Welcome to the LOLTANK ultimate guide to the endgame in Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR)! If you’ve reached the level cap and find yourself wondering what lies ahead in this epic MMO, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll delve deep into the endgame content of SWTOR, exploring the expansion landscape stories, solo endeavours, crafting opportunities, and thrilling group activities that will keep you engaged and entertained for hours on end.
Expansion Landscape Content:
Once you hit level 50, the main class storylines conclude, and you’ll progress to the expansion landscape content. This includes the Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan storylines, taking your character from level 50 to 65. The best part is that this content is free for all players, regardless of your subscription status. However, the real treat awaits at levels 65 to 70 with the Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne storylines. These expansions feature extensive player decisions, numerous dialogue options, and branching story paths, offering a next-level MMO storytelling experience. Make sure to delve into this content for an unforgettable adventure.
World Quests and Minor Expansions:
After completing your class storyline, you’ll have the option to go back and explore planet-specific storylines through world quests. Additionally, there are several minor expansions between major story beats, which you might have missed during your leveling journey. These expansions often come with daily and weekly quests tied to reputation factions. Increasing your standing with these factions will unlock unique currencies, vendors, and various items. Collectors and completionists will find great joy in experiencing all these planet storylines and leveling up with various factions.
Solo Endgame and Conquest:
SWTOR caters well to solo players, small guilds, and friends who enjoy the single-player aspect of an MMO. The Conquest system is a highlight in this regard. Each week, a themed Conquest calendar starts, allowing you to complete specific game objectives and earn points. By completing personal and guild Conquest goals, you’ll earn gear, vendor currencies, and crafting materials. The objectives vary, giving you the flexibility to gear up and progress through content you enjoy the most. If you join a dedicated guild, you can achieve higher tiers of Conquest, unlocking rooms in your Guild’s Flagship and Guild stronghold, and even unlocking Guild-wide perks as you level up your Guild.
Best Solo Classes:
Jedi Guardian (Republic)
Playstyle: Primarily a defensive tank character, capable of DPS with certain specs.
Strengths: High survivability, heavy armor, and wielding a lightsaber in the front lines.
Recommended Spec: Jedi Sentinel (two-handed DPS) or Jedi Sage (DPS or Healer).
Bounty Hunter (Sith)
Playstyle: Ranged DPS with some versatility for healing and tanking.
Strengths: Heavy armor, high DPS, flamethrowers, and ranged attacks.
Recommended Spec: Mercenary (ranged DPS with healing abilities).
Imperial Agent (Sith)
Playstyle: Ranged or melee with stealth capabilities for tactical gameplay.
Strengths: Stealth, mobility, and a mix of melee and ranged attacks.
Recommended Spec: Operative (damage over time with stealth and melee).
Jedi Sentinel (Republic)
Playstyle: Dual-wielding lightsabers for intense melee DPS.
Strengths: High burst damage and mobility.
Note: Similar to the Sith Juggernaut but with a focus on DPS instead of tanking.
Sith Inquisitor (Sith)
Playstyle: Sorcerer with lightning abilities for high magical DPS.
Strengths: Force lightning, damage over time, and intense burst damage.
Recommended Spec: Sorcerer (focused on lightning abilities).
Sith Juggernaut (Sith)
Playstyle: Sith version of the Jedi Guardian, focused on DPS rather than tanking.
Strengths: Heavy armor, melee DPS, and dark side abilities.
Recommended Spec: Juggernaut (pure DPS build).
Smuggler Gunslinger (Republic)
Playstyle: Pure ranged DPS, using cover to deal damage from a distance.
Strengths: High burst damage, versatile ranged attacks and crowd control.
Recommended Spec: Gunslinger (ranged DPS with cover-based abilities).
Crafting:
Crafting in SWTOR is distinct from other MMORPGs. You’ll have companions you meet during your class storyline, which will do the crafting for you using a queuing system. This allows you to automate crafting while you focus on other activities, even when you’re offline. This system feels more like managing a business of workers than simply doing everything yourself. Crafting items range from consumables, armor, weapons, relics, and decorations, to items for Guild Conquest. If you’re a crafting enthusiast, you’ll find this system engaging and rewarding, especially when it comes to crafting endgame gear.
