Powertechs are melee yes but they have a variety of choices to engage with at any range. Additionally, most of your skills are actually 10m or so, not as close quarters as the warrior classes. Toss in grapple and you honestly got a pretty solid set up going on. If both jet charge and grapple were baseline, then this class's utility will be out of control as fun and abusive as having charge on AP would be.

Grapple baseline > Jet Charge baseline. You will regret it if you think trading it would be a good idea. I don't see them changing it anytime soon and it's good that they do. Otherwise why in the world would you even go Shield? (PvP wise)

I rather have two competent tanks, two heals, four dps.

If you do claim to like PvP for the PvP, why do you need another set of gear to work towards? The over-the-top long term goal at this moment would be valor 100. Even if they added the set of gear you wanted, you would still be doing the same thing as PvP in this game in very limited. Wait for GW2 to really satisfy your PvP thirst, even if some areas don't live up to the hype, from the ground up it will still be a better game than TOR. I guess the root of the problem is that SWTOR is not a hardcore game at all, the people who log more hours can easily do everything there needs to be done. Just take it easy, log when your friends are on and move onto something else.

No, you got it wrong. You don't need to reward the cream of the crop with yet another set of gear, that is the worst thing you can do right now. Most people are upset because coming out of a WZ, a player who does better statistically is awarded the same as any other person on the team. If you really want a cool set for the BEST OF THE BEST LOL IM COOL, make it an aesthetics upgrade. MMOs are time-sinks and that will fulfill that aspect. The gear gap isn't as bad as it were before but trying to widen the gap is just plain stupid. This is coming from a fully geared 50, not some scrub that QQs about not being able to get gear.

Try not to keep their cloak of pain up for them too, that will go a really long way to decrease its usefulness.

Whenever I'm ops lead, I mark people I see healing and off healing just because when you're on the zerg side, you get the mouth-foamers that come as a complete package with it. If they can tunnel something, at least they have important people marked out and hopefully will go after them (they still don't always). People complaining about this has got to be the biggest /facepalm ever. "Please take this out so I stop dying in PvP!!" I mean..really? Like many said it's not like the option is limited only to one side, I'm pretty sure my friends and I have been marked before and it's not a big deal. This is a team game, QQing about marks when it's really just your teammates not having good situational awareness, actively looking out for healers that need peels and just being tunnel DPS.

Mercenary pyro uses Unload and Powershot to proc Rail Shot while the Powertech uses Flame Burst and Rocket Punch. One uses 30m casted abilities while the other uses two instants meaning for PvP, its burst potential greatly exceeds the Mercenary's, the window of burst is much shorter and back to back rail shots are much harder to recover from when it's the PT unloading the shots. Talents synergy and what not aside, this is the biggest difference between the PT and Merc in Pyro. Dual pistols are pretty cool but they actually don't increase your damage that much as it only helps skills that are determined by weapon damage. With most of the BH's moves falling under kinetic or elemental, dual wield vs single pistol is just a difference in aesthetics with Unload hitting harder on the merc than PT. From a similar thread.

If you enjoy being mobile and having most of your attacks be instant, go with the powertech. They hit the hardest 4-10m but have solid 30m options by being a BH. Consider the mercenary if you do want to try out healing and a ranged class at some point otherwise arsenal is a turret caster. The shared tree makes the merc more mobile than its arsenal cousin but is still by and large more restricted than the PT.

Most classes in this game probably juggle a DoT, proc here or there and a filler at best for their rotations and aren't very complex in their design. I'd give another vote to scoundrel/operative because they deal with a second pseudo-resource that is also a way to balance their original resource mechanic. Rotations as a result are less set in stone and require some more thought. Though it's not really as complex as either of those classes, powertechs/vg are extremely fun to play and effective in both PvE and PvP. Not quite as faceroll as mercenary, you're also one of the more odd ones out due to there being less of them.

Wear DPS gear, PvP tank gear does jack for survival and you're better off being a tanky DPS that still fulfills the tank role first while being able to dish out respectable damage. I have no problems surviving encounters without pocket heals in shield with eliminator's set. You might wanna look into the combat tech set.

