I came back to the game recently so never had a chance to get the 198 Gear or whatever had the Set Bonus from before. Just wondering for PvE purposes if, for example, I just got the new 208 Commendation Gear, and then put the PvP 204 Armoring on for the 6 Piece Bonus would it be worth it. And does this apply to all Roles such as DPS, Heal, and Tank. Is the loss of some stats, and possibly Armor worth it for the 6 Piece Set Bonus?

This is taken from Goblin_Lackey Post: Powertech - Shield Tech || Vanguard - Shield Specialist (216 Level Gear) Average Damage Profile: 68.5% Reduction: 5331 Endurance | 2639 (0xAug) Defense | 1569 (9xAug) Shield | 973 (5xAug) Absorb High M/R Damage Profile: 75.2% Reduction: 5331 Endurance | 2639 (0xAug) Defense | 1569 (9xAug) Shield | 973 (5xAug) Absorb Mid M/R Damage Profile: 67.5% Reduction: 5331 Endurance | 2639 (0xAug) Defense | 1569 (9xAug) Shield | 973 (5xAug) Absorb Low M/R Damage Profile: 60% Reduction: 5331 Endurance | 2639 (0xAug) Defense | 1557 (13xAug) Shield | 985 (1xAug) Absorb Depending on the content you are doing, you do not want to go all Endurance, if you do you just become a big Mana Sponge like Druid Bear Tanks in WoW (that may have changed by now?).

I think it should also affect all instances as well. Like if multiple Hutt Ball games are going on then you only need one PT to reveal all the Stealthers

Just pretend that they know all of those abilities but it would be a huge DPS loss for them to use them instead of throwing out Lightning Bolts. The same way it is for a Jugger to use Lighting instead of Force Scream.

Is this because of the 12xp boost, have you only been doing the class quests? You could try and complete the story as is? Or maybe run a few Flash Point and Tactical Flash Point Dailies? Or pick up more quests along the way on Voss or Corelia http://www.swtor-spy.com/quests/page/3/?quest_cat=sith_sorcerer

I prefer most of the animations on the BH to the Vanguard. I do like Stock Strike though, and Mortar Volley is not too bad. But I hate the Running Leap, why not just Leap to the target, and not a fan of the Electrical Cone attack, it sems like a delay of when the damage hits the target.

Try this, from Dulfy.net: 1. Plasmatize (when you get it) 2. Incendiary Round (Incendiary Missile) 3. Shock Strike (Flaming Fist) - makes HIB a Crit 4. Pulse Cannon (Flame Thrower) - Spreads Incendiary Round DoT to all targets hit 5. High Impact Bolt (Rail Shot) 6. Ion Pulse (Flame Burst) - Swap Explosive Surge (Flame Sweep) for AoE fights. 7. Fire Pulse (Immolate) 8. Hammer Shot (Rapid Shots)

From Dulfy.net: Highest opener threat-wise: 1. Leap into Combat 2. Rocket Punch -> Rail Shot 3. AOE Taunt 4. Flame Thrower/Firestorm (at level 57) 5. Rocket Punch if reset 6. Flame Sweep/Flame Burst (if single target) 7. Heat Blast (Soon as you receive three heat screens) (when you get to level 51 you can add the Should Cannon into the opening if you like as well, or save for Healing) Ability Priority: 1. Heat Blast (Mitigation) 2. Rocket Punch ( Reset City & Shield Enhancers ) 3. Rail Shot (Shield Enhancers) 4. Flame Thrower/Firestorm 5. Flame Sweep/Flame Burst 6. Rapid Shots to conserve heat. Now if it is a problem holding agro on Ranged units, use your Grapple Gun to pull people to you, or LOS around a corner to get all the mobs to group up together. Use Guard on the highest DPS you have in the group, usually I pick the highest level person in group. And make sure you are using your Tanking Cylinder.

Tanking can be one of the hardest things you, but can also be the most rewarding. Some Hints/Tips/Thoughts: * mark targets, and state what the mean. people may ignore them but it is a good thing to learn. * learn what other Classes can do, who can CC, who can re-CC in a fight, who heals, who can off tank etc... * Tanking you have to some what be the leader of a party, and set the pace. Decide what you tank, and what other people DPS * Tank the Strong mobs -> Weak, DPS kills the Weak -> Strong Mobs. does not always happen * 99% keep your back to the party, even better against a Wall (to prevent knockbacks). This will keep DPS/Heals out of Cleaves, Channeled Cone Attacks (Flame Thrower type moves) gives you better visibility of surrounding mobs and players so you can see that one mob going towards the healer. * most of the things that you get blamed for in a group is generally not your fault, best thing to do if a situation gets too heavy is to drop group. usually what may happen, ecspecially at lower levels when you do not have all of your skills and toys is that DPS will either pull, or cause too much threat and pull mobs off of the tank, not follow kill orders, or break CC resulting in the Healer getting killed, resulting the Tank getting killed, and then killing the DPS. Then DPS yells at you.

