Base Stats for SWTOR
Hello again to the Acolyte. I have been enjoying early play and trying to determine what class I will enjoy playing. I had assumed it would be the Sith Inquisitor but after playing other classes I am not so sure anymore. So in my confusion I thought I would post something on game mechanics that would be informative to all players and classes. That’s right Core Stats! What are they and how to they effect your game play?
STENGTH
Strength will add a bonus to your Melee Damage and Critical Strike Chance. It is calculated by multiplying it be two and then adding a single decimal place for bonus damage and two for critical chance. Additionally if your a Sith Warrior or Jedi Knight you will gain a ranged force bonus to damage and critical chance. For a Stih Inquisitor this will either be a secondary or tertiary stat.
AIM
Aim adds a bonus to ranged weapons damage and critical chance it is figured just like strength. It should be noted that since Wisdom and Cunning also cover different types of ranged weapons and abilities that I suspect that Aim only influences standard ranged weapons like plaster pistols and rifles.
CUNNING
Cunning improves your damage and critical chance while using tech abilities and weapons. I am not 100% yet on what items are considered tech. I think grenades and other non conventional abilities that the Imperial Agent and Smuggler use fall into this category. Based on this assumption these classes will focus on Cunning as a primary star while the Bounty Hunter and the Trooper will want Aim as a primary stat.
WISDOM
Wisdom gives bonuses to ranged force abilities. Additionally for the Inquisitor and Jedi Counselor they gain a bonus to melee damage and critical chance. This is important for the Inquisitor and Counselor as depending on their Advanced class and skill specification they may find themselves doing a lot of melee and since their lighting attacks will rely on Wisdom this will allow player to focus on wisdom and still do decently in melee combat.
ENDURANCE
Endurance determines your maximum health and your regeneration rate. Multiply your stat by ten and this becomes your Max health bonus and I have not figured out the formula for the regeneration rate but it seems to be kept low. Every class will of course want to be aware of this stat.
PRESENCE
It would not be a Bioware game without some sort of social stat. In their previous games this would open up dialog options and allow you to either intimidate or persuade more effectively. I suspect that this is going on as well in SWTOR but it is behind the scenes. I also suspect that your score give you a bonus to your rolls in group conversations. Presence also has a practical game application and that is it add bonus health, damage, and healing performed from your companion character. I have not seen anything that gives a bonus to this score so I can only hope it scales as you level.
So these are the core stats of the game with the sub stats being derived from these which should make end game gearing easier then wow’s notorious number crunching. I also think that they have spread the priorities out a bit to make it clear what your stat priorities should be and determine if bit of gear is an upgrade or not for your chosen class.
Inqusitor Progression
So this weeks update is the Sith Inquisitor Character Progression. What I can say having seen this and played the Beta is for all character progressions, the first outfit is what your wearing to start, and right before splitting to the advanced classes that is about level 9 or 10. With the first upgrade in gear for the Sith Sorcerer that your will sound like your using a vocalizer. We can see that the Sorcerer will have a force shield at higher levels as well as some serious distance attacks. The first Sith Assassin outfit looks neat and has a nice Kendo feel to it. I don’t particularly care for the final Sith assassin outfit it just look too out there for my tastes but it’s clear that the Assassin will hold his own.
The countdown is reaching it’s final stages with 10 days to go. I have my pre-game loaded and just waiting for an invitation for early play. See you in the galaxy.
In these early stages of the game and this blog please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what your looking for and would like to know about in terms of topics. I will do my best to take a look at it and give my own take on things.
Beta Weekend 2
So the countdown begins. I played more on the Inquisitor and got up to choosing an advanced class and having my first companion character.
INVENTORY
I am sorry on the previous comment I did not understand what the question what but not think I figured it out. There are a few quests you will pick up that you are given an item to perform a certain function. For the Sith on Korriban there are two early one. One is to scan Acolyte’s to compare to a database and recognize as traitors. The other “The Pure” has you scan four sith lords for the “purity” of their blood. How do you achieve this? Well Star Wars the Old Republic has a second inventory screen called “mission Items” it separate those items from your regular items making it a)easier to find them and b) keeping space for the regular items you pick up from loot. You access it by pulling up your inventory and selecting the Mission Items tab at the bottom of the window. You will find the SWTOR uses tabs a lot to minimize screen space.
