I keep seeing vanguard dps stand at a distance the whole time, then turn around and complain they are underpowered. When I tell them to try getting in melee range, they always argue, "we're not a melee class."

 

If you're a tank, your stock strike will always trigger ion cell. If you don't trigger ion cell, you can't use high impact bolt. If you do use high impact bolt while ion cell dot is active on the enemy, you will trigger ion cell again with high impact bolt and an ion cell aoe as well. The only way to guarantee you have ion cell on your enemy is to stock strike because it's a 100% chance to trigger ion cell. Not only that, but every time you sheild an attack, you have a 50% chance to reset stock strike. That said, stock strike will probably become your highest single target damage source because of the constant resets. If you aren't in range for stock strike you are crippling your dps/threat.

 

Tactics vanguards only effective source of dot is gut. Again, high impact bolt requires you to have a dot up. Not only that, but your gut and stockstrikes have a 25% cance to give you a high impact bolt auto crit. Also every time ion pulse do damage you have a 30% chance to get a free stock strike, and a 100% chance if you use fire pulse. If you aren't in melee range, you're passing up free damage. Also you generate pulse generator which makes your next pulse cannon do 60% more damage and slow enemys by 70% and is immune to interrupt when fully charged. The only way to effectively make use of it is to stand in melee range. Running in and out of melee range is just wasting dps.

 

If you're assault, Ion pulse gets a 45% chance to reset and make your next high impact bolt free, but stock strike gets a 60% chance (not to mention it does more damage). And if they're burning (and they should be) that free high impact bolt will recharge one ammo. That means that high impact bolt will generate ammo instead of cost ammo. And considering high impact bolt is your hardest hitting none dot attack, you need to get off as many high impact bolts as possible. The only way to maximize that is if you are in range for stock strike.

I play my Vanguard as a semi-ranged class.

Meaning I know when to stay out of a melee fight and when to go in.

If there are a lot of lightsaber wielding maniacs, I try to stay at range and soften them up before they finally decide to charge me, however, if there are more ranged classes I charge right in there and start whacking away.

With the amount of marauders out there, going into a melee fight is just a bad idea, no matter how you put it, in a melee fight, the marauder will always win, unless he is really undergeared.

Juggernauts are a 50/50 chance to win, which is how it should be, same with assassins and operatives, but I see a lot more marauders out there than any of these.

Anyway, we have abilities for both range and melee, the trick is to know when to use what, insted of always charging into the middle of a fight first thing.

 

This is just my opinion, I am not speaking for anyone but myself.

I can't really speak for dps, since im a tank but I can tell you that tanks are at melee very often. Since our main skill are used mostly in melee range, than yes, I agree that vanguards are mostly melee

I've had the same problem. Just because you have a ranged weapon, doesn't mean you're a ranged dps. Vanguards are melee. They're just as much of a melee class as a Guardian or Scoundrel.

In a word: yes.

 

The primary confusion no doubt arises from the fact that TOR is billed as having ranged tanks. An understandable expectation since vanguards/powertechs use blasters. The fact that they insist on calling them ranged tanks (Tactical Role(s): Ranged Tank; Close-Quarters Damage) doesn't help. It's even more confusing since they also state that the DPS is close-quarters. (Admittedly I was always a bit leery about how ranged tanking was supposed to work - why would anyone use a melee tank if you could play a ranged tank and avoid a boss' melee attacks?)

 

Certainly, some attacks have a longer range and can allow these tanks to grab aggro (at least initially) at up to 30 meters. However, for anyone who has tanked with a vanguard or powertech there can be no question that to do so effectively one has to be within ten meters of the target.

I've got a Vanguard DPS and heard them refered to as half and half, well, most of my highest damaging attacks are 10m, and agree, the stock strike/ion bolt simply has to be your rotation. We are melee.

 

Sometimes it's useful to be able to run away or use some range on bosses that need to be kept at the same percentage levels but thats just useful mechanics.

When I started to read the OP's post, the first thing I thought of were the big robots in Maelsstrom Prison that do the exact same thing he describes to players, even Ion Cell. They also bring targets in to melee range.

 

Even the NPC mechanics are set up the same way.

Should look at our class like a gurellia warfar fighter more of in and out. run in stockstrike and plastique him then move away and HiB and ion pulse until cd's are off to go back in. we are a mid ranged melee dps

It used to be completely viable to be a Ranged DPS with the Assault Spec. The recent changes have destroyed that. If you aren't being melee now, you're doing it wrong.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=554398

 

I discuss it here, and how it's strictly a melee (<10m) class now.