Irritating Newbie Mistakes

[Malles]

Not a bashing thread. I've been amusing myself for the past month playing through the rest of the class stories, and I've been running into lots and lots of new players. I've noticed some trends among them, things they do that went from, to be blunt, cracking me up to staring at my screen in baffled confusion and anger.

 

I'm perfectly aware that all people are new at some point (Personally, it took me about forty levels in WoW before I figured out how the Auction House worked) so I do not judge. I am not here to insult people like more vocal members of our community might. But there does come a point in MMOs where your bad playing will directly affect the fun time of others around you, and I'm sure we can all agree that no one likes that. So, I'm making a list of common mistakes you can make that can screw over someone else, and I invite others to do the same.

 

Reminder: This is a guide thread, stay civil.

1. As you level, mainly in Heroic Missions or Flash, you will come across players who mention something called "CC". This is an acronym that stands for Crowd Control, and it refers to abilities that temporarily incapacitate enemy players and NPCs. The typical duration is 60 seconds. This is used to take one enemy out of the fight quickly so the players have less enemies hitting them and trying to kill them and is used on the more dangerous enemies. CC can be broken very easily, however, and all it takes is a tap. Any ability you have that hits multiple enemies will break CC and get you and your group killed. So, if someone in your group calls for CC and marks the target, do not touch it until all other enemies are dead.

 

2. Operatives and Scoundrels: You are not a ranged class. You do not use Cover. Snipers and Gunslingers use Cover. Your class is made to go into Stealth, walk up behind an enemy, and go crazy ninja on them. All of your best abilities require you to be up close and personal to the enemy, not cowering behind a wall going pew-pew with Snipe and Explosive Probe. That only works on Ord Mantell and Hutta. It might do fine for leveling, but in group mode it hinders your DPS to the point you can be replaced with a DPS Companion. This is speaking as a Scoundrel player. There is no situation you will find yourself in where that is the right thing to do. Unless your healing in PvP. Then you can do it all you want. But for DPS, you're either going to have to do some stabby-stab or whip out that shotgun, or you need to reroll as a Sniper or Gunslinger. This is not your fault, because BioWare really should have put that into the AC description.

 

3. Same with Vanguards and Powertechs. BioWare lied about ranged tanking, there is no such thing unless you're Corso or Blizz. Get up close. You'll be fine. And stop using Explosive Rounds and Rockets, all that does is waste resource.

 

4. Roleplayers! Important, need-to-know-and-abide-by information: DO NOT ROLEPLAY YOUR CLASS STORY. Think about it. If everyone did that, Darth Zash would have, like, fifty thousand apprentices. The Great Hunt would be won by fifty thousand bounty hunters. Every Spec Forces unit in the Republic would be named Havoc Squad. And poor Vette would be married to fifty thousand Sith wanting to sleep with her every night. Don't do it, especially on Ebon Hawk. You will be shunned.

 

5. All kill and node stealers will be devoured alive by zombies come December. You've been warned.

 

EDIT #1: If you find yourself with a question, ask! Ask, ask, ask, ask! Yes, I guarantee someone will give you flak for it, but that someone is the minority and a douchebag anyway, so don't worry about what they think. And I can also guarantee us nice, more reasonable folk will give you a lot more patience if you do: There is a difference between people being stupid and people being ignorant, and we can cure the ignorant people.

 

EDIT #2: Only roll Need on gear if it's better than what you have on. If you're going to vendor it, you don't Need it. That's what the Greed button is for. Also, Sentinels/Marauders do NOT need Smuggler/Agent gear, and vice versa. Same goes for Guardians/Juggernauts and Troopers/Bounty Hunters. Endurance isn't worth a dime, even if you're a tank. Your primary stat should always beat it.

 

EDIT #3: ALL TANKS. Do not stack up Endurance and think you're ready for the big-boy 50 Flashpoints and Ops. Because you're not and you will be laughed at and kicked. You need Defense Rating, Shield Rating, and Shield Absorb over Endurance. Priority is debatable, I personally prefer Defense. Better to not get hit than to shield hits, if you ask me.

