Family Tree

The first part of the Legacy system is the Family Tree. As you can see, my family tree isn’t that fleshed out yet, but mostly its a system of connections.

Global Unlocks

The part of the Legacy system that most of the playerbase will be interested in though, is the Global Unlocks. These are a series of abilities, bonuses, and unlocked options that allow players to access more in the game. The system implemented in 1.2 provides for 4 categories of Global Unlocks. As a special note, I’ll list the Companion unlocks separately as they work slightly differently.
The categories of unlocks are:

• Imperial Classes
• Republic Classes
• Species
• Other
• Companions

Note: For clarity, an “Unlock” requires non-monetary elements to access. A “Purchase” requires credits and a legacy level. You can either do one or the other where available, but both are not required. Some items are only accessible through one or the other means though.

Imperial Classes

The first of the Global Unlocks is the Imperial Classes.

Imperial Agent Unlocks
Here is the list of Imperial Agent unlocks.

• Agent Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /agent emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Agent Chapter 2 class quests.
• Agent Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Coordination” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Smuggler buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Agent Chapter 2 class quests.
• Agent Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Orbital Strike” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Agent Chapter 3 class quests.

Bounty Hunter Unlocks
Here is the list of Bounty Hunter unlocks.

• Bounty Hunter Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /bountyhunter emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Bounty Hunter Chapter 2 class quests.
• Bounty Hunter Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Hunter’s Boon” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Trooper buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Bounty Hunter Chapter 2 class quests.
• Bounty Hunter Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Flamethrower” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Bounty Hunter Chapter 3 class quests.

Sith Inquisitor Unlocks
Here is the list of Sith Inquisitor unlocks.

• Sith Inquisitor Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /inquisitor emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Inquisitor Chapter 2 class quests.
• Sith Inquisitor Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Mark of Power” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Jedi Consular buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Inquisitor Chapter 2 class quests.
• Sith Inquisitor Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Lightning Storm” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Inquisitor Chapter 3 class quests.

Sith Warrior Unlocks
Here is the list of Sith Warrior unlocks.

• Sith Warrior Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /warrior emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Warrior Chapter 2 class quests.
• Sith Warrior Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Unnatural Might” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Jedi Knight buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Warrior Chapter 2 class quests.
• Sith Warrior Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Force Choke” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Sith Warrior Chapter 3 class quests.

Republic Classes

The second of the Global Unlocks is the Republic Classes.

Jedi Consular Unlocks
Here is the list of Jedi Consular unlocks.

• Jedi Consular Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /consular emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Consular Chapter 2 class quests.
• Jedi Consular Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Force Valor” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Sith Inquisitor buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Consular Chapter 2 class quests.
• Jedi Consular Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Project” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Consular Chapter 3 class quests.

Jedi Knight Unlocks
Here is the list of Jedi Knight unlocks.

• Jedi Knight Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /knight emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Knight Chapter 2 class quests.
• Jedi Knight Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Force Might” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Sith Warrior buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Knight Chapter 2 class quests.
• Jedi Knight Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Force Sweep” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Jedi Knight Chapter 3 class quests.

Smuggler Unlocks
Here is the list of Smuggler unlocks.

• Smuggler Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /smuggler emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Smuggler Chapter 2 class quests.
• Smuggler Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Lucky Shots” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Imperial Agent buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Smuggler Chapter 2 class quests.
• Smuggler Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Dirty Kick” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Smuggler Chapter 3 class quests.

Trooper Unlocks
Here is the list of Trooper unlocks.

• Trooper Chapter 2 – Emote: Unlocks the use of the /trooper emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Trooper Chapter 2 class quests.
• Trooper Chapter 2 – Buff: All class buffs now apply the effects of “Fortification” in addition to their own effects. Does not stack with the Bounty Hunter buff.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Trooper Chapter 2 class quests.
• Trooper Chapter 3 – Heroic Ability: Grants the use of “Legacy Sticky Grenade” ability to all characters in your legacy. This is a powerful combat ability only usable while your Heroic Moment ability is active.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires the completion of the Trooper Chapter 3 class quests.

Species

The species unlocks are all identical except for humans. Once the species is unlocked, you may use it for any new character regardless of faction.

Unlock Requirements: Requires Level 50, Requires the species.
OR
Purchase Requirements: Requires 1,500,000 credits, Requires Legacy Level 5.
As you can see, even if you intend to purchase the race, you stil must have some Legacy levels.
Humans
Humans are a little different, since both sides can already play all their classes as Humans. Instead of ‘unlocking the species’, completing the requirements for the Human species unlock provides a bonus of +100 Presence to all characters.
Unlock Requirements: Requires Level 50, Requires Human.
OR
Purchase Requirements: Requires 500,000 credits, Requires Legacy Level 5.

Other

The remaining unlocks are character inspecific, and some require other elements to unlock. Some are only Purchasable through Credits after a certain Legacy Level, and some have an alternate Unlock requirement such as a Social or Valor rank.

Alignment

• Legacy of Sacrifice – Grants use of the Sacrifice ability to all characters. Sacrifice injures your companion to instantly heal yourself.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Level 50, Dark V or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 250,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Legacy of Unity – Grants the use of the Unity ability to all characters. Unity reduces the damage taken by you and your companion for a short duration.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Level 50, Light V or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 250,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Legacy of Equilibrium – Grants the use of the Equilibrium ability to all characters. Equilibrium increases damage and healing done by you and your companion for a short duration.
  Unlock requirements: Requires Level 50, Neutral or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 250,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.

Ship Unlocks

• Repair Droid – Unlocks an astromech droid on all characters’ ships that buys items, repairs gear, and sells unique modifications for your protocol droid.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 1,000,000 credits, Legacy Level 7.
• Ship Mailbox – Unlocks a mailbox on board all characters’ ships.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 500,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Operations Training Dummy – Unlocks a training dummy on all characters’ ships that simulates combat with an Operations toughness enemy.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 500,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Warzone Training Dummy – Unlocks a trainign dummy on all characters’ ships that simulates combat with another player.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 500,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Galactic Market Kiosk – Unlocks a neutral Galactic Trade Network terminal on all characters’ ships.
  Purchase Requirements: 5,000,000 credits, Legacy Level 25.

Convenience

• Legacy Fleet Pass I – Reduces the cooldown of the Emergency Fleet Pass ability by 1 hour. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 100,000 credits, Legacy Level 5.
• Legacy Fleet Pass II – Reduces the cooldown of the Emergency Fleet Pass ability by 2 hours. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 200,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Legacy Fleet Pass III – Reduces the cooldown of the Emergency Fleet Pass ability by 3 hours. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 300,000 credits, Legacy Level 15.
• Legacy Travel I – Reduces the cooldown of Quick Travel by 1 minute. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 100,000 credits, Legacy Level 5.
• Legacy Travel II – Reduces the cooldown of Quick Travel by 2 minutes. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 200,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Legacy Travel III – Reduces the cooldown of Quick Travel by 3 minutes. Effect is cumulative with other cooldown reduction unlocks.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 300,000 credits, Legacy Level 15.
• Rocket Boost – Unlocks use of personal rocket boosters on all characters. The rocket boosts provide a brief, intense burst of speed for a short duration.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 2,000,000 credits, Legacy Level 8.
• Improved Rocket Boost I – Reduces the cooldown of Rocket Boost by 30 seconds.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 1,000,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Improved Rocket Boost II – Reduces the cooldown of Rocket Boost by 60 seconds.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 1,500,000 credits, Legacy Level 12.

