Account Creation Date: 05.31.11 I was all in on this game at launch, CE and all. Love the Malgus statue. Played steadily, raided and what not on multiple characters while making a fortune through crafting in the early game, through Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Between Rise and GSF i started to split time here and other places. This game holds a special place for me and will always be somewhere I come back to with each new expansion/continuation of the story. Sometimes I only stick around long enough to go through the latest content, sometimes my visits are longer. Either way this game has never lost its ability to pull me right back into the story, make me waste hours without knowing it. It's not the same game that launched in 2011, but the core story is still there. IMO it's Bioware's last good game in a lot of ways. For better or worse your opinion may differ from mine, it's remained a game that makes me feel like I have a place in it. Money well spent.

And this is why I have a 50 BH, a 50 Sorc, and a 50 Op. I heal, with all three MMOs are about fluidity, change, and adaptation. Those who can adapt, do and keep on rolling with the punches. Those that cant, cry on the forums. Really, so things change. Whoppie. It wont be the last time either. People learn to deal, or get a waterproof keyboard and keep on crying.

I have both a Merc and an Op that i do HM/NM Ops with now (soon to have a sorc as well), that I heal with, and man it's a LOT more work with my Operative...to say the least. It's, at times, very frustrating, healing with my Operative. Energy is not as forgiving a resource as Heat or Force is. It's doable, but man like someone else said you have to play perfect to be as productive as a Merc or Sorc is..and even then we are lacking a lot of tools; damage mitigation namely. I really am looking forward to seeing the changes coming to Operative healing with 1.2, cuse as it is right now my Op healer is not the first one I reach for...and I would like to see them get to at least the level of my Merc.

I do, and i try and stress the importance of it to other healers I do OPs with. There are a lot of lazy people out there that claim they dont due to a UI issue....yeah, BS. The UI might need some love, but that is not stopping you from cleansing what you can cleanse. After running a lot of HMs/OPS, I as a healer know what mobs do what by not...just from paying attention to what's going on. Not everyone has good situational awareness though. Part of that is just that some people are not that great at it, and some of it is from using the crutch of UI mods to do their job/tell them when to do their job for them. So in short, the good healer out there do cleanse, the types we can of course =)

Wow, people sure have changed the last *cough* seven years *cough*... People used to run dungeons cuse the wanted too crawl through a dungeon, now it's "what can i get for ME?!" No longer is it the experiance itself, it's all about personal gain. Dont give me this crap that is was always like this, cuse it wasnt. People are a LOT greedier now on the whole. This crap started a few years ago..even pvp had degraded to a loot fest. Forget about PvP'n for the thrill, now it's just another loot grind. Me, I still run HM's to run them...to help random people. I have 3 50's (soon to be 4) who mostly are in Rakata, so I do NOT need the loot, but you know what I get a LOT out of them still; I meet new people, I make friends, I enjoy my time i spend on line! What the heck happened to people enjoying the intangibles?!? I did a random HM FE tonight with some guys that had never done it. People had a blast, learned a new dungeon, the Flaming Moped mount dropped (which I got, go Flaming Moped!!), made a few new friends, and it only took an hour of my time!! That nothing for the time invested. I'm glad I still am able to find like minded people to game with on my server, Shein, which has been AWESOME to be Empire on.....so if you are looking for a new home, come on over to Shein...look me up, we'll run some stuff Sulmonus 50 BH Ovi 50 Operative M'àhk 50 Juggy Domesticus soon to be 50 Sorc We still have good people who game, for the sake of gaming, they just are a little harder to find sometimes

Be excited. On my Bh i crit my bracers on my second try, but it took me 21 for my belt to crit. Thats 196 Mando Iron and who knows how many Biometric (i did get them back about 30% of the time from RE the no crit belt...).

http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Mercenary-Commando-PvE-End-Game-Healing-Compendium--740 Everyone should read this, at least once. Lots of good info in here. I do NOT make the assertation that this is my work, or anything silly like that, all im saying is that every Bh healer who intends to do Ops reads this, then applies what they get out of it to their character. Alacrity suffers from diminishing returns rather harshly. I keep mine around 11% base, and that is more of a "i feel comfortable with it" that anything else. I am really happy where my Bh is right now..6k crits are more and more common for me now, and I feel my speed is right where I want it to be in an 8 man run. Again, read this, please

Bodyguard spec here atm. I have Blizz geared in a combination of Tionese/Columi/Rakata Supercomando and he is a little beast. Great tank, gets the job done when I find a need a tank. Like someone above me mentioned I put my Columi dps set on Torian and gave him a nice crafted electrostaff...man does he tear stuff up now! Torian is my go to when doing dailys now. I want to like Gault, really I do, and my Powertech friends swear by him, but even in a mix of Columi/Tionese/Rakata (i am an Armormech on my BH so my companions get nice stuff), I just dont like him. Torian take stuff down much faster, and just meshes with my playstyle better. While leveling as Arsenal it was Mako, Mako and more Mako..but we all know she rocks for DPS BHs

Blizz is fantastic, if you take the time to gear him, just like any other companion. I run merc as Bodyguard and my Blizz is now in a miz of Rakata/Columi/crit crafted, had 40% Shield, 38% Absorb, 19k Hp, and holds agro like a champ. Ive been working on gearing Torian as well, who is now in Columi/Rakata/Tionesse, but as a healer i prefer just to have Blizz out. I through Kolto Shell on him at the start of fights, SGC > Kolto Missile and he only needs to be topded of here and there..soloing Poisonous Strategy (that 2 man heroic on Ilum) is not a faceroll, but its certainly not all that hard either. Torian, even well geared, takes too much damage from that many strongs/elites...but he does have his uses...an Armtech friend critted a nice Electrostaff for him and he puts out the damage now, so for solo quests he is ideal. Could just be a gear issue you're seeing with Blizz.

I love my critted Rakata bracers and belt, and so does the companion that wears a set too. I also like the 10's of millions of made with it. Sure, I spend creds like water and I constantly run slcing missions (thank god for that slicing alt), but to ME it's worth it. Armormech is very useful. If you dont understand how it works, just dont do it. Leave it to the people who understand it. It takes a) thinking b) a little work. That's all.

My main has been a Merc since the first time I played one in beta about 11 months ago. From minute one I knew this was MY class. I leveled Arsenal, but do FP/OPs as Bodyguard. No matter what people (who have no clue what they are talking about) say, BG Mercs are KILLER 8/16 man healers..and just stupid good 4 man HM healers. I also raid with an Operative (Concelment no less), but it's not nearly as fun as my Merc. Bh for life.

While it might not seem like much at low levels, at 50 it becomes a huge part of keeping SCG up as often as you can, or need. That is the really beauty of it. While doing HM/OPs I keep people topped off here and there with it....I get in the rapid shot zone where Im just spaced out shooting people in the face

Subbed for six months, if they had offered a Lifetime I would have bought it on the spot. I enjoy it. Lots. So do the other people in my guild. Lots. That's all that matters to me.

Good riddance. Really, go make your own game if you are so full of ideas. My bet is you would have no idea on where to start though.

I leveled my merc to 50 as Arsenal, just 'cuse it was faster for me. Re-seced heals the day after Christmas and would not re-spec him back to Arsenal for ANYTHING. Merc healers ROCK, if people know how to a)gear them correctly (which is'nt hard) and b) have half a brain (i barely qualify for that one). I love, love love, being a BH healer..have run EV with two BH's for healers...done all the HMs with 4 man Bh groups for *****s and giggles..BHs rock. Y'all are crazy en la cabesa..