Honestly, I wouldn't use B variant mods: higher Endurance doesn't actually make you appreciably more survivable and it ends up being lower mitigation overall, not to mention worse threat and DPS. Endurance just isn't really all that valuable. This is my BiS: I've never had problems surviving anything and my threat is beyond reproach (I don't even use Guard and I never use Taunt unless it's explicitly required for a taunt swap/mechanic). If you don't want to use the Resolve armorings/hilts, just switch em out for Force Wielder. The advantage is that it's actually a *really* simple set up: the augs are all the same, the mods are all the same, and the enhs are all the same.

I was thinking about something like that, but I haven't run HM TFB/EC yet and guildies have been saying I'd need that health. I'll have to see for myself I guess if you're successful running that.

I was thinking about something like that, but I haven't run HM TFB/EC yet and guildies have been saying I'd need that health. I'll have to see for myself I guess if you're successful running that.

For all 8m content (including NiM EC), anything over 25k hp is redundant. For 16m, it's 27-28k. Since I only do 8m (I can't stand the wrangling required for 16m), I'm perfectly content with my 25k hp.

For all 8m content (including NiM EC), anything over 25k hp is redundant. For 16m, it's 27-28k. Since I only do 8m (I can't stand the wrangling required for 16m), I'm perfectly content with my 25k hp.

That's actually good to know. I'll only be doing 8 man so I may mess around with that. My only thing I don't like about your set is it basically requires wearing Rakata, I think I'd rather sacrifice the bit of WP for not having to wear that set ever again >_>

Also, we're on the same server now

E: That made a stupid looking emoticon

My only thing I don't like about your set is it basically requires wearing Rakata

Personally, I like being able to get my Amidala on with it, though I was really pissed when they "fixed" Miraluka masks and hair clipping through some hats. I *loved* how the fan hat looked with my hair and mask visible with it. Now I just hide it because it looks so bad...

Not much changes if you switch out the Resolve for Force Wielder so you can use the set pieces with whatever without a *major* difference: you'll have less WP but more hp.

Personally, I like being able to get my Amidala on with it, though I was really pissed when they "fixed" Miraluka masks and hair clipping through some hats. I *loved* how the fan hat looked with my hair and mask visible with it. Now I just hide it because it looks so bad...

 

Not much changes if you switch out the Resolve for Force Wielder so you can use the set pieces with whatever without a *major* difference: you'll have less WP but more hp.

I'm a male body type 3 so that stuff looks HIDEOUS on me, lol. And yea, not a big difference so I'm not too worried. I'll start focusing a bit more on the WP/Power once I'm getting into more 61s, I'm sitting at 25k with 61 armorings and everything else 58s so far.

Should be starting HMs soon enough, hopefully.

EDIT: Do you happen to have any logs of any HM/NiM Ops(EC/Denova) I could go over? I'd like to see how hard the bosses are hitting and average fight lengths. Obviously lengths will be different by group so I'm going to pick over a couple parses on torparse as well and try and find an average.

Almost on the second page, sheesh.

Nothing?

The priority list is not something I'd recommend to new players. Or even anyone else for that matter. It really needs to be reworked and given a bit more thought.

Once you get that down, you can try to expand the "guide" to more demanding issues. Stuff like situation awareness, positioning, kiting, interrupts, ... I know, it's harder than describing Crew Skills, but you're the one always bragging about the guide. Might as well make it brag-worthy.

The priority list is not something I'd recommend to new players. Or even anyone else for that matter. It really needs to be reworked and given a bit more thought.

 

Once you get that down, you can try to expand the "guide" to more demanding issues. Stuff like situation awareness, positioning, kiting, interrupts, ... I know, it's harder than describing Crew Skills, but you're the one always bragging about the guide. Might as well make it brag-worthy.

I'm not going to explain the basics of a good tank in this guide. This guide explains what you should do to optimize yourself and familiarize yourself with the class. If you're tanking, you'll either know how to tank or pick it up by doing it.

Also, my priority is not wrong. Maybe you should actually do some research instead of trolling. Oh wait, you aren't playing "Math Wars" so you're just spouting nonsense with absolutely nothing to back you up towards Kitru and I who have actually done the work.

Ofcourse you're not going to explain how to actually tank because you're too busy obsessing over numbers. That's your zone of comfort and going out of it would mean risking showing your actual capabilities.

And yes, your priority needs reworking. As does using FP to build threat. Bad advice is bad, no matter how loud you defend it.

Ofcourse you're not going to explain how to actually tank because you're too busy obsessing over numbers. That's your zone of comfort and going out of it would mean risking showing your actual capabilities.

 

And yes, your priority needs reworking. As does using FP to build threat. Bad advice is bad, no matter how loud you defend it.

You can't properly put into text how to be a good tank. I am a good tank, I've been doing it for years without complaint even in quite good guilds in other games.

My priority does not need reworking, you're the one spewing terrible advice and trolling all over these forums.

At least I'm not writing bad "guides" and linking them all over the place like they're the best thing since the wheel.

