I don't think cold water will be enough. I'm thinking 3 months in a burn trauma unit accompanied by weapons-grade pharmaceuticals might be more appropriate. :D:D

/signed

You, Sir, are PURE EVIL. /shudders

Interestingly enough, I have yet to be burst down by a Concealment Operative on my Focus Guardian. Even when they open on me, I can swing the fight enough to make them either reset or run away. I concede the point that I've probably never been jumped by the upper echelons of Operative-dom, but that's my experience so far. Which goes to the point some people are making. I think Concealment needs more burst and less utility. From the perspective of the guy they always target, I don't feel there's much difference between Concealment and Lethality, to be quite honest. I DO have a harder time damaging Lethality Operatives as Focus, but that's because their DCDs synergize very well with their mobility. And I think that's the way they SHOULD play, being a DoT spec. But Concealment needs its mojo back. If it's going to be a burst class, it needs to be a burst class. It has minor self heals, so I think a SLIGHT reduction in mobility would be the perfect accompaniment to an increase in up-front burst. I'm completely aware of the irony of "nerf operatives" coming from a Guardian.

I rather enjoy all of the warzones. It's the DPS that don't know how to focus fire the marked targets that make me want to swallow a bullet.

^^^^ Twenty bucks says this guy is on A LOT of ignore lists.

Or cross-healing. I'm really thinking it might be time for a cap on incoming healing, or a debuff of some sort if you're being healed by more than one source. I don't have the answers, but I do know it's the stacking that's the problem. And Sage/Sorcerer healers have too much mobility and passive survivability for the healing they're able to output. I think giving them Phase Walk was a HORRIBLE idea.

The negativity bias is very real.

Out of curiosity, what would you replace it with? To be honest, I don't feel subjectively as though I'm experiencing any gaps with the way I'm geared now. I feel EXTREMELY solid as both a duelist and a heal-killer (crazy cross-heals notwithstanding). If I drop the Accuracy, do I run the risk of not being able to handle tanks as efficiently in a 1v1? Thanks for the reply, Bud!

It's still not updating when the prerequisite quests are completed. Seriously, guys.

BioWare, blue is the most common lightsaber color in the Star Wars universe. MAKE IT AVAILABLE IN A WAR HERO'S VERSION. Seriously, this should have been taken care of a year ago.

This actually seems to be the default wiring in the brains of DPS in SWTOR. Spread out as much as possible, don't hit an enemy if someone's already doing it, and - whatever you do - DON'T HIT THE PERSON WITH THE BIG NEON SIGN OVER ITS HEAD.

I have yet to lose a duel or 1v1 on my Focus Guardian (my poor Combat Sentinel is another story), and I don't really have trouble with Operative/Scoundrel or Mercenary/Commando healers. Sage/Sorcerer healers are another animal entirely. Not only do they have the most overtuned healing in the game, they have a toolbox with FAR too many tools in it for a healer. If they're not completely brain dead about utility choices, they can kite you all day long - it doesn't MATTER how much burst you can put out or how skilled you are at pulling off your "rotation". If you can't get to them as melee, you're not shutting them down, end of story. And Freezing Force can only take you so far, since they'll just kite out of it with Force Speed and you can't reapply it 30 meters away. And I don't know WHOSE bright idea it was to give them Phase Walk. Overkill much, BW? Aside from that, I don't think healing in general is OP. The problem I see is that cross-healing is somewhat overtuned. There should be diminishing returns for a lot of incoming heals. The way it stands now if you have 3+ healers cross-healing, it doesn't matter if you have the entire team DPSing them - they're not going down. This really does need to be addressed since games are becoming stale heal-fests, with objectives taking a back seat. There needs to be a give-and-take for warzones to be enjoyed for what they are. When I'm in Civil War, I want to be fighting over turrets, not "see who can cap first then baby-sit a turret situation that will never change after the initial cap".

