SWTOR Face Star Wars the Old Republic related news

Datacron Guide: Ord Mantell

2012-05-28T11:44:00.002+10:00

What follows are facts about the datacrons to be found on Ord Mantell. These datacrons, available to Republic only faction players, can be found on a hill, near a lake and buried in the sand. All in all there are three datacrons to be found on Ord Mantell.

Galactic History 12: The Birth of the Republic

Stat/Reward: Aim +2
Waypoint: X: -660, Y: -561
Tips: To get here head to the group area, it is on a hill there. Use the hill to the west of it to get to it.

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Datacron guide: Tython

2012-05-24T14:06:00.000+10:00

What follows are facts about the datacrons to be found on planet Tython. These datacrons, available to Republic only faction players can be found on top of remote mountain passes, near ancient statues, and guarded by a mysterious shaman. All in all there are three datacrons to be found on Tython.

Galactic History 09: The Force Wars

Stat/Reward: Endurance +2
Waypoint: X: -33, Y: -102
Tips: You have to go through the mountain pass (entrance -29,13). The above location is up on a ledge that appears to be inaccessible. You have to go around behind the datacron and the entrance to the cave that leads to it is at -34, -29.

Codec description: This datacron holds unheard of power and knowledge collected by an ancient race. You access its power and discover writings which are clearly only one small piece of a massive galactic history:

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Legacy Perks. Get ready to get ripped off in patch 1.3

2012-05-23T15:21:00.002+10:00

Bioware have just released a promo video for patch 1.3. The video tells us nothing really new but does provide some extra details about the new features. The video has received many dislikes and as I go over the details, you mind understand why. The changes are:

Legacy perks
Group Finder
Character transfer
Scaling social gear

First, have a quick watch of the video (bottom of this post). As you will see the Legacy perks are specific to each individual character, and they don't come cheap.

Looking at the warzone perks, the first one costs 20k and gives you a 2% XP perk to leveling in warzones. Another 30k will add an extra 2%, to the total of 4%. Each level seems to go up by 10k and add an extra 2%. So you'll be able to achieve a maximum of 10% bonus XP after spending approximately 200k. If you want to level another alt in PvP you'll have to spend another 200k. Please keep in mind that this is a guestimate as they only show us the costing of the first two.
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1.2.4 Patch Notes

2012-05-16T08:58:00.002+10:00

1.2.4 Patch Notes (5/15/2012)

Classes and Combat
General
• The Guard ability can now be reapplied if the player dies with it activated. Previously, players sometimes received an error indicating that their target was already guarded.
Sith Inquisitor
General
• Lightsaber Charge's audio effects no longer loop indefinitely.

Companion Characters

Imperial Agent: Your Classified Companion Information is Ready

2012-05-15T14:43:00.001+10:00

Many bothans have died to bring us this crucial data. Attached is all the information you will need on your companions. Use this information to bribe, persuade and intimidate them as you see fit. This information has been updated to our latest database and provides images and everything right down to their favorite gifts and estimated time of arrival.

For Imperial Agents eyes only. This message will self destruct after reading.

GOOD-MORNING Balmorra! Live! ... WHAT?

2012-05-15T14:19:00.000+10:00

"Good morning and welcome to another episode of SWTORFace. This morning we're going to be talking to one of our dependable comandos out in the Balmorra section, fighting to gain some awesome military technology for the Republic. We've John Sunrider on the line right now. Good morning John, how are you?"

"I'M GOOD SWTORFACE HOW ARE YOU?"

"We're all fine here thanks John. Things sound kind of loud there."

"YEAH, THAT'S CAUSE I'M BLOWING UP SOME IMPS!"

"You told us that you wanted to talk to us about something today John. What can we help you with?"

"WELL SINCE PATCH 1.2 I'VE BEEN HAVING A LOT OF TROUBLE HEARING MY COMPANIONS. I KNOW ARIC IS SAYING SOMETHING CONSTANTLY BEHIND MY BACK BUT IT'S ALL MUFFLED AND I'VE GOT NO IDEA WHAT HE'S ACTUALLY SAYING. I THINK USING ALL THESE EXPLOSIVES HAS WRECKED MY HEARING!"

New Warzone Daily Mission you don't need to win!

2012-05-10T09:29:00.002+10:00

Now live in patch 1.2.3:

With this change, daily Warzone missions now require "6 played matches," however any win in a Warzone counts as 2 "played matches". This still provides a solid incentive for you to win, but also allows players who lose matches to progress their daily mission by participating.

