Been a Beta tester as a Sith Sorcerer for a while(leveled three lv50 Sorcerer across 5 beta builds.)

 

Few things to add in this thread:

 

1. The Presence stat that increase companion effectiveness is NOT the main stat for healing, all SI share 1 main stat and that is willpower(dps/heal/crit/power).

 

2. All mobs in TOR come in group of 2 or more(except boss), most common is group of 3. So AoE damage ability is important, but sadly Sorcerer doesn't get a major AoE ability until level 20(first tier skill tree/talent for Madness/Lightning.) Yeah I know all SI got Overload, but that really is a cc.

 

3. Companion can be very useful, IF they are properly gear, i.e. your Khem(tank/dps companion) still use the same old low level gear on him... of course he can't tank or dps at higher level!

 

4. Class with heals are the best soloing class(Sorcerer/Operative/Mercenary), survivability of those classes are very high, especially healing spec, they are unkillable if the player knows what they are doing.

 

5. Respec cost, first time is free, 2nd 1.3k, 3rd 3.4k, 4th 10k, 5th 35k.

 

I try to level as a Lightning Spec sorcerer once, only get it to lv35ish before I respec to Madness, sorry but the Lightning Strike resource management and 3 second cast chain lightning is getting on my nerve. Besides, I like Force Lightning, like A LOT!

 

Madness spec is called the powerhouse of sorcerers in beta and not without good reason.

 

Basically once player got both Madness and Sith Efficacy in the Madness Tree, OOR(out of resource/force/mana) is very rare.

 

Also, regardless of which spec players plan on leveling, I really recommend first 2 skill point in the Lightning tree for Reserves.

 

Great insights

2. All mobs in TOR come in group of 2 or more(except boss), most common is group of 3. So AoE damage ability is important, but sadly Sorcerer doesn't get a major AoE ability until level 20(first tier skill tree/talent for Madness/Lightning.) Yeah I know all SI got Overload, but that really is a cc.

I didn't get really far but I played all 3 ranged dps during beta to compare them a little. Everyone who can't wait to get chain lightning, just group with a BH or IA, they get that kind of power at level 3-5. I guess that goes for corrup sorcs too, if you duo with the other ranged classes and let khem tank then trash mobs are a joke, a level 10 BH can literally wipe out 5 mobs with one ability. We're definitely stronger soloing more difficult content, like the [hard 2] type areas, but for general questing a partner(non-sith) just makes everything fast and easy.

 

I try to level as a Lightning Spec sorcerer once, only get it to lv35ish before I respec to Madness, sorry but the Lightning Strike resource management and 3 second cast chain lightning is getting on my nerve. Besides, I like Force Lightning, like A LOT!

Some people complain about force lightning spam but it really is the only spammable ability BW gave us worth using.

 

I plan on leveling madness/lightning hybrid and getting closer to end game before settling on a definite spec.

I hide behind a SW and let him do all the killing, ever now and then I throw a heal his way but by the time its come off he has usually killed all the mobs any way.

Presence was the healing stat early in beta, they changed to the main stat for the class to cover both healing and damage, and for SI's, that is Willpower.

 

A Corruption Healer can do decent dps with Khem Val as companion. Use Khem to grab and hold agro, then dps while he tanks, and be sure to heal when he gets to a certain level. You essentially have your own mini-group. Be sure to keep him geared, and the best way is to grab the Khem Val specific drops from quests. Most of the time, they are good upgrades. Check every time though because sometimes those will be a minor upgrade and you might want to take an item for yourself.

 

I did notice in the last build that droid gear was rewarded in several quests, and some people did try using the ship droid as a healer. It was late in beta though, so that may be a good option if you want to dps or tank as an SI (tanking requires Assassin though).

 

Some of the heals appear crapptastic to start, but they scale well with level. The heals work together well. For a tougher mob, I would shield and toss a regen on (sorry, I don't remember the spell names), and then dps and watch, when Khem's health dropped slowly below 50% or if it started dropping fast when the shield fell, I would start the big heals. It's very similar to healing with a priest in WoW.

 

Oh, and for big groups of mobs, you may need to cc as well. The Sorc has good cc ability on top of everything else.

 

If you understand the fundamentals of group play (I know a lot new to MMORPG's won't, and don't worry, it comes with practice) and agro management, leveling a full healer SI with a geared Khem Val is very efficient and a lot of fun!!!! I won't drop a spoiler, but I will say that it was late in leveling before I changed my main companion.

 

Khem is a pain in that he hovers and stays close, and you always seem to be mis-clicking on him.. moreso than any other companion; but once you get used to him, he is one of the best solo'ing companions in the game, in my opinion.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Kalanu

I plan to spec in Madness until I pickup Wrath. Then put 11 points into Lightning to get Chain Lightning. After that, I'm not sure.

 

Chain casting Force Lightning with no CD (from Madness) and using the Wrath proc for Chain Lightning casts sounds too fun to pass up.

Khem is a pain in that he hovers and stays close, and you always seem to be mis-clicking on him.. moreso than any other companion; but once you get used to him, he is one of the best solo'ing companions in the game, in my opinion.

LoL yeah he tries to stand right behind you which means you click his head instead of nodes etc. I haven't played through to 50 but pretty much all the hard 2 stuff seemed doable with him.

 

My friend in live was soloing BT flashpoint at level 11 today. Khem + good use of CC is powerful, we're just slow mowing down the small groups of trash mobs.