What stats do people go for? Before 3.0 I didn't bother with crit at all, but it's looking like I need to put a good chunk in to even get to the low 20s for crit, and maybe allocate more surge than I did before. I'm still upgrading my pvp gear for 3.0, but it seems like it'd still be worth getting surge up into the high 60s. But I dunno, I'm open to thoughts.

Eh, makes sense. I'm saving up for the new relics now... not sure why I went with it before (heck I probably got that relic over a year ago), except for some argument about burst healing that made sense at the time from someone. Thanks for the help.

Is ephemeral mending worth taking at all? It's a small heal, but one that stacks on top of something else you already did. Just wondering if it's a decent second relic once you have the mainstat lined up, or if you really want the power for the second. I mostly PVP, but I do PVE as well and it's never seemed terrible, but that's hardly theorycraft and number crunching.

Such a map would only be great for gunships and scouts. Kind of not too different now, but the good thing about objective maps and obstacles is that it does allow for some smart piloting and varied teams.

Okay, there's no reason to take armor piercing from slug if you're just going to throw it at plasma, then you'd just have to give slug a different thing it can do. Plasma already does something different, you just have to make it be worthwhile. And seriously, there's nothing wrong with a good bit of armor piercing on Slug, at least with how the game is set up currently (but dropping it from 100% really would help with the overall idea in this thread). As others have pointed out, it makes a lot more sense to take out most or all of it with BLC: the gun is ridiculously good even without it, and gunships are still going to love it for close in defense (and scouts are going to love it for its burst and their ability to get into the close range it likes). Taking it out actually improves the meta and gives viability to builds and ships that don't have as much viability now. And seriously, anything that assists the usual mantra of "throw a type 1 gunship and type 2 scout" at it ad nauseum would be lovely.

I'm still not clear on why Burst needs the armor pen and how it's going to ruin anything to have it removed. I think I'd still like it to retain some to give turrets and bombers a run for their money (and scouts deserve to have some ability against such targets), but the 100% thing has never made any sense in GSF, particularly when armor pen is never 100% in the ground game. It's like they completely took a decent design philosophy in the same game (even if it's a different part) and got rid of it. And seriously, BLCs need a tweak down. Taking off some armor penetration isn't going to make them a weaker option for Guns, either, and scouts are still going to love them without it or with a weaker amount. Personally, I'm fine with HLC and and Slug retaining higher or even 100% armor pen (than BLCs). They're slower firing and that's their clear role. Doing so would more greatly set up the role of strikes and gunships in the current meta. I also don't have an issue with Slugs being a hard counter to bombers or satellite turrets. They have a lot of advantage up close, and having that weaker range is a fine balancing point. Plasma needs some love, sure, but I'm not sure why it makes sense to do it at the expense of a logical design setup with Slugs already in place (for some armor pen).

Commando healers have the same issues all commandos do: weaker defensive CDs than the rest of the classes. They're still quite solid healers, and really, they're in an even better spot than they were before 3.0. You can do a lot more on the move if you talent appropriately.

Yeah... dogfighting game versus dreadnaughts... very different. And while there is something to big ships slugging it out, it actually felt slow-paced to me. Different games indeed. That's not to say I wouldn't love to have GSF take place around actual big ships with actual objectives of some sort with them, but that's keeping an arcade-y dogfighter game an arcade-y dogfighter game.

All those augments boost power for a secondary stat, so basically it comes down to if you want to be more tanky or do more damage. The way I've seen it said, the two dps setups will still do more damage than Defense with an offensive stats focus, so you might as well focus on doing the tank stuff well if you're going defense.

Okay, good to know. I've also been seeing posts about gearing for mostly shield and absorb as a tank in PVP, so I was just planning on going for those with enhancements. I suppose you'll get enough from enhancements, etc., with this line of reasoning? Thanks for the help! I'm slowly making the new augment slots to get my tank tanky again in PVP. Slowly coming together.

Out of curiosity, what's the logic with that, versus extra shield or absorb? The extra hps are worth more than an extra percent or so to those stats? Just curious before I start upping the augments on my own Guardian for PVP.

Sadly, I have to agree a bit. Though they have made good adjustments with some things. Guardian changes since 3.0 hit have been pretty right on, I would say. But some things, like Ops/Scoundrels changes overall, letting all the Vanguard and Sage changes go live with 3.0, yeesh. Not sure what they were thinking.

Good to know! I try to do that as well. Healers generally get a ton of votes, so I rarely go that direction (it's a rare thing that a decent healer won't get a vote or two). I also weight objectives heavily, or people that were guarding quiet nodes. Back on track, I've made a firm decision to dabble in Gunnery with my Commando. He's been a healer from the start and I can do that fine, but I want to try out some different approaches with him. It'll be fun--I was playing with rotations on my ship and I like how it rolls. We'll see how we do.

