You know your secondary grind system has failed when you have to have a +2000% weekend event. Give or take.

Also be very careful spamming your AoE abilities. Because of the channeling changes in 5.0, they effectively generate far more heat per unit of time than they used to and with no passives to help directly, you'll heat lock very quickly if you rotate through them all. Use your heat overrides skill or mix in single-target abilities, particularly your rail shot proc. That will help keep your heat under control along with judicious use of Rapid Shots as suggested above.

Some of the circlets and goggles will actually override the hood, the problem is that while this allows you to see your character's face, it doesn't actually look good because the robes don't look "balanced," for lack of a better word. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Bioware has still not fixed the "Jawa Bustle" that plagues robes worn by body types 1 & 2. Really, the robes just need a complete overhaul at this point. I'm a bit surprised that the armor look that multiple ACs are steered towards and that is so iconic for the IP has been allowed to look this bad for so long. But I guess since they look fine in the promo shots, it's a low priority. :-P

Yes, we are. We were told there would be a hood toggle in 1.2. There was not. Then we were told that it would likely be in a subsequent patch but before the next major update. Since then, nothing. At this point it's not even about the fact that every damn JK NPC in the game and in all the promotional materials is wearing the same armor a player JK can get but with the hood down. It's about the fact that we, the players, who have asked for an art asset that already exists in the game to be made available to us as it was in Beta, have not received something we were specifically told we were going to. It may be a minor issue to you, but it is a persistent and blatant breach with a fair number of players.

When it can't be used on other players at all regardless of slows or incapacitates, it is in fact useless. Players don't count as normal or strong mobs. As far as I can tell we're all Golds.

This. I run into the LFG role bug pretty often, and prefer to full gear swap depending on what role I've been saddled with. That being said, when I'm DPSing and the group is... "less than ideal," shall we say... I will usually take a small hit to my performance by equipping a shield generator and perhaps bracers and belt from my tanking set. If the group is having issues such that I may be tanking at a moment's notice, then dishing out every last erg of DPS isn't my priority - getting the group through the instance is.

If I could find it, I would... any idea where on their timeline it's buried?

I get this problem constantly on my Powertech. It's amusing when I'm in a guild group and our DPS get tagged as healers and tanks and the healer and tank get tagged as DPS. It's aggravating when I'm *not* in a guild group and have to respec or leave the queue. It has nothing to do with being bored of my class and everything to do with enjoying playing multiple roles on the same character. I'm already penalized by earning and remodding three full sets of gear (Tanking Rakata + BH, DPS Rakata + BH, PvP BM transitioning to WH). Having to pay to repsec 4-5 times a week so I can play as I wish and still fulfill my commitment to my friends and guildmates is insulting. I'd like to further add that all my character slots are locked up, with two 50s and six characters from 21-38. I enjoy this game and the various classes immensely. If I had four more character slots they'd be filled immediately by characters I have had to put on the back burner due to restrictions on the number of characters we can have. Yes, I could set up my PT for tanking and my Juggernaut for DPS and save myself respec costs and maintenance on multiple gear sets, but they are different *characters* and I have a distinct preference for playing one of them. Dual spec represents a noticeable quality of life increase for players like me.

We also lost +30% surge on Rocket Punch and Flame Sweep. Sweep is still useful, particularly since you get two free ones after a charge, but as far as damage output goes Iron Fist took a crippling hit.

Don't be so quick to judge. Some people make that choice deliberately.

I felt useful to my team from level 10 on. I like to mix PvP with my leveling, so regardless of AC I queue early and I queue often. You'll have more toys as you progress (Grapple probably being the most dramatic tool, particularly in Huttball), but you're fully capable of doing some disruption and killing people right out of the gate. To whoever mentioned doing great at 11 as a Pyro (damn the lack of multiquote!): pre-20ish, spec doesn't matter. The success you're seeing is the strength of the basic Powertech chassis in the 10-49 bracket.

If you have some friends, give it a try. The early HMs really aren't that hard, I started tanking them in modded gear mixed with some crafted epics I got from the AH (I'm a Cybertech so sadly there was no Rakata right off the bat). If it works for you, it works... Just be clear up front that you may need a trip back to fleet to respec. From my experience though, we need those passive talents to tank well, they're worth a lot of "virtual" stat rating and our cooldowns are pretty lackluster - PTs rely on our passive mitigation stats and controlling the pulls to tank well.

Or rename your ship "Mom's basement!" Actually I think he's retired.

Oh please yes. Color matching would be good too, but I'd like to be able to put helmets on my companions without feeling like I'm being mean to them.

It's not a great question, sorry. We do very well from 10-49, and at 50 in my experience. I leveled primarily as AP (cut with Shieldtech) pre-1.2, for the record, and did quite well, and that was widely considered a gimp spec at the time. Really your question is one of playstyle. Sniper/Gunslinger I find is a lot of run, find a nook, shoot for as long as you think you can get away with it, relocate, repeat. Powertech/Vanguard PvP is all about movement and controlling your engagement range. It's far more dynamic which is why I prefer it.