I think there's some big problems with the Gunslinger - and with the Smuggler class in general. First off, let's look at the origins of the class. It's effectively based off one character from the movies - Han Solo. Now, what do you we see Han doing in the movies? Does he ever fire two blasters at once? Does he sneak around stealthily or actually state his opposition to sneaking? In A New Hope he charges into a group of Stormtroopers, scaring them with his ballsy bravado. In Empire Strikes Back, he goes out looking for Luke despite incredible danger to himself. At no point in the movies does he do most of the things that the Scoundrel or Gunslinger does. Now, if you look at other classes, they're based on more than one character. There's plenty of Bounty Hunters, Jedi and Sith to draw upon. Lots of Troopers. The Agent is the odd one out, but everything about them seems to work better. I mean, you can believe they're trained in knife-fighting or sniping, kitted out with the best weapons. You can believe a vibro-knife could pierce armour and cause massive internal injuries. Clocking someone around the head with a blaster? Kicking them in their armoured groin? Not so much. As for "sniping" with two blasters... the Aimed Shot animation looks stupid, and you're supposed to believe that blasters have the same range as a sniper rifle? Really? The other big problem when it comes to wanting to play the class from a lore point of view... or even a fun point of view is this: Smugglers - especially Gunslingers - have nothing remotely iconic. Jedi get force leap, push, lightsabers, throwing stuff around with their mind. Sith get lightning, lightsabers, etc. Bounty Hunters get jetpacks with more fun abilities than I can be bothered to list. Troopers get huge guns, orbital strike etc. Agents... well, they get to be James Bond in space. Gunslingers get two guns. And cover. Cover, which of course is buggy, laggy, easy to spot in PvP... and turns you into a static turrent. In warzones this is useful - well, I should say, in one warzone this can be useful - actually, on one of the objectives in that warzone, it can be useful. The central Alderaan objective... has some balconies where you can hide and plink people for a few seconds before getting ganked. The other Warzones require everyone to constantly move... so that's kinda screwing you with your little blue shield. Everyone knows about the problems with cover, so I'm not going to dwell on it. Finishing up... I'd have to add that so far, I've found the Smuggler story to be pretty boring with some woeful voice acting - but that's a problem with most of the Republic classes (Consular = yawn) and part of the reason why there's such a big imbalance at the moment. As for gear - capes and hats? Okay, the hat could've been cool... if it was a cowboy hat. Instead it's some sort of weird Zorro thing with a little headwarmer underneath. What... the... hell where they thinking? And okay, Lando wore a cape, so I guess that's where they got it from. But I maintain that capes look ridiculous on... well, anyone in SWTOR except Sith. Anyway, what attracted you to this class? Did you want to be like Han? Enjoy the dual blasters? Do you feel let down?

It seems entirely too dependent on luck. Yes, maybe I don't know how to play that spec effectively, but I was doing fine as AP, so I doubt it's a problem with me. Like I said before, people throw around dps numbers on this forum that I NEVER see ANYONE do... seems kinda odd.

If you'd played other games, you would know that a dps tank is very rarely OP.

Why the hell would I lie about that? Every warzone I've done with the spec, I've done less damage than I did in AP. Anyway, I'm trying shield/AP now... I think a more melee/survivable/burst spec would be more my style than dots. I might try pyro again at 50.

I said I'm doing less damage at 37 as a pyrotech than I did as AP. Maybe you get lucky with crits, or maybe it gets better at higher levels.

Funny guy.

Well having specced into pyrotech I can now no longer kill GREEN elites... as for PvP, I do less damage than AP. So unless it gets suddenly amazing with thermal detonator... I don't see the point of the spec.

All the high level PvP gear for BHs looks pretty bad, especially on the type 3 body...

See, I usually get about 150k damage... and the most I've ever seen anyone get is 200-300k... I guess it's just down to level and gear then. TBH, the biggest problem I have with the Pyro spec so far is it seems kinda boring... anyone else get this?

Thanks, but I'm not a rookie. I've been playing MMOs for a long time... mainly DAOC and WAR, which were true PvP games. In those games, as a tank - even a tank with a 2h (dps tank) your armour would enable you to shrug off most incidental damage, allowing you to wade in without worrying too much. You'd still die to mages if you couldn't close them down, but with a good healer or two you could do very well indeed. What I'm saying is, my experiences thus far have been that the Guardian in dps form is less squishy and does more damage than the BH in dps form.

I'm not playing as a tank though, there's 2 dps specs, I tried one... it was awful, now I'm trying the other and I'm underwhelmed.

I'm 37, and I still get destroyed by some 50s. Like... melted down in 3 shots.

I was waiting for this. I've topped dps charts for my team regularly and I get at least that amount of medals usually... but I don't care about either of those. I want to be tougher to take down than most people and be able to kill people. Basically, a dps tank... that's the style I prefer. I don't want to spam one button like Mercs. I like the BH storyline and companions... I think a lot of the problem is to do with the frankly terrible, unbalanced warzones at the moment (whoever thought of putting 50s in with <50s should be fired). Does pyrotech get much better once you get thermal detonators? Is shieldtech's damage much worse than the other two specs?

