Preface: I have nothing against grouping. In fact, it's entirely likely I'll be grouping quite a bit with this character. However, I love to solo, and the harder the content the better. It's my hobby when the guild isn't around for grouping. That said, this character is being "built" for solo first, group second. I will virtually never PvP so no worries about that.

I've been popping in and out of the game for a few days at a time over the last couple years but haven't really played the game since the end of 2014 for any real length of time. I basically haven't played the game in about two years, so a lot of info I have might be outdated, but I've been doing all sorts of researching while I'm installing the game (since that takes me a couple hours) and have gone through about 50 or so threads and the like. I've narrowed it down, I think, to Powertech and Assassin. I suppose Jugg could be an option but I've never been that fond of Rage mechanics for classes.

I know from reading the mountain of threads it appears that with recent(?) changes to the game that literally any/everything can solo now thanks to some companion buffs. This is good news, of course, but there's still always going to be a class that is better at it than the others, and there is always going to be some content that one class can manage to do that others either can't do or have a much harder time doing. Now I'm not necessarily looking for the best, not even sure how you would really define that in a game like this, but I do have some things I'm looking for that can maybe narrow it down. I know forums like people with questions to be as specific as possible so I will try my best.

1: I have problems with tunnel vision, admitting that right up front. Easier rotations are better. I'm expecting a gaming mouse for christmas but that's a bit away. Reading seems to suggest that Powertech is easier than the other two tanks, followed by Jugg, and Assassin is the hardest. Yes? Assuming that's accurate, PT would win this point.

2: I prefer passive mitigation over active. This basically hits the same as #1, PT > J > A. If accurate, PT wins again.

Now, having said that, I'm still not sure if it's that simple. I was leaning towards the Assassin since I've never actually played one all that far, and even doing the research doesn't really say how the classes play.

From what I remember, PT basically uses ranged to pull and then blows everything up with melee/AoE. Juggernaut jumps into mobs and then blows them up with AoE. Assassin sneaks in, and...I forget. I actually got pretty far with an Assassin (when the game first came out) but it's been so long I forget how they play. I remember Assassin being good because you could stealth past some really nasty fights when trying to solo H4's (which apparently no longer exist?).

3: I plan to make one of every class eventually assuming I have enough fun and stick around, but this will likely end up as my main, taking into account doing holiday events, dailies, weeklies, stuff like that. My grinder, so to speak, who handles all my "chores". That may make a difference in class recommendation, it may not, but it seems worth putting out there.

4: Slightly off topic here, but still important for a main...any recommendations on Crew Skill? I know biotech is the default but I'm personally fond of artifice and cybertech. Any of these three would likely be good but...not sure. I don't generally craft for profit, I craft for personal usefulness (and to help friends of course).

5: I want to be immortal. I know, so does everybody, right? What I mean is, even if I have to slow down my killing, or move through whatever FP/etc slower, I just don't want to die. That may not even be a concern anymore based on what I've been reading but, as mentioned, I do plan to make some attempts at soloing stupid stuff when my guild is busy, so...it might make a difference? I don't know.

I feel like this is basically going to come down to stealth being the most convenient thing ever (assassin) or shieldtech being really easy to play but having to swim through all the enemies instead of stealthing. I don't know, just really torn on what to play and hoping to get some good advice.

Thank you!

PT

5char

I solo with an assassin.

Stealth and force speed and getting out of combat is nice to skip and to reset encounters. Good balance between ranged and meele and usefull interupts.

I soloed most vet flashpoints, one master fp, master chapters exept chapter 2 kotet... still trying, and most uprisings (some are impossible to solo..) .

But I never played PT so I am probable biased.

PS

If you do master chapter you will die... a lot.... believe me... even if you are a better player then myself (very likely).

Good luck and a lot of fun

My the force guide your way

With the tank classes it comes down to what you will enjoy most. For me its guardians (juggs). As you said passive defense is greatest in the PT. Unfortunately they also have the least DCDs and thus overall the most damage taken. But I know people who main PT and tank with me, so it's not horrible by any stretch.

Guardians (juggs) are the cool down based class. As you say it's basically jump in, grab aggro, and learn when to use what defensive.

Sins have the most micro managing to do, such as watching stacks of dark ward. But they also have the biggest mechanic cheese with force shroud and stealth is always useful.

Because of the kinetic ward micromanaging, my usual preference is juggs, then PT, then sin. My sin gets used more imp side just because I liked the story better. But on pub side, where I main, i have like 8 guardians, 2 vanguard, and a shadow.

For solo content, it really comes down to what appeals most to you, or alternatively picking a dps spec to simply kill things faster.