This topic came up years ago, it was rather funny to hear people's responses. One couple post, I mean this is like right when this game launched, they once dide a a New York Strip with lobster and champagne while leveling because it was their anniversary. The most gourmet food Ive eating while leveling was a really good bottle of red wine with a prosciutto pasta dish I had shipped in, an amazing Ceasar salad. It was pouring down rain here in Texas as the time and I spent most of the game time on leveling the crafting for one of my toons. It just struck me as both funny and odd. I play light side toons except for one BH. I think it would be really wild if you're like this evil Sith Lord toon while eating, say quiche IRL. LOL Anyone else? Foodies? If you're not a foodie but would like a REALLY funny (over 20 mill views) SW comedy bit using Lego, a friend sent this to me yesterday- epic. Enjoy!

It used to be you got a lot with the packs. This pack right now is the worst Ive ever seen. Nothing all that exciting in terms of armor. No certs or color crystals in like 7 packs or so. Ive gotten a few cool items for my stronghold. The scraps really are not that big of a deal, because once you've maxed out on getting whatever you can get from the fab droids, there really is no need. The sexy decor stuff is for mondo in game $$ on GTN. Ive always felt that the way they are managing the whole Cartel concept (real dollars for stuff program) has massively taken advantage of the player base. Think about it. If you are a subscriber and you play for a year, you are paying around $180 for a GAME. How many additional dollars are you then throwing down to GAMBLE on the HOPE that the one item you want will show up in the pack? Even you only bought (5) packs a quarter, thats an additional $20-40 depending upon what level you bought in at. So thats $200 a year (in many cases, much more) to play a game that still has lots of problems. I feel the same about many aspects of the legacy system. It really is not ANYTHING like they originally advertised. I love the concept, all my toons chip in on the Tatt stronghold because that's where Pa' lives. IIve had the same core toon name going all the way back to Galaxies. But the the prices for so called legacy perks are outrageous. And some things, like the appearance station, can ONLY be done with real dollars. They are not "perks" if I have to pay for them. Bioware just doesnt get microtransactions and never has. They have come a long ways from where it began but Im still blown away that things like rollbacks, my taxi disappearing so Im butt surfing through the clouds, cutscenes that dont render, all these issues remain- after so many years. Sad because some of the storytelling is epic (some not so epic), I love SW and love gaming. But every since early BETA, I dont know. It bums me out. Wish they could just get it together, do right by the fans and the player base and move on. They would make a ton of cash, we would be happy. Alderaan at this point, should not STILL have renedering and lag issues. And Cartel Packs should make everyone feel like a million bucks everytime they buy one, versus inspiring gambling in the faint hope something will show up.

Well, Alderaan has a MASSIVE bug called MASSIVE lag, but I went through all of my smuggler missions there 2-3 levels below the mobs I was fighting and didn't have any issues. I had to self-heal after each fight a tad. I then did the heroic where waves of baddies come at you ending with the probe droid final boss, and with my level 27 smuggler and Bowdar, pulled it off. Now, Bowdar literally was about to die any half second, so I could have wiped but I didn't. Are you dying a lot? If you're dying a lot, I would say learn your rotations a little better and pop a comp healer. If you're not dying but just not killing anything, log off for 30-40 mins then relog. Ive had that memory leak issue erode gameplay in weird ways, which goes away when I relog.

I bought one but I dont see where it does anything. Many thanks!

I was in early BETA and was there during the disastrous launch that was so bad it even got covered by publications that never cover gaming, like Inc and Money Magazine. Ive popped back in every now and then, have a bunch of toons, but until now- saw the same bad behavior and just had better ways to spend my money. With all the good review of this most recent chapter, I decided to give it a whirl again. And I can honestly say, this is the most I've enjoyed the game. A ton of improvements. And I was very impressed at how promptly they responded to the comp nerf uproar. NO WAY that would have happened in the early days of TOR. So I'm more hopeful. But something still massively gets under my skin. Its called micro transactions but its not. The way they have used the Cartel Market and a ton of mechanics that play into real world dollars getting spent (to get scraps, Cartel Certs, etc...) is flat out gambling. So if I love the stronghold part of the game and I want "X" item, the number of hoops I have to jump through to get said item- if I even do, its taking advantage of players. I recently spent 1200 CC or thereabouts for a casino pack. That's $10 RL dollars ON TOP of my subscription fee which is not a micro transaction. If I want other items found in the most recent packs, items that I can't just buy for a reasonable CC price, I have to gamble with the packs hoping I get said item. That system is 100% about taking advantage of the player base. The whole system needs to be simplified and gutted. GW2 definitely does a better job of a true micro transaction systems and its straight up- I want X so I buy X, no gambling or it wasnt when I played GW2 (which has been awhile). Like I said, lots of improvements. But the Cartel exploits players in a horrible way and it needs to end. Its a game, not Vegas. And if some people dig on stronghold decorating and other dig on every color dye known to man, so on and so forth, then let them enjoy the game they want to play without taking advantage of them. Anyways, my ten cents.

