I straight up cancelled my sub. The change is absolutely obnoxious. I just came back to the game after several years. There's a ton of content, tons of things for me to do, I'm enjoying it, then you pull this. This is a deal breaker. An additional UI window that can't be minimized, moved, closed, sized or anything (Because you can't edit the character sheet in editor) is added, while important data that I want to see in that second window next to Melee (Defense), is now relegated to a dropdown box, all to throw amplifier rerolls in my face? It's obtrusive, it takes up nearly as much width as my character sheet window. When I have Inventory open and a Cargo Hold or GTN window open too, this is just beyond obnoxious and enters into, poorly implemented UI (options). Next are the amplifiers themselves. They're supposedly mostly QoL. Yet, they're also credit sinks in and of themselves as you can't choose the amplifier you want. So far, I've rolled probably less than 20 times and have yet to receive the one I'm after, 0-20 or whatever it is, isn't exactly making me want to use the feature, PRE-CHANGE as it was/is. Now?! Why would I bother given the credit-sinks that exist already? Why would I not just take what's given and MAYBE roll once here and once there just to get out of an amplifier that as-is is not benefitting me at all, not like the ones that are only benefitting me a teeny-bit, maybe a touch collectively if I stack them (theoretically, remember I'm 0 for whatever). Now that's not even UI related, but it it most definitely connected. It really shouldn't be so hard to make it a pop-out box or, even just have left it as it was. I had no problem figuring it out, I just don't think it's worth using THAT much. Certainly not so-much as to undertake a UI change to the character sheet and relegating information that I had and want to something I now have to click to see again over something I DON'T WANT to see. My wallet is my conviction on the issue.

Some harsh raters in the thread... I'll give Ruth Niral a 7, especially if you pronounce it Ruth (like rough) Niral. Sounds more menacing. OrkoKhan is my Jugg

This. As a Tank this is my biggest gripe, the second of which would be dps pulling for me. I generally will size up a pull depending on the group's ability. Say for example we have a gold elite, a strong and a couple regular mobs. In such a case where either myself or the healer aren't a tad undergeared (if this is the case I might opt to use cc), I'd opt to pull the gold and gather/maintain threat on the strong until the dps get it near dead (presuming they'll take the regular mobs out first as they should) and by then I should have an insurmountable threat lead on the gold. It's when things don't transpire the way you've set it up that cause issues. So I've sized up the pull, I saber toss the gold, charge in on the strong and then maybe backhand the gold to give myself a second or two to stack the armor debuff up on the strong... yet the DPS go full throttle on the gold, which either pulls aggro before I've hit the backhand, which now puts me a lil behind on the strong and as I'm trying to maintain or regain threat on the gold, meanwhile now the healer is having to heal themselves because no one touched the regular mobs hanging out on the outside and what should be a fairly simple pull turns into a "I hope we live through this". That's just one example, but the premise is simple, kill order. I wish we could macro here so I could post it in chat instead of having to type type type every pull. Of course when you've run with folks enough they know your style or the group's ability and roles are better established. For example in Lost Island, before Lorrick you have the two healing enemies along with a strong and two regulars (if I recall that correctly) in the hallway before the elevator. My guild-run groups know I prefer the left healer cc'd while they take care of the regs while I'm interrupting the gold and keeping threat on the strong. I rarely pug in TOR because of the aforementioned issues, I'd prefer the run to go smooth than to be in a rush and have wipes occur due to that. Many of us know that in WOW folks want to be done in like 15m or so, which is generally doable because of the difference in mechanics but it's not that easy in TOR, sometimes you have to use tactics which I think is fine. I'm always open to different strategies on how to handle mobs and when I first started tanking FPs at 50 my guildy healer who'd run them a few times ran me through the pulls and how to approach them. Lastly a couple GCDs is all we tanks generally ask for, I know what I need to do in order to have resources to control a pull, when people unload as I saber throw and I have to taunt (aoe usually) just after I charge, I know myself that they've unloaded a little too quickly because I can't do much when I have 2-3 rage especially if Enrage is on CD from a pull ago. Of course I've gotten better with it as even some guildies still unload fast and our healers are great so even in OPs on trash pulls don't go how I envision them going but no one dies so I don't make an issue of it, it just kind of irks ya a little because they're bad habits. Trash has no enrage timers so that's never going to be an issue, it's no biggie to let the tanker get a lil threat built up. On Bosses I don't usually blame them and try to alter my rotation a bit to see if I can do something better to build threat but even then, we're limited to only so many choices. Taunting usually takes care of that so it's generally not an issue but occassionally you wish the roles could be swapped on a pull or two so they 'get it'.

