I dont know if you've played Makeb yet, but the sheer number of mobs means the stealth classes have an advantage over any other class---you can always force cloak your way out of any situation if you happen to drag multiple mobs by accident (which would mean instant death in a lot of cases, even using your Heroics). As for the normal worlds, it kind of bothers me having to fight my way through long dungeons to get back out after I've exited the story area at the end--often, the credits and/or tradable loot just isnt worth it IMO. Like House Rist for example. I loved how I could just stealth my way past the respawned enemies rather than waste a good 15 minutes grinding my way back out again. Also, another benefit----as some of you know, there is a small Level 55 grouping on a hill on Hoth, which, if you stumble upon as a level 35-40 (i forget what level Hoth is for either side), you would have zero chance of surviving, but as I did with my stealth character---grabbed the loot from behind the level 55 Elite guarding it, then force cloaked my way out of there. I dont *think* there is any way to do that with another class besides stealth. Maybe somebody has a reasonably strong tank companion at 35-40 that could survive the beating long enough for you to loot and run (if you somehow managed to dodge the level 55 angry tauntauns that line the sides of the level 55 mountain, LOL) but then you would be paying a good part of that loot back to repair his/her armor as they would certainly perish quickly.

Maybe they are just more attuned to my playing style (ham-fisted, incompetent, LOL), but I died wayyyyy less using the two Stealthies while leveling to 50 (55). Maybe I didnt build my SW correctly, or I'm reading the character stats wrong, but they both (SW + SI) do about 1000 dps base damage at 55. Granted, the SW has med armor and the SI has light, but it just seems like it is way more difficult (at least for the eternally hapless RPG-er like myself) with the SW as you HAVE to battle every single mob along the way and back.

I agree in a way---after leveling all of the distinctive class stories once---I find the in-close saber battles much more interesting in the level grind than the almost entirely ranged toons. I love playing my Sith Warrior the most---with the Inq and Consular closely behind.

...how much easier it is to beat the game (PvE class stories) with one of the two stealth classes (Jedi Consular or Sith Inq)? Or that you can do things like grab a security chest guarded by a nearly-unbeatable foe, then "force cloak" (I forget the name of the Republic one) your way out of the battle without dying? I'm not exactly the worlds most gifted RPG button-masher, and it seems to me that having a stealth character allows you to do the above, as well as things like sneaking past mobs that every other class would have to attack on the way to your objective. Or, in the case of the annoying House RIst on Alderaan, on the way BACK from your objective? Sorry if this has been asked before--I'm leveling my last toon as a Commando, a couple months after finishing the Inq/Cons storylines. It seems rather blatantly unbalanced to me, thats all. Even the Expansion Makeb was made astronomically easier for my stealth guys over ones like my Sith Warrior. Just wondering what you all thought.