Archive for the ‘SWTOR’ Category

Older Entries »
h1

Woot! Level Capped…Now What?

March 22, 2012

So this week the tank and I hit level 50 in Star Wars the Old Republic on our first characters! We were both so excited about reaching level cap and finishing our storyline!

Then…silence. We both looked at each other and said…well, now what do we do?

We have both sworn off raiding for numerous personal reasons so we were a little confused as to what we wanted to do next. After a bit of discussion I realized what I wanted to focus on after reaching level cap.

  1. Flashpoints – I want to go back and complete any flashpoints I missed for many reasons. One reason is to collect any pieces of gear that I might want for any role-playing purposes. Another reason I want to do old flashpoints is because I’m a title collector and some titles you can receive from making certain decisions in the flashpoints. I also like to push myself with the them. I want to see how many the tank and I can do with just the two of us and our companions. We really want to test our skills and push hard on certain content.
  2. Wrap Up Uncompleted Missions – I want to finish any Bonus Series missions that we either skipped or weren’t high enough level to complete. I also want to tackle any 2 Heroic or 4 Heroic missions we may have not attempted while in certain areas. Not only do I find these missions interesting for the story, but also unlocking any piece of gear that might be fun to own is always tempting for me!
  3. Dailys – Due to previous games I’ve played, I’m a little hesitant on wanting to do dailys. I don’t want to spend my whole time in game completing them for little to no reward. I do plan on giving them a chance and hopefully I won’t find them as much of a chore as I did before. I am currently wanting to save up for a faster level of traveling on my speed bike so dailys will have to be a must.
  4. Leveling My Sage – Yes! I’ve joined the Light Side! In all seriousness, the tank and I are interested in seeing the Republic side of things, and in experiencing new story-lines. I currently have a level 10 Sage who is just waiting on a Jedi Knight to be created so they can dominate the universe together!
  5. Making My Companions Like Me – After unlocking one of the relationships with my Imperial Agent’s companions I am very interested in unlocking information on my other friends. One thing this game has thought me is companions aren’t what they seem at first and getting to know them can really make you change your mind about who they are and if you want them around. I would like to see all of their story-lines and have them like me in return. I feel like some people might over look the importance of the companion story-lines and not realize how interesting it can be!

At this moment those are just a few of the things I want to focus on at level cap. I’m sure I’ll think of more as the tank and I do more in the game.

But enough of talking about me, let’s talk about you! What did you focus on when you reached 50? Did you roll another character? Did you farm anything? What were you excited about when you reached level cap?

Posted in Discussion, Empire, PC Gaming, Social, SWTOR | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

h1

Social Vendors: Why It’s Cool to be Social

March 16, 2012

Continuing the idea of fashion this week, as mentioned in my previous blog post the tank and I are moving up on the social points ladder in Star Wars the Old Republic. This means that we will be collecting some pieces of gear that we like from the social vendors very soon. These items are all orange so you can modify them to your character’s specific statistics. This means that if you’d like to tank, heal or dps in a version of the slave Leia outfit you can.

You earn social points when you group up with others to do missions and flashpoints. You earn more points for having more people in your group and when your character gets to respond in the cinematic. There are social vendors located throughout the Universe that sell various social outfits.  Almost all of the vendors are found near a cantina so they are pretty easy to get to once on a planet.  As mentioned above, all of them are fully mod-able, so you can fill them up with all the stats you need.  However, do remember that they are all light armor so if that is an issue for you, you may want to reconsider using these items.

What you will find in this post are the social vendors, the social level required to purchase/wear the items, and their credit cost for each planet.  There are a few sets that differ for Republic and Empire, I believe I have them all, however if I missed one just let me know please!  After the social vendors I have images of the items available from the key vendors as well as the sets one can have access to thanks to the collector’s edition of the game.  Please note I did not include the sets you can purchase with Fleet Commendations.  They do require social levels to purchase, but you receive the commendations by participating in space combat.  As always, for a larger image of the picture please just click on it.

Social Level I:

Coruscant: This is Republic only.

Dromund Kaas: This is Empire and male only

Social Level II

Balmorra:

Nar Shaddaa:

Social Level III

Alderaan:

Tatooine:

Social Level IV

Hoth:

Taris:

Quesh:

Social Level V

Belsavis:

Voss:

Social Level VI

Corellia:

Collector’s Edition Sets

The Collector’s Edition Vendor gear doesn’t require a social level, however I wanted to include them in this post anyway.

