Here is the latest blog from the SWTOR devs over at BioWare Austine. This one is outlining the rewards for Season 10 Ranked PvP. Greetings PvPers! Season 10 of Ranked PvP is set to end with the launch of Game Update 5.10.1. Just as a reminder, after Season 10 ends all Season 9 tokens will be converted into credits. This will be your last chance to redeem these tokens, don’t miss out! Season 10 marks the first time that cross-faction play has been a part of Ranked PvP. With more competition comes a couple of changes to how we breakdown rating tiers. First, each tier now has different rating requirements for Solo and Group play. This is due to overall rating differences between these gameplay types. Second, rating requirements across the board have lower requirements so be sure to double check where your characters fall! Another change you will notice is…
Developer Blog
SWTOR – Road Map 2017
BioWare released a new developer blog on what’s ahead in 2017. Check it out: Hi everyone, Our Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Team has been very busy reviewing all the areas of the game and has built a vision that we are eager to share with you in this Roadmap. We gathered suggestions directly from our players and influencers, gained insights from comments on our forums and those of our fan sites, and received lots of feedback from conversations at our Cantina events! This SWTOR Roadmap offers insight into our direction for the game starting with our ‘Summer of SWTOR’ activities beginning June 13, 2017. Plus, the Roadmap covers all our plans including what areas of the game we are focusing on, areas targeted for quality of life improvements, and plans for overall gameplay changes. I have included a section about Communication and how we plan to keep you informed…
SWTOR 5-year Anniversary is Today
Today marks the 5-year anniversary of SWTOR! If you haven’t caught it already, Ben’s Producer letter along with the 5-year collage are now live, Check it out below or over at the official SWTOR Website Thank you for a Fantastic Five Year Saga… By Ben Irving, Producer, BioWare Today, Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is celebrating its five-year anniversary…and it is hard for me to believe that I am the one with the honor of writing this – the Five Year Anniversary Producer’s Blog. I started on this project six years ago, excited, enthusiastic and energized – this was the realization of a goal I had pursued for years. I knew fate had smiled on me when I became part of the BioWare team I had admired for so long, working together with the amazing team at Lucasfilm to create a game in the Star Wars™ universe, the most beloved…
SWTOR Celebrating Our Five Year Saga
Director of Design at Bioware, James Ohlen, has posted a new blogpost containing an infographic celebrating 5 years of SWTOR. Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ celebrates its fifth year, December 20, 2016 – thanks to you, our fans. We started on this journey ten years ago. Our vision was to build a game that would give gamers, who are Star Wars™ fans, the experience of stepping into the Star Wars universe at the center of their own saga. And it did. We built the largest Star Wars universe ever and then brought it to life online. We wanted to give fans the chance to become a Jedi, a dark and deadly Sith Lord or a snarky Smuggler. We wanted to bring our love of this great IP to life in a way that let players shape their own story making meaningful choices along the way that made the experience your…
SWTOR: Introducing Weapon Tunings
BioWare posted a new blogpost on a new feature in the game: Weapon Tunings. This can be used to customize your weaponry, creating a brilliant visual flair on the weapon itself! If you want to equip a Weapon Tuning the first thing you’ll need is a weapon with an available Tuning Slot. Weapons that have a Tuning Slot come from many different sources including the Cartel Market, PvP, Operations, Reputation Vendors, Flashpoints, Heroics Missions, and Crafting Recipes. Be sure to check if your Weapon has a Tuning Slot! Next, you’ll need a Weapon Tuning. They are currently only found in Cartel Market Packs. The first Weapon Tuning, Lightning, is available in the Plunderer Pack which launches alongside Chapter XIII: Profit and Plunder. Once you’ve got a weapon with an open Tuning Slot and a Weapon Tuning, combining the two is as simple as making any other modification to your weapon. First, CTRL+Right-click…
SWTOR Dev Blog: The Eternal Championship
