SWTOR New Player’s Guide

Star Wars The Old Republic New Player’s Guide by Goshee

Hello there everyone!

I was recently invited to the Star Wars: The Old Republic beta test weekend. During this weekend I have picked up my fair share of useful tips and tricks to get you started right away and to make sure you don’t get left behind on release!

This guide is for newcomers and veterans alike, so if you are unsure about reading it I suggest you have a quick look through as you might have missed something you didn’t already know about!

If you want to learn more about crew skills and companions specifically then check out my other guide here

So without further delay, I present you with…

Guide: Newcomers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MUST HAVE TIPS

• GENERAL
• SERVER TYPES
• FACTIONS AND CLASSES
• THE USER INTERFACE (UI)
• QUESTING & LEVELING
• LOOTING
• GROUPING
• THE STORY
• PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER (PVP)
• COMPANIONS
• TRADE
• CREW SKILLS
• STATS
• STARSHIP
• LEGACY NAME
• GUILD
• CHAT, COMMANDS & SHORTCUTS
• ABBREVIATIONS
• MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

USEFUL WEBSITES AND THREADS

WEBSITES

• TORHEAD – A databse showing items, missions, abilities, crew skills, achievments and npc’s!
• WIKISWTOR – A community made database, you can contribute too!
• The Old Republic on Twitter – Stay up to date with the latest information!
• The Old Republic on Youtube – Watch the latest videos of SW:TOR
• BioWare – Keep an eye out for the latest games and information BioWare has to offer
• EA – The latest on EA products and services
• LucasArts – The latest on LucasArts products and services

STORY

• Galactic Timeline Records 1-12 – All the info you need on the events leading up to the games current time.
• ‘Deceived’ Cinematic Trailer – Watch the fight at Coruscant as Empire troops lay waist to the Jedi Temple
• ‘Hope’ Cinematic Trailer – Watch the republic troops fight back against the wrath of the Empire

MUST HAVE TIPS!

GENERAL

• The in-game currency is called Credits. The symbol for this currency is:
• The level cap is 50
• You choose your specialization at level 10. e.g. Jedi Knight can become a Guardian or Sentinel.
• Note that once you pick your spec you can not change it later on at all. Though you can respec the talents of the skill set at any time for credits.
• Mounts are obtained at level 25 for a total price of 48’000 credits. (40k for the license and 8k for the vehicle) note: if you have Digital Deluxe Edition or the Collectors you are given a mount for free so its only 40k total.)
• You obtain your ship when you finish your class quests, usually around level 16
• Log off or spend time in a cantina to obtain rested experience. Rested exp increases the amount of exp you get for killing enemies for a certain amount depending on how long you have spent in the cantina
• As you progress through the game you will unlock a number of titles. To select a title go to the character panel ‘C’ select the arrow beside your name and a drop down list will open of all available titles.
• The name of your current location will be displayed on the top left corner of the screen, followed by the number of people also in the same location. E.G. Tython 147 means you are on planet Tython and there is a total of 147 players there.
• You can see your latency by hovering your mouse over the four signal bars below your minimap (located on the bottom right of the screen).
• You can see your current FPS (frames per second) by pressing [CTRL+SHIFT+F] at the same time
• To split a stack of items (say you have 20 crystals) simply hold [SHIFT+LEFTCLICK] then drag the cursor into an inventory space. Enter the amount you want and it will then place the split stack into an empty inventory space.
• To link an item in the chat simply [SHIFT+LEFTCLICK] it
• Some items in the world can be modified. Modifying is simply upgrading your item so it performs better or looks different. You don’t need a General Enhancement Station to perform this you can simply [CTRL+Right Click] the item to begin modifying. Drop the modification into its designated slot and click ‘apply’ for the modification to take effect.
• When you receive an item which is modifiable there will already be some modifications in it
• You can also remove modifications from current weapons, simply drag and drop them back into your inventory
• Flashpoints are the equivalent of “instances” for most people. Composed of a team of 4 players or less.
• Operations are the equivalent of “raids” for most people. Composed of a team of either 8 or 16 players. Difficulty varies accordingly.

SERVER TYPES

• When picking a server in the Beta we only had the option to choose between PvE and PvP though more will become available at launch no doubt.
• Choosing one server type from another doesn’t forbid you from taking part in other aspects of the game. PvE players can still PvP and vice versa.
• PvE is short for player versus environment, the players here focus mainly on getting through the story content whether it be quests or group raiding.
• PvP stands for Player versus Player, this server has strong emphasis on faction combat and will ‘flag’ you for PvP. This means enemy players can attack you whilst you are questing so you should always be on the look out. You will find more guilds centered around battlegrounds here. Though many and most still go through regular PvE content as well.
• RP stands for Role Play. Roleplaying is a way of playing the game where you pretend to be the character you are playing. One usually creates a back story for their character which influences how they deal with quests, how they talk to other characters and how they behave in the game’s universe. These servers usually come with their set of rules e.g. naming policies and more. RP is usually followed by another tag such as RP-PvE or RP-PvP, see above for what each means.

