7.0.1 patch was meant to bring back and make available all flashpoints again... Have you checked that since the patch was released? Considering the date of your post I would have assumed you did, but since I'm not quite eager to log back in game I cannot check that myself.

I have the feeling we're talking about a different mindset altogether or maybe a different "philosophy" of how combat is meant to work in SWTOR compared to, say, GuildWars 2. SWTOR does have a combat log since quite a while now, while GuildWars 2 doesn't (at least not officialy). In SWTOR you see exactly how much HP an enemy has and, based on your own abilities, can figure out how much it'll take to defeat them if at all, while in GuildWars 2 you don't. In SWTOR, being able to go back to your combat log and trying to figure out how to improve your... performance is a huge part of "raiding progression", even if only on hard/veteran mode. Many actually enjoy that because it gives you a direction and a purpose. In GuildWars 2 you can read your in game combat channel, but that's far from being as efficient as a parsing a combat log text file is. I do love being able to swing a hammer in GW2, and that feels like lots of fun, but then just jumping in combat while having little to no idea if I'll make it out alive is not that fun. Well, maybe once or twice, for the thrill of it, but not as a "play style". On the other hand, in SWTOR, being able to gauge the enemy's strength helps me ... plan my attacks in such a way to use my combat abilities "effectively". Being able to actually plan my attacks is what adds satisfaction on top of the fun, so for how much I loved GW2 I couldn't stick with it for too long because frustrated by its combat system. TL; DR: SWTOR has the parsing built into its combat system, while other games don't, therefore passing a "dps check" is a normal request here.

I emphasised the "you don't need..." part. Well, I could also reply that, once you cleared your NiM raid, what is the drop reward for? You can't have it if you don't clear the boss, so once you managed to clear the boss without it, what's the point of the "better" gear, anyway? Probably because you'd want to go for timed runs or even manage to carry someone for some extra cash (sell runs). In the same way, as a solo player, I may manage to clear The Eternal Championship and even get the Survival title, but there's also the "Sprint Champion" title for the same SOLO mode, and there's where you'd really need something much better than the current green/blue gear! Not to mention the need for more powerful companions that the champions of that time used to have and depend on without too much remorse. I would like to hear what one of the players that got the Sprint Champion title would think about getting it now, with crippled companions, gutted skills and no BiS gear! There are also plenty of Master Mode Chapters. Finally, when you say "you don't need" better gear, you probably assume that the said content is ... balanced in such a way to only require skill, which unfortunately is not the case. SWTOR content is far from being balanced and, with 7.0, that balance is even farther away than it used to be. Therefore most players looking to complete some even mildly challenging content would try to get the best affordable gear to make their runs as smooth as possible.

Well, I wonder what a new player would think about what we previously called "utility points"? We complain about this change as we now have to go with "... OR ..." when we had "... AND ...", but a brand new player might not find it an issue. On the same "resistance to change" argument, I would go even further back in time when we were not restricted to a single "advanced" class, but we could build our own "class" by allocating points in any of the "trees" available. Then the "advanced" class was made into a choice that excluded the others, but we could still play a bit with the "utility" points. Eventually, we got used to these advanced classes choices to the point we (i for one) almost forgot how we... used to play the game before that. So, yes, some changes seem too huge to handle at first, but eventually we get used to them and don't notice the difference any more. Is the 7.0 chore one of them?... For me the game has turned into a "gearing up" game, while the "end game" seems quite far round the corner. Others report that are already geared up although still not happy for the scaling issues, but at least seem out of the "chore" range.

You are restricted to only Lana, for story reasons - no other companions are available for summon. But with Lana only, the quest is quite hard to complete, at least in master mode, as waves of enemies will spawn one after another and if you fail any of them, you will have to restart it all over again. Senya does a good job handling the champion walker all by herself, otherwise that might one shot kill you after a stun.

