Newbie SWTOR FAQ: What You Need to Know

So you’re new to SWTOR and you’ve got questions; we have the answers. Whether you are afraid to ask in general chat or don’t trust the answers you might get, we’ve got your back so don’t worry about it. This guide is meant to be a simple newbie FAQ for SWTOR. While it’s not meant to answer every question you may have about the game or to cover every aspect of it in detail, it’s a great overview for the new player. Even if you’ve played other MMORPGs (such as WoW), you’re going to find some differences in SWTOR that will make a difference from the very start. For example, while the UI and controls are familiar, there are other aspects of the game that are different enough that you might find yourself making some big mistakes early on if you don’t take the time to read up on what…

Read More

Intergalactic Intel: Bounty Hunter and Jedi Knight

“This is the last one before your posts go back to normal right?” “Yep!” I was excited to finish this last article, new ideas, the podcast, so much to do. “Did you figure out a name for the podcast?” I nodded. “Not a pun like Kai wanted, but still good. Galactic Transmission.” As stated there is a lot to do. Just a few reminders before we begin as always, this is a simple review and the classes can change greatly towards the end of their levels. Tomorrow a video of myself and a few friends killing the SD-01 boss with commentary, and strategy will be up. Finally I would like to welcome my good friend and my brother Curoar to the podcast team. Next week I’ll have our first live show of Galactic Transmission, on Friday. Without further ado, the Bounty Hunter and Jedi Knight. Bounty Hunter: Story: I highly…

Read More

BioWare’s Zoeller: In-Depth Advanced Classes Reveal

For fans wanting to know more about advanced classes in SWTOR, Bioware’s Gerog Zoeller is giving more details in an interview with MMORPG.com. This is exciting news as the interview contains exclusive, in-depth coverage and reveals of the advanced classes that has not been previously revealed. In the interview, MMORPG.com asks Zoeller the following questions: How will players get to the advanced classes system? Once unlocked, how much customization will players find within the advanced class they choose? The Sith Warrior can become the Juggernaut or the Marauder, can you give us some examples of skills that make up these two advanced classes? The Bounty Hunter has a similar design with the Mercenary and Powertech, can you tell us about skills that define the offense and defense of these two specializations? The Jedi Knight offers players the Sentinel and Guardian, what are the main differences when playing these classes? What…

Read More

Know your lore: Warb Null

Warb Null was a dark side apprentice and King Ommin’s armored commander of the Naddist forces during the First Battle of Onderon in the Freedon Nadd Uprising. Originally named Shas Dovos, Null was formerly an aspiring young student of metalwork, though when a sinister Sith spirit tricked him into constructing a tainted suit of armor, he became a mindless servant of the dark side. The spirit resided in the very pages of an ancient Sith book discovered by Dovos in the wilds of his native planet Onderon, and eventually the spirit fused Dovos to the dark armor and renamed him Warb Null. Null became the leader of the Naddists who raided the city of Iziz during the Freedon Nadd Uprising. They defeated the Onderonian forces, as well as a team of Jedi sent by the Galactic Republic, and successfully recaptured the sarcophagi of Ommin’s late wife Amanoa, and the former…

Read More

Know Your Lore: Tott Doneeta

Tott Doneeta, also known as Tottdon’eeta, was a Twi’lek Jedi Knight who was an apprentice to Master Arca Jeth, together with his Jedi brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, on Arkania. He assisted in ending the crisis on Iziz and fought in the Great Sith War. He was a competent pilot, and learned to fly one of the Beast Rider’s war beasts. Doneeta was present at both the Jedi Convocation on Exis Station and the Convocation at Mount Meru. Tott Doneeta was also present when his Jedi brother Ulic fell to the Dark Side, and the subsequent action of Nomi Sunrider’s robbing Ulic of the Force. Later, he saved Vima Sunrider by grappling onto her escape pod as it drifted towards a star, due to his delayed arrival at the latter Convocation. Later in life, he attempted to help Cathar Jedi Sylvar free herself from her anger; however, he realized he…

Read More

Know your Lore: Queen Amanoa

Amanoa was the Queen of Onderon from 4,018 BBY until her death at the end of the Beast Wars between the rulers of Iziz and the Beast Riders from the planet’s wilderness. The wife of King Ommin and the mother of Galia, Amanoa’s reign saw drastic changes for Onderon’s role in the Galaxy. Together with her husband, Amanoa was beguiled by the specter of the long-dead Dark Lord Freedon Nadd, and became an apprentice of him in her final years. However, when she requested help from the Jedi Order in bringing the conflict on her planet to an end, Amanoa’s clandestine activities under Nadd’s tutelage came to light. Jedi Master Arca Jeth and his apprentices ultimately triumphed over the Dark Lord’s influence and helped to negotiate peace between the factions of the Beast Wars. The once-proud Queen of Onderon joined her Sith master in death and exile in a burial…

