The Mog Blog

Just twirling my lightsaber, don't mind me!

Only a few hours ago, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been officially released out to the public and, well, it doesn’t really matter so much because a good number of you have preordered it and have started playing it. For those who have yet to pick it up, here are some useful tips so you don’t end up as bantha fodder.

- Go through all your settings before you start playing.

In settings, there are various options that allow you to turn on subtitles, allow you to compare equipment to your companions, auto-loot options and various other things that just makes the game so much easier. Spend the time to go through them before you even walk out of the first room of the game and you will find yourself more in control.

- Your companion is your best asset.

If you ever played a pet class before in any MMO (Hunter in WoW especially), you know that you are generally better off sending your pet in to attack first. It is no different in SWTOR. Use Ctrl+1 to tell your companion to attack and then feel free to charge in. This is very useful for packs of enemies as they will all be focusing on your companion until you start attacking them. Be sure to keep them geared up as well.

- Save your mods.

Much like putting in gems or attachments in other MMORPGs, various mods and attachments in SWTOR gives your equipment stats. Unlike those MMORPGs however, the mods ultimately build up the stats for that piece of equipment. Also unlike those MMORPGs, you are able to remove the mods off of the piece of gear for a small price. Before you sell your beloved level 9 lightsaber with the fancy mods, pull out the mods and consider saving them for future pieces of gear.

- Avoid going at it alone.

Playing an MMO is all about playing with others and SWTOR does a great job in combining solo play and co-op play without compromising too much from the experience. Playing with friends allow you to build up social points which gives you access to some pieces of flair for your character. Also, playing with just one friend will combine the efforts of both of your characters and companions and makes it easier to tackle some of the difficult quests that require multiple people. Making friends, of course, goes a long way as well.

- Don’t forget to PvP.

A mainstay in any MMORPG is a solid PvP system. While it may not be your cup of tea, regardless of what type of server you join you will be able to take part in Warzones. Warzones are objective based games much like World of Warcraft’s Battlegrounds. Completing a PvP game and winning once per day is a good source of XP if you just want to take a break from the quest grinding. You also can queue up for it anywhere in the galaxy so indulge yourself but don’t beat yourself up if you die a lot either.

- Commendation awards are generally better.

While you’re questing, you may be confronted with a choice between a green item or a commendation. While the commendations can take awhile to build up to get anything respectable, they will last you until the next area that you will be questing in.

- Abuse the auction house.

Because this is a relatively new MMORPG, you might find that the prices for items on the server might be way too high… or way too cheap. Sometimes you might run into that high end piece of gear for only 100 credits because someone was simply unfamiliar with how the system works or they don’t have a point of reference to base their pricing on. In any case, be sure to check out the auction house from time to time especially for mods.

- Note your armor type and stats.

Your choice in gear is going to be heavily based on two main factors and that’s armor type and stat distribution. If you find a piece of gear, pay attention to if you can actually equip it based on armor type. I’ve seen plenty of Sith Assassins rolling on heavy armor when they can’t even use it. Next is to pay attention to the stats being given. Strength will not benefit everyone, nor will Cunning or Aim. This rule also applies to your companion.

- Mind what you say.

Conversations are an important part of the companion system and the alignment system. While it is clear cut as to what gives Light and Dark points (there’s a setting for that in the options), it is not as clear to figure out what will appease or disgust your companion when you’re talking to NPCs. Like any issue, getting them gifts can compensate bad decision making… Kind of like real life.

- Be prepared to take up a healing/tanking role if you intend on grouping.

As you progress through the story and the levels, you will have access to instances called Flashpoints. These usually require a full group of players and some skill to tackle on some of these challenges. This also means that because everyone is usually leveling with a damage dealing/DPS spec, the lack of tanks and healers can make these flashpoints into a huge headache. If you can, spare the time to learn about proper tanking and healing techniques so that you can swap on the fly if needed. While early on it might not be as important to solely concentrate on the role, later it may become necessary to step up or watch the party crumble in front of your eyes.

- Have fun!

Remember to take breaks, enjoy the scenery, take your time in cutscenes and group with friends. Also try different classes and go through their story. There’s quite a lot of things to explore for just the initial release so have fun and uh… may the force be with you I guess?