Third Combat Style

[Enskojare]

Overall a pretty straight forward idea. The ability to chose between combat styles is cool, but not being able to replace the first combat style (which was advertised before LOTS' launch) was a major disappointment. I'm not the first to bring this suggestion up, but I'm not sure about whether or not someone has posted a CM suggestion. Anyway, here goes;

Basically I'm proposing giving players the ability to purchase a third Combat Style through the Cartel Market.

[FlameYOL]

It would be nice getting another slot only because that way one could have a combat style for every role if their original character had a class that could only DPS. 

[NicoleMay]

Yes please. Make it obscenely priced so it's only viable on a main. I want all 4 force combat styles on my main like im a damn 4 phase ops boss. lol

Edited March 6, 2023 by NicoleMay

[Enskojare]

On 3/2/2023 at 2:16 AM, NicoleMay said:

Yes please. Make it obesely priced so it's only viable on a main. I want all 4 force combat styles on my main like im a damn 4 phase ops boss. lol

Honestly I wouldn't mind it being both expensive and giving your character a pretty long lockout until you can change style again.

[Goreshaga]

That would be nice, but i'd personally take a CM unlock for the second CS for when i can't sub first, as it's a bit annoying to be locked to 1 when used to be able to switch between 2.

[RowanThursday]

Additional style slots would be handy in a way, especially for RPers. 

It's always been (unavoidably and understandably) the case that classes, or combat styles, however you call them, have a slightly counter-intuitive relationship to storytelling, simply because they're a static snapshot at the fighting style of the dynamic characters they're based on.

Anakin Skywalker, for instance, generally fights as a Guardian, but then shifts to a Marauder on the occasions when he has enough light sabers and attached arms available to do it, if facing off against someone like Count Dooku, before eventually being forced into a Juggernaut style. 

Yoda is usually unambiguously a Sage, and Palpatine a Sorcerer, but both are plainly capable of pulling out their inner Guardian or Marauder when they want to.

Similarly, Obi-Wan is definitely a Guardian for most of the prequel trilogy, but winds up more like a Sage by the time of A New Hope.

All well and good, and actually, all of those options would already be covered by the system, except that if Anakin picked Marauder for his duel on Geonosis, he'd then break the Training Quest and be unable to respec as Juggernaut after Mustafar (hint, Bioware, separating the 'second combat style' and the 'mirror force combat style' quests so you can do them at different times and in whichever order you need would help a *lot* there and cost you nothing but cut down on CS queries to answer).

In game terms, the Consular and Inquisitor stories probably provide the clearest rationale for what I mean about fighting style being a dynamic thing. By Act Three, it makes sense for both these force users to be an accomplished sage or sorcerer respectively- but, in a lot of ways, narratively speaking, it makes more sense for them to grow into these powers.

In some ways, I think the ideal storytelling/gameplay skill path for both would be to start as Guardian/Juggernaut (i.e. 'standard Jedi or Sith training', get and wield a 'standard' lightsaber, then graduate to wielding a dualsaber and shifting into Shadow/Assassin when they get sent on their secret isolated missions in Act One, and need a particular edge for acting as a one-man or one-woman army, given that they possess the raw force sensitivity and power to handle that difficult weapon, and then later still, over the course of the second act, as they acquire apprentices and - for the Consular- regain the strength in the Force that they'd sacrificed in shielding- and for the Inquisitor- gain the power of their gobbled ghosts- to shift again, to Sorcerer and Sage.

Now, that's one example, and just one way of looking at how to use the gameplay to benefit the story, of course. There are plenty of other ways of looking at the same thing, I'm certainly not suggesting that's the "right" way. (You can make an equally valid argument that the Consular spends Act One as a Jedi healer so should be a Sage, before becoming a Jedi Secret Agent in Act Two and needing to be a Shadow). There is no "right" way, however, it does, I hope, demonstrate that the more variety of combat style, the more options for tailoring your character's combat style to your own personal perception of their story.

[Lord_Arawn]

I would like to see in swtor the following combat styles:

Count Dooku Combat Style: combining Makashi's moves, with lightning force and the use of telekinesis. Makashi is the most used form of combat in this period and since its release, no character is able to use it.

Starkiller Combat Style: Using the reverse form of Shien, with access to Force Lightning, Force Maelstrom and being able to do a kind of reverse push, bringing the enemy close to him.

Sith Alchemist Combat Style: A combat style based on Sith alchemy and magic: It would be possible to enchant weapons temporarily increasing damage, turn enemies into rakghouls that would fight for the char, resurrect and control dead enemies and summon Sithspawns. This combat style would make the character very similar to the necromancer class seen in other games such as Diablo. Necromancers in RPG games are usually one of the most played styles, just see in Diablo 3 there were so many requests for this character class, that it returned in the expansion and since then, it has not been left out of the Diablo series games. In Old Republic, the class that would bring this to the game would be the Sith alchemy and magic combat style. This class would not only attract the attention of Star Wars fans, but other RPG players as well, who know and play a Necromancer.

Luke Skywalker Combat Style: Similar to the Vengeance style, but with abilities like the Consular's rock throwing, Force Push, and the casting of green Force Lightning, Force Judgment.

Ahsoka Tano Combat Style: It would be the form of the StarKiller Combat style light above. The character would use two inverted lightsabers and make use of rock throwing and a lot of Force Push.

Makashi Light Side Combat Style: It would be the light side version of the Count Dooku Combat combat style, it would not have Force Lightning cast.

Melee Tech Combat Style: A style that allows tech classes to use vibroswords or even lightsaber, but without the force effects, perhaps interspersing vibroswords/lightsaber attacks with blaster shots and bomb launches at close range.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Lord_Arawn

[Firelieutenant]

I fully support a third combat style cc unlock! My main is a sentinel (dps), my second is a shadow (stealth/tank). I definitely need to add healer style!

[DawnAskham]

More combat styles - yes please.

CM only unlock - nope, we need more in-game credit sinks so more slots should work like outfitter with both a CC and credit cost.

Also combat styles should be swappable outside combat, not just in rest areas - all this restriction does is make it annoying to use, not like players cannot port to stronghold and port back / get summoned after swapping.

[NicoleMay]

Raise the credit cap and make it a 10bil credit sink? I can see that being viable.