Star Wars: The Old Republic

[EasternBuck]

One thing you have to be careful about is letting missions pile up in your log. It starts happening about that point. If you hit the limit, it will not let you take on any more missions. I found this out the hard way. I didn't finish all the heroic missions. Add in group and space missions, and I had a ton. So had to go through a bunch and abandon them. It took looking up my issue on the internet to figure it out. They really need an alert that the mission log is full. Instead it just keeps you from taking new missions.

Well, this did happen to me and your right about not being able to take any more missions once you hit this limit in "tracked" quests/missions. But, I have gone and completed several of them, eliminated a few others, done some space missions, but still have the issue. I also reset the problematic quest and enter-reentered the area, and even tried different companions and doing it by myself but nothing works. I have no choice of disregarding the mission as it is a critical element to my story. I filed a ticket with the customer service but you only get a message telling you that it will be passed along to a team that will look into your particular issue. Sadly I am running out of things to do with my character. Hope they fix it soon. On a side note they are currently doing maintenance on the servers and working on some fixes. Maybe this will correct my problem.

 

[EasternBuck]

What do you guys think after having played the game for a while?

 

[ulukinatme]

What do you guys think after having played the game for a while?

Pretty good so far. It has it's bugs like any new MMO, but it's been decent. The storylines have been great, definitely a lot of voice acting went into the game. Biggest complaint I've seen so far is a lack of end game content. You'll have that with new MMOs, and Bioware has stated they already have plans for the next content. My only personal complaint is the space game. I knew it was going to be very Star Fox-like going in (Do a barrel roll!), but coming from the old Star Wars Galaxies and a space game that was fairly verbose and allowed PVP...kinda stinks that SWTOR space is so one dimensional and repetitive.

 

[EasternBuck]

Pretty good so far. It has it's bugs like any new MMO, but it's been decent. The storylines have been great, definitely a lot of voice acting went into the game. Biggest complaint I've seen so far is a lack of end game content. You'll have that with new MMOs, and Bioware has stated they already have plans for the next content. My only personal complaint is the space game. I knew it was going to be very Star Fox-like going in (Do a barrel roll!), but coming from the old Star Wars Galaxies and a space game that was fairly verbose and allowed PVP...kinda stinks that SWTOR space is so one dimensional and repetitive.

The space part is a great way to rank up though. But very repetative. I also think parts of the game are unbalanced. A boss here with 5000 health rating is so hard and then the next boss with 5000 health is somewhat easy. I paly the jedi knight sentenial and I am hearing other players say the same thing about this class of character.

 

[Zurp]

I tried space combat. Lots of fail. Yertle said he tried it and he loves it. I think I'll try some more sometime. I guess it says somewhere how good your ship needs to be to try these missions. I never upgrade my ship.

As for the rest of the game: I love it. I can really only compare it to WoW, since that is the only MMO I ever really played. But first, light sabers beats bows and arrows any day, in my book. And they have the game set up so that your character, no matter which class he is, is "awesome" compared to most "ordinary" people/monsters. So it is typical that you and your companion will fight against 3-5 monsters. This is different from WoW, where if you're soloing, you normally need to limit your battles to one-on-one, or sometimes one-on-two fights. (I don't want to hear "my mage can fight 6 monsters at once" - whatever - just agree with me.)

Speaking of companions, they totally scored a big point with this system. I don't know if this is a new idea, or if other MMO's have done this first. And I don't care - it's still awesome. Basically, through the course of your character's "story" quests, you start to pick up companions. They aren't controlled by you, so much (think maybe WoW's hunter pets, but even less control, probably). Each class will eventually pick up 5 different companions, and you can only have 1 with you at any moment. But each has his own strength/weaknesses. Choose the one that maybe strengthens your weaknesses, maybe. Or the sexiest chick - whatever you want.

And the story of the sith warrior is really good so far. I'll be interested in seeing how some of the other classes' stories go.

 

[ulukinatme]

I tried space combat. Lots of fail. Yertle said he tried it and he loves it. I think I'll try some more sometime. I guess it says somewhere how good your ship needs to be to try these missions. I never upgrade my ship.

As for the rest of the game: I love it. I can really only compare it to WoW, since that is the only MMO I ever really played. But first, light sabers beats bows and arrows any day, in my book. And they have the game set up so that your character, no matter which class he is, is "awesome" compared to most "ordinary" people/monsters. So it is typical that you and your companion will fight against 3-5 monsters. This is different from WoW, where if you're soloing, you normally need to limit your battles to one-on-one, or sometimes one-on-two fights. (I don't want to hear "my mage can fight 6 monsters at once" - whatever - just agree with me.)

Speaking of companions, they totally scored a big point with this system. I don't know if this is a new idea, or if other MMO's have done this first. And I don't care - it's still awesome. Basically, through the course of your character's "story" quests, you start to pick up companions. They aren't controlled by you, so much (think maybe WoW's hunter pets, but even less control, probably). Each class will eventually pick up 5 different companions, and you can only have 1 with you at any moment. But each has his own strength/weaknesses. Choose the one that maybe strengthens your weaknesses, maybe. Or the sexiest chick - whatever you want.

