The weird people you meet in Group Finder.

[thewitchdoctor]

Is it wrong that on my 55 Vanguard in Dread Forged Gear that I ignored the fight mechanics on Lt Whats-his-face for KDY because I just hit Hold the Line as the grenades were about to explode so I wouldn't bounce, just so we could kill him before the third grenade launching (they did ~10% damage ok!)?

 

(I got KDY cause I was doing the tactical FP daily for basics)

 

No, because on my marauder, who isn't as well geared, I often make a judgement call on the droid in CZ as to whether or not I can survive on my CDs and stay in the electrified water when he is near death and outDPS him to kill him off faster.

 

If you know you can beat the mechanic because you are overgeared, then great.

[BigBreakfast]

Some tanks change to dps stance in KDY if group isn't good. I do it often.

 

- One or two of group members only spam two basic attacks

- Vanguard/PT/scoundrel/operative who thinks he is ranged only

- If group members aggro multiple groups of mobs at same time (this is often reason for me to change to dps stance, because "if they want to tank I won't stop them")

 

In groups like that you're most likely going to die in Elite Defender fights if there's no healer around.

 

-_- All I said was "sin tank in lightning charge". I could have said "sin gobble in goober gib". That wasn't my point. My point was about people in a group who seem to be unaware of the existence of the chatbox or refuse to respond to others for whatever reason.

 

And, if you must know, his first comment after the starting convo was, "let me lead i'm tank". He was in lightning charge.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BigBreakfast

[BobFredJohn]

I hear you. Tanks are really a dying breed. Shame really. I have 4 55 tanks and I've slowly stopped pugging with them. I mean there's not much point to play a 55 tank unless you're in an ops guild. 55 tacticals...seriously. Slower levelling/killing/dailies and some of the attitudes in pugs...ugh. Once again, I blame KDY Academy and Bioware's constant catering of super casuals.

 

I must say I resent that, im a casual player and I consider most players are, IMO the problem is the types of players:

 

Poor: dont read what their abilities do, dont untick certain roles in gf (queue as healer when they dont do any heals, then ask "what do you mean im a healer?") and just generally make no effort to improve, pretty much those this thread is written about.

Average (i reckon im here): basic understanding of cycles though by no way maxed (afew times I have had my sniper cycles criticised *adanoids voice* "you could do 0.0007 more damage per sec if you did this"), read their abilities to know what they do, Willing to follow instruction if its their first time.

Good: an average player who knows their cycles and done repeated runs of the same mission to know tacts blindfolded, properly specced trees for maxed dps/heals/aggro hold, pays attention to group positioning and buffs/effects (not poping static barrier on a jugg who has enraged defence on )

Fake pros: Dulfy says I should do this cycle, Dulfy says these are the correct tactics, Dulfy says this is the best spec, Dulfy says this is the best class. I hate these most of all, mainly because I see reading guides as being for noobs, learn it yourself or dont do it (though I appreciate this is difficult with all the elitist idiots in OPs "must know tacts". How am I meant to know if I dont get to play the op?)

Elites/pros: dont exist, if everyone in the group knows what they are doing, they all look elite, take someone from a group that has just done say S&V HM without a wipe and stick him in a 55 HM FP with 2 poors and an average and suddenly hes good/average player.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BobFredJohn

[idnewton]

I must say I resent that, im a casual player and I consider most players are, IMO the problem is the types of players:

 

Poor: dont read what their abilities do, dont untick certain roles in gf (queue as healer when they dont do any heals, then ask "what do you mean im a healer?") and just generally make no effort to improve, pretty much those this thread is written about.

Average (i reckon im here): basic understanding of cycles though by no way maxed (afew times I have had my sniper cycles criticised *adanoids voice* "you could do 0.0007 more damage per sec if you did this"), read their abilities to know what they do, Willing to follow instruction if its their first time.

Good: an average player who knows their cycles and done repeated runs of the same mission to know tacts blindfolded, properly specced trees for maxed dps/heals/aggro hold, pays attention to group positioning and buffs/effects (not poping static barrier on a jugg who has enraged defence on )

Fake pros: Dulfy says I should do this cycle, Dulfy says these are the correct tactics, Dulfy says this is the best spec, Dulfy says this is the best class. I hate these most of all, mainly because I see reading guides as being for noobs, learn it yourself or dont do it (though I appreciate this is difficult with all the elitist idiots in OPs "must know tacts". How am I meant to know if I dont get to play the op?)

