In order to help our dear Imperial compatriots and Republicans newcomers, it is well founded and public order to best expose the components of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Or more quickly: answer the question “Késkecéhékomensamarsh?”.
This is therefore not an in-depth guide on the various points that will be discussed, but rather an initiatory guide, a step in the stirrup for newcomers. For more specific points, refer to the other guides that have already been done, much better than I will do here.
Summary:
- Pamphlet on the three roles in an MMO
- Introduction to SWTOR classes
- Talent tree management
- Gear up correctly for leveling up
- Optimize your level up (optional)
- Manage your arrival at level 55
- Quick update on the trades
Pamphlet on the three roles in an MMO
Massively Multiplayer Online, in other words “There are a lot of us, we will have to interact”. And from this very simple perspective, 3 roles stand out: Tank, Healer (Heal), Damage (DPS).
First of all here is an explanation of the 2 major game modes:
- JcE (PvE) = Players against Environment: you play against "the computer".
- PvP (PvE) = Player vs. Player: You play against real people.
Damage Classes (DPS)
This is the dominant role in all MMOs, perfect for starting out. He is there to lower the opponent's life bars. So all his abilities will be turned towards this goal.
- Advantages when leveling up: enemies die quickly, in a Hotspot (PvE) or in a War Zone (PvP); role with less responsibility.
- Disadvantages when leveling up: more difficult survival.
Clarification: there are also two sub-roles: Body-to-Body (CaC) and Distances. Melee are the classes that fight in the melee, while the distances stay (as the name suggests) away from their target.
The Heals
Also often referred to as Heals, the Healers are there to keep the group alive. He has various tools to keep his comrades alive. It is important to know that Healers only become effective around level 25. Before that, focus on Damage specializations.
- Advantages when leveling up: increased survival, pivotal and necessary role in Litigation Zone or War Zone.
- Disadvantages when leveling up: long fights (low damage inflicted).
Tanks
He is the shield of the group. He taunts enemies into attacking him, rather than party members. He has a bigger life bar than the other roles, heavier armor, and superior survival. Like the healer, it only becomes effective around level 25.
- Advantages when leveling up: increased survival, pivotal and necessary role in Litigation Zone or War Zone.
- Disadvantages when leveling up: long fights (low damage inflicted).
Introduction to SWTOR classes
- Sith Warrior / Jedi Knight
- Sith Inquisitor / Jedi Consular
The Warrior / Knight is THE representative class of Star Wars. He's a lightsaber fighter rushing straight into the melee (Melee: CaC).
He can be :
- Marauder / Sentinel : Class of damage to the CaC par excellence, it has 2 sabers, an intermediate armor and can only be allocated to Damage only.
- Ravager / Guardian : Damage classes to the CaC too, however, he only has one lightsaber and can, thanks to his heavy armor, specialize in Tanking or Damage.
Second class using force and a lightsaber, Inquisitors / Consulars are fighters using Force to sow death in enemy ranks.
He can be :
- Wizard / Scholar : ranged class, owning a lightsaber (just for decoration, he NEVER uses it in combat. You can remove this spell from your shortcuts). He can specialize in ranged damage or healing.
- Assassin / Shadows : CaC class and stealth (he can make himself totally invisible to his enemies and attack by surprise). He carries a double-bladed lightsaber (a handle with a laser on each side. See Darth Maul). He can specialize in Tanking or Damage.
- Bounty Hunter / Soldier
- Imperial Agent / Smuggler
Iconic class, these are equipped with heavy armor and Blaster / Cannon.
He can be :
- Mercenary / Commando : ranged class, equipped with two blaster pistols / one cannon. He can specialize in Damage or Healing.
- Sspecialist / avant-garde : mid-range class (less than 10 meters range on many spells) armed with a blaster pistol / blaster rifle. He can specialize in Tanking or Damage.
The lesser-known class of Star Wars, Agents and Smugglers are impassive performers of the will of the Secret Service or serving their own interests.
They can be:
- Elite Shooter / Sniper : long distance class (35 meters range instead of 30 meters for distances) armed with a sniper rifle / two blaster pistols, only specialized in Damage.
- Secret Agent / Thief : CaC / Mid-range class carrying a blaster rifle / blaster pistol and a knife / submachine gun. They can choose Damage or Heal.
Talent tree management
From level 10, you will have points to allocate in your talent tree. Know that to start, I recommend once again to put all your points in the same tree, and to privilege the Damage specializations.
All talent trees will be broken down like this:
- In red : "specific" roles (Healing or Tank, or Damage for certain classes)
- And vert : PvE oriented Damage roles
- In yellow : PvP-oriented Damage roles
This is an extreme simplification (note that the Damage roles are adapted to PvE as PvP. The branch on the right generally favors mobility and survival. Which guides PvP).