Empire:

Republic:

Security Key Vendor

The Security Key Vendor gear doesn’t require a social level, however I wanted to include them in this post for those interested.

Empire:

Republic: This is buggy on the preview window, however it’s similiar to the one in Nar Shaddaa, just more red.

Posted in Discussion, Empire, Fashion, PC Gaming, Planets, Republic, Social, SWTOR, Vendors | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

h1

War, Fashion and the Empire

March 13, 2012

I like to collect clothes…a lot. Not in real life, but in my MMOs, collecting clothes and armor is an obsession at times. You may or may not have noticed by my screenshots that my Imperial Agent has changed her gear at least 4 times, and I’m not finished yet! I’m currently on the lookout for even more gear for her. My tank is also getting in on the fashion action, he is still in his gear that he received at low level, and he is farming NPCs for the matching pieces of the set.

Thanks to the orange gear that Star Wars the Old Republic has, my Agent can wear anything that is medium armor or light armor and is orange (for more info on orange gear click here for a previous post). I do want to stick more to medium armor since it’s the highest level of armor I can wear.

I go through phases on my Agent where I am proud to be an Imperial Agent and I wear my Uniform with pride. However, there are other times when due to the story or the need to be undercover I want nothing to do with my Imperial Uniform. There are even other times when I just want to feel like a sexy gun-crazy Chiss while I’m saving the Universe. Nothing wrong with a little blood on the flesh to remind you what you are fighting for!

My Past and Present Fashion

Current Outfit: Showing Some Skin for the Empire

Chest: Agile Wisdom Vest

Gloves: Marksman Elite Prototype Gloves

Legs: TD-07A Panther Leggings

Boots: Sniper Elite Prototype Boots

At the moment I am wearing this, it’s not a perfect set but I am enjoying showing off some of my blue skin! What is funny is the tank found this piece for me on the Galactic Trade Network right before we went to Hoth. I found it humorous that I would decide to wear something a bit more revealing on my Agent when we were going to a planet covered in snow and known for its extreme cold temperatures.

I’m pretty happy with this outfit but the boots bother me, they draw too much attention to them for my tastes but I am currently looking for a replacement. I don’t have a helmet to match this set since I don’t ever really show my helmet. This is her “flirty” and “bad girl” outfit. It’s just meant to be fun, and she wouldn’t dare really wear this to Imperial Intelligence, but while she’s out in the field, it’s nice to let your skin breath.

As you’ll notice as you read more below you can see that I’ve re-used some of the items. They seem to match well and I haven’t found anything better at this point.

 

My Third Outfit: Ready to Serve

Chest: Imperial Coordination Prototype Jacket

Pants: TD-07A Panther Leggings

Boots: TD-042 Spec Ops Boots

Hat: TD-07A Panther Headgear

I really loved this outfit at the time I found it because I was really into the missions I was doing for the Empire. I was also in an area where I was encouraged to not hide my status as an Agent. This was pretty neat for me, since most of my Agent’s career I’m not supposed to be an arm of the Empire. I will forever love this outfit, and when I do wear it I’m proud to be able to look like Imperial Intelligence. Overall it’s just cool beans!

I’m very pleased with this outfit, I even like the helmet, even though I don’t show it unless I’m really in the zone. I adore this chest piece and love walking into Imperial Intelligence with this on, it really does make me squee some!

My Second Outfit: Undercover Sister

Chest: Synthmesh Battle Jacket

Hands: Synthmesh Battle Gloves

Legs: Plastifiber Barrage Leggings

Boots: TD-042 Spec Ops Boots

I really liked this outfit because the color matched my skin very well. I also liked the hood that rested on my back, although I would love to be able to actually have a hood on my Agent. It had a nice feel to it, I actually felt like I could touch the fabric that runs down the arms in the chest piece.

This set is nice, it’s not one of my favorites but it was a fun set to try out. I really like the overall feel of this on my Agent and feel like it’s a good outfit not to really stand out in but to be prepared for anything for. This is what I would imagine she would wear for undercover missions, something that doesn’t scream I LOVE THE EMPIRE AND YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!

