Little tips and tricks that you didn't know..

[Laxhack]

If you have a companion with an ability you want to turn off, (Example, an AoE ability the breaks mezz) you can. I just forgot how.

 

You can select companion abilities by opening their bar (+) and the right-clicking on the small square in upper-right-hand corner of the key/ ability you want to use- square should turn green-

 

For ship/ robot, I have not been able to find a Codex entry-

[sabreene]

Not really a tip or a trick, but a warning about Legacy names --

 

If you aren't ready to create your legacy name so you're closing down the pop-up box when it appears, be very careful!! If for any reason you get a UI/mouse problem, it's possible to type into the legacy box without knowing it and when you hit "ctrl u" twice to fix the UI, whatever you typed could become your legacy name!!

 

Even if you delete all your characters from the server, if you create a new character it will still have whatever you typed in. And, they won't fix it unless it happens to be something that breaks the terms of service.

[malgrimace]

I in no way attacked you or insulted you, and still haven’t I was genially curious about this style of play because I had not heard of it.

 

I too am also curious as to what possible benefit you could gain from this tip. I've probably been PVPing longer then you've been alive, and I've not come across this at any time in the past.

[Hestis]

Bumping and subscribing. Great thread!

[Baalthir]

As a newbie to SWTOR have to say an awesome thread guys, much better than the hundreds of QQ'ing threads and very useful. Nice one.

[AMMT]

You can press "Cntrl+Z" to remove the HUD completely. This is of good convenience when wanting to take a smooth screenshot.

[Tiis]

Your companion can use your old gear/weapons even though they are bound to you.

providing they can use the same type as you.

[SpeckledHen]

These are awesome suggestions and I am loving them all.

 

One thing I can add (if it wasn't added in the several pages worth I haven't read yet) is that when you select your advanced class, you get a gear bag. For some reason when I originally received this, I thought it was a special totem that had to basically sit in the inventory for you to be able to run the game.

 

Stupid, but that's how I treated it. I finally saw someone in chat say the other day, "Hey remember to open that bag you get when you choose your AC", and I thought to myself holy cow. I had just chosen Jedi Sentinel, and when I opened the bag, voila, a second offhand lightsaber to use.

 

I went back to my L31 Trooper and still had that stupid bag sitting in there. Opened it up and found a starter assault cannon that I'd never used.

 

OPEN YOUR AC BAG!! lol

 

I just figured this out a day or so ago. I was level 33! Haha! Great tip.

[MazVN]

Not so much a game tip but a word of warning regarding credits. Ie. a "why you might feel poor".

 

 

- When in a group any credits found is split evenly among all nearby. XP however is given in full to all. This means that if you (like many others) play through the game with a partner, you will gain XP faster than money.

 

- Class quest typically give less money than side quest and especially bonus-kill-quest. So focusing mostly on those will mean you gain more XP than credits, compared to your level. [unconfirmed]

 

- Crafting is expensive, double so if you want to get blue and even purple items and even more so if crafting for your companions and/or allies. Especially if you are crafting for a higher level than the area you are questing in, as you will then not be able to gather the crafting materials directly.

 

- Class skills quickly get really expensive. Don't blindly buy all the skills as they become available. check if you actually need the skill [i know others had said so before in this thread but I'm repeating it anyway]

 

- Lightside-choices often give more XP but lesser credits. [unconfirmed]

 

 

tl;dr

Try to make quest of your own level or you might quickly find yourself outleveling your credit-income. Especially if often playing a group.

Edited January 9, 2012 by MazVN

[Distilde]

But it does not show how much it cost, when crafting something. So at first i thought it was free.

[Aieny]

Giving gifts to your companion applies a debuff to you for 30 seconds that prevents you from giving another gift.

[YMIHere]

I too am also curious as to what possible benefit you could gain from this tip. I've probably been PVPing longer then you've been alive, and I've not come across this at any time in the past.

