Hey everyone,

 

I play on Darth Malgus and have been training regular PvP for quite some time + have found my strength play with a Guardian/Jugg pure tank. Full 306 gear obviously + augments and gold amplifiers. (I added some cosmetic too for bougeeness).

 

I'd like to start Ranked soon but a bit wary as to the best way to approach it. Should I start right away and queue solo? I know some peeps who've invited to team up perhaps but I don't want them to feel they have to carry me if I'm new.

 

Is it dangerous to queue solo, lol? I've heard various things from being vote-kicked for so many reasons, eg. just from not having the proper tactical (which I do of course).

 

But still, as a new player, will a first few losses tarnish other people wanting to queue up ranked? I'm really enjoying PvP so I'd like some tips from anyone's prior experience.

 

(Key tip someone shared also is to turn off General chat in Ranked lol). I think I definitely will.

 

Cheers,

Karim

Edited June 2, 2021 by karimthejedi

If you want to tank in solo ranked, I'd first suggest the right gear, it makes a huge difference as a tank:

 

Forcebound armor set bonus

Grit Teeth Tactical

Fully augmented

Dps mods and enhancements > mitigation mods and enhancements

 

After getting the right gear, here are the fundamentals you need to focus on to be successful in solos as a new tank:

 

1.) Swap guard to your teammate being focused as quickly as you can. Most of the time, the enemy team will swap between 2 targets on your team (i.e. they will damage your sniper, then when you guard sniper will damage your merc, and back to sniper when merc has guard). Tip: Make the health bars on your ops frame large so it's easier to see who's being damaged

 

2.) Stay in guard range of your teammate being focused

 

3.) Use your dcds correctly - ED, Fake Health (Enure), Reflect, Single & AOE taunt, Saber Ward, Mad Dash, Med Pac & Adrenal all help you take a lot of damage

 

4.) Try to contribute some damage to whichever 1-2 targets your team is trying to kill, but it's your secondary focus as a new tank

 

Vote kick was removed last season, btw. Most of the complaints and toxicity in solo ranked about "bot tanks" are directed at those who show up without a set bonus and swap guard at a lethargic pace (if they swap guard at all). If you try to get better at each of the fundamentals I listed above every game you play, silver tier (around 1300 elo) on jug tank is a realistic goal for this season for you with practice and analyzing your own mistakes each game.

Edited June 2, 2021 by EnzoForMe

There are two important ways every new ranked player can and should prepare themselves for ranked: gear, and skills.

 

Gear

 

Gear is extremely important in ranked. While it's true that skill makes a player not gear, in a gamemode where everyone is supposed to be highly skilled the difference can often be attributed to gear. There are basics to gearing like getting to 306ilvl and getting augments, and also more advanced gearing like getting the right setbonus and tactical.

 

I LVL

The first step is to get 306ilvl with augments and gold amplifiers. The game actually won't let you que if you don't have 306, and this is the most basic necessity.

 

It sounds like you did this first step. The one tip I have for tanks specifically is to ditch the full mit gear. Tank gear has no usefulness in ranked because a) lots of damage like internal and armor pen damage goes through it b) you are expected to contribute damage to your team. Instead you will want to use full dps stats with a shield attached.

 

Set Bonus and Tactical

The game won't bar you from queing ranked if you don't have a set bonus and tactical, but if you want to do well and win you are going to need one. In fact set bonuses and tacticals are the most important part of your gear because they significantly add a new dynamic to your class. The important thing is not to just get any random set bonus and tactical, BUT TO GET THE RIGHT ONE. Unsure about what is the best set bonus and tactical for your class? Ask.

 

Specifically since you are a jugg tank, you want to get the Force Bound set bonus and Grit Teeth Tactical. Both the set bonus and tactical are available on the GTN and cost a couple hundred million credits. Since Force Bound is only a 4 piece set bonus you will also want to get 2 pieces of the Decent of the Fearless set bonus and one piece of Amplified set bonus.