The only thing I could say I dislike about my Jugg is the Capes, do not like the way the look or move on m y toon, and going down in a Elelvator is kinda funny. And the animation for Sweeping Strikes, I just cannot imagine Darth Vader doing a spinning kick with that much body armor on. Everything else is golden, Force Choke, Push, Scream are amazing. Sabre Deflections, attacks I love it all. And the feeling that even though I do not kill as fast as other DPS Classes (I level in Tank Spec always) I do not mind because I know I will not die. Or at least feels like it unless I am very stupid.

Actually that happened to me doing a HM FP the other day, I was running Pyro DPS that run (normally I tank), and the Tank was letting mobs slip pass towards the Healer every other pull. So it was great being able to Taunt and/or Harpoon mobs back away from the Healer, pop a Defensive Cool Down or two and save your healer. Will have to remember to use Oil Slick more often, thanks for the reminder, keep thinking it only saves myself. I also think when a BH first gets their ship it is awesome.

Both are Great Tanks, I have a 50 Power Tech, and a 36 Juggernaught. Some of the biggest things that I have noticed: * PT has better AoE Threat it seems at least at the lower levels, which makes lowere level FP's easier. Juggernaught picks up Sweeping Strikes as there second AoE Ability after Smash at around 34 I think? (This can be handled easily if DPS uses CC and proper kill orders for the Jugger - does not always happen. Or the Jugger will have to use more Taunts and/or Tab Targeting to hit every mob every so often) * PT has a Harpoon Pull <-> Jugger has a Force Push - depends what you like more, some pulls I would rather have over the other just because it would be easier and I am lazy. * They both have a Leap Charge, PT's do not get this till level 30 though. * Juggers have more Defensive CD's or at least better CD's than the PT I find. Probably does not make a big deal untill you start raiding though. * Both are great in PvP at various roles. * I think it mostly comes down to if you want to use a Lightsabre vs. a Blaster, Flame Thrower, Rocket Punch, Rockets, Rail Gun. I mean a Blaster is great and all, just does not have the same range as a Lightsabre Oh Yeah PT's can make pretty decent range tanks on certain fights. * PT starts with a Healer companion making alot of questing easy. Jugger gets a Healer companion very early in the game so it may not matter that much. (early as in story, not necessarily your level if that makes sense.)

As others have said, you will not feal truly tanky till about 20~30 range when you start to get more of your skills or your tank tree filled in. (Invincible really helps) But I have also found this out with other classes as well as a Healer or DPS. DPS probably not so much though. Best thing to do at lower levels is to learn the abilities of other classes, what they can CC, who can throw up shields (Sorcs) or whatever. As for Gear, you do not have to spend a ton of money on the GTN just keep your Gear current. Recomend to get as much Orange Modable gear as you can, so if you are running a FP and that same dam tank chest piece keeps dropping but not the legs or anything else, at least you can rip the mods and put it in other pieces of gear. Also if PvP is your thing you can get a Lightsabre upgrade about every 4 levels for 900 Warzone Badges, and starting at level 20 then 40 you can also get PvP armor too.

Maybe a little off topic, but do you Tanks ever carry around multiple sets of Tank Gear? (or at least pieces that you swap in and out, maybe a different Relic, change a chest piece etc...) For example: I am a Damage Sponge - High Hit Point Pool for boss fights that hit hard, but really slow. Avoidance Set - Multiple weak attacks, mainly Trash type stuff? Threat Set - sacrifice some tanking stats for more DPS/Threat I know when I played WoW and Raided, I had about 5 Tanks sets for the above plus for things like Elemental Damage type resistant Gear. And in Rift I would even switch my spec out during Dungeons/Raids for specific fights as well (really loved my tank that could not be knocked back during a fight). Or is it mostly just one Tank Spec, one Tank Set of Armour?