Valor

• Legacy of Combat – Punch – Unlocks the unarmed combat move Punch, a basic brawling attack.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Valor Rank 5.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 30,000 credits, Legacy Level 5.
• Legacy of Combat – Jab – Unlocks the unarmed combat move Jab, an advanced brawling attack.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Valor Rank 10.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 30,000 credits, Legacy Level 8.
• Legacy of Combat – Uppercut – Unlocks the unarmed combat move Uppercut, an advanced brawling attack.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Valor Rank 15.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 30,000 credits, Legacy Level 10.
• Legacy of Combat – Uppercut – Unlocks the unarmed combat move Bash, an advanced brawling attack.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Valor Rank 25.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 30,000 credits, Legacy Level 15.

Social

• Companion Dance – Unlocks the Companion Dance ability, which allows you and your companion to dance together.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Social II or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 25,000 credits, Legacy Level 3.
• Tech Emotes – Unlocks the use of the /datapad, /holocom, and /map emotes.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Social IV or above
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 50,000 credits, Legacy Level 8.
• Tool Emotes – Unlocks the use of the /scanred, /scangreen, /binoculars, and /weld emotes.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Social VI or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 100,000 credits, Legacy Level 12
• Double Lasers Emote – Unlocks the user of the /doublelasers emote.
  Unlock Requirements: Requires Social X or above.
  Purchase Requirements: Requires 150,000 credits, Legacy Level 15

Companion Unlocks

Companions have unlocks too. However, unlike class unlocks, the companion type is the main differentiation between the unlocks. Different classes companions will unlock the same boosts, dependent on the style of the companion. In order to unlock a companion’s boost, you must complete all conversations and quests for this companion, meaning 10,000 affection and everything they ask.

• Ranged Tank – Grants a bonus to your Max Health. Increases the duration of your Heroic Moment by 12 seconds and reduces the cooldown by 1 minute. You may only receive this bonus for one Ranged Tank companion. Grants +10 Presence on all characters.
• Healer – Grants a bonus to your total Healing Received. Increases the duration of your Heroic Moment by 12 seconds and reduces the cooldown by 1 minute. You may only receive this bonus for one Healer companion. Grants +10 Presence on all characters.
• Melee Tank – Grants a bonus to your Accuracy. Increases the duration of your Heroic Moment by 12 seconds and reduces the cooldown by 1 minute. You may only receive this bonus for one Melee Tank companion. Grants +10 Presence on all characters.
• Melee Damage – Grants a bonus to your Surge rating. Increases the duration of your Heroic Moment by 12 seconds and reduces the cooldown by 1 minute. You may only receive this bonus for one Melee Damage companion. Grants +10 Presence on all characters.
• Ranged Damage – Grants a bonus to your Critical Hit Chance. Increases the duration of your Heroic Moment by 12 seconds and reduces the cooldown by 1 minute. You may only receive this bonus for one Ranged Damage companion. Grants +10 Presence on all characters.

Coming Soon

As if that wasn’t enough to consider, BioWare has also taunted us with new Legacy abilities coming in Patch 1.3 including:

• XP increases,
• Increased Affection Gains,
• Increased Critical Crafting chances,
• Faster Junk selling,
• Increased sprint speeds,
• Speeders at Level 10,
• Field Repair Droids,
• Higher health when respawning at a med center,
• In-The-Field Respecs, and
• Field Mailboxes.

Conclusions

So for those who haven’t seen it before, what do you think of the Legacy bonuses, and … are they worth it?

While levelling my characters, I like to use the Custom gear to keep a consistent look as I progress. This probably stems from my first character being a Cybertech, but its definitely and easy way to gear all classes without having to learn many skills.

However, one thing I’ve discovered/decided, is that the best time to use up all your materials to Reverse Engineer for patterns, is at the point where those materials can no longer be used for higher level items. These are essentially the ‘cut-off’ point where holding onto mats will simply end up with a big pile in the bank when you hit 50 (as I did, 2 tabs later).

With that in mind, this guide presents the points at which crafters should start burning up a certain type of material to get the different Prototype and Artifact customisation items.

Background on Customisable Gear

Customisable gear comes in a number of different slots. Some are crafted, some come from Class questlines, many come from Heroic quests, purchased with Commendations, and some just drop randomly.

• Customisable Armor pieces fill the Head, Chest, Hands, Legs and Boots easily. If you’re really lucky (or know where to farm) you can also get customisable Bracers and Belts.
• Customisable Weapons fill the Main Hand weapon slot, and if you’re lucky enough to dual-wield, then the Off Hand weapon slot.
• Earpieces, Implants, Relics and Off-Hand non-weapons (Scatterguns, Focii, Generators) are not customisable currently.

Customisable gear takes a handful of different modification items:

• Mods – Crafted by Cybertechs, Mods are the mainstay of customisable gear and one is usable in every single Custom piece.
• Armoring – Crafted by Cybertechs, Armoring is used in the Head, Chest, Hands, Belt, Legs, Boots and Bracers Custom pieces.
• Barrels – Crafted by Armstechs, Barrels are used in non-Lightsaber weapons, such as Blast Pistols and Rifles, Assault Cannons and Sniper Rifles.
• Hilts – Crafted by Artificers, Hilts are used in Lightsaber weapons, both single and dual.
• Enhancements – Crafted by Artificers, Enhancements are used in most Custom items, with the exception of Belts and Bracers.

Given the set of Custom’able slots, to fully mod a character from head to toe, assuming they have the custom pieces to accept the items, you’d need.

• 7  Armoring
• 1 Barrel or Hilt, or 2 if you’re dual-wielding
• 1 Color Crystal, or 2 if you’re dual-wielding
• 8 Mods
• 6 Enhancements

Crafts and their “Dump and Burn” points

Cybertech and Armstech is nice and neat when it comes to tipping points. Each type of scavenged metal has a corresponding scavenged compound of the same grade. Prototype and Artifact Underworld Metals match up to the same grade as their Scavenged equivalents. Artifice isn’t so easy, as the crystals and artifacts are often used in different combinations as you progress. As such the lists below reflect more ‘tipping points’ for Artifice items than their Cybertech and Armstech equivalents.

Below is a list broken down by item type, of the best points to use up all your materials. If a material is grey text, then its not actually the last time you use it, but the other material in the item is reaching its tipping point. This is a concern only for Artifice.

For those wanting a level by level breakdown, so that they know when to bug their crafting friends or alts, go here.

Cybertech

Armoring

• Silica/Desh – Armoring 3 (Level 11)
• Laminoid/Aluminium – Armoring 5 (Level 15)
• Plastoid/Bronzium – Amoring 7 (Level 19)
• Plasteel/Chanlon – Armoring 10 (Level 25)
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Armoring 12 (Level 29)
• Fibermesh/Bondite – Amoring 15 (Level 35)
• Resinite/Diatium – Armoring 17 (Level 39)
• Polyplast/Electrum – Armoring 20 (Level 45)
• Amorphous Carbonite/Neutronium – Armoring 21 (Level 47)
• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Armoring 22 (Level 49)

Mod

• Silica/Desh – Mod 2 (Level 9)
• Laminoid/Aluminium – Mod 4 (Level 13)
• Plastoid/Bronzium – Mod 6 (Level 17)
• Plasteel/Chanlon – Mod 10 (Level 25)
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Mod 12 (Level 29)
• Fibermesh/Bondite – Mod 14A (Level 33)
• Resinite/Diatium – Mod 16A (Level 37)
• Polyplast/Electrum – Mod 20A (Level 45)
• Amorphous Carbonite/Neutronium – N/A (No craftable mod uses Rank 21)
• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Mod 22A (Level 49)

