Galaxies Tuesday: CU2.doc

What didn’t I copy from the forums, we ask?  I don’t recall this at all.  It must be from just before the Combat Upgrade, right?  I don’t recall much from the Combat Upgrade, overshadowed as it soon was by the NGE.

My first ever MMO character was a Galaxies Doctor. Not a Combat Medic, but that thrilling class who could cure you of anything, drag you to safety, and bring you back to life.  I also got so I could create really nice medicines which I sold successfully and happily.  With the Combat Upgrade, that character was so changed I stopped playing her.  I just couldn’t bear to play her anymore.  Her medicines were turned overnight to trash though they were supposed to be made to something equivalently good in the new system.

I created my Ranger, then another.  I had long admired Ranger characters I knew, but you know, two characters per server and my Doc was needed by her guild.  I spent some months really so happy and free as a Ranger until the class was totally removed in the NGE.

This really sounds more like the NGE talking about the removal of classes.  I dunno.

Last week at the Austin Game Conference, John Smedley, the president of SOE, mentioned in his keynote address that their upcoming DC comics MMO would be real-time combat. We bumped into him later that day and asked if what he said was true and he assured us it was. He also happened to mention SWG would be going real-time combat as well. He asked us not to print anything until SOE unveiled some of their upcoming changes today.

From our man in the field, schild:

quote (schild):

 

Ok, so I’m here at SOE’s Austinstudio and I’ve played the new build of SWG which is going to be pushed onto test on Friday…with no real press. Basically they went through, ripped out 80% of the classes, left in the following: Force Sensitive, Bounty Hunter, Officer, Smuggler, Commando, Spy, Trader (all the tradeskills – 4 base sets now – Domestics, Structures, Munitions, Engineering), Medic and Entertainer. Here’s the deal. Left click shoots – you have to aim. Right click fires off a special ability.

No more auto attack.
No more hotkey combat.

Once collision detection goes in, this will probably be the game I play. There’s actual skill involved now. You can run from people and they can’t just autohit you.

I don’t know how else to explain it other than SOE has done the right thing. They’ve revitalized combat in an MMOG. It’s a huge step in the right direction. Do I think they’ll perfect it here? No. But it’s by far the most interesting thing a studio has done. They’ve taken a gamble, and from what I’ve seen it’s paid off. In other words, they’ve added the “Wars” back to Star Wars. It’s been in the works for over a year now. In fact, the expansions could probably be called smokescreens for the launch of the real game. It’ll shake things up.

Cons? 90 levels. The exp curve isn’t bad though.
Good? Lots of neat skills such as Orbital Strike, theft from NPCs, working stealth for spies, fencing goods in the field for smugglers, and above all – combat based at least 75% on skill. It isn’t quite Unreal Tournament, but it’s nowhere near the crap combat we’ve dealt with for 10 years.

When it rolls out in a few weeks I’m hoping some of you will actually take the dive again with me and see where it goes, if for no other reason than to support innovation. In all seriousness, almost all the changes are for the better. Before anyone else says it – yes, it was shocking to me that SOE took this angle on restructuring an MMOG first. Even moreso that Lucasarts supported it. Ding. Grats.

 

Needless to say that left me wanting to know more, so I tried to follow-up with schild while he was busy playing an internal build of the overhaul.

quote (schild):

 

SOE and LucasArts are 100% behind this. The goal is to make the game more fun, to make you feel like a part of the Star Wars universe.

This is not something that will be done a week or even a month from now. From what schild can gather, we’re looking at 6 months or more before this is rolled out to every server. The entire game is changing. No “classic” servers, everything will be the revamped game.

In order for them to implement collision detection, every art asset in the game has to be gone through. That’s why we’re looking at 6+ months.

Space combat will stay the same.

Like us, I assume many of you have questions and we’ll do our best to answer them in the coming days, weeks and months. For right now I have a reason to re-activate my SWG subscription and that’s something that one week ago I thought I would never have a reason to do.

[EDIT] Information is continuing to roll in.

quote (schild):

 

Think Diablo. You can also hold down left click like a machine gun. But uhmmm, yea. It’s getting there.

As for weapons, here’s the deal. The abilities are class specific, not weapon specific. You want to wield melee? Any class can do it. Etc. It’s well done. Balance isn’t one of the hugest issues here as once CD is in, the game will require more skill. For every bit of skill put into a game, you don’t need to worry so much about balance. I’m interested in seeing orbital strike or a called in artillary shot during PvP. It’ll be interesting.

