I personally like this spec in DPS gear. Extra CDs for survivability and tons of reduced damage. My tanking play style on my team has me guarding bases/doors and running the huttball. I can do 300k damage if action comes my way pretty easily in a WZ while still guarding healers and playing objective based PvP. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500RMGzuzMZZfMrzrhzzM.2

My guild is rerolling on another server, myself and many others just dont have the time to level another toon to 50 and gear them up. Mandelor server is just *** now.. You play the same 8 people every WZ and now it will be even worse with the mass exodus of the top PvP guild on server. Get Xferrs going ASAP before you lose everyone. It seems like simple economics.

I wont disagree Madness is harder to play, but without solid healing you die so fast you cant put the slightly better DPS to good use. Dead people dont DPS.

Must be a nice rotation for those that have infinite force to be able to throw around Thrash, maybe you have more force because that Healer you opened on with Shock is now kiting you because you didn't Wither first. In the real world the rest of us play in, you are force limited so Sabre Strike will be used as a gap filler so you have the force to burst someone down when needed. Therefor if you aren't using Thrash then no need for Energize. Furthermore, Dark Charge procs have an internal CD so upping the % chance for it to proc when it is always on CD isnt right.

Yes, that is true but typically you want to get Wither on people asap for the slow and damage debuff.

1 point is not put into energize because as I said in the post that I dont use Thrash as I am typically rage starved as it is and my goal is to Force Lightning as many times as possible. Thrash does not fit into what I am trying to accomplish. If you want a Thrash Based spec then go 27/0/14

The best PvP spec right now is 31/0/10. You have the most utility and the most survivability and my damage is always close to the top. You still use Stalker set which 4 set bonus makes the build even better. Use the stalker weapon also. For offhand, ring, belt, implant use the Force Mystic for better stats. You will also want to remove the accuracy enhancements and replace them with crit/surge or if you can get them crit/power. Some people will say use the shield with this spec, I highly suggest not to. The amount of added survivability (which isnt much because you have stalker gear on (3%)) doesnt come close to the added damage a power generator will bring, The rotation is simple, I start with Wither to slow them as well as debuffing thier damage. Then shock, discharge, Sabre Strike, then pop all CDs including Shroud then Shock (3k), Force Lightning (4 ticks of 1.5-2k) then Shock (3k). As you can see that is a ton of burst. Some people use a variant of this spec which includes a ton of Thrash spam but for me it isnt good because you are always Force starved. Keep it simple which allows you to more easily use Spike, Shock, Interupt, Shroud, and other key CD at the best possible moments. There isnt a class that can beat me 1v1 in this spec, only a Marauder comes close. To beat them you really have to know thier CDs and how to react. Here is the link to the build http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200bIMR0rskrsZZf0cM.1

It all depends on your play style and what sort of toon you want to bring to your team. For my guild, my job is to get and hold nodes in Civil War. If the other team guards with one, they expect me to stealth and steal it and I am expected to be able to hold off a node long enough for help to come. In Huttball I am expected to guard the ball carriers and use my force pull when needed to prevent scores. In Voidstar my job is to protect the door that isnt being focused on. So for me, I need to be able to kill anyone 1v1 and have enough survivability to last until help comes. I chose going 31/0/10 and using all Stalker gear. Once I get full WH gear I plan to be swapping out all the crappy accuracy enhancements for power/crit/surge. The 4 set Stalker bonus is VERY good for bursting people down. Getting an additional charge of recklessness is nice. Being able to Shock, FL, Shock and guaranteeing all will crit is pretty huge burst. On the average non scrub player it is easily 3k, 6k-8k, 3k damage. Doesnt leave much remaining to finish someone off. Many people will suggest using the shield in the off hand but without tanking gear on the amount of mitigation you get from it is very minimal compared to the significant DPS increase you get from the Stalker offhand. You have plenty of defensive CDs to stay alive, use them at the right time, and use vanish to reset fights in your favor. I know what works for me and have tried full tanking gear and many combinations of different types of gear and this is still what I prefer. The rest is knowing how to fight each class, understanding what they are trying to do to you and responding correctly to the situation.

Shroud also only stops force and kenetic abilities. There are other abilities that arent force and kenetic which can CC the sin.

There is, you dont get any valor, exp, coin, wins, etc if you leave early.

What is the point of the 2 bleeds (one for 186 and one for 299 over 6 seconds)? They do barely any damage yet cost multiple talent points. Do DoTs help us in a way I am missing?

Our premade uses CC all the time, maybe your bads you run with dont. 29/0/12 has WAY more damage than 31/0/10 not using Wither or Discharge. And in 1.2 with 8 people rated premades, dont think about popping an AoE.

The 2 best specs IMO are 31/0/10 and 29/0/12. One is full single target for when in a premade and you dont want to be breaking CCs and the other has Wither which is awesome! 31/0/10.. Force Lightning (3 charges) > Shock > Wither > Discharge > Saber 29/0/12.. Force Lightning (3 charges) > Shock > Thrash > Saber Both specs thrive with a focus and the 4 set bonus giving recklessness an extra charge and reducing its CD by 15 seconds.

OK, so I am incredibly frustrated with people putting out bad information on the forums so I logged in my Assassin and checked values on several attacks and here is the difference in damage you will see when using a shield and a focus. _____________SHIELD__________FOCUS Shock_______1318-1392________1409-1483 Wither_______1070-1177________1147-1255 Lightning_______2387_____________2547 Now take into consideration you will crit a ton in this spec with full Stalker gear and the 4 set bonus adding a charge and reducing the CD on Recklessness. So the damage difference is doubled much of the time. So in conclusion 4-6 damage per GCD is just WRONG! And last I check 35% to shield 20% damage is 7% damage mitigation on ONLY the attacks that are able to be shielded which is WAY less than half so it more like a 2-3% damage mitigation. *edit to make numbers more easily read.

4.2 bonus to your melee.. no look at your force damage which is what is almost 100% used in this spec.. Shock, Wither, Force Lightning being 90% of your attacks. 35% chance to absorb 20% damage is crap. And in order to make it good you have to put on survivor gear which would SEVERELY kill your damage. I would suggest however using that survivor gear and shield when on a premade and the designated ball runner in huttball.