OK some silly responses in this thread, I myself am a seasoned player, played from the beginning, have deleted quite a few toons, have got/had a lvl 55 toon for every advaned class, use dulfy etc for abilities rotation etc etc..I tank, dps and heal very well..I know my class, I kick the s**t in pvp (with a good balanced gp)...having said that I notice the massive advantage to using teamspeak etc when in warzone, (I do not mind teamspeak in ops)..to illustrate my point I will use an example: You are at an objective and guarding, you get jumped by stealth dps and you have to announce in ops chat (assuming all of your team mates can see ops chat, by the way I know there is a box that can be tagged to stop ops chat from fading out), your position and number of enemies, by the time you have done this half your hp is gone (if your lucky) or your dead if you get hit by 2 stealth. Now lets think of the same scenario but using teamspeak (or whatever) you can engage the enemy whilst talking to your team mates who rush to your aid and you keep the objective..Now you get to see my point, keeping your hands free to fight instead of communicate details with team mates gives an advantage. I think its a massive advantage, but even if it were slight, that is often all that is needed to turn the tables. Now if bioware could make allowances for pvp matches where one side uses teamspeak, such as an icon on screen, advertising that one side is using it, that would make it a lot fairer, that way players could simply (me included) leave the WZ in question if they objected.. NOW I know that most of you on this thread would disagree with me because you use teamspeak, mumble etc and would be down on comms, which would take you longer to gear up etc etc.. To which I simply say, welcome to my world, where you see teamspeak using guilds who's members are all 162 brutalizer geared and auged right after the patch that increased gear ceiling level was released. while myself despite knowing my mains class, using dulfy, having a priority rotation sorted, having all 8 toons over 80 valor (no boosts used to get to that level) take many times longer to get to that same gearing level. I am really annoyed that this huge point/advantage is trivialised the way it is. I certainly think that bioware should address this issue as a priority...I know that this post however will fade into obscurity without being noticed. Bioware should in response to this issue, introduce a system like teamspeak into swtor and all its games or no games (ban it all)..there should be no half measures. After all there are some hardware like gaming mice that are banned from being used in swtor, how hard can it be to block teamspeak, mumble etc.. P.S. Use a cell phone if you wanna chat to friends,

It matters not if you use teamspeak, mumble or whatever. Its still a massive advantage, the problem is that using teamspeak in the first instance gave these guilds a massive advantage in gearing, I could name names of guilds who are already geared to the uppermost lvl in pvp cause of this unfair communication..I also just dont accept an excuse saying, "we have it on but dont use it much", it still is a massive advantge even with the odd communication as to the healer casting or general area/intended target of the enemy. This type of software allows one major advantage and that is quicker communication and reaction times, and better communications and reaction times are all you need to win. I think that there is not a single example in history where better communication and reaction times have lost a fight/war/battle EVER!! Like I said before I dont want to and cannot use teamspeak, mumble or whatever, and guilds using them make the whole ranked season competition a complete farse... BAN THIS TYPE OF PVP MATCH...ONLY USE GENERAL CHAT IN PVP...ITS NOT FAIR TO THE MAJORITY OF PLAYERS..

I am sick of the european teamspeak using guilds....please introduce something to inhibit these one sided matches. I have nothing against a pvp match using teamspeak on bothsides, but when its one sided, usually rep side, it takes the fun out of playing. These teamspeak using guilds clear up in regards to comms and therefore gear, and it quickly becomes a kind of positive feedback loop where they gear faster and then win more matches, which earn them more comms and more gear..Now I know what some of you might suggest that there is nothing stopping everyone from using teamspeak, well personally I dont like using it, have tried and prefer gaming without, besides my gaming computer is in a communal area and I simply couldn't use it. The majority of gamers do not use team speak and I think that allowing teamspeak without limits vastly reduces the games playability for all. Could I suggest a teamspeak server? Maybe not, there certainly not enough players using teamspeak to populate such a server... Lastly I would like to know how many season ranked winners benefit from teamspeak..I certainly think its the majority rather then minority. Unfair much..

OK I know this post is old but I just gotta reply, Mercs are a great rdps class, the problem is not the class itself, but the way your playing them..With rdps classes you need to have 2 distinct rotations, one for your regular damage which includes keeping heat to a min/energy to a maximum, and the other rotation to deal with pesky melee classes. If your interested in my rotation, plse ask me..Mercs are great rdps cause they wear heavy armor, and are generally more durable than snips/slingers. Correct use of interrupt means you can take on snipers/slingers with ease. I am pyro tree and I love it, I have to say I am better with my merc than dps sage, and my defense (anti-melee) rotation means I perform better in pvp than my snip and slinger..you guys just need to think about your class and HOW your getting attacked and how you can counter, once you give it some thought you will be fine.

