Star Wars: The Old Republic Mobile Security Key

I can't express the importance of a secure account. With MMO games there is a lot more at stake than just a character file. If you lose your account you lose years of work and not only that, but your friends can also be affected, especially if you're involved in a guild. 

In WoW, we saw hackers time and time again logging into people's accounts and clearing out everything they could get access to. In one circumstance the hacker even decided that he would start removing people from the guild that the account was on, as it happened to be an officer's account. 

It's obvious that SWTOR is going to be a hot target for hackers these holidays. I have a tough enough job keeping their horrible spam from the comments section of this site! I highly recommend that if you have not purchased the Collector's Edition of the game, which comes bundled with a security key, to download the free app from iTunes for your iPhone if you have one (full guide below). Hopefully they release an app for other platforms like Android soon as well. 

The other option is to purchase the security key key chain from BioWare. I can't remember the exact price, and the site is down for pre-launch maintenance so I can't check, but I think it was around $2-4. That's a small price to pay to know that your avatar is not vulnerable to hackers.

There seems to be some confusion about how the app works. You can use the app if you have an account (even if you don't have your hard copy yet). Here's how to use it:

Log into your SWTOR account on your PC.

Go to Security Key.

Click Mobile Version.

This will provide you with a 7 digit key and a 20 digit key.

Then open the app and enter the 7 digit key in the 'Serial number' section.

It will then ask for the 20 digit key. Enter it.

The app will then provide you with a code (sample above).

Go back to your SWTOR account on your PC and type in that code.

If you start using this app then make sure that you keep a copy of the Serial number that is generated, just in case you ever loose your phone, or have to reset it. Every time you go to log into the game from then on you'll have to fire up the app on your phone and enter the serial number, get the security key and then enter it on your SWTOR login on your PC.

Description:

Keep your STAR WARS: The Old Republic account protected with the official STAR WARS: The Old Republic Mobile Security Key app for your iPhone and iPod Touch! The STAR WARS: The Old Republic Mobile Security Key app is an optional program that will allow you to apply an additional layer of protection to your STAR WARS: The Old Republic account by generating a unique, one-time passcode that you can use in addition to your regular password. By using the STAR WARS: The Old Republic Mobile Security Key app, you can rest assured that your account is secured from hackers, Trojans and other unauthorized users.

How To Use: How To Use: Once you have installed the app on your iOS device you’ll need to visit www.starwarstheoldrepublic.com to associate the Mobile Security Key with your account. Log in to the STAR WARS: The Old Republic web site and go to the My Account page (link on the upper right of the page). From the menu on the right side of the page choose Security Key and then follow the instructions to set up your Mobile Security Key.

Airtime or Wi-Fi connection required for use.
For more information on how to register the STAR WARS: The Old Republic Mobile Security Key app to your starwarstheoldrepublic.com account, please visit www.swtor.com/support.
Languages Supported:
• English

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/star-wars-the-old-republic/id488420295?mt=8

Getting the Most out of Crafting

I've got to the stage where I have most of my crafting and Missions up to the mid-200 level.

I'm really seeing the necessity of sticking tot he triangles when crafting. I picked up artifact, treasure hunting and archaeology. Artifice is the crafting portion of my three skills, archaeology is the gathering/Mission combination and treasure hunting is the pure Mission portion.

What I discovered is that archaeology provides me with all the basics mats I need to craft a lot of the  artifice  items. If I want to craft any special items like yellow high quality lightsaber crystals, I need to collect those using treasure hunting. Without having the triangle skills I wouldn't be able to craft all the items I want. Plus, treasure hunting is providing me with the high demand items that people want.

I've also received a few purple quality Krayt Dragon pearls which will allow me to make epic level lightsaber crystals once I discover the pattern. You discover new patterns by reverse engineering items you've crafted.

So if you want to take crafting seriously, I highly recommend you to stick a triangle of skills.

If you're looking for more information on crafting, check out our guide to crafting basics video.