Armstech

Barrels

• Silica/Desh – Barrel 3 (Level 11)
• Laminoid/Aluminium – Barrel 5 (Level 15)
• Plastoid/Bronzium – Barrel 7 (Level 19)
• Plasteel/Chanlon – Barrel 10 (Level 25)
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Barrel 12 (Level 29)
• Fibermesh/Bondite – Barrel 15 (Level 35)
• Resinite/Diatium – Barrel 17 (Level 39)
• Polyplast/Electrum – Barrel 20 (Level 45)
• Amorphous Carbonite/Neutronium – Barrel 21 (Level 47)
• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Barrel 22 (Level 49)

Artifice

Enhancements

• Rubat Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 5 (Level 15)
• Eralam Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 7 (Level 19)
• Nextor Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 9 (Level 23)
• Bondar Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 11 (Level 27)
• Opila Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 13 (Level 31)
• Opila Crystal/Galactic Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 15 (Level 35)
• Firkrann Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 17 (Level 39)
• Phond Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 19 (Level 43)
• Damind Crystal/Alien Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 20 (Level 45)
• Upari Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 22 (Level 49)

Hilts

• Rubat Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Hilt 5 (Level 15)
• Eralam Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Hilt 6 (Level 17)
• Eralam Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Hilt 7 (Level 19)
• Nextor Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Hilt 9 (Level 23)
• Nextor Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Hilt 10 (Level 25)
• Bondar Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Hilt 11 (Level 27)
• Bondar Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Hilt 12 (Level 29)
• Opila Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Hilt 14 (Level 33)
• Opila Crystal/Galactic Artifact Fragment – Hilt 15 (Level 35)
• Firkrann Crystal//Galactic Artifact Fragment Hilt 16 (Level 37)
• Firkrann Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Hilt 17 (Level 39)
• Phond Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Hilt 19 (Level 43)
• Damind Crystal/Alien Artifact Fragment – Hilt 20 (Level 45)
• Upari Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment – Hilt 22 (Level 49)

Color Crystals

• Amorphous(or Exquisite) Crystal – Level 7
• Igneous(or Precious) Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Level 15
• Opaque(or Immaculate) Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Level 23
• Solid(or Pristine) Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Level 31
• Lucent(or Flawless) Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Level 39
• Polychromic(or Perfect) Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment – Level 48

Level by Level Breakdown

The following list shows the items you want to get at which levels. The materials beside them are for the Premium (Green) level item. For the Prototype(Blue) and Artifact(Purple) items extra materials will be needed. Cybertech items will require Underworld Metals from Underworld Trading, Artifice items will require Gemstones from Treasure Hunting, and Armstech items will required Researched Compounds from Investigation. Generally, Prototype items are equivalent to a Premium item 4 levels higher, and Artifact items are equivalent to a Premium item 8 levels higher.

The reason why these levels are relevant, are that your crafters are more likely to have the advanced patterns at these levels, if they follow the above advice (or came to the same conclusion).

Level 7

• Amorphous(or Exquisite) Crystal

Level 9

• Silica/Desh – Mod 2

Level 11

• Silica/Desh – Armoring 3
• Silica/Desh – Barrel 3

Level 13

• Laminoid/Aluminium – Mod 4

Level 15

• Laminoid/Aluminium – Armoring 5
• Laminoid/Aluminium – Barrel 5
• Rubat Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 5
• Rubat Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Hilt 5
• Igneous(or Precious) Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment

Level 17

• Plastoid/Bronzium – Mod 6
• Eralam Crystal/Lost Artifact Fragment – Hilt 6

Level 19

• Plastoid/Bronzium – Amoring 7
• Plastoid/Bronzium – Barrel 7
• Eralam Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 7
• Eralam Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Hilt 7

Level 23

• Nextor Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 9
• Nextor Crystal/Sacred Artifact Fragment – Hilt 9
• Opaque(or Immaculate) Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment

Level 25

• Plasteel/Chanlon – Armoring 10
• Plasteel/Chanlon – Mod 10
• Plasteel/Chanlon – Barrel 10
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Barrel 12
• Nextor Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Hilt 10

Level 27

• Bondar Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 11
• Bondar Crystal/Prehistoric Artifact Fragment – Hilt 11

Level 29

• Lacqerous/Phobium – Armoring 12
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Mod 12
• Lacqerous/Phobium – Barrel 12
• Bondar Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Hilt 12

Level 31

• Opila Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 13
• Solid(or Pristine) Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment

Level 33

• Fibermesh/Bondite – Mod 14A
• Opila Crystal/Ancient Artifact Fragment – Hilt 14

Level 35

• Fibermesh/Bondite – Amoring 15
• Fibermesh/Bondite – Barrel 15
• Opila Crystal/Galactic Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 15
• Opila Crystal/Galactic Artifact Fragment – Hilt 15

Level 37

• Resinite/Diatium – Mod 16A
• Firkrann Crystal/Galactic Artifact Fragment Hilt 16

Level 39

• Resinite/Diatium – Armoring 17
• Resinite/Diatium – Barrel 17
• Firkrann Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 17
• Firkrann Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Hilt 17
• Lucent(or Flawless) Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment

Level 43

• Phond Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 19
• Phond Crystal/Hypertech Artifact Fragment – Hilt 19

Level 45

• Polyplast/Electrum – Armoring 20
• Polyplast/Electrum – Mod 20A
• Polyplast/Electrum – Barrel 20
• Damind Crystal/Alien Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 20
• Damind Crystal/Alien Artifact Fragment – Hilt 20

Level 47

• Amorphous Carbonite/Neutronium – Armoring 21
• Amorphous Carbonite/Neutronium – Barrel 21

Level 48

• Polychromic(or Perfect) Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment

Level 49

• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Armoring 22
• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Mod 22A
• Zal Alloy/Durasteel – Barrel 22
• Upari Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment – Enhancement 22
• Upari Crystal/Primeval Artifact Fragment – Hilt 22

Conclusion

While in truth this is really a “As I Level” guide for me and my alts, I hope that others can get the same benefit out of knowing what levels are the best ones to try to get all patterns, based on material use.

I believe in the model that says you should get more from a Flashpoint than you’d get solo for the same effort. And you’d get more from an 8 man than you’d get from a Flashpoint. For 8 vs 16 the jury’s still out. However, I’d still like to see professions more useful in endgame than they appear to be, and more the what they were in WoW.

My View of the Current State

I haven’t had a lot of exposure to the Ops environment, so is post is partly a ‘from the outside looking in’, so if my basis is wrong feel free to point it out in the comments.

Looking at SWTOR professions, only one, Biochem, provides a continuing stream of crafting past reaching 50 and making the best pieces. In WoW there were a number of ‘improvement’ skills that modified new gear (Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, Blacksmithing/Tailoring/Leatherworking to a lesser degree), as well as the ‘consumable’ profession, Alchemy. SWTOR’s Slicing and Cybertech appear to be able to do that at first glance with mods and augments, but the reality is that Augment Slots only appear on crafted gear, and both Augments and mods can be removed, at a cost, from existing gear. This means that even if there’s a way to make customized gear even to Ops gear, changing base pieces doesn’t require crafting.

My Idea #1

My first idea for ensuring that crafting exists beyond the levelling game is to introduce Ops only Reverse Engineering materials. RE’ing an Ops drop might give you 6 [Artifact Rakata Metal] that is used to craft higher level gear. Cybertechs could take two or three of these metal pieces to make a [Rakata Nimble Mod 24A] for custom gear, and Synthweaver or Armormech could use 9 of them to make a chest/legs/head or 6 to make a belt/boots. Same for weapons and shields. This would, give Crafters a way to continue to make good gear, plus allow them to creat Ops level gear with Augments.

