Infiltration is built around burst damage, with Low Slash to control the fight. Overwhelming a target and closing the deal quickly is how they operate. Kinetic is total opposite of that. They are about steady damage output, high durability and mobility, with an emphasis on outlasting burst damage. I wouldn't want to fight me as Infiltration, and I love fighting assassin-types as Kinetic.

Shadows get Techniques which are roughly equivalent to tanking stances or paladin seal buffs from World of Warcraft. Combat Technique is for tanking, as it increases mitigation and provides a small self-heal on hit component. It also generates additional threat. You could in theory tank in a pinch with this technique up, regardless of spec, and thereby pull off a bit of a off-tank role. I don't think there is any need for an "off-tank" in SWTOR pve, though. Any Ops group that needs more than just one tank will want a dedicated tank in that role.

Eh, no I can't agree with Project being viable as a Force dump. As Balance 2.0 or whatever you want to call this new way to slice it, I found that I had the Force to use pretty much whatever I wanted to use, whenever I wanted to use it. I could dump Force with Project on a single target, but even that wouldn't usually deplete me and it really didn't do enough damage to feel worth it. In Warzones, dots interrupt capturing, so I felt that I could apply a dot to another one or two targets instead of denting someone with Project and see greater benefits. Since I wasn't using Project much, I didn't see the point in investing so many points in buffing it up, but I was unaware of this discussion and I left Balance where I found it after the patch, to be honest. Kinetic is far more my style. As a side note, I'm definitely not starved for Force as Kinetic, probably due to the "regen phase" side-effect of TK Throw. Being totally out of Force in PVP is a goal for me now, and I see a half-full Force bar as wasted up-time.

Fair enough. Just a difference in terminology. To me, a gap closer is anything that closes a gap intentionally created by my target to keep me out of melee range. It doesn't have to be 1 GCD. Is there a ruling authority on this of which I am unaware? The longest I am out of range of anyone is probably 2 GCD anyway. 1 to pop a CD and 1 to walk to my target.

First, gap closers as I define them are anything that stops someone from keeping me at arm's length. Snares do not technically count, because it is true that if I snare him and he snares me, we're both just moving at the speed of smell, and the gap between me & my target is not closed. In this situation, my Kinetic Shadow has several options: Force Stun, close the gap by walking. Force Speed, shed the snare or root, close the gap at a sprint. Force Pull, eliminate the gap by bringing my target to me. Tenacity, shed CC and close gap by various means. Resilience, shed CC and close gap by various means. But I don't even need to close the gap to do some of my bigger hits. Sometimes I can just kill them with Project & Slow Time. This also yields stacks of Harnessed Shadows, which I will use in conjunction with Force Potency + Telekinetic Throw. I nearly always have something from these choices above available to use. Lastly, Force Speed is not on a long cool down. It is probably similar to the various "leap" abilities throughout the game, but I have not mined the ability tooltips to confirm this.

All gear differences aside, you will not be 3-shotting anything as Kinetic. But no one will be three-shotting you either, again all gear differences aside.

As 31/0/10, I just stay in their faces and mitigate damage/recover health at such a rate that they die before I do. Save silences & knockdowns for key interrupts and keep Telekinetic Throw on cooldown. I cannot comment on other specs, as the Kinetic Shadow has erased completely the thought of doing anything else from my mind.

Something like this maybe? http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601rcrszMskcZ0MZf0cRz.1 I guess that's how I'd do it? Focus instead of shield, run Combat Technique and basically use Force in Balance instead of Slow Time, and spam Double Strike, Project and Force Breach as the main attacks? Why anyone that deeply committed to Kinetic would not take Harnessed Shadows and use Telekinetic Throw is beyond me. That one ability is so key to my survival and dps that I really would miss it. Maybe if you really really love Force in Balance, which does has a lot of utility and advantageous uses if I'm being honest. Granted, I have not tried this variant, and I might have gotten the allocation completely wrong. I'm guessing that the overall damage output will be lower than 31/0/10.

I believe the set bonuses for Survivor's Gear are the only ones that truly fit Kinetic Shadows. As for what mods you use, I believe that falls to personal preference.

I am doing 31/0/10 and have no complaints about the balance between damage and survivability. I do not use a shield or and all defensive stats are swapped out for offensive mods/enhancements, and I do not take Kinetic Ward. I have found that I have no trouble reaching 200k damage in a warzone, and depending on how targets present themselves, I can go over 300k total. I definitely have less damage potential hit-for-hit than other specs. Infiltration Shadows probably kill faster and hit harder, but definitely cannot stay in the fight as long as I can. When I tried out the "new" Balance spec I was impressed with the overall damage done, but did not enjoy the lack of burst. 31/0/10 is a great dueling spec too. I've found that most of the fights I win one-on-one are decided during the gravel-throwing phase of my dps rotation.

Again and again I debate with myself over the usefulness of a Shield. For me, I believe that I'd rather have a Focus, even after reading all the redaction and redress that the subject has gotten in this thread. I made my judgement (again today, after another internal debate and study) based on the following: I'm only trying to play my Kinetic Shadow like a DPS with some extra crowd control, and probably a bit more hit points. I wear Survivor's gear with the Defense and Absorption mods swapped out for Crit and Surge and such. In theory, the stuff I swap out would probably make my damage lower and survivability higher. In actual fact, the damage absorbed by a Shield is pathetically low in PVP, even when augmented by various talents and abilities such as Kinetic Ward. This leads me to believe that the perceived/actual utility of Kinetic Ward is low, so I don't take it. And with Kinetic Ward gone, so go the related defensive stats. Plus the lack of Kinetic Ward means one less button to press, which means fewer calories expended by the player, which means less energy consumed, which means I am lowering my carbon footprint and reducing my contribution to the Heat Death of the Universe.

Good video! This new tanking viability in pvp is great. I do miss the damage I pumped out as Infiltration, but the survival and utility I offer to a group are far more enriching. Being able to actually support my healers and dps is so much fun for me. I still get some big Project hits and TK throws, especially when modified by relics and such.

Yes, wise players should consider everything that factors into their class in action. Limiting the scope of research to just math is a pitfall that can lead to sub-par results. I always approach each stat as a minimize costs, maximize benefits, but I freely admit they are me-centric critera.

Right. Even if not having to press the key to refresh KW is the only benefit to me, and all other things are equal, I prefer to press less instead of more. It is a pity too, because the concept is nice, the animation is well done and the actual ability is good; it just calls upon the Shield Generator mechanic, which is useless to the point of broken in pvp. Now, if shields were reworked, or absorbed critical strikes, or if it absorbed more than just "white damage" melee swings... then I'd use it.

I don't use one for PVP, nor do I take Kinetic Ward. This quote explains it more accurately than I can: