Returning after 2 years: a few started questions

[Epistolary]

So, I'm returning to the game after a very long break. I plan to play pretty casually as I don't have too much free time outside of work. I have a few quick questions to get me started with the game. In no particular order, I'll get right to them:

 

 

1. For a casual player, are crew skills valuable or are they a waste of resources? I like to craft, but I don't want to bother if it's just going to be a waste of time.
   
2. Galactic Starfighter and Strongholds... do I need to do these things to get stuff for pvp and/or pve? Put another way, can I ignore them entirely and not suffer in pvp/pve for it? I have no interest in GSF or housing.
   
3. Is there any point in PVPing if you aren't twinked? I'm starting fresh.
   
4. Any advice for things that I should do immediately when getting off the starter planet to which the game won't direct me? For instance, the game will direct me to picking an advanced class, but what about other things that I might want to do right off the bat?
   

 

Thanks for indulging my random list. I'm going to jump in the game and poke around, but I'm trying to throw out a scattershot of questions to give my poking a little direction. I plan to play casually in the sense that I don't have much time to play, but, when I game, I do it seriously. I want to set my character up correctly, learn the game as I level, and have it mastered by the time I hit the level cap.

 

Thanks all!

Edited December 27, 2014 by Epistolary
formatting

[WolfyZack]

So, I'm returning to the game after a very long break. I plan to play pretty casually as I don't have too much free time outside of work. I have a few quick questions to get me started with the game. In no particular order, I'll get right to them:

 

 

1. For a casual player, are crew skills valuable or are they a waste of resources? I like to craft, but I don't want to bother if it's just going to be a waste of time.
   
2. Galactic Starfighter and Strongholds... do I need to do these things to get stuff for pvp and/or pve? Put another way, can I ignore them entirely and not suffer in pvp/pve for it? I have no interest in GSF or housing.
   
3. Is there any point in PVPing if you aren't twinked? I'm starting fresh.
   
4. Any advice for things that I should do immediately when getting off the starter planet to which the game won't direct me? For instance, the game will direct me to picking an advanced class, but what about other things that I might want to do right off the bat?
   

 

Thanks for indulging my random list. I'm going to jump in the game and poke around, but I'm trying to throw out a scattershot of questions to give my poking a little direction. I plan to play casually in the sense that I don't have much time to play, but, when I game, I do it seriously. I want to set my character up correctly, learn the game as I level, and have it mastered by the time I hit the level cap.

 

Thanks all!

 

1. well for your first question.. well if you like it do it but it is a waste of resources if you don't plan the stuff out and somewhat in the future plan to play the GTN, bascally craft stuff and sell it. Another way to justify crafting is if you feel its fun and you can craft gear or whatever that is useful as you level.

 

2. well galatic starfighting is basically a seperate game within the game.. try it out sometime if you like but not gonna hinder you in any way. Strongholds on the other hand is handy, as of now you can get one for 3 credits and get a free legacy storage which is shared amogst all your toons, also you can have a vendor there and all sorts of nifty things. But why have it? well if you're in the middle of no where and have a full inventory of things you want to save, press u teleport your stronghold stash it, sell stuff, mail stuff, put stuff on the GTN, Guild bank, cargohold and here for the final peice, teleport RIGHT back where you were or a free way to get to the fleet or your ship. If you have a guild that has a ship.. and they have all that stuff already.. GREAT use that one instead works the same way. So will it hinder you, no, will it benefit you.. well if you put useful stuff in it yes.

 

3. Point in pvping? well do you find it fun? thats all there is to it, that and its a good way to level. The better you know your class the better you know what to do there. If you want pvp gear before lv 50, theres vendors at dromand kas and the republics equivalent planet.

 

4. well if you now want or think that you might want a stronghold in the future, go to dromand kas or the republics equivalent planet and go to strongholds vendor and buy the one for 3 credits. Other than that for the first planet and on the fleet.. pick up every quest because some of them will direct you to some useful stuff like crafting, or to do flashpoints or pvp, if its just a normal quest and you want to stick to the main quest.. just abondon it. Get a mount and the skill to learn how to use them. Other than that I can only refer to this youtube

for more details of things you can think of what to do or to get.

