OotiniCast Episode 79

Posted on by May 10, 2013
3

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We cover the rest of what’s in Game Update 2.1: Customization, and complete our series of quick guides with the other two level 55 hard modes, Hammer Station and Mandalorian Raiders.

1. Introduction

Hyp provides a few choice screenshots from Baldy’s adventures. First we have Baldy showing a little tough love:

Baldy justice

This is Baldy’s frowny face:

Baldy frowny face

A nice bit of scenery from the prison world of Belsavis:

Somewhere on Belsavis

Redna’s in-progress UI update, with his action bars arranged to mimic the layout on his new Razer Naga:

Redna UI

2. Trivia Question

(We are continuing the question from last week.)

Our question is all about New Hollywood. New Hollywood is a period of moviemaking from the mid-60s to the very early 80s. It is usually marked as beginning with “Bonnie and Clyde”, a surprising hit of a movie where the main characters die, and ends with the overpriced flops “Heaven’s Gate” and “One from the Heart”.

New Hollywood was marked by a period of time where filmmakers were still part of the studio process, but allowed greater freedom. So they were a mix of the two things we have today—generally big-budget movies with tight studio control and smaller indie films with low budgets but tons of creative freedom. The occasional big-budget movie with filmmaker control, like Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movies, can be seen as a product of this time.

New Hollywood proved that movies could be big successes without being cookie-cutter films, like the musicals, war movies, and horse operas of the 50s and early 60s. They also legitimized the sequel with the critical and successful “Godfather Part II,” brought us the summer blockbuster with “Jaws,” and showed that fantasy and sci-fi could have wide audience appeal with “Star Wars.”

Of course, their successes sowed the seeds of the movement’s failure; more money was thrown their way, which both increased the risk if a movie was a flop, and caused the studios to demand more control over their big bets.

But what made New Hollywood really successful was that this was the first generation of moviemakers who had grown up watching movies. They loved movies and they knew movies. They put references to great earlier movies in their movies, both as a nod to films they loved and also quite frankly to uplift their own films.

Now, we’ve used the Trivia Question to explore Lucas’s influences before. So let’s set aside the movies of Kurosawa. But let’s find as many other examples as we can of famous movie scenes being referenced, either in dialogue, shot selection etc. in the six “Star Wars” movies.

I’ll get you started. (This example won’t count.) The famous Greedo cantina scene is a reference to the wonderful western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, where Tuco is caught by an armed man who has been hunting him. He is in the bath, apparently unarmed, and his hunter waves his pistol in his face and gloats over how happy he is to have caught him. But then Tuco, or Han, fires a hidden pistol and kills his opponent. While Han’s scene has become known as “Han Shot First”, Tuco’s line at the end of his scene is appropriate to both: “When you have to shoot, shoot! Don’t talk”.

Please send your answer to ootinicast@gmail.com. Whoever gets the most references to earlier movies by next Wednesday will be put in a drawing to win a Taun Fawn code courtesy of BioWare and one of the latest full-size Cartel Packs (or if you’re on The Harbinger, a very special mount!).

3. Holofeed

  • Disney and EA announced a multi-year agreement for EA to produce Star Wars games. This includes BioWare’s ongoing production and support of SWTOR!
  • EA had its Q4 FY13 conference call for investors, during which the EA leadership said some positive, encouraging and supporting things about SWTOR. Polygon summarises what was said.
  • The rest of Game Update 2.1: Customization was unveiled, and our overview has been updated with the new features: character/legacy/guild renames, escrow deductions for Free and Preferred players, and Collections.
  • Eric Musco, Community Manager, allays concerns that there is no actual content in Game Update 2.1 by firstly announcing it’s going to arrive this coming Tuesday (14 May), and secondly revealing that Game Update 2.2 (which presumably will contain content!) is coming on Tuesday 11 June, 8 weeks after the launch of the expansion.
  • Not only that, but he tells us the Gree will be back sometime before Game Update 2.2!
  • The known exploits in the bolster mechanic will be fixed in Game Update 2.1.
  • Amber Green lets us know that most known crew skill issues will be addressed in Game Update 2.1, though some will have to wait until the following patch 2.1.1.
  • Rob Hinkle, Senior Designer responsible for PvP, explains the rationale behind 2.0’s upgraded bolster, and why it’s worth sticking it out as they iron out the issues.
  • There is a known bug with healing companions, which causes them to stop healing players if a cosmetic pet you have out takes damage!

