Hello. So I've recently returned to the game after about four or five years and am having fun. A friend of mine has returned just today as well, but is slightly behind. He is on chapter 13 of KOTFE (Profit and Plunder). I have done that already (and have completed all the story stuff up to cap and all that good endgame stuff). We used to play together all the time. I'm wondering if I'm allowed in his instances of the KOTFE and onward despite having completed those instances myself? I'd really like to experience the story with him. I assume that it's possible to do somehow? I'm not really going to be making decisions or anything, I'll just be playing with him and watching the story, etc, etc. TLDR version: Can I tag along with my buddy who just came back into his KOTFE chapters despite having completed them myself already?

So I have recently returned to the game after some months of absence upon news of the expansion. I was watching the stuff on Dulfy about the new Discipline system and something grabbed my attention about it. It seems that on that page there is an option for choosing your advanced class. Now, I'm rather curious as to whether or not they're implementing this for the characters already past level 10. With the 12x experience boost, I'm busy leveling up characters. I'm satisfied with the choices that I've made, etc, but I'm honestly curious as to whether or not they're going to let people switch advanced classes (say, Powertech to Mercenary for instance) with the advent of the new system. If so, would it be a one time thing or would it be something available for a fee? As I said, I'm happy with my choices and anyhow, with the 12x experience boost it's not that hard to level up a new character, but my curiosity on the matter has been peaked. I've yet to see a developer post on that topic or any official word on it (note, I've seen some of players commenting with their opinions, but I'm curious if any actual developer who knows for a fact could clear this matter up for me)?

Nobody is panicking. At least, not anybody with half a brain. Keep in mind the person who made the initial post seems to have difficulty with elementary spelling words like 'weak'. I wouldn't put too much credence in the posts of somebody who can't master elementary school learning.

An idea for you Bioware Developers: create modular speeders and a speeder construction 'vendor'/workstation where people can mix and match different speeder parts. For instance, a speeder could have a chassis component, a thrusters component, a details component, etc, etc. You could essentially play 'mix and match' to create a speeder that is reasonably unique. It could add some variety to the various boss loot at the end of flashpoints as well. Different bosses could drop different parts of speeders for cybertechs. Then allow the cybertech people to sell the speeder parts as spaceship components are sold. There you have it: a lot of people would be creating personalized speeders that better reflect their characters, personalities, etc. Something for you developers to consider, maybe to put on your board of ideas.

Actually, I'd suggest you stop trying to split verbal hairs to support your point. You would claim that me saying that sacrificing minimal mitigation for a good increase in dps isn't 'better' for tanking? Really? You know what one of the first signals are that somebody doesn't have a leg to stand on and knows it? When they resort to semantics to try and demonstrate that they're correct. Did he? You're a fan of quotes, so go ahead and find that. Your complaint is that you didn't read or look at the spreadsheet? You apparently expect him to post his complete math each and every post. If you'd bothered to actually look at the spreadsheet and his other thread, you'd see that he did nothing BUT offer math to demonstrate how he came to the conclusions that are detailed. No indication? Other than the fact that he said it in no fewer than two of the posts he responded to? Than he gave the actual bloody numbers as to why it worked out like it did? You're right. People DO use false statistics to trick people into believing things. Much like your own quoted post down below. Of course, unlike Musame, you don't even have concrete numbers to back up what you say. You just say something and claim it as truth. Musame's posts are chock full of the actual math. Not my problem if you can't follow it or draw appropriate conclusions from it. Really? The most popular build huh? Numbers to back that up? Of course not. All you have is more anecdotal 'evidence'. Funny how you're so good at pointing out imagined issues in other people making statistics not work but ignore your own issues. Statistics 101 is obviously something you didn't take at all or you'd know that everybody pulls out statistics without numbers to make up support for things they believe personally. Rather like you claiming that this dumb build is the 'most popular' and that you haven't seen a single report of it being outclassed by the full shieldtech build. You're wrong about that too, since there are numerous posts detailing how pathetic that bird build is. Of course, since you have a problem with reality and math, you claim that Musame's numbers aren't reliable. Bottom line? Once the combat log comes out and the numbers are demonstrated to be absolutely in line with what Musame is posting, what's your excuse going to be then? Or will you continue to claim the math is wrong? That they nerfed things but that they used to be better, before the combat log? That it doesn't matter anyway if shieldtech is better, because it's all personal preference? The only reason that stupid build is used at all is because the idiot who made it suckered a bunch of other morons into believing that a build based on proc-fishing and gimping mitigation and other damaging abilities (not to mention taking a whole heap of worthless, unused abilities at the bottom of the pyro tree) is somehow better for tanking in PvE. His 'credibility' is only in the tank with you and people championing that stupid build. Not anybody's problem if you choose not to understand (or can't understand) his posts. Like I said before, it's not worth arguing with you or people who claim that spec is at all worthwhile. All you have are anecdotes about doing more damage, being more effective, etc. You NEVER have numbers or anything to support your case. You simply run around claiming everybody else is wrong and that the math is somehow mystically manipulated to show other things, all in an effort to disparage the special snowflake spec. Like I said, math apparently isn't enough for you. It's not worth making another post about it, because you're clearly deluded about your precious build being 'da best evar' for powertechs to use. Tell you what Chuckles; once the combat log comes out we'll dredge up this post again with combat log numbers and remind everybody about this 'debate' and about how utterly foolish and illogical certain people can be.