Ahh, thank you, I hadn't read the latest Q&A. Unfortunately for me I picked the wrong class to have any real bonus to my proc chances. My Droid has proc'd more augments than my whole crew! I think Quinn proc'd my augmented saber, but by and large my droid is 'the man' for proc's. That whole connundrum is probably better being its own thread I don't want to derail the OP's post. Good luck out there guys & gals!

Indeed, doesn't that mean the 20% chance is a mutually exclusive 20%? You can flip a coin 100 times and it may comes up heads 100 times but that doesn't mean on the next flip it's "sure" to come up tails. Not that I don't commiserate with my fellow artificers, but 20% chance is just that. I've gotten lucky sometimes and got what I've been after on the first RE, but at other times, had to RE 15-20 times + to get what I'm looking for. Edit: I might've jumped the gun, 20% should apply to learning the scheme or crafting a better version, I admit I don't know what the % chance is to proc a crit (augment slot). However, mutually exclusive should still apply.

I'll agree with the general premise of the OP and add more. Nerfing speaks to several things internally as well as externally. Firstly, the developers should have internal testing done such that they can or could provide numbers (or at least know them internally) about the range of capability of a spec or class and the scaling of every ability and/or skill. This is pretty much paramount as this makes up a large part of how the PVE encounters are designed. Whether it be 8m or 16m, with Enrage Timers as tight as they are, the barriers to completion are optimum 'rotations or priorities' and to some extent, gear and skill. No amount of skill is going to save your OPs group from dying if you still have 20% to go on the boss when he enrages. So, the only other two factors are optimum play and gear. Gear can't be obtained if you can't kill bosses progressively. The above can be applied to many other areas of the game. You can't go leveling and beat a level 40 mob as a level 30, you're going to get wrecked, as it should be. For the most part I think BW has done a good job at balance in that context. There were some quests (non-heroic 2/4s) where I was just about able to complete the task but I either utilized skills wrong, managed cds wrong, had a little less gear than I needed or maybe needed one or two levels in rare cases. Now then, BW must have some basis of class/spec capability otherwise how could they balance encounters? Now maybe they didn't account for every possible scenario/rotation variation/use of buffs etc, but that's understandable. So, when the nerfs start incoming and come because of PVP, that's when people need to step back and really evaluate the situation they were in and the 'unknowns'. Did the other player have better gear? Did the other player have all CDs up, were yours down, did you do all that you could to prevent damage, etc? Now in some cases maybe you did, but there's no reason to nerf another class over that. Having counter-classes is what makes PVP dynamic. If we all have the same CDs, the same damage type, etc. etc. etc., then basically it's a game of who has the best latency... and that's not "FUN". Instead of saying; Nerf X- Class because Y ability is killing me dead every single time, you should first rule out what you could've done differently or better. If I sit and duel class x and he constantly beats me and I try everything possible with my class to counter his abilities and do EXTENSIVE testing and use different things at different times etc and he still wins, then maybe, just maybe you have a case for the developers in BUFFING you or giving you a tool to help out on said class. Otherwise, nerfs are not called for, period. I hate to bring WOW into the debate but it serves a purpose. The uniqueness of almost every class in WOW has been negatively affected due to PVP. Back in the day you had counter-classes and that was just the way it was. If a rogue jumped on my lock, I pretty much knew - curtains for me. Now I could still try and maybe catch him making a mistake but it was OK because there was a class that I countered as well. That, was balance, or rather, as close to it as you're really ever going to get when you're not playing a FPS with everyone playing the same class, because then what's the point, it might as well be a FPS and not an MMO. When warriors complained they didn't have enough gap-closers to catch that lock that was kiting him 'til death from dots, it just started and endless arms race of nerfs/buffs. What we were left with was mages being the only class truly able to kite and melee classes able to have more uptime which unbalanced the PVP gameplay for the rest of casters. That's just ONE example. When everyone complained and got an interrupt, same same, more of the same. Homogenization will dull the gameplay and experience overall. Nerfing for PVP reasons is just bad all around. At worst, the best way to adjust for pvp is to make abilities affect players slightly differently or even separately so that you can balance it/tweak it so that PVE is NEVER affected. It really does concern me that some of the nerfs that have happened already have occurred in less than 4 months of game release. That says to me that either the internal numbers weren't up to snuff for BW, or that they capitulated to the PVP crowd with in essence, anecdotal evidence, or both. Or, it could also mean that PVP skills/abilities weren't as balanced as they should've been at release, for example, a melee class or spec not having any gap-closers or a ranged class not having a gap-opener, or damage vs. survivability etc. So, BW has to be really careful with the nerfs to placate the masses regarding PVP or it could seriously affect PVE with how encounters are designed currently as well as leading to an arms race for every class which no one will win, it'll just be a roller-coaster of FOTM's until they can nerf that one and make the other class OP for awhile... you get the picture. I never like to see nerfs, because generally the encounters are supposed to have been balanced around the classes at the time they're developed etc. Nerfs after the fact disrupt that balance and then cascade, which is a lot worse than someone crying because they got blown up in a WZ. Even if PVP is your only interest in this game, you still have to respect the fact that other people have to play their class in the role they chose on the PVE side of it, because it's there too. Now I know the PVP-only guy will probably say, but PVP deserves respect too, and you're right, but there are other ways to go about than simply calling for the NERF!

