Actually, typically it's more about using your interrupt consistently and getting the most out of your secondary abilities. Powering through by overleveling and spamming only your core attacks only works for a while.

Out of curiosity, what do you rip enhancements out of for the Power/Surge? I have the craftables on another character but I'm concerned about the lower level of the purple enhancements vs the BM ones, not to mention the loss of Expertise. Columi gloves are another possibility since they're closer to comparable and can be ground out faster given current PvP queue times (or worked on concurrently), but would still carry an Expertise loss.

I'll agree with you that the heat management aspect is very useful, but I think it's a wash otherwise. 10m isn't that different from 4m given how long the Retractable DoT lasts, and 13 points in AP picks up the 6s interrupt, and an additional 2% damage mitigation. Vent heat, on the other hand, requires investment in shield/absorb talents to one degree or another (even if you only put two points in the T6 talents) which are only effective against two classes in the game right now.

It's a major gap in the vendor items that hits Sentinels and DPS Guardians. Your best bet is to have or make friends with a Cybertech (for armor/mods) and a Synthweaver (for STR augments, assuming they've gone out of their way to acquire the recipes since they are Slicing drops only to my knowledge). The items are in the game, just not available for purchase from the NPC vendors for some reason.

I've only played Republic side to mid-game (albeit with all the base classes) but there, T7 and Kira are by far my favorites. My only regret is that I can't have them both out at the same time and listen to them banter DAO-style. On the Imperial side... Wow, it's usually love or hate with me. Quinn I liked right up to near the end of the Warrior storyline. More than any other character, more than Kaliyo who I absolutely despise, Quinn is the reason you need to be able to kill your companions off. I would love to see a functionality in the future where you can have 6 of 8 possible companions, for example, giving you the option to dispose of two of them. The Imperial Agent companions in general I dislike. They're all massive security risks. Unreliable mercenary chick known for burning her employers? Check. Part of a threat race hive mind, so any secrets your SECRET AGENT may come across instantly leave the Empire and belong to half a million Killiks? Check. Unruly droid able to hook into multiple networks and wants to kill you? Did Directive 7 not teach you ANYTHING? Check. Khem Val and Broonmark I'm fans of. I like my Sith having their own personal monsters they can unleash on people they don't feel like bothering with. Dark Jaesa fits that role too, now that I think about it. She's the opposite of Khem Val in some ways - she's a monster in a pleasing package, whereas he looks like a monster but actually has a fairly developed warrior code - although neither is averse to eating someone. Vette, Blizz, and Mako are just plain fun to talk to, and cute to boot - although not a sexy cute in Blizz's case, sorry little guy. The ladies still dig you, though, at least the ones in my guild do. Gault and Skadge started off as companions I hated but they grew on me quite a bit. Gault's hilarious, I love his anecdotes and his capers, but it took me about 10 levels after I got him to actually start talking to him because I resented being railroaded into taking him on as part of my crew so badly. Even though I like him a lot now, given the chance, my hunter would have shot him. Skadge is in the same boat in that I hated how he was forced onto my ship. Even though he's a despicable sentient, I warmed up to him a little as a character when I stopped thinking of him as a friend/partner of my BH (like the rest of the crew) and more as a guy I keep around to soak blaster fire and get me cheap weapons and ammo from Black Sun.

It's an Iron Fist spec, popularized by Taugrim. It's a shield tech build that picks up a little extra offense in the form of Retractable Blade and a 6s interrupt from the AP tree and the +8% Rocket Punch damage talent from Pyro to capitalize on Flame Guard procs and the Flame Surge talent, while maximizing your base defense with Ion Cell, Power Armor, and Ion Screen: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301GRGozRroMZMcrroZb.1 is the version I run from time to time. It's a very fun harassment spec, and you can score occasional kills with it, but you won't be capable of the type of quick burn-down that AP and Pyro can pull off, not on targets starting at full health. I've found both AP and Pyro to be very effective in PvP, but as previous posters have commented, they require very different approaches and tactics. Personally, though, I prefer the Maverick hybrid Algooz has popularized.