The big disadvantage of this is the non-bound nature of these materials means that without going to an Op you can still be as well geared, simply by making money. Some people see is as a good thing, but as per my introduction, I still think you should be required to go to Ops to get that level of gear.

Pro’s

• Keeps crafters of all types in business
• Allows Operators (raiders???) to keep the same flexibility of gear appearance that they had before starting Ops

Con’s

• Doesn’t restrict Ops level gear to those people who participate in Ops
• Credits become the minimum requirement for top level gear, encouraging Credit-for-Cash operations (gold farmers and hackers)

My Idea #2

Instead of RE’ing an item, during looting players can elect to take the item as a Component. Similar to the Disassemble option, the Component option would fall between Need and Greed as a ‘I need this as a Component’. An [Ancient Rakata Component] would be capable of being combined with a Mod, Armoring, or Barrel to create an Ops level equivalent of it. Craftable armor could have one or two of these components attached to it to improve the gear’s stats to the Ops level, and the components could be Bound in order to require people to be there.

Master Looting would require the question to be asked ‘Do you want to give the item or a Component to the recipient?’, but I’m sure this could be managed.

Pro’s

• Everyone can use these components, and continue to wear their Custom modded gear, or the nice looking L50 chest piece.
• Ops level gear continues to be limited to those who participate in Ops.

Cons

• Technical work required to provide the ability to loot as a Component, as well as bind Components to gear.
• Augments can’t be used to combine with Components, or you’ll be able to boost a crafted item, then again with an Augment.

Conclusion

In the end, my hopes for crafting are:

• Crafting is worthwhile for end-game gear.
• End game gear can only be worn by people engaged in end game (ops) content.
• Non-Ops players can still participate in the economy for end-game gear.

While I know there’s a few holes in the above ideas, as I’m not paid by EA or BioWare, I’d hope they could take the kernel of an idea, dust it off, and manage to tweak it and still meet those goals, assuming they agree with them.

At Level 50, after completing your Class quest chain, you go into the Interlude. This is essentially the start of your end-game experience, and one of the major parts is doing the Dailies for gear and mods. Two chains, one on Ilum and one on Belsavis, lead you through the areas where you need to go for your daily quests, gathering Daily Commendations as you go. After the break I’ll detail the Daily quests and their rewards.

Ilum

Ilum is accessed once you’ve reached Level 50, and probably after you’ve completed the Corellia quests and/or your class quest series. A quest chain leads you through all of the dailies and up to the Battle of Ilum Flashpoint.

Pilot Down

• Starts from L4-B5 in the Republic Base Camp (548,-33)
• Occurs at the Door Release at 258,13
• Handed in at the above location on use of the Door Release
• Rewards: 10,762 Credits; 1 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)

[Heroic 2+] Darkness on Illum

• Starts from Master Moran in the Republic Base Camp (536,-31)
• Occurs at Heating Controls at 964,-12; 884,-13; and 826,-13
• Handed in to Master Moran.
• Rewards: 16,147 Credits; 3 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)Item Rewards:
  • Advanced Battle Enhancement 22 (+18 Enmd, +27 Crit, +39 Surge)
  • Advanced Vigilant Enhancement 22 (+30 End, +39 Shield, +15 Absorb)
  • Advanced Initiative Enhancement 22 (+18 End, +39 Acc, +27 Power)
  • Advanced Quick Savant Enhancement 22 (+18 Endurance, +27 Power, +39 Alac)
  • Black Market Prototype Storage Case (Class 5 Prototype Lockbox)

This Heroic is best completed with 3-4 players including a dedicated tank and healer, despite the 2+ rating. I have completed it with a group of 3 healers and a tank pet though.

Jam the Transmissions

• Starts at Agent Falcon in the Republic Base Camp (505,-31)

Steps

1. Gather 4 Transponders from Imperial Scout Droids at 11,636
2. Disable the Communications Dish at -85,639
• Bonus Mission: Sliencing the Scouts (Defeat 15 Imperial Scout Forces)
• Handed in to Agent Falcon.
• Rewards: 10,762 Credits; 1 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)
• Bonus Reward: 1677 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

Icy Destruction

• Starts at Major Dumerin in the Republic Waystation (39,-18)
• Occurs at -778,-101
• Handed in to Major Dumerin
• Rewards: 10,762 Credits; 1 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)

A Fair Fight

• Starts at General Orias in the Republic Waystation (34,-16)
• Entrance to the area is at 691,7.
• Bonus Mission: Evening the Odds (Destroy 5 Unfinished Turrets)
• Handed in to General Orias
• Rewards: 10,762 Credits; 1 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)

Type 1 and 2 Shields drop from Imperial Rearguard and Imperial Gunner Droids. Type 3 Shields drop from Imperial Armored Droids.

Crystal Clear Sabotage

• Starts at Captain Sarmuk in the Republic Waystation (5,-18)
• Occurs at Ion Disruptor at -841,39
• Bonus Quest: Staking Your Claim (No chain)
• Handed in to Captain Sarmuck
• Rewards: 10,762 Credits; 1 x Daily Commendation (6035 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8)Affection
  • Bowdaar – 22 (Conversation Items: #1)
• Bonus Mission Rewards: 3018 Legacy Experience

Once the bomb is planted, approximately 5 Imperial Troops will appear for a simple fight. Kill the nearby Imperial Hunter, Colonels and Shapshooters as well as Sith Raiders for credit on the Bonus mission.

Belsavis

Belsavis Dailies are accessible once you complete the Belsavis Bonus Series. The Bonus Series will walk you through all of the quest areas, and open up a number of them. I’d recommend doing that Bonus Series as soon as you reach L50, to get access to them all, as well as get a burst of extra Daily Commendations.

High Security Section

First port of call is the Gran Exile area in the High Security Section. Quests start at the flight-point, then more continue from Meltwater Outpost.

Strengthening the Chain

• Starts at Major Harris in the Gran Exile, High Security Section (-1688, 1157)
• Occurs at -1354,1290
• Bonus Mission: Munitions Destruction (Destroy 4 Munitions)
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1x Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8
• Bonus Mission Rewards: 1677 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

Quite a few of these Leaders are Evade-Bugged. You will have to focus on the ones around the main campsite, as most of the ones near edges can’t be killed before they Evade.

Restraining the Darkness

• Starts at Master Korman Reyes in the Gran Exile, High Security Section (-1695, 1156)Steps
  1. Gather 4 Ancient Devices from Imperial Forces at -1593,1345
  2. Disable the Shuttle at -1547,1458
• Handed in to Master Korman Reyes.
• Bonus Mission: Drive out the Looters (Defeat 15 Sith and Imperial Looters)
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1x Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8Affection
  • Corso Riggs – 15 (Conversation Items: #3, Any)
  • Bowdaar – 22 (Conversation Items: #3, Any)
• Bonus Mission Rewards: 1677 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

Emergent Medicine

This sometimes requires you to complete Restraining the Darkness first.

• Starts at Sergeant Kayen in the Gran Exile, High Security Section (-1636,1261)
• Occurs at the area around -1241,1405.
• Handed in to Private Lorul in the Meltwater Outpost, High Security Section (-1315,1641)
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1x Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8Affection
  • Corso Riggs – 30 (Conversation Items: #2, #1)
  • Bowdaar – 44 (Conversation Items: #2, #1)

Target the Rift Lurkers in the indicated area for the glands. I’ve had equal success with Normal and Strong creaturs. Also note the turn-in point is at the Meltwater Outpost.