FACTIONS AND CLASSES

• The game has two factions to choose from
• Each faction has four classes to choose from
• Each class has two specializations to choose from, unlocked at level 10 after a quest
• The below list shows the classes belonging to each faction and their starting planet.
• Each class on the list shows both specializations and links to their talent trees. Followed by their preferred weapon and role in group
• If you want to level with a friend right from level 1 make sure you pick a class with the same starting planet!

Republic

Smuggler – Ord Mantell

Gunslinger – Dual Wield – Long Range DPS
Scoundrel – Blaster – Ranged DPS or Healing

Trooper – Ord Mantell

Commando – Blaster Cannon – Long Ranged DPS or Healing
Vanguard – Blaster Rifle – Ranged DPS or Tank

Jedi Knight – Tython

Guardian – Single Lightsaber – Melee DPS or Tank
Sentinel – Dual Lightsaber – Melee DPS

Jedi Consular – Tython

Sage – Single Lightsaber – Ranged DPS or Heal
Shadow – Staff Saber – Melee/Range DPS or Tank

Empire

Bounty Hunter – Hutta

Mercenary – Dual Blasters – Ranged DPS or Healing
Powertech – Single Blaster – Melee/Ranged DPS or Tank

Imperial Agent – Hutta

Operative – Blaster Rifle – Ranged DPS or Healing
Sniper – Sniper Rifle – Long Ranged DPS

Sith Warrior – Korriban

Juggernaut – Single Lightsaber – Melee DPS or Tank
Marauder – Dual Lightsaber – Melee DPS

Sith Inquisitor – Korriban

Assassin – Staff Saber – Melee DPS or Tank
Sorcerer – Single Lightsaber – Ranged DPS or Heal

• The two factions are currently at war with each other. This link will explain the story so far and show you some neat video clips!
• The specialization you choose will influence your gameplay greatly and can’t be changed once picked
• After you have chosen your spec, you will be awarded a skill point
• To spend your skill points, open the skill window ‘K’ and choose a branch to place it.
• Skill points are granted at the rate of 1 skill point per level
• You can place skill points in all three branches if you desire
• You can re-spec your skills by visiting your class trainer (for a price)

THE USER INTERFACE (UI)

• The UI can’t be altered much at this moment in time. Whether its to keep the game looking professional or to stop people leaking horribly customised UI’s to the public putting people off from playing.
• To change the max distance you can zoom out, head into options (esc), then into preferences and then use the slider to increase or decrease the amount.
• You can create new chat tabs or edit current ones by right clicking on the general tab or any other new tabs.
• You can modify the opacity of the chat window background in options and under preferences
• You can drag the chat panel to a desired location by left clicking and holding on the general tab and then dragging
• You can access all the emotes and commands from the top left corner of the chat panel
• To minimize the chat panel, simply click the arrow located in the far upper left corner of the chat panel
• You can zoom the mini map in and out by placing your cursor over the map and using the mouse wheel

QUESTING & LEVELING

• You can enable auto loot in preferences in the game menu, simply right click to take everything instantly
• You can enable area loot in preferences in the game menu, when you loot you will take everything from the target and all around it
• NPC’s that have 3 orange lines above their head in the form of a triangle means they have a quest for you.
• NPC’s that have 3 grey lines above their head in the form of a triangle means they have a quest for you but it isn’t available to you yet due to your level or progress with other quests.
• NPC’s that have three orange lines above their head in the form of a triangle and a glowing green centre means the quest is completed, talk to them for a reward.
• Make sure to make use of your out of combat heal every time you finish a tough fight, this will help you progress faster
• Use the map ‘M’ to see where objectives are located in the world and work out the fastest route to get there, or the most scenic. Whatever floats your boat!
• Hover over objectives on the map to see a more detailed description and sometimes the area you need to be in to find the enemy.
• When you come to a new town or location always visit the taxi service to unlock it for future travel and visit the binding plinth to enable fast travel to that location.
• Class Trainers are visible by the orange arrow they have above their heads, if there is a green star underneath it means there are new skills to train
• Once you reach level 10 and do the quest which will place you in your desired branch, new tabs will unlock on the bottom of the skill trainers window. For example a Jedi Consular who has picked Sage will have a Consular tab which gives abilities to both the sage and shadow but you will also have a tab called Sage with more unique spells the Shadow cant obtain and vice versa. I managed to go through 6 levels before realising this.
• Make sure to REPAIR every time you go to a vendor, there is a button once you open up a trade window to ‘repair all’ in the bottom left corner. This will keep you progressing smoothly
• Keep fully stocked on MedPacks, it is easy to get overwhelmed on this game and you never know when you will need that extra boost of HP to win a fight.
• When you obtain your first companion, its always best to send them in first on difficult fights as you can simply pick them back up once the fight has finished
• You can move your companion out of harms way of special enemy AoE attacks by setting them as passive and moving away from the target. This is done in the companion window and can help against really tough foes!
• Kill the weakest first! If you are about to jump into a fight with one elite and four minions, then try to CC (crowd control, hold, stun, snare etc) the Elite and dispatch the minions as quickly as you can before the Elite has time to attack
• Make use of your terrain! You can Force push enemies off cliffs and they will die on hitting the ground
• Often on your way to a certain area there might be enemies on the way, although attacking these enemies isn’t needed you can often trigger a bonus quest to kill 5 or so for more exp.
• Try to complete bonus quests whenever you get the chance, it usually doesn’t take long and the reward is great
• Keep an eye out for Lore Objects throughout the world. Simply interact with them to gain a new piece of lore and some tasty experience as well!
• When you complete a quest that gives you an item as a reward but your inventory is full, you wont receive the item right away. Simply sell some goods then look at the quest tracker on the upper right corner of the screen. You will see something along the lines of ‘1 quest completed’ click it, then claim your reward!
• Sometimes when you are on a quest you will be given a device or an object to use. To find mission items, open your inventory (I/B) and swap tabs to Mission Items. Here you will find all the quest items you pick up in your journey.
• Mission Items will be removed upon completion of the quest, or quest chain.
• Heroic Areas – Are areas on the map with powerful enemies. Often quests take you to them and a teammate is needed to help progress through. Though soloing is possible.

