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

[Deleted member 7219]

Lol servers are dyin' as people try to GRUDILGNDIRGDN LEKVEL.

Also with the 12xp boost, Makeb (start of Hutt Cartel) gives 350k xp just for going through opening cutscene/dialogues. And then 500k xp for the first mission. Don't forget to get a GSI Bolster. I just did it so it would register the chievee's (level 20, 30, 40, etc.) for my age-olde Assassin who is 50 (51 now). CHEEVEES

GSI Bolster?

And yeah, Makeb is great for getting to 50 if your class story cut just short of that.

 

[Mangoose]

GSI Bolster?

And yeah, Makeb is great for getting to 50 if your class story cut just short of that.

Yeah there's these "booths" bout same size as mission terminals (forget the names but they're "GSI-" something) that'll bolster your gear stats to some standard norm (like if you were in PVP). Level upscaling, if you will. So if you march in there at level 47 (IIRC that's when you first can) you won't be at any disadvantage.

Mostly it's useful in that you don't have to spend commendations refreshing your gear for it.

And useful for getting my achievements that I deserve.

 

[Kem0sabe]

The sooner one if done with makeb, the better. The expansion is uterly forgettable

 

[Deleted member 7219]

The sooner one if done with makeb, the better. The expansion is uterly forgettable

I found it was quite a good self contained story arc that was fun to play as a dark side Imperial. Some of the in engine cutscenes are fairly well done too.

 

[Bliblablubb]

GSI Bolster?

When Biolulz released Makeb it was obviously swarming with players, so you could run through it with minimal fighting since everything was dead. After a little while most people were done with it, leaving a shitload of high level mobs in your way of doing it. After a lot of "I only do it for the story" whining they erected those GSI satellite uplink terminals, whose buff makes you godlike for all intends and purposes. Stats are buffed and permanent healing in combat.
Seriously, you can solo Makeb at lvl47 with no companion wearing 10 level old equipment thanks to it. Taking on 1 gold and 2 silvers plus adds without seeing your healthbar twitch.
It's still a pita to kill all those mobs in your way though, and the "kill x of y" gold mobs are either already dead when you need them or blocking your way if you do not need them. RAEG!

Don't forget to refresh it if you leave Makeb and come back (even if it's only your ship), or you will be in for a surprise when mobs suddently wipe the floor with you. May or may not have happened to me...

I found it was quite a good self contained story arc that was fun to play as a dark side Imperial. Some of the in engine cutscenes are fairly well done too.

Yeah, some of the cutscenes were nice, also has a few situations to get huge amounts of affection points. Not that it matters anymore, patch 4 removed affection, right?
Story isn't that bad, I only finished a LS imp run though. Liked the "work with a small team of specialists" aspect and I am still laughing at the endboss fight.

Spoiler

Hutt in a mech

And Marr is a bro. #MarrBro4Life

Overall it's okay to play it once on each side, but nothing I would want to play again tbh. Too much fighting. Also Vette's VA didn't really get into her squeaky voice again, making me wonder who is talking to me.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Patch notes for 4.0 http://dulfy.net/2015/10/19/swtor-game-update-4-0-patch-notes/

Class Companion conversations will now unlock based upon class story progression, rather than affection/influence thresholds.

That's quiet nice. I became spacebroke thanks to Assholia back in the days. That's quiet nice. That's quiet nice. That's quiet nice. That's quiet nice..... 9 affection gained.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Question: What spec should I level as a Shadow? Or is most fun. Any of the Disciplines have good AOE attacks so I can just blitz past normal/weak mobs?

if you want super easy mode: tank spec in DPS gear (i.e. wear an offhand shield to get the shield chance but otherwise just use high endurance dps mod, power surge etc, no tank stats), lots of survivability, lots of AoE damage, good single target damage.
You'll even get procs that let you use shadow strike without positional reqs and spinning kick outside of stealth.
Serenity deals redonkulous amounts of damage but you're really squishy. There's no way that a tanking companion can hold aggro against you, especially due to your AoE you have all the mobs on you anyway, so it's best to run with a healer companion. But you only get one on Hoth. (Nar shadda for rep side which is way earlier)
tank spec in DPS gear->once you have a healer: Serenity.

Infiltration is the best shadow spec though, best animations, most fun. Just doesn't have AoE to speak of, and maul is an important move for the spec. Then again, losing maul damage to cc-immune boss mobs and the like isn't so bad as losing backstab for concealment is. (<- this is really annoying when leveling an operative in concealment)

 

[Crazed Weevil]

New patch is now live...

