And if you screw it up, then you don't have the time to make a recovery. Someone's dead. xD. I really like that. In PvP, it's not entirely different. It's fairly obvious who's the next on your team that's going to meet with a hard zerg burn. HoT the bazinga out of them and then just spam the freebie heal until the HoTs need refreshing or come off of CD.

Right?

I'm bumping this. For the purposes of nostalgia, and because more people should take a look at this and learn what the Rogue/Thief community roots that Smugglers spawn from are meant to be!

Glad I could be of comedic service. <3.

Geeze. Can we stop the squabbling, and just decide on the facts? Alright. After knocking around a while with all three healing classes, it's VERY obvious what Bioware was going for with the 1.2 update and all the healing styles, though they may have missed the mark a little. Sages/Sorcerers[/i] You are there to take care of the general duty stuff. Yes. You have the slowest heals imaginable. REALLY slow. No turtles are going to win any races - they're going to end up in some turtle soup, hopefully with a spring onion or two - maybe a few prawns. Know what that means? Think ahead. If you can see that your target could need a heal in a few seconds, time your heals to hit'em at that moment. You also have the largest resource pool, at the price of being unable to actually get it back without some serious work. That does not mean SPAM-HEAL-MODE-ACTIVATE! - Sit down, you tool. It means you're better at keeping THE GROUP alive. One might be lead to believe otherwise, but see the people trying to run away from stuff? They're your babies. Take care of them. The main tanks aren't actually your function, though you will be healing them of course. Operatives/Scoundrels You are probably the most interesting ones to look at. The heals may be the weakest, sure, but by God, the speed, the resource management - now, here's a mighty fine healer - at least, on one target. Be careful to keep up Pugnacity/Stim Boost constantly, try to keep your energy above 50% (I realise the maximum recharge threshold is 60% - but sometimes, you just gotta' get that heal out), top-up your MAIN TARGET's HoT up, and occasionally toss out a hit here and there (Naturally, look around for the other members of the group that may or may not require some medical assistance) - and you should be fine! Don't forget - you have a free heal to throw out here and there, too! In fact, it's excellent for building up your resources if you've gone a little too far down! Tell me that's a TL;DR, and I'll hit you over the head. They may well be the best sustainable healers, but only in skilled hands. The argument may be well made that Operatives/Scoundrels are utility healers more than they are main healers, and visa-versa. It really depends on style, here. As an Operative/Scoundrel, I could keep ~2 people healed comfortably with my HoT's up on them both (Energy always above 50% - though there are points where Adrenaline Probe/Cool Head have to be used to keep up. Don't worry. That's fine. Just try not to rely on either of them for your management). Also, as you are the healer that can reacquire their resource the easiest - with lightning quick heals, to boot! - guess what that means? You're the SPAM-MODE-ACTIVATE! one. Though I'd make sure everyone knows the score, and you're not healing them for a few seconds while you're regenerating if they're being idiots. That machismo doesn't fly with you. You've got your main tank, and maybe if you're up to the headache, an off-tanker (Or other primary target). Everybody else comes second. You may even need to call in a back-up healer to take care of things while you're recharging. Mercenary/Commando Ah, I actually loved playing them. Want to be a healer that nobody expects too much of, though everyone knows your the best? Here's your place! Strongest heals. No, really. If you don't outclass everybody else's heals by far, you're doing something wrong. The armour. Heck, where other heals kite, you can comfortably sit there until the tank wakes up enough to pull the aggro from you. The downside? You're spent pretty darn quickly. Not to rain on any parades here - but being the only healer in a group is severely ill-advised. Resource management? Hah! What's that? That stuff that garbologists do? From my perspective, when I played one, I found that it was very irritating to try and pigeon-hole myself into being the full-time healer. It wasn't until I stopped and thought for a moment, "Well, wait a minute. My damage still kicks *** for a healer. Why don't I just try and burn down the crap with everyone else? - (Mr. Plinkett voice) Oohh. That works," that I realised where this class of healer was meant to be. Throw a heal when it's needed. Yes, there are times where you'll have to spam - so make use of Reload/Vent Heat carefully - you should need to spam less than others with the amounts you heal. And hey. It's not that much better than a Sorcerer/Sage - but it is better enough. Use your resource wisely to heal, and get to know what your healing threshold is, but keep defaulting to being an off-DPS (Use as few attacks as possible - CC/Stuns to buy a few seconds if you need to regain your resources for a heal or two). By the way. Your free heal? Kicks ***. Serious ***. Or would that be.. kisses... Of course, that's what Bioware was going for. It's all.. pretty soundly there, with a few darts just on the line. Anybody can adapt and mould a style as they see fit - and it's actually a refreshing challenge to play a healer in SW:TOR. You can't be a mindless moron that spams your heal non-stop (Sorry Korean-MMO'ers - I know, I know. It's hard to adapt but we all do sometime. I did it ages ago when I got tired of wasting cash uselessly on Refreshers in Flying For Fun - you'll do it in The Old Republic, because people will kick you from the group if you don't. Ironically, the very reason you probably spam heal in the first place - tankers in other games giving you the boot if you didn't spam-heal them how they demanded). Mercenary/Commando healing doesn't need any sort of resource altering - the healing itself needs a 10-15% buff on what it is currently. Probably couldn't hurt for just a tiny bit of Action Cost Reduction though, right? Operative/Scoundrel healing could do with just a little less on the resource cost - main heal costing a quarter of my Energy bar by default? Eh? Let's cut that a little. This class is about skilfully using resource, or else. Okay. It's enough of a penalty that there isn't much of a panic button-heal - at least let the poor guys stand a chance of reliably healing during these trying times! Sage/Sorcerer healers, typically of Force-using classes no matter what game, are already fine as they are. No. They don't need stronger healing. They don't need cost reduction. Nor cast-time shortening (Stack Alacrity if it's that important to you - which I'm sure all of the healers do!). They're balanced to what they need to be. Let's just see if everybody else can be balanced to play their roles properly, eh?

