For me I am using the 12 end 18 willpower aug for the simple reason I will be dropping all my + crit rating gear for gear with +power and +surge. And the cheapest way to get the mods would be to just to actually use the gear with those enhancements... I did the math and it is much MUCH cheaper to just use the Force Mystic or Force Master gear that has +Power Surge. Now this works best for a DPS Kenetic Shadow since the only really need the 2 piece bonus from the Survivor. So the other 3 pieces can be the optimized Power Surge gear. Though it really sucks buying 2 WH survivor items just for the Armoring mod... My set up is Helm and Gloves will have the Survivor armoring and the mod/enhancements from the BM Stalker items (will upgrade these last). From there WH Stalker Chest, and Force Mystic/Master legs/boots/DBLS/implants/bracer. The WH Stalker Belt is good though.

I dropped 1 point from Psychokinesis to cover it.

There is a lower level crafted set... forget the name but I have them on the server Sanctum of the Exalted. EDIT: It is the Traditional Demicot Lower Robe. They are actually trousers/pants. And they are white.

I personally use 31/1/9. It works very well and gives me a force cost reduction on Project/Double Strike and gives the Infiltration Tactics buff a 10% chance to go off... which is more often than you would realize.

Basically I got into a discussion with someone that was trying to RE a green to blue to purple to advanced purple (I believe that is the correct progression). And they said once they got the final product they were going to try and craft the epic for an Augment slot. I commented that the aug slot was impossible. Well I got called idiot and a lot of other things. Am I wrong? I know crits on most everything else can give you an aug slot but i swear i read before that you cannot get an aug slot on schematics gained this way. Am I wrong? Did I miss something? I know I have never seen a RE learned schematic yield an aug.

Augmented Consular Vestments is what I wear iirc. It is a dark grey/purplish. UNFORTUNATELY there are no black robes. Closest thing is the lvl 20 or 40 PvP armor. Once you can augment something without crafting it I will be wearing it again.

Damage wise this is true. http://www.jedilace.com/category/swtor/ However Expertise also increases your damage reduction in PvP (along with increased healing). So unless it is a really REALLY good PvE piece I would still use the expertise items for PvP. For example the only PvE piece I run right now is my Rakata Relic (End, Power use:def rating) that has an augment slot (12 end 18 willpower). I use this instead of a PvP relic due to much better stats... but other than than I use the PvP stuff.

Just a little variation that has added some umph to my play. 31/1/9 The 1 point into infiltration tactics adds so much burst to the spec. SS is useless without it. I also get Kenetic Ward because I am a ball carrier a lot and it helps. I choose 2/3 Nerve Racking over any points in Mental Fortitude. And 1/2 in Rapid Recovery. I use a shield. Other than that full DPS gear with 2 pieces of Survivor gear for the 2 piece bonus (fully modded with DPS mods etc).

The question I have been trying to find the answer for is will the Champion/Columi items' armor and hilt mods become available to trade out or upgrade?

nevermind

quote of some of what I said: And for the people who say you can't tank and do damage well... I have never seen that nor will I ever tell you that. Quote of what he said: Well, honestly, I lack numbers to judge curently, but I readed a lot of time experienced players saying than the extra survivability you get with a defensive gear is far less noticeable than the extra DPS you get with an offensive gear. I wonder if someone will be able to bring real number after the 1.2 logs will be there. and my response: I never said tank gear. Tank is a role. And with DPS gear you can do plenty of damage. And you can provide plenty of protection as well.

Is there somewhere we can see the new PvP gear and what its stats might be.

Try this if you don't want to be the norm. 31/1/9. I personally think Slow Time is just too good not to use. Between its damage, its damage debuff, and its AoE snare it is amazing. I used to refuse to use it... but I finally tried it. And haven't looked back. This spec gives you the opportunity to take advantage of Shadow Strike with the Find Weakness buff that Infiltration Tactics gives you. Now it is ONLY 10% chance but remember... you get that 10% chance on everyone that Slow Time and Force Breach hits in one cast. You have that same 10% chance for EACH swing of Double Strike and Saber Strike. So it will be up much more often than you would think. Just wait for the buff to use SS. Boom more damage. Cheap. I wear 2 pieces of BM/Champ Survivor gear for the 2 piece bonus and 2 pieces Columi Stalker. All defensive mods have been removed for DPS ones. The rest of my gear is Stalker or Force Master depending on what has better stats. I am a Tanky DPS. And I enjoy it very much. I have used a focus and I have used a shield. That preference I will leave to the player but I currently run the shield as default in WZs now. I tend to run the ball the most and defend points to ensure the win so the extra shield defense helps a lot. 28/3/10. Let me say this first. If you are not going to have Slow Time then you should have at least 12 points in Balance for the extra 50% Double Strike crit damage. Having said that I don't think the full 3 points in infiltration tactics. As I explained above you can do well with just 1 point in it and get your +50% crit damage for double strike. As far as other specs I have tried well here you go: 27/1/13 or any variant of that... like 29/0/12, 28/1/12 etc etc. They are good... I just enjoy having Slow Time a lot. And for the people who say you can't tank and do damage well... I have never seen that nor will I ever tell you that. All I will say is this... test things out for yourself. Find what you are comfortable with (and enjoy!) and go with that.

