First off, welcome to the Shadow community, you will find it a highly effective and fun class, but be prepared to have to work for it. This is not a class that can be won with 3 buttons. 1. Yes, a single spec can cover both PvP and PvE. For dps I prefer http://www.swtor-spy.com/skill-tree-calculator/jedi-shadow/20/?build=002300000000000000000000000000000322230221102030221022000210001003020000000000000000000000000000&ver=20 The hybrid build you have is an ok pvp spec, but will suffer in pve. I personally find my linked spec better for pvp as well, but it can really go either way. My spec is good at leveling, pvp, pve, it can suit your needs for anything. 2. While leveling, gear will not matter too much, just keep it fairly up to date. Trying to balance various stats is an endgame adventure, and will not effect leveling in a big way one way or another.

Missed ya bro. Hopefully the forums will be more interesting for a while until you get banned again As for the topic, its requires casting.

I'll make sure to grab the red wz buff and hit some sage for a 9k maul for ya 1 more pointless poster off these forums, infinite more to go...

This guy half gets it. Technically any class can 1v1 any class depending on player skill, but I do agree that Deception has a much easier time with it than almost every other spec in the game. That's the way Deception is designed, and it is good at its job, the same way Snipers are good at raining death from the longest range in the game, and smashers are good at putting aoe pressure on teams. I don't really believe in hard counters at all personally, me being class A and you class B does not mean I'm automatically going to win. This is not rock, paper, scissors, this is PvP, where skill is a factor. I've seen Mara's beat Snipers, Snipers beat Operatives, etc. The comment about 1v1's in Ranked pvp is dead on though, and is the main reason I remain skeptical about Deception's viablity in RWZ's. Without leaving combat, we do not get Recklessness resets, which puts us back at close to 1.7 viability.

Personally, I consider anyone my level or higher to be fair game. Anyone lower than me I ignore unless they attack me first. If that silly lvl 30 thinks he can take me out at 55 I'm going to prove him wrong.

I would stick it out, as a primarily Assassin/ Shadow player who also loves his Vigilance Guardian, I can tell you that it does get better. For one thing, stealth classes are overblown in the lowbie brackets, when the crit nerf kicks in at 55 they aren't so scary. Your biggest asset against them is the new reflect cooldown, with lots of practice you will be able to somewhat predict when the big attacks are coming and pop it. Also Force push into a leap gets you Unremitting, which gives you the upper hand again.

Ryre quit, now Deft is Ryre 2.0

We just need each tick of Force Storm to auto crit and hit for as much as Smash. Seems balanced.

I know! He's this guy: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=621370 (A team QQer) this guy: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=624263 (A team QQer) and Bastion's C team s***talker. Yet to see anything even remotely useful from him. Obviously doesn't know that this isn't 1.7 anymore, Arsenal mercs, Lightning Sorcs, and Lethality Ops are all beasts now. Actually, he sounds a lot like those jeejee guys...

Can we also make every ability instant? Casting is unbalanced. Smash is instant. I need a good reason to roll a merc and a lightning sorc

And this has anything to do with nothing?

I do have to argue against that, it takes a lot more skill than people give it credit for. Even the things that regular Infil players such as you or myself take for granted because we've done it so long, some players can't. Myself, I've played Deception/ Infiltration since launch, and made it my main class in 1.3, which it has been since. I played it during the worst time possible to be playing the spec. And it wasn't great, I did play the more useful tank hybrid when I had to, but I made it work as well as it could given the scenario. 1.4 came and it definitely helped, I wasn't straight up mocked when people saw me in the spec, and I could contribute. Wakajinn was eventually introduced, and I became a real presence on the field. Now in 2.0, for the first time I believe that Infil/ Decep is viable and effective at its job. And my experience with the spec is incredibly obvious compared to someone who just rerolled it as the perceived OP FOTM. There are innumerable bad Shadows and Assassins. To me, the spec is now balanced. Concealment unfortunately is still not viable IMO, for various reasons. But Concealment being nonviable does not make Deception OP. It simply means that Concealment needs help to be brought up to Deception's level.

Arguable, and even if true, that is a problem with Concealment being UP, rather than Deception being OP. Deception is finally in a good spot, able to effectively and reliably fulfill its role. Hopefully soon Concealment will get fixed and be able to fill its role effectively as well. That's all I'm trying to say.

Not as Deception it sure doesn't. Just an FYI Recklessness does not guarantee every tick of FL crits, even if the first tick does. I've used Reckless FL just for lols occasionally, and have had none of the ticks crit, after the first, which means about maybe a generous 4k TOTAL damage. 2k ticks means its a tank with at least 1 HD stack.

Assassin range is better than operative??? What, did you take any abilities not involving a knife off your bar? Seriously, you really need to l2p that class. For the record, I'm not saying Concealment is fine, I do believe that it is still under performing and needs love, but it is not broken to the ridiculous extremes that have been said in this thread.

Sorry, but you are just a bad operative, and probably a bad sin too. Reckless FL is about as dangerous as your Charged Burst, which is 30m, spammable, and can detonate Sabotage Charge, which is guess what, another 30m ability. Assassin is kiting you? Well that means you survived his opener, which means you are home free already, and are facing a bad assassin. Heal up, force him to come after you again, or just start using Charged Burst.

Spamming maul means that all but 2 of them WILL NOT BE PROCCED. Know what that means? Means 30% less damage, and exactly half our Force, each. Play the class before you cry, because you obviously have no clue how it works. Maul spam is about the worst way to play an Assassin.

Gudarzz is too good.

The only players I know of who left Bastion for Jung Ma were the more... undesirable... members of BadCompany, who were tired of getting rolled and left for easier competition. The good ones are still here. And I can guarantee that Bastion will give you more competition than anything on Jung Ma.

So much lol

I believe I have heard 6 of the 8 AC's claim that their new ability is useless.

I applaud those of you who are trying to help people understand, but honestly just give it up. Apparently only 10% of the player base has ever heard of phasing out old gear. And the rest would rather just cry than learn. More free kills for me.

My god... did you people even read the details they linked????

You do realize that removing the expertise is what will actually allow you to use ur old WH gear again right? Currently bolster has no idea *** to do with WH, so it gives you subpar stats, which is why going naked was better. Removing the expertise means WH is now treated like PvE gear, which means it benefits properly from bolster. BW is doing you a favor, and if you would actually read the details they gave you before crying, you would understand that.