SWTOR Starting Levels Beginner’s Guide

SWTOR Starting Levels Beginner’s Guide by DarthNethus

Hello all!
Just to warn you, this may end up being a wall of text…Readers beware!

As a long time player of MMO’s and one who played multiple Beta phases/builds, I just wanted to come here into the New Player Help section and offer up some…Well…New Player Help

In this post, I’ll lay out a few of the questions/concerns/difficulties that I’ve noticed new players having and try to do my best to outline some answers and advice.

Disclaimer: Everyone has their own play style. Some of the advice/suggestions that I make may not work for you…And that is totally okay.
SW:TOR is, first and foremost, a game…In other words, it’s supposed to be fun.

Even players who are experienced in other MMO’s might not have followed TOR in development for very long or played in any of the Beta phases/builds. They might not understand some of the game systems, stats, itemization, etc.
The first and most important pointer that I have for you is to Ask Before You Act! If there are trolls in general chat who give you a hard time, ignore them. There are plenty of pleasant and helpful people playing who will eventually answer your question.

Before I get going here, you can also check out the TOR Quick Tips channel on Youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BujnS…FFF9AFDD331EA0
There are step by step videos that address some of the more commonly asked questions addressed in this thread.

That having been said, let’s address some quick FAQ…Okay, maybe not quite “Quick” LOL!

Q: What is my advanced class? Where do I get it?
A: See the Advance Classes Page, Here.

Your Advanced Class is, in short, your actual class. You choose it at level 10 on your respective faction’s Fleet/Space Station.
If you have played older MMO’s like EQ, DAoC, and iirc, UO – You will be familiar with the idea of multiple class tier specialization.
Example:
Level 1 (Starting Class) Warrior –> Level 10 (Profession) Crusader —> Level 20 (Specialization) Shadowknight.
Your Advanced Class is essentially a class within a class. This decision is permanent. You will be warned when choosing your Advanced Class and asked basically “This choice is permanent. Are you sure this is what you want to choose?”
It is not a “Spec” that can be “Respec’ed” as the player sees fit.

How to get your advanced class:
On entering the “Main Level” of the fleet, there will be a few quests available to you. One of these quests is to choose your Advanced Class. It is IMPERATIVE that you choose your Advanced Class once you are level 10. You will not be able to begin placing skill/talent points until you have chosen your Advanced Class.
More information on Advanced Classes for each base class can be found on the Classes Section of the Holonet.
As far as choosing skill/talent points, there are a few GREAT talent calculator tools on both TORHead and Darth Hater here:
http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc
http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/…ight/guardian/
(The DH talent calculator defaults to Jedi Knight. Scroll to the bottom and choose your AC)

Q: I’ve left my starting planet but I’m still only level 8 and I can’t get my Advanced Class…What’s the deal?
A: You missed some quests. You should probably go back to your starting planet.
If you have left your starting world and are still only level 8 or 9, chances are you probably focused only on your class/story quests and skipped a bunch of other stuff. For starters, there are several [Group 2] quests on the starter worlds that are VERY easy to do and VERY easy to find groups for. I’ve found that some “solo players” tend to skip/overlook these. Don’t do that. They only take 2 people to complete and they give GREAT rewards + experience.
Don’t avoid mobs (enemies). That’s not to say you should go out of your way to kill everything on the map…But don’t go out of your way to avoid combat just to get through quests quicker. Your experience bar will thank you for it. Trust me.
Also, be sure to finish your bonus objectives.

Q: Where’s the crafting trainer?
A: Crew Skills Trainers are located on your respective faction’s Fleet/Space Station.
On reaching your faction’s Fleet/Space Station, you will see a few available quests. One of these quests is for your Advanced Class. The others will be for Social Points and Crew Skills. Accept these quests and use your map to locate the quest objective area for Crew Skills. Speak to each of the crew skills trainers to learn a little info about what each Crew Skill does.
Important: Before choosing your crew skills, I would HIGHLY recommend you read through Goshee’s Guide to Crew Skills Located Here.

