Star Wars: The Old Republic will kill WoW - outsourced to Broadsword

[Mangoose]

Powertech if you going to have a Gunslinger.

I've leveled one of each type:

Powertech (Tank/DPS/DPS) - close quarters, mainly 4-10m ranged. Tank spec is probably the easiest tank spec to play as you don't have to worry to much about defensive cooldown abilities, all shield & armour. Very easy rotation, but also very boring. Pyrotech DPS spec is good and strong, DoT focused but good at AoE as well. Rotation is not too hard to master. Advanced Prototype is powerful as well but has a hard rotation to master to get the best from it. It is one of the strongest DPS specs though.

Mercenary (Healer/DPS/DPS) - all ranged, 30m. Healer spec is interesting as you have heavy armour and good mobility with it. Haven't played one much though so I don't know how well they play. Arsenal spec is the easiest DPS spec to play and also very boring. The rotation is very simple and hard to fuck up. Innovative Ordnance spec is very much like Advanced Prototype but ranged instead of close quarters. It's very strong, probably the strongest DPS in the game, but it's also the hardest to master as the rotation is a little odd. It also doesn't AoE that well.

To be honest I found Powertech more fun to play as the rotations felt better to me. In PvP Powertech is king without doubt, tank spec is almost unfair with how many ways you have to annoy the opposition, and the DPS specs, though not very bursty, are dangerous and you are very tough with it. I always found Mercenary to be a little weak in PvP though. It plays a lot like a Sorcerer; if you get left alone you can murder people very quickly, but if not you're going to have a hard time doing much.

Oops, didn't see this, thanks!

I've been leaning towards Powertech as I've been reading it has an interesting "mid"-ranged playstyle. And the AP animations I saw were pretty cool.

On the other hand I just saw a video with the new KotFE abilities, and the Mercenary launchback looks pretty badass and I don't mean just for SWTOR. (The rest of the animations are both clones and look blah, except for some reason the Commando and Mercenary ones).

 

[Crazed Weevil]

Goddamn I wish they would allow API mods like WoW.

All I want is a goddamn HUD so I can see my resource (MAINLY RAGE/FOCUS) without glancing around all over the place, but without also cluttering my screen with the stock horizontal bar with character icon.

Actually I that if I want a health bar above my head, I need to also have my NAME and shit, and also have it the same color as all of my enemies. Thanks Bioware.

Spoiler

http://s.cdn.wowinterface.com/preview/pvw24123.jpg

However I have been messing around enough to that I have something workable without interfering too much combat vision. Screenshot later, but I made the character health/energy main UI tiny and put it next to my character's head. Useful for both watching health and resource since they are actually NOT BLUE.

My interface isn't that special, but here is a screenshot of it on my Sith Juggernaut.

Never had much problem with.

Now time for questions, and they are all about AC/Discipline choice:

I'm most likely going to play a Juggernaut for my Warrior (because dual sabers is ghey). Which Juggernaut Discipline has the best animations? Because that's all I care about.

They all use the same animations except for the spec specific abilities. Here a video of those abilities:



Personally I used the tank spec, Immortal, and used that one to level with. It's well named. Things don't always die that quick (silvers & golds mainly) but you + healer companion can kill nearly anything solo (champions, Heroic 4s, all doable by yourself with little trouble) and if you do your rotation right you'll still do a huge amount of damage.

For a Gunslinger (I have a high level Operative already), what's the difference in playstyles between its three Disciplines?

Sharpshooter - extremely strong against single targets, though lacks a bit on AoEs. Very easy rotation, but only really hits it's stride once you hit level 41-44 to get the main ability; Trickshot. It's built around using big high damage abilities so you'll see big numbers above enemies heads all the time.

Saboteur - good all round spec, but I found it the hardest to play well. Does good damage single and great damage in AoE. Has a mix of big damage abilities and pseudo DoTs.