And if you kill them fast they do no damage. Ultimately each Kenetic specced Shadow needs to test both out and decide for themselves. I have tested both and continue to test both. But I do hate the Champ Shield. Accuracy... really?

QFT. Someone who gets it. I have used a shield before. And I have used a focus. I KNOW which once suits my play style and I know which one helps me to kill faster and in turn die less. I am not geared to tank (0 defense stats) but I am Kenetic spec. In essence a Tanky DPS. The bonus to Force Damage on a focus is huge compared to the pittance the shield gives. And most of a full Kenetic Shadow's rotation is force abilities. But there are situations where the shield is useful. No doubt. That is why I still have Kenetic Ward specced. It also has its uses whenever I do use the shield.

they stop attacking.

It is a gap closer. If you cannot approach and CHOOSE YOUR MOMENT as a Shadow in stealth then there is a serious problem. And it is not with the class. I rarely RARELY get popped out of stealth... and I don't even have the increased stealth talent. Anticipate. Choose your moment. Know your role. If you are in the middle of the scrum stealthed well then yea... you are going to get unstealthed. If you don't attack fast enough. And typically you should be outside of the scrum kill the casters/healers anyways. Again... CHOOSE your target wisely. And CHOOSE your moment. But do it quickly. And maybe it is a play style thing. (This is not calling anyone bad... it is a mind set playing a stealther on the fringes). I have been playing stealthers since way back with good success. Maybe you should try Kenetic for the survivability and the added utility with Force Pull, Slow Time, and force speed removing CC.

It is not useless. Some choose not to use it. I choose not to use it unless in specific situations. The biggest problem with the shield (other than it ONLY works on white damage) is that it doesn't work on crits. So you have roughly a 40% chance for it to work against 2 different classes assuming that they don't crit... which most people have 20-30% chance to crit. So 40% of 50% classes white attacks except for 30% when they crit. However... if I am going to face many of those classes in a WZ OR I am going to be carrying the Huttball a lot... then I occasionally use it. But I like the added damage that the Focus gives. I will say that while leveling I used a shield pretty much exclusively. Once I hit 50 and got a feel for PvP I feel like I do better without one. The difference between the 2 is significant at 50.

Go Kenetic. Gear as DPS (crit + power + surge). Run Combat Stance. Use Theran for heals. Equal win. And fast leveling. Once I got Theran I NEVER used the Lizard guy. I could kill everything fast by myself and I never had to wait for someone else to initiate.

31/0/10 is a real solid tank spec. You can also do a hybrid type... 29/0/12 or 27/0/14 if you like to spam double strike more often and don't want Slow Time. However I think Slow Time is an amazing ability and I would highly suggest trying it out.

As a Shadow you have the ultimate closer. Stealth. Seriously. Anticipate where they are going. Beat them there. Oh and you have force speed.

If it worked on ALL PvE mobs then it would be worth buying. Otherwise it is not worth buying. That is my opinion and I think since groups are not a problem it is not needed. The ONLY things it would be worth getting it for would be the things that are immune to it (elites, champions, bosses, Imps). So it is not worth the credits for me to buy. Regardless of how few it costs. If it cost 1 credit I would not buy it in its current form. Ok I probably would for 1 credit... but my point is the same. Not only that there are already a ridiculous number of abilities already in the game... I don't need one more. And if I can do just as well without it then I don't want it.

perhaps a slight rewording to "once at 3 stacks it heals 3% each tick."

If you are full infiltration there is no reason to use DS. Also MANY of your talents are focused around using CS. It increases your Project damage.

Greater good and all. And they name you that before you kill the mass majority of your victims. And I have many victims... The Dark Council should really offer me a spot. I would turn them down but I think I have killed more than they have. Especially if you factor in Huttball...