It gets better once you hit 30 from my experience, always wear DPS gear even if you're a tank spec.. Ion provides good passive damage reduction able to be boosted through talents. Honestly though, shield just needs that Jet Charge to work. By the time you hit level 41, you can run a really basic Iron Fist variant and then you'll really get the ball rolling. Assassins while leveling as Darkness tend to be much squishier than Powertechs until they get their defensive talents/skills at 36-38. I find it easier to do concentrated damage on the powertech compared to the assassin mostly because of the varied ranges of their attacks. Assassins make really good tanks end game PvP and offer the most amount of offensive utility of the tank classes. They're also the only one that is able to produce some form of usable self heal. Their defensive cool downs require a bit more finesse to utilize properly but will be greatly rewarded with smart use. Powertechs are also absolute beasts and even more so when backed by a healer. Their tank stance does not debuff damage like the Juggernaut's and Jet Charge + Grapple is an amazing combo. Remember to pop your defensive cool downs more proactively, they aren't reactionary O-***** like a Juggernaut's. Defensive cool down management is much more crucial for this class and once you get the hang of it, you'll find powertechs to be extremely durable. One thing and this is opinion that I think the Powertech has over the Assassin is its DPS spec the Pyrotech. Pyrotech PTs are OP and extremely easy to play, it has extremely high burst potential with all the benefits of being a PT. They are much squisher than their tank counterparts but as far as DPS goes, they aren't glass cannons.

One of the most reliable ways to break up Guard/Heals combos is to separate them outside of the guard range through knock backs, pulls, or clump them together and hit them with hard AoEs so the tank goes down. While not as big of a deal in maps other than Huttball, Jet Charge is extremely beneficial in setting yourself up for peels. If they separate you from your heals with two guys on him, a grapple that immobilizes, jet charge the other and you're gravy. I would rather play a hybrid variant of shield over full dps when on guard duty. When other people are on guard duty, let pyro be the one getting team support, it'll be easier to win that way when Pyro DPS goes unchecked.

Jugg/Sin/PT in Tank Spec (but DPS GEAR!) Merc Heals Sorc Heals Marauder/PT DPS Or any combination of 2 Tank 2 Heals would be annoying to deal with too.

Those defensive stats are bringing you down in PvP, you have a much bigger pool of HP to sponge hits with but those defensive stats aren't adding much to your tankiness, it's much better to wear DPS gear even as a tank in PvP. I can bust out 3k crits even as a St/Pyro with rail shot and routinely break 300k even when just focused on the objectives in huttball. My main is a Powertech and I have a Guardian alt, I also have a Shadow that is lower leveled but this is what I think of all the tank classes. Juggernauts: Most mobile tank possible and the most durable in terms of flat damage reduction through their CDs. Intercede and Force Charge along with the ability to reset force charge through push makes for a way interesting class to play. Their damage does lag behind the other two classes. I do find myself surviving unreasonable outcomes a lot when playing proper tank support for a commando heals. Assassins: The tanks with the most tricks up their sleeves, while it does not have charge, force speed on a 20s cool down is extremely powerful. They are late bloomers as not having access to harnessed darkness before 38 really gimps their overall beefiness. Their tank stance much like the PT's adds damage but doesn't give much in passive damage reduction in other than an armor increase. Powertech: Extremely durable and easily highest damage potential out of all three tank classes. Majority of their attacks are kinetic or elemental meaning both go through shields and one is affected by armor. Their hardest hitting ability rail shot can be talented to have over 60% ArP, capping out at 90% ArP depending on build. Their baseline BH 30m abilities like DFA also ensures that unlike other melees, you can hang out at range, toss that AoE taunt in the cluster**** before you start cherry picking important targets. Jet Charge + Grapple make for a devastating Huttball combo, you're not a ball carrier like the other two tanks, you aren't bad at it, but you're way better at exerting dominance in ball control through better positioning and hazard pulls.