Dirty Fighting - the main DoT spec, so it has a wind up period before you start to kill things, but once it gets going it kills fast. It's quite easy to play and good at single & AoE targets. It doesn't have any high damage abilities, but lots of bug bite attacks. Once you have the two DoTs and the pseudo DoT on a target and hit it with Wounding Shots you'll see a fountain of damage numbers.

I personally played Dirty Fighting spec to level up to level 41, and then switched to Sharpshooter (my Sniper uses Virulence as it's main, so I wanted to use a different one for my Gunslinger). All the specs are now quite mobile since you don't need to remain in cover to use most of your abilities any more, but you still need cover to keep you defence abilities working. In PvE everyone loves Gunslingers, you're really useful to a group, and everything dies quick. However soloing Champions & Heroics 4s can be a little too hard...you just don't have the defensive abilities to keep yourself alive for an extended time. In PvP I prefer to use Dirty Fighting since DoT specs are great for keeping the pressure on someone, it's also great for doing a huge amount of damage during a match (in fact in the low level tier, level 10-29, I've managed to do a million total damage a few times in Voidstar). However at level 60 you'll likely find yourself being targeted a lot...if you get left alone though you'll murder people. Sharpshooter is probably the better spec at high level since combined with utilities like Compounding Impacts you have an easier time keeping people away from you.

Um... And I have no idea at all how to go with the Bounty Hunter.

Go Powertech...you can always go tank spec and troll people in PvP if you get bored.

I went with TK Sage because I don't want to level a healer, and Balance had the shittiest animations. Not that TK is that much better... I expected throwing shit around the room, not spamming Kamehamehas (though... I'm tempted to remake my appearance into an anime character to take advantage of said TK animations).

All the Sage animations are a bit naff. TK is the easiest to play, but Balance is amazing in PvP and makes soloing easier as well with all the self heals your abilities have.

 

[Mangoose]

My interface isn't that special, but here is a screenshot of it on my Sith Juggernaut.

Never had much problem with.

For me it's an immensely better way to keep track of focus. Not to mention health because I don't like the default nameplate.

(Hotkeys are set like that because I use a G13)

Also thanks for the rest of your reply. Sorry I don't have much to say in reply, but that's because it's very informational.

 

[Kem0sabe]

New launcher looks nicer that previous one, hopefully bioware continues this redesign with the expansion.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

UI urgently needs a redesign I agree. It isn't just the placing of the different UI elements, but the horrible colours and fonts too.

Just got to lv 20 on my sarcastic and selfish DS Jennifer Hale trooper. It's the funniest class I've played so far. I'm giving everyone backchat - General Garza, Republic Senators, subordinates, you name it. I'm also having a grand old time pissing off the Cathar companion. This is the first time I've been mean to a companion so I'm wondering what happens if I push for negative affection. Are there special conversations?

 

[dragonul09]

UI urgently needs a redesign I agree. It isn't just the placing of the different UI elements, but the horrible colours and fonts too.

Just got to lv 20 on my sarcastic and selfish DS Jennifer Hale trooper. It's the funniest class I've played so far. I'm giving everyone backchat - General Garza, Republic Senators, subordinates, you name it. I'm also having a grand old time pissing off the Cathar companion. This is the first time I've been mean to a companion so I'm wondering what happens if I push for negative affection. Are there special conversations?

There are some special conv for light side and dark side,sadly you can't kill companions like in the beta,oh boy that would be fun.

 

[Crazed Weevil]

Crafting changes blog post is up: http://www.swtor.com/info/news/blog/20151006?sf41488008=1

Summary:

• Changing the crafting levels to 8 different grades
• Balance(tm) all the crafting skills to be useful by destroying Cybertech / Biotech
• Cybertech no longer crafts Armour plates, they are moved to Armourtech / Synthweaving and are called Mastery (the old primary stat plates) and Endurance
• Enhancements moved from Artiface to Cybertech (who I assume still keep mods)
• No more reusable med packs / stimulants from Biotech. Increase duration on blue stuff though
• No more reusable grenades from Cybertech
• Make all orange armour designs Adaptive (useful)
• No more droid armour
• Crafting starts with blue versions, no more green versions
• Crafting can make gear as good as Hard Mode Operations gear, hard to make though and doesn't have set bonuses
• Crew skills no longer randomised. You get access to all of them
• Harvesting no longer requires skill, but you get more material the higher your skill level
• Crew skills are greatly shortened as well as crafting time
• They are removing a lot of crafting materials from the game to fit everything into their new crafting grading system, everything removed will be converted to something still there

