Space Combat is probably one of the more underrated features of Star Wars The Old Republic. Yes, it certainly is not innovative gameplay by any stretch of the imagination, but it really is quite fun.
Of course, fun is relative and many will probably not look past the fact that it is a rail shooter. Admittedly, i did have trouble when I first tried to play, not really knowing what to expect. Controls were simple, but tend to be sluggish so that took a while to get used to.
Gearing the ship is very expensive so you should not expect to buy all the upgrades at the same time. Since missions can be repeated even if you fail, you can decide which upgrade will be the most beneficial if you cannot afford them all. Mission ends with you alive but targets not getting destroyed in time? Just get the cannon upgrades and perhaps one for the missiles too.
It certainly is a very pleasant diversion from the normal MMO game. You can certainly play the game without ever doing a space combat mission, but i think this gives players a better feel of being part of a larger game world...or galaxy.
I have to say I am definitely having more fun doing PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic than any other game I've played. Heck, even League of Legends did not keep me for very long, as great a game as it is. I suppose a huge part in SWTOR's favour is the fact that PvP is very accessible. The bolstering mechanic allows even a level 10 to go toe to toe with a level 50 and potentially win. However, it does not give any talents or skills so that is already a huge disadvantage. Bolster also does not scale down, so those with top pvp gear will still overpower those just jumping in as soon as they can queue for warzones.
Mind you, I've never been one-shot. Or 2-shot for that matter. I went up against a level 40 Jedi Guardian a few times and it was apparent we were both in tank spec. However, the gearing and ability differences were very obvious and I was clearly outmatched. But even then, the fight did take a while before I ran away like the coward I am.
Alderaan is not exactly perfect for a tanking class. With the lower damage, you can't expect to go solo and kill someone. However, because of high survivability, you are suited to being able to protect the objectives for a long time. Sure, it can be boring, but SWTOR actually makes it clear that it rewards people more for objective play than how many people you killed. In this Alderaan vid, I cut out several minutes because nothing happened while defending the center node but I ended up 3rd on the leaderboard, particularly with the medal count and objective points.
The match shown was really really close - pretty much down the wire, but we were able to pull it off in the end. Pretty good for a PUG group actually.
Highlights of the match:
Some really terrible goofs from yours truly. Learn from my mistake and NEVER leave the objective for a long time.
The nodes interfere with line of sight and smaller characters can effectively hide themselves. You may never know that they are there until it is too late.
Line of sight also makes stopping a node capper from range a bit harder. If you are range, make sure to move around the node to take shots at them.
Keeping a friendly shielded and his opponent taunted ensures his victory. After the taunt, I go back to guard my node.
11k Objective points! I honestly have no idea how and which points factor in to your rewards. Unfortunately, the leaderboard does not show the rewards given to even your teammates.
Over the weekend I focused on getting my Sith Juggernaut to a level where I get more tools to play with. I stopped at level 26 and this gave me access to Force Choke and Force Push. The former is a nice crowd control ability limited only to the fact that it is channeled. It lasts for 3s but that is usually enough to keep someone away from an objective.
Force Push is just a fantastic ability. All day I have denied goals and killed opponents with this ability and made PvP even more fun. The knockback distance is actually quite long, perhaps 15 meters and it can stun opponents unlike other class' knockbacks. The one minute cooldown is very limiting however and knowing when to use or save it for later can make a difference.
Some highlights of the video:
Good use of ball passing for both sides.
Using Force Push to knock people off ledges and into hazards. In one case, I pushed the enemy ball carrier into the poison hazard and rooted him with a charge to make sure he dies. I died too, but that was fun.
Using Taunt when I can to make sure the ball carrier takes less damage. A Powertech was also doing very well shielding the ball carriers.
A lot of good group play in protecting the ball carrier. The opposing group were a little disorganized, but they didn't lack in effort and had been trying to score.
A teammate going the wrong way! It was a little confusing at first before we realized what was happening. We were ahead 3-0 though so everyone had a laugh. That same ball carrier also seemed inexperienced with ball passing.
Sadly beta is over, but I'll have more vids coming out during the week, as well as commentary. With early access coming in just over a week, I am very eager to play and get more SWTOR PvP action.
On the last day of the beta weekend, I decided to give PvP a whirl. I decided to stick with my tank spec particularly because of one talent - Intimidation. This allowed Chilling Scream to be cast without any rage cost. While Chilling Scream is governed by the global cooldown, it does not have a cooldown of it's own. And having a free, almost spammable AoE snare is incredibly valuable. Sadly, I wasn't able to get high enough level to get other great abilities for PvP, but I figured I'd still give it a go.
Huttball is actually a great warzone for a Sith Juggernaut or Jedi Guardian. While PvP is always about killing other people, control is far more powerful in a game like Huttball. Killing opponents would actually make things harder as they spawn behind the goal line.
In this particular game, I decided to play very aggressively and see if I can draw the attention of multiple players. My first skirmish did just that and 4-5 opposing players decided to beat on me. A deficit of half their team locked in a useless battle. It did take them 24s to kill me which was more than enough time for the ball carrier to score by the time I respawned. I decided to use this strategy a lot as my opponents did not seem to really care about the objectives and decided to farm kills (or they gave up early). I did make a mistake at one point when I created a 3-1 deficit created in favour of the opponents when I decided to take on a smuggler. Not that I didn't appreciate the healing or the extra shooter, but it was an unnecessary fight.
One of the better abilities of a Juggernaut at this level is Guard and Taunt. These make Juggernauts and Guardians excellent bodyguards for ball carriers and healers and actually makes tanking useful in PvP. I have to hand it to Bioware that they decided to make all specs useful for PvP and it made the game significantly more fun.
Other highlights of the match:
A 3-1 situation where I was able to take one trooper down before I died
Force Scream is a really powerful finisher ability. It should be able to deal far more damage than seen in the vid if I was able to gear up more
The Juggernaut's resilience is shown very well on that last goal. Taking focus fire and having one healer, I was able to slowly make my way to the goal line. Also, charging through fire is fun, if dangerous (my health went down to almost 30%)
Another show of durability of the class is when I decided to run through the poison hazard. Took some damage but it was not significant and allowed me to save my charge in case other opponents don't take their attention from the ball carrier.
In any case, I have now cemented my decision to make the Sith Juggernaut as my main class. While I was sad to not have the time to level and get more abilities, I welcome the challenge of learning how to use a higher level tank in PvP.