 

quote (schild):

 

A lot of it is going in in 2 weeks. Collision detection will be the thing done in 6 months. Sorry for not being clear.

Shockeye said they aren’t keeping the old servers. They are, characters and shit will be grandfathered in. This is a total combat restructure. It’s a better core game, placed on everything that already exists. It’s a change of monumental proportions that many would have refused to undertake. It’s impressive to say the least. BUT IS IT GOOD? Have to wait for a couple weeks and try it out on live. Initial impressions: Promising. That’s more than I’ve said about an MMOG in 6 months. So take it as you will.

 

I guess I misunderstood schild. My bad.

quote (schild):

 

Seriously though, here’s more fun – the 3rd person aiming perspective was taken from Resident Evil IV. Admittedly. It’s good stuff. It shows how much better RE4 would be with a mouse. Something important to understand though, if you are aiming at the guy and on him – you WILL hit him. There doesn’t seem to be a way to miss if you can aim. So there’s a good amalgam of games at work in this system. It’ll be fun to watch the fireball when it hits, and hopefully it will be as fun in live practice as well.

Shockeye:
Correct, they aren’t going to DAOC the servers. Everyone gets these changes.

One of the things I’ve read on the boards that linked to us is that people thing this is a first person shooter. It’s not, it has some in common – but at the end of the cycle after they add collision detection it will definately play more like how SW:G should have played at launch. These are good necessary changes. The combat was the shittiest of the shitty when the game came out. Now it’s not. It’s that simple.

 

A Bored Sockpuppet…

I killed off the Level 100 PVE Realm Strawfigure and made a new one on the PVE Leveling Realm. Much better.  She can fish for me while she waits in a dungeon queue.  I need a bazillion Crescent Fish.  A Useful Alt is a Happy Alt.

Draenor Diaries: Strawfigure Queues Up

I thought I might queue Strawfigure up for the Bloodmaul Slag Mines to see how she did on that Beginner Dungeon.  My live Shadow Priest is now level 70 and the skills gained in those next 20 levels weren’t particularly significant so I think I can play her through a dungeon as well as any other class.

I waited 22 minutes in queue. Sent some Followers on Missions. Because I am Insta-100, these characters haven’t been leveling with me, and they don’t have the array of Counter Skills needed for many missions.  I’m sending these poor things out with 0-22% chance of Mission Success.  They still get the XP.

I don’t have the group of Followers I’ve earned on the Leveling Realm because these were Insta-Assigned via Garrison Ford, the garrison guru on the 100 Realm.  I always Choose Onaala, for instance and I don’t have her.  She counters many of the things I can’t counter with this set.  I wonder if I can swap for my real Follower set with the NPC at my Garrison who snares your Followers away when you get over  the allowed number.

When my Leveling Realm character got to 100, I went back to my garrison, upped it to level 3 and voila, happiness.  There were new quests waiting, I could pick a couple of new garrison buildings, and I could go through and complete any achievements I hadn’t done.  I hadn’t worked on crafting much and I could work on that now.  I thought, “there is so much fun stuff to do at level 100”.

With my Insta character, I don’t have that feeling at all.  She was given Skinning and Alchemy as her Professions.  Not the best combination.

There are quest lines to go places I’ve been and done, but meh, are they really worth spending time on for her?  So what can I do with this girl while she waits in an interminable queue?  Hmmpf.

Galaxies (Tuesday, Oops): A Ranger’s Story

Busy day yesterday. I did think about my Tuesday Galaxies post once but then poof.

I have never had the ability to really Roleplay, but there were a ton of excellent Roleplayers in Galaxies.  The world was rich in background and lore so you could easily create an origins story for your character.

I hung out with a group of Rangers for a bit with the second Ranger character I made.  Everyone seemed to have a backstory for their character, so I attempted one too.  This is Amarta’s story:

     Amarta was born in Nashal, Talus.  Her architect father and tailor mother were busy crafters who worked dawn to dusk and had little time for Amarta.  Amarta helped them whenever she could by running errands throughout the city, making deliveries to merchants and entertainers.  She loved being sent to the cantina, a crowded smoky building packed with travelers and musicians and dancers.  She delivered goods or messages and always found a small corner where she could sit for a bit listening to the wayfarers and local hunters telling stories.  The visions these stories gave her of faraway cities and immense creatures which could be killed by a skilled hunter made her wish for a different life.  She was learning architecture and tailoring skills from her parents and next season, when she came of age, she was to choose to be apprenticed formally in one of these professions.  Although she had learned much from both of her parents, she hated sitting and crafting and was only happy running through the city and countryside.

