The things that make me consider a female shadow are: 1) No LI conflict at all (i hate the entire crew except Holiday)...it'ld just suck hard if a do every single quest (including exploration) and then get the infamous Lana bug (kinda happened to my male shadow, just without the exploration quests) 2) Easy gameplay with the option of switching to a tank later 3) I already saved a name i like 4) I am just getting into strongholds and i like the idea of turning my legacy stronghold on Coruscant into a full alliance embassy 5) As josschwarz already pointed out the consular as commander does make a lot of sense The problem is that i realy, realy, reeeealy haaaaaaate the consular crew and i am afraid that, if the game moves away from the alliance and back to the crew thing, i end up stuck with people i'ld rather airlock into space than keep around. They are so dumb and so annoying, even the thought of wasting credits on companions gifts for them hurts me! And while i see why the smuggler appears a weird choice as the commander, you might want to consider this (at least this is how i RPed my smuggler) a) The smuggler is mostly independent, only caring for his ship, girls and cash (in this order) b) He takes over the galactic underworld and is in control of a vast criminal network c) Him being independent is what makes him acceptable as the leader of bipartisan operations d) When Lana and Theron have to disappear during SoR, them turning to the smuggler to help them vanish and hide from the Republic / Empire seems very likely e) While Zakuul crushed the rep / imp military, the galactic underworld is thriving. As former number 1 of the underworld, Lana and Theron could have used the smugglers old contacts and ressources as foundation for the alliance. Their price: "Get the boss back who made a bunch of pirates and misfits rich and influential, he is the only one they will follow" f) Also i RP my smuggler as a former republican pilot during the first war, so he knows war and as a legendary smuggler he knows how to pick only the fights you can win. A good choice for a guerllia war that is mostly fought in space or the underworld. g) During KOTET Bioware made sure that the player never faces the OP baddies alone. It prevents the "in no way is this random lowlife able to defeat Valkorion" argument. The problem? As mentioned Risha vs Lana and building the planned embassy won't make much sense or at least feel wrong IMO. Damn...i can't decide what to do!!! Maybe i will pick a SIn again...it is perfect in every way and i could build my embassy on Dromund Kaas. But i dont want to be forced into the murderous psychopath minion role after playing a well meaning tyrant / benevolent dictator character who wants to rule and reform mostly to end the conflict for the entire previous game!!! I wish we would get options to broker local peace agreements or at least more chances to spare our enemies instead of either killing them or leaving them for Acinas bloodhound. Imagine the option to capture master Gnost-Dural and several of his followers, send them to the force enclave on Odessen and see them meditating there or even having some conversations with him over historic events and our personal motivation. He'ld continue his work on recording history and imperial LS characters could show that not all imperials are monsters. but no...we picked imp side so we have to be bad. No Thrawns allowed, only Palpatines and Vaders

