Thanks. This helped relieve the panic attack I had this morning when I clicked my bookmark on KBN's thread this morning and was told the link didn't exist.

Wow. What happened? I have this thread bookmarked.

I'm a tank who runs with a healer buddy. Before Shadow of Revan, we'd two-man hard mode flash points with companions just for the fun of it — and the coms. Well, the expansion ended that for us, at least temporarily. We could just go into group-finder. Before we do that, though, we're asking if any DPS players out there enjoy doing HMFPs too. Group-finder is hit-or-miss. Way back before we did two-mans all the time, group-finders sometimes put my buddy and I among players who are better than we're ever going to be who had clearly run out of better things to do that week. But we also ran into people in Level 40ish green gear who'd cuss my healer buddy if they died — rarely as that happened. It was amazing to me to see some of the characters he could keep standing. We don't have any hard-core requirements. We're not going to insult anybody by asking for parses or screenshots of achievements, for instance. They're flash points, not ops. Even if you're not geared for these we can either compensate for that or get you geared quickly — or do both at the same time. Also, we have plenty of alts. So if you want to tank or heal sometimes, we can work with that. If you're interested or have questions, post here or send an in-game e-mail to Chebeh on the 'Pub side or Maehlyt on the Imp side.

@TVDF How right you are. That became very clear to me as I revised the post. In fact, changing the post to tone down the snark isn't enough. I'm going to post a new thread with a more acceptable tone. Whether the new one gets a reply or not, at least it won't be as embarrassing. Thanks.

Ah. A good answer. I assumed the heroics gave more rep but apparently that may have been a bad assumption.

Well, speaking as the guy who didn't ask for a parse and a screenshot of achievements -- and a resume and references -- I'd say I'm one of the least uppity people to post here. However, you still have a good point. I will edit the OP accordingly. Even if I never get a response, I could have been more polite..

Agreed. Especially since we were the ones offering the job.

Well, as it says in the OP:

I was a little taken aback by the requirements, there, cmorea. This is for flashpoints, not a job application. But then I remembered how many times I've been burned going through groupfinder. So perhaps your caution is justified. So if you're really interested, I'm willing to meet you on fleet sometime and let you inspect to your heart and mind's content.

Yeah, I've read they're broken. Perhaps I'm not missing anything anyway.

I posted on JC forum also. Just wanted to give new people a chance.

Oh, I have plenty of people to run with. Never wait more than a minute in GF with my healer buddy, and never more than 5 minutes alone as a tank. I'm just choosy. And thanks for the extra views.

I don't have to be pleasant. I'm a tank. In fact, I'm four tanks and that's not counting the <60 alts.

A very fair question. The short answer is that group finder is always a shot in the dark. We've had good experiences and bad ones. We're just trying to eliminate the bad ones through consistency. I don't think my buddy and me ever failed to get through a HM FP with four once both of us started one, but some runs were much more fun than others. Sad, true -- but perhaps avoidable. If this thread gets no response or we can't manage to find consistent group players by some other means, we'll just have to live with that. But might as well try. Egad. My OP was badly and ambiguously worded. Will edit. Thanks. I may have sounded more unreasonable than I am, but I'm still remembering the guy who dropped out of a hard mode and left three people without a healer because he didn't get the furniture drop. Unbelievable. Of course, he probably would have left if he HAD received the furniture drop, but that's speculation on my part. Indeed. Thanks for your consideration, and the reply in any case.

Chebeh, my main shadow tank, has a good friend whose main's a healer on the Pub side. Now we have experienced alts on the Imp side too. We enjoyed doing flash points two-man back when the level cap was 50 and then 55. Well, now getting ultimate coms really requires four, or at least it does for us. We're looking for partners for hard-mode flash points. We're not really interested in ops. And if somebody else wants to tank or heal, we can work with that. We each have more alts than rational people would have. We have nothing against people who are geared and ready but would be glad to help a new players gear up. In fact, our minimum standards are much more about personality than gear. 1. Don't be a know-it-all unless you really do know what you're talking about. 2. We already have better gear than what drops in HM FPs, but would appreciate not being expected to give up everything that drops. 3. We're in this for the coms, not interior decoration. We'd be reasonable but we're not going to do every bonus mission in the galaxy just to get furniture. 4. Don't nag us to go on ops. In fact, don't nag, period. That's about it. Also, between us we're middling to good crafters of just about everything. If interested, post here or send an in-game e-mail to Chebeh.

