The reason is Bioware is stubbornly clinging to the foolish idea that each class has to be immediately visually identifiable for PvP balance. It's dumb, and wrong, and all sorts of evil, but I'm not optimistic is will change any time soon. The omenbringer robe and a pair of orange pants is workable, but it's not exactly what I was hoping for.

Your ship droid is a fairly capable healer and available at level 16 or so. You're welcome.

Tank/DPS hybrid with a healing companion is the most efficient (ie. fastest) leveling spec for Assassin and Shadow. Whether it's the most fun is a matter of personal opinion.

Althougth I'm only into my 20s on my Imperial characters from the spoilers and such I've read it seems readily apparent that Bioware is far more comfortable writing for the Sith then for the Jedi. I'm not talking about "fun" or "cool" , I'm just talking about the depth of the plot and quality of the writing. I also don't think it's an issue of bias, so much as Bioware's writers just seem more comfortable exploring Sith theme.

Also, there are times when Holiday is a hindrance, since she shares a cool down with healing abilities. Assuming you can keep them similarlly geared (I have checked to see if the weapon issue has been solved yet) then for pure healing the droid may be better.

+power. Useful as a tank and it will stay useful should you want to respec at some point.

It's unlocked for me, but I've frankly never used it anyway.

It's a bug some people get. Syo is actually saved, but the wrong cinematic plays showing his death. If you get the letter from Syo later, you've actually saved him.

I'm willing to bet that white crystals will be back.

In addition to the lower muse robe, if you get social rank 2 by running esseles a few times and there are several pants options. Alderaan, Balmorra, and (come 1.2) the formal pants are all easily obtainable.

Cyan hawkeye for my balance shadow. I'm at DR on crit so power was the way to go and the light blue blade is very Episode IV.

I haven't seen a proc relic yet. Are they a 1.2 thing or are they drops from operations?

Seer is healing Telekinetic, is ranged DPS focusing on direct damage (aka nukes) Balance, is ranged DPS focusing on periodic damage (aka DoTs) None of the sage trees offers lightsaber combat as a viable part of a character's rotation. Any of the trees is capable of leveling and participating in PvP, though there will of course be debate over which is the most efficient. There is also quite a bit of discussion over how the patch 1.2 will influence a Sage's performance. Stay tuned.

You might have better luck (and more support) lobbying to remove the double-bladed saber restriction from Shadows.

The lable "Assassin" suggests to me a mind set of "I solve problems by killing the right person(s)," which I don't think is the intention of a Shadow. Shadows may move in the...well....shadows, but their purpose is to uncover hidden threats to the order and deal with them. Sometimes that will mean applying a little violence here or there, but just as often it's about discovering hidden lore, or seeking the truth behind the public face of a situation. Shadows are not particularly more or less inclined towards violence then any other Jedi. While I agree some PLAYERS may have expected a more action oriented story from a shadow, lorewise I don't think there is any disconnect between a Sage and Shadow. And for whatever it's worth I play a level 50 Shadow. Not saying I'm typical, but that's my take.