You'll see it in lots of threads. Depends if you want a pvp or pve flavor. I'd recommend lvling as shield tech first. With Mako it is VERY easy progression. You can often solo setups of 2 elites, or 3 strong, or even a boss without fear of death. EDIT: ^ ninja'd

^ What he said. I didn't realize the damage formulas were available in the character sheet. I'll check it out when I get home. Does it include ability coefficients? If that were the case I could do an easy comparison of the two. I'll look into it, thanks.

As my respec costs are climbing I'm zeroing in on a build primarily for PVE tanking. I'm not really interested in talking about Empowered Tech and Heat Blast as I simply don't think Emp. Tech provides enough mitigation for the investment. Sadly, I'm giving up Power Armor too, but ohs wells. What I'm mainly interested in is Ion Overload + Supercharged Ion Gas vs. Steely Resolve. The damage provided by zapping people with ion gas so far seems horrendous, but it does contribute to the cause. Has anyone done enough testing with Steely Resolve to weigh them against eachother? Basically there are 2 variations: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301RMurd0roZ0MZbIbbdh.1 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301RMRrdoroZ0MZbIbbdh.1

I've been using the Rampage Assault set for awhile and like it quite a bit. http://i41.tinypic.com/2qwlxfp.png http://i44.tinypic.com/35i955z.png