Boosting the stats for lowbies players doesn't help them. Why? Because they simply lack the class skills to be an effective player. They are fighting a player who has unlocked all their stuns, attacks, buffs, and debuffs while they have barely even aquired the simple ability to sprint. And if you don't even have that yet ... your teammates will won't you out of the match because you are not capable of holding your own against anybody more than a couple of levels above you.

After playing a dozen rounds today with only one victory I can't say I enjoyed myself at all today. There are several reasons for this. 1. Premades are moping the floor with the pugs. They have the max level members, they have the communication coordination, and they have the gear and experience on their side. Normally I don't have a problem with premades. They do their thing, the match ends, and you part ways. But after the xp nerf with the latest patch, I am starting to have a problem with the premades. Half the issue is that the random team generator always seems to put one premade side together and face it off with a pug group made up of lowbies. In almost every match I played today I was the highest level team member on my team (I was level 42 in the matches). Everyone else was teens, 20s, or 30s. Only twice did I play a match with a player who was levle 50. And each time we got slaughtered. In every match I played and I do mean EVERY match I faced a premade of 4 players with at least 2 if not more of those members being level 50. The fix for this is to put level caps on the games. Let the lowbies play against themselves and get a fair chance at earning xp and not be the proverbial lambs to the slaughter against the max level premade groups. Let the premades face off with other premades and stop getting the easy kills. Lets start making them earn them instead. 2. Voidstar is still broke as hell. In one match I spent 20 seconds behind the barrier and a second time I spent 23 seconds behind the barrier. And this problem always only seems to affect one team or the other never both. I also seen a report that stealthers can now put bombs down while stealthed. If that is indeed true that makes voidstar the worse bugged PVP event I have ever seen. Thank god it pops seldom. The fix for this is to take Voidstar offline until the bugs have been worked out. If you are going to penalize players for losing a match, at least let it be because of player performance and not something out of their control like defective barrier controls or super ninja stealthers. 3. Desertions are given way to quickly. In one of the slaughter fests I played in today, I started to type a two sentence response in OPS chat. By the time I finished typing the resposne I was kicked from the event and put in deserter status. I didn't even get a warning. If I am in a pug group, how else am I suppose to communicate with my team members? Jedi mind trick? 4. The XP nerf is killing team morale. Once a team began to lose, teammates would begin to flee the event. This meant mroe pug members on the losing team which all but guarantees a decisive victory for the opposing team. Why do they leave? Because the xp isn't worth their time to stay. Better to spend the time questing than staying in a pvp match that will yield you half the xp you would have gotten before the last nerf. The fix for this is to reverse direction on this. Give the xp back. I don't mind staying and losing but it get real hard to do that knowing I won't get squat for staying. In the one game my team won today I got over 20k xp. In the other 11 games my team lost I got between 10k - 13k xp. I could get more xp than that doing quests and killing mobs in the time it would take to run one warzone match and lose it. With the way this is designed now, people will start to ask why to pvp in warzones at all.

agreed. Tab targetting in Huttball just does not work.

I too thought the air jets in Huttball were completely random. But the more I play the more I think it has to do with the angle you take the jets at. If you charge them strait on, the only result is usually ending right back were you were. To get to the upper level you have to come in from the side or even behind. Does this work every time? No it doesn't. But then again in the heat of battle you don't always take the few seconds that are crucial to lining up the approach. So the times you end up in the middle of the board again could be simply due again from coming in from the wrong angle. Try coming in from the backside and see if it works for you.

Voidstar has nothing but issues. Played today after the supposed "fix" was in place for the barriers. Nope, they are still broken. I was stuck behind the barrier once for 20 seconds a second time for 23 seconds. Hell, the opposing team could have walked to the doors and won that round. So it doesn't surprise me that their are other issues. Sounds like the team with the most stealthers is the auto win.

