Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate is on Public Test Server!

 SWTOR Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate is on Public Test Server!

Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate is now on the Public Test Server (PTS) allowing players to experience brand new in-game content, including a new PvP Warzone and Heroic Space Missions.

Travel to a remote Warzone to discover a brand new PvP battle mechanic. 

The Republic and Imperial forces are locked in an intense conflict to control two energy pylons. Fight to take control of these powerful pylons and kill enemy forces to discharge energy into your faction’s gate. The first team to open their portal unleashes deadly reinforcements to wipe out enemy players. But beware, those who attempt to control these objective points may find them to be a bit volatile!

Take on the best pilots in the galaxy.

Navigate your ship to victory in new LeveI 50+ Heroic Mode Space Missions! With six new repeatable Heroic Mode Missions per faction, these updated Space Missions will challenge even the most skilled pilots. Players will earn Black Hole Commendations to spend on ship upgrades, high level gear, and more!

For those of you that already have a character, we encourage you to explore Ancient Hypergate and Heroic Space Missions. For your convenience, all Warzone matches on PTS will automatically be set to Ancient Hypergate. Please give us your feedback by posting on the Public Test Server forum. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer the ability to copy characters for this test. Be sure to visit the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Test Center to learn more.

Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate - PTS Patch Notes



UPDATED 11/20/2012

The patch notes published for the Public Test Server are not final and are subject to change. Currently, only English notes are available, but French and German versions will be published when they are available.

Highlights

• Ancient Hypergate, a new Warzone, is available for play! Travel to an ancient ruin built around a Gree Hypergate and battle to control the precious lost technology for your faction.
• New incredibly challenging Weekly [HEROIC] Space Combat missions are available!
• All new Grade 7 Artifact Quality Starship Upgrades are now available!

Group Finder

• Added a new Level 50 "Introduction to Group Finder" mission to the Daily Mission Terminal on the Republic and Imperial Fleets. This will be granted when players complete the Advanced Gear mission for their Class.
• Group Finder categories have been updated with tooltips that provide a recommended gear rating and an outline of the rewards available from the content.
• Increased Black Hole Commendations awarded by Story Mode Operations in Group Finder from 5 to 10.

Items

• Tionese gear available from the Tionese vendor no longer costs Tionese Crystals, and their commendation costs have been reduced for most items.
• Ancient Artifact Storage Boxes can now be purchased for 25 Tionese Crystals from all Tionese vendors.

Missions and NPCs

• Added a new Level 50 "Advanced Gear" mission for each Class to the Daily Mission Terminal on the Imperial and Republic Fleets.

UI

• The tooltips for several currencies will now explain how they can be acquired and what they can be used to purchase. These currencies include: Tionese Commendations, Columi Commendations, Black Hole Commendations, Daily Commendations, and Tionese Crystals.
• The Flashpoint Commendations category on the Currency Window has been renamed to Endgame Commendations. Daily Commendations will now appear under the Endgame Commendations category.

Get Ready for SWTOR Space Combat

There is absolutely no timeline on this but in an interview with NowGamer, SWTOR's lead developer Daniel Erickson has spilled the beans on a major future update to SWTOR that will include space combat. He wasn't explicit about it but the cracks between the lines are pretty obvious. He said:

"the next iteration of space is the single thing I’m most excited about in the entire future plan."

Pick up a novel by Michael A. Stackpole and flip on over to a space battle scene and imagine that playing out in SWTOR!

Further on in the interview Erickson referred to BioWare's commitment to listening to what their gamers want. The next iteration of space must at least in part be a reaction to the recent official poll which had 46.54% of respondents say that "Full 3D space battles" is the "Star Wars fantasty that excites you the most." A further 28.06% voted for "Capitol ship battles."

I can't wait. Memories of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter and Star Wars Galaxies are flooding in ...

SWTOR Advanced Space Combat Guide Video

Advanced space combat is hard! This video gives you an Advanced Space Combat Guide and runs through two full level 45+ missions and shows you how to use high level upgrades like the Electronic Warfare Pod Power Conversion Module and the level 50 Proton Torpedo Tube.

For basic space combat please see this video:

Gaming in SWTOR Beta, Three Weeks In

This is the big weekend for most people, when they will get their first look at SWTOR, but I've been lucky enough to have been invited to the full time Beta. I've been playing the Beta for over three weeks now and my Jedi Consular is level 43, tough as nails, broke, but has lots of friends.

Last Companion (Jedi)
I just managed to finally get the last companion and the change in gameplay was dramatic. I completed the story arc, which gave me access to my final companion three levels under the recommended level. But once I had access to her it made leveling and the other side quests a lot easier. I went from cruising around with my healer companion, slowly killing one mob at a time in a tanking stance, to being able to slice through four mobs in seconds. Having two Jedi DPS (myself and my Jedi companion) is amazing. I refer to it as lawn mower mode, the way the lightsabers are spinning, you just plow through anything that gets in your way.

Shadow Specs
The Shadow spec that I picked up has a stealth mode that's helped me complete quest lines much faster than I should have. Sneaking around can complete quests faster but it seems to result in less Experience and Loot, as you're sneaking past mobs rather than killing them.

Space Combat
I have found space combat to be a good way to assist in leveling up. You get a variety of daily quests you can do and I've found them fairly easy, up to about level 40. Ship upgrades are another major expense if you want any chance of being able to complete the level 40 combat missions, you're going to have to sink about 100 000 credits into upgrading your vessel.

Credits
The biggest issue I am finding at this stage is credits. I'm just scrapping by level by level with my skill upgrades. I have nowhere near enough credits for my next speeder training and at some levels I found I didn't even have enough credits to get the level up skills required. Using the standard speeder you get at level 25 is not that bad, but having the upgrade training blinking at you every time you walk past a Jedi Consular trainer, and not having the credits to get it, is frustrating. This is the same for my crafting and other bonus items, all available everywhere but out of my budget. I have to save all my credits just to be able to upgrade my combat skills. I am concerned that if the costs stay as they are, the credit farmers are going to have a field day.

SWTOR Space Combat Guide Video

In this video I look at ship combat and upgrading a ship. Please tell us what you think! Do you want more information?



And some 1900x1080 screenshots for you!

SWTOR Space Combat Sneak Peek

Some new info on space combat, has been revealed from the gamer magazine pcgamer.com. After the magazine was scanned and translated, here are some of the new details.

Ships will be customizable with upgrades earned through space combat.
Upgrades probably won’t be entirely new weapons but incremental power increases.
James Ohlen said, that player’s ship will be cosmetically different, but will all use blasters and missiles.
Character abilities and stats will not affect space combat.
Missions are supposed to only take a couple of minutes.
BioWare will implement PvP and co-op in the future.
Quest objectives are given on the fly via character voice-overs.
Terrain collision is very real. Flying into an asteroid will be devastating.
Side quests for each mission will rotate as well to make the missions more repeatable.
Later missions will be more complex and difficult.
All Player ships have roughly the same size and power.
The design’s of the four unknown player ships will draw inspiration from existing ships.

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