I tend to take the mick out of beggars by pointing out that the time they had spent hanging about whining would have netted them a couple of grand if they'd used that time doing missions/warzones. I do NOT mind though if there's a low level who is behind on gear and wants a hand in flashpoints (especially some of the mid level/ 50 ones as they hardly ever pop). In these cases I am happy to walk them through, and let them keep all the drops. It actually benefits me cos I can get a bit of affection/social/ gathering while I am at it.

While we are on the subject, I have just spent a slightly mind-numbing and mildly expensive few days unlocking a bunch of characters (got Khem Val, Talos, Andronikus, Vette, Quinn, Jaessa, Torian, Mako, Blizz and Gault and then made a republic character and wow can you notice the difference!!! The presence bonus is huge and really very noticeable! But as the posters above say, you can unlock all missions and max affection without any romancing at all.

Also, don't forget that level 50 and lvl 50 Hard mode flashpoints award very good gear as well as the classic comms you can get doing Black Hole and Sextion X dailies. This gear is very good and in my opinion competes with the makeb modded gear. Voss heroics are also a great way to get some goodies (and before you do them, don't forget to pick up the weekly "Defending Voss-Ka" from the Cantina!). Good luck and have fun! Another little tip is to pick up all PVP weeklies and dailies and grind enough to get the lvl 50 relics. These are awesome!

If you're gonna have to watch a butt for hours, make it a cute one

I only found out recently that completing chapters unlocks legacy-wide buffs. Now my agent gives FOUR buffs to everyone in my groups!

Darth Replicator sounds like a "thing" not a name, but I give 5/10 for the Stargate reference! My character name (among many) is Chia'Taar for a human female DS Marauder.

I use quinn if I am soloing a sub - 55 flashpoint or HC (just so I can stay on the move), but aside from that I love Vette and Jaessa. Jaessa is better for my aoe as she pulls the mobs to where I am, but when Vette is out, I just see these mobs hitting the deck on the edge of my screen!

Nothing wrong with wanting to create countless characters!! I have 3 55's , but I have levelled them a bit at a time, hopping from one to the other all the while. I do find that I can't tell if I like the toon until around 17-20 so they all seem to be around that level. I even purposely create toons to fit with gear drops I get for that class!

I have a biochemist, cybertech and artificer all at max lvl and I have made quite a lot of profit from selling speeders, mods, earpieces, implants , hilts, enhancements and dye modules. Having these crafters means that I automatically have a supply of purple lvl 53 mods, armours, hilts, enhancements, implants and earpieces for all my characters and companions. Combined with basic comm and elite comm gear I get from runs, this saves me an absolute fortune upon hitting lvl 55 and these items perform perfectly well at end game for me (it's my cruddy playing skills that let me down haha!!). One thing though, if you wish to craft for profit, then cater for the "altoholics" with low level items for people starting new characters, this is especially rewarding in the run up to a double XP weekend. Level 20 earpieces go for a bomb!

No.I hardly ever PVP and I don't have enough time in the week to do all the things I need to do! Dailies: Sextion X, Makeb, Ilum, Oricon, Black Hole and CZ-198. Loads and loads of mission to get great rewards through collecting commendations you can spend with equipment vendors. Also, these provide reputation with different factions to unlock equipment exclusive to that faction! Flashpoints: Ever increasing difficulties available depending on your gear and experience at play. There are some beauties to run through, I find some of the lvl 50 ones really fun , you can even do hardmodes, which are lvl 55 versions of early flashpoints! Operations: These are "raids" and can be 8 man or 16 man. Different levels of difficulty again, with weekly and daily rewards for completing them! These can be accessed through LFG tool , through your guild or by answering shouts on chat. "Extra" stuff: HK51 quest where you get a new droid companion, macrobinocular and seeker droid missions, datacrons, companion missions and legacy unlocks, crew skills, space missions, Galactic starfighter, playing the GTN for profit, special events (Bounty event this week) and probably LOADS I have forgotten. So NO, it's not all PVP. But welcome to the game!!!

I have no real beefs with the system as it is, although as a poster above mentioned, it is a little awkward, and sometimes searching by level and sending multiple alts comps on missions to craft a bunch of mods, implants, hilts, barrels and crystals can involve a big sheet of paper and a few hours of faffing about logging in/out etc. I would really like to see missions along the lines of the GSI ones that involve seeking out rare/unusual schematics and rare mats for crafting. It could be a new faction called the Tinkerers, a set of Jawas who have hidden their inventions across the galaxy where they await discovery by the eager agents of the republic and empire! I'd also like to have a much higher RE rate on garbage levelling crafted items, even if it was balanced with a reduced rate on blues (green- 40% to Blue 10% for example), just to enable us to recoup a little cash along the way.

