Let me preface this by saying that it is very likely something that I am doing wrong, and I am not suggesting in any way that this class is bad.

 

I just finished Act 1, and I feel very weak compared to the enemies I face. From levels 10-32 I played as Vigilance, was stuck on the boss fight at the end of Act 1. I did a couple flashpoints to level up, respecced as a tank, and barely managed to beat the boss even with help. Since then, even a normal group of enemies consisting of a silver and one to two regulars, is enough to give me quite a bit of trouble. Golds either demolish me or I beat them by the skin of my teeth. Since speccing as Defense, I feel even weaker than when I was Vigilance...I don't see any noticeable increase in survivability, and my damage has gone down. I am using my wards and interrupts, but even with this I finish each fight at below half health. I am staying geared and have every slot except offhand and implants filled with moddable gear (mods are blues and purples).

 

I am also making an effort to level biochem and bioanalysis, both are around level 70 and I generally have T7 and the ship droid going on missions while I'm questing. I use stims and medpacks by necessity all the time.

 

If you have any advice on how to play this class better I would really appreciate it. I would like to be running more flashpoints to gear up more and get experience, but I'm almost too afraid to tank with how I have been playing solo. Not to mention that getting threat on groups is hard enough as it is with the Guardian, although that is pretty much how the class was designed so I'm not knocking it.

I find the best survivability+ damage output for leveling & dailies is generated by specing Vigilance using DPS (might) gear and mods except Use a shield and tank stance. if you do this dont use T7 hes a tank use Doc or Kara (i prefered Doc for added survivability which ment all the DPS came from me).

 

If you use T7 keep his gear good and go vigilancve with a generator + shien stance.

 

Also check that you are doing planets at the right level.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Mattmonkey

try using your interupts.. its a huge deal ..

 

whem you see a mob chaneling an atack aginst you interupt him, stasis him, push him, leap at him.. don't let them hit you =)

 

i leveled as tank with kira.. changed to vigi / doc now and so far so good

 

force kick'em

I found that kitting out the ship droid and using it for healing greatly aided me during the mid stages, before Doc arrived.

 

Kira was fine to begin with, but sometime around the early/mid 30's I was finding it difficult to survive some fights, so indesperation I grabbed the ship droid for extra healing. All seems tikety boo now.

try using your interupts.. its a huge deal ..

 

whem you see a mob chaneling an atack aginst you interupt him, stasis him, push him, leap at him.. don't let them hit you =)

 

i leveled as tank with kira.. changed to vigi / doc now and so far so good

 

force kick'em

 

Kick / Stasis / Kick / Push / Leap / Kick / Hilt strike (if you have it)

 

 

If you've got all your CDs a gold or silver should never get off a channeled attack ever.

Are you using interrupts and your other cooldowns? It really doesn't matter if you are a tank or a dps, you'll have an easy time if you use interrupts and your cooldowns.

I find the best survivability+ damage output for leveling & dailies is generated by specing Vigilance using DPS (might) gear and mods except Use a shield and tank stance. if you do this dont use T7 hes a tank use Doc or Kara (i prefered Doc for added survivability which ment all the DPS came from me).

If you use Doc then there's no need to go tank stance, you'll just gimp your damage x2 (tank stance + healer companion), Doc can keep you up just fine if you keep him geared.

Melee sucks in this game.

 

That said, JK and SW feel unerpowered through the leveling experience. Best case scenario, once you get all your abilities, you can blow your load a kill a silver without taking more than one hit, but everything is on cooldown. Best case, you can do a gold with a dps companion at ~70% health.

 

I routinely do this with a BH or Trooper, often without taking a single hit.

I can not add anymore advice. What has been said is all good advice and the more you play your class the better you will get.

 

What I can add is that while it may be frustrating at times. I really and I mean really LOVE the challenge. I am so sick of mowing through mobs while grinding out levels in every other MMO. When I actually have to be alert because my enemies can actually put the hurt on me....well that makes all the difference. Every class is estenially a pet class with the companions helping you out. So when you have to go and get friends to help you out, therefore making you intereact with the community. Well that is what it is all about. I found a great guild that way. Doing heroics with my trrooper (Jokam) for like 2 hours with 2 complete strangers and at then end getting a guild invite to a great guild (Knights of the First Order).

 

Yes you are a heavy armor class that bleeds when you get cut, but that is the beauty of it all. Enjoy the challenge!

This game is better then people think and yes I am aware that it could use improvements, but what game doesn't need fixing.

 

Hope I did not offend you, this is all just my opinion. Take it or leave it. May the force be with you!

I'm a 50 Guardian and was previously F2P so I experienced that levelling stage a couple of weeks ago. I found that constantly upgrading armor mods and abusing Blade Storm and Force Sweep (I'm specced in Defense) got me through most battles. Relics also helped as well as a considered use of defensive abilities. Interrupts are your lifeline though, especially against Force Storm! Edited January 20, 2013 by AcosRapto