I play a guard tank spec, 31/7/3, constantly hit 250-350k (huttball aside, since I usually just focus on leap scoring snaring taunting and tossing people off ledges), 80-120k protection. Usually go with very few deaths, 1-2 during matches that aren't just blowouts. That said yes, our primary tanking stats (shield chance/absorption and to a lesser extent defense) are less than worthwhile over crit/surge/power. It seems in pvp your most survivability is your cooldowns, which again, tanks have the most of. Most teams simply leave me alone after trying to kill me for so long, when they could actually take me out since I'm out of CDs. What you might not be factoring in, is that while guarding your defenses and most cooldowns mean jack vrs the damage your taking via guard. I see alot of tanks get ignored while they pound the healer, and bring the tank low simply from transferred damage from guard. Guard and taunts are fine the way they are though, 2 competent healers in the same fight almost ensures your never going to bring down either healer or the tank without a long drawn out fight, they can't make us too defense heavy, or you'd never kill healers if another healer/hybrid dps-heal class is present.

If it is a sorc/sage healer. The best thing to interrupt is innervate/healing trance, the channeled heals. You probably won't score a fast kill, but that is their most efficient heal, and it also is what gives them force back. Crits often, heals alot. Removing this forces them to use higher cost heals, and causes them to use more force to spam heal either themselves or the target that's being blown up. Usually I try to just keep them snared and smash as much dmg onto them while interrupting. That way they get low force, are forced to use their knockback and sprint, and then you can stun them after popping the bubble and let lose a full focus/rage bar with all the buffs you can manage. If it doesn't kill them it effectively removes them from the fight, cause they have to try and get away or heal themselves, leaving their team without a healer. edit: as shadow said above, if you are going to interrupt do it fast, most geared healers have a 1.5-2s channel on it, it ticks four times, usually criting better than 50% for 1k+ heals each crit tick.

First off let me say that I actually like the game. While leveling, and the pre 50 bracket (and before when there was only 1 bracket but 50s weren't highly geared yet) is actually pretty fun. I like the dynamics huttball brings, and voidstar and civil war are fun enough to keep me entertained. However I've had one nagging concern, echo'd by a lot of other players that I have talked to, and that is that the pvp really doesn't bring any high skill level into play, especially in the 50 bracket. It just feels very clunky in pvp, like SWtor is a circa 2000 game instead of a 2011 game. 2 things I'd like to get input on from everyone here are as follows: 1: Resolve bar and your CC break ability: The resolve system needs tweaking, personally I think roots should be on the resolve immunity, but I can see for certain classes that might be unfair. The CC break skill should grant a full resolve bar whenever used, granting the immunity just like if you were to fill it by being CC'd. The reason for this is simple, it would change the current dynamic (if you can describe it as such) of only using it when you have been CCd enough to actually have a full resolve bar already, or using it to get that kill/stop the cap of objectives in pvp. Enabling people to use this ability offensively would flesh out the CC aspect of the game, and it would also make you stop and think about the best time to use it, rather than the one dimensional way of using it currently. 2: Interrupts locking out a spell school: this is a much needed aspect, especially when dealing with a warzone with a high amount of healers + hybrid classes. Currently healers (albeit geared healers in the 50 bracket) can stand and take punishment for a prolonged period of time, especially in voidstar and civil war, where they can just park and heal spam to no end. Bringing down 1 healer isn't that tough with focus fire and interupts, bringing down 2 healers especially with a merc/mando/smug/op nearby who can toss out heals is dang near impossible unless you completely overwhelm them with numbers. I think it would be fair to take away the pvp healing debuff if we could lockout all heals for a 2-4s window. This might seem harsh to healers out there, but I'd imagine with vanish, knockback, bubble - interrupt immunity, type mechanics if you were smart it wouldn't be hard to work around and still be effective, as well as probably being more entertaining than playing whack-a-mole healing with the only skillful thing you have to do is fake cast a worthless heal, or the sages/sorcs just switching to another nuke for a few seconds. Please feel free to add any constructive input, as more opinions and points of view are welcomed, especially you healers/caster dps on what kind of lockout you think would be fairest. If I have anything incorrect, please feel free to correct me as well. Just trying to get a constructive post going with idea's on how we'd like to see pvp improved, aside from the obvious fix the exploits/bugs.

