Without even investing a single point in darkness, the buff not being linked to Surging charge and usable in Dark Charge allowed for way too much damage for the resistance. The thing could be compared to a mara on steroid with damage resistance. Way too much up front for a tank. I do somewhat think the saber charge switch cost is overdoing it tough. Flexibility in battle is something that can be done without the issue to proc being given when they shouldn't. The 50 force cost was somewhat hefty. In comparison, merc, PT and warriors can change saber style/ammo with little consequence.

My sorc is healing, however I suppose I can answer some of those question. Lightning strike, as far as I could see by looking at the different spec is useful to get various proc. However as soon as force lightning cooldown is off, I do not see the use of it. Due to the activation time and relatively low damage, the DPS is much lower for the same force cost, and FL eventually gives you back force in the Madness tree. I used lightning strike as a filler at very low level, but I can safely say I cannot remember the last time I've used it on my healer. So the lightning tree buff a few thing, namely associate it with longer range and some proc. Thats the only reason I can think for a dps-sorc to keep using it.

The main challenge of healing in solo is you have to manage khem. Once he get his threat generating AoE, you can neatly group enemies on him, and use force storm to take quite a few out. The basic DPS of the sorc is very good, and nothing stops you from using it PVE, and just spiking heals when khem goes down. At all time, you can stop damage to him with your shield, the time the heals gets in. Force Surge, is a must, since it allows you to regenerate your force very quickly, while keeping a very good healing output. For the note, my sorc is the toon I like the best at PvE. Soloing champions at level, most heroic 2+, and some heroic 4 with 2-3 level above. I've of course, geared Khem well. But manage your CC, and direct khem, find a good balance between Healing and DPSing, works like a charm. Just be aware you do not have the DPS sorc bonus to force regeneration on your force attack, so uninterrupted DPS WILL deplete your force quickly. If you have a possibly long battle in front of you, moderating yourself is your best bet. Moderating your heal as well. I have very set chains depending on what I'm aiming for, may it be the best healing output, or simply low-cost heal to avoid the more costly chain. In this, Force Bending, the proc given by resurgence, is a must of your managing. Its a near sure yield of Force Surge if you wish it, or allows Dark Heal to be a low-cost alternative to Dark Infusion, which any non-heal spec do not allow. Versus champion, I normally spend 2/3rd of my time on the heals, mainly to access force surge and avoid bad surprise, and I unleash a short DPS rotation every 15 sec or so. In those 15 sec, I normally simply renew my companion shield, cast Resurgence to apply the armor boost, and either apply Innervate or a bigger heal if needed. Keeping an eye out on bleed, poison and other DoT you can remove with Purge is also very helpful (safe the damn tech one) since purge cost a lot less than any heals, gives a small healing with Sith Purity, and will counteract damage to your shield, or at the very least, save you a dark infusion. I'm currently level 38, and since DK, I have not seen a champion that really scared me in open world. They do take a long time to get down tough.

Leveling a sorc right now, sure healers always do very nicely in PVE. Especially with the companion sytem and if said companion is a tank. But if you do both DPS and heals, you'll empty your force in seconds. Speced healers, you can throw the heals much faster, but you also deplete your force much faster. Out of force sorc is out of heal and dps sorc. BH healer get better survability, still have good AoE, and as pointed out, a way to heal at no cost, though not self healing true. Operative still hold more stuns, ability to save itself with the stealth. Which means both the sin and sorc tools. So yes its impressive, but warrior apart the other class can be quite impressive also.

I didn't. Force clock works for hit and run. Get in group, kill one or two, force cloak away. Sorc sends khem val and heals. Having companion healer works well to a certain point, but a player does a lot better.

Keep in mind its still a MMORPG, not a single player one. Having 16 ends for a class would be a bit massive. There is no need for it, since the play value is the endgame stuff. Story makes for very enjoyable leveling, but don't expect choices to have Mass Effect style magnitude. They do however have small effects that you can see.

Once the sin has force cloak he can solo just as well as the sorc. At lower level sorc healer with khem takes the cake. I've soloed every champion I've seen, and any heroic +2 is very easy to do alone. For the record, soloing shadow spawn at level 15 I believe isn't doable with anything elsebthan a sorc.

You get a codex entry from talking to crafting trainers saying what gathering and mission skill are associated with each crafting. Some supply more than once, scavenging and UWT mainly. Diplomacy gives DS/LS Points with the missions. Treasure hunt yields items. UWT synth and armormech schematics Investigation various missions Slicing cybertech schematics and missions.

Level 50 inq wtb ship, lost it in the divorce!

Eh consider it. With Low Slash (deception technique) its a good way to dispatch quickly some standard/strong enemies that are sometimes with an elite.

DFA is easy to avoid PvP wise tough. Use is very limited to PVE.

Usefulness, as far as DPS goes, is killing weak enemies. The rakghouls swarmer on Taris? 3 lacerate and an overload. Otherwise, there isn't that many uses to it. Would be far more useful imo with higher damage and a cd. Warrior's sweeping slash in comparison is far more powerful. My marauder has it costing one rage, no cooldown. Thats 9 hits ready to go after the opening. The AoE on it is a bit more restricting, but its far more useful.

Personnally having a load of fun with deception. Chains can build up to serious pain. Using Khem allows you to use plenty of maul, and Surging charge's discharge is very painful, especially with static charge. Dont forget you can always fall back on Dark Charge once khem dies. Mode will allow you to increase your survival ability greatly, without giving up THAT MUCH of your DPS. Using stuns when exploit weakness appears always gives good results. Lately discovering as far as PVE goes, DPS-speced on Dark charge gives surprising result. The damage output still being impressive allows you to end fights before the damage taken becomes critical. Note that there is no reason to use Dark Charge with a tanking companion. But quite nice to fall back on if companion dies or using a DPS companion.