Sith Warrior Trainer Locations

We’ve all been there; for the first couple of levels there’s a class trainer right next to your class mission and we get lulled into a false sense of security. Then we gain a few levels, hop to a couple of new worlds and next thing we know we can’t find the trainer. You may ask countless times in General chat and get vague instructions and become convinced that you’re being directed by republic spies. So here, from a fellow Sith Warrior, are the locations of the trainers.

Korriban
Level 1-3
Your first trainer, Veshta is directly inside the building for your first quest. Follow the path from where you arrive in the planet and you will see her on the left hand side before you have to defeat slugs.

Level 3-10
This trainer is one of the easiest to find since you will be directed to him by a quest. He resides on the second floor of the Sith academy. Take the left side stairs and walk straight through the hallway. The trainer (Overseer Rance) is straight ahead of you.

Dromund Kaas
Level 10-15
You will need to travel to Kaas city ( north central part of the map) in order to find this trainer. He is in the Sith sanctum which you take a taxi to from the main part of Kaas city. The Sith sanctum is the building in
the middle. Once you enter the building, the trainer is straight and to the right of the glowing green center. The trainer, Ajaan is directly to the left of the story phase for your class quest.

Balmorra
Level 15-20
This trainer is in the main city, Sobrik. From the spaceport, walk down several steps and he is in the first gated area on your left hand side. Once you pass through the opening of this area, he is on your right. This area is the same area as your class quest, he stands to the right of this door. If you look at your map however, this trainer,Ramesh Kon is on the right/east side of the map.

Nar Shaddaa
Level 20-24
This trainer was the hardest for me to find. He resides in the Promenade sector which you will have to take a taxi to. From the taxi, get to the lower floor and he will be standing to the northwest of the Promenade
Market. Derish is the left most trainer.

There is no trainer in the Orbital Monitoring Station

Tatooine
Level 23-28
This trainer resides in the Mos Ila Market right outside the middle building on the second floor. From the spaceport head down and you’ll see a pathway to your right. Pass the cantina on the right and head down the hill. Move to the right of the center market area and you’ll see the icon pictured below on the second level of a nearby circular building straight and to the right. Head up the spiral stairs and the trainer Lord Undaara is right there.

Alderaan
Level 27-32
This trainer is fairly easy to find. From the spaceport take the right path and continue straight. Once you get to the heart of the market, don’t turn to follow the path. You will see the House of Thul palace in front of you. The trainer is to the left of the palace entrance. On your map, he is located near the House of Thul Taxi on the right side of the market.

These are all of the trainers you will need to find for Chapter 1 of your Sith Warrior journey. May the force be with you in your endevors for the Empire!

SWTOR Servers Busting at the Seams

Are you finding that your server is VERY HEAVY or FULL? Here's what I am experiencing ...

Although Oceanic players got their very own Beta test a few week ago, they were never officially assigned an Oceanic server. This did surprise a lot of players located in the Oceanic region. Although the game isn't officially launched in countries in the Oceanic region, like Australia and New Zealand, thousands Australians pre-ordered from Amazon.

To protect themselves, to ensure they get to play with other people in the same time zones, a lot of large Oceanic guilds have banded together using SWTOR's guild association network, and as soon as servers were assigned to their guilds it became very clear that the majority of the PVE guilds were placed on the one server, The Harbinger. What happened then was that any PVE guild that had not been assigned to the Harbinger quickly moved there.

So now, us Aussies are on a server that is extremely crowded and at any given time there is a half an hour (plus) wait to log on. This morning the wait is close to an hour! There also seems to be a lot of other servers that are full.

My biggest concern is that it's still three days until the game officially comes out. There are still a lot of players who signed up for the pre-launch guild program that are not ingame yet. We're missing about 50% of our members and we know some of them pre-ordered way too late to get access before the 20th. When all these players finally do get to log in and try and join their guild, how will these servers, which are already full and over-populated cope?

Keep in mind that ingame it does not feel over-populated due to the phasing technology which spreads players out. The phasing technology takes a zone and splits it up into several instances. For example, you could have a thousand players on Tatooine but only see a few players around you. What the game does is to create Tatooine instances. I have seen up to ten instances in cities so far and you can swap from one Tatooine instance to the other through your map. This instance technology will automatically give you the option to move to the instance that your guild is in.

