I would like to know this as well. World PvP is a big deal to me. Also, I have some constructive, logical thoughts on what I think it should be like here, if anyone cares. But you don't.

Which classes are you guys having the most trouble killing? Which are you able to handle with ease? In my experience, Snipers are probably our nemesis class. They're immune to Storm and Harpoon as long as they stay in cover, so we can't insta-close. If we try to kill them from 30m away, they're (obviously) going to win. If we try to close on foot, they have plenty of tricks to keep us away. I still stand a chance against them, but I mostly have to use LoS. I'm also having trouble against heal-specced Ops. I can get them down to 30% pretty easily. However, since I don't have AP yet (3.5 more levels!), I simply cannot burst them down on my own. They can stack two HoTs on themselves and then run around spamming that heal that's free on targets under 30%. I can always get them down to 10% or less, but they just keep healing themselves back up until help arrives. Hopefully, 20% more DoT damage and the ability to time-burst with AP should fix this. Sorcerers and Mercenaries tend to be the easiest kills for me. We seem like a class incredibly well-suited to taking down the "ranged cast-time nuke" archetype. Hit them with IR -> HiB from a distance, either Harpoon or just run up, and once I get withing melee range I know they're dead. They're too easy to interrupt and harass, and I have plenty of damage to finish them quickly.

Maybe it's just my server, but I'm seeing a crapload of Consulars. Just look: Novare: 6 Sages, 1 Shadow, Pre-50 Alderaan: 4 Sages, 3 Shadows, 50 There have been at least one or two more times recently that I've seen 6+ Consulars (not counting me), in both the Pre-50 (on my Vanguard) and 50 (on my Shadow) brackets. I'm on the Swiftsure. What's going on?

It wasn't necessarily a hack. It could have been: 1) Trooper was using Storm, our "leap" ability. Storm's animation actually has you run for most of the distance and jump right at the end (see the video), because we can't just do a Jedi Force Leap. 2) Trooper was using Hold the Line and had +15% run speed, Sorcerer was slowed. 3) Some sort of odd lag.

Seriously, this. Best post I've read in a while. And for the flamers, I have never played a Sent/Marauder. I have a Shadow and a Vanguard. I know that the class isn't OP based on my experiences fighting them. And I'm fine with all the FOTM people, as long as they stay the **** away from my classes. Being the only Vanguard in a warzone is fun ^^

I would say that Assault's ability to time-burst (high damage compressed over a short period of time) is superior. Assault Plastique -> HiB -> Stockstrike can do really high damage, but it's compressed into a period of less than 3s. HiB even has a little travel time, and stockstrike deals damage quickly. If you take the same burst rotation as Tactics, Assault probably does the same amount of damage (or really similar). However, Assault has the ability to compress that damage into a lot of back-loaded burst. Tactics hits them with Gut, and then does pretty steady damage. Assault hits with two DoTs, then AP for delayed damage, and then the burst. So for the first part of a fight, Assault is doing less damage by applying AP and IR. However, there is that deadly burst phase when IR and PC are ticking away, AP goes off, and your burst skills (HiB/SS) go off all at once. Assault can load up more burst to trigger all at once.

"Properly modded" is up to you. Everyone likes to mod their gear differently. You have to choose the right balance between Crit/Surge (burst damage), Power/Accuracy (sustained DPS), and Endurance/Defense (survivability). Different people will tell you different numbers to aim for. It's all about how you want to play, and you're going to spend a good long time messing around with mods. However, the one thing we can say is that the default mods aren't as good as ones you've customized to fit your style. Pyros are our mirrors. We have a few bugs that they don't (and vice-versa), but as far as everything is WAI, we're mirror classes. It's probably mostly due to gear, which makes a huge difference.

+8% Damage to the majority of your skills, +15% in-combat run-speed, and +27-69% ammo regeneration. If you're Tactics, you'd be a fool to use anything else. If you're using a spec that's meant to go with Plasma (Assault) or Ion (Shield Specialist), then you'd be a fool to use HEC.

My Vanguard has gotten at least four heavy armor recipies for Bounty Hunters and Sith Warriors, but nothing a Trooper can wear. Too bad we can't trade, eh?

Oh, definitely not a go-to strategy. But if we've been trying the same thing for the last five minutes and it's not working, this might just give us a chance. Also, Novare > Alderaan, by far. The amount of effort required to capture or defend a node is far more reasonable.

I've had this exact scenario happen, and I've had the diversion actually work as well. I guess there's no way to prove that it was me, but the fact that I was keeping 3 people buys can't have hurt the fight in the middle. Nonetheless, I'll freely admit that I'm far from the best player. There are always new things to learn. Care to pass on some of your wisdom?

One person sometimes works, especially if they're a stealth class with a lot of burst. In that case, it's not a big enough group to draw lots of attention, and we actually have a decent chance of pulling off a cap. But I'm still of the opinion that a single person going for ninja cap/distraction is best.

