Get your teammates to help you.

I believe we agree with one another, then. My point was that I don't want this class to be a two-button wonder. I never got into RIFT for many reasons, but macros were one of them.

I use a 17/19 so far, heading towards 21/20 (level 45) and yes, your damage is a bit less, but I think your utility is higher with all the CCs buffed. Oppressing Force isn't the greatest, but it does lower Electrocute by 10s. Supression lowers WW by 15s and also gives your Jolt a 6s lockout, which is a long time in PVP. I can kite 2 or 3 opponents in a WZ, CCing them and protecting myself, or a strategic point or ball-carrier in Huttball. Of course, it all depends on your goal. Are you looking for pretty numbers on the final scoresheet, or are you looking to win? This also works quite well for the open world encounters I've had so far. I might find that, in the 50 bracket, I'll need to make some adjustments, but I do find that I currently hardly ever die in WZs, still get upper level damage (usually top 3-5) and also get my 5-7 medals.

I'd much rather have a rotation that requires some thought, timing and knowledge of my class than spamming two buttons all the time.

I believe that falls under the "having cake and eating it too" category.

It's a tradeoff. You can get pretty good survivability through multiple CCs, but you lose some damage.

Well, that's where I disagree, but it's a personal opinion thing.

Well, I'm sure you guys who make it a point to study the class scientifically will figure it out. I just hope you don't ruin the fun. I don't even use one of the cookie-cutter specs, since I have points in certain abilities that help my playstyle. I'm all for variety of viable specs and a fun playstyle, so I do agree some changes need to be made, specifically to our end tree feats. I just hope that, in doing so, we don't lose the viability of the various hybrids, which are always fun. Edit: one question: why is a GCD a 'waste' if it is bringing a benefit? That's not a waste if it brings resource. Having to watch and recover force rather than spam healing adds some depth.

I don't think making the class a bit challenging in terms of resource management is necessarily a bad thing. What's wrong with complexity?

You can never fully balance, because there will always be too many human factors involved. The only really necessary fix is to make the top tier feats worth using. Then people would have to choose between the utility of hybrid or the power of a full tree. Stifling creativity and railroading sorcerers into full tree builds is a poor solution. More options, not less.

I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't watch a stream, simply because of time. A yt vídeo, maybe. On another note, you may want to add to your hybrid section, as there are a handful of builds that are proving quite effective. Thanks for the time and effort.

I'm close to 50, but I'd like to get in some PVP before I get to the 50 bracket, where I'm going to be at a disadvantage early on. I'll get to there soon enough and have a bit of PVP under my belt when I do. I don't mind mixing it up a bit.

All they need to do is makes the end feats better. The fact that there are several viable specs for many different play styles is surely a positive. If you start nerfing hybrids, all you do is railroad things and dumb it down. Buff the end trees so we have to sacrifice hybrids to get them. Give us more choice of specs, not less.

Well, I've had some solid WFs lately, getting top damage on my team, 5-7 medals and a lot of killing blows, as well as decent heals, so I must be doing something right. I haven't seen the huge numbers that I've seen in some screenshots, but relative to the match, I'm getting high scores. Learning more and more will help, I guess, since I just dinged Valor 20 yesterday. Between now and 50, I figure I'll level mainly through WFs, with a side of class quests.

I understand the sentiment, but for me it would be less effective. Of course, I do like my CCs, so that's probably what drew me to the spec I use. If it works for you, it can't be wrong, right?

23 in lightning seems like a waste to me. Getting a 30% chance to do 30% more damage on Chain Lightning for 4 feat points feels too expensive. To my thinking, a 21L 20M spec, with all the CCs buffed, might work better. In PVP, I've found a CC is often the difference between life and death, so having shorter CDs is vital. The extra two seconds on Jolt lockout is also very nice. Before I really began to read this forum much, I'd been aiming toward a 21/20 spec as I level, but I'm seeing a lot of people claiming that 23/18, 13/28 or 13/12/16 are the three most viable PVP specs. Here is what I will probably use and test when I hit 50 in the next couple of weeks: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201ZdcMrdMrZcrcRsMz.1 That gives me the good burst abilities (albeit without the 30% chance for 30% damage from CL), it gives me 15s less CD on WW, 10s less on Force Speed, 2s more on Jolt lockout (6s total), 10s less on Electrocute and full Backlash and Electric Bindings. While I take a bit of a hit overall on damage, my ability to control opponents, stay mobile and get away from multiple attackers in many situations is quite high. I've already found that, even in the low 40s without this full spec, I can do that, so I suppose when I fill everything out, I'll have even more options at my disposal. Thoughts?

K/D ratio is sort of borked in this game. I mean, "kills" just means you hit the person, while deaths mean you actually died. Unless you're counting solo kills.

What's your typical rotation in an opening salvo of a PVP encounter? How do you find this build in open world vs. high damage classes? I got myself stomped by a Consular last night (I was 28, he was 32). Khem Val seems like a bad choice for a PVP pet, while the Consular was running his healbot. What do you guys run for open world pvp on your sorc?

Works now. Might've been something with their website, then.

Works on my phone. Might be a Chrome thing.

I am interested in your theories on these builds, but I seem to not be able to see the builds in your OP. When I click the links I get a partially filled build tree. You make some great points about lightning, though it seems that a well-supported lightning sorc could be a very destructive force in organized pvp.

In my experience, there is no such thing as a bad class. Players, on the other hand, come in all shapes and sizes. It comes down to what a class can do in certain situations, which will be easier for some than for others. If every class could deal with every situation in the same way, then there would be no differentiation in classes and no variety. There will be situations where the SA is ideal while the SS falls short.

Uhm, the OP is also full of opinion.