People like you are a joke. You don't have any practical experience, you have no clue what Bounty Hunters do to tank, or what abilities they have, yet you pronounce like you are some great authority. It's why forums have degenerated into the whine-fest that they are on every single mmo. Educate yourself about Bounty Hunters and Juggernauts and their respective abilities and tanking prowess in the game right now before you open your yapper. After all, it's better to keep your mouth closed and have people suspect that you're a fool than open it (like you're doing) and remove all doubt.

Thanks Musame. Not worth the bother if you're posting the numbers simply to refute the idiots who believe that the stupid 21/2/18 build is better tanking (and better dps?) than 31 shieldtech. You've spent the past two pages posting and explaining how the numbers work and the one guy, especially, seems to just not comprehend what you're posting and keeps insisting (no matter how many times you post otherwise) that you haven't taken into account the shield variance on attacks affected. Reality and numbers don't lie. The 21/2/18 special snowflake build is awful compared to 31 shieldtech in terms of tanking. Apparently, according to this recent post, it might even be worse sustained dps. That's beyond hilarious. So the build will essentially be worse at everything that matters to a tank in PvE if that's the case.

Really. You've noticed some 'discrepancies' in it? Have you posted what those are? That's probably something you should do if you're going to tell people that the numbers aren't solid.

Yes, it's an underwhelming talent at the moment when compared to other tanking trees and their abilities. It's not wretched and you certainly can't find a better spot to put the extra point that would accomplish more than putting it into heat blast. When you do the math it's not as god-awful as people make it out to be. However, as I said, it's not that spectacular either, especially when compared against the top lines in other tanking trees. If it gave us 'a high amount of threat' or something, that would be a fine start to making the ability a bit more worthwhile.

More like we use what we're given as tanks. Would I prefer, as a tanker, to have a shield that applies to everything instead of having a chance to go off? Absolutely. Sadly I'm not given that chance. Apparently you seem to feel that there's little difference between speccing into defensive 'proc' talents that appear on gear and that you're forced to take if you want to survive tanking things versus choosing to base your threat and damage majorly around proc-fishing for one specific ability. More to the point, there's a reason why tanks seek to maximize their defensive chances. It's to minimize the chances of the defense not applying. So we tanks realize the limitations of procs, especially ones that dictate our survival, and seek to minimize that effect. So why in God's name would somebody seek out yet more proc effects (especially ones that don't improve via gear choices once maxed in talents) to base their tanking build around?

Absolutely. Pyro is much more than just fishing for rail gun procs, which is why it actually works even with horrible luck on them. Rail gun procs are a bonus to pyro played properly, not the base determining factor of whether or not it does damage or not. This is wrong. Pyro has much more going for it than fishing for rail gun procs. Perhaps in PvP getting those things take a higher priority, but in PvE pyro is not just about getting those shots off. When it happens, great, but you don't need proc-fishing to do good dps with pyro. Though quite frankly, I'd prefer to rely on math than anecdotal evidence of what people did or didn't do in a warzone. There are so many variables to warzone damage that it's essentially worthless to state a number as a hard and fast rule of what you can hit in a warzone. I'll certainly agree though that Pyro is considerable damage in PvP; moreso seemingly on a consistent basis than other specs we have.