     One day, while making a delivery to the lead musician in the local band, she saw a stranger sitting off in a corner talking to one of the lovely Twi’lek dancers.  He had long russet hair pulled back from his handsome face in a stylish manner.  His deep voice and hearty laugh seemed to fill the cantina as he flirted with the dancer, telling her about a giant turtle like creature he had killed on faraway Rori.  These turtle creatures, “Tortors” he called them, gave the largest amount of wooly hide per harvest of any creature.  Amarta pondered how something hard shelled could give out the wooly hide her parents prized so much.  How could it be? 

     Amarta began to think that she should and could learn more about the creatures.  Maybe, she thought, I could learn to hunt and gather hide, bone and meat instead of becoming a crafter.  This was a revelation! Instead of listening to tales of adventure she could live such a life herself.  She approached the stranger and shyly asked if he needed an apprentice or if he knew of someone who did.  He looked at her in her soft robes and artisan pack and his eyes grew merry but he did not laugh.

     “I cannot take on an apprentice myself.  I am a Ranger who rarely stays in one place for long.  Also, my travels take me to places far too dangerous for someone obviously trained to be a crafter.  If you are serious about learning the art of hunting, you should begin by exploring the areas outside this city.  Examine all of the creatures you find, begin by hunting smaller animals.  As your skills increase, hunt larger creatures.  When you know the habits and resources to be gathered from all of the creatures on your home planet, travel to Corellia and find a Ranger to help guide you from there.”

     Amarta was thrilled by his words and frustrated.  Now that she had a vision of herself as a great huntress, she wanted to become one now.  She bowed to him and thanked him, then left the cantina.  Searching in her pack for some metals, she fashioned a small survival knife.  She headed out of the city, furiously thinking “trained to be a crafter” hmmpf!  I can be anything I want to be!  She stomped though the high grasses picturing herself taking down a Tortor, gathering large quantities of wooly hide and bringing it back to her astonished and grateful parents.  She didn’t hear the rustling of the grass nor did she see the long legs and sharp claws that raked at her.  The air was filled with high pitched shrieking from the giant Dalyrake that had brought her down.  Incapacitated, she lay on the ground bleeding and dazed as it moved a few meters away preparing for the next attack.  She had heard of these frightening creatures but had never strayed far enough from the city to encounter one.  Heart pounding, she carefully got up and ran as fast as she could towards home.  Errand running had made her a fast runner but terror made her stumble and feel like the slowest person in the world as she listened for the pounding of many legs in pursuit behind her.

     Drying her tears and patching up her wounds, her parents convinced her to learn scouting skills as a sideline but to concentrate on crafting.  They needed her, they said.

Wisely recognizing her restlessness, they began to send her on business trips to other parts of the galaxy.  Their thriving businesses helped keep Amarta occupied and she wandered the galaxy happily.  She tried various crafting skills out but could not be made to settle on any of them.  Whenever she could, she left the cities and explored the countryside, learning the ways of the animals as the Ranger had suggested.  She crafted her own weapons so she could secretly try out various fighting skills.

     One day, sipping Corellian Ale at a table in Coronet’s cantina she overheard some rough looking characters quietly discussing making a secret Ranger city.  The leader of the group was a woman who was earnestly discussing how and where to build this city.  In a moment very like the one years ago in the Nashal cantina, Amarta had happened upon real Rangers who might teach her the skills and lifestyle she still wanted more than anything.  She sat frozen in her chair, wondering how she could interrupt their private conversation, afraid they would suddenly disappear along with her chances of happiness and adventure.  Pushing her chair back and jumping up, she almost ran over to their table.  They all looked up in surprise and a few hands dropped to their waists for weapons instinctively. 

     Bowing, Amarta introduced herself and blurted out “I want to be a Ranger! Can you take me with you and teach me your skills? Can I join your city? Please!” 