My First Outfit: Certified Bad-Ass

Pants: TD-07A Panther Leggings

Chest: Black Talon Operative’s Jacket

Boots: TD-04B Spec Ops Boots

I loved this outfit and felt very lucky that the chest piece dropped for me the first time the tank and I did the Black Talon flashpoint. It has a Bounty Hunter feel to it, but the grey works well for an Imperial Agent. I always love the long trench coat look and the way it moves is wonderful! One thing I hated before in other MMOs is that if I had a cloak it wouldn’t move, it would just stay in one position all the time. In SWTOR the long jackets and the cloaks move with your body and the environment. Nothing was cooler for me than jumping towards an enemy in this outfit with my gun blazing!

I had to slowly add to this set as it was one of the first piece of orange gear I ever received in the game. This is a really fun set for me that I know I will continue to revisit. This is totally for undercover use but honestly I could see her relaxing in this gear in her down time.

My Future Fashion and My Role in the Empire

Currently I am on the lookout for a medium armor skirt to match my top. So far the only one I have found that I like is from the Social Vendor on Voss. They have a nice skirt that could match, however it is light armor so I’m still debating on this issue. However, as a side note, the whole social set on Voss is AMAZING! The tank and I are closing in on Social Level V and I’m super excited to unlock the set!

One thing that is kind of holding me back from going the full skirt route is I feel like I’ll look more like my Sith Sorcerer in that armor and I’m far from being a Sith. This kind of concerns me, especially since my Agent really can’t stand Sith and all the trouble they cause (that she has to clean up), but sometimes throwing the enemy off on who I am can be a good thing right? I’m sure there are many Sith who might be offended and honestly? That would please my Agent greatly. She fears no Sith and would like to give them all a taste of their own medicine at times.

So what about you? What gear are your characters wearing? Are you incorporating role-playing into your clothing or just going for the cool eye-candy factor?

Posted in Discussion, Fashion, Gear Modification, Imperial Agent, PC Gaming, SWTOR | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments »

h1

Screenshot Saturday

March 10, 2012

This submission comes from Alyice on Gardans of Talla, as usual just click on the image for a larger viewing.  Thanks Alyice!  Great shot!  Remember if you want to see submit your screenshot just Email Pixel Heals !

Posted in PC Gaming, Republic, Screenshots | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

h1

Add-ons: Do You Miss Them?

March 9, 2012

The other evening while the tank and I were discussing things in Star Wars the Old Republic and the information revealed from the recent Guild Summit, we came upon the topic of add-ons.

Currently in SWTOR there are no add-ons available for the game. Personally I love that there are none, however I can see why some folks would want some if they wanted to use them.

Is it You or is it Me?

When I first started playing MMOs I had no clue what add-ons were or even what a “gaming” mouse was. By the time I reached end game content I still didn’t have any add-ons. I was healing (and the tank was tanking) with no add-ons other than one that warned us of abilities the boss was doing at the time.

We tanked and healed a lot before we were introduced to some add-ons that could help us tank and heal “better”, and then when we found mouse over macros we were in heaven. We added more and more customized stuff to better focus on our roles in the game so that we could perform to our “best ability”.

But sometimes, looking back on things I wonder if those add-ons were really necessary. I wonder if they made me a better healer or if I was always a good healer and gave the glory to the add-ons.

Going back and asking my raid leader if I was a better healer before or after the add-ons I know she would only say that the difference would be my confidence, which only comes from experience in healing, in running content that you focus on and in working with your team mates.

I know by the time I stopped playing my previous MMO, I had a lot of add-ons that I depended on for all my healers and my alts. This added more resource drain to my computer, and more dependability on outside sources. I know that when a patch came out all of my add-ons were usually broken until the creators updated them. So for this period of time, I had to resort back to the basics sometimes. I personally felt awkward during those moments because I stumbled in my healing, since I was so used to these outside resources assisting me in my role.

This is what is great about SWTOR and not having any add-ons at the moment, I don’t depend on outside resources, I always know what my UI is going to look like and my confidence level on my healers is where it hasn’t been before. I’m having to learn how to pay attention to buffs, debuffs, and timers all on my own. I feel this is making me a more self-aware player and a better addition to any groups I might join up with.

Yes, Possibly Maybe

Now as a former raider, I can also speak as to why add-ons are helpful. There were plenty of nights while we were raiding that thanks to add-ons that could track damage done or healing done we knew that that evening’s team just didn’t have what it took to down the boss.

Being able to track things can allow you to improve upon your role, and can show you what you are doing wrong at the same time. Before one of my former characters was a healer, I attempted to be a damage dealer. Thanks to a great friend and co-raid leader I found out through the use of an add-on that tracked my abilities and damage I was making a huge mistake that once corrected increase my damage outcome. In the end knowing this and correcting it helped my raiding team, as well as others I encountered in other content in the game. This did make me a better player and allowed myself to do the best I could.

