Trouble with "The Defector" Quest - this is a class-quest so possible *spoilers*

[Onchas]

EDIT: I worked this one out. I'll put a post below explaining just how I did it [hint: I used T7 instead of Kira]

 

I'm on to "The Defector" and Vilas is kicking my ***.

 

I breezed through Nas Nassaffaaa (or whatever it's called) pretty easily. I'm at level 24 (the quest name in my log is white, so "at level") and I think I'm fairly well kitted out. My sabres are rated at 58 and 54 and my armour has been constantly updated and the mods added to my pants and robes have been updated.

 

I'm not an MMO expert but I've played them pretty casually since SWG. So, when I get my *** kicked this hard and this often but a MOB at release, I'm inclined to think that it can't possibly be me and *must* be the game.

 

 

Anyways, basically my companion is Kera. The fight starts at range. I've tried leaping in first, I've sent her in first. Doesn't matter. First thing is on of us gets choked half to death while the other is sent flying. Then by the time we're back in position we're both thrown across the room and at half life.

 

I've tried this a number of times with various combinations. The furthest I've gotten him down is about 33% health but usually I barely get him under 50%.

 

Can anyone whose beaten him tell me how?

Edited December 16, 2011 by Onchas

[Lynear]

I sent in Kira first. Then when he focuses me I pop both my damage reduction CDs. After that I popped the 20 min CD that resets Saber Ward and heals over time. Pop a medpack for healing when needed and finish him off. What spec are you running? I was combat at the time and from what I'm seeing that is the least desirable at this level range.

[Onchas]

I just wrote a thoughtful and long post giving you more information, but the dog ate it (database error).

 

Anyways - highlights:

 

My alter ego - Sahcno - uninstalled the game in the wee hours of the morning while hopped up on rage and cold medication.

 

I reject the notion that my spec matters at this stage - but Guardian with a two boxes of Combat. If spec matters this much at this stage than that would be incredibly bad game design.

 

I die really, really fast. Kera if she goes in first is immolated within about 3 attacks by Vilas. The most success I had was when I went in first and managed to interrupt a couple of attacks with kick and leap, but once those get on a cool-down I'm toast. I threw my damage mitigation actions, but I could swear I heard Vilas chuckle.

 

It seems like within about three-four attacks from Vilas, both Kera and I are a sexy blood splatter.

 

When I'm done undoing Sahcno's villainy, I may have to figure-out how to FRAPS this. It's kind of funny how fast and how bad it goes.

[Onchas]

Yeah, useless. I'm totally destroyed every time. I've spent a tonne of credits now on stims and repairs trying to do this and I keep getting destroyed.

 

If someone could post a video or some kind of thorough guide that would be great. I simply can't imagine that I'm the first guy to hit on this so far from the beta teams.

 

I've been absolutely cruising the game so far, but this guy is just kicking my ***.

 

I don't even know if this can be done with a group, but I like leveling solo. The idea that I might actually have to go make a friend and ask for help is terrible.

[Onchas]

Good old T7-01. Despite only accepting mission awards for Kera for All of Nas, T7 still has it in him. What a special little droid. <readies can of oil for a treat>

[Attumen]

Use your interrupt as much as possible, his casts are the only real damage dealers.

[ProfessorWalsh]

Use your interrupts as much as you can. They help, but you are right, he is tough for a Sentinel. Make sure that you don't Force Leap to open the combat. Send in Kira first as well.

 

Right as Kira gets in there, he's likely to use his annoying knock back, if you are caught by it Force Leap.

 

When Kira first gets in, the moment she isn't stunned by him, pop your 20 minute ability, then nail him with Force Stasis. Keep him interrupted, keep the damage on him, and he'll go down. You will have to use med packs as well as stims to have a chance.

 

Yes, that fight is disproportionately hard for a Sentinel as compared to a Guardian due to the Sentinel having poor Synergy with Kira.

[Onchas]

Yeah, so I managed to get through this little slice of awesome.

 

Kira and I just did not have the right chemistry for this one. Maybe you'll deck her out better or find some secret sauce that makes it work, but I couldn't. I tried changing when I attacked, when she went in, what attacks she had set (turning off her CHARGE went a long way (her force leap). But to no avail.

 

I did it first go with T7. I shut off his INTERCEPT skill - the one that makes him "leap" into the fight. So he remained a true ranged killing machine. I also turned on his attribute that focuses on damage instead of hostility/threat production (I think it's called "TARGET SCAN"). I don't know if having his threat generation go higher would be beneficial or not but I figured I wanted him on me while my crappy fit droid rained down hell fir/spat tiny pellets of Corellian Light Blaster.

