Thank you for this, I was beginning to think a melee / stealth class just wasn't doable for me. I'm not a pvp master, but I'm not half bad, typically getting to the top of my match as a good defensive healer. I wanted to challenge myself to learn something more tricky which is why I decided on the scoundrel - so I can understand how to be versatile and cautious with my targets. My scoundrel is level 21 now and I have survived a solid face stomping this long so I appreciate the advice and skills you listed which are coming up!

I too could use some class pointers for the Smuggler / Scoundrel as I just rolled one to mix it up a bit and am trying to level it only with PvP matches. Having just come from a primary healer / ranged damage class (Consular/Sage) I am having a really hard time adjusting to the Scoundrel and no, I am not choosing sawbones healer for it. Is there a viable scrapper pvp leveling build and guide out there?

Your experience must be very different from mine then as I rarely see more than two healers at most in any match, occasionally 3 but that's very rare. I know this because I always identify who my other team healers are so we can split up and cover both bases efficiently. If you're playing Novare Coast for example, it's rather difficult for there to possibly be 'too many' heals if you're spread out between two of the three objectives at least if you're playing smart and dividing up evenly. I still see a majority of players dps on most matches I play on my server.

How would they honestly be able to code anything that would even be able to distinguish a 'noob' player from a non-noob player at level 10 or 20? This makes no sense. It seems to be a rite of passage that one has to grind through at the low levels if you choose pvp as a method to level up. I agree it can be very frustrating to see a brand new player who doesn't even know what direction to run in huttball, but that's just the way it goes in a randomly matched WZ style game. They either learn how to play, or they quit, or you outlevel them. It's not really that much different from PvE PUGs.

I am a warzone healer - exclusively healing for the most part, and I notice a huge difference in contribution and effectiveness of the damage dealers. I would like to see more players try to play main heals in warzones, it would make the matches a lot more fun. That being said, you cannot force people to play what they do not enjoy. This is not a SWTOR exclusive issue. Most all pvp games have an imbalance in regards to dps vs. heals because for the most part, the very nature of a pvp gamer is to be aggressive and do the most damage. Defense and healing typically come in far behind for most player's style choice. If they changed the queue to ensure there were only a certain number of healers available evenly per side, your queue time would triple or quadruple - is that what you want? I think it's better to tough it out and get to play more often than to wait for just the right balance of players. Also, for what it's worth - playing a healer myself, I can't tell you how many times I've been in matches lately where there were other healers than myself on my team but they just weren't healing ... sages preferring to only run the ball all the time in huttball instead of pass and heal to their teammates? Seems odd to me but whatever floats your boat I guess. The point I'm trying to make is, even IF they created a queue where healers were required, that does not guarantee the required healer class is going to do their job and you will have a better match.

I just returned to swtor after a long absence (beta tester and founder) and decided to level up a new character only doing WZ to see how much has changed and to regain some skills. I've spent about a week doing nothing but solo queue and it's been really tough. I've been in some great PUG only matches and have also been beaten by some premades. I finally got tired of being only solo with a 50/50 chance of getting with people who actually communicate via ops chat and made some friends who invited me to be their 4th in a premade. Mind you we're only in mid twenties and grinding through the often frustrating randomness of the queue - but it certainly makes a big difference and we're winning more matches than losing. I'm not even really that much of a social player but I have to look at it and ask myself if I want to keep losing a lot more than winning (which isn't a very efficient way of leveling via pvp) or do I want to maximize my effort and learn to play in a team? Obviously, not everyone feels the same way about this and would prefer to play on their own solo. The question begs to be asked at that point, why are you playing pvp warzones in the first place when it's a team oriented game? How can one expect to 'win' in randomly drawn matches if your only goal is to play solo and not communicate with the rest of the team? Even in opschat, team coordination can mean all the difference in winning or losing. I am having a lot more fun playing in a premade and have three new friends as a result. It's a win win for all of us and I'm leveling much faster now too.