I understand that you are working on some bugs in raids and propably have the next raid content somewhat finished so this is not a question addressing the immediate future but more like the time frame of 4 months from now: Are you planning to give more incentives to do 16 man raid modes and make the raids in general (or just in 16 man modes as a compromise) harder? Thank you! Regards Wallekish

First of all I want to give some kudos to the OP for this intresting topic and secondly for all the good suggestions and arguments all people have brought fourth. Now more specifically to your quote Viper1: although I'm opposed to you when it comes to 16 man and 8 man raids and how to change them to be more suitable you had some very good arguments that made me reconsider some of mine. =) So I've mostly raided in WoW from BC to Cata untill FL and did the hc raids since Cata. Personally I liked BC's approach of giving some 10 man raids that led to 25 man raids but as Viper1 pointed out it's not very fair on the players that for what ever reason don't have the ability to do the larger raids. So after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that random epic drops in the larger raid size would be a good thing (I'd like to keep these BOE so we have another moeny dump in the game and people from 8 mans can also benefit from them). I'm also advocating for the larger raid sixe to be harder and aimed at the "Hard-core raiders", thus also giving better equipment ( and unique equipment like a new tier set, before you respond to this let me explain...). The better and unique gear I base on me believing in that harder content should give better rewards (you know high risk and challenge = high reward) and the fact that even if your gear has a different colour if it's heroic mode gear it will still look the same in shape and form thus making you still look like everyone else (instead of having millions of different insects all we have are butterflies in different colours... ok bad example maybe but I hope you get the point). BUT I don't want this better gear to be a requirement to enter the smaller raid size's new raiding tier. In other words it should be possible to progress in the smaller raiding size enviroment through the smaller raid size-lane solely by solely doing the smaller sized raids (the Random epic BoE's from the larger raid size could be used as a gear crutch in some cases even and as they are BoE do not require you to run the larger raid size version)! This would work the same with the larger raid size lane and (hopefully) creating 2 equally valued raid types. The smaller one for the casual player as it's easier and they also have a right to see the end game content. And the larger raid size for the "hardcore raiders" which is harder. (Maybe the larger raid size does not need better gear only more unique gear but I think the better gear is needed as uniqueness is not enough of an incentive on its own). When specifically speaking about SWTOR I like the challenge of 16 mans but I think they should be harder, especially in 8 man, although I understand if BW wants to have 8 man as the casual raiding format, because my Guild Diesel on the server Ahto City has cleared both raids on 8 man in all difficulties and cleared 16 man HM EV and all of those raids were fairly simple (this excludes 8 man NM EV as I was not in the raid and thus can't speak of it). Other than that I'm very pleased with SWTOR and I understand that it's a work in progress (like every MMO ) and can't be perfect at launch but it will get closer to it as time progresses. Thank you for reading this rather long post. I can understand if some of you think I'm promoting elitism, somethign I know many players abhor. A short answer to that is: yes I'm doing that and I'm aware of it, as I believe that elitism (with all its negative aspects) has some positive aspects and one of the most important of these is that it promotes progression. As this is another topic and I don't want to derail the thread feel free to PM me and we can discuss about it or start another thread together. Once again thank for reading and I look forward to read other great suggestions and answers (especially from you Viper1 =) ) on this thread.

Tbh I've got an Assassin tank and on the bonus boss in Black Talon hm fight I have to say if you have perfect interrupts and dark ward uptime is 100% and you have your debuffs on the boss then there is 2 options: - boss enrages --> dps are not up to the fight - you die before enrage --> healer cant keep you up or you dont use your survival CDs properly But I'd personally need more info on what kills you and how.

