Star Wars The Old Republic

[Reverend]

OK, this was weird. Having finished Coruscant I went to Ord Mantell. When I was on the overworld the villains were extremely weak so apparently I was supposed to have done this earlier in the game. But when I went into the base the villains were at my level and the boss killed me five times before I finished to half-ass my way to victory. Then I go back to the space station, get attacked by five Sith and immediately die. I have no idea how I'm expected to survive that encounter that's forced upon me.

Ord Mantell is the starting world for the Smuggler and Trooper classes, just like Tython is for Knights and Consulars, hence all the weak enemies in the overworld. It's the same on the Imperial side too with Sith Warriors and Inquisitors staring on Korriban while Bounty Hunters and Imperial Agents start on Hutta.

In the course of the main class story you will occasionally get small missions like this between the "major" planet quests. You know the enemies are going to be properly levelled when you pass through an instance barrier.

 

[Jono]

Check your and T7's gear. You want to keep as much of your gear at your current level as you can. Also don't forget about stim and your class buff. They are cleared when you die so you'll need to reapply them when you're back up and running.

 

[Owain Taggart]

And run like the wind and get to the quest location as quickly as possible. Once there, you should be Ok. Anything along your quest route should be easier.

Personally, I found this exciting as it felt like there was an element of danger to your quest.

 

[Mr Light]

That's funny, I survived my second stab at the ambush just fine. I think it's because I started back from the enemies and was able to target the weakest enemies first. Now I'm on Taris.

 

[sojourner]

Have fun on Taris. You'll be there a long time.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm at Level 24 and I just finished Nar Shaada. I just discovered a new love; space missions! They're super simple rail shooters and once I got the hang of it, it became incredibly addicting. Unfortunately I only have 5 missions open at the moment...

 

[sojourner]

And the borrowing back and forth between TOR and WoW continues. Tor is now dropping skill trees and going to a system much like WoW did with Mists of Pandera:
http://www.swtor.com/blog/developer-update-introduction-disciplines

 

[Reverend]

You know I read that whole thing but I still have no clue how that new system will work...

 

[SPCTRE]

So, anyone taking advantage of the expansion pre-order bonus XP boost? I'm not interested in the sidequest MMORPG-y bloat of SWTOR, only the story missions, so being able to hit the level cap by just doing that stuff sounds great to me.

Players who have pre-ordered Shadow of Revan expansion can level up exclusively via class missions (Makeb missions included).


When does the XP bonus start?

The 12X XP boost starts immediately when you pre-order Shadow of Revan expansion: http://www.swtor.com/purchase/item-shpre (you may need to restart the game for this bonus to kick in)
It ends on December 1, 2014, at 11:59PM PST / December 2, 2014, at 7:59AM GMT.
You will only able to see this boost by looking at the class mission reward page on your mission log. Your xp bar won’t be affected.
You must be a subscriber as well.
What boost stack with it?

Legacy Class mission boosts and Cartel Market class mission boosts do not stack with the 12X multiplier.
Guild XP bonus (10%) and Cartel Market general XP boost (25%) do stack with the 12X multiplier.
The 12X Boost only applies to

Class Missions from 1-50
Ilum storyline from 50
Makeb Main storyline from 50-55
Can I level up via just Class missions?

Yes, a single class mission turn in will net you almost half a level or close to a level depending on your level.
Here is an example: A single class mission turn in at level 47 will give me 224k XP (this is with guild 10% bonus and 25% cartel market XP boost). To level up at level 48 I only need 437k XP.

 

[Jono]

You know I read that whole thing but I still have no clue how that new system will work...

Check out this SWTOR twitch stream on the new discipline system. I was confused by it as well and found the stream made everything pretty clear.

Basically you can only select one of the three trees (now called disciplines) that were available for each advanced class, you progress up a linear unlock path with 7 scattered opportunities to select a "utility" skill, which is shared between all the disciplines. Basically that means instead of assigning 60 points you just do 7.

So, anyone taking advantage of the expansion pre-order bonus XP boost? I'm not interested in the sidequest MMORPG-y bloat of SWTOR, only the story missions, so being able to hit the level cap by just doing that stuff sounds great to me.

The XP boost is why I'm not getting the expansion until probably a few days before the cut off. While I agree that I can do without some of the sidequests, there are others I enjoy. Plus I don't fancy having to deal with re-gearing as frequently as you'll need to with the XP boost.

 

[-Brett-]

So, anyone taking advantage of the expansion pre-order bonus XP boost? I'm not interested in the sidequest MMORPG-y bloat of SWTOR, only the story missions, so being able to hit the level cap by just doing that stuff sounds great to me.

If that was the way it worked by default, I might be willing to give it another chance, but I'm not paying extra for it.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Basically you can only select one of the three trees (now called disciplines) that were available for each advanced class, you progress up a linear unlock path with 7 scattered opportunities to select a "utility" skill, which is shared between all the disciplines. Basically that means instead of assigning 60 points you just do 7.