 

EDIT #4: ALL DPS. I speak to you as a brother-in-arms. You're job is to go slap-slap-slap-slap until the boss dies and maybe some crowd control. You are not an off-tank. You are not an alternate healer. If you find yourself in any of those positions, something has gone terribly wrong and you should prepare yourself for a painful death.

 

EDIT #5: ALL HEALERS. You are not DPS.

Edited September 9, 2012 by AllisonBerryman

[joenewbie]

I'm new to the game, as my username here makes apparent, but I have played Asheron's Call for 12 years, so I'm not completely illiterate. But really, I want information like the above contains I don't want to learn by having a bad experience with someone and then maybe losing that game friend.

 

This game more than Asheron's call seems to be less solo-able, so making enemies is not my intention.

 

The one thing this game lacks is sufficient documentation, I want to read write-ups on classes that go above and beyond the basic information contained on the "official page" which it seems all IGN has become lately. Where are these?

 

Why isn't your post in the form of a player write-up. I know I can search the Forums for these answers but the problem with that is you run a search and get 300 results with only 5 directly addressing the particular question, and I'm not going to read through 300 posts of banality to get 1 gem of information.

 

We need to create a more specific guide of information. Something like, Why I Like Slicing as a Crew Skill.... or the opposite, why Slicing Sucks as a Crew Skill. That's where learning happens when you can read a point/counter point to something everyone encounters such as, what Craft skills should I take? If someone had those write-ups I'd spend hours reading those so I don't have stupid questions posted on the forums. I'm ignorant, not stupid.

[Malles]

I'm new to the game, as my username here makes apparent, but I have played Asheron's Call for 12 years, so I'm not completely illiterate. But really, I want information like the above contains I don't want to learn by having a bad experience with someone and then maybe losing that game friend.

 

This game more than Asheron's call seems to be less solo-able, so making enemies is not my intention.

 

The one thing this game lacks is sufficient documentation, I want to read write-ups on classes that go above and beyond the basic information contained on the "official page" which it seems all IGN has become lately. Where are these?

 

Why isn't your post in the form of a player write-up. I know I can search the Forums for these answers but the problem with that is you run a search and get 300 results with only 5 directly addressing the particular question, and I'm not going to read through 300 posts of banality to get 1 gem of information.

 

We need to create a more specific guide of information. Something like, Why I Like Slicing as a Crew Skill.... or the opposite, why Slicing Sucks as a Crew Skill. That's where learning happens when you can read a point/counter point to something everyone encounters such as, what Craft skills should I take? If someone had those write-ups I'd spend hours reading those so I don't have stupid questions posted on the forums. I'm ignorant, not stupid.

 

It's not in the form of a write-up for three, very good reasons.

 

1. Write-ups take forever and I'm lazy.

2. Since I'm lazy, I never proofread my write-ups and all the typos and grammar errors make me sound stupid.

3. I tend to become too patronizing and get written off as an insufferable dipstick.

 

Fortunately, this is why God made outsourcing. For instance, I was having trouble finding a good Commando rotation early on and found this website going over pretty much everything you want to know about any class in the game, combat wise.

 

http://www.noxxic.com/swtor/

 

Another fun thing I found: If you're like me and would like to know if that 4-man Heroic Mission is really worth your time and effort, you can punch the quest name into here and it'll give you a list of rewards. Best part is, if the rewards are wrong people go into comment threads and post the real ones. You can also look up Crew Skill schematics and such.

 

http://www.torhead.com/

 

Off Topic: Slicing gives you extra cash and Augment schematics, but really the only augments worth using are for when you hit Lvl 50 and you can buy those schematics straight off the GTN with less effort and probably cheaper than it would take to make them drop from missions.

 

And for future reference, IGN is crap and run by corporate suck-ups. Going there looking for reliable information is like mining a Port-a-John for gold nuggets.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Malles

[joenewbie]

Yeah, Warcry was cool when I played AC and up till like 5 years ago when they went all IGN on it. I do like reading up on stuff before having to figure it out in the game. Same when it comes to quests, I screwed up and signed up for quests way above my level, now what... Hopefully I'll be able to restart the ones I aborted but if not, oh well, lesson learned. With that searchable quest site you listed hopefully that won't happen again. Thanks for that by the way.