Some thoughts running around as a lvl 60 Operative on Ziost with the changes to companions etc:

• Companions don't 'wear' gear any more, they scale to your level and the influence level you have with them (which sets the amount of presence you have when that character is active). The only gear you get to choose is the stuff that would be visible on them (so only weapon on Scorpio...nothing else)
• You can change all the companions to any role and they all seem to act the same when in them
• Everything seems to be stupidly easy now...I don't know if it's because I've already 'max' out influence on my companions so my presence is very high, but a healer companion was healing me for 13K+ every GCD without a cooldown...I can solo a champion without losing more than 10% of HP
• Level scaling seems to be pointless if your presence is high enough...your companions can heal / kill / tank you through anything

So far it's exactly as expected...it's now a single player game that you play online

 

[Kem0sabe]

Lost all progress on the companion HK quest... all the pieces that i already had are gone, the heroic quests... gone... fuck you bioware.

Also, how do you do solo flashpoints?

 

[Crazed Weevil]

OK some more thoughts before I call it a night...

I just started the new expansion and finished the first three chapters...and wow...I'm actually impressed. Admittedly I didn't have much expectation for this with all the changes they were doing, but so far it's been quite good if a little simple.

So far combat been very rail road like, corridor fighting at its finest, and very easy but the storyline is significantly better than anything else Bioware has done before in SWTOR. Dialogue hasn't been that cringe worthy though it won't win any prizes for being good either, but the biggest improvement is with the cut scenes. They have finally worked out how to blend their animations with careful cuts so they don't look so rigid and are much more natural. There is supposed to be some Choice & Consequence(tm) in there somewhere but so far I haven't seen any of note other than the game telling me that certain people approve / disapprove of what I've just done or that they'll remember my actions in the future...oh and it seems that it doesn't just effect NPCs that join you either, looks like other characters, such as villains, will as well...could be interesting, but this is Bioware so it'll likely be just a few in game e-mails.

If the first three chapters are anything to go by I'll probably have this finished by tomorrow...it's does look like it going to be a short sweet affair. However they are supposed to be adding more chapters later...

Spoiler tag for the start of the story:

Spoiler

The story basically picks up from the end of Ziost where the Sith Emperor consumed all life on the planet so he can become immortal / star in a Highlander movie or something. The Eternal Empire has attacked, the twins in that CGI cut scene, and burned Korriban and I think Tython to the ground as well as kicked the shit out of the Sith & Republic armed forces before disappearing back to their own turf in that one part of the galaxy nobody seems to have been too before. The Sith Emperor has also mysteriously disappeared. The story proper starts with you being recruited by Darth Marr & the Republic to help track down the Emperor because he doesn't just want to rule the galaxy but to eat it and it seems people think this might not be a good thing.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Lost all progress on the companion HK quest... all the pieces that i already had are gone, the heroic quests... gone... fuck you bioware.

Right when you start the expansion by clicking Play the game tells you exactly that. And asks you twice if you're sure you want to proceed. Redding is teh hard.

Everything seems to be stupidly easy now

The companions are so stupidly OP it boggles the mind.

RIP in peace Darth Marr. Never forget.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Right when you start the expansion by clicking Play the game tells you exactly that. And asks you twice if you're sure you want to proceed. Redding is teh hard.


The companions are so stupidly OP it boggles the mind.

RIP in peace Darth Marr. Never forget.

I don't even have the expansion, only get it on the 27th... Reading is indeed hard as shit, as i never said i was playing expansion.

 

[Mangoose]

Well FUCK this Companion boosting thing because I've been spending HOURS gearing up my companions with fucking adaptive armor. I mean I have to still do it for my character but it was like twice the work and time.

But at the same time at least I can stop that now. And I actually like that you can put whatever gear on your companion, because honestly it seemed like a waste of time to gear them up. It was just tedium and it was not like you had to make any interesting decisions - you just tediously spend commendations and put the obvious armoring that matches their stats.

I'm not sure how the companions being able to do any role will go. On the one hand, it is very helpful because then I can pick whichever companion to take with me so that I am not stipulated to take a companion I hate just because their role is necessary for my build. On the other hand it may look weird that a Smuggler-type (a la Vette) runs in there and tanks. But I guess the former's benefit overtakes the second's disadvantage, because the latter is more cosmetic.

The OP thing definitely sounds bad, but on the other hand at least it's something they can balance easily just by changing numbers. It's more that I hope they actually do it.

