**OFFICIAL** Star Wars: The Old Republic Thread

[JoshGuru7]

It's very common to think that your second (or third) character is extremely easy when leveling. You usually have better gear for it, know how to completely all of the non-story quests already, and have a lot more experience in the flashpoints and warzones. Before you jump all over how easy another class is, think about how much easier it would be to level your primary class if you made another of them.

2) They should never start a match with uneven teams. If that means they summoned you for no reason, so be it. They will return you to your location if they do not get enough within a 2-3 min time frame.

The issue with warzones starting with missing players is largely due to players not accepting the queue. In many cases below level 50 this is simply random chance, but at level 50 a primary factor is the attempt for bigger guilds to join the same warzone with two premades. The way this works is that both premades queue at the same time, and then if they both get a pop at the same time they enter. If they do not, then everybody leaves queue and they try it again. The downside of this is that it leaves two separate warzones with 4 players each to be reinforced after the initial pop, and very often you will end up starting with less than six.

There is an easy solution to this issue: If a player leaves a random warzone before the end they should be locked out of the warzone for the duration. If they refuse a queue, they should be locked out of queuing for warzones for however long that warzone would have lasted.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

Last night was our first foray into Eternity Vault. Got all the way to Soa and where your characters get randomly put into boxes before we wiped. I'd consider that a good run by any means. You can read all the information on EV until you know it by heart, but until we actually experience it you don't really know it.

We're looking for a full clear on Sunday night, then Karagga's Palace is next. We have another guild leveling up a raid group and we hope to join them on Hard/Nightmare levels.

 

[ArchAngel777]

The issue with warzones starting with missing players is largely due to players not accepting the queue.

I was fully aware this is the reason. That doesn't excuse starting the match with uneven teams. I understand that the system waits until 8 people are queued. Then only 4 decide to join. But it should have been programed so that the match should never start like this, and it should be cancelled if the warzone does not fill up after some pre-determined time limit. That is what I was talking about as you cannot control who is going to say 'join' or 'cancel'.

 

[darkewaffle]

I was fully aware this is the reason. That doesn't excuse starting the match with uneven teams. I understand that the system waits until 8 people are queued. Then only 4 decide to join. But it should have been programed so that the match should never start like this, and it should be cancelled if the warzone does not fill up after some pre-determined time limit. That is what I was talking about as you cannot control who is going to say 'join' or 'cancel'.

I doubt people would be very receptive to sitting in 'locker room limbo' until each side has a full team or whatever you consider a minimum; or they sit there until the game decides it's a no starter and they're kicked out X minutes later with nothing to show for it.

There's no perfect solution, but aside from possibly falling behind in voidstar there's not really anything damning about starting without a person or two. Even then the respawn door 'cadence' is more important than a full team imo.

I'd rather get to play more than anything else, and it happens to everyone so you take your lumps and sometimes you get a quick win/loss.

 

[Nizology]

Last night was our first foray into Eternity Vault. Got all the way to Soa and where your characters get randomly put into boxes before we wiped. I'd consider that a good run by any means. You can read all the information on EV until you know it by heart, but until we actually experience it you don't really know it.

We're looking for a full clear on Sunday night, then Karagga's Palace is next. We have another guild leveling up a raid group and we hope to join them on Hard/Nightmare levels.

Ops are great fun and certainly rewarding, especially with an organized group all on TS/Vent. Only have done EV & KP on normal so far. Can't wait to try the new one.

 

[CVSiN]

Ops are great fun and certainly rewarding, especially with an organized group all on TS/Vent. Only have done EV & KP on normal so far. Can't wait to try the new one.

try hard mode.. easy is autopilot easy and they are going to make them even easier.. sad really.. we clear both easy modes on non geared alts in under 2.5 hours. and that's allowing for bugs and resets.

hard mode EV and KP are actually a good challenge and require a good group and good gear..

 

[Sentrosi2121]

I was talking with one guild leader who has a raid progression guild and he said that as long as the entire op is Columi/Champion geared that they should be good to go with EV/KP Hard Mode. Now I've read conflicting posts about this subject and would like to get others opinions on this.

Also, I find it amazing that the people I'm usually looking for to fill out my ops is DPSers. In other MMOs it's always been tanks or healers. Anyone else running into this in this game?

