Read "the beauty of rage" thread. It's up near the top as of this posting.

The opposite point of view is that a lower level set bolsters better. It's not advertised in game. It's not in a tutorial. It's just something people are supposed to know. But... If you have high level gear, and not pvp gear, it stands to reason that you (the royal you) have enough basic Comms to go buy gear that's under 190 rating. Crystal's come with time. Set bonuses come with time. 208's come with time. Old gear with low rating is assumed to be available. It's possible you spent your Comms on the higher level gear. Fair enough. Most pvpers assume you are swimming in them though. So, if you have the Comms, it's better for you and your team to buy a throw away set and replace it with the pvp gear as you get it.

Bueller? Bueller?

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received for playing a merc is positioning. Sounds simple right? What difference will that make? Yes, people will think you're an instant easy kill, so they will come after you. You know this, so make it more difficult for them. How? Positioning. Try to place one or two of your teammates between you and the person you're targeting. This makes it much more difficult for them to target you. It's just the way tab targeting works. That person will have to hit tab a few times to get to you, or try to manually click your toon to select you. If you are constantly moving, which you should be doing, clicking on you is a pain. Hitting tab doesn't always select the person you want. Add these things up, and you just got a global cool down or two head start. Or they'll forget all about you and now you're free casting. Yep. In an arena, they could just select your name from the score card, but honestly, how many people think to do that on the heat of battle. Probably only people that would wreck you anyway. That simple adjustment on my part changed and saved my merc's life.

I remember the Corso issue well. He used to be pistol or rifle. Then he was only rifle, which angerd many people that wanted him to be able to use torchy, so they switched him to pistols only. I only brought up Scorpio since I used an instant 60 token, made an operative on a different server, and only just got her. The "Scorpio's tech staff" arrived when she joined my Alliance. But she can't use it. Then I see what looks like a glimmer of hope while watching someone stream. I was hoping there was a conversation or influence level requirement to regain melee ability. I guess that's just the devs saying "here, be a dear and throw this away for us."

I have no clue as to their progress in kotfe. She was a random agent at a dance party. Don't even know the level. It is interesting that she switches weapons though. It's like she's a completely different companion. I was hoping she could be switched back to melee. In vain I guess.

Is there a companion question thread somewhere? I looked around and this seemed the best place. Anywhoo. I was watching a twitch streamer last night, who was playing on Ebon Hawk. At some point he joined a dance party on Nar Shaddaa. Right there in the middle, dancing away, was an agent and her Scorpio. Scorpio had her tech staff equipped. I just recently re-acquired scorpio, and she to my knowledge only uses a rifle now. is there a way to get her to use the staff that has her name on it? Google doesn't know.

I absolutely agree with you there.Well, I don't know the guy you were replying to, so it's very possible, and even probable that he would continue to queue solo ranked if it included wz. I posted about this last week, and I'm starting to feel like the lone doofus shouting from the mountain tops and into the wind since I seem to never get a response aside from sarcasm. Lots of views. No discussion though. Regs should be left how it is. Team ranked should be left how it is. Solo ranked should include warzones. Boom. Problem solved. Yes, you may end up with lots of arenas, but that's a population problem. Advertise in gen chat and get people to queue up. Never want to face a double premade? Solo ranked. Want to play with people equal to your skill level? Solo Ranked. Want to group with your friends, but not play exclusively arena? Regs. etc etc etc.

There already is a solo only queue. The problem is that it's only for arena.

I think this would all be solved if solo ranked included Warzones and cross faction. Regs is fine. People that really do just want to group up with their guildies and friends and have fun need to have a place to do it. People that are new to pvp need a place to do it. Seasoned players grinding out a new set bonus need a place to do it. People that want a warm up for team ranked need a place to do it. People that are worried about looking a fool, but still want to play, need a place to do it. Regs is the place for that. If you look at the link in my sig. Not the youtube link, though you can go there, too, you'll see my admittedly wordy and somewhat lengthy, yet well thought out idea of how it would fix our current state of pvp.

