re: the italicized red text No, no, no, a hundred freaking times: NO. Phasewalk, at no time ever has increased healing received. It buffs outgoing heals ONLY! The talent within the tank tree that must be taken to grant this buff DOES give the assassin/shadow a +2% buff to ALL incoming heals on said assassin/shadow, but this affects no one else, at all, and affects the assassin/shadow at all times, no matter what. The ONLY person that you want to stand in a tank specced assassin/shadow's phasewalk is the healer, no one else. Note that the buff (a bright green, upward glow) says "Increases healing dealt", not "received". So, put the phasewalk out of melee, or wherever the healer wants it, and don't clog it up with non-healers who may draw fire on the healer.

1) I do Oricon weekly on 5 characters, 3 of them healers (Sorc, Op, and Merc). I feel no healer hatred. Some of the Heroic+2 champs are less frustrating on the healers (especially the Sorc who can expunge force effects). 2) 156s on character isn't undergeared. 148s on companion is. Akaavi is DPS. Gear Bowdaar or Corso up to 156s. Your results will improve drastically. 3) I hope you use the gimmick on the subteroth (southern) boss (ie: use a stun when it emotes that it is vulnerable to stuns). 4) The bothrium (northern) boss has three abilities. A) Extract: interrupt it (you say you are), B) Overload (or such) don't channel or use a cast ability as you are about to be knocked back (this ability is no more frequent than the other two as they occur in order on the same timing every cycle). C) Absorb: tab target the tentacle (important to not hold down a movement command at this time - this allows your character to swivel in place to aim at the target) and spam "Flurry of Bolts" (your free fire ability). The weak tentacle takes two shots at most. I wonder how you do this on a tank if you don't kill the tentacle. 5) Commander Zaoron: Lots of channeled abilities, Reaping the Fields is the one to interrupt. Stun any others you want (you have two), but interrupt that one, it does the most damage. Use your PvP release when he chokes. Popping Heroic Moment not only will make this easier, but it is conveniently timed (this is usually the last mission anyone does on Oricon as it has a teleport to base option right outside), and very fun. After all, what else are you saving it for, prom? Again, I wonder how you do this guy on your other characters. TL;DR: There is no hate for healers on Oricon.

Khem Val: (walking into the cantina on Balmorra I think) I have a great sabacc face. That was a joke. I hate sabacc.

I don't think I can nail down just one group. I do the Galactic Conflict every week on 1 tank, 3 healers, and 1 dps. However, I started this game on an Assassin tank. And as I heal a lot, I pay a lot of attention to what the tank does. The following things kill me a little each week: 1) Guard on the healer when there are very well geared DPS (read: high threat). Please, I don't need the 5% less damage, I need that 180 lvl, 4 pc set bonused rauder there to not tank the FP. 2) Casting Crushing Darkness - ever. It has a 10m range, and it takes you 2-3x as long to cast while you're getting beat on. Consider Whirlwind the same (if you have to be told these things, you don't know how/when to use it). 3) Putting Phasewalk in melee. Oh thanks, but I'll stand over here, out of range of the boss's AOE/Knockback/add spawn, etc. There's some misguided notion going around that it increases heals ON the people inside it. No, it increases the heals DEALT by the people inside it. Though the anni rauder beside you likes it there - after all, she's tanking most of this. 4) Using Force Lightning with anything less than 3 stacks of harnessed darkness. Even if you are popping Recklessness to use it at range, there's this thing called Force Pull that does more threat. 5) Letting Energized fade without using it. You can let Conspirator's Cloak drop, I'd prefer you didn't, but it's alright. But Energized? No, use Shock, use it now. 6) Saves Wither and Discharge for AOE groups only. These are mitigation placed on the target. And Wither stacks Harnessed Darkness. And it doesn't effect CC (Discharge does). You can let Discharge's miss chance debuff wear down before you refresh, but please use Wither as often as possible. 7) Saves Force Shroud and Deflection like they are virginity and this is a convent. No, I can't heal your sub 30k/800mit butt through every pull without some effort on your part. While we're at it, how about pulling from stealth for the +4% dmg reduction? This is by no means everything, and it is very largely aimed at Assassin tanks (I've just never learned Juggernaut or Powertech ... yet).