[Malles]

Yeah, Warcry was cool when I played AC and up till like 5 years ago when they went all IGN on it. I do like reading up on stuff before having to figure it out in the game. Same when it comes to quests, I screwed up and signed up for quests way above my level, now what... Hopefully I'll be able to restart the ones I aborted but if not, oh well, lesson learned. With that searchable quest site you listed hopefully that won't happen again. Thanks for that by the way.

 

6. Despite every word BioWare said to the contrary, you are required to do side quests in order to complete class quests. Unless you either spend days grinding Space Missions or jump into 1-49 PvP and get flattened by upper-level characters with more abilities than you.

 

Technically, that has nothing to do with how your gameplay affects mine, but it's still helpful. Doing the Bonus Series will make you overleveled as hell, but that just means you can solo 2-man Heroics afterward. I like doing them all because I like having matching armor.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Malles

[joenewbie]

My habit with MMO's has been, play until I don't like how my toon is turning out, start new toon, in this case I've created 4 toons, some I gave up on before level 5 and my highest level to date is 13th. Which is why I do like to spend a lot of time reading things before actually gaming so I can make as few re-rolls as possible.

 

I really like the crafting aspects to this game too, so I'm spending time learning/relearning those.

[Kanana]

If someone says "Spacebar" or "Skip" in flashpoints they want you to push the spacebar and skip through the cutscenes. You're not obligated to, of course.

[haliy]

Sadly, most of the new players which this thread is directed to will not be reading this

[joenewbie]

Sadly, most of the new players which this thread is directed to will not be reading this

 

Most, perhaps, but not me.

[gumbydpl]

Most, perhaps, but not me.

 

If you want a lot of cool little tips and tricks, THIS thread is pretty sweet.

 

I have been playing since launch and there are still some things in there that I didn't know about.

[Malles]

Sadly, most of the new players which this thread is directed to will not be reading this

 

"Oh, jeez, he's telling me I'm playing wrong. He must be one of those troll things my mom told me about." /ignore

[Alphasgimaone]

I have to disagree with some of what you said, as it's not entirely accurate. There is a time and place for everything (even Saber Strike and Double Strike for sorcages ) and implying never to use them will only hinder people in the end.

 

Cover is a very useful skill for scops; the mitigation alone can and will save lives. The important thing is learning when and how to best utilize it. For example, rolling into cover (after popping Surrender) if you've pulled too much threat can buy you the extra time needed to get healed (or just heal yourself). This way, you can save Disappearing Act for when you really need it.

 

Also, just using it as a gap closer and a way to quickly move around the map can be a huge boon. This takes a lot of practice, but will greatly increase your overall efficacy.

 

But most important is knowing how to use cover and ranged abilities against certain types of enemies. There are just so many knock-backs and PBAoEs in this game that sometimes it's way is easier to stay at a safe distance and rough 'em up a bit before charging in for the fisticuffs.

 

As for healing, I would argue just the opposite. Cover in healing in PvP often just leads to problems. Most of the nodes in the game (save for VS, maybe) don't have ideal cover points, and proper use of LoS and positioning will trump the mitigation every time. Plus, it's really important to stay mobile in PvP.

 

However, in PvE, as long as you can maintain LoS and range for all party members (a bit harder in ops), there's absolutely no reason to use it. As such, half the bosses in the game have cover points intended for scops healers. Many even have a series of points that follow the phases of the boss.

 

As for PvP as a whole, learning to use situational cover is a good idea. Since every node battle always comes down to a battle of AoEs, why not just stay at a safe distance and FF the weaker guys until it's over?

 

It's biggest use, though, is defending a node. No other class can solo defend a node better than than scops. Using cover effectively is a very important aspect o this. Since the object is to stay alive and annoy the attackers long enough for help to arrive, cover, dotting, and sniping is a huge help.