4. Community

We recommend hawtpantsrepublic.com, which includes a most excellent guide for Sentinels updated for Game Update 2.0. You can follow the site’s author via @HawtRepublic on Twitter.

Our guide on 2- and 4-piece set bonuses for all PvE and PvP gear has been updated with the new set bonuses made available in Game Update 2.0.

A very useful summary of endgame (or “elder game”) content from BioWare can be found at www.swtor.com/info/eldergame.

If you live in the US and don’t mind paying for shipping, you can enter a competition to win a 1/6 scale replica of Darth Malgus!

In Kuze’s Korner this week, Kuze provides some extremely useful tips on platforming. These and more will feature in his platforming video, which is coming soon.

For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com). Chong and HamSammich are also planning a PvP tournament on The Harbinger; Moff Chong will be on episode 80 to tell us all about it! You can preview the rules here.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @madmar_sith (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @ForceChuckle, @Weihanthekidsun (Weihan Sun), @hadrian9 (Mikhael Lombard), @TheTurg (Terg), @bytorsnowdog (Snowy), @copythat22 (Lance of the Coffee Talk with Lance and Niq podcast), @terencemyers (Terence Myers), @KairiahMedens (David), @JediKrackr and @IzaakTheMad (Izaak), and emails from Oxi-jin, Middle’guard, Rendrin, Graham Sellars, Dri, Hansgruber, Madmar, Socordia, Matt Roberts and Jacob Hausman (Deltia).

Middle’guard provided a YouTube video that he did that shows his UI with the action bars configured to mimic the location of the buttons on a Logitech G600 or Razer Naga mouse.

Matt Roberts (@Roguish98) referred to a couple of forum threads regarding how installing DirectX 9 drivers may improve your performance (fix, CS confirmation). He also recommends this forum thread that discusses general performance improvements.

Oxi-jin’s post-+10-endurance-datacron party on Makeb!

Oxi-jin datacron

6. Sarlacc Digest

We cover the other two of the level 55 hard mode Flashpoints, Mandalorian Raiders and Hammer Station. Athiss and Cademimu were discussed last week.

Hammer Station (Dulfy’s guide)

  • trash—some nasty packs, mostly easy
  • DN-314 Tunneler (droid with the laser):
    • cleanse stacks during tunneling laser (when it reaches 4 or so)
    • avoid exploding droids, no need to DPS them
  • Vorgan the Volcano (three guys)
    • tank Vorgan and 2R-CH (torch)
    • kill Sawbones (on the right) first
    • we kill Vorgan then finally the Torch (torch, frontal conal damage, can be interrupted)
  • Asteroid Beast (bonus boss)
    • tank with back to orange force screen
    • healer and DPS stack immediately behind boss for AoE healing
    • periodic rampage which stuns everyone
  • Battlelord Kreshan (guy with the adds):
    • sweeping gunfire (tank steps out of way)
    • knockback is nasty (tank has back to console)
    • blue circles which stick around
    • adds need to be killed, can be knocked off

Mandalorian Raiders (Dulfy’s guide)

  • trash—those dogs hurt!
  • Braxx the Bloodhound (guy with the two dogs)
    • tank Braxx away from the two dogs, who’ll switch between the DPS and healer
    • imperative dogs don’t get into Braxx’s periodic red circle (it buffs them)
    • kill dogs first, then Braxx
  • Boarding party
    • kill order: scoundrel/operative, sentinel/marauder, sage/sorcerer, commando/mercenary
    • Sentinel/Marauder can’t be tanked, will constantly switch between party members
  • Gil (bonus boss)
    • periodic circle around him, make sure to stay out of it
    • knockback, so stay away from the opening into space!
  • Mavrik Varad (guy with the turrets)
    • follow him into three corners of the room
    • in each corner, destroy the turrets that come up (tank will need to hold aggro on them)
    • stay out of the red circles

7. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@RystoJ) and Hyp (@Hypknotoad) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! You can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio Paragon.

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PvE and PvP 2-piece and 4-piece set bonuses for all classes (2.0)

Posted on by February 18, 2015
13

(This is based directly on Chill’s original post, updated for the set bonus changes introduced in Game Update 2.0. No further set bonus changes have been as of Game Update 2.7.)

It seems every time I look for one of these online I end up with a dead link or a random reference that doesn’t help. So here they are.