I'm not familiar with what was done with WoW, but I understand this was done with SWTOR because it was felt people were taking the same skill paths for the most part, that they wanted to give people more freedom in differentiating themselves. But if I'm understanding correctly, it sounds like players would have less choice in terms of skills under this system. It sounds a bit too linear to me.

 

[sojourner]

Basically you can only select one of the three trees (now called disciplines) that were available for each advanced class, you progress up a linear unlock path with 7 scattered opportunities to select a "utility" skill, which is shared between all the disciplines. Basically that means instead of assigning 60 points you just do 7.

I'm not familiar with what was done with WoW, but I understand this was done with SWTOR because it was felt people were taking the same skill paths for the most part, that they wanted to give people more freedom in differentiating themselves. But if I'm understanding correctly, it sounds like players would have less choice in terms of skills under this system. It sounds a bit too linear to me.

It's very similar in the reasons why they did it in WoW.

 

[Jono]

Part of it is to also restrict choice for sure. It makes it easier for them to balance the classes if they don't have to worry about the dozens of hybrid builds that turn up.

 

[sojourner]

One of the things I always thought TOR missed out on was giving the classes some non-combat abilities. For example in WoW, mages can teleport to cities, priest can feather fall, rogues can pick pockets and open locks. Just some fun flavor abilities like that.

Think about it, shouldn't force users be able to levitate themselves or grab stuff? Would have made getting those damn holocrons a lot easier. (and yeah, I got all of the alliance holocrons up to level 50)

 

[CorporalClegg]

The x12 XP is utterly fantastic. I've already leveled three new toons to cap. Takes about 10-15 hours of play time, if you know what to do and where to go. Though the best part of the deal is probably the free skills.

Gearing isn't too difficult. Just keeping your and main companion in green gear that's within 5 levels is more than enough to clear the content. The solo/leveling quests really aren't that gear dependent.

I think the change to disciplines will be better overall. The spec skill paths may be set in stone, but let's face it, they were anyway. The vast majority of players were using the same few builds. However, having access to utilities that are now high up other trees will be fantastic. Madness Sorc with Overload root? Yes please!

 

[SPCTRE]

One of the things I always thought TOR missed out on was giving the classes some non-combat abilities. For example in WoW, mages can teleport to cities, priest can feather fall, rogues can pick pockets and open locks. Just some fun flavor abilities like that.

Think about it, shouldn't force users be able to levitate themselves or grab stuff? Would have made getting those damn holocrons a lot easier. (and yeah, I got all of the alliance holocrons up to level 50)

WoW really dropped the ball on fleshing out the race-specific class abilities. It all started promisingly (albeit not properly balanced) with the priest racial class abilities.

Then again, with Blizzard's overall strategy of EZ-mode balancing and streamlining, the continued existence of racial class abilities quickly became unthinkable.

 

[Reverend]

...The spec skill paths may be set in stone, but let's face it, they were anyway. The vast majority of players were using the same few builds...

Yeah, this is something that's bothered me about a *lot* of RPG over the years. I mean what's the point in having so many skill points when the game is designed with only a few viable builds? All it serves is to give min-maxers the illusion of agency and everyone else the chance to totally bork their characters.

It's also why I've never been all that crazy about the rigid class roles in these kinds of games. As in there must be a healer a tank and two DPSers to make group play viable. In my experience that just leads to dull gamplay where you each find the most efficient rotation and play keyboard wack-a-mole. I've had entire FPs where I've been so focused on watching my cool-downs that I've barely glance at what my character is doing.

I'm honestly debating whether or not to get the new expansion. On the one hand I never did get the Hutt expansion (didn't hear great things about it) and since it comes bundled with this new one, it would be a case of two birds with one stone. On the other hand these days I'm struggling to find the motivation to play. :/

 

[SPCTRE]

Yeah, this is something that's bothered me about a *lot* of RPG over the years. I mean what's the point in having so many skill points when the game is designed with only a few viable builds? All it serves is to give min-maxers the illusion of agency and everyone else the chance to totally bork their characters.

Well, philosophically speaking, there is value in the relative freedom that skill trees allow. Of course developers have to strive for balanced choices (otherwise they aren't choices at all), but in the end, there will always be a mathematically superior skill tree configuration - such is the nature of min/maxing.

Still, viable alternatives are possible - they always existed prior to the skilltree removal (can't speak for TOR here).

I also think there is inherent value in allowing players to fuck up their skill tree choices, the same way as allowing them to use the wrong gear and the wrong rotations/styles.

It's also why I've never been all that crazy about the rigid class roles in these kinds of games. As in there must be a healer a tank and two DPSers to make group play viable. In my experience that just leads to dull gamplay where you each find the most efficient rotation and play keyboard wack-a-mole. I've had entire FPs where I've been so focused on watching my cool-downs that I've barely glance at what my character is doing.

Welcome to MMOs

 

[Mr Light]

I'm almost at Level 28, I just beat Tatooine, now it's onto to Alderaan. I end up playing the same space combat levels over and over so I can't wait to unlock new ones shortly!

My one disappointment with this MMORPG thing is I have played alone for 90% of the game. Sometimes a guy will happen to be next to me and will accept my friend request, but aside from that...