The Great Alt Hunt

[WaitingforMoP]

I'm looking to take another character to 50 but I'm not sure which

This is what I have
50 Sith Assassin (DPS) (By far Favorite)
50 Operative (DPS)
43 Juggernaut (Tank) (Have tried switching to DPS but it didn't feel right, why not be a Marauder w/ 2 Sabers and higher dmg right?)
(Started aforementioned Operative when Juggernaut was level 39 or so, and any attempt to return to the jugg has been hard, I don't know how I ever even got Juggernaut this high, I hate it and honestly don't want to finish it, this was all after taking a break from 1.1 till 1.3 so when I came back I didn't play my Assassin, but eventually I came back to my Sith Assassin and now actually even hate my Operative in comparisson)

17 Marauder/16 Sentinel (I like this a fair ammount, as well as have noticed they melt faces in PVP when one is against my other chars)
(I also think Marauders have the best looking end game gear in the game, so that helps)
14 Mercenary (DPS) (Ehhhhh, haven't been feeling the class or the story much yet)
12 Sorceror (DPS)
(^I haven't been feeling this either, but knowing that it would later have things like Force Speed, Bubble, Force Storm, etc makes it sound like it may be better later)

The robot boss in LI HM has got me thinking maybe it's time I got some sort of ranged class to 50, the only way I've beaten that thing is by acting as a ranged on my Operative, and on my Assassin by switching to the Operative for just that boss and then acting as a ranged... lol (Not that that boss is even important or anything) but I feel like there could be more melee-discriminant bosses in the future, and that if I do Marauder all the way or finish my Juggernaut that'd be 3, or even 4 melee and 0 ranged.

As far as the Republic version of any classes goes, I REALLY don't like any republic armor... with the possible exception of Commando's gear, to the point that I'm not sure if I care that I'm missing out on a story by re-rolling the imperial classes

I like to PVP and PVE.

In PVP my Operative has no pushback or speed boost, or force cloak like my Assassin does, those things are sorely missed when playing my Operative

In PVE my Operative's energy is garbage, it runs out with Stim Boost & Adrenaline Probe sometimes on cooldown for quite a while leaving me with nothing to do but auto-shoot making me feel both unamused and like my damage isn't as good as the Assassin

The Bottom Line : I feel like my Sith Assassins got it all, infinite energy resource, speed, pushbacks, force cloak, even the ability to swap onto tank stance if trying to run the ball in hutball. I'm looking for another class that seems to have it all. Is there even another such class?

[Forsedar]

I'm a bit biased, but I loved the Mercenary class. I loved leveling Arsenal and I would level another one again if it benefited me!

[WaitingforMoP]

I'm a bit biased, but I loved the Mercenary class. I loved leveling Arsenal and I would level another one again if it benefited me!

That's the spec my Mercenary is started into

My gripes with Mercenary so far are that

In PVP I feel vulnerable without being able to stealth, and as a ranged it's quite annoying when people run in circles

In PVE I feel the same crippling energy demands that I feel on my Operative, Vent Heat has a pretty long cooldown. I often end up max heat stuck auto shooting for what seems like a long time of feeling halfway worthless. Do they later get any energy efficiency?

Also that the class story isn't really grabbing me like Inquis & Agent did, if that matters. (Sith warrior story didn't grab me but I managed 43 on one so.... I guess it doesn't matter much)

[Forsedar]

You get heat efficient once you get to the talent that offers it.

[WaitingforMoP]

You get heat efficient once you get to the talent that offers it.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300ZMIkboMb.2

So I guess that would be at level 26 (Terminal Velocity) and force you to use High Velocity Cylinder? I always see everyone using the DoT cylinder though, is that even right?

And/or Improved Vents at 42? (Or earlier if you don't start straight up the Arsenal tree?)

In comparison my Assassin like literally never runs out of energy, due to having a huge energy regen boost every time I enter stealth, including vanish & blackout at seperate times, I almost never have to do an auto hit. On my Operative and (so far) on my Bounty Hunter it seems like I can be spending several minutes starved for energy auto-attacking way too much. Does it REALLY correct that to have those 2 talents?

I think I'd find the opinion of someone who has a 50 Deception spec Sith Assassin, yet prefers some other class to it would carry a lot of weight here, if anyone like that could post?

[Forsedar]

Well, High Velocity cylinder is definitely worth it. That 35% armor pen makes a huge difference.

[Jalek]

That's the spec my Mercenary is started into

My gripes with Mercenary so far are that

In PVP I feel vulnerable without being able to stealth, and as a ranged it's quite annoying when people run in circles

In PVE I feel the same crippling energy demands that I feel on my Operative, Vent Heat has a pretty long cooldown. I often end up max heat stuck auto shooting for what seems like a long time of feeling halfway worthless. Do they later get any energy efficiency?

Also that the class story isn't really grabbing me like Inquis & Agent did, if that matters. (Sith warrior story didn't grab me but I managed 43 on one so.... I guess it doesn't matter much)

The trick with heat/ammo and energy classes is that you have to stay in the high regen area which will mean some rapid shots etc weaved into your dps rotation. If you wait until you are over heated to start rapid shots you will have to do it for longer than if you did it earlier. Always stay at >>>> eg over 60 energy or less than 40 heat.

[WaitingforMoP]

I got a question regarding the Marauder I'm dabbling with atm, do they ever get a stun that doesn't involve channeling?

