Speculation: Wearing A Path In The Holonet

As we touched on in our previous article, we believe all the developers public statements solidified BioWare's direction of class design. We searched high and low looking for clues, kicked around hypotheses, made charts and graphs, followed several threads in the Character Class section of the Star Wars: The Old Republic official forums and we discovered that the answer to every class two paths were possibly outlined plain as day in the Holonet.
A casual observer might think that this is simply random concept art or maybe examples of tiered gear, but we should accept the fact that every single thing officially released is done so for a very specific marketing reason. For example, if you take a look at the Outfitting section of the Sith Warrior, you see this:

sithwarrior_s>
Progression through story is not without rewards for the Sith Warrior, shown here modeling a series of well earned armor upgrades. Quoted from the official site


We see these images as something very telling: an example of what you may look like prior to choosing one of two paths, what you may look like after picking a pure damage path, and finally what you may look like after picking a support path.

Jake Neri told us that as you progress, you will reach a point where you will pick one of two paths that are very distinct from one another. In the example of the Sith Warrior, it makes sense that you would start out looking like a combination of the two paths in order to get the experience of the core class. If you pick the damage path, then you will wear visually lighter armor, possibly assisted by cybernetics, to dual wield lightsabers in a quick, hack and slash manner. In contrast, if you pick the support path, then you would focus on Darth Vader-like hulking damage mitigation to aid your allies.

We believe that these two paths of damage and support is true for every single class, and the Holonet appears to support this. We found this eerie coincidence repeating in each class Outfitting page. To test our theory, we looked at the Trooper:

trooper_s


Reading descriptions of the trooper concept art allows us to make a few reasonable conclusions. In this image, the base class would be the armor set on the left described as standard issue. Those wanting to play a ranged tank would pick the center concept, noted as being tested for strength and durability, while those wanting to focus more on dealing damage may choose the flexible tactical option seen on the right.

It is possible that BioWare is hiding even more clues in plain sight for months now. We were previously told of tidbits found in other sources, and the Holonet appears to be prime real estate to find more. No matter the path you choose, it appears your look will match your play style.

Comments

  • Dark Lord
    Remlish's avatar
    • Posts: 277
    #43 Remlish Posted 12/15/2009 3:34:13 AM
    I have to agree with DH fully on this one. I did not realize so many people were unaware of this but EVERYTHING you could want to know about TOR is hidden in the Holonet.These clues are not just present in concept art but also in the backgound of the class animation on thier respective holonet screens.
    Trooper for instance shows both the heavy and light helms from the concept images
    Smuggler shows high tech and regal pistols
    Knight shows two different types of holocrons and sabers which might not mean much
    Consular shows a diplomatic and a multifunctional headpeice
    Bounty Hunter shows light and heavy helms
    Agent apears to show off both offensive and defensive techs
    Warrior like Knight shows off different holocrons and sabers
    Inquisitor shows off the militaryesqe and wizard like hoods

    The only two classes whos paths are not very clearly defined by the media provided on the holonet is Warrior and Knight , and those are the two classes we really dont need any explanation for, they are the front line players who can spec DPS or Tank.
  • Spice Runner
    darthuser567's avatar
    • Posts: 133
    #42 darthuser567 Posted 12/15/2009 2:00:03 AM
    No need to be defensive or praising Emleah's work... I'm pretty sure some of the people here are realizing that we focus so much on the forum posting that lead us to false, quick assumptions and confusion of what is really going to happen down the road. I'll be honest: PATIENCE IS THE HARDEST FOR ANYONE to cope with. We are media hungry for more information, and some people take it far to appeal those people to lure them in for more views or buy the latest updates to see what is going on secretly. There's so much B.S. and frustration but I hope some clues can get some blog websites to find the real dirt, like DH.

    With that, I'm excited to see how this speculation and future updates will really end up to be. Is it a good thing? yes, BioWare is doing things unique and putting a ton of effort. Do people cry over magazines and don't read what it actually means? Most likely... especially people who post speculations that don't quote the whole shit. I feel like there is more to the armor system, and i think its nice to grasp the vision of a notable character in the books and movies. Thanks emlaeh! I hope your right! :P *cookie love*