Read More

Know your Lore: Arca Jeth

Arca Jeth was an Arkanian male who was a Jedi Master and Watchman of the Onderon system during the time of the Old Republic. He was known to have been one of the wisest Jedi of the Old Republic era, and trained Barrison Draay, Haazen, Ulic Qel-Droma, his brother Cay Qel-Droma, and the Twi’lek Tott Doneeta in the ways of the Force. He was also one of the first known Jedi to use the ability of battle meditation. In 4,050 BBY Master Jeth was part of a Jedi/Republic task force which was sent to the Hapes Cluster to eliminate the threat of the Lorell Raiders, who had been preying on Republic shipping lanes for decades. Following the defeat of the Lorell Raiders, Jeth took part in the Hyabb-Twith Campaign and helped drive the Nelori Marauders from the Hyabb-Twith Corridor. He served the Galactic Republic on Coruscant during the Great Droid…

Read More

Know your Lore: Cay Qel-Droma

Cay Qel-Droma was a Jedi Knight during the Great Sith War. Born to a great warrior family on Alderaan, Cay and his brother, fellow Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, were instructed by Master Arca Jeth at his training compound on Arkania. Cay’s first mission came in 4,000 BBY, when, along with his brother and fellow trainee Tott Doneeta, he was sent to Onderon to put down an uprising of the savage Beast Riders. The Jedi succeeded; however, Cay’s career in combat was just beginning. He fought in the Great Sith War not long after, a galaxy-spanning conflict that started when the Krath attacked Onderon, home to the dark side-using Naddists. During the war, Ulic turned to the dark side, becoming a Sith, and second-in-command under Exar Kun. In 3,996 BBY Cay was forced to duel his brother on Ossus. Ulic killed Cay; however, this act stunned Ulic enough that he abandoned the…

Read More

Friday Updates: Environmental Polish and Class Q&A

BioWare returns this week with a two-part update for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). The first part of the update goes behind the scenes with Senior Environmental Artist Robby Lamb, who details how the game environments evolve and transform. Lamb details the creation and polish of environments in SWTOR and how he works and re-works the content to make it as epic as possible while maintaining the best game performance. The second part of the update comes in the form of a Community Q&A, which addresses a number of different questions from the community. To summarize, each class will have a number of companions from each archetype. Players can choose which of those will become their main companion and can enhance them through the use of kits. Bounty Hunters will not be able to use jetpacks outside of battle and the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior will have no…

Read More

Sith are evil?

On the official forums, Lead Writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic Daniel Erickson confronts the continuous question about the Sith philosophy – Are these guys evil or not? According to Mr. Erickson there is no doubt that Sith are in fact evil: “We can get into endless philosophical discussions about whether anything is actually evil or actually good but if we are speaking from our modern, western view on the concept of evil then the Sith clearly qualify.” However this does not meen that the Sith themselves look at it this way. The Sith see the republic as weak, without strong leadership and basically a bunch of mindless lemmings. Daniel Erickson also states that role players that chooses the Sith faction, has plenty of options to play as ambivalent or even helpful, should they choose to do so. Here is his post: Hey Folks, First of all, let me say that…

Read More

Faction lore: Czerka Corporation

Czerka Corporation, founded as Czerka Mining and Industrial, was a galaxy-spanning business. It controlled interests on Korriban, Kashyyyk, Taris, Tatooine, Telos IV, and countless other planets. In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II—The Sith Lords, although not the primary villain, Czerka is presented as an amoral entity; not only they are allied with the Sith but frequently use underground means for their ends, such as stealing from rivals, having financial motivation for everything, using violence and slavery, hiring mercenaries, smuggling of weapons, etc. They will often ask the player some jobs which are generally “dirty.” In general, Czerka are the secondary villains, and the player follows the Czerka quests if he chooses the dark side options. However, that doesn’t mean that Czerka is a representative of the Dark Side or her employees are inherently evil: the Tatooine quests are the…

Read More

How Stuff Works: Lightsabers

The lightsaber (less formally, the laser sword) was more than just the distinctive weapon of the Jedi, it was a segment of the order’s history and its ultimate symbol for millennia. There could be no Jedi without a lightsaber and no lightsaber without a Jedi in the eyes of galactic denizens. Over the years, it came to be associated with gallantry and elegance otherwise lost in an age of blasters. Jedi traditionally constructed their own lightsaber as part of their training. To carry a lightsaber was an example of incredible skill and confidence, dexterity and attuning to the Force. Since its plasma blade was essentially weightless, the weapon produced a gyroscopic effect, and so it was very difficult to handle safely. Yet this made the weapon ideal for force-sensitive users who’s ability to predict the various energy pulsations through the force allowed him or her to compensate for them. They…