Link

I have to do some testing to see what this dose to AFK players do you get credit for no medals? We will see how it works out! I for one will go back to doing daily's on my republic avatars!

The Old Republic Official Podcast

2012-05-10T09:19:00.000+10:00

I'm listening to this right now some nice tidbits in this MP3 but no real big news yet enjoy!

Hello everyone! My name is Eric Musco and I, along with Brooks Guthrie are happy to bring you episode one of the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ podcast, “Rocket Boots”. You can listen by using the embedded player, by downloading and listening on your preferred MP3 player, or check it out on our YouTube channel.

In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Erickson and Damion Schubert to talk about what we saw in Game Update 1.2 and what we can expect as we look forward to Game Update 1.3. Also, David Bass stops by to tell us about how things went at PAX East and share some of our convention plans for the rest of the year. If you have any questions or comments about the show, feel free to let us know in this forum thread.

Listen to the MP3 Now!

Thanks for listening!

Transcript:

Brooks: Hello everyone. Welcome to the official Star Wars™: the Old Republic™ Podcast. I'm Brooks Guthrie

1.2.3 Patch Notes

2012-05-08T20:40:00.002+10:00

1.2.3 Patch Notes

5/8/2012

Classes and Combat

General

Corrected an issue that prevented Smugglers and Imperial Agents from taking cover in place while moving
Channeled abilities now fully complete if a buff providing an Alacrity bonus wears off while the ability is being channeled.

Flashpoints and Operations

Flashpoints

Boarding Party

This Flashpoint's Hard Mode no longer has a daily limitation.

Operations

General

Players now receive a "Timed Run" buff when attempting Eternity Vault and Karagga's Palace in Nightmare Mode. Killing Soa or Karagga before this buff expires grants the Infernal or Unyielding title, respectively.

Explosive Conflict

Zorn's "Fearful" debuff is now correctly restricted to 30 meters.
The Demolition Probe Droid no longer attempts to move to the player in the scout tower, which could result in the Droid evading.
Minefield turrets no longer occasionally reactivate after the group has engaged Vorgath.
Kephess's Gift of the Masters ability now uses the correct (smaller) radius.

1.2.2 Patch Notes

2012-05-02T14:44:00.001+10:00

1.2.2 Patch Notes

5/1/2012

Classes and Combat

General

Corrected an issue that prevented damage shields (such as Force Armor) from re-applying properly when activated before the current damage shield expired has been addressed.

Trooper

Commando

Plasma Cell now correctly deals its damage 3 times per application.

Companion Characters

General

Corrected an issue that caused companion stat bonuses from equipped items to be miscalculated when the companion was resummoned.

Bonus XP and maxing out companion affection with gifts

2012-05-01T18:16:00.003+10:00

This post is a bit of an update on what I'm doing in SWTOR at the moment, including information on using bonus XP and low level gifts to boost up a new companions affection quickly.

With the server transfers opening up last week I finally managed to get two of my other characters over to my main server. The characters I have right now are:
Level 50 Miraluka Jedi Consular Shadow who is blind and cannot be seen
Level 50 Jedi Guardian who looks just like me, or a fitter version of me
Level 40 Smuggler gun-slinger with a cyborg eye-patch for the win
Level 20 Miraluka Sith Warrior, and I'm sick of people asking me where I got my helmet from that looks like glasses
Level 22 Trooper Comando, and why does anybody like to heal? I am finding this character almost painful
... and a couple of level 1s.

They are all on the same server (now). What I'm planning on doing is having one of each style spec. So my Jedi Knight is a Guardian and my Sith Warrior is a Marauder. My Jedi Consular is Shadow and my Sith Inquisitor will be a Sorcerer. That's the plan. So in the end I will have played every style of advanced class.

PvP vs PvE

Pre-patch 1.2 I leveled my Shadow up to 50 mainly through PvP. But post-1.2 I'm finding the going is a bit slow. I am having a blast on my Sith Warrior and it's real fun to PvP with but the PvP rewards have been nerfed to the extent that it's a lot faster to PvE level, especially if you're stacking your bonus XP like I am.

Stacking bonus XP

What I mean by stacking bonus XP is that I'll let a character sit and max out their bonus XP for a few days whilst I play with another character. With five characters on the go it's really easy to spend 100% of your game time leveling with bonus XP. PvP is way slower than this.

Note to self: remove the Ratghoul customization if you plan on making out with your companion

See-through bikini on Ratghoul plagued companion

2012-04-24T19:05:00.001+10:00

With the Ratgoul plague ending tonight I've been rushing frantically trying to collect all of the Ratghoul customizations for companions that have only been made available during the plague time. Bioware made eight available, one for each class. To get the customizations you had to purchase a random role customization chest from the Jawa on Tatooine and I ended up with six unique different ones and about five duplicates. Luckily I was able to get three of the female ones that are available for Kira, Mako and Elara Donne. Like always, I thought I'd take some nice high res images of the female companions in bikinis. Unfortunately, Bioware didn't think anybody would consider equipping bikinis on their female plagued companions! The result was inappropriate to say the least.
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The Many Looks of Vette

2012-04-24T18:20:00.001+10:00

Vette is undoubtedly one of the cutest female companions in all of SWTOR. As you would expect from a Twilik female, she has a bubbly personality but can be a little bit naughty at times. Although she doesn't like cruelty she is definitely no goody two shoes when it comes to the law.

[Spoiler Alert in next two sentences only] Even though she was brought up with Risha, the Smuggler companion, being playmates throughout their childhood years, she has a very different persona to Risha. She is way more likable.

Her witty comments add a certain something to a lot of the mission story lines.

When you first gain access to Vette you get a reward which allows you to choose between customizations one, two and three. You only get to choose one and the others are then available from vendors.

In this image you can see that she has a total of nine looks available ingame. The looks in the image above are in order, the default look on the left and then 1-4 on the top row and 5-8 on the bottom row.
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Get Ready for SWTOR Space Combat

2012-04-24T09:49:00.000+10:00

There is absolutely no timeline on this but in an interview with NowGamer, SWTOR's lead developer Daniel Erickson has spilled the beans on a major future update to SWTOR that will include space combat. He wasn't explicit about it but the cracks between the lines are pretty obvious. He said:

"the next iteration of space is the single thing I’m most excited about in the entire future plan."

Pick up a novel by Michael A. Stackpole and flip on over to a space battle scene and imagine that playing out in SWTOR!

Further on in the interview Erickson referred to BioWare's commitment to listening to what their gamers want. The next iteration of space must at least in part be a reaction to the recent official poll which had 46.54% of respondents say that "Full 3D space battles" is the "Star Wars fantasty that excites you the most." A further 28.06% voted for "Capitol ship battles."

I can't wait. Memories of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter and Star Wars Galaxies are flooding in ...

SWTOR 1.2.0c Patch Notes

2012-04-19T19:03:00.002+10:00

1.2.0c Patch Notes

4/19/2012

General

Corrected an audio issue that could cause a loud, perpetual "jet engine" sound that is most noticeable on the Republic and Imperial Fleets.

Corrected a rare issue that could cause players to be unable to access their guild.

Classes and Combat

Bounty Hunter
Mercenary

Heatseeker Missile: This ability will now only gain extra damage from your additional stacks of Heat Signatures and will not incorrectly detect debuffs from other players.

Trooper
Commando

Demolition Round: This ability will now only gain extra damage from your additional stacks of Gravity Vortex and will not incorrectly detect debuffs from other players.

World Event
Jeelvic the Jawa will no longer take more DNA samples than intended for purchases.

Players who were not properly granted final event codex entry and title for defeating Infected Trapjaw, Zama Brak, and Urtagh will be granted both the title and codex entry.

PvP
Increased rewards for players on the losing side of Warzone matches.
Players will now receive rewards for Warzones if they have earned at least one medal.

Sith Warrior Companion Update

2012-04-19T12:13:00.000+10:00

I've noticed over the last week, since game Update 1.2 came out, our companion pages are getting quite a beating. It seems that every man and his tantuan are trying to get the most out of our companion gifts sections, because of the new presence buff and other unique buffs you get from maximizing your companion's affection. To make it easier on you we've been updating all of our companion pages.

Today we've just published a new version of our Sith Warrior companion page. Sith Warrior is our most popular page next to Sith Inquisitor. To get the most out of your game experience as a Sith Warrior, check it out now.

To all you Republic players that are sick of getting your ass whipped in PvP, Sith Warrior might prove to be beneficial as your next character.

'Tracking The Origins' Mission Guide, With all Maps

2012-04-17T13:02:00.001+10:00

With the attack of the rakghouls world event taking place, players are running around like mad trying to get the most they can out the new content. Apart from items you can purchase through the daily missions, there is also a mission where you are awarded this awesome little non-combat pet called the Crimson Rakling. Unlike other missions, no waypoints are provided for the objectives in this mission, so I have put together a complete guide, with maps, of all the objectives in this mission called Tracking The Origins.

Note: This guide has been done with a Republic character. Although the first section leading up to collecting pieces of the ship Stardream, are Republic only, all the parts of this mission where you have to collect the ship parts, and where they are located, are the same for Republic and Sith players.

