was necessary, as sages seemed to be the only ones who didnt have to worry about focus starvation unless they hit big emergency scenarios or ran wrong rotations and didnt wait for procs sages will still be playable, but yes, seers got big nerf :/ will see! see you all tonight!

im with cap on this one - for someone was previously had 3 points in a talent, to now only need 2 points for same result is 100% of the time a positive change! the issue is if you are in the reverse and previously didnt spec into this talent, and the talent you DID spec into changed from 2 to 3, then you find your nerf. overall, as far as i have seen, BW switched 2s and 3s, and personally, as a tank that has played Def and hybrid, i'm not phased - in fact, i will still try both specs again with the changes before i make my opinion - as opposed to arguing over balance changes of skill tree points.