If you happen to be on the Jedi Covenant server, add Norriss and Lock to friends. If you talk to Lock, tell him Norriss sent you (I'll get a cookie for it =D). Either of us will be more than happy to discuss gearing, and we're always looking for well adjusted people that want to do tier 2 HM Ops. We're fairly relaxed about completely min/maxing gear, but we will (politely) offer suggestions if we notice something is way out of line. If you're a player who is interested in really getting the most out of your class though, we're more than happy to help with that. As your gear stands right now, i see no issue with you joining us for HM EC, as long as you know the fights or are willing and able to learn them. HM TFB on the other hand, is still progression for us, as we're really more of a casual Ops guild, so if you're looking for free Dread Guard runs, we may not be the guild you're looking for. If you're willing to learn with us through our progression however, there may be a spot for a new guy on some nights =D. (Writing up a big recruiting thing wasn't my intention when I started, but I might just keep some of this ) One more thing. A recommended watchman spec. http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/Sentinel#9f28e8clc-22i-i The spec is open to a little personalization, but that's what I use.

So... HM LI is very doable in Tionese/MK-1 Recruit gear. By 3 people. (LR-5 one shotted) It's very understandable that a group that's unfamiliar with the mechanics of the FP will likely encounter difficulties, but when you learn how the bosses work, you can do it. When someone walks into a HM of any kind, let alone a clearly labelled tier 2 HM, they should expect to have to put forth some effort to learn and execute the strategies required to complete the FP. If "the majority" doesn't want to do that, there's another option: Some people choose to forgo effort and overgear for things, and that's an acceptable solution as well, but they shouldn't expect to be rewarded beyond the already generous reward of 5 (plus 8, if the weekly is involved) BH comms, which can be used to buy most of the second best gear in the game.

Yea.... I've done the same thing, but no one questioned the results =D.

True, but that's hardly constructive. Now THAT'S useful information. I've heard that black hole and campaign gear was randomly generated, and no one actually looked at the stats to see if they made sense before they were released. Because of this, some of the gear is really, REALLY bad for the item level. You may want to have a look at the BH heavy armor for DPS and yank the mods out of it, or buy some campaign Foestopper armorings from the BH vendor to replace those endurance heavy armorings, and get a set bonus, not that the sentinel set bonuses are that wonderful (especially the 4 piece... bleh). Unnecessary, but helpful information below this point As for REALLY optimizing your stats, I'd suggest replacing a little of that accuracy with surge. The enhancement and mod found in the Pummeler's chest would be one good option for accomplishing that. Also, the armoring from that chestpiece would be an improvement over the armoring in your current chest. You could try taking the other mods from the Pummeler's chest and putting them in your weapons.

Ah... memories of TBC heroic instances... i loved those so much. You learn so much about how to play your class, and how to work with other classes from content like that. If you weren't learning, you were dying horrible, horrible deaths.The way it should be when dealing with content clearly labelled "Heroic", or "Hard Mode".

So... that 3-man HM LI in nothing but stock Tionese and MK-1 Recruit gear that I promised a few pages ago. We finally got together to do that. No companion. I'll post a video when it's all put together.

It has already been changed to accommodate melee. For a long time, players were unable to move the plasma coils before they hit. (Edit) Also, interrupting is easier for melee.

You, Sir, are a gentleman, a scholar, and a champion for those of us that enjoy challenges. Quitting will only allow the voice of "MOAR EZ DROPZ!" and "OMGZZZ ITS TO HARD!!!" to prevail.

What i`m saying is that these people were rewarded with Columi pieces that they did not have, AND a piece of Rakata at the end. Only one piece of gear went to waste in the entire run, and nothing went to companions. If that`s not a reward for skilled players, I`m not sure what more you want. (Edit) Deleted a reference to WoW, and the loot rewards given by said game. I shouldn't subject anyone to that torture.

