As I’ve often discussed, I’m a gamer who thrives on exploration and world-building. It’s why my favorite games of all time tend to be RPGs, some of which are pretty old by now, and it’s why I tend to stray away from games that are pushed out hastily, are missing huge chunks of story-based content (or missing story completely), and are missing that certain… something.

That something‘s pretty damn hard to describe. I sometimes say that it’s the little details that matter, simply because they often do. I used to dabble in indie game production as a hobby, and one of the things I quickly picked up on was how easily passion comes across during the various game development stages when the team working on the game truly cares about the world they’re creating.

Even while playing an MMO like The Old Republic, I often marvel at the clumps of NPCs role-playing scenes and realize that whoever created that scene cared about the Star Wars environment and creating the right amount of immersion. Whoever created the snow flurries that randomly coast across the camera during the class quest scenes on Hoth cared about how realistic they appeared. Whoever created every animated nod, blink, shrug, casual lean, and sly grin cared about the creation of characters that weren’t static.

Throughout my number of years as a gamer, I’ve come to realize that specific details and game features stand out to me more than others as my favorites. Every MMO I spend a large amount of time in seems to display these features and qualities. Here are a few standouts, though I’m sure I could easily come up with more:

Varied Environments

I love being able to explore a windy desert map, full of sand dunes and ancient storms, then make my way to a snow-covered fortress later in my journey. I love deep, woodsy ruins and tropical forests full of crazy-looking creatures and exotic flora. Snow maps are probably my absolute favorite environment, aside from the underwater environments often seen in console games.

Winterspring was one of my favorite maps in WoW, and Alderaan, Tatooine, and Hoth are probably my favorite three planets in SWTOR. I enjoy how expansive they all are. On Hoth, for example, I actually enjoy floating around on my mount, riding up and down the snow drifts. Call me crazy, but it’s far more relaxing than riding around in circles aboard the fleet. Give me some kind of worldwide LFG channel and I’ll be happy.

Detailed Environments

Maps that display random, creative details are maps that hold my interest. The ancient ruins and skeletons on Tatooine and Taris pique my interest and actually make me want to quest there (well, kinda… When it comes to Taris I um, may have to rethink that statement). I love the starship graveyard on Hoth. It’s actually my favorite game location at the moment. I love the 3D look to TOR’s planets. It’s easy to tell there are actual hills and caverns snaking over each surface, and that’s how a real environment should feel. RIFT also did well in this department.

I also like the Sand People who pop out and dismount you on Tatooine, and the Talz on Hoth. It might be annoying from time to time, but it’s immersion, and I love that. Static groups of mobs are useful for lazy developers and lazy gamers, not so useful when it comes to creating a realistic Star Wars world. I wish there were more mobs that weren’t so damn static in this game.

Companion Commentary

This is all BioWare. I love the fact that your companions will often add input during class quests and upon entering new areas. I wish there was more content of this nature. This type of content is rare in MMOs, and I hope other game developers take notice. Similar content could be done with pets, NPCs, and even non-combat pets. It’s a way to add personality into otherwise static NPCs. The Dragon Age franchise is the best example of companion banter, and it adds a fun spin on the good ol’ combat and exploration grind.

Random Goodies

There, I said it. I need goodies in my games. I need random items to discover along the off-beaten paths, and I enjoy tough enemies out in the middle of nowhere that provide an opportunity for me to charge in, blow all my cooldowns, die, then ask for backup. WoW doesn’t have much of this content anymore, and it’s one of the reasons I stopped playing.

RIFT has artifacts and rare spawns. SWTOR has loot chests, datacrons, codex entries, and plenty of random elite and champion mobs to make exploration interesting. Call them distractions, if you will. I’ve lost count of how many world bosses I’ve summoned by clicking the blue shiny thing out in the boonies. My leveling partner huffs a heavy sigh every time I excitedly announce “Look, a blue thing to click!”, but hey, I’m pretty damn amused.

General

• The key formerly bound to /bug can now be mapped to any action and no longer opens the /bug window. The command is no longer able to be bound to a quickslot, but player can still type /bug in chat to open a new bug report.

Classes and Combat

General

• Using abilities with indirect targeting (such as area of effect abilities) will no longer cause players to be flagged for PvP if a PvP-flagged player from the opposing faction is within the ability’s range, and the ability will have no effect on the PvP-flagged player.

Imperial Agent

Operative

• Medical Therapy: Kolto Probe and Recuperative nanotech will now properly benefit from this skill.

Bounty Hunter

Powertech

• Carbonize: PvP armor for Combat Tech will no longer prevent this skill from stunning enemies.

Flashpoints and Operations

Operations

Eternity Vault

• Casting Mind Trap will no longer cause Soa to lose threat against his primary target.

Karagga’s Palace

• G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator now has fewer hit points in Normal Mode.

Items

Vendors

• “Show Usable” now properly filters to only show equipable items.

