Guardians/juggs can hit me very hard indeed when specced for damage. They're very hard to kill when tank-specced, good ones become a right pain in the neck when they decide to defend and objective. Heck even vs. DPS guards/juggs I hardly ever seem to see one without some kind of damage shield reducing my damage to single digits or deflecting everything. Anyway before I get carried away and start whining I'd better get to the point: You get either big defence or big damage, not both.

Considering full auto accounts for about a 3rd of my PvE DPS when I spec gunnery (pretty rare these days), fixing curtain of fire and deadly cannon will be highly significant. I'll have to check that the assault specialist crit bonus skill is working correctly too, since I use assault spec almost exclusively these days.

I use assault spec 100% of the time and do not have ammo problems, including operations. The 4-piece rakata set bonus helps. Try plastique > incendiary > HiB > full auto > HiB in PvE. Use reserve power cell with plasma grenade, use recharge cells when your ammo falls to 2, try to keep you ammo above 6 for maximum recharge rate, and try to allow full auto and pulse cannon to channel for their full duration. Also don't underestimate how powerful mortar volley and pulse cannon are, even against single targets. I'm posting from work so sorry for the brief nature of this post, I'll try to post something more useful later. EDIT: plasma cell fixed? W00T.

This is true. But I still shouldn't have to make over 40 level 50 blue items (overkill heavy exoskeleton belt) to get a single purple schematic... which I didn't need... so I still need to make MORE. It takes a while to collect that much ciridium. I'm dreading trying to RE augments if/when I finally get the green schematic. I can't even gather the mats for those myself.

Is there any chance the credit cost of removing barrels, hilts, armouring, mods, enhancements and augments can be removed? With the introduction of augmented customizable gear this is now my biggest credit sink by far, and as a result I haven't been able to afford a single legacy unlock.

They could do that, but it would mean that we get an ability that is in some respects better than a jedi/sith ability. I can live with a damage nerf, though I don't see the need for it. The radius nerf is what makes it next to useless now.

And that cooldown reset (Ionic Accelerator skill) is getting a 6-second "internal" cooldown now (ie. it cannot trigger more than once per 6 seconds). Overall I think gunnery is going to have more-or-less the same DPS as before and assault spec DPS is going to be reduced thanks to fewer HiBs and less ammo regeneration.

Thank you for pointing this out. Added to opening post. I hate hyperbole, but I'll say this anyway: Why not just call the game Sorc vs. Sage and have done with it? Gunnery will be fine, but that's my problem with Commando 1.2 - I don't like gunnery, I like assault spec. And assault spec's ability to trigger instant High Impact Bolts and regenerate ammo is being nerfed. If the new trigger rate for Ionic Accelerator is 100% then it might still be usable in PvE. Or unlimited. Like, you know, Salvation. Granted its instant nature is an advtantage but it's just so weak.

EDIT 27/03/2012: Updated Mortar Volley and Supercharge Cells comments. First, the summary. Commando changes amount to: Crit reduced by 3%. Mortar volley: AE nerfed from 8 meters to 5. Quite annoyed about this - the large area allowed for some creative uses. Sage's Forcequake still has an 8 meter range, btw. (Thanks to Hologramx for pointing this out). Mortar Volley animation improved, does damage sooner now. Charged Bolts/Grav Round (bread-and-butter nukes): Damage nerfed by 10%, much more without the muzzle fluting skill in the gunnery tree. Full Auto: Animation changed, now starts doing damage sooner. Field Aid ammo cost reduced from 2 to 1. Combat Medic: Buffs nerfed, supercharge cells nerfed, ammo efficiency nerfed, AE healing now hits 4 targets instead of 3. It still isn't comparable to Sage/inquis heals. Gunnery: Overall DPS buff thanks to more reliable Curtain of Fire procs and 10% demolition round damage buff, survivability nerfed. Assault Specialist: Ammo efficiency and DPS nerfed (I'm trying to get some numbers on this). Now, the summary summary: Combat Medic: Still not a Sage. Gunnery: The only viable PvE spec (borderline, depends on numbers). Assault Specialist: Only viable in PvP (borderline, depends on numbers). The mind boggles. I have no idea why BW think it's ok to pidgeonhole the skill trees like this. My one remaining hope is that Assault Specialist's DoTs somehow even the DPS of the two trees. We'll find out once 1.2 hits thanks to combat logs and practice dummies. And now, a detailed breakdown of the changes. Also, commando is still the only DPS/healer to lack both a combat res and an interrupt.

I doubt Assault Specialist will remain viable comapred to Gunnery in PvE after 1.2 hits, assuming the patch notes don't change. The change to ionic accelerator reduces our DPS and ammo regeneration. The log parses will tell all *cross fingers.* That said, I currently use this spec for both PvE and PvP. My preferred opening in PvE: Reserve Powercell > Plasma grenade Plastique Incendiary round High Impact Bolt Full Auto Charged Bolts (repeatedly) or hammershot if ammo is dropping to 50% or so. After that just use HIB, plastique and full auto whenever they're off cooldown, making sure to use hammershot when you need to let your ammo recharge. Make sure to keep an eye on your reserver powercell & plasma nade cooldowns too, they should be available at more or less the same time. Throw Mortar Volley in if you're not saving it for an AE phase. Also, I tend to use my relic and and recharge cells at the same time.

