Eric Musco posted an update on the forums that Bounty hunters will like. Here is the summary of the post Changes coming: Game Update 2.8: Rapid Venting changed from alacrity to critical chance increase. Shield Tech/Specialist skills will be able to proc from misses and resists instead of just shielding attacks, except for Heat/Power Screens. DPS Boost for DOTs for Pyrotech/Assault Specialist to increase DPS. (Unknown timeframe) Ways to make pure tanks more viable in PvP: Developers are asking for input on how to do this Other info: Powertech/Vanguard tanks have the best Ranked Arenas PvP win ratio, even though they have the least amount of stuns. And here is the post in full: 3 Questions for PT. Lets DO IT! | 03.25.2014, 01:07 PM Hey folks! Here are your top 3 questions, answered: Question 1 – PvE DPS This question is plain and simple. Both specs for Powertech DPS are…
Boulder Cantina Tour News and Info
Non of us here at swtorstrategies were at the Boulder event, so the information below is from Lumberj, and all credits goes to him. The tour was just like most others, a Q&A round, followed by trivia to a room full of nerds and then a meet and greet. Who was there? Courtney Woods, some Australian dude who lost a arm wrestling match, Blain and Cory Butler. First off, they said they could not talk about strongholds other than what was originally announced. The exact details of what the legacy storage could hold was still being worked out in response to a ? about placing bound items in them. Guild ship battles is on the Wall of Crazy (WoC) Space PvE — WoC and no current plans Open space Pvp – WoC Class Story – Not at the moment, would rather have story that all classes can experience such as what they’ve…
Star Wars Facts: The Three Branches of the Jedi Order
The Jedi Order was an ancient and noble monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and became the most famous of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials, most often threats from the Sith, wielders of the dark side of the Force. For a full reading about the Jedi order check out our article about them here. Below is a walk through of the Three Branches of the Jedi Order: The Sentinels Jedi Sentinels were often considered a blend between the Consulars and the Guardians. However they were more than that. Whilst the other branches focused on what they could achieve with Force powers or Lightsabers Sentinels realised that the Force…
Why SWTOR Was a “Failure”
We keep hearing it everywhere- “SWTOR was a failure” and with many new MMORPGs coming out, we hear the claim that it might end up being a failure “Just like SWTOR”. Why all this hatred for the game? First, let’s clear the air and say that we don’t think SWTOR is a failure. And with the numbers they are bringing in financially, the stats don’t say it’s a flop either. But we hear this far too much to just write it off as a handful of trolls. So for this reason, we’re going to entertain this opinion for just a bit and see why some people think the game failed. When we talk about why SWTOR is seen as a failure to some, we have to look at player expectations vs. how SWTOR was hyped. As a standalone game today, most people will agree it’s a pretty decent game, even…
PTS Update – March 21st, 2014
The public test server is now back up. The only thing to note (besides the aforementioned patch notes) is that the only Warzone available will be the original Huttball map instead of the Quesh Huttball Pit. The developers found some issues that they are working through with the Quesh Huttball Pit, so it won’t be available for this phase of PTS testing. The restof the changes are listed below: General All equippable gear pieces have their Item Rating displayed in the tooltip. Weapons and armor have not changed. In the equipment tooltips, mods/enhancements now display their Item Rating in parentheses instead of their Item Level. While unequipped, mods/enhancements display their Item Rating in their tooltip. Classes + Combat Sith Inquisitor Assassin Spike is now a stun rather than a knockdown, but it will continue to knock down standard and weak enemies. Jedi Consular Shadow Spinning Kick is now a stun…
Wookieepedia What?
