Check me out at @Strongshocker on Twitter if you like this.

A smooth conversion to free-to-play (F2P) can be accomplished with careful planning. Ever since I have switched I have noticed no change in my SWTOR experience. Yes, I receive less comms (and potentially less Ship and Fleet Requisition), but I enjoy the game and this does not bother me. Here are some tips that I have learned throughout my transition to help others who want to try F2P, but are scared to do so. Remember, you can always go back to being a subscriber!

Account Security

If you are a F2P player converting from a subscription, you can still have a mobile Security Key on your account. You will no longer get the Cartel Coin bonus for the mobile Security Key, but you can live at ease knowing your F2P account is much safer. Note that if you have the physical Security Key FOB, you will get the 100 CC/month stipend.

Recommended character unlocks (Account-wide where available)

You should purchase any Legacy Unlock that costs more than 350K credits and you think you will use (especially Legacy Travel: Personal Starship, Repair Droid, and add-ons to your personal starship).

Some other suggestions:

• Guild bank access
• Bank slots
• Extra Quickbars
• Hide Head
• Match Chest
• Extra Bag Slots
• Match Companion Chest
• Event Gear (may be removed)
• Third Crew Skill

Travel

You do not get access to Emergency Fleet Passes as a F2P player, so make the most of your Legacy Travel: Personal Starship. You can get it on a relatively short cooldown.

Re-spec’ing

You will no longer get infinite re-specs for free. It goes back to the original system where the cost scales up through the week, and resets every Tuesday morning. This is highly beneficial if you have one character you only want to PvP with and one that you want to PvE with.

Gearing up

You only get three chances to win a gear item in a Flashpoint when rolling Need. However, you can Greed win all day or trade items afterward. So run with friends or use that charisma to charm the items out of the people in your group.

You can also run Flashpoints for as many comms as you need, so make the most of it!

Money Problems?

Savings on the Side

If you are Legendary with any of the rep factions, you can store the rep faction tokens as free money for later. It isn’t much, but if you’re knocking out the dailies anyway for some cash, these are like money you can store on the side for a rainy day. Running just Space Missions, you can store away an extra 3000 credits/week. Not much, but remember, that’s only one faction. Legendary with 3-4 factions can be up to 20,000 credits that the game doesn’t count towards your F2P credit cap. This is especially helpful since an F2P player cannot send money via in-game mail between characters.

Make the most of your friends

Before I went F2P I had about 6 million credits. I gave 3 million to 2 of my real-life friends who have remained subscribers. They don’t have credit caps, and so now I have a savings account off to the side. Also, you can’t buy high-end gear since finding it cheaper than 350K is hard. Have your friends buy it and send it your way. The same goes for selling items on the GTN that cost more than 350K.

PvP, Operations and GSF

I have not missed a full week of PvP or an operation since I switched to F2P. Currently, weekly unlocks are selling on my server for only 50-90K! Stock up before you go F2P. I recently let my subscription lapse, but not before having three months worth of PvP and Ops passes. Try to buy items like weekly unlocks whenever they are on sale or whenever you are close to your credit cap.

Currently, F2P players cannot do solo Ranked. However, I have been able to queue with three subscribers for a Ranked team. It still puts up the warning that you cannot queue, but the queue will pop. And with the current Ranked PvP system failing miserably, it is probably only a matter of time until they open it to F2P players with a weekly pass.

Passes are available for GSF (Galactic Starfighter). On my server the price varies from 240K-500K for a 30-day pass. With help from some friends (and guildies), I now have 150 days worth of GSF passes. This gives me Fleet and Ship Requisition at the same rate as a subscriber, no difference!

Conclusion

This guide is always being updated. Get in touch with me if you have some great tips that would help out other F2P players and they’ll be added.