 

[Mangoose]

Now, how is leveling right now without the 12x boost? Is it still pretty non-tedious doing both the class and planetary lines? Because that's really all that matters to me... I don't want to grind tedious side quests just so I can get XP and continue the story.

 

[Mangoose]

They changed Jet Storm to be available at level 22 instead of 61! PROPS!

Edit: OO a bunch of Solo mode Flashpoints. Good, because PUGs are annoying (I'm recordings so I actually want to see all the dialogue, not skip shit) not to mention bad.

Yeah. I'm totally okay with them turning SWTOR more into a single player game. Because it sucks, and has always sucked, in multiplayer. Other MMOs are way better.

Edit: Oh fuck, snap to grid UI function! Save/load keybinds!

More weapon-types available to companions.

Cross-class companions?!?! - Edit: Actually I don't really like this. I like that Companions are unique, plus with all roles available, more companions (for gameplay) is not an issue. Unless I guess you only have one main, then I suppose seeing all companions would be alright.

Companions can be killed!?

Edit: OOhh and the new Curbing Shots utility will be great for my Ruffian to be more a 10m (aka use my scattergun more instead of punching) character. Me gusta.

 

[Echo Mirage]

So far it's exactly as expected...it's now a single player game that you play online

That's exactly how I've come to view the game in the few days I have been playing. It times I completely forget its an MMO until I leave a story quest area.

Does anyone know what this armour set is called?

Also how does adaptive armour work? I was thinking of getting the black 900 cartel coin set. Does it level with me or do all the stats come from the mods installed on it? Or is it just a transmog skin?

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I'm up to chapter V now. Story and new companions are very, very good.

Graphics have been given an upgrade and the cutscenes are excellent.

My companions also seem to be massively OP, maybe because my Presence is so high. I'm not complaining - it means I can get through the combat quickly.

 

[Ulminati]

Also how does adaptive armour work? I was thinking of getting the black 900 cartel coin set. Does it level with me or do all the stats come from the mods installed on it? Or is it just a transmog skin?

IIRC (been a while since I played), adaptive armor has its stats derived from the mods installed in it. But it will automatically turn into the heaviest type of armor your character can wear. So you can use the same set on an Operative and a Sith Juggernaut.

I'm tempted to reinstall and wallow in the decline because Star Wars nostalgia. Any thoughts on classes? I have a max level(?) Sith Warrior and ImpAgent from Vanilla, but maybe I should use that free lv60 to make a bluside. Are the story arcs notably different for imperial/republic side?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I don't even have the expansion, only get it on the 27th... Reading is indeed hard as shit, as i never said i was playing expansion.

Well, since the conversation revolved around the new expansion and you asked about solo flashpoints (all FPs have solo options now unlike before where only post-Shadow of Revan FPs had a solo option and only once during the story quest; the PC you have to talk to to start the FP asks you if you want the solo version btw) it seemed reasonable to assume you were talking about the expansion too.

expansion impressions:
My scrapper hitting like a wet noodle now, 15% surge nerf from the equipment changes, 20% surge nerf on top of it from changes in the skill tree. Lol. Several classes got similar nerfs, but not those who would have needed the nerf (AP PT)
The story, while not BAD per se, offers almost zero difference for different classes, imperial or republic, save for a few changed sentences here and there. Even something like kneeling or not kneeling before the emperor just differs in so far as either you "kill" Valkorion or that Arcann dude does it, rest is identical (so like 15s differing cutscene). It escapes me how they can think they could keep an MMO running with offering 10h (if even that much) of story, while not offering new operations and the like. It's not like SWTOR failed due to a lack of elder game content in PvE and PvP and a horrible engine, right? No, it needed more story. I can already see the millions of players paying sub for years to come to play through the identical story time and again on 20 different characters derp derp derp.

To be honest I'm not certain if the game is easy enough yet. I once dropped below 90% health before Lana Beniko healed me with a 15k heal. So it still seems possible that a 3 year old with downs might not be able to finish the game. Which is racist against 3 y o downies, right? here's hoping BioWare fixes that asap.

verdict: the expansion shapes up to be the biggest pile of shit to have been released for SWTOR so far, which was to be expected because it faithfully continues the trend

 

[Kem0sabe]

Well, since the conversation revolved around the new expansion and you asked about solo flashpoints (all FPs have solo options now unlike before where only post-Shadow of Revan FPs had a solo option and only once during the story quest; the PC you have to talk to to start the FP asks you if you want the solo version btw) it seemed reasonable to assume you were talking about the expansion too.

