[Is SWTOR dying?]

I know I canceled my sub over a week back (have a few more days of time purchased) and haven't even had an inkling of desire to hop back on and play. The leveling process was decent for an MMO but at max level I felt a drastic drop off of direction, content and dev attention. There were a lot of bugs and exploits and most importantly the gameplay really brought nothing new to the table. I think that was the big thing for me: Completely recycled gameplay. The classes and mechanics were ripped almost skill for skill from other MMO's meaning this felt like a rehash of a rehash as far as mechanics were concerned. All the story and the voice acting in the world aren't going to fix the fact that I felt bored and like I'd "been there, done that" while playing.

[Why my lvl 14 Guardian is better then my lvl 50 champ gear Shadow]

oh my friend, how misguided you are. Shadows are great at 50 pvp, Guardians are very meh.

[Sell the Guardian]

Guardians are great in the protection realm as far as PvP goes. Taunt, AoE taunt, Guard, Guardian Leap and the ability to AoE slow groups are all really beneficial. In PvE they're functional tanks but not (imo) on par with Vanguards. As far as DPS is concerned in my opinion they're nothing to write home about. In PvP 1v1 I often get wrecked on my Guardian by Sentinels simply because they're putting out more damage and have better defensive cooldowns. I'm not super well-versed on the names of their abilities but a Sent can drop Pacify on me and follow with Rebuke and Guarded by the Force all while tearing me a new one and it's pretty much GG.

 

Focus is the big burst spec that everyone gets a ***** over but really it's not the end all be all it's described to be. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I'd still take a DPS specced Vanguard/Powertech or a Sent/Mara any day of the week.

[So poweretech dps in pvp....]

OP is a bad. End of story.

[Do we have a community rep for Guardians? If not, it's time for one.]

I agree 100% with the OP. I enjoy the class but it's inherently at a disadvantage. Overall survivability needs to be buffed, trees need to be looked over and revisited, and as stated damage needs to be boosted. Not massive boosts mind you, but definitely enough to bring us in line of what others are capable of.

[Need some Guardian advice]

I leveled as Defense and it was pretty easy. Sounds like the squishiness is a result of poor gear. Make sure to keep your lightsaber hilt as the latest and greatest and that your gear is up to date - you're very gear dependent.

[As a Defense Spec Guardian what classes can I beat?]

I've found 1v1 as a Defense specced Guardian to be frustrating. While you have a plethora of stuns and interrupts (Leap, Stasis, Hilt Strike, Awe, and Kick) your damage is on the weak side and most attacks aren't mitigated by your shield. What this generally results in with me in world PvP is their higher DPS allowing them to focus down my healer companion (even with me Guarding and taunting) or their own self heal abilities allowing them to erase what I've done in damage. It's definitely not the powerful feeling I've gotten in games like WoW where the weak damage on tanks is often offset by the feeling of near invincibility.

[Tanking in PVP]

I've been tanking as I grab better gear (more expertise) and yes you will be a medal farming machine. That being said, you don't have to be Defense spec to use all of those tanking abilities. I think if you want to tank in PvP do the Defense/Vigi hybrid or just roll a DPS spec and stay in Soresu stance. My biggest gripe with the tanking spec is that your damage is really weak in PvP. The stuns are nice and the lower cost of the AoE stun is useful but in my opinion the damage is lacking. I'd prefer being in a defensive spec and using the taunts/aoe taunts and guarding if necessary but actually being able to put the hurt on people.

 

I've noticed several Vigilance or Focus Guardians getting the same amount of medals or more than me and putting out way higher damage while still keeping up with me in the protection stat just by making sure they still use their taunts as well as pumping out damage.

[Respec advice from Defense to DPS]

I too am right on the cusp of making the jump from Defense to a DPS specced build. I leveled Defense and have been grinding through the PvP ranks with it but always intended to go DPS as soon as I had the gear for it. Got my Champion's lightsaber last night and after today's dailies will have enough to get another piece of gear putting my total expertise at 380-400ish.