I got it figured out-- thanks! Had no idea

So when you say circle, those god like, from the heavens above smaillish circles? Like they are coming from the ceiling?

So Ive begun decorating my mammoth Tatt stronghold, nice early start. Of course, even with a bunch of items it looks barren because that place is so huge, but I'm digging on it. BUT I can't for the life of me, figure out what I'm doing wrong with three items Rugs. I own several. No matter what tile I click, what type, no matter what configuration I use, I never get the option to drop one down inside. I occasionally get the prompt outside, but never inside. One, for example, is the Zakulan rug, I think its called. I somehow got a big arse dark red sign, but I'm having the same problem as above, no matter where I go, inside or out, no matter what type of hook I click, it never populates as an item to place. Finally, fireworks. Are these placed into hooks, the anniversary kits or is a toon based thing? Side note, the mondo (mondo not mando- hehe) sized music box with classical type music, it glows red when you turn it on, epic! Love it. Also, the piece that dangles a bunch of stormies from hooks makes for a great cantina light. LOL

Nevermind on the levels, I see thats covered in the linked page. Thanks again!

Thanks for the help the link, got three strongholds but really only focusing on fully building out one (the father of my legacy's toons, got a place on Tatt). The other two will be to have all my crafting/moding/GTN needs in one place with some cool looks like in 2018 - LOL. All the the "kin" toons donated to buy "pa" the family home. Thing is, I HAD NO CLUE how to make all this work! LOL So the feedback helps. I heard you have to have your crafting at 450 to make these? I only have one toon close to that, I think- an artificer thats at like 420.

So, if have a ton of scrap. Had no idea what it was for but it knew it was for something, so I kept it. Im just now getting into the whole stronghold thing. So, confirm or correct what Im thinking I get but may not get. Concept One For these kits that we need, I can (a) craft them per my profession, such as Artificer or I can, (b) turn the needed items into a fleet droid that will pop out a kit, or © I can buy the kit on the GTN. Yes, no? Concept Two Once I get the right number/mix of certain kits, I can then turn those into the same droid mentioned above to get my cool whatever item. Yes, no? Wow this is complicated and from what Im reading, expernsive. Why didnt they go the way Galaxies went? You got the item, you placed it- done. Oh wait, this is EA- money sink masters. My bad. Many thanks for your wisdom

I must have the bug too, then but from what Ive read, the bug is but a symptom to a much bigger issue. As in, how the devs view scaling the game experience over the long haul. I want more than a letter, I want my companion to grow as the story grows. Right? I mean, ok fine, maybe after some peeps get married, they stop talking. But who wants to live in that world? LOL Updates to "our" stories should included additional companion content or whats the point to begin with? I think they did a really good job rapidly getting on top of nerf issue. They listened, their fixes make sense, A LONG WAYS from the days of BETA. Now if we get them to sustian the suspension of disbelief (dont like taking taxis where Im floating through the air) gameplay issues to include sclaing companion storylines, that would be cool. If we get to experience this world for 20 chapters over many years, with our companions BEING A PART of that journey, plus our guilds, etc... then we have an epic game with lots of investment. Unfortunately, I think EA pushes Bioware (tons of bugs in Dragon Age Inquisition) to cram "stuff" as is EA's control issues / max out the money-ROI model, but with the new SW film coming out- if thought less about gimmicks and more about putting us in and sustaining our SAGA'S (as was advertisied), they gets lots of cash, we get lots of magic.

In the midst of this thread a question was asked and answered about companion crew perks that I was wondering myself. Appreciate the questions and insights, like level 50 Infl = 25% bump. Did they add in more dialog? I remember when my main maxed out his romantic relationship and affection with Kira and then she fell silent. Nothing more than route dialog. While this certainly adds an element of real life into the game (hehe- bad Jin!), it would be great if they added more companion dialog. Just weird. Ok, we're married and head over heals and then comes ... silence. Im seriously thinking of divorcing her is she doesnt start talking to me soon. :eek:

Had they just uber buffed all roles, that would not have solved anything. I REALLY like they uber buffed healer but only slightly buffed base and damage stats. Why? Because that means if I want more of a challenge, I can whip out a tank and get a challenge. Which was missing before massive nerf. However, by being so aggressive with the healers, I can specifically use them for the higher level heroics I wanted to check out. However, lets say you have good gear and you dont want a healer, you want more of a challenge. You will be able to use a role that will allow for that. I think its very solid middle ground that allows for many types of playstyle. I have yet to test any of these, but the patch notes were reassuring and even more reassuring was how fast they acted on the response. So Kudos, Devs! Im buying you all a cyber beer over at the Salt Lick. ;-)

Because I was Balance before, now Concentration, I did go with that for the reasons noted but once I tick 65, then I can relook at things for higher level content. Appreciate the thoughts. ;-)

Very much appreciate the insights, Mate. Shall give them a whirl.

