It really depends on how you like to play. Keep in mind, my knowledge on this matter is NOT personal experience-based. This is all theoretical speculation from what I've observed in other Smuggler PVPer's equipment (ones I respect and notice do well) as well as things I've read about on blogs and forums. It depends on what advanced class you are. Generally, it's "supposed" to be Enforcer for Scoundrel DPS, Field Tech for Gunslinger DPS. However, I've seen people with a mixture of pieces from both sets so they can get both bonuses. I've also seen some with a couple of Field Medic pieces for Surge (usually implants and ears). Because Surge is also absent from all BM sets, Augment slots are also used to make up for lost Surge. For secondary stats, there are some diminishing returns. I've read that: -Accuracy starts to be less effective after 110%...or simply that 110% will get you by in most situations. -Critical has a soft cap somewhere between 30-35% -Surge has severe diminishing returns that hit at around 200 points -Power is a great stat once you've reached the "soft caps" for the others. Power boosts the inherent damage/healing of all skills. If there are diminishing returns, I can't find any solid information. However, that doesn't mean that MOAR POWER! is better all the time. There's no set guide for what you should wear. I mean, definitely don't be stupid and get Alacrity on a Scrapper. But I've seen all kinds otherwise.

In spite of some of my annoyances with parts of the story line, it really is funny and exciting. Act 1 with Skavak is probably my favorite out of the three. The end of the current story arc is pretty cool, too. I have to admit that some parts of Act 3 were a bit convoluted at times, same with Act 2. But there were some great moments. Voss was a great planet...I got to be a home-wrecker. I think it's just that at the end, I felt like everything was a bit rushed and squished onto one planet. I would have preferred most of the quests on Corellia to have been spread a bit to where I would have to go to another planet because someone had retreated there. Rather than all three people I was hunting hiding on the same planet. Also, any mission where you're sent aboard another vessel in space is awesome.

Or at least they e-mail you with links to the various End-Game forums and guides and encourage you to read those guides. And to join the forums and stop being a creepy lurker. Sticky this please, it's pretty useful. Would be very good to go over keybinding in detail. Maybe link to some of the many guides on forums and on Youtube. Also, other tips: -Take the time outside of the game to sit down and analyze each warzone type and your class and spec. What I mean is, sit down and think about what your class and spec are best suited for in each warzone. Sometimes, what's good in one area is terrible in others. Sometimes, you realize that you can use certain abilities to accomplish goals that you might not have thought of while you were freaking out and dying. Make a battle plan for yourself. Decide what you should generally try to do in each warzone, and then do it. But keep your plan very general and open for adjustments on the fly. This will help you get a handle on how each warzone operates in spite of the variable conditions. Once I did this, I found my skill level increase a bit. I was suddenly much more aware of what was going on around me, and because I was more aware, I was able to react more accurately. This doesn't mean I suddenly didn't still suck. But I sucked a little less, and was more useful. -Try to call out the healers on the other side. This really helps people focus on players that need to be consistently killed, CC'd, and otherwise annoyed out of their minds.

Not getting my fortune DID bother me. At first, I was kinda "meh" about it, but as the Smuggler story went on and they just kept mentioning how I got Nok Drayen's fortune and how I was all super awesome because of that... I couldn't help but feel irked that my fortune was a sham. However, what bothered me MORE was being roped into privateer service. I didn't wanna be a privateer! I didn't want to work for some senator! If I was going to work for the Republic, I would have preferred something more...independently run. No, suddenly I became the senator's attack dog. The only saving grace for the whole privateer bit was during the "interludes" where I'd be called out to help some fellow criminal get out of a bad spot. I loved any of the underworld parts of the story. They were so much more interesting to me. Mostly because the characters were more appealing. I hope Act 2 deals just as much with the underworld. I don't want to be doomed to be a privateer forever.

Vulkar Highway's not too bad. It's kinda quiet, and you often play with the same people, but I never have to wait more than 5 minutes at most for a match. MOST of the folks are pretty cool. There are a few temperamental people, but no one really bad and no one you can't easily ignore. Most of the time, it's just because they've had a bad day or something. They're okay when they're in a good mood, though. I'm not in a guild, so I can't speak for those. But there are several very common guild names I see. I think maybe 5 or 6 guilds whose members I see quite frequently. That said, don't get the impression that it's crowded or even busy. It's...steady would be the right term. I have no idea what the win-lose ratio is, either.

