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I may never come back, and I just want someone to know. This article contains text from a former Shadow Academy course. It is no longer in use, and is preserved here for historical purposes only and should not be used/referenced.
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Course Description
An introduction to SWToR. This course is designed to give you an insight in the Classes and Advanced Classes available in the game. It will also explain the available PvP, Operations and Flashpoints, as well as discuss gearing and the Club's Guild set up.
Course Notes
This exam will cover the practical portion of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Such topics will include Classes, Operations, Flashpoints, PVP, Commendations, and Guild Structure. The majority of guild members will just assume the basics of the game and carry on; however, the point of this exam is to teach a bit beyond the basics. By the end of this exam, you should have a better structured knowledge of the SWTOR game.
For any information that is not found on this exam, please refer to the following:
Classes
Within the SWTOR Game, there are 8 Base classes: Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent, Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, and Trooper. These 8 base classes (4 to each faction) evolve at the level 10 marker. The evolution makes for the following:
- Sith Warrior > Sith Juggernaut/Sith Marauder
- Sith Inquisitor > Sith Sorcerer/Sith Assassin
- Bounty Hunter > Powertech/Mercenary
- Imperial Agent > Operative/Sniper
- Jedi Knight > Jedi Guardian/Jedi Sentinel
- Jedi Consular > Jedi Sage/Jedi Shadow
- Smuggler > Gunslinger/Scoundrel
- Trooper > Vanguard/Commando
Within these advanced classes there are three main categories, or roles, that are played out: Tanks, Healers, and Damage (Also known as DPS). All three roles are essential to team play (i.e. Flashpoint and Raid compositions). Some operation make-ups are better than others, but we’ll cover that a little later.
With these eight classes, the four classes per faction mirror each other on the opposite faction. The breakdown is the following:
- Sith Warrior/Jedi Knight
- Sith Inquisitor/Jedi Consular
- Imperial Agent/Smuggler
- Bounty Hunter/Trooper
Since each class mirrors the other, the primary attributes are the same. For example, Sith Warriors/Jedi Knights need Strength (their primary stat) and have no benefit when it comes to the Willpower Stat. By looking into your class and learning what it needs, you will become a force to be reckoned with. In SWTOR, there are also secondary and even tertiary stats that all classes must consider.
Another point of interest is the Professions each class can acquire. The majority of these are referred to as “Gathering” professions. However, there are certain professions that create items, hereafter known as “Crafting” professions. The available crafting professions are known as Artifice, Synthweaver, Armormech, Armstech, Biochem, and Cyber Tech. These professions make powerful enhancements, mods, and gear. Through various methods called reverse engineering, one can even learn more powerful version of the recipes.
PvP
Warzone
As with any MMO, Player vs Player (also known as PVP) pits person against person in a duel to the death. This form of combat can take shape not only in duels, but also in games. By completing Warzones (win or loss), players are given Warzone Commendations, which are used in the purchase of PVP Gear which will be touched on later in the course.
Attack and Defend, Domination, and even Neutral Ball type games are spread across the five Warzones.
The Voidstar
The Voidstar is a derelict Imperial Battle Cruiser that had disappeared during the Great War. The ship contains schematics for a powerful weapon. Now that the ship has been rediscovered floating throughout deep space, both Empire and Republic forces are attempting to take control of the vessel and access its secrets. This is done through a series of attack and defend rounds.
Huttball
A dangerous new sport has captured the attention of the of people of Nar Shaddaa. Sponsored and hosted by the famed Giradda the Hutt, “Huttball” pits some of the galaxy’s most powerful heroes against one another. As Baron Deathmark (Huttball’s announcer) puts it, “Listen Up! These are the rules of Huttball! Two Teams, Frog-dogs and Rotworms, chosen by random draw! One ball, slippery as a greased Hutt! Grab the ball, throw the ball, get the ball over the opposing team’s line! Weapons, name-calling, and cheating are all encouraged!”
Alderaan Civil War
As two powerful armadas battle in the skies above Alderaan, a ground war rages between Republic and Imperial forces for control of three separate laser cannons that have taken aim at the fleets above the plant. Control the turrets and you control the skies. Through careful planning and execution, teams will be able to control at least two of three turrets. Dominate your opponents and win.
Novare Coast
On the war-torn planet of Denova, opposing forces vie for control of the Novare Coastline. This location has great strategic value, and whoever controls it will have a decisive advantage in controlling the planet. To secure the beachhead, teams battle for control of three mortar turrets which can be used to pound the enemy base. Dominate your opponents and win.
Ancient Hypergate
Team up with other players in an all new 8v8 Player-vs-Player Warzone to take control of powerful energy pylons and earn control of the Hypergate for your faction. Be the first team to open your portal and unleash deadly reinforcements to defeat enemy players!
