Neat guide here, I'm glad someone picked up the pace after I went on my 12-month hiatus. Now that I'm playing the game again, I plan to revamp my original contender guide to make it more in touch with current game mechanics. Cheers

Hi Maniac, I was was pretty surprised to return to the game to find out someone revamped my old PvP Contender thread. I didn't even realize it wasn't mine until I tried to edit it and update the content, lol. That's when I realized it was a copy of mine with some different content added to it. I'm really glad someone ran with my old idea. That said, the guide really is outdated and needs some work. I'd like to be able to edit some of my original content and send it to you so that we can make this a more appropriate guide for the current state of the game including all of the new additions to the game. I think we could work together on this project if you didn't mind me getting back involved. What do you say? Send me a PM so we can exchange emails. I tried to send you one but your account doesn't allow PM's. Cheers,

THanks bud, it's actually quite useful to have videos in multiple languages. I'll add this to the guide. Ona up note, I have the rest of the ngiht to goof off away from school, therefore I'm going to dedicate the next few hours to posting up the new guide. If you can gather up a collection of good warzone youtube videos, feel free to list em here so I can review and add them

Alright, I know I've said this but the update is coming, it's nearly complete but I have one more week of college finals to focus on instead of writing game guides, heh. The update is near, and you will all appreciate the changes. That said, I want to comment on two recent posts and have done so below: It's like learning how to ride a bike. You might fall down a couple times before you're the next Johnny Rockstar biker. THe moral here is that if you're not able to compete due to your lack of experience in the game, then you cant just give up, claiming that they're better and you wont ever be good enough. it's the opposite of that. It takes practice! Also, its not all about gear, but when you have exceptional playerkillers using max gear, yeah-- you're going to want to max your gear too. It's a no brainer. That said, I can pwn max gear peoppe all day long with Partisan gear from sheer skill. So remember that the secret is skill. If you lack it, you need to practice more. Better guides coming soon! I promise! Valor and gear is still very much important, maybe not gear so much until 55 but still, the moment you hit valor 40, you need to be converting all your comms into rated comms so when you hit 55, you will be maxed. I Have a whole chapter on this that I think you'll enjoy. That said, you are absolutely correct with your discrepancy, and the issue has been addressed with the new bolster pre-55 system, specifically how it relates to the pre-30 brackets, pre-50, and pre-55 brackets. The new bolster system is incredible balanced actually.

It's getting a massive overhaul. I'm almost done rewriting it. As the post three spaces above yours noted. I promise, it will be fully updated, and you all will once again be pleased.

The idea was proposed and tossed around for ages by the playerbase and SwTor. I believe there became challenges in the coding however, which affected syncing and time time delays within matches. The problem is more difficult to solve than originally thought, or so I have been told.

Favorite quote of the thread. Anyhow, this entire argument is both bitter and sweet to me. It's the same argument that local legislatures used in my area recently to impose a tax on a specific industry simply because it was burgeoning and profitable, even though it was already being imposed upon by twice as many taxes as nearly every other industry in region: The moral to the story is do not punish the successful. That said, it might perhaps be interesting to pit group versus group and singles versus singles. The problem with that is there will always be someone complaining that there are not enough battles for one or the other, and what about those parties of just 2-3? I often go duo with my buds, which is hardly considered overpowered despite us being quite skilled, and using voip chat. Does this mean my duo team cannot exist? Does it get bundled with the singles brackets? Does it get bundled with 4-man brackets? This is a lot more complicated than you all seem to think. So if we break it down to just two brackets: Teams of 4 Teams of 1-3 What this means is you will have the same people making well oiled 3-man teams, and a fourth in the queue hoping to get in with the same group and guess what? People wll still complain, and before you know it, they will break it into further brackets and people will start complaining about those unstopable 2-man teams. Again, the moral here is that there are always going to be players better than you, and people are always going to complain about those players. I suppose it would be nice however, for the sake of sport, to have mini ranked team brackets of just 4v4 instead of 8v8.

oops, repeat.

Not really related to this thread. You're likely on a poor pvp server by the sound of things. I recommend moving to a higher population PvP server if you want more diversity in your play. I also highly recommend that you learn to group up with others and fighting as an organized team (just like your opponents are). You may not win all of them but you're win more. It will also force you and your team's learning curve to increase along with your gear.

A bug, not really something for the PvP forums but I do feel your pain. Might as well report it in the bug sections of the forum.

