If you want any new content then you will have to buy some new action bars first. It would be funny if it wasn't true - and so sad. Also: I think ESO is one of the worst MMOs released in the past few years - but let's be honest, compared to SWTOR ESO is a well designed game, released by a competent game developer. I mean, at least the devs of ESO are trying to hide the fact that their game is a pure cash grab. Bioware on the other hand doesn't even feel properly ashamed.

so let me get this right... after 3 years SWTOR still doesn't offer any mouse-over healing without the player using 3rd party tools and/or gaming hardware? is this simply due to utter incompetence on the part of the developers or do the devs simply have shares from Logitech/Razor or what exactly is the effing issue? I mean, how hard could it be guys? You managed to implement your cash shop in-game to sell your players two extra action bars (btw. I don't think I've ever heard of something quite as despicable as this in my entire life - first design a UI that is so utterly terrible that it wouldn't have made it into an early beta version of WOW and then have the nerve to turn around and SELL people two extra action bars... have you got no shame? ) so surely a macro system or at the very least a simple mouse-over option can't be too much to ask, no? i hope you feel duly ashamed BW!

I find the Operative quite decent from a healing point of view but dealing damage in heal spec (in PVE) is simply terrible as Operative... the class just seem to be all over the place... so far I haven't found a decent rotation for melee or midrange (not to mention long range). It just ends up this wild spamming of mediocre abilities... on the other hand my sorc healer has a very clean and nice little rotation to deal DPS in PVE (for example during leveling). What I'd absolutely love would be to have the DPS-option of the sorc healer and the healing tool set of the Operative healer. What's sort of putting me off the merc is the clunky healing mechanic - the energy management is quite a pain and being forced to use ground-targeted spells (kolto missile) as part of my healing rotation is also a huge pain in the arse... I'm used to having a proper healing UI where I can use my mouse-over macros (thank god for gaming hardware) and being forced to constantly move my vision from the raid frames and search for the people i want to heal with kolto missile is just clunky. i do find the healing-output of the merc quite impressive though... can anyone give me a hand with the DPS-rotation for an operative healer (for solo-play and leveling)? i just seem to have sooo many abilities that are all really terrible and i'm left with a totally ineffective DPS-rotation for every range... simply no comparison to the DPS-tools of a sorc healer (at least for solo).

Thanks for the advice!!

Hello all I recently returned to SWTOR after a (very) long break and am looking for advice on which healer to play. I used to play a Sorc healer but never really got into progression raiding or any other form of competitive play. I already have a Sorc, Operative and Merc but can't really decide which one to level to 55 and start healing (on a more serious level) with. Since I have fairly limited time and also don't enjoy leveling that much I'd rather choose the "best" of the three from the beginning so I don't waste time on a sub-par class. Since I'm aware that there is likely no outright "best" healer, here are the aspects that are particularly important to me when it comes to choosing a healer: - I find the user interface of SWTOR one of the worst I've ever seen in an MMO so this really puts me off playing any healing class that is overly dependent on tracking buffs/HoTs (or DoTs when it comes to DPSing). This sort of puts me off the Operative. As far as I could tell you can't even track your HoTs properly on the raid frames so I see little point in playing that class. Or am I wrong? Is there perhaps some way to configure the UI so it's not utterly terrible (ie. display only my own HoTs on the raid frames and/or some way to filter what buffs/debuffs are displayed etc.)? - DPS in healing spec is somewhat important to me. I'd enjoy playing a class that can at least deal some DPS (in healing spec) during those times when little or no healing is required. I'm not overly fond of melee DPS so I'd generally prefer being able to deal ranged DPS in healing spec (unless it's generally not viable and melee is the only way to go..?). - I'd like a class with strong options for DPS specs. Again, I'd prefer being ranged over melee (unless the difference is hugely in favor of melee..?). - I want a healing class that is considered strong for progression raiding and if possible also viable in high-end PVP (though my focus is primarily on PVE). So what do you guys think would be the best healing class for me? So far (after limited play-testing) I've been enjoying the Sorc the most - mainly due to the resource management which allows me to pump out loads of healing and burn my resources quickly when needed and regenerate during less intense phases. This was the main thing that disturbed me when playing my Operative (besides the UI from early WOW betas) - my energy was so limited that I basically had to stick to my "rotation" so I didn't over-extend my resources and end up resource-starved. This gave me the feeling that I can't really react that well to changing situations. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the Sorc in that regard. I had the same resource-issues with the merc (but this is the class I have least practice with so I'm not sure how bad that issue really is). So how viable is the Sorc as a healer? In high-end PVE? In high-end PVP? How good is the Sorcs DPS in healer spec compared to the other healers? How good is the Sorc as a DPS class compared to other classes that can heal? Any advice on which healer class to roll would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Cheers Gaalon

Asking for more cosmetic crap like Sith corruption options in a game that's in such a dismal state is like buying a new car without brakes, seat belts and with only 2 wheels and then asking the manufacturer if you can get it in a different colour.

