so i turned lvl 50 a week ago and decided I would try my first HM-FP so, I tried BlackTalon. I only did okay but, thankfully the other random guys basically carried me through. They were very polite but they said something that threw me for a loop. They inspected my gear and told me it was all wrong. All of my stuff : mods, enhancements and armoring are purple lvl 45-49 mostly guardian armor, deft mods ( i think) and a few different enhancements. They said I needed to switch from TANK gear to DPS gear! They said in order to do HM FP and get Tionese, Columie and Rakata gear I need to re-gear heavy on DPS and light on tank gear.

I want to know everyone's opinion on this.

lol, I tanked HM FE for my first hard mode flashpoint wearing moddable gear containing items from the daily group quests. Guess what, it was all tank gear, I had no survival issues, and we cleared it with hardly any problems even though we were all noobs, this was pre nerf by the way.

If you havent picked up the recruit gear from the pvp vendor I suggest you do, its probably better than what you have right now.

If you use dps gear you might hold threat a little more but your ability to survive boss encounters will plummet due to your lack of defense, shield rating, and absorption.

PS That was with a juggernaut in full immortal spec.

I think they were just pulling your leg as if you're a tank, you should definitely work on obtaining tank gear with endurance, shield rating, absorb rating and defense.

Or was it a misunderstanding perhaps? Were they suggesting you should dps instead of tank and therefore work on a dps set of equipment?

Nevertheless, you should keep these sets separate

Bad advice from bad players. Tanks should be geared with tank gear. Leave the dps gear for the dps. Please do not be tank specced and dps geared and que up as a tank. Seen this happen way too many times since it just becomes very frustrating for the healers. HM's like LI will get you kicked in a heartbeat when doing this.

^ This sums it up.

With a vanguard shield/tactics hybrid I'll wear dps gear in the Black Hole heroic, and some other easy group things because it doesn't really matter, they're easy. Not recommended though for HMs. One option, get your tank and dps full gear sets and wear what you need. Make sure your skill specs are right though for the task.

Hey guys,

Yesterday I ran my first HM Flashpoint (Black Talon), as the tank (I'm a Juggernaut). There I got the exact opposite criticism: that I was decked out in DPS gear, and that I should be in Tank gear.

Now, for the record, what I'm wearing is mostly the free Recruit gear. I have a Black Hole piece for my arms, a Battlemaster piece for my belt (I know it's a PVP piece, but it's better than Recruit, and I could afford it), and a Tionese helmet (given to me by someone in HM), all of which are high endurance (but I couldn't afford pieces that specialize in shield, absorption, surge, or defense).

I just find it amusing that two people got the exact opposite criticism

You probably could tank Black Talon in DPS gear especially with most people queuing with gear that is overkill for the flashpoint. But it is not a strategy for long term success. Black talon is one of the easier flash points out there.

To tank (difficult) end game content, you NEED to have tank gear. DPS gear simply will not cut it in anything other than the easiest encounters.

As a fresh L50, you should be doing flashpoints to get the gear you'll need to do harder content not optimizing your gear for that specific encounter (at the expense of future viability).

pieces that specialize in shield, absorption, surge, or defense

SURGE IS NOT A TANK STAT!

(yes there are pieces for guardian/juggernaut tank sets that have surge in them, but this is just a bad itemization)

I want to know everyone's opinion on this.

i think they meant that for HM Black Taloon you better be DPS geared, because it's a rather simple HM Flashpoint and with all DPS+healer good be done faster

if you are a tank - so you should be tank geared: endurance, deff, shield+absorb

so i turned lvl 50 a week ago and decided I would try my first HM-FP so, I tried BlackTalon. I only did okay but, thankfully the other random guys basically carried me through. They were very polite but they said something that threw me for a loop. They inspected my gear and told me it was all wrong. All of my stuff : mods, enhancements and armoring are purple lvl 45-49 mostly guardian armor, deft mods ( i think) and a few different enhancements. They said I needed to switch from TANK gear to DPS gear! They said in order to do HM FP and get Tionese, Columie and Rakata gear I need to re-gear heavy on DPS and light on tank gear.

 

I want to know everyone's opinion on this.

Unless you que as DPS, the DPS gear will only cause you problems. Or, more specifically, your healer...

Nothing more frustrating than trying to heal a tank wearing paper armor. </end_rant>

Nothing more frustrating than trying to heal a tank wearing paper armor. </end_rant>

how about a tank that just isn't good? after finishing a HM FP, a level 50 tank i used to run with a lot told my group once, "you know, i noticed i hold agro a lot better when i actually use ALL my skills instead of just spamming slash all the time!" he was being serious.

facepalms abounded that night.

how about a tank that just isn't good? after finishing a HM FP, a level 50 tank i used to run with a lot told my group once, "you know, i noticed i hold agro a lot better when i actually use ALL my skills instead of just spamming slash all the time!" he was being serious.

 

facepalms abounded that night.

Taunts do help.

Do not listen to anyone saying a tank should wear dps gear they are either trolling you or are clueless. You may think your awesome cos you can tank in dps gear but your healers the one who is pro not you. (Im not a healer)

**A tanks job is to stay alive and gain aggro. Do not be that tank that thinks he can put out the highest damage in the group with the campaign power relic and power adrenals**

This is how you should prioritise for defense guardian:

Absorption (50%) = Shield (50%) > Defense (25%) >= Endurance > Strength >= Accuracy (110%)

This link will help you:

http://www.noxxic.com/swtor/pve/jedi-knight/jedi-guardian/defense/stat-priority-and-details

My current toon is going DPS Guardian, most everything I wear is geared to doing the most damage I can, I like being a bit different but I'm wondering if beyond PvE and post 50 if this is a good model. Thoughts?

Not if you want to fulfill the tanking role. To tank anything other than trivial content, you need tank gear. Absorption, defense, and shield rating have a huge impact on your survivability.

If you just want to be another DPS, it's perfectly fine. In fact, you should be wearing DPS gear.

For the most part, any properly played and specced DPS class is replacable with any other DPS class. Certain fights are easier with certain classes, but with good awareness any of them can be successful.