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

[Musashirai]

This thread is truly awesome!!

[djdee]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet and its more of a workaround than a tip, but as this happened a lot on my server I thought I'd mention it.

 

The Reset All Flashpoint Phases Bug

 

If everyone in your team can enter a flashpoint but you keep getting a message along the lines of "the party leader must reset all active flashpoint phases" and it wont let you enter any flashpoint, the fix for this is to leave the current group, create a new one with a friend/guildie/random who does not have this bug, promote them to party leader and then leave the group.

 

The bug will not transfer to the other player but your server side state will be reset (as the tooltip requested). Actually using the feature in the UI (as suggested by the tooltip) via right-clicking your portrait and then choosing Reset All Flashpoint Phases does not seem to work in some cases.

 

It has been theorized that this happens because a flashpoint group you were the leader and/or story keeper of earlier, disbanded, or had member(s) leave with you still being in the flashpoint.

 

LFG Comments Can't Be Read Due to Being Cut Off

 

If you mouse over the purple group icon to the left of a player's name in the Who window (click your planet's name on the top left of the UI to open it) it will show the full comment.

 

Also, regarding

 

4. Searching the /who window by 'lfg' will show everybody in the game utilizing the system.

 

I haven't tried it (currently not ingame) but I imagine this only works if the player who switched the LFG mechanic on didn't change his/her default LFG comment.

 

Mods

 

If you receive an item with mods in it that is still Bind on Equip and you CTRL+right-click to remove a mod, it will bind the mod to you and the full item.

Edited January 20, 2012 by djdee

[MrSchmo]

Here is some new ones for you:

 

-Your missions on the right are organized by xp gains. First is your Class missions, then misc mission, heroics, then flashpoints. They are in that order then sub-arranged by xp gains.

 

-In your ship, when you hyper jump, if you select the planet and quickly turn around and jump down to the exit door and click to leave, if you do it fast enough you can see the worm hole and stars you are flying through.

[snwkill]

As a newb to MMO's this is obvious but made such a huge difference... Key bindings

 

I would just stare at my list and try to click buttons with my mouse and get completely pwnd... So here is what you do.

 

set A and D as straff left and right like you would in any FPS leave abilities 1-5 where they are at. Use Q, E, Z, X, C, F and R as your abilities... I suggest your main attacks on Q and E and I put healing on R... If you have a mouse by logitech or most any company these days, that has an extra few buttons on the side; see if they have software and map one of your side buttons as a "shift" key...

 

Now you have 1-5, Q, E, R, Z, X, C, F + all of those with shift for all of your main abilities... Takes a couple of minutes to get used to but you can actually watch the fight instead of your bar... Again should be obvious but...

[sotacram]

-In your ship, when you hyper jump, if you select the planet and quickly turn around and jump down to the exit door and click to leave, if you do it fast enough you can see the worm hole and stars you are flying through.

 

Going to try this later Thanks!

[kzinkiller]

Companion quests do seem to have a built in 'level', so it is best to start getting gifts and increasing affection as quickly as possible.

 

I do not know so please tell me what companion affection has to do with companion quests.

 

Thanks!

[jtzako]

I do not know so please tell me what companion affection has to do with companion quests.

 

Thanks!

 

As your companion gains affection certain 'quests' will unlock and they will want to talk to you. By far the majority of these are just conversations, no combat or travel etc. There are a few, however, that turn into actual quests that may involve combat.

 

Also, these quests are tied to your class story. Even if you max out affection right away you wont get all the conversations. You will get as many as are tied to your current progress in class quest. You may find that when you finish ACT 1, for example, that your companion wants to talk about 10 times in a row.

[Evincar]

Not sure if this has been posted already but the galactic trade network on Nar Shadaa is seperate from the rest and can be accessed by the opposing faction.

[Amenian]

- If you right-click on your target, it will automatically cast whatever is in your 1-key spot on your action bar. Useful for people who are used to mouseover healing or for firing off those autoattack type spells.

