Exactly.......

That's what separates good Operatives and bad (or not so good) Operatives; energy management. Just because you have the resource doesn't mean you should use it right away, especially due to how our regeneration works. The trick is knowing when to burn it for burst damage and when to save it for sustained damage. Most guides out there go over this issue and recommend that for the best DPS, energy needs to stay above 70 most of the time to ensure that you regenerate it fast enough to allow for you to use it more often.

Actually there are two that I can think of off the top of my head. Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. FFXI did it since day 1, and it actually works very well. The issue being complete gear set switching and an overall lack of storage space. It wouldn't work well in this game though. Although I honestly don't really see a reason gameplay, balance or lore wise why people can't switch between their advanced classes by visiting a trainer (not in the field).

I hit 50 on my Bodyguard Merc just before 1.2 came out, got some of the daily comm modifications and took a break due to the amount of time I had to wait for groups. I love healing, but not standing around in the fleet for 30-45 minutes getting nothing done, when I only have 2-3 hours of available play time every other day. Just before coming back, I decided to look at these forums to find out how badly the changes affected our healing....needless to say I was not optimistic. However, over the last week I've sporadically been courageous enough to offer my healing services to guildies who just needed a healer to fill that last spot for HM Boarding Party, Foundry, Black Talon and Kaon.... After being so beaten down with the majority of this forums doomsday attitude about Commando and Mercenary healing all I have to say is stop...stop whining. You're making it seem WAAAAAY worse than it actually is. While I can't speak to how much better or more enjoyable the other healers are (I don't like Sage/ Sorc healing style TBH) but I enjoyed the hell out of my groups. No one died, we were all fairly fresh 50's with the odd Tionese piece that dropped from HM's and daily comm modifications, so we didn't over gear the content by any stretch, and they were some of the fastest runs I've ever done. TL;DR- If you enjoy Merc/ Commando healing, stick with it and don't listen to this doomsday crap, we're viable healers. Notice the word VIABLE...I did not say we were equal to the other healers (I can't speak to this point, so this is neither saying we are worse or better than anything else), I said we can heal well enough to get the job done, and that's the only thing that matters

I try to, the problem is that 95% of the quests you get on every planet are the same for everyone on that faction. It's super repetitive. I enjoy the cutscenes, but regardless of how much I enjoy them, watching the full 2-3 minute dialogue for every quest I've done 3 times already is not my idea of fun, it's also not how'd I'd like to spend the little time I get to play. To help alleviate this I switch between factions regularly.

Well Geared Healer with Tank Companions or Tanks with Healing companions are able to do a lot more content alot easier than most DPS, due to the general lack of survivability/ longevity of DPS classes.

The point that stikes me most about your posts is that you constantly refer back to the source material, and how jedi never throw stuff, or very rarely, therefore making the moves in SWToR blasphemous in some way. My problem is that your SUCH a jedi/ star wars fanboy that you can't stand for something that wasn't in the movies to be shown in the game. Why does the source material have to think for you? Why can't something that WASN'T in the source material be in the game? The force can be used to do what is done in this game (except conjure stones from thin air, I'll give you that) so why is it blasphemous that this is how Bioware decided to differentiate between the factions? a Jedi CAN throw environmental objects and they can cause pebble storms (in areas where that many pebbles exist....or perhaps THAT'S what is being stored in that huge backside when your wearing robes) so why is it so bad? I'm enjoying the game as is, I'll admit that some of the animations could be better, but it's not breaking my enjoyment factor nor my immersion. I can't wrap my brain around why this could break the game for someone. I can't empathise with you, I just can't understand why you are unable to think outside the box a little bit.... I apologize for sounding rude, but your hate for this just seems irrational and illogical to me. The dislike for the animations is understandable, but to be so vehemently opposed to the theme of the animations based on what is or isn't in the source material just seems narrow minded.

Any arguments made against your point will be falling on deaf ears I think. I'll just keep playing and enjoying my sage while you continue on your crusade against lore breaking pebble conjuring jedi.....