Important point: as seen previously, Snipers / Mavericks and Marauders / Sentinels will not have a "specific" talent tree. They can only specialize in Damage.
Gear up correctly for leveling up
The main statistics
It is essential to know that each major class is associated with a main characteristic:
- Warrior / Knight : Vigor
- Inquisitor / Consular : Will
- Bounty Hunter / Soldier : Aim
- Imperial Agent / Smuggler : Tip
Types of armor
Three types of armor are used in SWTOR: light, medium and heavy armor.
- Light Armor : Assassin / Shadow, Wizard / Scholar
- Middle armor : Secret Agent / Thief, Sniper / Maverick, Marauder / Sentinel
- Heavy armor : Ravager / Guardian, Mercenary / Commando, Specialist / Vanguard
Be sure to equip yourself with the appropriate armor for your class, otherwise you will lose damage reduction.
Note: There is a fourth type of armor, adaptable, which appeared in Update 1.3, that any class can wear, and will automatically adapt to the type of armor they are wearing.
Secondary statistics
This is where it gets complicated. Note that SWTOR has eight secondary statistics, all of which have a specific role.
- Endurance : increase in total health points
- Engime : increased damage / healing bonus
- Critical : increased chance to critically hit
- Influx : increased critical hit damage
- Bouclier : increased chances of triggering his shield (Tank)
- Absorption : increased damage absorbed by the shield (Tank)
- Defense : increased chance to dodge (Tank)
- Presence : increase in partner efficiency (unnecessary)
For your leveling up, focus on your main statistic and the first four stats. Avoid specializing Tank or Heals before level 25. In full, avoid specializing Heals or Tank for your leveling up (even if some appreciate the greater survival provided by these branches).
tips
- Make sure to always maintain a level of equipment close to your level.
- The same goes for your companion's equipment.
- Use modifiable equipment (orange quality).
- Frequently use your Planetary Distinctions (which you earn from quests or by chance on the corpses of enemies) to purchase mods and equipment from Distinction Merchants in the Reserves section of your fleet.
- If you're PvP, use your Warzone Distinctions at level 20 and 40 (gear available in Kaas City, Dromund Kaas, or Coruscant in Senate Square).
- Learn your spells well at all levels and put your points in one talent tree.
- Read your spells and talent trees.
- Consult the codex (L key) and its tabs at the bottom. A lot of information is useful there.
- Don't hesitate to ask your Guild / Adventure mates for advice.
The companion
It seems to me necessary to spend a few lines on the Companion. You will get it around level 7-8 on your home planet. In order not to reveal anything about the story, I will not list companions by class or tell you the order in which they were obtained. You can find more information here.
Just know that each class will eventually have:
- Melee Tank
- Tank Distance
- Melee damage
- Distance damage
- Healer
Just like you, know that your companions have equipment. To view it, all you need to do is open your character window and at the bottom you will see a "Partner" tab. His gear works just like yours, except he can't equip Relics. You can also send your companions to collect materials for you once you have learned a harvesting profession.
Optimize your level up (optional)
If you are in a hurry to finish your level up and get to 55 as quickly as possible, there are some tips that will help you maximize your experience gains.
First, constantly use Experience boosts (1 hour or 3 hours), which can be purchased at the Cartel Market or the Galactic Market. These allow you to gain 25% more experience. In the same vein, join a guild. The experience bonus can go up to + 10%. Also note that War Zones (PvP) and Litigation Zones (PvE) are not very profitable in terms of leveling up. Once the daily is done, move on.
For quick and easy leveling, focus on Class Quests (the mandatory quests in your story), Planet Quests (the quests given to you at the start of the planet), as well as side quests ( the ones you can take here and there on the planet). By doing this, know that you will have a minimum of 2 or 3 levels of advance on the recommended level for your class quests.
Once you get to level 47 (Oh yes, you feel that it is approaching eh!), Things accelerate. You already have access to level 50 daily quests. Go for a walk on Illum for example to do the daily and their bonus to gain some 120 experience in 000 minutes. Keep doing your class and planet quests anyway. Be aware that these methods are useful for increasing the level of a character "quickly", but can spoil the fun of the game. Thus, I would advise you to follow these tips only for leveling a reroll (character alternative).
Last tip: Dora the Explorer! Once your ship has been acquired (level 14/15), go visit the high level planets (Illum and Voss are the most suitable for this technique: almost only melee enemies). So go to Voss, get on your nice freshly acquired speeder (level 15 for subscribers) and explore the map. And there "O miracle", with your various experience bonuses, you gain up to 8 XP per discovered area. This method is only useful between levels 000 and 15 (especially on double XP weekends).