Not weird, because the marriage line is optional or else one companion could never finish out for legacy credit due to hetero relationship standards ingame.

Treek.

If you outfit Treek in standard vendor gear, she will do fine. At the elite/ultimate levels (168/180) you would augment her according to being a vanguard/powertech. That will work out to be mostly redoubt augments (def/pwr) with vendor gear.

Treek is definitely worth getting if you have the credits and legacy level, or aren't spending CC on something else. Why? 1) Wears heavy armor. Only one other healer (Trooper: Sgt Dorne) wears heavy armor, all other companion healers wear medium. This gives Treek an edge in surviving as your healer. 1b) Has an attack that increases armor even more useable in heal stance (this is typical of tank companions). 2) Has a HoT cleanse. ONLY character (player or companion) with a cleanse over time. It does a very small amount of healing, too, but the cleanse over time is more important. Used in healing AND tank stances. 3) Has a threat drop. ONLY companion healer with this ability (and this only works in heal stance). 4) AOE attack does NOT effect CC'd targets. Only companion with this ability. 5) No wasted slot on a channeled CC (which I turn off on any other healer so they heal). 6) All attacks do even MORE threat when in tank stance, not just the base threat increase. 7) Uses normal AIM gear, and a normal rifle. This is only an issue if you are relying on a droid or a "tech" melee weapon user. 8) Just shy of the cutest damn charge (swooping in on a hang-glider) in the game (Blizz wins with malfunctioning harpoon). 9) Available at level 10 as healer AND/OR tank. Agent, Inquisitor, Knight, Consular, Smuggler recruit a tank right off, but only Bounty Hunter finds a healer immediately (Warrior and Trooper find one shortly thereafter, but not at 10). None have a tank/healer combo companion. 10) Taunts are integrated into abilities and do not waste slots on toolbar. 11) Has four attacks as a healer. All other companion healers have only two. Why not? 1) No channeled CC. Some people like that ability. 2) Does not render armor (per all droids, Khem Val, Broonmark, Blizz, Qyzen, Bowdaar - lot of tanks I realize). 3) Annoying voice. 4) No affection gains from story except Oricon (easily solved by bringing out another companion at mission pick up/ return, not so great for prelude-to-fight conversations) - this can be an issue if Treek is the only companion you gear up while leveling. No longer an issue once you max out affection on all other companions. 5) Secondary AOE (with stun) only operates at 70%- health. Other tanks have their special effect AOE available on cooldown (this ability is only in tank stance). 6) No, really, voice is super annoying. All that said, I have Treek on every character I have. My healers have used her to MT every 55 HM in the game (takes some work at times). My DPS and tanks have had her MH every HM in the game (doesn't take much work). The recent tactical FPs with their AOE-heavy mechanics have required the more micro management, but Treek has done them, too. Note: my 55s all have over 700 presence and their Treeks are in 168 (elite) vendor gear with augments (Redoubt or Reflex accordingly) in the legacy items. While leveling my Vanguard, Treek has helped me solo every FP when I was 2-3 over average level (you don't get the daily that way, but you get ALL the gear - some of it is pretty ). However, that is in nearly max level B/A/M/E at all times. How's that for an answer? (I am fortunately blessed to be able to do this at work). TL;DR: YES

What I find telling about this thread is that when it went the other way, you (the OP) weren't complaining about the game being unbalanced.

Revanites. Look at the abilities of the nuatolan jedi on Tython: purple circles that prelude rocks falling from above; and the Jedi at end of Korriban: "I'm not just a Jedi..." Who does that sound like? The most likely intent is to seat Revan as the new emperor.

No one, I mean NO ONE has jumped on "breathing" in this title and post? I just .... I just don't know anymore, excuse me, I'll see my way out.

And "Wrong" right back at ya. If the OP is already subscribing (which is explicitly so) then the account won't revert to "f2p", but "preferred". "Preferred" can have equipped whatever artifacts they already had equipped, they just can't equip new ones without the authorization (very much worth it). source: I've done it. My wife did it. My best friend did it.

