I've been doing some research on scoundrel builds lately trying to find a good balance between Scrapper burst for PvP and enough points in Sawbones to be a viable healer come end-game. This is what I've come up with so far: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#701bcfbdGoRzZMIM0dZh.1 Originally, I had tier 3 of Scrapper filled out completely and even had 1 point going into tier 4 (It would go between Round Two and Fight or Flight), but with those points invested there I would be missing out on the rest of the tier 5 Sawbones (Originally only had Emergency MP and Emergent Emergencies). I feel like you really need at least a full tier 5 to even consider main healing the bigger stuff. The only thing I'm not 100% about right now is having those 3 points in Dirty Fighting to get +6% on tech crit chance or putting those 3 into tier 6 Sawbones for Accomplished Sawbones. Looking for some feedback on this one. edit: Oh yeah, the points in the Diagnostic Scan aren't 100% either... figured those would be put to good use as a dedicated healer.

And I said there's no problem speccing and gearing your guardian as DPS, but you're kidding yourself if you think a group is going to pick you over a Sentinel or one of the more capable DPS hybrids. You're not understanding what I'm saying. I'm saying the class was designed to be a tank. That's why no matter how you spec, you get tanking abilities. You could go all focus or all vig and still be a relatively good tank as long as your armor is high and you don't have completely terrible endurance. I'm just annoyed that there are people who play these group utility classes as DPS, then when a group doesnt like that will only do DPS and refuse to use their other roles then they get all pissy about it.

Exactly. I can totally understand picking guardian for the single saber style. I personally can't stand the idea of dual-wielding in general, the whole thing looks kind of tacky... but, that doesn't change what the class was designed to do best. Anyone picking this class for it's style needs to come to terms with this not being a DPS-based class. Spec and gear DPS if you want, I have no issues with it and think that it is a perfectly viable way to go. Ignoring one aspect of your class just to focus blindly on another is going to annoy some groups and probably hurt you in the long run, tho.

I'm gonna go so far as to say these forums have reached WoW forum-like levels of stupid. I can totally understand why they don't feel comfortable making Server Forums right now. It was so much more peaceful during closed beta. :[ I like seeing all the people jump me about saying that Guardians were designed to be, primarily, a tank class. Because when they did a showcase for each Tank AC, they obviously made a point of how much damage they could do. If you want to gear/spec DPS as a Guardian, that's your prerogative. You need to realize that you're going to be sub-par to straight up DPS classes and even some of the healing hybrids. Having played a few different variations of the Guardian during beta and this final version we have, I feel the class is perfectly fine once you get post-30. There was a point in time during the beta where Guardians/Juggs were pretty beastly compared to everyone else and I do miss that, but I have no qualms with where the class is now. No one should tell you how to play your game, buuuuuut... there needs to be reasonable expectations of what you're getting into when you pick a certain class. Guardians = Tanks that can do DPS, not Tank/DPS hybrid. edit: I almost forgot this awesome example of what I'm getting at. There was a thread on one of the boards where a Sage was complaining that a group kicked him because he was DPSing and not healing, when they probably added him for his healing and not his DPS. Now, if you want to DPS inbetween heals (if there's time/room for it in a rotation) then that's fine... but to completely ignore a VERY important aspect of your class like that? Why pick Sage if you're going to completely ignore your healing? Why pick Guardian when you're going to ignore your tank abilities?

What the heck is going on...? Why are people going on about Guardians not being tanks? THEY ARE CALLED GUARDIANS! They are meant to tank, that is their primary role. You can DPS if you want, but you're only kidding yourself if you think you'll out DPS or even be comparable to any other DPS class. That would completely destroy the balance of the game if it were the case. Guardians can put out good damage for a tank if you spec that way, but comparing them to a commando/sage/gunslinger is completely bonkers. We put out solid sustained damage because we take so long to kill, but that doesn't make Guardian a good DPS class.