Hey all, new to this spec but wanted to get feedback on the following rotation, which is basically a "rotation version" of the zorz opener and very similar to Greeto's (I speak commando, sorry): [lead w zorz opener, ending on the MB CB MB combo], then rotate SB > IR > Fill > FA > Fill > AP > MB > CB > MB Is there any reason this wouldn't work? It seems like it would allow you to keep your instant CB proc on that CB used to proc your 2nd MB, and keep the first IA on FA. This would keep procs in a constant spot in your rotation, keep your dot applications together at the front, and mean that the only ability that NEEDS to be casted is your SB (since the CB will always be proc'ed). Separately - why does it seem most rotations reverse IR and SB when they go from opener to rotation? I'm really really new to this, and prob am making a glaring oversight, so feedback is really welcome.

Is it just me or is it better to hold onto 4 of the old brutalizer armorings for pvp? My logic - I rarely need to use saber throw within 10m anyways (4 piece 3.0) and the 6 piece bonus just doesn't fire that frequently. I have no math and limited skill to back it up, but I suspect the brutalizer bonuses more than make up for losing these two bonuses + the stats. Any input / feedback would be appreciated.

Just curious - why do so few of the pvp builds I see take the armor talent (shadowy veil)? I'm guessing it has to do with the significantly lower base armor on shadows? I only ask because my vig guardian has really benefitted from the +15% armor talent in the defense tree.

This is a great answer, thank you. It makes sense that this is effectively a tax aimed at reducing the money supply (which I agree, needs to be taxed to fight inflation). My one major criticism is that all the other "taxes" are related to and offset activities that directly create credits: Repair costs: incurred while questing / running ops (assessed afterwards, cost is inversely related to success) Travel costs: incurred while questing / running dailies for credits and loot (assessed in advance, but small) GTN commission: incurred while selling loot / craft items Crafting mission costs: incurred while farming mats, which are usually sold directly or indirectly These are all rather limited costs, and are directly offset by gains from the very activities they tax (on an ongoing basis). The augment installation fee, on the other hand is a) significant and b) upfront. If anything, it is confusing because it is effectively a gate on running ops / endgame. If they really wanted to tax ops/endgame and control money supply, I would suggest other methods that don't create disincentives (e.g. as much I hate it, the cost of ripping mods is a necessary evil that indirectly taxes augments on an ongoing basis).

I will say, it would be nice if they waived that 36K installation fee. Can someone explain the purpose of that particular credit sink?

Solution: Eliminate snipers' ability to deal competent AOE damage?

I personally love the male VA and can't stand the female VA, but your opinion may vary. I'd recommend youtubing or doing a quick initial playthrough to see which you like better. Trying to give detail without spoilers: As far as story, I think this is one of the more... promiscuous... classes (plenty of opportunities for flirting / fade to black), if that has any bearing on your results. Both have the opportunity to flirt with one-off NPCs, as well as ones that are key to the plot. Male has two romanceable companions. Opinions are divided on the female's romanceable companion (seems to be a love/hate kind of thing).

Are your thoughts on the opener still PB -> MS -> OS -> BS -> MS?

Most trash is pretty straightforward. In general, you'll want to follow the same rules that you did in FPs: don't stand in stupid and use your interrupts. Some exceptions that come to mind: -The champion droids early on in TFB have a self destruct. Usually your tank will put a target marker on them, or tell everyone to kill them first. - The gates/nodes in TFB usually need to be killed before the adds. - Some adds in SnV have nasty channeled attacks (dulfy calls these out in her guide). - The droids on DF between Grob'thok and Corrupter Zero explode, but they put out a red circle to indicate radius. Assuming you're a DPS, I think the biggest thing to note is to make sure you are targeting the right mobs (i.e. don't engage a gold that the tank has put aggro on but is currently ignoring). In my opinion, the best tool for learning trash mechanics is utilizing target of target. Find a well-geared DPS with similar skills (i.e. ranged or melee), follow him around, and attack what he is attacking. Pretty soon you'll figure it out. If you're ever supposed to be hitting something else, usually your raid leader will tell you / mark the target.

The implants are veracity experimental (reaction, response, resistance). I'd definitely recommend picking up a pair of them. On my server they can usually be picked up in the 40-50K range a piece, so roughly the cost of a set of dailies. If you can, save yourself some credits down the road and try to pick up an already-augmented set, since you'll hold onto them long enough to want to augment them eventually. There's a huge arbitrage where the augmented ones usually go for 60-70K a piece, or 20K more, while actually augmenting them yourself will cost you 90-100K.

I'd say that you're probably characterizing it correctly here. In bleeding edge content, that extra DPS will be crucial, and the ability to emergency offtank won't matter much (if you lose a tank, it's probably a wipe). I was moreso trying to think through the build as a QOL build for easier content (SM PUGs / HM FPs / Heroic Dailies), where you're more likely to survive scenarios where you take damage.

