You do get the lockout if you voluntarily quit the group. Also, I found out the "timer" seems to depend on how far into the flashpoint you are. For example, if you haven't reached the first boss, the lockout may only be 2mins, the timer increases the farther you are into the flashpoint. At least that is what I have noticed so far, now that I have been paying more attention to the timers. I still haven't seen the full 15mins though. I am really not sure how this works.

Im pretty sure its 10mins not 15. Im also pretty sure you do not get a timer for getting kicked, at least that was as of a couple weeks ago. I asked to be kicked so that it would not start the timer, and I didn't get one. Unless something has changed within the last 2 weeks I am confident of my statement.

I have been told that for this encounter players need to spread out and stand at least 4m away from each other on opposite sides of the boss, that way the boss only throws the shackle mechanic on one player at a time. I haven't been able to test this theory out, but I have seen all players get hit with the shackles at the same time, and interestingly enough we were all standing on same side of the boss and too close together, so there may be some merit to what I have been told. Can anyone shed some light on this mechanic? How does it work exactly?

I understand everything you said. The thing is, the dps dont move when the sandstorm/green gen comes up, they just stay in one spot and keep dps'ing the boss, which means I have to get back into range and taunt. If I use the taunt and I am not close enough to the generator that would be a wasted taunt, an instant smash, and a ton of unnecessary healing for the healer. Of course I guard the highest dps geared player. My tank is in almost full 180s with about 44k hp, and because the dps group isnt moving, I don't want to use taunt, yet. Is there something I am missing here?

ok I have one: I am on my guardian tank. I que for HM lvl 55 HM. que pops, we get cz meltdown. Everyone says their "hellos" and I am thinking its a friendly group. Everything is fine, till we get to the Sand Dune Claw boss. Almost every time I do this boss I am the first to get to the generator nodes, idk how I do but I do. The dps are needlessly still pummling on the boss without moving to node. I taunt, the boss finally comes over to the node, with some difficulty because the dps are still putting out full dps on the boss during the drag to node. The healer is having a rough time because of this. we wipe. Second round. Same thing, except one of the dps says "taunt" before I even get to the node. I politely explain that if I taunt before I get to the node the beast will jump to me and immediately do the smash attack, which we dont want, and for the dps to use threat drops. The dps that said "taunt' says "WHAT? I have never heard of that...." I realize this isnt going to work out, so I exit the instance.

That's a tough one because they are all kinda on same level now, at least the lvl 55's are. LI HM used to be the hardest, before the nerfs. If I had to pick one, it would be cz meltdown, i think, its the one with the sand dune claw creature? Its not that its hard, but I have seen so many pug groups struggle with that one, the only other one I can think of is the first boss of cz 198? the droid boss, that one also seems to be "tough" for some groups (read "bad" groups). Right now though, there is no real "challenging" HM FP all the way through, that I can think of. There are some tough lvl 55 bonus bosses that some groups also struggle with. The asteroid beast (hammer station) comes to mind. LI HM is a lvl 50 HM. If it were a lvl 55, it might actually be the hardest, maybe. Although I am sure some would argue even if it were lvl 55 it wouldn't be.

Yes, you do. Once. The first time. We got that, you don't like it. You seem to have this insatiable need to get the last word in. You have proven this point by replying to my joke about doing LI HM naked. You took that bait. Anyhow, good luck KB I wish you the best in your swtor forum endeavors.

its an achievement (not ingame achieve) or a bragging right, OP has the right to do so. In fact I am sure there are plenty of others who have solo cleared hm Athiss and have not posted about it, but that's not the point. The video of the sage solo clearing LI HM is impressive imo. I have tried solo clearing it on my imp sniper OP healer, and have only made it to Sav Rak, I haven't figured out how to get past him yet. By the same token, someone could post a video of them almost solo clearing x hm fp, and asking for help, or tips. This post could be seen the same way, someone might have a suggestion or tip for the OP, which could improve his/her play-style for the next go around or another hm fp. KB, you seem to be taking this whole thing a bit too seriously. This is the swtor forums, for the community of swtor players. What that means is it is a place to share things like this socially with like minded members/players, and they have every right to do that. (so long as it follows the rules of the forums). You spoke your piece, and should have left it at that. Would you like me to solo clear LI HM naked, and post that? Would that impress you? Nah, probably not. In fact I can see your post already:

I totally agree with this comment. Lately have been in fp's where lack of communication within the group has been an issue, and have had very similar experiences as the poster above, ie, tank makes moves that might be an LOS pull or maybe not, but either way ends up doing one or the other and doesn't tell the rest of the group. I would say out of those events, maybe 25-30% of those result in a death of at least one or all players. If nothing is mentioned before a pull I will assume the standard, basic rules of dps, healing, and tanking.

theres a few spots on the map that i know of where if you are in the right spot you will die automatically. i was defending a node and was just trying to find a spot to stand behind something for "cover" and behind one of the objects on the ground, theres a small space between another object and the object i was behind, somehow i "fell" into that space and died. not sure if its supposed to be like that, it doesnt make any sense. how do i die from falling half a foot? i think there are several spots like this on the AH map.

if i remember correctly, a dev said it was because players were repairing armor and leaving, not buying medpacks.

yes, im sure your approach to getting things done by asking this way works really well. good luck with that.

I like to help players that look like they are struggling, esp on my healer. There are several bosses ingame that can be helped with outside help and it does not hurt or "steal" the objective. For example, there is a corellia black hole mission (republic side) where you have to kill the wimpy boss Quick-Hands Quarl, usually theres several players helping one player kill this npc. Occasionally, there will be that one player that swears that helping is stealing that npc. There are several npc like this in game. The "key to decryption" boss droid in Section X is another example. Unfortunately not enough players understand this, and scream at you for "helping", but i think most players know, and usually welcome the help, with either dps or heals.

actually, i think any of the "imperial mark iv sentinel droid" (elite) for example, which are everywhere in the fp Taral V, will do a stealth detection debuff (the kind that looks like a laser reticule on the stealthed player) and it is not a boss. I believe its 3-5 seconds, if the stealthed player does not unstealth within that time, the mob will unstealth the player and engage combat, anyone else in the stealthed players group will also be in combat with the mob. In fact, i went into the lvl 30ish version of taral v with my lvl50 scoundrel and tested stealth in that instance and it is obvious that level has no effect on stealth level, because as a lvl 50 scoundrel in stealth i was still getting the "laser reticule" debuff from an insane distance away from the mob, like 30m+, even in a low level fp. imo, stealth and npc mob stealth detection needs a tweaking at least for pve, but thats another discussion for another thread. A few times i have told stealth players to unstealth near these droids because of that, and a few times i have had stealth players swear they are not the ones causing the pulls.

the most successful spots to stand in my experience has been: tank taunts malgus and stands in any spot between a pillar and the tunnel door to the right (if you are standing facing the stairs) the rest of the group (heals/dps) need to be standing on the opposite side of the pit, on the edge of the platform, or as close to the edge as possible, this is to give malgus the least amount of "floor" space to land to, when he jumps. Occasionally, he will bug, and never die. Ive only had this happen a couple of time, out of many. Sometimes it takes less then 20 seconds, sometimes it takes up to a minute or two, depending on where people are standing. Ive had people say "they fixed it" just because it was taking longer then the usual 20 or 30 seconds. Give it some time, he may leap around a few times, and players may die a few times (due to malgus pushing them into the pit) before he finally falls into the pit. Im sure this is not intended, and will be fixed in the future. its helpful if the heals/dps can heal/dps from the other side of the pit, creating hate and getting malgus to jump quicker. it is not helpful when players (other then the tank) run up to him and fight him, because they create that one spot that malgus might jump to that isnt near the pit. Basically, there should be only two places malgus might jump to: the tank or the rest of the group.