(Edited in light of comments and suggestions.) Chebeh, my main shadow tank, has a good friend whose main's a healer on the Pub side. Now we have experienced alts on the Imp side too. We two-manned a lot of hard mode flash point back when the level cap was 50 and again at 55. Well, now getting ultimate coms really requires four. (I'm sure somebody out there is going to post that he can solo it. Congrats to you. You're awesome. Now go away.) We're looking for partners for hard-mode flash points. We're not really interested in ops. I posted a mirror thread on the Jedi Covenant forum, but decided to let newer players know that we're open to relative newcomers. And if somebody else wants to tank or heal, we can work with that. We each have more alts than rational people would have. We're on the Jedi Covenant server and have a few requests: 1. Don't be a know-it-all unless you really do know what you're talking about. 2. Don't be "needy' . We already have better gear than what drops in HM FPs, so you'll get more than your share. Just don't expect everything. 3. We're in this for the coms, not interior decoration. We're willing to be reasonable but we're not going to do every bonus mission in the galaxy just to get furniture. 4. Don't nag us to go on ops. In fact, please don't nag. That's about it, but we reserve the right to arbitrarily decide whether we like you or not. And we acknowledge that you will have the same right. Also, between us we're middling to good crafters of just about everything. If interested, post here or send an in-game e-mail to Chebeh.

Minimum gear requirements for group-finder for hard mode flashpoints and operations. I have no beef with people willing to pay a subscription fee just for story content. However, they're not the problem. The problem is people hitting the space bar all through that story content so they can get to 60 and then pollute the group finder while still wearing green 40-something gear. I'm as willing to help people gear up as the next player, but not when they would clearly prefer that I carry them through a hard-mode rather than go through Oricon themselves once. 12 XP does create serious problems. This is not a case of "Why not?"

This. Single-player gamers at heart greatly enjoy 12 XP. I don't begrudge them their experience. Unfortunately, I never meet those. While they are enjoying their stories, I met those who rushed through and went into groupfinder when they hit 55, still wearing blue level 25 earpieces among their green level 40-something gear and, it appears, never paying training costs to improve their skills. I don't doubt they hit the spacebar all the way through the story content the OP prizes so much. I can sympathize with newbs. The real problem was players who knew they were rush jobs but were so greedy for gear they literally freeloaded on others to carry them through the content. They didn't care. 12 XP completely ruined groupfinder for hardmode flashpoints, period. The only time I've been in one since 12 XP started was to help friends who pleaded with me because it had gotten so bad. I won't be back until at least a month after 12 XP finally ended. And 30 times through Kuat, really? Don't blame the game because you did something incredibly repetitive. I have a life, a good marriage, kids a rewarding job -- and a little patience. I went through Kuat once with friends just to see it and have never been back.

Re: Soloing Oricon I'd argue that if you don't want to fail half the time or more after a long wait for groupfinder to even pop with a hard-mode level 55 flashpoint, do it my way. Now, it is also true that you're often lucky enough to fall in with a group that well geared and experienced. If you get such a group, then you could go in naked, collect your coms, thank the other group members and leave. Does that make you "ready"? No, not really. Hey, I admit I'm being a hard case here. I just think "Be Prepared" is a good rule. And I absolutely agree that it's harder for some types to solo Oricon than others. I know, because I have passed my own test with almost every -- but not all -- varieties of toons. I don't have a level 55 sniper yet, for instance. I just think it's better to try, fail, get up and try again by yourself with no waiting in the que than to fail when three other people are counting on you after a long wait to even find a group. ===================== The thread's topic is Level 55 gearing. I thought that was enough to show that I wasn't talking about level 50 gearing. But let me be explicit: Yes, I was talking about Hard Mode 55 FPs.

And there, in two sentences, is the summary of the biggest rock and a hard place in the game. Good gear is needed to avoid being a liability in a flashpoint, but too few people are interested in helping under-geared players get any. I've seen this again and again and I'm a founding member with 100% ultimate gear on my two mains. And I never do ops. Too much hassle, and I guess I don't play well with others. I'm a single-player at heart. Here's the short version: Previous poster was right. Go to Oricon. Not only will you get some almost-decent gear, but it's really a training ground. The beast in the northern cave, for instance, is practically a tutorial in how to use interrupts and switch targets. Until you can solo Oricon, including the hero mission, you are not ready for a hard mode flash point. =========================== What surprises me most, however, is how few people who really need help will ask experienced players for that help. And none of the few who asked me for assistance after we met on a flash point or after I answered a gen-chat SOS on their mission stuck with it very long. They keep running off and looking for a shortcut to great gear, which simply does not exist. They call it "ultimate" gear for a reason. ================= The best short advice I can give is this: Finish Makeb and Oricon, then do the weekly group-finder mission for hard-mode flash points. That can be a frustrating experience, but will get you 42 ultimate coms a week per character. In theory, you can get 82 ultimates a week with one character if you really grind and do a HMFP every single day. That works out to about one piece of Ultimate gear every two weeks, per character. If you have more than one toon, you can shift ultimate pieces around in legacy gear. While you're stuck in the que looking for a group, do the Makeb weekly missions. Each one of those can be easily done solo, and once the que finally pops you can quickly leave any mission you're on. And you'll earn some cash and elite coms. Then you can hit "exit" to your previous location after the FP and pick up where you left off. Finding groups is much, much quicker for a tank, but you need to be well-geared if you're going to have a group depend on you as a tank. There's no quicker way to become hated that to be a severely under-geared tank or healer who shows up in a hard mode.

