Simple concept. 1) Make a hybrid spec. I like 14/25/2 myself. 2) Get a War Hero Vindicator set. 3) Get the pwr/surge/crit ears and implants, not the ones that have accuracy and defensive stats on them. 4) Roll with a healer, and some good DPS. Use guard and taunts how they are supposed to be used. 5) Do good dmg and get lots of medals.

Its worth it if you like getting tons of medals, kills, damage, protection, and MVP votes.

Here is a link to a video of me tanking HM Toth and Zorn (from our Troopers POV). Thats me on the right hand side of the video. My spec is 14/25/2, and I keep aggro by DPSing. My single target taunt is blown on swaps only. DPS just has to be smart on swaps not to pull aggro while the mobs are being positioned. You can notice I use most my heavy hitting stuff when swaps occur (OH slash, Bladestorm, MS, Sweep) just to make sure I stay up on the threat meter. Hope this helps a little.

More of these threads? I don't know about everyone else but I am loving 1.2. I absolutely shred people now in defensive stance, its epic. I also don't see any other classes getting 20+ medals on a consistent basis. It also helps if you premade with people who know what they are doing also.

I use a hybrid spec, and with my DPS output and Guard, no one is ripping aggro. The lame part about this fight is that blowing taunt is simply not an option when someone rips, as it will mess up the entire rotation considering your AoE taunt isn't really an optiion either.

I'm using the hybrid 14/25/2 spec and it seems to work fine for survivability. The only issue is my DPS Is what keeps aggro and if I'm not careful or get lazy, its possible someone can rip and blowing taunt is simply not an option in this encounter. My guess is you are probably dieing/taking most your dmg at 61%ish, or the redical phase. I usually start on Zorn then switch to Toth, then back to Zorn. By that 3rd swap, you are at the redical phase and thats when the damage can get crazy. Make sure you are using your trinket on the stunlock, and keep straffing like you would do in Lost Island HM to avoid satchel charges. Another point where your gonna take dmg is frenzy on Toth, this hurts, his AoE hurts, and you just need healers that can heal through it. This fight however is a DPS gauger, you know, one of those boss fights in an MMO that is the threshold to get to the next group of content. To kill Toth and Zorn, you really can't afford anyone dieing or stopping to offheal. To stay alive, I find myself using all my CD's on a cycle basically. Positioning is a HUGE factor in this fight as well, and will make it easier for your healers to keep you up when not everyone is getting fearfulled from the swaps. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.

I use the 14/25/2 spec, works great for both PvE and PvP.

I got myself a set of the War Hero Augmented Supercommando set, it looks awesome. Plus people in WZ's are always like "What is the Trooper doing with a Lightsaber?" It never gets old.

Very happy. Still rolling hybrid, still don't need to swap specs for PvE and PvP. PvP survivability went down, but that pretty much happened across the board with the DPS boosts, but now I can melt faces even faster than I did before. I also just got my Black/Orange saber and I look like a straight badazz.

Here is a great guide by Dulfy on gearing up post 1.2 http://dulfy.net/2012/03/22/pvp-gearing-in-1-2/ Scroll to the bottom to find the comparison charts, which are really useful. Eventually, everyone will be swapping mods to fix what they want, but these charts are a good way to get a sense of how you will want to gear your Guard out in the new WH sets.

Hybrid tanking is just as effective as it was pre 1.2, except now I have more focus and I do more damage. Win/Win.

I'm not sure what other people are experiencing in PvP, but in Soresu -Hybrid 14/25/2 build / WL set remodded for Power and Crit, I melt people 1 vs 1 now. The only classes I really have a problem with are Mara/Sents just because they are so OP'd right now in PvP its insane. But I feel invicible at times now, and its awesome. However, overall survivability took somewhat of a hit, as did healing in general. Seen a lot of premades rolling just straight hardcore DPS now because you can DPS through just about any healing now if you got the right setup.

Lot of good points on this thread being made. I was using the 14/27 hybrid pre-1.2 and tanked/cleared every Ops encounter with that build just fine. Now I am using the 14/25/2 hybrid and it still works just as good. If I was running a lot of FPs still, I would CONSIDER changing back to a heavy Defensive build. Even with the hybrid I still find myself with plenty of focus to spare,. The trash in EC is harder than that of EV and KP, but still it gets burned down far too quick for me to consider switching to heavy Defensive build. In regards to boss encounters, they largely remain single target, which is amazing easy to hold aggro with a Vigilance heavy build. Throw guard on your best melee dps, and go to work. Will be posting videos here soon of EC stuff as we kill it.

Vigilance rocks even more now. I'm still running hybrid and just melting people left and right. Absolutely love it.

I'm using a 14/25/2 build right now and it works fine IMO. DPS is a great threat generator.

I just stay in Soresu and use the 4pc War Leader set to my advantage. I still do great DPS and maintain good survivability. Great way to rack up medals also.

2pc Vindicator is nice if you lack a healer, but the 5% constant dmg increase across the board while Guard is active on someone is actually pretty overpowered IMO. Thats basically me being in Soresu form and hitting like I'm in offensive stance. I would give it a try, you will see a big difference in your overall damage.

I have tanked every encounter in this game as a Guardian tank, and I play a hybrid spec, not even a full Defense one. So yes, we are capable of being a very good tank class if played correctly.

Jedi Juggernaut? Time to reroll.

It still amazes me the amount of people who A) Don't interrupt master strike or B) Don't move, and just stand there and take it. If you hate it that much, or have trouble using it effectively, just use it to get the first 2 dmg ticks and cancel it if you want. I still find it very useful and have seen the final strike crit for a LOT of damage before.

Situational, but with a shield I'm over 20k hp. Good Guardian will realize what the majority of the damage they are taking is and adjust accordingly. Also, if its a complete faceroll, just swap once you realize you are overpowering the other team. Like for example on Civil Wars, I have my shield equipped at the intial rush, but when we 2 or 3 cap them, then I just switch to generator for the DPS boost.

Step 1: Get War Hero set, take full advantage of the 4pc bonus. Step 2: Re-mod your gear with. Step 3: Find other players who don't suck, and know to stay within your guard range. Step 4: Rack up medals and wins.

Did you re-mod your War Leader gear? Also, were you taking advantage of the 4pc bonus? Those two things will make a HUGE difference in your DMG output. I run the 14/27 Def-Vig spec and on a normal Voidstar and Civil War, I average about 220k-250k. The hybrid PvP spec has amazing versatility IMO. Guarding effectively while dishing out good DPS numbers is why I love the spec so much. I also run the same spec for PvE, and it works great as well. Now once 1.2 hits, there will be some re-tooling to be done of course.

This thread is a great example of why you should research something before you post about it.

There is a counter for Guard, its called DPS.