Nice to hear! This really is a great spec. I've been trying out my Combat Sentinel again for heal-killing, and I just keep coming back to Focus. We don't hit as hard as Combat (and I really wish we had a heal debuff) but Guardian/Juggernaut DCDs are just too good to pass up. It doesn't matter how much punch you pack if you can't stay alive long enough to use it. By the way, I'm sitting at 39.07% Crit (84.49% multiplier), 2375 Force damage, and 106.79% Accuracy. Should I be allocating my stats any differently?

Great answers, you guys! I greatly appreciate the input. I'm assuming this should be chained with Saber Ward for maximum overlap of mitigation? Thanks again!

Sorry for the minor necro, but I just dusted off my Combat Sentinel recently and am trying to fine-tune his PvP chops. Does anyone have a quick primer on which classes/specs Pacify and Obfuscate work against? I have a pretty good sense of which Knight/Warrior specs and Consular/Inquisitor specs, but I'm still really fuzzy on how to use this in a 1v1 situation against Bounty Hunters/Troopers and Agents/Smugglers. Thanks in advance, y'all!

P.S.: What sort of Critical percentage is recommended for this spec? P.P.S.: I'm not noticing any difference at all in 9.13% Alacrity and 6.44% Alacrity. I'm still getting a 2.2 second Blade Dance, and the cooldowns of Precision and Zealous Strike are sitting at 11.3 seconds each. I was already sitting at 39.41% Critical Rating and 69.83% Critical Multiplier, so I replaced the Alacrity augments I dropped with Power augments. This boosted my bonus damage quite significantly, from 1630.0 to 1666.2 (Force damage is 2393.5). This feels more comfortable to, particularly since Blade Rush spam is such an important part of our repertoire as Combat - and in light of all of the Force/Tech resistance abilities flying around. Will test later tonight after the hubby and I finish our movie.

While I agree with the last two choices, how do you feel about dropping the Blade Dance root for the 10-meter range on Leg Slash? The reason I ask is that I find this spec twice as hard to play without it. Opponents that kite well and self-heal seem to be especially hard for us (my poor toon has the battle scars to prove it ), and having a spammable mid-range slow with a heal debuff that only costs 1 focus seems too good to pass up. And how are you guys using Saber Ward in this spec? I'm still used to using it on my Focus Guardian to take advantage of the Blade Turning passive, so I'm very aware that I need a shift in thinking with regard to DCDs when playing Combat. Thanks in advance!

Imma tell you what will make you a better PvP player than almost everyone out there, assuming you're playing a DPS spec. If there's a bad guy with a big glowing symbol over its head, hit it until it is dead. Most of your fellow DPS will never understand this simple tactic.

I think you're on to something. Day before yesterday, two of the larger guilds on our server did an all-day premade event. In almost every case, they were stacking Sorcerers, AP PowerTechs, and Immortal Juggernauts (both hybrids and full tanks). Don't get me wrong, I had a great time playing against them on my Focus Guardian, but they were absolutely wrecking face. Had I not been having fun, it would have been an absolute NIGHTMARE.

What stat priorities would you guys recommend for a dueling build? I know I'm starting out at a disadvantage, but I've just made it my personal mission to see how many operatives I can wreck 1v1 with this spec.

Yeah, I've always felt that Carnage/Combat was far too susceptible to CC, especially during its burst windows. I really feel that this spec needed the Gravity Vortex perk FAR more than Concentration/Fury. And the ability of some Operatives to keep you from turning just adds insult to injury. Of course, Carnage/Combat relies less on its leap than the other 2 specs, so dead-zoning doesn't seem to hurt as bad. Keep up the great work!

VERY nice work, Slayeress! How do you feel you hold up in a 1v1, specifically against stealth classes? I've been maining my Focus Guardian, but I might have to dust off the old Combat Sentinel after watching you move. Kudos!

I think BioWare should rip off Wildstar and implement a double jump for all characters. For Force users, the animation could have an animation that fits the vibe. For non-Force users, the animation could do a "rocket boot" sort of thing. Problem solved. You're welcome.

I KNEW I liked you for a reason!