Missions and NPCs

Missions

Republic

• Unlikely Allies: Resetting no longer requires players to abandon and re-acquire the mission in order to complete it.

PvP

Warzones

General

• Fixed a queue interface exploit that allowed players to bring additional players into a warzone. While imbalances can still happen under specific circumstances, the issue can no longer be intentionally triggered by players in this way.

Alderaan Civil War

• The Eastern Turret no longer fires twice under some circumstances when it is captured by the Imperials.

World PvP

Ilum

• The /stuck comman will no longer teleport players to the location where they died.

UI

General

• Added a /version command.
• Added several new preferences for cooldown appearance:

• Show Ready Flash: Toggles a bright flash when an ability finishes cooldown.
• Show Global Cooldown Ready Flash: Toggles a bright flash when an ability finishes global cooldown.
• Cooldown Style: Changes the art style for the cooldown graphic.
• Global Cooldown Style: Changes the art style for the global cooldown graphic.
• Show Cooldown Timer: Toggles cooldown time text on top of the ability icon in the quickbar.

Bug Fixes

• Sorting will now function properly in the Guild Window.
• Items placed in a quickbar are no longer removed when training abilities.
• Using Shift + Right Click to split a stack of usable items will no longer cause the item to be used.
• Some UI settings (such as quickbar lock, chat font size, and minimap zoom) will no longer reset upon area transition.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Players will no longer experience occasional disconnection when purchasing Crafting Materials from the GTN.

Day two, which will not be streamed, will probably be more a of a workshop where guild leaders and developers roll up their sleeves to talk about current game issues and features that guild leaders would like to see added to SWTOR.

If you are planning to attend the Summit, Force Junkies would like to hear from you. We’d love to put together an article about your expectations going into the event, get your impressions during the event, and finally get your overall verdict of the event once it concludes.

If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to darkbrew@rerollz.com with your name, your guild’s name and server, and what your expectations are going into the event. We’ll arrange to catch up with you during the event and get your thoughts and impressions of the Summit.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you in Austin.

The following loot list is for normal mode The Foundry, which is a flashpoint for levels 35-39. All bosses are listed in the order of occurrence. Trash drops are at the end.

Loot lists are currently a work in progress. If you notice anything that needs a correction or addition, please feel free to leave a comment.

Note: I’m pretty sure I’m missing a few drops for this one. If you know of any other Foundry drops, please drop me a line!

Boss 1: The Foundry Guardian –

[Dark Adept's Lower Robe]
[TT-15A Imperial Security Body Armor]
[TD-05A Imperial Rogue Headgear]
[Shadow Striker's Boots]
[Sith Warden's Body Armor]
[Adept Sorcerer's Foundry Hood]

Boss 2: HK-47 –

[RD-15A Centurion Chestguard]
[K-301 Sentry Blaster]
[V-31 Fusion Blaster Rifle]
[J-21 Rotary Sniper Rifle]

Boss 3: Burrower Matriarch [Optional] –

[TH-15A Imperial Corpsman Boots]
[Shadow Strider's Legwraps]

Boss 4: Revan –

[Adept Sorcerer's Foundry Lower Robe]
[Mercenary's Foundry Helmet]
[Unwavering Juggernaut's Foundry Greaves]
[Unwavering Powertech's Foundry Helmet]
[Operative Medic's Foundry Pants]
[Agile Assassin's Foundry Boots]
[Mercenary Medic's Foundry Belt]
[Juggernaut's Foundry Belt]
[Sniper's Foundry Boots]
[Sniper's Foundry Pants]
[Longspur Scout]

Trash Drops –

[Unwavering Juggernaut's Foundry Hood]
[TD-05A Close Quarters Leggings]
[Shadow Strider's Headgear]
[Vestments of Eldritch Force]
[Sith Warden's Gloves]
[Masterblade's Vest]
[Black Ops Implant of Ruthless Precision]
[Implant of Solar Wrath]
[Covert Ops Implant of Virulence]

Roleplayers use this setting and take it to the next level by creating their own stories within it. With such a wide open universe, there is plenty of room for these stories. But what makes Star Wars such a fantastic setting for roleplayers and non-roleplayers alike? Jump past the cut to find out how.

There is frequent debate on how to categorize Star Wars: Is it a fantasy series or is it a sci-fi series? Science Fiction is defined as “a form of fiction that draws imaginatively on scientific knowledge and speculation in its plot, setting, theme, etc. “ which would include Star Wars as it deals with advanced technology that (we hope) would be plausible in the distant future. But then we have the Force and the mystical elements of the Jedi and Sith Orders that swing us way back into the realm of fantasy. These two elements have fit into one universe so well that it makes it extremely difficult to categorize Star Wars, leaving it to occupy a spot between the two.