And the story of the sith warrior is really good so far. I'll be interested in seeing how some of the other classes' stories go.

You don't need to upgrade your ship all the time with the best parts, but it helps. Did you not like space because it was too difficult, not entertaining, or both? I've found that the space missions greatly rely on lots of firepower and priority targetting (Big surprise, huh?) I don't worry much about my shields/health as constantly firing and taking down targets seems to offset any damage I may take. Alternatively if you're doing an escort mission, which seems to be the hardest as you can't control the path of the idiot craft you're escorting, I find that you really have to watch for incomming fighters and take them out from a distance. Along with that I missile the crap out of capital ship turrets before they can inflict too much damage.

The game is very WoW-like with it's questing and combat for sure, but the story driven progression makes the grind more enjoyable. I could see where your 2nd and subsequent characters would be less enjoyable as you end up revisiting all the planets and quests you did on your first character, the only difference is your class quests would involve a different storyline.

I do like the companion system. I've seen games like LOTRO use something similar, but I don't think I've seen it made available to all classes. The nice thing is that companions are fairly balanced for the most part. They aren't really overpowering, but the complement the classes well. For instance, my Gunslinger Smuggler can't take a lot of damage, but can dish it out. A few of my companions are tanks which works well with my style. I also have a healer if I'd rather go that route. I also have another companion that is strictly DPS and it makes things interesting.

I've just started PVPing quite a bit on my Bounty Hunter and Smuggler characters. I was going to wait till 50, but there really is no reason not to start right away. You can begin PVPing at 10, but I would wait till 14 at least so you can have Sprint (Constant 35% speed boost out of combat). When you PVP your stats are boosted along with all other characters to offset the level differences. This allows you to take down level 50 characters at any level if you play it right (This is soon going to change as 50's are getting their own PVP bracket).

The only big difference between lower level characters and higher level characters in PVP is the abilities available to them really. Some will say that the gear still matters, but the abilities count for more from what I've seen. The benefit to PVPing right away is the fact you can do daily missions for extra credits/xp, and you get warzone commendations which can be used to buy cheap gear. At level 20 you can outfit yourself in a full suit of armor with just a dozen or so PVP matches.

 

[scott91575]

I've just started PVPing quite a bit on my Bounty Hunter and Smuggler characters. I was going to wait till 50, but there really is no reason not to start right away. You can begin PVPing at 10, but I would wait till 14 at least so you can have Sprint (Constant 35% speed boost out of combat). When you PVP your stats are boosted along with all other characters to offset the level differences. This allows you to take down level 50 characters at any level if you play it right (This is soon going to change as 50's are getting their own PVP bracket).

The only big difference between lower level characters and higher level characters in PVP is the abilities available to them really. Some will say that the gear still matters, but the abilities count for more from what I've seen. The benefit to PVPing right away is the fact you can do daily missions for extra credits/xp, and you get warzone commendations which can be used to buy cheap gear. At level 20 you can outfit yourself in a full suit of armor with just a dozen or so PVP matches.

I would disagree with this. While there are some base stat boosts, the equipment stat boosts still play a role. Especially lvl 50 players that have PVP gear (PVP gear ups your PVP damage, endurance, and mitigation along with base stat bonuses). There are 3 levels to PVP gear...Centurion, Champion, and Battlemaster. Plus 50's can use much more powerful stims, medpacs, and adrenals (especially if they have Biochem like me with super powerful items that are reusable and persist past death). I have almost a complete set of Champion gear (don't have the implants) with a full set of Rakata biochem items and I absolutely destroy anyone below 50. It is not uncommon for me to 3 or 4 hit lower level players. That may take about 4 or 5 seconds to kill a lower level. I am not joking.

Of course that is all moot come tomorrow. 50's only bracket.

 

[scott91575]

BTW...for classes, they all play an important role. My main is a Bounty Hunter Merc with Arsenal spec. For PVE it's the best dps IMO. The attacks that stack off the tracer missile are huge. My heat seakers currently crit up to 7000 in PVE, and that is without adrenal boost. Heck, tracer missiles themselves crit for about 3500.

For PVP it takes a lot more skill since the class is not mobile, can be interrupted, and only has one CC breaker with a big cooldown. So they are poor 1v1, especially against sorcs and shadows. Speaking of which, this is probably the best combo PVP/PVE spec. For PVP they have high damage, can farm guard medals, have great escapability, and stealth. For PVE they are not as strong for pure damage, but are versatile. Although their healer spec has a really nice AOE heal.

The imperial agent/smuggler classes are rather interesting. The DPS sub classes that can go invisible can absolutely destroy a single target 1v1, yet are not the best in mobs. Especially if they are broken from stealth, then they die very fast. If my CC breaker is down they can kill me in a matter of seconds. If it's up or I catch them before they knock me down, they are dead. I have an alt smuggler. I will talk more about that later.

