Wednesday, December 28, 2011

New Players Guide to SWTOR


As you find your feet in SWTOR, it's handy to have some inside information.

This guide covers getting set up with the game including:
  • the right hardware
  • a look at the background story
  • how to choose a server and guild
  • key terms and roles for characters like DPS, tank and healer
  • the options for setting up a character
  • Advanced Class options
  • Complete lists of information about Companions
  • preferred gifts
  • Crafting with Companions
  • upgrading equipment and mods
  • keyboard and mouse controls
  • navigation
  • general tips on Missions, combat, targeting
  • using Companions in combat
  • setting up Quick Shots
  • full Maps to planets
This eBook is available on Amazon which means that with the appropriate free app or utility you can look at it on your phone, second monitor, laptop or tablet while you game.
If anything that SWTORFace has posted has ever been useful to you, purchasing the guide is a great way to say thanks ... and ensure I get fed!
Thanks everyone ... and let me know if there is a burning topic you'd like me to put a guide together on.

Flashpoints: Do's and Don'ts

Hey guys and gals, just thought I'd list a few of the basic rules when looking for Flashpoints and getting into a group to do them.

First of all what are Flashpoints?  For the most part Flashpoints are important story line sequences which offer a social and entertaining side line away from your normal missions. Flashpoint couriers usually take the form of Droids on the Imperial or Republic Space stations and are also scattered around various planets as well.

Flashpoints are level based. The first one is found as you leave your starting planet where you have learned the basics of combat and how to play your character.

Do's

1) Try to get into a balanced group, for example a tank, healer and a couple of dps. The beginning one is reasonably easy and will give you a basic understanding of group encounters.

2) Try to be understanding of new players and be as helpful as possible.  These encounters are not the standard "dungeons" that most WoW players are used to and the roles required by each player can change during a Flashpoint. Sometimes a player will be needed to off-tank or interrupt special abilities; other times they might just need to do as much dps as possible.

3) Listen to the story lines and enjoy them.  Obviously repeated occurrences of the same Flashpoint will make you want to skip through options but be courteous to players who haven't done the Flashpoint before and want to listen to the story line.

4) Asking people if they would like to join should never be a problem. Most likely you will notice in the general chat multiple people asking for members to specific encounters. Sometimes people tend to ignore this chat and sometimes getting asked to come do a Flashpoint can be a nice breather from missions etc.

5) Enjoy yourself.

[Editor's addition 6) don't go AFK without at least informing the group if an emergency comes up.]

Dont's

1) Be rude or overbearing. Obvious reasons.

2) Actually most people should know how to behave so I won't go into these issues of etiquette.

3) Don't be scared to ask questions on how to better play your character in an encounter. Some people will no doubt not expect this and may act rude or unaccommodating but the majority of people will see this as an opportunity to try and work together.

4) Don't be afraid to try new things.

[Editor's addition: 5) don't start a Flashpoint if you know you won't have the time to finish it, unless you've cleared it with the group first]

These listings are pretty much commonsense but one important thing I've noticed about all of the Flashpoints I've done so far is that they are far more geared towards the social aspect of the game with gaining social points and unique pieces of gear, than that of gaining or farming experience. Quite frankly some of these encounters are very long and you should only do them if you have the time and want some unique entertainment and social activity. [Editor's addition: be prepared to set aside up to two hours]

SWTOR 1.0.1 Patch Notes The Big Slicers Nerf Of 2011

Nothing real big in this one except ...
Slicing
- Rewards from Slicing have been reduced to bring them into balance with other skills.
- Adjusted incorrect values for medium slicing boxes.
... this might upset some people. Damn, I didn't get on that free ride!. And slacking off in Warzones got the nerf too ...
- Rewards for winning Warzones have been increased.
- Warzone completion rewards have been decreased.



Patch Notes for Patch 1.0.1

Hello everyone!
With this update, the first of many for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, we have addressed several high-priority bugs. We've implemented fixes for those players affected by performance issues on Taris and have corrected the problem preventing some pending mission rewards from being accepted. Additionally, the issue that could cause some gathering nodes to appear unharvestable has been addressed, and you'll notice several bug fixes relating to Flashpoint and Operation content.
We're committed providing the best possible MMO experience, and will continue releasing fixes and updates on a regular basis.
Thank you for playing Star Wars: The Old Republic!


Classes and Combat



Combat Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that could cause the global cooldown to display incorrectly in the UI. 
- Abilities that require Companion Characters now always correctly require a companion.
- NPCs no longer attempt to engage vanity pets in combat.