To start this mission head to Tatooine and go to the Anchorhead Starport. Click on the Emergency Notice Terminal at 1726, 455. This will give you a first buff called ‘Informed’, you will then need to go get the ‘Attacked’ and ‘Exposed’ buffs (explained below). All 3 buffs have a 10 minute timer.

Rakghoul Live Event Emergency Terminal Broadcast

To get the next buff 'Attacked' head to the North-Western part of Anchorhead and click the crashed escape pod in a wall. You get attacked but the guards help you out.
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Attention Smugglers. Your Companion List Page has been Updated

2012-04-16T10:55:00.003+10:00

Some of our most popular content are the lists of information about companions. Each one has been getting an overhaul over the last few weeks so that they look better and it's easier to find what you need. The Smuggler Companion List has just been updated. On it you'll find out all of the character information about each Smuggler companion, where you get them and what gifts they like.

Here's the section on Guss Tuno, the last companion for the Smuggler class.

Guss Tuno

Character Information

Gender: Male

Species: Mon Calamari

Age: Unknown

Gameplay Information

First Encountered On: Hoth

Becomes a Companion: In the class mission called Trick or Treat

Companion Type: Healer

Armor: Medium Armor

Crew Skill: +10 Underworld trading Efficiency, +2 Critical Investigation

How do you skin a baby tauntaun?

2012-04-13T16:26:00.001+10:00

As the owner of a Collector's Edition, I was excited about the release of Taunta in the Game Update 1.2. The first thing I did when I logged in last night was to go out and buy him. Now 200 000 credits is a big outlay considering the extra I had to pay for the Collector's Edition but as there hasn't really been anything else to show for it - the speeder and other goodies are just for leveling and not end game use - the little baby tauntaun was a perfect way to show off. But then this morning when I got up, I was welcomed by an email telling everyone, not even just Collector's Edition owners but everybody, is getting a free baby tauntaun as a gift!

Now hang ... you can come up with baby Jawas, Ewoks, anything ... a Bantha for Pete's sake! But why give what could have a been a cool, unique, must-have-credits pet to everybody, especially after I already paid 200 000 credits just a few hours earlier! I want my credits back! This is rude and lazy of Bioware. I have no qualms about them giving everyone a gift; great idea, but to give the only update to the Collector's Edition to everybody after some of us buy it, makes it a poorly handled PR exercise. Oh but wait ... the free one has a saddle on his back.

So if you're going to skin a baby tauntaun, do the think the lightsabre might burn the fur? I am betting he's "Luke" warm inside!

Game Update 1.2 - Legacy patch notes

2012-04-13T10:22:00.001+10:00

Game Update 1.2 - Legacy

4/12/2012

The galaxy is in turmoil. War rages across countless worlds as Republic and Imperial forces struggle for control of critical resources. Amidst the chaos, threats emerge from all sides. The planet Denova, known for its extensive deposits of baradium ore, has been seized by a band of mercenaries and veteran Imperial defectors with mysterious motives. If they are not dislodged, the explosive arsenal they can create will give them the power to destroy any armed force – Republic or Imperial. On Corellia, a corrupt councilor attempts to maximize hypermatter profits by playing both sides of the conflict, and the crazed mastermind behind the Rakghoul outbreak, discovered on Ord Mantell, continues to threaten the lives of all sentient beings in the galaxy…

The Many Looks of Nadia Grell

2012-04-12T17:21:00.000+10:00

Nadia, being the final companion that Jedi Consulars get, hasn't seemed to have gotten the attention that other female companions have. When I first talked about her, just after beta, I described her as an annoying school girl. As it turns out, her personality isn't exactly the same in the game as it was in the beta version. Bioware reduced the amount of complaining she does and she seems to be a lot more effective as a DPS companion. With the 30% armor buff Nadia gets in Game Update 1.2 tonight, it will make her an exceptional companion. Not only does she put out substantial DPS and AOE damage but she also uses the same gear as you. This makes it really easy to equip high end operations and PvP gear for her. Giving Nadia all my hand-me-downs gives her a huge advantage over my other DPS companions. She is a loyal companion and will also provide you with a streamlined story arc. I was able to complete Nadia's story line faster than any other companion's. If you are playing a nice light side Jedi, she will love almost all of your decisions. Most conversations awarded 100 affection from Nadia.

Nadia has 8 unique looks available ingame at this time; one default and seven customizations. The first time I saw Nadia in beta she actually had customization 3 as the default look. Bioware later changed it to the one she has now. Regardless of what hairstyle or skin color you choose for her, she'll always come default with a painted face, giving her a very Queen Amidala look.