Note that they use the same general name for both PvE and PvP gear; for instance, the Vindicator gear name is used for Sith Warriors and Jedi Knights for both PvP and for PvE sets. But the sets do not mix and match; 3 pieces of PvE Vindicator and 1 of PvP Vindicator will not give the 4-piece bonus from either set.

The name (example: Vindicator) will appear in the name of every item of the set. This includes items (like belts) which don’t count towards the set bonus; they share the name because they generally are itemized for the same use. Only head, chest, leg, feet, and hand pieces will count towards 2- and 4-piece bonuses.

The 2-piece and 4-piece information below is from information found in-game, and is copyright BioWare.

Sith Warrior (Marauder and Juggernaut) and Jedi Knight (Sentinel and Guardian)

Vindicator PvE 2-piece Reduces the minimum range of Saber Throw by 10 meters.
4-piece Increases the damage dealt by Force Scream or Blade Storm by 8%.
PvP 2-piece Intercede or Guardian Leap heals you for 8% of your total health.
4-piece Increases all damage dealt by 10% for 5 seconds after using Force Charge or Force Leap.
War Leader PvE 2-piece Increases the duration of Blade Turning by 1 second, and the duration of Invincible or Warding Call by 2 seconds.
4-piece Increases the amount of damage absorbed by Sonic Barrier or Blade Barrier by 20%.
PvP 2-piece Increases the duration of Force Choke or Force Stasis by 1 second.
4-piece Increases your damage dealt to players by 5% while you Guard another player.
Weaponmaster PvE 2-piece Increases the damage dealt by Ravage or Master Strike by 8%.
4-piece Reduces the cooldown of Frenzy or Valorous Call by 15 seconds. Additionally, activating Berserk or Zen increases all damage dealt by 4% for 15 seconds.
PvP 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Undying Rage or Guarded by the Force by 15 seconds and increases their duration by 1 second.
4-piece Increases all damage dealt by 10% for 5 seconds after using Force Charge or Force Leap.

Sith Inquisitor (Assassin and Sorcerer) and Jedi Consular (Shadow and Sage)

Force-Master PvE 2-piece Reduces cost of Lightning Strike and Force Lightning or Disturbance and Telekinetic Throw by 2 and reduces the cooldown on Polarity Shift or Mental Alacrity by 15 seconds.
4-piece Affliction or Weaken Mind damage has a 30% chance to increase alacrity by 5% for 15 seconds. Cannot occur more than once every 20 seconds
PvP 2-piece Reduces cooldown of Crushing Darkness or Mind Crush by 1.5 seconds. Crushing Darkness or Mind Crush damage heal you for 0.5% of max health.
4-piece Increases range of Shock and Jolt or Project and Mind Snap by 5 meters.
Force-Mystic PvE 2-piece Reduces cooldown of Innervate or Healing Trance by 1.5 seconds.
4-piece Increases total Force by 50.
PvP 2-piece Reduces the lockout debuff duration of Static Barrier or Force Armor by 1.5 seconds
4-piece Consumption or Noble Sacrifice restore 3% of max health over 6 seconds.
Stalker PvE 2-piece Saber Strike hits restore 1 Force.
4-piece Increases the critical chance of Thrash and Voltaic Slash or Double Strike and Clairvoyant Strike by 15%.
PvP 2-piece Increases range of Force Slow and Jolt or Mind Snap by 5 meters.
4-piece Increases Recklessness or Force Potency charges by 1 and reduces its cooldown by 15 seconds.
Survivor PvE 2-piece Increases shield chance by an additional 5% during Dark Ward or Kinetic Ward.
4-piece Increases Elemental, Internal, Kinetic and Energy damage reduction by 2%.
PvP 2-piece Reduces cooldown of Spike or Spinning Kick by 10 seconds.
4-piece Increases your damage dealt to players by 5% while you Guard another player.

Bounty Hunter (Mercenary and Powertech) and Trooper (Commando and Vanguard)