No, they didn't. I typically see 2-3 (occasionally 4) people respond to an inc call. If I were to go alone, it would mean that I'm solo distracting 3-4 people, for the price of one person. If two people follow me, we're distracting equal numbers. Since defenders have a large advantage, our odds of capping the right node aren't all that big. It's more of a distraction with a chance of capping if you're lucky than an actual attempt to capture. In other words: If we all stay at mid, there is a 7-8 v 7 fight. If no one follows, there is a 6-7 v 4-5, and a 1 v 3-4. The central fight has a high chance of succeeding. If two people follow, there is a 4-5 v 4-5 and a 3-4 v 3-4. We actually have worse odds than if we'd all stayed at mid.

Here's something that really bugs me when people don't understand it, so I'm going to spell it out. In capture-point warzones (Alderaan/Novare), you will not win if you split up. If you try to capture/hold three nodes, and your enemy is only focusing on two nodes, then they will win. At any given node, they will have superior numbers, giving them a large advantage. This means that splitting up as a team strategy is a bad idea. However, this isn't always a bad tactic for a single player. Let me set the scene: It's Alderaan. My team is holding the left node. The enemy has the center and right node, with one guarding right. 7 players from each team are fighting over the middle node. It's Alderaan, so the defenders have a massive advantage. We have a couple promising pushes that almost net the node, but we're always stopped at the last second. We're getting close to the "they've doubled your score, you auto-lose" moment. I decide to do something to shake it up. I'm going to go harass the right node. As an experienced player playing against a PUG, I know one of two things will happen: The player guarding right is a scrub. They won't call out that I'm coming, I'll kill them, and I'll take the node. The player is a normal/good player. They'll call out for help. A couple enemy players will go to assist him. They'll kill me, but I'm good enough to keep them busy for a while. If #1 happens, then yay! We just have to hold onto left and right and we win. If #2 happens, I've turned the central node fight into a 6-7 v 4-5, giving my team a much better chance of capping. I've taken one player away from my team, but several players away from the enemy (for a good 30s or more). That's how it should happen. Here's what really happens: I type "I am going to go be a DISTRACTION at the right node. NOBODY FOLLOW ME. If you follow me, WE WILL LOSE. Stay at mid and cap it." in ops chat. I head out towards right, and I'm not obvious about it. The enemy probably doesn't notice. Two players see me going right, and follow. One of them runs up the ramp in the central node. The enemy notices. Another two players stop, stand still in the middle of a raging war, and PM me about how I'm a noob/scrub/moron. One of them will likely continue to do so for a good ten minutes after the WZ ends. Three players actually attempt to cap mid, and die horribly. They then go into ops chat to whine about how they had no backup. The diversion is an incredibly valid strategy. You lose one player on your team, and he distracts several enemy players, keeping them out of the fight and giving you an edge. However, the diversion only really works if it's synchronized by a coordinated push from the people at mid. If I draw a few players off, and you all give it your best, we have a strong chance at grabbing mid. However, once people follow me, it changes from "Diversion" to "Splitting up", which is a horrible mistake. Before you send me hate-filled PMs, realize that it wasn't my fault the effort failed. It was the fault of the people who followed me because they don't read Ops chat, and the fault of the people who stood around cussing me out rather than taking advantage of the window I provided and winning. Moral of the story: If you see one man going out alone to the enemy node, go to the central node and kill everything in sight. Worry about calling people noobs when the warzone is over, and for the Republic's sake don't follow him.

PvP vendor. I'm also starting to consider the N-416 Rampage-X Enforcer. I got my E-313, and the long barrel looks kind of weird in really close-quarter combat. Sine the P-7 looks to be roughly the same length, I'm thinking it might also have the same problem. The N-416 is still simple, elegant, and utilitarian, but it's more reasonable length for a close-quarters weapon. It also has a more solid-looking stock, which is a big plus. I'm going to get both and see which I like. The noise they make will likely be the deciding factor.

Best Massive, mind-blowing amount of AoE Melee/Range hybrid class Strong, reliable cooldowns Challenging resource mechanic Stockstrike on a Sith with a lightsaber in each hand. Harpoon on anything and everything. 8s Interrupt Worst People think I'm a tank I no longer enjoy my Shadow No escape skills Backpacks on chest armor Ugly low-level rifles

Definitely /sign this. I hate running from a ground AoE symbol, only to find it was actually a sage on our side with the forcequake. Or thinking it's an ally, only to suddenly lose a ton of health. I'd be really happy if this was fixed.

Gonna copy a post of mine from Vanguard forums: There's no way to really know which is better. Here's the problem with DPS parsing: There is no "best" class in this game. There simply isn't. There is, however, a best class/spec for any given player. That would be the spec that most closely fits how you like to play, the one that feels most natural and smooth to you. So if we have someone who is a natural Pyro player who parses both Pyro and AP, he's going to come to the conclusion that Pyro is better. This might be because Pyro really is, but it also might be because the Pyro rotation comes more naturally to him. Even slight rotation problems can lead to significant DPS drops. The only thing we can say with any surety is that Pyro and AP are reasonably close. Let's say that Pyro was hypothetically better by a small margin (<75 DPS). It would still be better for you to play AP if that's what feels natural to you, because you'll still get better results. You shouldn't be playing a class/spec that feels clunky just because others insist it has better DPS. So don't go by which supposedly has better DPS, go by what feels best when you play it. The only numbers you can really rely on are numbers that you personally have parsed. Those will take into account your skill and style, so the class that does better for you will (surprise, surprise!) do better.