The downside of the customizations for Nadia are the price of them. They each cost 35 000 credits. The first six are all available from the one unique vendor, Sergeant Koam. He is located in the Republic base on Ilum.

The security key vendor Captain Kneely on the Ilum space station is where you'll find the seventh customization. The cost is also 35 000 credits.

I personally chose customization 3 and considering most available outfits do actually cover her body (unlike the bikini) face painted marking and hair color are the extent of her variances. Even with a uniquely painted face, when you close up and personal with her you will notice that each customization includes a different facial shape.

See also
The Many Looks of Mako
The Many Looks of Risha
The Many Looks of Kira Carsen

Update on Ranked Warzones in Game Update 1.2

2012-04-12T14:58:00.001+10:00

I kinda feel like this droid right now :(

Hey everybody,

It is with great reluctance that I have to announce Ranked Warzones are not going live with Game Update 1.2: Legacy. We had a fantastic run of testing on the Public Test Server and I can’t begin to thank the community enough for their tireless advocacy for this feature and the time people took to file bugs and voice their concerns.

After careful consideration, it is clear that to make Ranked Warzones the feature we all want it to be is going to take a bit more time. I apologize for any disappointment this may cause and ask for your patience as we work to make sure the Ranked Warzone Preseason launch is polished and fun. With Legacy, the new Warzone, Operation, and Flashpoint, as well as many other amazing features of Game Update 1.2 ready to go, we're very excited for tomorrow's additions.

In the future we'll be rolling the Ranked Warzone Preseason out in phases, listening carefully to player feedback and making adjustments as we go. The first phase will be full team, eight-player queuing only and from there we'll look at next steps as Preseason progresses. In the meantime we have provided an alternate purchase route for War Hero gear so you can start building your set while figuring out your teams.

Daniel Erickson
Lead Game Designer

End game gear with pricing in Game Update 1.2

2012-04-11T19:00:00.000+10:00

Georg Zoeller goves us a full run down on the changes made to endgame gear coming in Game Update 1.2. To be honest, even playing on the test server, I found myself a little bit confused as I didn't have all my gear sitting side by side with the new stuff, so it was hard to tell what the changes were. I started to take screenshots to try and work out and how the differences but as you'll discover from Georg's post below, like I did, some of the items have completely changed or no longer exist, like Champion PvP gear. The one thing I do know is that if you like the look of your Champion Gear you have just a coupe of days to get your hands on it if you want modifiable versions because although it is being changed ingame to a blue item, if you currently have it, it will turn into an orange item and will not be downgraded to a blue entry-level PvP item.

This screenshot gives you the current test server pricing on PvP gear.

Get ready for game update 1.2 with user interface options

2012-04-11T13:00:00.000+10:00

Big changes coming this Thursday are with the user interface options. I found myself in awe at what you can do with them in the editor. for example, I play on a 27" screen and I've always found the HUD to be too big. using an option in the new update I was able to shrink it all down to 0.8 and I moved all the buttons closer together, as you can see in this screenshot below.

I know I'll change it more as I start to PvP and do Ops but I saved this interface I created ready to go for Game Update 1.2. Here's the snitch from Bioware, with a video guide:

Game Update 1.2: Legacy for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ introduces several new systems to the game, including the option for you to customize your User Interface. You'll be able to alter the placement and size of each UI element to suit your own personal preference.

Game Update 1.2 locked in for April 12, 2012

2012-04-11T08:24:00.001+10:00

Bioware just announced the impending release of Game Update 1.2. This is one of the largest free patches ever released for an MMO, and Bioware are extremely excited to finally have a date for it. Check out this blog for all the info about maintenance tomorrow night.

David Bass from Bioware wanted to point out that the maintenance period is intentionally earlier tomorrow night. "This deploy is a very large patch, and Bioware wanted to shift it earlier to ensure SWTOR can be back up in plenty of time for the majority of our players to be able to play on Thursday night without issue."

Hello everyone!

We will be bringing down servers for eight hours on April 12th, 2012 from 12:01AM CDT (April 11th, 10:01PM PDT/1:01AM EDT/6:01AM BST/7:01AM CEST/3:01PM AEST) until 8AM CDT (6AM PDT/9AM EDT/2PM BST/3PM CEST/11PM AEST) in order to deploy Game Update 1.2 - Legacy. All game servers will be offline during this period. SWTOR.com will be available. This maintenance is expected to take no more than eight hours, but could be extended.

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