Star Fortress Heroic 2+ Overtuned.

[Kiesu]

Soloing Heroic 2+s was pretty doable while on level before 4.0 and are pretty easy now, and I'm not even that good of a player. The Exarch battle and the ambush preceeding it are on a whole other level.

Funny, as in most cases I couldn't solo lv47 heroics on Corellia on lv 47 character pre-4.0, but Exarch ambush was absolutely no problem for me. Or are you talking about doing said heroics on over-lv characters also (lets remember most of them were actually H4 back then)?

And the person that said he did it without dieing one time. Have I told you I caught a fish as big as a hutt one time?

...I soloed heroic fortress without dying once on the week comps were nerfed down the lowest. Yes I have parse and pictures (its in the thread Eric was asking feedback from companion nerf). Do you have picture of that fish?

Edited November 30, 2015 by Kiesu

[BlueShiftRecall]

(Also lol, every thread that has people saying they have trouble with soloing the Heroic Star Fortress has people coming in talking about how awesome they are but never deigning to offer advice to those that are struggling why am I not surprised...)

 

I did it solo first week out no companion, no buffs, no gear and instead of using my lightsaber I used my fists and didn't die once, totally the truth!

 

In all seriousness though don't be afraid to pop Heroic Moment but pop it earlier rather than later, with its cd (for me at least) being 5 minutes there's no reason to not use it. With the 2nd/3rd reactors what I did was I had heroic moment popped, focused one of the golds right away, when the group of 4 or 5 smaller adds pop through the door I used Legacy Orbital Strike on them this gets them all down without you have to shift much focus from the golds (pop cd if needed here) and hopefully by this stage one of the golds now is down and you just have one left which you be able to take down without a problem, this was with a companion set on healing at influence 13. This is what worked for me but it's just trial and error to find out what works best for you.

Edited November 30, 2015 by BlueShiftRecall

[LordFell]

It seems to me also, that the Star Fortresses on Nar Shaddaa and Voss the final Exarch battles need a bit of a nerf.

 

I don't recall which is which, but my recollection is that one of the bosses will spam self-heals with no cooldown, which makes him very high DPS check to solo... and I forget what the issue is with the other, beyond that there is an issue that makes the fight much tougher than it ought to be.

[freeoftime]

Funny, as in most cases I couldn't solo lv47 heroics on Corellia on lv 47 character pre-4.0, but Exarch ambush was absolutely no problem for me. Or are you talking about doing said heroics on over-lv characters also (lets remember most of them were actually H4 back then)?

 

...I soloed heroic fortress without dying once on the week comps were nerfed down the lowest. Yes I have parse and pictures (its in the thread Eric was asking feedback from companion nerf). Do you have picture of that fish?

 

I mean exactly what I said, i could solo the Heroic 2s I ran into while on level (and yes, there were fewer of them and no, I don't mean Heroic 4s. I'm sure someone out there could do those on level but that someone isn't me Though I actually found some of my Exarch fights harder than the Heroic 4s i did when overleveled a bit. Damn that Alderaan one.... Ugh.)

 

(And eh, it's nice that you could, and I know you're not replying to me there, but... the issue I personally take with those comments is that they're not really contributing anything. "I can't do this thing." "Well I could! And I'm gonna rub that in but not try to give you any tips at all." I think it's cool how good some people are at the game but if the thread is about someone else not being able to do the thing, why not try to help?)

 

 

I any case I agree with BlueShiftRecall that Heroic Moment is really helpful for the Exarch encounter

[Ghisallo]

Sith Sorcerer, Lightning, Gear level 208, Companion Level 8 Healer.

 

Okay then here is the way to do it. 1 it is intended for you to have some Alliance Faction at 10 to get the gizmos you can slice from consoles when you are starting. You don't use them or the buff to get an achievement. However today I did it on a character with an affection 17 heal comp and a commando in gunnery. This toon has 7 pieces of 192 gear still and the highest alliance faction of 7 so no gizmos. How did I do it?

 

Ambush: whirlwind one big guy. Attack the little guys. You Comp should actually CC the other big guy for you. If not mine managed to face tank the one (healing comps appear to heal themselves far better than us, if they don't have to heal us much). Once little guys down start attacking the one the Comp CC'd or was face tanking. Keep an eye on the CD for whirlwind. When it is ff CD refresh it on the other guy. Wash rinse repeat until first big guy down, attack other big guy.

 

Exarch: similar. CC one big guy KEEP him CC'd. Now you have 2 ways you can do this next. One dealing between other big guy and adds for dps. When adds are up always prioritize them. Use crystals to drop Exarch force Exarch out of the room and clean up. The second way I could see bugging out but it hasn't happened to me yet. ONLY focus on the adds, especially if your company CC'd the other Sunguard Captain. Drop the Exarch, force then out of the room THEN go after the Captains. With the Exarch not in the room there is no random red to dodge. I just did that today as an experiment and it worked.

 

Using the above strats allowed me to clear the SF with 7 192 pieces, 17 companion, no alliance gizmos and no heroic moment.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Ghisallo

[JourrnoRush]

It seems to me also, that the Star Fortresses on Nar Shaddaa and Voss the final Exarch battles need a bit of a nerf.

 

I don't recall which is which, but my recollection is that one of the bosses will spam self-heals with no cooldown, which makes him very high DPS check to solo... and I forget what the issue is with the other, beyond that there is an issue that makes the fight much tougher than it ought to be.

 

They are fine. They are supposed to be harder to solo hence why there is an achievement there.

The devs are ASSUMING that the player is doing the following:

 

1) Competent in their class, utilizing of companion, and ALL skills available to them (interrupts, heroic moment, putting companion on follow)

2) Not wearing garbage from lvl 50

3) Not RPING their encounter, that means using your best companion not your lvl 5 influenced one

 

BW already gave the companions an unneeded boost. The encounters are fine.

 

I recommend more practice, gaining more legacy unlocks, and bringing a friend if its too hard for you.

[Ghisallo]

They are fine. They are supposed to be harder to solo hence why there is an achievement there.

The devs are ASSUMING that the player is doing the following:

 

1) Competent in their class, utilizing of companion, and ALL skills available to them (interrupts, heroic moment, putting companion on follow)

2) Not wearing garbage from lvl 50

3) Not RPING their encounter, that means using your best companion not your lvl 5 influenced one

 

BW already gave the companions an unneeded boost. The encounters are fine.

 

I recommend more practice, gaining more legacy unlocks, and bringing a friend if its too hard for you.

 

Just to ram this point home. I don't know if some people didn't read the below or if they are ignoring it/hoping it is not true but...

 

Heroic Star Fortress – Challenge Level: High. At this point we expect players to really understand their class, their companion, and their gear. Players should have sought out gear upgrades, as well as increased their companions’ Influence level. These are meant to be challenging and difficult to do solo.

“The One and Only” Achievement should still be possible. As an Achievement, this is definitely intended to be extremely hard and rewarding to players. This means the Achievement can be exceptionally challenging, and similar to HM Star Fortress, you will need to be a skilled player, with moderate to high Influence level with your companion, and very good gear on your character.

 

And it was reaffirmed by the Lead designer when he announced the change to companions...

 

The difficult mode for Star Fortresses, though, we feel is a challenge that players should aspire to achieve, and not something players should easily do without gearing up their character and increasing their Companion’s Influence level. We obviously set an expectation Heroic Star Fortresses were going to be similar to [Heroic 2] content, but that was not our intention. As a result, we are going to change the “Heroic” nomenclature for Star Fortresses to something different. We’ll let you know what we decide the new name will be soon. In addition, this will allow us to balance Star Fortresses independently of Companion power, but still make it challenging without making it impossible for many players.

 

So they will actually be making the H2 SF a little more challenging. Note the last sentence there as well. When you say "without making it impossible for MANY players" two things are implicit. Some players will completely it BUT find it hard and some people will find it impossible.

[JourrnoRush]

They should just change it to a flashpoint, I'm not sure why they didn't do this in the first place. It has a solo mode and a tactical mode. Just this tactical mode only needs 2 players compared to 4.

[Nommaz]

They have said that these are for 2 players and companions, however having said that, my trooper and my merc have zero issues doing them, using the buffs and abilities from the level 10 alliance and at least a lvl 15 influence heals.

Please note I have no holocrons.

However on my sniper and slinger, I cannot get past the room that had empress (or however its spelt) Same gear and companion level, just need a decent CC and I'd be ok.

 

I'd suggest you go with someone until you grind up influence for the companion, and level your alliance if it isn't already at ten.

 

I use my companions on heals.

[Ghisallo]

They should just change it to a flashpoint, I'm not sure why they didn't do this in the first place. It has a solo mode and a tactical mode. Just this tactical mode only needs 2 players compared to 4.

