I realize this is a tired question, but wanted to toss it out anyways in case anyone can offer a thought that will help me decide. I'm a founder, played for some time but left just before Rise of the Hutt Cartel. All vanilla stories done at least once, came back to a level 49 legacy that has since hit 50 just by leveling a handful of random classes to get back into it. It's good to be back.

 

I'd like to play through at least one story all the way as a refresher before I dive in the massive amount of content that will be new to me, ideally on the character that I'll take through it all the first time. My preferences are to either play a tank or ranged DPS. So, to the point:

 

What tank classes have viable (for grouping and solo) and fun DPS offspecs? (I prefer to learn new content as a DPS rather than a tank so as not to slow down others who are on farm mode.)

 

And/or: what ranged dps classes are in a good spot right now?

 

Thank you for your time and input!

actually it does not matter as everything is a bit overpowered right now. you can play what you want

I am a fan of Defense Guardian and Vigilance Guardian (for dps), and the Sith Warrior mirrors. They also have some of the best stories and mesh really well with the expansion content.

 

There isn’t really a class that can tank and do ranged dps, since vanguard/powertech dps is mostly sub-10m. However, I also enjoy playing plasma/pyro spec for dps so that’s my #2 after Guardian. However, I don’t find the story quite as enjoyable as Knight/Warrior.

I am a fan of Defense Guardian and Vigilance Guardian (for dps), and the Sith Warrior mirrors. They also have some of the best stories and mesh really well with the expansion content.

 

There isn’t really a class that can tank and do ranged dps, since vanguard/powertech dps is mostly sub-10m. However, I also enjoy playing plasma/pyro spec for dps so that’s my #2 after Guardian. However, I don’t find the story quite as enjoyable as Knight/Warrior.

 

Helpful, thank you. To clarify, I get that no tanks are ranged, or have a ranged dps spec, but wondered about tank offspec dps and ranged dps classes. I'm kind of a mess when it comes to settling in to one class, but those tend to be my favorites. Part of it is that I tend to prefer ranged classes in instances and melee when solo, mostly because so few ranged classes are nimble (à la Wildstar's Spellslinger), but feel planted. So trying to find something I can get behind, one or the other, for the long haul.

 

Your input is appreciated. I am glad to know Guardian/Juggernaut dps options are in a good place and will look at them as well as Vanguard/Powertech.

Edited January 24, 2020 by AlyoshaCephas

Part of it is that I tend to prefer ranged classes in instances and melee when solo, mostly because so few ranged classes are nimble (à la Wildstar's Spellslinger), but feel planted.

 

Well, I can't speak to Wildstar. However, sometimes tanking, or honestly any melee class, particularly in solo content, will feel "planted." To its credit, SWTOR does try to once and a while force the immotile player to move, although that tends to happen more often in group content than solo content. To that end, I do feel VG/PT has a few more mobility tools than Guard/Jugg in that regard. As a result, they don't have the same defensive cooldowns that G/J have.

If you are planning on a dps toon and is interested in mostly single player content I advise pyro powertech. It has burst, dots, aoe and sustained damage. Nothing better than instantly mowing down mobs quickly.

Thanks for the input. Currently working on a Powertech and will try a Juggernaut as well. Hopefully one of them will scratch the itch. And since no bites on recommendations for a ranged that syncs up with what I described, I suppose I'll stop looking there.

I would say that sniper and sorc are pretty awesome right now, althought there was a nerf planned for sorc. but they put that on stop for now...

 

 

 

Thanks for the input. Currently working on a Powertech and will try a Juggernaut as well. Hopefully one of them will scratch the itch. And since no bites on recommendations for a ranged that syncs up with what I described, I suppose I'll stop looking there.

Not gonna be super useful, but all specs are viable now.

 

The strongest ranged? http://parsely.io/parser/stats

 

Sniper/Gunslinger, i guess.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Nemmar

Not gonna be super useful, but all specs are viable now.

 

The strongest ranged? http://parsely.io/parser/stats

 

Sniper/Gunslinger, i guess.

 

All 3 gunslinger specs are bugged and are parsing way over their actual DPS. You should look at sniper parses specifically, if you want to see what the real numbers are for those specs. Assault Specialist for commando is also performing better than Innovative Ordnance for merc due to Concentrated Fire 6-piece being bugged on rep side.

 

Sharpshooter and Dirty Fighting are being fixed in 6.1, no word on Saboteur yet, hopefully devs realize that it's bugged in the same way.

 

P.S. The way ranged parses would look without gunslinger, Assault Specialist bugs and also with datamined Madness buffs is this:

 

Virulence > Lightning > Engineering > Innovative Ordnance > Madness > Marksman <> Arsenal