SW: The Old Republic - Episode VI (The Old Menace)

[Gorth]

So... update 2.8 (i refuse to call it "patch", because that implies it fixes something) hit the street. Verdict?

 

Entirely opinion based, but in the almost a year and a half I've been a subscriber, this is the worst I've seen.

 

The thank you from Bioware for being an avid player, putting in a lot of long and hard hours getting characters geared up was rewarded with?... giving it away to everyone else for basically free. Thank you, thank you very much for such appreciation.

 

Never mind the new bugs introduced, but removing the crafting materials from the fleet vendor now means, a number of schematics (still sold by the vendor who just dont have the materials anymore) means, forget about heroic space missions on future characters. Grade 7 upgrades not sold on CM and materials unavailable to craft those missing from the vendor selection.

 

16 Man ops in groupfinder... with bolster... just to ensure that no skill playing your class and no gear is needed to "qualify". Seriously?...

 

You would have thought they had seen what happened when people leveled up through the now infamous "KDY Academy", which has become a meme all on it's own. Teaching every possible way to fail at "real" flashpoints.

 

Throwing away Elite Coms and Ultimate Coms just for doing HM Flashpoints... I guess besides pissing in the face of older customers players, they with one brilliant stroke removed any incentive to run dailies and weeklies on the various planets. Oricon was getting a bit stale. No need to ever do it again. Nor makeb. Nor anyplace else for that matter.

 

Expect queue times for DPS in groupfinder to explode. Good thing i got a couple of tanks (and only run with guildies).

 

And yeah, the bugs. There was plenty to go around.

 

All in all, a big thumbs down and it made the decision to abandon my subscription rather easy.

[Gromnir]

am sympathetic regarding gorth's complaints regarding gearing, but as we endured the transition from level 50 to 55, this seems tame by comparison. am recalling that particularly with our pvp gear, the level 55 change were making all our gear useless overnight, and that hurt. hutt cartel were just 'bout 1.5 years ago, and am assuming that based on patch numberings, 3.0 will probable be an expansion similar to hutt cartel. so, within the next six months all gorth's gear were gonna be useless anyways. am guessing that the odd choice to bolster for ops and the cheapened ultimate comms is a recognition that the current gear model is gonna be altered relative soon.  the current ez-gear approach is likely intended to be significantly lowering the pain when 3.0  hits. 

 

as for 2.8 in general, we is ambivalent. our main complaint with 2.8 thus far is some bugginess and our complete disinterest in the gambling credit sink that is the focus of the new content. weren't the silly cartel market and the various packs a gambling credit sink? our dps assassin has been made viable again in pve, which is nice. dot-smash sentinels/marauders were eliminated as an option and watchman were improved. we got a sage and a sorc, but they is both heals, so changes wont make impact us. vanguard tank is a bit better. etc. most 2.8 character skills changes is incremental improvements. 

 

2.8 don't mean much to Gromnir. am likely to keep subscription at least until we get info regarding 3.0. am s'posing we could play wildstar for a few months til da:i or wasteland 2 is released, but am thinking that carbine needs to work on wildstar another six months or so before they can charge folks to play what amounts to a continuing beta. wasteland 2 is august, yes? that is likely the next game we got any interest regarding, so we is likely to stick with swtor for a couple o' months o' infrequent play for no other reason than that we ain't got any better options for our gaming hours.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

am sympathetic regarding gorth's complaints regarding gearing

Somebody understands me

 

 

but as we endured the transition from level 50 to 55, this seems tame by comparison. am recalling that particularly with our pvp gear, the level 55 change were making all our gear useless overnight, and that hurt

I can relate, sort of. I know I'm throwing hissy fits and temper tantrums at the moment over it. Might or might not change my mind in a few weeks time (sub still runs for a month and a half)

 

I do worry if they are going to add on top of what already feels like a "broken" leveling path though. There is a noticeable "bump" still around level 50, it isn't a smooth, transparent transition going from say, 45 to 55. Many reminders everywhere still that there is a level 1-50 game and a level 51-55 part tacked on to it.

 

I wish they would have had some kind of "upgrade" path to never commendations. In PVP you have an exchange rate between WZ Commendations and Ranked WZ Commendations. It would be nice if they had offered something similar to those who has 1000's of classic commendations and nothing to use them for. E.g. allow people at level 55 to buy basic coms at exchange rate 5:1, elite coms at 15:1 or whatever less arbitrary number that would make sense. At least people who grinded stuff before RotHC would have a chance to get something for their work, rather than being left with their face in the mud...

