So Is it my play style, or just a truism?

[Marek_Kail]

This is purely from a Leveling (post L42) and Soloing process, having any companion tuned to be a healer.

 

What I've noticed is that the tank spec seems to be much more involved, ie more "button mashing", and are much more forgiving if you have a pocket healer and accidentally overdraw. The drawback is that it does take more time to whittle down an opponent.

 

 

From the DPS spec perspective, you have to be more aware of what defensive cool downs you have, because you will need them even more than the tank while soloing. Your rotation has is less "proc" involved than the tank, but you do a lot more damage. Overall if you accidentally overall is almost certain death though.

 

==================

 

 

 

With that stated, here is my question. Is the above just a generally true statement across the board, or is it an indication that should I ever start getting involved in the more social larger scale aspects of SWTOR that I should consider tanking?

 

Thanks.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Marek_Kail

[petergohan]

i've tried both on a recent guardian, and i've noticed that with tank spec and guarding the companion that is set as a healer you probably wont have much problems if you know what to use in the rotation, but, at least for me, it gets boring way to quick, on the other hand as dps in vigilance it's more fun and quicker to kill the mobs, but our main aoe skill comes really late.

So what i did, and say to you, is to try all 3 specs, really, they all have their pros and cons, but you won't notice what you like the most until you hit max lvl and have everything available.

in general:

Focus - good for single target pve, and amazing in pvp.

Vigilance - Amazing in Aoe pve, and ok in pvp(even with a bugged utility).

Defense - Slow God mode in pve, and prepare to be focused on pvp.

[Tsetso]

For leveling what i've found is fast and easy enough is to level in immortal spec but with dps gear(keep only the shield).

[brad-evans]

For leveling what i've found is fast and easy enough is to level in immortal spec but with dps gear(keep only the shield).

 

This was very true for me as well.

 

And to be honest, the only time I felt it was any slower than a DPS spec was against champion enemies.

[AdjeYo]

When you reach level 36 and get the autocrit on Smash/Ragin Burst. Rage just becomes too good to pass up imho. Smash absolutely wrecks weaker opponents, and Ragin Burst is very powerful against single stronger opponents.

[Zenislav]

If you really plan on running with healer companion turn off his channeled heal. This way he will use his heals with cooldown and actually do some dmg instead of just spaming channeled heal even when you are on like 98% of your HP.

I usually run with dps comp and use healing one only in rare situations. Killing things quick is way better for me.

[KevMeup]

Yeah, as Zenislav said, turning off the channeled heal can make a really big difference. Heres some numbers to compare:

 

Level 30 Spec Comparison, Time to Kill Testing on Tatooine Champion:

2:30 DPS Spec

5:25 Tank Spec

6:53 Heal Spec without channel heal

17:00 Heal Spec with channeled heal enabled (Turn that off!!)

 

Getting your companion level up will help. You'll also get a little better damage from a 2 handed companion, like vette or Nico.

 

Also, if you don't need the story line for your legacy, consider mixing in a fair amount of Solo Mode FPs. You get boolstered in there, so don't need any real gear, and since you have the Jesus droid you can set your companion to DPS and mow through it. You can even buy the XP talents for your character and get the FP xp boosts for much cheaper than normal ones.

[Halinalle]

During leveling you don't need healer companion for tank spec. Set companion to dps. Start chain pulling.

 

When your hp drops below 50% AoE taunt and pop Focused Defense/Enraged Defense -> at full hp in few seconds. Works at least in tank gear. Not sure if usable strategy in dps gear.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Halinalle

[JabbaWabbA]

If you really plan on running with healer companion turn off his channeled heal. This way he will use his heals with cooldown and actually do some dmg instead of just spaming channeled heal even when you are on like 98% of your HP.

I usually run with dps comp and use healing one only in rare situations. Killing things quick is way better for me.

 

I've never even thought about turning channeled heals off. Thanks.

[KWONRYU]

Thanks for the tip about turning off the channeled heal! Works great!