+1 crit chance to crafting skill (whatever you have) +5 efficacity to other mission skills. Same for Treek

Wasn't (s)he talking about Inclement Conditioning instead of Revitalizers when mentioning the 1.4k health increase ?

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=715016

That's the Deception-Madness hybrid that Evolixe uses too right ? I didn't take it into account and kept pure Deception to stick with the topic of the thread. You basically give up Voltaic slash (and therefore some Shadow Technique / Surging Charge procs) for self-heal and AoE capacity ?

That the way I feel... in PvP I find it much easier to play Shadow than Scoundrel. You can of course play badly, but not as bad as loosing all your T.A. and draining all your energy. Assassins rotation is much more permissive. I was expecting much harsher feedback on your part, so I'm rather happy if that's the only point we seem to disagree on.

Here is a comparison of both specs point by point. Of course in the end it's up to everyone's way of playing. Spike VS Hidden Strike Hidden strike damage makes it a far superior open move, miss it and you will die -> I’d say Operatives if you can land it: 0 - 1 Electrocute VS Debilitate I’d take the smaller CD over range anytime. -> Operatives: 0 - 2 Whirlwind VS Flashbang AoE mess or single target ? -> Operatives win, although 30m range is quite nice: 0 - 3 Force Slow VS Tendon Blast Untalented Operative slow is better, the talents of Assassins are better placed elsewhere. -> Operatives: 0 - 4 Low slash VS Tendon Blast Although tricky to use without capping resolve, mezz is always better than root, and enables to cast Crushing Darkness easily. -> Assassins: 1 - 4 Maul VS Backstab Both heavy hitters, but 9s CD is a pain, Maul wins -> Assassins: 2 - 4 Force Shroud VS Evasion It depends who you are facing, but imho force/tech attacks are often the heavy hitters, making Force Shroud superior. -> Assassins: 3 - 4 Deflection VS Shield Probe Deflection is much better, but has a very high CD. Shield probe however doesn’t really save form anything. -> Assassins: 4 - 4 Crushing Darkness VS Corrosive Dart Crushing Darkness is a bit of a pain to place even with Low Slash -> Operatives: 4 - 5 Taunts VS heals Taunts are just a GCD to be a teamplayer and get medals, whereas heals are a pain to cast and aren’t event that big -> Assassins: 5 - 5 Blackout VS Sneak Is there any reason to discuss this ? -> Assassins: 6 - 5 AOE Capacities No debate here -> Operative: 6 - 6 Recklessness VS Stim Boost The biggest part of the Assassin burst, Recklessness is awesome -> Assassins: 7 - 6 Overcharge Sabre VS Stim boost + Revitalizer Who get this talent anyway? -> Assassins: 8 - 6 Energy management Spam what you want, you can regen anytime -> Assassins: 9 - 6 Movement abilities: Force speed, Phase walk VS Exfiltrate, Hit and Run, Sneak Tricky one, I really like both. I have to call a draw here. Defense Once stacked the damage reduction charges make up for the light armor, and their defense is higher. -> Assassins: 10 - 6 General rotation Assassins rotation is so much easier to manage, whereas counting your T.A. is a pain when trying to burst. -> Assassins: 11 - 6 Bonus points Assassins have a Bump which is very useful in many situations, in huttbal in particular. Operatives have a cleanse which is very effective when fighting against DoT classes other than Sorcerers / Assassins Final score 12 to 7, Deception wins. But that's my oppinion on the matter

I was about to write that I couldn't reproduce with either Operative or Scoundrel, but ran a final test. It is indeed true; I was able to roll towards my ship dummy and use the Sabotage Charge without using cover by spamming the key. As it is possible to get into cover while rolling, I'm unsure it's really usefull. However the whole root -> roll away -> probe -> snipe seems brillant to me when facing melee opponents. Very expensive as it is though. With 2.7 it might become interesting and more affordable : root -> roll away (now free) -> probe -> snipe -> roll back -> stun -> continue.

Same for me, I only tested on my scoundrel. I will test it with my operative and check if the result differs.

Yes, the buff is applied to the extra damage ticks coming from the presence of your DoTs on the target.

Very interesting insight, thanks !

One of the best post I've ever read here.

I use this: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#7010cZGbzrdrkrhGRZhr.3

They removed the respec in PvP for arenas:

I had read you guide a while ago, and would be interested to see what spec you use, now that you can't respec while in queue. We lost a great tactical approach of BG. I have been wondering... Is it possible to pass the ball to yourself, using Phasewalk ? I guess the answer is no but it would make for very interesting moves.

Thanks for the tip ! I've tried using Crushing Darkness right after Low Slash yesterday in PvP. It is indeed very efficient and a very good use of those few seconds of mezz that you otherwise waste by using Maul first. It is especially efficient if you have no ally to wake him up early, making it a great tool for duels.

