The base armor makes no difference whatsoever, unless you're wearing it with no mods. An orange item's armor is determined solely by the armoring mod. Nothing else is added. When I put a mod with armor rating 50 into an item, I am not adding 50 armor rating; I am modifying the armor to have an armor rating of 50. What is was before I put the mod in makes no difference. You asked more than one question, one of which was how to know if a new item will give you more armor, and that's what I was trying to answer. There is no way to know exactly how much armor you will get from a specific armoring mod. Just look at the armor rating. A lower armor rating will always mean less armor, a higher armor rating will always mean more armor, no matter what, as long as you're comparing armor of the same type.

Sadly, no.

The armor rating of an orange item is determined solely by the armoring mod. There is no base armor to factor in. But keep in mind that all orange armor has an armor type: Light, Medium, or Heavy. Any two pieces of orange armor of the same type, with the same armoring mod, will have the same amount of armor. If you take the armoring mod out of your orange heavy armor and put it into any other orange heavy armor, the armor will be exactly the same. But if you take the armoring mod from a piece of heavy armor and put it into a piece of light armor, it will have significantly lower armor.

This is the key point. Stats do different things for different classes, and each class is designed so that one primary stat affects all of their abilities. If you're a trooper, aim increases both ranged and tech damage. You're not sacrificing tech damage by choosing aim over cunning. As for why you've seen trooper gear with cunning on it, I assume that's just due to some items having random stat bonuses.

While it's true that you should always choose your primary stat over others, raising the other stats when given a chance definitely won't hurt, and in some cases does provide some benefit. For example, an assassin or shadow will get increased melee damage from strength, and an agent or smuggler will get increased ranged damage from aim.

If you manage to get to the Republic Fleet before level 10, it is very easy to miss the mission to get your advanced class. Just go back to the fleet and look for the elevator for Tython and Ord Mantell Departures; the person you need to talk to will be in the corridor just outside the elevator.

Are you on the fleet? The mission will only complete there. If so, are you talking to the right person (a crew skills trainer, not a class trainer)? Those are the only two problems I can think of.

In your mission log there should be a reset button at the bottom of the panel, for most quests. Also, if something happens in a conversation that you don't like, just escape out of it and start over. Light and dark side points and companion affection changes are awarded when you complete the mission, not when you see the symbols during conversation.

It sounds like you no longer have the ability "Flurry of Bolts" in the first quickslot on the action bar. Right clicking an enemy always triggers whatever action is in the first quickslot.

Yes, you get all of them back. And you can reset as many times as you wish, though it gets more expensive every time.

Right-clicking on an enemy always activates whatever ability is in the first quickslot on your action bar. By default this will be your class's basic, no-cost attack, but it sounds like you might have moved a different ability into that slot.

My guess is that you've been attacking by right-clicking on enemies, but for some reason no longer have the ability "Assault" in the first quickslot of your action bar. "Assault" is the ability you need to use to build rage, which powers your other attacks. Right clicking triggers the first ability in your action bar, so if that's been replaced with another attack, it's not going to work. Edit: Oops, too late. Glad you figured it out.

Being able to adjust following distance would be nice, though the only companion so far that has given me any trouble is Khem Val. That guy needs a serious talking-to about personal space. He's always getting in the way, following right behind me, waiting to eat me.

The companion tab of the ability panel shows armor and weapon proficiencies as well as active abilities.

I suspect it's the dreaded Taris bug. From the Known Issues thread in the Customer Service Forum: I've had it happen with one of my characters on Taris, but none of the others. The game just becomes sluggish and weird. Nothing you can do about it, really, except suffer through it or skip Taris.

Press "P" to open the Abilities Panel. Select the tab labeled "Jedi Knight" at the bottom of the panel. Find the ability "Strike" and drag it into a quickslot on the action bar.

Slash requires focus to use. Your basic no-cost attack, which generates focus points, is "Strike".

That's a different quest, actually. I can't remember what the quest giver said to me during the quest, though if he was anything at all like other Sith, he insulted me and called me 'slave'.

In this scenario, value X (the armor on an unmodified piece of orange gear) is meaningless. You can entirely ignore any number you see on an unmodified piece of orange gear. The armor value of an orange will always be whatever the armoring mod gives it. Also, Z (the non-modifiable robe) will list an armor rating, not just an armor value, making it easy to compare to Y (the armoring mod) It really isn't as complicated as people seem to be trying to make it. Just look at the armor rating. Higher? Higher armor. Lower? Lower armor. (And just to be clear: this only applies when comparing gear of the same type.)

Your problem is that it's a level 14 quest. You just need to level up a bit before moving along. Have you been skipping all side quests? I'm not sure how you managed to get that far along in the class quest series at level 10. I think I was level 15 when I started that quest. You say you're a Consular; does that mean you don't have an advanced class yet?

The institutionalized used of slavery and torture would certainly top my list. Along with murder as an accepted means of advancement and cruelty as a cultural ideal. I'm happy to be simple-minded enough to consider those things evil. The Republic certainly has its fair share of greed, inefficiency, corruption, selfishness, indifference, but I haven't yet seen anything that quite competes with the Empire's stated goals of slaughter and subjugation.

This is certainly true of individuals, and there are plenty of opportunities for Imperial players to make good choices, but I don't think you can reasonably argue that the Empire, as an entity, isn't evil.

Are you sure you're at the right spot? Look for the place marked "Korriban and Hutta Departures" on your map.

Just to clarify, rage is generated by using specific abilities, not just by "causing and receiving damage."

Just FYI, if you try assassin again: The assassin doesn't get any tanking skills (other than shield proficiency) until level 14, at which point you get your main threat-increasing skill (Dark Charge) and the Guard skill. At 16, you get a taunt, Mind Control.