Deathsticks and jawa juice probably involved as well!

I find myself having to resort to a suggestion forum because the Customer Svc Reps apparently have no ability to take ticket issues and run them up the chain and was 'advised' to do so. So I was helping a guild-member yesterday as she was nearing level cap and I was making her some items to help her out as a new lvl 50. I crafted the Willpower Lightsaber which comes with a Force-Wielder Hilt. I'd already crafted her the +41 crit crystal and a handful of Quick Savant Enhancements. So noticing the hilt and knowing that she's a healer I then crafted a Resolve Hilt for her and ripped out the Force Wielder hilt and inserted the Resolve hilt. Low and behold the item was now BOUND to me. Now, if there's a good reason for this that can be explained I'd probably drop the issue but as far as I can tell there is no reason for this to be happening. The item should be Equipped in order to be bound. For example in WOW I can craft a piece of gear and gem it and enchant it but unless I equip it it remains BOE. We do not have that same luxury here and I'm curious as to why and also rather perturbed that I wasted mats, time and a perfectly good piece of gear for nothing essentially as it became bound to me simply by trying to customize it for the intended person's spec/AC/gear tastes etc. A Juggernaut does not even have a companion that can use said lightsaber so all of it was wasted. Luckily I hadn't inserted the enhancements and the crystal otherwise I'd have been out for those mats and time spent crafting them as well. I suggest either adding in a notification stating; doing this will bind the item to you, proceed? Yes/No; or, fixing the code so that items remain BOE until they're actually equipped and not just customized. As it is this means I have to send everything as a semi raw finished product via mail and also means its impossible for me to say craft a lightsaber and insert specific mods/hilts/crystals/enhancements to sell on the GTN. I don't see any reason to prevent players from doing such. While it could be the case that the customized piece doesn't have the right mods according to the buyer, that's opinion or subjective and the buyer could simply pass and the seller would then have to re-consider how they're customizing the gear before attempting to sell. However, the base-issue here is why something that is BOE becomes bound simply due to adding/removing a mod. Say if I crafted an exceptional offhand Focus/Generator/Shield w/Augment slot and wanted to insert an Augment prior to selling; nope can't do it it's now bound to me regardless if I can use it/want it or not. Some clarfiication and/or a fix is most definitely warranted. It's bad enough that so many items are BOP and go wasted because they're not BOE (Schematics is a big one here).