LOOTING

• You can enable auto loot in preferences in the game menu, simply right click to take everything instantly
• You can enable area loot in preferences in the game menu, when you loot you will take everything from the target and all around it
• Defeated enemies with a yellow vertical beam protruding from them have loot which contributes to your quest or commendations
• Defeated enemies with a light blue vertical beam protruding from them have common loot (grey, white items and credits)
• Defeated enemies with a green vertical beam protruding from them have premium loot
• Defeated enemies with a dark blue vertical beam protruding from them have prototype loot
• Defeated enemies with a purple vertical beam protruding from them have artifact loot
• CHEAP Items are junk and should be sold to a vendor for cash
• STANDARD Items generally have a use whether it’s a crafting material or an equipable item
• PREMIUM Items are uncommon items, rarer than white items and have better stats
• PROTOTYPE Items are rarer than green items and have better stats
• ARTIFACT Items are epic items and have higher stats than blue
• CUSTOM Items are items with modifications in them
• Items increase in the following order: CUSTOM – CHEAP -> STANDARD -> PREMIUM -> PROTOTYPE -> ARTIFACT
• When a monster drops an uncommon item and you are in a group, everyone will be eligible to ‘roll’ for the item. Rolling is completely random and whoever rolls the highest, wins the item.
• There are four loot options for when such an event occurs, need, greed, reverse engineer or pass.
• Need – You should only click need if you can use the item which is up for grabs. Whether that means you can equip it or use it for crafting.
• Greed – You should click greed if the only reason for wanting the item is to sell it or to reverse engineer it.
• Pass – Clicking pass in the loot panel will drop you out of the roll. Meaning you won’t have a chance of getting the item. Many people do this because they don’t want to fill up their inventory with things they don’t need. Or they are just being kind.
• Reverse Engineer – If a player in the group has the required crafting skill for the item and a high enough skill level, there is an option to reverse engineer the item. If this player wins the roll the item will then be destroyed and the winner will receive crafting materials. (see crew skills – reverse engineering for more info)
• Abusing this system (needing everything) will often get you kicked from groups and a bad reputation will follow. When you do ‘need’ everything you will be branded a ninja and many people will avoid playing with you.
• Some items (green and above) will bind to you upon equipping them (BoE). Once this item is equipped it can’t be sold or traded to another player. It can still be sold to a vendor or reverse engineered however.
• Some items will be bound to you as you pick them up (BoP). Meaning you can’t trade them to anyone else in the group, so make sure you use need or greed carefully! These items can also be sold to a vendor or reverse engineered.

GROUPING

• To talk to your group type /p
• The maximum number of people you can have in a single group is 4 players (including yourself, so 3 players and you)
• When you are invited to a group you will be asked whether you would like to join the same instance as the person who invited you. Click yes otherwise you won’t be able to see your teammate. If their instance is full they will be asked to join your instance instead.
• To leave a group, right click your character portrait, select group and click ‘Leave Group’
• To add a player that you can see to the group, simply select them and click on the purple plus (+) icon above their character portrait.
• To add a player that you can’t see to the group, simply type /invite Goshee (replace Goshee with the name of whoever you are inviting)
• To promote someone as the new Group Leader simply right click their nameplate and select ‘Make Group Leader’
• To remove someone from the group, right click the persons nameplate you want removing and select ‘Kick From Group’
• Grouping with players can award you with special ‘Social Points’. Social Points are rewarded when you win a conversation roll against other players in your group who are part of the same conversation.
• Social Points are also awarded when you complete group content or view a private instance as a spectator
• You also gain half the amount of social points when you lose the roll.
• Winning a social roll against another player in your team means you will talk to the contact and whatever you chose to say will be said.
• Rolls are completely RNG (random number generated)
• Social Points can be spent at special ‘Social Vendors’ for goodies!
• You can pick up defeated group members at anytime, provided you are out of combat. Simply run over to them and right click.
• If a teammate is in a different instance than you, when they talk it will display which they are in on the chat panel beside their name. Alternatively you can look at the map ‘M’ and in the bottom right corner will display your area. Use the drop down menu to locate friends, guild and group members. To change simply click which one you want to join.
• Swapping instances incurs a 30 minute delay before you can use it again.
• Flashpoints – (instances) Every Flashpoint takes a group of Imperial or Republic players through its own self-contained adventure, culminating in one of several outcomes based on player choices. You won’t have to miss out on any of the story, though – Flashpoints exist in specially instanced parts of the galaxy and can be repeated as often as you’d like. Flashpoints feature enemies that require skill and cooperation to defeat, and are much more challenging than single-player missions, but they offer valuable loot and rewards. Gather up your allies and get ready for explosive multiplayer action in Flashpoints!
• Operations – (raids) are large-scale multi-group missions where you will join your Republic or Imperial allies to confront the most dangerous threats in the galaxy. Each story-driven Operation is available to both factions and is designed to challenge groups of either eight or sixteen players to use their skills, wits, and teamwork to ensure that they successfully complete the mission while still being accessible to newcomers to the genre.