Combat Medic PvE 2-piece Increases the duration of Supercharged Gas and Supercharge Cells by 3 seconds.
4-piece Reduces the cooldown of Healing Scan or Advanced Medical Probe by 1.5 seconds and the cooldown of Emergency Scan or Bacta Infusion by 3 seconds.
PvP 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Hold the Line or Hydraulic Overrides by 5 seconds.
4-piece Reduces the cooldown of Healing Scan or Advanced Medical Probe by 1.5 seconds and the cooldown of Emergency Scan or Bacta Infusion by 3 seconds.
Combat Tech PvE 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Explosive Fuel or Battle Focus by 15 seconds.
4-piece Increases the damage of Rail Shot and High Impact Bolt by 8%.
PvP 2-piece Increases the duration of Carbonize or Neural Surge by 0.5 seconds, and reduces the cooldown of Determination or Tenacity by 15 seconds.
4-piece Increases the critical chance of Rocket Punch or Stockstrike by 15%.
Eliminator PvE 2-piece Increases the critical chance of Power Shot and Tracer Missile or Charged Bolts and Grav Round by 15%.
4-piece Increases the damage of Rail Shot or High Impact Bolt by 8%.
PvP 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Jet Boost or Concussion Charge by 5 seconds.
4-piece Increases the critical chance of Rail Shot or High Impact Bolt by 15%.
Supercommando PvE 2-piece Increases the duration of Oil Slick or Riot Gas by 2 seconds and the duration of Energy Shield or Reactive Shield by 3 seconds.
4-piece Increases Melee, Range, Tech and Force defense by 2%.
PvP 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Heat Blast and Jet Charge or Energy Blast and Storm by 1.5 seconds.
4-piece Increases your damage dealt to players by 5% while you Guard another player.

Imperial Agent (Operative and Sniper) and Smuggler (Scoundrel and Gunslinger)

Enforcer PvE 2-piece Increases the critical chance of Shiv or Blaster Whip by 15%.
4-piece Increases maximum energy by 5.
PvP 2-piece Increases the duration of Infiltrate or Smuggle by 5 seconds and Evasion or Dodge by 1 second.
4-piece Increases max energy by 5.
Field Medic PvE 2-piece Increases the healing done by Recuperative Nanotech and Kolto Cloud by 15%.
4-piece Increases maximum energy by 5.
PvP 2-piece Increases the damage absorbed by Shield Probe or Defense Screen by 10%.
4-piece Increases max energy by 5.
Field Tech PvE 2-piece Reduces the cooldown of Target Acquired or Illegal Mods by 15 seconds, and activating either ability restores 15 energy.
4-piece Reduces the energy cost of Takedown and Quickdraw by 7.
PvP 2-piece Increases the range of Distraction and Takedown or Quickdraw by 5 meters.
4-piece Increases the duration of Orbital Srike or XS Freighter Flyby by 3 seconds.
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OotiniCast Episode 78

Posted on by May 4, 2013
3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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We discuss some of the content coming in Game Update 2.1: Customization, along with a quick guide to two level 55 hard modes, Athiss and Cademimu.

1. Introduction

Hyp’s Marauder certainly hasn’t been getting much beauty sleep.

Baldy (worse than ever)

Speaking of beauty, Hyp’s Scoundrel, Pearlneck, has a new look.

Pearlneck new look 2

Pearlnecks new look

Pearlnecks new look 2

2. Trivia Question

This week’s question is all about New Hollywood. New Hollywood is a period of moviemaking from the mid-60s to the very early 80s. It is usually marked as beginning with “Bonnie and Clyde”, a surprising hit of a movie where the main characters die, and ends with the overpriced flops “Heaven’s Gate” and “One from the Heart”.

New Hollywood was marked by a period of time where filmmakers were still part of the studio process, but allowed greater freedom. So they were a mix of the two things we have today—generally big-budget movies with tight studio control and smaller indie films with low budgets but tons of creative freedom. The occasional big-budget movie with filmmaker control, like Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movies, can be seen as a product of this time.

New Hollywood proved that movies could be big successes without being cookie-cutter films, like the musicals, war movies, and horse operas of the 50s and early 60s. They also legitimized the sequel with the critical and successful “Godfather Part II,” brought us the summer blockbuster with “Jaws,” and showed that fantasy and sci-fi could have wide audience appeal with “Star Wars.”

Of course, their successes sowed the seeds of the movement’s failure; more money was thrown their way, which both increased the risk if a movie was a flop, and caused the studios to demand more control over their big bets.

But what made New Hollywood really successful was that this was the first generation of moviemakers who had grown up watching movies. They loved movies and they knew movies. They put references to great earlier movies in their movies, both as a nod to films they loved and also quite frankly to uplift their own films.

Now, we’ve used the Trivia Question to explore Lucas’s influences before. So let’s set aside the movies of Kurosawa. But let’s find as many other examples as we can of famous movie scenes being referenced, either in dialogue, shot selection etc. in the six “Star Wars” movies.