But it is exactly this spot between fantasy and sci-fi that allows it to appeal to so many fans. Those interested in the hero’s journey and the battle between good and evil have a backlog of stories about Jedi struggling with the responsibility of their powers, corrupted Sith hunting down the light in the galaxy, and good triumphing over evil in the end. Han Solo dealing with gangsters, Hutts and the seedier elements of the galaxy while still managing to prove he has a heart of gold. The Old Republic offers us the tale of the Bounty Hunter, the Sith Inquisitor and even the not-so-lowly Trooper to round out the possibilities.

Darth Vader is an excellent example of this blend. His body was rebuilt after being nearly burnt to cinders in a lava flow, leaving him more machine than man and encased permanently in a terrifying suit. Yet he still remains a master of lightsaber combat and Force techniques, using them in battle and to crush the windpipes of unfortunate Imperial officers. Each element plays into another without being ludicrous or unbelievable, thus creating one of the most iconic villains of our time.

Roleplayers find themselves with as many possibilities as there are stars in the galaxy. Fantastic creatures and advanced technology lend itself to an ideal setting for those seeking any variety of stories. Of course, the ideal setting does not only apply to Star Wars. The Old Republic era is one that is ripe for roleplayers to spread their wings and could be considered the ideal setting within.

The Old Republic era, which includes not only SWTOR but KOTOR 1 & 2 but a span of thousands of years yet to be filled in by authors gives fans the space to breathe outside of the many political and galaxy wide events that made up the Clone Wars, Rebellion and New Republic eras. Entire family histories with the Jedi Order can be added without reprise. Perhaps a grandfather or aunt was on the Jedi Council once? Or perhaps your Bounty Hunter was descended from one of the Mandalores? Be wary not to fall into the trap of making your character too important: A title is nice, but if it is all you have then you run the risk of driving off people. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with improvising with the space you are given.

Star Wars and The Old Republic offer us something unique: Not only is it a excellent blend between sci-fi and fantasy elements, but it offers us a setting that we can imagine ourselves in, roleplayer or otherwise. Bioware offers us the chance to make choices along with their story, but the stars are the limit when it comes to this universe. So go forth and forge your own story, Junkie Nation. May the Force be with you, and may you always have a good blaster at your side.

It’s that time again! Last week we asked for your questions and this week we have some answers. Once again, we had planned on answering 10 questions but in the end, got 12 answered by various members of the team. Please note in some cases we’ve combined multiple questions into one, and we have edited some questions for clarity.

We have now opened an official thread for next week’s Q&A, which will stay open until 2pm CST on February 21st (8pm GMT/9pm CET). We welcome your questions in that thread and hope you enjoy the answers below. If you want to discuss any of the answers given, please use this Forum thread!

DarthBelkar: Can we look forward to server-wide special seasonal / short-term events?

Daniel Erickson: Yes! Expect them to fit into the world and setting, involve a fair bit of discovery, and offer special rewards that will be there one day and then gone forever. And expect them soon.

Darthinfimus: Do you plan to implement a /roll or /random command for use in master looter situations?

Damion Schubert: Diceslingers of the world rejoice! /roll has already been implemented on our internal development servers and should be coming to you guys Real Soon Now (in an upcoming weekly patch).

Relayinabox: Are there any plans for a show/hide companion headgear option?

Damion Schubert: Yep, we have plans. It won’t be in Game Update 1.2, but is currently in the works.

NiklasWB: When will you make it possible for Force-using characters to pull up/down their hoods on their robes?

Damion Schubert: This is in the works now. It won’t be in Game Update 1.2, but should get done in the next major update after that. And yes, we will extend this functionality to your Force-slinging companions as well.

ehlnofey: Will there be any changes/improvements made to the Galactic Trade Network system, and when will it be implemented?”

Damion Schubert: We know that the GTN needs a lot of love, and work is currently underway to improve this. Watch this space for more news!

GnovaD: Are there any plans to introduce mobile apps to the game? Eg. Use smart phone/tablet to send companions on missions while offline.

Damion Schubert: Let’s just say that this has always been a dream of mine for crew skills – it’s almost as if this design was created specifically with this in mind, doesn’t it? Good news, sometimes dreams do come true! The bad news is that I have no ETA for you, though, as this is a significant technical endeavor.

Bobonar:  Will we be able to take the modifications out of our endgame pvp-sets and put them into a set that we like better (design-wise) and keep the bonuses?

Emmanuel Lusinchi: Yes, the set bonus will be carried by Armoring mods that work just like regular mods except that they only fit into specific types of items, such as chest items or boots items. So, for example, the set bonus from a chest piece can be moved to another chest piece, and the set bonus from a helmet can be moved to another helmet.

HollowPoint: There has been a large push in the community for chat bubbles, especially with a toggle option for those who don’t want them. Is a chat bubble system in the works? If so, when can we expect it to be implemented?

