BioWare posted a new Insider Video, were the producers offer an inside look at exciting Galactic Starfighter updates, new Kuat Drive Yard Flashpoint missions, the next round of Cartel Market items and more coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic! It’s interesting to watch, and you are interested in learning more about Kuat Drive Yard Flashpoint, check out our update about it here. Notice Andrew Horwitz confirmed that Rakghoul Event is coming mid-january (go to 02:25 to see the event teaser).
Author: Soeren Kamper
Kuat Drive Yards Background story and gameplay
Lot’s of awesome new stuff is tested on the PTS right now. If you haven’t been playing around on the PTS your self yet, you are missing out. Here are a few of the new cool things you can experience. Here is a little story/cutscene background for those who havn’t experience the Kuat Drive Yards flashpoint on the PTS yet. The PTS is kinda buggy right now as you cannot get to that GS area in the fleet where the intro cutscene for the Kuat Drive Yards begins unless you do the flashpoint first via the group finder. This mess up the sequence a bit so it can be a bit confusing. Luckily Dulfy rearranged the cutscenes in order they are meant to be viewed. This little clip give you some intro on Kuat Drive Yards, the recently introduced GS exclusive companions, and a bit of connection between the ground…
Game Update 2.6: Galactic Starfighter PTS Patch Notes – Last Updated: January 9th
The patch notes for the public test servers are up. It’s now possible to go help out beta testing game update 2.6. Here are the patch notes. Please be aware, that all content and features on the Public Test Server are not final and are subject to change. Highlights New Galactic Starfighter Ship Role: Bomber – The Bomber ship role has been added to Galactic Starfighter, with six new ships available for unlock/purchase! Bombers are tough support ships that drop mines and drones on the battlefield. Mines detonate when enemies get into proximity, inflicting damage or crippling debuffs to all nearby foes. Drones attack nearby enemies with a variety of weapons, while Repair Drones restore the hull of nearby allies. Bombers can also place Hyperspace Beacons which function as mobile respawn points for their allies. New Galactic Starfighter Game Mode: Team Deathmatch – Team Deathmatch is a new game mode which pits…
Swtor-mined: 2.5.2? PTS Patch | 1/9/2014
SWTOR-Miner has been playing around with PTS patch 2.5.2, and found alot of new interesting stuff. First off smugglers and agents seem to get some fairly hefty changes: Smugglers/Imperial Agents: Upper Hand/Tactical Advantage’s buff duration increased from 10 to 15 seconds. Shoot First/Hidden Strike had their energy cost decreased by 2, cooldown increased by 1.5 seconds, and had their damage increased by ~14%. Gunslinger/Sniper PvP 2pc/4pc Set Bonuses got swapped. XS Freighter Flyby/Orbital Strike is now a 2.5 second cast that costs 10 Energy with a 45 second cooldown. It’s coefficient also got reduced by ~62%. Also Troopers and Bounty hunters are getting some changes that haven’t’been announced yet. This is pretty much the end of the hybrid DPS: Troopers/Bounty Hunters: Pulse Generator/Prototype Flame Thrower talent now requires High Energy Cell/High Energy Gas Cylinder Here are the images found in the patch: Lot’s of new stuff for Galactic Starfighter is…
Developer Update: Bomber Class Starfighter
BioWare have posted a new developer update. This time, senior game designer on Star Wars: The Old Republic, Jason Attard tell us about the first new ship being added to the game with game update 2.6. — The Bomber! This ship makes alot of new strategies possible. Personally I expect to see: Scout rushes to a cap a point super quick, defended by a strike fighter. Once they successfully cap the point, and the strike fighter is in place to properly defend the point, the scout intentionally crashes so they can respawn as a bomber. Then they get the bomber on the point they control and spawn mines on it to further entrench that point. You can read the original post in its full here, or our copy pate below: Developer Update: Bomber Class Starfighter 01.09.2014 Greetings Starfighters! I am Jason Attard, a senior game designer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, and today I’m…
Bolstering and You: A letter from the Combat team
Tait Watson got the Combat team to write an in-depth explanation of the Bolster system. I’m raelly starting to like this bird. You can read the whole thing in it original here, or our copy paste below. If you ask me, bolster still a bit broken, its still way better then the recruit gear system they previously had, Personally I would like to see it in a place where people that did end game pve could use that gear for pvp and have it be perfectly viable. The fact that a set of 66 blue’s are better for pvp then full dreadguard is lame. Hey gang! I know a number of people have been waiting on a post about some more specifics on how bolster works and interacts with items and the regular stat system, so I thought I would try to bring a little light to what is one of…
Upcoming Bug Fixes
Eric and Tait have been busy today, updating the community about bug fixes we can expect in near future. I have consolidated a list of the forum posts for your viewing pleasure: Source TaitWatson Relaxed Vestments Chestwraps: Graphical Glitch (Picture) | 01.09.2014, 11:01 AM Hey everyone! I know that this issue has been a really big one for a lot of people, so I’m really happy to be able to let you all know that it has a fix coming next week in 2.5.2. The fix won’t just affect the Relaxed Vestment Chestwrap, however, and will resolve fur/skin color on many pieces of gear that have revealed skin. Tait Source EricMusco Don’t worry Bioware..I got this!! Things SWTOR WILL see in 2014!! | 01.09.2014, 10:56 AM Quote: Originally Posted by Tyrth 1.) A QOL adjustment, most likely around 2.7-2.8 allowing the ability to queue for both GSF AND WZ simultaneously… This…
New Weekly Community Live Stream!