 

Of course, the one caveat to this that's sort of the big white elephant is that the natural cover mechanic is still broken. It can be unresponsively fickle at times which can be counterproductive. But it's just one of those things that we deal with.

 

And don't discredit Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe. It is extremely useful, especially for Bones and Dirty Fighters (if there still is such a thing), but Scrappers should have no trouble putting it to their [long] rotations--usually after the initial burst.

 

Don't even need to roll into full cover to use it. Just kneel, pop, and start running again. A good way to do this is to move it into the first slot of the cover bar and then set shft+1 as an extra cover bind. That way the hand motion is seamless and congruous.

 

Even as Scops, the thing can get some really nice crits which go a long way into helping the (badly needed) sustainable DPS. And with practice of the a fore mentioned technique, it essentially becomes bonus "white" damage. So why not use it?

[Malles]

I have to disagree with some of what you said, as it's not entirely accurate. There is a time and place for everything (even Saber Strike and Double Strike for sorcages ) and implying never to use them will only hinder people in the end.

 

Cover is a very useful skill for scops; the mitigation alone can and will save lives. The important thing is learning when and how to best utilize it. For example, rolling into cover (after popping Surrender) if you've pulled too much threat can buy you the extra time needed to get healed (or just heal yourself). This way, you can save Disappearing Act for when you really need it.

 

Also, just using it as a gap closer and a way to quickly move around the map can be a huge boon. This takes a lot of practice, but will greatly increase your overall efficacy.

 

But most important is knowing how to use cover and ranged abilities against certain types of enemies. There are just so many knock-backs and PBAoEs in this game that sometimes it's way is easier to stay at a safe distance and rough 'em up a bit before charging in for the fisticuffs.

 

As for healing, I would argue just the opposite. Cover in healing in PvP often just leads to problems. Most of the nodes in the game (save for VS, maybe) don't have ideal cover points, and proper use of LoS and positioning will trump the mitigation every time. Plus, it's really important to stay mobile in PvP.

 

However, in PvE, as long as you can maintain LoS and range for all party members (a bit harder in ops), there's absolutely no reason to use it. As such, half the bosses in the game have cover points intended for scops healers. Many even have a series of points that follow the phases of the boss.

 

As for PvP as a whole, learning to use situational cover is a good idea. Since every node battle always comes down to a battle of AoEs, why not just stay at a safe distance and FF the weaker guys until it's over?

 

It's biggest use, though, is defending a node. No other class can solo defend a node better than than scops. Using cover effectively is a very important aspect o this. Since the object is to stay alive and annoy the attackers long enough for help to arrive, cover, dotting, and sniping is a huge help.

 

Of course, the one caveat to this that's sort of the big white elephant is that the natural cover mechanic is still broken. It can be unresponsively fickle at times which can be counterproductive. But it's just one of those things that we deal with.

 

And don't discredit Sabotage Charge/Explosive Probe. It is extremely useful, especially for Bones and Dirty Fighters (if there still is such a thing), but Scrappers should have no trouble putting it to their [long] rotations--usually after the initial burst.

 

Don't even need to roll into full cover to use it. Just kneel, pop, and start running again. A good way to do this is to move it into the first slot of the cover bar and then set shft+1 as an extra cover bind. That way the hand motion is seamless and congruous.

 

Even as Scops, the thing can get some really nice crits which go a long way into helping the (badly needed) sustainable DPS. And with practice of the a fore mentioned technique, it essentially becomes bonus "white" damage. So why not use it?

 

I'm not going to even bother trying to cover PvP because it's such a play-by-the-moment kind of environment I'd have to make up pages and pages of stuff. PvP is different from PvE in that everything you do in PvP has a counter, where as in PvE the enemies will just stand there and let you smack them until you either kill them or run away a certain distance. This is, of course, barring enemies inside story modes and such.

 

Me personally, I prefer melee classes in PvP and I hate having any distance between me and my target, so I never use Cover on my Scoundrel. If I need to get away I'll either instant-Stealth and link up with a buddy or Dirty Kick and run. I play Dirty Fighting so I can do that.

[GalaxyStrong]

Everyone was a NOOB once and it takes time to learn a new game. YOU were noob once too. You live, You learn and life goes on. In short, get over it because noob's aren't going anywhere Bro.