If one were taking guard stance, is this the build you'd recommend? http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/Guardian#100212-1032322121310212023203-13 Seems like you'd be sacrificing 7.5% crit on an ability that is 8% of total damage (so 7.5% * 75% * 8% = 0.4% from dispatch) and 10% damage on an AOE ability that is 3.5% of damage (0.35% from sweep). For this, you receive a ~3% damage reduction increase and 33% chance of accuracy debuff on sweep. Am I thinking about that right?

I've only played light-side characters, so I have a fairly dumb question: do dark-side non force users have dark-side corruption (of their facial features)?

I like this idea a lot. You could return to your ship after the "killpoint" (or dismissal cutscene) and have a brief cutscene where the replacement companion introduces themselves "Hello sir, I am the new combat-ready [mercenary you hired / trooper you requested, etc]," then that's the last you talk to them. Same skills as their replacement, easy peasy and not immersion breaking. Of course, BW seems to have moved on from the main class stories some time ago (rightly so), so this is pretty unlikely.

I've had this happen to me twice as well. It's odd, annoying and fortunately infrequent.

Quick question on gearing. I'm now fortunate enough to have 4 pieces of Arkanian gear, and am steadily raking in ultimate comms. Assuming I have the other four slots already in 78s (which I will soon), which is preferred between 78 armorings and the 69 set-bonus armorings? Of the two sets, is one more likely to go? I'm guessing Arkanian > 78, but wanted to get thoughts (as it will probably be a while before I can get Underworld and Dread Forged).

Haha, fair enough. Boundless ages it is then (for now)!

This is a really comprehensive guide, thank you. I didn't even think to use force push as a filler, but it makes sense when tanking bosses that don't include adds. Only thing I noted was maybe changing your 'Master' opener to include cyclone slash over regular slash, as I believe cyclone generates a little more threat early on in the fight ( http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=712195&highlight=cyclone+threat ). I also personally find myself using hilt strike, then stasis, then blade storm before master strike, because master strike's damage is seemingly back-end loaded (though I admittedly haven't tried to prove this out via parsing). EDIT: I'm realizing that it doesn't matter if the damage is back-loaded in your opener, since it falls immediately after the taunt. This is great.

If I have never PVP'ed (literally, not once), how much work am I going to need to do to get enough comms for obroan relics?

Story time! I was tanking HM Maelstrom on my overgeared JG. Immediately upon entering, a DPS JG starts with the "fast run, fast run" and "spacebar, spacebar" spam. I figure it's going to be a piece of cake anyways, so why not push the pace and indulge him? Then I look at his HP: 15K. Oh well, I figure, he's probably just gearing up and trying to quickly grind some better gear. We push through, and he occasionally aggros trash, etc but nothing too concerning. On Dash, we decide to obey the mechanics due to our healer also being undergeared, but he just keeps going after him. No worries, pop a taunt and keep aggro while hiding. Later, on the sith with the spin attack, he stays in the spinning attack for the duration and dies. After the fight: Me: "next time, you'll want to get out of that spin attack, it can be hard to heal through." Healer: "yup, exactly" DPS (at the same time): "healer, revive," "revive now," and "revive me! I'm F2P" Healer: "I can tell..." We continue through, with him periodically going AFK for 5 minutes at a time / pulling skippable trash. At this point I'm amused, though the 5-10 minute AFK prior to the last boss was a bit much. We down the final boss without incident. During the final cut scene: DPS: "Spacebar, Spacebar, GO GO GO"

I laughed.

Very new to vigilance (leveled and geared as a tank, just completed my 69s DPS set this week), and this guide has been very helpful. I've been practicing hitting my keybinds along with your youtube of the parse, which has been nice as well. I've a got a ways to go, but getting there slowly. My biggest question is around non-dummy priorities, namely when a boss mechanic forces you to interrupt a rotation in an awkward place. This popped up for me a few times on TC last night. I know that OS/PB need to be used on cooldown, but have a few questions on priority: 1) If you have 1 stack of Zen, and OS, PB, and MS all off cooldown, what do you lead with? In general, is it more important to utilize all your MS procs or keep OS/PB on CD? 2) If you mess up and OS and PB both come off of cooldown at the same time, which do you prioritize?

All I know is that wiping out stats or raising the +41 stat cap on crystals would MASSIVELY devalue existing cartel crystals (unless the existing ones were all raised to the new cap). This doesn't seem to be in BW's interest (unless they release a new "super cartel crystal" at the new cap, in which case we riot).

I personally use this for PVE: http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/Guardian#13221221022212120122230-21203-20 I spec into expeditious protector and battlefield command (instead of Jedi Warden or Master Focus) because I prefer the mobility (and not having to respec for fights like the desert biome in CZ Meltdown HM). Edit: I assumed you were asking about tanking, I may have misunderstood your question, however.

While you're kidding about yours, I do think this should be a good opportunity to get insights on the suggested "flyby roadmap." Specifically, how they intend to rework trees to fully eliminate it from single-target rotations (hi fellow sharpshooters!) and if there will be any single-target buff/replacement.