Eric Musco is starting a weekly community live stream were he will be playing through the game. In the beginning only Eric will host the live stream, but in future, both Courtney and Tait will get on there as well. If possible, they will kidnap the devs to play also. Below is the announcements: Post #1 EricMusco New Weekly Community Live Stream! | 01.09.2014, 11:07 AM Hey everyone! I alluded to it during our GSF stream at the end of the year, but I wanted to let you know that we are going to start having a weekly community live stream! Early on, you will see me playing but in time we will definitely get both Courtney and Tait on there as well. We may even expand it to other folks in the studio but that remains to be seen. The stream will be more of a “let’s play” than…
Community Cantina Tour – Phoenix, AZ – 1/31/14
Bioware will be having there next Community Cantina in Phoenix on January 31. Unlike all previous Cantina Tours this one is listed as 18 years + rather than 21+. I’m not sure why that is? Local state laws? I don’t have much knowledge of US law, so I’m only guessing. Below is the official statement: The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour Arrives in Phoenix, AZ! 01.06.2014 We’re happy to announce that the next stop in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Friday, January 31st, in Phoenix, AZ! This is your chance to join the Star Wars: The Old Republic community for a development team Q&A as well as complimentary drinks*, food, and giveaways. Every attendee will be receiving a highly coveted Tauntaun Fawn code. Space is limited so be sure to come early. If you’re in the area, make sure…
New Community Team Member Introduction at the official forums
BioWare have added a new member to it’s community team. Meet Tait Watson. Tait will be taking over some of Amber Greens work ( Not sure what she is up to now). Check out the announcement below: EDIT: Added Posts 2 & 3 Post #1 TaitWatson Is this thing on? | 01.06.2014, 01:44 PM Hey everyone! My name is Tait Watson and I am the newest member of the Community team here at BioWare Austin! I will be taking over a number of the things that Amber Green did previously, so I just wanted to stop in and introduce myself before you started seeing me show up on the forums. One of the many things I will be doing (and the part that will be most apparent) is gathering information for the development team through the Bug Report forums, so you will primarily find me hanging out in there. I have been gaming…
Documentary: Alien Planet
I know it has been a while since I last posted a documentary. But Xmas and new-years have taken all my time. Now we are back with a new documentary. This time we are focusing on life on other planets, and as a product of speculative science it is pretty impressive. Using computer graphics it shows how a mission to explore an Alien Planet would be conducted by Earth employing a sublight spacecraft delivering sophisticated probes to the surface. The program explains step-by-step the mission as the probes encounter strange life forms, with frequent asides by scientists who explain how such life forms might evolve and live. Using computer animation, the program is very good. If it has a flaw it is in the asides, which frequently go back to something discussed five minutes and a couple of segments ago. I have watched this Discovery Channel program countless times. It…
It’s official: Star Wars comics will return to Marvel in 2015
Marvel will publish new “Star Wars” comic books beginning in 2015, the company announced yesterday. This means Dark Horse Comics is losing the licensing deal its had for over 20 years, but give Dark Horse the time to wrap up storylines in current series. Its first was Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s “Dark Empire,” in 1989. The first Star Wars comics were originally published by Marvel in the ’70s based on the original “Star Wars” trilogy for nine years, starting in 1977. “Star Wars #1″ sold more than 1 million copies. Now the rights have returned to Marvel, which plans to release its first new-new Star Wars comics and graphic novels in 2015. Perhaps uncoincidentally, 2015 is also the year that J.J. Abrams’ yet-untitled Star Wars film is scheduled to hit theaters. Here is a snippet from the press release sent out: The Walt Disney Company’s Lucasfilm Ltd. and Marvel…
SWTOR Patch 2.6 Info
Community manager for Star Wars: The old Republic, Eric Musco took on the forums yesterday and delivered a preview of the game’s next major patch. The 2.6 update will come with a unlock to the Galactic Starfighter expansion for players playing the game for free, as well as introduce a new gunship variant and two new bomber variants. Since the 14th is “early access”, I am assuming 2.6 hits then. That fits with their normal schedule too, especially considering 2.5 was really light on non-GSF content. The new rakghoul event is coming very soon too, it’s unclear whether it’s all in the game yet, but there is quite a bit of it there, so it’s possible it will hit before 2.6. EricMusco any info on 2.6? | 01.02.2014, 01:53 PM Quote: Originally Posted by amona when will it be released,? 2.5 was early december so 6 weeks is mid january. what…
