They are a little overtuned at the moment as they're one of the few classes that can execute big hits with impressive sustain, though that'll change when players will have to choose between critically and the beserk/zen supercrit. That being said, I have no problem with fury marauders being one of the best classes for dealing damage because....that's really all they can do for a team. Save for predation, marauders don't provide much utility to the team, since they can't obfuscate anymore, awe (also can't use forcebound), most don't even spec the CC, and they can't use raid buffs in arenas. It is imperative they pump out the damage or there's no reason to use them in high-leverage situations like group ranked. At least now, fury marauders can do damage that is somewhat close to what PTs can do in tank/heal matches and they can potentially apply trauma with their burst which can be crucial in matches with healers. I still think PTs and Lethality Operatives are strong, with the former being able to outperform marauders in tank/heal settings. However, we won't really know how the uber-competitive meta will shape up until ranked season starts.

Fury Mara is definitely the best for burst, mobility and solo ranked viability. Powertechs are also very strong and relevant in ranked, though not quite as mobile. Some may disagree with the last bit.

I cannot stress how many problems people have with SWTOR PVP that can be solved by simply finding people to play with.

No matter what you think of the game or whatever the meaning of Star Wars is supposed to be....SWTOR is an MMO. Therefore, game modes that encourage forming groups in order to accomplish goals are exactly in line with the genre itself.

I don't believe anyone here is seriously suggesting that the lower-skilled players not queue PVP at all, if anything, it's better that they queue as it gives them the opportunity to gain experience and get better. The only instance, where a general lack of PVP understanding should keep someone from queueing, is if it's for ranked because there are actual consequences for losing aside from just time. With regards to advice, most of the players who make up these premades would have no issue offering advice to players who ask. I cannot tell you how many times players have come to me after matches asking for help and we end up exchanging discords and then I share my knowledge with them. The problem though is that I am not a mind reader, I have no idea if the person I killed 10 times is receptive to me whispering them after the match asking if they need help, some people find unsolicited advice, especially after a frustrating match incredibly patronizing. It is the responsibility of the player who wants to improve to ask for advice, not the premade. Even if that player is too shy to ask another PVPer directly for help, they can ask twitch streamers and the latter gives advice.

I think that premades curbstomping entire teams in 8v8s is a symptom of a larger problem in SWTOR PVP which is that there is a colossal skill-gap between players. Such a skill-gap is caused by the base SWTOR PVE experience being so incredibly easy that players are able to clear 95% of the content without understanding aspects of combat prevalent to PVP such as priority orders with abilities, DCD management, kiting, knowing when to swap targets, applying trauma, taunting, placing guard, swapping guard etc. Not to mention there are players in PVP who are aware of their deficiencies in these areas and make no attempts to improve. This immense skill gap allows for premades of only 4 players to dominate teams made up of 6-8 players. If the average PVPer became more competent and confident, premades wouldn't get away with spawn camping or camping mid. It is really telling to suggest that players should not be able to form groups of 4 or should have a harder time finding a match because the other 8 players are incapable of winning that team fight. I do sympathize with people who object to premades on the grounds that many of them are farming kills rather than objectives, therefore ruining the experience of their teammates and in 7.0 preventing them from finishing missions that would give them better gear/tech fragments. However, if the winner-take-all system we currently have for PVP rewards doesn't get premades to stop number farming, I'm not sure what will.

I know the OP edited their post but for the sake of clarity, the ability of "zen" itself is what gives the autocrit. This happens regardless of whether you pick "Criticality" or not.

SWTOR is not the type of MMO to justify how weak a class performs in PVE or PVP because it's a "leveling spec" leveling can take a couple days at most if you really commit to it and when it comes to basic PVE content like story....your companion can take care of most of the threats presented. With how quickly leveling occurs in SWTOR, a player can spend 1-2% leveling a class and the rest of it in "endgame" so balancing a class to excel in that 1-2% period would be a horrible decision.

There's a contradiction in this post because the OP complains about the game lacking balance as PTs and Leth operatives dominate group ranked (ie tank/heal games).........but then recommends that solo ranked only feature tank heal games....wouldn't that just turn solo ranked into a Jugg tank and PT mosh pit? The fact that each type of matchups, 4 DPS, 3 DPS 1 Heal, 3 DPS 1 Tank and 2 DPS 1 Heal 1 Tank have their own "meta" to an extent where certain classes are more effective than others actually lends itself more to balance (as players on classes that are not as strong in certain matchups can pass on queueing for awhile) than just forcing one matchup down players throats.