I’ll get you started. (This example won’t count.) The famous Greedo cantina scene is a reference to the wonderful western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, where Tuco is caught by an armed man who has been hunting him. He is in the bath, apparently unarmed, and his hunter waves his pistol in his face and gloats over how happy he is to have caught him. But then Tuco, or Han, fires a hidden pistol and kills his opponent. While Han’s scene has become known as “Han Shot First”, Tuco’s line at the end of his scene is appropriate to both: “When you have to shoot, shoot! Don’t talk”.

Please send your answer to ootinicast@gmail.com. Whoever gets the most references to earlier movies by next Wednesday will be put in a drawing to win a Taun Fawn code courtesy of BioWare and one of the latest full-size Cartel Packs (or if you’re on The Harbinger, a very special mount!).

3. Holofeed

4. Community

We recommend hawtpantsrepublic.com, which includes a most excellent guide for Sentinels updated for Game Update 2.0. You can follow the site’s author via @HawtRepublic on Twitter.

Our guildmate Krad highly recommends Geldarion’s various posts about Gunslingers. Probably best to start with his Gunslinger/Sniper Advanced Class Guide.

Kuze is working on his instructional video on platforming, you can find his existing guides in Kuze’s Korner.

For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com).

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @madmar_sith (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @heymason12, @Rrubb, @HamSammich509, @TheTurg (Terg), @roguish98 (Matt Roberts), @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong), @YojeVawree, @weihanthekidsun (Weihan Sun), @MrSteveVoss, @KairiahMedens (David), @ChazLobo, @terencemyers, @JediKrackr, @Lawilc01 (Laurie M), @rocketman003 (Ki’el), @ForceChuckle, @Watchman_Marek, @voyak, @tshapedvisor, @Geldarion (co-host of Corellian Run Radio), @rclemons1977 (Brian Clemons), and emails from Jacob Hausman, @1BigBore (Bill), Graham S and Neiro.

The Pearlneck lookalike spotted by Terg:

Pearlneck clone

 

And the one I spotted:

Another Pearlneck cloneGraham S recommends the Mad Katz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7:

Graham Sellars

6. Sarlacc Digest

We cover two of the level 55 hard mode Flashpoints, Athiss and Cademimu, leaving Mandalorian Raiders and Hammer Station for next week.

Athiss (Dulfy’s guide)

  • you can slice the elevator at the beginning to avoid fall damage
  • grab the explosives from the room to the left of where you come in if no one in the group has Archaeology
  • Professor Ley’arsha (woman with adds)
    • tank face away from group
    • tank moves away with purple circle to drop corruption away from melee
    • DPS kill adds (normals) when they periodically turn up
  • The Beast of Vodal Kressh (big dog)
    • adds appear at 75%/50%/25% of boss health; tank needs to pick them up
    • huge knockback/stun, so tank with back to wall
    • DPS needs to kill the adds ASAP
    • can avoid extra adds by fighting boss near pond on the way to the boss
  • Ancient Abomination (bonus boss)
    • tank in alcove behind boss
    • DPS and healer sit on boss’s behind, AoE heal periodic damage from knockback
    • interruptible ability after each knockback
  • Prophet of Vodal (guy with the fires)
    • move out of small purple circles (note that they stick around for some time)
    • healer needs to cleanse the corruption DoT as soon as possible (hits really hard)
    • when boss stealths, a random party member will get a flaming effect on them, and four fire adds will spawn and chase that player; they need to kite the flames until they disappear
  • click on the altar to complete the Flashpoint

Cademimu (Dulfy’s guide)

  • crew skill shortcuts: gate (Scavenging) and shuttle (Slicing)
  • Officer Xander (guy with the EN-4C droid)
    • when activated, droid will slowly move towards randomly selected player; will switch players over time
    • need to kite droid into trap (circle on ground), without any player themselves getting trapped
    • when the droid is trapped, kill it (droid won’t take damage otherwise)
    • player targeted with large blue circle needs to move away from the group until it explodes (to avoid damaging anyone else)
  • Captain Grimyk (Wookie captain)
    • tank faces him away from group because of his flamethrower
    • adds (Ugnaughts) must be brought into the flamethrower before they can be damaged
  • Sith Separatist (bonus boss)
    • periodically pulls everyone in and does massive AoE; need to run out as soon as it happens
    • random player will take big hit (healers needs to keep everyone’s health topped off)
    • healer and ranged can usually find something to stand behind so they don’t get pulled in while still maintaining line of site
  • General Ortol (rocket guy with the shackles)
    • initially two and then three quarters of the room will be uninhabitable as the rocket engines above fire; group needs to move to the safe area
    • each time it changes, the soon-to-be-dangerous quarters fill with steam
    • a random player will be periodically shackled, along with anyone close to them; someone else needs to run through them to break the shackle
    • boss does a knockback, so tank/fight in a corner of the safe quarter of the room
    • 2.0.1 bug: additional players shackled by being too close to the shackle’s targeted player cannot be freed; so melee and tank need to stay a bit spread out (can still be in melee range)

7. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@RystoJ) and Hyp (@Hypknotoad) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! You can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio Paragon.

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Dye Modules in Game Update 2.1: Customization

Posted on by May 10, 2013
7

A key feature of the upcoming Game Update 2.1: Customization are Dye Modules, which provide a mechanism for changing the color of our character’s armor. Cory Butler (Producer) was kind enough to answer some of our questions, which are included below along with the information that Cory and Nathan Emmott (Systems Designer) had already provided to the fan sites.

Dye Modules can be inserted into items with a Dye Module slot using the item’s modification window, the same way as mods and augments are added now.

The vast majority of items have been updated to include a Dye Module slot. You can tell whether a given item has a Dye Module slot by its tooltip. Certain categories of items do not have a Dye Module slot: items with a level requirement of less than 15, lore outfits (e.g., Jolee Bindo’s outfit), items of premium (green) quality and items which simply didn’t look good when dyed. However, all craftable items (from Synthweaving and Armormech) will have Dye Module slots.

Will all adaptive armor, wearable from level 1, have Dye Module slots?

Cory: All Cartel Market outfits (with the exception of Lore gear) will be dyeable, regardless of item level.

Dye Modules are consumable, in that they can be used once. Removing a Dye Module from an item, or replacing it, will destroy the original Module.

Some Dye Modules will be sold on the Cartel Market, both directly and in future packs.

Others will be craftable, with some Reputation Vendors selling Dye Module schematics. Yet more Dye Modules will be available on the CE (Collector’s Edition) vendor and the security key vendor.

Which crew skill(s) can make the Modules?

Cory: Artifice is the only skill that will produce Dye Modules.

While it was initially indicated that Dye Modules could be reverse engineered, Cory confirmed that this will not be the case.

How much overlap will there be in colors between the different sources?

Cory: There is no overlap between the sources. Each source (Cartel Market, Crafting, and Vendors) has its own selection of color schemes available.

Items that have a Dye Module slot have a primary color and a secondary color. The example given was the Havoc Squad armor, such as that worn by Aric Jorgan:

Aric Jorgan

The default primary color is white, and the secondary color is orange. These can be changed using the Dye Modules, which come in three categories:

  • primary color only
  • secondary color only
  • primary and secondary colors

Continuing the Havoc Squad armor example, a Dye Module for primary black would leave the orange markings, whereas a Dye Module for secondary red would leave the armor as white, but change its markings to red. But a Dye Module that defines green as primary and black as secondary would completely change its appearance to green with black markings.

Will it be possible to combine a primary Dye Module and a secondary Dye Module into a single primary/secondary Dye Module?

Cory: You cannot combine a primary and a secondary Dye Module to create a Primary/Secondary Dye Module.

Thus the only primary/secondary color combinations available will be those provided.

You can preview how a given Dye Module will look, presumably on the items you are wearing. This is especially important as how the Dye Module affects an item may vary (e.g., different shades of blue). The preview feature allows you to check that it will look the way you want before applying it (or even purchasing it).

You can use the existing unify color to chest system to make all your gear share a single Dye Module’s effect, by adding a Dye Module to your chestpiece, and then unifying the rest of your gear. You can then add Dye Modules to the rest of your items as you desire, if you want a different color for them on an item-by-item basis.

While there will be a large number of Dye Modules available in Game Update 2.1, BioWare encourages the community to suggest new colors so that they can added in the future.

UPDATE: In a Q&A between Dulfy and BioWare, it was clarified that the undyeable lore outfits include Bastila Shan, The Last Handmaiden, Carth Onasi, Darth Malak, Jolee Bindo, Triumvirate Armor, the Revan armor set and the Mask of Nihilus. The initial number of dye modules and their sources was also revealed:

There will be 48 different Dye Modules at release. 25 will be available through the Cartel Market, 3 will be available from the Security Key and Collector’s Edition vendors, and 20 more will be available through the crafting system (schematics for some of which will be found on Reputation vendors).