I feel it’s very important for those that are doing more end game content to have access to some add-ons that can really help them progress, but I don’t think they are necessary to get things accomplished. I know from experience you can still progress, and be competitive without add-ons. They are a helpful resource, but they are not a need in the game, if they were the game would come with them already, in my opinion.

Not Missing You At All

Overall, my thoughts on add-ons are they are nice, but I don’t think they are required for someone to play the game to the best of their ability. I think that add-ons can become a crutch for some, and an excuse for others. They can make certain aspects easier to do, but being easy isn’t always the best or the most fun. I know I’ve enjoyed going back to the basics in SWTOR at this point and I have to say it’s the most fun I’ve had healing in a while. It is a challenge and let’s face it, if any game gets too easy, it loses it’s fun factor fast.

So, what do you guys think about add-ons? Do you want them for SWTOR? Do you like add-ons? Do you feel they add to the game play?

Posted in Add-ons, Discussion, Poll, SWTOR | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

h1

Guild Summit 2012 Day One Summary

March 7, 2012

Day one of the Guild Summit was held on Monday March 5, 2012 and I know I’m a bit late but here is the information that was revealed.  Some of these changes are coming in Patch 1.2, the first major content patch for Star Wars the Old Republic. I hate that I missed a lot of this, due to work.

What of these changes are you most excited about? For me it’s the Legacy information that has me drooling the most so far!!

Operations and Flashpoints

  • 38% of level 50 players have done an Operation.
  • Bugs in Eternity Vault were extremely frustrating to players, and fixing bugs in Operations is a high priority.
  • Karagga’s Palace was much smoother, and they had guilds help play test the Operation.
  • Looting system in normal mode Operations needs improvements and will see changes to a more traditional loot system in 1.2.
  • Current Operations difficulty is considered to be too easy. In Game Update 1.2 there will still be three difficulty modes – Story Mode (puggable), Hard Mode and Nightmare mode.
  • There will be different loot for all three modes. Hard modes will have different mechanics than Story Mode. Nightmare will become more Nightmarish.
  • New Operation in 1.2 – Explosive Conflict. Will be harder than the current Operations.
  • Orange gear will become viable in end-game. Players can strip out the mods and set bonuses for Tier gear and apply it to orange gear.
  • Looking for better end-game testing from guilds for 1.2
  • New Flashpoint in 1.2 Lost Island. Continues the Kaon storyline.
  • Two more Operations are in development.

Player vs. Player

    Warzones

  • Extremely popular 50%.
  • Medal system not balanced.
  • Faction Imbalance.
  • New Warzone Novare Cost.
  • Includes same faction gameplay.
  • Majority control type objective. Allows for major comebacks.
  • Ranked PvP coming in 1.2.
  • Ratings for solo and group play.
  • ELO rating system.
  • New Warzone dailies.
  • Winning and losing both award medals.
  • Removing incentives to quit early.
  • Introducing a lot more medals. 18 new ones.
  • Medal for scoring in Huttball.
  • Discouraging farming of medals. More medals for winning faster. (applause)
  • Medal rewards capped.
  • Vote to Kick (applause).
  • Players can vote inactive players
  • Will be filled by someone in the queue.
  • Measures to prevent abuse.
  • Efforts to combat AFKs
  • Warzone requires min. contribution to get medals (1.2)
  • New Tier of PvP gear – War Hero
  • Greater stat differences from PvE gear.
  • New Lightsaber colors.
  • New PvP crafting
  • Adding Expertise Crystals
  • Existing Warzones will eventually allow same faction vs. same faction.
  • New map and voice over changes to accommodate same faction matches.
  • Will help reduce Huttball getting selected all the time.
  • Cross-server Warzone queuing (1.3 or 1.4)
  • Will include the ability to queue for specific Warzone.
  • 8-person team queuing.
  • Stay grouped when you leave Warzone. No ETA but it will happen.