 

- zoom all the way out on your minimap to make it easier to find gathering nodes, or use the magnifying glass option on your large map available in preferences.

[Peteflame]

Great thread guys, Not sure if its been said yet ...

 

There is an Auto-Run Key bind. I find this very relaxing lol

[booklad]

The taxi between the spaceport and the lower promenade on Nar Shaddaa is free but not the one for the upper promenade. Useful if you do a lot of neutral GTN trading. Edited January 21, 2012 by booklad

[Shonus]

You can bring up the chat window in space by triple clicking the chat window toggle (triangle in the far upper left of the screen)

 

sorry if repeat post.

 

 

Also:

 

Crafted armor > Commendation modded armor.

Edited January 21, 2012 by Shonus

[Gehoornde]

voted +1 for sticky

[DexonCreel]

Good Stuff!!

[jimmybazooka]

When Keybinding (for WASD movement players):

 

 

I know there are people that prefer arrows+numb pad. That's not for me, sorry to leave you hanging. If you're new to MMO's I recommend you at least try to learn WASD. I believe WASD provides more hotkeys in a smaller amount of space than stretching over the emptiness between arrows, numb pad, and home/end/ins/del/pages keys.

 

***Don't get frustrated and give up when getting started with new binds. You're gonna hit stuff by mistake, but the overall performance improvement you'll get outweighs the learning curve.***

 

Don't over do it. This is the easiest way to set yourself up for fail. Take it a few keys at a time.

 

I prefer to set all my keys regardless if the slot is empty on a new character. Some people have an easier time unbinding ALL their keys, and binding each ability as it is unlocked.

 

It's possible, but not necessary to bind all your abilities.

 

At the core of most games is a combat system. When binding ask yourself 'What can I not live without in combat' These abilities get hot keys. Anything that you can't use in combat, or is useless in combat, should be set aside for last. Don't worry about binding your regen ability, class buff, sprint, or fast travel UNTIL you've got your core combat abilities down.

 

Things you use frequently go on 1-5 and other keys close to movement keys.

 

I recommend rebinding anything bound to `~,1,2,3,4,5,q,e,r,t,f,g,z,x,c,v to other keys. Bind UI pane's to stuff you just can't press with one hand on WASD and one on the mouse. I put my Character pane and inventory on U and I respectively.

 

Learn to use (but don't over use) Modifier keys. (Shift, Ctrl, Alt). I once had a Naga and used 1-=, shift+1-=, alt+1-= this got very confusing. I only recently found my latest modification to my personal keybinding preferences and it is working quite well.

 

Place secondary combat abilities with activation times (stuff you can't use on the move) further from your movement keys. For example, put your instant ranged attack on 1, Q or E, but put your channeled AOE spell on T or Y, so that when you move your hand away from the movement keys it's not an issue to completely take your hand off them, you have to stop moving anyway.

 

Group long CD's together. Anything with more than 1 minute is a good rule of thumb. On my BH I keep Energy Shield, Determination and Vent Heat right next to each other, so I'm not looking all over the place to track my CD's. Put CD's on easy to press, hard to press on accident buttons. For example, I use 1-5 on my main bar b/c they're easy access. But for my CD's I use Shift+1-5 so that I know I won't use the CD unless I'm holding shift.

 

That said, keep CD's together.

 

Use Mouse Wheel for Keybinds. Re-bind zoom in and out to ctrl / alt / shift + mouse wheel, this cuts down on 'accidental scrolling' if you use middle mouse button. Put your basic 'resource free' attack I.E. Rapid Shots (bh) Saber Strike (sith inq) on mouse down and just ROLL that thing for easy spamming.

 

(I use mouse up to toggle between the main bar and bottom bar 2. I started doing this b/c it cuts down on the number of binds I have to use. In essence, I've turn 12 extra binds into one wheel turn. I use the primary bar as a 'dps abilities bar' and the second as my healing bar. So I just Wheel up when I heal and wheel up again to dps. When Doing this remember to keep defensive abilities on binds that are always usable without flipping back and forth. For example, you don't want your AOE knock back on your DPS bar when you're healing and adds jump on you.)