I have been away for a while and now that i am back, i am planning a new playthrough for 6.0 and future content. I just can't decide which class to play, so i am wondering what you people think might be the most fun from 6.0 onwards. My thoughts so far: 1) With the Alliance more or less gone and SWTOR returning to Imp vs Rep, bipartisan players like me are mostly screwed. The imperial class stories are in most cases way better than their republic counterparts, but from what i have seen and played so far it looks like Imps are forced to be the bad guys again. I just don't want to be a bad guy, it simply feels off and i abandoned every DS character because it just wasn't fun for me (except killing Arcann ) So while during the vanilla game and class stories Imp is way more fun IMO, it sucks how the imperial story plays out during the last updates. Especially as a SW or SIn it feels soooo off (even more so as a LS character). Taking orders from Sith leftovers and recycled Cyborgs we already defeated before? Being forced to kill Jedi after working with them on Odessen? ***...No! Just NO! NO! NO! NO! I hated it so much that i stopped playing for months It completely ruins my immersion, ignores the development of my characters and feels like generic bad vs good with no option to make choices of my own (even if we picked rep side on every occasion we still have to kill the Jedi and fight the reps...***???) So yeah...Imp is kinda a no go area for me right now...but the outfits, class stories, voice actors and companions are just so much better!!!! ARGS!!! 2) Rep side seems overall favored by the devs. We keep the cat...dog...whatever admiral, Theron staying with us makes sense, Lana staying makes sense (she is the LI for most of my characters and she mentioned how she never wants to return to Dromund Kaas), the Alliance troopers looking like black armored rep troopers makes sense, not being a murderous douche makes sense, and since you've never been in charge before the alliance, returning to your original faction doesn't feel so bad. So i am leaning towards a rep character...if it weren't for the baaaaad class stories (except Jedi knight and Smuggler) ARGS!!!! 3) Romance options...Girls are making things even more complicated...as always While the JK does have a good story, Kira is absolutely irresistable! And since i can not resist Lana either i will be forced to dump one of them later, something i'ld hate to do! Not knowing if there will be any more LI content for any of the companions is making the decision even harder. I do have a similar problem with the smuggler and Risha. I enjoy the smugglers class story (so funny and casual) and the back and forth between him and Risha is propably the best vanilla romance next to Kira. So yeah...trouble at the homefront!!! 4) Playstyle and performance. I am doing fine with my infiltration shadow and ruffian scoundrel. The perfromance is ok and they are not that hard to control (i am just too dumb / simple minded / casual for overcomplicated rotations i guess ) In addition they are stealth classes which makes the innevitable grind fest way easier and i got used to skipping entire dungeons after work instead of fighting the same trash mobs over and over again before going to bed. 5) The future. It looks like we are moving back to our ship as player home with not just our old crew, but Lana and Theron on board as well (yeeehaa, i am loving it!!! ) And there is no better ship than the smugglers freighter. Which leads me to.... The smuggler. As mentioned before, i had a lot of fun with my ruffian. The class story is a wild space western, the crew is a lot of fun, the ship iconic, the class performance still very good, the grind easier, the class romance just awesome...aaannnnd that's the problem. When the Alliance is getting demolished, i prefere to stay as independent as possible instead of being a rep / imp minion again. Choosing the smuggler would allow me to RP my character as the underworld legend again, picking jobs enrichting himself and his crew of misfits who reject their stupid war mongering old factions (Lana and Theron will fit into this type of independent bukaneer crew very well IMO) So...while my choice seems clear the one problem remains: Lana vs Risha!!! And now they'ld even be on the same ship! My captain would go crazy! The most likely alternative seems a female shadow (good performance as DPS and tank + stealth), i would even get my most favorite character name by deleting / renaming one of my older characters. But the story is absolute garbage and the crew boring AF!!! Even the ship is boring and generic. And with the return to crew and ship this feels like a million levels down from the smuggler. Too bad i didn't find a free name for my male, human smuggler in days!!! ARGS!!! I hate it! So what do you think, where is the story heading, which class / faction seems the most appealing overall and what would you do in my place or do you even have the same problem?

JK are also still missing two companions, the trooper even lost one.

Liar!!! You just bought the Lana bot from my smuggler, the original Lana only loves me!

When comparing FU and non FU you should also remember their particular ideology. Jedi always try to find a non lethal way to overcome their enemies wich severely cripples them in a fight. Also their blind trust in the force guiding them dumbs them down. Anakin for example was special in the way that he also used his brain and didn't just trust the force. Asoka mentions this when she talks to Ezra about her old master. The Sith are so emotional that they abandon rational thinking in a fight. In case a fight turns out difficult they act like complete addicts, becoming more and more emotional. While this might give them a short time boost it weakens their ability to fight with a clear mindset even more They start fighting like rabit dogs instead of an experienced wolf. There is no such thing like a Sith in full control of himself during a fight. Non FU however can be quite pragmatic and unhindered by their orders ideology or masters teachings. Cad Bane managed to withstand and defeat several Jedi masters, including Anakin Skywalker AND Obi Wan. Jango didn't just kill a single Jedi, he was an infamous Jedi killer (even without real mandalorian armor) If a master (mandalorian) Bounty hunter, wearing actual mandalorian armor (made of mandalorian steel) faces off against a Jedi master my bets are on the Mandalorian. The Smuggler is a tricky case. It's all about luck and refering to the old Kenobi there is no such thing as luck. You can indeed argue that the force is guiding the smuggler, even if he or she isn't force sensitive (or at least not a trained force user). The trooper isn't just some stupid grunt, as commander of Havoc squad he/she is the best of the best. The republics special forces are trained and equipped to fight against Sith Warriors, especially since the Jedis casualties and political troubles forced them to leave Coruscant after the war. You might want to give them some credit and skills to trick their force sensitive enemies. The main problem is the agent. Considering the Siths usual paranoia and tendency for betrayal, I highly doubt that the Sith empire would be willing to train their soldiers and agents in the killing of force sensitives, it'd seem way too risky imo. On the other hand intelligence business is always a delicate matter and who knows what additional kind of upgrades a cipher agent is actually getting...