I've only seen two hackers in the whole time I've played this game. One was a bot farming nodes on Alderraan. The other was a speed hack. I actually got excited when I saw the speedster. I, like many others, assumed that those crying hax just didn't know what predation looked like. It was a Coast wz. I was on my Slinger and at the beginning of the match I went to West to be our guard. He beat me there. zoom. Started capping before I was even range to shoot him. I ran up, shot him, and he ran away to south. I started capping and he whooshed by me. He was almost a blur. That continued for the rest of the match. Best part? He had the same name (well, a variation) as the notorious tofn speedster. And I got to have a little minigame of can I leg shot aimed shot enough times to actually kill him. He had zero impact on the game otherwise. Halo 2 had a hacking problem. You only really saw them if you got to mid 40 in ranking. And then you'd see them in droves. They'd slaughter everyone, get to mid 40's and by then they'd get banned, only to start again. If you were really really good, you could still progress past them, but I could not. I was stuck mid 40's constantly pinned down by flying Master Chiefs with fully automatic insta reloading grenade launchers and unlimited ammo. This game does not have that problem. It has problems, but hacking is not really one of them. Yes, hackers exist. They don't matter.

Hey all you (three of you maybe?) lethality experts out there. I've been having a blast with this spec lately. I think I played this match pretty well, but I always welcome pointers. Give a watch and tell me your thoughts. I wait with great anticipation. with love and respect, Bowtiejones

Perfect example of how to use these forums to ask and answer a question. Bravo, OP and Responders! Not to me though. I contributed nothing.

I like this, too. I think taking an elevator down would be better than going to one of the other ships. I've lost track of how many times I've given directions to people for the bolsterizer. Still, there are people that don't even know it exists. Is it still broken, btw? It's been a while. Or maybe it could be on Oddessen. Have a third dome between the pub and imp terminal areas. That way they only have to design one, and both factions could participate. That may leave out non subs and lower levels though. And there's lots of lag there. Ok, maybe that's not a great choice. Fleet it is.

I've seen a few posts talking about how cross faction would cause an exodus of players. I'm not really sure why, other than possible rp aspects. I wasn't aware that mentality had such a presence in game. I don't believe I'm alone in saying the good would outweigh the bad though. The three most common complaints these days seem to be about premades, sorc/sage healers, and faction imbalance. If the devs ran with my idea (and I'm sure I wasn't the first to think it), premades would still be a thing in regs, but you'd be able to enjoy a warzone instead of wholly committing to arenas by doing solo ranked. "If" the devs ran with my idea. I know that's pot of gold at the end of a rainbow territory. Warzone healers are all worthwhile. Yes, Sorc/Sage is still ahead, but even mercs, the ruddy step-children of healing in swtor, manage to keep their team alive. Then you've got faction imbalance. I used to be on POT5. Before I finally gave up and transferred, I sat in the solo ranked queue for what seemed an eternity, switched to an imp toon and got a pop within a few minutes. There just tend to be more empire players that want to pvp. Cross faction would eliminate that issue in one stroke. Can you imagine? Balanced teams of equal skill level fighting each other. And it wouldn't matter if you were a Guardian or a Juggernaut.

Yep. It's true. Your opinion is that premades suck. While your opinion is worth considering, that isn't the point of the post. The point is to find an appropriate way to deal with those that have your opinion. Give you a way to pvp without having to deal with people that know to not use dirty kick one second after you've been lifted. Did you read the post? If so, can you put together a few sentences that would contribute to a conversation about it?