 

[dramatic voice]Why oh why [/dramatic voice] do they still have level 50 HM FP's? Some of those are great to play and quite "educational" mechanics wise (some nice insta-wipe pulls here and there to temper the occasional over eager mara/sent). Yet the rewards... Level 50 gear and classic commendations just isn't worth it. A nice one-off experience for the story elements. Re-balance them for L55 HM play. Force people play them all at least once to qualify for GF Ops.

 

Speaking of assassins... I think our guild master is obsessed with them, he has no less than 3 L55 DPS assassins.

 

My own 3 main characters are currently my old Powertech Tank, a DPS Juggernaut and Operative Healer. Sort of trying to be at least competent if not mastering all roles.

 

Also got a L55 Assassin Tank, Shadow Tank, Gunslinger, DPS Commando, DPS Guardian, DPS Sorcerer and a Sniper (and a Jedi Guardian tank and Sage Balance/PVP Spec close to level 50), in various stages of gearing up, some in mix basic com/elite com gear and the sniper in a mix of elite and ultimate com gear. Just a wild guess, I can probably get them the same gear in 3-4 weeks now that it took me the previous 9-12 months to get them. Which is why i probably feel completely unreasonable and peevish at the moment

[Gromnir]

Just a wild guess, I can probably get them the same gear in 3-4 weeks now that it took me the previous 9-12 months to get them. Which is why i probably feel completely unreasonable and peevish at the moment

 

we do sympathize. as we noted, we were more than a little perturbed when our elite war hero gear were effective expunged. nevertheless, am expecting six months or less o' the current model before we see a complete revamp.  so for now, we wouldn't be too concerned 'bout the gear grind. heck, we still have a couple dozen columi tokens we haven't yet redeemed. classic comm weapons actual sell back to vendors for decent credits, but am forgetting how many hours o' game time they gotta be in inventory before you may sell instead of refund. is annoying.

 

server transfer worked very well for us the one time we has done so. we transferred a 55 merc from jedi covenant to harbinger 'bout a year ago. were flawless as far as we could tell. all our current rep levels also transferred, which were nice. 

 

having three assassins strikes us as a waste. with respec we need only keep different gears in inventory to effective play differing builds, but we ain't really one to criticize as on jedi covenant we currently have one 55 of every advanced class... plus one 5th level name holder. so, with seventeen toons, we can't speak o' waste without appearing a bit silly.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

Still playing this one. Still having loads of fun. That is, intermingled with loads of frustration. I really should stay away from group finder for at least a month after double xp. Together with the KDY Academy it's a mixed bag of newbies coming to HM FP's thinking it's the first and best place to get new gear as soon as they ding in at 55 wearing greens and blue level 47 mods.

 

Sometimes you get luck and get at least one other "experienced" guy, sometimes you get 3 "failures".

 

Had a CZ Corporate Labs run on my moderately geared assassin tank (all verpine gear, a few oriconian pieces). The dps not only failed to kill the first boss before the enrage timer... the boss was enraged for an entire effin 5 minutes! Thank goodness for a kick ass healer that kept my sorry assassin butt alive during those five minutes. Healer eventually tired of trying to save dps from charged water and we just 2 manned the boss fight in the end. Same when we came to chief Zokar.

 

Then had a CZ Meltdown run with another group where Sandstorm beast enraged... but so close that we got him down before wiping. Then proceeding to the enhanced Vrblter. Guess what, they couldn't kill him. Despite having him constantly debuffed, they couldn't kill him. Took so long that the (under geared) healer ran out of juice three times and... wipe. After third time, I had enough.

 

Thank goodness for guild runs. If it wasn't for those, I would stop doing fp's altogether.

 

Had some fun operation. One Scum and Villainy saw us so way overpowered that we played it like a tactical flashpoint and didn't give a damn about most mechanics. First boss got tanked against first pillar, never moved, just killed where he was. Trash got killed in random order with excessive violence not bothering with cc or kill order. The big droid didn't finish second "cycle" of his 9 phases before he was dead and so on. Only last boss got the respect due because of the mechanics. It was awesome. Didn't take more than an hour either.