I like "That Guy". No, correction, I love "That Guy". Know why? I just started PVPing (ever) a week ago. I barely know what on earth I'm doing. Sure, I understand what we should do to reach the objective in a theoretical sense, but in practice, I have almost no experience (remember, this is my first week PVPing ever). I get really frustrated when I see folks start saying the group sucks. Or even worse, when we're playing against their guildies, and they start lamenting how they wish they were are their team. Seriously? Wow. Thanks dude. Here's the thing, I suck. I KNOW I suck. Because I'm new. But I also am willing and able to learn. I don't know all of the ins and outs of each Warzone. Not perfectly. Not the way pro's want me to. That's why I LOVE "That Guy". Because "That Guy" is slowly teaching me what to do. I can read forums and crap all I want all day, but that doesn't compare to getting in there and trying things out. In fact, the hardest part of all is overcoming this tendency to freeze when a whole lot of stuff is going on at once. This is why I've temporarily started telling people in Hutball to never give me the ball. Because if you give me the ball, I'll just stand there trying to find a friendly to throw it to. Then fail to throw it before I die, or WORSE (this happens more often), MISS the target because the person that was there is suddenly not there. They moved and ran off somewhere else and I failed to lead my target. I can't help it. I can barely make sense of all the flashing crap and names cluttering my screen. I can't seem to turn my camera fast enough or get lined up right. I'm getting stunned and rooted and knocked out all over the place. Quite often I have to deal with this feeling of utter helplessness. I WANT to help, but I feel hampered and confused about what's going on. I'm learning, slowly, to simply watch what's going on and not follow the zerg, but then, we're losing because I'm not reacting fast enough. So yeah, I like "That Guy". I need "That Guy's" help. I don't need to be spoonfed, but seriously, do you people have any idea how intimidating PVP is to someone totally new? Have you forgotten what it's like? Newbies do need SOME direction. Some direction is better than NO direction. That's why newbies develop very bad habits and end up having problems in Warzones. Newbies can quickly become "baddies" if they aren't at least gently guided. ...That's why one day, I aspire to be "That Guy". I will take these confused people and I will lead them to victory!

The best way to save money when you're under level 50 is to not buy your gear with credits. Instead, get commendation gear. It's free and simply doing all of the quests on most planets is more than enough to fund your new gear. I think after level 25, I got a custom chest piece, pants, and blaster that I just kept upgrading with commendation mods. The rest of my gear was provided to me via drops and quests. Thus is was that I could afford all of my skills, speeder piloting licenses, and mission levelling without ever really breaking a sweat.

Yes, a million times yes. My server isn't totally dead, but it is pretty frail looking. What's really sad is that on pretty much every planet outside of the fleet had less than 30 people on it, with many of the 35+ planets having less than 5 people. That's not good. Most of the time I feel like I'm playing SRPG not an MMO. I'd love to see my server get merged with another server. Especially if in merging, the two faction populations are brought more into balance.

Scrapper main as well. I don't PVP, but I will be exploring that arena soon. If what I'm hearing is correct, and Scoundrels/Smugglers really aren't that popular anymore...then if I wait long enough, people will forget how to fight a Scoundrel Scrapper and end up losing. As far as companions go, once you get Guss Tuno, you'll be nigh unstoppable. It's great to have someone spam heals at you all day. I find I can take elites without having either my companion or myself die (after lvl 30 or so, Corso would be a guaranteed death with almost every single elite). The only downside is Corso is more fun in dialogues than Guss.

Mine is Jaede Eyre, Scoundrel extraordinaire. I made up this name some time ago when I created a Stalker in Ragnarok Online. I loved the name for that kind of character, and I liked the play off of the character Jane Eyre. My smuggler is NOT as high-minded and moralistic as Jane Eyre is, but...she does want to do the right thing. Mostly. Especially if the NPC is giving her a guilt trip.

They happen. I've gotten procs that show up after 20 RE's, and procs that show up on the first try. I get FAR fewer crits (even with Corso) than I did in beta, though. Seems like when I used Corso in beta, my crit rate was somewhere close to 20-30%. Now it feels like 10-15%. Perhaps they lowered it upon the game's launch.

I prefer to craft, actually. I like the process of trying to find new schematics, and I don't find I have much trouble with using credits to craft at the moment. Usually, once I've surpassed a level, I sell off my extra mats. I try to mark them down by about 20-30% of the current GTN prices, because I want to be RID of those items. Unfortunately, my craft only results in weapons and barrels, so that leaves me left wanting for the rest of my gear. I hope they fix the GTN so the planet you're on no longer matters and you can buy and sell from the opposite faction. That would help things along so much... And it would make me more interested in trying to competitively price my items.

Yes, the GTN should be cross faction. Some servers have a rather imbalanced population ratio, and the lower populated side definitely seems to get shafted as far as available items goes. I also think the entire GTN should be linked. There's no reason why not. I mean, if an NPC from a previous mission can mail me an item from a totally different planet in a totally different sector of the galaxy, then why in Sam Hill can't I buy an item off the GTN and have it shipped from another planet?! If they want to put some kind of sink on the GTN, then raise the fees for transporting purchases if they are off-planet. They could be calculated the same way fuel is calculated in space travel. They could also raise the fees for purchasing items from the opposite faction. For example: 5% black market charge for purchasing from the opposite faction. Fuel cost x 5 for delivering from off-planet. (Which means going across the galaxy would add something like a 300 credit fee to your purchase. This would suck at lower levels, but then there's less to purchase at lower levels.) There. Ta-da. Now it's actually somewhat costly to buy from the opposite faction and off-planet. The black market cost could possibly be raised more, but we don't want the fees to be so exorbitant that trading with the opposite faction is completely pointless.