You know your secondary grind system has failed when you have to have a +2000% weekend event. Give or take.

Also be very careful spamming your AoE abilities. Because of the channeling changes in 5.0, they effectively generate far more heat per unit of time than they used to and with no passives to help directly, you'll heat lock very quickly if you rotate through them all. Use your heat overrides skill or mix in single-target abilities, particularly your rail shot proc. That will help keep your heat under control along with judicious use of Rapid Shots as suggested above.

Some of the circlets and goggles will actually override the hood, the problem is that while this allows you to see your character's face, it doesn't actually look good because the robes don't look "balanced," for lack of a better word. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Bioware has still not fixed the "Jawa Bustle" that plagues robes worn by body types 1 & 2. Really, the robes just need a complete overhaul at this point. I'm a bit surprised that the armor look that multiple ACs are steered towards and that is so iconic for the IP has been allowed to look this bad for so long. But I guess since they look fine in the promo shots, it's a low priority. :-P

Yes, we are. We were told there would be a hood toggle in 1.2. There was not. Then we were told that it would likely be in a subsequent patch but before the next major update. Since then, nothing. At this point it's not even about the fact that every damn JK NPC in the game and in all the promotional materials is wearing the same armor a player JK can get but with the hood down. It's about the fact that we, the players, who have asked for an art asset that already exists in the game to be made available to us as it was in Beta, have not received something we were specifically told we were going to. It may be a minor issue to you, but it is a persistent and blatant breach with a fair number of players.

When it can't be used on other players at all regardless of slows or incapacitates, it is in fact useless. Players don't count as normal or strong mobs. As far as I can tell we're all Golds.

This. I run into the LFG role bug pretty often, and prefer to full gear swap depending on what role I've been saddled with. That being said, when I'm DPSing and the group is... "less than ideal," shall we say... I will usually take a small hit to my performance by equipping a shield generator and perhaps bracers and belt from my tanking set. If the group is having issues such that I may be tanking at a moment's notice, then dishing out every last erg of DPS isn't my priority - getting the group through the instance is.

If I could find it, I would... any idea where on their timeline it's buried?

I get this problem constantly on my Powertech. It's amusing when I'm in a guild group and our DPS get tagged as healers and tanks and the healer and tank get tagged as DPS. It's aggravating when I'm *not* in a guild group and have to respec or leave the queue. It has nothing to do with being bored of my class and everything to do with enjoying playing multiple roles on the same character. I'm already penalized by earning and remodding three full sets of gear (Tanking Rakata + BH, DPS Rakata + BH, PvP BM transitioning to WH). Having to pay to repsec 4-5 times a week so I can play as I wish and still fulfill my commitment to my friends and guildmates is insulting. I'd like to further add that all my character slots are locked up, with two 50s and six characters from 21-38. I enjoy this game and the various classes immensely. If I had four more character slots they'd be filled immediately by characters I have had to put on the back burner due to restrictions on the number of characters we can have. Yes, I could set up my PT for tanking and my Juggernaut for DPS and save myself respec costs and maintenance on multiple gear sets, but they are different *characters* and I have a distinct preference for playing one of them. Dual spec represents a noticeable quality of life increase for players like me.

We also lost +30% surge on Rocket Punch and Flame Sweep. Sweep is still useful, particularly since you get two free ones after a charge, but as far as damage output goes Iron Fist took a crippling hit.

Don't be so quick to judge. Some people make that choice deliberately.

I felt useful to my team from level 10 on. I like to mix PvP with my leveling, so regardless of AC I queue early and I queue often. You'll have more toys as you progress (Grapple probably being the most dramatic tool, particularly in Huttball), but you're fully capable of doing some disruption and killing people right out of the gate. To whoever mentioned doing great at 11 as a Pyro (damn the lack of multiquote!): pre-20ish, spec doesn't matter. The success you're seeing is the strength of the basic Powertech chassis in the 10-49 bracket.

If you have some friends, give it a try. The early HMs really aren't that hard, I started tanking them in modded gear mixed with some crafted epics I got from the AH (I'm a Cybertech so sadly there was no Rakata right off the bat). If it works for you, it works... Just be clear up front that you may need a trip back to fleet to respec. From my experience though, we need those passive talents to tank well, they're worth a lot of "virtual" stat rating and our cooldowns are pretty lackluster - PTs rely on our passive mitigation stats and controlling the pulls to tank well.

Or rename your ship "Mom's basement!" Actually I think he's retired.

