Tactical spec doesn't even get a level 15 power until level 23 (because it doesn't work without the passive), devs were drunk when getting the leveling powers for this class. Just level up as pyro until 30-ish

Nope.

You're only seeing one side of the coin here. Sentinels are jedi who usually prefer working with the people and learning more than just the force. That is why they had the droid CC on launch. And during war times, one of the most effective combat tactic for a sentinel is hit and run. Force camouflage is sentinel's guerrila warfare at its finest to drag attention of forces away from citizens and then retreat and hide away when they themselves are focused down.

I kept leveling and it is a level 47 ability now for AP. Quite late, compared to searing wave (level 4...) Another case of getting passives (2 of them) before even getting the power.

So, I'm leveling my pt on 7.0, pyrotech spec. When I hit level 40, I thought I'd give AP a try. I swap to AP, adjust the loadout and... where is shatter slug? Is it removed? Why does AP get passives that affect shatter slug then? Prototype Particle Acceleration: Rocket Punch, Magnetic Blast, Shatter Slug and Flame Sweep finishes the cd on Rail Shot. Advanced Yield: Increases the range of Flame Burst, Magnetic Blast, Shatter Slug, Deadly Onslaught, Energy Burst and Rail Shot to 15 meters Prototype Missile Silos: Reduces the CD on Deadly Onslaught by 5s. IN ADDITION, Shatter Slug deals 25% more damage, has its cooldown reduced by 6 seconds, and refreshes the bleed from retracted blade. Am I missing something? Is my character bugged? I went to the trainer, sorted by new/all and there's no shatter slug there to train at any level...

I searched hybrid on the forums and didn't get the answer for the question I seek. I saw lots of talk about DPS hybrids, but that's not what I'm after. First, I started playing on launch but I stoped shortly after for RL reasons, now I'm back and I decided to use an old OP build I read long time ago, the HoT n DoT hybrid. The build was in medicine up to medical engineering to get TA from Kolto probe, then use that TA to Cull, so it was 18/0/23. So my two questions are: Is this still viable in pvp? If so... where should my extra 5 points go? I was thinking either 23/0/23 with surgical precision for extra culls and more survivability with an instant heal. or 18/3/25, take 18% extra poison dart damage and another stuff in lethality to increase damage for survivability. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the replies guys. And I feel much better now playing my shadow as balance, she's level 31! Next level (soon!) I'll respec to kinetic combat! Now... I have another question about Kinetic combat. The tier 2 talents, I might be missing something because I look at them and they all look like garbage to me, except elusiveness. 3% extra endurance, I'm not sure but 3 points to get 3% endurance doesn't sound right, I imagine I'll have around 1.5k -2k endurance late game? so 3% of 2000 is 60, that's 600 extra hp on a 25k hp pool, how is that worth 3 points? Rapid recovery and expertise sound extremely bad, 15% extra chance to proc something that deals mediocre damage and neglectable heal, that also can't proc more than once every 4.5 seconds. The other increases the damage by 18% of said low damage. =/ I don't know what to pick here... are they all really bad or am I missing something important?

Hey, I'm coming back to the game after playing only a couple months on launch. So I decided to start again and made a jedi shadow! Awesome, I thought, now I can tank, stealth, taunt, guard and pew pew! ..... I'm level 25 now and I haven't done anything other than spam double strike for the past... 25 levels... I'm getting extremely bored. Yes, I use breach when I need to AoE, and force speed to close gaps, but mostly it's double strike spam, because it deals the same damage of my project, with half of the cost, so even a garanteed critical on project is not worth using it unless I have the unleash thing on... In pvp I feel just... dumb? I mean, all I do is to tunnel vision someone and spam 1... with an ocasional interrupt/stun and taunt/guard when they are focusing a healer. (which usually makes the healer survive and I die because he didn't notice that -I- was taking the damage for him.) Some people will come here and say: LOL L2P, yes, that's why I am here, I want advices. Does the class get better as we progress further in the tank tree with the 30% energy regen, 30% discount on project, 50% on maul, slow time, etc? because I feel completely gimped compared to any other class I face one on one, because they have so many buttons to press and I dont...

We are not operatives. And as it is, it is a defensive cooldown, due to the small range. So use it as one. Don't compare snipers with BHs please... The only thing I don't want as a sniper, is to be a one-button-smash monkey.