Ya, those of us who geared in the old system, yes it was a grind, and RNG hell, but this needed changed, our payoff for already being geared? How about the last month of pvp dominance vr the under geared guys? Even better, how about having 500+ expertise with low level players in the WZ for an easy win/farm. Personally I welcome winning matches because of better skill/teamwork, rather than by how many people have pvp gear.

Personally, as a guardian, I have very little problem with ranged. Lets face it, what really sucks about fighting ranged is when you dive in trying to kill that healer and have ranged guys pelting you from afar. If your problem is their point blank ability to use their attacks I have a great idea. Stun them, interrupt them, leap to another target and LoS/out range them in the chance that they blew their major cool down to be immune to interrupt or have a full resolve bar. Unless your low on health, or have no healer, you stand a pretty good chance of living if you notice them nuking you. If you don't, your dead, and you should be, if I'm tunnel vision on a healer and don't notice a flurry of rockets or snipe shots till I'm too low to stim/los, that's my own fault. 1v1 the average ranged class is a pretty easy fight, they are squishy and mostly a one trick pony. The only ones that bring anything else to the table are the sick damage output PT and VG. Sorcs and Merc dps are easy to kill since you can interrupt both their healing and their primary damage nukes and they have VERY little in the way of defense. You might not win every engagement, since this game is so CC and cool down dependent, but chances are high you can beat them. Getting focus fired on by 2-3 of any class should be a death sentence unless a: you completely outplay them or b: you have a healer or make it to the static heal consumables in the WZ.

kinda curious exactly what "nerf" they have hit assassin with? Referring to a previous patch I'm guessing?

Compared to how I, and a lot of others have geared up, yes, it's kinda a kick to the teeth. Honestly we didn't need 3 special comm sets of pvp gear in the first place, should be entry lvl gear bought with valor rank 20 and WZ comms: Centurion, then champ at 40 and BM at 60 with champ/bm comms. That said they didn't do a typical system and made one that was slightly confusing and counter productive, so they drastically needed to up the centurion commendation drop rate because most people hardly bought any cent gear for anything but alts.

Gotta say, the resolve system (bugs aside) is an interesting idea. It definitely needs a tweak, and I think it would be a good thing to make the CC break ability grant you the full resolve bar, that way you could actually have some leeway in using it offensively and defensively, instead of using the rather boring and formulaic current CC break system. Stun 1: eat it, hopefully have defense CD or healer Stun 2: makes resolve bar full pop CC break and go nuts for 20s. That's it really. anyone with half a brain that sees someone use their CC break without a full resolve bar instantly CCs you again regardless. The current system for CC and resolve is just lackluster and doesn't lend well to really any skill involvement in timing it out. Really what I'd like to see is that not only your CC break fills your resolve bar, but as your resolve bar fills in the normal fashion, ALL CC effects are diminished by a percentage. 33/66/100% respectively as your resolve bar fills, but make it so it takes 3 total CC abilities to fill resolve, and everything except snares adds 33% resolve to the total bar, that degrades over a fixed amount of time dependent on what your resolve level is.

I like my reasoning better! Damn your logic! Serious note: yes, it's part of a focus/rage builder, as well as a CC mechanic and a mobility mechanic all in one. With it resetting our gap closer now, it's a pretty awesome ability, since as a guardian you usually have to stack up sunders/buffs to actually deal your burst, so it's useful even against other melee to give you the focus/rage you need, as well as to limit the damage you take during the time you need to "setup" your burst. Personally it's one of the main reasons I'm a guardian, I love knocking people off high objects and watching them splat, specially them pesky lil snipers and tracer turret BHs.