This whole 4.0 thing is starting to look like it's going to be one huge unholy mess when it gets released. It's almost a new game with all the changes they are making, and they are going to have to re-balance it all over again since they will have barely tested any of it outside of their spreadsheets.

 

[Rahdulan]

I wonder, are you using SweetFX or something similar? Because game sure looks helluva lot of contrasted and sharper as opposed to bland and washy colors it used last time I played it long time ago. Did they change something aside from shadow resolutions and filters because those also look better?

 

[Crazed Weevil]

Oh, they also released details about the changes to the main levelling system...or Core Worlds as they are calling it now: http://www.swtor.com/blog/core-world-changes

Summary:

• Changing the quests to have different symbols based on type;
  • Purple Triangle = class story missions, main planet quest line missions, flashpoint intros, and all the new stuff in Fallen Empire
  • Gold Triangle = side missions from the planet quest line, and stuff in flashpoints
  • Arrow Triangle = repeatable missions, including Heroics
  • Star Triangle = exploration missions...I think these are the Area missions, toggle on the Map to see
• You only need to do your class missions and the main planet quest line to have enough XP to keep up...similar to the 12x XP boost except you need to do the planet quest line
• Massive changes to Heroic missions
  • All missions can now be done with 2+ people
  • Nerfed all Heroic 4 to make them easier
  • Nearly all will be auto turn in, so instant rewards
  • Transport item to get you to the Heroic's location
  • Quest terminal to collect all Heroic's at once
  • Possibly some sort of Weekly bonus quest for doing all the Heroics on a planet (?)
• Doesn't say anything about the Bonus quest lines, whether they are still there or are part of the main planet quest line at all

Effectively this changes the main game to be almost completely single player now outside of Flashpoints & Operations. Right now it's quite easy to do a lot of the Heroic missions solo if you know what you are doing and are over-levelled a bit. Now, unless they don't change some them to need 2 or more players due to mechanics, you'll be able to do all of them yourself if you have half a brain. The only restriction is the level-sync thing they will have going as it'll stop you from over-levelling too hard.

I wonder, are you using SweetFX or something similar? Because game sure looks helluva lot of contrasted and sharper as opposed to bland and washy colors it used last time I played it long time ago. Did they change something aside from shadow resolutions and filters because those also look better?

They changed a lot of the Shaders recently so it does look a lot better on some worlds. You have to use highest settings though...

 

[Mangoose]

I wonder, are you using SweetFX or something similar? Because game sure looks helluva lot of contrasted and sharper as opposed to bland and washy colors it used last time I played it long time ago. Did they change something aside from shadow resolutions and filters because those also look better?

Yes, I am using SweetFX for sho. Because fuck SWTOR default graphics (especially since I play borderless which means I can't even change gamma)

Also to add to what you said: SMAA for the win.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I agree with their changes to the world questing design, people were grinding it solo since launch and it was a pain in the ass before the temporary 12x boost, now you get to experience the best quests in the game (class and planetary) have an easier time traversing the levels and get some nice rewards.

The focus on story is the only differentiating factor between swtor and all the other mmos, so focusing on that is good.

BTW, I played the f2p version of wildstar that launched recently, it's like a worse wow, with worse combat and the most retarded quests ever put on an mmo.

 

[Mangoose]

I agree with their changes to the world questing design, people were grinding it solo since launch and it was a pain in the ass before the temporary 12x boost, now you get to experience the best quests in the game (class and planetary) have an easier time traversing the levels and get some nice rewards.

Yeah, the only way I was able to play my two prior characters (one at launch and one ~2011) was because they were stealth ACs (Assassin, Operative).

