So, since the demise of CoH, I've been pretty active on Star Wars: The Old Republic. There are many things I like about the game, mostly the Star Wars aspect and I liked the two X-Box games that are much like it. If you played and liked those, you'll probably dig this.
There are many differences though! The only MMO I ever played was CoH, so thats all I have to compare it to.
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| Closest look I could find to the classic "Bubba" |
1) Customization - The character customization doesn't hold a candle to CoH. You can pick your gender, body type and race (limited race depending on your class) and what your face looks like basically. Clothes depends on what armor you pick up during the game. While some armor is "mod-able" so that you can use it forever, it's expensive to upgrade the mods every couple of levels or so. Though is is not entirely dissimilar to SO's in CoH.
A word on naming - Your name can only be one word, but you can use apostrophes and dashes sometimes. I can't seem to figure out the rules, sometimes what I try works, and sometimes it doesn't. When you get to lvl 10 on your first toon, you can choose a "Legacy" name. Thats pretty much the last name for any toon you create from there on out. Choose wisely. Mine is "Zero" which is OK I suppose, but if I had known when I chose it I'd be stuck with it forever, on every toon, I might have chosen differently.
2) Missions - The mission system is pretty straightforward and I actually like it more than CoH. There are two types of missions. Class missions are your character's personal storyline. It's the same for every Jedi Knight, Consular, Trooper, or Smuggler. The regular missions are the same and available for anyone on the planet. There are also Heroic missions specifically designed for teams. Some are for 2+ players, some recommend 4. Which leads us to...
3) Teaming - Teaming on SWTOR is messy on SWTOR. If you start with someone and you both run together on every mission, its great. If you come in after someones started and run a while, its messier. Much easier if everyone's missions are in sync. Once you've done a mission, you can't get credit for it again, with the exception of Heroics, which can be run every 24 hours if you want. Class missions are set apart in certain areas and one limitation is that 2 Troopers (for example) can't do both of their class missions together. You can change a setting to allow both of you into the area at the same time, but player A would have to do his mission, then you would go out and player B would have to do his (same mission). Since your class mission is your toon's main story line, you don't want to skip them. For starting out, and for teaming purposes, it is better to vary the classes. Knights and Consulars share a starting planet and Troopers and Smugglers share a starting planet. After that starting planet, they all go to Coruscant and the same planets each time. If a group wanted to run through the game all together, it'd be best to have a group of four, each a different class.
4) Guilds - My son and I started a guild on both the Republic and Imperial sides. There isn't any kind of reputation system for the guild and no "base" at this point, so its really just a collective group sort of thing. You can get a guild bank, and I just started one on each side. It was pretty dang expensive to get started and extremely expensive to expand, so not sure how useful it is. Mainly I use it to store things that might be useful in the future for different toons so I don't use up all my cargo storage.
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| Zzer'ro, my (Darkside) Jedi Guardian. |
5) Class Specialization - When you reach lvl 10, get the opportunity to specialize your class. If, for example you are a Jedi Knight, you can be a Sentinel with two lightsabers (Like Bbubbaa up above) or a Guardian with one lightsaber. Guardians are better at tanking, Sentinel at DPS. Each class has two choices. Many involve using either two weapons or one and DPS/Tank as the main difference. Its all explained as you make the choice.
6) Crew Skills - When you hit 10, you go to the fleet and one thing you can do is pick a crew skill. For the most part, I've found the crafting skills to be pretty useless. I've tried them all. If you do want to do one, though, I'd suggest either Artifice (lightsaber crystals) Biochem (make your own medpacks, some of them are very good) or Cybertech, which is armor mods. As much as I have to upgrade my mods, its worth it to have someone how specializes in this. All the rest of my toons get Underworld Trading (companion gifts), Treasure Hunting (lockboxes and companion gifts) and Slicing (lockboxes) - all of these are good for making money.
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| Khem Val, Sith Inquisitor's first companion and all-around bad ass. |
7) Companions - For an MMO, this game seems to be built for the single player. Around lvl 10, you get your first companion. This NPC follows you around and helps you. It is not quite like a Mastermind pet, but you can tell it what to do, somewhat, so its better than say, a fire imp. In many conversations, what you say can make your companion like you more or less. The more they like you, the more mission options you have later, as each companion has a story too. They also do crew skills quicker if they like you more. You can also "romance" some companions, which is a little creepy, really.
Group sizes are limited to four, so if you have more than two players in a group, companions disappear.
8) Random Help - Some things I found out the hard way:
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| The double arrow is a speeder, the U thing is a quick travel spot. |
- There are little "kiosks" placed throughout the game you can check into. Always do this. They are "quick travel" spots and can save you a LOT of running around. Same with Travel Stations. When I first started I was running half way across planets while others were zooming past me on speeder bikes because I had no idea. Its sort of like the CoH light rail, but a little cooler.
- You can sell junk at any vendor. Its a good idea while you are there to have them "Repair All" which fixes all your armor. There's a button at the bottom of his inventory list of this. You can also sell all your "junk" at once with the button next to it. I admit I didn't notice this for way too long.
- You can store stuff in a cargo bay accessible from your ship (which you get around lvl 16) or the Fleet and on some planets. Ingredients to craft things can be stored there and used from anywhere. Otherwise, if you want something you have to go to a locker to get it out.
- It is worth it to always log out in a cantina if you are on planet. It is a "rest zone" and it builds up rest xp, which gives you a 25% xp bonus. Being logged out for 24 hours there can give you nearly a whole level's worth of bonus xp. There is nearly always a quick travel spot in the cantina. I save my quick travels for logging out (there is an hour cool-down time on them)
- As of now, there is no "Global Friends" type of thing. So, if you want to friend someone globally, you basically have to friend each toon. The guild is kind of a way around this. If you create a toon and want into the guild, you can always text me. Hit me up on FaceBook for my number if you don't have it.
Thats all I can think of right now, I'm on the Harbinger server and have a toon in every class, almost every specialization. Only thing I'm missing is an Imperial Agent, and I just can't seem to get into that one for some reason. I keep hearing that they are really awesome, and my son has one he really likes, but I just haven't gotten into it yet. If you are thinking of giving the game a shot, if you send me your email address I can invite you to the game and I get a nice little bonus. :)
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