It happened to me, too, but on master mode, so yes without Senya it's not possible to get through all the rounds! In practice if, unfortunately, you fail during your first attempt, when you respawn and go back Senya is not there anymore, so you are left with Lana alone. I tried going to stronghold or fleet, no success. In the end, I just reset the whole chapter and probably saved some time.

There's a whole list of Known issues at the top of the forum section. The "Desecration" quest issue has been mentioned, although only about Malgus not healing enough, but nothing about Malgus getting stuck in terrain.

First off, I don't know exactly what this "strategy" looks like, but I'm thinking that there are many "strategies" to avoid taking damage, like when dealing with this very Dash'roode and all except tanks are placing themselves against the wall to ... prevent themselves from being thrown outside the shield... Is that also an... exploit? Only because it's a newfound strategy doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a legitimate one!

Well, what's "new" here is just how they call now ("combat style") what we had since launch: advanced classes! There's absolutely nothing new in any of these "combat styles" that we didn't have already! Wait, actually, it's... less than what we had till now, as they went in heavily with their nerf axes! However, the "new" thing is to play - again - through what you already did, only to see your character displaying some other weapon than what you had before. And that is just during the cut-scenes. Once you're out of the cut scene, the "dream" is over and you go on with your quests playing the "combat style" you already knew. As for characters that you had already, for some of them an additional "combat style" might still fit in, but - for example - I don't see my sorcerer going assassin, juggernaut or marauder! Not in the slightest! I have already characters that look just like that! So, as far as the "new combat style" goes, if you're a new player you will really not notice the difference; if you're a veteran player you might not even take full advantage of it as you probably invested time and resources into making your characters fit their relative "origin stories"! Or maybe that's our limit, as we played too many times the "origin" stories to see it in any other way! I already mentioned my sorcerer for being deeply rooted into her story, but I cannot see my operative running around with an assault cannon either! For one combination of combat style that might work, there are at least two others that don't!

You might be wrong there, as the Empire doesn't rely so heavily on medics (healers) as the Republic does! At least that's what I could notice in regular PvP Warzones!

I'm going to bump this in the hope it will get added to known issues list. Otherwise, we might have to wait another... "extension" to get it fixed. Other classes are also in a bad place, but this seems to be a just a plain, straightforward bug.

I can confirm that Mercs AR are not welcome in raiding teams, at least from my own experience. I could join the usual Eternity Vault HM and Nefra NiM with a guild(!) group where, luckily, even if my "performance" was at the bottom-of-the-dps parse list, there were others that could compensate for that. Of course, in guild runs, low performance and gear is tolerated if, overall, the group can still complete to operation. However, when applying to join a (guild) progression team I was told right from the start that my merc has no place there and, if I really want a dps spot, I should learn another class. There was no option like "you'll need to prove you know your class", but simply "get another class". Full stop.

Don't give up, but maybe try and do something else till they fix it since it's a known issue! Hopefully, fix will come with the next patch, 7.0.1 in about a week from now!

The issue might come from the game not ... "recognizing" the combat style as just a "style". This new addition doesn't... "sink" deep enough into the main game and several areas still treat your combat style as a class on its own, imo. For example, I created a new scoundrel with Powertech combat style. The "class" buff is Endurance, Bounty Hunter symbol, instead of the Critical / Republic one. Since I wanted to unlock the Critical legacy buff, I deleted the character and created it again, this time with its "traditional" advanced class, just to be on the safe side. The "Combat Style" .... technology is maybe still in its early stages, so many things don't work as expected. Yet.

I also had difficulties at that point even after having looked up for guides and forums. See if you can get somebody else join you and get the aggro of the first group. You put companion on passive and move through without attacking and hopefully your other companions will follow without engaging. Once you're on the other side of the plaza, inside the first building, toggle the passive mode of your companion and you should be able to take down those droids, as they cross the plaza, in one line, instead of massive groups from all directions. Of course, not having an effective AoE ability is not helping. However, don't be shy and use Heroic moment and possibly some heroic AoE abilities, if you managed to unlock any.