To answer your first question, Carnage is rather underwhelming in PVP as it's burst, while serviceable is not on par with other burst specs like AP PT, MM Sniper or Conc Op which is rather unfortunate since Carnage is all burst, no sustain, no DOTs or AOE cleave that would make the spec more flexible. In solos the lack of CC immunity make it much easier to control than Fury which makes survivability much more difficult as you cannot chain CC immunities of Gravity Vortex and Blood Ward during your Saber Ward like Fury can so your Saber Ward can get hard countered. When it comes to Group Ranked, Carnage is mostly irrelevant because when evaluating comps, even when it's burst vs burst...if the other team is running AP PTs or MM Sniper...ceterus peribus (all other things remain equal including skill)....the Carnage will lose. That being said, if you take the time to learn the spec, it can still be effective, especially in regular warzones, but just know that there is a ceiling. In terms of build, most Carnage Maras I know run a high-crit build of at least 3k and try to have an alacrity of around 663, the number may seem low, but keep in mind that Carnage Maras have a lot of passive alacrity buffs so you should be able to maintain a 1.4 GCD timer throughout the match. You can acutually achieve a consistent 1.3 GCD though I forgot the number (around 2.3k I think, don't quote me on that though), however, I would never recommend players who are new to Carnage run high alacrity as they won't be able to stay on target consistent enough to make use of the high alacrity. Some Carnage maras will eschew accuracy completely or go with the 110% mark of 1590, but that is entirely up to you. Utilities you want to center either around preventing your target from moving around too much so you can stay on them more since you don't have natural CC immunity or a second force leap.....so ravage root utilities or leap slows (1st bracket) or force choke CDR are useful. You can also run root breakers like expunging camouflage or the util that turns mad dash into a root breaker. Otherwise it's the standard, cloak of pain extension, DR, predation buffs and obfuscate buffs. Since Carnage is almost exclusively white damage, you will want to use Weapon Expertise amps unless you are running the Addendu's Malevolence tactical...then you may want to run Armor Pen. The best offensive tactical in slot is Fanged God Form as it makes resource management easier (to a lesser extent make you tankier as massacre spam increases defense) and on top of that it drastically increases the chance that your Ferocity window is filled with 2 crits. Prosecution is another choice, it makes Devalasting Blast affected by Furious Power. Defensively, Defel Splice Genes (force camo refresh on predation use) will always be the top choice, plus if you run the camo cleanse util, you'll be able to cleanse way more often.

Kind of like what everyone else is saying, I'm against the 15 minutes deserter penalty. Since World PVP is just a remnant of a bygone era, Unranked Warzones are the only consistent source of casual PVP and as such, there shouldn't be a lot of regulation by the devs except for violations of TOS. Players should be able to come and go from unranked warzones as they please since there are really no stakes involved with the outcome of an unranked warzone unlike ranked.

I'd say both DPS PT specs need to be adjusted but AP in particular right now is just stupid*. The Powerlode tactical does way too much for just a tactical....it makes Energy Blast auto-crit EVERY SINGLE USE, gives 4 full stacks of Energy Lodes after popping Power Yield AND gives you one energy lode stack after getting critically hit (benefits which can also be gained if that PT takes damage while guarding someone). I get that AP PTs didn't perform that well prior to the buff, but from what I recall, they had certain passive buffs with the 6.1 patch aside from the Powerlode adjustment. IMO the autocrits for Energy Burst should only happen during Explosive Fuel, not all the time. *Talking strictly from PVP, no idea how they perform in PVE.

This is more in general and not directed at the OP personally, but I'm sick and tired of solo ranked being singled out for toxicity when every other game mode (including regs) has just as much toxicity, if not more.

Looking about at the debate regarding the merits of TT (not even going to address the racisim/homophobia accusations), it seems as though most of the anti-TT camp, at least on this thread have significant experience in group ranked and said experience shaped their views regarding TT. I believe one poster actually said that group ranked players don't TT out of courtesy. I understand where this is coming from because I know many players who queued group ranked in the past and still do, and they spend a lot of hours working together, developing chemistry that allows them to execute their strategy to its fullest, whether it's hard swap or pressure. Most of them don't work that hard to end up just tunneling one player to try to win. Keep in mind that group ranked matches are not necessarily determined by which team has the most talented players, but which ones work the best together. Solo ranked is a different entity. You do not control who is on your team, you can't control the comps you run, won't be able to communicate during the match (voice-comms), which means that you can't always run the same strategies, therefore need to be more flexible regarding how your team approaches each round. This notion that regardless of your teammates, a team should be able to execute hardswaps or pressure efficiently is a utopian one for solo ranked. Yes, tank-tunneling is a simple strat but in some (NOT ALL) cases, the simple strat is the best strat, especially in a PUG scenario. It's not only a matter of skill but also team composition and how well you think a team can work together. A gentleman's agreement in group ranked should not transfer over to solo ranked because of the RNG nature of solos. Also, tank-tunneling in solos does not destroy the queue. Worst case scenario the tanks log off, either quitting for the night or swapping toons, solos will still pop. I sympathize with players who prefer tank/heal games to tank/dps, heal/dps or 4 dps matches....but as long as solo ranked pops, the queue is alive.