THE STORY

• To skip through dialogue simply hit the space bar
• Most of the time 1 means light side, 2 is neutral and 3 is dark side. However you should always pay attention just in case it swaps around.
• Subtitles can be added to all chat dialogue in the options window under preferences
• When you are in a party you can choose to either talk to a contact separately or with the rest of your group. To talk with your group a member must right click the contact and wait until all party members have also right clicked the contact. Green ticks will be shown by the portraits of those who have accepted. Once all have accepted or you are tired of waiting hit start conversation.
• If a group mate is far away from the contact but you are near your group mate will be given the option to use the holocom to talk to the contact. Though remember, this requires at least one of you talking face to face.
• Throughout the story, once in a while you will be only given two options to choose from. A lightside choice and a dark side choice. If you can’t tell which is which, you can hover over each option and a small icon will display in the centre.
• Choosing between Dark Side and Light Side options will increase your Light and Dark rating in the form of points. You can view your current alignment in the character window ‘C’
• You can go up and down the meter SIMULTANEOUSLY so you aren’t forced to stay with one alignment for your character. Meaning if you are primarily a Light Side character and gain Dark Side points, these points aren’t taken from your Light Side score, rather they just add to your Dark Side score.
• Each alignment has ranks. You start neutral and the amount of points required to get to rank 1 of the Light Side is 1’000. Rank 1 of the Dark Side is -1’000.
• The amount of points between each rank interval remains consistent for both sides. Meaning it isn’t any easier to pick one over the other.
• Some equip-able items in game require you to be at a certain rank within the Dark or Light Side. For example a red crystal for your light saber is forbidden to rank 1 or above in the Light Side.

– Light Side
– Dark Side

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER (PVP)

• To talk on the PvP channel type /2
• To ‘Flag’ yourself for PvP use the small icon under your character portrait (your icon will be either empire or republic)
• If you are flagged a red circle will be highlighted on your icon
• Being flagged means anyone on the opposite faction can attack you. If you are on a PvP server this icon is always on above level 10 (need confirmation)
• To participate in a PvP battleground all you have to do is click the small icon in the bottom right corner of the minimap. The icon should be of your faction, republic or empire.
• At the end of the BG you can choose to re-queue automatically once you leave by selecting the re-queue upon exiting checkbox
• You can also select the MVP (most valuable player) in your team once the match has finished. The MVP will receive extra rewards.
• Getting killed in our outside a battleground by an enemy player has no real penalty. You don’t lose any credits and you don’t lose your gear. You only lose a little pride :P.
• Take your time to look at the map and understand the objecives on the loading screen. It will take a few runs before you start getting the hang of things.
• As always, go for the healer first!

COMPANIONS

• For a list of all companions and their traits please look at my other guide here
• You can view your companions abilities by looking in your own skill sheet and selecting the companion tab.
• Companions can be sent to sell all the grey items in your inventory. Simply hit ‘N’ to open up the companion window and click the icon below the orange head. You will then have to confirm and it will take your companion approximately 3 minutes to complete.
• Companions can be sent to gather resources and other items from your crew skills. They can however fail and come back with nothing. To do this open your companion window, select the skill and choose a mission to send it on. It will cost a small amount of money and take 3 minutes or more.
• Companions can have their weapons and armour upgraded just as you can. Be sure to keep your companion up to date with the latest gear in order to progress quickly. In order to change your companions setup your companion must be by your side. Open up the character sheet and select companion tab along the bottom.
• To revive your companion after defeat simply walk over to it and right click the corpse. You must be out of combat.
• You can assign your companions skills to your action bars if you click the small ‘+’ icon on your companions character pane.
• Often your companion will want to talk with you in private. Head to a Cantina or your space ship to initiate the chat
• Companions gain and lose affection during story scenes depending on what choices you make. If there is an easy way to see how this happens, I havent seen it. For now you will simply have to make an educated guess based on your companion’s personality. If they are aggressive they will often react positively to the darkside choices and vice versa.
• A positive companion affection, as far as I’m aware, only decreases the time of crew skill tasks and opens up some side quests.

