SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

Chris

CJUK

SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 05 2012
State of the Game and Game Update 1.2

- New Warzone: Novare Coast
- New Flashpoint: Lost Island
- Warzone Ranking coming into Game Update 1.2
- Improved character textures coming to 1.2
- In-Game events are going to be introduced
- Guild Banks are going to be introduced in Game Update 1.2 (7 separate tabs for the Guild Bank)
- Game Update 1.2 has no official deploy date for the PTS (early April is their aim for deployment)
- Friends of Star Wars program is launching tomorrow (6th of March): players can give up to 3 friends a free week of play in SWTOR

1.2 Trailer Recorded from Livestream
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Updated to released HD Trailer for 1.2

Operations and Flashpoints Discussion

- The new Operation, Explosive Conflict will be the hardest Operation
- Nigthmare mode will have a different loot (gear) post Update 1.2
- Normal mode wil be replaced by "Story Mode", to allow casual players to enjoy the story behind the Operations
- Character copy to PTS will be available soon
- New Flashpoint: Lost Island continues the Kaon story
- Game Update 1.3 will include a Group Finder (single server only)
- Game Update 1.2 will not come with any in-game combat log or any metrics for that matter but a parsable log will be implemented per class actions (offline, probably disk dump)

Player vs. Player Discussion

- New Warzone: Novare Coast (same faction vs same faction gameplay). It's an objective control type Warzone.
- Game Update 1.2 will bring Ranked PVP.
- Group queue will be available in 1.2 (up to 8 players)
- New PVP dailies in 1.2
- 18 new objective medals are going to be introduced in 1.2
- Winning the games faster is encouraged in 1.2
- Vote to Kick will be added in 1.2
- Players who afk in Warzones or don't do anything (0 medals or objectives), won't receive any rewards in 1.2
- New PVP gear (tier) in 1.2
- New PVP Crafting (expertise crystals)
- Voidstar and Civil War will have a training version which will allow same faction vs same faction battles
- Cross-server Warzone queues will be implemented in the future
- Warzone Tournaments will be introduced post Game Update 1.3
- Persistant groups through Warzones (the ability to keep the current group while queuing) will be implemented with no ETA atm
- Ilum will be redesigned in the near future
- Minor changes to Outlaw's Den (quicker travel route)
- Player bounties are planned in the future of SWTOR (no ETA)
- Warzone challenges are planned (challenging another guild/group directly)
- War Hero commendations will be available only via Ranked Warzones (doesn't require to have Valor Rank 70, it's just named the same)
- The current focus of valor is not to get different gear, it's more of a prestigious thing but it will yield several items/things such as mounts, titles, vanity pets etc.

Legacy Presentation

- Family Tree type legacy
- Once you reach level 50 with a species, you can unlock that species to all classes
- Human species alts give you extra Presence
- Legacy Global Unlocks: - unlock class emotes
- Unlock other class buffs (ex. as a Bounty Hunter, with a Sith Warr alt, you can buff with both class buffs)
- Heroic Moment ability (not usable in Warzones/Ops etc)
- Unlock Heroic Abilities (ex. using Force Choke on your agent - again, not usable in Warzones/Ops and usable only with an active companion)
- Complete all missions for a companion “type” (e.g. ranged tank) unlocks a shorter cooldown for Heroic Moment, a small stat boost and additional Presence buff for all your companions.

Social Rank Unlocks

- Dance with your companions
- Brawling abilities for unarmed combat
- Purchasable Legacy Rewards
- Dark/Light/Neutral rewards
- New "Sprint" ability - short duration buff
- Ship training dummies and Warzones dummies will be available at 1.2 (testing damage etc)
- Ship repair droid that will repair your gear, which you can sell gear to and from you can buy different items
- Ship mailbox
- Ship Neutral GTN (high legacy level only)
- Legacy Weapons and Armor
- Legacy appearances
- Unique orange items only unlockable by legacy levels.
- Multi spec is coming (a type of Dual spec but allows you to save multiple specs - more than 2)
- Voice restraining mod for the ship robot (aka mute)
- Ship droid gains affection