Read More

Know your lore: Freedon Nadd

Freedon Nadd was an ancient Jedi apprentice. He later fell to the dark side of the Force and apprenticed himself to Naga Sadow, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith. Freedon Nadd claimed the rank of Dark Lord by murdering his Master, and crowned himself as the King of Onderon. After his physical death, Nadd’s spirit attempted to resurrect himself and have revenge on the Jedi. Nadd was completely destroyed on Yavin 4 by Exar Kun, the would-be Dark Lord. Freedon Nadd was the first Dark Lord of the Sith after the fall of the Old Sith Empire. Biography Freedon Nadd as seen in Vodo Siosk Baas’s Holocron Ambitious Jedi Freedon Nadd was a Jedi student trained at the Jedi Temple on Ossus around 4,400 BBY. He was amazingly open and willing to touch the Force, which may have inevitably led him down the dark path. While strong in the…

Read More

Know your lore: Darth Bandon

Darth Bandon was a male Human Sith Lord, and the first known apprentice of Darth Malak during the Jedi Civil War. Once a Jedi Knight, he eventually became one of the the Sith Empire’s most dangerous hunters. Biography Though trained in his early life as a Jedi, Bandon was never at peace with the ideas inherent in the Jedi Code. He lusted for power and influence, and the peaceful ideals of the Jedi way angered him, as he felt that he was never in control of his destiny and that his life would be ruled by the Jedi Code. Longing for independence, Bandon relied heavily on his emotions, especially the rage that flowed through him, and, as a result, fled the Jedi Order to join the Sith Academy on Korriban as the Sith, under the command of Darth Revan and Malak, rose to power. Bandon completely embraced the dark side…

Read More

Playable Species of SW:TOR – Sith Pureblood

Yesterday we reported about Daniel Erickson clarification about the Sith Pure-bloods. We also promised to look deeper into this race, so here you go: The Sith were a species of red-skinned humanoids that evolved on Korriban. They also had tentacle “beards” and all pure blooded Sith were almost always left-handed, and thus their signature weapon, the lanvarok, was adapted purely for left-handed use. Society and Culture Though they engaged in supposedly primitive practices such as sentient sacrifice, held a strong caste system, and were in an almost constant state of war, their civilization was quite sophisticated; they saw these acts not as cruel or barbaric, but simply basic aspects of existence. Their caste system included a meek and lowly slave class, a skilled and intelligent engineer class, the priestly Kissai class, and the warlike Massassi class. In later years, the offspring of Sith and the exiled Dark Jedi formed another class, from which…

Read More

How Stuff Works: Holocrons

A holocron was a crystal lattice (often cubical and sized to be held in one hand) in which the Jedi, as well as the Sith, of old stored phenomenal quantities of data, as well as the holocron’s gatekeeper. The Sith also had their own form of holocron technology, and they seem to predate the Jedi in using the technology by three thousand years. Description Sith holocrons usually took the form of a pyramid, and the existence of the first Sith holocron predates that of a Jedi holocron by at least three thousand years. The technology to create the pyramidal holocrons common to the Sith was something gifted to the ancient Sith king Adas by Rakata warriors trying to gain his trust. He accepted their technology and made a holocron, but he saw through their ploy and rebelled against them. It can only be assumed that the Jedi also learned the…

Read More

Know your Lore: Ulic Qel-Droma

About 4,000 years before the coming of Darth Vader, two other Jedi Knights embraced the dark side, eventually challenging and almost decimating the ranks of the Jedi Order they once loyally served. One, Exar Kun, turned to the dark side in quest for knowledge long forbidden by the Order. The other, Ulic Qel-Droma, sought to destroy the dark side sect of Satal and Aleema Keto from the inside, only to be turned to evil himself by the dark side poison. Ulic was a native of Alderaan and his mother was a powerful and respected Jedi , but she refused to teach Ulic and his brother Cay Qel-Droma for she felt she lacked the necessary emotional distance to be an effective instructor. Denied that path for the early part of his life, Ulic instead concentrated on other areas of study. As a young man, Ulic was pure of heart and purpose….