You've discovered a large part of the reason that builds built around proc-fishing are not good ways to go. When things go well the build performs fine. But when things don't just perfectly then the build doesn't do its job properly. More to a specific point, if you ever want to recognize a noob tank right off the get go, check their build. If they are built around proc-fishing instead of consistency then you need to watch out when you're in a group with them.

Very nice post altogether. Numbers don't lie, so it's nice to have somebody actually producing those numbers to demonstrate the skills and such.

I'm going to bump this because actual numbers and math trump all the posts about how people 'feel' about builds being superior.

See, here's what I was saying earlier. You claim this, but you have zero numbers to back up what you're saying. All you have is anecdotal 'evidence' from some random person who doesn't use any numbers or any logic but makes wild claims about how the build is double threat, double damage, same tanking ability, and many other absurd claims. While heat blast may not be the game changing ability that people expect at the top of a skill tree, it more than serves its purpose. For the purposes of tanking and mitigation, I guarantee that if you use that hybrid build with equivalent gear, you will get hit more, get hit harder, and die more than somebody using the shieldtech tank build. You'll have all that happen to you and get only a minimal dps increase from proc fishing rail shots. I'll go on record as saying that the dopey hybrid build running around is by far the most epic troll I've ever seen. How so many people can believe that proc fishing and wasted talent points are somehow superior (in high-end PvE at the very least, general tanking at the very best) to more mitigation and dps that is nearly equal to it, along with more consistency and predictability, is utterly beyond my grasp.

Probably a good idea to take a look at the spreadsheet and refute the points that Musame makes then. More to the point, heat blast seems to be the best use of the point given that state of the talent tree. While there are other abilities that may be a better talent, examined individually, when you compare where you can put that last point heat blast is invariably the best use of it once you've got that far up into the tree. Of course some will try to argue using anecdotal 'evidence' that one should not go that far into shieldtech to be a good tank. Of course, notice that there are never any numbers or math given (as this spreadsheet gives), just imaginary scenarios and declarations about how wonderful the special snowflake build is for tanking, threat, damage, pve, etc.

I wouldn't suggest getting your panties in a twist quite yet. Are there ANY other people that have noticed this? Before you simply assume that this random person is correct in their assessments you might want to try running some tests yourself, not to mention reading other threads (if there actually are any) on the subject. Quite frankly, unless I'm seeing other threads about how threat for tanking stance is broken (because it applies a debuff to other people around? Huh? That's not what the tooltip says at all and I can't determine why ANYbody would build the ability like that instead of using a simple modifier like anybody with a brain would do) I think I'll just assume that random thread is random. If it is as this person says, then I'm sure that it'll be discovered from the hordes of raiders and end game people doing content. Thus far though....nothing but for this one random thread. So no need to go all gloom and doom quite yet, hmm?

Don't bother. He's got his precious special snowflake spec and he's determined to defend it as the best tanking spec, the best pvp spec, the best spec for everything. Now he's even got a special snowflake name for it. I'm sure that once a combat log comes out and numbers are run, backing up simple logic, that people using this moronic build will magically claim that they never advocated for it (or some other excuse). Bottom line? He's bad. Let him revel in his badness and have his moment in the sun imagining that he's important and that people are listening to him.

Christ, do you work for Fox News in your off-time? You claim that some hardcore guilds require every person to have biochem? From where did you 'hear' this? More likely you've simply made it up to bolster your own argument, assuming nobody will call you on it. Everybody should play the game where they all have one attack that does one damage and everybody wears the same gear and has the exact same tradeskills. Then people would shriek about how it was all the same. There's just no pleasing the vocal (and often staggeringly stupid, as evidenced by the massive misunderstandings of economics on display in nearly every thread about the economy) minority that posts vociferously on the forums at any perceived slight they receive while playing the game. If anybody dares have more credits or can do something that they can't with their skills, the battle cry is raised, "TO THE FORUMS!" It's getting laughably moronic for people who simply want to find reasonable information about things on the forums instead of wading through pages of crap about 'nerf this' and 'nerf that' and 'this is why this doesn't work' forever and ever.

Incorrect. There were addons throughout the life of WoW that were beyond what Blizzard was prepared to support. At several times addons were banned and code rewritten by the developers to disallow their use, specifically because the developers stated that the addons made the content too easy. As well, arguing that a positive supporting attitude is given to something simply because somebody created something that doesn't specifically disallow certain things is faulty logic in the extreme. In no way does the creation or noncreation of addons create a challenging atmosphere for a game. While some addons are indeed helpful in streamlining aspects of the game and allowing developers to create content that is more complex in scale, other addons specifically go against this goal and result in the content becoming less challenging not more so. The argument of addons or not is more about people's own preconceptions than it is about the reality of game design and challenge. A final point though: for those who shriek about simply not using something, that is a logical fallacy. You can't simply claim that something is justified in creation or inclusion simply because it has the option to not be used.