Economy and Crew Skills Discussion

- 84% of players have less than 1 million credits and repair costs are currently seen to high. The developers are working for balance adjustments to correct this situation
- Legacy upgrades for Crew Skills are coming in Game Update 1.2 such as better RE system, crafting Operations gear with critical augment slots and more.
- Armstech and Armormech will be able to make different types of augments
- Slicing will supply augment materials
- Cybertech speeders will become BoE
- The costs of training a level 3 speeder will be reduced
- Shorter cooldowns for cybertech grenades
- New color crystals will become available for crafting through Artifice
- New schematics will be implemented, including for PvP crafting (gained by PvP-ing). Artifice will be the first crew skill to benefit from this
- Overall, efforts are focused to motivate players to become crafters by offering them exclusive benefits that will allow them faster credit gains, better looking gear and performance
- A tooltip will be implemented in Game Update 1.2 that will tell you if you can Reverse Engineer an item and if there is a new schematic that you can learn by doing so
- High-level (purple) missions will no longer have a chance to fail starting with Game Update 1.2

Roleplayer's Discussion

- New possible features include character re-customization and chat bubbles
- Social, alignment and family tree unlocks will be available through the Legacy system
- In the future all cosmetic gear should work for all types (light, medium and heavy armor)
- Animal mounts will be implemented at some point in the future
- More role-play emotes will come and many of them will have lines.

Guild Features Discussion

- Guild banks will come in Game Update 1.2 (with up to 7 tabs that you can buy with a gradually increasing price)
- Detailed guild logs will allow guild leaders to see all incoming/outgoing transactions

Post Game Update 1.2 Guild Features

- Guild Emblem (useable on armor)
- Guild Calendar
- Guild Advertising (to support guild recruitment/joining)
- Guild Progression will be implemented, but not in the near future
- Guild Capital Ships design exists (will also not be available to soon)

User Interface Presentation

- You will be able to move and scale most UI components while in "Edit Mode". Components that are always visible and the ones that are only visible sometimes will be displayed with different colors
- For now only four quickslot bars remain available
- Game Update 1.2 confirmed to bring the "target of target" feature
- You will be able to flip the map axis
- You will be able to move secondary windows anywhere on the screen and have more than one open at the same time
- UI configurations will be save-able as XML files and shared between players
- Macros will not be implemented any time soon
- Spec-specific quickslots will be implemented at some point
- Many improvements to the GTN will come in Game Update 1.2. (such as less mandatory filters)
- You will be able to share UI settings between characters (altough not in Game Update 1.2)

...And The Rest

- The "Unify to Chest" option is being brought back in Game Update 1.2 and it will be toggle-able for each armor piece (default setting "off")
- New daily quests on Corellia will be implemented in Game Update 1.2
- Dual-multi spec is coming in two stages: first you will be able to switch between tree builds; in the second stage switching will also change the gear loadout (not in 1.2)
- Same gender romance will be implemented at some point (quote: "Sometime this year") with story updates included
- Warzone team balancing will be optimized through the improved match-making system and the incentives provided to discourage warzone quitting
- The option to to turn down shader settings that is coming with Update 1.1.5 will make the game playable on lower end machines. However, there is a dedicated team working constantly on optimizations to make the game run better

Hands on Updates and Further Information

Warzone Novare Coast

The planet Denova has become a hotbed for galactic conflict. Both the warzone Novare Coast and the operation Explosive Conflict (hey, I didn't make up the names) take place on this previously unmentioned planet. Although it's a bit unclear to me why this planet is so important, perhaps it will make itself clear once Update 1.2 launches. Decked out in our War Hero armor, everyone in the room jumped into the warzone. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for us to complete the operation.

If you enjoy the Alderaan Warzone, then you are going to love the Novare Coast. And if you thought Alderaan was too slow or it was too easy to hold nodes, then try out Novare Coast when it goes live. The two warzones have similar objectives but are just different enough to make things interesting.

The control points operate cannons that aim at the enemy's bunker. Each bunker has a regenerating shield that just so happens to regenerate as fast as one cannon can fire. If you are able to get two of the three cannons to fire at the enemy's bunker, then it will begin to take damage. The map is set up with the cannon controls in an upside-down triangular shape with the bottom point between the two bases and the northern two points directly north of the respawn points. The map is smaller than Alderaan's, and more than one person can turn the cannon at one time, causing them to turn faster.

Overall, its smaller map made for faster action.