I agree that this would be the most satisfying story element and allow to return to Empire vs Republic as well as to keep the Alliance. However, i doubt it's going to happen. Acina revived and enslaved Darth Malgus to reunite the Empire by force (in case she died Vowrawn just picked up his leash). Right now the empire is as united as it ever was since the Sith emperor went rogue. In case the devs are trying to consolidate the storyline and move on with two branches instead of one (empire and republic), i expect Darth Malgus to find a way to regain his freedom, overwhelm whoever is holding his leash (meaning both Acina and Vowrawn are killed) and declaring himself the new Sith emperor once more. Just this time there is noone to stop him since the PC, who stopped him the last time, is no longer a part of the empire and the republic doesn't want to clean up the empire's mess. Malgus very aggressive stance towards the Jedi and the republic then leads directly into an all out war (part of 6.0) and the story continues via local battlefields in the style of Ossus. That's just my opinion of course.

No, i don't think so. 3 things are true imo: 1) Empire vs Republic / Sith vs Jedi is the core of Star Wars 2) We didn't have that content since the class stories 3) Many people wanted to return to Empire vs Republic While one enemy for both makes sense from a dev perspective (one story fits both sides, meaning the dev of the content is cheaper) it starts to hollow out the Star Wars setting itself. Also, the ending of KOTET left the writers cornered. Without turning the game into a Total War: Star Wars strategy game there was nowhere no go except downward. We had a fleet, we had an army, why the hell are we still scavenging energy cores or dealing with trash mobs? It made no sense after KOTET, while it did made sense to go on missions when we were building up the Alliance. Therefore the Alliance had to be downgraded (i did find it's execution a littlebit cheap though, the droid fleet becoming sentient again and deciding to go rampage, forcing the Alliance to blow them up would have been more fitting and had allowed a return of Scorpio in case she wasn't destroyed) Now the devs are torn apart again between players who want to get ridd of the Alliance once and for all, returning their characters to thrall status and those who enjoy the Alliance and having power, who don't want to be pushed around again by some Sith leftovers or spineless republic noobs who let us take the heavy lifting of saving the galaxy and then take all the perks. Personally i belong to the second faction, i don't want to be a servant again. The devs acknowledged the problem they face from a story perspective, and from what i have seen, their solution is a compromise noone will be happy, but most be able to live with. 1) We remain the commander of the Alliance 2) The Alliance stays in wild space 3) To keep the Alliance out of the fighting as much as possible we are taking care of our allies tasks personally We will still have mission briefings and cinematics on Odessen when an arc starts / ends. But that's about it as far as Alliance content goes. I may be wrong, but that's what i got from the devs talk and 5.10

I remember vaguely that the devs already commented on this option a long time ago, stating that it is not possible. Most likely because it would mess up the character decisions. So we got the master's datacron.

Not going to happen, or will the agent / bounty hunter become a Sith lord too? You are the commander and eather allied with the empire or the republic. No dev ressources / money left for class specific content. Instead we might get a new arena map...horray

I think the Death Watch wasn't a thing until the mandalorian government lost it's balls and went full shiny rainbow mode. Many Mandalorians rejected pacifism and the galactic mediocracy coming with it, some of them went even further and decided to fight, forming the Death Watch. We are still i think 1500 - 2000 years away from that, maybe even more.

As far as i understood the cinematics and ingame mails post Nathema, the Alliance lost everything related to the eternal throne: The Gravestone, the entire eternal fleet, the control of the droid army and it's fabrics as well as the throne itself. The Alliance's entire remaining forces are made of what it had post KOTFE, meaning a bunch of imperial and republic cruisers and frigates minus the Gravestone. The ground forces are few and mostly stationed on Iokath to keep a grasp on it's technology and ressources, but not enough to stand against the republican / imperial forces on Iokath on it's own. And since Zakuul declared it'S independence, all the Alliance controls right now is Odessen and the fleet tower on Iokath. During the state of the galaxy report, Lana mentioned that the sole reason why the Alliance is still considered relevant is because of the individual quality of it's members. the commander recruited many of the best and brightest of the galaxy during the war against Zakuul and most of them remain with the Alliance. Thx to the spoils of war and Dr. Oggurob the Alliance has the technological advantage too. So, right now, an attack on the Alliance would be costly, even without the Gravestone fighting off the enemy fleet. And since neather the Republic nor the Empire has ever shown any interest in wild space, an attack on Odessen isn't just worth the risk since it would leave the attacker vulnerable. As of now, the Alliance is an auxillary force and outpost of the Empire / Republic inside wild space. Personaly i hope we will return for a short mission to post war Zakuul during 6.X (including a daily area, the level already exist, so come on Bioware, do it). Maybe to negotiate some wild space treaty to power up the Alliance again. But i doubt it. I don't want to be Acina's / the Republic's b**** again. Some imperial trooper fanboying when he is rescued by the commander an Anri wasn't enough after all we did for the galaxy. I want power! Unlimited power!!!!!