Elites/pros: dont exist, if everyone in the group knows what they are doing, they all look elite, take someone from a group that has just done say S&V HM without a wipe and stick him in a 55 HM FP with 2 poors and an average and suddenly hes good/average player.

 

I take it you've never run with real players then.

[Halinalle]

What's even more annoying than someone knocking mobs away from tank with Force Wave?

 

It's three idiots spamming Force Push.

[Darkelefantos]

What's even more annoying than someone knocking mobs away from tank with Force Wave?

 

It's three idiots spamming Force Push.

 

I've had this experience. The question is, how could they possibly think it's a good idea to push mobs against a wall that's too close for leaping at but too far to hit from where they stand?

[BigBreakfast]

I must say I resent that, im a casual player and I consider most players are, IMO the problem is the types of players:

 

I think there are certain distinctions, but it's all relative.

(not poping static barrier on a jugg who has enraged defence on )

 

Is there a way to know this w/o checking the buff or being told so? If someone needs to pop this, the fight is obviously pretty hectic, and the healers are playing whack-a-mole with health bars. And if a sorc doens't have a jug or doesn't know what the buff icon looks like, can you really blame them? And even if they did, the buff icons by default are small, and usually only the debuff scale is enlarged. So when you pop enraged defense and think, "no idiot sorc better bleeping bubble me", just keep that in mind.

Fake pros: Dulfy says I should do this cycle, Dulfy says these are the correct tactics, Dulfy says this is the best spec, Dulfy says this is the best class. I hate these most of all, mainly because I see reading guides as being for noobs, learn it yourself or dont do it (though I appreciate this is difficult with all the elitist idiots in OPs "must know tacts". How am I meant to know if I dont get to play the op?)

 

They're just guides, and they do have helpful information. I've never been in an op where someone is insulted for not knowing the tactics. Most guilds that run ops will make sure to explain them beforehand, because nobody wants a wipe. The frustration comes when people pretend to know but really don't, or are told but don't listen, or just straight up derp a lot. She also does take suggestions or corrections from other people. And some of those guides aren't written by her. When I switched to Vengeance I looked up the basic rotation, but it's not like I memorized that long order of skills. It's sometimes helpful to see what other people do, and then adjust that to your own taste. Doesn't make someone a noob for doing so.

Elites/pros: dont exist, if everyone in the group knows what they are doing, they all look elite, take someone from a group that has just done say S&V HM without a wipe and stick him in a 55 HM FP with 2 poors and an average and suddenly hes good/average player.

 

You're on the right track here. It goes without saying that a single experienced player has a greater chance of dying when grouped with 3 or 7 or 15 other incompetent players. And just because you've done Ludicrous Dread Palace doesn't mean you won't die In a SM op. I was in a HM TFB on Ciphas, Heirad, and Kel'sara, and people still needed to be told when to switch between C and H. But a great player being dragged down by lesser players is still a great player. His level of skill doesn't change.

 

I think being elite is just a combination of experience + intuition. The really good players I see always seem to know what is happening at all times (the group, the boss, the environment), and can quickly adapt to many different or new situations that aren't explicitly stated in guides from Dulfy or any other. And some people just get it more than others.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BigBreakfast

[venomlash]

So, a two-fer of stories that ended fairly well.

 

On my Commando yesterday, HM Athiss. I'm healing with my fairly good gear (~34k HP), we have a Guardian tank with about 37k, a Watchman Sentinel with 28k, and a Focus Sentinel (might have been DoTsweep, not sure) with 27k. Well, by the time I zone in, the tank has already dropped. I have no idea why; Athiss is probably the easiest FP in the bracket, and there are no timers tight enough that the mildly-undergeared DPS would be a problem.

 

Ah well, I rally the troops, bring in Elara (30k HP), and we requeue and set to clearing trash. I'm in DPS-mode most of the time, keeping everyone Trauma Probed and Kolto Bombed and only tossing real heals when people start to get low. We're ping-ponging aggro around like crazy, and the overall result is fairly good, so we clear up to the first boss and decide to 3man it. Professor Ley'arsha takes a little while to down, but we manage to stay alive without even needing Supercharge Cells.

Continue clearing, we're going for the bonus. The mobs in our path just melt. We clear up to the Beast of Vodal Kressh and do a cave pull. There's not much AoE going out, so I'm stuck dealing with the initial adds, and the Watchman Sent dies as a result, but I combat rez him and we kill the boss no problem. We're feeling juiced, and if I may say so the Sentinels are in awe of my fairly good heals, so we keep on clearing.

