Common wisdom seems to state that all classes are viable in 10-49 PVP bracket... but that seems to be a statement that's more directed at a toon in his 30's.

I only have two toons: a vengeance jugg and pyro PT.

I struggled with the jugg in WZs and I only managed to get to 22. Although I loved my Jugg dearly, it felt like he was swinging a feather duster and his only real utility was an AOE snare and a talented root. Granted, it was my first toon, so most may diagnose me as having the L2P virus. People have also mentioned that gear would greatly improve the quality of my pvp life. Still others told me that the class only hits its stride at 30 and beyond. Fair enough; point taken.

Then, the Great Server Migration of Last Month happened and I started up a PT at the same time as a buddy of mine. The difference was remarkable. PT just seemed more forgiving to use from the start and it felt great to contribute to the group from the get-go. Maybe I was cured of my L2P virus or maybe the server demographics were a factor, but it felt good being able to pull my own weight in the WZ. I should mention that the buddy of mine went Shield. He found it hard to contribute in PVP and later opted to be a sorc.

So that got me thinking... how could I have reproduced the same sense of usefulness in a WZ with my jugg from the start? Or with any class for that matter? I don't care about sheer numbers as much as knowing I was able to affect the result of a match. I'm wondering now if the more conventional way to have done it would be to start as Immortal... or maybe I should have waited until my 3rd or 4th toon before rolling Jugg so I could paint him purple before sending on his merry unstoppable way to 30.

Here's what I'm guessing (emphasis on the "guessing" part) the optimal way to play each would be... Feel free to toss in your opinion here.

Juggernaut:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Immortal (?)

Warzone Priorities: Ball carrier, Protection, Guarding nodes, Healer/DPS disruption

Pre-30 Damage Output: Limited (usually lower half of scoreboard)

Gear Dependance: High (performance affected greatly)

Marauder:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Carnage(?)

Warzone Priorities: DPS, Clearing nodes of enemies, Killing high priority targets (ball carriers, healers)

Pre-30 Damage Output: Average (middle of scoreboard)

Gear Dependance: High(?)

Assassin:

Best Pre-30 Tree: No idea... Darkness for survivability?

Warzone Priorities: Stealth capping, Ball carrier, Protection, Guarding nodes, Healer/DPS disruption, Protection (via taunt)

Pre-30 Damage Output: Average (middle of scoreboard)

Gear Dependance: High?

Sorcerer:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Madness/Corruption

Warzone Priorities: Healing, Ranged DPS (especially in Huttball), Crowd Control (especially in Voidstar)

Pre-30 Damage Output: High (Upper half of scoreboard)

Gear Dependance: Forgiving (can still perform well with relatively low gear)

Mercenary:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Bodyguard or Arsenal (?)

Warzone Priorities: Healing, Ranged DPS

Pre-30 Damage Output: High to Average

Gear Dependance: Forgiving (can still perform well with relatively low gear)

Powertech:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Pyrotech

Warzone Priorities: DPS, Clearing nodes of enemies, Killing high priority targets (ball carriers, healers), Protection (via taunt)

Pre-30 Damage Output: High

Gear Dependance: Forgiving (can still perform well with relatively low gear)

Operative:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Medicine

Warzone Priorities: Healing, Stealth capping, Healer/DPS disruption, Crowd Control (Voidstar...), can even solo protect nodes (probably not optimal use of a healer, tho)

Pre-30 Damage Output: Average

Gear Dependance: Forgiving?

Sniper:

Best Pre-30 Tree: Engineering?

Warzone Priorities: Ranged DPS, Clearing nodes of enemies, Killing high priority targets (ball carriers, healers), Making the Huttball field a pain to cross...

Pre-30 Damage Output: High

Gear Dependance: Forgiving

I'm trying to plan my next alt, but I'm just throwing this out there to see what people think about their own pvp experience.

CAVEAT -- I'm hardly a great pvp-er. I make tons of errors, but I'm definitely in the middle of the spectrum. And some people will say that it's only endgame PVP that counts... but I still would like to enjoy the leveling experience through PVP if I can!

Thanks all...

I'd disagree on the merc, pyro is definitely the best spec to pvp with at low level (since the tracer nerf).

I'd also say that annihilation is probably best low level marauder spec, carnage lower talents are very very meh. At least with annih you get a nice rupture + deadly saber early on.

I kinda want to say marksman for snipers too seeing as it thrives off squishers, and most people in lower bracket are squishers who either don't have defensive cooldowns, or don't use them properly.

If you just wanna pure heal, mercs are the way to go. they have the survivability needed for WZs, plus their abilities can make the tank have EVEN BETTER survivability (talking about the buffs that heals can give, not just the heals themselves)

Merc healers can make an objective very difficult to capture, and can make the ball carrier even harder to take down