I think you are completely overlooking the issue. Get in a group? Well first you have to get in a guild whose members play the same time you do. Then you have to level to get to 50. But because certain groups were fortunate enough to level quickly they have a huge advantage over those not so fortunate. So your response to those less "lucky" than yourself is to find a team? Finding a team doesn't help fix the huge playing gap between levels. You want to see how fun it can be, pug out on some matches and see how fun it is. The PUG team is going to be slaughtered. It is just that simple. They face far to many disadvantages to even hope to win. I have seen more than once a tank walk a ball across the finish line in huttball (not sprint ... walk) with +4 players doing everything they can to kill him and his health bar not even go down. Your response will be, what can't they stun? Not if they don't have the skill yet or the level and even if they do stun what good does it do? To stop this player you have to kill him or her and you just aren't going to do it unless you have multiple players of equal level slugging away at him / her. Having 4 players under 40 trying to do this is a complete waste of time. Might as well go to the center and wait for the ball to respawn.

As a level 43 BH, here is my take on it. The "premade" groups are now showing up in force. And after playing 12 matches today, the premades are always on one side never both. One side has 4 level +48 level players and the opposing team is a PUG of a couple of teens, a couple of 20ies, one or two level 30ies and maybe two +40 toons. The two +40s will spend more time stunned or simply dead because the premade team on vent or teamspeak makes sure to take them out of the game. This leaves a group of people +20 levels below the lead players trying their best to even put a dent in some level +40 armor. And if you try to jump into a match before level 14, hell you don't even have sprint. You are a liability to your team not an asset. Changes need to be made. Level caps need to be in place to make the events even reasonably fair. So players in their teens don't feel like they are lambs to the slaughter. Also, the xp nerf for the losing team needs to go away. When a match becomes one sided, the losing team starts to lose teammates. This means the replacements are definately PUG members and not people in a group. The end result is the losing team made up of a group of frustrated individuals who wonder why they just got a whipping and have no xp to show for it.

I have gotten a few of the cybertech schematics myself and they sold quite well (and quickly) on the exchange. I actually found it funny that I was receiving these items as mission rewards for a character intended to be in the 18 - 22 and got the schematics before I was even in my character teen levels.

I never quite looked at it from that point of view. Now that is funny. To the OP ... Slicing has been nerfed since the early days of beta. Is it still profitable? Yes, but don't expect to make a pile of money. I have gotten the skill up to around 120 so far and it has covered the cost of the trip and then gave a little extra. For starter missions that cost around 95 - 120 credits to run you can expect anywhere from 150 - 200 credits back if your companion is successful. If they aren't successful, you might either barely break even or get nothing back at all. Once you move up a little bit and get level 2 missions the cost goes up but so does the reward. The money missions tend to cost 150 - 230 credits to run and if successful you might be able to expect 350 - 450 credits in return. Keep in mind though that this is only on the "lockbox" missions. There are missions to run for item rewards and you get no money return from them at all (unless you sell the item(s) you get. The non lockbox missions also have a chance of giving you rare missions to run for any of the crew skills. I have gotten missions for Diplomacy, Treasure Hunting, slicing, scanvenging, etc. Although you may not have the required skill to use them, I am sure that they will sell quite well on the AH (if you can sell them) or one of your buddies might smile at you for the gift. The rewards on these rare missions are considerably higher than the normal mission rewards.

I think people may confuse "node" with "harvestable kill". Are there resource nodes on the starter planets? Not that I seen and I have been on three of the four planets. But there are mobs that can be killed and be harvested by a resource skill. Droids can be scavenged. Critters can be skinned. But I think you will have to wait a little bit if you are looking for something to use archeology on. And then of course once you get your companion, missions are then available regardless of your level or what planet you are on.

Not all gifts work for all companions but I got something that can help you figure out which items work with each companion. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=3734 Go to the third or fourth post on the thread and their is a list broken down by companion on which gifts they like. I cannot guarantee that it is a complete list, but it should get your foot in the door.