 

Now right about this time, we get a tank. Vanguard, 32k HP, slightly inexpert. He uses Full Auto a lot and doesn't hold aggro very well, but he's got the fundamentals, and so we handle the bonus boss no problem and proceed to the final boss with only one wipe on adds. The Prophet of Vodal dies without much fuss, though the Focus Sent died due to fire at one point. We pat ourselves on the back, one of the Sents gets a major upgrade to his chestpiece, and it is declared GG.

 

 

Today, HM Hammer Station, on my Shadow. I'm tanking (38k HP) alongside a Sage healer (26k HP), an Assault Vanguard (28k HP), and a Sharpshooter Gunslinger (34k HP). The 'Slinger I've seen around a lot, but the two undergeared people are new to the HM scene and, incredibly enough, are both competent and open to instruction! We have a scare on the first boss with regard to cleanses, but the healer picks up on it quickly. Riflor's Champions are no threat, as usual. The bonus boss was downed handily, which I consider quite impressive given that it often taxes decently-geared healers and DPS, and we thrashed Battlelord Kreshan no problem on our second try. (The first time we tried, the healer had Norton Antivirus pop up and tab him out, causing him to get stuck in some circles while his graphics were loading back, and so we wiped.)

 

All in all, my faith in PUGs is restored and I am ready for further punishment at the hands of the KDY Cadre.

[Akheria]

Ah well, I rally the troops, bring in Elara (30k HP), and we requeue and set to clearing trash. I'm in DPS-mode most of the time, keeping everyone Trauma Probed and Kolto Bombed and only tossing real heals when people start to get low. We're ping-ponging aggro around like crazy, and the overall result is fairly good, so we clear up to the first boss and decide to 3man it. Professor Ley'arsha takes a little while to down, but we manage to stay alive without even needing Supercharge Cell.

 

If you're a healer, why do you use Elara? Then why didn't you respec to DPS since you pulled your comp out? Just curious.

[Halinalle]

Is there a way to know this w/o checking the buff or being told so? If someone needs to pop this, the fight is obviously pretty hectic, and the healers are playing whack-a-mole with health bars. And if a sorc doens't have a jug or doesn't know what the buff icon looks like, can you really blame them? And even if they did, the buff icons by default are small, and usually only the debuff scale is enlarged. So when you pop enraged defense and think, "no idiot sorc better bleeping bubble me", just keep that in mind.

 

When Guardian/Juggernaut has Focused Defense/Enraged Defense on they have giant bubble around their torso. Bubble isn't as big as Static Barrier/Force Armor bubble is but it's clearly visible.

 

It's a bit smaller than Sonic Barrier which Jugg tanks get from Force Scream. It also looks more like a bubble compared to Sonic Barrier when Sonic Barrier looks like just a barrier.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Halinalle

[TACeMossie]

If you're a healer, why do you use Elara? Then why didn't you respec to DPS since you pulled your comp out? Just curious.

 

Probably because 2x heals + 2x dps is a lot harder to kill than 1x companion heals + 3x dps.

 

If you were going for 1 heal 3 dps, you'd have to use Jorgan or HK51 as the DPS, and definately not Elara.

[BigBreakfast]

When Guardian/Juggernaut has Focused Defense/Enraged Defense on they have giant bubble around their torso. Bubble isn't as big as Static Barrier/Force Armor bubble is but it's clearly visible.

 

It's a bit smaller than Sonic Barrier which Jugg tanks get from Force Scream. It also looks more like a bubble compared to Sonic Barrier when Sonic Barrier looks like just a barrier.

 

-_- ...and besides looking at the actual toon. Was kinda implied, seeing as there's probably sabers and lasers and explosions and other fx all around. And not to mention the healer's attention is focused on his feet and the health bars, and a boss is usually between the tank and the rest of the party blocking the view.

[SW_display_name]

-_- ...and besides looking at the actual toon. Was kinda implied, seeing as there's probably sabers and lasers and explosions and other fx all around. And not to mention the healer's attention is focused on his feet and the health bars, and a boss is usually between the tank and the rest of the party blocking the view.

Don't stress about it. This is the sort of thing you coordinate over voice chat with allies you trust, not with random people in chaotic PUGs. You're not making or breaking the fight; actually, you're probably endangering everyone more by hesitating about whether to Bubble someone or not, vs. just doing it when you get the instinct to.

