Level 22 Guardian...HELP!

[shonenjumpstyle]

Hey everyone. This is my first character and I am wondering how I should spec my level 22 Jedi Guardian. I was doing great with all the double EXP, but today I played again and I almost died on my class mission twice. I am on Taris, which shouldn't be hard considering my missions are a few levels lower than me. So does anyone have any advice and/or builds I could follow? Thanks.

[Skodan]

First, are you upgrading your gear, or is your gear underleveled. I always try to keep my gear within about 4 levels of myself.

 

If you want to tank go with Defense, for dps go vigilance(more single target oriented) or focus (more aoe based).

 

What companion are you using, t7 is a tank, kira is a dps, and if you want some sort of healer (for now until you get doc) then use the ship droid. If you decide to use the ship droid as a healer you could switch any of t7s parts into c2-n2 (as long as they arent specifically for t7). once you get doc things become a lot easier.

 

do you use medpacks/stimpacks? if not, either buy the white versions from vendors or try to get some blue versions from the GTN, or become a biochem so you can craft your own

Edited June 26, 2013 by Skodan

[shonenjumpstyle]

I've been playing using Shi-Cho form but trying to do defense specs, with a couple from the other trees. Most of my gear is blue from the comm vendor and the quest rewards, and I have a moddable chestpiece with purple guardian armoring and I just upgraded the mods that came with it to blue or green stuff for the rest. I'm using Kira as my companion and everything seems pretty easy except for my class story missions. Frankly, I am much too poor to be buying medkits appropriate to my level and am starting to run out of the ones I've gotten as drops.

[Eugee]

99% of the guardian class missions are about interrupting the boss. Use that interrupt well. Also if the fight is close, send Kira in first, let her tank for a little then jump in. You'll take aggro before she dies and it's little buffer of health. Which fight is it specifically?

 

By the way, if you're going Defense, use Soresu.

[Joesixxpack]

Good advice posted so far, Eugee's stands out to me since what he mentions worked well while leveling in vigilance recently.

 

At your current character level you still have some very handy abilities to unlock later. Also, when you get your healer companion it'll make a nice difference for tougher fights. If you plan to use your healer comp. much I suggest getting their affection up as much as you can with conversations, and as much as you can afford to with gifts.

 

Edit: If a quest seems too tough, check it's level compared to your own. Might make sense sometimes to hit it again after leveling up a bit more.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Joesixxpack

[Enjjeha]

I've been playing using Shi-Cho form but trying to do defense specs, with a couple from the other trees. Most of my gear is blue from the comm vendor and the quest rewards, and I have a moddable chestpiece with purple guardian armoring and I just upgraded the mods that came with it to blue or green stuff for the rest. I'm using Kira as my companion and everything seems pretty easy except for my class story missions. Frankly, I am much too poor to be buying medkits appropriate to my level and am starting to run out of the ones I've gotten as drops.

 

going and venturing off into the other talent trees at your level is going to be detrimental to you atm. at your level and until you hit lvl 50 you want to stay in one tree since it will give you the most out of what your doing be it tanking or dps.

[psandak]

going and venturing off into the other talent trees at your level is going to be detrimental to you atm. at your level and until you hit lvl 50 you want to stay in one tree since it will give you the most out of what your doing be it tanking or dps.

 

I agree. In each of the three guardian skill trees there are keystone abilities in the third tier that a level 22 JKG would have that would help a lot (if you focus in that one tree).

 

Defense has Warding Call and Blade Barricade

Vigilance has Shien Form and Unremitting

Focus has Zealous Leap

Edited June 26, 2013 by psandak

[shonenjumpstyle]

I think I need more money so I could buy better gear so I learned scavenging and I'm trying to sell Aluminium for about 10k for 20 of them. Is that too much or too little? I wanna get rich quick.

[Skodan]

I think I need more money so I could buy better gear so I learned scavenging and I'm trying to sell Aluminium for about 10k for 20 of them. Is that too much or too little? I wanna get rich quick.