I agree--I never understand the need to be flavor of the month. If you enjoy how the class plays, it'll be fun. Tanks don't always get a love or votes in pvp, but I still enjoy playing my guardian tank in pvp. And I've been a marksmanship gunslinger through a lot of ups and downs and still find it a fun class. I learned a long time ago that if your enjoyment of an MMO relies on being the perceived top class at the time, you're doomed for disappointment.

It's something I'd like for all the classes--there's way too much that is dependent on players to figure out what things like Shield Probe or Blade Barrier (whatever the shield is Guardians get) absorb. It should be sharp and clear from the tooltip, and nothing this would it make it easier on the devs and players to know how it's supposed to work and be sure it's working as designed.

I wouldn't mind knowing this, either. I mostly PVP, so it seems like it would be a worthwhile ability to get your shield back sooner (particularly since I have lower level utility points in the shield for when it is up), and it would be nice to know how much a help this small shield is. Forced March is almost a lock for PVP, so I do wonder if I'm better off going Shock Absorbers or Reflexive Shield for the other Heroic.

Part of the problem with the AOE is that it's so uneven. Smugglers saw flyby get nerfed (or removed entirely), and it was a very popular ability. Despite the boost to Sweeping Gunfire, I know plenty are still ticked about that change (and Gunslingers/Snipers aren't seen as uber strong in 3.0, so you don't see them as much as sorcs). And Scoundrels/Ops have a truly terrible aoe ability. And really, it's Sweeping Gunfire and Forcequake that are the real issues. They cover huge areas and do good bits of damage, which make them impact melee classes quite a bit and become quite noticeable when you have a strong class in 3.0 using one of them. But I would say the uncleansable DOTs and healing bubbles are the other issues for people. I'm most annoyed about the healing bubbles and aoe, to be honest. I rather agree that the healing bubbles should be limited to the healing line, because that is a huge boost tied to more than one ability. My Sage is still a lowbie, so I can see why the shields and that self heal are needed for the class, but the healing bubbles are just crazy with what else the class can do. My Scoundrel can spec into a pathetic 5% heal on his shield while the heal bubble gives you 2% per second while it's up! Yeesh.

Forgive a quote, but I'm reminded of Braveheart with this. "You know what happens if I don't go? ...nothing." Seriously, customers not being vocal about what they want from a product, particularly an MMO where even nominal attention is paid to what customers are saying, is nothing short of silly. Good lord, I'm not holding my breath for some massive GSF development, but I'm sure not going to stop being vocal about how I love this part of the game and think it's worth their while to at least invest some development time in it, not to mention fixing bugs that are STILL in game after months.

That'd probably be the best idea. I honestly don't know why they didn't have that in from the start. I also feel like the reward for medals is a good encouragement to do more as well, and should always be in the conquest stuff. I get that they shift the focus from week to week, but this isn't the same as rewarding ops or FPs in general versus noting ones in particular that you complete.

And I don't want to lose out on Conquest points if I get stuck with bad teammates or if I'm grouped with bunch of newbies and I get all the Imperial aces against me (which is often enough). And it is a little hard to tell who is just not playing, sometimes. Seriously, some people just don't aim all that well in GSF, somehow.

Ah, I wasn't aware of the other changes that were still live. That does look like a good difference. Thanks for the info!

Is it still a damage boost with the buff to crit chance removed? I honestly don't know, I'm not a numbers person, hence my asking. Taking it off the GCD is nice, I just don't know how it balances out without that huge crit chance boost. Bummer we don't get that 10% damage debuff off, but I suppose that was too much all at once. I do feel like the accuracy change has been a help in 3.0, actually, so the two together probably was too much.

It's more than just where you can land, latency and lag is probably a culprit as well. I have force leaped well short of a target that was moving, and on the same level as me. Same issues when using a pull ability like harpoon. But there really is an issue with moving between levels, especially on Huttball maps. I routinely see people disappear when going up ramps, and leap is grayed out as they do so, like they have fallen under the ramp according to the game's pathing.

No, but it's a big part. It kind of depends on my mood, but I play ground PVP and like PVE content overall for flashpoints, etc. Conquest has actually been great for me, as it encourages me to keep playing all that stuff. I'd probably raid more, but it's too much of a time commitment, something I wish SWTOR would get more modern with. Hardcore yadda-yadda. Massive groups needed for generally over 90 minutes in a row is just tough for a lot of people. I've played games with large group content that could be done in 45-60 minutes, and a lot of people loved it. I'm pretty far afield. But PVP scratches my SWTOR itch a lot because it doesn't require a massive block of time whenever I want to do it.

That constant 5% DR is nice and all, but for PVP, I don't think it's worth losing that lower cd stun, movement boost (and stealth boost), and with how much AOE is out there (especially in PVP), that 30% DR for aoe is more helpful. ST damage you can do more about sometimes and aoe.