 

With that said, think of your hot bars as groups. I use my TOR bars like this:

Main Bar: Dps Abilities. (Mouse Wheel up swaps this bar with 'Bottom Center Bar')

Left Side Bar: Cool Downs on the first 6 keys. AoE abilities in the middle and the last 3

buttons are, interrupt, stun and my CC ability.

Right Side Bar: Non-Combat abilities.

Bottom Center Bar: Healing and Stims. (Mouse Wheel up swaps this bar with the main bar.)

 

If you move with WADS, unbind non-combat function keys from the left side of the keyboard. Unbind reply from R and use it as a hot key. ENTER, /, r is an easy way to reply. Same with T. Move your character pane key out of the way as well. I use U like 'yoUr equipment.' Use I instead of B for Inventory. Use alt ctrl or shift + F to bind focus target keys, and use F for something you need quick reactions to, like interrupts. Z is also very accessible and shouldn't be used for sheathing your weapon. I moved mine to coma.

 

Unbind Turning keys and hold right mouse button to turn, this is faster and more accurate than keyboard turning. Rebind A & D to strafe keys and ALWAYS turn with your mouse. This frees up Q and E for even more Keys. Some extreme binders would say also unbind S and use it for an ability because it's faster to turn away and run or strafe away, however, as someone who plays a tank, having a back pedal is beneficial for mob positioning.

 

If you have questions for suggestions feel free to mail me in game, The Fatman Server, Jay-zooka. (alt)

Edited January 23, 2012 by jimmybazooka

[jimmybazooka]

FYI Binds I use:

 

Main Bar / Bottom Bar (shared key binds for DPS / Healing / heal stims):

 

1 2 3 4 5 Q E R T Z X C

 

Left Bar (Cool Downs / AOEs / CC's):

 

Shift+1+2+3+4+5, 6 V B F G H `

 

Right Bar (Gas Cylinders, Sprint, Mount, Rapid Shots, Buff, Regeneration, Revive, Fast Travel):

 

ALT+1+2+3 ALT+Space, Mouse3, Mouse Wheel Down, ALT+X, ALT+C, Shift+R, ALT+Z

 

Right Bar Breakdown:

 

ALT+1+2+3 (gas cylinders)

ALT+Space (sprint)

Mouse 3 (middle button press, mount)

Mouse Wheel Down (Rapid Shots, I have ] as the primary key bind to hide the 'MOUSE W' text)

ALT+X (buff)

ALT+C (regen)

Shift+R (revive)

ALT+Z (fast travel)

 

Rebinding UI keys:

 

Character Pane: U

Inventory: I

Crew Skill: K

Sheath / Holster Weapon: , (coma)

Cover: Unbound (playing non-cover classes)

Follow: Numpad * or use /follow

 

Focus Keybinds:

Set Focus: ALT+F

Focus Modifier: Mouse 5 (HAS to be easy to hold)

Self Modifier: Mouse 4

Edited January 23, 2012 by jimmybazooka

[bojote]

I read all 37 pages. Thanks so much! I have one tip to contribute:

 

- When in the character window you do NOT need to drag items you want to equip to the slot they belong, simply dragging the item to the center of your character will be enough and it will automatically be placed in the slot it belongs.

 

- SHIFT + mouse scroll will zoom in-out from your character in 3rd person view giving you a better perspective

 

- Purchase a SONY Nav controller http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/accessories/playstation-move-navigation-controller/78145 as a replacement for WASD and use the MotionInJoy driver to customize it (and map the keys)

 

-

Edited January 23, 2012 by bojote

[Katreyn]

Shift + F allows you to take cover where you are standing.