     The leader, who introduced herself as Lasanie, was first to recover.  “We are looking for true Rangers for our city, it will not be a place that welcomes dabblers.  What are your skills?  You do not look like a Scout or Ranger to me.”  She said this kindly but Amarta blushed. 

     “I have been formally trained as an Artisan but my heart is that of a wanderer and hunter.  I have been waiting all my life to meet folk like you.  Give me a chance, I will learn as quickly as I can and prove myself useful.” 

     One of the men who were surrounded by a cloud of smoke said “I think we should give her a chance.  We need a certain number of citizens to start our city.  If things don’t work out we part company.  My name is Alain, Amarta.” He introduced himself, blowing a new cloud of smoke towards the man on his right.  Coughing, the man extended a hand to Amarta in greeting. 

     “Agreed, she has the desire to learn and we want to promote our profession.  It is a good time for you to have come upon our group, Amarta.  My name is Caen.  He scribbled a note on a small piece of paper.  “Here are directions to my shop The Ranger’s Repast.  Everything you will need to outfit yourself as a successful Scout is there. When you have what you need, communicate with us via the bartender over there” he said, pointing at a Trandoshan behind the bar. We look forward to hunting with you.” 

     Bouncing up and down like a child, then dancing in a circle, Amarta shouted “Whoo hoo!”  Hugging each surprised Ranger in turn she bowed deeply to each, then turned and ran out of the cantina heading south to The Ranger’s Repast and a new beginning.

 

Things To Do In Your Garrison

I’m seeing comments now and then about people “spending all day alone in their garrison”.   This has Basement Mouth Breather written all over it, right?   Scummy low people HIDING FROM OTHERS in a multi-player game. Gasp!  So icky!

You really wouldn’t spend all your time there unless you are the sort who sits around Stormwind and never plays, but you’re just snacking and chatting.  There do seem to be a few of those in the live game.

Here in a nutshell are the things you’d drop into your Garrison for:

Pick up quests
Turn in and pick up work orders
Repair
Fly to other locations
Mine Ores
Pick Herbs
Craft
Use Bank
Start and complete Follower Missions
Start a Garrison invasion
Mail items
Upgrade Garrison buildings
Get Daily Fishing Quests
Snooze safely in front of your fireplace

Booted!

Aha, don’t log into the game in a day or so to Beta, and as promised, I have been booted from the Pseudo Beta Guild.   I must say it makes me mostly happy because now I’m just representing me again and a teeny bit Cone of Shame-ish that I was ejected.   Hmmpf.

Galaxies Tuesday: A Guide to the Corellian Corvette

For a game that didn’t have any proper quests for a long time, Galaxies managed to have a few really exceptional series that were very quest like and great fun:  Jabba’s Palace, The Cries of Alderaan (wildly popular and fun yet they refused to do more in the series or do other things like it) and the Corellian Corvette.    Sorry I haven’t the name of whoever did the guide.

Here’s some info I keep handy for doing the ‘vettes…

 

*** GETTING TICKETS ***

 

Imperial Missions

Shuttle: DS-533 :: Emperor’s Retreat, Naboo :: 2447 -3898

Rescue: Colonel Darkstone :: Imperial Oasis, Tatooine :: -5313 2662 :: Prisoner Transport Order

Droid Engineer Cave, Lok (storage crate at bottom of cave; 3206 -4873)

Rogue CorSec Hideout, Corellia (storage crate at bottom of base bulding; 5229 1593)

Woolamander Temple, Yavin IV (small container in right side of temple)

Assassination: Lt. Sabol :: Bestine, Tatooine :: -1291 -3539 :: Signed Alliance Transport Document

Afarah Cave, Corellia (small metal storage crate near bottom of cave; -2557 3005)

Abandoned Rebel Base, Dantooine (small metal storage crate inside building just past gate; -6676 5557)

Crash Site, Dathomir (5596 1952)

Destroy: Lt. Velso :: Emperor’s Retreat, Naboo :: 2405 -3967 :: Ship Destruct Sequence Codes

Anchorhead, Tatooine (storage crate next to Rebel recruiter in tavern; 134 -5349)

Janta Stronghold, Dantooine (drum at the bottom of the cave)

Erran Sif’s Hideout, Talus (table in second room)

Rebel Missions

Shuttle: Lt. Lance :: Rebel Hideout, Corellia :: (back of the compound)

