^^ This x10. Darkness is not the best spec, it is the easiest spec (that's not to say there aren't skilled players using it). Also, to the OP - correct your incorrect assumptions: the closest thing to the WoW Rogue is a DPS Operative - NOT an Assassin. We are not a burst from stealth class in this game - something I figured would be painfully obvious considering we have no stealth openers. Spike is used for the knockdown, as an additional interrupt or utility ability, it is not a stealth opener. If you want a WoW Rogue, I suggest you do yourself a favor and reroll to a class which more closely relates to the playstyle you are looking for.

Single target really depends on the situation. If I'm closing distance it's usually Death Field -> Creeping Terror (for root + damage) -> Discharge -> Thrash/Saber til Raze -> Crushing Darkness -> Refresh DF/Discharge/CT/ThrashSaberRazeCD -> Assassinate When Available -> Maul When EW Procs (if you're talented into Duplicity) If I'm already in range of the guy I'll usually CT/Discharge before DF just because of the slight animation lag. If we're talking PvP I'll usually save Shock to combo with Assassinate to finish, or if I'm stuck/slowed away from them and CT isn't up for the root distance closer. I also tend to use Saber Strike a little bit more freely in PvP if I really want to get Raze/CD on a target quickly since it hits 3 times to Thrash's 2. PvP is also the only time I'd ever use FL and that is very situational (counter defensive cooldowns like Deflection). As far as PvE goes, from what I understand Shock is too costly for Madness to include it in the priority list - my limited endgame PvE experience has me agreeing with this.

This. Also, don't immediately write off DOTs because of cleanse. Why? 1) Healer has to notice the DOT on themselves or a teammate in the thick of combat. 2) Healer has to remember to cleanse. 3) Healer has to deem it worthwhile to spend a GCD on cleansing one (if not multiple) targets. Not always a clear decision given the fact that Lightning DOT has no cooldown and is relatively cheap. Yes, Creeping Terror has a cooldown, but the root is almost more useful than the damage anyway. 3a) If healer does deem it worthwhile, then that's 1 or more GCD in which he's not healing someone. There's subtle utility to that. PvP is neither 2 dimensional nor black and white.

1) I went with the 4pc Force-Master, most people will tell you to go all Stalker. I prefer the bit of extra healing and the extra range on Shock/Jolt. **EDIT: Note, this will require mod swapping the BM pieces that have Alacrity on them. It's also a bit too much accuracy and not enough Surge, but I'm waiting on WH pieces before I start swapping things around significantly since the itemization is slightly better on that set and I refuse to grind any more than I absolutely have to. 2) As long as your crit is at least 30% (softcap, or close to it), go +power all the way. Personally, I can't live without Lightning Reflexes anymore, but Avoidance isn't a bad choice either. Also, in my experience so far Haunted Dreams > Sith Defiance. I use Insta-WW a lot to help control the flow of combat.

2/2 Insulation = Medium Armor. Essentially, with the extra 10 points a lot of it is personal preference. Personally, I find 30% armor to be a more worthwhile expenditure then Duplicity (1 point has always manifested Exposed Weakness as often as I need it) and Electric Execution adds something like 10 points of damage to Lightning's proc (not discharge). Personally I really notice a drop in survivability without it. That's me though, your mileage may vary.

It CAN burst, but I wouldn't call it a Burst DPS spec. Pressure DPS is a more apt name.

