SW: The Old Republic Part 5

[Guest Slinky]

Hehe yeah, just drag 'n drop.

 

Aww man, I don't want to even think how many unneeded trips to mod stations you have done 

[Hassat Hunter]

Yeah, I had figured that out pretty soon, and asked a few people what mod stations where for, if they were maybe leftovers from an older version.

 

I think I only found out about a month ago or so it could be used for augmentations (after my guild  pointed out to me I was augment-less), I ignored them till then.

 

#oppositeproblem

 

And I understand your hate for huttball. Though what Spider says is right, I personally doubt I am going to like Team Deathmatch, I prefer the objective based gameplay. So still going to be stuck with Huttball . And who knows who will still play 8 vs 8 objectives with Deatmatch around. Oh well, I can live without PvP.

[Spider]

Unfortunately when queueing for normal warzones, you can also get the 4v4 arenas. Since they require less people, I'd assume they will fire more frequently, but that's just speculation.

 

Personally I like the idea of arenas, but don't like they play best of three matches. I understand why that is and it makes sense, but I would like the very quick matches you'd have just battling it out on the arena myself. But I haven't been on PTS to check them out, so maybe it'll be good. It's going to be easier to get 4 people to play a premade with than 8 for sure.

 

As for mod stations, In beta they were needed for any kind of modding I think, but it got changed since it was too annoying. Then when they introduced augment kits, they made it so you'd need the mod stations for that. I still don't see the need for it and would much prefer if they got rid of the mod stations all together, but will settle for having one on my ship(s).

[Gromnir]

huttball is, in our opinion, the best map. every other wz has potential of leaving a player sitting on a cap'd turret/door/beacon/ whatever... functionally doing nothing. too slow in calling for help, and that 1 guy can gets your objective lost.

 

huttball is different. everybody is involved at all times. everybody should be involved at all times.

 

...

 

downside is that there is classes that is particular suited for huttball. guardians/juggs, for example, can get across 1/2 of field in nothing flat. leap-to-enemy+force push+leap-to-ally is a dangerous combo, particularly for a hybrid tankish pvp build that is gonna be unstoppable once he/she is close to goal. is also one o' those maps wherein if other team is in vent/mumble/teamspeak, and you ain't, you is at incredible disadvantage. nevertheless, while we frequent hate huttball matches, we thinks they is probable best designed.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Spider]

Yeah, Gromnir is pretty much spot on.

 

My main pvp experience is as an operative healer. Hutball is... challenging. It's a lot better since the expansion though (words can't describe how much I love exfiltrate).

 

When I've played it on a vanguard tank at lower levels it was a lot more fun. All of a sudden I had several abilities that were relevant on that particular map, which made it tons more fun.

 

So yeah, play with a team that knows what it's doing and it's pretty fun. Otherwise it's very painful.

[Gorth]

And I understand your hate for huttball. Though what Spider says is right, I personally doubt I am going to like Team Deathmatch, I prefer the objective based gameplay. So still going to be stuck with Huttball . And who knows who will still play 8 vs 8 objectives with Deatmatch around. Oh well, I can live without PvP.

When your build isn't "suited" for Huttball, it sucks drawing it randomly 3 times in a row. If I could pick and chose, it's entirely possibly I would revisit it with a toon with a better skill set for that particular game. Alas, random map allocation puts a stop to that (at the moment at least).

 

...and as I recently discovered, you don't need a mod station for armour mods. 6 months of cursing and swearing at the piss poor fleet design putting mod stations and supply stores at opposite ends for nothing.

 

Tried something new today. Got invited into an "ops" group (in quotation marks because we didn't do ops). Was fun being up to 13 people taking on some of the other world bosses (as in those you can't really solo, Belsavis, Section X etc.). Nobody seemed to mind the noob tank learning how to work in a larger group either.

[Nepenthe]

My best experiences are from groups like that.

[Gromnir]

 

And I understand your hate for huttball. Though what Spider says is right, I personally doubt I am going to like Team Deathmatch, I prefer the objective based gameplay. So still going to be stuck with Huttball . And who knows who will still play 8 vs 8 objectives with Deatmatch around. Oh well, I can live without PvP.

When your build isn't "suited" for Huttball, it sucks drawing it randomly 3 times in a row. If I could pick and chose, it's entirely possibly I would revisit it with a toon with a better skill set for that particular game. Alas, random map allocation puts a stop to that (at the moment at least).

 

...and as I recently discovered, you don't need a mod station for armour mods. 6 months of cursing and swearing at the piss poor fleet design putting mod stations and supply stores at opposite ends for nothing.

 

Tried something new today. Got invited into an "ops" group (in quotation marks because we didn't do ops). Was fun being up to 13 people taking on some of the other world bosses (as in those you can't really solo, Belsavis, Section X etc.). Nobody seemed to mind the noob tank learning how to work in a larger group either.