     Open World PvP

  • Less popular then WZ
  • Illum has problems
  • Outlaw’s Den seeing some great emergent gaming.
  • Going back the drawing board w/Illum (applaue).
  • Current design too ambitious.
  • Redesiging it to be more engaging and fun.
  • Removing Illum PvP quests.
  • Bag system will be deprecated in 1.2
  • Rewards being moved to WZ for now.
  • Adding new ware hero tier gear to WZ (expertise)
  • Less randomness in PvP rewards.
  • Minor changes to Outlaw’s Den
  • Ability to travel their quickly
  • Keeping it a PvP Sandbox
  • Minor class imbalances
  • Speed Hacking/Exploiting
  • Working on detection and prevention

Legacy System

  • Current State – It’s a bar.
  • Family Tree – automatically updated w/characters and you can determine where they fit into your legacy.
  • Species unlocks for all future legacy characters.
  • Reach level 50 w/a human character – gain presence increase for all existing and new legacy characters.
  • Reach level 50 w/a cyborg unlock stuff.
  • Complete chapter 2 - Unlock class’s buff for all other legacy characters.
  • Complete Chapter 3 - Unlocks current class’s Heroic Ability for all other Legacy characters
  • Requires heroic moment to use.
  • Unlock Heroic Ability – Force Choke
  • User Force Choke as an IA during heroic moment.
  • Complete all missions for a companion ‘type’
  • Unlock shorter cooldown and longer duration for the heroic moment.
  • Unlock a small stat boost.
  • Unlock additional presence buff for each companion completed.
  • Alignment abilities – Light, Dark, Gray (not in 1.2)
  • Unlocks active abilities for all characters
  • Valor rank unlocks
  • ‘Brawling’ abilities for unarmed duels.
  • Social rank unlocks – dance w/your companion
  • New emotes and RP packages.
  • Most rewards can be purchased. They will be expensive.
  • All will be retroactive.

Coolddown reductions for fleet pass from the system.

  • Jetpack – short duration sprint.
  • Sprint moved to Level one.
  • Items for your ship.
  • Training Dummies (applause)
  • Operations and Warzone dummies (can’t test healing).
  • Repair droid vendor to sell items.
  • Vendor sells upgrades for ship droids that can improve their crew skill abilties.
  • Mailbox for your ship.
  • GTN for your ship (very high up the legacy).

Legacy Items

  • Weapons and Armor
  • Powerful low-level items found and purchased by high-level characters.
  • Bound to legacy – can trade to anyone in your legacy.
  • Legacy appearances – unique orange items.

Future of Legacy

  • Character specific rewards.
  • Buffs to help speed early-game progression.
  • Purchasable items/abilities for new characters.

Economy and Crew Skills

  • Game economy is doing really well despite the GTN.
  • Changes are coming to improve the GTN in 1.2
  • Crew Skill distribution – Archaeology  and Scavenging are the two most popular gathering skills.
  • Artifice and Biochem are the two most popular crafting professions (in that order).
  • 80% of level 50s have less than 400K credits.
  • Training abilities were the biggest credit sink, although that’s changing as more people hit 50.
  • Crew Skill missions were the number two credit sink.
  • Quest rewards remain the largest credit source.
  • Players are better able to save money now.
  • Faction balance is 57% Empire to 42% Republic across all servers.
  • Inquisitors are very popular and Smuggler and Imperial Agents are among the least played classes.
  • Developers are extremely pleased with the leveling curve. It’s very smooth. No drop-offs at certain points.
  • Repair costs are an issue, but they can’t fix that just yet.
  • Working hard to fix exploits such as Ilum chest looting.
  • They have good tools to track down bots and remove them from the game.
  • Credit spam is minor compared to other MMOs.
  • They want all crew skills to be useful in end-game.
  • Ability to craft Ops level gear with crit. augments is coming.
  • Slicing will become a source of augment materials.
  • Cybertech grenades could get a short cooldown.
  • Less BoP and more BoE craftable items.
  • Repairs costs for PvP could happen. Needs to be implemented carefully.
  • Kolto grenade might be considered at some point.
  • Longer crew missions could happen at some point.
  • New resource nodes coming on Ilum.

Roleplayers

  • Legacy system feeds into roleplaying.
  • Unlock emotes.
  • Family tree.
  • Social unlocks.
  • Alignment unlocks.
  • Character customization a possibility in the future.
  • Chat bubbles could comeback. They think they’ve worked out the tech issues with them.
  • More orange gear with viability at end-game.
  • Improving spawning technology for NPCs and other objects in the general environment.
  • More chairs that you can sit in.
  • Beast mounts a possibility, but Denis Erikson asked “What would you RP with your new animal friend?”
  • Cosmetic gear should work for all classes and not have armor restrictions.
  • Custom emotes for cross-faction could be done at some point.
  • Naming policies are hard to enforce. Doing what they can.
  • They would like to add more RP space to the game.
  • Attaching other players to your legacy is not something to expect anytime soon.
  • Emotes that say character lines is something they plan to do.
  • Companions riding beside you in taxis could happen in the future.