You've used the phrase mathematically quite a bit in your response, which suggested you know the math. Please relate to all of us the formulas you're using because I am quite skeptical you are using math, but instead, a large amount of conjecture. You conject many statements to support your idea but it just doesn't hold water. I'm not saying you're crazy, I just need more evidence to support your hypothesis, you need to explain what sort of math you're using here, because everything that I do on a regular basis while playing the game suggests otherwise. I'm revamping my guide to make it up to date and current with recent new pathces and new pvp system so if you can give me a reasonable argument to support your formulas, I will dedicate an entire chapter to your thesis. The sort of evidence I want to see that supports your argument is much like the following: Critical Chance - Changed in 2.0 Base Crit%: 5% Crit Rating Contribution: 30% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/0.9)) Primary (& Secondary where appropriate) Stat Contribution: 20% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.2))^(Rating/55/5.5)) Surge - Changed in 2.0 Base Surge%: 50% Surge Rating: 30% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/0.22)) Accuracy - Changed in 2.0 Base Main Hand Basic Accuracy%: 90% Base Off Hand Basic Accuracy%: 57% Base Special & Force Main Hand Accuracy%: 100% Base Special Off Hand Accuracy%: 67% Accuracy Rating: 30% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/1.2)) Defense - Changed in 2.0 Base Defense%: 5% Defense Rating: 30% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/1.2)) Absorb - Changed in 2.0 Base Defense%: 20% Defense Rating: 50% * (1 - (1- (0.01/0.5))^(Rating/55/0.65)) Shield - Changed in 2.0 Shield Rating: 50%*(1 - (1 - (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/0.78)) Alacrity - Changed in 2.0 Alacrity Rating: 30%*(1 - (1 - (0.01/0.3))^(Rating/55/1.25)) Bonus Damage - Not changed in 2.0 Primary (& Secondary where appropriate) Stat Contribution: 0.20 * Rating Power Stat Contribution: 0.23 * Rating Bonus Healing - Not changed in 2.0 Primary (& Secondary where appropriate) Stat Contribution: 0.14 * Rating Power Stat Contribution: 0.17 * Rating Skill-Creep Graph Understanding Exponential Formulas Many of the formulas used in SWTOR provide diminishing marginal returns, which means each incremental point provides less value than the previous point invested. This is popularly known as diminishing returns or DR. To start though every one of these has a base value, which is clearly listed on your character sheet. I have also listed these below: Crit % = 0.05 or 5% Surge % = 0.5 or 50% Basic Main Hand Accuracy % = 0.9 or 90% Basic Off Hand Accuracy % = 0.57 or 57% Special & Force/Tech Main Hand Accuracy % = 1.0 or 100% Special & Force/Tech Main Hand Accuracy % = 0.67 or 67% Defense = 0.05 or 5% Shield = 0.05 or 5% * Absorb = 0.2 or 20% * *Technically, the Shield & Absorb percents are only available when you equip a shield. In addition to the base amount there is a variable amount based on the particular rating of the stat. This variable amount is specifically a hard cap or asymptote that is then multiplied by a coefficient. By design these coefficients are less than 1, which is why we can never reach the hard cap. Given this, I will now refer to these as asymptotes. These coefficients are reduced via ever decreasing exponents. Now in 2.0, there is an added mechanism to further decrease these exponents, which makes it even harder to hit the stats you want. The formulas are broadly: Base % + Asymptote % * Coefficient Critical chance is impacted by Primary (& possibly Secondary) Stat as well as Crit Rating so it has an additional Asymptote * Coffefient element. The actual coefficient equation is this: Coefficient Equation For more detailed information on the math behind the mechanic, check out posts like the following (from which I borrowed the above info from) SW:TOR Mechanics, 2.0 Formula Mechanics

Time to chime in, although the topic is pretty much answered. 1) Healing is NOT overpowered 2) Winning teams often consist of pre-mades (this is true) 3) Winning teams are not lop-sided (they have well balanced mechanics) 4) Losing teams are often not balanced . 4a) If your output (dps) cannot outperform the enemy healers, then you're lacking qualified dps . 4b) If your input (healing) cannot outperform your enemy output, then you're lacking qualified healing 5) Do not let rule #4 discourage you. The answers are very quite clear as to what you need to do next: . 5a) You (or your teammates) need better gear, AND / OR . 5b) You (or your teammates) need to re-evaluate the balance of your team, AND / OR . 5c) You are merely being outperformed by a superior opponent. You must increase your learning curve. THis pretty much nails everything on the head. Trust me when I say right now, things are incredibly balanced, with the sole exception being the learning curve of your oponents. If you are being outperformed, you need to ask yourself what are they doing that is outperforming you. Many people use gaming mice and gaming keyboards. I personally use a razor naga mouse, I have 12 thumb buttons, each with their own macro'ed set of rotations or actions. My healing, dps, tanking, etc--- will always outperform those without a gaming mouse, with the exception of those players who are just flat out better than me, and there are indeed, many who are better than me. I hope this response helps you. Please do not blame a class, a skill, or a particular action for the performance of your team. If your team is broken, thiink about ways to fix it. Be a contender, strive for greatness. You can do it, I have faith in you.

Hey folks, I've been away from the game a long while but now I'm back! I must admit that I'm a bit taken back by all the jerk bags that have commented on this thread for no other reason than to troll some lame out dated comment about how cool they are but then again, this is the internet, lol. That said, a lot has changed since last I played and much of the original thread is no longer valid. I'm writing to you all that a rehaul is coming and a brand new pvp guide is on the way. Ignore the haters and look out for the next edition of How to Become a Contender coming soon!

VERSION 1.16 UPDATED: 6-28-12 I edited a bunch of stuff and prepped the guide for the soon to be added section on Mod-Ripping! I can't please everyone it seems! Have a good day, sir!

Personally, I would advice NOT converting the comms back into regular Warzone comms, because that's basically throwing away 7000 regular comms. I would buy the War Hero item, and fill the rest in with lesser gear until you can afford better. This is the route I take, and advice others to take as well.