Just wanted to clear up, that the resource mechanics are not the same for Mercenary and Commando. The difference comes from Mercenary having percentage (making the maximum effectively 100/100) and Commando a set number of 12/12. This allows for a lot better finetuning in the ability costs on the Mercenary side (where everything can be done point by point on a wide scale). Here is what RuQu said about it in his thread on the Mercenary forums: It's not a big difference, but still a noticeable one (at least I do notice the difference with ease). Also the other regen percentages are different between these "mirror" classes (I think RuQu removed those percentages from the post, or they are in the Commando forums thread).

Actually I just bought both my LS Bountyhunter and his Mako moddable boots from an Empire LS vendor... They are level 27+ though. The selection for gear is exactly the same on both sides, just switched around from LS to DS and vice-versa. It seems that Empire is considered as DS and Republic as LS.

The "biggest" difference in LS/DS I have seen is that the LS/DS vendors have some oranges only to one of them at low levels, like for example LS orange heavy gloves at level 9 (On Republic side the level 9 orange heavy gloves are available for DS only). In that one case DS has to wait to get them as a quest reward on Tatooine (might get them earlier, but I haven't seen them as reward earlier). And slotting up orange gear will cost you more most of the times compared going with blues if you don't craft yourself anyway (you do get modifications with commendations though, but not for all 3-8 items for yourself and the ones your companion has (my Mako has 5 oranges on top of my own 7...)). The smaller difference is, that on Empire side the LS items tend to be a lot cheaper to their DS counterparts, purely because there are a lot less LS characters. This can at best mean you get something for 500 credits, instead of having to pay 5000. That is no reason to roll on either side though in my opinion. All in all, very minimal differences. Doesn't affect the gameplay in any way. :-)

Although my Sage is still waiting at level 24 for inspiration, I have been playing with the skill calculator quite a lot. My goal will be purely in PVE, as I have done my share in PVP in other games. The "soloing" spec is based mostly on extensive research on the forums and tweaked to my own playstyle, and is planned for using Qyzen as my companion: PVE Soloing 17/7/17 I don't claim it to be the best spec, but I think it will suit my own playstyle quite well. It is balanced between Healing, CC and DPS. Or it might gimp my toon badly... I wish there were 2 more skill points though for Presence of Mind and Mend Wounds... :-) I hope this spec will help give some thoughts or at least comments on points that would work better somewhere else. A pure healing spec would be quite a lot easier in any case. Edit: The plan is to get 2/2 in Immutable Force, then go 17 points deep in Balance, get -9% cost, and fill up Seer till I have 2 points in Conveyance. Then it's playing by what will be needed the most, unless of course I run into trouble earlier already and need to re-spec unexpectedly. ;-)

I think one "reason" for Mercenaries not speccing healing from the start is, that their first companion is a healer... I have a healing specced Commando and Sage, as it was the obvious route for those classes. My Shadow is tank specced, but as he doesn't have a healing companion yet, he is struggling very badly. Two tanks may be the worst possible duo for leveling... At least that is how it feels to me. On my Mercenary though I went DPS from the start, as playing a healer with a healing companion with minimal DPS felt wasting my potential completely. I will most likely re-spec my Mercenary to healing later on when I get an actual tank companion, but at least until then, it will be full out DPS. I can understand people not speccing for heals at lower levels, and when they would actually benefit from a healing spec, they have already gotten used to full out DPS. Also to be fair, Commando (or Mercenary) healing compared to a Sage just feels wrong. ;-) Edit: Rhaphael already mentioned the companions while I was still typing. In any case it's what I think as the biggest culprit. :-)

This is the correct answer. I have tested this myself to be true. People, please don't post about things you haven't actually tested yourself.

Having played 5 toons to levels 14-20, I have to say that there is a huge difference in survivability between classes. My experiences only apply to those levels though. I do see a pattern though, and so far the easiest toon to play is my Jedi Sage, and the hardest one is my Jedi Shadow. Commando and Bountyhunter (healing spec, can't remember the name) are in the middle. Sentinel is extreme DPS and fun, but very squishy. Also the final class quest for my Trooper on Ord Mantell was almost impossible to do with only solo quest experience, even though I did stop to grind some exp from mobs at a few points. There was a quest to use a computer console behind a few Pistolero signatures and adds that needed me to get killed on all of them killing the adds before dying to finally get to kill the signature. Until I dinged before the last one of them, which actually made the last fight easy. So there definitely are huge differences between classes, and some of them (like my Jedi Shadow) actually become good only after a certain level (got a lot better at 20, should become very good at 25 or 26). Some seem to be very powerful right off the bat. Jedi Sage takes on elites with adds and at the end she and Qyzen are at full health. Shadow was almost dead in every single fight at the same point, using all CC:s and CD:s. Some classes seem to get a LOT better later on, so it may take grinding through the levels to that point, or if one doesn't want to wait, rerolling to some "easier" class.

Just adding my own opinion on this "feature"... First off the facts. You get flagged for PvP if you do the following to another player that is already flagged (feel free to add if I have forgetten a way): 1. Buffing. 2. Healing. 3. Attacking. Directly or AOE. 4. Rezzing. 1. I tend to buff everybody I run across, and even having to wait till they are out of combat is annoying. Getting flagged for PvP for it is just wrong. 2. I play a healer, so I heal. If I see someone getting slaughtered, I WILL heal them. 3. Getting flagged for directly attacking a player flagged for PvP is logical, even though it shouldn't be possible if you are not flagged yourself. Hitting them accidentally with an AOE that you have no idea they will be hit by, because they are stealthed is something that should happen ONLY when both players are flagged. 4. Now, rezzing a flagged player is something you will do by accident as there is no way of knowing beforehand. You also get flagged even if the other player doesn't accept the rez. I know this for a fact as I have been flagged for being a good samaritan. If I play on a PVE server, I expect to be fighting mobs instead of players. It's all fine and ok if people would need to intentionally flag for PvP to participate to it in any way, but force-flagging is completely wrong. I can't heal mobs, so why should I be able to heal another player that on all counts is effectively a mob with (well, sometimes) a better AI? 99% of the players that run around on PvE servers flagged for PvP are horribly bad in PvP in any case. Why else would they intentionally only fight people that have no experience in PvP at all? (I left the 1% there only to not sound nasty... ;-P) Just to clear things out: I have played PvP in the past, but if I want to PvP, I will go and do it with people that can actually fight back. There is no glory in killing the helpless.