Do you use a shield for 23/0/18 and if not, have you specced in Kinetic Ward? (And if so, why?)

Is there any reason to go for kinetic ward in the kinetic/balance hybrid build (23/0/18) for PvP? There are several threads about how useless shields and defensive stats are in PvP due to the fact that only white damage is affected by them. So in my opinion, for the build Kinetic Ward is a wasted point am I right?

Did you already read this Bursting Guide? Most targets are nearly dead when I drop a 2x Clairvoyant Strike, [POP Force Potency and Crit/Surge Relic] Project + Force Breach on them. It's basically a matter of CC and burst phases. In a 1on1 situation, I usually do Spinning Kick, Bust-Phase, dps until Find Weakness procs, Low Slash, Shadow Strike, dps until below 30%, spinning strike. ofc, there are many situations where you need Force Stun, Force Slow and other cooldown abilities but basically, I managed to take most enemies down with that.

I can't do the math but I have to agree that a shadow strike with FW proc does more damage than Clairvoyant Strike, especially the crit since infiltration gets +30% surge from talents. I could provide some video footage to prove this point... @Silverspar: How can you "save force" by using CS over SS with FW? Same Force cost... "Furthermore, since Shadow Strike is also weapon damage..." << as is CS, but without 50% Armor ignore and 30% additional surge... Your statements are misleading, sir.

that's what I'm saying plus I don't think it's even 5% ^^ Should have added some [irony] tags here and there but since english is not my native language, I maybe could have expressed myself a little bit better.

Sounds good, right? The only flaw is that internal and elemental damage ignore armor and sadly, those are the heavy hiters. You might like to read this thread for more information: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=155034&highlight=armor+rating

Why would you consider taking it? Do you feel too squishy? I tried it for a couple hours and respecced the same day. Maybe I didn't give it a good shot but I didn't feel less squishy at all. Most abilities in PvP don't care about your armor value at all so for me, it was not worth it at all.

I did several hard mode flashpoints so far and enrage timer was no real issue even with melee only DPS. I respecced once to a PvE version of my PvP Build (PvE: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601MZhGMRkhMrtzZf0c.1) but it wasn't really necessary as I also cleared them with my PvP Specc. Blackout and Force Cloak are key parts of your ability to constantly dps. There are many encounters that require moving away from a boss as melee. In this situations, you can also gather some force. Other than that - watch your buffbar and use the right abilities accordingly. Overall, single target DPS is very nice. I heard balance DPS is also valid, but I never tried in PvE.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=458 This should help you a lot.

Having about even WP and Endurance is pretty normal. I wouldn't care that much as long as you're not lvl50. At 50, with Champion Gear, you can usually focus more on specific stats like crit by taking crit/surge Enchantments from Champion-item A und slot it into Champion-Item B. That requires multiple Champion-Items A ofc.

Both Balance and Infiltration are perfectly viable DPS Speccs for Shadows and can compete with other classes DPS as far as I can say without having a damage meter. In the heroics and operations I did so far, my single target DPS was very nice. For AoE, I'm sure there are better classes.

Our penalty for having stealth is that we do not have a charge ability which cripples us in Huttball for example as well as in kiting situations. Granted, kinetics can Force Pull a target but being able to charge up is pretty good

Why would so many people try to answer OP if he's not ready to discuss anything and calls everyone who trys to help a bad player. OP thinks while switching techniques continiously, he can SS spam for the win. Why even bother...

I think it's more a bonus, as I don't think I ever saw 5 stacks of it in pvp. But 2-3 stacks are already a nice boost to an ability I use on cooldown, deals internal damage and is a vital part of the standard burst-down combo. And consider the synergy with deep impact as well. I'd prefer having it, but I'd be curious if there are more opinions on that.

Interesting. I'm playing in a premade as well and obviously, we have the same goals. I see your points and think they are valid for your approach to your "duty" to kill single targets. I usually migrate the damage of AoE with Resilience and/or CC multiple targets. With the default Focus Target frame, it's quite easy to interrupt the aoe-caster and switching back to your main target asap. You might say you need all interrupts for the healer you're trying to kill but I'm not alone on the battlefield. My Assist-Sentinel can interupt a crucial heal as well. In general, the Sage healer I'm playing with feels like the AOE spamming can be healed way easier than the single target bursting so walking 2-3s through an AOE effect is not that bad so far. I find Force slow quite handy when disabling multiple targets (after voidstar door opens) and at 2on1s, where I can keep 1 enemy away (knockback, force slow) while killing the other.