I posted this in another premade complaint thread, but it got buried under a bunch of bickering and an amazing description on how to kill a 2 Immortal Jugg 2 Corruption Sorc team. So here it is at the top. Put on your reading glasses, kids. Bowtiejones' take on pvp, with love and respect: This has always looked like a simple fix in my mind. There are several types of players in this game. There are those that queue solo and think that their ability to rebuff a concentrated attack from a coordinated enemy team makes them better. They may be right. There are those that queue solo and think that getting slaughtered over and over again means that a premade on the other team is at fault. They may be right. There are those that just don't have friends in game. Maybe they aren't in a guild, or don't have interest. They just want to solo queue, play their game, pay taxes, and die. Up to them. We also have premade players. Some wish to stomp the other team, while talking smack in /say. Some just like playing with their guild because they may be (gasp) real life friends. Some are going for conquest points. Some group up to reduce their chances of being paired up with that Sin that just spammed lacerate to spread the dots he as not yet applied to anyone (I encountered that dude yesterday. He was fun.). The list for why people group or not goes on and on. It's not as simple as "people group up because they are bad on their own" or "people queue solo because nobody likes them and they have no other option." It is, however, obvious that the teams with premade groups tend to have an advantage. Not only do they tend to be a bit more coordinated, but also kinder and more helpful to each other. "Hey moron, you have no stance on. Stop being such a s****er" becomes "dude did you respec and forget to activate shien?" Premades also tend to have a bit of matchmaking built in. My guild isn't big, but we frequently have two groups going at the same time. There's never a requirement for team composition, but if there are two tanks or healers, we make sure they aren't in the same group. So there's that. But I digress. There are also several game types. Open World, Warzones, Arenas. there is no queue for OW, but there are three queues for WZ/Arena. Team Ranked Arena, Solo Ranked Arena, Unranked. I think the solution lies in those queues. There is no role matchmaking in team ranked, but there is in solo. Unless there are only four Pubs queuing for solo ranked (lookin at you POT5) there are no premades in solo ranked. There's a 2018 requirement in solo ranked, which means everyone will have crystals in their weapons. Also, looking at the activity on the PTS, it stands to reason that cross faction is on the horizon, which will address faction balance. Alas, solo ranked is only Arena. This leads to class issues. Only expert Mercs and Snipers do well in arena, but mediocre sorcs thrive. They're just better suited to the environment. In a traditional warzone though, expert Mercs and Snipers shine. Have you ever seen the business end of Caprica's guns in a Hypergate? I have, and it sucked. Even mediocre ones can do well, since killing them isn't priority number one. Every class has something worthwhile to bring to the table. So at long last, here's my fix. My suggestion would be to leave Regs as is. Queue solo. Queue in a group. Queue in your underwear...who cares. There does need to be an option for people that want no feeling of reputation on the line. There's no matchmaking, no expertise requirement, nothing but the map, and what you can do with it. Stomp each other, /spit on people, run in with 4 pyro pt's, post up on the health potion in queshball and /groove for your youtube channel. Cap the Hypergate pylon and immediately run to mid. Wait for someone to come check on you guarding snow, and then tag along with her to take grass. Sap cap the east door without using sap, and laugh with your team in disbelief that not a single enemy managed to look at the door. Learn, make mistakes, gear up, have fun, farm numbers, complain about premades, joke around, yadda yadda yadda. Leave team ranked as is. 4v4 deathmatch last man standing. Sounds right for ranked. Change solo ranked to include warzones and arenas. It has role matchmaking. It has Elo rating. You'd have even teams, and if people would not be afraid of their rating, and lots queues up (big if, I know, but it might happen since there seem to be so many poeple that want no chance of hitting a premade) there would be more equalized skill matches. There are those players that just have a knack for killing their enemy. In a fight, they win. That's great. It doesn't mean they know how to delay a cap. There are players out there that outplay others. Not with sheer damage, but with strategy. Case in point, someone like Snave. He claims to not be a great duelist, and doesn't put up huge numbers. I defy you to find someone with a better objective mind though. That's someone that deserves to be at the top of the boards. I group up for almost every wz I do. That would change if solo ranked included wz. Am I totally off here? I don't think I am, but if you think otherwise, and your argument isn't "how can you guarantee I won't get grouped with morons that only want to nobones on the pylon?" I'd like to hear your thoughts.

This has always looked like a simple fix in my mind. There are several types of players in this game. There are those that queue solo and think that their ability to rebuff a concentrated attack from a coordinated enemy team makes them better. they may be right. There are those that queue solo and think that getting slaughtered over and over again means that a premade on the other team is at fault. They may be right. There are those that just don't have friends in game. Maybe they aren't in a guild, or don't have interest. They just want to solo queue, play their game, pay taxes, and die. Up to them. We also have premade players. Some wish to stomp the other team, while talking smack in /say. Some just like playing with their guild because they may be (gasp) real life friends. Some are going for conquest points. Some group up to reduce their chances of being paired up with that Sin that just spammed lacerate to spread the dots he as not yet applied to anyone (I encountered that dude yesterday. He was fun.). The list for why people group or not go on and on. There are also several game types. Open World, Warzones, Arenas. there is no queue for OW, but there are three queues for WZ/Arena. Team Ranked Arena, Solo Ranked Arena, Unranked. I think the solution lies in those queues. There is no role matchmaking in team ranked, but there is in solo. Unless there are only four Pubs queuing for solo ranked (lookin at you POT5) there are no premades in solo ranked. Alas, solo ranked is only Arena. My suggestion would be to leave Regs as is. Queue solo. Queue in a group. Queue in your underwear...who cares. Stomp each other, /spit on people, run in with 4 pyro pt's, post up on the health potion in queshball and /groove for your youtube channel. Learn, make mistakes, gear up, have fun, farm numbers, joke around, yadda yadda yadda. Leave team ranked as is. 4v4 deathmatch last man standing. Sounds right for ranked. Change solo ranked to include warzones and arenas. It has role matchmaking. It has Elo rating. You'd have even teams, and if people would not be afraid of their rating, and lots queues up (big if, I know) there would be more equalized skill matches. there are those players that just have a knack for killing their enemy. In a fight, they win. That's great. It doesn't mean they know how to delay a cap. There are players out there that outplay others. Not with sheer damage, but with strategy. Case in point, someone like Snave. He claims to not be a great duelist, and doesn't put up huge numbers. I defy you to find someone with a better objective mind though. That's someone that deserves to be at the top of the boards. I group up for almost every wz I do. That would change if solo included wz.