To understand if a gathering skill will pay for itself, you must first understand about the availability of resources and how many skills require those resources. For example, bioanalysis is used only by the Biochems. However, you can gain resources by harvesting nodes, companion missions, and by harvesting dead animals. In other words, resources for this skill should be flooding in. And that is half the problem. You will likely discover that there are too many resources and not enough demand for them. You may quickly discover that this is not the gathering skill for you and take a financial loss in game. Scavenging on the other hand has a much higher demand. Three crafting skills use these resources and resources can also be gathered from nodes, missions, and harvesting destroyed droids. The difference is there are far fewer droids in this game than animals - so not nearly the surge in aquired resources. And unlike animals, not all droids can be harvested for resources. Also, with three skills needing these resources, the demand is also three times higher.

Everything this poster has said I agree with ... especially the part of about the money being spent. Starter mission usually begin at around 95 credits each to run. And by your early 20ies you could expect an appropriately level mission to cost 300 - 600 credits each. I can only imagine that by the time you reach max level you may be spend in excess of 1000 credits each time you run a mission. Also, missions tend to fall into two usual categories: companion gift rewards and skill resources. So you should pay attention to what the rewards are before sending your companions out on them. And finally, although your ship's droid can be sent on missions, I would not necesarily recommend it. This companion tends to have a higher than average failure rate and will likely not be the best choice for supplying resources for crafting skills.

Thanks for catching that! I left off more than a few companions on the gift section. That has been corrected now. Also I believe the correct spelling is "Vector" but I will double check my notes when I get back to the house tonight and edit accordingly.

This information is not complete, but it should get most people's feet through the door. If you can fill in any missing information, please post it! Legend CW: Coreward Worlds UR: Unknown Region SE: Seat of the Empire HS: Hutt Space DR: Distant Outer Rim Empire Hutta - HS - (lvl 1 - 10) Korriban –SE - (lvl 1 - 10) Flash Point: The Black Talon (lvl 10 - 12) Dromund Kaas – SE - (lvl 10 - 16) Flash Point: Bringing Down the Hammer (lvl 16 - 19) Balmora – CW - (lvl 16 - 20) Flash Point: Athiss (lvl 20 – 23) Nar Shadaa – HS - (lvl 20 - 24) Tatooine – DR - (lvl 24 - 28) Flash Point: The White Nova: The Foundry (lvl 28 - 30) Alderaan – CW - (lvl 28 - 32) Nar Shaddaa Bonus Area #1 (lvl 30ish) Taris – SE - (lvl 32 - 37) Nar Shaddaa Bonus Area #2 (lvl 35ish) Quesh – HS - (lvl 37 - 38) Hoth – DR - (lvl 38 - 42) Alderaan Bonus Area (lvl 40ish) Belsavis – DR - (lvl 41 - 44) Voss – HS - (lvl 44 - 47) Hoth Bonus Area (lvl 46ish) Corellia – CW - (lvl 47 - 50) Belsavis Bonus Area (lvl +48) Ilum – UR - (lvl 50) Flash Point: The Ziost Shadow: Directive 7 (lvl ???) Flash Point: The White Nova: Boarding Party (lvl ???) Republic Ord Mantell – CW – (lvl 1 – 10) Tython – CW - (lvl 1 - 10) Flash Point: The Esseles (lvl 10 - 12) Couruscant – CW - (lvl 10 - 16) Flash Point: Hammer Station (lvl 16 - 19) Taris – SE - (lvl 16 - 20) Flash Point: Athiss (lvl 20 -23) Taris Bonus Area #1 (<lvl 24) Nar Shadaa – HS - (lvl 20 - 24) Tattooine – DR - (lvl 24 - 28) Flash Point: Mandalorian Raiders (lvl 28 - 30) Alderaan – CW - (lvl 28 - 32) Nar Shaddaa Bonus Area #1 (lvl 30ish) Balmora – CW - (lvl 32 - 36) Nar Shaddaa Bonus Area #2 (lvl 35ish) Quesh – HS - (lvl 36 - 37) Hoth – DR - (lvl 37 - 41) Alderaan Bonus Area (lvl 40ish) Belsavis – DR - (lvl 41 - 44) Voss – HS - (lvl 44 - 47) Hoth Bonus Area (lvl 46ish) Corellia – CW - (lvl 47 - 50) Belsavis Bonus Area (lvl +48) Ilum – UR - (lvl 50) Flashpoint: The Gav Daragon: Directive 7 (lvl ???) Flashpoint: Telos: Taral V (lvl ???) Flashpoint: Telos: Maelstrom Prison (lvl ???) Flashpoint: Colicoid War Games (lvl ???) Flashpoint: Cademimu (lvl ???) Flashpoint: The Red Reaper (lvl ???)