But it was reading about this 12x boost that threw me back in the game (because of Star Wars fanboyism of course, not really because great game). Otherwise I'd have never touched the game again, because I had no inclination to relearn the Assassin and Operative ACs, whether by means of playing the same characters, playing a Shadow and/or Scoundrel, or whatever. Nope. Just nope. I've got better things to do.

But now I'm enjoying being able to play (and experience the storylines of) the Warrior, Knight*, Sage, Gunslinger, Bounty Hunter. Ain't touchin' the Trooper after what I read about how it turns into shit halfway through. BTW good luck with that Matt7895

*Very likely dropping the JK... talk about YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE. I have a feeling I'm going to spend most of my time on my Smuggler and/or BH because my Black Talon and Esseles runs have Jedis ONLY. (Sadly me included because I love Nolan North [because of Young Justice, not Nathan Drake], and I had always wanted to play a Warrior and/or Knight. Not that I dislike the other two classes, just that I was more hyped to do the force users first).

 

[Mangoose]

I wonder, are you using SweetFX or something similar? Because game sure looks helluva lot of contrasted and sharper as opposed to bland and washy colors it used last time I played it long time ago. Did they change something aside from shadow resolutions and filters because those also look better?

To clarify, I'm using Reshade with a slight modification of this EyeluvPC's config: https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/3hxyfg/reshader_tutorial_10_how_to_install/cudtkiy

Which is just SweetFX 2.0 (he uses Lumasharpen and HDR along with NVidia FXAA... I personally added SMAA) so it could probably work with just SweetFX. But Reshade has "Mediator" program which is nice. Granted I've used SweetFX a lot before just editing the txt files, and never messed with the config utility so maybe you could just use SweetFX.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Met a pretty female NPC on Taris and tried to lez it up with my psycho Jennifer Hale Trooper. Unfortunately there aren't any gay romances in the game until you get to the expansions. Still, she's the first NPC I haven't been a complete dick to since creating this character.

BTW, SWTOR with the 12x xp bonus gets even better when you've had a few drinks.

 

[Mangoose]

BTW, SWTOR with the 12x xp bonus gets even better when you've had a few drinks.

Oh yeah.. I managed my first two characters (well, only characters I finished) only because I was high.

 

[RK47]

I agree with their changes to the world questing design, people were grinding it solo since launch and it was a pain in the ass before the temporary 12x boost, now you get to experience the best quests in the game (class and planetary) have an easier time traversing the levels and get some nice rewards.

The focus on story is the only differentiating factor between swtor and all the other mmos, so focusing on that is good.

BTW, I played the f2p version of wildstar that launched recently, it's like a worse wow, with worse combat and the most retarded quests ever put on an mmo.

DONT USE ABLEIST LANGUAGE LAH

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

 

[Mangoose]

Goddamnit I hate not having a gap closer ability as a Powertech. Yes, I know there's Hydraulics Overrides but I still don't like manually running into melee range. Dealing with cover as a Gunslinger was interesting at first but it's banal and tedious now (I'm also mad that I don't like the mechanics of the Smuggler but it's a pretty good storyline). Sage is just annoying in that I don't use my lightsaber at all AND that you don't throw anything around except AIR. And I haven't been able to make a DBZ looking character so it looks like I'm throwing Kamehamehas everywhere (which would actually be cool).

I have a class-story-finished Operative and a class-story-finished Assassin... But the only thing I enjoyed gameplay-wise was being able to stealth past the trash. Operative was boring. Can't remember if I liked my Assassin, but I don't feel like leveling another one, especially because the Inquisitor storyline is shit, and well I guess I don't want to play the same mechanics as a Shadow.

At this point my favorite AC in terms of gameplay mechanics is my Juggernaut (and thankfully it is paired with a good storyline). But on the other hand running Esseles and Black Talon was fucking annoying because everyone was a Jedi or a Sith. It's not so much wanting to be unique, but I don't want to add another fucking lightsaber in the already over-special-fxed battles.