Starfighter
This is a new expansion for ToR as of update 2.6, allowing players to take on each other in space, in the form of Galactic Starfighter. It puts you inside of the pilot seat of either the Empire’s or the Republic’s fighters in a epic conquest to capture objectives and kill other players.
This space sim is not a rail sim like the normal space missions, you are free to roam all over the map.
Operations
The pinnacle of most MMO players comes from the games PVE (Player vs Environment) content. In SWTOR, these pieces of elite level content are known as Operations and require either 8-player groups or 16-player groups. Different fights require different tactics and solutions, and they scale with difficulty. The two faction capital ships, Gav Daragon & Ziost Shadow, are where players launch all current operations from.
Eternity Vault
Buried deep within the icy mountains of Belsavis, a prison housing an ancient and deadly entity has been uncovered. Both the Republic and the Empire understand the threat, and both sides are now sending their most powerful heroes to confront and eliminate Soa the Infernal once and for all.
Karagga’s Palace
Karagga the Unyielding, Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel, has violated the unspoken agreement that has kept a blind eye from the Republic and Empire’s turn to Cartel operations. Seeing Karraga’s actions as a threat, both factions send representatives to confront Karagga and force him to stop his aggression.
Explosive Conflict
On the planet of Denova, a brutal conflict between an invading Imperial army and Republic-backed mercenaries has come to an abrupt end. Both armies have turned on their governing bodies, swearing allegiance to a legendary warlord who has declared himself the ruler of the planet. Now both the Empire and Republic call on their strongest champions to head to Denova and take the planet from the warlord.
Terror from Beyond
Travel to the Gree controlled planet of Asation, where you’ll join others in an intense series of battles leading up to a final face-off against an unyielding enemy. It’s up to your team to close the Ancient Hypergate, opened by the deadly and malicious Dread Masters, and destroy a galactic goliath before it destroys the galaxy!
Scum and Villainy
Take your raid group to the planet of Darvannis, where you will meet the galaxies ruthless killers, merchants and traders of jewels and the outcast and outlaws. Here it is up to your team to face off against the rouge and well trained Dread Masters. See your team through this behemoth of a operation, challenges will face your team, from wardroids to unleashed beasts. Your goal, kill those that have killed for a living!
Dread Fortress
With the dread masters turning their back on the Empire and forcing the hands of both the Empire and Republic to act together. Fight your way to their base the Dread Fortress. Host to the many guards that protect the Masters inside the Palace. Here you will be challenged by those that cause terror, those that break minds. With your team you must fight your way through this abomination to enter the Dread Masters Sanctum.
Dread Palace
Your last journey awaits, fighting your way threw the Fortress you now enter The Dread Palace. Host to the five Dread Masters that wait for you, this is your hardest fight yet as you try and cleanse the galaxy of these abominations once and for all. What is waiting for you inside is massive, as you must overcome a number of puzzles and challenging battles. For when you enter the Dread Palace, if you are not careful you will soon find yourself lost inside of its gates forever.
These Operations, being the highest level of content available, require certain compositions in order to be conquered. All three class roles from earlier (The Tank, Healer, and DPS), must fit into the 8 or 16-man limitations. Most of the time, with some exceptions, 8-man groups will see a 2/2/4 ratio, that being 2 tanks + 2 healers + 4 DPS. With 16-man groups, it would be 2 Tanks + 4 Healers + 8 DPS + 2 Variable Options (i.e. whatever is more preferred). Through operations, groups of players will also be able to obtain the best gear for each class.
Flashpoints
Smaller scale PVE content, Flashpoints act as the bridge between open world questing and large scale Operations. As flashpoints can be accessed at various levels, players will get a sense of how to play their class within a group setting. Story is the main allure for most players, but others grind out these settings for gear and experience points (as you get an abundance of both). There are currently 17 flashpoints spread between the Republic and Empire, most remaining neutral and obtainable to both, but some being completely exclusive to a specific faction.
Commendations
Commendations are tokens that come from several sources. By completing quests, daily missions, PVP matches, Operations/Flashpoints, and even World Events, players can purchase specialized gear, parts, weapons, and even vehicles. The most important commendations are the Daily Commendations. These give you the ability to purchase 162 Rating Equipment valid since Game Update 2.6 came out. These Commendations come from Dailies that are found on Belsavis, Illum, and Corellia, CZ-198 and Oricon. There are also weekly quests that give Basic Commendations, Elite Commendations and Ultimate Commendations.