As i recall, the first few times I did HM LI, I had a couple pieces of Tionese on, and I think I was able to replace my leg armor, mainhand and chest within a few runs. This was while still learning the place with the group, as it was a new FP. You assume that everyone has farmed all of the T1 HMs for all their Columi before ever setting foot in HM LI. I did not. Several people that i know have not. I did HM LI yesterday with 2 people that needed items from HM LI, and not just the Rakata. They were decent players that had done the place maybe twice before, and they were rewarded for their skill. That is why you fail. - Yoda Learning to respond to mechanics IS great practice. Maybe they're not the exact same mechanics, but you learn to RESPOND to the many "move out of this" mechanics, the interrupt mechanics, and the "do this or die" mechanics.

I fail to see how having 2 Columi armor pieces, a Columi weapon, and a Rakata chest drop from one flashpoint isn't a marked upgrade from every other flashpoint. Every other flashpoint drops 2 or 3 Tionese pieces and a single Columi at the end, with MAYBE a Columi earpiece, implant (BoE, and usually reasonably priced on the GTN) or belt, all of which are minor gear pieces when compared with armor and weapons. This may be incorrect, but I'm getting the impression that you don't do many ops either, or at least none that are punishing to people who don't obey mechanics. Do you find that they aren't worth the reward either? I'm hearing "ERMAHGERD! It's sooooo hard! It should drop Campaign gearz!". But, hey... it's after 5 AM... sometimes my hearing is off when it gets to be this late. (Edit) Also, if your argument is that people aren't doing the flashpoint, you're sorely mistaken. Every time I queue as tank or healer, I get a queue in less than a minute. Sometimes it's an experienced group, sometimes it's not. I've had little trouble with inexperienced groups that can listen to these simple instructions (Well, maybe Lorrick is a little more complex) Boss 1: Ranged and healer, stick together and move out of stuff together around the outside of the room, interrupt incinerate, cleanse incinerate. Ignore adds. Melee note: If there's melee in the group, the whole group may wish to stick together, (dps and healer BEHIND the boss) and the tank will move the boss along the outside of the room. Plasma arc note: plasma arc can be largely ignored, but interrupting it is good, as long as you're sure you'll have an interrupt ready for incinerate. Boss 2: Don't stand directly in front of him if you're not the tank. When he starts pounding his chest and casting Sav-Rak Smash, get friendly with what's under his loincloth. When he jumps up on a pipe, tank and dps hit your pre-assigned button, healer - stand in the middle and heal. Rinse and repeat until looting time. Boss 3: Phase 1: Move out of stuff, fast. Help interrupt flurry of bolts. Keep your distance and/or stay behind him for "tricks up his sleeve", unless you're the tank, in which case, dodge the fans of satchel charges if you love your healer. When he disappears, dps the kolto tanks hard, and if the kolto tank doesn't get finished off, no worries, just finish off the add, then return to doing the boss thing. When you get past phase 1, life gets easier for everyone. Phase 2 is cake. Dps him down, interrupt ravage, and move away from rakghouls. On top of being stunnable and puntable, they're slow. Phase 3: Dps/Healing race. Try to put yourself between him and a wall to minimize knockback. You may keep this and copy/paste it when you're in a PUG that needs guidance. These are roughly the same basic instructions that i give to every new person or group that I've done HM LI with, many of which have (unwisely) skipped SM LI. It's worth 8 + 5 BH comms. Most players that i know do HM LI at least once a week for that, and some, like myself, do it more than once a week, due to alts and friends/guildies. (It is now well after 6 AM, I may re-read the instructions tomorrow and fix the many probable mistakes)

this! ^^^

Apologies for not reading all 34 pages, in case this has already been posted. The sentinel's gear is Rakata/BH, campaign MH, Columi OH. The sage's gear is BH/campaign, Rakata MH, BH OH. Companions are a mix of level 50 blues, BH, and everything in between. (Edit) It should be stated that we're not awesome players. As is plainly seen in the video, there are sloppy mistakes happening (mostly the sentinel ). We've barely cleared HM EC, and have just started to attempt HM TFB. We are NOT high end raiders, by any means. We were simply looking for a challenge, as there's no small group content that offers any sort of sporting challenge outside of HM LI. We're going to try 3 manning LI HM in nothing higher than Tionese next =D. When (if?) we're successful, I hope the whole "nerf HM LI!" argument is put to rest, since if an experienced group can do it with 3 people, you'd think that a group with less experience, but 33% more manpower (well, ok, the companion still counts as a half man.... I guess) SHOULD be able to complete the same thing.