Get used to using Master Strike. It was useful in 1.1, in 1.2 it's amazing. Excellent damage, no focus cost, gives time for your other heavy hitting attacks to finish their cooldowns. With Zen Strike there are times when it can be used almost every other ability. Two tricks to using it well in PvP: Hit your opponent with Freezing Force first, or use it out of your Guardian Leap root. Facing doesn't matter as long as they start in front of you and stay within 4m - even if they run behind you, if they are still in range, they will continue taking damage. Also, the first two ticks are very quick; the third hits really hard but comes at the end of the channel - so you'll also find it useful to plan around getting the first two hits in. If the third lands, that's great and it's a ton of damage, but be planning ahead on what to hit with next after those first two ticks. For PvE, I'm currently running the equivalent of: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500MMZcRrRrhddGkZMM.1 on my Juggernaut. It's a pretty basic build, though I've invested extra in the Vigilance/Vengeance tree because I wanted to play with all the different talents to see what I like. Don't discount the DoTs; they help with times you aren't on target and their damage adds up quickly. For PvP, I think I'm going to try this: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500RMGzzZsMrMrhdzMZMM.1 for starters with the Guardian I'm leveling, though I'm debating going a further into the Defense tree for Blade Barrier or picking up Shien form for a more offensive stance option. I tend to PvP in Soresu, but Shien is like having perma Focus once it gets rolling and has a very nice damage output. As far as PvP armor goes, plan on picking up the Recruit set at 50 (it's about 250-300K credits). Pre-50, all gear works through a bolstering system, so there's no real difference between PvP and PvE gear - you just want the best stuff you can get your hands on for your level since it will scale better with the bolster.

I'd like to point out that your thread title states that you are "forced to use only healer companion." So actually, yes, you did say it. On a more constructive note, take the advice given earlier in the thread. Vary your tactics: Send Torian of Gault in to deal with the normals or a silver while you concentrate on the rest of the pull. Tank companions are a little weak but with proper gear, Skadge and Blizz can do all right against anything but a Champion. Learn to kite. Against golds/champs I found you want to keep the ranged mobs in melee (usually for interrupts) and kite the melee mobs to lower their damage output on you (due to not being in range 24/7 and not being able to use channeled abilities). I leveled as AP pre-1.2 so it can be done even without a slow. Interrupt constantly. You may already be doing this one, but it bears repeating. I don't recall having to save my interrupts for specific abilities anywhere outside of PvP and level 50 PvE, so spam it. Target priority. You may also be doing this one. Gold mobs don't usually hit that hard, relatively speaking... it's the silvers that kill you. I think of the golds as the tanks of the pull and the silvers the DPS. That gold star attracts your eye and you may think you should down it first, but like a taunt, it's a trap. Even when I've died to pulls, if I can kill a silver first, that usually slows the damage intake down enough that I can clear the rest of the pull no problem when I return. Hope that helps. One thing I like about the leveling experience in SW:ToR is that they actually ease in a lot of these mechanics, like training you to interrupt, that will be vital to being a good player at endgame. You *can* brute force your way through the content, but it's a headache and you're doing yourself a disservice by thinking in those terms.

This is particularly true with the proliferation of Sentinel/Marauders and Sniper/Gunslingers in 1.2. I got into a 2v1 with a wounded healer and Marauder in Huttball a few weeks ago and was able to finish off both of them partially because the Marauder was consistently proccing Flame Shield for me.

It's better as is, because currently it's a guaranteed chance for +60% crit. The "+" there is very important. By your system, Blade Storm and Dispatch would effectively have a 60% chance to proc a 100% crit - so the net crit rate on those abilities would be 60%. By the current system, if you're running at a 30% crit rate (easily doable at 50 with the Op/Smuggler buff), you have a guaranteed proc that gives you a 30% + 60% = 90% chance to crit with your next Blade Storm or Dispatch. This is pretty darned close to a guaranteed proc for a guaranteed crit. Net crit rate with those abilities: 90%. In addition, since the proc is guaranteed, you can alternate your abilities to keep the buff on close to constantly, instead of potentially being put in a situation where you're fishing for a proc and wasting opportunities.

I used to run something very similar to that build pre-1.2 (Dropping Ablative Upgrades for No Escape and using HO instead of Kolto Vents, which used to be where Hamstring is now) from time to time. Jet Charge vs HO is very debatable and IMHO boils down to personal preference. It works well as a durable harasser but requires a little more setup than Iron Fist to kill someone because of the lack of Flame Shield & Flame Surge. Now that I think about it, I need to revisit that build and mess around with it some more. If the slows from Hamstring and Neural Overload stack, that presents some interesting possibilities. You might be able to do the same thing with Hamstring and Sweltering Heat in a Maverick-style build. Has anyone tested this?

No one lied to me. Durable DPS is exactly what it is - look at the talent selection, it's about maximizing your Rocket Punch damage and controlling the battlefield while maintaining some defenses. Parakeet was another approach towards doing the same thing, with less focus on control and durability and more on damage. The specs are on a spectrum, with a full ST build on one end and full Pyro on the other. It's one reason I pay attention to Taugrim's blog, we have similar playstyles and tastes, so I find his information particularly pertinent. That's been the case since I ran into him on WAR on our swordmasters - which also fit the role of durable DPS in that game.