Yeah this bug has been around since release to my knowledge. The thread title did sort of invite some rude responses (Not that that's any excuse, mind.)

Simply put, use a different media player. iTunes is pretty horrible. Winamp or VLC maybe.

That article is about 20% of the length it needed to be to justify the headline.

No. 1: Too hard to find groups. Grouping tool required, doesn't have to be a one-click "dungeon finder," just needs to be an interface to say this is what I'm trying to do, this is how many people I need, this is what roles they need to fill. Dungeons & Dragons Online is a great example. 2: Expertise. AKA the wrong way to handle PvP itemization. 3: Crafting lottery. 4: Bugs. I could go on, but these are the fundamentals. I'm still here because 1.2 looks promising and that speaks of a dev team that's actively working on things that matter to the community.

Fascinating. People can type coherent sentences but can't tell the difference between "world PvP" and "log out or die." "Ask for help." OK, sure. Hey guild, can you drop whatever you're doing right now? Yes, I mean exit that dungeon you spent 10 minutes getting into, quit your warzone or ditch your FP group. Burn your quick travel or fleet pass to have some chance of getting here in less than 15 minutes, and kill/distract this sad individual sitting at the med center? And yes, I would like large fries with that. ty OR: /1 Can someone kill this imperial at some medcenter I can't see the location of because I can't open my map while I'm dead? *Cricket* *wind howls* *distant bell tolls* OR: Hey Mr GM, my character is stuck/this guy's griefing me. *3 days later, via email* : Hi thanks for contacting us. Just FYI, I closed that ticket for you. No, no need to thank me. (actually I do wonder if this would count as a stuck character). TL;DR: For various reasons (use your imagination) help is not always readily available. "It's a PvP server, you should expect PvP." Um, I'm pretty sure the OP was expecting PvP. I mean, it's pretty obvious. I doubt he was expecting what amounts to permadeath however.

That assumes that PvP & PvE gear have to be different. If expertise did not exist, they could be the same. Why can't it just be 2 different ways of getting the same gear? As an example, a weekly mission could reward columi tokens for EITHER completing an op OR winning X number of warzones. Both PvE and PvP reward systems can be designed to follow the pattern of gradual currency/token accumulation with the occasional lucky drop. This would level the playing field, allowing all players to gear up according to the time they invest, thier success rate, and luck. Which - let's be honest - are the staple rules of loot aquisition in MMOs. And bam just like that, everyone progresses their character at an appropriate rate by playing the part of the game they like.

There's your problem - wrong game mate.

I found 4X to be the better of the two thanks to his ranged attacks. I found Jorgan and Dorne to be much better than both of them in practically every situation as a DPS commando though. Your mileage may vary as a medic, just bear in mind that with a tank companion you'll be spending much more time healing than you will with a DPS companion. Honestly, I had better DR as gunnery spec than either 4X or Vik :|

Very minor spoilers, nothing specific just an overall thought on dark/light choices.

I didn't read any of this thread's contents, I just wanted to let the SWTOR community know that I want to see what a shining shadow looks like.

Speaking as a commando... Attacks that respect the colour crystal: Full auto Hammer shot Attacks that ignore it: Charged bolts (I think), always orange Grav round, always blue lightning and a tiresome noise while we're on the subject of aesthetics. High impact bolt, always white Hail of Bolts, always orange Not including explosives etc. My "solution" was to fit an orange crystal >_> And while we're on the subject, red blaster beams are not evil/dark side!

I've done all the space missions as both a trooper and a smuggler, no deaths or particular challenge with either of them after getting level-appropriate ship upgrades. Make sure to get the special upgrades too (fleet commendations).

No you really don't. I respecced to assault specialist because gunnery is far too focussed on grav round. It's effective but isn't very dynamic. Nothing beats a plastique > charged bolt > high impact bolt sequence on a cryo'd target EDIT: to clarify, yes grav is only there to enable and your other attacks. Demo round is The reason you spec gunnery, that skill crits like a truck. If you're only using grav round you're doing gunnery wrong.

Ah I knew they were closer than implants (hence why I went for implants before earpiece from daily comms) but didn't know you could make one that was better. Would you mind linking it please? Can't say I've seen any implants that match the ones purchased with daily comms though?

It seems pretty pointless to take the DF tree without getting hemo blast, imo. AFAIK that 30% bleed damage bonus (and the 15% bonus from cold-blooded) also applies to the "extra" damage done by wounding shots on bleeding targets. The energy returns from fighting spirit and black market equipment do start to add up too, especially with multiple targets DoT'd. Overall, I like DF for its sustained damage and extra escape but find it fiddly compared to the straightforward nature of scrapper. 2 DoTs with different durations, a direct attack that requires upper hand and both DoTs on target, and a 3rd 15-second-or-less debuff @_@ This is my spec btw : http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#7010cZG0MZhrrkrMhdGo.1 Subject to change as I gain scoundrel levels and experience. Oh, and I personally use pugnacity before my 2nd blaster whip, that way I can use wounding shots twice in a row. It's also nice to work in sabotage charge at some point, it hits hard.