I guess I am lucky as I have always seemed to find groups who listen to me/others when we give tips and advice (especially after the first wipe!). You can tell who has levelled through KDY kind of once you start on CZ-198 FP's , as there are actually a couple of mechanics involved in some of those fights and they represent a bit of a learning curve for these players. If they really wanna play it, they'll learn (I hope ) if not, they'll leave.

I run loads of flashpoints and heroics on my 55's and then buy the artifact boxes for my low level's current level. That's cool...

I asked as soon as i realised it was prison scenario, I just asked if anyone minded if I freed all 10 prisoners and they just left them for me. Cleared all mobs in both areas first though, just to be sure.

These are all great responses. I have just levelled a marauder to 55. I made her Carnage specc mainly and she has some really fun moves! I know someone said it above, but it's very important that you remember NEVER to attack before the tank in a group, and to try and only attack the tank's target to help him instead of splitting groups. (Unless he asks you to pick up all the weak mobs for example if they are mainly ranged). Smash is a great AoE opener, force leap never ever stops being fun and then when you get into some of the later moves you'll be grinning like a loon while you wade through enemies! You may feel a little "squishy" for a while after lvl 25 or so, but as long as you channel hatred between all fights, use your defensive cooldowns and keep your gear up-to date you'll breeze through it. Welcome to the game and remember, there is no peace.... only passion....

Figured it out, thankyou for your help.

I'll try and find them then, many thanks for replying.

I am stuck on lvl 435 and can't find any further schematics, and the things I rev engineered gave me ................lvl 435 schematics!!! Any idea or am I missing something simple?

Some great posts on here. I find makeb to be a bit of a pain even with my ops geared 55's just down to the layout of it really. I thoroughly enjoyed the story missions though, as they require a little bit of thought which is always nice. I would concur with the guys who tell you to run a bunch of CZ-198 weeklies and dailies as well as the daily tactical missions to grind basic comms to gear you up in no time. A little trick (and i apologise if it has been mooted already) is to run a few weekly and daily WZ missions just as you are hitting 50 to get the Orbroan relics, implants and earpiece. I did this on my Sorceror at lvl 47 , and using either Khem Val or Talos, I breezed the earlier part of Makeb with groups of mobs all 3 levels higher than me, only stumbling on elites and bosses. To grab a quick basic on Oricon though, just do the first mission (the rescue survivors one). You attack the first bunch of mobs you encounter, and pull them back to the base. There are Imperial NPC's there who'll help you massacre them, then go and break the escape pod hartch. Go back to base and repeat x 5. You'll recieve a litte rep too (and there's a travelpoint which zips you straight to CZ-198 straight after!).

I love collecting datacrons, I even (quite pointlessly) have datacrons with stats on characters who can't use the stat!! I think that how badly you want to collect the crons is fully dependent on how patient you are and how much time you wish to spend. .... Even with youtube guides etc, some of them are teeth-gnashingly frustrating (try the aim one on Hutta if you're rubbish at space bar+ directional key jumping!!!). Some of them are easy though, so it is worth popping into the area to grab those. A word though, some that ARE definitely very useful to begin with are the matrix shards. Collect a few of these, google a good combination for your class, and you can create your first Relic at the dark temple on Korriban at (i believe) level 15. Now this DOES boost your stats early game, or at least that's what I found. Hope my drivel is helpful...

I'm kind of enjoying mine, but perhaps that's the "novelty" thing. I'll get back to you. Still feels strange playing a rep!

Oh and as an addition, don't buy two!! YOU CAN'T USE IT IN YOUR OFFHAND!!!

My Marauder has the Gamorrean Axe and I simply keep it upgraded using hilts and mods. If you like the look of a cosmetic item, just check the weapon proficiency you need to wield it and see if it's one you have. In both the cases you mention, the skill needed is Vibrosword and seeing as that's what you start off with on Korriban pre level 10, you can use it! Get it early too, cos some of the animations in the class story look really cool with the axe used for executions!

I want one too, and i use a blackberry phone, so the fantastic security options the game provides don't work for me. Perhaps I will buy out my mobile contract to upgrade for 300 pounds to get a security key?

LIKES: I was lucky, my first companion ever was Mako. She's a useful (healer and dps) comp in battle and her dialogue is pretty cool, as well as her generally being agreeable with lightside, decent , fair and "humane" conversations. Torian Cadera is cool too, with a decent tale to tell and is useful in a tight spot. I like Vette. Chirpy, cheeky and spunky. Not levelled her enough to find out how useful she is. For my sorceror, as soon as I got Talos Drellik I simply played him. Maybe cos I am used to using mako on my main, but I thought he was great, and I particularly like the fact he ain't interested in fighting at all! DISLIKES: Khem Val, Kalyo, Skadge, Gault and the trooper companion (who is so completely unexciting that I can not even remember his name......)