 

If you returned as a subscriber I recomend if you have a friend that could be interested to use your referal link to recruit him or if have any friend that you used to play with that would want to return with you. That would give you the best low level mount (110% speed boost out of the bat). If you thinking of resubscribing my referal is in my siginiture, that will give you some benefits would give you 7 days worth of sub.

 

hope that answers your questions

[Epistolary]

Thank you for your thorough reply!

 

 

1. My crafting question had to do with two things: I recall leveling being very fast in this game (too fast, imo), so that you were constantly out leveling your gear. If it's possible to use crafting to keep up with your gear (without pouring in credits from I higher level character), I'll do it. As I said, I just like crafting in MMOs. IIRC, I did cybertech and the associated other skills before... I'll probably do that again.
   
2. I will definitely take your advice on the stronghold; I didn't realize that it had these other amenities. I remember ships being your in-game bachelor pad; have strongholds made them a bit redundant? I may be starting the game with the friends, and, if I do, we'll probably make a guild. If not, I'll definitely buy a stronghold. I'll try GSF, but I'm glad to hear that I don't need it to play the core PVE game.
   
3. What I meant to ask is if a fresh character can queue for warzones without getting completely rolled by twin characters. My guess is "no," but I really do enjoy PVP, especially (as you suggest) for the fact that it can help sharpen your skills so that you can master your character... and I'm all about mastering my character!
   
4. I'll definitely by a stronghold, and I'll check out that playlist; thanks!
   
5. BONUS NOOB QUESTION: This is going to be one of the noobiest questions that I've ever asked, but I've been gone from the game for a long time and I've never before played DPS in an MMO (90% healing, 10% tank): do DPS character level with a healing companion or a tank companion? I'm generally more concerned with steadily beating content rather than doing so with maximum speed, though I don't recall the death penalty in this game being so bad, so it might not matter. (At the moment, I don't plan to purchase the extra companions, the HK and the ewok, if I don't have to.) I'll probably be playing a Serenity Shadow (maybe a Serenity Sage).
   

 

Again, thanks so much!

Edited December 27, 2014 by Epistolary
clarification

[AlrikFassbauer]

My personal advice regarding the Strongholds : Now, because of 3 year anniversary, he Capital Planet stroingholds cost only 3 Credits on the Fleet. Their normal price is with 5000 Credits ( I think for subscribers ? ) relatively low, too.

 

You need to repair your gear on a regular basis - but you had to do this 2 years ago as well, I suppose ...

 

Another advice : Read *all* popping tutorials thoroughly through ! And the game related Codex entries as well ! There is lots of useful basic information in them !

 

Planetary Commendations don't exist anymore, by the way, they - and some others - have been put into one big kettle called "Basic Commendations".

 

Regarding companions : Throughout the story you usually get both : Tank companions & Healer companions. They come as the story goes on.

There are 2 companions which can be "bought" at one point : HK-51 and Treek.

HK-51 is DPS oriented, meanwhile Treek is both Tank & Healer oriented. Treek is like some - far by miles ! - better version of the Ship Droid. Some people who have Treek say that they don't use any other companion anymore.

They lose compabniuon story if they don't use them, though (companion story comes with their rising affection More affection also makes them more effective in Crafting).

 

One more thing regarding Crafting : Dulfy has (among other good stuff) chars showing the bonuses Companions have in Crafting. I think it's with a look, because a "+ 5 criotical" value fopr example is quite good in crafting, and "+5 efficiency" is good as well (it shortens collecting missions time, among other things).

 

And look into your Legacy window as well when you are at the point that it gets unlocked. BE CAREFUL ! Legacy Names CANNOT be undone ! I think they can be renamed, but that onl for a hefty cost in Cartel Coins, I think.

Edited December 27, 2014 by AlrikFassbauer

[Epistolary]

Thanks for the information; this is exactly the kind of advice that I'm looking to collect as I go into the game.

 

Regarding companions, my question was more to what the standard practice is for DPS characters when questing/leveling. When SWTOR first launched, I played a shadow tank and always rolled with a healer once I had access to healer companions. I wonder if DPS characters tend to run with tank/DPS/healer companions. (As I said, I'd prefer the normal, character-based companions to HK/Treek if I can get away with it.)

 

My natural inclination would be to run with a healer when I have access to one, of course. However, I'm wondering if best practice is to run with a tank (to take the heat off your fragile DPS character) or another DPS (to burn things down).