Guild Features

  • Guild bank with seven tabs.
  • The seventh tab will be very expensive to get.
  • Detailed controls for guild leaders.
  • Option to require an authenticator to access certain tabs.
  • Very good logging for the guild banks.
  • Issues with the current guild roster and UI might be fixed in 1.2 (the developers weren’t 100%) sure.
  • Guild calendar to set Operations schedules and reminders coming in a future update.
  • Guild emblem that can appear on armor and clothing coming in a future update.
  • Guild progress and Capital ships still something they want to do, but is still a long way off.

User Interface

  • Edit mode for the UI.
  • UI Scaling is extremely granular.
  • Almost everything can be moved and resized.
  • The companion bar will be it’s toolbar and will not cover a players toolbar.
  • You can save your UI as an XML file and share it with other players.

And the Rest

  • Legacy is in good shape.
  • Need more story.
  • Same Gender Romance arcs is something that is still planned for this year. They want it to be story based and they want to do it right.
  • New daily missions on Corellia.
  • Unify to chest options is returning and it’s improved.
  • High resolutions textures added in 1.2.
  • Dual/multi-spec coming in two parts (not in 1.2). Part one switches between skill trees. Part two includes a gear load out (think equipment manager).
  • Additional boss mechanics for Hard Mode and Nightmare mode Ops.
  • BH and Troopers not getting a battle rez.
  • Mini-games remains something they’d like to do but no ETA.
  • Continue to work on game performance and optimization for both high-end and low-end systems. They want this game playable on a broad array of systems.

Posted in Companions, Crew Skills, Empire, Gear Modification, Guild Summit, Legacy, PC Gaming, Republic, SWTOR | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

h1

Lore Discussion: Order of Revan/Revanites

March 6, 2012

I know a thing or two about Star Wars lore, but I’m always trying to educate myself and read as many books as I can on the Universe. I started to think as I was doing some personal research the other evening, that I would try to start including the lore more in my blog posts. So here is the first, in hopefully many, posts on Lore Discussions.

Please feel free to discuss the lore posted here and correct me if I’ve missed any valuable information. However, please be aware that the Lore Discussion posts, including this one, will contain spoilers. If you don’t want to know then don’t read further on. I respect people’s rights to be surprised.

The Revanites/Order of Revan

The tank and I recently finished reading the new Star Wars the Old Republic: Revan book by Drew Karpyshyn and I have to say it was an amazing read, as usual, Drew being one of my favorite Star Wars authors. While talking about what we liked and disliked, we came to discuss the Revanites that we encountered in the game and their relation to Revan from the book.

We began to wonder if the Revanite missions in game were only Empire side, and after asking a former guild mate, he confirmed that it was not offered on the Republic side. We wondered why the Revanite mission line wasn’t offered on both sides since Revan did start out as a Jedi, and after becoming a Sith he was accepted back into the Republic. We wanted to know why Sith would want to encourage the teachings of Revan.

Before we get into some thoughts on this, let’s look at who the Revanites are, this information is pulled from Wookipedia.

History

The Revanites, are also known as the Order of Revan, was a secret society of Sith that formed at some point before the Cold War. Their lifestyle, which is seen with hostility by the main stream Sith Empire, was inspired by the history and teachings of the former Sith Lord Darth Revan.

Three hundred years after the disappearance of Darth Revan, a former Dark Lord of the Sith redeemed as a Jedi, this cult was formed out of admiration for his philosophy and accomplishments. It was made up of secret members from within the society of the Sith Empire.

At the time, it was known only to few outsiders and its own members, all together the Order had a few hundred members. There was nothing against anyone wanting entry into the Order; its members ranged from powerful, influential Sith Lords, to military officers to even alien slaves. Personal power and passion were seen as important aspects when joining the cult. Some Revanites devoted their whole lives to the teachings of the cult and they existed outside the society of the Sith Empire; others studied and met in secret in order to maintain their ordinary lives.

According to the Order’s followers, Revan had drawn upon the strength of passion coupled with tranquility, took allies from both humans and aliens and enlisted the aid of the weak and the strong. Idolizing Revan as the greatest of all teachers, the Revanites sought to emulate the former Dark Lord’s ways. Since Revan’s fate was unknown to all but a few, the Revanites suspected that their role model was still alive over three centuries after his time.