As said, the CZ's have always been "tactical" on Story Mode. As for Hard Mode, Meltdown, nothing appears to have changed. Labs: the droid (first boss) now requires you kill off his spawned droids as was always the intent. They come every other "shock pool". They are normals, so are easily stunned by many standard attacks. Ranged DPS handles them best, but melee can dispatch them quickly, too. This is more of an issue of DPS paying attention to protect the healer. The weapons guy (second boss) now has a smaller AOE with his rocket attack (still does around 30k), but is otherwise unchanged. Final boss remains the same.

I understand we are not allowed to "insult" on forums, so I will try. 1) Heals produce 50% the threat of damage. Properly specced healers produce 10% less than that. All tanks (in proper "stance") produce 90-100% more threat with any damage (though their damage is lower, they also have high threat attacks). Therefore any threat from damage on a target will outstrip threat from heals. 2) Pulled groups, and the resulting spawns, are connected by programming. Some must be learned. Range and placement can be indicative, but may not be. If members of the group, or resulting spawns, have not been hit then heals will top their aggro. Whether the effective number is 500 or 375 is irrelevant, top of chart is top of chart. This also applies for bosses (even more rarely mobs) that reset their aggro charts. Therefore, it is important to have all mobs target someone OTHER than the healer by hitting them. This will sometimes require DPS to leave a "main" target to attend to lesser mobs. Holding to kill order helps greatly. Tunnel vision does not. 3) Taunt and group taunt provide +10% over the highest threat on the target charts. This lasts 12 seconds and then reverts unless something has been done in that time. Therefore, save taunt for when aggro has been lost, or to swap tanks (operations only). Additionally, when taunting to regain aggro, DPS should drop AFTER the taunt. This grants the tank a greater buffer within which to move up the chart. EX 1: A DPS (@4400) surpasses a tank (@4000). a) DPS uses threat dump dropping to 3300. Enough for tank to regain control, but DPS has only 700 to catch up and 400 to surpass tank again. If taunt is used at this time, it is just a security blanket as tank already regained control. b) Tank uses taunt and goes to 4840 threat. DPS then uses threat dump and goes down to 3300. The tank has a buffer nearly half again that of "a)" to stay ahead of DPS as his threat tapers down after twelve seconds. EX 2: Disparate DPS and tank (like in leveling FPs and 55 HMs). DPS (@4400) and tank (@3400). a) DPS uses threat dump (3400) and goes just below the tank's threat, in only seconds he will regain. If the tank uses taunt now, it puts him at 3630 and above the DPS for 12 seconds. The gap will close quickly after that. b) Tank uses taunt and goes to 4840 threat. DPS then uses threat dump and goes down to 3300. The DPS WILL regain on the tank, but much later than if tank taunts second. Therefore: use something OTHER than taunt to pull. IN FP save taunt for when you lose aggro or for fight mechanics (Mando Raiders Akk dog boss and 55 HM bonus: Gil). Additionally, tanks and DPS cooperate and use TAUNT and DUMP in that order when needed. 4) Guard High Threat DPS (Rauder/Sent in Juyo > Merc/Comm in HVGC/APC > Rauder/Sent in Ataru). These "stances" should accompany their respective talent tress which gain increased threat from: constant self heal/ occasional group heal, spike damage (crits and procs), and armor reduction. From above: EX1: DPS (@4400), tank (@3950). With guard, the numbers change to DPS (@3300) and tank (@3950). The DPS would have to exceed 5200, another 33% over the threat they were doing before . EX2: DPS (@4400), tank (@3400). With guard, the DPS is @3300, the tank @3400. The DPS can't have an even luckier string of crits/procs, but should know to not take advantage of the procs with this tank, and pull to pull isn't a constant repetition of weak attacks or fear of the boss enraging (in HMs). Therefore, DuEdrvarya and Vortumnus, you are wrong. Please do not take this as an insult, it is not. And from the way you dismissed the other side as ~no one giving~ or such, I do not think you will listen, but for the others, please, PLEASE stop insisting on guarding the healer.

I like how most of the people responding in this thread had better compliments without complaints hidden in them than the OP. New graphics boost let's me use new computer to its fullest. Combat animations are great (don't mind the occasional delay as it doesn't effect the outcome). Companions and their stories, behaviors are good. I'd like more choices, but it's early, maybe that will come later. New adaptable armor makes appearance customization more varied (which actually bothers me in PvP, but I accept that most people DO like this).

