Always Underleveled

On my latest char i did every class quest, bonus quest and side quest, including the heroic 2+'s which i solo'd but not that Heroic 4's. I did not do any warzones, space missions or flashpoints. I was so far ahead that once I finished Hoth I was able to immediately start the Hoth bonus series (translates to about 6 levels ahead). I can't see how missing 2 lots of bonus series (which are really only 5-6 quests each anyway) would translate to such a huge disparity. I have no idea how you are so far behind, as with everyone else this really stumps me. I would not suggest re-rolling, as others have said, I would suggest doing all the space dailies that are green or higher for you at the moment each day. They really do reward quite a lot of XP for the time invested and you should catch up pretty quickly.

Would the fact that I skipped the taris and nar shadda bonus series have anything to do with it? I am really stumped. :/

Would the fact that I skipped the taris and nar shadda bonus series have anything to do with it? I am really stumped. :/

I tend to skip those myself. I dislike both planets. actually - I rarely go back for bonus series, even on my first character that I started at early access and didn't do any flashpoints on, I skipped most bonus series. and didn't even completely finish some of the planets (though that could be due to heroic quests, I did do those). I do occasional heroic , but I don't pvp on most characters. the one I did pvp on, managed to gain about a level (from 42 to 43) in 4 warzones. whenever I start running flashpoints and/or space missions just a few of those tends to overlevel me to the point where I just stick to class mission on whatever planet I'm over leveling at the time.

tldr version - missing couple of bonus series should not be putting you behind like that.

the way the game is set up, you can level to 50 without mindless mob grinding as a free to play character with all the penalties that come with that status. you'd have to do ALL the solo quests, including bonus series, but remember, they get 25% experience penalty AND no rested xp. so either you are missing something you are not telling us, or there's a bug that could be worth reporting.

other then that, to catch up - a few warzones, an occasional flashpoint should get you back on track.

I rarely do any bonus series, and haven't hit this problem. The one thing I haven't seen anyone mention, what's you Legacy level? Have you bought any of the permanent xp boosts through there yet? I load up on the Class mission and Exploration xp boosts, and combined with rested xp, my class missions plus the non-heroic planet missions keep me where I need to be.

My legacy level is up there but I really shouldn't have to do that. Like others have said as long as I am doing my story side quests, and the bonus series I should be over leveled, at the least on the same level as my quests.

Not just you OP, they only give you half the XP you need to lvl up simply because they want players to stay in 1-49 as long as they can so players are forced to grind mobs all day long on the planets.And it's even worse for F2P players.