So if you are a follower of Wookieepedia you may have already run across from hilarious, witty or downright cute entries on the Star Wars themed database. It’s one of the reasons we like it so much. That and the fact that we love Star Wars. I mean where else can you find such a complete database of Star Wars characters, story, canon and more? What is Wookiepedia? (for those rare few in our audience who may not know yet) The Star Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Warning: this wiki contains spoilers. So anyway, let’s go back to those funny entries we were talking about. We’ve found some really good ones lately. For example, have you seen The Emperor’s New Clothes or Order 66 Cookie? Or here is an entire page just about breasts… “Breasts were the mammary glands of mammalian species and some reptomammals, and were normally a distinguishing feature of…
Frequently Asked PvP Questions
Eric Musco and PvP Designer Alex Modny will be on Twitch later today, playing Warzones on Prophecy of the Five at 1:30PM PDT. As with most of the BioWare streams, they get quite a few questions which are commonly asked by PvPers. Therefor Eric talked with the combat team about many of our questions and got answers to many of the commonly asked questions. Below you will find those questions/answers. Will we ever be able to choose a specific Warzone to queue for? From the design side, we do like the idea of allowing our players to be able to impact which Warzone they want to queue for, but it is not as simple as letting everyone select which Warzone they want and call it a day. Because of a few reasons (queue population, preventing ‘de facto’ best Warzone, making sure all Warzones are being played, etc.) it would require…
Galactic Strongholds forums updates
With the announcement of the new upcoming Star Wars: The old Republic expansion, it was only expected that the official forums would go nuts. So many questions needs answering, and Eric Musco is trying to keep up. Here is a rundown of all the yellow posts on the official forum: Post #1 EricMusco Watch New Galactic Strongholds Announcement Trailer | 03.19.2014, 10:01 AM Quote: Originally Posted by ninjonxb Woo! So if Subscribers are getting early access on June 24th can we assume that this will not be the focus of 2.8? 2.8 was originally said to come on June 10th and “is going to be the biggest update up to this point”http://www.swtor.com/info/news/news-article/20140203 Good catch Ninjonxb, Subscriber Early Access to Galactic Strongholds is coming as a part of 2.8. As you can see the decision has been made to move the 2.8 date out two weeks from its original target. We wanted…
New Star Wars: The Old Republic expansion “Galactic Strongholds” announced
You heard that right folk’s. BioWare just announced the next expansion for SWTOR titled “Galactic Strongholds”. This new expansion brings customizable player housing known as strongholds to the game, as well as Guild capital ships! You will be able to acquire multiple Strongholds on different planets and customize them yourself. To start you’ll have options to set up on your faction’s capital world, the gambling planet Nar Shaddaa, or both. Decorating your crib can get you Prestige score, which can rise you to the top of the Stronghold Directory. Aside from the benefits of living stylishly, having a stronghold will let you transport friends directly to it so you can kick back and socialize. Guilds will also be able to launch Flagships when the expansion officially releases, though that functionality won’t be enabled for the early access. Here’s the official blurb: In Galactic Strongholds, players can live on multiple planets…
Community Cantina Tour Arrives in Boston, Massachusetts on April 11th, 2014
BioWare posted news regarding the Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina. The next event will still be this Saturday, March 22nd, in Boulder. BUt the next after that will be happening on Friday, April 11th, in Boston. 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 M8-3R Astromech code. Space is limited so be sure to come early. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and hang out with the BioWare team. Check out details below: Venue: The Hyatt Regency Boston Date: Friday, April 11th, 2014 Time: 8:00PM – 11:00PM EDT Address: 1 Avenue De Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111 Space will be limited, so be sure to arrive early! You can RSVP on Facebook here (Facebook RSVP is not required for attendance).
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII to Start Filming in May 2014
Have you been as anxious about Star Wars: Episode VII as we have? We have been waiting to share with you some good news and it’s finally here. Disney and Lucasfilm are excited to announce that principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VII, directed by J.J. Abrams will begin filming in May 2014 (just 2 months away) in London’s historic Pinewood Studios.
Patch 2.6.2 Notes – 3/18/14
Patch notes for tomorrow’s servers maintenance is up. Check it out below: 2.6.2 Patch Notes General Players who activated the Makeb datacrons prior to 2.6.1 will have the Codex entries retroactively granted. Cartel Market The Charcoal Dewback can now be unlocked through the Collection. Corrected the appearance of the Wastelander’s Gloves so that the metal attachments appear on all body types. The Indomitable Vanquisher’s Saberstaff no longer has a gap between the hilt and the blade. The Scrublander’s Gloves and Wastelander’s Gloves now correctly display on all body types, and their icons have been updated to reflect the correct appearance. The “Emote: Chair 1” unlock available from the Rare Reputation Vendor in the Cartel Bazaar (an ICE Reputation item) now correctly unlocks the emote. The Infiltrator’s Compact Sniper Rifle and the Vindicator’s Lightsaber are no longer missing weapon proficiency requirements in their Cartel Market descriptions. The Korrealis Duke has returned…
Eric Musco Addresses Double XP Weekend Bugs
If you tried to play SWTOR this weekend for the double XP event, you may have encountered some bugs and not gotten your double experience like you should have. Don’t worry- you are not alone and Bioware is aware of the issue. Eric Musco addresses it in the forums: I know that there was definitely some unhappiness that came out of this past double XP weekend and I wanted to address a little bit about what happened, and we are doing about it. There are two main issues which plagued the weekend: In certain group compositions, no experience is granted during a Flashpoint. The Kuat Drive Yards Flashpoint was awarding only normal experience for NPC kills, it was not being doubled. Understandably, many players look to Flashpoints to level during our double XP weekends and so there is quite a bit of frustration that these bugs were present. Let’s take…
Does the Bolster System Need Fixing?