Server allocation and server queues are the make or break of any game launch and to be honest, due to the guild association and pre-launch options, it may backfire. If you weren't allocated to a server you would have a choice to choose a less-populated server. As it is now, regardless of population, if you join the game today or tomorrow, you'll be assigned to the server with your guild flag next to it, whether or not it's full already.

Giving a grace period for STAR WARS: The Old Republic

This will save me! Thank you BioWare!

Gold Post:

Hello everyone,

While we've worked closely with our retailers in the launch territories to ensure copies of Star Wars: The Old Republic are available from our launch date of December 20th, we understand that for those of you who’ve pre-ordered, there may be a concern about getting your copy on time. We’ve heard you want a 'grace period' where you can continue to play without having to enter a final product registration code (AKA 'game code').

We've been listening, and after doing another deep review of our platform infrastructure, we're taking action. Today, we're announcing a two day grace period for Star Wars: The Old Republic customers.

This means that everyone who pre-ordered and is in the Early Game Access program has forty-eight hours from launch in which to enter their product registration code, which will be found inside the physical Standard and Collector's Editions of the game; for digital editions of the game from Origin.com, the registration code will have been emailed to you after December 16th and will arrive before December 19th at 11:59PM EST. After December 22nd 12:01AM EST, you will be required to have a valid payment method and a product registration code registered to your account to continue to play. We strongly recommend that you register your product code as soon as you are able to do so (rather than waiting until the last minute) to ensure a seamless entry into the game, a smooth experience on the account website and to collect any special gifts and items you may be entitled to based on the version of the game you purchased.

We understand that for some, your copy of the game may still arrive on or after December 22nd. Unfortunately, we cannot extend the grace period any further. We suggest you contact your retailer to discuss shipping options, if this is a concern.

You may be wondering if your 30 days of game time (included with your purchase of the game) will be affected by the grace period. The answer is no. If you redeem your product registration code during the grace period, and add a valid payment method to your account, you will begin your billing cycle from then, and you will be entitled to 30 days of game time. If you redeem your product registration code before December 20th, your billing cycle will begin on December 20th at 12:01AM EST (the official launch date and time of the game).

We know this has been an issue for some of you, and we apologize for the concerns. We're looking forward to welcoming all of you to the official launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic!

Thanks,

Ray and Greg

Leveling Guide to SWTOR

I know a lot of people are asking about leveling guides and the fastest way to level in SWTOR but unlike older games SWTOR doesn't need a leveling guide. The Missions tells you where to go. If you compare it to World of Warcraft, in WoW you needed a specific third party mod to find quest objectives on a map. It took Blizzard four years to add these convenient tools into their actual game. It was the lack of these tools that made leveling guides necessary. With SWTOR, you are about to learn the easiest, fastest, and fun way to level ...

Do it with a friend!

For the last two days I have been leveling with a good friend of mine, Rammy (ingame name). Now although he's a dude in a dress, his avatar has saved my ass more than once. I would say that comparing it to my last leveling experience in SWTOR Beta where I was playing alone, leveling grouped with a friend has been three times faster and even more fun. 

There is no disadvantage of doing Missions in a group. You both get full experience. You both get to bring your Companions, and you end up killing stuff really fast, completing bonus Missions where you need to kill thirty of this mob and thirty of that mob, are done in minutes.

Not only that, but you also get social points for grouping with a friend. These social points unlock unique outfits like the slave girl outfit that Princess Leia wears in Return of the Jedi, or the beautiful white dress that you can see the healer Rammy wearing int he background of this screenshot. These social outfits are orange items, so they can be modified and utilized all the way up to end game.

So get a friend and go kill some stuff!

New Players Guide to SWTOR eBook Out Now

So for some of you you're already in the game and probably not reading this! For others you are checking to see if you've been granted access in one of the random waves, just waiting to get your feet wet in the game! While you're waiting, or while you're learning the ropes, might I suggest you download this eBook I put together to help new SWTOR players understand the core elements of the game.

