also, at level 23, if i pick up slicing isntead of tresure hunting will i even be able to use it in the world? IE Do the boxes on nar shaddaa have a minimum slicing requirement to open? If this is the case i'll have to send my companion out to level up, or else run around in dromund kaas for a long time trying to level it up =/

and yea, i haven't really bought gear from vendors aside from commendations just to be clear. I have consistently kept my companions out doing crew skill stuff though, so you all are right there. Maybe that's my problem. I pvp when my friend isn't online.. but that seems actually quite slow. A pvp match is like 10 minutes long and even with like 5-6 medals at lvl 23 i only get 1-2k creds.

What do you all mean by gathering nodes (sorry, a little new). Is that like gathering crystals if you are archeology? I currently have artifice, archeology, and treasure hunting. I'm finding that i haven't actually used much of anything from artifice yet. Would it be wise to drop treasure hunting for slicing, and later on use the extra money i get from slicing to buy gems i need for better crafts in artifice?? I feel like slicing might be more worth it.

Okay so I'm having a hard time with the amount of money i need to get my first speeder. (40k?) How am I supposed to get that much by 25? I'm at 23 now and I only have ~8k, and every time i level skills cost me an arm and a leg and i am right back to where i started. I've been playing exclusively with a friend since I created this character and i'm wondering if that's why it's been so difficult to get funds. In any case, I've seen other posts on here about people having 80k by lvl 25 without even trying. How?! How can I do that while still leveling up my crew skill abilities and my skills each level??? Any advice would be ideal.

play the other advanced class on the opposite faction? That's what I do.

Right but the other two had no trouble with heroic 4's as well. I mean i understand a tank and healer will generally work well together... but it would make sense that DPS classes could hold their own too. What I mean is this, if we can't do heroic 4's like a tank/healer combo could (with 2 dps companions)... why can't two dps classes do heroic 4's with tank/healer companions? I understand that it's the MMO "mold" that a tank and healer combo are great for PvE. I'm saying i think that mold should be broken.. and that any two individual classes should be able to hold their own (even if it took more "strategy"). I guess ultimately my issue is that the side quests are painfully easy. Such that it's incredibly boring to do, especially because they always seem to require quite a hike (and i've no speeder bike yet). And yet the only challenging missions i'm given I can't do without waiting 40 minutes to get together two other people. Perhaps my frustration is also with the lack of any sort of queue for heroics and flashpoints. In any case, it seems like the common rebuttal is "stick it out until level 40 and things will get better." But again, no video game should be boring/frustrating for the first 4/5 of the leveling content. If Marauders are that balanced at 50, then they should do a better job of distributing the skills throughout the leveling curve.

This isn't Vanilla WoW, it's a completely different game.

We faceroll everything but heroic 4's and flashpoints. I feel like that's expected for flashpoints. I feel like with 2 companions and 2 people, it should be at least possible to do a heroic 4. I'm beginning to wonder if I should just not have quinn, and use vette. Quinn's healing isn't great (so far, I haven't geared him yet since I just got him). And it seems like vette's damage would outweigh the healing I get from quinn. In any case, my issue is perhaps that my other character can go through a heroic 4 with ease whereas on this character (paired with a sniper and his (CRAPPY) dps companion) we can barely hold our on in an even level heroic 4 group. Beyond that, you are all proving my point. It's completely ridiculous that the game should be "un-fun" for the first 40 levels out of 50. It's a GAME, it should be enjoyable (and balanced) all the way through. Or at least earlier in the game. I'd be fine if things started to turn up at lvl 15 or something, since that's not all that far off from 10.

Then fix that? Why do I have to have a crappy time playing up until later levels when it allegedly gets much better (AKA normal)?

I'm saying it seems like some classes such as marauder (and maybe sniper) aren't viable to do the same things other classes that are a hybrid healer/damage or tank/damage can do. I don't feel like if I had a healer friend instead of a sniper friend I could do any better at the heroic 4, nor with a tank. My point is, it's frustrating that some classes seemingly are outright better at PvE. Give the Marauder some more survivability or something in PvE.

Saw that coming, but why should any class have to grind to be viable? they shouldn't. Other classes are viable right out of the box.

I'm sorry, but it seems like everytime a thread comes up regarding Marauders needing a buff... everyone responds with how well they do in PvP. News flash: PvP isn't even the majority of the game. I absolutely adore PvP, I wouldn't play this game at all if it didn't have PvP. But my issue with the marauder is PvE. I'm not even level 30 yet, only ~22... but it's become very tedious and annoying to play in PvE. I play with a sniper friend, and to be honest the side quests are pretty boring to me so I've been skipping the ones lower level then me. We can't complete a heroic by ourselves and that irritates me to no end. On the republic side I have a commando and he uses a shadow and we demolish any heroics we come across with ease. By that I mean... we've never had to invite anyone else. I know that two DPS classes are bound to have troubles in PvE versus a healer and tank class... but I still feel like it should be doable by any combination. We're not terrible, so don't say "l2p", it's just that my commando takes damage a LOT better than my marauder and he can heal, and can kite. What's worse is the sith warrior story has been super interesting so far to me... and i love the character in general. I'm just really bored with side quests that have me running to tim-buk-to and back for an extra 2k experience. I want to do the challenging and rewarding quests like heroics, but it's pretty hopeless (even with Quinn as my companion). Don't tell me I'm doing it wrong, I've tried everything. we've strategized to try and complete missions like these and i'm convinced that (at least some of them) are impossible for us to do alone. I know heroic 4's are meant to be done with 4 people, but then why make it completely doable with 2 other classes? All I'm saying is: The problem with Marauder doesn't lie with how well they do in PvP, but that other classes can deal the same amount (or close it seems) of damage as a Mara while a Marauder has to be in melee and can't survive as well. Especially in long fights, when cooldowns are off. /endrant

Could you give some examples of abuse? I sort of feel like if all the areas are that easy to get to, then what could it hurt? Note: being in a combat state includes being in a certain proximity to an enemy player.

Okay, I haven't played enough PvP to be sure that this is a balanced idea... but hear me out. Have any of you played uncharted 3? Well that's the direction I'm going with this suggestion. I get the feeling arena may not be added to this game, but I *do* like the idea of being able to work with a friend in pvp in some form. What if there were a buddy system like in uncharted 3 where you could spawn on your "buddy" (this could be a random person from your team or your friend whom you joined the queue with). This would only be allowed if the individual is not in combat (this could include being in a certain proximity of an objective). The reason why is I tried to do this when I played warzones with my buddy and it was incredible difficult/taxing to try and sync up with him. What I mean is, this took too much time and didnt end up feeling worth it. I'm not sure if anyone has any suggestions to add to this or if there's an outright reason why it's a bad idea I'd love to hear it! Thanks