 

The problem is they are trying to keep it relevant to the story, even if it is tangential to the chapters. We are THE Outlander, THE hero. The story to this point is not about the Hero of Tython, Barsen'thor, Major and Captain getting together to fight the Sith Empire, its about a single Outlander leading an alliance to victory. Why? The can make that story faster and cheaper. Same with the instance. Easier to make something that you are eventually supposed to solo BUT that you can start with other people to make it easier. Quicker and cheaper than trying to tune something around a group to start.

[TX_Angel]

Yeah, got Alliances to rank 4-5 today. So should onyl take 2 weeksish. To get them higher. Think the main issue is the influence should maybe be in 20+ for me. Then it mgiht be doable.

 

And the person that said he did it without dieing one time. Have I told you I caught a fish as big as a hutt one time?

 

I did them before the companion nerf, easy as pie... However...

 

Commando, 216/220 comms gear, fully augmented, influence 49 companion (Lana in healing mode), and I know my class front to back.

 

All 6 were very easy, but I haven't tried them post companion nerf or post companion boost. You really only have to run them 1 time each, AFAIK... no reason to run them again that I can see...

 

Maybe I'll try one again some day...

[efffel]

You can run them every week if you want cristals

But then, it seems solo ones (very easy) count too

Edited November 30, 2015 by efffel

[JourrnoRush]

I did them before the companion nerf, easy as pie... However...

 

Commando, 216/220 comms gear, fully augmented, influence 49 companion (Lana in healing mode), and I know my class front to back.

 

All 6 were very easy, but I haven't tried them post companion nerf or post companion boost. You really only have to run them 1 time each, AFAIK... no reason to run them again that I can see...

 

Maybe I'll try one again some day...

 

Soloing is still pretty easy. Some of the purple loot that drops (hilts, barrels) go for about 1 mil a piece on my server. I think its fun, especially since repair bills are non-existent right now

[Ghisallo]

I did them before the companion nerf, easy as pie... However...

 

Commando, 216/220 comms gear, fully augmented, influence 49 companion (Lana in healing mode), and I know my class front to back.

 

All 6 were very easy, but I haven't tried them post companion nerf or post companion boost. You really only have to run them 1 time each, AFAIK... no reason to run them again that I can see...

 

Maybe I'll try one again some day...

 

You point to one of the issues of the pre nerf companions. It was supposed to take a lot longer to get geared up. One of the reasons they nerfed companions is because many, if not most, already had a 216/220 geared toon after only 27 days. Since there is very little new content, under those circumstances what's to keep someone playing, and this paying, between chapters?

 

Well that cat is out of the bag so we'll see.

[Daex]

If you are not going for the title, try some of these steps:

 

1. Whirlwind one golden knight and kill the other. When adds are up, aoe them but avoid hitting the cc'ed one.

2. Use heroic moment. If you have legacy Heroic moment abilities, those mobs must go down. Heroic moment abilities are very powerful.

3. If you have lvl 10 with all four alliance members, you will be able to hack boxes inside Star Fortress and each of those will give you one ability (alliance buff), resulting in total of four. Those are also really, really powerful and one of those four is a heal.

 

Advice:

You can level up to level 10 with Alliance pretty easy! Do weekly heroic missions. Those will give you a lot of crates, which you turn in. If that is not enough, use green crystals that you get from quests, and buy crates in cantina. You don't have to level all four, at once. Focus on those who will give you the best alliance buff. In my opinion, that is aoe and turret spell, so I would first buy crates for those alliance members.

 

I did it during 'companion nerf' on my Sorcerer. I did not use any of these buffs. I have it recorded and, if need be, I will upload it. I have pvp non-augmented gear. It can be done, you just sometimes need to use everything your class has to offer.

 

In my opinion, SF is okay and I wish it was a little bit harder. Only hard thing I find is that mobs have more HP, so it takes longer to kill. When I get to the last level, that is when I find it more interesting because I have to be focused while doing it. In other heroics I would zone out of boredom but SF last level keeps me up.

I was a little bit disappointed I got my title on the first try. I was expecting to struggle a little bit more.