Companion Gifts This list is not complete and may have some additional changes since BETA. Note 1: Once the romance option becomes available for a companion, courting items can be used. Akavi Spaar: Likes: Imp Memorabilia, Republic Memorabilia, Technology, Underworld Goods Loves: Military Gear, Trophy, Weapons Andronikus Revel: Likes: Luxury, Trophy Loves: Military Gear, Underworld Goods, Weapons Aric Jorgan: Likes: Republic Memorabilia, Technology, Trophy Loves: Military Gear, Weapons Ashara Zavros: Likes: Luxury, Technology, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia Blizz: Likes: Artifacts, Luxury, Trophy Loves: Technology, Underworld Goods, Weapons Bowdaar: Likes: Luxury, Military Gear, Technology, Underworld Goods Loves: Artifiacts, Trophy, Weapons Broonmark: Likes: Artifacts, Imperial Memorabilia, Military Gear Loves: Technology, Trophy, Weapons Corso Riggs: Likes: Artifacts, Luxury, Republic Memorabilia, Technology, Trophy Loves: Military Gear, Weapons Doc: Likes: Artifacts, Military Gear, Technology, Trophy, Underworld Goods Loves: Luxury Doctor Lokin: Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Republic Memorabilia, Underworld Goods Loves: Luxury, Military Gear, Technology Elara Dorne: Likes: Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia, Technology Loves: Imperial Memorabilia, Luxury Ensign Raina Temple: Likes: Luxury, Republic Memorabilia, Weapons Loves: Imperial Memorabilia, Military Gear Gault Rennow: Likes: Artifacts, Technology, Weapons Loves: Luxury, Underworld Goods Guss Tuno: Likes: Artifacts, Imperial Memorabilia, Republic Memorabilia, Trophy Loves: Luxury, Technology, Underworld Goods Jaesa Willsam (Dark): Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Military Gear Loves: Luxury, Trophy, Weapons Jaesa Willsam (Light): Likes: Military Gear, Trophy, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Republic Memorabilia Kaliyo Djannis: Likes: Military Gear, Technology Loves: Luxury, Underworld Goods, Weapons Khem Val: Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Technology, Trophy Loves: Artifacts, Weapons Kira Carsen: Likes: Artifacts, Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia, Trophy, Underworld Goods Loves: Courting, Luxury, Technology Lt. Talos Drelik: Likes: Technology Loves: Artifacts, Imperial Memorabilia, Luxury, Republic Memorabilia Lt. Iresso: Likes: Luxury, Weapons Loves: Republic Memorabilia, Trophy Lt. Pierce: Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Technology, Trophy, Underworld Goods Loves: Military Gear, Weapons Lord Scourge: Likes: Artifacts, Military Gear, Underworld Goods, Weapons Loves: Imperial Memorabilia, Technology, Trophy M1-4X: Likes: Artifacts, Military Gear, Trophy, Weapons Loves: Republic Memorabilia, Technology Mako: Likes: Artifacts, Luxury, Trophy, Weapons Loves: Technology, Underworld Goods Malavi Quinn: Likes: Trophy, Underworld Goods Loves: Imperial Memorabilia, Military Gear, Weapons Nadia Grill: Likes: Luxury, Underworld Goods Loves: Courting, Artifacts, Republic Memorabilia Qyzen Fess: Likes: Military Gear, Technology, Underworld Goods Loves: Weapons Risha: Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Luxury, Technology, Underworld Goods Scorpio: Likes: Artifacts, Military Gear, Trophy Loves: Technology, Weapons Sgt. Rusk: Likes: Artifacts, Luxury, Technology, Trophy Loves: Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia, Weapons Sgt. Yuun: Likes: Military Gear, Republic Memorabilia, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Technology, Trophy Skadge: Likes: Luxury, Military Gear, Trophy Loves: Underworld Goods, Weapons T7-01: Likes: Military Gear, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Republic Memorabilia, Technology Tanno Vik: Likes: Military Gear, Technology Loves: Underworld Goods, Weapons Theran Cedrex: Likes: Artifacts, Underworld Goods Loves: Luxury, Technology Torian Cadera: Likes: Loves: Military Gear, Trophy, Weapons Vette: Likes: Imperial Memorabilia, Republic Memorabilia, Technology, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Luxury, Underworld Goods Victor Hyllis: Likes: Luxury, Trophy, Weapons Loves: Artifacts, Imperial Memorabilia Xalek: Likes: Trophy, Underworld Goods Loves: Military Gear, Weapons Zenith: Likes: Military Gear, Underworld Goods Loves: Weapons

