It sure did take a while, but Bioware has officially announced the next playable class that we all knew was coming in one form or another, the Sith Warrior. Gamespot got the low-down in an interview with James Ohlen and Emmanuel Lusinchi, developers with Bioware, and there were a few interesting points of interest.

The Sith Warrior is apparently inspired by none other than Darth Vader. He is a "heavily armored Force user driven by darkness and rage." Later on in the interview, James Ohlen reveals that players "who enjoy being in front of the fight and deflecting enemy attacks will enjoy the Sith Warrior, as well as those who prefer dishing out loads of damage." After that, he mention choices that a player can make to lead him down either path or striking a balance between the two. I think it's safe to assume we will be seeing a skill tree type system, giving players a little leeway with the direction a player wants to go with their character.

There was another enlightening comment regarding lightsaber abilities:

We all know what that means right? There's going to be some type of "combo" system where you build points for simple moves and then "spend" them on more powerful moves. The points even carry over to new mobs if we don't spend them, although there is most likely a timer on the duration.

One last bit to note, and this is pure speculation, so bear with me. We're told that the Sith Warrior "depends more on overpowering his opponents with martial skills than Force powers but often uses iconic powers, such as [the] Force choke." We already knew that, but can you see a Star Wars game without a Jedi or Sith weilding massive Force powers like Emperor Palpatine?

What this means to me, and here's the speculation part I warned you about, is the next class with be another Jedi/Sith class, but this time more focused on Force powers. One side of the progression tree will fork down the damage route, and the other side will be damage. There's your "healer" and "mage" classes all rolled into one, just like they rolled the "melee dps" and "tank" into one. 

I guess we will find out in another couple months when they have another decent reveal. Until then, let us know what you think in the comments below or in our forums!

Source: Gamespot