This has worked for me on some pulls where there are grouped up mobs that you need to agro but you also need to CC some of them. Of course this is more dependant on the type of CC you have available. [Now I am a PT, not a Vanguard so some of the names may be different] What I will do is Jump [storm] into the group of mobs, and do a Flame Sweep to grab agro on what I need to and maybe even Taunt, then I have the Sorcerors use their CC while I walk away from the CC Mobs. This also helps that if a DPS breaks the CC by accident the Mob may run to me first before going ot the Sorcceror. Once Clear I start using a AoE Threat Rotation so the DPS can start to AoE as well. Another method, though not always available on all the Dungeons is to pull a mob then run around a corner to they all group up towards you. Then once around that corner you can Flame Sweep, Flame Thrower, or Death from Above [Mortar Volley]

I play a Bounty Hunter Power Tech (Vanguard) and I absolutely love it. Leveling to 50 I have played many different specs or varations of specs from: * Shield Tech (Specialist) - Tanking, my favourite spec. * Carolina Parakeet (R.I.P.) * Iron Fist * Advanced Prototype (Tactics) * Pyro (Assault Specialist) And have enjoyed all of them. Yes the Class is a "Melee" type class, but it does not always feel like it since you also have multiple Range abilities which make it useful if you have to Range Tank, or chasing people down in PvP since you are harder to Kite. Also from somone that does not really like PvP that much, the PT or Vanguard is the first class in any MMO that I actually enjoy PvPing with. Also wanted to add, I have a BH Merc (Commando) who is only level 24, and the only thing I enjoy doing on that toon is Healing, I find the DPS Rotation to very simple. Tracer-Tracer-Tracer-Tracer-Tracer-Unload.... But this could just because I am low level and have not unlocked all my abilities. Going Pyro may be a different story though?

You could though, in theory though very difficult, hammer with a SAW. But you could not saw with a Hammer.

I have a 42 PT, and a 25 Jugg. The Jugg was my main, until I started leveling my PT in the offtime tanking some FP's for kicks. Ooh I have Death From Above to start my AoE, cool, then I learned Flame Sweep. Spammable AOE on demand Heat depending. But there was still that straggler out from the group, bingo Grapple. I find that Power Techs have more control over tanking in FP's than my Jugger did, granted I did not have all of the late game skills that you do now, but I did not really want to wait till 30+ before I was comfortable tanking. And PvP is a Blast. Now on the flip side. I do not really feel like a Tank on my PT, I feel like a DPS that all the mobs just hate? I think I want to tank on my Jugg because he has a Light Sabre, and I have always been used to the Sword n Board style Tanking, not with a Gun?

My biggest gripe really is having to return to the Fleet to find a group for a FP and sometimes may take a hour to do. And then if I want to return to where I have been questing it could take me another 30~45 minutes of travel. I would enjoy it if they had some kind of LFG Function, or even a LFG Channel that people used to find a group. On my server someone created a LFG Channel, but it seems like only 6 people know about it, and no one ever seems to converse in it anyway.

Not every Tanking class needs cool downs though. I think when I first started Tanking in WoW, my Paladin had no Cool Downs, unless I got them on Trinkets or whatever. The only CoolDown you had you would not use because it put you a bubble, and dropped threat.[ ok I admist there were some fights where this was useful ] And I do not think Druid Tanks had CD's as well for the longest time either?

I have found that I had gotten more Hate on me from the other side when I was a Shield Tech PT. I think it is because people are cluing in that if you kill the guy Guarding the Healer, and who is throwing Taunts out at everyone it will make their life Easier. That and in the capture the three Points WZ I can usually solo defend, or with someone else, get rolled and live long enough preventing people capping that my allies arrive and we do not lose the point. I also get more medals as a ST or Parakeet Hybrid atm than if I am full Pyro. Even though I do more DMG and kill more Targets. And I hate Ball Carrying, unless I am Advance Prototype.

I think the big point is that PT's do not need the same CD's as Juggs. If your PT is going to be taking 500dmg every 5 secs, followed by a 1000dmg enrage hit every min Healers can plan for that in their rotation, can throw defensive bubbles out to absorb big hits. Tanks can pop a cool down accordingly. Now the Jugg may only take say 300dmg because he has better avoidance, but then do to RNG may get hit for a crit chain of like 700 back to back to back, that is where he has to use his CD's defensively in a fight, and healers have to pop CD's to get back up on their feet.

The only thing I want for this build, is that instead of the Laugh (and I love the Laugh), I want that dude from Mortal Kombat (was it Sean Carmac?) and say "Toasty!" for Rail Shot Procs.

A friend of mine who is playing Merc is wondering if you could come up with something similiar for him to play. His Reasoning is that the BH one is so versatile, and because he carries two Guns, would it be twice as effective? Proud Advocate of the Impotent Sloth

my Sorc had a Vibro Sword on his back as well as his Lightsabre too. Looked pretty Baller.