Once I hit 50 and go to Makeb, what order do I do Flashpoints in, as I progress? Do I do all story mode then the Hard 50's then the Hard 55's or some other way?

you want to be in 66 purple before the 55 hm. you can be in 50 blues for the 50 sm. 50 hm u should have 58 purples.

 

gear is more the limiting factor (besides mechanics) in terms of which to queue for.

 

50 sm until mostly purple 58, 50 hm until mostly purple 63, 55sm until purple 66, 55hm.

Edited October 25, 2013 by dipstik

So it's more about gear then story? I am doing ok as a healer in story mode, does it get a lot worse in hard mode?

My advice is before you reach level 55, do all the level 50 SMFP (Directive 7, Battle of Ilum, False Emperor, Kaon Under Siege and Lost Island) through the GF at least once to prepare you for HM. Once you reach 55, they are greyed out.

 

Yes, HMs are bit more difficult but you don't have to do it all. There are no story progression for HMFP.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Dioxys

So it's more about gear then story? I am doing ok as a healer in story mode, does it get a lot worse in hard mode?

 

If it's the story that interests you, the order is Directive 7->Ilum Planetary Quest->Battle of Ilum->False Emperor->Kaon Under Siege->Lost Island->[Lv. 55]CZ-198 Planetary Quest->Czerka Corporate Labs-> Czerka Core Meltdown

 

I included the planetary quests because if you're interested in the story, you'll want to do them before their following flashpoint, because they set up the scenarios.

 

Edit: Also, in terms of story order, if you're already on Makeb, then you're already out of order with the story if you haven't completed D7->Lost Island yet.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Axe_Faktor
Additional info

It's important to note that even after hitting level 55 you can still do level 50 Flashpoints and still get very good experience. You can also stock up on comm badges and get advanced everything level 50 for you and your companion. If you want post level 50 gear and don't have Cybertech or money to burn on GTN then go for the higher level Flashpoints which will give you badges that will get you post level 50 gear but be warned there is a difficulity spike in those post level 50 or hard level flashpoints.

 

Also if you are interested in story try to keep the level of your Flashpoint in align with your class story or you will get major spoilers. Same applies for each planet wide side quest.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Lecaja