 

Finally got around to do the Dread Fortress and Dread Palace runs on my tanks and healers. Still need to complete them with a dps character. Teamspeak is a great invention

[Gorth]

Manged to get myself entangled in a "progression raid" group. Was quite fun. Starting out with the easy stuff, we downed Dashroode (sp?) as our first step on the way in HM Scum and Villainy. Didn't beat Titan X (yet, but we are getting quite close i think).

 

Looking forward to get my own homestead on Tattooine. Just this little modest hideout to call home

[Hurlshort]

Why the heck did they implement some boring slot machine game in the casinos, and not something decently entertaining like pazaak?

 

I am so perplexed by the design decisions on this game.

[Gorth]

Pazaak would have been awesome. It's like the Star Wars version of Blackjack

 

Made a bit more progress in our group and killed HM Operator IX and Thrasher yesterday. Those fights are a bit more fun than their story mode counterparts

[Spider]

Operator IX is one of my favorite fights in the game, it's just awesome.

 

If you're past trasher, the next two bosses win S&V will be fairly easy, the last two are a lot harder though (and much more fun).

[Guest Slinky]

Operator IX is one of my favorite fights in the game, it's just awesome.

 

If you're past trasher, the next two bosses win S&V will be fairly easy, the last two are a lot harder though (and much more fun).

 

Warlords was second to last boss there, right? I always thought it was pretty boring fight, hardly had to even move as a dps and our tanks didn't seem to have much more fun running in circles

 

But the last one is quite fun. Bit of a dps check though, so slacker dps might need a motivational kick in the arse.

[Spider]

I thought warlords was extremely fun on HM. But I like bosses that lets you change up your strategy based on group composition, in this case what kill order to use. But I come from a raid leader/healer perspective. That and I like council fights in general.

 

That and they simply look cool.

 

Last fight I like because of how tight the dps requirements were at the time, but in the middle part it got insanely repetitive.

[Guest Slinky]

I never healed warlords, but as a ranged dps you just sat there monotonously going through your rotation. None mechanics whatsoever, only time you had to even move was when that guy on the right started blasting at your direction. You could easily watch tv at the same time.

[Gorth]

Operator IX is one of my favorite fights in the game, it's just awesome.

 

If you're past trasher, the next two bosses win S&V will be fairly easy, the last two are a lot harder though (and much more fun).

 

Sounds good. As said, the Hard Mode version of the fights are a bit more challenging than the Story Mode versions (I've "solo tanked" S&V several times)

 

That stomp attack that Operator IX hammers you into the ground with was a surprise. The animation of my powertech stuck in sand up to his shoulders and trying to wriggle his way out was just too funny.

 

Olok the Shadow is going to be interesting in HM

[Spider]

When you say Operator IX, do you actually mean Titan 6?

[Guest Slinky]

Olok the Shadow is going to be interesting in HM

The first part can and will get really boring as it just keeps going on for an eternity, but racing against the clock with the droids is pretty fun, trying to burn them down before the next row activates. Olok himself is cakewalk after that.

 

What gear you guys are packing? What gear does S&V HM even drop these days, still underworld?

Edited August 5, 2014 by Slinky

[Gorth]

What gear you guys are packing? What gear does S&V HM even drop these days, still underworld?

I can't speak for the other guys, but i think we are mostly wearing oriconian gear (i.e. rating 180). I bought some crafted dread forged supercommando mk-x implants off GTN. Relics are still PVP relics as they are better than anything short of Dread Forged. Haven't found an earpiece that is better than my own crafted Microfilament Artifact piece. The oriconian earpiece is garbage with lots of endurance and less mitigation (I'm a powertech tank). Replaced a number of rating 180 enhancements with stuff bought from crafters on fleet for materials and crafting fees (bye bye alacrity and accuracy, hello defense and shield value).

 

When you say Operator IX, do you actually mean Titan 6?

Duh... yes. That's because I played TfB just after SnV. Too many large droids around. Titan is the one with the nuclear strikes, Operator the LSD one with all the colours

[Guest Slinky]

 

What gear you guys are packing? What gear does S&V HM even drop these days, still underworld?

I can't speak for the other guys, but i think we are mostly wearing oriconian gear (i.e. rating 180). I bought some crafted dread forged supercommando mk-x implants off GTN. Relics are still PVP relics as they are better than anything short of Dread Forged. Haven't found an earpiece that is better than my own crafted Microfilament Artifact piece. The oriconian earpiece is garbage with lots of endurance and less mitigation (I'm a powertech tank). Replaced a number of rating 180 enhancements with stuff bought from crafters on fleet for materials and crafting fees (bye bye alacrity and accuracy, hello defense and shield value).