So I can jump back into a Sorc's face in huttball after he knocks me into the pit and push HIM into the pit for a taste of his own medicine.

Well, I enjoy the game to an extent, bugs are annoying but it's tolerable to me atm. I'm still here because I personally am sick of trolls and fairies and pixy dust snorting effeminate elves. I still have hope that the game will pan out, and that pvp will eventually be able to cater to the higher end skill level of players. I guess the biggest reason most people would still play is because they are having fun somewhere, with their friends, and have more patience than those who canceled their subs?

pure freaking win!

Honestly the incentive idea might not be too bad. I imagine with how new the game still is there aren't many people on the test server, since they would more likely be working towards their BM, gearing their BM, running Ops, or leveling that alt or 4. Given some time the test server might see better population. There are quite a few bugs, and a few things broken each patch (I don't count Ilum because honestly there hasn't been a real working Ilum up to this point, and that isn't all on the dev's fault), but they are also trying to figure out how to fix what goes wrong, how to optimize the game to run better for people, and how to continue to put out content, all at the same time. I'll give them time, after all I'm personally having fun, and this is by no means the WORST MMO launch I've been subjected to, hell, it's not even as bad as some games 6 months to a year AFTER launch.

On Helm of Graush server, Ilum 1 and then later in the day I believe Ilum 2 also broke, but we were able to get around 40 kills or so to count, then you suicide into the opposing team come back and bam get another 40 or so counted kills. I know it's not perfect but in case no one else has posted something along these lines (way to lazy to read all the pages.lol) there is a workaround in the meantime. Also of note: if someone dies alot to your ops group then it seems they DR your valor/quest kill count superfast.

edit: was already said while i was typing.lol Which spec do you play? Tanky shadow or stabby shadow? Invest in expertise/heal stims, and don't let agents of any level spam snipe at you, LoS them.

I'd say you have some valid points, but are looking n the wrong direction. There are a few glaring problems with the Jedi knight, and some minor inconveniences, most of which have already been commented on in other posts. The abilities pommel strike ect. can't be made pvp viable, would give all classes WAY too much burst. I think with some balancing to other classes, and some minor tweaks to sentinel resource management, you'd find a lot of your problems cleared up fairly easily. Master Strike - combat tree has the root talent for it, which is not effected by resolve. Default stun mechanic not meant to be pvp enabled. Force Leap and Zealous Leap should stay separate IMO, more mobility for you, and the dead range on force leap shouldn't be changed, would make the only way to avoid it be either A: play a sniper or B: LoS. Maybe increase Zealous Leap's range to 15m. Sentinel Stuns: I'd vote yes to hilt strike becoming a baseline Jedi Knight ability as long as your dps resources didn't get too easily managed, when you get going you REALLY do a ton of damage on a target. As a guard i have the same movement speed ( - transcendence) and have no problem, but we also have the freeby area snare as tank spec so that might be why i don't notice a problem. edit: about your "button" problem. As a guard I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 28-32 binds I actively use in pvp, and personally I love it, wouldn't want to be a spam one button class.

Level 50 Jedi Guardian, tanky spec'd. While leveling I used Kira till I met Doc, then never used anyone else. Post level 50 however, I use Kira and Rusk for AOEing groups of weak normal enemies, or groups with only 1 Strong non-elite enemy present. Anywhere there are elites, or anywhere that is a high traffic pvp zone, I use Doc all the way since I'm more of an attrition fight in pvp, and he majorly reduces my downtime between fights where I would normally take 30-50% dmg before the mob is dead. edit: T7 was only used on Tython and the fun final mission for the class story , Scourge, while humorous to listen to, was a waste to ever call out. Kira was my main dps'r since A: she's easy to upgrade since I'm artiface, and B: alot funnier than Rusk.

Don't forget to also take away our awesome guardian leap (or w/e it's called for juggies). We can leap to friendly targets, THEN leap to you, then turn around and force push you off into the pit while snickering. <--my favorite.