Well, that's the tricky part with Madness, refreshing your DOTs before they're lapsed will lessen your overall effectiveness. Madness can't really use a rotation. The only time I have ever, and will ever, use Maul is if EW is up from Duplicity - otherwise, it costs WAY too much force. If you can't watch for that buff (yeah, watching buffs is a pain in the ***, but EW is pretty easy to see) then don't bother with Duplicity. I usually start with Death Field, then spread around Discharge on at least the Deathmark targets (sometimes one or two more depending on the group, helps soften the group and increases self-healing), double up Creeping Terror on one of them (depending on situation - sometimes my focus target, sometimes not). Then I start Thrashing and basically throw Maul in whenever I notice EW proc while refreshing Discharge, throwing in shock here and there for extra burst, assassinating when I can. Often I'll keep my eyes open and try to time a back to back shock-maul-DF-assassinate-RazeCD for some quick burst, but that's very situational. Madness is a lot more art than science. EDIT: I should also note, personally, I tend to swap to a heavy armor target to maul, then switch back to my current target IF the situation allows (unless I really need the burst to finish them off or I need to break a sorc/sage bubble. You've got to really play to what's around you at the time. I almost never use RazeCD on a soft armor target that's almost dead (unless initial damage may kick him to Assassinate range, in which case I'll do it, assassinate, then often switch to a new target and let CD finish him).

This. If you don't have at least 1 point in Duplicity, don't bother using Maul. 50 Force is too steep a price.

As of a few days ago, gear had reverted back to Live stats with no official mention on the subject. Has this changed?

That's not their version of tumult, it's their version of spike.

Out of curiosity, have you tried Lightning Reflexes? I've always dismissed it out of hand, but I've been thinking about swapping in the two points from Thrashing Blades just to try it out.

Personally I would get rid of Low Slash and really think hard about the following: 50% regen while stealthed. This means you can effectively stance dance *between* fights so that you can adjust if you need more burst or more pressure depending on your target. I'd reshuffle your points around using that as a strategic theme. Bearing that in mind, I'm doubtful of its effectiveness on paper. I'd have to try it out to say for sure, but I feel like its just missing too much. I'd also expect to be pretty force starved. I love creative outside of the box specs, so I want to like it, but I'm doubtful without playing it. It'll definitely require its own playstyle.

I tend to throw out a shock for some burst if I have an extra Recklessness charge sitting around. If I need the range (like in Huttball, I tend to occupy opposing upper catwalks for passes/jumps) I'll throw out a Force Lightning. Depends on the situation. Mostly commonly for me is Shock though, generally speaking.

Preference really - the extra recklessness charge is certainly handy. Stalker is easier to gear with, requires less upfront mod/enh swapping. I got 2 pc Force-Master just to try out the set bonus and found that I liked it. It's now so close to 1.2 (and I don't have the patience to grind significantly in MMOs anymore) that I'm just waiting for it to drop before I upgrade to BM force-master and swap out mod/enh. One day I may actually get the PvE Stalker 2pc, because I'd love the saber strike force regen more than increased range on Shock. 4pc would be nice, but will probably tax my tolerance for grinding.

As Madness I have little trouble with Maras/Sents. They can be tricky if played well or significantly out-gear me (Madness is almost as gear dependent as they are), but not a whole lot of trouble. I also tear through tanks as well, including Darkness, since a good portion of my damage ignores mitigation (internal). Darkness will give me trouble, more than Juggs/Guardians, if they are better geared and competent because of suvivability. A well geared, competent healer is very difficult for us to take down though**, given that nothing counters expertise healing bonus and our spec lacks effective quick burst. Well played ops/gunslingers, and to a lesser extent Deception Assassins/Shadows, will rip through my armor and health pool extremely quickly if I'm not careful. I expect my gearing problems will go away as I shift my champ main pieces to BM once 1.2 goes live. **That's 1v1. In a group engagement, different story that relies on pressuring healer and surrounding allies to overload his ability to keep up with it - or at least distract long enough to get that assassinate in.

Sadly, I am completely addicted to Lightning Recovery. I tried doing without it a few weeks ago. It hurt.

Spec is linked in my sig. Right now I'm Stalker 3 Force-Master 2 (mod/enh swapped). I was never enthusiastic about the Stalker set, but it's the easiest to get right off. I like the set bonus of the Force-Master more, but there's a lot of mod/enh swapping that needs to be done. Also, stalker wrist, belt, saber (champ, not BM), and focus. Once 1.2 hits, I'm going to look into pairing PvE stalker armorings for the 4pc set bonus with as much expertise as I can muster via mods/enh/aug - to where ever the new diminishing returns cap kicks in. Stacking power/surge as much as possible while keeping crit at 30%.