TRADE

• The channel for Trade is /3
• To link an item in the chat simply [SHIFT+LEFTCLICK] it
• To split a stack of items (say you have 20 crystals) simply hold [SHIFT+LEFTCLICK] then drag the cursor into an inventory space. Enter the amount you want and it will then place the split stack into an empty inventory space.
• Trading with players can be done only when the player you want to trade with is in range.
• To trade with a player simply select the player you want to trade with and right click his player portrait and select Trade.
• The player will then receive a message asking whether he would like to open trade with you, once he accepts you can trade items (provided they aren’t soulbound) and credits.

AUCTION HOUSE

• The Auction House is the place you go to place bids or sell items with people across the galaxy.
• As a buyer you can either place a bid or buy it out. If you choose to place a bid you must enter your buying price (which must be higher than the previous) and select submit.
• Placing a bid does not guarantee you will receive the item as another player can out bid you. If you are out bid you are refunded your money through the mail and you can choose to place another if you wish.
• Bids last for a set duration defined by the seller. Once the period ends, the person with the highest bid receives the item through the mail system.
• The buyer can cancel the bid at any time, the highest bidder will then be refunded.
• You can only buy-out a bid if the seller has allowed you to do so. The buy-out price is a set price determined by the seller.
• Once you buy-out the item for sale, all (if any) bids are cancelled and you receive the item through the mail system.
• A seller can place a buy-out option and auction it off at the same time, they can also do each separately.
• Always check the price and quantity of the item before buying something to make sure you aren’t getting ripped off.
• Auction Houses only work with players who are on the same faction as you. So Empire players can’t sell to Republic players UNLESS you visit an independant/neutral trade hub which caters for both.
• These neutral trade hubs can be found on Nar Shadaa

CREW SKILLS

• You can have a maximum of 3 crew skills at any time
• You can have up to 3 gathering skills at the same time
• You can have up to 3 mission skills at the same time
• You can only have 1 crafting skill at any given time
• There are no limitations on what class does what type of crafting
• Companions can’t die on crafting missions but they can fail
• To remove a crew skill simply open the companion window, find the skill you want rid of then press the small red ‘x’ button on the far right
• Crew Skills belong to you not your companion
• The time it takes to complete a crew skills depends on your companions affection. High affection will result in a lower completion time.
• Crafting missons can take between 5mins to 24hrs
• One companion can queue up 5 crafting sessions max, you can keep adding to the queue once a job is completed however. But the total can’t exceed 5 at a time.
• To queue multiple crafting sessions simply keep clicking ‘craft’ on whatever item you want your companion to create.
• The crafting queue can be seen underneath the name of the companion you assigned it to
• Reverse Engineering is the process of deconstructing items to gather materials. The item is destroyed in the process.
• Reverse Engineering usually gives mats but also has a small chance to give you a new recipe as well.
• The quality of the item determines what you get (you will always get mats)
• You can only Reverse Engineer specific types of items you can craft yourself. For example synthweaving will only allow you to Reverse Engineer force user armours.
• Another important aspect of Reverse Engineering is that it will be the only way to get certain patterns/recipes. Details on this are still mostly unknown, such as the chances of getting these patterns etc.
• On the top-right hand side of your inventory, just above the icon list is a small icon with Reverse Engineering next to it. Clicking on the icon blacks out all non-reverseable items and changes the pointer, right click on the item you want to RE.

All skills now have their recommended crafting, gathering and mission skills after them. Skills are also color coded. Find the skill you want, note its colour, then simply find other skills of the same colour.

Note: If a skill has two colours then its beneficial to more than one profession.

The types of crew skills are as follows:

GATHERING SKILLS – Maximum of 3 at any time

• Archaeology – Artifice, Synthweaving
  Archaeology is the study of crystal formations and archaeological finds. Crystal formations contain crystals that an Artificer can use to construct lightsaber modifications and armor for Force users. Archaeological finds contain artifact fragments of Force-imbued technology. These valuable items contain ancient formulas and algorithms used in the crafting skills Artifice and Synthweaving. Archaeologists can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

• Bioanalysis – Biochem
  Bioanalysis is the practice of collecting genetic material from creatures and vegetation. Genetic materials include cell fibers, bacterial strains, toxic extracts and medical fluids. Biochemists use these materials to create medpacs to restore health, stimulants (single-use injections) that provide a boost to physical abilities, and biological implants that enhance combat prowess by stimulating neural networks and regulating brain system functions. The crafting skill Biochem utilizes Bioanalysis resources. Bioanalysts can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

• Scavenging – Armormech, Armstech, Cybertech
  Scavenging is the art of salvaging useful parts and base materials such as metals, alloys and synthetic Compounds from potential technological resources-junk piles, fallen droids, abandoned cargo, and broken Down vehicles. The crafting skills Armormech, Armstech, and Cybertech utilize Scavenging resources. Scavengers can send their companions on missions to gather resources.

