flashpoints

SWTOR Endgame Gearing Guide for Empire Players

One of the biggest questions gamers have when they reach level 50- the maximum level- is what to do next. How do you get geared up? What is there to do in endgame? SWTOR is still a new game so there is not a lot of advice or “common knowledge” in the gaming community yet about what to do. In fact, many players are leveling to the cap and then stopping because they don’t know what to do next or there are not enough people playing to do anything with. But you can bet that as the game has been out longer and more and more players get into it and reach the level cap, there will be more gamers to play with. So you can start right now getting geared up so you’re ready to go and you will be a few steps ahead of others, giving you an…

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Kaon Under Siege – Video Guide from Pokket

It’s been awhile since you needed a 6-minute video to explain encounters in an MMORPG but the new flashpoint in SWTOR can be difficult, particularly the first time you do it. With the right technique involved, your group can get through the content efficiently and enjoyably. If you’re not sure just what that correct technique would be, you’re in luck because MMORPG has us all covered with a great video tutorial. Pokket gives us all the run down on the Hardmode Kaon Under Siege Flashpoint and how to survive the nightmarish place in Game Face from MMORPG.com. This is an especially good guide for healers who before this, probably did not have to work too hard at healing but this flashpoint and bosses can challenge the healers more than previous encounters you have probably had. Pokket explains each fight with voiceover as you watch the video of the boss fights…

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Star Wars: Old Republic plans to cater to casual fans

Casual fans will be happy to hear the news that BioWare is planning new future content to high level casual players. With so many games pushing to the hardcore fans and players, it’s nice to also see a game that address the casual players- those in school, moms and dads with jobs and family responsibilities or those players who are also playing other games at the same time. Speaking to VideoGamer.com, the MMO’s lead PvP designer Gabe Amatangelo stated in the future he hopes to introduce new elements that will help high-level casual players play through difficult content the game. “…One thing I wanted was to make the Normal mode very accessible to casual players,” he explained. In the interview, he says they have plans to regularly release new Flashpoints, new planets, and other solo content in the future. He describes the process that goes into creating the content that…

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Bioware Puts Focus on story-based Flashpoints for SWTOR Future

Stay Classy, Consular… It has been almost a month since the release of SWTOR and the first patch, 1.1 is due out next week. Many players, like me, are anxious to know what new content the patch will add to the game. Some players love all the MMO instances they can get so they can fight bad guys for loot and XP to level up faster. Others prefer story based flashpoints where they can concentrate more on their character. It really depends on the player and your gamer style. Gamesradar.com interviewed Bioware Gabe Amatangelo and asked the question, “Do you think, moving forward, you’ll be focusing on the story-based flashpoints more than the traditional MMO-style instances?” Amatangelo answered by saying, “We’re taking a look at metrics, but we’re inclined to do more of the story ones.” How do you feel about that answer? Are you excited to hear Bioware’s upcoming…

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BioWare Says LFG System is in the Works

The group locator system in SWTOR can use a little work. Okay, actually… it can use a lot of work. A group finder or LFG system is very important in MMORPGs where it is an essential part of the game. There is nothing more annoying that wanting to do a quest or group phase and having to sit around spamming in the general chat channel looking for people to help you out. This is boring and time-consuming and it can be frustrating enough to affect the overall appeal of the game. This is why BioWare says they are already in the works on an improved LFG system. GameZone reports how BioWare says this is high on their list of features to add to the game: “”Improving our LFG system is high on the list of features that Systems Design wants to add to the game,” said BioWare’s Damion Schubert. “We…

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Flashpoint Locations, Levels, and Gear in One Handy Infographic

Do you wish that you knew where to find all the SWTOR flashpoints, levels and gear? Wouldn’t it be great if you had it all in one handy location to help you know what was where and how to get there to find it? Well, of course it wouldn’t be long before someone came along and made something like that for SWTOR. In fact, it’s not even a month after the official launch and we are seeing many great tools and tricks to help gamers get more out of their experience. Here’s a handy infographic we stumbled upon that will give you all the flashpoint locations, levels and gear in one location. Save it, bookmark it and refer to it often as you need. If you come across any handy tools like this for SWTOR (or if you make them yourself), be sure to let us know so we can…

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TOR TV: How to be a Better Raider

The guild Section Eight have started a little youtube series, where they run through each flashpoint, and talk about raiding, flashpoints, and how to play your role in the game. These videos are great for beginners, and people who are new to raiding. Those who are experienced hardcore raiders probably won’t learn as much, but they still might enjoy the content. Anywho, take a look, and let us know what you think!