Advanced Class System
You get two options for your class that will set the tone of your class for the rest of the game for your character. Choose carefully and wisely for unlike Skill points (or Talent points for our WOW players) these cannot be reelected at a later time. At least for now. In the case of the Inquisitor you get the options of the Sith Assasin or the Sith Shadow. The assassin focuses on using a double bladed lightsaber and can be specced to be a stealth specialist. The Sorcerer focuses on force lightening abilities and can also be a healer. From what I can tell you get 1 skill point per level so your going to pick a skill tree and focus on it. You can always respec but it does mean that there will be at least three different focuses per Advanced class.
As a better comparrison of the Difference that the Advanced class can present I also played a Sith Warrior. The Advanced Class system provided a Marauder or Jaugernaut choices. The Juggarnaut uses a single blade and wear heavy armor. It can be a tank or damage dealing character. The Marauder on the other hand only has access up to Medium armor and wields two light sabers.
Companion Characters
Your first companion character will be a nice pairing for your choosen class. So if you’re a melee fighter your companion will be a ranged type, if you’re a ranged class then it’s melee. Until you get your ship and you need to speak to your companion, head to a Cantina. It took a me awhile to figure that one out.
I really enjoyed the companion characters. They get involved in your story conversations and quests so they are not just idle bystanders. Similar to Dragon Age based on your conversations with others they will either respond favorably or unfavorably to your decisions and quests that you perform. And while the role of your companion might fit your character, it does not necessarily fit personality wise.
For example the Sith Inquisitor gets a well fitting companion if your choosing to go dark side. He respects strength and tough action so if your acting as a sith would then he will pretty much like what your doing. On the other hand Vette as a slave being turned over for you rarely likes the merciless decisions I made. What was nice is that the companions are not light/dark so that if I answered in a sarcastic way or considered a quest to be rather foolhardy then she approved of those responses.
I really enjoyed how it at least appeared that your companion will adapt to the conversation choices and decisions you make. This goes form the stock phrases made outside of normal dialogs as you wander around questing. Vette went from sating “if I die Im going to haunt you.” to “I know what your thinking, what a wonderful day to commit slaughter.” It really helped form a connection with the companion characters for me and I look forward to developing my relationships with them and gaining more companion characters as I continue along.
Weekend Beta 2
So I was fortunate to get a second Weekend Invite. I shall add more later as I continue to explore the Sith Inquisitor.
Sith Inquisitor Beta
So it was completely unintentional that for the beta I played both the Trooper and the Inquisitor. Initially my thought was to play a class that I knew full well that I would not be playing at launch. I grew tired of being put in the tanking role form my WOW days. For the bulk of the 6 years I played world of warcraft I spent that time playing a tank, even when I became an altaholic in the end I always fell into the tanking role if I wanted to do a dungeon or raid. I want to avoid that at all costs with TOR. Even better I want to immerse myself in a character and story. Additionally I wanted to savor the class story for when the game launches and just appreciate the work Bioware has done. So I donned on some Republic shoes and rolled a Trooper.
I enjoyed the story and forgive me but I don’t intend to give any spoilers. I did not sign any agreement but for some reason I think it’s better if you find out for yourself. What I will say all those folks wanting to have the BFG, you’ll have tons of fun being with Havoc Squadron. And then the clock started to tick and I couldn’t resist the urge, embracing my inner Sith I started a Sith Inquisitor. With only four hours to go in the Beta Weekend I dove into the Inquisitor the most likely candidate for me for class choice and subject of the blog I think eventually.
You begin as a slave with an opportunity to prove yourself in the force and assent the Sith Empire. They rub it in your face that you’re a slave, weaker, sub standard. While some of the overseer’s look on you impartially and other offer you an opportunity to advance, the one directly in charge cant stand you. For me the feeling was mutual. I was a smart ass and confronted him from the beginning. He was an asshole and I can’t wait to shove a light saber through his heart, the basted.