 

am trying to think o' a build that is bad for huttball. sure, there is some builds that got an advantage, but am having difficulty thinking o' a bad build. dps scoundrels/operatives is less fun for us 'cause you is more often looking for kill opportunities, and trying to stop seemingly unstoppable tanks.

 

pug ops groups can be frustrating.  world boss is not time consuming, but genuine ops is. in some nightmarish runs, we have spent literally hours and +100k creds in repair bills to not even finish. some guild is a few bodies short and invite. we join only to find out that lead sets to mater loot and distributes drops to guildies first. "hey, you got your comms, so what are you complaining about?"  the only reason we (infrequent) consider joining a guild is 'cause o' pug op suckage.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

A DPS Powertech is not offering much in Huttball. No fast movement, no spectacular resilience, Single 6 second stun, single stun break with 60 second CD. No long range fire power worth writing home about. All in my humble opinion of course. Now that he's specced as a tank, he at least has the equivalent of a force jump (still no push or shock wave to move pesky people out of the way).

 

My trooper has a 60 second stun, which if removed with a stun breaker still leaves another electrocute to fire shortly afterwards (not to mention shock wave which has the effect of a dozer blade when trying to go somewhere less opposed). And that's a healer spec, not really made for fighting

 

I've tried it with Shadows, Snipers, Juggernauts and a Gunslinger besides. My Shadow was hands down the one I had an easiest time to contribute to the objective with (i.e. actually getting the ball over the line), followed by my Commando.

 

For sheer violence warzones, I probably preferred my Sniper/Gunslinger (good dps output and stealth detection, the latter being a nasty surprise for many a sneaky git).

 

It's about the right tool for the right job I suppose. Best "all rounder" for my own pvp play style seemed to be my Juggernaut. Decent damage and decent resilience.

 

As said, I might revisit it some day in the future.

 

--

 

I didn't mind the ops leader set it to master. In fact, if you got a decent lead (which we did this time, otherwise people would probably have quit after the first boss), it seemed to work better with those interested just doing the /roll thing and the rest saying pass. Of course, with random groups you wont know that until the target is down and too late to back out. Seen it too many times, even in mid level flashpoints that people just roll 'need' for everything (besides being hopeless team mates) they just think the drop looks good and want it for a companion or worse, have no idea of the meaning 'primary attribute' (nevermind that they have team mates who genuinely needs it for themselves). On the other hand, it sort of balances out with some weird and wacky people you sometimes end up with. Like those cartel packs, it's a gamble. Sometimes you have fun, sometimes you don't. Living in this time zone, you can't be too picky, because the servers are almost completely depopulated when we are awake

[ShadySands]

My favorite class for huttball is is my Vanguard tank

 

Between storm, harpoon, aoe, and guarding whoever has the ball (if it's not me) it's just too much fun. The problem I have is that the team I'm on usually just wants to murder the other team with no regard to scoring or stopping the ball carrier

[Gorth]

Vanguard tank is sort of the mirror image of Powertech tank, isn't it?

 

Never saw the point in the harpoon/lasso trick other than pulling the odd goon away from the ball carrier. An opposing side powertech once scored an own goal by grabbing me and pulling me back over his own line (hadn't noticed that I suddenly was ball carrier)

 

My Shadow is uniquely suited for the that type of game though, if I use his strengths. Go invisible, force speed to a good catch position. Stun any opponents nearby, receive thrown ball, force speed over finishing line. Rinse and repeat. In my (limited) experience, the side with most assassins/shadows has the advantage.

 

"Sniper" types are good for guarding objectives and melee tanks good for assaulting objectives. Hutt Ball is special though, as it's all the "devious" skills that gives you an advantage.

[ShadySands]

Yep, same as the Powertech

 

I mostly pull people into traps but also off of platforms or just away from the goal or ball carrier. It also has immobilize if you spec into it which makes it even more valuable on defense or for pulling into traps.

[Gorth]

Oh, nice

 

Since I mostly play class story/pve stuff, I found it useful to pull the odd guy off my healer (Mako) on those occasions where I miss someone with the taunts.

 

Managed to solo some heroics 4+ for level 47. A lot of work, but the loot drop was nice. That TT-17 Hydra Armour seems to sell for some hefty prices on the GTN. I might just see if I can get a complete set and mail to an alt.

 

2 heroic space missions down, I'm feeling belligerent now. Might try a third and see if I can get the mechanics of that one down too, to complete it "comfortably". They give a nice amount of commendations.

 

Having acquired the 3 schematics for grade 7 starship equipment for crafting (those schematics sold by the fleet vendor), I guess I have to start hunting for materials now. Got two toons who are approaching level 50 fast (Commando and Sniper).