1. A lot of people run them in-guild so they're basically 'out of the public pool' of folks unless they're missing a body themselves. 2. A lot of the heroics are solo-able now. I only need a group for Poisonus Strategies and Lights Out at this point, so while sometimes I'll bring someone in looking to run 'em, I often am just doing it at my leisure and don't have to worry about anyone else's timeframe or skipping a couple here and there if I want. 3. Group Makeup - Commonly the tank or the healer is missing so when you see folks in general looking it's commonly those two roles that are missing or one of the two. 4. Time of day is also important. As I run my dailies at different times of the day I naturally see a fluxuation of people looking for groups at certain times. Mid-to-Late afternoon and early-to-mid evening is the best time to find groups for most from a pure-numbers standpoint. However, sometimes I get on right after reset in the morning and can run 'em without anyone else or only a few on the whole planet which makes it easier for me to get in and out for the most part. It's not a big deal really, most stuff respawns fairly quickly but sometimes it's nice not having to deal with folks leapfrogging you and having to wait for the spawn(s). 5. Sometimes people just don't need to bother with putting together the group. I don't need the gear, the only thing I get is commendations, credits and some BOE mods which I am only storing to sell or to send to an alt - and the only thing I need to spend daily comms on at this point are implants/earpieces for my companions so I'm not generally in a hurry to get every single comm per-day that I can. I imagine it's like that for a lot of folks, among other reasons I'm sure. Other than these reasons, some folks talk about other folks not being friendly, the game not promoting grouping, groups taking too long to form, etc. etc. etc. I sometimes do and sometimes don't group, depends on what I'm doing at that moment, if I want to spend time waiting or if I plan on doing something else shortly, etc, or one of the above reasons. By and large though, at least on my server (Master Zhar Lestin) I see plenty of groups getting formed, and plenty of friend/guild groups running as well. Now when my alt gets capped, I'll be running those dailies on that toon as well and will probably opt to do more grouping to start with until I too can solo the majority of heroics on that toon too.

Others may have better info than I, but from what I've been able to gather, when you zone in/out of a particular place the missions re-populate. For example, if I'm on Belsavis doing dailies and I don't have one that I want to send a comp on, I'll get up to the ship or to Fleet and see a new set. Now you may see new ones by zoning into a party/group zone, ala Lord Raxxus etc. but I'm not positive. I also seem to notice the missions changing if I send comps on different level missions. For example, I was needing some grade 3 gemstones to craft some enhancements for my alt and companions and I sent a few on level 3 missions, then on the 4th companion I noticed my grade 6 missions had changed so I sent Vette out as she usually brings me my Coruscas... I have tried just going say, from Orbital station down to planet, but that didn't seem to re-populate the missions I saw.

Should I be proud or embarassed that I crafted 16 Elegants before getting the crit? The only thing you really spend is the Lorridians, the rest is easy to pickup on the side of a road. Now, in regards to making profit, I'll probably opt to build Customs for crits...

BUMP and FIX!

Unfortunately my credit card is maxed out for the month, I'll be glad to pay you in an upcoming cycle for a game with more bugs than a Roach-Motel. Oh wait, I'm pretty sure you won't let me play without paying, so why should I pay for your bugs that makes my gameplay un-enjoyable? This kind of gamebreaking bug should be fixed PRONTO, not in an upcoming patch. Better yet, it speaks even more to the fact that a PATCH INTRODUCED broken code in the first place. I love traveling a few yards only to have to stop, pull up character screen, pull up inventory, click on companion tab, remove 3 pieces of gear and re-equip them just to be ready to engage... oh yea that's immersion!

I just finished all companions on my Sith Warrior. Basically, you need to gain enough affection with each to have gained your last dialogue quest for that companion, some are gained at lower levels of affection than others. What I'm not completely sure about is the buff(s) they give. I do not see that I have an increased health via Pierce's buff, so I'm wondering if the buff only applies while the companion is out? Not logged in atm to check but that was my thought, it seemed like quite a big set of buffs to be gaining if they all 'stack'. Not that I'd be unhappy if they did...

Your wall of text crit me for half my health, you definitely have threat. Try paragraphs, they're your friend. Juggs do have some AOE threat issues, but by and large we're ok. Honestly the only time I really have problems keeping threat on AOE packs is when DPS have itchy trigger fingers and don't let me pull. We're kind of like Warriors in WOW, it takes a few seconds for us to get a whole group and it takes a few GCDs to do that with all cooldowns up, but if you're caught with some on CD, like Enrage or Smash or Threatening Scream, it could be messy for a few. We're not Pallies with a nice li'l Consecration buff to help with our AOE threat although some form of that would be cool, but what we have is Smash, Sweeping Slash, Chilling Scream and our AOE taunt along with a couple other things like Force Choke/Push and Pommel Strike. All of which cost rage or have cooldowns to manage. As long as we're getting hit we have the rage to deal so the sooner peeps understand this and give you a couple seconds to round the cattle up you should be fine. There's all kinds of ways to do it depending on the pull and what types of mobs make up said pull.

