I am rolling a consular but im completely torn now... after being on the last couple of builds... they're always great... i have an sith inquisitor for the last build and this one apparently they didn't delete the characters... thats kinda cool...

But i just don't know if i will go sage heals, sage ranged dps or sage melee dps... normally i am against heals and tanking because i tend to get everyone dead... i've done a heal spec on 2 of the last three builds... and it just works.

Overall I am leaning towards the Shadow Melee DPS however... that way i can see the white of their eyes... or red if they're sith... when i run the blade of my light saber through them.

Damn you go out of town for a few weeks and miss everything.  

I hope i am not too late.  Paypal sent for one of the SWTOR coins.

On the plus side looks like those of us in the long term beta testing will be able to make characters on the servers y'all are able to, at the very least.

Hello and welcome to game testing! We can’t wait to get you all into the test. If you just received your invitation today, you can visit www.swtor.com/tester to download the launcher and begin patching the game. Then, on Friday 11/11 at 5:00PM CST (11:00 London, 00:00 (midnight) Saturday 11/12 Paris/Berlin) you’ll be able to log in and play!

To our existing testers: at 5:00PM CST on Friday, you will notice several new servers appear in server selection for the weekend test to accommodate all our weekend testers. You are welcome to create characters on these new servers, but please note that they will only be available for the duration of the weekend test, which ends on Sunday 11/13 at 11:59PM CST (Monday 11/14 6:00 London, 7:00 Paris/Berlin).

All testers share forums at this time, so please welcome our weekend testers!

It is not real clear if weekend testers will be able to make characters on the servers we are on but if you can make your characters on Darth Malak server, the majority of us have characters on the imperial side.  My Sith Inquisitor is the Mirror of the Jedi Consular, the skills and attacks are named different, and the effects may be different but they play the same.

Unfortunately I can't get into the game right now as the servers are down... but from memory the names of some of our characters are:
Paitryn
Jintoll
Ragnarok
K'lia
Aikell
Tinzzak

Hope to see you all there!!!

Sith Inquisitor - Tinzzak

I have played consular both times i got a beta run got to about level 20 on each... first one was a Jedi Sage i was ranged DPS which worked well, i really enjoyed that spec, but I respeced and went heal spec on that at about level 15, i was surprised at my longevity and popularity in flashpoints and group quests with the heal spec (Healers are a dime a dozen thus far in beta).  I think what impressed me the most was i could heal and keep a group alive and throw a few DPS attacks out while doing it.  I was also very efficient single questing... i could set Quyzen Fess to tank mode and heal him and throw some decent dps out as well and take out most group quests that were classified as 2+.

Second time around i went Shadow - Telekinetic (tank) spec.  Until i got a companion that healed my longevity was much worse than the sage.  Being that i am not really a tank and never was really good at it i expected the experience to be somewhat frustrating... but once i got into a routine (and my companion throwing me heals occasionally) i really enjoyed the spec, however i was not nearly as popular in flashpoints and group quests... people tend to be somewhat negative towards the light armor tank types, but in the hands of someone better at tanking i see no reason why the Telekinetic spec tank could not main tank quite effectively.

They are still setting up the new build but next time around i am hoping one of my pre-made characters is a consular so i can play with a higher level right out of the gate.  

As to specific specs... i never was really good at that... i just kinda go with what i like and what seems to work for me.  I usually got criticism from elitists who 'knew' the perfect dps spec or the perfect rogue spec, or perfect tank spec... i usually was never top of the DPS or the best tank out there... but was also never the worst.  When i went with their suggested rotations/specs i never saw a great improvement.  Which disturbingly enough means i am a stunningly average player... hmmm think i just insuled myself.

For tank i was working towards something like: http://torguild.net/calculator/jedi-consular/shadow/?p=3200022000000000000023302311102310132310000000000000000000
the healing aspects of some of those skills are helpful, at the lower levels only slightly but hey every little bit helps... oh its also fun to use your stealth ability as a shadow to sneak into the middle of a mob then do an AOE or something gets the aggro of the mob right quick.  Follow it up by a few good solid hits and another AOE and unless your DPS/Heals is drawing way too much aggro or not attacking your target you're good to go.

For Heal i'd do something like: http://torguild.net/calculator/jedi-consular/sage/?p=0000000000000000000032330221221220122313200020000000000000
I found the bubbles to be quite helpful... you shield yourself/companion or party members and you're not healing the entire time... I found it quite effective.  Really if you have a good tank you don't have to waste force shielding yourself or the DPS, as they take the aggro.  If they aren't so good its a good idea to shield yourself as well...

Again i haven't done much of the DPS version of the consular... i did play with the ranged DPS which was great fun... send your companion in stand back and blast them.  I am very much looking forward to playing with the shadow Melee DPS tree in this next build.  Unless the group decides to go empire side at which point not sure what ill do... probably an inquisitor melee DPS.

Sorry i know i am not a lot of help when it comes to exact details and what not, but i tend to go with what feels right for me not necessarily the best spec out there... but i can say... anyone playing a consular (i feel) will completely enjoy the class, the story line is good, the class if fun to play (good ranged attacks and heals for sage... stealth and dual light-sabers for shadow), The class is very a versatile, utilitarian class... we can Main/Off Tank, Main Heal, Off Heal/DPS, Range DPS, Melee DPS and we have stealth capability.  

Those of us playing a Consular class, are truly all that and a bag of chips........  Now if we could just get rid of the dresses we'd be golden.... excuse me... robes... or are they long kilts...

Speaking of which... You guys heard that news of a prison in China that the guards makes the prisoner plays and farm the golds? Or was it just a rumor?

I hadn't heard that but, if its true... when the Credit Dealers show up in SWTOR, what type of crime do i have to commit in China to get that type of sentence...

"Tin, for the crime of displaying a panda in a violent role in the central town square of (insert city name here)... you are sentenced to 5 years of playing SWTOR making credits..."

Sentenced to playing a game and NO WORK... i fail to see the downside.

Can I add I may be available Friday and Saturday although I'd prefer to keep these days free for drinking

I like EE.  But why not combine them?  Drinking and SWOTOR... makes for good times... especially in a group.

A bit of info on the new build from the tester forms, don't distribute please.

Hello Testers!

We are preparing to deploy a new build of the game! At 12:01AM CDT Austin (6:01 London, 7:01 Paris/Berlin) on 10/22, we will be bringing the servers down as part of the deployment process. We will update the stickies in this forum to keep you informed about when the servers will be available again.

NOTE: You will not receive an end-of-test e-mail OR a new invitation. You must check the forums for further information about when the test will begin again. Thank you!

As a part of the deployment of this new build, all existing characters will be wiped, and all testers will be required to uninstall and re-download the client.

Before downloading, please fully uninstall the old game client using the Uninstall Utility in the SWTOR directory of your Start Menu.

NOTE: The new build is NOT available for download at this time, so please do not begin re-downloading the client. We will inform you when it is available.

Below you will find the complete uninstall instructions:
(OMITTED BY FOR BREVITY)

New builds of the game feature a wide array of improvements, bug fixes, and updates, and we’re looking forward to your continued participation in the test!

Whichever faction we all do ill be happy to participate on.  I've done a jedi consular both testing periods and played around with the JK, Trooper and Smugger for a few levels each time.  

Better play for the last few hours i can before they wipe my character!