 

Skills

 

Oftentimes players think that gear is enough to enter ranked. If they have the gear then they are ready. This is wrong. Skills matter much more than gear, and experienced ranked players have been practicing their skills for many years. No one is expecting you to be extremely skilled the second you jump into ranked, but to give yourself a fighting chance you need to learn some basic general skills before diving into ranked.

 

Awareness

Awareness is just the ability to know what is going on and when. That's it. Pretty straight forward, right? It's really simple. If a marauder is running around at 1% health, you need to have the awareness to see him running around, and kill him. This is a must have, basic skill that every player must have regardless of class.

 

If you feel yourself struggling with awareness, ask yourself why. Are you staring at your buff bar too much? Are you clicking your abilities? Are you zoomed in all the way instead of out? Awareness is a basic skill to PvP and you won't be able to compete at a high level if you have no awareness.

 

Class Knowledge

You should have a rudimentary knowledge of your own class before you dive into ranked. Know which cooldowns to pop and when. As a jugg, ED should always be your first cooldown. Your goal is to get a second ED. You need to know these kinds of things before going into ranked. Knowing your own class is extremely important, but so is knowing other classes. For example if a merc pops reflect, stop hitting them. Class knowledge is the knowledge of both your and others classes and is extremely important for ranked, otherwise you are going to be dead within an instant.

 

Game Knowledge

Your game knowledge will increase as you do more ranked, but for the time being just learn the basics. What is resolve? What is a mezz? What is a stun. All really basic, things to know.

 

If all of these skills that I listed sound really dumb and obvious, then you are probably ready for ranked. No one is expecting you to have full mastery over your class the second you step into ranked, but people do expect you to have basic game skills. These are the ones you need.

 

For a more in depth guide about tank jugg in ranked take a look at this guide: https://vulkk.com/2019/12/18/swtor-6-0-immortal-juggernaut-tank-pvp-guide/. It is up to date with the exception of gear. Force Bound and Grit Teeth weren't around when the guide was created.

Edited June 2, 2021 by septru

(Key tip someone shared also is to turn off General chat in Ranked lol). I think I definitely will.

 

One last thing I will add. Don't do this.

 

It will seem tempting to turn off general chat so that you won't have to face the toxicity and blaming, but if you do turn off gen chat you are going to handicap your team. You need to turn on gen chat to communicate and plan with your team. I can tell you with almost absolute certainty what you will experience toxicity in ranked. Apart from being a new player and probably going to make mistakes, ranked is toxic. It is the most competitive game mode, and with that competitiveness comes an inherent need to blame, criticize, and curse at other people. It is part of the game mode. If toxicity is something you want to avoid, then you probably shouldn't be queing ranked in the first place. But whatever you do, don't turn off your general chat. You are basically throwing on your team if you do so.

 

A friend of mine made a guide on what to expect in your first ranked game. I recommend all new players look it over:

Edited June 2, 2021 by septru

Thank you all for the post. Very helpful! I'll go through them a second time shortly.

 

@Septru regarding General chat, I did not mean to turn off Ops chat, as that's a separate one according to my UI. Isn't it?

 

Of course Ops remains on for my team; I meant General for the opposite team.

 

Toxicity is a distraction. Of course I'd comm with my team but tbh don't really need and hence don't care much for the opposition trash talking.

Edited June 2, 2021 by karimthejedi

I misunderstood your origional comment about general chat. Yes you are correct. There is a different from gen chat and ops chat. But there isn't much point of turning off gen chat because most of the toxicity won't come from the enemy team. Most of the toxicity will come from your own team who will criticize and blame you if you make a mistake. Edited June 2, 2021 by septru

I misunderstood your origional comment about general chat. Yes you are correct. There is a different from gen chat and ops chat. But there isn't much point of turning off gen chat because most of the toxicity won't come from the enemy team. Most of the toxicity will come from your own team who will criticize and blame you if you make a mistake.

 

Haha I've noticed that. Got my first win, followed by a loss, and whole team exploded on each other.

 

Guess I have to turn Ops off too lmao. Jk.