 

Thanks again!

[WolfyZack]

1. I've only got a level 10 toon with cybertech but there are at least 21 slots in which you can add modifications so if you feel like you out level the gear fast I understand why. Well yes you level quite fast and with cybertech I don't think there's another way like you suggest but with something like synthwaeving I find it possible when you're only craftning the for the slots you have not 3 for each slot. But with that way you don't get to wear any cool orange armor through the game. Though There is one way perhaps when you get to the stage where you have 5 companions it will go faster to level your crafting and to get companions faster is to go through story misssions but in that stage you also level slower yourself. My synthweaving started to catch up with me when I had 3 companions.

 

2. Well if by redundant you mean that it only have 2 uses now, finishing main story quests and travel between planests easily then yes. Haven't gotten to end game myself but you can upgrade your ship in the legacy try with some stuff as well but its more accessable through the stronghold. Though somestuff will cost you to get or some time to craft, like the cargohold. I haven't prioritsed it yet since I have all that at the guildship. (Don't expect to get a guildship any time soon if you plan on creating a guild, cost 50 000 000 000 credits)

 

3. Well I got totally smashed the first matches I tried^^ but I didn't know my role to well (tank) but as soon as I did I even got first in a match soon after that and got a lot of wins. I am a tank and if I taunt someone he does less damage to everyone else but me. So google your role or as in the forum what your role should do and you'll do great. Though a group that comunicates with something like mumble, teamspeak or ventrilo.. will have a HUGE advantage.

 

4. The empire side class equivalent gets a tank as their first companion and I wouldn't expect anything else from the republic side. No you won't have to buy any of those, you'll get a variaty of them as you go but the ewok I've heard is the best companion in the game and I think you can unlock it ingame through just questing and credits. Theres a guide on it on the OSW guild youtube channel I linked to you before. Well the deathpenalty, depending on if you are free to play or not if its as bad as you describe it. You can res on the spot where you are and as a sub you can do so infinite but it'll be a cooldown after the fist time and it'll get larger. As a free to play you'll have a number of droids that can res you but when you have used them.. I think you have to buy more. You can always res at medcenter but you'll have to run for a bit back. If you're in a group anyone can res you without even being a healer but it has a cooldown.

Fair warning as a beatdown playstile, you'll end up out leveling your planets quite quickly if you start doing sidequest many but in my opinion its the most fun, but if you don't care about that it would be a way for the crewskill to catch up. You see when the quest turn grey you barley get any xp but you still get the credits and rewards so you can continue level your crewskills while you are not so it can catch up and you get to do the fun content.

 

Edit: 4.1 well as a dps you shouldn't take any damage and you should keep your threat level below the tank so I guess that a tank companion is the best way to get a hang of it. But run with what you feel like is the most efficient. I guess it depends also if your way over leveled I guess another DPS is better but but otherwise I would go with Tank.

 

OH! One thing you should do, forgot to mention it in the last post. Datacrons are located on every planet and if you have the energy to go and get them all you should or at least the ones for you class, theres a ton of guildes on youtube. Datacrons give you permanent boosts to your primary stats. Recomend this channel =)

 

You're welcome! =D glad to help

Edited December 27, 2014 by WolfyZack

[WolfyZack]

Oh another reason to get into a guild is to get up to 10% exp and reputation bonus. Plus they are great to ask questions to, they are usually very friendly and helpful. Plus you can leave a guild whenever or change for that matter, and when you feel you're ready to make your own just leave and do that but its a huge time sink I can only imagine.

[AlrikFassbauer]

4. The empire side class equivalent gets a tank as their first companion and I wouldn't expect anything else from the republic side.

 

If you mean Sage / Sorceror, then the answer is "yes".

[JediQuaker]

1. For a player with limited time to play, I'd say that crafting can be a waste of resources. However, if you are not rushing through the content, having a gathering skill like Scavenging or Archaeology, or Slicing, can be beneficial if you keep gathering and slicing along the way. You can sell the materials on the GTN and slicing will net you some credits and other occasional goodies. Also, scavenging, archaeology, and slicing can be useful (but not necessary) in some later flashpoints (to access shortcuts, elevators, etc).

