hi all i have a lvl 50 assassin but haven't been playing for a while. it has been so long that my original server is gone and all of my talent points have been refunded. can anyone give me advice about a respec to a pure PVE tank or recommend a recent topic/guide that would help me out? thanks

i use a similar build. my favorite part about being a darkness sin is that the pvp and pve tanking specs are very similar. the only problem is that you should have 2 full (or nearly full) sets of gear to do both most effectively this is what i'm currently using: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rIrokbskbsZZf0cM.1

i had a similar problem as a darkness sin starting to pvp at lvl 50. people would tell me pay the 200k or so to get the full recruit set even though i was ending war zones with around 160k damage, during good matches, just using orange gear with the mods i bought with corellia commendations. the problem i was having with the stalker recruit set is that i was sacrificing endurance for accuracy and expertise and doing less dmg overall because i was dying so quickly. it wasn't just an issue of having less total hp, it was also because i did less self healing because that is determined by your total endurance. during the time i spent saving up for BM stalker gear i learned that replacing everything with recruit gear is not always the way to go depending on your spec. i did replace some gear with it but make sure you are paying attention to the total stats you will end up with and tell the people that say "if you are going to pvp you need a full recruit set first" to just look at your numbers at the end of the match and then tell you what they think.

well if you are pvping you should use FS all the time as you get it, i don't know off-hand what lvl you get it.. for pve it is almost useless except maybe if you are trying to escape and your best escape abilities are on their cool-down. as far as crushing darkness goes i ditched it as soon as i speced for tanking at lvl 33. as Feign said it is useful for a couple of situations in pvp but i still don't find it useful enough to warrant a spot on my already crowded tool bars.

i leveled my sorcerer to around 25 then got bored and lvled a sinner all the way to 50. i guess it comes down to your preferred playing style although the sorcerer seems to have the advantage with solo lvling speed especially since our first companion is a tank. khem isn't bad as an assassin either (especially a dps speced sin) but i had to wait till i hit 33 and got our healer before i really started to knock out lvls fast as an assassin tank. i can't speak personally to how well sorcerers do end-game but the first 2 guys in my guild to hit lvl 50 did so as sorcerers and mostly abandoned them after about a week. their main gripe is that they are too squishy no matter what the spec. one rerolled as a powertech and the other a merc and they prefer their new 50s much more. either way an inquisitor and our republic mirror class are the very best classes to roll if you are unsure about what you want to do. we can wait until level 10 before we have to decide if we want to heal, tank, or dps melee or at range.

i assume you mean the matrix cube and one relic. i stay with this setup mainly because i have enough cool downs to keep track of between the med pack, deflection, overcharge saber, force shroud, adrenal, and the relic. plus i'm probably forgetting a couple.

you can buy the med packs off of the GTN (auction house) but on my server at least they are hard to find because most people aren't willing to pay the amount of money they cost to cover the mats and give the seller a bit of profit. for the highest lvl blues you should expect to pay around 10k each. going with biochem to use the reusable packs is a much cheaper route if you are determined to heal Khem.

the main reason for taking 3 points in shroud of darkness is because your self healing from dark charge and force lighting is determined by your total endurance. i do agree that going from 25k-25.5k health would not be worth it otherwise. to the OP: what build are you using? i have shroud of darkness, thrashing blades, and torment maxed. so i guess the question would be: what would you sacrifice to get them all?

i'm speced darkness and haven't played any other build since my early 30s but last i checked deception is the best for bursting although madness does more damage overall with its dots. so the the answer to your question is deception.

i'm using this http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rIrokbskbsZZf0cM.1 but there are a few variations out there.

wow that was a lot of responses in 5 minutes, you were right i just had to pull it off my character, thanks everyone!

i created a ticket about this but haven's received a response yet. the war hero stalker saber staff requires 1 battle master stalker saberstaff and about 3500 ranked warzone commendations. i have both of these but when i try to buy it i get a message saying that i can't afford it. the only reason for this i can think of is that i swapped out the +crit red crystal the battle master saber came with and replaced it with a +expertise crystal. has anyone else had this problem? EDIT: lol i feel stupid, i just had to drag it off my character and into my inventory.

what lvl are you? if you are at least lvl 35 you could run flashpoints at his lvl together. if you run them solo they will be more likely to drop gear for your class. of course if you are the same class this would not be a problem.

sounds like you guys need a good tank friend. it isn't your fault that you are dying so much it is your teams fault especially if you are getting killed by a single marauder. i see too many tanks ignoring friendly healers and just going after enemy healers when keeping you alive is supposed to be one of our main priorities if not the only one. killing a healer is a burst dpser's job. this is coming from a darkness assassin: unless more than 2 people are attacking you there is absolutely no reason you should die unless your gear and my gear is TERRIBLE. when i guard you i take half your damage and when i use either of my taunts i cut your attackers dmg down by 30%. i can self heal in 3 different ways, not counting a med pack, so you should only have to worry about healing and shielding yourself. plus there is my crowd control. i can force pull and electrocute a marauder which will keep him off of you for at least 6 seconds if his charge isn't on cooldown. most tanks i have seen on my server just don't appreciate the value of a good healer in pvp. the republic tanks do and that is one of the reasons we loose to them 9 out of 10 times. i wish everyone would show some love to the healers anyway they can, even if it is just giving a mvp vote to the best one at the end of a match.

as far as i know force and tech attacks never miss. they can be absorbed by something like lightning shield but that is it. they also completely ignore shield generators and defense. accuracy is completely useless for sorcerers and almost useless for most assassin builds.

there is a 2 man heroic on corellia (against wookies, i can't remember the name) which you should be able to solo every day and don't forget space missions. up until 50 i did every space mission i had a quest for. it is very nice xp and credits considering that they only take 10 minutes

i was unaware of this bug but Xalek also runs right up to any mob he is attacking and engages them at point blank range when he should stop at 10m at least to engage with his lightning. he is only supposed to engage point blank and use his saber if a melee mob attacks him but i see how that would be a moot point to sorcerers compared to the bug you just mentioned.

the bug with Xalek is that he is supposed to be a RANGED dps/ tank but if you are a sorcerer this will actually work to your advantage. us sinners on the other hand have a real problem with him. enjoy it while it lasts but if he ever gets fixed you will probably be better off with Khem.

i did the exact same thing and have stuck with the 31/0/10 at 50 for pvp. i have been very happy with this but again, it depends on you play style. i personally hate depending on deception's backstabbing and lack of survivability. as far as your rotation goes it all depends on you your current build.

then i guess it is a question of what you would be pulling points out of to get it.

thanks for the advice guys:D

i have had thrash in the first slot of my main bar ( 1 key) for as long as i can remember so it is triggered by mouse button 2. the problem is that my cursor has to be over an enemy for it to trigger and in pvp this can be a bit tricky when my target is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. i have tried to bind mouse button 2 to the first spot on my main bar but it doesn't work. apparently you cannot bind mouse button 2 to anything. can anyone suggest a way to work around this besides moving it to another slot on the bar?

which pvp adrenal do you mean? i don't use them but i can make reusable rakata adrenals through biochem.

i didn't even know there was a relic that heals, where do i find it?

what lvl are you? i would go deception until 33 at least and then switch to darkness.