Read More

Know your lore: Naga Sadow

Naga Sadow was a male Sith Lord, and renowned dark side magician during the days of the first Sith Empire. Sadow had ancestors among both humans and the Sith species of the planet Ziost. He rose to prominence in the final days of the Sith Golden Age, when Marka Ragnos, the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, passed away, leaving the mantle of Dark Lord vacant. During Ragnos’ funeral, Sadow engaged in a duel with rival Sith Lord Ludo Kressh for Ragnos’ title, only to have their contest ended by the spectre of the deceased Dark Lord himself. After a brief admonition, the ghost departed while issuing a warning to both Sadow and Kressh, stating that the fate of the Sith Empire hung on the balance of their decision on how to proceed with leadership of the Sith people. However, the unexpected arrival of two Hyperspace-traveling siblings on Korriban, Gav…

Read More

Know your lore: Jedi Exile

The Jedi Exile was created by Obsidian Entertainment as the primary protagonist in the 2005 PC and Xbox video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords . As of this time, the character called the Jedi Exile has no name, because the player is prompted to create one, or select a randomly generated identity at the start of the game. Because of this, in game characters only refer to her as “the exile.”Although the character’s canon allegiance has not been stated precisely, she is called a “heroine” in The New Essential Guide to Droids. This is backed up by the fact that, as of the release of The Sith Lords, every canon game ending has been the light side version. The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide has confirmed that the light-side ending is indeed the canonical one. The Exile’s Jedi class is as…

Read More

Playable Species of SW:TOR – Rattataki

The Rattataki were a Near-Human species characterized by their chalk-white skin and bald heads, similar to the Umbaran race. Virtually isolated from the rest of the galaxy, the Rattataki developed a violent society on their home planet of Rattatak, which involved extensive gladiatorial combat. Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress and warrior Aidus were both Rattataki. Aurra Sing may also have been part Rattataki. Society and culture The small, red world of Rattatak floats in the far Outer Rim like a drop of blood. The planet is so remote that it remained undiscovered by the Republic, and the native humanoid species evolved without the guidance or influence of other galactic forces. Although the species remained primitive, they quickly learned how to kill one another. Scattered resources on the planet led to struggles for survival, and the Rattataki never bothered with the benefits of barter and trade amongst themselves. As technology evolved, the…

Read More

How Stuff works: Mandalore

Mandalore—or Mand’alor in it’s truest rendering and which meant “sole ruler” in Mando’a—was the title of the leader of the Mandalorians. The title originated with the mythical figure Mandalore the First, whose warriors were said to have conquered the planet of Mandalore. Eventually, the term came to be applied to the Mandalorian leaders, with the first known bearer of the title being Mandalore the Indomitable, who reigned during the Great Sith War. The last known person to claim the title of Mand’alor was Yaga Auchs, who kept the Mandalorians on Mandalore during the Sith–Imperial War. The title was notable for surviving several thousand years, through considerable Mandalorian hardships. Despite several lost wars, infighting and the emergence of the “Mandalorian mercenary” phenomenon, at least seventeen Mandalorians declared themselves Mand’alor throughout the years, with varying degrees of success in their attempts to lead the Mandalorian clans. History When the Taung species were…

Read More

Playable Species of SW:TOR – Humans

We know as which classes we will fight, but we only know very little about possible species. While some might still grief over the 2011 release, we went ahead and collected information on BioWare’s future MMO. Screenshots, artworks and videos showed several species, which we will have to face in the game. We made it our business to categorize these enemies for you. First off is humans. Humans were the galaxy’s most numerous and politically dominant sentient species with millions of major and minor colonies galaxywide. Believed to have originated on the galactic capital of Coruscant, they could be found anywhere, engaged in many different pursuits: spacers, mercenaries, smugglers, merchants, soldiers, assassins, farmers, crime lords, laborers, slaves, slavers, and many others, including Jedi. Since Humans were the most common sentient species, they were often considered to be a standard or average to which the biology, psychology, and culture of other…

Read More

Planets of TOR: Korriban

Korriban, originally known as Pesegam during the reign of Xim, was the sole planet in the Horuset system, located across the galaxy from Koros Major. It was the original homeworld of the Sith species and a sacred planet for the Sith Order, housing the tombs for many ancient and powerful Dark Lords of the Sith, and containing tremendous dark side power. After the Hundred Year Darkness, the remaining Dark Jedi interbred with the Sith species and ruled the Sith using their Force powers. After the Great Hyperspace War, Korriban was abandoned and became a barren world. It was the site of two Sith Academies, and became the headquarters of the One Sith. It was close to Bosthirda and was located on the Nache Bhelfia and Kamat Krote hyperspace lanes. History Infinite Empire This remote, forbidding planet was the original homeworld of the Sith species. The Rakata invaded Korriban in an…

Read More