[Malles]

Everyone was a NOOB once and it takes time to learn a new game. YOU were noob once too. You live, You learn and life goes on. In short, get over it because noob's aren't going anywhere Bro.

 

Ahem.

 

Not a bashing thread. I've been amusing myself for the past month playing through the rest of the class stories, and I've been running into lots and lots of new players. I've noticed some trends among them, things they do that went from, to be blunt, cracking me up to staring at my screen in baffled confusion and anger.

 

I'm perfectly aware that all people are new at some point (Personally, it took me about forty levels in WoW before I figured out how the Auction House worked) so I do not judge. I am not here to insult people like more vocal members of our community might. But there does come a point in MMOs where your bad playing will directly affect the fun time of others around you, and I'm sure we can all agree that no one likes that. So, I'm making a list of common mistakes you can make that can screw over someone else, and I invite others to do the same.

 

Reminder: This is a guide thread, not a "you're so stupid you should contract an STD and die" thread. Stay civil.

 

Thanks for the bump, though.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Malles

[haliy]

"Oh, jeez, he's telling me I'm playing wrong. He must be one of those troll things my mom told me about." /ignore

 

Who said anything about telling anybody they were playing wrong? I quite frankly agree with the majority of what you said. The only thing i was directing at was that most (not all) do not even take the time to visit the forums to figure out what to do.

Edited August 22, 2012 by haliy

[Malles]

Who said anything about telling anybody they were playing wrong? I quite frankly agree with the majority of what you said. The only thing i was directing at was that most (not all) do not even take the time to visit the forums to figure out what to do.

 

Wasn't making fun of you, I was making fun of a certain type of person I've seen a lot of in MMO's. The "My way is the best way" kind.

 

See, this is why I don't do full write ups, I'm an insufferable dipstick.

[Takai]

I personally (agree) with the insufferable dipstick. There are a lot of half funny, half infuriating things that new players do. Granted, I could call myself a new player to MMO's because even after years of playing them, I sill do not understand the mechanics behind them all, but there is plenty to learn from every one.

 

I for one have a gripe with fresh 50's that walk into a hard mode lobby with no gear, never having done the instance before, and expecting to tank. Now, I can tank most PVE instances with out a hitch, but even I know when I would not be the ideal tank, so there have been plenty of times where I queue up as a DPS with my vanguard. The funny/infuriating part is, every time I queue as a DPS for a hard mode, our tank is always a fresh 50 without gear; who has never tanked that particular instance before.

 

Now, I understand the desire to be a tank in the group finder, as queuing up for DPS often yields you a ridiculous wait time, but do not queue straight for hard mode on missions you have never done, when you have no gear. Constantly being the downfall of your group only gets you kicked or causes the good players in your group to conveniently "DC" in anger. You will never finish that flashpoint if every one leaves you by yourself.

 

If you want a shorter queue for group finder, go the old fashioned way and let people know what you are and what you are looking for in the general chat. 80% of the time, you will be plucked after only a few minutes by a group looking for that final piece. Or queue as a tank in a story mode flashpoint because the vast majority of our job is to know the engagements: when and where to pull, the baddie's attacks that you need to watch out for, and the particular environmental follies that can be used against/for your team. Tanking isn't as easy as just taunting the elite or champ, make sure you know the instance you queue for and don't queue for one that you are not prepared to do properly.

 

 

 

As a side note, once you hit LVL 50, you receive a free set of PVP gear at the PVP terminal on your fleet. Depending on how your character is geared at/close to endgame, this gear can blow away your current stats; all you have to do is claim it. Do us all a favor, claim it. It might be PVP, but if it is an improvement across all of your stats, it can be used for PVE until you get better gear.

 

08/23/2012 : Edited for grammatical and typographical errors

Edited August 23, 2012 by Takai

[Ashu-ri]

Everyone was a NOOB once and it takes time to learn a new game. YOU were noob once too. You live, You learn and life goes on. In short, get over it because noob's aren't going anywhere Bro.

