I can't live without the "reduce cooldown" powers. You will be in long battles if you're tanking for a group--reduced cooldown on force scream and force choke seem essential to me. There're probably inessential against champion bosses. Here is my spec: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#101srbszrrkuRZhMMZM.1

From what I've seen of stories the light side imperial options are still pretty evil. There's one quest where you get light side points for turning some force-wielding monsters to the dark side, for example--as opposed to slaughtering them, which is "dark side." This is probably the most egregious example. Republic stories you get dark side points for killing a dangerous enemy or acting "selfishly" (like for profit.) Interestingly the tactically smart decisions are often dark side on Republic sides, and light side on on the imperial side. "I'm not going to act like a Gandhi moron in a war" is dark side for republic, and "I'm not just going to slaughter people for no reason" is light side for imperials. Literally like "no, keep him alive to torture!" could be "light side."

This flashpoint is just a travesty for fans for KOTOR. It's not about whose story it is, it's just dramatically tonedeaf--like "Darth Vader built C-3PO!!!" I think everyone would have been totally satisfied with a Revan ghost, like Obi-wan. It's also about squandering resources, like making the best character from the original game a boss (???) twice (???) for some reason, instead of someone you can interact with. Although if HK-47 were a companion in this game, you'd have to buy him 300 skulls before you could chitchat with him, so nobody would ever see his dialogue.

I JUST got done with this. I think Bioware's thinking of future content, but what part of "kill your healer companion?" isn't clear in that equation? What happened to "choices you have to live with forever?" Would you have much sympathy for people crying that they didn't "understand" that killing Quinn killed Quinn forever? I don't use Quinn, I don't want him, don't need him for future content, I don't gear him--I wanted him dead. The fact he "knocked out" Jaesa and she was there fighting with me anyway kinda shows how rushed the scripting for this segment was. At the VERY least they should have a thing where I put Vette's shock collar on him.

I don't think the symbols are of relevance beyond "Empire" (Republic was metamorphosizing into the empire in the prequels.) But it'd be interesting if the Sith empire "wins" in a "sequel" (of course they want to keep this game going for 10 years.) Like all players start as sith or empire players in an endless Sith civil war, and very early can choose to become rebel jedis, who are almost extinct.

I just kept up orange gear and it's been quite easy in (mostly) immortal spec, using Vette and then Jaesa, even compared to sorcerer (which I leveled to 50.) I wouldn't ever bother to use Quinn because it's slow, and I never needed him. Sand Demon and the jedis on Tattooine seemed freakishly difficult, and an elite killed me on a class quest at level 40 until I upgraded gear and leveled to 41. Mind you the one elite that killed me twice at level 40 still sticks in my head. That's the only occasion post-Tatooine where I fought an elite twice and failed twice. As a matter of course I send Jaesa in first to draw aggro, then taunt it off her after she's done some damage--the buck stops with your health in SP tank play. Sorc can maybe feel easy since enemies typically don't even touch you until Khem goes down. I usually don't NEED to send Jaesa in first, but if you're on the fence with elites or tough mobs, this practice could help. With sorcerer, you are in trouble if Khem goes down. Jaesa went down yesterday--an on-level elite and a strong both stood with more than 50% health, and I killed them both. I don't know if any other class could do that. Defensive abilities kept me standing until the strong went down, then my stuns were back, and I nailed the elite. I have a slightly undergeared sentinel with notably undergeared companions, however, and I know the feeling that normal content is "too hard"--I don't know. If you or your companion are rocking ANY greens, outlevel the content a bit, because as far as the game is concerned, you're underleveled.

I went tank (immortal) spec, and I've heard people say it's the best. Thing is, it REALLY comes to life once you get to the top of the tree--but not before the "backhand" tier. Tier 5 changes your game style, and makes you pretty beastly. It's not necessarily about rapid DPS so much as an array of stuns so oppressive you can solo elites (or other players) with no peer. I don't PvP but this series of attacks can take an elite down to half health, and probably almost kill a player character (during which time they're almost helpless.) Saber Throw, Force charge---> now 2 second stun--->ravage or something quick while they're stunned, Backhand----> 4 second stun, attack, Force Push (resets force charge=another 3-4 second stun altogether)--->Force choke (no longer needs to be cast, so you can attack while you're choking)---->crushing blow decimates armor--->force scream gives you a static barrier that maybe absorbs 1,000 damage (not sure.) A final force scream means they come out of 10 virtually unanswered attacks unable to even damage you. Incredibly powerful 1 on 1 toolset. Trying popping your defensive abilities then and the victor isn't in question. Is it the fastest way to kill somebody? It's sure reliable (and if others are whooping on enemies during your series of incapacitating attacks, it doesn't preclude quick kills.)