Welp, I still have yet to try a Mercenary though so maybe that will be better; maybe it'll be like the mobile 'Smuggler' in the production cutscenes who just blasts people while avoiding shit like Neo from the Matrix. Also I've yet to try Marauder/Sentinel but I doubt it will be good...

Now, they are adding Jet Charge to all Powertech disciplines for KotFE... BUT AT LEVEL 61. FUCIKINGH FUCKIGGBSUDB talk about bait and switch hype for 1-60 leveling. But I dunno, maybe Hydraulic Overrides will be great, because I was watching a video of a Pyrotech (3.0) and it looked pretty fun because he was just running around with absolute mobility.

---

In b4 Vaarna_Aarne 's gif. (I like Neverwinter but I guess I'm not in the mood for a fantasy setting. And also I'm still waiting for a melee-magic DPS hybrid a la Spellsword or Bladesinger. Monk's assumed to be next, right? Fuckers.)

 

[Bliblablubb]

Goddamnit I hate not having a gap closer ability as a Powertech. [...] Welp, I still have yet to try a Mercenary

You intend on playing the Booty Hunter a second time? That's uuuuh.. dedication? I couldn't even finish him once... Or the Trooper. Never unlocked their buff for the almighty Codexian legacy.
How long does it take to bring a toon from 1-55 with the x12 bonus anyway? 24 hours?

Also I've yet to try Marauder/Sentinel but I doubt it will be good...

All the cool kids play Sentards! The nickname shows a lot...
Back in the days when everybody was poor and you and your companions ran around with equipment 10 too low, Sentinel/Marauder was pretty nice, due to their crit dots healing you. Very twitchy and fastpaced. Still one of the best DPS afaik, but I've never been a fan of dual wield so I stuck with the single glowstick class.
The Marauder's armors also look pretty silly, if you didn't take the superhulk body type. Get some adapted if you want to take yourself serious.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Completed Chapter 1 of the Trooper story.

I'm going to continue with this just so I can get the buff and Legacy skill for my other characters. Jennifer Hale's excellent sarcastic voice acting helps.

I'm playing other games too but I am hoping that I'll complete this before the new expansion launches. Then I'll have done Sith Warrior, Jedi Knight, Imperial Agent, Sith Inquisitor and Trooper, with just the Consular, Smuggler and Bounty Hunter left to do. If Consular is as bad as everyone says, I might just ignore that entirely. But I do want to play a Chiss BH just so I can complete all the Imperial classes.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Completed Chapter 1 of the Trooper story.

I'm going to continue with this just so I can get the buff and Legacy skill for my other characters. Jennifer Hale's excellent sarcastic voice acting helps.

I'm playing other games too but I am hoping that I'll complete this before the new expansion launches. Then I'll have done Sith Warrior, Jedi Knight, Imperial Agent, Sith Inquisitor and Trooper, with just the Consular, Smuggler and Bounty Hunter left to do. If Consular is as bad as everyone says, I might just ignore that entirely. But I do want to play a Chiss BH just so I can complete all the Imperial classes.

Consular isn't as bad as the knight in terms of story I thought, if you go dark side it can even be somewhat enjoyable.

 

[Mangoose]

You intend on playing the Booty Hunter a second time? That's uuuuh.. dedication?

Nah, I'm only playing the advanced classes up to a point where I get a feel of their mechanics and their story. Free respecs so I doubt I will need past level 20. So most likely I will pick one of the two by the middle of Dromund Kass.

I couldn't even finish him once... Or the Trooper.

I'm ambivalent on the BH story, because while the flavor is interesting, the quests seem very straightforward - kill this bounty, kill that bounty - not to mention I want to play like an
honorable Mandalorean warrior rather than a credit fiend. Compared to the rest, though, storyline it's decent.

Screw the Inquisitor, JK, and I heard enough shit how the Trooper storyline declines terribly past chapter 2. On the other hand I think the Sith Warrior storyline is a lot better, Smuggler and Agent are a lot better, and BH and Consular I think depends more on taste. I know people don't like the Consular, but I really enjoyed the prologue because of the mysteries and then as people say, going subtle Dark Side manipulation of political/military strategic leader could be quite interesting.