Crafting in SWTOR is a system that allows players to create a wide range of items, including weapons, armor, enhancements, and consumables. In the following, we will cover how crafting works, how to level up crafting skills, which crafting skills can create which items, and provide some insights into the best crafting skills for making SWTOR credits.
Crafting Basics:
Crafting in SWTOR involves using your companions to gather resources known as crafting materials and using them to create items. There are three primary components to crafting:
Crafting Skills: These skills enable you to create items using the gathered materials. There are six crafting skills available:
1. Armor: Creates heavy and medium armor, armor mods, and augments, primarily for Troopers or Bounty Hunters.
2. Armstech: Specializes in weapon crafting, allowing you to create Blaster pistols, rifles, and upgrades.
3. Artifice: Focuses on lightsabers, enhancements, and color crystals that can alter lightsaber colors.
4. Biochem: Enables the creation of medpacs, stims, adrenals, and other consumables.
5. Cybertech: Allows you to create gadgets, modifications, and even mounts.
6. Synthweaving: Primarily focuses on crafting light and robe-like armor, suited for Jedi characters.
Mission Skills: These skills let you send your companions on missions to obtain valuable resources needed for crafting. The mission skills available are:
1. Diplomacy
2. Investigation
3. Treasure Hunting
4. Underworld Trading
Gathering Skills: These skills allow you to send your companions on missions to collect raw crafting materials and gather materials while exploring the environment. The four Gathering skills available are:
1. Archeology (artifacts and crystals)
2. Bioanalysis (organic compounds)
3. Scavenging (metal and electronics)
4. Slicing (Tech parts and credits)
Each crafting skill will have one Gathering skill and one Mission skill to support it. You can have a total of three skills per character, allowing you to specialize in multiple crafting areas or create different items across your characters.
Leveling Up Crafting Skills:
To level up a crafting skill in SWTOR, you need to create items or complete missions associated with that skill. Press “N” on your keyboard to open the crafting menu, where you’ll find various recipes or missions that grant experience points. The color of the dots on the items and the text on companion missions indicates the experience gained:
Orange: Gives 3 points
Yellow: Gives 2 points
Green: Gives 1 point
Gray: Doesn’t give any points
As your crafting skill level increases, you can visit your crafting trainer to learn new schematics and create higher-quality items. Remember to learn new schematics every 50 levels or so to ensure you can craft higher-rated items and gain more experience.
Obtaining Materials:
Some recipes or missions require specific crafting materials or rare components, which you can acquire through Gathering skills or by purchasing them from other players through the Galactic Trade Network (GTN). You may find cheaper resources at crafting vendors on the fleet compared to player offerings on the GTN.
Choosing the Right Crafting Skill:
Each crafting skill in SWTOR has its unique benefits and specialization. Consider your playstyle and your character’s needs when choosing a crafting skill. For example, if you have a character with a scientific background, Biochem might be a fitting choice.
Best Crafting Skills for Making Credits:
While all crafting skills in SWTOR have the potential to generate credits, some are generally more profitable than others. One of the most lucrative crafting skills for credits is Biochem, particularly at higher levels, where stims and adrenals are always in demand for in-game content and PvP.
Keep in mind that the profitability of crafting skills can vary depending on the server, demand for specific items, and other factors. It’s always a good idea to research the GTN yourself to identify the best crafting opportunities for credits.
Group Content:
SWTOR offers a diverse range of group activities. Flashpoints are similar to dungeons in other MMOs, requiring a group of up to four players to tackle instanced missions with various objectives and bosses. Flashpoints come in different difficulties: story mode, veteran mode, and master mode. Additionally, there are Warzones (Battlegrounds) and Arenas where players can engage in PvP combat. Galactic Starfighter is a unique mode that features space battles with objectives and team deathmatches. Lastly, there are Operations (raids), where groups of 8 to 16 players take on the most challenging content in the game. These operations tie into the lore and storytelling of the game and come in story mode, veteran mode, and master mode difficulties. For the most hardcore players, there’s a daunting difficulty called nightmare mode.
Conclusion:
With this comprehensive guide, you’re well-equipped to tackle all the exciting endgame content in SWTOR. Whether you prefer solo play, crafting, or group activities, there’s something for every player to enjoy and experience in this thrilling MMO. May the Force be with you as you embark on your endgame journey!