Damion Schubert: They’re definitely on the list. We’ve got many active roleplayers in the dev team and chat bubbles have always been important to us. We actually had chat bubbles in beta, but there was unfortunately some serious performance issues that our implementation caused that, for example, made things really suck in warzones and the fleet. They’ll be coming soon, but in priority, the GUI team is focused first on GUI customization. I’ll have a better idea of timing once we get past that. And yes, for people who hate them, whenever we do them, they’ll be toggleable.

RuQu: Can you provide some details on Healer class design philosophy? Commando/Scoundrel AoE does not scale with group size due to player caps. Are they not intended to fill the raid-healer role? Scoundrels can be highly efficient, but have no tools for doing a short burst of healing.

In short, what is the design intention for each of the healers, and is it intended for them to be balanced so that any possible combination is competitive in Operations, or is a certain mix expected?

Georg Zoeller: Our stance is that all full healer specs should be viable for all type of content, which is the case, even for 16 man Operations. Our own players have no issues clearing any of the content in the game, on all difficulty levels, with any healer spec. Data from the Live game shows Operations, at all sizes, being successfully run with Commando and Scoundrel healers. It is expected for certain Operations bosses to create challenges for different healer archetypes (e.g. due to mobility requirements), but overall, every healer archetype is capable of successfully healing through any Operations and Flashpoint content in the game (currently and in the future).

With regards to your question about Commando/Scoundrel Area of Effect healing not scaling to group size, please understand that no heal, on any class, scales with group size. The most powerful Area of Effect heals in the game (Salvation/Revivification) affects up to 8 players, but does not scale with group size. These abilities are very costly, have an activation time requirement and require the targets to stand in a localized area for ten seconds to receive the full benefit. We plan on improving the overall Area of Effect healing performance of the Mercenary/Commando in the next major Game Update (1.2) by increasing the number of targets affected by Kolto Missile/Kolto Bomb.

As for Scoundrels having no tools for short burst healing, we don’t agree with that assessment. A scoundrel, for example, is capable of producing rather significant burst healing output by using Upper Hand gained from Underworld Medicine or Kolto Injection to trigger an instant Emergency Medpack or Surgical probe when needed. That said, we certainly think there’s room for improvements (and our upcoming Game Update 1.2 has a sizeable chunk of such improvements). For example, we are shifting the healing created by the Kolto Cloud ability to be front loaded in 1.2 to allow it to act as an emergency Area of Effect healing tool.

Finally, the perception of a specific class being not desirable can also be affected by the desirability of other classes. For example, Sage/Inquisitor healers are currently able to exceed our intended healing performance at times by affecting multiple heals with the same Conveyance/Force Bending buff. Game Update 1.2 will remove the ability to do so.

Fu-bear: Can you please confirm the exact mechanics behind Taunts? The tooltips purely state that it forces a mob to attack for X seconds, yet I’ve read reports that the skill appears to equalise threat like a traditional taunt. Can you clarify this?

Georg Zoeller: Taunts work in two ways. First, they instantly put you on top of the target’s threat list. Then, they place a short duration effect on the taunted target forcing them to attack you. Assuming that you then lose threat (say, you just stand there) the NPC will be forced to attack you for the duration of the Taunt. Afterwards, the AI will resume attacking targets based on threat order. If another Taunt is applied after yours, the most recently applied Taunt takes precedence.

Please note this is assuming regular threat rules – there are certain situations in the game, especially unique boss fights, which may cause NPCs to specifically ignore targets. In these cases, an ignored target will not be able to gain threat even with a taunt. In general, these situations are messaged to the player through effects on their buff bar – something we’re looking to make more visible in the future.

Gladoss, titdiscus, Leoran: What do you plan to against Warzones’ AFK, more particularly about players who leave Warzones ? Will there be sanctions for this type of behavior?

Gabe Amatangelo: It is not sanctioned behavior. In Game Update 1.2 we will be making changes to the Warzone rewards system, which will de-incentivize this type of behavior. This will include the removal of the interim bag/quest system, the introduction of the direct purchase of gear from Warzone and Ranked Warzone commendations, 14 new objective-based medals and participation scaling the rewards. Additionally, players will have the option to vote kick idlers. Kicked players will not be able to re-queue for several minutes.

Lexiekaboom: 16 man Operations are much harder than 8 man Operations (to the point where most guilds can easily clear hard mode 8 man before being able to clear 16 man easy mode) but there is no loot difference at all to doing them. It’s better to send your 16 man raid force to clear two 8 man instances .Is this oversight or design? What will be done to offset this in the future?

Gabe Amatangelo: This is not per design.  The teams have been addressing this in the weekly patches to some degree and more so in Game Update 1.2.  It is intended that 16 player mode is slightly easier than 8 player mode due to the fact that getting and coordinating 16 players is a larger hurdle in and of itself.

Thanks for all of your questions, and thanks to the team for answering them. If you’d like to put forward a question for next week’s Q&A, please visit this Forums thread!