 

Really, you could ask in reverse: "Why are you popping a reactive regen tool when you have a Sorc healer and don't have the Deionized debuff?" Because you should be expecting a Bubble soon.

 

This is just the usual frustration we experience when we're not playing the other role — when you're healing, it's like "TANK WHY DIDN'T YOU..." and when you're tanking it's like "HEALER WHY DIDN'T YOU..." and when you're anyone you're like "DAMN IT, DPS..."

[Sundown]

I think being elite is just a combination of experience + intuition. The really good players I see always seem to know what is happening at all times (the group, the boss, the environment), and can quickly adapt to many different or new situations that aren't explicitly stated in guides from Dulfy or any other. And some people just get it more than others.

^^this!

 

I have been in 16m Corruptor Zero HM fights with that ops leader, who, I have no idea why and more importantly how, always knew what was going on. He was able to call out adds, boss moves, mines, interrupts, you name it - and still do his job (off-tank or even main tank). And after wipes (and we had plenty) was able to tell what happened. Incredible.

Whereas I only saw one char at max (mine) and a constant colored flashing on the screen.

 

About the GF: I am currently lvling a few new chars mostly through spamming KDY and must admit: I hardly have issues. Maybe 5 times in all those runs I had some moron trying to screw up, for the most part it is simply very smooth.

Then again: I still have to do my first HM FP (shame on me).

[slafko]

What's even more annoying than someone knocking mobs away from tank with Force Wave? It's three idiots spamming Force Push.

 

It's even better when they counter your argument with "You're using Force Wave/Push too LOLNUB" ...

 

Yeah, I do. But I have the mob positioned on the edge of a railing/cliff/whatever and when I push it's going to fly off it and die horribly. I'm not pushing them around like pinballs just because FW "is in my rotation".

[slafko]

This is just the usual frustration we experience when we're not playing the other role — when you're healing, it's like "TANK WHY DIDN'T YOU..." and when you're tanking it's like "HEALER WHY DIDN'T YOU..." and when you're anyone you're like "DAMN IT, DPS..."

I have this problem when healing on my sage. Tank mistakes are easiest to spot and, after years of tanking, I feel I can help with advice. Most of the tanks tell me to shut my whore mouth and imply that had I known how to play, I would be tanking, not healing. It doesn't matter if it's the little things in fights you're trying to share or basic stuff like:

 

"shadow tank, you should start fights from stealth, use force pull on bosses and not spam force wave"... "guardian tank, you're losing aggro on mobs because you're tunnel-visioning one mob"... "vanguard tank, the adds are on me because you didn't use Storm to close the distance and then spammed 2x ESurge to get aggro on all of them"... "please guard that dps that's been pulling since we started, your guard is wasted on me"...

 

Super simple stuff and yet most of them will enrage because "healer has no business telling tank how to play". Okay, fine. Now be so kind and please compare achievements, *******.

[mastervalkar]

I've seen a lot of people using odd gear, the the worst I can remember recently was a Shadow tank in a HM CZ Meltdown that was all geared out in 78s, but was using a legacy shield with Strength mods in it and his armor and weapon/shield were augmented with advanced Might augs!

 

I inspected him because he had close to 46k hp and I wanted to know why. Sure enough, it was the Might augs in his armor and main hand/off-hand gear. Keep in mind he had proper Dread Forged implants and Oriconian earpiece with advanced Absorb augs in them and his lightsaber's and armor's mod's themselves were proper Willpower tanking gear.

 

When I asked him why the Strength-based shield and Might augs, his reply was "I'm using my Guardian's shield and DPS augs atm because I'm cheap. Almost have enough ultras for 78 shield" I don't know if I should have laughed or cried. Kind of dumbfounded me at that point.

 

Thankfully the guy was otherwise a great tank, just odd gear choice with what he had available.

Edited June 5, 2014 by mastervalkar

[DataBeaver]

CZ Core Meltdown SM (or is it TM these days?):

 

Me on my gunslinger (34.5k HP), my friend on his commando healer (34k HP). We get two sentinels, both around 31k HP. Sents had tunnel vision and ignored most of the mechanics. Finished without issues, but it could have been better.