 

While I like to keep W bound, I get rid of S because back peddling makes you less efficient and an easier target in PVP. You move slower so it's wasting casting time getting to your destination, and that scoundrel can easily run past you and continue strafing at your back to get off his high damage Back Blast. I'm not sure how avoidance works in TOR, but in most MMOs I've played you can't block or parry attacks that are at your back.

 

I still keep the down arrow in case I want to position myself delicately, but I never use it during a time sensitive occasion.

[JOutlaw]

Shameless bump on this awesome thread. Only tips I can add:

 

For crew skills: If companion is on a mission, you can cancel the mission by pressing the "x". You don't get back the money for it, but your companion will return straight away.

 

Always log out in a rest zone. This can be your ship, a cantina or the imperial fleet main area (Not the hangar area). You'll end up getting double xp when questing, and if like me, you can only play for an hour or two every 2 days, then you'll always get this benefit. Makes levelling up a lot easier and faster.

[Razyr]

Another GTN tip:

 

Ok, you posted up something to sell on the GTN, and you listed it for way too much. Got a little excited and hit that extra number then posted it, so it's selling for 6,999c instead of 699c (or something like that, just an example). Ouch.

 

Do NOT run to the cancel button, you will lose your (considerable) deposit. Let the item sit through it's course on the GTN. If someone doesn't pick it up (maybe it's the last item and they desperately need it to craft that long sought after modable chest piece so they can run a Hard Mode and money isn't an option) you will get back most, if not all of your deposit back.

 

Awesome.

[Eoltentpole]

CTRL+S = Mute all sound

[Bibdy]

Shameless bump on this awesome thread. Only tips I can add:

 

For crew skills: If companion is on a mission, you can cancel the mission by pressing the "x". You don't get back the money for it, but your companion will return straight away.

 

Always log out in a rest zone. This can be your ship, a cantina or the imperial fleet main area (Not the hangar area). You'll end up getting double xp when questing, and if like me, you can only play for an hour or two every 2 days, then you'll always get this benefit. Makes levelling up a lot easier and faster.

 

You do actually get the money back if you cancel a crew skill mission, by the way. Check the chat log and it'll tell you how much you got back, which should match the amount you spent in the first place.

[MazVN]

I am currently sorting through the meta-list of tips and trying to sort it into subcategories.

 

There are several tips that do not make much sense so I'll ask if someone could clarify what they mean, else I'm going to leave them out:

 

"Save your old lower level commendations on planets. You can instantly gear up your alts and even your new companions "

I don't get this one. If the item you can get from the commendation is too low level for you it's too lowlevel for your companion.

New companions Acquired later will already have equipment that is level-appropriately for them, so it will not helped to have old commendation lying around.

 

Naturally it is well worth it to use any commendation you have to get equipment for your companions if you have already yourself gotten the best. but that i"old ones" are worth anything I just don't see.

 

 

"Old companion gear can be reverse engineered with appropriate skill. "

While this is true, it's not much of a tip because as far as I know it's not possible to actually gain new recipes for those pieces. Only a little crafting materials (which will usually be too lowlevel materials).

 

 

"Companions seem to have a built in level, begin earning affection as early as possible."

I don't understand what this tip is trying to say at all.

[O-Deka-K]

"Save your old lower level commendations on planets. You can instantly gear up your alts and even your new companions "

 

I don't get this one. If the item you can get from the commendation is too low level for you it's too lowlevel for your companion.

 

Planet commendations can also be used to buy orange (moddable) gear, except on the really low levels. You can buy these and then mod them up. Also, sometimes companions already have some moddable gear (or you get them as a mission reward). You may have some spare commendations that you could use to buy mods that are better than what they currently have. It's nice that you can access all of the planet commendations vendors on the fleet, so it's easy to shop around.

 

Edit: Also, new companions don't usually come fully geared. They may not have a headpiece, an earpiece, and implants (I can't remember if you can even get implants through planet commendations).