Oh please yes. Color matching would be good too, but I'd like to be able to put helmets on my companions without feeling like I'm being mean to them.

It's not a great question, sorry. We do very well from 10-49, and at 50 in my experience. I leveled primarily as AP (cut with Shieldtech) pre-1.2, for the record, and did quite well, and that was widely considered a gimp spec at the time. Really your question is one of playstyle. Sniper/Gunslinger I find is a lot of run, find a nook, shoot for as long as you think you can get away with it, relocate, repeat. Powertech/Vanguard PvP is all about movement and controlling your engagement range. It's far more dynamic which is why I prefer it.

You've basically recreated the Carolina Parakeet spec, which is sadly dead. 18 points in Pyro that do little for you hurts badly when tanking - you give up a lot of passive mitigation from the Shield Tech tree as well as Heat Blast which helps immensely in managing your heat while tanking. What I'd suggest is collect both tank and DPS gear. What I do when I tank HMs/Ops is if my healer's having no issues with me, I start replacing tank gear with DPS gear to help the run go faster. Conversely, if I'm with a sketchy group (especially with LFG what it is), I'll keep my Shield Generator handy and maybe swap out a couple other pieces heavy on Defense/Absorb just in case things go south badly. Either way, I wouldn't recommend a hybrid spec for tanking and DPSing intentionally.

Not true. I run a hybrid spec... albeit, it's an AP/Pyro hybrid. :-P Now as for *defensive* hybrid specs... I used to use something similar to this pre-1.2: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301RcrrobckZZGRGb0MM.1 Might have to dust it off again and give it a try. I just hate queueing solo as a tank, if you get 7 idiots on your team you're useless. I find running as DPS is more versatile.

Nobody's saying we're weak. We're just not the invulnerable gods of death with a 4-button rotation that a lot of people seem to think we are. BTW, anyone who only uses four buttons, in ANY class/spec, is being carried by their team and is doing it wrong.

A guild mate of mine hit Legacy 50 the other day and we got to talking about how it doesn't really do anything for you after about Legacy 25 or so. For reference I'm in the mid-late 30s myself. Between that conversation and the many complaints I've seen around the forums regarding the new perks as a money sink and the disconnect between Legacy level and actual mechanical benefit, we came up with the following proposed solution: Allow Legacy levels past the minimum level requirement to reduce the cost of any given Legacy ability. This could be worked in a number of ways depending on the developers' targets and the ease with which they want players to purchase perks. The simplest would be a flat 1% reduction in cost per Legacy level, so someone who caps out their Legacy at level 50 can get any given perk for half cost. The perks would still function as a credit sink, but players would feel like they were getting a benefit out of increasing their Legacy level beyond the minimum needed to purchase an ability. This scaling could be varied in a number of ways, such as letting every 10 levels past a preqreq grant a 5% discount on a given ability or that sort of thing.

Quinn is the #1 reason we should be able to kill our companions. ... #2 is Kaliyo. Really it doesn't matter. Affection gains are so incredibly large in value compared to the hits you take, really it boils down to how much use you want out of him for gathering/crafting on your way to endgame. Because even after the "incident," 1-2 decent gifts will have him capped out again.

