Roles/Positions

Hello all! This is a small guide for newcomers who have not been in an MMO before, like me.

During the game there will be squads/groups of a maximum of 4 players.
Each squad/group member will have a position or role to help equal out the squad during battles and attacks.
The positions are as follows:
DPS
Tank
Healing

Normally in a squad of 4, there are 2 DPS, 1 Tank, and 1 Healing. I'm not saying that it's always that amount of each role, but it is mainly the usual amount. For those of you that are new to the MMO world, no - tank is not like a vehicle tank. Read below to read the descriptions of each position stated above.

DPS
DPS is the main "damage dealing" position of the squad. They deal with heavy attacks but have a low HP (Health Points). There are mainly two types of DPS: Melee DPS and Ranged DPS. Obviously, Melee DPS deals with close up sword/saber attacks, while Ranged DPS deals with further away blaster or force attacks. Merely any TOR Class could work as a DPS, but it is probably better to have a Jedi or Trooper become the DPS.

Tank
Tank is the one who gets the boss/main enemy to focus on him. You could say that the Tank is the "distraction team." This allows for the other squad members to flank and attack the enemy. "Tanking" is mainly used on a boss/main enemy, like I stated before. There are also two types of Tank: Melee Tank and Ranged Tank. Obviously, the Melee Tank distracts the enemy by using sword/saber combat, while Ranged Tank is with force or blasters. Tanks usually have a low attack damage, but high HP/armor. It is probably better to have a Trooper become the Tank in the squad.

Healing
Healers are the ones who basically, heal the squad. These are usually the Jedi Consulars of squad. During the time of a boss battle/attack, the Healer will sustain the Tank from dying. Usually the Healer has low health and armor, but a high Force amount.

Well, I hope this helped anybody lol. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about a few things, and leave comments

Just wanted to throw in real fast that the 4 players for groups thing was demonstrated at the MP E3 demo. However, I'm not sure if that will be the party size. If you look closely, the players are several levels highers than the mobs.

Good guide, thanks.

An excellent basic guide, thanks for that Caliber!

Ya, I can't wait to see what type of raids there will be in TOR. And how many people in each raid.

healing looks so easy in the videos they put up u dont have to do much of any thing u could have like one healer in a 25 man i bet

Cal,thank you for this!With myself being new to MMO's,this was a very helpful guide.And jb,I think that we need more than 1 healer in let's say,a 25 man squad.What if the healer gets killed,then what?From what i've seen in that video on the tor website,every job is interconnected with the other.We wouldnt want to fall like dominoes because a crucial member(and they all are) fell in battle and the team is desintegrating.I'm sure that MMO veterans know this much better than me(not saying that you're not,again,just giving my opinion).

jbphilly wrote:

healing looks so easy in the videos they put up u dont have to do much of any thing u could have like one healer in a 25 man i bet

I don't think that would work lol, Like even besides being in combat theres 1 healer to every 25 other classes? If that were true I'd think that Consulars would be played a lot less due to the fact that their not need as much as they should be.

well think of it this way healing and everything will be more advanced and you'll have to do so much more in different fights that at higher levels wont be simple as that low a level because thats just the basics =]

Ceremony wrote:

jbphilly wrote:

healing looks so easy in the videos they put up u dont have to do much of any thing u could have like one healer in a 25 man i bet

I don't think that would work lol, Like even besides being in combat theres 1 healer to every 25 other classes? If that were true I'd think that Consulars would be played a lot less due to the fact that their not need as much as they should be.

i agree....its not just healing that can be done. consulars could jack everyone up as well.

There is a new developers diary for the jedi up you can get more information on the jedi consulars it might better explain the possible uses as a healer

im definatly gonna start off as healer, every other mmo I played I made the mistake of being kinda all about myself. wanting all the powerful attacks and kick ass death kills, but I realised that I didnt help whern I was really needed, which was heals. So this time im all about helping the group, so you guys better do some good ass kicking and keeping em off me lol

I'm a end-game healer in WoW, for both PVE and PVP, but I want to try and take a more direct path in TOR. My first alt will probably be a healer.

I think i might be dps

I'm probably going DPS, maybe healing, I'd like to wait till the game comes out before i make a final decision. Wouldn't want to pick one now then get stuck with it in the beginning, plus the fact that I've always have been DPS in other MMO's.

DPS without a doubt I like being in the front attacking just who I am lol

I'm definitely going DPS which is one of the reasons why I decided to switch to Jedi.

I'm going DPS

In PVP, taking the role of a 'damage absorber' is very difficult. Typically, it's hard to reach the proper balance of being able to do your job (absorbing damage) and of being useful to the team. Tanks generally don't have very many team abilities, as most are focused on themselves and their health.

The only way to do it is to play it like a support class. Completely forget trying to do damage. Your job will simply to try and tie up the enemy as much as possible. Stun, crowd control, slow, do whatever it takes to pull the enemies focus off your team, even if its only for a second or two.

Their is only two ways to play a pure DPS class in PVP: the glass cannon and the sustained utility. The Cannon will absolutely wreck sh*t if given the oppurtunity. That being said, they are usually extremely vulnerable, having spent a lot of time and energy maximizing their outgoing damage, instead of worrying about how they would get out of being stunned, or their health pool.

A sustained utility is a DPS who is fully prepared to engage in battles minutes long, often will little to no support. This SHOULD be the majority of forces in any given battle. A utility DPS's main job is, yes, to kill people, but they have several features that define them from Glass Cannons:

1. They have invested talent points or the equivalent in some way of 'breaking CC'.
2. They have built their gear and playstyle, to an extent, around abilities that might be benificial to the group as a whole, rather than to their own DPS.

A SU plays much like the glass cannon, but can engage in open combat (as opposed to an ambush or something of the like) for much longer.

Don't get me wrong, having a few glass cannons in the raid helps things immensely, but by no means should they be the majority.

A good proportion of PVP roles would look like the one I show below. Their are, of course, situations in which a different one would serve better, but this composition can handle a wide variety of situations very well.

50% Utility DPS (Jack of All Trades DPS)
10% Cannon DPS (Offensive DPS)
10% Support DPS
20% Healers
5% Tanks/Heavy DPS
5% Support Casters

This is a good thread.
I knew what everything was but having it laid out in plain black and white (figuratively speaking) is always helpful.