The SWTOR team has published a blog post regarding the upcoming Eternal Championship comming in Game update 4.4.: Welcome to the Eternal Championship, a new daily experience that will pit players against some of the galaxy’s most notorious fighters. Below Zakuul’s sparkling exterior lies The Arena Grand, a decadent venue where citizens of the old world indulge their basest desires as spectators of brutal gladiatorial events. One such event is Mayhem, where beginning with Game Update 4.4 “Profit and Plunder” players may compete to earn the title of Eternal Champion. The Eternal Championship is a solo-able PvE experience that will be available to all players who have played up through Chapter IX “The Alliance” of Knights of the Fallen Empire. By traveling to the Platform 6 Cantina on Zakuul and speaking with fight master Dominaire, players may enter Mayhem at the Arena Grand. There they will fight through multiple rounds of increasingly…
Introducing the Alliance System in SWTOR
BioWaer Designer Matt Pucevich posted a detailed blog on the alliance system within Star Wars: The old Republic, Knights of the fallen Empire. Check it out: 10.20.2015 Introducing the Alliance System Be it the cheeky Astromech Droid, the stalwart Wookiee partner-in-crime, the ambitious upstart apprentice that is yours alone to mold, or any of the other 40-odd characters found in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ to-date; we all know and love our Companions (especially the chronically under-appreciated ship droids!). Companion characters have always been a big part of our personal stories, and with the upcoming release of the new Digital Expansion, Knights of the Fallen Empire, comes an even deeper focus on characters and storytelling. For this reason it only makes sense that we would seek to include our beloved friends (especially the ship droids!!) in that experience. Knights of the Fallen Empire has given us an excellent opportunity to take stock of…
Developer Blog: Fallen Empire Core World Changes
BioWare posted a bew blog post detailing the changes to core worlds with the Knights of the Fallen Empire. Check it out: Drawing inspiration from the success of last year’s 12x XP boost and the more recent Epic Story XP Boost, in Fallen Empire we’ve altered the core leveling experience from 1-60 for all players, making it quicker and more story-centric. Our goal is to create a tighter leveling experience that alleviates the fatigue associated with having to complete dozens of Missions per planet and that allows players to focus on the core storylines of their characters and companions amid the backdrop of the Great Galactic War. To accomplish this we’ve established a new critical path, reducing the number of Missions players are required to complete in order to progress along with an adjusted experience curve. Additionally we’ve made a number of changes to Heroic Missions and re-classified Missions not considered…
New SWTOR Story dev blog: Brothers
BioWare published a new story blog on the swtor website details Thexan and Arcann. These a the two guys from the Fallen Empire trailer. Check it out below: Brothers Today, I watched my face burn. The skin cracked and curled as fire seared away the moisture. Charred flesh retreated from the heat and shriveled into a huddled black mass. One blue eye, identical to my own, held me in place–made me watch. In an instant, it was the face of a stranger. And we were no longer twins. The memory tugged at my hand, pulled it to my cheek. I was startled by the smoothness that met the pads of my fingertips. My brother’s phantom grip still clutched my arm. I felt the bones beneath his skin reach out, try to escape the pain, and fail. Arcann had writhed for hours before sleep granted him mercy. My own bed remained empty….
SWTOR Dev Blog – Vacation
BioWare posted a new short story called Vacation and features the upcoming companion Nico Okarr: Vacation Even by Outer Rim standards, the Sarlacc and Loaded cantina was considered the end of the line. Smoke sullied by the stench of bodily fluids and putrid food assaulted the nostrils. Except for a flickering sign above the bar, it was dark and muggy. Sand carpeted the floors and seats. Customers didn’t frequent the Sarlacc–only regulars–the same five sorry slobs who sat in the same chairs, drinking the same drinks, and mumbling the same woes day in and day out. Under normal circumstances, a man like Seamus Kaldo wouldn’t send his servants to such an establishment, much less visit himself. But the trail had led him here and Seamus was in too deep to stop now. No one had looked up when they entered. Unless provoked, the Sarlacc’s finest were content to keep their faces…
SWTOR Developer Blog – The Epic Story XP Boost
Community Manager for Star Wars: The old Republic Eric Musco, posted a developer blog about the new The Epic Story XP Boost. This XP boost is a subscriber only bonus, that will let you run through level 1-50 doing only your class quests. Check it out: Hello everyone, let’s talk about the Epic Story XP Boost and how it’s an improvement over our 12x boost that we gave prior to Shadow of Revan. Our Epic Story XP Boost allows all subscribers to level from 1-50 by playing only their Class Missions and from 50-55 on Makeb by playing only the Rise of the Hutt Cartel main storyline. This Boost does not affect Shadow of Revan as it was already designed to be a more streamlined leveling experience. If you have never played the original 8 Class stories, there has never been a better time to dive in! With the Epic…