FYI I think the high-level tank-specced Jugg favors a DPS companion, which is almost as important as your spec, in PvE--many people use Quinn the healer since it seems to make sense for a tank. But your array of abilities can keep an elite stunned and useless for large swathes of time, during which time having Vette or J. blasting away is quite helpful. Quinn can do much if you're stunning and stasising and force-pushing an elite to oblivion.

I split my points between what seems most useful at the time, then respec later. "Backhand costs one less rage to cast"--but I don't have backhand yet. Uhm. I just got to the top of the tank tree and it's pretty sick. But a lot of the trees in this have some loser perks all by themselves. The tank (left) spec comes alive at tier 5: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#101.1 Tier 5 (the Backhand row) is all win--you can now manhandle an elite better than any other class (saber throw/force charge 2 second stun/backhand/force choke/ravage/force push/saber throw(?)/force charge.) The elite can barely respond to the rectal examination you're administering.

Forgot to mention I map "companion attack this target" to "Q" and use it a lot (especially on super-scary-elites.) People who think they need a healer might not use this (somewhat counterintuitive) strategy. A weakness of SP tank play is that the buck stops with your health, especially if you're drawing all the aggro. You probably wish you had an "untaunt" button in tough fights. If you send Jaesa in on a mob: she draws aggro first. You can selectively taunt or group-taunt enemies off her when you jump in (immediately or sometime after her.) If you send Jaesa at an elite: you can ALWAYS taunt the elite off her when she's at 40% health, and the only danger here is the elite might have some AoE attacks which can still kill her, but it's pretty rare. Worst-case scenario this might slow you down as much as using Quinn, but it's kind of your choice whether to slow down a lot or a little.

I found her orange inquisitor-looking armor that wasn't inquisitor-only on the GTN. Somebody must have crafted it.

The slowness of fights with Quinn makes me use Jaesa. He puts out feeble, feeble damage. Any Jugg who thinks they "need" a healer all the time is dead wrong. I geared up Jaesa with mostly-oranges and never looked back. Tank spec has many "I set 'em up, you knock 'em down" powers. Force charge/force choke/backhand/etc. are basically handing a DPS companion an opportunity to wail away on enemies. All the tank stuns work on elites, so having a DPS inflicting damage the whole time the elite is stunned is VERY helpful (whereas Quinn is basically useless if you're not taking damage.) I've never needed a healer for anything yet. I'd originally intended to keep Quinn geared for the tough fights, but Jaesa works for everything. Since I'm on a populated server I can buy purple gear for both of us every few levels.

I don't do crafting--so companion conversations are basically cut off from me unless I want to buy 300 Vblithur skulls (there's even a cooldown to make it more annoying!) Amazingly, you can have a dark side companion like J. with you all the time, make all darkside choices, and only a couple of conversations will appear. I would forgo the XP if the conversations would just open up organically at the appropriate level... As it is if you unlock a mission, you might very well be overleveled for it, making it useless. In the context of a thirty hour game like "Mass Effect 2," the notion of grinding gifts to earn a minute of conversation from Doctor Mordin is absolutely preposterous. I'm not sure if it's more or less ridiculous in the context of a massive game like this. You're GIVING me the conversations so I'm INTERESTED in the companions and the story... It's one of the very worst design choices in this epic game. The vast majority of players will only access the conversations of the companion they want to romance, if that. Every class story is made the poorer for it. Some of the "bad" reviews the game got could very well be attributable to the fact that you don't even get a semblance of Bioware story-feeling from your crew, even though the playtime is massively expanded. I've played through numerous classes and rarely am able to speak to my companions (which was the lifeblood of KOTOR and KOTOR 2.) Despite the fact Bioware put a lot of work into the companion conversations! It's almost unbelievable what a terrible choice this was.