 

[darkewaffle]

Normal mode ops are actually quite relaxed, the first time you go through them there's of course the obstacle of learning the ropes but having adequate DPS or healing for normal is rarely a problem. Though the 'starting point' for gear for them is also probably intended to be level 48-50 blues/purples; not really your 'questing greens' which I suppose isn't explicitly stated for anyone genuinely new to MMOs.

Hard modes really aren't that bad either, but every now and then (depending on what eight people we bring) we still may fail an enrage timer. From memory, most fights are the same except some of the Soa mechanics become more difficult (which is our bottleneck lol); but if you clear normals a couple times for gear you should be all set for "hard". We did normal mode EV and KP for maybe twoish weeks before starting to clear HM exclusively.

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

One thing I'll say is don't give up entirely on normal mode when you can do HM because they are on different lockouts anyways. HM Soa only drops Columni Weaps and Rakata chest, HM Karagga drops Rakata Weaps. HM is a little easier if you have only 1 tank instead of 2. Jarg & Sorno + Robot puzzle boss are easier with two tanks, but an offspec tank geared player could fill the role.

full clears of each normal mode zone is currently taking about ~45 mins but it should be doable in around 30 with no afks and people just on the move. While starting hard modes, I would certainly still keep normal runs just to get that good chunk of loot.

 

[KentState]

I really wish I could find a guild to do Ops/FPs with. I now have two level 50 toons with all purple PvP gear, but have not attempted a single raid of any type. Is PvP gear any good, or will I just get destroyed? Seems like I'm behind the curve already and not sure I can catch up.

 

[darkewaffle]

PVP gear is fine for normal at least, though in HM or NM I'd say at least aim for Champion instead of Centurion. Heal or DPS my sorc still wears over half PVP gear in Ops, though it's seen a lot of remodding.

 

[darkewaffle]

Also just got around to reading some of the preliminary 1.2 notes from the "guild summit", sounds like there's a lot of really excellent stuff in store.

 

[KidNiki1]

Also just got around to reading some of the preliminary 1.2 notes from the "guild summit", sounds like there's a lot of really excellent stuff in store.

lots of exciting stuff....very much looking forward to it.

 

[Nizology]

I really wish I could find a guild to do Ops/FPs with. I now have two level 50 toons with all purple PvP gear, but have not attempted a single raid of any type. Is PvP gear any good, or will I just get destroyed? Seems like I'm behind the curve already and not sure I can catch up.

What about joining the AT guild? Don't know much about it but just a thought. Once they allow server transfers, you'd be most welcome joining the one I'm in, The Dark. We're on the Vornskr pve server and are running casual raids almost every night. You definitely have to indulge in Ops and especially flashpoints. I geared up my Sorc healer in full columi just by running FPs.

 

[Canbacon]

I was talking with one guild leader who has a raid progression guild and he said that as long as the entire op is Columi/Champion geared that they should be good to go with EV/KP Hard Mode. Now I've read conflicting posts about this subject and would like to get others opinions on this.

For EV Hard mode, a good gear check is the first boss. If you can't get past it, then you need need slightly better gear. HM Soa is a pain as it isn't an out damage the boss fight but more of a co-ordination fight with the extra lightning balls and mind traps. If you can get up to Soa in HM you can do HM KP at least to the Fabricator.

I would recommend getting all the player positioning patterns for HM boss fights practiced on normal mode, even if it is easier to just tank and spank. It will allow for HM to be smoother.

 

[KentState]

PVP gear is fine for normal at least, though in HM or NM I'd say at least aim for Champion instead of Centurion. Heal or DPS my sorc still wears over half PVP gear in Ops, though it's seen a lot of remodding.

I'm majority Champion on my Marauder (need legs and a second lighsaber) while my Sorcerer is new to the end game, but have 1000 of both Mercenary and Warzone commendations stock piled. I was originally in the AT guild, but with so few on I left for another. The downside is they are a couple time zones behind me so raids start too late at night. I've mainly been messing around with PvP since it's self paced.

 

[lupi]

have they changed the stance c/ds recently? had to fight an elite for a class quest that required using stance change a lot for the companion and it sucked ass because of the c/d with activating a new stance.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

should i go smuggler or jedi knight for my first char?

 

[DaveSimmons]

should i go smuggler or jedi knight for my first char?