 

I have to disagree - everyone was a newb once, but not a noob. A noob is someone that refuses to learn. And the way this game is structured, they very well may not have the opportunity to learn until they hit hm flashpoints, story mode ops, at 50. On most of my characters, except the ones I exclusively group with someone - as in was rolled up to group with my husband, for example, I've not grouped until 50. The advice of guildmates - not lecturing, advice - has been invaluable to me during that time.

[Lokivaar]

Some of you 'experienced' players need to realise that some of us aren't just new to SWTOR but new to MMO's full-stop. If you are going to give advice, and it is appreciated (generally), then tailor it to your audience. If you start cracking on in your MMO dialect then a lot of us will have no bloody idea what you are saying and probably do something annoying just to give you the *****. Keep it simple and don't use terms and acronyms expecting us to speak the language.

[Malles]

Some of you 'experienced' players need to realise that some of us aren't just new to SWTOR but new to MMO's full-stop. If you are going to give advice, and it is appreciated (generally), then tailor it to your audience. If you start cracking on in your MMO dialect then a lot of us will have no bloody idea what you are saying and probably do something annoying just to give you the *****. Keep it simple and don't use terms and acronyms expecting us to speak the language.

 

Seems to me trying to stick it to us for a perceived wrong takes a lot more work than asking a simple question. Kind of uncalled for too, since you'd be sticking it to two other completely innocent and unaware people as well, assuming you're running a Heroic Mission or Flashpoint. But hey, where I come from that's not the right thing to do, so that might be just a radical personal opinion.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Malles

[thatghost]

I pretty much concur with the starter examples. As long as this thread doesn't descend into newb-bashing it could be extremely helpful to people

A note on one of those starters:

 

(4.) If you're wanting to roleplay on a PvE server then you're probably better off finding a RP guild. Do not announce in general chat that you're "looking for an apprentice". I've seen this over and over on Imp side and usually on lower planets (when class-story-wise you're not high enough in rank to merit an apprentice anyway). You're setting yourself up for ridicule even if you have the best, strictly RP intentions (and if you don't, well, good luck with that). "Looking for an apprentice" is inevitably taken as looking for something else entirely.

Not sure if this holds true for RP and PvP servers as well- only have a few toons on Ebon Hawk and I'm rarely there, and I avoid PvP servers since I don't PvP.

 

And some of my own, mainly for the newest of newbies- especially those new to MMOs- so no point in experienced players reading any further:

 

1. If you want to group with someone ask them first via whisper. Maybe it's just me but blind group invites are annoying, especially while I'm in combat. In-combat invites get you added to my ignore list.

 

2. You can help people without grouping.

That said, a lot of folks don't want help even on the verge of a wipe. Your altruism might be seen as an insult.

Moral: expect mixed reactions from those you've helped...give them a minute to thank you, don't immediately whisper "you're welcome" when the fight's over (that's a bit rude)...and if you broke their CC then apologize for it.

 

3. Stealth classes will make tons of new enemies by using stealth to sneak around and steal chests or nodes or objectives from someone who's already fighting the mob guarding the chest/node/objective. Try it if you love to garner intense dislike, be called all sorts of unflattering things, and- if you're in a guild- possibly get reported to your GM.

 

4. If you're in a group as a tank or dps then never forget about your healer. They can't keep you healed if they're dead. If the whole group wipes and the healer was the first one killed then you did something wrong so don't turn around and blame the healer for it.

 

All I can think of for now plus I'm being pressured to *gasp* go outside

[Malles]

I pretty much concur with the starter examples. As long as this thread doesn't descend into newb-bashing it could be extremely helpful to people

A note on one of those starters:

 

(4.) If you're wanting to roleplay on a PvE server then you're probably better off finding a RP guild. Do not announce in general chat that you're "looking for an apprentice". I've seen this over and over on Imp side and usually on lower planets (when class-story-wise you're not high enough in rank to merit an apprentice anyway). You're setting yourself up for ridicule even if you have the best, strictly RP intentions (and if you don't, well, good luck with that). "Looking for an apprentice" is inevitably taken as looking for something else entirely.