[Heroic 2+] Lesson Learned

This is completable with a Healer player and Tank companion with another DPS player/companion. The damage incoming isn’t too bad, even on the Champions.

• Starts at Doctor Everis at the Meltwater Outpost, High Security Section (-1308,1633)Steps
  1. Rescue 10 scientists and destroy 5 caches at the Group Phase tunnel at -1422,1609.
  2. Return to Dr Everis.
• Handed in at Doctor Everis.
• Rewards: 9,330 Credits, 3 Daily Commendation, 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8
  Items (Choose one)
  • Advanced Keen Mod 22 (+27 End, +47 Cunning, +8 Critical)
  • Advanced Artful Mod 22 (+27 End, +36 Cunning, +27 Power)
  • Black Market Prototype Storage Case

  Affection

  • Bowdaar – 22 (Conversation Items: Any, #1)

[Heroic 4] Open Communications

As of Patch 1.1, this quest requires a full group, and should be combined with the same team that does Stasis Generator.  You’ll face a non-story area filled with packs of 3 Elites and 2 Strongs, even if the Strongs aren’t immediately visible, as well as a handful of Strong patrollers.  Once you get the Pass Key for the quest, start on Stasis Generator (which you would have gotten the quest from at the entrance).

• Starts at Agent Hextal at the Meltwater Outpost, High Security Section (-1340,1644)
• Occurs in the complex in The Tomb at 5,-3274
• Handed in at front left Monitoring Station Console in Oasis Republic Post, The Tomb(-264, -3228)
• Rewards: 9,330 Credits, 3 Daily Commendation, 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8
  Items (Choose one)
  These items are class specific, below is the items for the Smuggler, but there should be similar for other classes.
  • Corso’s Prototype Masterwork Rifle (Custom, +75 Aim, +113 End, +34 Acc, +20 Absorb, +483 Tech Power)
  • Risha’s Prototype Masterwork Sniper (Custom, +69 End, +82 Cunning, +34 Acc, +58 Power, +483 Tech Power)
  • Bowdaar’s Prototype Masterwork Vibrosword (Custom, +66 Str, +107 End, +34 Acc, +483 Force Power, +37 Absorb)
  • Guss Tano’s Prototype Masterwork Blaster (Custom, +86 End, +75 Cunning, +47 Crit, +483 Tech Power, +34 Surge)
  • Spar’s Prototype Masterwork Tech Staff (Prototype only, +58 Aim, +68 End, +34 Acc, +58 Power, +483 Tech Power)
  • Ancient Prototype Storage Case (Class 6 Lockbox)

  Affection

  • Bowdaar – 44 (Conversation Items: #2, Any, #1)

The Tomb

Next, quests continue in The Tomb. Access the Tomb by the Rakata Transporter near Meltwater Outpost and head to the Frozen Transport Center. These quests appear to chain together somewhat.

Riot

• Starts at Captain Devlin in the Frozecavern Canyon, The Tomb (-136, -3122)
• Occurs in the cave at -38,-3098 in the Frozecavern Canyon.
• Handed in to Captain Devlin
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1x Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8Affection
  • Corso Riggs – 30 (Conversation Items: #1 or #3, #1 or #2)
  • Bowdaar – 44 (Conversation Items: #1 or #3, #1 or #2)
• Received Quest: Descent Into the Tomb

Focus on killing packs with the hostages in them. Until all members of the pack are dead the hostages aren’t released.

[Heroic 4] Stasis Generator

• Starts at the Tech Station at the entrance to the complex in The Tomb at 5,-3274
• Occurs inside the complex where the quest was picked up, in a Group Phase
• Rewards: 9,330 Credits; 3 x Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8
  Items (Choose one)
  These items are class specific, below is the items for the Smuggler, but there should be similar for other classes.
  • Advanced Skill Armoring 22 (+33 End, +47 Cunning)
  • Advanced Patron Armoring 22 (+41 End, +39 Cunning)
  • Ancient Prototype Storage Case (Class 6 Lockbox)

  Affection

  • Bowdaar – 22 (Conversation Items: Any, Any, #1)

Two of these can be stealth completed, as their guardians are surceptible to Tranquilizer as a Smuggler. Just be careful not to try to turn off the generator for one of the guardians that can’t be Tranq’ed. A group of 4 is recommended, or a group of 3 with a dedicated Tank and Healer. The fifth boss is VERY tough, and needs a lot of interrupts.

Descent into the Tomb

• Handed in at front left Monitoring Station Console in Oasis Republic Post, The Tomb(-264, -3228)
• Received Quest: Prison Repairs
• Rewards: 442 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

This is simply a breadcrumb to travel to the Monitoring Station Console, but is required to continue the Devlin chain.

Prison Repairs

• Received after handing in Descent Into the Tomb
• Occurs in the complex entered at -779,3410 in the Ancient Stasis Zone, The Tomb.
• Handed in at front left Monitoring Station Console in Oasis Republic Post, The Tomb(-264, -3228)
• Rewards: Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1 Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

Sleeping Rakata

• Starts at the Monitoring Station Console (right rear console), speaking to Master Markos, in the Oasis Republic Post in the Ancient Stasis Zone, The Tomb (-258, -3211)Steps
  1. Go to Elshuu’s Prison Chamber in the Caves of Elshuu (Group Phase) at -190,-3618
  2. Examine the Rakata Mind Trap at the end of the cave.
  3. Speak to Elshuu
  4. Defeat Elshuu
  5. Return to the Monitoring Station
• Bonus Mission: Evil’s Worst Nightmare (Defeat 15 of Elshuu’s Followers)
• Rewards: Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1 Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8Affection
  • Bowdaar – 44 (Conversation Items: Any, Any, #1, #1 or #2
• Bonus Mission Rewards: 1677 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

There are 17 viable mobs for the Bonus quest, so if you have stealth you can ignore the Elite at the end, otherwise skip the pair on the left as you travel down the cave.

Unheard Frequencies

• Starts at the Monitoring Station (right front console), speaking to Doctor Larek, in the Oasis Republic Post in the Ancient Stasis Zone, The Tomb (-264, -3208)
• Occurs in the Stasis Vault entered at -458,-3739 in the Ancient Stasis Zone, The Tomb.
• Handed in at the Monitoring Station
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits; 1 Daily Commendation; 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

Cores can be collected from Normal or Strong Droids. I’ve had equal success with both types.

Containing The Beast

• Starts at the Holoterminal, speaking to Captain Valn, in the Ancient Stasis Chamber in the Tomb(-668,-3594)The quest occurs inside the complex that the Holoterminal is in front of.

  Steps

  1. Recover a Welding Torch from the Supply Drop just down the road, next to the Republic Relief Droid at -562, -3637
  2. Locate the Monster’s Door, by entering The Greater Menagerie at -668,-3594 and moving through to the Group Phase
  3. Seal the door by welding each of the 3 spots, starting with the lower right, lower left, then finally the center top welding spots.
  4. Return to the Holoterminal.
• Bonus Mission: Primeval Slaying (Slay 12 Primeval Creatures)
• Handed in at the Holoterminal at the entrance.
• Rewards: 7,175 Credits, 1 Daily Commendation, 3353 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8Affection
  Initial Conversation:
  • Bowdaar – 44 (Conversation Items: Any, #1 or #2 (Essentially any option but rejecting the quest)
  Turn-In Conversation:
  • Bowdaar – 22 (Conversation Items: #1 or #2)
• Bonus Mission Rewards: 1677 Legacy Experience at Legacy Level 8

That’s everything

By the end of a full day’s work, you will have 23 Commendations. Since items such as ear-pieces cost 120, and armoring/barrels/hilts cost 8 each, you’ll be doing your dailies for a while at L50 before you’ve gotten full use out of them. Good luck and have fun!

