Are vanguards considered viable tanks for ranked/arena if specced and geared as tanks? I understand most feel the burst is gimped, but what about the tanking utility in PVP?

Thank you I truly appreciate the honest feedback. What happened that nerfed us so bad? When I quit I actually got bored because I felt the game was too easy as assault and eventually just got so bored I quit playing.

Hi All, I'm returning from a long break and used to play a Vanguard, mainly assault or tactics and exclusively PVP. I am reading a bunch of stuff about Vanguards being weak and such, so I'm not really looking for the QQ. I guess what I want to know is, what is considered the best PVP spec we have right now? I'm assuming based on reading Assault has fallen from it's throne, but is it still viable, and will it be viable for arenas? What about tactics and shield spec? Thanks in advance, going to start grinding 50-55 and would like to get some ideas on how to gear up for PVP to be most effective. =)

Now you can see why when EA boasts "Mythic pvp devs" you know they are lying. There is like 1 mythic PVP dev left, and he sucks balls....literally. Mythic died years ago and is just a name with nothing to back it anymore. We saw this with Warhammer, and now we see it with SWTOR. Please learn as I did that Mythic no longer means anything in terms of PVP in a few years when they try to shove it down your throats for the next MMO failure they release.

I thought dual speccing was one of the major features of the legacy system? I don't see it anywhere....was it not released?

So we can show bioware how smart they are.

GW2 is around the corner. I suggest unsubbing now and playing a free game until then such as League of Legends. All the work you are putting into this failboat will be a waste of time come GW2 when you quit anyways, just quit now and cut your losses like the rest of the hardcore PVPers.

On the bright side they didn't put in a leaver penalty so you can still leave the losing matches.

I run full tactics all the time, and yes I use high energy cell. It's a very under rated spec. The main difference is that with tactics you know your burst potential at all times, with assault some of your burst depends on procs and can be less than a tactics burst, or better. With tactics a full burst will not beat a full assault burst, but I find it to still be solid and reliable burst. Not to mention the constant move speed + hold the line to be amazing as well as almost infinite ammo. Lastly I find assault to be a very boring spec. Granted most classes in this game don't have more than 1 rotation, but with tactics you atleast have 2 main rotations which I find keeps me amused a bit longer.....even if 1 of them involves spamming ion pulse 5 times lol... Either way, just look at the trees and pick what you like. I tell you this, someone else tells you that, in the end you do what you like and you make it work. Edit: Here is my main spec: http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/trooper/specialist/#::efe2de2fe7fe5f2ef8ef10ef13: Also, I solo almost exclusively at all times because I work 2nd shift. 1v1's no problem other than a few classes/builds, wz's no problem at all and usually lead damage by a mile.

I gave them 1 more month to offer me a free character transfer after that I'm done. I only log in to do the 2 pvp dailies then I play league of legends. /shrug

I use HEC almost exclusively now and love it. Not only is the extra damage nice but I never run out of ammo....like I can literally spam ion pulse x5 + pulse generator and still be in medium range of ammo. The best is the movespeed. It's not noticeable at first but the more I play the more I have come to love it. If I can see a melee coming and start pre kiting they can not catch me without wasting a gap closer....which is easily avoided by HTL or a stun.

LOL With fully modded combat tech gear using mostly power/surge from gunslinger gear, if everything crits and I have red buff + power trinket, this is what that would look like: Fire dot ~ 2k over what, 8 seconds? High impact bolt (railshot) - 3800 Stockstrike (Riot strike) - 3200 You couldn't kill a bolstered level 49 in 3 hits. Add in Assault Plastique and MAYBE, but most don't go all the way up assault tree. I've seen that crit for around 4200. Most use the carolina parakeet spec which doesn't get AP, or a version of Assault/Tactics. Not many people go full assault.

Yea the smugglar helm is the only one that I know of that has the power/surge. Good luck.

Not bad have you optimized your gear yet? As in pull out all of the accuracy junk? You can do alot more damage than that with the right enhancements. The gunslinger enforcer helm in particular gives the power/surge enhancement which is great for replacing the junk in our gear.

Yes. Go against the grain my friend, you will be surprised.