They're still stronger than probably any other class in regs. Admittedly not as strong, but still stronger than the competition nonetheless. In arenas their DCDs are so strong because they have 3 highly effective anti-focus tools, one of which directly punishes focus fire. In regs, anti-focus DCDs (and especially healing variants) lose value for a couple reasons. One, is due to the fact that focus fire really isn't prevalent in regs anyways. Two, there's usually healers around, which decreases the value of healing DCDs and increases the value of damage resistance DCDs. Three, there's more space to avoid the mercs while the DCDs are active (In arenas, you need to take down an enemy ASAP, and it is also much more difficult to "just avoid hitting them and LOS" during their DCDs.) Even with all this said, mercs are still sturdier than almost any other DPS spec in regs. I'd also like to point out that one of the anti-focus tools (energy shield with heal talent) that is probably the strongest out of any of them, is also a high damage reduction DCD, which, as I mentioned, increases in value in a healing environment. It is also on a very low CD. Also, knockbacks and mobility DCDs gain more value in regs, which is another boon for mercs. The problem isn't the overall damage that they do. That hasn't changed much. I'm completely fine with mercs being able to burst at range. The problem is the DCD changes make anyone with even a little sense of how to rotate DCDs much, much harder to kill than equivalent specs. This includes both regs and arenas. Edit: I also want to state that I don't want to see mercs nerfed into the ground, or to a state where they're always the first focus target again. That's not what I'm trying to get at. I'm fine with them having better DCDs than before. But I'm NOT okay with just how massively their DCD toolkit got buffed.

This just simply isn't true. DPS Guardians are focused through all of their DCDs and die much faster than Commandos do. If you focus a Commando in a similar fashion, you get punished, hard. Just look at yolo arenas. There's a reason why Guardians are focused first most games while Commandos are the last choice for focus target. Guardians can't handle the pressure nearly as well as Commandos atm.

Marksman, Deception, Arsenal, Carnage, and Fury are all great burst classes that are good in all areas of PVP. If you're looking at just regs, just about anything can work there.

It was activating every GCD that I was using focus. Didn't play close enough attention to see if it was limited at all during Combat Zen usage. Regardless, I ended up going back to other utilities. The self heal is nice, but there are far better options in that utility tier.

Was playing with it earlier today. Pretty sure it's any focus using ability, regardless of when you use it.

Yeah, I like where sents are right now. BW just needs to tone down commando defensives some (damage output is fine), fix double stance bugs, slightly buff guardian defensives and blade dance damage, and buff vanguards (defensives) and sage dps a good amount.

If you're pushed back to your spawn, any class is going to struggle. That's different. In normal, relatively balanced games, it comes down to proper target acquisition and positioning. Healers should be a priority, but if they're sitting behind everyone with a tank watching them, they aren't a good target. It's better to attack the frontline dps first, or coordinate with another DPS to focus someone down. Look for the healer when they're vulnerable, or separated from their support. I know this isn't exactly what was asked, but it's related. Don't overextend or dive the backline, and you'll receive a lot less roots and knockbacks.

It doesn't. However, if you take two of the three root purge utilities, you can usually have a purge available when you need one. I take 30s CD Transcendence and Transcendence purge, and the Blade Blitz root purge. These are on 30 and 35 second CDs, respectively. Because of these, and the fact that my core burst skills have a 10m range, I have very little uptime issues on my Combat Sentinel.

Guardians are the only other melee class with a built in CC immunity, which is only active after a leap, and only as Vigilance. Shadow's Resolve CAN be used to avoid stuns, but it is usually used to resist yellow damage burst or purge dots. On my sentinel, I have very little problems staying on targets as Combat. I think Sentinels overall are in a pretty good spot right now. (Although, I need to give Watchman more of a try.)

Sents have plenty of mobility tools. Multiple leaps, Blade Blitz, Transcendence, multiple ways to break roots, etc. Sure, they can be CC'd, but they also have some of the highest burst in the game if unchecked.

Marauders have arguably the best defensive toolkit of any melee class right now. With the correct utility choices, you can have two DCDs that nullify almost all damage taken on short CD (Pacify and cloak), and a third DCD on a long CD (Guarded by the Force). The problem you seem to be having is that these DCDs are proactive instead of reactive. They require you to read a situation and activate them as soon as you see burst coming your way. Other classes have reactive DCDs that allow you to respond after you've taken burst damage.