A lot of SWTOR players are saying the bolster system is broken. Is it really? Let’s take a look at the topic. First, bolster was believed to be a friend of the new PVPer but now that it’s out, many are questioning whether or not this feature is really a positive. While bolster was meant to bring a more even playing field to the PvP aspects of SWTOR, many players feel like it has succeeded only in bring more problems. Some players don’t believe it has leveled the playing field at all. So the idea behind Bolster is a good one- it’s intended introduce and level the playing field in PvP of SWTOR. It could also be a good way to introduce new players to this aspect of the game and its content. And some will say that level 10-54, Bolster is working as intended. But what happens at level…
Scheduled Maintenance: March 18th, 2014 – Patch 2.6.2
On March 18th, 2014, all game servers and SWTOR.com will be unavailable as BioWare perform maintenance. Patch 2.6.2 will be implemented during this downtime. We don’t have the patch notes yet, but be sure to check back, and we will post them when they become available. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 Duration: 7.5 hours Time: 11:30PM PST on 3/17 (6:30AM GMT) – 7AM PST (3PM GMT) During maintenance, all updates and additional information will be posted on our Twitter account. 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 March 18th, 2014 01:00 AM March 18th, 2014 03:00 AM -10 hours AKST March 18th, 2014 02:00 AM March 18th, 2014 04:00 AM -9 hours PST March 18th, 2014 03:00 AM March 18th, 2014 05:00 AM -8 hours MST March 18th,…
Disney Already Casting for Star Wars Live-Action TV Projects?
Disney is a company that knows how to get the most out of a popular thing. The franchise is a leader for a big reason. With the new Star Wars movies coming out starting in 2015, they are probably already cooking up lots of good merchandising deals and other great ways to make money off the popularity that the new movies are going to bring. So while we all know this to be true, much of what is said about Disney’s plans about the Star Wars franchise is just speculation. Outside of rumors, we don’t really know anything for a fact. But as the release date for the movies grows closer, we do see more rumors coming out. This one, for example, has us a little bit interested. Cinelinx.com says they have it on an authority source that Disney is already casting for a Star Wars Live Action TV Project….
Double XP Weekend starts today!
It’s that time again! Time for a double XP weekend. As Tait Watson | Community Production Coordinator tells us on the SWTOR forums, “Advance at double the speed this weekend as you fight for the Empire or the Republic in exciting story missions, PvP Warzones and more!”
Swtor-mined: 2.7 PTS Patch #5 | 3/13/2014
Here is the newest datamined info from swtor_miner. We are going to jump over the raw output and go right to the juicy stuff. Unannounced Class Changes Operative/Scoundrel Jarring Strike/K.O. – Old PTS – “…and make your Backstab/Back Blast no longer require you to be behind the target to activate for 5 seconds.” New PTS – “…and allow your next Backstab/Back Blast to be activated while face-to-face with your enemy target.” Quickening/Scurry – Old PTS – “..In addition, when you activate Exfiltrate/Scamper, you have a 15/30% chance to gain Quickening/Scurry..” New PTS – “..In addition, when you activate Exfiltrate/Scamper, you have a 50/100% chance to gain Quickening/Scurry..” Surgical Precision/Emergent Emergencies – Old PTS – “…In addition, Surgical Probe/Emergency Medpac immediately re-grants Tactical Advantage/Upper Hand when used on targets below 30% max health. This effect can only occur once every 6 seconds.” New PTS – “…In addition, Surgical Probe/Emergency Medpac immediately re-grants…
PTS Update – March 13th, 2014
The public tester servers were down for a few hours today. During that Time, BioWare added a new patch. The changes are listed below: General Season 1 rewards will be sent out to players who qualified with a Group rating. Classes +Combat Jedi Knight Guardian Focused Defense has been redesigned: It now empowers you with 10 charges of Focused Defense, lasting up to 30 seconds. Whenever you take damage a charge of Focused Defense is consumed to heal you for a moderate amount. This ability can be used while stunned or otherwise controlled but cannot be used while above 70% health. Cooldown increased from 45 seconds to 2 minutes. Sith Warrior Juggernaut Enraged Defense has been redesigned: It now empowers you with 10 charges of Enraged Defense, lasting up to 30 seconds. Whenever you take damage a charge of Enraged Defense is consumed to heal you for a moderate amount….