Scheduled Maintenance: Today December 19th, 2013 – Patch 2.5.1a
BioWare will be taking down the servers later today to push a new patch. We don’t know what is being fixed yet, but my guess is, it will be the Gunship requisition issue Parcels only popping if the person doesn’t have the debuff. Below is the announcement: Maintenance: December 19th, 2013 | 12.18.2013, 04:01 PM On December 19th, all game servers will be unavailable while we perform maintenance. Patch 2.5.1a will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Thursday, December 19th, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PST (11AM GMT) – 5AM PST (1PM GMT) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Time Zone Start Time Scheduled End Time UTC Offset HST Thu Dec 19, 2013 01:00 AM Thu Dec 19, 2013 03:00 AM -10 hours AKST Thu Dec 19, 2013 02:00 AM Thu Dec 19, 2013 04:00 AM -9 hours PST Thu Dec 19,…
Swtor-mined: Patch 2.5.1 | 12/17/2013
swtor_miner have data mined the newest patch, and found lots of new interesting stuff. The new patch hints new cartel market armor sets, new icons, a new mount, and other things: Interplanetary Component Exchange: A simple marketplace listing service for starship mechanics and service personnel looking to offer parts for sale, the Interplanetary Component Exchange has become increasingly popular in the criminal underworld, allowing military-grade equipment, weapons, components, and even whole starfighters to be bought and sold without attracting attention from Republic or Imperial enforcement personnel. Shipment 4: Starfighter Packs Wingman’s Starfighter Pack Dogfighter’s Starfighter Pack Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Pack Space Jockey’s Starfighter Pack Hotshot’s Starfighter Pack New Retailer Exclusive Cartel Card Pets WALMART Cartel Coins Mini-Pet Reward Thank you for your purchase of a Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Cartel Coins card. Enclosed is a special in-game reward as a thank you for your purchase! Your new Imperial Bomber “M-7 Razorwire” Starship…
Developer Blogs: IMPERIAL EDICT GR-1NC4
BioWare have posted a new role-playing developer blog on the Life Day event. I got a good laugh out of this, so Props to whomever wrote this. Really looking forward to Life Day/Return of the Gree later today! You can read the full post here, or if you are blocked by a firewall, you can read our copy paste below: BTW: GR-1NC4 = Grinch. IMPERIAL EDICT GR-1NC4 12.16.2013 Immediate Notice and Compliance Demanded. It has come to the Empire’s attention that dissident elements engaging in a tawdry and potentially dangerous seasonal event are planning to infect Imperial space with their insipid notions. This so-called “Life Day” encourages activities unbecoming of an Imperial citizen, including but not limited to: Dancing in inclement weather Singing unpatriotic carols Nonviolent physical contact with Wookiees This disgraceful menace of a “holiday”, during which time you are expected to comply fully with this edict, will last approximately…
Jedi Consular Shadow Leveling Build For 2.5
CJ from Swtor Savior have mailed us a new build for game update 2.5. This one is for the Jedi Consular Shadow and is a leveling build. The Jedi Shadow is an advanced class of the Jedi Consular. Quick and deadly, this melee DPS / Tank fighter uses the force to pummel its enemies into submission and to guard its allies from the battles that wait in a galaxy far far away. Jedi Shadows, while sharing the same starting class, are vastly different than their Jedi Sage counterparts. They can’t heal, but they make up for it in their ability to not only tank, but also utilize stealth to sneak in and out of battle, assassinating enemies of the Empire. Here is how you allocate the points: Rotations to use: Single Target: Force In Balance > Mind Crush > Force Strike > Sever Force > Spinning Strike > Shadow Strike…
Patch Notes – 17/12/2013 – Game Update 2.5.1 Patch Notes
Tomorrows patch notes are up. It looks like there is no new cartel packs for this Time. Maby there won’t be one for December? I was hoping the other Shipment 1 packs would make an appearance Highlights The Relics of the Gree Event will return on December 17th! Be sure to pay a visit to Ilum’s Western Ice shelf, as The Green Enclave will only be around until January 1st. Celebrate Wookiee Life Day starting December 17th. This new event will have players of all species throwing “Snowball Bombs” at each other with reckless abandon. This event will run until January 1st. Cartel Market General The Ashfall Tauntaun can now be unlocked in the Collections UI. Jedi Consulars and Bounty Hunters will now Flourish when using the /flourish emote. Classes and Combat Imperial Agent Sniper Lethality Lethal Dose now correctly affects Interrogation Probe. Items and Economy The following items no…
Scheduled Maintenance: December 17th – Patch 2.5.1