Rescue: Adar Tallon :: Tyrena, Corellia :: -5448 -2674 :: Security Override Codes

Warren, Dantooine (table in the first big room; -526 -3870)

Imperial Prison, Dathomir (storage crate in cell buildings; -6352 749)

Crash Site, Lok (crate in small room; 3657 2185)

Assassination: Pashna Starkiller :: Bela Vistal, Corellia :: 6772 -5697 :: Imperial Dossier

Fort Tusken, Tatooine (small metal storage crate on floor in the cave, second room from top)

Mokk Village, Dantooine (damaged metal drum; -7065 -3326)

Geonosian Lab, Yavin IV (desk in the technical assistant’s room)

Destroy: Master Sergeant Crowley :: Kor Vella, Corellia :: -3404 3092 :: Ship Preparation Document

Imperial Outpost, Lok (small metal storage crate; -1891 -3033)

Corbal Cave, Rori (bookshelf at the second level down; 5452 5025)

Imperial Prison, Dathomir (small storage drum where prisoner is in cell buildings; -6308 754)

Jabba (Neutral) Missions

Shuttle: Klaatu :: Jabba’s Palace, Tatooine :: -6178 -6381

Rescue: Yondalla :: Wayfar, Tatooine :: -5150 -6588 (in cantina) :: CorSec Prisoner Transfer Document

Kahmurra Bio-Genetics Lab, Talus (rusty container at bottom of lab)

Lord Nyax Hideout, Corellia (bookcase before Nyax’s room)

Korga Cave, Endor (rusty container at back of cave)

Assassination: Bronell :: Jabba’s Palace, Tatooine :: (2nd floor near Ephont Mon) :: Debt List (Gambling)

Binayre Pirate Bunker, Talus (desk near the bottom of the base; 5569 -4066)

Pirate Bunker, Naboo (damaged metal drum on middle floor of base; -1507 -1729)

Canyon Corsairs Camp, Lok (storage crate in one of the tents; -3893 -3800)

Destroy: Bruce McBrain :: Jabba’s Palace, Tatooine :: (entrance area) :: CorSec Destruction Code Sequences

Mauler Stronghold, Naboo (chest inside the building; 2910 1098)

Rogue CorSec Hideout, Corellia (desk at bottom of base building; 5231 1592)

Nightsister Slave Camp, Dathomir (damaged metal drum inside small cove half-way through; 2474 -1543)

 

*** MISSION WALKTHROUGHS ***

 

First off, here’s a handy map to use:

http://belita.netfirms.com/

It’s not 100% accurate, but it’s definitely good enough to get you through the missions…

(bow = front, stern = back, port = left, starboard = right)

Rescue Mission:

1. From Start/Clone on the Main Level, go to the Mess Hall (large room, middle of the ship).

2. In the port closet there is a broken droid, loot it to get the Droid Module (DM).

3. Go to Elevator E2 and take it down to the Lower Level.

4. Go to the starboard Engine Room in the stern of the ship.

5. Head down into the small room off of the starboard Engine Room.

6. Place the Droid Module (DM) into the broken R2 droid there and it will disable the electrical field.

7. Use the console (C3) there to unlock the Meeting Room (MR).

8. Go to the Meeting Room (MR) and unlock the Elevator Switch (ES).

9. Head to the front of the ship, grabbing loot along the way (L2).

10. Go to Elevator E4 and go down to the Sub Lower Level.

11. Follow the corridor to the very end and use the console to get the Prisoner’s Code (CP).

12. Go back to Elevator E4 and up to the Lower Level again.

13. Take the Elevator E3 up to the Main Level.

14. Head to the Prisoners (P) in the brig, use the Prisoner’s Code (CP), and talk to the prisoner.

15. Get out of the ship using the closest Escape Pod! Or go collect the rest of the loot…

Assassination Mission:

1. From Start/Clone on the Main Level, go to the Mess Hall (large room, middle of the ship).

2. In the port closet there is a broken droid, loot it to get the Droid Module (DM).

3. Go to Elevator E2 and take it down to the Lower Level.

4. Go to the starboard Engine Room in the stern of the ship.

5. Head down into the small room off of the starboard Engine Room.

6. Place the Droid Module (DM) into the broken R2 droid there and it will disable the electrical field.

7. Use the console (C3) there to unlock the Meeting Room (MR).

8. Go to the Meeting Room (MR) and unlock the Elevator Switch (ES).

9. Grab the Port Officer’s Quarters Code (CP) and loot (L2) from the broken droid and armoire.

10. Head to the front of the ship.

11. Take the Elevator E3 up to the Main Level.

12. Head to the front of the ship and go to the Port Officer’s Quarters.

13. Use the Port Officer’s Quarters Code (CP) and assassinate the target (I).

14. Get out of the ship using the closest Escape Pod! Or go collect the rest of the loot…

Destroy Mission:

