Class changes and balance in Game Update 1.3

Lisa Clark News, SWTOR

There will be some class changes and game balance updates coming to SWTOR in Game Update 1.3. While there are bound to be some unhappy campers, for the most part, this is a welcomed change for SWTOR players.

Here is an explanation of these changes from SWTOR official blog:

Hello everyone. My name is Austin Peckenpaugh, and I’m a Senior Designer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. My job here is to create, maintain, and balance class gameplay in The Old Republic. As such, I’m here to shed some light on the upcoming changes to classes in Game Update 1.3 to give you all a sense of what’s to come and why it’s coming.

Like with any major patch, Game Update 1.3 will bring with it an array of class updates. Before I go into detail on any specific changes, I wanted to use this opportunity to share our philosophy as to why classes need to change at all.

Here are some examples of the changes that are taking place with the new game update:

  • Threat generation for all tanking stances has been increased to 100% (up from 50%).

And:

  • Cyclone Slash/Sweeping Slash now apply an accuracy debuff with the Dust Storm/Quake skills.
  • Guardian Slash/Crushing Blow have been slightly redesigned to deal AOE damage when striking a target with 5 sunder stacks (and now spread those stacks). This AOE damage is “smart” and will not hit enemies affected by control that breaks on damage.
  • Single Saber Mastery now offers effects based on your current Form. In Soresu Form, Cyclone Slash/Sweeping Slash and Force Sweep/Smash deal increased threat.
  • Force Breach (Combat Technique)/Discharge (Dark Charge) now generate increased threat.
  • The AOE damage dealt by Slow Time/Wither is now “smart” and will not hit enemies affected by control that breaks on damage.
  • Supercharged Ion Cell/Gas now cause High Impact Bolt/Rail Shot to trigger your Ion Cell/Cylinder on the target and on up to 4 additional nearby targets. This AOE damage generates a high amount of threat and is “smart,” meaning it will not hit enemies affected by control that breaks on damage.

Here are some things involved in healing

  • The healing generated by Combat Technique/Dark Charge has been reduced by approximately 50%.
  • The healing generated by Harnessed Shadows/Harnessed Darkness has been reduced to 8% in total (down from 12% in total).
  • The armor provided by Combat Technique/Dark Charge has been reduced to +115% (down from 150%).

There will also be changes for DPS characters such as:

  • Rapid Fire is no longer the capstone ability for Sharpshooter/Marksmanship. Rapid Fire is now a 3-pt passive skill that reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot/Ambush and Speed Shot/Series of Shots.
  • Blaster Volley/Sniper Volley is the new capstone ability for Sharpshooter/Marksmanship. This is now an active ability that finishes the cooldown on Speed Shot/Series of Shots and greatly increases alacrity and energy regeneration for about 10 seconds.

These are just some of the highlights. There are many more changes included so it will be well worth your time to head over and read the full post and see all of the upcoming changes. As usual, we will keep you updated here as well on any new updates or news about game update 1.3.

Lisa Clark

Lisa has been an avid gamer since she was old enough to hold her first controller and a game writer for more than a decade. A child of the Nintendo generation, she believes they just don’t make games like they used to but sometimes, they make them even better! While consoles will always be her first love, Lisa spends most of her gaming time on the PC these days- on MMOs and first-person shooters in particular.