The Revanites leader, Anyarah speculated that Revan assassinated the Emperor and assumed his role. This theory was reinforced by the Emperor’s seclusion on Dromund Kaas. Furthermore, the Revanites feared that the Dark Council posed a threat to the Emperor, who they assumed to be Darth Revan in secret.

The Dark Council viewed the Revanites with great contempt for mixing Jedi and Sith teachings. Hence, one of their goals was to root out and destroy the secretive organization before its teachings could spread even further throughout the Empire.

In Game and Role-Playing

If you have played the Empire side of Star Wars the Old Republic then you will have encountered the Revanite quest line in Dromund Kaas. You know you are sent there to seek out their leader so that they can be destroyed. This enforces the idea of the Sith Empire wanting to annihilate the organization and its teachings.

While there you encounter many interesting missions that really put Revan’s ideals into place. You even come across a mission that allows you to help promote Revan as a Sith over being “Reborn” and using both sides of the force.

At the completion of the mission line, even if you reveal the leaders name you receive the title of “The Revanite.” This title is such an amazing one to have for the role-playing aspect for me! Will you choose to defy the Empire in public or private? Are you outside of the Sith Empire and believe in Revan’s teachings? If you do believe in his teachings, do you consider him a Jedi or Sith, or someone that is “Reborn”?

This is a wonderful challenge they have applied to the game for us to consider when creating our characters and in choosing a title to proudly display over our head.

Questions

Why is it not offered on the Republic side?

I can only assume that this was not offered Republic side due to the fact that Revan wasn’t really welcomed back by many in the Jedi, as well as the same time he did return the Jedi weren’t looked upon favorably within the Universe. It wouldn’t make much sense that Jedi would want to follow his path since once he returned he broke many Jedi “rules” such as getting married and believing that emotions could be a positive thing in the force. What are your thoughts?

Why would the Sith want to encourage his teachings?

Many Sith turn to their past Sith Lords for guidance and wisdom to help them get an edge on their comrades. Darth Revan was an extremely powerful Sith Lord and held many innovative ideas and beliefs. He has influenced many Sith in the future, including Darth Bane. Even after Revan was “Reborn” his beliefs combined both Jedi and Sith, and with at least one Sith being a witness to the true power of using both sides, it makes sense that at some point in looking for a savior that a cult might be started to purse the stronger of the force. What are your thoughts?

Posted in Empire, Lore, PC Gaming, Republic, SWTOR | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

h1

No Where Else I’d Rather Be

March 6, 2012

As the tank and I are closing in on reaching 50, we seem to be roaming the galaxy more than ever in Star Wars the Old Republic! We are discovering new planets and new troubles, but at the same time we seem to be revisiting some places. Some of these places are a welcome sight for sore eyes and others I could go without seeing again for a long time!

For example, Dromund Kaas was a place I hated seeing for a while because I was always there it seemed, and I always had to end up going back there when I thought I had gotten away. However, after realizing how important it is to the Empire and to the lore, I have recently come to enjoy visiting there.

My tank loves Nar Shaddaa, Alderaan and Belsavis, and I have to agree with him on those choices. Nar Shaddaa is one hell of a town and seems to have everything a city girl could want when it comes to atmosphere. Alderaan was just beautiful to experience; the snow and the fancy noble homes were amazingly gorgeous for me. Belsavis is so interesting lore wise to me since it is a Republic Prison that even held Dread Masters!

Now I know we still have more to explore but so far we have our favorite planets to visit and do our missions on.

What are your favorite planets? Why? Is it for the missions? Do you like the atmosphere or is the lore alone the main reason you like the planet?

Posted in Empire, PC Gaming, Planets, Poll, Republic, SWTOR | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

h1

Screenshot Saturday!

March 3, 2012

This submission comes from Anti’gone on Colonel Tobin, as usual just click on the image for a larger viewing.  Thanks Anti’gone!  Great shot!  Remember if you want to see submit your screenshot just Email Pixel Heals !

Posted in Assassin, PC Gaming, Screenshots | Leave a Comment »

h1

Some Wishes and Likes

March 2, 2012

My first character in Star Wars the Old Republic was my Sith Twi’lek and I loved her! The Twi’lek is just one of my favorite Star Wars species and I was very excited to get a chance to play one. I also loved the gear that the Sith Sorcerer received, however at a very low level I came across something I wish I could change.