2. GSF can be ignored, but as others have said, having a Stronghold is very useful. Strongholds are the new "bachelor pads". (I have 3)

3. I've never purposely done PvP, but from what I hear, it (and GSF) can be hard on rookies. Speaking of PvP - if you're not into open-world PvP, join a PvE server. You can still do structured PvP on a PvE server, but you will avoid the ganking.

4. There's nothing I can think of that needs immediate attention after the starter planet. At some point during Coruscant or Dromund Kaas you'll be able to get a speeder (or other mount) and your own starship. You can get the speeder at level 10 by buying a perk off the GTN or through Legacy levels.

5. Generally speaking, you'll want to level a DPS character with a healing companion. But, most classes don't start with a healer, so you may need to use whatever you've got. Treek is probably the best companion to level with, but she costs lots of credits, or Cartel Coins (to start - once you add her to your collection, and pay a fee, she becomes free to other characters.)

Edited December 28, 2014 by JediQuaker

[Fidelicatessen]

Just my two cents on PvP:

 

If you enjoy it, it's best to start ASAP (level 10), and do it regularly. You may get steamrollered at first, it's true. But the only way you will develop skill is to practice, and it will be a LOT easier to build skill if you start out with few abilities and gain them slowly as you go. Lowbie PvP warzones (10-29) are crazy and unpredictable, as you never know the skill level of those on your team or your opponents'. I find lowbie PvP quite fun.

 

Someone else mentioned pre-50 PvP gear. It's not really PvP gear (as in, there is no Expertise on it). If you like the look, however, you can purchase it for Unranked Warzone Comms from a vendor on your homeworld (either Dromund Kaas or Coruscant). PvP gear really doesn't come into play until max level. Until then, you shouldn't have ANY Expertise on your gear as bolster will not affect any gear that has even 1 point of Expertise on it.

[johannescools]

Same here just returned after 2 years

[MigSebes]

So, I'm returning to the game after a very long break. I plan to play pretty casually as I don't have too much free time outside of work. I have a few quick questions to get me started with the game. In no particular order, I'll get right to them:

 

 

1. For a casual player, are crew skills valuable or are they a waste of resources? I like to craft, but I don't want to bother if it's just going to be a waste of time.
   Depends on the crew skill, Biochem and Cybertech have some actual use, but with the new expansion Biochem doesn't have a new reusable med pack(which really sucks). Other than that it's mostly to make money and craft stuff.
   
2. Galactic Starfighter and Strongholds... do I need to do these things to get stuff for pvp and/or pve? Put another way, can I ignore them entirely and not suffer in pvp/pve for it? I have no interest in GSF or housing.
   Yes can ignore both, the only thing Strongholds will hold you back from is a % bonus to Galactic Conquest, which there is no need to take part in other than to help your guild.
   
3. Is there any point in PVPing if you aren't twinked? I'm starting fresh.
   Point? Fun, playing against players. Other than that it won't help you into PvE, especially in this new expansion as PvP gear isn't as near to PvE gear as it used to be.
   
4. Any advice for things that I should do immediately when getting off the starter planet to which the game won't direct me? For instance, the game will direct me to picking an advanced class, but what about other things that I might want to do right off the bat?
   Make sure to use 25% experience boosters, get into a guild with 10% boost as well. Other than that just enjoy the story and have fun.
   

 

Thanks for indulging my random list. I'm going to jump in the game and poke around, but I'm trying to throw out a scattershot of questions to give my poking a little direction. I plan to play casually in the sense that I don't have much time to play, but, when I game, I do it seriously. I want to set my character up correctly, learn the game as I level, and have it mastered by the time I hit the level cap.

 

Thanks all!

 

My answers are in green.

[AlrikFassbauer]

A small detail regarding crafting, I'm quoting someone else here :

 

your not supposed to get Purple mats from Scav, Arch, biochanalysis missions. The purple mats only come from slicing, Treasure hunting, diplomacy, Underworld trading and the like.

 

there are no purple mats for scav, arch, and bioanalysis.

[TVDF]

Just an additional comment on companions: I've found that both types of companions work. I usually sick with my most geared tank/healer.

Healers: depending on gear, these can be really helpful or pretty useless. If your companion doesn't have gear, you'll still get killed a lot. Know that even geared healer comps don't compare with player healers, though.