New SWTOR Story blog: The Sixth Line: Part One
BioWare just posted a new SWTOR story blog. This one is focusing on the Sixth Line of Jedi and their leader Master Surro The Sixth Line: Part One The once-ripe fields of Balmorra lay barren, pockmarked by heavy artillery. The defaced bedrock was the handiwork of not only the Sith Empire but the Balmorran Resistance. One would hope each side might be more careful with the object they were fighting for. The desperate do not possess gentle hands… and these were truly desperate times. Master Surro stared across the open land from the relative safety of her makeshift mountain encampment. Her eyes were sharp, catching even the faintest movement of charred grass in the afternoon breeze. The air was dry and warm. A sheen of sweat covered Surro’s skin beneath her heavy armor. Three Jedi waited with Surro on the overlook. Garault, her second in command, was tall and broad…
Developer Blogs: Regrets
BioWare posted a new story blog post leading up to next patch update. This one is titled Regrets: Jace Malcom pulled at the cuff of his sleeve. Living most of his life in uniform, he was used to things fitting a certain way. The leather jacket previously hiding in the back of his closet was tight around the shoulders and out of style, judging from the upturned noses of the restaurant’s other clientele. Despite his position as Supreme Commander, Jace generally didn’t frequent establishments in the Senate District, preferring a more casual atmosphere. However, Thranta’s Respite was known to serve an authentic roast gorak, a dish he’d grown fond of from his time on Alderaan. He hoped the food was better than the decor. The Killik-silk tablecloths and delicately carved oro wood menus were overshadowed by gaudy holographic vistas of the Alderaanian country-side. All pre-civil war of course. Jace exhaled and…
SWTOR Dev Blog: The Final Trial
BioWare published a new short story titled The Final Trial featuring Lana Beniko. Check it out: Lana Beniko woke with heavy lids, her mind and body brittle against the cold stone of Tulak Hord’s tomb. How long had she slept? The strain in her limbs told her not long enough, but she feared it had been days. Hunger clawed at the lining of her stomach, but Lana shook it off. She needed to keep moving, keep searching. To stay here was to become just another lifeless relic of the tomb. Dark soil stained Lana’s fingernails as she pushed herself to stand. The air was drafty, chapping her already raw lips. “You’re awake,” a hoarse voice stated. Lana had forgotten she wasn’t alone. Bensyn knelt at the entrance of the alcove they had chosen as a resting spot, his red Sith Pureblood skin easily recognizable. Kagan was curled next to him still…
Developer Blog: One Night in the Dealer’s Den
BioWare posted a new roplaying developer post at the official website. In case you are wondering who Jonas Balkar is, he is from the Trooper’s class story. This is the SIS agent that Havok Squad teams up with a lot. Below is a thoroughly entertaining read. I love the idea of Balkar being this annoyance that Theron can’t get rid of. Check it out: Theron Shan sat shackled to a jukebox in one of the backrooms of the Dealer’s Den. The air was stuffy, smelling of body odor and spilled drinks. His lip was swollen from the first punch of the evening and he counted at least two broken ribs. In retrospect, all of this was inevitable. He could blame the Twi’lek who had falsely accused him of cheating at sabacc, or even his Houk captor, but they were merely side effects, a consequence of a larger mistake. No, there was only…
SWTOR Story update: The Price of Power
BioWare posted a new role play update ion the official SWTOR Website. Not sure who wrote it yet, but it is definitely worth a read. Check it out below: The Imperial Guard stood at attention as Darth Lachris strode down the hall to the Dark Council Chamber. Red sand clung to her hair and robes, the color an intense contrast to the sterile walls of the Academy. She did not presume to know why her master had summoned her. Assumptions were dangerous, an acolyte’s move that she had long outgrown. The door opened with a hiss. Darth Marr sat alone, still as the statues of dead Sith carved into Korriban’s bedrock. Upon reaching the middle of the room, Darth Lachris kneeled. Sweat ran down her back despite the cool air inside the chamber. “Master,” she whispered. The cords and spikes of the armor encasing Darth Marr’s body gleamed in the chamber’s…
Dev Blog: Welcome to Shadow of Revan!