    <3 Darth Hater Team (Srsly own this!) ;P

    -Macer
  • Dark Councilor
    emlaeh's avatar
    • Posts: 995
    #41 emlaeh Posted 12/15/2009 12:22:05 AM
    You see 4 game play styles on each side? I count at least 8. ;)
  • Dark Councilor
    emlaeh's avatar
    • Posts: 995
    #38 emlaeh Posted 12/14/2009 11:28:51 PM
    Paging Alkarin to the white courtesy phone... ;)
  • Spice Runner
    agerock's avatar
    • Posts: 131
    #37 agerock Posted 12/14/2009 11:23:55 PM
    yea sure they are focusing on role playing story, but saying thats just what its aobut would be wrong. The only reason thats all we know about is bc thats all they've released so far. There is SOOOOOOO much more content involved in these games; they just wanted to get the most exciting ones out of the way (example: classes)
    I think they will start focusing more on combat / pvp soon enough
  • Nerf Herder
    Arttox's avatar
    • Posts: 15
    #34 Arttox Posted 12/14/2009 8:52:14 PM
    Really good find. In some aspects I really hope you guys are right. If every class has a support type path that can mean every class would be wanted in parties/raid. But on the other hand would that limit certain classes to only being wanted for there support roles? And would that hinder them in solo play? I should have said before I agree on alot of your guys speculation on combat and grouping where CC will play a bigger role and not just a tank standing getting spanked and a healer sitting there healing. But I do worry maybe they will get a special buff/heal/CC or something that makes one build significantly better then the other for groups. I really really want to be wrong here, I hope there is enough options with in both builds for each class that we don't have to have cookie cut specs to be accepted.
  • Dark Councilor
    emlaeh's avatar
    • Posts: 995
    #35 emlaeh Posted 12/14/2009 9:16:29 PM
    I would suggest reading the other article we reference in the first sentence of this one -- it answers what you are asking. ;)
  • FarScholar's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #47 FarScholar Posted 12/15/2009 10:35:45 AM
    While I wish the game will rely more on a combination of CC / casual healing rather than Heavy tanking/ Healing, it will all depend on how end game PvE is designed, because as old time raiders know, as soon as you get into a dungeon / instance worth good loot, the number of enemies affected by stun/mez/sleep tends to drop drastically, making CC useless and therefore making the game fall into a traditional trinity approach. And I get the feeling we won't get any idea of how end game PvE is like anytime soon...
  • Spice Runner
    agerock's avatar
    • Posts: 131
    #32 agerock Posted 12/14/2009 7:47:57 PM
    sry to double post, but i started looking through concept art and saw this

    http://swtor.com/media/concepts/galactic-senate

    I posted a few times on swtor.com forums about whether ppl think it would be good or bad for players to kind of have a "say in government" so to speak. Meaning you get to maybe have server wide votes, or do quests for senator npcs in order to make decisions (kind of like how in Dragon age you get to chose if u want to support Harrowmont or Belin, no idea how to spell their names btw, sry)

    I think that the senate will still have a role in this game, since it has a pretty large role in the movies. I think it would be amazing if we could help shape the galaxy :D
  • Dark Councilor
    RogueJedi86's avatar
    • Posts: 3,411
    #33 RogueJedi86 Posted 12/14/2009 8:26:41 PM
    My guess is that the Senate will serve more as a social hub on Coruscant for people to be. It would make sense. *looks at pic* That looks more like the interior though. I didn't think we'd have access to the interior like that. The outside has a nice clean look that would look more social at least.

    What sort of decisions could we vote on in TOR? I like the speculation we could do for that.
  • Spice Runner
    heybarn's avatar
    • Posts: 240
    #36 heybarn Posted 12/14/2009 9:33:30 PM
    Wow, when did they sneak that image in - first time I've seen it!? Thanks :-)
  • Spice Runner
    agerock's avatar
    • Posts: 131
    #30 agerock Posted 12/14/2009 7:26:42 PM
    Ahhh damn... this idea of the outfit pics showing the different paths has occurred to me as well, however there are 3 pics for each, yet only 2 paths... so that kinda threw me off, and i just couldnt connect the dots like u guys, and realize that one of the pics is probably before taking a path....
    GJ Darthhater team!
  • Dark Lord
    zechio's avatar
    • Posts: 391
    #28 zechio Posted 12/14/2009 6:58:41 PM
    They had to tweak the box for the classes, it used to be 4 on top, 4 on bottom, but the longer named classes wouldnt have fit. It is confirmed that there are only 8 classes.

    Then, with planets if you are the index that you linked, planets have 12 spots, but if you go into any of the sections, such as planets, it changes to 10.

    This brings doubt to how accurate it would be to use the holonet to count.

    Even the map showing possible number of planets in the timeline vid doesnt stack up, because another similar map from a more recent one shows a different number.

    I think they might just be playing head games with us:)
  • Dark Councilor
    Sleeper's avatar
    • Posts: 502
    #23 Sleeper Posted 12/14/2009 2:20:55 PM
    Pink Dyed crafted gear??? I'll TAKE IT!
  • Spice Runner
    darthuser567's avatar
    • Posts: 133
    #21 darthuser567 Posted 12/14/2009 9:43:56 AM
    Speculating with logic and reason is what makes great debates.

    Speculating with your head up your ass is what makes you a candidate for SW:TOR forum Picard FacePalm of the Year Award.
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