ok I have to say I enjoyed the SI storyline, yes it did not have too many plot turning elements but it was very well done and tbh some of the criticism you guys give is not at all logical concerning the story itself. Mainly when you say "Zash did not teach me anything I felt like an errand boy". Firstly a master student relationship often involves the student to do minor jobs for the master after all the student is very low in the social hierarchy compared to the master. Secondly why on earth would Zash teach someone somethign whom she views as a vessel to be filled by her spirit, thus gaining all her knowledge. Seems like a waste of time to me... Besides Act 1 maintained a very nice balance of the when will Zash betray me (you know Khem Val says this and then there is the Sith Code and Kallig (Kallig beinig another epic moment in the sotry: we're actually descendant from this really powerful Sith lord cool!)) and how will I get the power she promises and WHY does she give it to me and not herself. The wow-effect of Act 1 ending was also not supposed to be the "oh Zash betrays you herp derp" if it was why give us so many clues? The wow-effect was Zash was actually OLD (another reference to Palpatine through Darth Plagueis)! And the fact that Khem Val who I disliked got a girly voice and Zash inside of him made me giggle for many an hour. I agree thought that you should be able to turn Ashara to the Darkside but the whole story how you gain Xalek is just soo ironical that it evens it out for me at least. Now to the argument "I feel like I cheated by binding the ghosts to me" that ritual as the codex and quest explain is really rare and can be only done by the really strong force users. So already by mastering it you prove your something special and very strong in the force (Palpatine again). Besides Thanaton while being a Dark Council member not through strenght but by cunning (see web comic) is beyong a doubt a worthy foe because as you can read in the webcomic he defeated the Emperors own aprrentice (with a bit of luck) and his values are shown there and in the codex as well, so his motive to kill you is not too hard to understand (and its trumpeted in your head like 10 times in the story). By all this I mean you should by any means loose against Thanaton in any fight you're a bloody masterless Lord of the Sith without any teaching while he is the embodiment of t he strongest sith alive! So yeah you should feel underpowered against him. The whole force ritual having a catch was also easy to foresee but come on the catch was nice you going mad and having to cure yourself all the while growing more powerful in the force (Voss) its not only a very good way off making the plot get thicker by making time play against you. Killing the apprentices onmly adds up to that. And btw you can disagree with Zash you don't have to do as she says you can even give her a very good beating if you agree with Khem most of the time. The only thing that disappointed me was that the Darth Thanaton fight was sooo easy. Other than that yeah me getting a seat on the dark council expected since Thanaton declares alll out war on me. Which leads me to my final point. You do actually do things like build a power base and manipulate people, or what do you call taking over a cult, building a superweapon, converting Thanaton's apprentice to betray him (Corellia) using old friends from Balmorra (Corellia)? And at the side we learn a lot of Sith lore everything BW said we'd do. To those who say I was too much minding my own business not being loyal enough to the empire. Open your eyes that what sith do they care squat about the empire if you want to be a patriot as an Imp play an Agent those are the ones who need the Empire for the Dark Council its onmly a tool you'll understand this at the end of the Illum quest line.

If you are a male Sith Inquisitor your only companion romance option is a Light side chick that you can't corrupt other than that I had 2 other flings on the side that cost me Dark side points. And yes I'm maxed out on LS point on my Inquisitor, if you wondered =).

That poem is by a Protestant Reverent German- Resistance fighter and ends in "And when they came for me there was noone left to object"

Have a lvl 50 Tank specced assassin and a lvl 19 operative. Granted my pvp experience on the operative is very limited but from what I've gathered during WZ's it feels like a typical rogue: high burst and squishy which adds up to you stealth or you die if your not using it ooc. This means that in some way an Operaative can be less forgiving in PvP because its squishy but I find the extra thrill of doing high dmg and being able to heal while knowing it does not take much to take you down make this class fun to play (especially due tot he heals). Assassin on the other hand is a powerhouse in terms of staying alive youve got really good CD's Deflection and Force shroud and Overcharge saber. The damage ofc is not through the roof but because you can drag out fights in pvp you can easily lock down the middle in Huttball or just carry the ball to the finishing line etc. The added Guard function gives you a Warzone commendation rain as you get medals ridicolously easy anything at 7 or lover is a bad WZ for me and I only have half and half Champin and Centurion Pvp Gear.

In my opinion Dark Ward functins perfectly. To whom ever it was that said they use 21 one hotkeys as a tank try out this priority order: Keep up at all times: - Dark Ward (refresh when 2 stacks or 2 secs are left or as soon as CD is used) - Wither (reduces dmg taken) - Discharge (5% less accuracy on mobs) Wither and Discharge help a lot in terms of taking dmg so its not like Dark Ward is our only thing to survive keep in mind with have Deflection and Force Shroud (or was it cloak) as well that makes us immune to tech and force damage. All in all pretty awesome survival tools. Other abilities: - Trash when the above are up, Wither is on CD and no Energize buff is present - Shock when all of the above are up and Energize buff is present (buff up with Recklessness for extra damage and threat) - Lacerate instead of trash on AoE groups - Force Lightning when you have 3 stacks of Harnessed Darkness up (buff up with Recklessness if you want) - Assassinate when boss is under 30% hp (- Tumult insta kill weak incapacitated mobs (its fun so I do it )) Thats about it and if I count correct thats a maximum of 9 core-abilities and 3 "Oh **** buttons with Deflection, Force shroud and Overcharge saber, 2 relics, Force Pull ( very situational) and 2 taunts making a total of 18 abilities used for tanking in any given situation. I emphasize on any as I in a vast majority only use the 9 core abilities, Taunt and Force pull adding up to a total of 11 abilities used. If you want help which abilities to ditch or have a better rotation feel free to PM me. Another thing which I believe is important is that the more you play with a tank the less abilities you notice that you use. Most of my core abilities and all of the "Keep-always up abilities" I already use subconsciously meaning I've got a lot more brain power freed to do other stuff while tanking (whatching o ut for pats, interrupting; usually dps take care of this but if you got an interrupt why not use it etc. )