 

GTN prices will vary by the server and by the material you are trying to sell.

 

before listing something on the GTN search for it and try finding a good selling price for it

[TyboJames]

I switched from focus to Defense around your level and have never looked back. There is not a single hard fight. Use Kira as dps and use your cool downs and interrupts during tough fights.

[Adric_the_Red]

Don't forget your "Heroic Moment" ability. Heals both you and your companion over time. Very useful for those particularly tough boss fights.

[NOTACTICS]

Make sure your companion gear is bang up to date and the right stats for her/him aswell as yourself epecially if its DPS companion. Make sure you sticking to either tank skill tree or one of the damage skill trees and if your tanking ensure your gear is right for tanking I.E endurance would be slightly higher than your main strength stat., then go for defense and absorb secondary stats. Are you using a shield get one if not as you then have extra shield absorption chance. Use the Shuso defence stance form if tanking. If DPS go for Power as main secondary and get a focus/gen. in offhand.

 

I have just started My first tank specced sith Jugg. and although groups of normal and silvers are a breeze I am also struggling abit with single elite bosses sometimes, when compared with my first char a sniper.

 

I think the trick is to maybe let your companion take a the initial threat for a few seconds before jumping in and as others have said use interrupts when you can on the bosses. It think its harder to play and get used to playing a tank when compared to easier Ranged DPS initially so takes a little while getting used to making the most of your abilities and your companion. You may find your work better with a healer companion than a DPS companion . I have not really tried the ship droid to see if he an effective healer though.

[SithBioslayer]

by medpacs and stims

[Antbow]

As someone previously mentioned, interrupting the boss is critical. Those boss fights can be brutal. Make sure you have some Endurance stims (so you can stay alive a few more seconds before he kills you!) and medpacs. And that your Heroic Moment is on cooldown. Also, you probably know this, but send your companion in first can help. I use T7 (cause he's a beast!) and can take the heat. Even though gearing him is painful.... Edited June 28, 2013 by Antbow
let out a word

[shonenjumpstyle]

Thanks for all the advice guys. So I recently got around 60,000 credits from a friend and I bought some moddable gear and equipped them all with level appropriate purple and blue mods. I'm doing a lot better but when I do Heroics in groups, nobody else gets attacked besides me. My party mates may take a few hits, but at least once during almost every heroic mission I get killed. It may be because the majority of the people I'm seeing are Jedi Sentinels and we're doing heroic 4s with 3 people, but we're higher levels than the missions. So now Heroics are a problem for me. Edited June 29, 2013 by shonenjumpstyle

[Sarielle]

Thanks for all the advice guys. So I recently got around 60,000 credits from a friend and I bought some moddable gear and equipped them all with level appropriate purple and blue mods. I'm doing a lot better but when I do Heroics in groups, nobody else gets attacked besides me. My party mates may take a few hits, but at least once during almost every heroic mission I get killed. It may be because the majority of the people I'm seeing are Jedi Sentinels and we're doing heroic 4s with 3 people, but we're higher levels than the missions. So now Heroics are a problem for me.

 

Do you have a healer in the group? It might be possible to do without one (I dunno, I always AM the healer lol) but they seem to be balanced around having a healer. If you're specced for defense, then you SHOULD be the one getting hit.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Sarielle

[shonenjumpstyle]

Do you have a healer in the group? It might be possible to do without one (I dunno, I always AM the healer lol) but they seem to be balanced around having a healer. If you're specced for defense, then you SHOULD be the one getting hit.

 

Nope, just me the tank and all the DPS people. Should I really be the only one getting hit?

[theStirge]

Nope, just me the tank and all the DPS people. Should I really be the only one getting hit?

 

It might be okay, especially without a dedicated healer, to let the dps and their targets beat on each other a little instead of you, but for the most part, you should be the one taking most of the hits. You mentioned you were doing heroic 4's with just 3 people, someone should pull out a healer companion, even the ship droid if that's all you have, and you should be okay.