 

I like how powerful Defense is for soloing (you never die) but my gear is getting good enough to make dailies pretty mindless and I spend 90% of my time in PvP. I was getting very sick of hitting people like a limp noodle so I'm swapping.

 

I'm just at the crossroads of Vigi or Focus? I reall y like the additional defensive talents in the Vigi tree but want to make sure I start actually dropping people I target so I'll have to give both a whirl.

[The reasons why all the melee classes need a serious love]

I'm in complete agreement. Melee classes take more damage because they're in the absolute thick of things and yet for the most part they're squishy. They also don't deal nearly enough damage to make up for the fact that they have to spend time wading in to get to their target.

[We demand cross server pvp NOW!]

Yeah, no. I don't want cross server pvp at all. I like knowing the people around me even in random bg's and knowing the people I'm fighting. Creates a sense of community. If servers are having problems with WZ queue times than merge servers to boost the population. My server's WZ's pop constantly.

[Assassin or Powertech?]

Going by the vast amount of input you gave as to your own likes and dislikes i'll have to say roll a Sarlacc.

 

This reminds me of that song "All I do is win win win no matter what..."

[I'm a tank, why does my BM saber have more endurance than my Rakata saber?]

I'm pretty sure the entire sets are considered when they distribute the stats. For instance, I notice on the Champion gear most of the pieces have relatively low endurance but the weapon has a bunch (to make up for it when wearing the whole set).

[Belsavis, halfway through 40.]

I did the same thing and got worked on Belsavis. I had to turn around and go back and do the bonus series on Alderaan and one other planets and I returned to Belsavis with better gear and level 44 and it was easy again.

[Are sentinels/marauders getting fixed anytime soon?]

Sents/Maras are tough but since damage is literally all they provide they should be doing a metric crap ton of it. I've been tempted before to try them out (I play a Guardian) because they're the higher damage form of my class but giving up all of my class's utility just isn't appealing to me. I'd give up my AoE slow, taunt, AoE taunt, guard, Guardian leap, stuns in the Defense tree, and of course the ability to tank if I'm tired of dps (or vise versa). Sents/Maras get nice group buffs but other than that they swing sticks and that's about it. That lack of group utility isn't so appealing to me.

[Done With SWTOR PvP: Absolutely Sick Of It.]

Alright, to the OP: After all that (and there were a lot of good points) your final solution was to keep playing the game, just other parts of it? Haha, whew boy, you sure showed them! "I'm so mad at you I'm going to play... operations in your game." Anti-climactic!

 

Regardless, as I said you've made some very good points. I'm enjoying myself and having a decent time but I'd say some things that are really grinding on me are the various exploits people are willing to use to get ahead of honest players (Ilum Valor exploits previously, Champion bag exploits, /stuck exploit currently, kill trading, and on and on) and the general lack of usefulness of a melee class in most group PvP. While I do well on my Guardian and average 8-9 medals a game in WZ's, whenever I get against a competent group or at any point on Ilum I get wrecked by ranged classes. That no consideration was given to this is disappointing as a complete newb would have seen it coming.

[How many medals do you get per WZ?]

I'm averaging 8-9 as a Jedi tank unless I decide to guard a point. If I feel lazy and guard a point then I'll only bring in 3-4. Whenever I'm looking to have fun though I get 8-9 with a combination of killing blows, damage done, protection medals, etc. Guardians are medal machines in WZ's.

[What Species do you want to be playable?]

I'd like to see Nautalons and Cathar as playable for the Republic since they have models already in game and both are very cool races. My personal top pick would be Cereans though (like Ki Adi Mundi). I think those guys are awesome.

[Ancient Chest/T-7 **Spoilers**]

This is 100% bull&%*$.

Did you video yourself doing this? Of course you didn't because it didn't happen and/or would show the other people in your group helping you finish him so easily. (It IS easy if you have at least one other player with you.)

