I'll come out of some WZs feeling the same way. Raging about how ineffective I was and getting so many glow-sticks shoved up my arse. I'll log onto an alt to cool off. Later, I'll PvP some more and dominate and feel like a Commando ******. Did anything change in my skill or gear between those two points in time? Nope. But the other team and my team changed, and that makes all the difference in the world. If your team stinks and the opponent does not, you are going to have some bad WZs no matter your class. When the tables are turned, you will be burning dudes down like it's cool. So relax, do something else for a while, re-queue and hope your team is better and the other team is worse. I have worked myself into an ideal position in that I have a 50 on each side. If I find myself losing a ton on one side, I'll switch to my other toon.

Oh, don't take everything here all the serious. I do just fine in 50 PvP. Once you grind out your Battlemaster and then some War Hero gear, you will be okay as long as you possess some skill. That being said: 1 - You will likely never attain elite status - we simply can't survive as well as other DPS classes. You will read over and over that you are a support class. Once you are noticed, it is very tough to go toe-to-toe and survive with any other class. Not impossible, but at the highest levels of play, commandos do tend to get blown up. 2 - I also dominated 10 - 49. You get quite a few n00bs and quite a few players that don't yet understand that leaving a Commando alone to rain down hate and discontent is a bad idea. By 50, you have enough competent players that when they see a Commando they know they can quickly take you out of the fight. If you enjoy your class, stick with it. Explore the Combat Medic tree (this is actually quite viable in 50 PvP, but takes quite a bit of skill). I hear Gunslingers are fun, but don't have one so can't comment on that.

I recommend going straight up the assault tree. This is by no means gospel. But based on my experiences, if I had to level another Commando, this is how I would do it : Level 15 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcR.2 Level 20 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcGM0z.2 Level 25 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcGrbzo.2 Level 30 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcGrbzG0z.2 Level 35 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcGrbzGhMz.2 Level 40 http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#800ZZcGrbzGhrs.2

OP, I feel your pain. As others have said, moving from 10-49 to 50 PvP is like going from the minors to the pros - everyone moves faster and hits harder. So the outlook isn't full of rainbows and unicorns. As a commando with a decent amount of 50 PvP experience (closing in on 70 Valor Rank) here is how I see things: 1 - I love Assault spec. I feel mobile and nothing beats lighting everyone on fire and watching them burn. Total DPS is quite awesome and I was always in Top 3, and sometimes number 1 it total damage for the WZ. However, while burst feels decent, it just isn't enough to burn down a good healer, or someone getting healed by a good healer. So in the end, I did tons of damage, but just wasn't feeling 100% effective. You can't out-assault an assault spec Vanguard. So why be their annoying little brother? 2 - I also love Gunnery. If I get to drop three grav rounds, a demo round, HiB, and Full Auto - life is good. Unlike Assault, burst is awesome. I can blow someone up IF they are focused on something else. However, sustained DPS isn't quite what Assault is (your DoT doesn't do periodic damage, just reduces armor). A grav round makes a very distinct sound when it hits you (some would call it damn annoying). As soon as you pop someone, they are looking for you and once they are in your face waving their glowstick, hitting them with grav rounds and full auto becomes a challenge. I swear I had some WZs where I couldn't get off more than 2 grav rounds before being blown the hell up. 3 - I hate being a CM. I've tried it multiple times and it just sucks. I have a 50 Op healer and THAT is healing on easy mode. Spamming your heals while running around and oh yeah, disappear when you get focused. Also endless spamming of emergency medical probe when you are under 30% health. CMs absolutely cannot compete with that. So where am I now? I've gone with a hybrid spec and I'm actually loving it. Now hear me out : I only went 11 points into CM to pick up Kolto Bomb. I went a few points into Gunnery to pick up the extra Aim and reduced time on recharge cells, and the rest is Assault. I roll with Plasma Cell. My MAIN focus is still DPS. Can I pwn faces without Assault Platique? Nope. I miss tossing my little piece of singing joy. But I can light MFers on fire and put out some pretty mean supporting damage. Secondary, I pocket heal. I keep an eye on those around me and if the dedicated healer can't keep up (or frequently there just isn't one) I can drop KBs and MPs. The bad guys take a while to catch on because I'm hitting them with IRs and using Plasma Cell. I have no doubt I eventually get marked as a healer, but that's life. I can also keep the main healer alive when she gets focused. I can't replace their 600k healing, but if I keep them in the fight, am I not contributing to the success of the team? How am I doing? Keep in mind I have decent gear (4 pieces of WH, rest BM, all augmented). My best WZ was 250k damage and 250k healing. With my spec, I can be flexible. If I'm in a WZ with no healers, my healing will outpace my damage. If there is some awesome healer(s), I can focus on lighting people up and my damage will far exceed my healing. And above all, I can adapt to the situation depending on the enemy and what friendlies are around me. I can seamlessly lay down decent DPS and roll to some pretty decent healing. I will never out-do a full healer or full DPS, but I can contribute where I'm needed and it seems like I've won a lot more than I've lost as I've learned this new spec. Medal count hasn't been a problem at all and MVP votes are there as well from anyone that notices you 4x the damage as any other healer. It takes practice and certainly isn't for everyone, but I think it plays to one of our strengths - we DO have the ability to heal, so why not use it to supplement our less than stellar DPS?