Imperial Agent


Operative
- The tooltip for Acid Blade now displays the correct information.


Companion Characters


Companions
Kira Carsen
- Fixed an issue that could cause Kira’s affection progression to become blocked.


Bug Fixes
- Companion Character dialogue now plays at the correct volume.


Crew Skills

Gathering Skills
Slicing
- Rewards from Slicing have been reduced to bring them into balance with other skills.
- Adjusted incorrect values for medium slicing boxes.


Bug Fixes
- Corrected an issue that could cause some gathering nodes to appear as unharvestable.


Flashpoints and Operations


Flashpoints
Mandalorian Raiders
- Crowd control immunity has been removed from several members of the Enemy Boarding Party.


Colicoid War Game
- An issue that prevented some players from mounting turrets in this Flashpoint has been corrected.


The Red Reaper
- Darth Ikoral now uses his abilities correctly.


Directive 7
- Mentor now resets correctly if he defeats the player group.


Bug Fixes
- All players in a group who have a daily Flashpoint mission now get credit for completing that Flashpoint.


Operations
Eternity Vault
- Fixed an issue that could cause players to instantly die when affected by Soa’s knockback.
- Turrets in Normal Mode no longer behave as turrets from Hard Mode.
- Players are now able to properly obtain loot from chests.
- The Ancient Pylons now spawn enemies at the correct intervals.


Karagga’s Palace
- Players no longer need to reset this Operation if they do not defeat Bonethrasher.
- Corrected an issue that caused some players to become stuck at the throne room door.


Items


Bug Fixes
- PvP lockboxes can no longer be sold for credits.
- Fixed incorrect item rewards from PvP leveling lockboxes.


Missions and NPCs


Missions
Imperial
- A New Master: Defeating Teeno no longer causes him to surrender on top of Phyne, making him difficult to interact with.
- General Faraire: All of Khourlet’s Elite Guards are now accessible by the player.


Bug Fixes
- Fixed a mission-related issue that could cause poor performance and client crashes on Taris for some players.


NPCs
Bug Fixes
- Corrected several instances of non-interactive NPCs appearing and disappearing from the player’s view.


PvP


Warzones
General
- Rewards for winning Warzones have been increased.
- Warzone completion rewards have been decreased.


Bug Fixes
Voidstar
- Corrected an issue that could prevent some players from entering the Voidstar.
- Made adjustments to prevent attacking players from reaching the doors in the reactor core before bridges are extended.


UI


Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that could prevent players from accepting pending mission rewards.
- Targeting a friendly player no longer occasionally displays incorrect text for the character’s name.
- Corrected an issue that could cause some auction expirations to behave incorrectly.
- The splash screen no longer displays longer than the “accept changes” dialogue when changing resolutions on some computers.
- Master Looter now works correctly for items being looted from chests.
- The server select screen no longer displays over the character select after being disconnected for being away.
- Corrected an issue that could cause mission mapnotes to disappear when a new mission is obtained.


Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
- Special characters no longer display incorrectly in the French credits.
- Remaining baby names have been added to the credits.
- Corrected a link that displayed in French and German versions when the servers are unavailable.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

World PVP in SWTOR With a Twist: Tatooine PVP Zone

The word PVP zone in Tatooine brings a twist to PVP as it's not a faction PVP zone at all; it's a Lawless zone. You can attack anyone in there at all: same faction, same guild, best friend! It's a zone that you will find high end mats in and you can farm them all you want as long as you can stay alive! Is it wrong to kill someone in your faction to stop him/her getting a node you want to harvest? I got to spend a bit of time in there and got lots of level 6 gems and other mats. There was a smuggler in there that I didn't touch. If it was a Sith  and he was after the same things I was, I would not think twice. Don't think I would attack my same faction,  but if the player was taking stuff I wanted to harvest I would show him the light :)

This map shows you where to find the PVP zone on Tatooine.


Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Old Republic Toys for Christmas

So we know all you geeks have got a Collector's Edition or the Digital Deluxe, so what does that leave Santa to get you for Christmas? Me, being the lucky guy I am, married a Star Wars fan and my legendary wife found this Star Wars geek the perfect gift for the Old Republic fan that has everything ...


My very own Bastilla Shan figure! Now I will have Battle Meditation with me all the time!

For those of you who don't know, Bastilla Shan was in The Knights of the Old Republic and is the perfect gift for any Star Wars fan who is into the expanded universe. I had no idea that this figure was available until my wife pointed her out and although she let me take photos of it for this post, Bastilla Shan is now giving Batle Meditation to all of our Christmas decorations.