I had received a hooded top for a quest reward and when I tried to equip it, my head band, that I had spent time picking out when I made her, disappeared. So if I didn’t have my helmet showing it looked like my Twi’lek was bald. While there is nothing wrong with that, I however didn’t pick that for her to look like on the creation screen. I was a little disappointed but found a work around with another piece of gear. However, from then on out if the reward had a hood I never would pick it and I deliberately sought out pieces that were without hoods. This was a little disappointing since I wanted to see her in a hood but I dealt with it.

The other evening my tank and I were discussing another similar situation and I started to think of a couple of things I wish they would add or change in the game to enhance the gaming experience. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the game and I feel it’s wonderfully developed! These are just some suggestions to make it even better!

  1. Dark Side Levels – I’d like to be able to pick which level of Dark Side corruption we can show on our character. I love Dark III personally, but I didn’t like Dark IV on my Twi’lek but I couldn’t go back without losing Dark points. It would be nice if you could pick which level to show, instead of just all or nothing.
  2. Companion’s Gear – When I got my first helmet for my Imperial Agent’s companion I was excited. She needed the gear to make her better, so I equipped it and was instantly scared. It looked horrible on her, and it didn’t come off in the mission scenes. I directly went to the options menu to find a way to turn off this feature and didn’t find it. I was stuck having my companions with these weird things on their head. I have opted to not have them wear a helmet at all unless I feel it will really help their performance on a tough mission. It would be nice if we could have an option to toggle that on and off as one wanted.
  3. Weapons – I’d like to be able to try on the weapons in the dressing room. This is really important to be when it comes to orange items since they are hopefully going to stick with you for a while. What makes it a bit more annoying is the resources on the internet don’t have a lot of images, so even if you wanted to try and see what it looked for that way, the chances are you won’t find an image. It would be nice if when you opened the dressing room you could see what the weapons looked like.
  4. Mailbox – It would be nice if you had a way to access a mailbox on your ship. You are rested, you have access to your cargo hold, why no personal mail delivery? I guess it could be a lot to expect someone to track you down in the galaxy to deliver you your mail, but it would be a nice add-on to the game.
  5. Interruptions – I would like it that when my companions came back to me from their mission, if they wouldn’t bump me out of searching the Galactic Trade Network or other windows that I have open. SWTOR has a lovely way to show you that you have a pending mission and I wish they would use it more so this isn’t a problem. It’s very annoying to be bumped out every time someone comes back from a mission.

I don’t want to leave this post as a negative one, so let’s talk about some things I really love about this game.

  1. The Map – The map for me is awesome. I can target the things I’m looking for, I can move the map thanks to the lovely green arrows, and it fades when I move so I can leave it open while I travel. Coming from the few other games I’ve played this map is very dynamic and puts everything where I can find it easily.
  2. Professions – The whole system of leveling professions is amazing to me. The way they connect to each other and how you can use your companions to get your materials and to craft it while you work on missions is very liberating for me. Before in previous games, hours were wasted just picking herbs, mining, etc… In this game your companions waste their time and you profit!
  3. Storyline – As someone who dabbled a little into role-playing but never developed their characters fully in other games, I am loving being immersed in my character in this game. I know all my characters, how they think and feel. I get mad when I am betrayed and giggle when I get to flirt. Most importantly I understand why I’m doing what I am and how it pertains to me and the galaxy. I really feel like I am part of the Star Wars Universe.
  4. Companions – I love how the companion system works, and what all they can do for you. I enjoy the relationship aspect of it and the flirting is very sweet and kind. I would like to be able to talk to them anytime though, not just when they want to. I will say that I do hope they offer the option of same sex relationships in the game as they have announced that they would in an upcoming patch. I also hope that they will allow for the corruption of some companions, to avoid spoilers I won’t go into details here, but it’s an option I would like to have.
  5. Chatting – I ADORE that I can hide the chat log. I hated that in other games I couldn’t turn that feature off. Half the time the chat is random, it can be offensive or just plain distracting while you are trying to complete your missions. I know my friends probably hate that this is an option, since I’m hard to get a hold of now, but this is a wonderful option for people like me who want to just focus at times.

So what are some things you would like to see in game and what are some things you love that are already in place? If you choose to leave a comment please keep it positive, I don’t want this to turn into a gripe fest please.

Posted in Empire, PC Gaming, Republic, SWTOR | Tagged | 4 Comments »

Older Entries »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.