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TOR TV: The Inquisitor Takes You Through Athiss

Greetings good Sithizens and other lowly Jedi. Normally we make our Sith Inquisition posts here on Thursdays, but we just finished production on a very impressive video yesterday and we wanted to share it with all of you. This is a full playthrough of the Planet Athiss flashpoint from the perspective of the Inquisition’s Lord himself. We go through all three major bosses and get a basic grasp of the mechanics, as well as the trash and mechanics of the flashpoint overall. It’s just under an hour long, and brought to you in full 1080p eye bleeding quality. Feel free to ignore the chatter throughout the video, we were discussing the flashpoint, some basic mechanics, and other happening during the last day of beta, but I turned it down specifically so the audio of the flashpoint could be heard. You can find more great videos of The Old Republic Here!

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Friday Update: “Bringing Down the Hammer”

Yesterday BioWare updated us with yet another of there always anticipated Friday updates. This time the guys shed some insight to the new flashpoint  “The Hammer”.  The Hammer, is a powerful battelstation that was thought destroyed but is now occupied by the less than friendly Advozsec. The Hammer, a powerful prototype battle station developed by the Republic, was believed to have been destroyed during the war. However, this terrible weapon has re-emerged in the hands of the Advozsec, who are using it to conquer unaligned worlds in the Outer Rim. Setting out to stop the Advozsec’s campaign, an Imperial strike team assaults the Hammer and battles to take control.

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A New SWTOR Flashpoint – The Hammer – Has Been Released

More big news about SWTOR from IGN; a new flashpoint has been released and they are here to tell us something about it. IGN writes today about The Hammer, SWTOR’s newest flashpoint and what we can all expect from it: “The Hammer, a separate Flashpoint set on an Empire-controlled superweapon, is more focused on the cooperative aspects of group play. The Flashpoint is set on a massive weapon designed to fire gigantic asteroids indiscriminately at planets, and you have to shut it down.” If you want to learn more about The Hammer and dungeon runs in SWTOR in general, you will love this 1,000+ word write-up from IGN. They give us a complete, honest walk-through of The Hammer. If you’ve had an opportunity to play a flashpoint already, we’re curious what you think about the potential of the newly announced The Hammer, as well. Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want…

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Athiss (The Tomb Opens) Flashpoint

The one thing I found interesting in this flashpoint was how Bioware implemented crew skills just like they did in Bringing the Hammer Down: if you have bioanalysis in this one you can pick up special mushrooms and use them to summon a miniature version of the 2nd boss that’ll fight alongside you for a couple minutes or so. I hope all of the flashpoints have these crew skill aspects integrated because it’s pretty fun, especially when it’s your crew skill because then you feel all high and mighty! LG03 had this comment on the flashpoint: This flashpoint was pretty disappointing to me, it was just so…bland. You can’t even blame it entirely on not being finished, as far as I could tell it was just missing some busy work quests. It had the potential to be a much more story driven instance but there’s no plot outside the initial…

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Hammer Station flashpoint video

Before anyone shouts shenanigans I’ll tell you right now the flashpoint is in an extremely unfinished state right now. There’s no map (pretty big deal as it’s a massive instance with lots of paths), bosses don’t drop loot and there’s no convos outside the initial quest. It’s actually one of the more interesting flashpoints so far though. There’s branching paths depending on your professions, boss mechanics are mostly finished and it’s very visually impressive. This is the first example I’ve seen of a flashpoint being done with two people and their companions (and by an agent operative!).

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Friday Update: “The Esseles” Developer Walkthrough

This weeks Friday update brings us a developer walk-through of “The Esseles”, one of the earlier flashpoints in the game. The flashpoint is Republic only and tasks players with protecting a diplomat from Sith boarding parties. Commentary is provided by Director of Production Dallas Dickinson. The Esseles, a Republic transport that carries some of the most high-profiled members of the Galactic Senate across the galaxy, has come under siege from the opportunistic Grand Moff Kilran. Dallas Dickinson guides you along as a group of Republic heroes must band together to repel the Imperial boarding parties and retake their ship in this Developer Walkthrough.