1. From Start/Clone on the Main Level, go to Elevator E1 and head up to the Upper Level.

2. Go down the hall into the first side room and grab the Disk #4 (D4) from the marked chest (open it).

3. Go to the next side room, grab the loot (L1) and learn how to destroy the ship (CF).

4. Head back to Elevator E1 and go down to the Main Level.

5. From the elevator go straight to the room at the other end of that hall (Control Room).

6. Use the two working consoles in there to get the Bridge Code (CB) and the Armory Code (CA).

7. Go to the Mess Hall (large room, middle of the ship).

8. In the port closet there is a broken droid, loot it to get the Droid Module (DM).

9. Go to Elevator E2 and take it down to the Lower Level.

10. Go to the port Engine Room in the stern of the ship.

11. Head up the ramp to the platform and into the small room.

12. Use the console to set the Fuel Controls (FC)to the HIGHEST setting.

13. Go to the starboard Engine Room in the stern of the ship.

14. Head down into the small room off of the starboard Engine Room.

15. Place the Droid Module (DM) into the broken R2 droid there and it will disable the electrical field.

16. Use the console (C3) there to unlock the Meeting Room (MR).

17. Go to the Meeting Room (MR) and unlock the Elevator Switch (ES).

18. Set the Hyperdrive Control (H), on this floor forward from the “star” room, to the LOWEST setting.

19. Head to the front of the ship, grabbing loot along the way (L2 & L3).

20. Take the Elevator E3 up to the Main Level.

21. Head to the very front of the ship and use the Bridge Code (BC) to unlock the Bridge.

22. Inside there is the Engine Controls (EC), set them to the LOWEST setting to finalize the self-destruct.

23. Get out of the ship using the closest Escape Pod! Or go collect the rest of the loot…

 

*** THE LOOT CONTAINERS ***

 

You can find the following notable loot randomly in one of the four loot containers on the Corvette:

Power Plant AV-21

Berserker Rifle Schematic

Berserker Rifle Stabilization Component

Marine Armor Chest Plate (Rebel Insignia)

Marine Shirt (Rebel Insignia)

A Bantha Doll

 

*** INFORMATION ***

 

Getting on the Corvette:

In order to get on board the Corvette you must first get a ticket authorization.

To get the ticket you must talk to the specific NPC for the Corvette mission you wish to attempt: Rescue, Assassination, or Destroy. There is one ticket authorization NPC for each of the missions for each of the factions (Imperial, Rebel, and Jabba) for a total of nine in all.

The NPC will only give you the ticket if you can gather a specific document they require for the mission (listed above).

This document can be found in one of three locations. These three locations are different for each of the missions. The location containing the correct document is random. The other two locations will contain other documents as well. However, they cannot be used to gain access to the Corvette and can only be turned into the NPC for faction points.

Once you give the NPC the correct document they will grant you a ticket authorization to get onto the Corvette. Bring this ticket to the NPC at the Corvette Shuttle location for your faction (mentioned above).

When you talk to the shuttle NPC you will be taken to a personal instance of the Corvette. Make sure everyone in your group is near you when you do this. They will get a confirmation dialog to accept the mission to go on the Corvette with you. When they accept they will be brought to your Corvette instance as well.

Note that for the Imperial and Rebel versions you must be at least a Combatant in order to speak with the ticket authorization NPC and the shuttle NPC.

Any faction can do the Jabba Corvette missions. However, you will need non-negative Jabba faction to talk to two of them (Bronell and Bruce McBrain) and you will need access into Jabba’s Palace to talk to one of them (Bronell). Be aware that the MOB’s on these Corvette missions are primarily CorSec, so you will likely lose a lot of faction with them from doing these missions (if you fight).

