So I tried running Black Talon today on hard mode, and while I felt it wasn't too bad, I was told that I was terribly undergeared for the encounter (even though I managed aggro rather well, I was apparently too squishy).

I just dinged 50 last night, so obviously I'm rocking all of my orange gear with level 46+ modifications. I'm sitting at 13k health, and a strangely balanced 20% defense, shield, and absorb ratio. Not the stats I wish I had obviously, which was why I was running HM's in the first place.

So now my goal is simply this, go to Ilum / Borelia and get dailies started. At 8 daily commendations a pop, you get an epic modification, or you can save up 120 and get a new earpiece and implants.

I didn't pay too much attention, but before I actually spend my comms, I plan on taking a closer look at crafted modifications and seeing how they stack against the ones you get from these commendations as obviously I would like to get my toon as decked out as quickly as possible. I've also been PvPing quite a bit more over the past few days (valor 15 now, so 8 levels increase) to get some champion gear. I've gotten 1 bag thus far with centurion commendations, and am hoping for some gear once my dailies are exhausted.

This post is made for one thing, and that is to warn you new 50 tanks that you will not be welcomed with open arms into hard modes with fresh leveling gear. What I posted above is seeming the easiest way to gear up (slight from switching to dps spec and hoping no one notices you're being carried because you're still rocking tanking gear).

With this in mind, I'm much more prone to leveling my next few tanks in DPS spec / gear just so I have more options as a fresh 50.