Flashpoint: The Lost Island

The new flashpoint ties into the existing game lore. The Rakghoul virus found on Kaon during the Kaon Under Siege flashpoint has been traced to a lab on Ord Mantel. The mad scientist running the lab didn't stop with infecting humans; instead he continued his work with other species and wildlife in an attempt to perfect the viral strain. Of course, it is our job to stop that from happening. Unfortunately -- and despite BioWare's emphasis on it -- the story really falls short in this flashpoint. I'm not saying that story isn't there, it just wasn't as in-your-face as it was in other flashpoints like the Foundry.

Mechanically, the flashpoint was really sound, and did I mention fun? I was surprised at the complexity of the flashpoint, even in "story mode." The game became mostly about coordination timing and less about gear stats. Granted, my whole team was playing characters and classes that we don't play normally, but we did manage to work together well enough to get to the last boss.

For those wanting details about the encounters, I'll give you a quick overview. The first boss is a security droid that systematically releases Rakghoul at the same time it drops ever-expanding pools of electricity. The second boss is a mutated Savrip who thinks he's a monkey. He likes to jump and stomp the ground, and if you aren't close enough to him when he shakes the platform, you will get knocked off. Worse, he throws a poison DoT that will spread from one player to the next, causing major damage if you stand too close to your mates. There is a bonus boss about which I won't give too much away other than to say, "Watch out for the falling icicles!" The final boss is, of course, the scientist. The best comment came from my own character, who said, "If the formula is so good, why don't you use it on yourself?" and that's exactly what he did. This just goes to show that sometimes you don't even want to jokingly give bad advice.


Hands on Details from Playing at Guild Summit

Legacy

Companion Buffs (Example)

Imperial Agent


Kaliyo – Bonus to endurance
Vector – Bonus to surge
Doctor Lokin – Bonus to healing
Ensign Temple – Bonus to critical chance
Scorpio – Bonus to defense
The rest of the classes have their own but due to time constraints, we will add them here later. However, all of the classes follow similar bonus lines.


Species

Note: All of the values will likely be retooled or changed before the 1.2 patch roll out. Everything here should be treated as such until the final values are updated. Values with * may be incorrect. All species unlocks can be unlocked by getting to 50 with a character of that species.

Chiss – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits, legacy level 8
Cyborg – Unlockable for 500,000* credits, legacy level 8
Human – Unlockable for 500,000* credits, legacy level 8
Miraluka – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits, legacy level 8
Mirialan – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits , legacy level 8
Rattataki – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits , legacy level 8
Sith Pureblood – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits , legacy level 8
Twilek – Unlockable for 1.5 million credits , legacy level 8
Zabrak – Unlockable for 500,000* credits , legacy level 8


Alignment

Legacy of Sacrifice – Grants the use of the sacrifice ability to all characters. Injures your companion to instantly heal yourself. Requires level 50, Dark V, 250,000 credits, legacy level 10
Legacy of Unity – Grants the use of the unity ability to all characters. Unity reduces damage to you and your companion for a short duration. Requires level 50, Light V, 250,000 credits, legacy level 10
Legacy of Equilibrium – Grants the use of the equilibrium ability to all characters. Equilibrium increases damage and healing by you and your companion for a short duration. Requires level 50, neutral, 250,000 credits, legacy level 10


Ship Unlocks

Mailbox – Unlockable for 250,000 credits, legacy level 10
Repair Droid – Unlockable for 1 million credits, legacy level 8
Operation Training Dummy – Unlockable for 250,000 credits, legacy level 10
Warzone Training Dummy – Unlockable for 250,000 credits, legacy level 10, valor rank required
Black Market Trade Terminal – Unlockable for 5 million credits, legacy level 35


Combat

Legacy of Combat: Punch – Unlocks the unarmed combat function. Unlockable for 10,000 credits, legacy level 5, Valor rank level 5
Legacy of Combat: Jab – Unlockable for 15,000 credits, legacy level 8, valor rank 10
Legacy of Combat: Uppercut – Unlockable for 20,000 credits, legacy level 10,valor rank 15
Legacy of Combat: Bash – Unlockable for 25,000 credits, legacy level 15,valor rank 25


Social

Companion dance – Unlockable for 50,000 credits, legacy level 5, social 2 or above
Tech Emotes – /datapad /holocoms /map. Unlockable for 50,000 credits, legacy level 8, social 4 or above
Tech Tool Emotes – /scanned /scangreen /binoculars /weld. Unlockable for 50,000 credits, legacy level 12, social 6 or above
Double Lasers Emote – Unlockable for 150,000 credits, legacy level 15, social 10 or above