Ok got a lvl 50 Darkness Assassin and I did this fight like somewhere around christmas day so a long time ago but I'll try remember the essential things I did. First of all I downed her the 1st time and also lvled Darkness and Khem Val had 0 Gear uppgrades and I did not use Channel the Force, but for future boss fight it's a very handy although cheezy tool if you find yourself in trouble. When it comes to t he fight really it's all about interrupts as so many people have stated (most caster fights in a ny RPG are about interrrupts). I myself had the following priority on interrupts: heals > force storm > lightning. If she stands in her healiing puddle just knoch her out of it and if she gets a force storm out just run away I never controlled Khem Val so he died during the 1 force storm I let go off to see what she was casting at the end. I personally also used electrocute as my first interrupt so i could use it again in the fight when it comes to dmg i simply used trash and shock mostly and Recklessness for either force lightning and/ or shock. Once you've figured the basic of this boss f ight most caster fights should be easy for you and if you have a ranged companiono on those fight even better as positioning the boss will be easier.

Hi I'm Kishmet and atm I have something like 6 years of MMO gaming under my belt consisting mainly of WoW but also AoC, Aion, WAR etc. Now that Ive briefly introduced myself Ill move on to your question: in my opinion the "best" way to use your controls during combat is very individual and something that evolves with time. An experience I made in RTS games for example is that you at the beginning are more of a clicker than a hotkey user (something I also noticed with my gf when she tried too play WoW) but with time you rely more on hotkeys. What I want to say with this is that you most likely wont find your perfect mouse keyboard usage ratio overnight but it will take time. I for one find it most comfortable to bind my most used skill on 2 everything thats used almost as often as that to 1 and 3 skills i apply in an approximately 15-20 sec interval to 4, 5 and middle mousebutton any cooldowns on other mouse buttons and or - and + as for movement i use the mouse (as a tank) since ive rebound my S, E and Q keys (as a healer in wow i used wasd or arrowkeys to move as i used mouseover healing addons, playing a tank now in swtor so i dont know how id adapt to healing without mouseover but i think it would involve mouse usage for moving as my left hand is used to push hotkeys). For targetibg i use tab or mouse whichever comes naturally ( this depends on 2 things: am i moving or pushing a hotkey as i want to target a mob? I always target with the hand that im not using currently. So when i move TAB when i attack mouse.) I tried to be as specific as i could in my answer but if there are any gaps feel free to PM me as its hard to come up with every specific scenario on what controls i use since its largely something i do subconsciously. Good luck in the game hope this gave you a bit more insight how i do things. Best regards Kishmet

I went biochem bioanalysis and diplomacy. It seems fairly easy to level and the epic medkits and adrenals etc are awesome while you level as 1 epic medkit, adrenal or stim only has a CD but never runs out. Diplomacy also help you play the game you way regarding LS/DS choice and helps lvl companion affection nicely

Ah I see in that case, go with what ever he said and ignore me lol. Thanks for clearing that up =)

do your class quest the 1 before you get your Legacy don't want to spoil anything here so I'm a bit vague but youll get a fully modable Saberstaff with no alignement restriction there

well I'm Darkness specced so don't know too much about deception. Regarding those CD's even I as a tank have to use them on elite mobs (there are some very squishy elites I dont use them on). I either use deflection or electrolute (sometimes even both) and yes there are even situation where I pop medpacks and/ or adrenlas (but thats mostly when soloing champions). IMO elites are supposed to be encounters you need CD-usage on they would not be challenging and "elite" without it and we've got to have some usage for our CD's don't we?

are bosses (I assume you mean the 1s with the champion tag), not usually immune against any kind of interrupt, CC , Knockback?