• If you have one of the following issues, press Ctrl-U twice to reset your UI.
• Can’t click any action buttons or interact using the mouse.
• Only part of the guild roster is visible, or is unable to be resorted.
• Use the keybind to open your bag, if you need to use the Reverse Engineering button.

User Interface

• Turn on Area Loot.
• Turn on all 4 Action bars, you’ll need the space.
• When you’re not changing the buttons on the bars, lock them using the icon next to your portrait. Its very easy to drag icons, especially when you’re using 2 monitors.
• Shift-Left Click and Drag will bring up the split interface for a stack, but it will also put the item in your chat box. Shift-Rigth Click and Drag however, will not put it in the chat window.
• Under General abilities is your Emergency Fleet Pass. But be warned, it has a LONG cooldown.
• You can move your Chat window around by dragging the General tab. Unfortunately you can’t lock it.
• You can also move your Operations frame around by right clicking on the image of 4 people.
• Use the Exit Area button on your Minimap to exit a Flashpoint.
• Ctrl-Left click to view items on your character. Weapons can’t be displayed unfortunately. If you Ctrl-Right click however, it will try to equip it, which is never good when you’re viewing items to send to another.

Companions

• Companions like AOE. A lot. Don’t expect to hold your CC if you’re not careful.
• Companion abilities reset to their defaults when you mount up. Its hard to stop them using abilities that they’d normally use.
• A healer with a companion who is a tank or high DPS is just as effective as a DPS or tank with a healer companion. Just make sure to heal them.
• Gearing your companion is as important as yourself. Learn their primary stat, and keep an eye out for gear that may be useful for them.
• To turn on comparison of gear for your companion as well as you, check the Interface settings.

Crafting

• If you’re a Cybertech, buy any Orange pieces you can get your hands on for both you and a companion. The Commendation vendors for different planets often have one or two pieces. Then keep these modded up as you level.
• When crafting, an Artifact item can usually be used about 8 levels prior to its standard stat equivalent, so learning earlier patterns and getting Artifact quality items is worthwhile to overgear an area.
• Missions can make you very poor very fast. Keep an eye on the cost of missions and make sure you have enough for your skills at higher levels, when they cost up to 10,000 credits each.
• Always keep a stock of the vendor bought parts of your crafted items in your Bank. Don’t go overboard though, they can get expensive.
• Yields for missions are (in ascending order of return):
• Moderate – Small number of Prototype level items
• Abundannt – Larger number of Prototype level items
• Bountiful – Large number of Prototype level items, chance at Artifact materials
• Rich – Large number of Prototype level items, higher chance at Artifact materials
• Wealthy – Guaranteed number of items of all categories for the Mission skill. i.e. For Underworld Trading you get Prototype and Artifact Metals, Prototype and Artifact Fabrics, and some Companion gifts.
• If you wish to level a skill up quickly, focus on the Green patterns. You can completely level a crafting skill on a L10 alt (or one with a companion at least) simply by feeding gathered materials from a higher level character. Without the mission skills you won’t get the Prototype or Artifact items, but you will get the skill, and the ability to get those later.

Gameplay

• Use Recuperate as often as needed to ensure you go into battles at full health. You never know when extra troops will drop in.
• Kill something in every area where you have a quest. You never know where your bonus quests will come in.
• When you get bonus quests, complete them as quickly as possible, don’t hold off, as if they say “Stage” then there’ll be more to do.
• There is a Bonus Series on all worlds past this initial one, though it may not be accessible straight away. Keep levelling, and anywhere you missed out on the series, check the spaceports after each new level. They also make you a lot of money. For example the Nar Shadda series netted me approximately 35k at level 33.
• Pick up every quest you see in the area, and keep an eye out after picking one up. The more quests you can lump together the more likely you are to complete them quickly. Bonus quests often share mob kill counts.
• Crowd Control the Strong and Elite mobs and take out the handful of smaller mobs first when dealing with a mixed group. The less firepower on you the more likely you are to survive.

Miscellaneous

• Hyperspace travel takes no more than the time it takes to run from the cockpit to the door, but its nice to watch the stars fly by once in a while.
• Always read your Quest Tracker even if you don’t read the quest. Don’t fly to Nar Shaddaa to hand in a quest you can use the ship’s Holocom for.
• If you like fashion, keep every Orange piece you find, so that you can mod it up and use it to make a matching set of gear.
• Your ship moves with you, if you take a shuttle or Fleet Pass to Carrick Station (or the Imperial one)
• You can buy a Fleet Pass from the Security Vendor (requires a authenticator), but everyone starts with an Emergency Fleet Pass ability with an 18hr cooldown. Its good to use if you have to log off and want to be in a rested zone in a hurry.

Overall, SWTOR continues to impress with a rich storyline and well developed game systems. I’ll cover a few of the bugs at first, but these are easily ignored in the richness of the rest of the game.

Bugs

Crouching Smuggler, Annoying Pose – The first bug I came across was that Smugglers don’t always get back out of their crouched position, when they start moving again. It reminded me a lot of the old Vanilla WoW issues, where you’d slide around on the ground trying to loot, and continue to cast spells while crouched. It works in reverse here too when you “take cover” you can still be standing in plain sight and have cover.

Luckily, this has since been fixed.

Out of Game Sound – Not a bug per se, but something that irritates me constantly, is that when your game window becomes inactive, like when I switch to put notes down for my blog post, then game sound cuts out until it becomes the active window again. I know its fixable, because WoW did it seven years ago, so not having it at least as an option is a bit of a pain.

Fourth skill bug – One of the most annoying for me so far has been the fourth skill bug. I have a Trooper with Armortech/Scavenging/Slicing, and a Smuggler with Cybertech/Scavenging/Underworld Trading. Whenever I log into the Trooper, I see Underworld Trading in my skills list. Not such a big deal. However, when I log into my Smuggler, I get the additional Slicing skill at 0/400. What this means is that on my minimap, all of the Slicing nodes (of which there are a lot more) show up as well, and I can’t loot them at all, since I can’t level my slicing.

The solution to fix this is to relog about 23 times till it goes away.

Gameplay

I’m primarily playing my Smuggler, so I’ll focus on that one. She’s a Sawbones-specced Scoundrel, meaning that her primary role is healing. Having levelled a Druid as Resto and a Priest as Holy in WoW, back in the day, I figured I’d be setting myself up for a slow grind. But thanks to the wonders of companions, its far from it. In fact, in the guild I’m in, admittedly a very casual bunch, and quite happy to get distracted by datacrons and other shiny things, I’m currently the highest level character.

I’ve focussed all my companion improvements on my first Companion, essentially a Trooper style character called Corso Riggs. As a Cybertech, I’ve built my skill well beyond my level, giving me a chance to get the Artifact level mods every few levels, so I’ve searched out the moddable Orange gear pieces. This keeps my own gear quite well levelled without making me look ridiculous and piecemeal. Corso on the other hand gets a lot of gear from the quests I do, because I make sure to do all the side quests and missions. I tend to skip the Heroic’s though unless I can find a group easily. As I’m more on the ‘bleeding edge’ of the levelling process, this isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but I expect later characters will have no issue with it. There is a stream of quests running through each area that give companion gear, regardless of the companion, so if you stick with one companion on a given planet, you can gear that companion quite well.