I see my stuff was way too long for some people to read or too difficult to understand. I almost thought "I wish I could communicate with you better", but then I realized those people aren't worth the loss of brain cells. Another issue that is more lore related than game related, only dark siders are supposed to have dual and double bladed light sabers. How can you pass that up? (oh, and agree on the flamethrower/backpack thing).

I am going to answer several points brought up so far, though I have no expectation the posters will revisit this post. 1. Graphics: check your setting. I have a very nicely custom built rig. The software could not make out what I had and assigned me to minimums. I turned it up to max and it looks very nice. I think Vindictus has better resolution (an F2P Korean game), but the current MMO paradigm is to make the game accessible to many platforms. Also, Vindictus allows for VERY little variation in character appearace (hair style, color, skin darkness, character size - not gender, not face; tatoos, underwear, additional hair choices cost REAL money). 2. Healers: The thing is, of course you can't find a tank/healer. YOU aren't playing one, are you? Maybe you have one tucked away, but more often it seems people want someone ELSE to do the hard part. Except for my sniper and marauder, every one of my characters is leveling tank/heals. 3. Transferrence/Projection: the most common, and sometimes most damaging psychological issues in forums. Tranferrence: I did <A> because I felt like <B>, therefore, everyone who does <A> must also feel like <B>. ex: You left <MMO> because you were bored and everything was too easy, everyone else who left did so for the same reason. Projection: I think you're going to do <A> to get <B> because that's what I want to do, but I don't want people to know that. ex: You ninja'd that gear to put it on your companion (because secretly I wish I had done that and won the roll). Not one of us is the center of the universe or the exemplar for all life on Earth. Even once you know this, it is still easy to fall into these two traps. 4. LFG: starter area heroics, some think these will be tougher when there are fewer people in them. Well, I have cleared every Imperial starter heroic after finishing the area, having my initial companion and my AC. It has been tough at times, but it's one hell of a Skinner box accomplishment. http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html X-server LFG tool: There is already an LFG icon option and universal (global doesn't seem appropriate) LFG channel. See if those meet your desires first if you have not tried them. X-server battlegrounds is what made me quit that MMO the first time. It removed a lot of the camraderie (in and cross faction) for faster queue times. X-server LFG removed a lot of accountability and upped the d*bag quotient, but I think the djinni is out of the bottle, and something resembling it is in too high demand. Single server LFG tool might be a decent compromise. 5. Learning from Blizzard. Pepsi is still at it despite never breaking a 10% market share. Coca-Cola does not share its recipe with Pepsi. New Coke was considered a universal failure. Point being, a MMO does not have to beat WoW to be a success. Activision is not sharing the code for how to implement everything WoW has done up to now (neither is Turbine/LotRO or SOE/bunch of games). Around two million accounts have left WoW in the last year. New MMOs must skirt that ever difficult line of providing what the customer wants, yet at the same time avoid being just a clone with a different skin job, in addition to that whole proprietary code/programming thing. And, Bioware may have learned the most important and most insidious lesson WoW has to offer: NEVER GIVE THE CUSTOMER EVERYTHING THEY WANT ALL AT ONCE. If all your content is released on day 1, you have doomed yourself. If all the classes are balanced, the must-have-best-class winners and when-do-I-get-buffed whiners have nothing to do (notice how flavor of the month threads never die). It's a game of perpetually leaving something screwed up so there is something to fix, but not screwed up enough so people have hope it will be addressed NEXT PATCH. 6. WoW was compared to: UO: much easier to understand, better looking, but in a cartoony way. EQ: quests mattered, classes were better balanced, but everything looked cartoony. SWG: talent trees were too linear, everyone looks too cartoony. (seriously, the cartoon quality of the characters was a near universal issue). 7. The desires of the majority: The majority of kids want to eat lots of candy and stay up all night. The majority of high school kids want to have lots of sex and stay up all night. The majority of college students want to have lots of sex, get drunk, and skip classes. The majority of adults want to be kids, remember having lots of sex, don't care about candy, and wish they could get a full night's sleep. The majority is rarely a good reason for anything. In relation to games, the majority of people do not play console or PC games, even less play MMOs. The majority of people do not read forums, even fewer post on them. The majority of people do not really know what would make a better game, and do not think through the consequences of changes they ask for(WoW's BC PvP and Arenas? gearscore?). That's all for now