Howdy ;-) I was in early BETA, on and off since then, but even when Ive come back, I really have not touched my Sentinel in probably 18 months. In the past, the deal was Sentinel had a single target burst, single target sustained and then the AOE (Balance?). I leveled doing the latter. The rotations were complicated, took me some time to learn. Im more of a family guild, casual player. I dont mind a cool raid if its with cool people, now and then, but definitely not hardcore. My Sent is currently around Level 53. When I came back, I started two new toons, have had fun with them. Ive never really been in a situation like this, though, with my Sentinel. Having to relearn without leveling. Q1: The cliffs notes version of how the three trees or whatever they are called now are different? I read a lot on this, but am still unclear, from a playstyle- PvE leveling standpoint, how the three are different. Im a soloist, so being able to to solo is key until I join a guild for end game. Q2: How would you could about getting reacquainted? Due to level sink, I was thinking maybe spend a tiny bit of time on level 30 content, a bunch more on level 40, to get a feel for the toon again, before diving into my level content. Thoughts on that? Where might be good? Q3: While I MASSIVELY admire the people who know all the numbers, have flawless rotations, that will never be me- LOL. The whole gear thing has me massively confused, some threads saying avoid Mastery as mod, others saying double down it. ACK!?#O(#$) I realize thats a lot of questions, so a million thanks with two tons on bantha steaks for anyone that helps.

I have (4) toons but since being back, have only played two new ones that I started that both now level 22, a Serenity Shadow and Dirfty Fighting Slinger. I find both of them tons of funs to play BUT rarely challenging. I walk in, do the same rotation, everyone dies- I move on. If my health is dropping down every now and then, to at least 50% and on some the big fights, more- its not a game, its a movie. When I was in BETA and then coming out of BETA, my Sent, for example, was ALWAYS dying. Lots of complaints back then about that. So that wasnt fun either. Walking around on Esseles and essentially killing everything with no heatlh loss, pre nerf, that wasnt fun. My ideal is 80% up time, lots of close calls, having to think before I enter a zone and the ability to take on content a few zones higher, if I play my toon well. Thats when fun + challenging come together to equal an enjoyable gaming experience.

I thought things had changed, which is why I came back. Guess I was wrong but also right. Im not having any issues leveling and in fact, leveling is too easy- even post nerf. Then Eric writes, yeah, we want it to be that way. But do I, as your paying customer, want it to be that way? No, I don't. I want my companions to mean something during leveling or why have them in the first place? That's the part that just irks me- this is the game we intend to give you, that tone, versus what type of game do you, as our paying customers, want. The tone is the same old top-down tone when the game first launched, none of those people are even around anymore. I remember when my Sent took on the sith dude in the calling for help ship, one tough fight. Lots of posts on the forums on how to pin yourself between him and the ship. When you finally won, it felt like you had accomplished something. Just did a similar battle for my Shadow and I had the sith or whatever she was down in like 3-4 button pushes. And yes, I have some decent gear but not godly gear. Only one pink mod. I have a low 50s, a high 40s and two mid-20s. -Sentinel lvl 53 I think (have yet to respec and test) -BH level 46 (have yet to respec and test) -Serenity Shadow - Lvl 22. Walk through almost all content and typically leveling in areas 2 levels above me, with no problem. Heroics where I get a lot silver adds at once (over 3, if they are strong) or two strong golds can burn down my health fast and kill me, but I usually survive if all that doesn't happen at once. I just have to be very careful and its not all that fun in some heroics, in others- it is fun. - Dirty Fighting Gunslinger - Lvl 22. All the same but he can survive a little longer, get away with a little more in heroics. I have yet to redo a flashpoint post nerf.

While I agree with the spirit that I think is intended, Bioware bears the responsibility for "no compromise. No middle ground". The way in which they choose to address companions was stupendously extreme, from God mode companions to the issues that people are so irate about, which primarily is centered around casual players & soloists having access to more of the content (which the God mode companions allowed for). I dont think this was done with malice but given the history of this game, I think it pushed a button for a lot of returning players. And then following that up by threatening data miners with expulsion when the data being mined was not about exploits (which I get those types of bans), and nary a middle ground or compromise to be found. Which is the tone that has ripped this community and the game a part before. People have lives. There is enough to stress about in life, without a game sparking tons of stress. When any company, gaming or otherwise, makes a decision that pits one side of their customer base against the other and they remain silent while the fervor gets worse- something, structurally, is very broken. I think the companions were WAY overpowered. Im doing content, right now, even with the nerf, two levels above me. Its all leveling based, not elite content but there is a companion issue. Unfortuntately, BW did not handle this a way that eases into player base (versus testing servers) real world testing. And they have been silent. What I hope is they find a way to buff companions for elite solo (player plus companion) content while continuing to measuring the leveling experience. What I hope is they step up to the plate and own, ok that didnt go as well as we thought and start building bridges. Thats what compromise and middle ground looks like.