It's not bad per se, but it doesn't provide enough impact to be used over some of the other utilities in that tier.

Yes, alacrity effects instants too. Having a good amount allows you to have an extra ability land in the precision window more consistently when using Dispatch/Twin Saber Throw clipping.

Both seem like they're in a good spot atm. However, I can't say for sure, as I don't tank often.

This. PTs have always been a glass canons. However, with 5.0 the classes that PTs used to blow up now all have ways to mitigate or avoid a PT's burst, while PTs have no answers of their own. 5.0 has really showcased a different type of power creep. Not in offensive ability, but defensive.

The hinder effect fits the spec, but it should be at least three seconds I think.

Eh, it's a bit on the expensive side, but it hits hard. Its hinder could be longer, but I've seen some people panic and use CC breaker from it's hinder. So, the hinder is not completely useless.

This is probably the biggest reason that I don't mind the change. The old animations looked cool, but when you think about it, no one would get hit by that last strike because they can see it a mile away.

I don't really mind them at all. They're fast paced, high energy animations. I know that some people don't think that fits for Juggs, but I tend to disagree. Although, the last hit animation on Ravage could be better, but it does match up with Impale (then again, I'm not the biggest fan of Impale either lol.)

Here's a link to the dulfy calculator listing my utilities: http://dulfy.net/2014/10/13/swtor-disciplines-calculator-swtor_miner/?link=dGEBAAFGAwABGgIDAQwLEBMU Big thing to note, I almost never use Combat Focus for focus generation or the speed boost. I save it for when I'm rooted. Likewise, I never open on a target with saber throw. I always save it to use as a ranged attack/root. Even then, if I have Whirling Blade up, I'll use that as I close distance instead. I save Blade Blitz for breaking roots and/or avoiding burst. This is especially helpful against Sentinels, as their leap roots you and then they usually burst right away. I can Blade Blitz away and make their Clashing Blast or Focused Burst miss. Similarly againt Commandos, I can Blade Blitz near the end of Boltstorm to avoid the Demolition Round or High Impact bolt. Or at the end of an Aimed Shot against Gunslingers.

The only real nerf to mobility was changing the speed buff utility from Enure. I took it before, but I never relied on it. Between Robust/Unremitting, ~12s force leap, saber throw root, speed boost and root break on combat focus, keeping good up time on freezing force (which also boosts my speed), whirling blade being 30m and a slow, and 35s root breaking blade blitz, I almost always have an answer to being kited. EDIT: I'll also frequently Guardian leap where I want to go if team mates are already there, or when knocked back. And I used Stais/Force Push when a sorc/sin uses force speed.

My arena rankings from top to bottom: Healers: Seer Sawbones Combat Medic Tanks: Kinetic Combat Defense Shield Specialist DPS: Gunnery Assault Specialist Sharpshooter Infiltration Dirty Fighting Combat Scrapper Concentration Vigilance Ruffian Saboteur Watchman Serenity Balance Telekinetics Focus Tactics Plasmatech Edit: Note that for DPS, I'd say that the Commando specs are the only ones really overperforming, and this is due to their insane amount of defenses. Their damage output is fine. After that, I'd say at least half the list is fairly balanced. The bottom half of the list are underperforming.

I haven't played any yolos as Focus (too squishy), but I haven't had mobility issues with it in regs either. Focus utilities: http://dulfy.net/2014/10/13/swtor-disciplines-calculator-swtor_miner/?link=dGEBAAFGAwACGgEDCwwQDRMU

I value mobility above almost anything else, and transcendence is the biggest group utility you can bring to your team. Other than that, the new pacify utility is amazing. http://dulfy.net/2014/10/13/swtor-disciplines-calculator-swtor_miner/?link=dGEBAAFGAwEBGgQFCggJDRMW

I honestly don't have any idea what mobility issues people are having on Guardian. Playing Vigilance, I have 0 issues staying on targets. The only time I have any sort of issue is when netted. Even then, if I can anticipate the net, I'll leap first to gain Robust to avoid the hinder effect. Utilites I use: http://dulfy.net/2014/10/13/swtor-disciplines-calculator-swtor_miner/?link=dGEBAAFGAwABGgECAwsMEBMU