 

(...its nice, but a weird combination for me. )

 

Noob tip from me, cause it took me like 20 minutes to figure it out, like a dummy. The "walk" key = the / key on your numpad, not the regular keyboard one. D:

[GamerInDallas]

OP needs to edit the original post about gathering at level one. They changed that a couple of weeks ago. You cannot get to Fleet at level one and therefore cannot gather that early. I created a charcter and specifically tried to get to Fleet as soon as possible from Tython. I recieved my companion at level 7 and that was when I was able to take the shuttle to Fleet, not a minute sooner. At level 7, I think I could learn any of the crew skills and chose all gathering skills. I still couldn't learn my advanced class until 10th and couldn't use/buy a light saber until I got my first one in the class quest.

 

I don't think it gave me a huge advantage by starting gathering at level 7. I don't think there was that much in the way of low level nodes to harvest, but I wasn't particularly looking very hard for them.'

 

Also, if you get to Fleet at low level you have access to your ship's cargo hold even though you will be around 15th or 16th level before you get your ship (this seems pretty much unavoidable since you need to be this high level to finish the class quest that gets the ship unless you have someone higher level helping you through).

[Necodreus]

This is a great read and thread, but since OP seems to not want to keep it updated, and MazVN did a wonderful job organizing the threads, maybe a new page should be made with someone willing to keep it updated? not many are going to read 40 pages.

 

My addition, quick n dirty crafting

long version is here http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=45866

 

 

There are two progressions a linear for mods, crystals and similar that just go green -> blue -> purp

 

a branching tree type for armors, weapons and the like. They are gotten mostly from the trainner for green and blues. Schematics for moddalbe pieces are from missions ex...Underworld for armormechs/snythweavers, and raid drops.

 

The trainner mods have two upgrades, both the green and blue. once made and reversed you have a random chance to get 1 of 3 prefixes (criticall,redoubt, overkill). this can happen the first time or 500th time depending on your luck (damn you u RNG). Those three can then be made into 1 of 5 for a total of 15, but currently no one has gotten one of the redoubts second reversed. each new RE adds to a stat or gives a new one, and armor is gained each new lvl if starting green. if blue only once does armor increase.

 

greens go to blue then purple.

blues go to purple, then purple

 

so a green stealth belt RE'd can become a blue critical stealth belt (gain armor/crit), then RE'd to a purple Leadership stealth belt (gain armor/presence).

an item starting blue goes blue camo suit to an purple critical camo suit (gain armor/crit), and finally a purple Leadership camo suit (gain only presence).

 

Theres a lil more to it but just wanted to touch up on it here the thread at top is way more indepth if your interested.

[sjmc]

You can do bioanalysis (and probably other gathering skills) while rejuvinating. After killing an animal, loot it, start rejuvination, then right-click the dead animal to order your companion to bioanalyse it. You will both regain your health while collecting crafting materials.

[Rhuaglar]

Great thread.

 

I'd add that when jumping around trying to get to hard to reach datacrons, pay particular attention to whether you have sprint on or not. The number of times I've been failing at a jump only to realize that I still had sprint on, then turn it off and find that the impossible jump is now just awkward. Not always, but more often then not sprint is not your friend when you are pipe-jumping for datacrons.

 

Add to this that sometimes it's worth switching to walk mode (which is / on my keyboard) when you are trying to jump down to small ledges and don't want to overshoot.

[Aieny]

-Companion Rez

 

While you do have the ability to resurrect your companion, you can also perform a "ghetto rez" on your companion, even if you are too far away to rez them, by right-clicking on the companion's portrait, clicking Dismiss Companion, and immediately summoning the companion. They'll spawn with 100% health, ready to fight another day.

[Macetheace]

if youre eyes go black in the conversation .or start off black or a funny glazed grey colour..exit.. press Ctrl U twice to refresh teh UI and try again, shouldbe norma.

 

 

also if the reverse engienering icon done'st appear on your inventory menu, use the shortcut key to pull up the inventory, it should show up.

[Vida]

A point of clarification: the color crystal is based solely on your alignment toward the Light/Dark side of the Force, not based on faction. Blue, green, and red crystals can be used of any neutrally-aligned character. Red crystals are forbidden to Light I and above, while blue and green crystals are forbidden to Dark I and above.

 

I am Light III and all the light sabers I have had have been red. I am Imperial so not sure if this makes a difference.