 

Not sure about the other two tips, especially the last one.

Edited January 9, 2012 by O-Deka-K
I thought of more reasons

[Aieny]

Planet commendations can also be used to buy orange (moddable) gear, except on the really low levels. You can buy these and then mod them up. Also, sometimes companions already have some moddable gear (or you get them as a mission reward). You may have some spare commendations that you could use to buy mods that are better than what they currently have. It's nice that you can access all of the planet commendations vendors on the fleet, so it's easy to shop around.

 

Edit: Also, new companions don't usually come fully geared. They may not have a headpiece, an earpiece, and implants (I can't remember if you can even get implants through planet commendations).

 

Not sure about the other two tips, especially the last one.

 

Also, one of the companions for Inquisitors can dual-wield lightsabers but comes equipped with just one.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Aieny

[TheZugg]

For crafting (not sure if its mentioned already) once you initially get to the Imp/Rep Fleet, go and speak to every single crafting trainer, even if you have no intention of taking the skill. 450XP for each one, not something to be sniffed at at Level 10!

[MazVN]

as I said I agree that spare commendations are good for equipping your companions. It was the notion that you should save your "old lower level commendation" and that it would "instantly gear up your alts and companions".

 

I'll just rewrite it slightly.

[Patizor]

If you right-click on a resource, your companion will harvest it for you. So you can rest up or check your map or whatever while gathering.

[Daedricshots]

You can buy a speeder on tatooine that isnt available on the fleet ship.

 

When crafting use the drop down menu and the option "Have materials" it will only show you what you can craft right now.

 

You can re-customize your companion in most cantinas from a vendor that will sell you new looks for your companion. They run around 12k credits.

 

You can buy a pvp weapon as low as level 14 and you can start buying pvp gear at level 20.

[Dafpants]

If you right-click on a resource, your companion will harvest it for you. So you can rest up or check your map or whatever while gathering.

If for some reason (pathing issues usually) you want to harvest that resource yourself, use Shift+right-click.

But, yes, being able to rest & reload while my companion is scavenging at the same time is great.

[Kangkar]

For female characters with social I, you can buy 4 pieces of light armor "orange grade" elegant gear (around 250 credits each). Republic buy from Coruscant social vendor, same as the starter social quest. Good start for female Jedi Consulars.

 

When modding, remove first then add. You keep the old Mod that can be use for modding companion gear.

 

For lower level Republicans, Green/Blue crystals comes with light lightsabers and if you're bored with these colors, though orange crystals comes with dark lightsabers and you cannot equip dark lightsabers, but you can remove/buy orange crystals and put it into light lightsabers. Not allowed for red crystals.

 

For Republic, I'll take/keep Coruscant commendation medals instead of green gear. Collect 28 pieces. Exception to head gear which is hard to come by. Other items can be obtain from drop or buy from market cheap. Change 2 "orange grade" weapons at level 16. I get 2 cannon, one for my trooper and one for Aric Jorgen. You don't get to see "orange grade" items to change until Nar Shaddaar, which are mostly offhands.

 

I'd buy a "green grade" techblade for Qyzen at Taris vendor. Unfortunately, no "orange grade" techblade for Coruscant commendation.

 

Taris commendation doesn't have "orange grade" items except a purple box. Pick the core/motor/parts for your ship droid if you want to equip him. You'll get 2 of each if you do the entire quests + the extended bonus quests.

 

Do the Bonus quest from Strom at the end of Taris questline. It appears before you leave. You'll get a nice head gear for your class and gets you around 2 levels. Nar Shaddaar quests will be a lot easier.

 

Other than Czerka and Rendili level 25 speeders, you can get an Ubrikkian from Tatooine. Same model as the level 40 speeder from fleet, but different color/markings.

 

When you die, rez takes longer each time. If you choose the second option to go medic, the rez timing reset. Next time you die, it don't take long to rez. Good to take note how far you are from the last/nearest medic post.