They can be incredibly tricky when well played. I usually save stun and insta-WW for undying rage. Against Anni Mara (and whatever Sent equiv is), offensive use of Shroud early on once they stack up all their DOTs will really put a dent in their DPS. For the other two I try to kick on deflection early on as well to buffer my health for the end of the fight. I try to kite early on but once they finally engage on me I stick with them. But as Madness, creeping terror helps a lot with that. Not sure how easy it'd be on the Hybrid. Health pack to stave off the 20% mark as long as possible helps also. Sidenote: Execution throw at 30% instead of 20% in 1.2 is going to suck. A lot.

This. The pain, god the pain.

This.

I would rate it in order of preference: Insulation, Corrupted Flesh, then Sith Defiance. Insulation is, essentially, medium armor. Go find a comparably geared Marauder, your Armor value will be within 200 points of theirs, give or take. A lot of folks don't like it - personally, I definitely notice the difference without it. Torment I've never liked, also a minority opinion. I just can't see the deal in "Buy 13 Thrashes, get the 14th Free." I get hit with DOTs constantly in PvP, so I've been quite happy with my decision to swap the 2 from Defiance into Corrupted Flesh. As I understand it, DPS rotation in PvE is better without Shock. This may be the case, but I use it far too often as a situational ability in PvP for me to take it out of my PvP rotation - and if I'm using it I might as well get the most bang for my buck when I do, which means UK and Chain Shock. If you're primarily PvE, I could see the argument for getting rid of UK and Chain Shock in favor of something else. I'm not sure I'd do it, but I could see the argument.

Yes, they'd almost certainly be Madness spec. I run with 3pc Stalker 2pc Force Master - the extra healing is helpful since I use Crushing Darkness so often. Mod/Enh swapped for crit/surge on the Force Master pieces, of course. I'm waiting to see how everything prices out in 1.2 before I start making the move for power/surge.

Yep - pretty much! Glad you're enjoying it.

(My spec is linked in my sig) IMO: 1) I've waffled between Maul and Dark Embrace for a long time. Ultimately I've stuck with 1 point in Duplicity because it pops up as much as I need it and the extra big hits are useful. Just don't get tunneled into trying to use Maul every time you see an EW proc, you can loose your rhythm trying to get behind somebody, and that drops your DPS. I dislike the Madness force regen mechanic, but now that I've gotten better with managing it I decided to set aside Dark Embrace for Duplicity. 2) It makes me more durable, but nothing will save you from focus fire. As I understand it, it's not as robust as Darkness self-healing. I've also paired it with the Force Master 2pc set bonus (mod/enh swapped, of course) for a bit extra. It's hard to judge, but ultimately while I feel it is useful (more so than, say, 2% resistance or Torment), it's not something that'll necessarily carry the day. 3) That's where I use them, yes. Sometimes I Reckless for the 30m FL, although that usually only happens in Huttball. 4) I use it a lot but strategically for the Root, not the damage. I'll also pop Creeping Terror and Discharge on one of my 2/3 Deathmark targets that I'm not going to focus with Thrash, just to keep force regen ticking. Obviously I'll double up if I happen to only be fighting one person with no easy multi-DF targets to hit. Also, if I see a teammate fighting an enemy that I can't reach to help, I'll throw it on there as I run by on my way to do something else. I use it fairly frequently, but I wouldn't say I spam it. I don't pay attention to the CD, I just slap it down whenever I see a good opportunity for root.

While I'm the first one to plug hate on the Deathmark/DF force regen mechanic for Madness, DF is not as hard to use mid-combat as you claim but it DOES take quite a bit of practice to fire off as quickly as possible. I'm not surprised you haven't run into a good Madness PvP partner: it's a very difficult spec to play well and requires a lot of thinking outside the box and shifting priority/utility within the flow of the fight.