Which spec did you level as?

[Droidist]

Hello,

 

Rolling a new shadow, I never got my old one past lvl 30, and decided to switch servers anyhow to a more populated one.

 

I was thinking of leveling as a balance or tank spec. Any thoughts? I think with a healer companion going tanking spec would lead to a doable leveling spec. I am not sure about balance spec.

 

Thanks in advance :-)

[LagunaD]

Kinetic Combat (tanking) is the only spec I've levelled with (twice to 50 in beta, once to 50 on live), and it is a great spec for levelling. Heroic-2's (with only a small fraction of exceptions) are easily doable. Nothing short of a Champion mob should make you even break a sweat (and even those are generally not that difficult).

 

I used Cedrax from Nar Shaddaa until I got Nadia. Once you have Harnessed Shadows, you can heal yourself very well (considering that you debuff, avoid, mitigate or absorb a lot of damage already), and there is generally no downtime necessary between pulls while using a DPS companion.

[Philosomanic]

I leveled as Infiltration up to my mid 30s, then I saw the light and went Balance from then on. I used Qyzen most of the time, but starting at my 40s I used Zenith a lot. Part of it was that I run into and actively hunt down Imperials quite frequently, and tank companions are the worst for PvP. But it's also because I enjoy a challenge, and leveling with a DPS companion (as a DPS spec) is really hard. The fights are blindingly fast, but also really challenging. As others have said, Kinetic (especially with Tharan out) requires minimal effort for any of the solo quests. Also, Zenith has an awesome personality.

 

My advice: pick whatever spec you think you want to play at endgame, and level as that. Someone who leveled from 10-50 as Balance is going to have a huge advantage over someone who leveled from 10-50 as Kinetic and then switched over. When you hit 50, you'll already have your class pretty much mastered, and you won't have that awkward period of sucking at your new spec.

 

I can personally attest that Balance is very much doable for levelling. If you use either Tharan, Qyzen, or Iresso, and keep them in decent gear, you won't have any trouble with any of the solo quests. Obviously, you won't be soloing Heroics, but they're not meant to be soloed so I don't see that as a problem. And even though you'll have a little downtime, you'll kill much faster than Kinetic can, which means that your overall kill speed is going to be roughly the same.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Philosomanic

[LawStanz]

I leveled from 1-45 as balance. When force strike got nerfed and I could no longer use combat technique, however, things slowed down for me. I got to 50 as deep balance, but if I had to level the whole way under the current system, I'd go for a KC/Balance hybrid. Edited March 29, 2012 by LawStanz

[Missandei]

I leveled as Balance.. It was pretty easy to do all quests, though i have done all the quests including bonus ones.. I didnt do PvP during leveling nevertheless i ding my 50 lvl on Voss (2 planets ahead to complete the storyline)

And thats when i start do PvP and find myself very easy to kill.. So i go Kinetic then and love it..

[LeJay]

I leveled both as "KC" (actually Darkness, in my Assassin) and Balance (still leveling, level 39!). Darkness gave me a very easy experience, I felt simply invincible, leveling was very smooth and all that (I used Andronikos).

 

I'm having much more fun with Balance though. I use a mix of Zenith/Tharan, Zenith for regular fighs and Tharan for bosses (though Zenith always surprise me when he destroys 3+ strong enemies by himself ). It's very challenging and you will have to use your CCs a lot, but considering that Zenith is my favorite companion I'm having a great time.

[Grafikk]

I leveled as Infiltration ... in the pvp spec . Actually had no issues, still using the same spec.

[droze]

Inf 24/7 Since day #1.

[MasterKayote]

Leveled as Infiltrator which was a PITA at first. It became easier once I stopped focusing on constant pewpew and played my stuns more. Still, at later levels its way too much downtime if using a DPS pet. While gaining affection for Nadia the only hope I had against Elites was to send the pet in first and time it just right to where I pull threat at just the right moment. Otherwise I pretty much HAD to use Tharan the entire time. Never tried balance though.