Now that you’ve hit level 50, starting furiously farming your dailies, hit up the GTN for some cheap gear, and finally gotten around to steamrolling that Alderaan Bonus Series, you might be wondering: what’s next? Sure, gear is great…but where do you put all those shiny Artifacts to good use?

Hard Modes. Classic flashpoints reimagined with the level 50 health pool and damage capacity in mind. Hard Mode Flashpoints are where you stop hiding behind your healing companion and put yourself to the test. As a reward you can earn various commendations, Tionese (or Energized) gear, and a chance at a Columi token. That’s right folks, Hard Modes drop comparable loot to Normal Operations, so let’s get cracking.

A good place to start for both Republic and Empire is also the last place you’ll be as a fresh 50: Darth Malgus’ Space Station and The False Emperor flashpoint. In order to start the flashpoint in Hard Mode, simply speak to the quest giver right outside the instance portal and select the Hard Mode option. Unlike some Hard Modes, having completed the flashpoint on normal isn’t a requirement.

TRASH

The trash here isn’t any more or less complex than it was on normal, but certain mobs do hit significantly harder. Using CC, while not strictly necessary, is a great help for undergeared tanks. Try and CC the Elite droids whenever possible as well as the Trendoshan Commandos in the larger pulls.

Some of the earlier pulls will feature Mandelorians who place a nasty stacking fire DoT on people that needs to be cleansed as quickly as possible, as it will rapidly eat through even the most geared tanks.

A final note, while you may be tempted to use the hilarious Force Push to speed things up by sending trash flying, most of the trash after HK-47 will bug out if thrown into an abyss. Resist the temptation and just kill them the old fashioned way.

Drops – Tionese Crystal

The instance starts off strong with a boss that can easily wipe out a group that isn’t paying attention. Treeg waits on a bridge for you, flanked by two Weak and one Strong that respawn on a wipe. He has all the same abilities as he does on normal, but this time the Whirlwind will completely wreck anyone who gets hit by it. If you can control his use of Whirlwind, you’ve won the fight.

Start the fight by having the tank pull Treeg back towards the platform you start on. The DPS rush forward and handle the Strongs before they can aggro onto the healer. The healer should stand within range and LOS of both the DPS and the tank, healing both as necessary. If things get too hairy, this is a perfect time for the tank to use a short cooldown to let the healer focus on the squishy DPS.

Once the three adds are down, the DPS should shift to Treeg, paying special attention to his leaping attack. Occasionally he will leap to a random target, following up with a stationary whirlwind attack that can kill you in 2-3 hits. You don’t have much time to run away from this, so once he leaps to you, get moving as soon as possible. He slows the target of his leap as well. Sometimes he will select a melee DPS or the tank for his leap, which means that everybody needs to be paying attention and ready to move the second they see the channel for Whirlwind appear.

He will also do a knockback from time to time that can toss players off the platform you’re fighting on. Try to stay away from the edges, especially as a ranged class.

Otherwise his damage isn’t exceptional and the DoT he puts on random people is barely noticeable. If you can stay out of the Whirlwind and keep on the platform, he’ll go down in no time.

TL;DR – Kill the adds first, stay out of the whirlwind, and don’t get knocked off the platform. Loot crystals.

Loot: Tionese / Energized Gloves

The fight against Jindo Krey revolves around controlling his ship, which will fly into battle seconds after you engage him. Most groups that struggle on this fight simply don’t understand quite how the ship works, but once you learn how to take it out, the fight becomes little more than a tank and spank.

THE SHIP: Jindo’s ship has two states, engaged and disengaged. When the ship is engaged, it is close to the platform and will be firing missiles at random party members for light damage…at first. Every 20-30 seconds, every party member will get a stacking debuff that increases damage taken by these missiles by 100%, going all the way to 400%, at which point the damage is unhealable. This is signaled by an emote about the ship increasing its target lock.

The only way to prevent this debuff from stacking is to force the ship to disengage, which you do by using the three turrets at the edge of the platform. Each corresponds with a position the ship will take during the fight: left, center, and right. While engaged, the ship will move back and forth, staying at each position for a while before moving. You need to activate the control panel of the turret the ship is currently at in order to attack the ship and send it away, resetting the debuff.

Jindo, after being beaten on normal so many times, has finally figured out what you’re up to though, so now he will grapple the first person to attempt to use a panel at any given time, breaking their cast bar. To combat this, have two people use the bar at the same time. Jindo will grapple one while the second gets the cast off. I recommend having a healer go first, as being grappled into melee range will prevent the tank and DPS from out ranging the turret the healer is trying to use.

After being shot at, the ship will disengage, putting a limited damage absorption shield on Jindo and flying away from the platform. At this point, it will begin to launch larger missiles at the party, which will be indicated by red reticles on the ground. The missiles come fast and often, so keep moving as much as you can to avoid them. You can DPS through Jindo’s shield, so keep plugging away during this phase. This will last for about 30-45 seconds before the ship will re-engage.