Provide proof that it's bad, show SOMETHING other than trolling all over these forums and I'll actually listen to you. Anecdotes and such don't prove anything. Also, just because you do it one way and it works doesn't mean it's the best way. There is no one way to do things or you fail, but there is always a best way to do it.

Speaking as a relative newbie, I have to say I love the guide, thanks!

Of course, as a relative newbie I don't know any better

I started playing when SWTOR came out but I got distracted by Mass Effect 3 and have only just returned to the game. I have a 29th level Shadow which I am speccing as a tank. I tend to solo a lot and I'm more interested in the story and levelling than end game content. I like the build on this one as it maximises the mitigation which I reckon I need if I'm going it alone.

One thing I'm considering changing, though, is taking most of the points out of balance and picking up shadowy veil, infiltration tactics and misdirection from the infiltration tree. I find being able to stealth can help me do quests that I'd otherwise have a hard time on and the extra movement speed sounds handy too.

Do I lose much from the missing balance ones? I figure I'll still keep resistance.

Do I lose much from the missing balance ones? I figure I'll still keep resistance.

*Yes*.

First off, Shadowy Veil does *absolutely nothing* for a Shadow tank: you run around in Combat Technique, not Force or Shadow Technique. As such, it does nothing. Misdirection is *way less valuable* than you think: remember, you have Blackout for when you need to sneak past stuff; the added stealth levels are minor at best so the only really benefit is the increased movement speed, which only applies while in combat because it doesn't stack with Sprint (and you have Force Speed for when you need to run quickly as a tank). Infiltration Tactics is similarly worthless: you're a tank; anything you fight should be staring you right in the face and Shadow Strike (which is what Infiltration Tactics makes worthwhile; Shadow Strike is *terrible* otherwise) requires you to be staring at your opponent's backside. As such, all 3 of those talents are functional wastes of space. Also, though you didn't mention it, Shadow's Respite is pretty much worthless for you: you don't spend enough time in stealth to make it useful and the only way it would be useful in combat (re: Force Cloak) is counterproductive to the whole "being a tank" thing.

As to the Balance talents, the only one that is mediocre is Force Synergy and, even then, it's pretty good because, while 90% of your damage is Force based as a Shadow tank, 8% functionally permanent free crit to Saber Strike, Spinning Strike, and your once-per-minute Double Strike is actually not all that bad of an effect. Upheaval and Psychokinesis are *simply amazing*. Upheaval is functionally a 22.5% increase to your Project damage (and Project is second only to TkT as your absolute highest damage contributor, so 22.5% increased damage to it is *amazing*). Psychokinesis is functionally required because, without it, Project costs a flipping *ton* of Force (it still costs a ton of Force without it, but it's not as much): when you have the talent points to branch out into the Balance tree, you're pretty much going to be using Project on CD so that ends up being a *lot* of saved Force over the long run.

Thanks for the reply. Bear in mind i'm not trying to squeeze every last drop of damage or threat here. i'm prepared to compromise if it makes the levelling easier or more fun.

There are times when I use force technique while levelling because it kills mobs quicker so, if it's not too dangerous a fight, I change my gear and technique to be more dps based. As such the extra armour in force technique appealed.

Blackout only lasts 8 seconds so it wouldn't do for what I had in mind. On the odd occasion I do group, travelling to the start of an instance is much easier if I can stealth through all the mobs. Plus you can sneak into places and activate items without even having to fight sometimes. I'm not sure blackout lasts long enough for that.

The speed is just for travelling, I wasn't thinking about it for combat. Does it affect speeder travel or is it just on foot that is faster?

Assuming that I take your advice and aim for the balance tree, should I take any balance at level 29 or should I just fill up the kinetic tree first?

The speed is just for travelling, I wasn't thinking about it for combat. Does it affect speeder travel or is it just on foot that is faster?

Movement speed buffs don't stack. As such, the *only* benefit that Misdirection applies is 15% increased movement speed while in combat, and you don't have Force Speed active.

Assuming that I take your advice and aim for the balance tree, should I take any balance at level 29 or should I just fill up the kinetic tree first?

You want to fill up the Kinetic Tree first. The Balance talents are nice, but they're not as nice as what you get out of Kinetic. It's pretty much a universal rule of specs that you go up before you go out (up your primary tree before you go out of it).

As to using Force Technique, if you're Kinetic Combat and you end up killing things faster in Force Technique, you're doing it *painfully* wrong: while you're leveling, Particle Acceleration is a *major* component of your total DPS and you only get it while you're in CT. You're generally doubling your incoming damage as well as sacrificing your best source of AoE damage (because, other than Force Breach and Slow Time, Shadows have *terrible* AoE) in exchange for *maybe* 5% more total ST damage: it's a terrible conversion and, even if you're kiling *slightly* faster, you'll end up wasting more time after combat recovering.

There is pretty much *never* a reason to not use the Technique relevant to your primary tree, especially when you're a tank: there are simply too many tangential benefits attached to them thanks to your talents.