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Special Comic-Con SWTOR Playtime [UPDATE]

If you’re going to Comic-Con or just live near the area, this could be your chance to try SWTOR for yourself. This could be your chance to play the first #SWTOR Imperial/Republic Flashpoints even if you don’t have any tickets.  David Bass posted on the official SWTOR forums today with details about the opportunity. They will have extended play sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the Hilton for a select group of players. The announcement says “We’ve got a limited number of sessions each night to allow for selected fans to play through the first hour of either the Esseles or Black Talon flashpoints.” How cool is that? Bass explained how it will work: On Tuesday, July 12th, we’ll make a post on the forums with instructions for how to RSVP. You’ll have exactly 24 hours from that post-time to follow the instructions and email us if you’d…

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IGN editors flashpoint recap

If you’re wondering what the flashpoints are going to be like in SW:TOR, two IGN editors set out to give us a recap. As we know, all great MMOs need group content and flashpoints are one way that SWTOR will bring that to the players. There have been a few early impressions about the flashpoints already but no one can tell exactly what these instances will be like until they have tried them for themselves. Two IGN editors give us an honest, inside look at the world of Flashpoints that’s fun to read and revealing at the same time. IGN Editors Dana Jongewaard and Nick Kolan spend some time in the first Imperial player Flashpoint encounter and they write about it in a 1200-word article on their site. Here are some highlights: Nick: The first thing that sticks out to me is how the flashpoint began. We’re in this big…

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Friday Update: Animation Blog, Flashpoint Q&A

The latest batch of updates on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site include a dev blog on animations, a community Q&A on Flashpoints, and a fan site spotlight on our good friends TORWars. Also, there’s some concept art and fan art thrown in for good measure. In the cinematic animation blog, Animator Andrew Lauretta explains how animations are created for in-game cinematics. He shows step by step how the team worked on a scene in which characters need to Force Push some guards away and slay a couple of Hutts. The latest Fan Friday segment contains the usual artwork and avatars, and this one also includes an interview with Jeff Hollis, the creator of TORWars.  Community Q&A on Flashpoints Today, World Designer Jesse Sky has answers to some of your questions about Flashpoints: Q: Will Flashpoint for Republic and Empire ever meet? – Sirious_Nora A: Certain Flashpoints, especially at…

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Pax east 2011: Taral V Developer Walkthrough

BioWare continued its presentation of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) at PAX East 2011 today with the release the Taral V Developer Walkthrough video. Taral V is a mid-level Flashpoint aimed at a four player group. The video offers a look at the gameplay and story of the Flashpoint from the view of several different classes and narrated by SWTOR’s Director of Production Dallas Dickinson. If you’re curious to know how these Flashpoints will play out and see some new SWTOR gameplay,

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Friday Update: Building Flashpoints Dev Diary

In BioWare’s Friday update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, World Designer Jesse Sky talks about building “Flashpoints”. So, what is a flashpoint and why might one want to design one? A Flashpoint is a galactic crisis, something so threatening that even the most stalwart heroes must bring allies. The Death Star was a Flashpoint. Luke and Obi-wan spent a few minutes LFG in the Mos Eisley Cantina where they enlisted the aid of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Together, they infiltrated a moon-sized battle station to rescue Princess Leia. Things didn’t go quite as they expected; difficult choices were made along the way. That’s a Flashpoint in a nutshell. In game terms, a Flashpoint is a challenging, cooperative mission that takes place entirely within an instance, which only your group can enter. While adventuring, you’ll be alerted to a crisis developing somewhere in the galaxy. That’s when you know it’s…

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News about SWTOR Flashpoints + new video

BioWare has never been shy about adding elaborate stories to their games and Star Wars: The Old Republic may be their most ambitious attempt to date. GameSpot recently got the chance to speak with World Designer Jesse Sky about the game’s Flashpoint gameplay. The interview features a look at the fortress mission on Taral V, which a full group of four players can play through in about 90 minutes. Along the way, players can discover things that may change the way that their adventure plays out. In the below video we’re introduced to the flashpoint Taral V, a Republic-based adventure in which you will be infiltrating an Empire facility to steal a specialized computer: Jesse summarize the contents of Taral V like this: The emperor is holding a powerful Jedi captive in his personal prison–a massive space station at the heart of the Maelstrom Nebula. Only a Gree computer is…

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