This is exactly what the nay-sayers can't seem to grasp. AP requires using your entire toolbox, which is one reason I find it more engaging than Pyro when I run with a DPS build. Pyro is built entirely around rail shot procs. No rail shot proc, no pyro DPS. The buffed flamethrower is just one of AP's tools; the spec doesn't revolve around it. Besides, a CC spent shutting down that flamethrower is a CC not spent on the ball carrier, or a healer, or the guy capping a point or placing a bomb. Even in its current incarnation, forcing a cluster of healers to either reposition or take damage rather than chain casting can be valuable.

It's all about timing. With pyro you can pretty much go all out, all the time, and if you get lucky people die in 4-6 globals. If you don't get lucky, you're still putting out pretty good pressure. But basically you open up pretty hard and keep going until you have to manage heat - which if you get lucky with Rail Shot procs isn't for a very long time, at least until 1.2 hits. Iron fist (and any durable DPS-type build) requires a bit more finesse and target awareness. Typically I use it in a more harassment-type role. My most important tools for team play are Carbonize, Grapple, 6s Quell, Electro-dart, and the two taunts. Get in healers' faces, or make sure the DPS trying to focus your healers can't maintain a constant flow of damage. You have burst, but because it isn't as inherently strong and you don't have the heat dissipation of a full DPS build, you have to pick when to use it. Both options can be incredibly useful to a team, but you have to adjust your playstyle.

You're both missing my point. I focused on Carbonize because of SneiK's comment that it is unusable/unviable without Jet Charge, which is patently untrue. We have a utility package. So do other classes. Ours is pretty darned good, particularly given that a lot of it is baseline. Assassins and Juggernauts have to spec 21 points into their trees for a pull and a single-target stun, respectively, and neither have access to the talents we have that enhance those abilities. If the tradeoff for Pyro's burst isn't as great to you anymore, run Iron Fist. We're working on a spectrum - it's part of the talent system. If you'd rather have the Assassin array than the Powertech's selection, level an Assassin. Incidentally, my main MMO partner runs one as her main, and while she loves the tools she has, she's consistently jealous of our AoE capabilities, both in PvP and PvE, as well as the fact that we have two stuns, one with a 30m range, and didn't have to wait until level 30 to get our pull. But she also understands there are tradeoffs involved for the cool stuff she gets, which you've both outlined above. I agree with two things the two of you have said so far. First, that good play can only compensate so far against an ideal team make-up. That's just luck of the draw until rated WZs come out. I would point out though that if your team in Alderaan was only zerging one point and expecting to kill everyone before defenders could return, you were doing it wrong if all of you kept pushing after realizing you couldn't sweep it. That's when misdirection comes into play. Second, sorcerers. Yeah. My friend I mentioned earlier? Her husband runs one, and he freely admits he's broken. They get too complete a utility package, and very early to boot, unlike most other classes which don't start feeling like they have a toolkit until they're approaching 30. However, I would put our utility package on par with what Assassins, Juggernauts, Marauders, Operatives, and their mirrors get. We're ahead of DPS Mercs. Snipers rely more on range and their openers than actual CC, at least the ones I've run into - but as I pointed out earlier, range is a form of utility in and of itself. To forestall the inevitable cries that my utility is being carried by my friends', I queue plenty of solo matches. In fact, I've done the run from Valor 30 (when I hit 50) to 58 as of today almost entirely by queuing solo.

I am talking about Pyro. I'm currently running 2/13/26 in PvP, actually, and I use Carbonize on close to cooldown. I do the same when I run as 19/22/0, and with Iron Fist. With or without Jet Charge, it's an amazing ability. Stunning an entire heal team for 2.5-3s helps knock one of those healers down if you time it right, and can often lead to a domino effect as the opposing team struggles to compensate. Or how about buying your a teammate 2.5-3s to complete placing a charge in Voidstar or capping a point in Alderaan? Giving your ball carrier a lead on getting away from the pack? The PT is a class with an incredibly flexible engagement profile. If you aren't getting to where you need to be to use your CCs and utility abilities until "they're gone," then you need to work on anticipating where you need to be. The OP is asking for utility abilities that other classes already have. If someone isn't using the PT's utility tools in the first place and is envious of the sets that other classes get, they're playing the wrong class. If they simply want PTs to have every utility ability in the game baseline, they're being unrealistic. Edit: The scoreboard is only part of the picture. If you're outnumbering their kills almost 2:1 and still lost, your team wasn't killing the right targets or taking good advantage of the losses they were inflicting. Sometimes kills aren't the way to go to win. I had an Alderaan win earlier today that we got by the skin of our teeth, because while a Juggernaut was capping west, I intercepted two commandos and delayed them long enough for the cap before we killed them both. My main tools? Grapple, Electro-Dart, and Carbonize. I was running in my Pyro spec. That cap let us squeak out an 80-0 victory. If I'd simply opened up with "Pyro tools," I'd have killed one and the other would have gotten in range to interrupt my teammate before we confirmed the cap.