Also note that you can only obtain one ticket authorization per character at a time. Furthermore, you can only attempt to do the mission for one NPC at a time. If you’re collecting documents or have a ticket authorization already you will NOT be able to get the mission from any of the other Corvette mission NPC’s. If you wish to attempt a different mission from the current one then you must speak with the original ticket authorization NPC that you are currently ‘working’ for and withdraw from their mission.

Onboard the Corvette:

You have one hour to complete your mission from the second you board the ‘vette. When the time has expired you will automatically be ejected back to the shuttle location.

To get off the Corvette (before the timer expires) you must use one of the Escape Pods. These are accessed by using one of the terminals sticking out of the wall in the outside port and starboard corridors (noticeable for their much darker atmosphere compared to the rest of the white ship). Make sure you don’t use these by accident… you can’t get back on the ship!!!

If you disband from the group you will be ejected from the Corvette, unless you’re the ticket holder, in which case everyone else will get ejected (unconfirmed). Obviously, you shouldn’t do this!

If you die you will respawn at the starting location of the Corvette (no extra wounds or decay penalty).

MOB’s won’t respawn *unless* the ticket holder dies (10 minutes?).

There are four lootable containers on the Corvette: one in the second room on the top floor, two in the room off of the five-corridor room on the bottom floor (across from the room where you get the port officer’s quarters code from the console), and one in the back of the armory (code required to get in).

Accessing any of the loot containers will cause 1 or 2 Super Battle Droids to spawn.

The loot containers require one hour to ‘respawn’ loot in them from the _last time they were accessed_ (even if it’s a “new” instance of the Corvette).

In order to unlock the Meeting Room door you must travel to the starboard-side Engine Room. In there you will find the console to unlock the door. Unfortunately it’s behind a deadly electrical field that few can survive. Luckily there is an R2 droid nearby that can disable the field, but it’s currently broken. In order to fix it you must grab the Droid Part from the broken down droid in the Mess Hall port-side closet on the Main Floor. Use this part on the R2 droid by the electrical field by dragging it from your inventory on to the droid (can’t be in combat). After this the droid will come to life and go deactivate the field so that you can access the console to unlock the Meeting Room door. This must be done for all Corvette missions. However, there is a bug that sometimes allows this to be bypassed…

When you receive your mission complete message you *must* use an Escape Pod to truly successfully complete the mission.

Note that there is currently an instancing bug with the Corvette where it will not get “cleaned up” from other people’s missions, such as Super Battle Droids not despawning and loot containers not respawning their loot for your mission. Unfortunately this issue seems to compound throughout the day, usually leading to insane conditions on the Corvette if you try it later on in the day due to over-spawning SBD’s and a several bugs…

Corvette Rewards:

Once you complete your mission and use an Escape Pod you will acquire a badge for that version of the Corvette. There is a badge for each faction’s missions, so nine badges in total. Everyone that is onboard the Corvette when the mission completed message is broadcast and uses an Escape Pod to get off afterwards will receive the badge.

Everyone in the group that successfully completed the Corvette mission can return to the ticket authorization NPC that gave the mission to claim a reward of an AV-21 Speeder Schematic (learnable by a Master Artisan).

Loot container stuff:

Power Plant AV-21 is required to make AV-21 Speeders.

Berserker Rifle Schematic is learnable by a Weaponsmith.

Berserker Rifle Stabilization Component is required to make Berserker Rifles.

Marine Armor Chest Plate and Shirt (insignia) are Bio-linkable items that Rebels can wear.

The Bantha Doll is just a cute decoration (a named variant can easily be obtained elsewhere though).

Note, if you were doing the Jabba Corvette missions, you probably lost a lot of CorSec faction. This can make travelling in cities on Corellia a bit of a pain since CorSec often patrol there and will aggro you if your faction is low enough with them. To easily gain back this faction quickly you can either run Rogue CorSec missions or head out to the Rogue CorSec POI base.

 

Your Agent In Place: Strawfigure

Here is my PVE 100 Test ranged character.  My real Warlock and Frost Mage were already pummeled by run of the mill Draenor content so I sure didn’t want to send in those classes.  My live Shadow Priest is a few boxes from 70 and I think she has a good possibility for survivability in the Draenor dungeons. 

One comment I’ve heard from Priests is that they’re supposed to be using Mass Dispel against some of the bosses.  I’ve got that.

The first dungeon you can get in is Bloodmaul Slag Mines so I’m sending her there first.  I tried queuing for a bit this morning but hadn’t time to wait the what, 45 minutes or so to get in at this time.

