Watchman is assumed to be better. This perception comes mostly, I presume, from the tree's ability to reduce the cooldown on Kick, the heals, the DoTs, and the ability to make Force Camo an immunity bubble. It should never be said that Watchman is "better;" it's simply preferred by the majority. That doesn't make them right, just means they all enjoy playing the same spec. I've played all three trees (only did Focus until about 32 while leveling), and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Combat is by far my favorite. Focus is great for mobility as you can talent a second leap at 20. The tree, however, lacks a bit of depth for high-level gameplay - except, perhaps, in PvP. Watchman is nice; the self-heals are great, the party-heals are useful, the quicker Kick is good, but the playstyle just wasn't me. Too much micro-managing and reliance on, in my opinion, and awkward cooldown mechanic (your only two sources of burn damage are both on a relatively lengthy cooldown compared to their duration). What Combat lacks in utility, it more than compensates for raw damage. Did a hard mode today with a bunch of guildies who normally run with a Watchman and they were a little worried when they realized I wasn't. However, except for certain mechanics and an inopportune D/C, we rolled right through just as easily, they said, as if the other guy had been there. So, basically, try them all and see what suits your style best.

Episode I. Kitster Banai remarks that Anakin's inclusion in the Boonta Eve Podrace is "wizard, Annie."

Remember, X-Wings have shields which helped to dissipate the blast some, leaving Artoo's exposed chassis repairable.

"Optimal" is a difficult term to use, as we have practically no reliable way to measure performance. That said, Wathman is widely viewed as the better spec due to DoTs keeping damage on target during movement fights, and Juyo-Zen alleviating a bit of the pressure from your healer(s). However, since solo-play seems to be your issue at the moment, I would recommend looking at the Focus tree. I did a lot of my leveling solo and found Focus to be most beneficial thanks to all the damage reduction offered by Shii-Cho (talented into Defensive Forms, of course) and the added mobility of Zealous Leap in getting between all the ranged mobs.

Incorrect. Virtually all lightsabers have a button, switch, or activation stud; however, they are almost always hung from the belt in such a way that the activator is less likely to be bumped to the "on" position. As to the second point about deactivation on death of the wielder, my theory is that most lightsabers require constant pressure on their activator to maintain the blade, or have a mechanism to "lock" the blade - for example, when the weapon is to be thrown.

Stormtrooper armor was fairly effective against the low-yield weapons typically encountered on border worlds or in civilian population centers. They used small energy-sinks to dissipate most normal energy blasts. Heavier weapons, like Han's DL-44 and Luke's Merr-Sonn M7 were just above the typical threshold of a stormtrooper's armor. Also in the films, the opposing armies tended to train specifically to target weak spots in the armor - the SBDs, in particular, I think, used similar blaster technology to that of the droidekas, making their blasters harder to resist.

Blade Rush guarantees an Ataru proc, and increases the chance for further procs by 30% for 6s afterwards.

Go to Preferences and turn on the option that says "Show Detailed Item Information" or something like that, as it will list not only the item's stats, but also the names of each plug-in currently attached.

As Combat, I try to use Master Strike whenever I use Precision Strike. Master Strike hits like a truck normally, so it hits like a meteor when your target has no armor. Pop a power relic on top of that, and the numbers are just pretty.

The best thing I can think of to help out lower-level Combat Sentinel's would be to swap Precision Slash and Blade Rush. Without Blade Rush, it really feels like you're playing half a class; it's not nearly as effective or fun until you get that last point in the tree, whereas I hear people raving about Watchman much earlier on - my Gunnery Commando alt, for example, felt more well-rounded and on target at 19 (pre Grav Round) than my Combat Sentinel did at 38.

Indeed. As an Artificer, I was very disappointed to see that most of the enhancements I can make are the exact same thing. I just found the first power/surge mod and RE'd up to epic.

I, personally, have been rolling with the Adept (Surge/Power) enhancements to try and maximize the output of the Sentinel's innate auto-crit talents. They've been pretty good to me so far. I'd prefer one with more power than surge, but haven't found one yet.

Shadow Hunter was written with Maul's perspective in mind, and he of course saw himself as a Dark Lord - regardless of his actual position within the hierarchy.

Many of the people you're citing as apprentices were not Sith; they were highly-trained, Force-sensitive special operatives - and Grievous wasn't even Force-sensitive. Under Palpatine's rule, there were only ever two Darths - no more, no less. And, no, Palpatine had neither Dooku nor Vader as apprentices while he had Maul apprenticed. Actually, according the new Plagueis book, Maul wasn't even a real Sith Apprentice, but he was never aware of Plagueis or the fact that he was merely a pawn of the Sith, used to do Plagueis' and Palpatine's biddings.

For Combat, Power and Surge are likely the best secondary stats due to the damage potential of Blade Storm. Considering that whenever it's off cooldown, you should always have Combat Trance up, making Blade Storm auto-crit. Power, of course, increases all other damage dealt, including, presumably, Ataru Form Strikes. Running a Power/Surge build, mobs I come up against just melt. I recently hit 48 on my Sentinel and, with 71% Surge and the Saber Storm (+30% crit damage) talent, Blade Storm's critting for about 2200 every time it's off CD - more with Opportune Attack and Precision Slash both up, too.

You cannot gain Centering while Zen or Transcendence are up, so, no, you cannot have both active at once. And, from what I've seen on my Sentinel, Combat's Centering generation is too slow for that to work, anyway. I don't think Valorous Call would work, either - but I don't have that yet, so I cannot personally confirm.

Different hilts styles, yes, and that is represented in game already; some of what the OP is describing is not canonically supported, however. Trying to tuck a holographic generator into the hilt of a lightsaber, for instance, would not work because it is already crammed full of the components that make the blade function. While I, personally, do not agree with some of what BioWare has done within the game to affect the universe, I would hope the devs don't start doing things like that just for "unique flavor." The idea of adding a basket guard to a lightsaber hilt, though, would not be terribly far-fetched. It would, actually, make some modicum of sense, especially if the guard were made from phrik, cortosis, or some other high-energy resistant material. As far as lightsabers that change color, they don't work like that; color is determined by active crystal. The only sabers I've known to change colors are ones that are considered "dual-phase" - a specific type which uses multiple crystals to vary the length of the blade on command. This I might see as a possibility if BioWare could figure out how to code it right; considering they recently put out a patch that was supposed to fix a bug with certain mouse buttons and, in so doing, caused other problems with mouse clicks, I don't see that happening any time soon.

I've never noticed any sort of ability lag on my Sentinel, but I recently rolled a Juggernaut and he suffers from extreme ability lag. I've stood there, pressing buttons through my rotation, only to watch my Sith stand there, global after global, and do nothing. Most infuriating, especially against strong or better mobs.

New player. Just got my ship. This damned droid makes me want to use public shuttle transit. Sure, some of the things he says are mildly amusing, but not amusing enough to hear the same - what? - five phrases ad nauseum. It's bad enough he does his rant whenever you come on board, but I've noticed he goes off, too, when you try to exit the ship after a space mission. Double fail.