Gear
Gearing your character is your priority when you’re leveling and especially when you finally reach level 55. As we went over before, each class has a primary attribute to focus on. These stats affect your damage output or, for those with healing classes, affect your healing output. Here is a quick breakdown:
- Sith Warrior/Jedi Knight <- Strength
- Sith Inquisitor/Jedi Consular <- Willpower
- Imperial Agent/Smuggler <- Cunning
- Bounty Hunter/Trooper <- Aim
All gear will have Endurance. Why? Because this is what allows you to take more hits and allows you to stay alive longer. All tanks have very high Endurance because they need to take more hits, while a healing class will have lower Endurance. So while you are leveling, you will want gear or mods that have your primary stats in them. But when you are level 55, a whole new level of gear opens up for you. You have the tiered gear, which is found at the vendors on the respective fleets. The tiered gear comes with set bonuses, which helps increase stats or abilities for your character, but the set bonuses are different from PvE to PvP. For example: a Sith Juggernaut that is specialized in tanking that is PvE centric will want the War leader gear so that he can have the extra second on his Invincible ability.
For PvE gear, which is found in the Supplies Sections of the Republic and Imperial Fleets, there are the following levels going from lowest to highest: Black Market, Verpine, Oriconian. Black Market gear is bought through Basic Commendations that you earn from doing Hard Mode Flashpoints, Weeklies and Operations.. You can either buy Verpine gear with Elite Commendations or with Unassembled Underworld tokens that drop from Operations. In order to obtain Oriconian gear, you have to get the unassembled pieces from the Hard modes of Dread Fortress or Dread Palace, which has several tiers inside itself, comes from earning Ultimate commendations from completing weekly quests, as well as downing Hard Mode Terror from Beyond, and normal mode Dread Fortress. The Oriconian gear needs unassembled pieces that are dropped from Hard Mode mode Dread Fortress and Dread Palace, and it is currently the highest tiered PvE gear.
PvP gear is also in tiers as well. These vendors can be found in the Combat Training section of the fleets. But something to look out for with the PvP gear is that your main stat is Expertise. With a higher expertise rating, players will do more Damage, produce higher amounts of healing, and take reduced damage from enemy attacks. There is the PvP armor vendor, which sells gear to people under level 55, to assist them in PvP until they can start using Recruit gear. Recruit gear is the base gear for PvP currently, as it can be bought with credits to increase your Expertise rating as you rise through the Valor ranks and earn more Warzone commendations. The recruit gear does not have a set bonus attached to it. The second tier of PvP gear is the Battlemaster gear, which is bought with the Warzone commendations. Finally, the top level PvP gear is the Brutalizer gear, which takes a lot of Warzone commendations and Rated Warzone commendations. You also have to turn in the pieces of Obroan gear that you had bought earlier.
Guild Structure
The DJB presence in SWTOR was a labor of several months of planning. It originally started when most information was simply assumed, as the developers wanted to keep tight lipped about what they were doing. The guild acts as a community hub for all members, allowing them to discuss things that pertain to the game (ie. Mechanics, Gear, PVP, etc). Currently, there are two running on the Jedi Covenant server, which, under the supervision of the Overseer (The Fist of the Brotherhood) and his Guild Leaders (Magistrate Fist: ToR), strive to get our name out there.
The main guild, Dark Jedi Brotherhood, is run by the two ToR Magistrates, despite the Guildmaster title being in the hands of the Fist of the Brotherhood. Most of the “main” characters of all members are listed in this guild, and it is the primary focus of the Empire faction. To help the Empire guild communicate we use the ‘Brotherhood’ channel. This way, groups can be easily formed to do Flashpoints, Operations, or PvP. To join the channel, simply type /create Brotherhood.
The Republic guild, Knights of Odan Urr, is the opposite factions guild under the DJB’s banner, and is lead by the two Fist’s Magistrates. It houses all members who wish to play in the game’s Republic faction.
Helping out Guild members is also a must because a true guild is only as strong as its weakest link. Through professions and questing, we are able to obtain items that can help others out. Rather than selling these items, the Dark Jedi Brotherhood guild has a Bank. The bank acts not only as a vault for items, but also for monetary purposes, such as repairs or re-talenting. Donations to the bank are always welcome, and they are very helpful. The Overseer has immediate control over the guild bank and sets permissions to the different Vaults.
The two guilds are not connected through in-game chat. However, as such our guild uses TeamSpeak as the primary program for voice chat between players. It is often used during raids, operations, Flashpoints, and PvP.
Conclusion
In closing, the scope of an MMO genre game is sometimes a daunting task for a player to learn. It encloses vastly complex mechanics that most players never notice. With a dedicated resolve, however, and the willingness to ask for assistance, anyone can be capable of becoming the best. It all starts with the basics, and hopefully this exams has covered a decent amount of that for you. At the end of the day, remember that this is still a game and should be enjoyed as such.