Manage your arrival at level 55
PvP
When you get to level 55, you are going to want to make your first War Zone in the big leagues. And there, surprise, you are going to be atomized, butchered, finely chopped, shredded. Why will you tell me? Your equipment, my friends!
Note that at level 55, a new statistic appears: theExpertise. This can be considered as the major statistic of PvP, it ranges from 0 to 2018 maximum. Once in 2018, you will gain 60% damage bonus, 37,5% damage reduction, and 20% healing increase.
Ha yes immediately, you better understand the monumental spanking of earlier.
The trick is as follows so that you don't get too dumped once 55.
Once level 40, your equipment purchased from the Dromund Kaas merchant, continue to PvP, and keep your War Zone accolades toasty.
If by luck you reach the maximum (2750), there is one solution: increase your bravery to level 40 (below your statistics in your character sheet). After Bravery 40, you will be able to exchange your War Zone distinctions for Ranked War Zone distinctions (30 ZGD for 10 ZDG ranked). And the limit is 4500 ranked ZdG awards + 2750 ZdG awards.
Once 55, you will be able to purchase your ZdG gear directly and, if necessary, convert your Classified Honors back to normal distinctions. With your 4500 +2750 distinctions you will be able to buy 7 or 8 PvP 55 coins, putting you back in the race to the fight!
JcE
There it is easier, you just have to take a little tour of Oricon. Indeed, once the few quests of Oricon are finished, you will have some correct coins, allowing you to tackle the Contentious Areas 55 in hard mode. It is with these ZL that you will obtain the necessary equipment to be able to pretend to carry out operations (raids with 8 players)
You can find all the equipment in detail at 55 on this article.
Quick update on the trades
We will consider that there are three types of profession on SWTOR:
The "field" harvesting professions
These professions are used to collect materials directly from the planets via your character (or your companion). These will be used to make items, equipment, potions with your crafting profession.
- Recovery
- Bioanalysis
- Archeology
There is a fourth harvest profession, but be aware that this one is used for high-level crafting and is, for me, not recommended for a first character. Be aware, however, that in addition to making materials you will collect "credit boxes" containing small amounts of credits (so ultimately rather useful to fill your purse).
- Piracy
Mission professions
Like the previous trades, you will collect materials. With the difference that you can only obtain them by interacting with your partners (press "N", the window that opens will serve as an interface for these professions). Once sent on harvesting missions, your companions are no longer available for a given time. Be careful not to send your favorite companion on a mission before entering a dangerous phase of play.
- Investigation
- Treasure hunt
- diplomacy
- Illegal trade
The tailoring trades
And finally, here is the craft that will be used to use your hard-harvested materials. Only one crafting profession is possible per character.
- Weapon crafting (Aim and Hint weapon crafting)
- Armor Crafting (Aim and Hint Armor Crafting)
- Cybernetics (Crafting modification for orange gear, grenades, speeders)
- Synthweaving (Crafting Stamina and Willpower armor)
- Biochemistry (Potions making)
- Artifice (crafting Stamina and Will weapons, weapon crystals and dyes)
Please note that I have intentionally simplified the explanations of each profession to the extreme. The goal is to help during a first approach and not to provide an advanced guide on the trades.
Interactions between harvesting and clothing professions.
Each crafting profession needs specific harvesting craft materials. So be sure to take the right matches:
- Weapons manufacturing : Recovery, Illegal trade (Hacking)
- Armor crafting : Recovery, Illegal trade (Hacking)
- Cybernetics : Recovery, Illegal Trade
- Synthweaving : Archeology, Illegal Trade (Piracy)
- Biochemistry : Bioanalysis, Diplomacy
- Artifice : Archeology, Treasure hunt
To begin with, it seems interesting to me to take up a profession which helps to equip oneself. I will therefore recommend Armor Crafting, Synthweaving or Cybernetics.
Point important
The Free-2-Play (game without subscription), Privilege (Game without subscription but with expenses made at the Cartel market) and subscription statuses benefit from different treatment when it comes to business.
- Free-2-Play : possibility of taking only one job at a time
- Privilege : possibility of taking only two trades at a time
- Subscriber : you can take 3 trades simultaneously.
You can forget the trades you know simply by pressing the small cross on the right in the trades window ("N" key).
Warning: any forgetfulness is final and resets your knowledge of this profession to 0. If you take it up one day you will have to start all over again!
Hope these tips help newbies! Do not hesitate to add any information that you think is missing in the comments!