You are right I was missing that point ! Internal cooldown of 10 seconds indeed. But with a TA duration of 10 seconds also can't you still keep it ? It might be tight but possible, if you manage to trigger Laceration every 10seconds, maybe with a bit of help from Alacrity to squeeze 7 GCD into a 10s window and get your Laceration precisely on the 10s mark. Source ? If this is true it changes what I've just written, if the TA duration becomes longer than the Tactical Opportunity CD, then no need to shiv.

I have a question regarding the quoted part. Will Tactical Opportunity / Round two be changed as well, maybe reducing the chance that the Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand is given back ? That would imply no need to Shiv/Blaster Whip. No TA/UH sink on poisoned/bleeding target seems too good to be true. Did you intend to switch it to 35/70% in exchange (down from 50/100%) ? That would remove the RNG in damage and energy, but keep the same number of TA/UH per fight.

Really looking forward to this. Any update ? Balance guide only or Hybrid as well ? Thanks a lot for your own guide on Infiltration / Deception by the way.

Slicing box missions that crit grant a mission unlock. This unlock can be of any crew skill though, even Slicing the most profitable of the unlocks.

My main is PvE Sawbones that I sometimes play Dirty Fighting when we lack dps and have too many heals. I also have an Operative that I mainly play Concealment in PvP, although not so much these days. I've been leveling an Infiltration Shadow, which is a lot of fun. I like the Force Breach stacking, hence the Concealment/Scrapper idea. Anyway here are my suggestions (posted in both forums) Concealment/Scrapper - Each Collateral Strike/Flying Fists grants 1 stack of Black Market Explosives increasing damage of Explosive Probe/Sabotage Charge by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times. At 3 stacks Explosive Probe/Sabotage Charge can be used out of cover and grants Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand. --> Burst damage unchanged, but rather more sustain damage in long fights. Lethality/Dirty Fighting - Your cover apply its full effect to targets affected by both your bleeding effects (weak version excluded, full cover effect meaning pre 2.5 cover) Let's make it a real melee - Backstab/Backblast has a (15/30%?) chance to refresh all bleeding effects of the target. OR let's make a mid range (more interesting imho) - Overload shot/Quick Shot has 50/100% chance to grant Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand with a 6sec CD common to Shiv/Blaster Whip. Medecine/Sawbones - Talent to turn Orbital Strike/XS Freighter flyby into Orbital Kolto Strike. (okay just kidding, but still... can you foresee the epicness ?)

My main is PvE Sawbones that I sometimes play Dirty Fighting when we lack dps and have too many heals. I also have an Operative that I mainly play Concealment in PvP, although not so much these days. I've been leveling an Infiltration Shadow, which is a lot of fun. I like the Force Breach stacking, hence the Concealment/Scrapper idea. Anyway here are my suggestions (posted in both forums) Concealment/Scrapper - Each Collateral Strike/Flying Fists grants 1 stack of Black Market Explosives increasing damage of Explosive Probe/Sabotage Charge by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times. At 3 stacks Explosive Probe/Sabotage Charge can be used out of cover and grants Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand. --> Burst damage unchanged, but rather more sustain damage in long fights. Lethality/Dirty Fighting - Your cover apply its full effect to targets affected by both your bleeding effects (weak version excluded, full cover effect meaning pre 2.5 cover) Let's make it a real melee - Backstab/Backblast has a (15/30%?) chance to refresh all bleeding effects of the target. OR let's make a mid range (more interesting imho) - Overload shot/Quick Shot has 50/100% chance to grant Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand with a 6sec CD common to Shiv/Blaster Whip. Medecine/Sawbones - Talent to turn Orbital Strike/XS Freighter flyby into Orbital Kolto Strike. (okay just kidding, but still... can you foresee the epicness ?)

A dropped, extracted or bought-then-equipped-to-bind-it Advanced Aptitude Mod 31. At this level you gain a schematic by reverse engineering the same item.

For healing relics, I refer to: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=685909 (It's not only 2.4 data anymore)

Some enhancements with different names have the same stats at some levels but are different at others. http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/gear?n=enhancement#im=66,ix=66,v=a+10.+12 As you can see for the Crit + Surge enhancements, you have 3 variations at level 66 (and beyond): Battle, with the most Crit, the least Endurance. Wily, with the most Endurance, the least Crit, and also a bit less Surge. Assault, which is in between the two.

Your gear seems fine for HMFPs, yet the two new ones are a bit more difficult, and the first boss of Labs in particular. I failed on this boss recently, and I have over 38k HP and 1k1 Bonus healing. There are only so many mistakes from the dps and tank you can fix. I'd say focus on the 4 other FPs, you will get plenty Elite Comms, and gear up pretty quickly. Reading your post I'd say you almost have, or already have the stuff for SM 55 Ops (the old ones). I would focus on getting as much 72's (rating 168?) as possible. SM Ops will give you 69 (162), which can still be useful to get the set bonus (don't worry too much about the second bonus at first). Soon you'll be able to go to HM 55 OPs to get the set bonuses in 72, the 72's barrels, and from then it's gearing up in 78 ! Offhand weapon should be the first thing you buy with Ultimate Comms, it will take time, but the boost in bonus healing will be worth it.