I've been a full time beta tester since late August. Since beta testing comes to an end tomorrow, Dec 4, and NDA is over, I'll answer, to the best of my abilities, any questions you all might have.

Best choice of crew skills for a Trooper Medic?
 
Armstech or Armormech? (or whatever they're called).
Kinda wanna make my own gear as much as possible.

Tried out Biochem on my own beta time but that was folly.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

Best choice of crew skills for a Trooper Medic?

Armstech or Armormech? (or whatever they're called).
Kinda wanna make my own gear as much as possible.

Tried out Biochem on my own beta time but that was folly.

Armormech is for making armor, armstech is for weapons. When you get to the Republic Fleet, talk to each trainer, then open up your codex and go to 'Crew Skills'. You will see a list which tells you recommended gathering professions for each crafting skill. For armormech it's scavenging and underworld trading. I usually take armormech. Reverse engineering will yield some nice recipes and you'll make a ton of credits of the GTN. I tried armstech a few builds back and was pretty unimpressed with it. The difficulty of the game was recently increased dramatically. Once you get above level 28 you start to need stims. Biochem might be a very profitable profession for the live game.

I played the beta in August. I have a few questions.

Has the game's performance improved? I got some pretty sketchy frame rates when I played.

I found that grinding was almost required at some points to prevent from becoming too low level for an area. Has that been changed or is it just part of the game?

Have there been any major changes to the Consular and by extension, Shadow class? I really enjoyed running around with my stealthy tentacle-headed man.

Have many more item models been added to the game? There were a decent amount when I played but a couple of times I would put on a new robe only to sadly find that it was virtually identical to the one I just had on.

Are those spaceship combat missions actually good now?

@Bwast said:

I played the beta in August. I have a few questions.

Has the game's performance improved? I got some pretty sketchy frame rates when I played.

I found that grinding was almost required at some points to prevent from becoming too low level for an area. Has that been changed or is it just part of the game?

Have there been any major changes to the Consular and by extension, Shadow class? I really enjoyed running around with my stealthy tentacle-headed man.

Have many more item models been added to the game? There were a decent amount when I played but a couple of times I would put on a new robe only to sadly find that it was virtually identical to the one I just had on.

Are those spaceship combat missions actually good now?

I never had issues with framerates. However, since the last patch I have seen many comments in game and on the forums that the game is running much better. The last patch also bumped XP for quests. You shouldn't have any trouble. I'm unfamiliar with the Consular class. I'll try to take a look at the patch notes later today and see if anything has changed. What were you looking for? All gear got a pass over for the last build. New models, etc.. I haven't put on any chest pieces that are identical - yet.

@Metalhead79: I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just wondering if there were any fundamental changes to the way the class played.

The rest sounds fantastic. I was a little lukewarm on the game but now I might just have to join that Giant Bomb guild.

How viable are Inquis/Consular tanks as main tanks in endgame raiding? Also a brief comparison of the three tanking classes with pros/cons. Thanks.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Bwast: What do you mean by spacemissions actually being good? It's still on rails, you still got to shoot or protect stuff and its still pretty unforgiving at times, at least that's what last weeks beta taught me. But I did enjoy it as a fun distraction though.

I kept beating my head against one of the missions and got really frustrated. Didn't like them at all. But whatever, even if they were good I don't think I would devote much time to them. Stabbing dudes is more my style.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Metalhead79: That's a lot of stuff I already knew. All I wanna know which of the two is good for a healer specc, and why?Or what other crew skill would you recommend otherwise? Besides Biochem?

I would recommend Armormech becuase ultimately your crafting a full set of gear for yourself. There is no healer specific gear, so making yourself blue and purple gear is going to help you along the way as you level.

@blitzkriegblizzard said:

How viable are Inquis/Consular tanks as main tanks in endgame raiding? Also a brief comparison of the three tanking classes with pros/cons. Thanks.

I have no firsthand knowledge, but I have been reading and hearing that they are better tanks than Jedi Guardians, but inferior to Trooper Vanguard tanks. Jedi Knights have it rough right now. The resource generating system makes it hard to hold aggro and they take too much damage when tanking due to armor design (heavy armor only mitigates 5% more damage than medium), they poor CC options, and very limited AOE attacks.

Trooper Vanguards going down the tanking tree have it the best as of now. They have several very good CC's, AOE's, the ability to attack from range and do melee damage. @TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Bwast: I know the feeling, all I can say is: Get upgrades!
I bought some from the vendor and the missions went from WTF AM I DOING WRONG YOU MORONIC GAME to WOOT this is enjoyable!

This. Buy your first set of starship upgrades. As you level buy upgrades as they become available. I enjoy doing my daily space combat missions while drinking my morning coffee. Good XP, good credits, and pretty fun. @Ursus_Veritas said:

@Bwast: I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed the Space combat as a diversion between planets when I played in the beta last weekend. As TaliciaDragonsong says, getting some upgrades for your ship from the vendors on the fleet makes it a lot less unforgiving - I think the first missile upgrade you get gave me a payload of 40 rather than the 10 or so your ship has as default, which definitely helped in later Space Combat missions.

Anyway, a question for @Metalhead79: I avoided playing a Smuggler when I was in the beta weekend as I want to play one at launch, but I wanted to ask if you had any experience with them beyond the first 10 levels, and what you thought of them if you did. Does the cover system ever become a problem? How are they in group combat? Is it easy for them to get swarmed in CQC if they specialise in Gunslinger rather than scoundrel? Any info would be great!

I never did get to leveling a smuggler. I have played with them in healing and dps roles in heroic quests and flashpoints and was always pleased with them. They make fine healers and their dps is top notch. I know that I see complaints about the cover system all the time. Apparently it's bugged right now. On my level 2 smuggler it worked just fine. ;)

@blitzkriegblizzard said:

How viable are Inquis/Consular tanks as main tanks in endgame raiding? Also a brief comparison of the three tanking classes with pros/cons. Thanks.

According to all the crazy theorycrafters, all three tanking specs are incredibly close in viability.