You'll see the Trooper char creation armor probably, because that version of the armor has one critical difference from all the in game versions of the armor. It doesn't have the silly doll house on the back. That doll house, man. I'd be totally okay with it, if it was like, half the 'depth' on the back. Right now it's like running around with a microwave strapped to your back. There are plenty of rigid backpacks on other trooper armors they could use too. The suit I am holding my breath for is the armor Satele wears. Any week now, right?

I like Type-2's for Vanguards. The hulking Type-3's looks really silly with most blaster rifles.

If we were going a full non-humanoid race+class story combo, I say we get a droid. Instead of just having HK-51 be your buddy, imagine BEING your own HK style droid. Where in combat you are a lethal assassin droid while in the talky bits you are 'undercover' as a protocol droid. You could tell the story as you change hands from owner to owner and eventually leading to your own freedom.

Or just use droids.

The key thing with hutts is they live a long time. A really long time. They can measure their life span in centuries. That really changes how and why you make investments and how you view non-hutt 'allies'.

The people working on the SGR and the people who deal with class mechanics are probably NOT the same people.

Meh, Mandalorians can be fun in small doses, but they can get really one dimensional really quickly. It's the same trap all those generic "noble warrior" cultures seem to fall into. Everything becomes about the same single facet of the culture and everyone in it becomes a caricature. Honor, Blood, Honor, worthy foe, blah blah revenge blah, honor! There a good group to have around in smaller bits though. Someone through training and tools that can realistically hold their own against the force users.

I try to give it out to whoever was doing the garbage hauling in the game. Like the guy who gets stuck guarding the lonely objective where nothing happens BUT if they leave then some random sneak will grab it from under our noses. Stuff like that.

There's always a fair number of people who will pick anything that makes them just a little more unique. I have little doubt the new race will be popular. I do wonder if it's "worth it" to bioware on a cost/time basis though. It's gotta be a lot easier and cheaper to just recycle existing assets and put them on the market. Figure the Cathar will have at least half a dozen faces (at a minimum) per gender, then another half dozen skin patterns. Then you have to wonder if they'll make the color of the skin independent of any skin patterns. Then you have to make sure all that stuff works with the animations and the facial expression engine thing. Then they can only charge X number of cartel coins for it, which only gives them Y potential return in actual dollars. Lots of work, lots of maybes.

The only interaction I had with the other side during my HK quest, was when an Imp at the vendor commented that she was sad because she was poor and the items cost so much. Give it like, another week, and the FFA zone will be as dead as it ever was. You'll walk in, buy your thing, walk back out and be done with it.

Elara would never do that. Her copies would be legitimately licensed holo's.

Full Auto is for those really rare moments when you are stuck at 20-30 meters out and aren't being pelted by ten different enemies. Or as the others said already, you can probably take it off your bar and not miss it 98% of the time.

I like the new one, gets rid of that weird little pause at the end. Much smoother looking now, a quick nasty slash.

Correct, you would need some sort of seckey on your account.

Does anyone have numbers on how long that buff that gives two free Explosive Surges lasts? Like, do you pretty much have to go STORM SURGE SURGE, or can you save the free Surge for a little bit later after a Storm?

All Troopers, Commando or Vanguard, use AIM. Tanking Vanguards may favor or weigh more towards Endurance, but still ultimately use Aim gear. (What I mean is, a DPS vanguard might wear a piece that has 60 aim and 40 Endu, while a Tanking vanguard might want the piece with 60 endu and 40 Aim.)

This is about it, more or less. The Vanguard is a 'melee' class, with the options to tank or dps. Despite the fact you carry around a rifle, you are most effective (by far) inside 10 meters. Ideally in melee range itself. The Commando is a ranged class, with the options to heal or dps. It's a turret more or less, keep range and chaining abilities on the spot is where you'll be most effective. The PvP balance can and will change from patch to patch, so I wouldn't put TOO much stock into that as it could likely change by the time you hit 50 or whatever.

Troopers are probably one of the few classes with the correct number of skills, even then they could probably stand to shave off one or two in some specific specs. Commando's have a case for a proper interrupt, but otherwise neither AC needs entirely new abilities. I don't want to say NEVER, but I really doubt you'll see Storm go baseline any time soon. The entire JK base class is already charge happy and I don't think they are keen on spreading that around even more. I've also never had a grapple miss. I've had it fail because of a full resolve bar and I've had it bug out when the terrain got in the way. Not miss/resist though.

Reusable Stims are going to be a bigger upgrade then any piece of modding or gear you could ever craft. Reusable Medpacks are psychologically freeing, you'll never have that mental block of "I better save it for when I REALLY need it!" Reusable Adrenals are basically a third trinket clicky effect you'll have access too. I've also made a small (large) fortune selling implants on the GTN. There are never enough implants around.

Both Commandos and Vanguards have DPS trees, so if you want to focus on damage, it won't matter which you pick. The MAIN difference, is the Commando is a ranged class, the Vanguard is a "melee" class. As a Vanguard, you'll have a few full ranged attacks, but you'll be FAR more effective in close/melee range. The other big difference, is Commandos have a healing tree and a baseline ability to cast some heals no matter which spec. Vanguards have a tank tree and the baseline ability to taunt (which is important in PvP, even as a damage spec).

Overly Cautious Spoiler edit

The IA, while not bad as a lady, really does feel like it was built for a male lead. There are a lot of moments so far on my lady Agent where I feel like I am just missing 'stuff' in convos. Little gaps where you know the male Agent is probably having a moment.

Endurance Stim while actually tanking. Aim Stim for everything else, be it leveling, doing daily quests, doing content already on farm.

It's pretty much like the dude above me said, just fill out your ShieldSpec tree to the top and go deep enough into Tactics to grab the PowerArmor talent. There's only like 3-5 floater points and none of them are really going to make or break anything.

Speaking as a Tanking Vanguard: BEST Consistency - The majority of our attacks are Tech attacks and/or elemental attacks. Accuracy and Armor are a non isssue. If you expect to hit something for X damage, you'll hit just about everything for that same X damage. Durability - I'm a tank and I feel like it. Plain and simple. I don't feel squishy. Simplicity - We are very straight forward to play. We don't have any of the finicky or fragility lots of other specs and classes have. We aren't worrying if someone will break our CC chain, or if our DPS combo will be interrupt or whatnot. We have variety without sacrificing dependability. WORST Recovery - I don't really have many ways to dig myself OUT of a hole. Once my Medpack and Adrenal Rush are gone, that's pretty much it. I can slow the bleeding, but I can't stop it. I feel very tethered to Elara (or actual player healers). It's not really something I actually think needs to be addressed at all, but it is a weakness of the spec that I take into account. Escape - Someone else already mentioned this one, but once I'm in a fight, I am in it till I win or die. Barring a incredibly lucky charge target, there is no real way for a tanking Vanguard to escape any kind of confrontation... and no real reason too. Not like I can hide behind a pillar and cast a few heals on myself. Again, nothing I really think needs attention in anyway, just a noteworthy limitation of the spec.