Shadow of Revan expansion is now official live. Technically opened last week, but for non-subscribers, the formal digital launch date was yesterday. With that Associate Producer For Star Wars: The old Republic, Andrew Horwitz, wrote a blog update over at the official websites, and of course BioWare also released a new trailer to coincide with the official launch. Check it out: Welcome to the launch of our latest expansion – Shadow of Revan! The Shadow of Revan Digital Expansion is the grand culmination of the Forged Alliances story arc. Revan is ready to make his boldest move yet, and we are excited to share it with you. When we started developing Shadow of Revan, we wanted to go back to our BioWare roots and focus on the story. We know that BioWare story is at the top of the list for things players want to experience in Star Wars™: The…
Developer Blogs: Game Update 3.0 Class Changes: Shadow + Assassin
Bioware is continuing the release of Patch 3.0 information in their official website. This time around, their developer blog is focusing on Shadow and Assassin changes as part of the upcoming expansion. As always, they pointed out that the intent of developer blogs as they relate to advanced classes is not to capture every single change but to provide an overview. In specific: Force Potency is the most significant Jedi Consular change, that allows it to increase the critical chance of other channeled Force abilities like it already does for Telekinetic Throw. Forcequake, Cascading Debris, and Healing Trance (in addition to Telekinetic Throw) all now have their critical chance increased by Force Potency, and each use of these channels will consume one charge of Force Potency
Developer Blog: Vanguard and Powertech Changes for Patch 3.0
Bioware certainly didn’t waste time with their updates for Patch 3.0 after announcing the upcoming changes on Commandos and Mercenaries. Today in a new developer blog post, the Austin-based developer offered details on Vanguards and Powertechs. The changes are not as extensive as the classes covered in yesterday’s post but are definitely worth a closer look. Some highlights: Vanguards All Vanguards are getting two additional passive abilities – Blaster Impact and Blaster Augs No drastic changes to vanguard tanking other than the addition of a new ability called ion storm that sprays waves of ionizing energy in a 10-meter cone range Assault specialist is now called Plasmatech and has undergone significant changes Tactics discipline gains two additional abilities – Tactical Surge and Cell Burst Powertechs All Mercs get two additional passive abilities – Puncture and Prototype cylinders No drastic changes have been made to Powertech tanking, but there is a new…
Developer Blog: Trooper and Mercenary changes announced
With Patch 3.0 just around the corner, the flow of information from Bioware is increasing. This time around, through their developer blog, they announced the upcoming changes for Trooper and Mercenary classes. In specific: Changes announced are subject to change Mercenary and Trooper classes will receive the most dramatic changes as compared to all other classes as part of Patch 3.0 Resource costs for troopers/mercenaries have been adjusted – in some cases they have been decreased, while in some others have been increased. Both Trooper and Mercenary classes get additional passive abilities added
Developer Blog: Bedtime in Concordia
Bioware released yet another Developer blog today titled “Bedtime in Concordia”. This time around the blog focuses on Shae Vizla‘s story – a Mandalorian who was credited for working with the Sith Empire and helping in storming the Jedi Temple in Coruscant. Shae Vizla Bedtime on Concordia A blazing campfire cast three shadows across the open plain. The longest stretched from the angular form of a man still clad in the armor of his people, the fire’s light stumbling and bouncing across decades of pockmarks and scrapes in the Mandalorian iron’s surfaces. The other shadows’ figures were clad in training gear, their bodies still growing too quickly for proper armor to fit for long. Galron watched his twin daughters over the flames. Tayn and Mari had done well in the day’s hunt, handled their weapons and gear properly, and shown great patience. He would tell their mother that they were growing…
Community News: The Revanites’ Ascendance
A new community news post was made available today from Bioware that sets the stage for the upcoming Shadow of Revan Expansion. As the title implies the post takes a closer look at a Revanites’ and their impact on both Republic and Empire. The author of the report, Shroud, makes the assumption that Revan’s followers have infiltrated the two main factions in the game and are slowly working towards their greater plan to conquer the galaxy. You can read a snippet from the post below FROM: The Shroud TO: All Assets (Level 25 Encoding Active) SUBJECT: The Order of Revan I have mentioned in the past that a number of embedded Imperial and Republic assets have been eliminated. Some of these deaths appeared purely incidental, while others were very obviously assassinations executed with varying degrees of competence and flair that would not suggest a pattern. I now believe it was a mistake for me to…
Dev Blog: The Class Story Leveling Event
We are running behind these days here at swtorstrategies, and I apologize for that. But yesterday, Associate Producer for Star Wars: The old Republic, Andrew Horwitz, posted a new developer blog about the The Class Story Leveling Event, that is going on right now. If you pre-ordered Shadow of Revan and stay an active subscriber, you will earn 12x XP from class missions – enough to play through the game all the way to level 55 playing only epic story missions. Training new abilities will be free for you, which means you’ll have all the extra credits you need to buy a nice new speeder. What better way to prepare for the new expansion? The event will run until midnight on December 1st, at which point XP rates for class missions will return to normal for all players. How it Works If you pre-order the Shadow of Revan digital expansion, and…
Developer Update: Introduction to Disciplines
With the announcement of Game Update 3.0 coming soon, the developers have decided to give us some more info about new aspects of the game. First up is an introduction to Disciples on the Developer Blog today. This will be the new version of the class system in SWTOR and will change how we give abilities and skills to our classes. This looks like it could be a good way to Here’s a snippet from the blog: Greetings! Today, we bring to you Disciplines, a major overhaul to the class system that will be coming live with Game Update 3.0! At its very core, the Disciplines System replaces the current Skill Tree system while offering a wider array of impactful utility choices to expand their character and the ability for a character’s identity to surface much earlier in the level path. The Disciplines System changes the way we think about…