And, the real world. I present no less than the go to guys for evil: The National Socialist Party of Third Reich Germany (I'm afraid their common abbreviated name will be filtered). Albert Goering is awesomeness personified. http://www.cracked.com/article_19484_5-rulers-whose-idiot-siblings-nearly-screwed-world_p2.html TLDR: he stopped some jews from being mistreated, freed some others from a concentration camp and embarrassed his brother (Hermann Goering, 2nd in command to Adolf). So, he got shipped off to run a munitions factory, which the local resistance movement suddenly got A LOT of good information on from someone inside. Then Albert kept "misplacing" his jewish slave labor. You can point out that he saved five times as many people as that Schindler guy, but he also had a lot more reason to think he wouldn't suffer dire consequences. There is also a derided claim about how not all German soldiers of WWII believed in their national party. There are some anecdotes of individuals or small teams, but what about the entire German Navy? Cracked has my back there, too: http://www.cracked.com/article_19550_the-5-most-mind-blowing-acts-battlefield-mercy-in-history.html TLDR: Three German ships fought a smaller, and very outmatched British ship. Of course, they won. However, they took on the POWs, and due to the Brits' effort and bravery, the GERMAN Captain recommened his defeated opponent for the Victoria Cross (think Medal of Honor for US). Additionally, the Fleet Admiral allowed for the saving of any survivors of vessel sinkings (civilians or sailors). This included surfacing and deploying liferafts, issuing supplies and taking on prisoners, and allowing enemy forces to approach and help in the rescue (as long as they didn't shoot). Any prisoners taken on were fed and medically treated as well as the serving German sailors. All this in contradiction to the orders from Berlin. The best I ever read about it (though I can't find the article now) was of one group of such British naval POWs on a German surface vessel. They were on the German mess deck, nervously eating their meal. An officer checking on them had the tray taken from one sailor without explanation. The Brits were afraid their fellow's background (Polish) had been realized. As it turned out, the officer not only realized the man was Polish (his name was a give away), but also, Jewish (again, the name thing). However, his order wasn't to deprive the man of his meal. He had one made that didn't have sausage and didn't mix the meat and the dairy. He had made the cook prepare a more Kosher meal. These guys didn't want concentration camps and ghetto slaughters. They were trained and groomed for a proper, albeit violent, war against similarly prepared opponents. I wish I could say the same for the conscripts of the US forces in Vietnam, or even the volunteer soldiers in Iraq's Abu Gharib. Finding angels among the enemy demons is almost inspirational enough to forget the villains among your own countries (supposed) heroes. Note: Albert Goering was imprisoned, but was eventually released based on the pleas of the many jews he helped save. Admiral Donitz served ten years (vice death), based on a recommendation from US Admiral Nimitz and the determination that Donitz had not committed any war crimes. The -itz ending of the name might have had something to do with it

And more ... Within popular fiction we have the movie Gladiator. Maximus is our hero, Commudus is our villain. Except ... at the start Maximus is commanding a force of men weilding metal and ranged weapons and wearing metal armor. They have infantry, cavalry, artillery and fire support against a bunch of guys in hides with stone axes and wooden clubs. Oh, and who had the larger force? While Commudus is the son of a neglectful father, without a mother, raised by servants and brought up in opulence and decadance. He has no ethics or morals because there's been no example or call for such things in his life. Basically, both are riding on rails, so-to-speak. Their actions are predictable and intractable. Then, we have Lucilla, Quintus and Proximo. These people make decisions. On the death of Marcus Aurelius and the order of Maximus' execution: Lucilla, out of fear of her brother (who just killed their father), love of her son, and perhaps a fleeting tinge of scorn for Maximus does not oppose the new emperor while on the exposed border of the empire. Quintus (the praetorian commander) sees a zero sum equation: kill Maximus and let his family be killed, or be killed himself along with his family when someone else DOES follow the new emperor's orders. Within Rome however ... Lucilla plots with a senator to overthrow her brother. She gives in to betrayal once again, and, once again, for the sake of her son. Quintus, with the scutiny of the coloseum, the commoners favoring Maximus and the ruling class favoring the status quo, goes with the honorable call to let the fight go as fairly as it can. Then, he follows through to take Maximus' orders, and follow the new leader. But he is not merely a myrmidon as indicated by his refusal to allow the disarmed emperor a weapon. And Proximo, our self-declared self-preservationist, makes the decision to help Maximus that will surely end with an inglorious and unnoted death. He faces that fate with a wooden gladius and a gleam in his eye. I can't bring myself to play the role of a peace corps volunteer with weapons when I could act as one of these people instead.