After you shoot at the ship 5 times, it will explode and you can finish whatever is left of Jindo’s health in peace.

JINDO: Jindo himself has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep you busy while his ship pelts you with ballistic doom. In addition to the aforementioned grapple, he will also charge random players, knocking them back and stunning them. The knockback CAN throw you off the platform, so be careful, especially if you happen to be near a turret.

His actual damage is minimal at best (most non-tanks can easily tank the boss should the tank get thrown off and have to run back) but he does have one serious ability that can kill your melee group in the blink of an eye: Flame Sweep. In true Bounty Hunter style, Jindo will rise up on the air and spin around, spewing flame around him. Similar to Treeg’s Whirlwind, this attack will kill you in 2-3 hits. Thankfully, unlike the Whirlwind, Flame Sweep has a cast time and can be interrupted. Either interrupt this or run out when he casts it. This can be especially deadly when combined with a charge, as he can charge into a ranged class and immediately cast Flame Sweep.

Once the ship has been destroyed, Jindo has no shield and can just be killed as you see fit.

TL;DR – Two people use the turret the ship is at, get out of red targets, interrupt Flame Sweep. Loot gloves.

Loot: Tionese Crystal

These guys are quite a pushover on Hard Mode. Once you engage them, one will start a 1 minute long channeled shield that makes it invulnerable. Simply kill the one that is NOT shielded. Feel free to tank them where they stand.

There is a second ability in this fight, which is a chaining energy disc that the active droid will toss at random targets, but if your entire group stacks in melee, the disc either goes away entirely or is only fired occasionally, significantly reducing the damage. That said, it can still nail the tank if he strays too far for any reason, so be ready for some spike damage just in case.

TL;DR – Stack on the boss and DPS the droid that isn’t shielded. Loot crystals.

Loot: Tionese Weapons

That’s right meatbags, he’s back. This fan favorite is one of the most complex fights in the game, relying on specific abilities being used at a specific time. Add in a tight enrage timer and you’ve got a potential road block for even a well prepared group.

SNIPE: HK will pick a random target, emote something, and start casting a high damage attack on them. As a healer it’s easy to notice who he’s going to attack simply by looking at what direction he’s facing. The attack itself does ~7000 damage, so be ready to quickly heal up whoever gets hit.

ION CANNON: Partway into the fight, the suggestively shaped Ion Cannon on the wall behind HK-47 will activate, lobbing blasts at random targets. The target gets a blue reticle at their feet that will follow them around for about 10 seconds before turning red and sticking to the ground. If you get the blue reticle, make sure to move it away from the melee before it turns red. These blasts are the only thing that can drop the shields on the turrets.

TURRETS: Early into the fight, HK-47 will activate the two turrets on either side of him. They will spawn with an invulnerability shield that can only be broken by a blast from the Ion Cannon. That would be nice if the enrage timer was tuned so tightly that any missed DPS means a wipe. Ignore the turrets completely, focusing entirely on HK-47. Odds are good they will immediately aggro onto the healer, but they do so little damage that they should be able to heal through it. If the healer is falling behind and is the chosen target of HK-47’s stun, small off heals can save the day.

ASSASSINATION PROTOCOL: Around the 50% mark, HK-47 will emote that his Assassination Protocol has been activated, then immediately go into stealth. This is your cue to all stack on the tank, as in a few moments HK-47 will stun a random player and pop out of stealth. This stunned player will be the target of his next attack, which WILL kill them instantly unless you stop it. Shortly after stunning the player, HK-47 will pop back into stealth. This is your cue to pop all your AOE abilities to break his stealth and stop his final attack. You can also use abilities to show stealthed enemies, but if you do this remember to actually attack him, otherwise he will continue with his death strike. If a DPS does go down, there’s a very real chance that you’ll fall behind on the enrage timer, so make sure to wait until after his SECOND STEALTH to use your AOE.

POISON GRENADE: HK-47 will occasionally throw a poison gas grenade at a random player, that puts a nasty DoT on whoever is in the gas. Cleanse the DoT immediately, as it does a significant amount of damage.

GRAPPLE & KNOCKBACK: HK-47 will occasionally grapple people at range in close as well as use a knockback on people in melee range. This happens most often when people charge in using Force Leap.

The healing required for this fight is actually pretty low despite the wide range of abilities, so if you’re bumping up against the enrage timer, having the healer add in some DPS in the first 20-30% of the fight can help significantly.

If you do hit the enrage timer in the last 5-7% of his life, do not give up hope, as it’s only 200% and you can actually heal through it pretty easily as long as you don’t get hit by any of his big attacks. Assassination Protocol will kill whoever he hits first, but at that point you should hopefully have him nearly dead.