Not to be facetious here, but it's been well known that throwing is a problem in ranked. It's been going on since before I started queueing solos (season 9). The fact that it's still going on despite the fact that numerous posters have come on here to protest throwing should lower your expectations for any meaningful action from the devs. Also, I don't know why tank tunneling is being brought up as if it's equivalent to throwing. One is against the TOS and the spirit of competitive play......the other is a strategy, albeit an unpopular one.

I'm not entirely sure that making Meteor Brawler no longer affected by Superheated Fuel will make Pyro PTs switch off the tactical, I do think it's at least a start. I just think that the tactical in general (along with others like Volatile Strike) is problematic...like 100% crit chance....for 15 seconds....on ability that has a fairly short cooldown....??? Why not make the crit chance only 75% at most? I feel as though that would also give PTs pause when considering tacticals.

The two things that I think need to be looked at are the tactics Volatile Strike and Viral Elements and I don't believe I need to explain why those tacticals are overtuned. Everything else regarding operatives like their self-heals, their kiting ability, and DCDs were present in 5.0....annoying sure, but not game-breaking. Part of the issue people seem to be having with killing operatives is that they have no idea how and when to hard stun an operative....usually opening with the stun and then let the operative run around white-barred. I heard that Bioware is making sure that if someone swaps from say Debilitator Set to Tacticians Set, the charges of their hard stuns goes back to one....which is nice.

Not to mention, with no ELO loss, as long as a particpant isn't throwing in a manner so obvious that their teammates report them which could potentially lead to a ban......there really is no disincentive from throwing a match to help a friend.

Winning/losing does not affect your gear progression that much, it's not like going 15-5 in regs will net you 5000 tech frags but if you went 5-15, you'd only get 2000. We're talking about several hundred at most. Armorings/mods/enchancments can come out of warzone boxes, but again....it's not like winning all your warzones will get you to 306 in substantially less time to the point where it's worth getting frustrated in regs over. Ultimately, PVP is not the way to efficient way to progress for gear in 6.0. If you want gear quickly, you know what to do....but if you refuse to do the most time-efficient means of grinding gear and subsequently try to grind in one of the least efficient ways....that's your problem...not your teammates.

An ELO system where losses don't impact rating makes the ELO system itself pointless. There needs to be consequences to losing ranked matches.

I just treat pug regs/unranked like the casual PVP mode it is and not worry about whether my team wins or losses or quite frankly....what my team does. If I want a more competitive pug PVP experience I queue solos.

It's a hard class to climb in because you're often the first tunnel target and while that was the case a lot of times in 5.0 as well, the 6.0 meta has not only bigger burst, but better burst from yellow damage dealing classes for which snipers DCDs aren't as effective in mitigating. Subsequently, snipers are left with no other choice but to spend most of the match kiting and that's not easy to pull off consistently because all it takes is one hardstun and half your health (at best) is gone. While some snipers may not have a problem with having to run and kite nearly every single match, I do think many of them don't find that play-style fun, especially in 6.0 so they either re-rolled or just stopped queuing all together.

Whether it's being done to gain an advantage or play/socialize with friends or both, the streamer in question didn't invent this practice, it's been going on since the game launched. Streaming ranked w/voice comms is a double-edged sword though because the other team, if they're watching the stream (common for ranked players to stream snipe), they'll know the plan and it'll be easier to counter. Now, if they're coordinating with the other team to vote-kick another player so they win a match they would've likely lost without the vote-kick, I do think that is something to bring to everyone's attention....assuming there's proof of cours.

I know you asked that other poster the question, but when I queue mara, if I get to cloak out and heal, I'll sometimes swap to life-warden because the extra health is more imporant than a camo-refresh. A good example of this is when the match turns into a 2v2, constant cloaks won't mean much because if I do cloak out, I'm leaving my teammate to fend for themselves against 2 players for at least 20 seconds. Now in that instance, I won't consider the swap to life-warden game-breaking, though I may be biased.

Class balance will happen, though it's usually doesn't come as quickly as players want. In terms of ranked participation, on Star Forge, the solo ranked queue is alive and well. I believe that some of that can be attributed to Satele Shan players transferring their toons over to Star Forge in the offseason, but I also think that the win requirement (which is steep if you want top 3/Gold) is forcing players to continue queueing in order to grind the wins necessary, even if they had reached the desired ELO tier. I understand that Satele Shan players don't care that Star Forge pops, but if Solo Ranked is your preferred mode, it's best to transfer to a server where the pops are more lively. The rewards for ranked after season 12 will be a replica Furious set which (ask any longtime-PVPer) are some of the most desired gear sets in the game. The grind is steep, but if you want that gear, you have to queue ranked. That, along with the win requirements are keeping players in queue. Personally, I'm not a big fan of putting crafting mats as solo ranked rewards because I don't think (for their sake) mat farmers should queue solo ranked. I'm fine with crafting mats in group ranked because they can queue together and group ranked NEEDS players queueing more than solos. However, having an inexperienced player queue solos with the sole intention of getting crafting mats is just asking for trouble....they're just going to get flamed and vote-kicked. 8v8s......time has come and gone, ranked player base not large enough.