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Overview of Game Update 2.1: Customization

Posted on by May 6, 2013
3

BioWare provided SWTOR’s fan sites with information about Game Update 2.1 entitled “Customization”, the first update since the Rise of the Hutt Cartel digital expansion. Given what we were told, this update is focussed on a variety of features to add extra dimensions to customer customization. It seems that they are making this update all about quality of life, not surprising given the expansion gave us a solid chunk of new content.

Cory Butler features in the latest Old Republic Insider for April 2013, which touches on some of what’s coming in Game Update 2.1.

Collections

The Collections window will show you all of the items available in the game that are considered collectible. This includes armor sets, weapons, pets, speeders and toys from the Cartel Market, including the random items that are obtained through the packs.

SWTOR_Collection_01

Once you have bound such an item to one of your characters, that item is considered to be in your collection. Your collection is account-wide, not limited to a character or legacy.

You can then pay a one-time fee (in Cartel Coins) for an item to unlock it, which means that you can freely create new copies of that item on any character on your account.

For example, if you obtained the Mask of Nihilus, you could pay the Cartel Coin fee to unlock it, and then create copies on all your characters regardless of server. You could even provide them to all your characters’ companions!

Probably more useful is that you could unlock a favourite speeder, and then never have to buy a speeder again for any alt you create… ever.

Once an item is in your collection, it stays there; you can destroy all copies of the item, and as long as you have unlocked it, you can always create more.

A given copy is (of course!) bound to the character that uses the Collection interface to create that copy.

The Pink Lightsabers blog did a Q&A with Cory Butler on this feature, in which he revealed the cost of a given item’s Collection unlock:

For pack items, the Cartel Coin cost is based on item rarity, and ranges from 60 to 600 CC. For direct-sale items, the unlock fee is a fraction of the item’s base price.

Player Convenience Services

Escrow Deductions

Non-subscribers have a credit cap (200,000 credits for Free and 350,000 credits for Preferred). When this cap is reached, any additional credits are stored in an escrow account. Prior to Game Update 2.1, the credits in the escrow account could only be accessed if the player subscribed.

In Game Update 2.1, new Escrow Deduction items can be purchased from the Cartel Market, that allow a fixed amount of credits to be made available to the player from their escrow account. There are three types available:

  • 50,000 credit transfer for 40 Cartel Coins
  • 150,000 credit transfer for 80 Cartel Coins
  • 600,000 credit transfer for 240 Cartel Coins

The applicable credit cap does not affect credits transferred using these items. The items can be resold on the GTN.

Character, legacy and guild renaming

Items will be sold on the Cartel Market which allow a character, a player’s legacy or a guild to be renamed. There is a 30 day cooldown applied to a given change in name.

  • Character Rename for 1000 Cartel Coins
  • Legacy Rename for 1000 Cartel Coins
  • Guild Rename for 3000 Cartel Coins

These items can be sold on the GTN.

There will be a single (one per account), one-off complimentary Character Rename item provided to subscribers at or soon after the launch of Game Update 2.1.

Appearance Vendor Kiosk

The Appearance Vendor Kiosk can be used to alter a character’s body type, hair style, eye colour, scars, tattoos—effectively everything that is available in the character creator. A character’s species can also be changed, but not their class (or Advanced Class) or gender.

Appearance Vendor Kiosk

Courtesy of SWTOR-RP

In addition, the existing options have been expanded (e.g., new hair colours and styles), and new options will be coming in future updates at a regular cadence. Their intention is that players can customize their characters to achieve their personal Star Wars fantasy.

Cory emphasised the role-playing potential of the Kiosk. His young, clean-cut Padawan would eventually grow into a war-grizzled veteran, adding a scar after a big battle, and slowly greying his hair as he ages.

The Kiosks are located in convenient locations on the Fleet and each faction’s capital world. More Kiosks may be added in the future.

All changes made using the Kiosk are paid for with Cartel Coins; there is no option to pay with credits. However, subscribers will enjoy a substantial discount of up to 50% off the cost of Kiosk changes. When activated, the Kiosk offers a full portrait view, equivalent to the character creator. The changes made are charged on a “per-slider” basis, so a single change (e.g., a character’s skin color) would be cheaper than changing their hair colour and style.

If you choose to change a character’s species, there will be a single cost that includes all customization options.