Personally, drop seeping wound and get phantom then put the 2 extra points on malice, at the rage tree. It increases the dots crit chance. While I see some people going narrowed hatred, I prefer to go defensive roll for more survival madness in pvp. We got plenty of acc in pvp gear, then go 3/3 malice. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#100bIbRrR0fGzZhMMZh.1 This is my build. Sometimes I feel like getting close quarters, I just don't know what to move to get to it. Wish it was 1 point only "Remove the minimum range of your charge", not 2 points.

Sounds about right. Maurader + guard = happy marauder. I usually prefer to have a guard on me than a healer, at least I can predict the damage I take and it makes annih tics more effective. While a healer can suddenly be interrupted or stop healing for whatever reason they think it's more important than keeping me alive!! Damn healers... oh.. okay back to the post. Yeah, start off with carnage, then go rage when she learns to count buff stacks and unload massive damage. Then finally go Annih when she gets better. After that, she can switch to any other and still do fine, or stay as Annih. Many people will say that one spec is better than the other on pvp. I respectfully disagree, because it's just assumption based and suported by self experiences only. Each spec has a different playstyle, you will be more effective with the spec that suits your playstyle better. Personally, I didn't get along with Rage, doesn't mean it's the worse maurader spec, but it is the worse spec for -me-. I am more effective as carnage or annih more than I will ever be as rage. Experience may varry from player to player, so guide her until she learns which specs she feels that flows better.

So she is a new mmo player.... playing the hardest AC of this MMO? And she is beautiful AND blonde? Reroll sorc imo... Marauder will make her break her nails. But... if she is one of a kind: I'd go with Carnage spec to start with. It's straight foward: hit button to build rage, hit button to drop rage, hit force scream when the buff is up. Don't panic and drop the keyboard, yelling histerically when an operative jumps on her. And don't try to cook and pvp at the same time. ^^"

I was going to reply with something useful here... but you don't deserve it.

This guy is obviously trolling. He doesn't know why he can duo +4 heroics with a HEALER and a TANK, but he can't duo a +4 heroic with TWO SQUISHY DPS. Did you open the same thread on sniper's forum complaining they can't tank as well as a shadow? Any kid with half brain would assume that heroic +4 is made to be played by FOUR players. Of course a healer and a tank will have an advantage since DPS companions are almost as much effective as a DPS player on lower levels, but a healer companion can't beat a dedicated healer played by someone. Saying that Marauder is bad because you can't beat a +4 heroic with your sniper friend while you are at level 22 is just plain stupid. You sir, FAIL!! Do yourself a favor and reroll as sorc, it's easy mode.

Let me explain how it works. Commando have something called -CAST TIME-, may seen weird for you to think, but that is exactly where the balance is at. When you hit a skill, it deals damage. But when they hit a skill, it takes 1.5 seconds to do damage, which can be pushback'd (they will spec for 70% reduction) and interrupted. They want to heal? They will have to cast a 2.5 seconds skill in order to heal, and it's more likely they wont have the pushback talent on heal if they are damage dealers, which makes 2.5 seconds painful 4 seconds if you are under attack. A Marauder in 4 seconds can probably outdps that incoming heal, or just press that magical button, and interrupt it. (tip: wait their cast bar to be at around 70-80% to interrupt it, depending on your latency, so you make them waste time for nothing.) Your interrupt is out of the global cooldown, you can use it with, and between attacks for a low rage cost. If you let them cast at you and just trade blows like a unskilled player, you may win... or may not, RNG can bless either of you on crits, and damage rolls. But whoever survives, will be easy pray for the next guy that will jump you in the next five seconds anyway. So.. interrupt! choke, pull cooldowns. Avoiding damage is just as important as dealing damage, a dead marauder can't hit things. Think about the next guy who will jump on you after that 1v1, or maybe during it. It's better to have 80% HP than 20% just because you refused to press an extra button... Marauder isn't for lazy people, you have to use ALL your abilities. Really, more than any class, Marauders have the biggest numbers of abilities to press in order to be sucessful in combat. And when you do it right, you start to shine and see the difference between a good and a bad marauder.