 

If you don't kill the clones, they hit you with thundering blast for ~700 apiece every 10 seconds.

 

So if you only popped saber ward and ended with 70% hp, that means you did 32k damage to him in ~20 seconds...

Get out of here with your completely fictional bragging.

 

Before you call ******** you might want to check reply after reply of other people in other threads experiencing the exact same thing.

 

Why would I bother to take the time to video a boss that was so easy a monkey could beat him? This was my strat: Keep T7's taunt off, and tunnel the Emperor. Ignore his clones completely and interrupt everything he does (Kick, Push, Stasis, Awe, Hilt Strike, Leap to interrupt). You'll wail away on him and he'll die and as I stated you'll end the fight with around 70% hp and T7 fine and dandy. Check your **** before calling bs on people.

[@ Bioware It's been a while.]

Yep. The numbers we put up are in line with the other classes, we just can't stay in the thick of it long enough. Before you say that no class can, all other classes have ranged attacks. We're melee and SUPPOSED to be able to survive in the thick of it. Jedi Knights have Saber Throw (only at range beyond 15m) and Dispatch (conditional, and you have to be within 10m). We have 2 leaps to get within range, but the talented CC resistance (unremitting) doesn't work 100% of the time (like other CC resistances) so a good chunk of the time, we leap in, get maybe 1 or 2 whacks but then they move out of range, heal, and we're still stuck with CC. If our cooldown to release us is available, we can use it, but with resolve broken, there's no guarantee you'll be immune from CC even if you have a full resolve bar.

 

So yeah.

 

Agreed. A DPS spec Guardian is as squishy as a DPS spec Vanguard, with the major difference being that the Vanguard can viably back out of melee range and still keep up respectable damage. Some consideration has to be given to that fact and to the fact that in PvP melee classes can be kited, and the result has to be some increase in their toughness. I leveled Defense (still am) with full intention of going DPS spec at 50 (or whenever it felt "right") but haven't and won't until the other specs start feeling far less flimsy.

[Ancient Chest/T-7 **Spoilers**]

To the OP: Bro, I'm embarassed that you just called this a game breaking bug. Really? It's not game breaking in the least. Makes me sad for humanity that someone would actually type those words out in all seriousness. Reminds me of that sausage commercial the other day that said "these meatballs will change your life." If a meatball changes your life just shoot yourself because your life blows.

 

Anyways, the chest is bugged but whatever. The Emperor is absolute easy mode to defeat. Interrupt his one big attack (it'll pretty much one shot you) and focus on the main guy (forget about the shadows) and you'll own him. I didn't pop anything but Saber Ward and killed him with something like 71% health or more left and T7 alive and well (and T7 was decked out in pathetic level 30 gears, some empty slots).

[@ Bioware It's been a while.]

They need to increase the survivability of the DPS specs for the Guardian.

[Knock Back is overpowered and imbalanced on most PVP maps:]

I play a Guardian and agree it's OP. On Voidstar I love hawking the bridge until some dope comes running across. Leap + Force Push + wave bye bye. Easy kill every time.

[So last night I tried PvP on another MMO...]

Yeah, to be honest OP that doesn't sound like fun at all. That sounds like a pain in the ***. I want balanced and fun PvP.

[What are the best choice of professions?]

My main has Artifice and it was a giant waste. It allows you to stay up to date with the latest and greatest hilts until you hit max level but to be honest those are easily acquired elsewhere or just purchased off the GTN. At 50 it's sat dormant for awhile now.

 

While I'm not blown off my seat like some with Biochem, it seems to be the most useful at 50 because adrenals, stims and medpacks are always useful. On alt I have Cybertech and I think at this point I'm in love with it. Like most professions it'll probably drop off in usefulness at 50 but leveling it allows me to keep all my orange gear topped out and does have the added spiffy bonus of providing grenades.