Then you're doing it wrong. Carbonize is a game-changer. It lets your team clinch kills, particularly when the opposing heal crew clusters up, which is pretty often. It's mildly easier to use in a Shield Tech or AP spec, but works as intended with full Pyro as well. Also, are you referring to Flash-Bang? That's a mez, not a stun. Yes, it lasts a long time, but it also immediately breaks on damage - so it won't affect targets with a DoT rolling on them and requires that your team leave secondary targets alone. They're different tools, and both are extremely effective when used appropriately.

Read the sticky at the top of this forum. And it performs quite well.

Now consider a few things that PTs have that the classes you noted don't: Grapple (only deep tank-specced Assassins have an equivalent, and a shield-specced PT has a vastly improved version). Electro-Dart (30m stun, greater in range than what the assassin gets at 10m, and juggernauts and marauders don't have one, period). Carbonize (an AoE stun, and on a short cooldown as well) Range. Yes, many of our abilities are geared towards 10m or less, but Pyro in particular is perfectly capable of knocking a chunk of someone's health off at 30m or finishing off a wounded opponent at range. You've also got a few wires crossed. Tank-specced Juggernauts have one charge. The second is in the DPS Rage tree, which admittedly is popular for PvP. Juggernauts specced into Rage typically don't have the points to invest in getting their major defensive cooldown (in the Immortal tree) or stun (ditto). Like every other advanced class, we have a certain package of utility abilities - but from what I've seen in the WZs, most PTs don't use theirs, or don't use them well. If you'd rather have a Marauder or a Juggernaut's package than the Powertech's, you're playing the wrong class.

You do realize all the classes are direct mirrors of one another? What knowledge/opinions you've gathered or formed about the Imperial classes is directly applicable to your situation.

Generator for PvE, Shield for PvP, at least until 1.2 hits. Reason: You still have IGC baseline. Sure, you have 8-9 wasted points in the Pyro tree, but sometimes Guard > personal performance since PvP is very team-based. 2/13/26 is one of the specs I rotate through when I'm both PvPing and PvEing and even running IGC/Guard you are fully capable of killing people with Rail Shot procs - you just have to watch your heat management a little more closely. Note that this won't be viable come 1.2, when Combustible Gas Cylinder will be required for PPA procs.

That's odd, I don't see any discussion of rappers in this thread.

Exactly. They are reining in what can, with luck, be a silly amount of burst and heat dissipation with literally no drawbacks. I'm going to miss it when I'm specced Pyro too, but it really does get out of control when I get multiple back-to-back procs.

I've played both specs at endgame and in PvE they are comparable. You will see more big numbers from Pyro, and if you get extremely lucky on RNG, the burst from the PPA proc may edge it out, but AP offers good sustained damage (albeit stronger against multiple targets) and extremely good heat dissipation. Admittedly I don't have hard numbers (wish we had a damage meter), but I do base this conclusion on multiple hardmode runs with a regular 4-person group in which the only variable was my powertech spec - and both groups and bosses were dying in roughly the same amount of time, which to me is a pretty good indication that I was putting out about the same amount of damage overall. PvP's a different story due to burst being king for DPS specs. AP is almost DoT-based in its damage. As I've mentioned in other places, I do like using a 19/22/0 build for PvP, but I regard it as more of an Iron Fist build that relies on HO and Charged Gauntlets instead of Jet Charge and Rocket Punch than a true Advanced Prototype build. What actually irritates me is how thematically the two specs don't line up. You'd think Immolate and a Flamethrower buff would belong in the Pyrotech tree (especially the graphic and description of Immolate) while using uncommon/experimental explosives (Thermal Detonator) and a Prototype Particle Accelerator would belong in the Advanced Prototype tree.

From your assassin, you'll be giving up stealth, force speed, an excellent set of defensive cooldowns and an easy resource system to manage. Powertechs offer some durability (though their cooldowns are weaker than an assassin or a juggernaut's), good AoE output on moderate timers, a good array of short-duration control mechanisms, potentially good mobility if specced into Jet Charge or Hydraulic Overrides, and an extremely flexible engagement profile (which is my favorite aspect of the class). In my experience, the single-target burst of both classes is comparable. Pyro specced, if the RNG smiles on you, PT burst is stupid high, but with average luck the assassin probably has a slight edge depending on both classes' specs and players. I've only played the PT to endgame thus far though, so that's more of a gut feeling from playing against assassins and comparing between the two for the first half of the game than a hard assessment.