Stealth

Stealth is great, especially for a class whose AOE DPS is less spectacular than other classes. With my tranquilizer darts, moving past a group of enemies by tranq’ing one of them then moving close to that one, and far away from everyone else, to get by safely. It also allows me to have my bit of fun as well, since its very satisfying to run up behind someone and pull out the shotgun.

Bonus missions require you to be a little careful though, as a few times I’ve stealthed past only to realize I need to kill 30 of the enemies I avoided. But more on quests below.

Combat

The combat system is very similar to WoW, in the usual “Activate an ability, wait 1.5s for GCD” kind of way. For a smuggler each ability consumes Energy, in the same way that a rogue uses energy. However, an interesting quirk is that energy recovers faster the more you have. If I have more than 60 energy, then pausing for a heartbeat or two can have me almost back to full, whereas if I have 10 energy, then the same amount of regeneration can take 3 times as long. This creates an interesting dichotomy, because you’re trying to get as much damage or healing downrange as you can without burning up so much energy that you fall behind and start to regenerate slowly. Luckily, Smugglers have an ability on a long cooldown that can return most of your energy bar in one hit. Also if you’re travelling with a Companion, you can use another ability to reset the cooldown of the first regen ability.

Additionally, Smugglers have a buff called Upper Hand (UH). Upper Hand allows the use of the more powerful abilities, and depending on whether you are DPS or Sawbones specced, is gained in different ways. For healers (since this is what I’ve done), the major heal (high energy, high output, slow cast) provides an Upper Hand buff, as well as each tick of the HoT that Sawbones get. Having the Upper Hand buff allows you to activate:

• a slight boost to your energy regen, as a 45s buff,
• a fast cast, low energy, moderate power heal
• an instant, no energy, low power heal

As you can see, with the addition of an AOE heal at level 40, the Sawbones healing toolkit is quite well fleshed out for the first release of the class.

In terms of DPS however, the Sawbones tends to drain energy very quickly, so I’ve been falling back to healing three different strategies.

• For a large pack of weak/normal enemies, I tend to just DPS the weakest ones, with liberal use of grenades and other AOE.
• For mixed packs of Strong and normal enemies, I make Corso take on the Strong enemy while I kill of the two or three weaker enemies. Once they’re dead, I usually fall into healing Corso up with HoTs and Upper Hand abilities.
• For Elites, Corso takes the lead and I focus on healing him, using my zero energy basic attack to help speed the battle up. All my energy though is usually reserved for keeping Corso alive.

On a side note, whenever the HoT tick gives you an Upper Hand buff, the female human smuggler giggles like a little school girl. Apparently Medpac Mastery tickles when it procs.

Quests and Storyline

BioWare prides itself on its ability to tell stories, and SW:TOR is no exception. Threaded throughout your leveling career is your class quest line, different for each class (not Advanced Class) but each very detailed and tied into the zones that you level in. Unlike WoW, there’s generally not a choice of which zone to go to next, as while you get two quests to go to planets, one planet is so far above your level that its pointless to go there yet.

Beyond the class quest line though, the quests for a given planet tie together quite well, and seem reasonable as they lead you across the area. Don’t be surprised too if you’re taken away from a planet before its half explored, because (as I found out on Alderaan) there’s probably a good reason you haven’t gone to the unexplored area such as “Its 7 levels above where you got to”. The contested worlds often will be hit by each faction at different times, so its likely that the areas you haven’t seen are the opposing faction, and you should wait until you’re the higher of the two levels before exploring them fully.

On a number of planets as well, there’s a Bonus quest line, which occurs after you’ve completed all of your class quests. You’ll generally be asked by someone at the last quest hub, or on your way back to the space port to help out a group you haven’t seen yet. On Taris, these quests were long, spread out and very tedious after a long period on the planet already. However, I found that Tattooine’s Bonus series was quite interesting and not painful to complete. Completing these will generally also put you higher above the required level for the next zone, making it much easier to progress when you arrive there.

“That’s not what I said”

Something that does annoy me about the quests though, is that rarely does the text of the response selection match up with what your character actually says. This is annoying because sometimes you wanted to give an amusing response and it comes out very differently, and in a couple of instances I’ve chosen what I thought was the appropriate response for my character and it has come out completely differently with bad consequences. Luckily hitting Escape during the cutscene will revert all choices and start the process over again.

Crafting

The crafting system in SWTOR is another step away from what’s been commonly seen before (except maybe in SWG). The biggest difference is that the player never specifically crafts anything or performs any gathering missions. Companions get sent on missions to gather advanced items, and return with the results. Items are crafted by companions as well and can be queued up to produce the items while you continue in the world. This has freed up the developers to make the time required for those tasks much longer. At ~300 (of 400) skill, crafting a Standard item may take 5 minutes, whereas a Prototype item may take 15, and an Artifact item may take 45 mins.

Crafting Skills

Each character can have at most one Crafting skill. A crafting skill produces real, tangible equipment and items, that a character can use. The trainer teaches mostly Standard patterns that are enough to level you up, with new patterns roughly every 20 skill points. However these patterns can be improved by Reverse Engineering the items created for a chance to discover a prototype pattern. Prototype items can be then Reverse Engineered to discover Artifact items.

As you can guess it takes a lot of raw materials to create an Artifact so I’ve found it best to only try for an Artifact when you reach the highest level that uses a certain type of material. All my remaining materials then go into making copies of items to Reverse Engineer. Once the Prototype pattern is discovered then work on making it to discover the Artifact. I found it best to focus on items for my core stats rather than trying for everything, so that I got usable patterns.

While leveling, some people have said its not worth trying for the Artifact patterns, since you level past them quickly anyway, but I disagree. I have Cybertech well above my own level, and I’m crafting plenty of items I can’t use. I’ve noticed a pattern in the Prototypes and Artifacts I can make though. A standard item has a certain set of stats, and its Prototype and Artifact equivalents have increased stats. But if you compare a Prototype to an standard item, you’ll find that the standard item you create that is usable 4 levels above the level the Prototype, has the exact same stats. Similarly, an Artifact is equivalent to a standard item 8 levels above. So the primary use for Artifact items while you level is to get access to the higher stat values at earlier levels. This means that an item you are wearing is good for 8 levels at a time, until the quest and standard gear catches up. In the meantime you’re learning new artifact patterns that then are good for another 8 levels, so you’re able to skip trying to learn every Artifact, and as long as you learn every 2nd or 3rd tier of pattern to the Artifact level, you’ll always be ahead of the items from quests or from standard patterns.

Missions

A subset of the Crew Skills, called Mission Skills provide the materials required for Prototype and Artifact level items, beyond the same materials needed for the standard items. These missions however are expensive. I’ve experienced myself, and heard from others experiencing it, how easy it is to go broke simply because the cost of missions isn’t keeping up with the income from questing. The blue and purple materials from Missions are essential for getting your crafting of Prototype and Artifact items up, but always make sure to stay within your means. I’d also recommend stopping all Missions from about level 15-25 simply to allow your cash to build up, so that you can afford your speeder. If you get to Tattooine without one, you’ll curse your highly skilled crafting ability for it.

Scavenging and Slicing

Scavenging skills are your mainstay for basic raw materials. Like mining or herbalism in WoW, your minimap shows the location of items in the vicinity and you can head over and collect the item. You also have the ability to run missions with your scavenging, but unless you have a lot of money, this isn’t worth the effort it takes.