Q: What Stats/Gear should I be going for? I’m not familiar with how stats work in this game.
A: With VERY little exception, the answer to this question depends on your Base Class and NOT your Advanced Class
There isn’t really a simple answer to this question, but I will try to address it in 2 parts.
1.) Stats
2.) Gear

Stats:
The primary stats you want are dependent on your base class.
– SW and JK (Both AC’s) = Strength + Endurance
– SI and JC (Both AC’s) = Willpower + Endurance
– BH and Trooper (Both AC’s) = Aim + Endurance
– IA and Smuggler (Both AC’s) = Cunning + Endurance
The preferred secondary stats on items will change depending on character preference and role.
For example, a Sith Warrior Juggernaut Tank may prefer items with +Defense while a Sith Warrior Juggernaut DPS may prefer items with +Crit.
Try not to worry too much about these intricacies in the beginning levels as gear won’t matter as much during this time and will (generally) be constantly discarded and upgraded as you level.

Gear:
Aside from stats, certain gear/item types are restricted by AC. A few examples of this are:
– Only JC Shadows and SI Assassins can use double bladed lightsabers.
– JK Guardians and SW Juggernauts use Heavy Armor while Sentinels and Marauders use Medium.
– IA Operatives use Blaster Rifles and Knives but cannot use Sniper Rifles.
– Smuggler Scoundrels use a Single Blaster and Scatter Gun but do not Dual Wield Blasters.
– Trooper Commandos use Blaster Canons while Vanguards do not.
Most of the time, these item use limitations will be quite apparent to you…If the item is red, you can’t use it.
However, sometimes a class that would be better off using another type of item can still use an item that is actually intended for another class.
Examples:
– A SI Assassin can still use a single bladed lightsaber.
– A Trooper Commando can still use a regular blaster rifle.
– An IA Sniper can still use a regular blaster rifle.

I feel it important to note that even though gear at low levels is relatively inconsequential and perfectly suitable items can be obtained through quests, MMO players tend to get very “touchy” over loot.
If you are a JC Shadow and roll “Need” against a JK Guardian for a Single-Bladed Saber with Strenth and Endurance…Prepare to have someone throwing a hissy-fit, saying rude things, and possibly leaving the group. Considering that all of our grouping (both PVE and PVP) is on the same server, you want to make sure you don’t anger or offend too many people…That is, if you want to continue getting groups.
To avoid these kinds of problems, read up on your class a little bit and find out what sorts of things you should be looking for. (See link to classes, above)

Q: When/How do I get my ship?
A: You get your ship by following your class story on your Faction’s Capitol Planet (Coruscant or Dromund Kaas).
As far as I remember during Beta, there were people who got their ship as early as Level 12 (skipping all quests except class/story quests) and some as late as Level 19-20.
What level you get your ship depends entirely on how quickly you progress through your class story.

Q: When/How do I get a mount?
A: You have access to Speeder Training at level 25 from your regular class trainer.

Speeder Training:
Speeder training is expensive. It costs 40,000 Credits to learn. It is for this reason that, on reaching level 20, a message will pop up on your screen reminding you to Start Saving!!!
It is highly advisable that you “Start Saving” long before this. Avoid spending credits on anything that isn’t ABSOLUTELY essential (ie – Training, repairs, etc).
If you’re good about selling everything you don’t need and not blowing your money on gear that you’ll get rid of in 5 levels or less, you shouldn’t have any problem having the 40k by the time you’re level 25.

Speeders:
There are Speeder Vendors all over the place. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are Fleet, Tatooine and Alderan. I’m sure there are others.
If you are a Collector’s Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition owner, you will receive the STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform) for FREE.
If you purchased the Standard Edition or if you simply don’t like the STAP, there are a myriad of others available.
Most (if not, all) of the speeders available at level 25 (90% speed increase) cost around 8,000 credits.
SWTOR Things has a great list of the available speeders here:
http://www.hotrodacc.com/swtor/speeder.html

By the time you’re level 25, you should have most of the initial hiccups and uncertainties all wrapped up and done away with. You’ll have played enough to be comfortable with a skill rotation that works for you. You’ll have an idea of what classes do what, how the map works, where to find certain vendors, etc.

Beyond that, all I can say is welcome to SW:TOR! I hope you have a great time playing and that some of this information has been useful to you.
If one day you become the greatest [Insert Class Here] on your server, please share what you know and what you’ve learned with others. They’ll appreciate it and it will help to make our community great.

See you in game!