 

Generally the goal is for you to pick up as much stuff as you can survive, let the dps facetank the weak mobs(who shouldn't get out much damage before they're dead if the dps are doing their job properly), and, if you ever get a healer, prioritize anything attacking the healer. If your dps don't do their jobs properly, it makes your job as tank a lot harder. A lot of people come from WoW or similar games where the tank aggros absolutely everything, and you kill mobs from strongest to weakest. In SWTOR, though, the weaker mobs do about as much(if not more) damage as the stronger ones(aside from bosses and other specific situations), and the tanks are not made to survive that much incoming damage, healer or not. The weaker mobs generally die very quickly, though, so the dps can take care of them no problem, leaving the strongest stuff to be killed last. If your dps always attack the biggest thing in the room and let the little guys run around doing whatever, they're doing it wrong.

[shonenjumpstyle]

It might be okay, especially without a dedicated healer, to let the dps and their targets beat on each other a little instead of you, but for the most part, you should be the one taking most of the hits. You mentioned you were doing heroic 4's with just 3 people, someone should pull out a healer companion, even the ship droid if that's all you have, and you should be okay.

 

Generally the goal is for you to pick up as much stuff as you can survive, let the dps facetank the weak mobs(who shouldn't get out much damage before they're dead if the dps are doing their job properly), and, if you ever get a healer, prioritize anything attacking the healer. If your dps don't do their jobs properly, it makes your job as tank a lot harder. A lot of people come from WoW or similar games where the tank aggros absolutely everything, and you kill mobs from strongest to weakest. In SWTOR, though, the weaker mobs do about as much(if not more) damage as the stronger ones(aside from bosses and other specific situations), and the tanks are not made to survive that much incoming damage, healer or not. The weaker mobs generally die very quickly, though, so the dps can take care of them no problem, leaving the strongest stuff to be killed last. If your dps always attack the biggest thing in the room and let the little guys run around doing whatever, they're doing it wrong.

 

So I'm supposing I should be the last person to go in and attack? I'm usually one of the first to jump into a fight. In other games I've played, I'm usually an archer and this is my first time playing as a tank. Nest time, I'll try to put a bit more strategy in my fights. Thanks everyone for all the help, really appreciate it.

[theStirge]

So I'm supposing I should be the last person to go in and attack? I'm usually one of the first to jump into a fight. In other games I've played, I'm usually an archer and this is my first time playing as a tank. Nest time, I'll try to put a bit more strategy in my fights. Thanks everyone for all the help, really appreciate it.

 

No, as the tank you should go in first. (A good rule to remember is TGIF(Tank Goes In First).) For general trash pulls, you should start by attacking the toughest thing in the group, then start attacking/taunting the other things from strongest to weakest, to the limit of your ability to survive the hits. If the dps are properly following the kill order of weakest to strongest, they shouldn't be pulling aggro from anything you've engaged until you've had time to get such a lead that they won't be able to when they do switch to the tank targets. For boss fights, until you're more confident in your ability to hold aggro, you can ask your dps to wait a couple seconds to allow you to establish a good threat lead before engaging.

 

I do not often play a tank myself, so I'm somewhat limited to general advice from observation, but there are tons of guides and suggestions out there. I suggest reading the Class Forums, for your class specifically and also the more general Tanking forum in there. Tons of great info to be found, from beginner to expert; if you find yourself in a thread where the terms are all whizzing over your head, just back out, and try a different one, until you find one that explains things in a manner that's helpful for you. (That last is, imo, good advice for anyone who might be reading this thread; the Class Forums are generally pretty awesome.)

[Sarielle]

Seriously, the problem is that you don't have a healer. Don't do Heroic 4s with just three people and no healer, and then you going in first and getting all the attention won't be a problem.

[stupidsyrup]

I have to throw this in here. Read your original post about being level 22 and losing on your class quest. I bet it's the one right outside of the Toxic Lake where you have to fight a level 22 Elite Sith Sorc. She's a real jerk.

[Oooeeooo]

so eary