Bad server/client sync. Big problem with all knockbacks, grapples, etc.

Friday prime time for Asian players ( And let's not forget the additional emergency emergency fix 4 h downtime hitting Europeans Friday prime time )

You are on some weird server my friend.

While 1.2 brought boosts to both Sab and DF they weren't large enough to make either tree mandatory for PvP. Gunslinger is now in the fortunate position to have 3 working trees with varied playstyles and somewhat different specific purposes ( they are still all DPS-ish of course ). Certain builds may be more suited to the role your group expects you to fill though,

He's saying: Be smarter next time and don't buy a themepark MMO with some PvP tacked on as an afterthought if that is all you care about. Live and learn, right ?

Yup. Miss it early on or, gasp !, have any real life commitments during the first couple days and you're screwed, no matter how much time you have to play later. While it's more of an annoyance than an actual problem, I have to wonder who came up with this design in combination with the short time window of the event. Just need a little common sense to predict this will lead to a lot of frustrated customers, particularly within exactly those demographics actually bringing in the money ( Pro tipp: That's neither the 24/7 nutters nor the "competitive" PvPers ).

Because that's where the money is. A PvP centered subscription MMO will never get past extreme niche status by today's standards.

I've been using this: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801G0GZrRrrRrbzbs.1 for a while now. It allows switching between Ion Cell and HEC with minimal losses compared to pure IC/HEC specs. Basically you'll be using the same attacks and the same priority system, just have to be a little more conservative with ammo in tanky stance.

Juggs/Guards weren't underpowered before 1.2 and they certainly aren't after.They're just late bloomers, but that doesn't matter at lvl 50 now, does it.

There definitely is a strong case to be made for roots and snares being subject to Resolve. This isn't an easy on/off switch though, as it would affect classes in vastly different ways. For Gunslngers/Snipers and Sorcs/Sages it would be a huge blow and neither of them is near the top of the food chain at the moment anyway. Without a reliable root they might as well just roll over and die if a melee jumps them, same outcome but less painful that way. Such a change would require a lot more work than just having Resolve affect roots. Unless you want to turn the current game from Melee Preferred Wars into Melee Only Wars.

This is the problem pretty much. BW designed the class ( intentionally ? not sure ) with some glaring weaknesses. These can be compensated by an organized team and then the Gunslinger's insane burst becomes invaluable. In a PUG you can't do much but hope the other team will be stupid enough to ignore you.

So do Vanguards. Only Assault can stay at distance for a limited time, but that will cut down on either damage or ammo real quick and in that spec you're not a tank, PvP or otherwise, anyway. The ranged capabilies of the other trees are pretty much limited to interrupting objective capping and the occasional Mortar Volley. With Sticky Bomb and ( non Plasma Cell ) Hammer Shot you'll barely tickle people. Guardians/Juggs have a larger and better toolset to control opponents. The one thing they are missing is Harpoon, but the 15m range on Guard severely limits it's usefulness for a bodyguard.

Well, grinding warzones for 6 hours 7 days a week straight isn't a particularly realistic scenario for anyone but the tiniest minority of players, so even dedicated PvPers will be looking at 2-3 months to aquire a full set of WH at the current rates ( and god forbid you want to swap mods because the itemization is terrible - like for most sets actually ). That is, if they even decide to stick around to run the same few maps over and over and over...Doesn't seem very likely to me. In the grand scheme of things it won't make much of a difference, as PvP only players are far less important to a themepark MMO than they're continuously trying to make everyone believe and most if not all of them would leave for Tera or GW2 anyway, no matter what BioWare does. The current system doesn't really cater to any relevant demographics though. It's too monotonous and the rewards of too little significance for PvP nuts and too much grind for pretty much anyone else. BW will have to decide to lean one way or the other eventually, then again their entire PvP approach needs a complete overhaul.

Yes, they are supposed to, and only bad players compain about their DPS. It's the amount of control and on-demand survivability in combination with their DPS that's making them one man armies.

Guardian/Jugg is the best bodyguard by a mile ( and a half tbh ),

U mad ?

For a full Tactics build HiB is useful mostly as a finisher if the target is out of your 10m range. There is one slight problem though, the target is out of your melee range as well and you can't apply Gut If you gutted your target before it will be snared and an Ion Pulse or two will usually do. I'm not saying HiB is terrible, in fact I've argued over on the BH board that you shouldn't just drop it completely as well. For 31 Tactics it's a rather situational ability though and sinking 5 ( if you take the first tier talents in Tactics and Shield as well an unbelievable 10 !! ) points into it is just madness.

Dropped it for the exact reasons mentioned in the original post. The mileage I get out of this chain would maybe be worth two points, no way I'll spend 5 on it. If Gut didn't suck so much for any other purpose than applying the snare I might reconsider.

You can take down pretty much any target, potential burst is certainly not where the spec falls short. The need to move between objectives constantly and the generally faster gameplay after 1.2 put even more emphasis on its lack of mobility and any sort of escape mechanism though, to not get roflstomped after pretty much every kill you have to spend an excessive amount of time and effort positioning, cutting down on the actual damage you can do substantially. ( Of course you could camp somewhere and just pickoff stragglers, but let's stick to strategies involving you contributing to the team effort here. )

If you're talking PvE only all four of the two ACs' DPS trees should get the job done quite comfortably and the issues with usability of Focus and Tactics aren't really a problem. That said, let's have a look at the individual trees: Assault should provide the best single target damage by a considerable margin and you have the option to stay at range for a limited time if the encounter demands it, but with the 1.2 changes you can't just switch to tanky stance on the fly. Without Ionic Accelerator you're screwed. Tactics and Vigilance otoh will allow that with only minimal adjustments in playstyle, as a Tactics Vanguard you basically just have to be a little more conservative with ammo use and most Vigilance Guardians are sporting some form of Vigilance/Def hybrid anyway. WIth Commanding Awe now being a 5th tier talent those are even easier to design than before. Personally I think Tactics is still somewhat awkward and the general design of the tree needs more work. Focus provides excellent AoE damage and with the overall changes to Guardians is probably not far behind Assault in single target damage if the encounter allows you to stay in melee range, you also can switch to tank stance with less of a penalty than Assault, as the core mechanics of the tree will remain functional, but you don't get the improved defense and utility of Tactics or Vigilance. tl;dr: My recommendation: If you'll dps most of the time, go Assault. If you frequently have to offtank, go Vigilance.

Agree with the post above mine: Depends on the spec. I'd argue that the 4 x combat tech set bonus might be worth keeping for Iron Fist builds though, You'll use SS almost as much as Assault will use HiB and while the additional 15% crit may not turn a mediocre player into a PvP god it could be just the edge you need to win in a tight encounter. The decision is probably easiest for Tactics running in HEC, all the set boni are marginally useful at best and thanks to the stupid amount of accuracy on Combat Tech you need to mix and match anyway.

Nice post, but it rests on the premise that DPS should be the only deciding factor and that the instagibb fest we have now is somehow desirable. Let's just say I strongly disagree on both counts.

Getting BM gear is actually easier than it was before unless you're on an almost empty server playing the outnumbered and outgeared faction. If you can motivate yourself to play the terrible instagib unfun fest PvP turned into that is

Not sure if...No, wait, I am sure the guy is trolling actually.

BW hasn't even managed to set up a character copy or instant lvl 50s on the test server yet. It's pretty safe to say faction switches are not gonna happen for a very long time, if ever.