Convenience

Legacy Fleet Pass – Cuts down the time of the use of Fleet Pass by increments of one hour for each of the levels. There are three levels to it and are unlockable for increments of 50,000 credits, 5 legacy levels (5, 10, 15)
Legacy Quick Travel – Same as the above except that it is cut down by one minute each level instead.
Rocket Boost – Short duration speed increase. Unlockable for 5 million credits, legacy level 20


Achievement Mission Terminals


Several Achievement Mission Terminals are located in fleets of the two factions that now unlock achievement rewards for doing certain flashpoints, operations, etc. These feats require boss kills and more to unlock special speeder skins/colors.

Further Legacy Information

Post 1.2, you are allowed to tag your Legacy characters with a family relationship. That means your characters will take the following roles: Spouse, Ally, Child, Adopted Child, or Parent. Completing Act II of your Class Story with any character will unlock an emote that corresponds to that particular class. What's more interesting is that once you complete Act III with any of your chars, you'll gain the following abilities:

- Bounty Hunter / Trooper – Flamethrower / Sticky Grenade
- Sith Inquisitor / Jedi Consular – Lightning Storm / Project
- Sith Warrior / Jedi Knight – Force Choke / Force Sweep
- Imperial Agent / Smuggler – Orbital Strike / Dirty Kick

Also, if you max out the affection with all your companions (per character), you'll gain +50 boost to Presence stat, 5-minute reduction on Heroic Moment ability, and a +1 minute addition to the duration of the Heroic Moment buff. There are also a bunch of unlockable social emotes such as /doublelasers (costs 150k and requires level 15 Legacy) or /weld (costs 50k and requires level 12 Legacy) and a total of 4 unarmed abilities, unlocked at different PVP Valor Ranks.
4 people liked this
Edited March 14 2012 by CJUK
Chris

CJUK

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 06 2012
- Same gender romance will be implemented at some point (quote: "Sometime this year") with story updates included
Kidd Kasper

kiddkasper

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 06 2012
Awesome stuff!
Kyle

QiqJoe

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 06 2012
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!! Legacy system, *swoon.* The idea is great to have "family" traits that carry over (i.e. playable species on all classes, common abilities/powers). The crafting updates look subtle, but very useful. I love the customization look to the characters, too. Now maybe mine won't look like an intergalactic hobo.

(Just with the same gender romance would come sooner. But not like I do any of that now, so it'll probably take me a bit to get into it anyway.)
Patrick

Van

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 06 2012
Great stuff! Thanks for posting.
Chris

CJUK

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 08 2012
Added HD Trailer for Update 1.2 to original post.
Kidd Kasper

kiddkasper

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 08 2012
Quote by CJUK
Added HD Trailer for Update 1.2 to original post.


ZOMG, cute mini pet(s)! :lol:
Patrick

Van

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 08 2012
Great HD! Thankee

I also caught two things that look interesting - Ship Droids Gain Affection and New RP. Good stuffs!!
Chris

CJUK

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 08 2012
also if you pause you can see the setup for the guild bank permissions.
Kidd Kasper

kiddkasper

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 09 2012
Quote by CJUK
also if you pause you can see the setup for the guild bank permissions.


2 different screens actually, did that earlier. ;)
Chris

CJUK

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 13 2012
Some more interesting tidbits have surfaced on the fan sites from those that had a chance to play 1.2 at the guild summit.

Added to the first post.
Chris

CJUK

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 14 2012
Added a bit more info to the bottom of first post.
Jedi Consular – Lightning Storm YAY
Patrick

Van

Re: SWTOR Guild Summit Updates

March 14 2012
Everytime I read the notes I seem to see something new.

Also, if you max out the affection with all your companions (per character), you'll gain +50 boost to Presence stat, 5-minute reduction on Heroic Moment ability, and a +1 minute addition to the duration of the Heroic Moment buff. There are also a bunch of unlockable social emotes such as /doublelasers (costs 150k and requires level 15 Legacy) or /weld (costs 50k and requires level 12 Legacy) and a total of 4 unarmed abilities, unlocked at different PVP Valor Ranks.

Thank goodness Kira loves me! (maxed out affection with her)

Also the part where you assign a title to your other char's..i.e. spouse, child etc etc. Dang now how do I figure out who is whom's partner?? ;P

As I've said before I think this patch is gonna be exciting