Movement speed buffs don't stack. As such, the *only* benefit that Misdirection applies is 15% increased movement speed while in combat, and you don't have Force Speed active.

I didn't mean Force Speed, I meant the Speeder (or whatever the flying hover car thing is that we get to ride around on). Just wondered if the speed buff helps with that too?

As to using Force Technique, if you're Kinetic Combat and you end up killing things faster in Force Technique, you're doing it *painfully* wrong: while you're leveling, Particle Acceleration is a *major* component of your total DPS and you only get it while you're in CT. You're generally doubling your incoming damage as well as sacrificing your best source of AoE damage (because, other than Force Breach and Slow Time, Shadows have *terrible* AoE) in exchange for *maybe* 5% more total ST damage: it's a terrible conversion and, even if you're kiling *slightly* faster, you'll end up wasting more time after combat recovering.

Ok, maybe I didn't have particle accelaration last time (this was round about patch 1.1). When I logged on, all my talents had been reset so I have no clue what I used to have! I certainly remember fights being faster up till now in Force Technique but, mind you, that's probably because I've been favouring endurance over will power for my Combat Technique gear and Will Power over Endurance for the Force Technique gear so I've been swapping both gear and technique which probably muddies the water a bit!

There is pretty much *never* a reason to not use the Technique relevant to your primary tree, especially when you're a tank: there are simply too many tangential benefits attached to them thanks to your talents.

What if I want to dps some content and let someone else tank? Combat technique doubles my threat doesn't it? I'm sure that would be a good time to switch Combat Technique off!

Just wondered if the speed buff helps with that too?

Let me repeat that again: movement speed buffs do not stack. Force Speed, Sprint, speeders, passive buffs like Misdirection; every single one of those is a speed buff and, as such, do not stack. If you have multiples active, only the largest counts. The *only* time you'll see any benefit from Misdirection is when you have absolutely none of those other buffs active, such as when you are in combat.

that's probably because I've been favouring endurance over will power for my Combat Technique gear and Will Power over Endurance for the Force Technique gear so I've been swapping both gear and technique which probably muddies the water a bit!

While you're leveling, it doesn't matter what the Endurance or Willpower on a piece of gear is; you'll get rid of it so fast that, honestly, the rating on the piece of gear matters more than the relevant stats as long as they've both got your main stat (Willpower) on them. Having 2 different sets of gear for "kinda DPS" and "tanking", especially at the point where tank gear hasn't yet understood that it should actually have tank stats doesn't really make sense when you're leveling, especially when tank stats like Shield and Absorb are largely worthless until you actually get a large enough itemization budget for them to add up to something useful.

What if I want to dps some content and let someone else tank? Combat technique doubles my threat doesn't it? I'm sure that would be a good time to switch Combat Technique off!

At that point, you've got 2 tanks and you're either doing something wrong (re: you've screwed up your composition) or it doesn't really matter what you do (it's super easy content or someone drastically overgears it). Either way, it shouldn't matter which one of you "wants" to tank: in the first case, you're gimping your DPS and you're not really going to improve much by "swapping" to being a wrongly spec'd DPS; if the other person is really such a diva that they can't stand the idea of someone else yanking threat off of them, you're better off respecing or learning to use Force Cloak when you get aggro (and the other tank should learn to use his Taunts if it's *really* a big deal) since you're not going to be a particularly functional DPS anyways. In the second case, it doesn't matter who "wants" to tank because the person that overgears it definitely is going to tank, regardless of the intent of the other, and if it's easy it simply doesn't matter enough for it to count.

It begs the question: why are you tank spec if you don't want to tank, especially considering Field Respecs?

Let me repeat that again: movement speed buffs do not stack. Force Speed, Sprint, speeders, passive buffs like Misdirection; every single one of those is a speed buff and, as such, do not stack. If you have multiples active, only the largest counts. The *only* time you'll see any benefit from Misdirection is when you have absolutely none of those other buffs active, such as when you are in combat.

I hadn't realised speeders were considered a buff, I just thought they were vehicles! Thanks for the clarification..

It begs the question: why are you tank spec if you don't want to tank, especially considering Field Respecs?

What are field respecs?

I like the tank spec because I like to solo play. I always feel uncomfortable in groups - too much pressure to perform!

I figure I can survive more content on my own as a tank than as dps.

Thank you very much for the feedback. It is much appreciated.

First of all, thanks to the OP and others for their contribution.

I'm switching from DPS to Tank, and it helped me a lot.

Otherwise :

I figure I can survive more content on my own as a tank than as dps.

I played up to the 50 level almost alone as an Infiltration DPS, and i never encountered a fight when i said myself '**** i should've gone with tank spec'

Shadow Dps is awesome. You can in general deal with enemies way before you'll have to worry for your health bar.

Later on, when you'll have the healer pet, with all trinkets and CCs you have, it even becomes easy mode

You can easily deal with H2+ instances / Epic mobs alone.