The warrior/guardian is a little tougher for me to talk about. They seem to have a lot of trouble in PVP if they are tank spec. Tanks are tough to kill, yet ones at my level only have about 2000 more hp than me and I have way more firepower. I can't really speak on their DPS spec. I really don't seem to have much trouble with them, but I hear they have 1 attack that is brutal. I guess I haven't seen it much.

Overall it's tough to talk about all the classes and their specs. There are 4 classes on each side (mirrors of one another). For each class their are 2 sub classes and then their are 3 specs within that sub class. I probably know Bounty Hunter (and therefore Trooper) the best. The powertech dps is great PVP, and not so good PVE. Powertech tanks are really good, but few roll them. BH Mercs using arsenal are superb PVE, but can be defeated 1v1 rather easily in PVP (assuming equally geared and skilled players). I do often deal the most damage in PVP, and they can really put a hurt on the other team if positioned properly or have a healer handy. I really don't know anyone that uses firebug. As for the healer, they are really good single target healers. The biggest negative is in PVP they are really easy to pick out (especially the Trooper mirror...they shoot a big green beam). I don't even have to look for them much to realize they are the healer and become my #1 target. Yet their heals are so powerful that even a heavy DPS person like myself cannot kill them without help if they heal themselves.

 

[EasternBuck]

I have found the space mission a nice source of exp. Fun or not in less than 20 minutes 20,000 experience points. Good for getting over humps.

 

[Zurp]

Did you not like space because it was too difficult, not entertaining, or both?

Note that I didn't say that I didn't like them. "Lots of fail" meant that I failed in them - not that the game fails at this feature. I didn't do them much, but I lost them all.

I have found the space mission a nice source of exp. Fun or not in less than 20 minutes 20,000 experience points. Good for getting over humps.

I think I need to give them more tries. I don't have the money to get new upgrades (I didn't choose to slice stuff), so maybe I need to fail some more before I get the hang of it.

 

[EasternBuck]

I just buy my upgrades from the venders near the spaceports or from the fleet stations. Not too much money. Make sure you first except the daily missions that are beside your ship controls or you will not get the bonus exp.

Just a question for everyone: On your skill tree have you spread your points around or keep them in one of the three sections?

 

[ulukinatme]

Just a question for everyone: On your skill tree have you spread your points around or keep them in one of the three sections?

I stay in one tree, although once I get to the top I plan on spreading a few points around. Generally in MMO's the good stuff is at the top of the tree, but theres a few gems you get along the way. Spreading points around can sometimes be a good thing because it diversifies your abilities, but it also means you don't excel at anything. My BH is Arsenal like Scott and I find that I'm almost always in the top 3 in Damage/Kills each match. I'm not a great healer, but I have the abilities to do it in a pinch when needs be.

 

[ulukinatme]

Note that I didn't say that I didn't like them. "Lots of fail" meant that I failed in them - not that the game fails at this feature. I didn't do them much, but I lost them all.



I think I need to give them more tries. I don't have the money to get new upgrades (I didn't choose to slice stuff), so maybe I need to fail some more before I get the hang of it.

What crew professions did you take? I had to take a break from sending my people out for a few levels because I was strapped for cash as well. I started selling Companion Gifts from Underworld Missions and I found a regular business with that.

The ship upgrades will more than likely help you get over the hump and have success if you're having a little trouble with the missions. Go for the Beam Chargers and Beam Generators first, damage is king in space combat, best defense is a good offense in this case. If you take the targets down fast enough they won't have time to hit you. Along those same lines it would help you to upgrade your missiles. After that you can upgrade your armor, energy shield, and shield generators.

At level 25 when you get enough Commendations from space you can buy a Power Convertor off the ship vendors. It can either give your blasters some extra power at the expense of shield recharge, or increase your shield recharge at the price of blaster power. I always use the first option, but theres no reason you can't switch between the two as you see fit.

More than anything it will help learning the battles a little bit. I found that my early battles involved a few collisions that drastically damaged my shields/armor early and set me up for failure (Especially the stages involving lots of asteroids). Knowing where the obstacles are and which way to move the ship through them is half the battle.

 

[BuckeyeMyk]

Been playing this game since it came out, never really expected BP to have a thread about it. I'm playing sith on ven zallow and jedi on ajunta pall, but mainly sith so far as I am really enjoying the sith warrior storyline. Have a long history back from Vanilla WoW of WoW'ing and a much more abbreviated experience with LOTRO and WAR. Was wondering what anyone who has a little more extensive game time with another MMO other than WoW had to say about some of the game features?

Also pretty excited about the new patch and them adding in some nice subtleties such as the guild bank, new legacy tree etc. any thoughts?

 

[OSUScoonie12]

For those who didn't know and are interested....you can now play this game for free up to level 50, no credit card required. There are some in game limitations, but not a lot that's I've found.