 

Now im leveling an Assassin tank and its waaay better. Granted, im definitely hitting for less but I can make up for that by using a DPS pet (Andronikos is borderline OP, IMO) and have way less downtime overall. I can even solo Heroic2's with the ship droid so long as I keep him geared ... its tough, but it should be easier once I get my official healer pet.

 

I really think Infiltration/Deception needs some major PvE DPS love. Surprised they didnt even try to address them in 1.2 ... yet.

[Aaramis]

Levelled from 1-47 as Balance, then switched to Kinetic from 47-50 as things were starting to get pretty tough around Voss / Corellia levels.

In hindsight it was more an issue of being slightly underlevelled than anything - I was tackling level 47 quests at 46 or 47, for example.

 

Since then, I've bounced between Balance and Kinetic a bit as I have gear for both. Currently Kinetic, though, to assist the guild in tanking Ops.

 

Companions : Qyzen until Theran, then used Theran pretty much exclusively until 50. Hard to beat a healer companion with CC for a dps class.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Aaramis

[Droidist]

Thank you for all the thoughtful replies, I really appreciate it! I will give tanking a try and see how that works for me. I might even try for a flashpoint here and there and see how I do.

 

Thanks again :-)

[Kumakichi]

I leveled my Assassin to 43 as Deception (same as infiltrator really) using a tanking companion. I leveled my Shadow to 47 as Kinetic. Both leveled at about the same speed but the Shadow never died and I leveled with Tharan which really made it easy. I use Nadia now but honestly I dont think it makes much difference which spec you use.

[ckoneful]

10-46 Infiltration, 46-50 Kinetic Combat. Could not do anything past 46 as infiltration @_@ May have had to do with undergeared companions though as I didn't really get how useful they were til it was too late.

[anstalt]

Leveled inf the entire way

 

Inf was extremely easy tbh, you just have to be more clever using CC and you rely more on your companions. The only time I struggled was around level 30. At that point, Qyzen was feeling a little weak due to lack of gear upgrades and i'd only recently gotten tharen so he was also feeling weak.

 

However, I put some effort in to gearing Tharen so by 35 it was easy again.

[GlennWippenberg]

I was a damage dealer in the MMOs I played (WoW, Warhammer, Aion, Champions Online, Rift) and had the desire to take on a new role. I dabbled in tanking and healing and tanking spoke out to me. When I bought this game.

 

I leveled to the mid 30s as KC, switched to Infitration until Hoth, tried out Balance for a level, then switched back to Inf until 50. I'm a tank again. My overall impression:

 

Kinetic Combat-A weak starter that gets strong once you're in the 30s. KC relies heavily on Defensive secondary stats and the talents acquired in this level range. I have a level 25 Juggernaut that feels much more durable than my Shadow did at the same level.

 

Infiltration-You're a Rogue. Use your stuns and incaps regularly, and focus down one target at a time with your companion. Focused DPS > split DPS no matter what spec you're playing.

 

Balance-I didn't care for the playstyle. The AOE was nice but I never liked watching my targets tick to death. I like beating them down with direct damage. The control and utility made handling rough situations much easier.

[Bilirubin]

Leveled as KC, recently switched to Balance to get more Ops time (since we are a little tank heavy). Easy mode, was able to solo most heroic 2+s

[jbuschell]

I was 10-20 inf, 20-30 balance, went KC for a day it was so boring, 31-37 balance

 

To me balance is just an awesome spec, pve isn't really that hard I burn through elites, champions have proven to be a challenge but whatever, I wreck warzones I did 360k Dmg at 32 with 9 medals I love taunt. It's a very fun spec, I probabally like it more than most though since my first char was a madness sorc though. At 40 I'm going to go back to KC since ill have slow time and harnessed shadows and see of that spruces the spec up a bit, to the op pretty much what im saying is kinetic combat is boring level at your own risk