 

A bit overgeared for a HM mode then, so I'll stop speaking of dps checks

 

I hated how pvp relics could be better than the actual pve relics before you managed get the absolute best from raids. Pretty much forces to play pvp for those. And I just about hated pvp in SWTOR.

[Gorth]

A bit overgeared for a HM mode then, so I'll stop speaking of dps checks

 

I hated how pvp relics could be better than the actual pve relics before you managed get the absolute best from raids. Pretty much forces to play pvp for those. And I just about hated pvp in SWTOR.

My tank... not state of the art or anything, but decent good quality gear all around. I know his absorption is low outside combat, but once he gets the heatscreen buff in a fight, it gets another 25% taking it to 60%

 

[Gorth]

Got myself some nice new homes on Coruscant, Dromund Kaas, Tattooine and Nar Shaddaa. Currently only the energy and time to start "decorating" my vacation retreat on Nar Shaddaa. I guess i have to do more HM FP's again as well as OPS to grab some more stuff to hang in my hallways as trophies.

[Raithe]

Eh, I have to admit, I picked up my homes, but I haven't been that impressed by the decorating side of it.

 

It does mostly seem to be a sink for time and money, and I'm not sure it really grips me enough to spend time doing so.

[Gorth]

You need to work a bit more on that vanity of yours, it's underdeveloped

 

I haven't unlocked all rooms on Tattooine, but the Nar Shaddaa place and the two capital world places are unlocked.

 

Didn't really get anything done about it yesterday as the west coast Servers seems to be fubar stability wise at the Moment. Decided to try out rolling a low Level character on each of Shadowlands (east coast) and Red Eclipse (europe), just to try out the lag times. Red Eclipse almost brought a tear to my eyes with lag of only 80ms. Haven't seen that since the 45ms on the late Apac servers (on a good day, i usually get around 280-300ms on Begeren and Harbinger).

[NOK222]

 

I've been having fun. 

[Gorth]

My Nar Shaddaa place is starting to shape up a bit. Haven't had much time to Play (any game at all) the last month. A bit proud of resisting the urge to just reach the 100% completion asap. Not even halfway there, trying to put a bit of effort into it and not just fill all hooks with kolto Barrels and wall lamps.

 

Started to gear up my new Level 55 marauder girl a bit. That is, currently wearing a bunch of Hand me downs from my dps jugg and some won greed rolls from hardmode flashpoints. Earning her own ultimate coms now though.

 

On the other faction side, my smuggler, aptly named 'Gorth' is halfway through Level 54 and approaching 55 fast. Not putting too much effort into the gearing anymore though, holding my breath and see if the rumours of Level cap increases are true. If so, will that mean yet another gear Inflation (last one not even 6 months old or so)?

[Gorth]

I've been lurking a bit on the swtor forums the last couple of days, seeing the rumours and guesswork about what 3.0 is about.

 

First off, I really hope the "Boss" at the end of the Rakata flashpoint is just a bad deflection on Biowares side. Some things are best left buried or risk getting silly. Come to think of it, where did Guss Tuno go? He always dreamt of being able to actually use that lightsaber of his

 

As to the speculations based on previous CM releases and the emails sent out during and after the Manaan/Rakata fp pairs, people seem to be obsessed with a place called Yavin IV (I might remember the numeral wrong). Why??? No idea what the place is, it figured all of 15 seconds or so in Kotor1 as a distant Background on a space station, no game play actually took place there.

 

Crossing fingers and hoping for something like DXun instead, if it has to be a moon involving the people vaguely referenced.

[Raithe]

Yavin IV.. as in the moon on the Yavin system that the Rebels were based on when the Death Star swung by...

 

Which also happened to be a location used 4 thousand years previously by Exar Kun (who sacrificed his followers in an attempt to become immortal but became a dark side ghost) , and before him Freedon Nadd who was himself a fallen jedi turned to the Sith ways and apprenticed under the previous ruler of the Sith Empire Naga Sadow who was in hidden stasis on the moon -(Sadow is also the one who started the Hyperspace War that led to the Sith Empires "destruction" and ultimately the TOR Emperor's Rise).

 

If that satisfies your basic EU overview there?