Depends on how you want to play: melee tank, melee DPS, ranged DPS, ranged healer, and whether being a Jedi or Han Solo type sounds like it will be more fun. You can always do both at once and keep going with the one you enjoy more.

Just remember when you reach level 10 and are at the fleet, you're stuck with your advanced class choice forever. Read up ahead of time on the difference between your two advanced class choices since you can never change your AC.

I've played:

Jedi Knight guardian = tank, stand and fight, without a healer until late in the game. Unlike KOTOR 1-2, being a JK rarely feels like a walk in the park if you play through everything at the recommended level.

Smuggler gunslinger = ranged damage while your tank companion folds like a cheap accordion, then the mobs come to get you . . . .

Jedi Consular sage = stand back while healing and fitting in some ranged attacks, while your tank companion bashes things. Heals keep your tank alive unlike the gunslinger. Maybe the healer-spec smuggler is easier.

Trooper commando = ranged DPS, but better damage than the gunslinger and you're in heavy armor instead of medium. You get a healer (also in heavy armor) much earlier than with the Jedi Knight.

All of the class stories are pretty good, the main difference is that with some classes (guardian and gunslinger at least) you might sometimes need to do enough side-quests to be over the recommended level for the tough quests.

I've found the trooper and sage easier to play than the other two but the smuggler has been an interesting challenge and I keep playing to see more of the story. My guardian is parked at level 40 for the moment but I'll get back to him eventually.

 

[darkewaffle]

Hit 50 and finished the BH line last night; I really enjoyed it for the most part but after you complete Hoth I think it starts to drag. The bounties aren't that interesting and I feel like they could have done a lot more with it by keeping some of the characters from earlier in the line involved; ah well, still good overall. It just didn't wrap up as well as the Inquisitor line.

 

[Worthington]

So my shadow tank hit 50 yesterday. It's night and day from my scoundrel. Doing the heroic belsavis dailes is a joke.

Scoundrel: Sneak in, tranq one the gold. Open up on the second. Flash bang to buy time on the 3rd. Dps the 2nd one down and hope Corso can keep agro (which he won't). Dps 3rd down. Use the time before the tranq wears off to heal Corso and self. Then dps gold down.

Shadow Tank: Run in, kill everything. never drop below 75% health.

 

[s44]

So my shadow tank hit 50 yesterday. It's night and day from my scoundrel. Doing the heroic belsavis dailes is a joke.

Scoundrel: Sneak in, tranq one the gold. Open up on the second. Flash bang to buy time on the 3rd. Dps the 2nd one down and hope Corso can keep agro (which he won't). Dps 3rd down. Use the time before the tranq wears off to heal Corso and self. Then dps gold down.

Shadow Tank: Run in, kill everything. never drop below 75% health.

Do Scoundrels not have Flyby? Because Belsavis dailies look like this: drop Flyby, watch all trash die, repeat.

Trooper commando = ranged DPS, but better damage than the gunslinger and you're in heavy armor instead of medium.

GS has better DPS than Commando (if you're good). Also, if you're l40 as GS you should be using one of your awesome DPS companions.

That said, the Jedi Knight story is pretty much the official Republic-side story. You're the big galactic hero. Smuggler, you're some dude doing stuff on the fringes. It's very amusing stuff, but JK is definitely more KOTOR3.

 

[nageov3t]

2 pm ET patching? what's that about?

 

[s44]

So servers are down for a few hours, which caused a Voidstar with three people from this thread to become a *lot* more interesting, since we were on defense first and realized that the reboot would come before our full attack period would run. Fortunately after getting the first door we sucessfully blitzed them in transition and got all six points with 2m to spare.

 

[Worthington]

Do Scoundrels not have Flyby? Because Belsavis dailies look like this: drop Flyby, watch all trash die, repeat.


GS has better DPS than Commando (if you're good). Also, if you're l40 as GS you should be using one of your awesome DPS companions.

That said, the Jedi Knight story is pretty much the official Republic-side story. You're the big galactic hero. Smuggler, you're some dude doing stuff on the fringes. It's very amusing stuff, but JK is definitely more KOTOR3.

They have fly-by but I don't use it until just the gold is left since it's not strong enough to kill them and Corso can't manage 3 silvers and a gold at the same time.

It's doable on the scoundrel for sure, but it takes attention. The tank is just easy mode.