Update: SWTOR-RP has had some questions answered by BioWare, including the revelation that character name changes are also coming in Game Update 2.1, and will be found in Cartel Market’s unlock section.

New species: Cathar

The Cathar are a new species that can be unlocked for Cartel Coins via the Cartel Market or directly in the Appearance Vendor Kiosk. Based on this post, the cost of the Cathar would appear to be 600 Cartel Coins. This is an account-wide unlock, rather than being legacy-specific like the existing racial unlocks.

The Cathar will then be available to male and female characters of all eight classes (i.e., both factions). You can create new Cathar characters, or use the Appearance Vendor Kiosk to change the species of an existing character to Cathar.

Cathar Trooper

Damion Schubert told us that the Cathar you encounter on Makeb were designed using the updated, far more detailed appearance options that have been provided. This includes new fur patterns and hairstyles. Aric Jorgan, a Cathar who features prominently in the Trooper’s class story, has also had his appearance updated.

There is also a social emote, referred to as “Cathar pride”. We would guess this involves your Cathar roaring like a lion.

Cathar female

BioWare have released the Cathar Preview Video, viewable below.

Dye Modules

Cory Butler was kind enough to answer some of our questions about Dye Modules, which you can read about here.

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OotiniCast Episode 77

Posted on by April 26, 2013
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The news this week is all about Game Update 2.0.1. We then discuss gaming peripherals, based on some insightful information and suggestions from our listeners.

1. Introduction

Hyp is quite taken with our guildmate Ry’s space cowboy hat:

Howdyy

Teo was a guest on The Oceanic Gamer‘s Flash Point podcast (episode 55). Thanks to David and Simon for the opportunity!

2. Trivia Question

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Joey Weaver!

3. The Holofeed

4. Community

Thanks to Mark Emery for his most generous donation!

William Keele (@DarthKenji) has his latest Lesson from the Holocron for your edification, all about Jawas: “Freaky Little Hooded Creatures”.

For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com).

From Kuze’s Korner, we have Datacron video guides for the four starter planets:

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @madmar_sith (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @voyak, @rbleamon (Ray Leamon), @StoleTarts (Megan), @ForceChuckle, @GregCarter78, @O_JohnnyBravo_O (JB), @EmpireDivider (Chong), @HamSammich509, @dingwog, @JediKrackr, @TheTurg, @BenAKenobi, @Eskatun, @rocketman003 and an email from Masterjedi (@masterbearjedi).

6. Sarlacc Digest

Our topic of discussion was gaming peripherals, based on tweets from @Jayconnell, @YojeVawree and @rclemons1977 (Brian Clemons) and emails from Rendrin, Quaza Impsbane, Marshall Carr and Azazeal.

The devices that we discussed are from both Razer and Logitech:

Naga

Razer Naga

LogitechG600

Logitech G600

Nostromo

Razer Nostromo

LogitechG13

Logitech G13

7. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@RystoJ) and Hyp (@Hypknotoad) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! You can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio Paragon.

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Kuze’s Korner Datacron Guide: Korriban

Posted on by May 27, 2013
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Red Matrix Shard

The starting location (marker is orange) is on the world map. The datacron itself is located in The Ruined Atrium of the Tomb of Tulak Hord (marker is green).

+2 Willpower Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in the Lower Wilds. Both locations can be seen on the Korriban world map.

+2 Endurance Datacron

The datacron is located near the Departure Shuttle (marker is green).

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Kuze’s Korner Datacron Guide: Hutta

Posted on by May 20, 2013
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+2 Aim Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in The Bog. Both locations can be seen on the Hutta world map.

Blue Matrix Shard

The starting location (marker is orange) in on the world map. The datacron itself is located in the Sewer Maintenance Tunnels (marker is green).

+2 Presence Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in The Rustyards.

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Kuze’s Korner Datacron Guide: Ord Mantell

Posted on by May 14, 2013
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Red Matrix Shard

The starting location (marker is orange) is on the world map. The datacron itself is located in Mannett Point (marker is green).

+2 Aim Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located on Savrip Island. Both can be seen on the world map.

+2 Presence Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located west of Mount Avilatan.

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Kuze’s Korner Datacron Guide: Tython

Posted on by May 10, 2013
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+2 Endurance Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in the Tythos River Valley.

+2 Willpower Datacron

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in Upper Kaleth.

Blue Matrix Shard

The starting location (marker is orange) and the datacron itself (marker is green) are located in The Forge.

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