• Slicing – All
  Slicing is not a skill required for crafting. Slicing is the art of accessing secure computer systems and lockboxes to acquire valuable items, credits and rare tech schematics. Common Slicing targets include electronic safes, date stations, security mainframes and biometric footlockers. These targets contain credits, rare tech schematics used to construct Cybertech gadgets, vehicles and space upgrades, and mission discovery objects that unlock challenging missions that can potentially yield great rewards. Slicers can send their companions on missions to retrieve these valuable items. Other possible mission rewards include augments that can be slotted into exceptionally crafted items. Recommended Crafting Skills: All (for mission discoveries), Cybertech (for tech schematics)

CRAFTING SKILLS – Maximum of 1 at any time

• Armormech – Scavenging
  Armormech is the ability to work with hard metals, alloys and synthetic materials to construct armor for non-Force users. Vendor-purchased fluxes are used during the armor creation process to refine the materials to ensure suitability. Armormechs can reverse engineer their crafted armor and possibly discover new ways to improve armor creation.

• Armstech – Scavenging
  Armstech is the ability to work with hard metals, alloys and synthetic materials to craft blasters and blaster modification. Vendor-purchased fluxes are used during the weapon creation process to refine the materials to ensure suitability. Crafted blasters include blaster pistols, blaster rifles, sniper rifles, assault cannons and shotguns. Blaster modifications include blaster barrels. Melee weapons include vibroblades and electrostaves. Armstechs can reverse-engineer their crafted blasters and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation.

• Artifice – Archaeology
  Artifice is the delicate skill of constructing lightsaber modifications, enhancements, generators and focii. Lightsaber modifications include color crystals and hilts that augment a Force user’s combat attributes. Color crystals determine beam and bolt color for lightsabers and blasters. Enhancements are modification upgrades for weapons and armor. Artificiers can reverse engineer their crafted items and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation.

• Biochem – Bioanalysis
  Biochem is the skill involved in crafting medical supplies, performance-enhancing chemical serums and biological implants. Biochemists can create medpacs to restore health, stimulants (single-use injections) that provide a boost to physical abilities, and biological implants that enhance combat prowess by stimulating neural networks and regulating brain stem functions. Biochemists can reverse engineer their crafted implants and possibly discover new ways to improve implant creation.

• Cybertech – Scavenging
  Cybertech is the skill to assemble droid armor, earpieces, grenades, armoring, mods and miscellaneous gadgets. Armoring and mods are upgrade modifications that augment combat ability. Earpieces are external mini-computers that are worn on or near the ear. They enhance combat prowess by giving audio and visual feedback to the wearer or though direct neural feedback via an external nerve relay. Cybertechs can reverse engineer their crafted items and possibly discover new ways to improve their creation.

• Synthweaving – Archaeology
  Synthweaving is the process of fabricating synthetic materials out of crystals, various chemicals and artifact fragments to construct armor for Force users. Vendors provide premade solutions, suspensions and composites that are used during the Synthweaving process. Synthweavers can reverse engineer their crafted armor and possibly discover new ways to improve armor creating.

MISSION SKILLS – Maximum of 3 at any time

• Diplomacy – Biochem
  Diplomacy is the art of conducting and managing negotiations. Sending your companions on diplomatic missions can influence your light side or dark side standing. In addition to light side and dark side influence, possible Diplomacy rewards include medical supplies used to construct prototype and artifact implants, medpacs, stimulants, adrenals and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

• Investigation – All crafting skills benefit (from schematics), Armstech
  Investigation is the skill of researching, gathering, analyzing and decoding secret information. Sending your companions on Investigation missions can yield valuable items in the form of researched compounds used to construct prototype and artifact weapons and blaster barrels, prototype schematics for all crafts, and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating. All crafting skills benefit for the schematics.

• Treasure Hunting – Artifice
  Treasure Hunting is the ability to track down and recover valuable items by following a series of clues. Companion characters sent on Treasure Hunting missions can return with rare gemstones used to construct prototype and artifact enhancement, hilts, color crystals, focii and generators. Other possible rewards include lockboxes that can hold contain valuable items or credits and gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

• Underworld Trading – Armormech, Cybertech and Synthweaving
  Underworld Trading entails the exchange of goods and services on the galactic black market. Sending your companions on Underworld Trading missions can yield luxury fabrics and underworld metals used to construct prototype and artifact armor, earpieces, grenades, space upgrades and weapons and armor modifications. Other possible rewards include gifts for companions to raise their Affection rating.

WHAT IS A GOOD CHOICE FOR MY CLASS?

Note: Cybertech produces high grade modifications and funky explosives which can be used by anyone!

• Jedi Knight – Artifice, Synthweaving, Biochem, Cybertech
• Jedi Consular – Artifice, Synthweaving, Biochem, Cybertech
• Smuggler – Armormech, Armstech, Biochem, Cybertech
• Trooper – Armormech, Armstech, Biochem, Cybertech

• Sith Warrior – Artifice, Synthweaving, Biochem, Cybertech
• Sith Inquisitor – Artifice, Synthweaving, Biochem, Cybertech
• Bounty Hunter – Armormech, Armstech, Biochem, Cybertech
• Imperial Agent – Armormech, Armstech, Biochem, Cybertech

STATS

• A – Aim
• C – Cunning
• E – Endurance
• P – Presence
• S – Strength
• W – Willpower