 

Hammer Station HM:

 

Me and my friend on the same characters. We get a sentinel with 28k HP. Tank leaves without saying a word before I'm even finished loading. We clear trash until the first boss and decide to try it while waiting for a new tank. The laser is too much for my non-existent mitigation and we wipe. Right on cue, we get a vanguard tank with 39k HP. The rest of the run goes very quickly and smoothly. I don't know if the original tank left because it was Hammer Station, or because the sent's low (but not undergeared) HP, but he missed out on some very easy comms.

 

Bonus story:

 

This didn't happen in GF or even a PUG, but the background is sort of related and I may be weird in it in some sense. I've had a level 55 shadow tank for a while, but been hesitant to do any ops with random people because I expect people to expect the tank to know tactics, and I only know them from a DPS perspective. I've leveled her as tank and also done some HM FPs though.

 

Last Sunday I join a new guild after running two ops with them as DPS. Next ops night is Tuesday, and while we are waiting for everyone to come online, I mention that I'd like to tank but I don't have any experience of ops tanking. My new guildmates are fine with this, and so we start with DF SM. The only wipe is on Draxus, where for some reason I stop getting heals at one point. No one is really sure what happened, but we down him on the second try. When the operation is over, our leader asks me "I thought you wanted to learn this tanking thing?" I reply "Well yes..." and he says "Don't be too modest." We continue to DP SM, with similar results except this time there isn't even the one wipe. The two ops combined took just over two hours.

 

The weird part? A tank claiming no tanking experience with ops but then proceeding to tank almost flawlessly. Maybe I really was being too modest. I attribute this mostly to what I've seen and heard of people's behavior towards inexperienced players and the unwillingness to give them a chance. I'm more confident after this success, but on the other hand with a guild I have less incentive to do PUG ops.

[Strajder]

I was in a Maelstrom Prison FP on my scoundrel a couple of days back. Tank had problems holding aggro, so after a while I decide to point out that he should be more careful about it as DPS and the healer shouldn't receive aggro. His response? "DPS should fight ads". Er, wat? How on Earth would I otherwise get aggro from ads, as DPS, if I wasn't fighting them, wasn't the first to pull, wasn't taunting them, tank wasn't the shadow/sin with trololo vanish threat drop (which this particular tank wasn't), I wasn't the last man standing and I wasn't healing either? Did he mean I should off-tank, as scoundrel? Waaat?

 

Before that, we faced a group of trash with a couple of silvers, and he marked one with a target. His response: "I see you didn't attack the marked mob" (I did). The healer was tanking at that point (without mentioning it, I admire the guy). We thankfully somehow managed to get to and overcome Kilran eventually.

 

Unrelated, the standard problem of advanced classes that can be either DPS or tanks, queuing as tanks in DPS gear/talent build/stance just to get the pop faster is pretty common. They don't understand that they will be unable to do their job as tanks like that, or just don't give a damn (which is worse). Perhaps Bioware should consider separating dual role advanced classes, or making tanking easier so more people decide to tank, like WoW did with DKs and their AoE refreshing DoTs to hold aggro. I also partially blame KDY, which erases the classic MMO roles and teaches wrong things.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Strajder

[slafko]

When I asked him why the Strength-based shield and Might augs, his reply was "I'm using my Guardian's shield and DPS augs atm because I'm cheap. Almost have enough ultras for 78 shield" I don't know if I should have laughed or cried. Kind of dumbfounded me at that point.

 

Thankfully the guy was otherwise a great tank, just odd gear choice with what he had available.

I fully understand him "being cheap" when it comes to gearing his tanks. It's a real P.I.T.A. Especially if you're gearing two different tanking classes. Tanks have it worst.

[Whojoo]

I was in a Maelstrom Prison FP on my scoundrel a couple of days back. Tank had problems holding aggro, so after a while I decide to point out that he should be more careful about it as DPS and the healer shouldn't receive aggro. His response? "DPS should fight ads". Er, wat? How on Earth would I otherwise get aggro from ads, as DPS, if I wasn't fighting them, wasn't the first to pull, wasn't taunting them, tank wasn't the shadow/sin with trololo vanish threat drop (which this particular tank wasn't), I wasn't the last man standing and I wasn't healing either? Did he mean I should off-tank, as scoundrel? Waaat?

 

Before that, we faced a group of trash with a couple of silvers, and he marked one with a target. His response: "I see you didn't attack the marked mob" (I did). The healer was tanking at that point (without mentioning it, I admire the guy). We thankfully somehow managed to get to and overcome Kilran eventually.