From my experience beeing british isn't just the spelling of a word, it is a set of mind (not talking about the Boris Johnson type of brits, they are not brits, they are actually lobotomites) To be a brit, you must be able to know the end is near, see the bombs drop, sit down in your garden, drink a cup of tea and realy don't give a f*** about getting shelter because right now it is tea time and the apocalypse is just trying to impress you. And then, when your garden starts to burn, you just think "how rude" and take another sip of tea

Biowre should rather focus on the new story arc. Exploring what was and in the process even ruining the unique backstories everyone made at least for their main characters isn't worth the trouble, time and ressources. So no! No! No! No! --------------99999999999.... from me. Just no! No! No! No!

We already had that: The Sith warrior from class story to KOTET final.

While i understand the PvP player's outcry, imo they are crying all the time so... whatever. I don't like PvP, i don't do OPs, so i don't care about the new gear. I don't even have a full set of 248 stuff. What i do care about is the lack of actual story content. A couple of FP that become generic and non story specific after the first playthrough (no actual cutscenes with the characters etc) isn't enough imo. I wish they'd made the entire traitor arc repeatable like the chapters, so i could have replayed it with my main character pre 5.10 to get re - immersed and into character again. But with the extended period of time betweent the content releases evn during the beautifull Lana romance scene on Odessen i always had the nagging feeling "well, this looks wonderfull...but who are you again?"

Thx for the information and don't be bothered: We are harsh but i am sure we all love you Eric An since someone said you look like Arcann i can't kill the damn bastard anymore! I always think "oh look, he is our community manager, I don't want to kill him"...Curse you Eric Musco!

Why do you expect any difference? As long as the dev team and funding isn't increased drastically, i don't expect any big thing coming during 2019 and then the 5.10 momentum is over. With the EA stock plumetting to new lows in 2018, an increased funding for a game as old as SWTOR seems highly unlikely. During the next years I expect Bioware to release Anthem, DA:Whatever, Mass Effect 4. All filled to the brink with microtransactions and battle royale.

Sith Inquisitor, mostly LS because i love the LS title: Emperor, always. The entire class story is all about power, so declining it just doesn't fit. You want to be a benevolent tyrant like Valkorion on Zakuul? Then choose to negotiate with the rebels during the start of the Iokath / traitor storyline instead of putting them to the sword. Jedi classes: Peacekeeper, always. Sith warrior: Peacekeeper by accident but i can live with that choice. He never had any interest in politics or ruling and after all the betrayals during his careeer he realy hates the empire (saboteur was disappointing though...) Smuggler: Peacekeeper, and even that is headcanoned as beeing the new galactic entrepreneur Trooper and Agent: I just cant get myself to finish even the class stories, they bore me to hell. I heard everywhere that the agent has the best storyline, but after act 2 i just gave up. Immersion factor 0,0. I am just not feeling any connection with this character, it is an empty shell. And i tried it often. Same goes for the trooper, just meh...

On rep side, it is fairly easy to solo the fleet datacron, i did it about 2 or 3 days ago. Check Youtube for a guide. Just FYI.

I am sure that's what he meant. At least that's what i read and i will be very disappointed if the bugs are not patched after the downtime

Yeah, i even reroled my main SI because i couldn't take the immersion break between ingame and cutscenes any longer. Until i found out that sorc (especially lightning) suuuuuuuuuuuucks as DPS. Absolute trash unless you go Datacron hunting which i did. Phantomwalk or what it's called saved me countless attempts to cut my wrists because i failed some stupid jump So ultimately i renamed her, reroled the char as an assassin and keep the sorc just out of sentimentality and gratefullness for our joined Datacron suffering. Ingame wise i enjoy the assassin way more than the sorc but i do miss force lightning a lot! I wish the assassin would get force lighning, maybe as a new ability in 6.0 with a new level cap or as an animation replacement for this lightsaber twirl thing. Until then i will use my heroic moment to...light up...my opponents So OP, +1 from me.

Not that anything needs to be patched ASAP anyway...

Didn't encounter the issue and apparently they fixed the damn pods during KOTFE chapter 1 (they have been pure white for a while) Update your GUI driver and repair your game client installation in case you didn't. Maybe reinstaling using a different path helps.

Well said and i 100% agree

Try Retale's Youtube channel. He/she has some amazing cinematic playthroughs, my favorite being the DS Sith sorceress (Andronikos, Lana, Andronikos romance). The delivered lines in case Arcann and Senya are dead are the same from Theron and Lana if i remember correctly.