• Aim – Affects bonus ranged damage and bonus ranged crit
• Cunning – Affects bonus tech damage and bonus tech crit
• Endurance – Affects bonus health and health regeneration
• Presence – Affects bonus healing, extra companion health and extra companion damage
• Strength – Affects bonus melee damage and bonus melee crit
• Willpower – Affects bonus force damage and bonus force crit
• Armor – Affects Kinetic and Energy damage reduction

STARSHIP

• You will gain your starship after you finish a major class quest at your capital city (usually around level 16 or 17)
• Your star ship comes with its very own bank or “cargo hold” though they act as the same thing
• If your companion wants to talk to you and you are in your ship, now is the time to do it!
• To travel around the galaxy, visit your galaxy map
• Choosing a destination will cost fuel, the number of credits required to get there will be displayed along the bottom in green
• After your destination has been chosen, your ship will auto-align to the planet then jump-drive will be initiated
• Your ship will remain in Orbit around the planet until you use the ship’s exit, a cutscene will then show you landing on the planets surface
• Any systems with current quests will have their quest name beside them, making them easier to locate.
• You also have a mission terminal beside your galaxy map which will give you new space missions
• Space Missions are done in the form of a railgun style shooter. You follow a set path and have to shoot enemies along the way.
• Space Bar to do a barrel roll ^^
• Left clicking will activate your primary weapon (laser for example)
• Right clicking will activate your secondary weapon (rockets for example)
• Lasers have infinite ammo whereas rockets can only hold a certain amount
• You can upgrade your ship by visiting your character screen ‘C’ and clicking the ‘Ship’ tab
• Simply drag and drop modification into the designated slots for them to take effect
• The crafting skill cybertech can create space ship mods. Slicing also has a chance to get them and their schematics.

LEGACY NAME

• A legacy name is a server-wide surname used by all (current & future) characters on your server
• A legacy name is granted after you complete Act 1 (usually around level 30)
• After you finish Act 1 a new window pane will open asking you to choose your legacy name
• If you close this window, you can find it under the Skill Tree (K) and the Legacy tab along the bottom
• Be careful with what you pick, for once you choose you can’t change it in any way (so far)
• You can use apostrophes (‘) and hyphen (–) symbols
• You can’t use a space
• If you use a symbol, all letters after the symbol will be lower case, example: typing Lo’Saki would actually end up as Lo’saki
• After you pick a name you may choose to display it differently, this can be done in the preferences menu under social and the legacy subheading
• You can choose between one of three ways:

• HIDDEN – The Legacy Name will be hidden to you and all other players
• SURNAME – The Legacy Name will appear after your current name e.g. Goshee [legacyname]
• TITLE – The Legacy Name will appear underneath your name The [legacyname] Legacy

Bioware have stated that the Legacy System will receive updates “soon”

To come:

• Advance your legacy and unlock unique legacy powers
• Advance your legacy and unlock legacy character creation options

Note: Any legacy levels earned now will go towards the new updates once they are released

GUILD

• A guild is a group of individuals who have joined forces under the same flag to achieve common goals
• A guild can be created at your capital city, Coruscant or Dromund Kaas
• If you are Republic look for Lieutenant Kyndern (-1143, 1417) Who can be found at the desk behind the Galactic Market Kiosks in the Senate Commercial District
• Locate and talk to the guild registrar in the main city to form a guild
• You must have 4 players (including yourself) in your party to create the guild
• Once created all 4 members will be part of the new guild, the person who created it will be the guild leader
• To invite more members to your guild type /ginvite [name]
• To quit your current guild type /gquit
• To talk in your guild channel type /g

Guild Functionality – Guilds are important to the long term health of any MMORPG. We have a huge list of guild centric features. This will be an ongoing effort that will probably never end. Guild banks are the first thing we’ll be delivering in our plans for increased guild functionality. Eventually we even want to deliver on the promise of the long hinted at “Guild Capital Ships”. – James Ohlen, Game Director


CHAT, COMMANDS & SHORTCUTS

SLASH COMMANDS

EMOTES

All emotes can be accessed in game by clicking on the little waving man icon in the chat panel on the top left

ACTION

EMOTION

GENERAL

GREETING

TACTICS

SOCIAL

MOVEMENT

• W – Move Forward
• A – Turn Left
• S – Move Backwards
• D – Turn Right
• Q – Strafe Left
• E – Strafe Right
• F – Follow
• / – Toggle Walk/Run (on the keypad next to numlock)
• SPACE BAR – Jump
• NUMLOCK – Auto Run

SHORTCUTS

• R – Reply to chat
• T – NA
• Y – NA
• U NA
• I – Inventory
• O – Social
• P – Abilities
• G – Guild
• H – NA
• J – NA
• K – Talents
• L – Quest Log
• Z – Draw/Sheath Weapon
• X – Sit
• C – Character Sheet
• V – NA
• B – Inventory
• N – Companion
• M – Map

ABBREVIATIONS

General

• SWTOR – Star Wars: The Old Republic
• BW – BioWare, the company who made the game what it is today
• EA – Electronic Arts