[HenryVaro]

It hard but still soloable, just need some practice, some good gear (208 and maybe some 216 after 1-2 weekly heroic) and high level inf comp and you will be fine. Suggest you play the Alderaan SF first (i think it easiest) to know the map, boss, etc... or for achivement later. For the second room (and third room) before the boss fight, use your AoE, cc, Unity and even Heroic moment (skill from Knight, Hunter and even Agent - Aoe skill to clear fast; Consular, Inquisitor, Trooper for single target; Smuggler, Warrior for stun and high damage). With the boss fight, keep your comp alive as long as possible (except Alderaan the boss not really like attack the comp, the other can kill your comp really fast (at least in heal mode, not try other role yet) by using unity, heroic moment or if you are tank i think i dont need to tell you what to do (i think it easier with range class - my comp die when the boss still have 50% health and still win)

[Kalfear]

And this is why the Devs should never listen to the special snowflake tantrum crowd

 

Its not over tuned and is very much soloable

 

Your gear is fine

your companion influence is low (20 is suggested but people have done at 10, 8 is under both of them)

and since your companion is influence 8 I think its very safe bet your alliance ratinging IS NOT 10 or higher (so you miss out on those 4 extra attacks you can gather)

Grab the buff at the strat of the heroic for extra everything

 

As for fight you complaining about, the ambush mobs can literally be single AOEd (2 if really unlucky I guess, either way no big deal) to death from any class, and you as a Sorc have the electrical AOE

 

If the fights really challenging you (which they should not and if they are its NOT a game balance issue)

 

Pop the sheild they drop in plentiful and that will stop almost all damage from attacks in that stage and against exart at end.

 

And if all that is still not working for you, use your heroic moment abilities (you should have at least one)

 

And if thats STILL not working for, find someone to join you because you simply not good enough at your class to figure out the fight

 

Actually not trying to be rude but you people NEED to stop blaming the ultra easy mode setting of SWTOR as beiong to challenging and to hard.

 

Numberous other sorcs and counsellors have gone through the SF H2 with out a hitch or problem

They have same skills, same abilities, same gear

 

The ONLY difference is the player controlling the character

So STOP blaming the game and learn to adapt and work through issues to acheive success.

[Ghenghis-Khan]

Heroics can be soloed. I have a full set of 208 pvp gear, my companion was 12-21 when I soloed all of them. I rolled a merc arsenal. I noticed that once I got my military alliance companion (the admiral) to level 10 I could unlock his care package in the mission. That turret is hands down a godsend. It can almost solo the last boss or paladins. So If ur having a hard time go for that asap. Then they are easily pawned. The respawn timer is like 2 minutes so its cool down is over by the time u reach the next boss.

 

Got my imperial walker from Tatooine last boss. Sold it for over 3 mil on my server . Gonna keep farmin the SF just for this drop.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Ghenghis-Khan

[Psychopyro]

Sorry, if anything it's still a bit undertuned... At least for my shadow. Was it an AFK fest like some claim, no, but mistakes were easily recoverable.

 

The problem is tuning around unbalanced classes. What is going to be hard for one is still probably going to be a cakewalk for another. Up the damage so tanks can't snooze fest it is gonna make it probably too hard for some DPS classes, but probably still too easy for pure healers. They really have a lose lose situation here. It's like trying to balance something around Rock, Scissors, and Paper being able to beat the same thing with the same ease or difficulty.

[Theik]

If you are willing to respec to healer for the mission, you should be able to do it.

I've done it with crystal green gear healing sage, with a level 10 companion set to tank for the entire run, except the last boss where I set her to heal and simply dot-kited the boss to death for the one and only achievement.

 

However, it's worth noting that they plan to change the star fortress heroic 2+ assignment to something else, as it is not intended to be the same level of difficulty as heroic 2+.

[Master-Nala]

Like others have said, this is primarily an issue of strategy. Plenty of people have done this in 208 gear. It doesn't sound like the OP is having problems until the second reactor room. Here's my suggestions for there on:

 

2nd and 3rd reactor rooms - Use Whirlwind on one of the gold knights next to the Exarch. Make sure to save a chain lightning proc for the AoE adds. Burn the gold you didn't use Whirlwind on. Something like:

 

Polarity Shift - Weaken Mind - Recklessness - Thundering Blast - Lightning Flash - Crushing Darkness

 

Around this time the adds should be there and the silver bots you need to kill to get the item. Use Chain Lightning on them (make sure to avoid hitting the whirlwind'ed gold), finish up the other gold and then focus on the silver(s). Once you have the item, make sure the adds are gone, reapply Whirlwind if needed the use item on Exarch, click controls. The Exarch will stun all the other guys and you can finish them off before heading to next fight.

 

Suggested Utility Choices: Empty Body, Sith Defiance, Sap Strength; Dark Resilience, Emersion; Corrupted Barrier, Haunted Dreams or Force Mobility

Edited November 30, 2015 by Master-Nala