While we're on the topic of Christmas, I know that it's really exciting to spend a lot of time in your new found home in the Galactic Republic, but don't forget about those other people in your life over this festive time. Put reality first for a Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The SWTOR Leveling Experience, Levels 1 - 10

My first experiences in SWTOR began in the beta 2 weeks prior to launch.  I had initially been invited to join earlier but thought I would wait for launch and avoid any disappointment. Whilst I had faith in Bioware, I had bad experiences with other MMOs and decided I would just wait and see what would happen.  I finally decided to take up the option for the open beta after hearing a lot of discontent with the WoW die hards saying what a poor game SWTOR was looking to be. To me this could mean only that it was looking to be a decent game and this encouraged me to take advantage of the open beta and take a look for myself.

I decided very early that I wouldn't try to rush through and level as fast as I could as a lot of people in betas are inclined to. So instead I would take a look at every class and look at the dynamics and gameplay of each class. 

The first 10 levels of every character are extremely diverse and the story content of all 8 character classes was extremely unique and very well thought out. The play style of each of the 4 characters in each faction is also quite interesting and whilst a lot of people will say this is a WoW clone in the combat arena, I couldn't disagree more heartily. I feel that the differences are amazing and the only way you will learn these is playing for yourself.  I didn't want to make this a guide on how to play, guides like these have been posted all over YouTube and if you want a step by step guide then you are losing the experiences and surprises in the game. This is more about what information is important, and what you might like to know without any spoilers.


Hotkeys
Combat very early on is, as you would expect, limited to a couple of hotkeys, but knowing exactly the function of each ability is invaluable. Making certain you understand what each hotkey is for should be the very first thing you do and as you level, read and invest a little time in looking at your abilities to know what they can do. Whether or not you chain keys for higher damage or just spam a single button, early combat is really quite easy and does not make it a difficult game for the novice player. This gives you the ability to become immersed in the story and develop your skills as you go.  By about level 4 or 5 you will have 6-7 abilities which you can use to your own play style.


Missions
Questing [editor's note: it's called Missions in SWTOR you old WoW player!] is amazingly simplified in SWTOR. Your objectives are placed straight onto your minimap and the primary zones are slightly linear to allow the learning experience to progress. What a lot of experienced MMO players fail to realize is that with each new game release there is an over-abundance of new players who really have no idea what they are doing. The beginning quests for each class begins with, why your character is where they are and their immediate goals.  This leads on to a primary class quest beginning with ACT 1 and leads you into an immersing story line which is both interactive and entertaining.  Side quests are abundant and are pretty much the meat and vegies for leveling.  Not once have I had to grind or worry about not being too low to do my quests.  

Dark side vs light side
One of the first things I noticed, while getting engaged in each story line, were the light and dark side options. As a general rule I decided that if I wanted to be dark I would play dark.  I was playing light then I chose light side options.  There were no exceptions and I found by level 10 I was easily past the first tier of dark or light side points. Choosing a combination did not seem very important as it seemed to balance you closer back to a neutral option.  This may be tempting for the role players out there who are not swayed by the choices they make. 



Companions
People have heard all about companions and these in my view are a game-changing asset whether you like to play solo or with friends. Group partys are limited to 4 members which includes the use of  companions. Since beginning the actual game I have leveled with my close friend Jean (ingame name) and the 2 of us with our companions have been, for lack of a better term, "tearing it up".  I cannot stress this enough.  LEARN how to use your companions. This is vital. 

Social points
This brings up another extremely important facet of the game that a lot of people are not taking so much notice of yet, "Social Points".  Whilst you are grouped with a friend or any other person and you do quests not related to your private class quest, you will gain social points for each interaction within quest dialogue. for example, whenever you are talking to a quest giver and make a choice within this conversation you will receive points which accrue and give you access to superior (both looking and functional) equipment. 

Finally as the beginning zone draws to a close, your primary class quest becomes more prominent and those initial desires seem to be coming to fruition, for example, if you're Jedi / Sith type character your lightsaber looks to be closer at hand.


What I would dearly love to recommend is that you try to do every quest and explore these beginning zones thoroughly. This will make for a much more enriching experience and will allow you whether you are an experienced MMO player or a complete beginner, a fantastic experience which you will thoroughly enjoy. 



Tuesday, December 20, 2011

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



Monday, December 19, 2011

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.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

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!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

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.