Once the fight is over, the turrets will still be up and shielded, but the shield itself has a limited duration, so just wait it out, kill the turrets, and get your random weapon that I can almost assure you nobody in your group can use. Another vibrosword? Somebody get Bowdaar out!

TL;DR – Pull blue reticles away from group, stack on assassination protocol and AOE after second stealth following the stun, ignore turrets, cleanse poison DOT, and burn HARD. Loot weapon.

 
Loot: Tionese crystal

Wait, was that a boss? Do random guys drop crystals now?
 
 

Loot: Tionese Implants

If you follow the bonus chain through the instance, you end up fighting this guy. He’s easily the most difficult boss of the instance, and has perhaps the tightest enrage timer of any Hard Mode. Don’t feel bad skipping this guy in favor of getting better geared, as even with full Tionese gear he can give a group a run for its money. The fight itself is rather simple, but the difficulty lies in maximizing your DPS for the entire battle.

The majority of the fight is dominated by three mechanics: Overload, Force Lightning, and his DoT. He will occasionally do an AoE knockback that will remove all the buffs of any players while doing decent damage. He also tosses a low damage DoT on a random player from time to time that needs to be healed through. The Force Lightning he does can, and should, be interrupted.

Every 25%, the boss will vanish and three adds will appear, each with a different ability. One will spew lightning from range, another will do AoE, and the last may or may not use the DoT. The important thing here is to interrupt the lightning as soon as possible and gather all the adds up to burn them down as quickly as possible. The more time spent chasing adds around the room, the less time you have to DPS the boss proper. Do not be afraid to pull aggro here, as damage is relatively light through the whole fight. This is a great time for Smugglers / Agents to pop their short cooldown AoE attack to help out, especially if they’re healing.

The fight itself isn’t very difficult, but once you get past the final add stage, there’s a very high chance you will find that the boss has enraged. When enraged, the Overload will essentially one-shot anyone, so the key is to kite him around while doing as much damage as possible. Even then, it’s hard to make it through before one of his random abilities kills you, such as the lightning.

To help with the enrage timer, have the healer DPS as much as they can during the fight, tossing out DoTs and using AoE during the add phase. The damage is rarely critical or spikey, so use your best judgment in maintaining a healthy resource pool while unloading on the boss as much as you can.

TL;DR – KILL HIM FAST. THAT MEANS YOU TOO HEALER!

Loot: Columi Chest Token, Crafting Material, Random Schematic

After Sith Entity, you may be expecting a drop-down, drag-out battle for that all valuable chest token. A final showdown with the most nefarious of enemies who has been taunting you since Act 1.

You’d be wrong.

The battle with Darth Malgus is one of the easiest battles among all the Hard Modes and even some of the normal modes.

Before you engage the four-person door, make sure everybody loots a Pulse Grenade from the nearby box, this will be important at the end of the fight. After the lengthy cutscene, Malgus will be standing in front of you. Have your tank immediately pull him to the far left side of the stairs, putting his back against the wall. All the ranged and the healer should stand on the opposite side of the stairs with their back against the opposite wall. Then begin to kill Malgus. He does a few things of note:

DOUBT: Every so often, Malgus will emote MALGUS IS FILLING PLAYER’S MIND WITH VISIONS OF DOUBT! and place a debuff on the person he’s called out. After this debuff expires, he will emote THE DOUBT WEIGHS HEAVY ON PLAYER, THEY MUST FACE THEIR DESTINY! and that same person will be stunned for ~8 seconds. After that, Malgus will emote THE TIME HAS COME! PLAYER MUST FACE MALGUS ALONE!, stunning the rest of the party. He then will focus all his attacks on the person he’s been talking about this whole time. Since Malgus does so little damage, the person in question doesn’t have to do much other than just continue to DPS during this phase. Healers, pre-HoTing the person before you get stunned helps, but otherwise feel free to use defensive cooldowns if necessary. After 10 seconds, Malgus releases the rest of the party and the fight resumes.

ULTIMATE POWER: Malgus will occasionally begin casting this. He should never finish. If he does, the whole party will be wiped out. Interrupt it with extreme prejudice.

CHARGE + KNOCKBACK: Malgus sometimes picks a random target and charges at them, sending them flying across the room (literally, so keep your back to that wall). It’s pretty easy to get thrown into one of the many pits in the room, so make sure you keep your back against a wall or in the direction of a wall at all times.

MELEE AOE: Very light damage melee range AoE he does. Heal through it lazily.

Malgus does such pitiful damage with all his attacks that a healer could disconnect, reset his router, call his ISP’s technical support, get transferred to a supervisor, fix the problem, sit in a queue, and still come back to a party above 90% health. As long as you interrupt Ultimate Power and keep your back to a wall, you should have no problems getting to 10%.

At around 15%, start moving Malgus to the middle of the room. Often this will synch up with a Doubt phase, so if you’re the target, move towards the center and try and hold Malgus there. Keep his knockback in mind as you move around. Try and keep your back towards either the entrance or Malgus’ throne while you move. If it happens during a Doubt phase, Malgus might go below 10% during it, in which case be ready for him to move to the final phase at any time once the Doubt phase ends.