 

So, basically I set my self up as tank (endurance stim and the defensive form, blue one, can't remember what its called) and I set him to stay at range and blast away.

 

It worked well. Vilas did a lot less damage. Most of his attacks are close-in area of effect, so having his attention switch back and forth between us worked well.

 

I got him down without tossing my damage mitigation skills and with one heal (tossed too early even).

 

This was my first experience with a different companion made a huge difference in a fight. Up to now it had just been an aesthetic choice/the one that annoyed me the least.

[ProfessorWalsh]

Yeah, so I managed to get through this little slice of awesome.

 

Kira and I just did not have the right chemistry for this one. Maybe you'll deck her out better or find some secret sauce that makes it work, but I couldn't. I tried changing when I attacked, when she went in, what attacks she had set (turning off her CHARGE went a long way (her force leap). But to no avail.

 

I did it first go with T7. I shut off his INTERCEPT skill - the one that makes him "leap" into the fight. So he remained a true ranged killing machine. I also turned on his attribute that focuses on damage instead of hostility/threat production (I think it's called "TARGET SCAN"). I don't know if having his threat generation go higher would be beneficial or not but I figured I wanted him on me while my crappy fit droid rained down hell fir/spat tiny pellets of Corellian Light Blaster.

 

So, basically I set my self up as tank (endurance stim and the defensive form, blue one, can't remember what its called) and I set him to stay at range and blast away.

 

It worked well. Vilas did a lot less damage. Most of his attacks are close-in area of effect, so having his attention switch back and forth between us worked well.

 

I got him down without tossing my damage mitigation skills and with one heal (tossed too early even).

 

This was my first experience with a different companion made a huge difference in a fight. Up to now it had just been an aesthetic choice/the one that annoyed me the least.

 

Wait until you get Doc around level 38. Doc is the bees knees. He rocks a Sentinel's socks. Wonder as you never have to use defensive forms and your health rarely dips below 75%

[CivicTiger]

I spent 20k repairing my gear cause I died so many times to this guy.

In the end, I just called in a guildy commando to come help, we killed him within 10 seconds.

 

I'm a Sentinel, so me and Kira both DPS but that still isn't enough to take him down. It's his push-backs that mess you up and his ranged forcepower DPS

[MimicUnleashed]

I've been trying to drop this guy for 20 minutes. He stomps me and Kira, or me and T-7. The first time I was able to get him to about 15%, after that it's just an all out death-to-me thing. I really hate this guy. Like a lot. And if you're wondering I'm a Guardian, not a Sentinel, and even my defensive cooldowns mean nothing without a healer. Guess I'll just have to park my character until my healer guildy shows up later tonight. Which is pretty sad that he's so blasted hard I gotta call in reinforcements.

[Kheldras]

Good old T7-01. Despite only accepting mission awards for Kera for All of Nas, T7 still has it in him. What a special little droid. <readies can of oil for a treat>

 

Thats no Astromech.. that a Destroyer of worlds.. Seriously my most favorite companion, laughing tears at his comments and that "I shoot a cable to jump towards an enemy-Action".

 

Kudos to him!

[Jorha]

I was level 25 when I did this with Kira and dropped him easy. During the Beta weekend I got up to him and couldn't kill him but this time I did some pvp at 20 and got a few pieces of that good gear and this was a breeze.

[Ranlothir]

Thanks Onchas, that Really helped!!!

[BurnTheSky]

On beta at lvl25 with a Combat spec, I had a very hard time dropping him, took me about 10 attempts to drop him.

 

Then, yesterday at 24 as Watchman, unloading all cooldowns, I killed him at my 1st attempt (with Kira dropping at around 30%, finished him alone with Saber Ward and Rebuke up).

 

Which pretty much echoes what most people here are saying: at this point in the levelling, Watchman is a much stronger spec and makes this fight (and all others, tbh) way easier...

[thanealpha]

Sent Combat spec L23 Ataru Form, with Kira.

 

I had L23 purple hilts and crystals in my lightsabers, cycled through all my defensive cooldowns, no stims or pots. Kira also had top line hilt/crystals. (yay for being an artificer)

 

I was at ~40% health when he went down. Kira was still alive...I don't recall what she was at healthwise.

 

I think it's been said here but it's worth repeating: Interrupt.

 

Also with that knockback...depending on the timing it's a free force leap again.