Tanks: these can be much more useful than healers. If you're fighting a tough gold enemy, for example, a healer might only prolong your life, maybe not by much time. Tanks, on the other hand, can keep the enemy's attention off you long enough for you to kill the enemy. Even if your tank dies before the enemy does, there's a good chance the enemy will have very low health at that point.

Lastly, I think tanks are much better for classes that need to get behind the target, but since you're planning on playing serenity shadow, that won't be an issue.

[Epistolary]

I want to thank everyone again for their advice, and I thought to come back and give a little update.

 

Instead of a balance shadow, I returned to my roots and went with a seer sage; I just couldn't resist healing. He's now level 24. (This is what happens when I start an MMO while the office is closed all week!)

 

My questions about PVP had more to do with the fact that I don't have twink gear or a premade. I know that a solo player on a fresh character can only get so far in pop :/

 

So far, the game has been a ton of fun. I'm questing, I'm doing to FPs here and there, I'm doing some PVP here and there. I've completely ignored space combat/GSF... I just don't enjoy that at all, and those are not the experiences that I'm looking for in an MMO. Hopefully, that would screw my character later.

 

The only hiccup has been gear, both for my toon and for Qyzen. The main issue is that you level SO FAST in this game that you outgrow gear almost as soon as you get it. I've been trying to use cybertech to go through the process of crafting blue armorings/mods every 2-4 levels. (For example: when I hit lvl 27, I want all of my armor to have blue 27 armoring and blue 25 mods.) I then use basic commendations to buy enhancements.

 

For Qyzen... that guy is kind of a hobo. I have modable gear for him, and I craft green armorings/mods for him when I craft blues for my toon. Enhancements for him are pretty haphazard as I'm not dropping commendations on him. I'm still not entirely sure what I should be doing for him.

 

As I said, leveling in this game is so damned fast. At lvl 24, I just finished the main quest line of Taris, and I'm about to do the bonus series, I guess. I don't PVP of FP excessively; I do no more than the daillies/weeklies, and I'm not even doing all of those. WTB -25% XP anti-boost

 

Anyways, thanks again, all. I'm in it, now

[Sharzade]

So, I'm returning to the game after a very long break. I plan to play pretty casually as I don't have too much free time outside of work. I have a few quick questions to get me started with the game. In no particular order, I'll get right to them:

 

 

1. For a casual player, are crew skills valuable or are they a waste of resources? I like to craft, but I don't want to bother if it's just going to be a waste of time.
   
2. Galactic Starfighter and Strongholds... do I need to do these things to get stuff for pvp and/or pve? Put another way, can I ignore them entirely and not suffer in pvp/pve for it? I have no interest in GSF or housing.
   
3. Is there any point in PVPing if you aren't twinked? I'm starting fresh.
   
4. Any advice for things that I should do immediately when getting off the starter planet to which the game won't direct me? For instance, the game will direct me to picking an advanced class, but what about other things that I might want to do right off the bat?
   

 

Thanks for indulging my random list. I'm going to jump in the game and poke around, but I'm trying to throw out a scattershot of questions to give my poking a little direction. I plan to play casually in the sense that I don't have much time to play, but, when I game, I do it seriously. I want to set my character up correctly, learn the game as I level, and have it mastered by the time I hit the level cap.

 

Thanks all!

 

Just saw this post, here's my take, as someone who's also newly returned since November.

 

My gut just on the crafting, is that it's not really making much money. I'm making more just selling the resources I gather. The gathering skills that garner resources while questing are Scavenging, Slicing, Bioanalysis, and Archaeology. Underworld Trading, Investigation, and Treasure Hunting cost quite a lot of money to level. I found that with crafting, I tended to level faster than the crafting skill, so it got in the way a bit of my questing. Since you're more casual, it might be better to just do gathering skills rather than full out crafting.

 

Strongholds are good if you have an alt and need a shared bank. I don't do the decorating much, since it can be pricey, so I mainly use it for that shared Legacy storage.

 

I'm not into the PvP so I can't recommend an action. For forward looking advice, try to save commendations for when you're higher level, and need to deck out in better commendation gear. I also invested in Rocket Boost, to help my character move faster while unmounted. It can help in some of the large maps and dungeons.

 

Enjoy the game, this is great forum to get answers from vets.