You don't have a shield, you don't need the stat. Also, you can't buy gear pre-50 afaik.

The standard pool is 500 force, which can be upgraded to 600 by putting 2 points in the telekinesis tree. The standard regen is 8 force per second. The feel of it is kinda in between energy and mana, if you're accustomed to other mmo's. With seer spec it can be hard to manage force untill you reach lvl 45, this because you really can't afford to splash in telekinesis before you finish the seer tree. However at 36 you will have completed the proc sequence rejuv > extra crit on healing trance > healing trance crits grant free of cost noble sacrifice. With this mechanic you shouldnt run out of force ever.

I went from 10-50 in seer spec, dinging 50 yesterday. I can say it's fun to do, but significantly harder, sometimes wiping 3 times in an attempt to kill a hardnuking/aoe named elite.

I just wanted to say I think it's a good question. Seems sort of redundant, but I believe its more of an awareness thing. I just find it annoying that there are no values in force armors tooltip afaik. If someone has found an option to show these in force armor specifically, I would be glad to know.

Cybertech and biochem are viable for all classes equally, with everything but healers benefiting slightly more from the infinite potions in biochem. Synthweaving and artifice are equally handy for consulars as they both provide you with adequate lvling gear without much effort and are both are able to fill several end-game slots with good pve gear. For pvp the gear skills are of lesser importance as for now they cannot provide expertisegear.

Rogue classes, being the jedi shadow and the scoundrel in dps mode crit me for quite alot. Not unmanageable amounts if you're playing it right as a healer, but they are the rogues of this game. Also, afaik, sages are built not just for crits, but for dots.

@ Ewokinator: Rejuvenate has a talent that buffs crit for healing trance, at lvl 36 healing trance gets a 100% chance that a crit will give you a free noble sacrifice, with no health cost and no 10s debuff to force regen. So it will be crucial in late-game/end-game boss battles. I try to get as much crit because of this, as I have not yet taken the splash talents in telekinetics on my lvl 39. With the 9% force cost reductions is it might become a bit more manageable, but it remains our only way to regain force during the battle without the downside of a non-proc noble sacrifice.