I can't really speak on the damage trees because I play the healing tree but even that tree has some solid DPS, so the damage trees must be awesomesauce. And I level pretty well as a healer so the DPS trees should do perfectly fine if not faster. With Qyzen tanking for you things are pretty smooth with killing and leveling, even doing Heroic 2+. The Consular story is pretty awesome. You're depicted as this immensely talented, once-in-a-generation person who can save the galaxy from destruction while also keeping relations good between races and worlds. You kick *** but people also listen to what you say because you are important being a Consular and good as a Jedi. The story sort of is like that general MMO story where people start knowing your name before you show up and asking you for help and you're the only one with enough power to save them etc etc. and I like that lol Yeah, I agree with this. My Sage is only 25 but the story is really suspense building. I want to know what happens next, how the NPC is going to act and how things are going to turn out.

I play a Sage and even as a healer spec I end up playing DPS in queued runs. I would say that Sage has solid DPS (not the absolute best but pretty good especially when you compare to traditional healers in other games which almost have nerf damage). Sages have DoT damage so they're really good for boss fights, they also have CC which helps, but their damage skills even when specd for healing are pretty good. I think you can maximize their DPS if you can figure out a good rotation. Some skills will lower your DPS if you pop them at the wrong time, and keeping force up at all times to have seamless mob-bashing helps with DPS too. I've noticed that using the debri-throwing move (can't remember the name at this time) is the most useful for maximizing dps since it's instant while also continuously hitting while your force regens.

Oh, that makes sense. My sage is only 23/24. Yeah I get not wanting to heal when bosses get harder lol

I find that if I queue for runs with both damage and heal selected, I usually end up DPSing. I was really surprised by this (I've been playing SWTOR for like a week and a half) because with my experience in MMOs healers are usually put in healing roles in queues lol. This is sort of the first MMO I've seen where the healer not only has really good DPS but actually plays DPS a lot. This is sort of perfect for me because I love healing but after a while I want to DPS as well. I've noticed I don't really have to heal unless the tank is squishy or the fight is long or there's massive DoTs from the boss. I was just wondering if you guys noticed this as well and what you thought about it. I think it's pretty cool but sometimes I wonder if I should unselect damage so I can heal lol

I haven't had much issues with Qyzen as a companion...he takes damage for me and gives it out pretty well too so I have no other complaints lol

As for the customization, I think I got it through one of the (side?) quests on the starting planet. I made him purple. When you get gear for him from sidequests it states on the info thing that it's heavy armor. The Aim issue doesn't seem to matter all that much...

^^^ Totally agree with that. I'm getting the hang of him, but I call him rude precisely because he disapproves when I help people "too much" according to his standards. I want to be the goody two-shoes but I lose his affection if I'm so nice that I'm helping people instead of leaving them to their own devices or not standing my ground or choosing peace over fighting. Bringing up the Scorekeeper was a very insightful point. Killing=more points in the Scorekeeper's roster, not fighting=no points, helping people fight for themselves=more points for everyone (instead of just you if you fought for them). The ongoing theme here is that he is trying to win back his points and he believes the Scorekeeper is actively watching everyone who fights (whether they know of/believe in the Scorekeeper or not).

Yeah Qyzen is really ridiculous. I help someone and I lose affection (it's only one point but still). This dude is ruthless. If you don't want to kill everything you come across you lose affection lol. He is a pretty good tank though, and I'm a sage so this is working out so far. If you go into the Codex and read his likes and dislikes you can navigate his affection better...As for investing in him I just equip him with the gear sidequests give. I see these companions as sort of pets so I'm not going to go out of my way to spend credits on a rude guy, just saying XD