I Just had to make this suggestion, I am at my wits end and need to highlight major problems with endgame (level 55) warzone. I am a big fan of pvp, more so than ops and flashpoints. My problem is that the teams in any given warzone match can be hugely unbalanced in terms of power. Now I understand that some teams can have better gear etc, but this is not a complaint against the odd game game where one team just so happens to have a few under geared players, and do badly as a result. This complaint is about the huge gap in team performance that can and often occurs. I want to refer to one particular warzone match that I played recently, my character at the time was outfitted in conqueror pvp gear and it was all fully augmented with prototype and artifact items. To my knowledge (and I did quickly check) the other team members were all well geared also. However despite this it was a bloodbath, the game quickly became less of a match of skill to just trying to stay alive longer than a few seconds. I myself, lasted literally seconds against foes, even with a few competent healers present. I really don't know how a level 55 WZ with similarly outfitted team members can lose so badly, its just too skewed. In addition to the massive skew in team power, healing, etc., I would like to mention the queuing process and team construction from random group finding. In simulation matches, those when rep is versus rep, and imp is versus imp one team can randomly gain all the healers, this is hugely frustrating. I have been in matches where one team has had three healers and the other has had zero, as a result the match was unplayable, and many people leave causing further problems with game play, connection etc. I have been on both sides when these problems arise, its not fun at all, either proving no challenge and thus boring, or impossible to win, either way game enjoyment plummets. I feel that if the warzones were more closely matched in terms of stats, power, ability and team roles, then they would be more skill based, and more enjoyable to play. I certainly don't mind losing if the matches are close, but I do when its been a farce and one side is obliterated with ease. Please balance out the teams stats, power, and roles more carefully. I would be grateful, as I am sure many other seasoned pvps would be. I would like to further add that I am not a beginner, I am an experienced player with 16 toons, 10 of which are level 55. I level up more often than not with WZ matches and class missions, so frequently play WZ at different levels, and so am no stranger to objectives, strategy etc.

Ok so I looked at a few sites (inc videos) and it really helped my sentinel game, being more efficient with abilities (e.g. rotation) and correct tactics mean that I have doubled my medals and damage dealt in pvp matches. This is still an ongoing process for me, and I aim to master this class eventually. Still I would like to add that the sentinel class is far more hard work that all of the others, requiring more thought, tactics, and general effort, but because of the inherent difficulty that comes with playing this class it makes the rewards that much better.

Thanks, I chose a weapon master skill tree, and using the skill points left over I chose to increase the centring I gain (combat damage tree). I will mix up the gear now on your advice. I just want to add that I don't have a problem with the pve aspect so much, it is mainly with the pvp, I have an expertise rating of nearly 2000, does it have to be higher?

Thanks for the advice. What do you mean talent build? If I mix up gear wont it matter that I lose set bonuses? What pieces would you recommend I get from the sets? I do have might and overkill augs in too

Well thanks, I will certainly put your advice into practice.

Ok I just had to reply to this thread as its a huge problem for me at the moment. I have a level 55 sentinel, he is outfitted with pvp gear and it is all augmented (where possible). My problem is that they are the hardest class to play, they are a number of inherent problems with the class that is just down to (in my opinion) bad game design. Firstly it doesn't get better later in the game you still die just an incredible amount of times and it is terribly frustrating. Secondly I find it hard to swallow that a melee class with medium armour can be weaker than a class that wears light armour eg shadow or assassin. Thirdly I have augments in my gear and I still cannot seen to inflict major damage on opponents, their stuns, slows etc mean that my speed means nothing, and the force camo has a cool down that is quite frankly too long. I could go on for ages and I have bearly touched the surface of the faults with this class. The jedi sentinel as a damage class is not as effective as other damage classes such as consulars, smugglers etc and I wish that I went guardian rather than this lesser class. I love my character and the idea of the sentinel, but it does not work in practice without some major changes. Could I just add that I have read and applied much advice from many sources on how to play as this class and it has been to no avail, as a result I have been close to deleting my sentinel and starting again as a guardian many times

Cheers thanks pal

I wonder if someone can help, I am new to mmos but I cant seem to start the game up, when I click play, my screen goes black then goes back to my dest top view. Tried all the connection problems steps in help, and nothing works. Any advice, maybe my laptop isn't good enough to play SWTOR full stop, would this explain the connection problems? I have vista platform, 3 GIG RAM, 945 CHIPSET family, direct x 11.