My two mains are an AP/Pyro hybrid PT and a Vigilance Guardian, so your Vig argument gets a more in-depth response. They are both highly effective DPS specs but play very differently. You forgot CC immunity and 20% DR for 4s every time they charge from Unremitting/Unstoppable, which is possibly one of the best talents in the game. A good Vigilance Guardian will also bounce around like a ping-pong ball of death by using their friendly charge to help reapply this buff as often as possible. Speaking of which, that friendly charge in and of itself is pretty darned good utility. Wrong. They have a PBAoE slow that only costs 2 focus/rage to apply and can be specced to be free. Their autocrit ability works on one of their harder hitting attacks and their execute ability. If you hit 30% health against a Vig Guardian, you are not long for this world. The DoTs are about a 10-20% damage increase on their three hardest hitting abilities, typically for about 2 talent points each. They're actually a really good return on points spent. Saber Ward is light years better than Energy Shield, but is on a 3m timer so it's less reliable - in my experience they even out. Focused defense also comes with a 3% heal every time the Guardian is hit and can be activated while stunned. It's a Focus hog, but very effective if you're running close to full focus, which most Vig Guardians will be shortly after they engage. It is much, much better than Kolto overload. A good Tankassin will eat me alive and I'll be lucky to get him under 2/3 health on my PT in a 1v1. In 1/4 of WZs though, there'll be no point in them engaging me in a 1v1 because I'll rarely catch them long enough to do a lot of damage in Huttball without three other people with me. Even then, they usually blow their tech/force immunity cooldown and Force Speed away. I use the tankassin example because as you stated, you'll rarely find a DPS specced Assassin. instead it'll be a Tankassin with modded DPS gear. A good Gunslinger/Sniper will kill me with very little chance to retaliate if they catch me in the open with range. If I get in 10m they're usually mine unless they're very, very good. This matchup is less about class balance and more about who uses the terrain to control the range - almost ideal balance IMHO. This depends entirely on the sage, though my gut feeling is that it's about 60/40 in my PT's favor, everything else being equal. The main danger here is that any 1v1 will quickly become a 2v1 - if they know what they're doing, they can use their CC abilities, sprint, knockback (usually with the 5s root) and bubble to hold out long enough for help to arrive. Against DPS commando? Yeah. They rarely beat me. Healing or hybrid Healing/DPS commandos can be anywhere from annoyingly hard to kill to brutal depending on how good the player is. DPS commandos are like snipers - if they find a good spot and people don't get on them, they wreck face, but they tend to fold quickly once a PT is actually on them. The problem here is that too many don't play to their ranged strengths and just charge in. Are Pyro PTs and their derivatives good? Of course they are. So is every other DPS spec I've encountered in the game, with the right player behind them. It's all about figuring out what the other guy's AC can do and playing to their weaknesses. Too many people come up against a class they know nothing about, get their face shot in, and come whining to the forum instead of educating themselves on what they can do to make the matchup even the next time they run into Class XYZ. As for Rail Shot/HiB, people have been making a lot of arguments about Accuracy and the 5K railshot. They're mutually exclusive, because to get the ability to hit that hard, you have to regear for Power Surge by ripping out the enhancements in your gear which have all that Accuracy on them. It's a tradeoff. As for tells, as mentioned there's our laugh, and there's also about a .5s delay when we hit Rail Shot and when the ability actually fires. As someone mentioned, the PT will lock legs and point their left arm at a target. It's been rare, but I have been killed or CCed while in mid-animation and not had the ability fire off. Honestly your best defense (and I probably shouldn't advertise this) is to break up our rhythm so you aren't eating the base RS and the proc back-to-back. LOS, CC, do what you have to do after we hit you with a RS about 5s later. Every second more than that 6s internal cooldown we have on our PPA proc is less burst and more heat we have to deal with, increasing your chance of getting the upper hand or holding out until someone else arrives to help you. And once that happens, the Pyro is toast, because when focused or CCed we fold easily, unlike a Tankassin or Marauder, who with the right cooldowns will probably still finish off their target before they go down - and Carbonize is a nice ability, but it's got nothing on Flashbang for extricating from a focus fire situation.

1 - Alderaan 2 - Voidstar 3 - Novare 4 - Huttball. I'd give it more like a 10 if I could. I hate that place.

There's a difference between choosing a losing fight (which can be effective, though not in the situation you're describing) and being on a coordinated team's hit list. Particularly with the small server populations, PvP on my server is usually against the same 1-2 enemy teams for an evening. I and several guildmates have experienced matches where one of us was crushed repeatedly before begin able to get more than 1-2 medals in a match - typically this happens in Novare or Huttball but we've seen it in all four WZs. Essentially, the unlucky target is being punished in one match for being effective in an earlier match. It's a tricky balancing act on BioWare's part since on the one hand, I don't think anyone worth playing with wants to see AFKers rewarded, but on the other, it sucks that a good player can be denied commendations in a subsequent match under certain circumstances. Here is also where the split between continuing to try your best and settling for picking up a few more medals by sitting on defense occurs. I know which decision I respect more, even though I've been guilty of the latter from time to time. This is untrue. I've done it with several different partners in the 2nd slot and against equally (or better) geared opponents. It's tricky to pull off if they know what they're doing but doable.

Master Orgus is amazing. He's a good example of a Jedi character who is devoted to the Light side of the Force and the Jedi Code while still coming across as an individual with his own quirks and style. Many of the "good" Jedi you meet in this game (and sometimes your own Knight, given the default responses) are very bland, but Orgus Din is a great example of good =/= boring or stupid. Whoever wrote his character should be given a gold star and more characters to develop.

Riposte is off the GCD. If you have the focus/rage for it, it's pretty much free damage and a good source of additional burst. This is particularly true with Vengeance/Vigilance Juggernauts/Guardians, because once those specs get rolling in Shien form they have close to unlimited resources.