But does she actually kill anyone?

Heavy armour apparently counts for nothing. I tried AP... that sucked. I tried Pyro... so far very underwhelmed. Rank 37, and my Jedi Guardian is much, much better at 27... something's not right. Sure, I do lots of damage but 18 sec dots don't do much versus burst... Is shield spec any better? I mean, can they do any real damage at all?

It looks like it's a problem everywhere.

Serious responses?

Are there any? It either seems to be mostly even with Imps having the edge, or a lot more Imps. Basically I want to play a BH on a server where I'd be outnumbered and wouldn't be playing Huttball 24/7. Ideally with a high population overall too. US or EU is fine as long as English is the primary language. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Are there any? It either seems to be mostly even with Imps having the edge, or a lot more Imps. Basically I want to play a BH on a server where I'd be outnumbered and wouldn't be playing Huttball 24/7. Ideally with a high population overall too. US or EU is fine as long as English is the primary language. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Damn... was working fine yesterday: http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/b/be/Thrawn.JPG If that one doesn't work either, it's not a long coat - basically the same as the usual imperial uniforms but white with gold shoulders. Thrawn is probably the greatest character in EU, so I stylised my Chiss agent on him somewhat.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not having too many problems at level 17 in PvE... obviously PvP is dominated by 50s so I'm not doing too much of it. A previous poster mentioned lack of world PvP - I've seen (and killed) a few Republic players levelling my Powertech... but if there's no world PvP at endgame, and no plans to implement anything then I won't be continuing to play the game. As for the armour, I've seen a few grey uniforms - is there a white one anywhere?

I've been playing a Powertech (advanced prototype) but it feels fiddly and underwhelming in close combat. I'm primarily a PvPer, particularly a fan of open world PvP. I love the Operative story, animations, voice acting and the Chiss look. I've played rogue types before - had a 90+ Witch Hunter in WAR - and I'd say I'm pretty good at them, although I'll never be the best. I'd be playing the Operative as a dps class, not a healer. A few concerns first: lack of closing abilities... no autoface in PvP, lag and CC dominance would seem to suggest that the Operative could be quite tricky to play in PvP? Also, is levelling as a dps Operative viable? I don't like levelling with one spec and then switching for PvP if I can help it, as I feel you can learn your spec to an extent even from PvE. As to gear: Any idea if there's a white short jacket similar to the one worn by Thrawn that's moddable? Sort of like this: http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content...inMustache.jpg Also, is modding gear completely unviable for high-end PvP? Or could you get away with using one piece? I'd rather look like an actual Imperial officer than some sort of generic ninja. Thanks for any replies.

Any idea if there's a white short jacket similar to the one worn by Thrawn that's moddable? Sort of like this: http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content...inMustache.jpg Also, is modding gear completely unviable for PvP? Or could you get away with using one piece? I'd rather look like an actual Imperial officer than some sort of generic ninja.

Any idea if there's a white short jacket similar to the one worn by Thrawn that's moddable? Sort of like this: http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/AdmiralAlienAndCaptainMustache.jpg Also, is modding gear completely unviable for PvP? Or could you get away with using one piece? I'd rather look like an actual Imperial officer than some sort of generic ninja.

Basically, I'm looking for the best spec for running solo (open world PvP). I do warzones but I've never been fond of instanced PvP (yes, I know "open world" is now instanced too but it's still more unpredictable) and they're too imbalanced to enjoy at the moment... although pulling a level 50 Jedi into an acid pit in Huttball with grapple then finishing him off was too funny... Anyway, at the moment I'm level 33 and Advanced Prototype spec. I've got a few problems with it: • Damage isn't that great - there's lots and lots of abilities which have to all be used to get the most out of the spec • It's kinda fiddly and some abilities are underwhelming (Retractable Blade... great animation, not so great damage) and flamethrower requires building up and standing still for far too long • Relies on melee abilities for a fair chunk of the damage which are fiddly to get right in PvP with no autoface and lag However, it is fun when it works... tbh the main reason I like it is the retractable blade animation and the heat venting. I've been thinking of switching to full Pyro... but is it much squishier than AP? Does it rely on flamethrower or do you rarely use it? The other option is full Shield or a hybrid spec. With my ion cylinder on I still put out a fair chunk of damage... but would full Shield spec really be able to put much damage out in solo PvP? Would I be able to kill healers... or anyone 1v1? In other games, tank-spec tanks are great against most classes 1v1 as long as they can't heal themselves. I guess my priority is killing quickly before I'm found, so high dps would be better, but not if it makes me really squishy. Any suggestions? Oh, and I have ganked a few people in open PvP... a few troopers and a gunslinger. One of the troopers had a friend... a shadow... I've never died so quickly in my life, and the guy was lower level than me. I did have a poison debuff on me and was fighting a mob, but even so... would like to avoid that sort of situation again.