Speaking of money, one of the Scavenging skills, which it IS worth running missions for is Slicing. Slicing missions return Lockboxes which, like their quest reward counterparts, contain a large amount of money. By focussing on the Bountiful and Abundant Slicing missions, you can turn a hefty profit after about the first 100 skill. If you want to level faster, you can use the orange Moderate and Abundant Yield missions, but these will most likely break even, or sometimes fail, returning you no money at all.

Even if your character is Level 10 and has 1 companion, it can be worth sitting them somewhere and running missions every 10 minutes while you level on another character or do something else like the housework or writing blog posts. Slicing also returns you Mission schematics for Slicing and Mission skills, which allow you to get large returns on your missions in one hit, though these generally take longer to run.

Items To Craft

1 -  20    Battle Skill Stim x 20
21 -  40    Battle Fortitude Stim x 20
41 -  60    Field Tech Skill Stim x 20
61 -  80    Surgical Medpac x 20
81 – 100    Field Tech Command Stim x 20
101 – 120    Field Tech Fortitude Stim x 20
121 – 140    Bio-Enhanced Med Unit x 20
141 – 160    Bio-Enanced Skill Stim x 20
161 – 162    Hyperneural Skill Package x 2
163 – 180    Bio-Enhanced Command Stim x 18
181 – 200    Bio-Enhanced Fortitude Stim x 20
201 – 202    Bio-Receptive Skill Package x 2
203 – 220    Physician Med Unit x 18
221 – 240    Experimental Skill Stim x 20
241 – 260    Optoelectronic Cardio System x 20
261 – 280    Experimental Fortitude Stim x 20
281 – 300    Hyperelectronic Cardio System x 20
301 – 320    Advanced Skill Stim x 20
321 – 340    Psychotropic Cardio System x 20
341 – 360    Advanced Fortitude Stim x 20
361 – 380    Mind-Bending Cardio System x 20
381 – 400    Hyper-Battle Skill Stim x 20

Grade 1 Components

• 40 x Green Goo (Biochemical Compound)
• 60 x Dielectric Cell Fiber (Biochemical Sample)
• 40 x Bacterial Strain (Biochemical Sample)

Grade 2

• 60 x Luminescent Cell Culture (Biochemical Compound)
• 60 x Genetic Anomaly (Biochemical Compound)
• 20 x Toxic Extract (Biochemical Sample)
• 20 x Microscopic Symbiote (Biochemical Sample)

Grade 3

• 40 x Hallucinogenic Compound (Biochemical Compound)
• 40 x Blue Goo (Biochemical Compound)
• 40 x Medicinal Fluid (Biochemical Compound)
• 40 x Bio-Energy Cell Sample (Biochemical Sample)
• 40 x Unknown Microorganism (Biochemical Sample)

Grade 4

• 20 x Cosmic Trace Particle (Biochemical Compound)
• 80 x Nerve Damaging Chemical (Biochemical Compound)
• 80 x Inert Virus (Biochemical Sample)
• 60 x Alien Bacteria (Biochemical Sample)

Grade 5

• 40 x Nutrient Gel (Biochemical Compound)
• 40 x Psychoactive Compound (Biochemical Compound)
• 20 x Red Goo (Biochemical Compound)
• 40 x Quick-Growth Agent (Biochemical Sample)
• 20 x Microscopic Symbiote (Biochemical Sample)

Crafting Material

• 198 x Hypo-Syringe
• 78 x First Aid Kit
•  2 x Single-Impulse Implant Processor
•  2 x D-Package Implant Processor
• 40 x Double Pulse Implant Processor
• 20 x Advanced Power Implant Processor

Conclusion

My Bioanalysis skill is going to get hammered to get Biochem done.  All of the Green level items are purely from Bioanalysis and only the Blue and Purple reverse engineered patterns require items from Diplomacy.  I’ll probably still use Diplomacy when I get a 3rd companion, but its less critical.  I will need it up there once I get to the highest levels though, so that I can get the Blue components to make the Prototype items that can be reverse engineered into their Reusable counterparts.

Plus I expect that I won’t need quite so much since I get items back from reverse-engineering everything.

(Calculated on TORHead pre-release, subject to change)

The two groups most affected are:

1. Collector’s Edition Orders: Those who have to wait for a boxed set delivery, because they wanted the CE version.  I’m less concerned with this but sure, its a bit painful that those paying the most have to wait longer than those who wander down to a store for the standard edition.
2. Red Zone Deliveries:  As an Amazon orderer, I have an ETA of 23rd to 29th, which means that I will probably get a day’s play, and then wait for 3-9 days for the box to appear.  Given that I’m on Annual Leave for that period, its not *so* bad.  But still…

I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I’ll be delayed right in the middle of my leave, so I’m hoping that my copy arrives early rather than later, but I still have 10 days to play it non-stop assuming that it turns up on the 29th.  But still… I mean really… BioWare… Do You Hate Us?

I took a different tack this time and leveled characters to L10 to try the other classes.

Jedi Consular

The Jedi Consular is a Force user like the Knight, with a focus on ranged and stunning attacks. To be honest while the storyline was good I kinda got sick of everyone gushing over how precocious I was by the end of the Prologue. It’d be a bit more rewarding if they didn’t think I’d just walk over everything. The class itself however has a lot of potential, with rocks being thrown at people, earthquake moves that knock everyone back. I didn’t much experience with the healing, though people have said you still do a decent amount of damage in fights while healing.

Trooper

The Trooper like the Smuggler is a technology based class focussing on ranged weaponry, though able to use it up close still. They have some interesting combinations, such as my standard opener on multi-pack mobs. Sticky Bomb to the Chest, Explosive Round into the guy, then a Shot to the head to kill him, triggering the sticky bomb, blowing up his friends around him. That however goes out the window if I have the Mortar Volley off cooldown. That thing is OVERPOWERED. Any pack of normal mobs will be completely killed by its AOE damage + stun, and any Stronger mobs will be mostly dead, though they’re not affected by the stun and can run out of it at you. “Tanking” is a factor of using energy cells that generate extra threat on you intstead of energy cells that DoT the target. I believe you also get a an aggro fixate though I haven’t seen it yet.

Gear Choices and Stats

SWTOR appears to have gone with the same modern method of stat selection. Each class has Endurance (Stamina) and an attribute that they want to stack.

• Smuggler – Cunning improves tech based use including weapons and healing.
• Trooper – Aim improves weapon damage for ranged
• Jedi Knight – Strength improves melee and lightsaber damage
• Jedi Consular – Willpower improves force damage and healing.

Quests

Something that caught me out a few times, which I didn’t notice until the third character was that quests appearing on your main map was still proximity based. This means that if you don’t walk close enough to that part of the map, even if you’re in the building, the quest marker wont appear. This is the opposite of the markers when you do get the quest, which appear from the other side of the planet, but since you can’t drill down into another local area, I suppose its vague enough.

Bugs/Issues

• Game Sound – When WoW first came out, it suffered from an annoying setup where game sounds would stop when you Alt-Tabbed. For those of us with multiple monitors, this became very irritating, because clicking on a web page while on a taxi meant that the sound cut out, and it was worse if you did it in an area likely to have attackers. Unfortunately TOR suffers from the same issue. WoW fixed it pretty quickly but you’d think that 7 years on, it’d be a standard feature of any new game.
• Keybindings – Something that I discovered after playing a number of characters too was that none of the keybindings that I set up for a given character would transfer over to other characters. As a left-hander, this can be somewhat irritating. I don’t use the holy quadrilogy of WASD, and usually use that half of the keyboard for 2nd-tier keybinds, with my main line keybindings on the numeric keypad. (And I’d love to find a keyboard that didn’t have NumLock there.)