Whether you are a veteran MMO player or completely new to this genre of PC gaming, this guide will help you get started and understand the key concept of Companions and their role in the SWTOR galaxy. This guide covers getting set up with the game including the right hardware, a look at the background story and how to choose a server and guild. Key terms and roles for characters like DPS, tank and healer are introduced and inside information gained from over 250 hours of gaming in Beta is set out. The eBook then goes through the options for setting up a character before explaining and detailing the Advanced Class options. Complete lists of information about Companions available to each class is provided including their preferred gifts, which will help you build reputation, unlocking new and exciting Missions. Crafting with Companions, upgrading equipment and mods, keyboard and mouse controls, navigation, tips on Missions, combat, targeting, using Companions in combat and setting up Quick Shots is all explained, plus information on Datacrons and full Maps to planets is included.

Get set for your Galactic adventure! On sale for $2.99 now ... and besides, if you've been enjoying this site pre-launch, this is a great way to support us and in return get some useful advice for yourself.

The eBook is available on Amazon right now and can be read on iPad, iPhones, other smartphones, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and other eReaders.

5 Quick Tips for Playing SWTOR

1. Always bind. These stations can be discovered and are used with your Quick Travel skill. Unlike in other MMOs, you are not bound to a specific location. You can use the Quick Travel skill to travel to any of the stations you've found. The icon on your map for these stations looks like the universal power symbol. You can also see the location of these stations by using your Quick Travel skill, pulling up a handy map.

2. Cantinas are your friend. These are rest zones and give you rest xp. You can usually find a binding station inside.

3. You cannot enter story phases in combat. Remember this and it may save you some heartache.

4. There are only benefits to excess light or dark points. I learned the hard way that playing neutral doesn't get you far. Instead, you'll be jealous of all your friends when they get nifty gear and titles when you're stuck at 500 light and dark.

5. Hero story bosses are much easier to solo when you're their level. So don't get frustrated if you're not able to solo them otherwise.

Happy gaming!

SWTOR Jedi Knight Full Companion List and Gifts

To say T7-01 annoyed the crap out of me in Beta in an understatement! He had (it's now gone) this action called grapple that would pull what he was attacking to him. So I would jump to a NPC with force leap, then he would grapple it and I would have to run back after it. Man I wanted to stick my saber through his motorvater! As soon as I was joined by Kira (my second Companion) I never looked back; with my avatar semi tanking and her DPS killing stuff, was a blast! There is something about 2 Jedi out fighting side by side that I love!

Check out our full list of Jedi Knight Companions here:

SWTOR 10 points about getting in game this week!

Hot form Rockjaw Stephen Reid on twitter 

First: Early Game Access officially starts at 4AM PST / 6AM CST / 7AM EST / 12PM GMT / 1PM CET tomorrow. Emails will be sent around then.


Second: emails will go out after that point in in waves. Yes, we'll tell you when the emails will get sent via Forums/Twitter.
16 minutes ago

Third: No, not *everyone* will get in tomorrow. We are strictly allowing people admittance by when they redeemed pre-order code.

Fourth: All server types will be live tomorrow (PvP, PvE, RP-PvE, RP-PvP). All servers available to all (no EU-US or guild restrictions).

Fifth: If you're in a pre-imported guild, no, that doesn't get you priority access- but your guild server will be there when you get in.

Sixth: No, don't ask when you get in. We will let in a *lot* of people tomorrow - but not everyone. If you're not in Day One, don't explode.

Seventh: The Forums will be back up for all who have redeemed a pre-order code just before 7AM EST (AKA, Early Game Access start).

Eighth: Servers you'll see up tomorrow are NOT the final list. We'll be adding more during Early Game Access.

Ninth: I'm afraid I have no further updates on retailers and shipping, but it's moving about at very high levels. More tomorrow on that.


Tenth: As a community, you're the craziest, most passionate, most devoted people I've ever had the pleasure to work for. Thanks.