It's hard to give advice when you don't have a preferred play style. Level 16-18 really isn't far enough to have a really firm grasp on each AC, but if you intend to do Flashpoints, etc I would recommend rolling a Tank and Healer. Maybe a Juggernaut(Guardian) and a Scoundrel (or Operative) that way you've got a couple of different play styles, will have demand in group finder and very different storylines.

Also, several quests in the various storylines require you to go back to either your starting or capital world. I haven't done any of the bounties yet since I'm at work...but I don't think that solution would be viable.

Assuming everything is working as intended, any universal unlocks you achieved should remain unlocked even if you deleted the character.

My pleasure. I remember coming to that realization moments after crafting a blaster pistol for a guildmate when we were both starting out.

You can craft and mail the lightsaber shell. You can craft and sell the mods, hilts and enhancements. However, once you put anything into the slots of the weapon both the weapon and the mods become bound to whatever character had the items in their inventory. This happens regardless of whether or not you've ever equipped the item.

The gear does not require any PvP participation. Taking part in the PvP parts of the event, by choice, allows you an additional path to gain rewards. You can do all the PvE quests and never have to PvP as the autoflag area is a pretty small portion of the map now. If you would like to talk about being forced to flag by accidentally hitting someone with an AoE or by interacting with someone who's flagged that's a different issue and could potentially be one that might get changed so that PvE players can't be forced or exploited into flagging for PvP.

You need to be in Vanguard Advanced Class to get the best use out of it, and have Ion Cell active.

Good morning - I can't help but notice several threads requesting more information about the features of the upcoming expansion pack. Would it be possible to sticky a forum post where someone from the community team can consolidate all the information as it comes out? I know that most of the information is at http://www.swtor.com/rothc but a lot of threads are mentioning twitter feeds, off-site interviews, etc as places where people have heard of features being mentioned. Rather than having second and third-hand speculation, BioWare could have its community team release and maintain the information as it comes out. I'm not asking or demanding all new information or to be told everything about the Expansion, but having a single reference point on the forums might help those that are unhappy with the amount of information and the ease of locating it. Thank you for the consideration.

If you're trying to just receive Social Points, your character level doesn't matter. You can run Esseles as many times as you want with a group and still be rewarded social points; you just won't be receiving the benefit of XP or worthwhile gear drops.

Spec = Shield, Level 50 In PvE situations, I feel like the Shield Spec Vanguard is regarded as the best tanking option. Survivability and threat control is right around where it needs to be, and the tweaks to AoE threat generation definitely helps in some situations. The only downside I hear is often has to do with non-shieldable boss attacks. PvP - the perception I generally hear is that we're good for holding objectives and help out with protection but that we're seldom a "go to" addition to a team. I'm a huge fan of it. The DPS obviously isn't high so as long as you approach your fights as a marathon instead of a sprint I'm always fine. I've had absolutely no problems with resource management and I feel like the lack of any real CC is a small price to pay for the other versatility that I get to enjoy.