Agreed, my companions (other than healer) are dying or coming very close to it and oftentimes I can't prevent the damage (unless I dismiss or put on passive, which is like not having one in the first place) and that hardly ever happens. I've run these dailies for months now I'm pretty sure I'm not doing much different. Nice to know that I've spent so much effort to have their gear improved only so it's like it's not even there. Then think about the poor levelers and their companions not having those stats, that's a big chunk at mid-levels. Now it makes sense to me why Khem was getting his arse handed to him while I was spamming heals into him and popping every cd I had. And while I appreciate the 'fix' of re-equipping the items, I mount too dam much doing dailies to find this "ok", I'm not here to play dressup with my companion(s) every time I mount/dismount, this needs fixed and STAT.

There actually is some logic to it. In the abscence of good balance it means some classes are gimped or outright out-gunned. Or it could be even a spec of a class. So, instead of waiting for the Devs to finally acknowledge it and then waiting for the nerf(s) they 'join' up and get on the bandwagon. This can serve multiple purposes; One, when the metrics are taken and they can see that X% of the population is Y class, then they're that much more 'forced' into reviewing why the imbalance exists. Secondly, the folks that like to pvp do not have to suffer uphill battles for the majority of their pvp play. Now most certainly you'll have the crowd that rolls for the FOTM aspect and to just have an advantage, but, what happens when the WZ is full of the same OP class? Then the inherent advantage of using the OP class is gone and it's just skill vs. skill. Granted, that happens rarely most likely but the point is still valid. Now I'm not one to roll FOTM, but when you have long cycles for changes and lack of acknowledgement from the Devs about OP classes (hello Mages in WOW) I can see why some people do it. I rolled my lock for 4 years up and down the nerf rollercoaster, hell if there was a patch that DIDN'T have a lock nerf in it, most of us sighed in relief, but meanwhile other classes have gone on for long periods of time before 'adjusted'. Anyone that pvp's for any period of time would probably agree the Devs should be working closer with the community (absent separating pve from pvp) so that they can be more up to date with 'clever uses of game/class mechanics' that pvpers use. I think most would agree when a class is OP in PVE, they're on top of it in a flash, but when it comes to PVP, it's like ACK what do we do?! So yea... everyone roll a Sorcerer/Sage and then when the forums are filled with posts like these where entire WZ's are filled with one class, you'll see quicker action (hopefully). The majority of us want our niche, dps output with some control; a lot of control with some dps, good healing and manueverability, etc. etc... and that's what they're tasked with doing, BALANCING that. I realize like most its not an easy thing to do, but they've taken on that job, it's up to them to do it; whatever we can do to nudge 'em along is fine with me after coming from that other MMO where blatant PVP OPness lasted for entire expansions for some and some get hot-fixed nerfed in 24 hours or less. We don't need to see anymore of that.

Totally agree, while we never see that type of feat in the movies I think that'd be possible, but for the sake of the movie(s) and for whatever reason George thought the choking would suffice as the display of power. But many things the Jedi/Sith did using the force were subtle which is why I made the reference. The flick of his fingers Obi-Wan does to distract the guards near the tractor-beam controls for example, or when Qui-Gonn makes sure those dice end up on the right color... subtle. Often times they chose to use subtle means to achieve their goals. The Empire was about showing sheer force and numbers yet smaller guerilla tactics by the Rebellion were doing their part as well, partly out of necessity but nonetheless effective.

You have to examine the dialogue in its full context... General Tagge: What of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it. Vader: The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands. Motti: Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they have obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe! I suggest we use it! Vader: Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. Motti: Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerous ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you enough clairvoyance to find the rebels' hidden fortress... <gasp> In full context, Motti is eager to unleash the Death-Star and mocks Vader; and in return Vader shows him exactly why Destroying a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force; Sublety. Blowing up a planet is not subtle it's plain and simply brute force. Using the Force to physically choke someone and if they so choose, end their life all due to their concentration and manipulation of the force is SUBTLE. Taking the reference of the "ancient religion" in terms of the time passed between the Jedi purge and the moment which this conversation takes place it seems is being taken out of context. The Religion itself is ancient, it doesn't mean that the Moff has no clue about history and what transpired when he was like a a teenager. What it means is the current prevailing attitude towards the religion is that it's hokey and that technology was far superior. There are no more Jedi, and only two Sith. Of course people are going to start being critical and thinking like the Moff did, they've likely never seen a force user doing anything significant to make them think otherwise and have likely only heard some tales here and there. Remember, even when Palpatine was manipulating his way into power, not everyone knew he was a Sith Lord. Viceroy Gunray didn't know Sidious was Palpatine. Only his inner circle 'really' knew.