Companion Skill Bonuses I am not in game yet, but as of the Thanksgiving Weekend test, these skill bonuses were still in game. Please let me know if anybody comes across any changes so I can update the list for everyone. Akavi Spaar: +10 Armormech, +2 Bioanalysis Critical Andronikus Revel: +2 Slicing Critical, +2 Underworld Trading Critical Aric Jorgan: +10 Armstech Efficiency, +2 Diplomacy Critical Ashara Zavros: +10 Synthweaving Efficiency, +10 Diplomacy Efficiency Blizz: +15 Armormech Efficiency, +1 Armstech Critical Bowdaar: +10 Cybertech Efficiency, +10 Scavenging Efficiency Broonmark: +10 Scavenging Efficiency, +2 Bioanalysis Critical Corso Riggs: +5 Underworld Trading Efficiency, +5 Armstech Critical Doc: +5 Underworld Trading Efficiency, +5 Biochemistry Critical Doctor Lokin: +15 Biochemistry Efficiency, +10 Investigation Efficiency Elara Dorne: +10 Biochemistry Efficiency, +10 Bioanalysis Efficiency Ensign Raina Temple: +10 Scavenging Efficiency, +2 Armormech Critical Gault Rennow: +10 Underworld Trading Efficiency, +2 Biochemistry Critical Guss Tuno: +10 Archaeology, +2 Treasure Hunting Critical Jaesa Willsam: +5 Archaeology Efficiency, +5 Synthweaving Critical Kaliyo Djannis: +10 Armstech Efficiency, +2 Underworld Trading Critical Khem Val: +15 Artifice Efficiency, +5 Research Efficiency Kira Carsen: +5 Synthweaving Critical, +1 Research Critical Lt. Talos Drelik: +5 Treasure Hunting Efficiency, +5 Archaeology Critical Lt. Iresso: +2 Armstech Critical, +2 Scavenging Critical Lt. Pierce: +10 Cybertech Efficiency, +2 Research Critical Lord Scourge: +10 Artifice, +10 Archaeology M1-4X: +5 Cybertech Efficiency, +5 Scavenging Critical Mako: +5 Cybertech Efficiency, +15 Slicing Efficiency Malavi Quinn: +10 Armstech Efficiency, +10 Diplomacy Efficiency Nadia Grill: +10 Synthweaving, +2 Diplomacy Critical Qyzen Fess: +5 Biochemistry Efficiency, +15 Archaeology Risha: +15 Diplomacy, +1 Slicing Critical Scorpio: +10 Cybertech, +2 Slicing Sgt. Rusk: +10 Armstech Efficiency, +10 Scavenging Efficiency Sgt. Yuun: +10 Investigation, +10 Slicing Skadge: +10 Scavenging Efficiency, +2 Treasure Hunting Critical T7-01: +10 Bioanalysis, +2 Slicing Tanno Vik: +5 Armor Critical, +1 Underworld Trading Critical Theran Cedrex: +10 Cybertech, +10 Slicing Torian Cadera: +10 Research Efficiency, +2 Bioanalysis Critical Vette: +5 Underworld Trading Efficiency, +5 Treasure Hunting Critical Victor Hyllis: +5 Bioanalysis, +5 Diplomacy Critical Xalek: +10 Bioanalysis Efficiency, +2 Scavenging Critical Zenith: +15 Investigation Efficiency, +1 Underworld Trading Critical

