I played from early release until a little after the first level cap increase/Rise of the Hutt cartel release. I did everything you could at that point. Was pretty good at PvP. Finished all the top-level raids at the time. I’ve just re-subbed now after years away from the game. I’ve played through a couple new character stories but haven’t done much involving other people and haven’t really touched any of my old lvl 50s. I’m not ready to get back into ops at the moment, but I do want to finish Makeb, the Rise of Revan and the other new story stuff.

I feel like I need some folks to help me with where the game is at now. In particular, what are the best classes for the various roles/best DPS specs for the various classes now? Veteran Flashpoints seem like a great way to level and gear up without doing all the planet quests. What else do I need to know?

It really comes down to what you want to do.

If you are looking to just lvl your toons and get them good gear well it can be done in less then 1 month of play.... for all your toons i wish i was joking but i've basicly gotten all mine up to 75 and have their bis tacticals and sets and it really doesn't take long at all and it will take even less if you only play a few toons.

Getting gear now is a joke all you need to do is just spam flashpoints which takes next to no time and in less then 2 day of solid spaming (a few hours each day) you will have a toon at 306 at which point you can start build your basic set for your main and alts off all the stuff that drops in the flashpoints then after you have all the sets you want deconstruct (the new reverse enginering) for jawa scrap and tech fragments (the currency for buying the new tacticals and gear sets) and just buy you sets that way.

I had one of each toon i played but i've gone down to about 3-4 mainly because i don't like most of their new sets and playstyles but yeah thats basicly the new way to play the game at it's fullest, Ops pffft whats ops i've done maybe 1 this whole time i've been back which sucks because i used to do them every day now their is no real drive to do them unless you want to go for some set pieces or tacticals that have a chance to drop in them to save yourself some credits and fragments.

State of the game is..... sigh

things to know

Story Mode is the new easy/solo mode, Veteran is somewhere between old Normal and Hard modes, and Master is somewhere between old Hard and Nightmare modes.

you should be able to level characters on mostly class story, and outside of that, veteran FP's offer the fastest leveling.

Gearing at level 75 is all about item rating until you hit 306... ignore all stats and just equip the highest item rating till you get there. Random Master Mode FPs are the fastest, *IF* ques are popping, otherwise, random vets

Ops are now mostly a social thing, they don't drop any better gear, and take a lot longer.

Crafting is..... a crappingg insert of things that already made Anthem fail, and buggy AF

I can't comment on PVP, I don't do it.

== Story Stuff ==

The revan storyline is fun, but the pirate them on rishi may grate on your nerves. I recommend finishing yavin the solo way before doing the OP.

Ziost is... weird, but it's more like the older content like Makeb

KotFE / KotET is a completely different playstyle than all previous content... very much solo oriented, and very story heavy.... if you like those things, youl love it...

... unfortunately you'll also probably hate it because it's a buggy mess since the most recent expansion.

Iokath is next.... no one bothers with it anymore, and it's home to one of the longest, and buggiest OPs (Valley of the Machine Gods)... I highly recommend skipping the whole planet, or at least only going through the solo story chain. It also starts the Traitor Arc, which is really just 3 FPs and some cutsceens. still the 3 hardest FP's in the game, but story mode is easy enough

after that is Osuss (Jedi Under Siege), It starts the Sabatuer/Loyalist story line. It's mostly a ghost town these days, it's a fairly fun, but small area (on the order of Quesh).... The "Library" heroic is completely FUBAR since the last patch and uncompletable.... also, don't bother with the gear you can get from the vendors there, it's trash now.

after Osuss is Onslaught which starts with Onderon, then Mek'Sha, and ends with an FP. If you don't make it from 70 to 75 doing these (they aren't hard) you're doing something horribly wrong. This arc also potentioally ends the sabatuer storyline.

So... what are the best classes for each role now, and what are the best DPS specs for each class?

for a returning player it wont make any difference what class or spec you play, the balance between DPS is pretty good currently and it's more if you are a good player and can play the class correctly than what spec/class you run. Since you are a returning player it will be quite a while before you can play any class well so dont worry, pick what you think is fun

what are the best DPS specs

Sins, Operatives, Snipers

Sins, Operatives, Snipers

You mean Gunslingers. 🥰

To the OP - as has been said, what's most important for DPS is what class/spec you like to play, fits your playstyle, and you have experience with.

I haven't played a healer or tank** since I came back to SWTOR a couple of years ago, so I can't say what the best specs are now, but I do think there may actually be "best" specs for them.

** My Guardian has played a sort of "fake tank" in some Veteran mode flashpoints.

PvP is the slowest way to lvl new characters now because the lowbie pops are much slower and the queue can die in 10mins of a 4 man permade or a bunch of idiot trolls start playing. Where at one time it could be the fastest when you enabled all the legacy boosts.

It’s also the slowest way to gear when you reach lvl 75

So... what are the best classes for each role now, and what are the best DPS specs for each class?

Wisdom of the Crowd says....

Top Heals is actually a toss up.... Mercenary/Commando if finally good again, but it's still more a style / content preference.

Top Dps: Pick a Dot Spreader, any Dot Spreader, bonus points for pvp, pick a stelth DoT spreader.

Top Tank: Still Assasin/Shadow, but Powertech/Vanguard are actually prefered over Juggernaut/Guardian now.

Wisdom of the Crowd says....

Top Heals is actually a toss up.... Mercenary/Commando if finally good again, but it's still more a style / content preference.

Top Dps: Pick a Dot Spreader, any Dot Spreader, bonus points for pvp, pick a stelth DoT spreader.

Top Tank: Still Assasin/Shadow, but Powertech/Vanguard are actually prefered over Juggernaut/Guardian now.

Much respect, Void_Singer, I have seen enough of your posts to know that you have an excellent understanding of the game. But I would politely argue that Sniper/Gunslinger can be a serious contender for top DPS. Although they suffer the handicap of needing to be in cover in order to use some of their best attacks, that cover can help protect them if used cleverly.

Much respect, Void_Singer, I have seen enough of your posts to know that you have an excellent understanding of the game. But I would politely argue that Sniper/Gunslinger can be a serious contender for top DPS. Although they suffer the handicap of needing to be in cover in order to use some of their best attacks, that cover can help protect them if used cleverly.

Fair cop, that's not my personal list, it's more what everyone around me keeps saying.... that said Virulence Sniper is a DoT Spread class in my book

TBH preference stuff I'm weak on, so take my opinions with a grain of salt, numbers is where I excel, because maths don't lie (but they don't always tell you every either)

I havent seen it said, but the latest Op, does drop exclusive sets and tacticals. People saying they are useless but they are not. Just the old ones. But it's been that way for a long time.

they aren't exclusive, they're just (supposedly) higher drop chance (but since I've got 4 pieces of apex elswhere, and only seen1 ever drop in dxun, my thinking is "higher chance", is a bad joke)