TLDR? I want to overcharge people at every stage of the game, making millions and then laughing about it after the fact. I'll thank Bioware to keep the greedy bastards that ruined virtual economies in pretty much every game out of the loop. I have no problem with crafters being able to make gear that is roughly equivalent to the best gear, but certainly not the best gear. Know why? Because there are a huge amount of 'crafters' that are so stupidly greedy that they ruin the game and economy all by themselves by overcharging for their goods and then claim that it's 'market price' or something dumb (when in reality they're overcharging so massively on their product that it's beyond ludicrous).

GRRRRRRRR! Angryman is angry! Tell you what Champ, I will indeed continue to clear hardmodes and operations in my actual tank spec. I'll continue to hold aggro so nobody can take it off of me. I'll continue to laugh at how instantly defensive and angry you get over people pointing out the flaws in your spec. Like, for instance, where we're getting 40% extra armor penetration from. I count 30% from one talent with two talent points in it, in pyro. You claim that your spec is superior. Of course, you have no numbers to demonstrate this, yet throw out crap like using your spec will nearly double your threat and damage. I will indeed continue to spec actual tank. I'll continue to clear operations and hard mode flashpoints. You can cling to your pretend world where losing all the survivability doesn't have an effect and some how magical rail shots are always on call (4 times per heat blast cooldown I believe you said?). In the meantime I'll enjoy the fact that you're apparently the most defensive human on the planet, who claims that nobody can criticize your precious special snowflake build because there are no numbers out, yet all the while claiming that it's so much better than the standard build. Continue being angry while everybody continues laughing.

Here's what we give up if we do this hybrid build: -We lose 10% shielding. This means we have less chance to refresh rocket punch when we shield an attack. -We lose Oil Slick. Granted, this is an essentially worthless ability as it stands. -We lose Heat Blast, an absolutely free way to lose heat every 15 seconds. -We lose a rail shot ignoring 60% of the target's armor. -We lose a 2% damage reduction. -We lose an 8% ion gas cylinder damage buff (meh). For all this lost, under your suggestions, we gain: -A rail shot that ignores 30% of the target's armor instead of 60%. -A new ability in Incendiary Missile that costs 25 heat and that we have to reapply every 18 seconds to ensure the target is burning. -A rail shot that vents 8 heat, assuming the target is burning (remember, you've spent 25 heat to get a potential free rail shot that gets rid of 8). -A rail shot that has a 30% chance on flame burst (a 16 heat ability) and a 45% chance on rocket punch (an ability that is itself depending on shielding attacks to refresh its cooldown) to become free and refreshed. How is this even a debate? Simply LOOK at all we're giving up. All for a CHANCE that we'll get a free rail shot. A rail shot that ignores 30% less armor than with the 'regular' tanking build. We're sure picking up a buttload of useless talents for combustible gas cylinder though; that'll sure help our tanking. We're losing a guaranteed 10% shield chance (which gives us more chance to refresh rocket punch, our prime tanking ability) and a guaranteed 2% damage reduction. I'm sorry. Until you show some hard numbers I'm going to fall on the side of "The hybrid build is markedly inferior. It gives up far too much survivability and gains far too little in terms of heat management and damage in return." In point of fact, I would hazard that you are going to get MORE heat troubles with this build, simply from putting up incendiary missile and constantly using flame burst in the hopes of procs falling and you getting a free rail shot. A rail shot that ignores 30% less armor than mine, and given the GCD and other abilities that you are going to be using, you'll get to fire off at most 2 times before having to refresh burning, use rocket punch, flame burst, etc. Unless you're honestly trying to suggest that rail shot is somehow superior to rocket punch in our tanking rotation, or that we shouldn't be putting up combust (via flame sweep or flame burst) for the damage reduction from that. Perhaps I'm wrong. But thus far the owness is entirely upon you to put up some numbers and show your build actually works as you claim it does. All that we've got right now is bizarre speculation and assertion, while you apparently ignore the myriad problems that arise because of your hybrid build.