This is why in WoW, there's a restriction on swapping out to your off-talent spec while inside of a battleground. You aren't allowed to do it. Whatever spec you clicked the, "ENTER BATTLEGROUND," button as is the one you're locked into playing as for that round. It's a good system.

As a Sabotage/Dirty Fighting Gunslinger, I can tell you that DoT's in PvP absolutely own if you've got the right idea of how to drop everything down. My own rotation is Vital Shot, Shrap. Bomb, Shock Charge, Cover -> Sabotage Charge and then Wounding Shots. Surprisingly, it's a lot easier to drop that rotation than it sounds. If they aren't within 30% by that point, usually a good ol' Speed Shot does the trick. After that, I'm already looking for another target. Even if a healer starts to remove the DoT's, they're dead before they're fully removed - and woe be to that healer, since they make themselves the target for my next volley (Cool Head and away she goes!).

And before anybody asks, "Oh.. why isn't it classed as a Melee? Shouldn't it be?" I'll answer. Because if it were Melee, its damage would rely on Strength. Which we do not have. So rather than doing something arbitrary and useless with the skill, BW wisely decided to place it as something under our primary stat's heading. But obviously, since it cannot be a Ranged attack, the only other option is Tech. Hence why it is a Tech attack.

http://toroz.com.au/2012/03/swtor-game-update-1-2-patch-notes-classes-and-combat/

My cat looked at my as though he were trying to Force Choke me, though it didn't work as well. This game should be shut down!

I'd love it. You've got my support, even if I know this will never come to fruition. I'm a, "Townie," too. I just log on to slaughter, then make stuff, then once that gets boring... leave and do so again in another game.

I love grouping. In Galaxies, I was rarely out of one, and even just sitting around doing nothing but talking in a cantina, you can bet there was a group already there that'd invite you when it was obvious you weren't drifting too far from there. Oh, were you about to go and grind Nightsisters? Well hey, I was thinking of doing that too! Let's pair up! After we're done, see you around bud, it was fun! Almost all of my MMO experiences have been conducted with team play in mind. Even Runescape for god's sake - the game that has no system for, "Partying". It wasn't until FFXIV that the idea took a bit of a sour note, as there just weren't many people around who cared for grouping.. and now in TOR, it's just a real drag and headache to find anybody to group with. I don't know why. But between finding people to play with, dealing with their inane drama (Yes, yes. It's really lovely. I've known you for ten minutes and I'm learning about your depression that's soooo bad you did X because of Y), dealing with their attitudes ("Oh, I examined you.. could you make me about 5 stims with your Biochem? Thanks. They'll help. What..? Pay? Lololololoololol no. We're grouped for this!"), it has just become more tiresome than it's really worth.