expansion impressions:
My scrapper hitting like a wet noodle now, 15% surge nerf from the equipment changes, 20% surge nerf on top of it from changes in the skill tree. Lol. Several classes got similar nerfs, but not those who would have needed the nerf (AP PT)
The story, while not BAD per se, offers almost zero difference for different classes, imperial or republic, save for a few changed sentences here and there. Even something like kneeling or not kneeling before the emperor just differs in so far as either you "kill" Valkorion or that Arcann dude does it, rest is identical (so like 15s differing cutscene). It escapes me how they can think they could keep an MMO running with offering 10h (if even that much) of story, while not offering new operations and the like. It's not like SWTOR failed due to a lack of elder game content in PvE and PvP and a horrible engine, right? No, it needed more story. I can already see the millions of players paying sub for years to come to play through the identical story time and again on 20 different characters derp derp derp.

To be honest I'm not certain if the game is easy enough yet. I once dropped below 90% health before Lana Beniko healed me with a 15k heal. So it still seems possible that a 3 year old with downs might not be able to finish the game. Which is racist against 3 y o downies, right? here's hoping BioWare fixes that asap.

verdict: the expansion shapes up to be the biggest pile of shit to have been released for SWTOR so far, which was to be expected because it faithfully continues the trend

That is indeed disappointing, not sure how they could launch such a short expansion and think it would satisfy the playerbase until next year when they plan to release new chapters...

Still, i have both shadows of revan and knights of the fallen empire to do, so thats some content to last me.

 

[Gideon]

Does anyone know what this armour set is called?

Spoiler

http://tor-fashion.com/tulak-hord/

 

[Echo Mirage]

Both of the packs are containing the armour are listed as unavailable. Were they a limited offer or do the packs return at some point?

Also is there anything in either the arms or armour crafting trees that make it worth leveling for? I was quite far into the armour tree. But I noticed that commendations gave better armour and weapons and that artificer makes light saber crystals. Something I really need since light saber drops are damn rare. And the ones I do get are low on the DPS scale.

 

[Mangoose]

It's not like SWTOR failed due to a lack of elder game content in PvE and PvP and a horrible engine, right?

SWTOR failed because its combat sucked ass from level 1. The only way I hit the level cap twice during launch was because I played two stealth classes. While high. The whole time. If it weren't for the class storylines I would not have played at all.

I didn't quit PVP because I ran out of content. I quit PVP because I spent enough time in it and I got bored OF PVP, not of the PVP content itself.

SWTOR is an MMO that sucks as an MMO but has its strengths in its "single player" storylines. The fundamental combat and engine are shit and there's adding more endgame content ain't going to salvage that, so anybody sane that wants to do endgame MMO flocks to better games. And any sane person that wants to play SWTOR plays it like a single player game, maybe gets enough taste of endgame, and then unsubs.

That is indeed disappointing, not sure how they could launch such a short expansion and think it would satisfy the playerbase until next year when they plan to release new chapters...

Still, i have both shadows of revan and knights of the fallen empire to do, so thats some content to last me.

Er, because the patch also included a bunch of other changes/improvements/fixes to the entire game, rather than just KotFE content.

E.g. they've strongly hinted that companions can now die due to your choices.

 

[Kem0sabe]

SWTOR failed because its combat sucked ass from level 1. The only way I hit the level cap twice during launch was because I played two stealth classes. While high. The whole time. If it weren't for the class storylines I would not have played at all.

I didn't quit PVP because I ran out of content. I quit PVP because I spent enough time in it and I got bored OF PVP, not of the PVP content itself.

SWTOR is an MMO that sucks as an MMO but has its strengths in its "single player" storylines. The fundamental combat and engine are shit and there's adding more endgame content ain't going to salvage that, so anybody sane that wants to do endgame MMO flocks to better games. And any sane person that wants to play SWTOR plays it like a single player game, maybe gets enough taste of endgame, and then unsubs.


Er, because the patch also included a bunch of other changes/improvements/fixes to the entire game, rather than just KotFE content.

E.g. they've strongly hinted that companions can now die due to your choices.

Changes and fixes are all nice, but people are playing an mmo for the content, and if the content is not sufficient to hold off till the next story patch then people will unsub.

The lack of new endgame content will be crippling, hope they have something planned before end of the year.

 

[Gideon]

Both of the packs are containing the armour are listed as unavailable. Were they a limited offer or do the packs return at some point?

Yes, they return at some point. Availability is subject to Bioware's discretion.

Try to scan the GTN, all the packs were available last week at a discounted rate.