General Chat

• AFK – Away From Keyboard, someone who is leaving their computer for a time
• AFAIK – As Far As I Know
• AH – Auction House
• ASAP – As Soon As Possible
• ATM – At The Moment
• BRB – Be Right Back, someone who is leaving their computer for a short moment
• BIO – Biology, often used when someone needs to use the bathroom
• CIAO – Ciao is an Italian word for goodbye or hello and isn’t an abbreviation but people think it is so I have included it
• FTW – For The Win, if something is for the win it means it is good
• FTL – For The Loss, if something is for the loss it means it is bad
• FYI – For Your Information, FYI… I stole your credits
• GG – Good Game, often used after a fight or duel has finished
• GJ – Good Job, used to applaud someone for their efforts
• GTG/G2G – Got To Go, the person is leaving
• IDC – I Don’t Care
• IDK – I Don’t Know
• IIRC – If I Recall Correctly
• IMO – In My Opinion
• IMHO – In My Honest Opinion/In My Humble Opinion
• IRL – In Real Life, someone referring to events outside of the game world
• JK – Joke
• NP – No Problem
• NPC – Non Player Character
• NM/NVM – Nevermind
• OIC – Oh I See, OIC you have a Tank already
• O’RLY? – Oh Really?
• OP – Original Poster, used in forums to refer to the starter of the thread
• PL – Power Level, leveling as fast as possible
• PvP – Player Versus Player
• QQ – Crying, stop the QQ! = stop the crying! for example
• TBH – To Be Honest
• THX – Thanks
• TY – Thank You
• WTH? – What The Heck?
• YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary
• YW – You’re Welcome
• YQW – You’re Quite Welcome

COMBAT

• AoE – Area of Effect, AoE attacks hit multiple opponents often in the form of a cone shape or 360 degree attack.
• BUFF – A buff increases your stats to improve your performance
• DEBUFF/DUFF – A debuff decreases your stats to decrease your performance
• CC – Crowd Control, abilities which hinder the movement of enemies, roots, holds and slows for example
• ST – Single Target, attacks which only effect one opponent
• DPS – Damage Per Second, a form of measuring how much damage you deal every second
• DOT – Damage Over Time
• XP – Experience Points, Experience points are gained to level your character through completing quests and killing enemies
• INC – Incoming, used when enemies are approaching
• PROC – Special Procedure, refers to an event triggered under particular circumstances. My Lightsaber might have a 10% chance to do 15 extra damage.
• HP – Health Points
• KS – Kill Steal, said when another player takes the final blow or attacks an already attacked target
• OP – Over Powered, used to describe something with incredible strength and power
• REZ – Resurrection, the act of bringing someone back to life
• RNG – Random Number Generator, same as rolling a dice. Often used in terms with PROC

TRADE

• WTA – Want To Auction
• WTB – Want To Buy
• WTS – Want To Sell
• WTT – Want To Trade

GROUP

• LF – Looking For, LF Healer or LF Lightsaber as examples
• LFG – Looking For Group
• LFM – Looking For More, LFM Tanks for example
• LF1M – Looking For 1 More, LF1M DPS or LF6M DPS as examples
• Tank – Tanking, the tank is the one who takes the hits for the groups
• DPS – DPS are the damae dealers, generally do more damage than the tank but cant take as much
• Healer – Healers are there to heal their group and provide support, mainly healing the tank but also other members in case things go wrong
• Buffer – A player who specializes in increasing the stats of himself and his teammates
• DeBuffer – A player who specializes in decreasing the stats of his opponent
• SP – Social Points, awarded from completing group content and winning conversation rolls. See 1st thread for more info.

ROLE PLAY

• RP – Role Play
• IC – In Character, a roleplaying term used when someone is roleplaying their character
• OOC – Out Of Character, a role playing term used when someone is speaking out of their character
• ((text)) – Double brackets around words means someone is talking OOC

CREW SKILLS

• DIP – Diplomacy
• TH – Treasure Hunting
• UT – Underworld Trading
• ARC – Archaeology
• RE – Reverse Engineering, the process of deconstructing items to gain materials and sometimes recipes. Destroys item in process.

CLASS

• INQ/INK – Sith Inquisitor
• SI – Sith Inquisitor
• BH – Bounty Hunter
• SMUG – Smuggler
• JK – Jedi Knight
• JC – Jedi Consular
• SW – Sith Warrior
• IMP – Imperial Agent

• SIN – Assassin, an Inquistor specialisation
• MARA – Marauder, a Sith Warrior specialisation
• SENT – Sentinel, a Jedi Knight specialisation
• SMUGG – Smuggler
• JUGG – Juggernaut, a Sith Warrior specialisation
• VAN – Vanguard, a Trooper specialisation
• COM – Commando, a Trooper specialisation

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0GHz or better

Operating System:
Windows XP or later

RAM:
Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM
Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Video Card:
Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:
– ATI X1800 or better
– nVidia 7800 or better
– Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better

DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only)
Internet connection required to play.

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: Windows 7 64bit SP1

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Processor 2.4GHz or better
AMD Phenom 2 X4 Quad-core 2.5GHz or better

RAM: 4GB RAM or higher

Video:
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 4850 or better
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or better

512MB minimum video RAM

Shader 3.0 or better fully compatible graphics card

Latest drivers for your video card

DVD-ROM Drive: 8x speed or faster

Disk Space Required: 30 GB