There are a few still out there. If you want Merc/Mando, Zachariah is great. He's only recently started doing guides, but his gameplay is great and you'll learn a lot from just watching. https://www.youtube.com/user/ZachariahPvP The Angry Sniper only does Engi Sniper Videos because that's his spec and he's sticking to it. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC02vGJoSCtMctcDbKQr4Pcg JSharp Tutorials does a good job of explaining what he does and why. He also seems to play most classes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjWkJz8aIustTR_ue-KmOOg SkyTorRush is https://www.youtube.com/user/9SkytorRush0 Appodeuce is just fun to watch. Charming dude with a variety. His "do they suck" vids are fun.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiIPBJUmVz5HGWOgVYrZyLQ There's also myself. I haven't made any guides, and my page is a mess. Haven't quite decided if I wanna do music with my vids or not, but my gameplay is alright. Links in my sig. There are quite a few more that I didn't link. SVTCarnage is good. New to the game, and we may be losing him since he can't stream in 1080p. Helos hasn't posted a swtor vid in some time. etc. Any of the links above will take you to a page that has gameplay performed by keybinders and mouse turners. You'll also see the variety that can be achieved by the custom ui. Have fun.

I have the Nostromo, which was the precursor to the Orbweaver. I don't use the Naga, but I do have the Cyborg Rat mmo. The Nostromo has itself programmed to be F1-F9 (I don't bind F4). I only use two rows of 4. The other keys are for space, esc, and a couple others that I don't really use in wz. My mouse, since it's kinda crappy quality and buttons are constantly breaking, gets it buttons programmed to 1-4, ctrl, shift and alt. I then keybind my bars to correspond. I also changed the d-pad that's controlled by the thumb to strafe instead of turn. Makes it really easy. If I did it over again, or if I ever feel like going back and changing stuff, I'd switch them from the F keys to the numbers.

With the Cross-faction warzone comes a question. Will season 7 be cross faction solo queue? Is that why we still don't have a start date?

I saw this thread when it was first made. I ignored it, but here it is again, so now I must respond and address a few things. I am one of the officers in Blue Octagon. Are we a big guild? Absolutely not. It is very rare that we will have more than 10 online at a time. Yes, our roster is large, but I'm 12 of them. Most of the membership has many alts, so no, we are not a large guild. You want to see a large guild? Go look a Blood Bath and Beyond. That's a large guild. Are we the best pvp guild on Pub side Harb? Depends on your measuring stick. We play objectives, and chat in voice comms about how a raccoon clogged a chimney while trying to get inside the house. We focus the healer, and try to pound a beer during barrier. We don't farm numbers, and we don't normally go for a triple cap when we have two. We play the map and we win most of our games. And no, we don't just do mids or lowbies. The vast majority of our matches are at 65. Honestly, there was a thread a few months back, kinda talkin about the same thing. I thought this was addressed. We play a lot and have a good time doing it. We also don't put up with jerks within our ranks. This joker posting above me. Jamesaff. I recognized the forum name, but couldn't quite place it. Then I noticed this was a person that has clicked my referral link. I only offer it to people in guild. Looking at the timing of when they clicked, it can only be one person. They quit guild because nobody would group with them. Nobody would group with them because they are an embarrassment. Poor sportsmanship is the least of the issues with that person. I was so grateful when they quit. Saved me the trouble of kicking them. That person can go play in traffic. Or kick rocks. Or hit on 17. Whatever.

Old Leather Key ring fobs for your first mmo. You have one, and you still use it.

I hadn't thought of it that way. You make a good point. They do still have a hard time with hair. I had a vanguard, since deleted, that was body type 3, and had the Presbyterian comb-over hairstyle. It's one of the newer cartel added styles for humans. The skin on the back of his head was constantly pushing through the hair. Every time he moved, it was like his hair shrank away. Looked horrible.

agreed. Gunslinger was my first toon. Has awesome facial hair. Too bad every wide-brimmed hat turn it into a big ****-stache. Nico's hat is awesome. I'd rather that than the dye-requiring duster.