Depending on your build - For DPS, Cunning (Endurance secondary), Crit-Chance and Power (Or, if you decide to have a more.. bursty build with higher Crit-chance but less sustained damage, swap Power for Surge). For Survivability (Taking more than one hit and living to tell the tale - NOT tanking! Keep in mind that this is far more useful AFTER you have Defence Screen, too, due to the reliance on Defence rating) Endurance (Cunning secondary), Defence rating and Power. If you're a healer, Cunning, Endurance, Power and Surge.

Well, Corso got the bill for my, "Mandalorian Men's Monthly," which is infinitely more expensive. Do you know how hard it is to find willing Mandalorian women for such photo shoots? But that's no really a complaint. The complaint is that the holodiscs they're delivered on are on-time uses. I've been ripping them onto BluSpark discs myself... But Corso used the kriffing thing.

Corso stole the textbook you were learning Basic grammar from! ... Do I get double points? xD.

Risha cheated on me with Corso Riggs.

+1. Simple.

Yeah, me as well. Usually happens in PvP warzones... kind of an odd glitch, but it lets you have 24/7 access to your DPS skills without having to go into cover. It's like you're any of the other classes! xD. That said, though, usually I try and find the quickest and easiest method to die (Often a bullet to the head from an Imperial player). That usually does the trick to fix things up.

^ Both of these.

QFT, my brother, although I'm a Gunslinger. Always in the top three for damage/objective points. The amount of effort I put in, compared to what the other classes that always top me in rankings do, though? It really kills my *****. No matter how hard I try, no matter how good my match was, there will ALWAYS be that one sodding p**** above me that rolled the face-roller class (Trooper, Consular, Knight. All the same, really) and beat me. Mind you, whenever I can, I watch everybody in the match out of the corner of my eye to see who to give my MVP to. You know irritating it is when the Trooper that's been keyboard turning and clicking his skills the entire match actually beats me, all because I won't become beholden to the buggy and inoperable nerf-device of, "Cover?" I don't care if 3/4 of my true DPS is essentially teased away from me. But the fact that I work THAT hard for it? One of my guildies (A Trooper, that I wipe the floor with each and every time mind you) complained to me about all of their skills having channel times, I kept my thoughts inside because, hey, he's a guildie, and he's never played a terrible, unbalanced and useless class before. But what were my thoughts? "You have the GAUL to b**** and moan to me about cast times? Yeah. My three main attack skills are instant. And you know what? You resist the lot of them, and I only do about 2/3 of the apparent damage they're all meant to do. Most of my actual skills, I have to sacrifice for mobility so I can kite you. I can't push you back, but you can. I can't DPS against you, since both my skills are forbidden to me, AND you resist it all anyway. I can't resist you, except for fifteen seconds where I might absorb a little damage with my shields. I can't get away from you, since you'll just pull me back in. You have all of those advantages PERMANENTLY over me, so if you have a cast time - a three second window that I have to **** of your range - then that should be my damn right."

This. Also trying to find something that resembles the DH-18a blasters from Star Wars: Galaxies. There's got to be something around. xD.

I've been looking around for ages, but I haven't had any luck finding a website with them. Any chance of some linkage?

Hey there guys. My buddies and I were wondering if anyone with the full Champion gear sets would be able to tell us the bonus effects for wearing each of the sets (Field Tech, Field Medic, Enforcer)? We'd be very appreciative. Thanks in advance!