I've played various stories and Sith Warrior is the best so far. Generally speaking: Jedis------>monkish, dull, priestlike, lacking motivation, emotions--their insight into morality and the force is literally on par with a "good guy" in a children's cartoon. Try using a monkish dullard as a lead character in a film----oh wait, they did that, "The Phantom Menace." Revan and the Exile were tortured and conflicted, with unique histories. The jedis in this are as bland as Qui-jonn Jinn. Playing as sith, their platitudinous "good" garbage will nauseate you, and you'll enjoy killing them. Sith------>mustache twirling villains, but the notion that Sith insanity and infighting will doom the empire is quite well-drawn. So you're part of a cabal of lunatics--it's more engaging at least. Playing as a villain or hitman is as fun as playing "Hitman" or "Grand Theft Auto." Specifically: Sith Warrior has the best Sith master (Darth Baras is pretty scary, and his voice actor is great) and the coolest "Darth Vader" armor. The first story with Jaesa is perverse and thrilling and awesome, and you'll be totally stoked at the end of chapter 1. Every planet after that seems like its own unique adventure, as opposed to part of a dull quest chain of macguffins (like sith inquisitor.) I'm enjoying the sith warrior stuff more than any other story so far.

I gotta agree Juggernaut is beastly, and I was just over in the Jedi Sentinel forums complaining about how weak the class is. I avoided warrior classes after my sentinel seemed to suck, but my Juggernaut is laughing at everyone. I saw two on-level Jedi elites hanging out on Taris and killed them for sport (with jaesa equipped in her starter greens.) The two boss fights (sand-demon and jedis) on Tattooine are kind of an aberration, but those are tough. Otherwise Juggernaut is almost more powerful than my sorcerer.

<Sure it's rough.> Nobody playing any other class would describe fighting on-level mobs, strongs or even elites as "rough." If you did it, great--people beat "Call of Duty" on hard mode too, but most people don't enjoy playing that way. PvP numbers might work out since "rebuke" and "saber ward" are excellent in short, fast fights against other players--but fighting elites in PvE they run out. The class really isn't all that complicated compared to the others. I get it--use defensive abilities. I'm done complaining about this--difficulty can be mitigated by over-leveling content, and there's about a dozen ways to do those things.

My sentinel (*decent* gear, did Tattooine, upgraded mostly orange armor) got murdered by on-level Alderaan content. Companion was dying every pull, brink of death constantly. I grabbed all the quest reward upgrades for T7 to tank, got him parts, an earpiece and implants. I've played every other class in the game to some extent at this point, for an embarrassingly vast amount of time (sorc to 50, trooper, agent and Juggernaut beyond Chapter 1.) Never encountered any difficulty problems like this. The class is borked in whatever way--don't care about PvP, maybe the shortterm burst-defensive abilities make it reasonably viable for skilled players, but the PvE is obviously tuned wrong. I feel about 4 levels underleveled, maybe worse. I can pop all those defensive spells, but when you're fighting an elite they expire and you do. My Sith Juggernaut feels like the most beastly class I've played yet, so it's not "Jedi Knight," it's sentinel in particular. "But above all of this Interrupt Interrupt Interrupt" I didn't worry too much about interrupting on my sorcerer, trooper or juggernaut. Never needed to worry, unless I was on a boss with a particularly nasty attack. Roll another class, or out-level your content by 4 levels, or get all purples and the game will feel balanced again.

Sentinel was my first character. I left her to rot for a month, recently came back. I leveled a sorc and played numerous alts. I learned to play--some. Got the hang of sentinel again, got upgraded orange gear, and fully upgraded T7 to be my DPS's tank. I'm using all my abilities now, and am fairly competent. I attack weak enemies first. T7 nonetheless dies on literally 2/3 of my pulls (on-level at Alderaan, 32 now.) My gear is pretty good (all oranges with recent upgrades, T7 has the quest reward greens.) Almost every fight takes me to the brink of death. The only ability I could use more is "Pacify," maybe. Interrupts and defensive buffs are now mandatory (as opposed to casual, as with other classes.) Defenders of sentinel take note: interrupts are not necessary with other classes. At all. You are "learning to play" to make up for the fact the class sucks, and is "hard mode." Defensive buffs are typically only used on bosses and elites, as opposed to "every fight." I admit none of my gear is purple, but I can't remember Khem, Kaliyo or the Trooper's robot dying every single pull. In fact I remember I didn't even buy Khem gear (like implants or an earpiece) til level 38 or so. I'm on D. Angral's ship now, level 32 (on-level,) and everything's taking me to the brink of death or killing me. I finally just logged out in despair, right before the climactic battle, after another lone, non-boss elite destroyed me twice in a row. It's notable. I could level up 3 levels and the content would be easier, but that's kind of the point--the class does suck compared to the other classes. Playing through sorcerer, trooper, and agent content (guess they're all "over"powered?), I had no comparable difficulty experience (every pull is like a boss fight.)