Sorceror lightning is cool for a while, but honestly, as a Sorceror DPS, having every major attack I perform be based on lightning is really redundant and gets annoying after a while. Sages throw stuff using the force, and while mildly-fast-floating-pebbles-being-conjured-from nowhere isn't nearly as cool as lightning, it's much less annoying. Honestly? I like sage better than sorceror because not all of my attacks are the same. And really dude, you're going to argue about where they pulled these "signature" moves from? Why does it matter? it's a game based on a space fantasy where magic (the force) can be used to do just about anything. Bioware decided that Sages used the force to pull stuff from their surroundings (or conjure it) and throw it at the enemy and that Sorcerors would conjure lightning using the force....thats it. They needed to differentiate between the classes in some way, and thats how they did it. If you really don't like it, come up with a better alternative, or don't play the class.

Grouping function to help get groups together for Flashpoints.....aka a LFD tool. More character slots Multiple companion options so you can replace one you hate with one you like, or hate less (kind of like Morinth from Mass Effect 2) Dual Spec The ability to test out your AC before being permanently locked to it (or the ability to switch it, once) Quicker travel options from planet to planet.

Republic equivalent to Boarding party is Taral V Empire: Boarding Party -> Foundry Republic: Taral V -> Maelstrom Prison In any case, simply burning through low level flashpoints and selling the gear you get while using any gathering crew skills on the mobs is fast. You could also try putting yourself out there as a mercenary, willing to run people through Flaspoints for a fee....not sure if it would work in this game, but I know people do it in every other MMO where having a high level person/ highly skilled group makes content trivial.

Just wanted to point out that this is mathematically impossible over the course of a long fight. I will concede that during certain phases (portion of the fight) that it could be possible for the person who puts out the lowest numbers normally could outdamage the highest, given how their class works and proper use of cooldowns. That being said, if you look at an entire fight, the person with the highest average DPS will be the one who does the most total damage. Their DPS might look like a sine wave when you plot it out, but if their average DPS is higher, they will have done the most damage. Also to the person who is ranting about "there is no burst in an ops fight!" obviously never fought a boss with phases where you only had a 15-20 second DPS window. To determine what is burst vs sustained you need to ask this....if you only had 20 seconds to damage something (and ONLY 20 seconds, not 20+ however long your Dots lasted) which class/ spec would put out the highest numbers? I agree that over the course of a long fight that burst vs sustained makes no difference, but in specific windows, it does...and some bosses only have DPS windows (like the last boss in Athiss).

Heat dissipates at a constant rate, independent of how fast you cast your heals or use other skills (except for SCG and Vent Heat). Using Rapid Shots does not dissipate heat. Therefore, you having the ability to use more healing abilties in less time, means that your heat won't have a chance to dissipate and you will become heat capped that much faster. This means that having the ability to cast more heals in less time is an absolutely stupid abiltiy for a PvE healer who needs longevity. This may be completely opposite for PvP. Alacrity as it stands now is nowhere near as useful for healers as Power, Crit and Surge considering there is no stat to increase the size or regeneration rate of our resource pool.

To fix the problem, if you really want to play this class as your main, delet the character and make a carbon copy (looks wise anyway) but change the name. Problem solved

I'm concerned about BH healing, and the threads I have been reading all have people who are testing say that the nerf to skills is a bit rough to overcome because it changes the playstyle. Playstyle is changing because now instead of partly relying on alacrity, we now more heavily rely on Crit and Surge (which I already do, honestly, alacrity seemed stupid given how our resource worked). Because of this the speed at which we heal will decrease but our heals will be bigger, therefore keeping our HPS roughly similar. Yes the nerf will suck, but only until you learn to adapt. If this broke (I mean really broke it, not just doomsayer "the sky is falling" BS) it wouldn't make it to live. Yes I know some weird stuff makes it in, but I've never seen anything hit live that turned a class completely useless....nerfed yes, but not useless.