Yeah. Hey, I'm a roleplayer, PvP'er and social player. I never said you don't fit into more than one - but all three of those are still being quite ignored with all the content they're putting out. Roleplay.. yeah. No. They aren't catering to us. All roleplayers have figured this out pretty quickly, but we're an adaptive bunch that works with what we've got, so it doesn't particularly matter. Social.. Nyeh. Sad that I can't talk to a good bunch of my friends that're on the Imperial side - I mean, I literally can't say a thing to them. I can't organise any duel matches with them, I can't roleplay with them, I can PvP with them - if we're both lucky enough to just happen to bump into each other either planetside and recognise one another's characters and can chat in spatial quickly (Usually, there'll be others of our faction close-by that aren't really interested in letting us talk without making it a matter of griefing), or else it just doesn't happen. No, they're not catering to us. Hardcore PvP'ers - now, despite the content that they seem to have - it isn't for the hardcore PvP'ers that, for example, would stand outside of Restuss in Galaxies for eight hours straight, even if nobody of their opposing faction came out to fight. Yeah. The ones that don't care about level difference (Or buff difference - we'll take a swing anyway! 'Choo got! 'Choo got!), the ones that just want to duke it out without any major or huge reward/pay-off for it. I do happen to agree with the, "Carebear," opinions most other PvP'ers have. Level 10's fighting on generally speaking even grounds with max-levelers? 'tf? That ain't gonna' work. You know my crowning achievement for Galaxies? Reaching 235000 Imperial kills on the Starsider server as an Officer. Most people when they examined me saw that and flipped a coin on whether they should focus their attention elsewhere or plan a zerg attack on me. THAT'S all the reward a PvP player wants, with just enough incentive to those who aren't really interested but want to learn. Equipment is nice, but it shouldn't be a main focus. It's the thrill of a good fight, and the instantaneous bragging rights to everyone in your team present that comes from taking down the other sides' infamous players. It's gaining that extra buff to give you just a bit of an edge over what that other guy has. It's slaughtering anyone on the other team that're trying to quest on your turf, and visa-versa (Comm grinding, anyone?). Going on a tangent, you know what I do in PvP matches in TOR? I let the other faction take the objective, so that when they're defending, all their focus is on me. I want them to give me their all and their best - screw the missle launching-silo (Illum - Imperials, don't even bother trying to negotiate an objective swap. I'll kill you on the spot, and every other time I even catch a whif of you, I'll track you down and chase for a half hour if need be just so I can take you out for the insult), the turret that I apparently should be slicing, that pesky bomb that's being defended, or the Huttball. Yeah. I'll act like I give a toss when other people are around from my faction, for their sakes since they want to win and apparently I need to be a 'team' player - but those who have PvP'd with me know where I'm coming from and what my own goals are. I'm there to kill, and kill as many as I can. Turret guarded by five Sith? Excellent. I'll break their stance and weaken them as best as I can for the team mates behind me to play mop-up crew and get whatever they want from the situation. An Agent that can't take a hint when I've stunned him twice and walked away to where there's more of his team, only for him to catch up and keep trying to hinder my progress towards said team members of his? Sorry buddy, you should taken the chance - I'll take the whole match's time to deal with you now if I really have to. Don't try running, it's too late for that. Yeah. They're not meeting anything I want from the game, but as it is, there's just barely enough to tide me over until the next wind comes along to blow me towards a game that satisfies at least one of the things I'm looking for. And that's the position a lot of us are finding ourselves in now. You know that empty, nagging feeling in the back of your head? The one that just doesn't feel right - you're looking at a masterpiece of something, but it just doesn't feel like it. You know what that is? It's that same feeling you get when your girlfriend's kept you on the line the whole day looking forward to the night - and then when it finally happens, it's just.. the same stuff, hyped differently. Hey, it feels good and all - it's just not what you thought it'd be. The way she sold it, it was going to be the most adventurous event to date in your relationship, with everything she knew you were looking for. And while there's.. one thing that's going right (Which is that it's happening), it's just not what was promised, considering you were in a mind to try and find what you wanted elsewhere before she sold all that to you. That's disappointment. The game, in all honesty, really was marketed to be something it couldn't deliver on. Whether it is unwillingness, it is design, it is the mood - whatever it is, something's missing from what they said was there. And everybody's feeling it. That's fine, though - it'll weed out the ones whom the Devs are really focusing the game towards soon enough. Now, I don't care if you have the gaul to say, "Oh, so you know everyone on every server, and you can speak for them all, huh?"/"No, I've got everything I want from it," blah blah blah. I'm not going to defend my statement again, when all that arguing against it proves is that you yourself haven't taken the time to feel out the crowd and do a little research into what people at large are feeling about the game and what they're getting out of it, rather than trying to choke on the fishing line down your throat and admitting that it's pride talking and that the Devs caught you too. Hell, it was REALLY good bait! You've got to give them that.

Signed. 'Nuff said.