Servers are going down on Tuesday for maintenance and to implement patch 2.5.1. Life Day Event & Relics of Gree Start will also. Below is the announcement from the serverDriod from the official forum, and below that is the news on Life Day Event & Relics of Gree. ServerDroid Scheduled Maintenance: December 17th | Today , 03:16 PM On December 17th, all game servers will be unavailable while we perform scheduled maintenance. Game Update 2.5.1 will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday December 17th, 2013 Duration: 4 hours Time: 3AM PST (10AM GMT) – 7AM PST (2PM GMT) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Time Zone Start Time Scheduled End Time UTC Offset HST Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:00 AM Tue Dec 17, 2013 04:00 AM -10 hours AKST Tue Dec 17, 2013 01:00 AM Tue Dec 17, 2013 05:00 AM -9 hours PST…
Second Anniversary Rewards Coming December 17th
BioWare will be celebrating the second anniversary of Star Wars: The old republic on Tuesday December 17th. With this they will be rewarding all players with players with exclusive Scout Starfighter Paint Jobs and 25 stacks of faction-based fireworks. Pretty boring rewards if you ask me. I still have last years fireworks sitting in a cargo hold on 95%(+-5%) of my toons. I’m guessing that I’m not the only one here that still hve it. The paint job is kinda cool but it only applies to my least used ship. Am I mad about it? No. Disappointed? Sure. It’s hard to get mad about a freebie. Not so hard to be disappointed about feeling slightly under-appreciated as a customer. Below is the announcement: We are excited to celebrate two years of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™! As our thanks to you, we’ll be rewarding all players with exclusive Scout Starfighter…
New option to buy 14,500 Cartel Coins for $99.99
BioWare have added an option to the Cartel market for the big spenders. It’s now possible to purchase 14,500 Cartel Coins for $99.99 – ingame. It comes out at just about 145 Cartel Coins per dollar – roughly an extra 7.5 CC/$ compared to the 5,500 Coin package. Sadly, it’s not as great a deal if you compare what the 5,550 Coin denomination offers over the 2,400 (you get an extra 17.5 coins per dollar there), but it you’re looking to purchase an enormous amount of coins, it’s now the best value. The increase in “bonus” coins that you get for simply spending more on one purchase is not as great as it is between the $20 and $40 tiers. You could make one $100 purchase or a $20 and two $40 purchases. The $100 one would get you an extra 1,100 coins. Still a lot to spend on Star Wars fun bux,…
Life Day Gear to be Embargoed After Current Run
BioWare have been under fire for a while, for their decision on letting embargoed items reaper on the Cartel market. Eric Musco answered an angry player on the official forums yesterday concerning this issue: EricMusco Life Day gear recycled from last year?! LAZY | 12.11.2013, 02:01 PM Quote: Originally Posted by Rileysoph A few weeks ago life day stuff from last year were selling on the GTN for millions because they were SUPER RARE and UNOBTAINABLE and the people who had them could show everyone that they were there, that they were in the game since that time, that they participated in the event. And now you’ve brought back the exact same stuff from last year? Complete and utter laziness. There is no excuse. Bioware had a full year to come up with something new for it. I’m sorry but this game has just turned into a cash grab. I wouldn’t…
Patch Notes – 12/11/2013 – 2.5b Patch Notes
Sorry we didn’t post this yesterday, but I was out of town. BioWare have pushed a patch that should help out players with AMD video cards. I have had alot of trouble my self since I changed to windows 8, and so far, this patch seem to have fixed all issues. I don’t see a big increase in frame rate though, but I don’t have any random crashes anymore. What about you guys? Have the new patch helped out? Here are the patch notes: General Improved stability for players with AMD video cards. Players should be sure their driver is the most current video driver available from the official AMD website.
Scheduled Maintenance: December 10th, 2013 – Patch 2.5.0a
Just a heads up that BioWare will be taking down the servers tomorrow December 10th, to preform maintenance. During the downtime, BioWare will implement a small patch. Patch notes are not up yet, but be sure to check back, as we will post them as soon as they become available. Maintenance: December 10th, 2013 | 12.06.2013 , 03:38 PM On December 10th, all game servers will be unavailable as we perform maintenance. Patch 2.5a will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday December 10th, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PST (11AM GMT) – 5AM PST (1PM GMT) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Time Zone Start Time Scheduled End Time UTC Offset HST Tue Dec 10, 2013 01:00 AM Tue Dec 10, 2013 03:00 AM -10 hours AKST Tue Dec 10, 2013 02:00 AM Tue Dec…