 

Unrelated, the standard problem of advanced classes that can be either DPS or tanks, queuing as tanks in DPS gear/talent build/stance just to get the pop faster is pretty common. They don't understand that they will be unable to do their job as tanks like that, or just don't give a damn (which is worse). Perhaps Bioware should consider separating dual role advanced classes, or making tanking easier so more people decide to tank, like WoW did with DKs and their AoE refreshing DoTs to hold aggro. I also partially blame KDY, which erases the classic MMO roles and teaches wrong things.

 

Tank can't and should not need to hold agro of a whole group of adds or trash. Dps can survive the hits. The tank just has to have most of them on him. It is very very tough for a tank to hold agro on all trash unless dps follow the exact same kill order as the tank. (Which they shouldn't do anyway)

Though healer tanking means tank did a bad job.

 

When I am tanking I make sure I hit everything. If there is a weak standing at a distance and my pull is on cooldown then I just let that one tickle the healer.

If I face a strong trashpull, however, then I make sure everything attacks me and me alone. Because you know, I'm selfish

Edited June 5, 2014 by Whojoo

[Strajder]

Tank can't and should not need to hold agro of a whole group of adds or trash. Dps can survive the hits.

Throughout the FP, whichever mob I attacked would come on me. Since the aggro was on the healer as well, my guess is that the tank didn't guard at all. He should have recognized who has the most threat and guard that player.

 

P.S: This is where add-ons (various threat meters), which WoW allows and SW: TOR doesn't (yet) come in handy.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Strajder

[grrrly]

Pug run of SM SnV tonight. I zone in and see that quite a few of the group are from a guild I don't like to run with, as the membership seems to be mostly ill mannered children. I contemplate leaving at that point, but as I need the comms I stay. The ops chat is as annoying as I expected but the run is going OK. Before we head into Oasis City, I catch some childish nonsense in chat from one the healers, carrying on to the main tank that she doesn't like him, which I could only assume was the result of her being left out of the "super group".

 

At some point we lose a heals but things continue to run pretty smoothly until we get to the Cartel Warlords. It's usually a very easy fight, but this time people are dying left right and centre. At the end, the main tank calls out the childish healer, saying he had not seen any heals from her the entire fight. To which she replies "That's because I won't heal you. I don't like you". It's suggested by a few that she do her job or be kicked, but her friends are quick to leap to her defense, saying "It's OK, there are lots of people to heal, she can just heal the raid". Seriously?!

[DawnAskham]

Throughout the FP, whichever mob I attacked would come on me. Since the aggro was on the healer as well, my guess is that the tank didn't guard at all. He should have recognized who has the most threat and guard that player.

 

P.S: This is where add-ons (various threat meters), which WoW allows and SW: TOR doesn't (yet) come in handy.

 

Not exactly. Guard only reduces agro, it does not shift agro. Unless the tank actually attacks the mobs, guard is useless as ANY agro generated by the healer or dps will be greater than the ZERO agro generated by the tank.

 

And while I love my add-ons in other games (mostly to customize my UI or for QOL things like alt management), a threat meter isn't needed by a tank to know that NOT hitting or taunting a mob means no agro.

 

That is simply a L2P issue, though the game could and should do more to educate players.

Edited June 5, 2014 by DawnAskham

[cxten]

When I asked him why the Strength-based shield and Might augs, his reply was "I'm using my Guardian's shield and DPS augs atm because I'm cheap. Almost have enough ultras for 78 shield" I don't know if I should have laughed or cried. Kind of dumbfounded me at that point.

 

Thankfully the guy was otherwise a great tank, just odd gear choice with what he had available.

 

Pretty weird. Not bad at all --- certainly better than unaugmented 78 with a 72 shield --- just weird.

 

The legacy shield part isn't so strange actually. A mainhand/offhand with the wrong main stat will be better than one two tiers below with the correct main stat, at least if you just go by the hilt/armoring (so if he had a 72 willpower shield armoring, it wouldn't actually be more helpful, and even with the mod accounted for, 72 willpower is probably just on par with 78 strength for dps/threat purposes).

 

The augments, on the other hand, I have no clue. Even if he had a full set of advanced might augs and was too cheap to buy a full set of purple tanking augs just yet, it still doesn't make sense. Pulling out a purple augment from your gear is like 10k+. That's what the blue augments go for roughly (maybe 8-15k). Why not just buy a full set of blue tanking augs in the mean time instead of having to rip out your purple might augs (potentially twice)?