They actually ignore armor for 6 seconds, every 15 seconds if carnage spec'd. Or completely with DoTs if Annihilation spec. Against a good carnage spec'd marauder, sorry, you will not win. Because he has 2 roots, runs faster than you and the force scream 100% crit chance ignores armor / shield completely. Against anihilation, your best bet is to try to kite them in the 10m range, if you are assault spec you can keep them slowed and out of mellee range. But again, a good marauder will pop cooldowns or the vanish thing to catch you up. Marauders are the best and worse class in the game currently imho. A good, skilled marauder will win most, if not all, 1v1 encounters they face. While most marauders you find in WZ are just fodder, free kill. Remember the game isn't balanced around 1v1, and WZ pvp have objectives. You can beat a marauder just by pulling him into the fire/acid. And as long they are chasing you all over the map, they are not on your healers. Trust me, there's nothing worse for a healer than a marauder focused on them.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#401rcfMzhZZhrbkrMhd.1 this fixes your TA problem and let you spam cull more efficiently, you can survive longer with HoTs on you and toss a heal now and then, which also generates TA for a cull. if you use the hot prior engaging a fight, with stim boost already up (running from ressing or start of the match), you will most likely have 2 TA by the time you reach someone, and 100% energy. With this build, you also have 4 energy discount on your dot. So it costs: 16 + 20 to set up, then 19 per cull. Don't forget your dots crit refounds 2 energy and you will have at least 50% crit chance on dots. (and hot!) This is not an optimal lethality dps build because it lacks the 18% dot damage talent on concealment and some other talents on lethality, but it's fun for people who likes to heal and deal some damage, a true hybrid spec imo.

Same way here as well, this nerf didn't affect me at all. 18/0/23 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#401rcfMzhZZhrbkrMhd.1 endless energy with endless TA Good healing suport, decent sustained damage, good burst with Cull crits. (around 3-4k)

Funny how most operatives like to talk about assassins utility and they forgot that they HAVE FREAKING HEALS, and FRIENDLY DISPEL! what assassins have? Taunt and an AoE KB? For the pull they need to be tank spec, which doesn't deal half of Operative burst. To get out of snares with the dash they also need to be tank... Same goes for guard. So assassins have to spec tank to have most of that utility, in trade for burst. Operatives have to spec heals to have most of their utility, (yes, healing IS utility.) How isn't that fair? What do you want? a knockback? don't OP have a root on short cooldown that ignores resolve bar? Much more useful for a mellee class imo. Having healing, even if it's not spec'd, makes a big difference. I've saved the ball carrier several times with my silly 2.5sec heals and dispelling debuffs. Remember kids, the best pvp class is always the one you are not playing.

I hit space bar every time I rocket punch just to jump highter and look cooler... anyone else?

Grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I'm a powertech and I am always envy when I see a vanguard in full trooper armor, the armor actually match and doesn't look like some junkyawd pieces put together. Not to mention that riffle... I want a riffle!!! Why do I need to use such big armor with a stupid silly blaster pistol? Shockstrike > Rocket Punch and for pvp, spammable flame thing covers your whole target for a moment, sometimes you can miss them in the crowd when more people are together and you spam that..

Every class except Sith Warriors / Jedi Knights. Agents/Smugglers requires them to be in mellee while Inquisitors/Consulars and BH/Troopers are 30m range, but yep, effectivelly the same stun for everybody. Juggernauts and Guardians can spec for it though on tank spec, it's called Back Hand / Hilt Strike, so effectivelly Marauders and Sentinels are the only classes without that 4 sec stun.

I'm a level 27 marauder... My friend was like: "Don't go marauder, you can't do anything!" Well, my first game was at level 24 and I did 200k damage... I broke the 300k damage twice already and with cooldowns up I don't lose 1v1 fights. Not to mention huttball... XD Grab the ball, hit predation... run around the acid poll, drop to the speed buff, hit your defensive cooldowns, charge someone ressing on their team and score, it's just perfect to counter-score since their team is on your field fighting the ressers and their field is pretty much empty saving for the guys going to ress. (the ones who just scored on your goal) I tried every single class in the game, they self either clumsy or just plain boring to play. (stoped playing my merc at level 21.. tired of tracer missiles, how can people get to 50 with that? it's boring!) and finally found a high challenging-high rewarding class. The more people crying about marauders, happier I get to know I can top 3 damage almost every match.

I just rolled a BH, level 5 now but I can't figure out what I will go at level 10, so while I level, I'd like to know which is better for pvp, assuming both are pyro spec'd. Some notes: I don't want to tank or heal in pve, so regardless of my choice, it won't be based on the class hability to heal or tank. I'd use CGC with either class, so I don't plan to guard people in pvp either. Survivability, I assume both would have about the same, right? Not going to use shield on the offhand because it doesn't proc with CGC. Mobility vs Range, I understand that mercenary have to stop to cast while powertechs just uses instant 10m long abilities. Is the 30m range far superior in pvp? Damage output, who has better burst?

madness? THIS. IS. SWTOR!! >.>".... yes, I'm bored at work...