Eh, who knows. Only time will tell. The formula for computing mean mitigation is well known but we have no idea what the damage profiles of the new operations will be like. It used to not matter since defense and shield both applied to the same attacks, but now that shields work vs F/T, we have to start paying closer attention.

They're talking about the optimization now in that thread. If you use the damage profile that Keyboard Ninja used in his model my model came out almost identical. He's also optimizing Arkanian and I optimized for Underworld (much larger stat budget). What it really comes down to is how much force/tech damage we're going to see in the new operations. If it's higher then the current content (which I suspect it will be) you'll be better off with the optimization I linked above. If you think it will be similar to current content, use KeyboardNinja's optimization. Make sure you subtract 10% from his defense numbers since he's counting Blade Barrier and Dust Storm which you won't see on your character sheet while standing on fleet. His optimization becomes 18/45/42.

Yeah. That was my knee-jerk reaction at first too, until you realize there's over 1800 points spent to get shield and absorb as high as they are, with still over 500 points in defense. This is all due to how stats scale in the expac, not to mention the Guard Stance change I mentioned above. I'm not planning on stacking any alacrity on my tank gear at the moment. I'd love for someone to double check my math, just to make sure I put in all the formulas correctly, etc. I haven't been able to get my Guardian transfered over so I can't verify any of my math on the PTS.

I made a spreadsheet model with the new talents and KeyboardNinja's new formulas. It really depends on the percentage of Kinetic/Energy attacks that are Force/Tech in any given fight. Looking at some of my old parses from NiM EC and HM TFB, it seems like 25% might be a safe average. There are obviously exceptions like TFB Kephess and Nightmare Stormcaller. Defense is going to be a lot lower now since it's a lot less valuable due to the shield changes, and we don't get 6% from guard stance anymore (we get more armor instead). So assuming everything on the PTS goes live and 25% Force/Tech, a near optimal distribution will be around 15/47/50 for augmented Underworld gear, or a 2:1 absorb rating to defense rating ratio. I would post my excel model but I'd rather someone double check my math independently and we can compare notes if someone else comes up with a different answer.

Gotcha. Check your local laws. You may or may not be obligated to report those purchases in some other fashion. Here in NY they collect them as part of your annual state tax return. EDIT: Found this little tidbit from your state's department of revenue: http://dor.wa.gov/content/findtaxesandrates/usetax/#howdo

You're being charged sales tax at the point of sale but you don't reside in a state with a sales tax? What state are you in? Is your billing address properly updated?

Right, that's why I said "most" states.

If you live in a state with a sales tax, typically you are required to declare any out of state purchases (including online) on your annual state tax return and pay the appropriate sales tax at that time if the retailer wasn't required to collect them on behalf of the state at the time of sale. So actually if your state has a sales tax, they ARE coming back to you for the money, at least in the form of a question on your state tax return. Most people don't report their untaxed purchases and the states have no real way to enforce that they do so they're changing laws to require more retailers to collect it at the time of sale. tl;dr: EA/Bioware is not liable for unpaid sales tax; you are (if your state collects sales tax, most do)

I'd recommend just taking it slow, explaining the boss fight phase by phase, and giving it an attempt. When you wipe just figure out exactly why people died and address it. Make sure you're not condescending and everyone knows you're just trying to help the group. Repeat this process until you are successful. If people constantly make the same mistakes over and over then try swapping them into another role or have someone else pick up the mechanic for the remainder of the raid and explain in private what they were doing wrong later. Finally, if you feel like a member of your raid team isn't pulling their weight then address it with your guild leader and that person. If you need to learn the boss fights read some strats online (dulfy.net usually has decent fight overviews) and watch some vids on YouTube. Don't be afraid to ask other people on your server. What server are you on, btw?

Could we please have the ability to show or hide mini-pet nameplates separately from friendly NPC nameplates? At the moment we can separately toggle companion nameplates but if we want to see friendly NPC nameplates we have to see pet nameplates too. Thanks.

Shameless bump.

Inspiration is a crutch! Just kidding. We don't have a sent in our comp and there's been times where inspiration would have been welcome. Good luck with your search.

I used to play EVE Online. The CEO of CCP (the studio that produces EVE) caused quite a gaffe once when he said that new content generated more revenue then fixing bugs, so that was their focus. They let annoying, potentially game breaking bugs sit for years, and the players took it up the tail pipe because they loved the game as a whole, and dutifully handed over their money month after month. I suspect Bioware is taking a similar approach. Why fix bugs when they can have the art department drop a new armor set every week and people will gobble it up for $15 bucks a pop? I'm guilty of it and I'm sure I'm not alone. Kira runs around with a lightsaber switched on in her pocket. The final boss of Terror from Beyond HM is a loot pinata because most of his mechanics are missing. Fixing these bugs won't give Bioware a windfall cash infusion. The straw that finally broke the camel's back in EVE was when they launched their cash shop. There was a massive protest in the game's trade hub (game is sharded by solar system, so there's no concept of "different servers", everyone lives in the same universe). CCP at first ignored the protests until an internal letter from the CEO was leaked stating that (I'm paraphrasing) employees should ignore the cries of the players. You can imagine the outrage that followed. Following that incident there was a measurable drop in subscriptions and CCP apologized and began focusing on bug fixes, game balance, etc. The game got SO much better SO fast, and the subscribers returned. My story has no moral. SWTOR will never have the same, centralized, tight-knit community that EVE has so we'll never have our "Jita Riots". I hope Bioware will fix the bugs and polish the content we already have before any new content releases, but I'm not holding my breath. I always feel bad when SWTOR gets lanced by game critics for ridiculous bugs and branded with a low score, but they're not wrong.

This is not correct IMO. Progression means the gear from TFB HM / NM EC would be required for the next tier of raid content. If level 55 greens made the current top tier of gear obsolete, then it's a gear reset, not progression. I'm not advocating one over the other, but let's call a spade a spade.

Nicely done guys.