I said whiners, not sarcastic Jedi guardian's who find posts like this amusing at 3am.

I can't comment on how good/bad this idea is, simply because my own smug is only lvl 12. What i can say, is that it sounds like a very good idea, and if nothing else it is a very solid post and a change of perspective on the class. As a general rule, I don't like the 1 button classes, and I'm sure they will address it. Props for the well thought, and easy to read post on your ideas for your class.

I have a better, better idea. Remove the whining people.

Ok but there has to be the super cookie, and I want the ball carrier to bite the head off every enemy he crosses while under the effect of the powerup.

Hmm I agree completely, JKA/SW classes being able to charge is completely OP in huttball, lets do away with it. Wait, Sorc/Sage sprint/bubble also negates mechanics of this warzone, get rid of that as well. However, to balance this issue all ranged must come to a complete stop and remain stationary to fire, unless the target is within 10 meters. Oh, Sin/Shadow/Op/Scoundrels can stealth, move ahead and avoid detection and receive a pass and score easily as well, so lets get rid of stealth to fix this obvious blatant imbalance. Also lets not forget the great force pull ability on the Sage/Sorc on teamates, and the tank variant force grip ability on Sin and shadow, they also need removal due to the ease of chaining these abilities to move the ball rapidly across the warzone. Yay, we balanced now! \O/

Personally, I HAVE this problem. It's annoying, I'm upgrading. Is that inconvenient? Sure, but hey it just so happens that most of my hardware is outdated for any other current game outthere so it's time for me to do so. That said, we as customers really do need to have a little bit more patience. SWtor has had a decently smooth launch, especially compared to the content I've enjoyed vrs other games in the past. Is it a polished shining jewel that is going to topple every other game currently on the market? Nope, needs some TLC and some TIME, but it has that potential. The "Pompous" poster is right, it isn't all that simple to fix. Some people who have this problem, you simply do need to upgrade, it's not news to anyone, gaming requirements advance as new hardware technology becomes available. To others, who have "Decent" systems, the problem is truly terrible, because you shouldn't have to upgrade a 3.4gzh quad core to a 3.5ghz quad core to fix it. I also realize that while we check the patch notes there seem to be alot of things that don't make sense as to why they are fixing that instead of larger more game breaking issues like the pvp delay. A good portion of the fixes are problems they noticed in various beta builds, and are finally rolling out because they are done testing and finally have time to focus on deploying them instead of focusing on launching the same, keeping server stability, meeting content deadlines, while still handling anything new that comes up. In the end it comes down to do you enjoy the game enough to stick with it for a month and let them fix it, or you can cancel, and resub later or go back to wow, rift, or whatever. It's your choice as customers, but dropping the "fix it now or you lose my sub" posts doesn't do any good, cept to get you flamed by others who are going to wait it out.

Gotta admit, the only low level's i regularly smash on sight are Ops. Sure, they aren't as dangerous as a 50 Op, but they still pack a big punch. As someone who doesn't play an Op, I can say their opener/burst needs some fine tuning to be put in line with other classes, but I also agree if they reduce it, they need to do something about survivability. Unless I'm completely out geared, or they are stim boosting (which hey I'm fine with cause it's getting addressed in 1.1 so enjoy it while it lasts for those of you that use it!), when an Op pounces on me if i break the initial stun before their rotation and snap a quick Hilt strike out they are pretty much easy to take down. Individual Ops obviously differ in skill and gear, but usually a visible Op is a dead Op. Also, I love force pushing Ops off their intended victims the second I hear the openers. Ops are annoying, true, they can ruin one persons day VERY quickly, and at high levels and gearout they can chain multiple kills fast if left unattended. It's the strength of their class. As a guard i ruin many a group with just well placed taunts, stuns, free area snares, and guard in place on whoever is getting FF'd. I'm reliant on a healer to be annoying, Ops are just more self sufficient.