At 10%, just like on normal, everything changes. Malgus will begin channeling a powerful Force Lightning on a random target, during which he becomes vulnerable to knockback abilities. Once he’s channeling, hit him with any knockback ability OR a Pulse Grenade. This will stagger him, forcing him to drop to one knee for the finishing blow. Knock him into one of the nearby pits with another knockback (or grenade) to end the fight. Watch out though, as it’s easy to push him just to the cusp of the ledge, so don’t blow all your knockbacks on the first push. Make sure there are at least 2 just in case something goes wrong.
If you don’t hurry up and kill him once he hits 10%, the Force Lightning acts as a soft enrage, growing in power until it’s virtually unhealable.

TL;DR – Put your back to a wall, interrupt Ultimate Power, tank during Doubt, and use two knockbacks during lightning channeling to knock him into a pit. Loot tokens.

General

Classes and Combat

Flashpoints and Operations

Items

Missions and NPCs

PvP

UI

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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Patch 1.2, among many other PvP changes, will remove the reliance on daily quests for your gear progression (and therefore increasing the value of the commendations you get for playing a match to the end) and penalties for quitters.

The topic of battlemaster bags and the progress of getting PVP gear has been pretty hot since the game has been released and more and more people hit the level cap. The main complaint is that it’s pretty much random on how you gain commendations from them. This thread this dev post appeared in grew quite long, and the original poster claims to have opened 32 battlemaster bags without getting a single commendation.

Last week, BioWare hosted a pretty cool question and answer session on the official forums. Players were able to send in a bunch of questions. Some were chosen, then answered. Here are last Friday’s Q&As if you happened to miss them. Every week a new batch of questions will be answered. Some new information was revealed last Friday, and as the weeks continue, we’ll hopefully get a glimpse of some of the answers we really want the answers to.

One question and answer made me pretty dang excited this past week. Target of target is finally being added! Here is the question that was asked and its answer:

Question: Will Bioware implement Target of Target (including a visible cast bar above the portraits) in the new UI?

Gabe Amatangelo: Yes. Target of Target on primary target and party frames will be part of Game Update 1.2. Primary target already has a visible casting bar on live right now. In Game Update 1.2 target of target frames will have visible casting bars as well. Additionally, there will be various customization features in all of those frames (e.g. repositioning).

We’d previously seen information and even a little video on some of the incoming UI customization options, but this target of target bit is new. All I can say is: about friggen’ time.

As a player who customarily enjoys playing tank and healer characters, I have been missing target of target so much, on all of my characters. I’ve whined about the lack of this feature since beta. It just seems kind of necessary, and a simple addition. We’re not talking about a fancy, 3D new feature here. I just want to see who that mob is targeting, and who my tank is targeting, without having to play a guessing game in the middle of a hectic fight.

While tanking, I find target of target useful for boss fights that consist of tank switches. It’s also great when you catch a mob flipping around toward the ranged DPS/healer pile, and can immediately see who it’s targeting and react accordingly. It lets me know which of the DPSers are most likely to take aggro before things get hairy. It also lets me know which direction I should charge toward, say, when a group of adds spawn and scurry toward my healers.

As a healer, it’s a fantastic way of watching out for random boss casts. If I can see where that big nuke is going, I can rev up a heal beforehand. Likewise, if I can see which tank has the attention of the mob, I can focus primarily on that tank. It’s also amazing for assisting while DPSing. On my healing Operative, I tend to find myself twiddling my thumbs quite a bit during leveling flashpoints. A quick glance at the target of target window would let me know which target my tank’s focused on. Let the random stabbing begin, and it’ll die faster!

Sure, I can simply target the mobs and find the one with the lowest HP. I do that currently, but it’s a little clunky to fiddle with tab targeting when I could just, you know, glance at my target of target window instead. I already have my tank targeted, and I don’t want to un-target them unless I absolutely have to. It’s just so much easier with target of target. It’s a quality-of-life issue, sure, but there should be no shortage of quality-of-life features in a BioWare game.

There isn’t a shortage of issues currently regarding The Old Republic’s UI, either. We all feel some sort of frustration about the lack of customization and lack of… well, being able to do what we want with the UI. It’s workable, but it’s not great, and that’s pretty disappointing in a game of this magnitude. Luckily, we’ll get a little love in patch 1.2 with the introduction of some much-needed customization options. And target of target!

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a game more enjoyable. Speaking of little things, I’d suggest speaking up in the future Q&A sessions if there’s a question on your mind regarding the current state of SWTOR and its future. The questions are gathered in the General forum, and collected every Tuesday afternoon for that Friday, when the answers will be posted. Don’t hesitate to give BioWare feedback. Our questions may be answered.