Guess you didn't read my post. I'll summarize: There is no best class. There is a best class for each person, one that fits them most. I believe that classes are balanced in terms of DPS in this game, and that if you're getting drastically lower DPS it's because you're playing the wrong class. Something else would probably fit your playstyle far better, leading to better results. Even if one class is objectively better, you'll never be able to pull as much DPS on that class if it doesn't fit you. If I were to do what you suggest and go roll a commando, my testing would show horrible DPS. That would be because of my playstyle. I loathe activation times, and the archetypal cast-time-nuker class is not for me. Vanguard is a much closer fit to my style. Even if they have exactly the same DPS capability, I'd pull much better numbers on a Vanguard than I would on a Commando.

Maybe you should go through every skill you have (including the ones you don't use, ever) and look at all of the tooltips in detail. Who knows what goodies you'll turn up?

Oh, yeah, if you have storm there's almost never going to be any reason to use FA. But I'm Assault, which specializes in being the game's premier melee/range hybrid class. For me, it does an extra 9% damage to burning targets (and all targets I hit are burning), so it's extra good. I really enjoy doing Incendiary Round -> Assault Plastique -> Full Auto -> HiB, and then hauling them in for melee burst. Does a healthy chunk of damage to soften them up before they're fighting me, giving me a huge advantage.

Yeah... no. Definitely no. This would completely destroy the class. People play Vanguards because they want to play like a Vanguard. If you want to hit people with a shiny stick, go play a Jedi. We're an incredibly blaster-based class. Also, this would destroy everyone but tank spec, and even tank spec would be gimped. Assault especially is a range-dependent spec. Assault is awesome because it's the one and only range/melee hybrid class in the game. Only Balance Shadow comes close, but they take like a 70% DPS hit to attack from 30m away. Assault takes a 25% DPS hit from 30m, and less than a 10% hit from 10m away. This would take an iconic, powerful class and turn it into a Jedi, but without everything that makes a Jedi cool (i.e. the Force). We'd just be some schmuck swinging a stick around. It's plausible to win a fight by shooting a Sith in the head (or in the back with a shotgun, a la Scoundrel), but if you think you're going to win a swordfight with someone who has a lightsaber, you must be out of your mind on drugs. No. Just no. Go play with a glowstick.

Wow... well, if you managed to get this far without using such an incredibly powerful cooldown, just imagine how much a** you're going to kick now that you know to use it How in the world did you get that impression from reading the tooltip? It seems incredibly straight-forward to me.

IMO, PvP gear is a great way to start the PvE gear progression. They're two separate gear progression paths, but the end of one path can start you on another. Full BM or WH gear should be enough to let you start running hardmodes. Clearly you shouldn't be taking PvP gear into ops or anything else like that, but full Battlemaster should be enough to start working on your Tionese/Columni gear. Likewise, Rakata or Campaign gear should be enough to let you skip the Recruit step in PvP progression. That said, PvP is not an efficient way to get PvE gear. If your goal is "get gear to start PvE gear progression", then you should run dailies and craft/purchase gear. However, if you enjoy PvP a lot, it's probably a good idea to start your PvP progression before your PvE progression.

A few things to consider. First off, harpoon is invaluable for fringe fighting. I'd strongly recommend getting Tactical Tools for -10s cooldown, as it's such an incredibly useful tool. With a 35s CD, you can pull one player out of the scrum, light them on fire, smash their face, and kill them, and harpoon will already be half cooled down. Especially if you're Assault, don't be afraid to DPS at range if you know the scrum will kill you. This isn't always true, but sometimes you'll be more of a help to your team hanging back, using your taunts on CD, and DPSing at range than charging in and dying quickly. Testing has shown that Assault Vanguards actually do decent DPS from range. People who pulled 1,200 DPS at melee range pulled 1,100 DPS from 10m away and 900 DPS from 30m away. Sometimes it's better to do 10-25% less damage if it means living much longer. Also, when you do get within melee range, don't stand still or make yourself an easy target. Every skill we have (except PC and MV) can be cast on the move. Use that to your advantage. You should be constantly moving while in the scrum, to keep the melees off your back. I typically lead with IR -> AP/SG -> HiB, move in for a few Ion Pulses, get into melee for SS, and then dance back out into 10m range. While SS is on cooldown, there is no reason whatsoever for you to let them be in melee range. Kite-strafing is your friend as a Vanguard. And finally, especially as Assault, don't hold onto your cooldowns. Both Adrenaline Rush and Reactive Shield are can go as low as a 40s cooldown, although it's usually more like a minute. If you're under 85% health, use Adrenaline Rush. If you start taking targeted damage (rather than AoEs), use Reactive Shield. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people holding onto their shield until they're at 25%, at which point it does you very little good. It's much better to occasionally use your shield when you don't need it than to hold onto it and only use it twice a warzone.