I agree with the spirit of the author, but less so with keeping that concept alive with no nerfs. The game, being able to do things I could not do before, is not all the fun if all I have to do is show up and walk through the elite content. My comps were way over powered. And I am most definitely a casual player. The single thread that seems common among the vast majority of players that are upset is not that leveling has suddenly become too hard, but rather it all seems to be centered around casual players / soloists being able to enjoy all the games elite content which now, cannot be done. In terms of leveling, I still barely take a scratch so far. Maybe there is a way to isolate elite content for companion buffs that are only available for elite (heroics, FP) content? Thats the only place Ive felt on the lower levels. I have some higher level toons but Im just playing two low 20s right now. I think if people are able to experience the eltie content they want to experience, at the level the want to experience it (solo with companion buff, regular and hardcore), that would calm the vast majority of this storm.

Did this even post?

Im a returning player, was in early BETA, in and out since. Not a raider in this game, have been in others. Was not a fan of MANY things in beginning, not much improvement upon various returns BUT really started enjoying the game when resub this time. I have some higher level toons, but wanted to start fresh so I kicked off a Serenity Shadow & Dirty Fighting Slinger. They are both now early 20s. Basically with either, I could blast throught the first few flashpoints with no damage and regular content didnt even feel like a game. Very much felt like a cheat was in play. Today, leveling both. In terms of gameplay, maybe a little less God mode. I arrived on Taris, for example, only doing the main story and was off the planet one hour later, several levels higher. No real downtime. Golds didnt drop as fast, but they dropped fast. I did die once, which was me not setting up my rotation properly. At one point I came upon one gold, two of silver coned ones (forget the name) and 3 regular trash mobs. By the time the battle was over, my tank comp was down to 25% health and I was down maybe 20% health. I did use a heal pack once. In other words, it was never an issue. So I wandered into a heroic, no quest- the Mandalorian area on Taris. Well things dramatically changed. I found I could barely handle two golds sometimes, but getting mobed, which really meant just a third add, would kill off my tank and then it was game over. Thats not a lot of testing, all low level, but it struck me as such an odd experience. To still feel like maybe 15% overpowered in everyday questing but to not feel capable of a heroic, well- I could do it, but it would be a long slow process and not very fun. It was odd. I know nothing about programming games and honestly, dont want to know. But I have to wonder if there is a buff that can happen for heroics and flashpoints, because it seems that getting companions Heroic ready means having a leveling experience to is no fun and vice versa. Before, leveling only, there was ZERO challenge. Now there is a tiny bit of challenge, I dont just storm into zones carefree, but no real challenge even now unless I try to do a heroic or flashpoint and there- I cant survivie or if I can, its a very boring and tedious experience. Also, if we are to now rely on our tanks, they probably need a tiny boost in health. I just dont think there is a way to make companions compatible with leveling and also compatible with more elite content. Its like we need the same companion to have a different level of capability based upon what you are up against. And I REALLY didnt like that bot they give you for Esseles. I have no relationship with that bot, I do, from a RP standpoint, with my comps. My ten cents so far. I havent tested my higher level toons yet.

From the stats Im seeing, this is the kind of dev attitude that sunk them when they launched. I just dont get it. I was in early BETA and just got so blasted upset, like the worst MMO experience Ive ever had and I LOVE Bioware games. Bit this last expansion was getting such broad based over the top good reviews, so after a year away, I resubbed. The companions were way overpowered, I have to say. I could be naked, no armor and solo anything. So I get the need to "adjust". What I dont get is the need to massively nerf. If theydont rapidly respond to the player base, all those early players they won back with the latest expansion's success will be gone. Life is too short to stress over a game. It was very cool and fun to go back to content I could never play as a soloist and experience it. Again, it was too easy, there should be some challenge. So reducing by 25% or something, seeing what happens. But it feels like we have parents again, telling us what we should like versus what we, as their customers, in fact like. And I was REALLY enjoying being back.

I think the thing that will be make or break the overall player base on this issue only, is how well thought out and sane the nerf is. If quality of life for soloists goes out the window, if the nerf is too extreme, then that will not have good consequences. But there is no way that I can see anyone is dying from anything, like ANYTHING at this point in time. I blast through content with two new toons, levels 18-22, and that includes every elite I run into. Its not even a fight. Its not even a game, the way it stands now. Its like, I took a "aint gonna touch this" pot.