I've made several posts on this since beta. I completely agree. Never figured out that alphabetical bit - i thought it had something to do with raid-setup.

people in this thread are misinterpreting what skill cap is. Skill cap != underpowered class. Skill cap = the classes with the most tools available to them Classes with the highest skill cap, imo: 1) Tankish PVP Spec Powertech/Vanguard - as others have said, a good vanguard/powertech can truly impact the outcome of a battle.. while a bad one will do jack ****. 2 & 3) Hybrid PVP spec Sorc/Sage. A good PVP sorc/sage is a huge difference between a bad sorc/sage. they have a lot of tools and have to have a lot of awareness in order to best benefit their team. && Hybrid PVP spec Scoundrel/Operative - know when to stealth, when to heal, and when to DPS --- you can make a huge difference. Hard to rank these two against each other --- i feel the operative is better at the healing, but that's only because static barrier/force shield does not count towards healing (or protection...) 4 & 5) tankish pvp spec Juggernaught/Guardian - similar reasons to powertech, but not quite as many tools (they lack the range abilities, otherwise i'd rank them #1) && tankish pvp spec assassin/shadow - similar reasons to the guardian/juggernaught, hard to rank them against each other without extensive play on both - they both seem very good. 6) Sentinel/Marauder. They do have quite a high skill cap, as they do have a lot of tools and need to know when to use them. But, they do not have to ever target allies, while all of the above classes do. Therefore, skill cap isn't quite as high. 7) Sniper/Gunslinger. Good ones are quite amazing. They have a lot of tools. 8) hybrid pvp spec Commando/Merc. They need to know how to manage their ammo/heat properly, if they don't, they're useless. If they do, they're quite amazing. They have a lot of tools available to them. I'd rank them higher, but they have some caveats that weaken their skill caps. 9 & 10) Concealment Operative / Deception Assassin and their counterparts. I do not really know enough about this class to rank them against each other (their playstyle seems pretty similar, as both have melee/ranged abilities to use and have to sneak around with stealth), but I definitely can notice the difference between good ones and bad ones. TL/DR: all classes have a pretty high skill cap, as all classes have a lot of tools at their disposal. Play what is fun to you. And you can definitely tell the difference between someone who sucks and someone who is good on every class.

Personally, for PVP, I have a question: If you group PVP a lot, is force bending truly worth more than efficacious currents? Eff. Currents - reduces cooldown of static barrier (so you can use it on your whole team) and also allows you to cast it on yourself sooner. It also reduces its force cost.. BY A LOT. Conversely, force bending is very useful for dropping a very fast big heal on yourself or someone else. But in certain situations I would say that eff. currents is worth more (the ability to shield someone every GCD has a very high value, especially when you also get the 20% stronger shields that other DPS hybrid specs lack)

Yeah, happens WAY too often. Since I worded it wrong : by 'group window' I meant that whenever you're in a group, there's a squad. Each squad member has a number. Apparently the way target next <xxx> works, is that it cycles from 1->X in order by number instead of by something that makes sense. At least, that's what it seems from observations I've made (and the fact that it always cycles the same way every time)

Please make Target Next Enemy and Target Next Friend smarter. They should have distance checks on them so that when you hit it it's not targetting them based on their position in the group window (by using Target next friend a lot, I have figured out that this is how it currently works) and instead targets them based on where they are in relation to you. As it is right now, it's entirely unpredictable and very unreliable, making this game feel clunkier than it actually is. That is all.

lightning spire only affects chain lightning, for the purpose of this build. (we only cast it when it is instant) I am almost certain 0/23/18 is superior to the other ones linked, but to each his own. edit: also, chance to do 30% additional damage on our main nuke (to multiple targets) can sometimes make or break a battle. a 3s pbaoe blindness (that only occurs if you happen to have your shield up.. that YOU casted, without the reduced cd shield talent) will not usually do that (especially if you're only fighting someone at range and it does absolutely nothing). 0/23/18 retains instant whirlwind and the immobilization off aoe knockback. Just sayin~

on fights like that sometimes i found it necessary to rely on HoT and the fast heal.

corruption or lightning until lvl 29~ then go 2/2/16 from there do w/e

Yeah. Fadeout looks pretty good, for huttball anyway. Probably didn't want everyone taking it. I think this will be my fadeout build... http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201GGMRrdMdGZf00MZ0M.1 everything ive read says revivification pretty much sucks debating on that one or this for pvp: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201GhrRbd0zZbZcMcRsMz.1 second one is obviously the better build all around for pvp, but the fadeout build has an interesting utility in that it offers a stronger shield that also increases movement speed, has stronger/more efficient heals, and better overall survivability --- while sacrificing all DPS.

My build: 0/23/18. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#201ZdcMrdRMhZcMcRsMz.1 **LOGIC** I agree with the OP that 5m range increase on *ONE* spell (that we use), that we ONLY cast when it is instant, is pretty unnecessary. I'd much rather have 3% more force efficient spells, personally. I agree with Sirokai that instant whirlwind, with a stun attached, is a pretty damn good spell. So I kept that. However, I do not think the static barrier blind is very good because most damage seems to be ranged, and the blind is only melee range. Also, forked lightning is pretty damn strong and we do not want to lose that. Matter of fact, we want to make some adjustments to get it 3/3. We lose oppressing force. 10s reduced cooldown on electrocute, while good, is not worth losing 15% chance to shock twice instead of once, or 10% chance to chain lightning for 30% extra damage. I definitely like this build, and will for sure try it out at some point. =]

My name is Lockindal, and I approve this message. Just saying.