Using big words doesn't make you any less of a crybaby. If you were really that good, you'd learn to adapt to the changes and move on. Instead you rant and rave about changes that good healers who are actually TESTING, say that the end result hasn't changed, resource management is just a little more difficult now. IF you truly are unsubbing, good bye....see you in a month after you find out the patch didn't kill your class.

Until you get Kolto Shell and the talents that buff Healing Scan (giving it a HoT), and the talents that buff Kolto Shell your healing output won't be all that impressive. We do also kind of have a rotation for healing once we get all our tools. Kolto Shell (to give the +healing buff) then Healing Scan (for armor buff and the HoT, as well as lowering the heat cost of Rapid Scan) then Rapid Scan, filling in with your "auto attack" Rapid Shots and using Supercharged Gas to make Kolto Shell give a small bubble in a pinch. Remember, popping Supercharged gas also vents a little heat, so don't be afraid to use it when your heat starts creeping up, because 30 charges get built up quickly. Once you get to Alderaan, maybe slightly before (about lvl 30), as a healer you will want to focus on healing your companion, who should be doing almost all of the damage. If you try and help kill stuff while healing your companion, you'll just end up healing both of you and overheating really quickly. It might be slower, but you'll never be in danger of dying....ever.

I agree with this. Part of the immersion and fun factor for me is being able to play with a companion that I enjoy being with because of there whit, commentary and aesthetics. Being forced to choose a companion that you hate just so you can complete content would make it very easy to get disenchanted with the game. Like Sith Warriors.....does ANYONE like Quinn once you get to the part of the story where....he...makes you hate him? Don't want to spoil it, but I've never heard anyone who actually reacted positively to that situation. But because Warriors can't heal for themself, they are pretty much forced into using Quinn. Assassins, I went lightside and romanced Ashara and play Madness DPS. I'm basically forced to use Talos for healing because I can't complete content without him. Not that I don't like Talos, because his rhetoric and after combat quotes are pretty funny sometimes, but being able to play alongside my love interest would just be really cool. Skadge for Bounty Hunters...I'm not there yet, but based on the fact that there are 2 threads on the BH forum and both of which filled up in a matter of hours with flaming posts about Skadge.... If a spec was forced to, or rather, heavily favored using him, I know there would be a lot of not so happy people. I don't really see how making it so that every companion could fill multiple roles would be such a bad thing. Or give every class abilities that revolved specifically around keeping companions alive or something...Anything that would allow more choice in who your companion could be. As it stands now, most people only use MAYBE 2 companions.

I chose Sniper at first and stopped playing once I reached level 16 or so..I just hated the playstyle so much. Then I rolled a Smuggler and went Scoundrel for healing to see what the mechanics were like and absolutely loved the stealthing, backstabbing (or back-shooting in scoundrels case) style. I deletd the Sniper and re-rolled as an Operative DPS and haven't looked back. Granted, I switched because of playstyle preferences, so I can't say which is better or not, I just enjoyed the heck out of Operative gameplay.....Sniper? Not so much.... Do what I did, try em both out and then make a decision.

Some other funny things that would be great to make fun of Female companion characters that turn invisible when you put on the dancer outfits....and all you see is the dancer outfit. Activating quest objectives with your double-bladed lightsaber sticking through your face because it didn't turn off Bounty Hunter continously and obnoxiously shooting at a dead body WELL after the animation for Unload should be over... NPC's not animating correctly in cutscenes, like lips not moving, looping animation that just doesn't jive with the scene (BH had an imperial general casually leaning back and forth while folding his arms and it caused him to go in and out of my characters head...looked like they were trying to kiss and failed horribly....and both were male) Escaping out of conversations because you don't like how it affects your companions affection or DS/LS points... Thana Vesh....nuff said.