From first impression - up to halfway through Dromund Kaas/Coruscant, in terms of storyline, I'd rate Agent* (DEFINITELY) > Smuggler and Warrior > Bounty Hunter > Consular maybe > Inquisitor
Jedi Knight uncertainty.

*i did finish Agent and Inquisitor storylines though.

How long does it take to bring a toon from 1-55 with the x12 bonus anyway? 24 hours?

No idea at this point. Right now I am just trying each AC. I also have been doing the less tedious side missions for fun, and I don't skip dialogues because I record everything with DXTory. I'm rushing through my Mercenary with just main quests and it does seem pretty fast.

I kinda wish I didn't finish my Agent storyline at level 47 which means i can't take advantage of the 12x xp to get to 50

Still one of the best DPS afaik, but I've never been a fan of dual wield so I stuck with the single glowstick class.

Yup, same here. I'll only go Sentard with my JK since I'm a Juggernaut.

---

Now, question. How is the Scoundrel? At first I though the cover system was interesting, but it got boring after a while. So my Gunslinger is probably not going to be played. However, I like the storyline of the Smuggler, so I still want to play one. Now, any opinions on the Scoundrel - keeping in mind I played an Operative to 47? I don't really want to stealth around anymore (I played stealth-emphasized Operative), since 12xp makes it kinda unnecessary, and because of that I don't really want to play a Scrapper. However the Ruffian Scoundrel is DoT focused... which is not very conducive to leveling I'd assume.

 

[Mangoose]

Oh yeah, do we have an active Codex guild? We used to have one on Red Eclipse. But if there is no Codex guild I think I'll transfer to an NA server since I'm... in NA and I'd get better latency. Longer ping (even though ~100ms) seems to annoy me in terms of animations than most other games.

Or, are many players on the same server? All my characters are on Red Eclipse.

 

[Bliblablubb]

I think most of my old toons are on Red Eclipse, no idea if there is a Codex fleet there though. I might come back for the new expanshun if it turns out good.

I kinda wish I didn't finish my Agent storyline at level 47 which means i can't take advantage of the 12x xp to get to 50

Illum and Makeb count as class quests in terms of the x12 bonus XP. But I would skip Illum and go through Makeb instead. With that satellite uplink buff you could roll over enemies solo without wearing armor and still don't die. Some 25% bonus stats plus constant heal over time makes you virtually unkillable. I remember soloing 2 gold mobs plus adds without a healer companion in 10 level old gear and thought I had found an exploit.
Enough to bring you to fiddy or even fiddyfive.

Also most storylines share the same problem: they are pretty good until chapter 2, then they either fizzle or completely fall apart. I am looking at you CISquisitor! From intrigue plotter to ghostbuster. JK has just bad and old questdesign on top of it: activate x gizmos, then come back. Lots of backtracking and loading screens when you have to visit Tython for the nth time.
SW and Agent rate high because they manage to keep you hooked till the end.

Bottom line is: even the worst imp storyline is still better than the best pub has to offer.

Now, question. How is the Scoundrel?

Can't help you there, I only played him until Tatooine, couldn't kill the endboss and rolled a gunslinger instead. Never looked back. I am just not born for being a healer or rogue. But f course, the main reason was lack of equipment in the old days, since SWTOR was, is and will always be just about equipment. Not a problem during x12 due to the abundance of commendations.
It had it's funny moments though when you kick people in the nuts, hit them over the head with your blaster or feed them a shotgun sandwich. Accompanied by maniac laughter whenever you trigger some class mechanic I can't remember ("upper hand" or smth like that).

Edit: forgot to mention if you still wondering: my SW is rage spec, which is pretty kickass now afaik and has the best sabre animations (even compared to the JK ones). You don't need to constantly burp anymore, only sabre styles. Also pretty simple rotation, good noob char.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

x12 buff ends on the 19th by the way. I wonder if/how slower the new questing will be.