Not sure if this holds true for RP and PvP servers as well- only have a few toons on Ebon Hawk and I'm rarely there, and I avoid PvP servers since I don't PvP.

 

And some of my own, mainly for the newest of newbies- especially those new to MMOs- so no point in experienced players reading any further:

 

1. If you want to group with someone ask them first via whisper. Maybe it's just me but blind group invites are annoying, especially while I'm in combat. In-combat invites get you added to my ignore list.

 

2. You can help people without grouping.

That said, a lot of folks don't want help even on the verge of a wipe. Your altruism might be seen as an insult.

Moral: expect mixed reactions from those you've helped...give them a minute to thank you, don't immediately whisper "you're welcome" when the fight's over (that's a bit rude)...and if you broke their CC then apologize for it.

 

3. Stealth classes will make tons of new enemies by using stealth to sneak around and steal chests or nodes or objectives from someone who's already fighting the mob guarding the chest/node/objective. Try it if you love to garner intense dislike, be called all sorts of unflattering things, and- if you're in a guild- possibly get reported to your GM.

 

4. If you're in a group as a tank or dps then never forget about your healer. They can't keep you healed if they're dead. If the whole group wipes and the healer was the first one killed then you did something wrong so don't turn around and blame the healer for it.

 

All I can think of for now plus I'm being pressured to *gasp* go outside

 

I like 2. I always help out anyway. Even if they didn't want it or need it, it's good karma for when I need a hero to come save me from that Champion I decided to pick a fight with.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Malles

[Grimsmith]

I'm an SW:TOR newbie (about 8 days I think?) but I've been playing MMOs in general for a few years and so many things are true for all.

 

I 1. If you want to group with someone ask them first via whisper. Maybe it's just me but blind group invites are annoying, especially while I'm in combat. In-combat invites get you added to my ignore list.

 

Way too true, the last thing I want when in the middle of a fight is a bleedin' pop up window in my face! At least wait until I've finished getting my arse kicked please?

 

2. You can help people without grouping.

 

Particularly if you're a healer class. A random heal chucked in the middle of a fight is never going to be unappreciated unless the person you throw it at is destruct testing a build - they might get a bit tetchy at that point AFAIK if the oppo is grey rather than red it's locked to them so you can batter the snot out of them if you feel like it. I may be wrong here as I'm still learning the game mechanics.

 

3. Stealth classes will make tons of new enemies by using stealth to sneak around and steal chests or nodes or objectives from someone who's already fighting the mob guarding the chest/node/objective. Try it if you love to garner intense dislike, be called all sorts of unflattering things, and- if you're in a guild- possibly get reported to your GM.

 

The above doesn't just count for stealth classes, it's true for all. The idea is that the person who does the work should reap the reward - all things considered it's a rather simple premise. Ninjaing loot from the person who fought for it is only ever going to gain you enemies. The same goes for objective items - be patient, give the person who just killed all of the mobs the chance to use it first. Please wait your turn, it's not such a long time.

 

4. If you're in a group as a tank or dps then never forget about your healer. They can't keep you healed if they're dead. If the whole group wipes and the healer was the first one killed then you did something wrong so don't turn around and blame the healer for it.

 

I chose a Jedi Sage as primary as I like the heal/DPS combo but I know very well that I'm a squishy class. I don't disagree with what you say but would suggest that the healers also watch their aggro or work to minimise it - you're going to get their attention very fast!

 

All I can think of for now plus I'm being pressured to *gasp* go outside

 

But that means you have to face the dreaded "Daystar"! It makes my skin go red - the horror

 

I like 2. I always help out anyway. Even if they didn't want it or need it, it's good karma for when I need a hero to come save me from that Champion I decided to pick a fight with.

 

I won't help with the fighting but I'm more than happy to throw a heal or few in if it looks like someone's having a wee bit of an issue with the mobs.

[Keptix]

I wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I've only been playing the game about a week (just purchased and got subscribed last night so I haven't been able to post until now) and this helped me learn a lot about various mistakes and ingame lingo. Thank you and look forward to learning more from other SWTOR veterans.