MMO's are made by companies to make money, the best way for a company to make money from an MMO is to cater to the largest possible population, which includes people that may only have 1-2 hours a day to play...and honestly, that is the majority of the population. I am one of those people who can only play a few hours every few days, but MMO's are my favorite genre because of the persistant world and the ability to talk to and have fun with friends and just people in general. The best way to cater to people like me, is to implement a system that allows for easy access to groups, because the game is highly based on gropu content. Whether that is a LFD tool like WoW, a global LFG channel or simply autoflagging you as LFG when you have a group quest, I don't care, but a more robust system needs to be put in place to allow people to quickly and reliably find groups in the time frames they have to play otherwise the population will decline and noone will be able to find groups and the game will die. I don't even care about auto transport to the group location, but that would be another very beneficial thing to have...maybe like an item or skill with a cooldown that transports you to the party leaders location or a quest item that takes you to the entrance of the area when used...? Anyway, never forget that MMO's are made to make money by catering to the largest number of people and keep that population interested and paying for the service. Best way to do that is to cater to the people who don't have a lot of time to play, because honestly...everyone fits that description at one point or another. If everyone had to look at the clock and figure out if they had enough time to do what they wanted to do before signing off, a lot of people would simply do something else and not play the MMO....which is not what any of us want.

I'm going to wholeheartedly disagree with the argument that having trouble finding a group is only a DPS class problem. I have a tank and a healer alt, both about lvl 25 and on my server Begeren Colony, I can't find a group....or rather it takes so long to find a group that I'd rather just not do it and solo level instead. I've stopped playing my 50 Assassin (DPS) because trying to find a group to do any FP is impossible while I'm doing my dailies, which is why I have the 2 alts... I put up my LFG comment as soon as I log in and list the FP's I want to do and I say in general that I'm LFG for the Heroics on the planet I'm on. Admittedly, I've been able to do most of the Heroics on the planets I've been to, however it's always when someone else is shouting in general and I'm about to sign off and I have to say "sigh....screw sleep for now, I'll probably never get another chance to get these done." while I'm generally over leveled for the Heroic anyway.... If I was able to log in, queue up and then go about my business while chatting in general and in my guild and be able to see all of the content BioWare worked so hard on....I think EVERYONE would be happy.

This is exactly why a flashpoint queueing system would be amazing for this game. You could go and run your dailies or help your lower level guild friends out while sitting in a queue and then get notified when a goup has been formed. Bash it all you want, but WoW's LFD tool was the best thing they ever did for players who want to do more than sit around a central hub and shout for groups and pray you get one together and still have enough time to actually complete the content. People can remark about how it killed the community, but honestly, I'm paying to PLAY this game, not sit in a glorified chat room with Star Wars avatars and spend countless hours trying to get enough people together to play. I'm already in a guild, but it's more of a social one where people talk and joke, rather than a progression/ end game guild right now due to how new the game is.

The leveling process and solo content post starting world was balanced around having a companion. What this means is that once you get your companion you are essentially required to gear two characters to continue being effective playing solo, which while leveling is 75% or more of the time. I'm not really agreeing with people who roll need on an item their companion can use before letting a contributing member of the Flashpoint have it, but arguing that your companions aren't a part of you is stupid, they need gear almost as much as you do. I will concede though that some classes don't need their companion as much as others, but some (like the Madness Assassin) require a well geared companion to even survive eve leveled solo content. My take? Take a look at who's rolling what and see if it's an upgrade for them. If they roll need, let them have it or ask if it's OK to roll need for your companion, if no one says anything or they say it's OK, go ahead and roll. No one can fault you for communcating and asking first.

Your system needs an upgrade. If your problem is that you can't even get the game to start, look through the forums and various other sites for the workarounds BioWare has potsed for getting it to start. If your problem is that ou can get the game to start but it won't run, it means your computer can't handle it. There have been reports of higher end systems having trouble with FPS or running the game worse than their system should, but your system is a farcry from a high end system....no offense, but your system wouldn't even pass for a low end system anymore.