Like Juggernaut got to Force choke w/o channeling, and Backhand, I've not seen any talents or future abilities that give Marauder any kind of stun, so... do they get one I'm missing?

[Forsedar]

They do not unfortunately. I mean, other than the jump you get that stuns regular mobs you don't get anything else.

[Lord Kristivas]

Tanking Powertech has quite a bit of awesome. Charge + grapple are SO good for PvP, and you're a beast in PvE.

[WaitingforMoP]

They do not unfortunately. I mean, other than the jump you get that stuns regular mobs you don't get anything else.

I just realized they don't have force push either >_>

No force push, no stuns, a bit discouraging

I'm thinking maybe... just maybe... I might actually go for the mercenary. It's ranged like I've never had before, it's a class I've not already done the story for, does have pushback and stun (no speed boost to my knowledge though) maybe I'll do the merc and struggle to finish the last 7 levels of the Juggernaut then I'd have done every base class on imperial side at least once to 50

I'm not sure, I've got it at lvl 14 now but I guess just like the Marauder I could push it several more levels and see if I start liking it more

As for my Juggernaut, it's hard. I don't enjoy tanking, I don't enjoy how slow I kill soloing missions as a tank, as a DPS I feel like it's all kinds of wrong to only have 1 lightsaber, I also feel like it's damage isn't as great as other dps classes and since I never tried dps jugg till 42 I feel a bit clumsy and stupid as dps jugg. So I don't know which way to go with my Juggernaut... I don't enjoy it either way :/

I am also considering rolling a Sniper to dabble with, I can't think of a name I like for one though and I figure it's probably got the same downfalls as Operative mostly

Tanking Powertech has quite a bit of awesome. Charge + grapple are SO good for PvP, and you're a beast in PvE.

I think I've established that I don't like tanking, sidenote I think having 1 little gun is lame :/

Well I just busted the bank on the Legacy Exalted Bounty Hunter helmet, so I guess that's the current plan, juggle finishing Jugg as a tank w/ Merc DPS

[Potato Bus]

I think I've established that I don't like tanking, sidenote I think having 1 little gun is lame :/

Well I just busted the bank on the Legacy Exalted Bounty Hunter helmet, so I guess that's the current plan, juggle finishing Jugg as a tank w/ Merc DPS

But you get a flamethrower to go with the gun (gets a lot more use as PT than merc as I understand it)! I don't have an assassin, but I understand where you're coming from with concerns about energy efficiency translating to comparably less...visceral combat than on your assassin. I'm not a huge fan of my operative for this reason. But I do have a Sorc, Mara, and PT all at 50, and they're all fun.

As a PT, you'll still have energy management to monitor in combat, but the charge and grapple are hilarious fun (and the pyro dps spec is strong and fun, though you only get charge as a tank).

Mara is the most fun I've had as a dps in a while, but I always feel slightly gimped without a non-channeled stun or non-situational ranged attack (it's for balance, and marauders do need the handicap lol).

My sorc is my main, and though I've been tempted to change to a different class a couple times, I love lightning spec so much that I keep coming back. Relic > Alacrity boost CD > Thundering Blast crit > Crit CD > Instant cast Chain Lightning crit on 1-5 enemies; I just love setting it up like that and seeing huge crits back to back. And it's definitely a spec that has little to no worries about energy. As madness I grew bored of the rotation and had some trouble with energy on long fights, but that was a 31 pt build rather than a hybrid and I have relatively little experience in that spec. The down-side is that you're pretty squishy without a shield up as a sorc.

[moff]

the most fun I had with my sorceror main and now with my sentinel. story and gameplay is amazing. as a sentinel you should use your droid and let him heal you. there will be no stopping you.

the least fun I had with my operative healer, I had to force myself though the game.

merc will be my fifth character, start leveling her as soon as I got hk51.

[Slugfest]

I've taken the 4 main republic classes to 50 but the most fun I have is still on my Sentinel. I have Doc geared out in Rakata/BH/Campaign gear and there is nothing quite so fun as melting multiple elites at once while Doc keeps you alive. My favorite ranged class is the trooper; point, click, dead soon after.

I just started my imperial toons, doing the operative for the storyline and leveling an assassin to get a handle on the mechanics. If/when I max them out I may go with a sith warrior since the storyline is supposed to be good as well. That and you can never have too many professions maxed out for more cash.

[davispunx]

I have a 50 Merc, Jugg, Sniper, Assasin, Vanguard, and Sage and I think the sage is the most fun by far. Vanguard is my favorite tank, Sage is my favorite healer (havent done an operative/smuggler heals yet).

[Drakos]

I just hit 50 on my Merc alt. I've had a great time and am enjoying WZs and HM flashpoints. As a healer at least I am having alot of fun. I have heard the class has issues as dps in pvp, but I have been heals since selecting my AC. If you do go heals though you might want to wait until you can train the 31 point talent as we arent very mobile at low levels. Also BHs arent a FOTM these days so every win will be awesome.

[Kelimbror]

I can vouch for your decision to roll a Merc. Plus they are getting an interrupt to add some utility. If you like topping damage meters, then Merc is the class for you. The rotation isn't as complicated as knowing when to use cooldowns or how to take advantage of procs. Well, more of priority than rotation anyways.

They have a lot of instant spells that you can sync with movement to make a really efficient dps class. Love raiding on a Merc.

[Amsden]

You may not be interested because you've already leveled an op but I love my sniper. He is a beast in PVE and not bad in PVP. I actually feel more mobile with him than I do my commando alt.