In real world terms, did the Romans, the Hunns, the Persians, the Ottomans, or the British think they were evil? How about the tribes, city-states and nations they crushed or absorbed? How about the United States? The Empire dresses dark, the Republic dresses light, but in the story that spawned this game, that was the designation between officers and enlisted. The two merged, while both Jedi and Sith were nearly wiped out. Biggs joined the academy, as did most of Luke's friends. He wanted to. Han was an Imperial officer. You're born into it, you don't think of it as evil (whether it is or not being moot). But, you asked my reasoning ... I was a bully/spaz in school. I got into a lot of fights and had three felony charges my last year before ... I joined the Marine Corps. I learned even more about fighting and killing ... and volunteered with elementary kids in at risk situations. I graduated top in my field despite having dropped out of high school. I made rank ahead of all my piers for proficiency and conduct. When I became a platoon sergeant, my troops saw me as an unrelenting straight arrow (I don't drink, smoke, and was with the same woman the entire time). The idea of redeeming your dark side has a huge appeal to me.

Yes, I think most every class is asking for more and more customizable quick slots. And, what spoiler, the companion? That really isn't revealing story. Khem Val on the other hand *cough cough*

Companions reduce the issue of solo-leveling. Flashpoints will become difficult to tank or dps as a hybrid around 30. I've had no issue leveling in a final build talent spend. Good luck with your effort, though.

Only in the darkness tree that I know of. Shock is very important for darkness assassin and offers a self heal. First, Electrify increases damage and threat of shock, then Harnessed Darkness buffs Force Lightning to be immune to pushback or interrupt, adds 25% damage per stack (up to 3), and makes each tick or Force Lightning heal you for 3% of your health (with 4 ticks, that's 12% total). Then, get Chain Shock in the madness tree for a 45% chance of a second 50% strength shock (still boosts the Force Lightning damage). Also, the +4% shield absorb for Hollow is very worth it otherwise, and it gives you a 10% self heal when you use overcharge saber while dark charge is active. However, you don't get overcharge until level 50 (it also increases healing from dark charge).

Customizable UI has so far been done best by Turbine (In LotRO anyway). You could move anything anywhere. God help you if you pressed the command <ctrl \> mid fight, but otherwise, it was awesome. Then, in preferences, you could scale it to your desires (several things were tied together, but it worked out). Never needed a threat meter as a healer before, rarely referenced it as DPS. Never used the healbot or decursive programs, though I was often accused of doing so. I'm not sure that was a compliment, even when reassured it was. Meters annoy me. They were never considered in their entirety, but by the very few compotent leaders (there are so many situational issues, the biggest being target debuffs that enhance everyone else's damage, but are applied by a class spec with inherently lower damage). Gearscore is an anathema. So far, it would be inaccurate in SWtOR anyway, as not all slots are inspectable by a second party (ear, implants, relics, offhand). I need to be able to see debuffs I can deal with as a healer. Procs of buffs are very good (Resurgence/Innervates especially). I'd like to be able to put more in the center of my screen (those bars filled up before 30). I'd like to be able to move party and companions other places. I hope Bioware does this on their own.

"I would rater make a healer than a sorcerer if I'm expected to heal all the time. I don't mind minor support as sorcerer but spending all my ig time healing ... " What does this mean, UrbanChili? I play a sorceror AS a healer. Yes, bodyguard BH and medic IA are also options, but, along with corruption SI, they are all healers. Only major issue I have had so far are players that stand in persistent effects (ie: fire) or ignore instructions (kill adds means now, right away, not after the boss is dead).