With your leveling world character you always have lots to do while in a queue but on this 100 Realm, you’re kind of given everything and testing the higher level content is what you do.

I wonder. The population on this realm is low anyway, so queues would be long.  If I knew people here, I’d just go with those people in pre-made groups rather than PUG it anytime. So maybe this test won’t work for that reason hmmm.

Wish her luck.   I wanted to call her Sockpuppet but that was taken 😦

If You’re Always The First To Die…

Let’s just say it, if you’re always the first in a dungeon to die, you’re doing something wrong.

On live, I’m rarely the first one down no matter which class I’m playing.  In Draenor dungeons, I find my view of the world to pretty on level with the ground.  My Death Knight fares better but my Druid…ouch.

Before I get all whiny and say I reek, I need to send in Sock Puppet Level 100 characters of more classes to see if the problem is largely because I’m melee and can’t get away from stuff fast enough.

I’ll report back.   If all classes are utter failures for me I’ll simply post a sucker here with no commentary.   If I can do the ranged classes and last longer in the dungeons you’ll see Underdog.   Keep checking back, lol.

Here is a shot from The Iron Docks, a really cool huge outdoor dungeon.  I can’t get over what a good job they’ve done with making the scale of everything seem so huge.

 

 

 

Note: Also doing my homework on these.  I really liked this guys guide on MMO Champion.  It is much more practical and describes each fight and the mechanics for Skyreach.   http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1556898-Skyreach-Full-Dungeon-Guide

Your Dungeon Group Is Ready

Healing in dungeons makes me incredibly tense and I can do it if I just keep rolling into the next dungeon.  If I have any downtime of a few days let alone weeks not going in and healing, I lose my confidence.

My method then is to go back in with a low level healer to get my mojo back.  I did this with a side character on a realm I really don’t play on.  Got scooped into a guild, which I usually ignore.  Made it through four dungeons with a bad tank and two good ones, so results varied. 

I always support my characters with other characters who provide bags and potions and armor.  I don’t have that there so we shall see.  If you think I’d ask the guild for assistance hahaha.  I may provide my guildies with everything they can imagine but I don’t take anything from strangers.  I guess I’ll see how an unsupported character can do.

In the Beta, I wanted to use my level 100 PVE test character for dungeons so I could be anonymously lousy if need be.  The realm was hinky though so I fell back to my real girl.  I ended up accepting an invitation there too.

I think I may be a little critical of other guild masters and guilds because when the guildmeister announced that anyone who didn’t log in for 24 hrs and check in somehow would be popped from the guild I thought that’s pretty cheesy!  Don’t ninja invite people if you’re soooo full.   We’ll see.  I play my own game and am not going to be sure I toe the line to stay in.  I just thought if I’m going to run dungeons mass rez would be a nice thing to have.

This is actually impractical because the dungeons are still absolute B-Busters and everyone is dead dead dead.

In Auchindoun,  we went through six tanks, two healers and four DPS before the third boss.  Then everyone gave up.

In Bloodmaul Slag Mines we were stuck and eternally dead at the first boss.  We should have gone left first not right.  At least we’d be dead in a new spot.

In Everbloom, I was greeted with “Oh, another Druid. I hope your DPS is better than the one that just left.”   They were at the last boss and knew the trick of taking him down so all was well.

I’m a jump in and read the instructions if things go wonky sort, but I think I finally have to look up the tips for these.  One of the reasons I hadn’t wanted to is because I didn’t want to spoil the plot/layout etc of the dungeon for myself.   However, I’ve been in a single group that made it all the way through a dungeon (The Grimrail Depot) in all my entries. 

I don’t mind that the dungeons are harder and you have to work together to go through, that is truly the fun of them.  I think there is a reliance on stuns, fears, and other character disabling moves in these that is pretty ridiculous.   The healer’s abilities have been really limited.  Character’s who had some self heal moves have had them removed or truncated so despite everyone’s efforts, everyone dies.

I do think tanks are still trying to go in and take the whole place down by themselves and that makes their dungeon stays short.

Note:  I looked at the videos for these three on Fatboss TV (new to me)  and all they could say was how easy these were, how disappointingly simple the boss mechanics…agh!  I am not seeing others who feel this way in game. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxPdH3tv8zuGDBBKCEwruGQ