 

Aside from that it was just a pure dps race and I let him have it. I feel pretty comfortable with my dps rotation vs a static target like an NPC. PvP on the otherhand requires the use of additional/different skills to insure you can keep the hurt on a moving target.

[Allie-Wan]

Great tips everybody! Bringing a Trooper along would really help a Jedi with this particular Sith. But hey, if everything else fails...

 

Plan B:

Valis is much more than a match for you and your companion. Most Jedi can't withstand his punishment for very long going "toe to toe" with him. He will chase you relentlessly as well.

 

As Master Luke Skywalker said to the Emperor; "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

 

Use this to your advantage. Send Kira in first (turn off her 'Charge' ability). While Valis has his attention on her, force leap in and give it your all… When your health gets down to quarter strength, begin running from him around the perimeter of the room. There are 3 large boxes against the walls that you can pass completely behind and true to form; he will follow you through there. You can wait for him here, safe and prepared. As soon as he enters your line of sight in these small areas, hit him with Stasis, turn and get away. Use the boxes to keep you from being in his direct path of attack and then continue on as before around the perimeter to the next box...

This will take time and you might use a few med packs but it’s definitely doable.

mtfbwy

[CivicTiger]

If you think that ones hard, wait for the next 4 bosses.

[JediKamo]

I tried it today and was utterly crushed. I will certainly try the T7 option and the Kira charging in first options tomorrow (too mad to try it again tonight), but my thought is this: If you have to have the reflexes of a hardcore gamer, a top of the line computer and a flawless internet connection to pull this off, then the quest does need to be rethought.

 

Really, they way the fight stands now, I'm too busy being stunned and knocked back to interrupt the boss. It's one thing to make a fight challenging. It's another to make it impossible except for exceptional players or purple gear (which seem to be the conditions of those reporting success).

Edited December 24, 2011 by JediKamo

[ProfessorWalsh]

I tried it today and was utterly crushed. I will certainly try the T7 option and the Kira charging in first options tomorrow (too mad to try it again tonight), but my thought is this: If you have to have the reflexes of a hardcore gamer, a top of the line computer and a flawless internet connection to pull this off, then the quest does need to be rethought.

 

Really, they way the fight stands now, I'm too busy being stunned and knocked back to interrupt the boss. It's one thing to make a fight challenging. It's another to make it impossible except for exceptional players or purple gear (which seem to be the conditions of those reporting success).

 

I did it today at 28, just me and Kira, twice and was able to kill him on the first try in both attempts. (Two attempts because the quest bugged and I had to reset it *sob*) Honestly, Kira, fully geared, and a Jedi Sentinel fully geared can take him. It is simply a matter if knowing when to interrupt.

 

That, of course, doesn't mean the quest isn't harder than it should be... But it isn't insurmountable.

[AdmralThrawn]

I just did it with the good old hit and run, wait, force leap, force push, run wait till they recharge then repeat. it took forever but it got the job done. i tried atleast five times before and couldn't get him below a third of his health. i agree that they need to make that part atleast easier. especially since i'm two levels ahead of him.

[Khartu]

I'm level 24, combat spec, well-geared (so is Kira), know about interrupts (and use them), understand how to play the spec reasonably well, and I can't bring him down. Basically, I've blown through all the credits I had saved for pilot training on this guy. I really think they need to do something about this quest, especially since it's a class quest. You really can't have a fight so difficult that you need to be exceptional in every way blocking the class progression. I'm even thinking it might be best to roll another toon at this point. Anyone watch as Trooper's decimate whatever stands in front of them effortlessly?

[Bogie]

I'm having the same trouble as a level 27. I've gotten him close to death then you just kicks my butt.

[Venator-Falco]

There are actually a lot of threads on this already, but because they removed search that is probably of limited value to you.

Some tips.

1) Don’t force leap in, keep force leap in reserve so if you get knocked back you can re-engage quickly.

2) Put your back to the crates just behind where he fights you, you may not get to use force leap because he can’t knock you back

3) Force Kick is not just your friend, it is Your friend with benefits. Learn to love it

4) The Boy scout moto is worth remembering Be Prepaired, Stims, Long Cooldown Buffs ready to go, just be all prepaired. This fight is short enough that I say blow em all right at the beginning

5) You have mentioned you are L24, use force stasis to give you 6 seconds of breathing room on your Cooldowns and as a second interrupt

6) Medpack, when you hit half health pop it (You do have it in a quickslot right?)

[ZACASAUR]

Same was happening to me until I realized that I forgot to stop by a trainer and level up properly. .. Then it was easy peasy Edited January 23, 2012 by ZACASAUR