I do not agree with the drastic solution proposed by the OP, but there is a serious problem of people who simply aren't ready for even a HM FP getting in the group finder. Gear greed trumps logic far too often. I think players should have to complete the Oricon weekly before being eligible for GF for a hard mode flash point. Then you won't have people in green level-45 stuff and 15K hit points showing up in your pug group. Yes, that's an extreme example but it happened to my buddy. On this topic, I'm a tank on the Jedi Covenant server will a good friend who's an excellent healer, but he would like to play DPS once in a while. Imp or Pub, doesn't matter. If there are any healers reading this thread who are tired of taking what you get while pugging, reply here.

This is the best advice, but to be fair I'll give a specific answer. I must agree with those who strongly recommend the Shadow for solo play. Stealth not only saves you fights, it can save you time. Some hero missions are ridiculously easy to solo with stealth. More important, a Shadow tank may not be as tough as, say, a guardian, but it is still hard to kill AND it inflicts much more damage on enemies than any other tank type. DPS can dish it out but can't take it. Most tanks can take it but can't dish it out. The ability to dish it out + the ability to take it = win. The key advantage, though, is to remember that the secret to solo play is to accomplish the mission -- not kill everything in the room. A combination of stealth, survivability and the ability to finish a fight will get you to the end goal every time.

I wish that was as funny as it should be. Sadly, I have to strongly agree. Group finder's need for more tanks makes things worse. We are in heavy demand -- so a tank who doesn't know his rotation can find a group right away while an outstanding DPS has to wait in line. The tank won't catch the blame for failure because: 1. Not enough people are willing to kick a tank and then wait another 20 minutes in group finder, and 2. Keeping people alive is the healer's job. If I die, well, it can't be because I suck. It must be the healer's fault. A bad DPS can soak up too much in heals and then blame then healer for a wipe. Now word seems to be getting around that if you want to get a group, be a tank. Well, claim to be one anyway. Hey, I'm a tank. I never get kicked. Hey, at least they could hold aggro. Better a good DPS winging it as a tank than a bad tank, agreed. But see previous remarks about the tank shortage and people becoming aware that the way to get a group is to que as a tank. Quite agree -- because good players look to see what's happening and adapt. Good players are never the problem.

The good healers I know won't go into group finder because they're all tired of being scapegoats for suck. The healers I know aren't the whiny type. but I thought things couldn't be all that bad. I started going in group finder instead of running with friends all the time. Both Pub and Imp side, I never voted to kick a healer -- and saw them get kicked repeatedly. And I'm the tank. If the healer was bad, I was the first to know it. All this kicking does is discourage healers while masking real skills problems with tanks and DPS. And healers are a key bottleneck role for forming balanced groups. You can only have as many groups as you have healers. Group Finder is packed with DPS. I've never waited more than 10 minutes in group finder as a tank. Often a group pops as soon as I click the que. I've never waited less than 20 minutes as a DPS, and sometimes for an hour or even more. The rate at which group finder pops is directly tied to the supply of tanks and healers. Yeah, there are some bad healers out there. I had to tell one guy in a hard-mode flash point what a "cleanse" was and what the ability was called for his character. But once I told him where it was -- and stepped backwards from the droid in Hammer Station every time I needed a cleanse -- everything was OK. By the end of the FP, he was doing all right. A little knowledge and encouragement worked. So if I can get through a hard mode with a healer who doesn't even know what his cleanse is, what's your excuse? To further test how bad this problem is, I got a healer of my own I hadn't played in a while. After running some ops and flash points with friends to scrape the rust off my skills, I went in group finder. It was weird. I was either the healer for good groups, which didn't need much in the way of heals, or fell in with bad groups where a god of healing could make little difference. Very few groups were between those two extremes. The worst case was one in which the tank -- I'm not trying to be mean, just accurate -- couldn't hold aggro if it had a handle tied to a rope. I never spent as much time and energy healing myself. I turned in what I regard as the virtuoso healing performance of my life, but we wiped. It was also perfectly, even blatantly, obvious to anybody looking what the problem was. Guess who got kicked.

Hear, hear.