Duran'del here:

My gear is, to me, okay(I am grinding Makeb, Cz-198, and Oricon for BM gear). I have Verpine boots, BM chest, belt, shield, and bracers, and basic(156s[EDIT: ALL BM or Better as of 11/3/13) everything else. My stats are as follows:

EDIT(AS OF 11/4/13):

-Absorb: ~33%

-Defense: ~17.75%

-Shield: ~34%

-Relics: Conquerer Relic of Reactive Warding, Arkanian Relic of Shielded Crusader(Or whatever the Absorb proc relic is[Thinking of ditching this for Conq. Defense proc relic.])

-Defense augs on chest, helmet, legs, boots, and gloves.

So should I try and keep my stats as they are now or should I focus on a specific stat?

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=616779

Read this thread out and follow the vanguard stat distribution.

To help you out a bit, calculate your stat budget by adding you defense, shield and absorb rating --> It will give you total stat budget. Check out the graphs in the post above and based on your stat budget, work towards the ideal defense, shield and absorb rating you should get.

Based on the stats you're giving, I can tell you need a lot more defense, and less absorb. They're interchangeable so start changing enhancements and mods. Your shield rating is looking a bit high for your stat budget. Find verpine pieces that have high defense mods.

Edit: try to stay away as much as you can from B mods and enhancements. Go for unlettered ones.. this is specific to powertechs at the very least. The easiest way to get unlettered mods is to get token gear from operations. I believe you can find unlettered mods from very verpine pieces, just focus on buying those. As for Oriconian gear, Bracers and Belts give out excellent def mods.

For more info just check out the link to the thread, everything you need to know is there

Oh and one more thing (sorry always glad to help out any way I can), the BIS implants you can get for a powertech tank until you can get your hands on Dread Forged implants (78 token implants) is the Veracity ones. They provide high defense and shield rating, higher than Arkanian, and I believe pretty much on par with Underworld in terms of mitigation. You won't get as much endurance, but Mitigation>Endurance.

I don't remember the name but you should be able to buy em on the GTN for no more than 40k. Just type Veracity on GTN, select implant and check the aim stats. If you're lucky you'll find em! (don't forget to augment them of course)

PvP or PvE

They have entirely different piorities

PvP or PvE

They have entirely different piorities

It's for PvE.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=616779

 

Read this thread out and follow the vanguard stat distribution.

 

To help you out a bit, calculate your stat budget by adding you defense, shield and absorb rating --> It will give you total stat budget. Check out the graphs in the post above and based on your stat budget, work towards the ideal defense, shield and absorb rating you should get.

 

Based on the stats you're giving, I can tell you need a lot more defense, and less absorb. They're interchangeable so start changing enhancements and mods. Your shield rating is looking a bit high for your stat budget. Find verpine pieces that have high defense mods.

 

Edit: try to stay away as much as you can from B mods and enhancements. Go for unlettered ones.. this is specific to powertechs at the very least. The easiest way to get unlettered mods is to get token gear from operations. I believe you can find unlettered mods from very verpine pieces, just focus on buying those. As for Oriconian gear, Bracers and Belts give out excellent def mods.

 

For more info just check out the link to the thread, everything you need to know is there

I tried reading the thread, but the math was a little bit too much for my brain to take in. I'm more of the "percentage" type of person.

Oh and one more thing (sorry always glad to help out any way I can), the BIS implants you can get for a powertech tank until you can get your hands on Dread Forged implants (78 token implants) is the Veracity ones. They provide high defense and shield rating, higher than Arkanian, and I believe pretty much on par with Underworld in terms of mitigation. You won't get as much endurance, but Mitigation>Endurance.

 

I don't remember the name but you should be able to buy em on the GTN for no more than 40k. Just type Veracity on GTN, select implant and check the aim stats. If you're lucky you'll find em! (don't forget to augment them of course)

My main tank is a Biochem and I've had the Veracity Implants for a while.

Now I know how to get lots of money... *Evil cackling*

It can seem overwhelming at first, but once you get into the habit of thinking of your stats as ratings rather then percentages, it does make more sense.

That link refers to ratings, which is the benefit you gain from gear and stims. To check what your rating is in any given stat, you need to mouse over the relevant stat (defense, shield, absorb). This will show a tooltip with detailed information. The number you are looking for is called "rating" in that tooltip.