Which tree is best for leveling a character using pvp while doing quests? I don't care about 50 pvp or taking it very serious i just want the experience and change of pace while questing. I currently have a level 15 defense spec and if feel extremly weak compared to my other lowbie characters such as gunslinger, powertech and maru.

 

Also what kind of gear/generator should i use?

Focus. Fall into the FOTM Sweepfest.

 

You're still going to feel rather weak IMO til about 25.

If you're running defense, does that mean that you want to tank? Tanking is really hard at lower levels, because you're missing key tanking abilities. Soresu in particular isn't until 16.

 

Personally I like going for 12 in Veng ASAP, for Unstoppable, and only then go into defense.

Focus. Fall into the FOTM Sweepfest.

 

You're still going to feel rather weak IMO til about 25.

 

Yeah pvpwise I'd say guardians/Juggs are very much among the late-bloomers, so if you feel weak or ineffective in the early goings don't worry about it-- it isn't you it's the nature of the class.

 

For all classes generally you can break leveling ranges into chunks of about 10 (i.e. two tiers) so looking at the guardian

 

Tier 1-2:

 

Vigilance-- Very utility based with items like an extra sunder armor stack, longer immobilize duration on leap, etc. Unfortunately without a big toolbox this does not help very much.

 

Defense-- Actually a reasonable selection at this range due to the no cost blade storm (especially since you don't have many good focus building/saving options yet), nd focus saver of victory rush

 

Focus: While it doesn't become a FOTM spec until you start building singularity stacks, there's a lot of good low tier benefit with flat boosts to smash and master strike, crit boost on slash.

 

For this reason Defense is Viable, Focus is solid, and Vigilance lacking

 

 

 

Tier 3-4

 

Vigilance: Perks up a bit here. Shien form +unremitting start to give you some pvp value that make this actually a fairly solid tree at this level range.

 

Defense: This is where you start getting tanky, unfortunately it also becomes where your damage starts to fall behind the curve. Without some of the late level utility you'll really find yourself unhappy with this tree most likely in this range, having mediocre damage without enough utlity/itemization to feel tanky enough.

 

Focus:where this spec starts to become smashbomb. Zealous leap is a very handy gap closer and damage dealer in one while you start accessing your abilitiy to build singularities for big-sweeps at the tail end of this range.

 

 

Tier 5-6:

 

Vigilance-- Holds up ok but not drastically more exciting then the previous echelon, the one advantage is that your growing emphasis on DoT help is much less likely to be cleansed sub 50.

 

Defense: HIlt strike is a quite nice utility aspect and there's some surviability help, but really at this point going this deep into the defense tree is basically a huttball-only item

 

Focus: If tier 3-4 was smash, this part adds the bomb. Shii-Cho Mastery and Focused resonance flesh it out from being a strong aoe spec to perhaps the strongest damage dealing spec in game right now.

 

 

Capstone (31 point talent and beyond)

 

Here Focus remains far and away the most effective with force exhaustion now giving you a much more on-demand ability to build singularity without relying on somewhat longer cooldowns. Beyond that it is just about fine-tuning items that make it more impressive.

 

That said at this point you also have enough talent points that Defense/Vigilance hybridizing becomes possible to serve as basically a tanky class with decent damage dealing. Neither spec is that impressive for pvp 31 points in, but when you can start mixing them together you have a good veriety of utlity, survivability, and enough damage to contribute.

Which tree is best for leveling a character using pvp while doing quests? I don't care about 50 pvp or taking it very serious i just want the experience and change of pace while questing.

If that's the case don't listen to the LOLSMASH suggestions - Idk how people can feel even remotely satisfied with playing Focus.

That being said you can switch around a lot while leveling (assuming that you are a subscriber) and from the early 20s to 40 or so a Defense/Vig hybrid spec is actually very viable AND enjoyable.

Thanks for all the replies, i'll play around with the suggestions for a bit to see which one i like best. Like i said earlier though, i pvp is not my main focus i just feel utterly useless at the moment with my 50-70k damage compared to my other characters putting up 150k+

Defense: HIlt strike is a quite nice utility aspect and there's some surviability help, but really at this point going this deep into the defense tree is basically a huttball-only item

 

Beautiful writeup, thank you. But I wanted to add something to your comment here: I wouldn't ever run a Huttball without Unremitting (12pts in Vig). It's just too good to pass up. So deep defense remains kind of a curiosity in the mid-levels, even for Huttball.