I leveled a sorc up to 50 and have various alts, and bosses like this (demanding that you level up or buy new gear to be *approachable*) are not normal. If you have to bring a friend, don't feel bad. I only recently started using relic slots to increase my endurance, but that helps too. I always look for purple implants and earpieces--sometimes you can find monstrous ones. I don't know how the numbers work out, but I always make sure my lightsaber hilts are priority 1. If you're running with 1,000 more hitpoints than someone your level, that's probably reflected in offensive capabilities, too (6,000 vs. 5,000 could be the equivalent of 5 levels of effectiveness, I think.)

I don't think Juggernauts are a pain to level. There's something I really like about the gameplay, actually, whereas I can almost say the opposite about trying out a jedi shadow (though it might have been the incredibly boring consular story, dunno.) I think leveling with healer Quinn might be a real pain, though--I definitely couldn't stand the shift in tempo when I tried bringing him out. Bounty Hunter tanks always have death from above to decimate scrubs, and assassins do more DPS. You have to switch companions between Vette (weak mobs) and Quinn (bosses) in your 20s, and then you begin getting fun offensive weapons (force push, choke.) With Vette doing DPS the pace of Juggernaut play feels similar to every other class.

We were running to the 2+ heroic in the Dune Sea and I noticed we were running right past my class quest, which I hadn't beaten. Needless to say we popped in for a little chat with those two. Amazingly my Juggernaut still lost 80% of his health--though we aggroed both of them immediately (usually the old jedi waits until his buddy is almost dead to jump in.) Check your gear--I noticed with just a few oranges and some (sometimes cheap) purchases on the GTN I often have substantially more hitpoints than people on my level. Of course I needed that health to double and then triple team (third friend came in when the fight was half over) the boss! Between the sand demon and these two (I hadn't seen a quest yet that deprives you of companions, even when dueling your archnemeses in other stories), it's a few of the freakishly hardest bosses I've seen in PvE.

Sometimes I think Bioware doesn't fully understand the dynamics of their own stories. If you're going to give us a character with a shock collar, make it somebody we want to shock, like Carth. I'm totally dark side and I took the collar off immediately. I mean Hannibal Lecter wouldn't shock Vette. He would find that...rude.

Outside playstyle (melee vs. "death from above," whatever, I find my new sith warrior very fun), I think there is a "qui-gonn" effect in the jedi storylines. I.E., the bland monk, as protagonist, is just boring--as a character it lacks motivation. Like the "Phantom Menace" review video where the Jedi's heads are replaced by Ambien. Jedis are so hippy-ish they're not even quite allowed to be the terrifying "blind samurai" of Japanese mythology, or quiet gunslinger--who would become a cleansing force purging wickedness and evil, if pressed. It's the difference between "Gandhi" and "Rambo," and the middle ground between them isn't very coherent. In "Star Wars" Jedi characters represented the "wise old man" archetype--or in the form of Luke, they were normal people who rose to greatness. The dull monk Jedis of the prequels were always lacking as characters (and were virtually interchangeable,) and that's how the Jedi stories feel in this. KOTOR 1 and 2 the main Jedi characters were (eventually) fleshed out to be conflicted and tortured, with long and jaded personal histories. Much preferable (Reven goes through a moral arc to become light side again, of course--here the jedis have no arc.)

If you're running in Soresu (I think that's the tank form), endurance is pretty big. I managed to get a lot of endurance for my sniper, which helps in an emergency, but doesn't help all that much--she should be the last person to be attacked (whether I'm guarded by my tank or other players.) Every endurance point I have can only sustain my sniper's DPS. If it's down to me, that's less helpful than sustaining me + companion/group. With the tank armor bonus, this almost becomes your critical stat--i.e., every endurance point you get is pre-buffed with +60% armor. Every endurance point you have helps sustain the entire group's DPS, including yours.

Also, this is rather obvious but playing PvE, player + companion--there are two options: 1)Companion takes most/all aggro first--they die. You kill enemies. Victory. 1A)If you both have 5,000 HP, the enemy mobs have to inflict 10,000 worth of damage to kill you. 2)Player character takes most/all aggro first--you die. Companion doesn't finish off enemies. Death. 2A)If you both have 5,000 HP, the enemy mobs have to inflict 5,000 worth of damage to kill you. So MERELY THE TANK COMPANION (equipped with heavy armor) TAUNTING AND DRAWING AGGRO is a huge benefit before the fact (which can amount to doubling your effective hitpoints.) 3)You're both DPS--player character may or may not draw all aggro, putting your effective HP somewhere between 5 and 10,000. 60% armor buff on tank companions = way too easy (putting your effective HP at 13,000, or something comparable, versus possible 5 or 7,000 if using a DPS.)