Don't worry OP, you and your guild won't be charged for anything except the pay2win items with 50% better stats then all the BIS gear you can get without a credit card. I mean, it's not like BW and EA haven't proven that they are trustworthy and really know what their customers want... oh wait. I think you made a massive mistake in throwing away that money.

Yeah that's true OP! Compared to crap games like WOW where the queues are at least 2 minutes SWTOR is really a charm! I guess it's because WOW has a subscription and nobody wants to pay for a worthwhile game. *sigh* It'd be funny if it weren't so sad.

This thread will be deleted really soon. BW are heavily censoring the forums - half the discussion threads that are even slightly negative towards the game simply get "disappeared". That should be enough reason to unsub. Next time make a less **** game, then you won't need all those forum mods to censor your unhappy customers. BW should be ashamed.

I can.

/thread It's BizDev-talk for "just continue to give us money and we'll fix everything and make it great". It's the exact same tune that all the fanbois and BizDevs were singing 3 days after release when I first said this game would flop due to countless dismal game design choices, shallow story, static world, uninspired end-game and generally being nothing more then a (really terrible) carbon copy of WOW without any of the good features that WOW implemented in the last 6-7 years. But I was just a stupid "hater", right? Shame I was right all along, ey?

Emergency work-around that may help: use a G15/G19 keyboard (or razor naga mouse) to make a button that first attempts to roll you into cover and shortly afterwards (50-100ms depending on your latency) attempts to "cover in place". That at least would give you the benefit of cover with a single key-press. Either "real" cover or "cover in place". I personally don't experience that bug atm so I can't tell you if the above work-around really works.

A so-called "hybrid tax" is required if anyone is supposed to play the pure DPS classes. Well, anyone who isn't a total scrub and/or claiming that you should "play what you want" instead of what's effective. (These are the same people that wear outdated armour "because it looks nais". Don't pay attention to them.) Pure DPS classes should be pulling at least 5-10% more DPS to compensate for their lack of flexibility. Edit: You mean like when the devs claimed that this game wouldn't simply be a re-skin of WOW (and a bad one at that)?

Why would anyone dislike people that want to play the FOTM class? As long as they have time and motivation to constantly re-roll I really don't see the problem. I'd rather have a raid full of FOTM re-rollers that pull top DPS then a bunch of noobs that "play what they like" and only bring 50% or 75% the DPS that they could if they re-rolled. Anyone saying "all classes are equal, play what you want" are either blind, ignorant or have a very selective perception of reality. This game is totally and utterly unbalanced. Therefore, anyone who wants to min/max will want to re-roll constantly or miss out on huge amounts of DPS.

IMHO Sorc is by far the easiest healer to learn because it has the most forgiving energy regen mechanic. I play(ed) sorc and agent and merc (but merc only to level 30ish) and the difference is simply staggering. In PVE with a good group I think the difference is fairly small - you'll be able to keep people alive with an agent or merc no problem as long as people don't fail. However, in PVP or in PVE with a bad group the Sorc is the absolute king in my opinion (purely from a healing point of view - survivability in PVP is a different story of course). If something bad happens and I'm playing Sorc healer then I can simply burn half or three-quarters of my mana in a few seconds to get the situation back under control. There is no penalty for dipping low in mana. After that I can go back to my mana-neutral light healing rotation without suffering any drawback. On the other hand if something bad happens and I'm playing Agent or Merc then I've basically got one single 2min CD to recover from any intense healing required (meaning any healing that goes above and beyond your usual healing rotation). If you don't stick to your rotation as Agent and Merc then you'll over-heat or get energy starved and basically be screwed. Why anyone in their right mind would ever choose a healer that gets penalized for reacting to quickly changing circumstances (Agent or Merc) is totally beyond me. Healing as Sorc is just sooo much more comfortable and flexible in my opinion. I'm not saying that Agent and Merc don't have their place as healers - I just feel so much weaker when playing Agent compared to Sorc - as Sorc it feels like I'm fighting to keep people healed - as Agent if feels like I'm fighting to keep people healed and at the same time fighting with a terribly small and inflexible energy resource that over-penalizes any deviation from the energy-neutral rotation. Might just be me though...