Disclaimer: This information is the work of a number of testers over the course of several testing cycles and changes may have occurred since this information was compiled. If you find the information useful, feel free to give it a bump. The more people who see the information, the more scrutiny the information will receive. Thus the more accurate the information will be for all of us. If you see changes you would like to make to the thread, constructive criticism is always welcome! _________________________________________________________________________________________ There are 5 main combat roles most companions fall into. They are: Healer Melee DPS Melee Tank Range DPS Range Tank Note 1: All companions are listed in the order in which they are acquired. Note 2: All classes receive a droid companion when they receive their starship. This droid is the same for each class in a specific faction. For the Empire Classes the droid is 2V- R8. For the Republic Classes the droid is C2 – N2. Both faction ship droids have limited healing and combat options and can be used as a combat companion. You can also use the ship’s droid to complete crew skill missions. Legend FU: Force User RIF: Romance Interest for Female Character RIM: Romance Interest for a Male Character Empire Bounty Hunter Mako (Healer) – Starter Companion on Planet Hutta - RIM Gault Rennow (Range DPS) – Planet Tatooine Torian Cadera (Melee DPS) – Planet Taris - RIF Blizz (Range Tank) – Planet Hoth Skadge (Melee Tank) – Planet Belsavis Imperial Agent Kaliyo Djannis (Melee Tank) – Starter Companion on Planet Hutta - RIM Vector Hyllis (Melee DPS) – Planet Alderaan - RIF Doctor Lokin (Range Tank) - Planet Taris Ensign Raina Temple (Healer) – Planet Quesh - RIM Scorpio (Range DPS) – Planet Belsavis Sith Inquisitor Khem Val (Melee Tank) – Starter Companion on Planet Korriban Andronikus Revel (Range DPS) – Planet Tatooine - RIF Ashara Zavros (Melee DPS) – Planet Taris – FU - RIM Lt. Talos Drelik (Healer) – Planet Hoth - RIF Xalek (Range Tank) – Planet Korriban - FU Sith Warrior Vette (Range DPS) – Starter Companion on planet Korriban - RIM Malavi Quinn (Healer) – Planet Balmora - RIF Jaesa Willsam (Melee DPS) – Hutta - RIM Lt. Pierce (Range Tank) – Planet Taris - RIF Broonmark (Melee Tank) – Planet Hoth Republic Jedi Consular Qyzen Fess (Melee tank) – Starter Companion on Planet Tython Theran Cedrex (Healer) – Planet Nar Shaddaa Zenith (Range DPS) – Planet Balmora Lt. Iresso (Range Tank) – Planet Hoth - RIF Nadia Grill (Melee DPS) – Planet Belsavis - RIM, FU Jedi Knight T7-01 (Melee Tank) – Starter Companion on Planet Tython Kira Carsen (Melee DPS) – Planet Coruscant – FU - RIM Doc (Healer) – Planet Balmora - RIF Sgt. Rusk (Range DPS) – Planet Hoth Lord Scourge (Range Tank) – Planet Hoth – Imperial Palace - FU Smuggler Corso Riggs (Range Tank) – Starter Companion on Ord Mantell - RIF Bowdaar (Melee Tank) – Planet Nar Shaddaa Akavi Spaar (Melee DPS) – Planet Balmora - RIM Risha (Range DPS) – Planet Alderaan - RIM Guss Tuno (Healer) – Planet Hoth Trooper Aric Jorgan (Range DPS) – Starter Companion on Ord Mantell - RIF Elara Dorne (Healer) – Planet Taris - RIM M1-4X (Range Tank) – Planet Nar Shaddaa Tanno Vik (Melee Tank) – Planet Balmora Sgt. Yuun (Melee DPS) – Planet Hoth