[ShadySands]

My tankish Jedi Shadow just arrived on Belsavis at level 45. I don't find his voice as annoying anymore but I'm pretty sure that I've already figured out who the first son is unless they pull some trick where it's a character I haven't met yet 

I think it's Jedi Master Syo Bakarn

 

[Gromnir]

gorth is kidding 'bout powertech, no? our dps powertech owns huttball. not  a scoring threat, but while powertech is not our favorite pve class, it is buzzsaw in pvp. huttball is one o' our favorite maps for powertech 'cause we use grapple to max effect. sentinel don't do much damage in a fireptrap, eh? even if you can't grapple ballholder, you can pull off the ballholder's teammates.  grapple is huge for powertech. also, powertech is EZ. other classes gots relative complex rotations, but not powertech. you got multiple ways to break stuns, but even so, such stuns don't ruin your rotation 'cause you don't really need a rotation. keep target on fire and hit with rail shots. when folks inevitable try to get away, pull e'm back with grapple for a little more pain. most o' the time we chase healers making them dead. is actual fun.  

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

I find it scary how much enjoyment you derive from frying people over open fire in PVP

 

Not kidding. I suppose I just suck at trying to get my PT to fit what I wanted to do with that particular set of objectives, my natural inclination being more towards playing ball rather than beating up the opposition (which I've done with great enthusiasm in other warzones). As it is, for me it felt like putting square pegs in triangular holes or however that saying goes in English. Hence my "wish" for being a bit more selective with which toon goes to which types of encounter, similar to the group finder for flash points (i.e. all or some scenarios, no commendations if whimping out on some etc.).

 

I know, a good PVP'er can probably get the most out of any class in any scenario, but I'm not one of them unfortunately.

[Gorth]

On an unrelated note

 

Made 4 attempts at the next heroic space mission in SWTor (defend the station type thing)...

 

3 objectives, torpedoing the destroyer bridge, destroy 3 frigates and down 50 bombers.

 

First one was a trial run, got me blasted out of the sky with minutes to spare.

Second run, I missed one of the frigates, only blowing up 2 of 3 (you have 4 to chose from, so I made a mistake in spreading my missiles too thin)

Third run, I only got 49 out of 50 bombers (wasting too many missiles on the frigates)

Fourth run, I got them all, but died with 30 seconds left (and then you don't get credited with a win)

 

Arghhh!... Infuriating >_

[Raithe]

I've only ever been able to do any of those high level space missions if I've got all of the level 7 stuff equipped on my ship.

Once you have, it's not that infuriating. In fact once you pick up on the rhythms of the missions they became fairly smooth sailing. Well, apart from one that can be a bit iffy..

[Gorth]

I've only ever been able to do any of those high level space missions if I've got all of the level 7 stuff equipped on my ship.

Once you have, it's not that infuriating. In fact once you pick up on the rhythms of the missions they became fairly smooth sailing. Well, apart from one that can be a bit iffy..

 

Yeah, I know (got all the grade 7 stuff, finally using the bucket load of fleet commendations and credits I had amassed). It's really a matter of "practicing" and learning the course so to speak. Once you find the maximum spots to use your electronic countermeasures and EMP's, it gets a bit better.

 

Things I learned this time through was to take out the starboard batteries on the destroyer, since I had to pass next to them twice and got hammered by incoming fire both times. It becomes a balancing act between reducing incoming fire and taking out frigates until you find the sweet spot. Like the first 2 I managed, once you get familiar with it, you can do it easier each time bar the freak accident/mistake. Main thing I still need to learn for this particular mission is to conserve my missiles and use them to maximum effect (i.e. when to use blasters, when to use missiles).

[Spider]

Haven't played that mission in a while, but iirc this is my guidline:

 

Use EMP on the initial approach on frigates, then it'll be back when the final big wave of bombers come in. Getting a good EMP in on the frigates helps a lot.

 

Same with the protection I think I use it for the first and last wave of bombers. The bombers put the most damage on you, so that'll help mitigating a lot of it.

[Gorth]

I'll give that a shot (or two as you say) when I get home from work today

 

I used the EMP to great effect in the basic missions, popping it first and second time in mine fields, saving a lot of pew-pew'ing pesky mines.

[Gorth]

That worked a treat. Two more attempts and I almost got all the bonuses too. Fire one torpedo at bridge, then firing off the EMP on the first pass not only takes out most of the destroyer turrets, but almost destroys the nearby frigate. A single additional missile salvo takes it out completely and leave a large open space for you to get an (besides unopposed by enemy fire) unobstructed view of the bridge for the second torpedo on the return pass. Still needed a second try though, as the bombers takes a lot of firepower to get down. Got 49 in my first attempt, but with plenty of health to spare, so in second attempt, I decided to diss safety and go in guns blazing. A lot less health left, but got all the little buggers I needed (helped by a timely second EMP blast that hit in the right spot amongst them this time).

 

Yay, 3 down, 3 to go

[Spider]

Nice.

 

I found the heroic space missions to be a lot of fun, so played them a  fair bit before they nerfed the rewards. After that having played them a bit too much combined with lack of incentive made me stop.

[Raithe]

Remember, flipping power from shields to guns and back again at various moments really becomes a key strategy.

[Nepenthe]

Remember, flipping power from shields to guns and back again at various moments really becomes a key strategy.

 

It's a key strategy even in the easiest ones for me