I don't have any deep insight to the Vanguard side of the house, but I can tell you that from many level 50 WZs observations, Assault Vanguards can absolutely smash. My Assault Commando just can't hang with their damage. And I'm not even considering utility - just from a pure DPS perspective they can wreck Imps like I wish I could. In fact, when I notice one on my team, I follow them around the WZ. Between the two of us we can insta-gib most other classes and the Vanguard is always in their face while I stand as far away as possible mopping up. So stop worrying about your Vanguard, you are going to be just fine and you will have Commando fanbois follow you around WZs like puppies.

I have a 50 Concealment Operative and a 50 Assault Commando. I can tell you that on my Operative, I will frequently jump Commandos because they like to stand outside the fray and, when unmolested, do significant damage. Also, as they tend to be outside looking in, I am less likely to be jumped by their teammate while I do my stabby stabby. You really have only three choices when jumped by a Concealment Op with their Acid blade/hidden strike opener: 1) Best option - a teammate notices you getting bent over and starts pounding on the Op. This will force them to either sacrifice themselves for killing you or vanish and try again later. 2) Pop any defensive cooldowns you have along with medpacks, adrenaline rush, etc. Tech override to insta medical probe yourself, and attempt to damage the Operative enough that they give up and vanish. Do this while running towards nearby teammates for aid (Gunnery spec...I don't know...just throw foul language at them while you run). 3) Die. On my Operative, if 1-v-1 against even a full health Commando, if no one comes to help, I'll kill them 80% of the time. Concealment Ops have too much burst and too many stuns. About 3 out of 10 times the Commando will only have a chance for a couple GCDs. It just isn't a good match-up. Operatives excel at 1-v-1 while Commandos excel at being a support class. I "feel your pain". I put up pretty decent numbers on my Commando and find myself in WZs where the Op hunts me down the entire time and effectively shut me down. Does it suck? Absolutely. But if they are looking for you, they are ignoring a healer somewhere (unless you are a CM - then just pound your head on your keyboard).

Thanks for that. I may give it a shot. But it will be tough to do without the HS face-plants that I'm so addicted to as full concealment. I played around with a full lethality build for a while and found that while my total damage was ridiculously high by the end of a WZ, it wasn't necessarily the most effective damage. It was really just pestering a lot of repubs. Burst DPS was a challenge as you really had to lay on all DOTs and cull like it was cool. That being said, I've been concealment for so long that I think I will need to try something different just to keep things interesting.

I'd say it makes it a more challenging class to play well. I know I have every key bound and am constantly dancing among them while I play. I had a difficult time with the BS 12 second delay last night. It is going to take some getting used to. The 7.5 second HS delay only hit me once or twice. Usually by the time I've HS, BS, shiv and conceal for next HS it has been 7.5 seconds. I'm only level 48, so the PvP world at 50 may be a completely different experience. But after about six WZs it is clear the changes will take some getting used to, but my results were consistent as far as damage/kills/deaths. So 1.2 hasn't been the end of my world just yet and I'll reserve judgement for post-level 50.