Well, the problem is that you have to take heavy armor that is independant of class or alignment. For example there is Orange gear that has limitations such as: Must be Sith Warrior or Must be Dark/Light Side 1-5. Then there is a set of gear that does not have the Class or Alignment requirement, those will be what you need to gear good ol' Khem with. I too had this realization a bit late as when I obtained Broonmark (who wears the same gear I do) I tried to hand him over older gear that I was going to update mod-wise, but then read the requirements and had to find some other pieces for him here and there. A lot of the Specialty Goods vendors on each planet have the independant orange gear that you'd just need to upgrade to current level or you can go the GTN route and pick from what others have found off mobs or from Lockboxes. I typically didn't buy blue gear for any companion while leveling except for Implants and some of the harder to obtain gear that you'd get from flashpoints etc. I just waited until max level while keeping their gear current with greens and maybe an orange or two. Now I'm going back to farm up comms to buy them all orange gear and mod them out for max level. It depends on how you level to some extent. I mainly used Vette/Quinn and Jaesa. I kept Quinn the best geared as my pocket-healer and Jaesa fairly well geared too, but that's party because I'd picked up the wrong third crew-skill to go with Artifice and Archaeology (Underworld Trading) and had to drop it to get Treasure Hunting. Then I spent a lot of time having Vette out leveling that up so her gear got behind. If I had to do it all over again it would've went a lot differently. But yeah, the long and short of it is that Khem can't wear Warrior specific gear. Cheers!

I didn't read the whole thread but if the OP is freaking out about 40k I suspect he/she will have a coronary when the 210k training comes along.

You know I've been totally expecting Baras to force choke me or something to that effect when I diss him during dialogue via Holocall. That would at least make me think twice, but noooooo he just dismisses it.

Exactly, from Jedi Academy the saber-locks were awesome. The chance was fairly low but when it happened it was very cool. The problem would be that in JA, you just spammed your left and right triggers to "win" the lock and get an attack off, but they'd probably have to add an attack or make it so that when you lock you'd have to do x to get an advantage and then be able to execute one of our current attacks or add a new one in. It'd be cool but I don't know if it'd be worth the dev time to do it considering it'd only affect us saber users. Definitely a cool thing though, really loved Jedi Academy even with the limited type of attacks you could use.

As I keep gaining new skills I've had to adjust my setup. I typically keep all of my single target attacks grouped together on bottom quickslot 1-6 and then my AOE's, interrupts and finishers on bottom quickslot 2. I do keep Call on the Force and medpack on quickslot one but most of my other defensive CD's, forms, buffs and vehicle etc. on right quickslot bar and then keybind them. For w/e reason I just don't like reaching for 7-= so I tend to use a-h and v, c, b, t, r and such for keybinds associated with defensive CD's and interrupts so I can do them without searching for the key. For example Saber Ward keybound to V, and Invincible to Shift+V. Retaliation to F, Disruption to Shift+F. This method allows me to use combat abilities dynamically as needed and still keeps my old arthritic fingers close enough to use my other cds without losing my place (kind of like typing home keys A-S-D-F and J-K-L-.

I've had some issues with my Tank specc'd Jugg but mainly because I've tried to get after the class quest so early in the zone (it generally is the quest that brings you to the zone) that I sometimes am a li'l under-level or undergeared etc. I've found that just getting a couple more pieces of gear or gaining one or two levels fixes the problem just fine. Sometimes initially too you're just caught a li'l offguard or fumble a bit from the dialogue cut-scene back to the game itself and find yourself behind from the outset. Stims and Medpacks can also be the difference. I know it may seem a li'l excessive or expensive but they're good tools to use. While I do have a lot of defensive CD's to use, I also have fairly low dps compared to most classes so utilizing all of my tools; interrupts, defensive cooldowns, taunts, stims and medpacks are often crucial to the encounter.