I'm a lvl 50 tank with all centurion/champion gear and would like to start tanking some HM flashpoints but don't know which ones to do first. I tried Esseles the other night thinking it would be the easiest but the second boss killed me in one hit (+15k HP.) Somebody then told me Esseles is apparently designed to be the hardest HM.

Is there a recommended order for trying to tank HMs? Or at least a recommended starting point? I'm feeling a little lost.

Regarding the esseles one shot kill, you need to interrupt hes Headshot ability - or whatever it's called.

Easy FPs:

The false emperor (ilum), The maelstrom prison (Fleet), Directive 7 (fleet)

Medium hard:

Esseles (1. & 2. can be a problem, rest is a walk in the park), taral V, kaon under siege

Hard:

In my opinion Battle of ilum is the hardest UNLESS you have ranged tank/dps - else make sure your dps does not hit him when he shields.

All FPs can be done with low gear if people know what they're doing.

You died in Esseles because no one interrupted his Headshot ability. I assume your centurion/champion gear has tank stats on it?

When I hit 50 on my shadow tank, I was able to do any hard modes. I had all of the armoring, mods, and enhancements from the daily heroics on Belsavis and Ilum. If you find yourself having a hard time, look at whether you and your dps are interrupting high damage abilities. Take a look at your dps' damage. Bosses in hard modes have an enrage timer and if your dps suck, you won't kill it before the boss enrages. If your healer runs out of resources while healing, take a look at the damage you are taking and how early they are running out of resources.

That being said, I think you should try hard modes in this order (Note to other readers: this is for Republics' only):

Taral V > False Emperor > Maelstrom Prison > Esseles > Directive 7 > Battle of Ilum > Kaon Under Siege

Awesome. Thanks for the advice. My gear is the supercommando set which is as close to a tanking set as the pvp gear gets for vanguards, I'm also full tank spec.

I figured that headshot skill needed to be interupted but we gave up early with it. I'm also really glad to hear that these flashpoints are doable with the gear that I have. I was worried there might be a really steep gear curve/progression for tanks but if it's just a L2P issue I will keep at it.

That being said, I think you should try hard modes in this order (Note to other readers: this is for Republics' only):

Taral V > False Emperor > Maelstrom Prison > Esseles > Directive 7 > Battle of Ilum > Kaon Under Siege

This list seems about right, although I disagree about Kaon, it really isn't that bad with the possible exception of the bonus optional boss. but that can be said about several of the HMs. I would place it more around Maelstrom prison.

With that in mind, I will say Kaon does have more challenging trash, but it mostly comes down to pulling groups out of crowded areas, dealing with the stuns by Infected mercs and making sure the group isn't on top of a bloated plaguebringer when he is about to explode.

This list seems about right, although I disagree about Kaon, it really isn't that bad with the possible exception of the bonus optional boss. but that can be said about several of the HMs. I would place it more around Maelstrom prison.

 

With that in mind, I will say Kaon does have more challenging trash, but it mostly comes down to pulling groups out of crowded areas, dealing with the stuns by Infected mercs and making sure the group isn't on top of a bloated plaguebringer when he is about to explode.

Yeah... it's all pretty easy except for the bonus boss. I put it at the end because I assume people want to attempt all the bosses including the bonus. And if included, the bonus in Kaon is easily the hardest boss in flashpoint hard modes.

Anyone aware if the kaon missions are identical for pub and imps? For the usual community of players I run with, kaon is the 2nd easiest after black talon (supposedly equivalent of esseles but obviously not base on what you say because no one in BT headshots).

Just finding it strange seeing so many people say kaon is difficult....and its not me bragging either, I freely admit my character isnt that great, poor gear, etc. D7 on the otherhand I only hear about how painful and god awful the entire affair is.