Vanguard during leveling

[iamnotacrook]

So i'm not used to this class at all but i get the most of it. But one thing i must ask, during leveling 16 to 50, pve. Wich skill tree might be best for surviving? I thinking of either Shield specialist or Assault specialist, after Taris i'm gonna have Elara Dorne along the way.

[CriticalFlame]

I ran this whilst leveling on my Powertech (talents are called different but it's the same class so) and respecced into Advanced Prototype/Tactics on lv51 after getting Shoulder Cannon.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801GMhZrsMMoZfIrrzoM.3

 

Edit: The two points in Sweltering heat can also be put into Nightvision Scope, it's personal preference.

Edited April 20, 2014 by CriticalFlame

[Cotlu-Hunlon]

You said best tree for surviving, well that can only mean the Tanking tree ...

[chobanisrow]

Hi there, I am new to this game and started with a vanguard. I followed the tactics tree for dps and switched gears using planetary comms every ~5 levels or so and got to level 43 now without a hassle (except for dying a couple of times due to lack of micro when fighting bosses).

[CecilPaladin]

I went Tactics until around level 31, then switched to Shield Spec. The main reason I switched, was because of the charge we get via Storm. Why this isn't a base Vanguard ability, I will never know.

 

I didn't notice much of a difference in dps, but I did notice I could take a lot more punishment. I think that's when I switched Treek over from tank to healer companion. I also did the majority of leveling (from 17 to 55) this weekend during the double experience weekend binge. Out leveling most areas does help, so my experience may be skewed a bit.

 

Heavy armor, a grapple to pull mobs close, and a short CD charge made for easy leveling this weekend. The ONLY thing the VG is missing is some sort of pushback imo. Well that and Storm charge to be a baseline VG ability.

[HaoZhao]

Assault is really good and a lot of fun, even at the early levels. You can get Ionic Accelerator as early as level 25, and then your DPS goes through the roof because you can use high impact bolt every 6 seconds or so. The only thing I would really miss from Tactics is Shock Absorbers which probably has the best PVP utility of any talent on the VG trees. Advance the Line is also useful when you need those extra couple of seconds to get the Huttball to the goal. You really can't go wrong with either one, but if you're only doing PVE, I highly recommend Assault to level up.

 

Remember that no skill tree can make up for bad gear. Doing level 30 quests in level 20 green gear is always going to end in disaster. Remember to gear your companion too. Good luck.

[Gelgaroth]

I'm a tank vanguard, and love it all the way. Paired with elara, I'm fairly unstoppable in pve, soloing all heroic 2s i come across, and most heroic 4s (i've also outleveled most plants by 4-5 lvls, which helps). Higher dps than other tanks atm, because aim tanks, at least pre-50 it seems, where they have endurance heavy armorings and barrels, the mods of the same name are all aim heavy. I'm still running with 11k hp at lvl 37 though. Storm is a great ability both for tanking, and dps, because, when talented, it gives 2 free explosive surges. While explosive surge doesn't do a lot of damage, when talented it does get a nice damage boost, and crit boost, and has a lot of utility. Damage reduction, slow, more threat gen, etc.