In terms of playstyle in the beginning the Inquisitor as a Force user is a mixture of ranged and close quarters combat. I found myself using force lightening attacks which is COOL to soften up the enemy and then finish them off with multi-melee attacks. As things go along I supsect that the tactics you will use as an Inquisitor will largely be based on this philosophy, stun and incapacitate your targets, hit them with ranges attacks and then finish them off with some well place melee when they converge on you. Now this is before the advances class system so that could change thing up a bit as it seems one is damage oriented and the other is a mixture of heals and buffs.
Weekend Beta
The Weekend Beta
So like many out there I was invited to participate in the weekend Beta. I have nto had the normal closed or open beta so this was exciting. I have kept up with the weekly updates so many features were not unexpected but it was great to see things first hand.
The User Interface
The first thing to go over was the User Interface. Now I have seen my fair share of forum posting that have complained that the UI is too “WOW” in fact many complaints for a game that has yet to be released is that it is too much like WOW. Well when it comes to the interface there are a lot of similarities. The abilities are on a function bar and the movement keys are the same
and what not. I think this is actually a good thing as it make the interface very intuitive. So any former wow player can easily slip into this game without too steep of a learning curve. There were some difference though. The mini map does a nice job of pointing out quest givers, vendors, and quest goal locations without cluttering the mini map, if you want a better idea of where to go and your relation to it then the larger map does the trick and will even become opaque allowing you to navigate to your destination without having to go back and forth between them ain screen and the map. The main tool bar is at the top and thin so as not to take too much room, many of the section can be pulled up through intuitive commands like “C” for your character sheet. All in all a non intrusive and very easy to use interface.
Character Creation
Character creation, the make it or break it for many people out there. The customization was typical Bioware and had many options to choose from and areas to cover. I did like that some of the hair options and extra options tossed in for some hair styles that amounted to with or without bangs. Also there was attention given to providing certain racial characteristics and ensuring they maintained throughout the customization process. Unfortunately for those like me expecting a wide variety of races to choose from there will not be Jawa Jedi, Rodian Smugglers, or Miruluka Sith. Each class is limited to four different racers. On the plus side the choices available make sense with the universe and what we have seen in movies and games. They also have a few new races for us to play with like the True Sith.
Story and Questing
I know one person who skipped all story elements to the quests. His logic was he wanted to wait till the game came out so as not to ruin anything. I could not do this, the story was what I was most curious about and wanted to see it play out. I was not disappointed. I really got into my story and character. The story was crafted so well and with the voice acting I never truly felts like I was grinding or questing but instead caught up in an organic story and fulfilling missions or trials. I got involved and the choices and how other NPC’s acted towards my character tended to illicit certain responses. I admit that all my characters will have a smart ass streak. It was also really cool to see the party story play out and there are some game mechanics to encourage you to group with people whether friends or strangers, it will be interesting to see if those bear fruit. At the same time there is still the freedom to complete things solo for your own story line purposes. I also enjoy that the class story continues giving you a broader story that goes beyond the initial 10 levels and starter worlds.
Stress Testing
So there were a few bugs, lag issues, and weird graphics issues. The lag issues will hopefully get addressed as I found myself all too easily in Coruscant falling to my death due to a delay in picking up my turning causing my character to careen off a landing. Though the fun part of that was seeing where exactly in Coruscant I was going to land. “Clan up Aisle four! Time to get that transfer to the Death Star.” there were a few instances of graphics on NPC’s having the jewelry or cosmetic features disappear in their faces and one NPC was introduces Hologram size in error. An odd benefit of the lag and issues was it actually afforded an opportunity to see how well the graphics have been done. Because there was a delay in rendering and some odd effects when playing when it finally came into place I got to see how detailed clothing, skin imperfection, and the terrain was done. I really beutiful world has been created and I likely would not have noticed how well it was done if not for these little goofs.
What about ….
Well unfortunately there were several areas I did not get to explore fully or try at all because I was having way too much fun at the lower levels. So I did not get to check out space combat, try out PvP, flashpoints, and only just got a companion so did not get to explore that fully and no crafitng for me. I think I goofed with my crafting, there were a ton of choices and I got confused. With any luck I will get another invite, keep my old toons and get an opportunity to try these aspects out.
So in conclusion I had a blast, not enough time and I am sad that it’s over. I really am excited about the game coming out and looking forward to just to enjoy playing and not worry about leveling at all. I hope to get another invite and perhaps this time try messing with a friend or two.