Does What Your Toon Looks Like Matter in SWTOR?
MMORPGs… there is a culture in this type of gaming that you just don’t find anywhere else. There are things that we just know and associate with certain types of games. That being said, we see many cool new things happening in the MMORPG world. But one thing that has grown over the gaming years and with the industry is the cosmetic side of things. Graphics have come a long, long way since the early days of RPGs and now with nearly every new game that comes out, we have even better aesthetic features. SWTOR is joining the ranks of many other MMORPGs and focusing on things that the players want as much as what they need. Player housing is a great example other this. Another great example is new orange gear. Some people will sit back and say, “Oh that’s dumb” and “Why are you worried about how you…
Theron Shan Comes to SWTOR with Patch 2.7
Alexander Freed, Charles Boyd and Drew Karpyshyn have been tweeting about Theron Shan making his way into SWTOR with patch 2.7 and you can view the conversation for yourself blow. If you are not familiar with this guy, I can tell you he is a Republic spy in Republic SIS, and the secret son of Satele Shan, making him a direct descendant of the legendary Jedi Knights Revan and Bastila Shan. He is also the main protagonist in the webcomic series The Lost Suns, and the main character in the novel by Drew Karpyshyn called Annihilation SWTOR Lead Writer Charles Boyd said that Alexander Freed and Drew Karpyshyn, who both featured Theron Shan in their books, had a large influence on the Theron Shan in SWTOR and set a high standard for this character. Also Alexander Freed seems to be working on a new SWTOR project since he’s gone freelance but we can’t be certain. Will have to keep an…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Insider — March 2014
BioWare posted a new SWTOR Insider Video. In this video They show off the new Denon GSF map, Quesh Huttball map and the Tython / Korriban Flashpoints. The Cartel market will also get a lot of updates in the future. Later this month we will get access to the Space Jockey Starfighter pack and new direct sell dye modules. In April The Cartel market will have Hot Shots Starfighter Pack up for sale as well the First Grand Acquisitions Pack in late April / early May.. The video also talks about New type of pack based on user feedback, Features armor sets from the first three shipments and that One slot of the pack will drop the entire armor set in a lockbox. Last but not least, the video reminds us of Double XP event 3/14 – 3/17 and the Lucky-77 subscriber reward speeder, check it out below: )
DICE Stockholm Continues Development on Star Wars Battlefront
We have some good news regarding Star Wars Battlefront 3! The latest news on the release date is positive and after the past few quiet months, this is an exciting turn for the game. DICE developers have been deep in it working n BF4 issues and bugs but after the LA and Stockholm studios came together to get it all under control, we might see them focusing their efforts back on Star Wars Battlefront 3. The worst seems to be over and staff are back to working on the Star Wars: Battlefront 3 release date, which is expected sometime in 2015. Sounds like they may be intentionally planning it around the same time the new Star Wars movies will start coming out. iDigital Times tells us more: The news about DICE Stockholm’s renewed focus on Star Wars: Battlefront 3came by way of Reddit. During a discussion on Battlefield 4 DLC, a DICE rep told fans that the…
2.6.1a Patch Notes
Servers are back up, and here today’s patch notes: 2.6.1a Patch Notes General Resolved an issue so that the Bounty Contract Week and Double XP Weekend events will begin correctly. Bounty Contract Week will run March 11th-18th, and the Double XP Weekend will run March 14th-17th. Missions + NPCs The Bounty Hunter Class mission “Albea’s Bounty” now properly resets when the mission “My Sponsorship” is reset. Apparently People were exploiting the The Bounty Hunter Class mission “Albea’s Bounty” to get tons of XP. I have no clue how it worked, but I am thinking of an exp exploit where you can keep on resetting “My Sponsorship” to do it over and over. My guess “My Sponsorship” is something that gives a lot of exp for the time needed to complete it while “Albea’s Bounty” doesn’t (they are in a logic loop of some sort).