I believe that the theory behind mixing BM with Rakata has to do with the diminishing returns from expertise, combined with the stat differential between the respective pieces (T3 PVE vs T3 PVP). The theory is that once you reach a certain amount of expertise (around 7%), it's more worthwhile to stack your primary stat (as well as endurance which most Rakata sets contain more of, I would say all but I am not sure) as opposed to expertise. Some of the reasoning behind this is that the more expertise you have, the more expertise it takes for your expertise percentage bonus to increase. This, of course, applies only to damage and does not take into consideration the damage reduction or healing bonuses. I'm planning to try a combination of the two (Rakata and BM) on my main raiding character once I achieve the appropriate valor rank. Presently, he is in nearly full Rakata (with the exception of bracers). With 0 expertise, I average around 300k damage in huttballs (a bit more than that in void star and much less in civil war). Additionally, I do have a battlemaster alt which I use purely for PVP and do not raid with that uses a complete PVP set (he is only 2/5 battlemaster set pieces however). Thus far, I am definitely inclined to say that it seems much more worthwhile to use the Rakata gear. I do, however, think that it may depend upon the class.

Much of what I would suggest has already been said, but the solution really is pretty simple. Turn off auto-loot and have only the leader disperse items one at a time from the boss, calling the item out before looting it and determining who is going to be needing on it prior to sending it out for rolls... This isn't rocket science.

How is rail shot NOT free if you don't overheat? Rail Shot has a 15 second cooldown regardless of set, but costs 8 heat if I use a set that gives 30 more AIM and 34 more POWER. Considering that with proper heat management, the only time anybody should ever go over 40 heat is during a nuking phase (and then we have vent heat)... rail shot is free either way. If you need an 8 heat ability on a 15 second cooldown to be free in order to not overheat your mercenary, then you're just flat out bad and being carried through your operations. GG

I highly disagree that the free rail shot is huge in PVE DPS rotation, and if you are overheating in the raid content of this game then you're probably not playing appropriately. I have not found a problem with heat management through using the set of 3/5 CT, 2/5 Elim in our runs which consistently clear both operations in nightmare 16. As I only have two T3 eliminator pieces, I have to swap into some T2 in order to experiment with the difference in heat management through the four set bonus... but it's not much of one. From a pure DPS stand point, I am thus far definitely voting for the 3/5 CT 2/5 Eliminator set, but I won't be able to really calculate how much of a difference it is from the other alternative of 1/5 CT and 4/5 Eliminator until I get two more T3 duplicates (hands and legs), and until there are some meters to analyze (if meters ever become available).

Changes nothing... the difference is through the base armoring which cannot be removed. That would also require getting duplicate Rakata drops.

All of this pertains strictly to the Rakata sets: Has anybody else noticed that certain pieces in the Combat Tech DPS set (which is typically used by Pyrotechs, as it's set bonuses pertain mostly to Pyrotech) provide more AIM and POWER than their Eliminator counterparts, albeit with a decrease in endurance? Coming from a purely DPS standpoint, it seems to me like the optimal set for Mercenary PVE DPS would be: Head: Combat Tech Chest: Eliminator Gloves: Combat Tech Legs: Combat Tech Feet: Eliminator The difference in itemization between this set and a pure eliminator set equates to: +30 AIM, +34 POWER, -65 ENDURANCE (which is roughly 300 health). Of course, the 4-piece eliminator bonus of reduced rail shot cost would not be applied to this set but the 2-piece crit increase on tracer missile bonus would still be applied. It seems to me like this would be the optimal set for PVE DPS, as the minor hit in health is hardly anything to be concerned about and the heat cost of rail shot is easily managed. The only downside to this set that I can see is that it looks, visually, a little mismatched (the combat tech helmet sure is ugly). Thoughts, ideas, comments? Any feedback is appreciated.

The armoring slot on level 50 purples (such as tier pieces, and other such things) presently cannot be modified -- neither can the hilt on weapons. This means that an orange item with no mods will have different stats than a level 50 item with no mods, as either its hilt section or its armoring section is built into its base stats... just wanted to bring this up as the thread made it sound as if there is no difference between a level 50 piece that has been stripped of its mods and an orange piece that has been stripped of its mods. Also, the tier PVE and PVP sets both have 2-piece and 4-piece set bonuses that are given for possessing the appropriate amount of pieces of such.

Deicidal... typically I use roleplaying names but I couldn't resist this one.

So champion bags (the ones that you receive at <60 valor) are going to have champion commendations? From my understanding, they were only going to remove the chance of receiving a champion trade-in token and were going to increase the amount of centurion commendations given per badge... and that the amount of champion commendations in battlemaster bags was also going to be increased. I don't remember reading anything about the champion bags containing champion commendations.

I've seen this done... by republic, but I don't doubt that people on both sides probably do it. The only reason why I've noticed republic do it is because I am empire and have been DPSing a particular individual on my server while he does it without being interrupted.

You realize that the difference between Champion gear and Centurion gear is significantly different than the minimal difference between Battlemaster and Champion gear... right ?

Better solution: Remove the tier commendations, bags, and mercenary commendations, and remove the 1k cap on warzone commendations. All PVP gear should require warzone commendations to purchase (at least 2000+ for main armor piece sets) with valor rank requirements Centurion: Rank 30 Requirement Champion: Rank 50 Requirement Battlemaster: Rank 60 Requirement GG.

I have four champion pieces (head, hands, waist, off-hand) as a deception assassin and my crits seem to range from 2.6k to 3.5k. All of my other items are literally lvl 40ish items... you certainly must be doing something wrong. Instead of venting on the forums, it might be more helpful for you to practice a bit... I had some difficulties early on in PVP (I PVPed a lot from 10 to 50) but practice makes perfect and I started becoming satisfied with my performance around the 30s. I presently average around 7-10 medals a warzone with 150-200k damage. Not the best, but my K/D is always great and I have an immense amount of fun playing.

I have played as a deception assassin from 10-50. My main focus has been PVP, which I have not had much difficulty with, nor did I find PVE to be particularly challenging. The spec that I am presently running is 5/33/3. I generally get 7-10 medals a warzone with roughly 150-200k damage done (and I only have four pvp items). Not the best, but I'm satisfied with it. The only class that I seem to have difficulty with 1v1 are powertechs... deception is a fun build and certainly no worse than any of the other specs. My roommate is playing a darkness assassin with more pvp gear than I have but cannot beat me 1v1. It just comes down to practice, learning how to use your priority list and also learning when it's time to **** and run away (in true assassin fashion, lol).

Have you ever tried to PVP with a Mayhem spec? I am running deception as well and have not been having any difficulties with it but have been contemplating trying out mayhem; it looks it might be worthwhile.