Darth Hater at Gamescom

Although we haven't quite recovered yet from our time at Star Wars Celebration V, Darth Hater is turning its attention to Cologne, Germany for our coverage of Gamescom. The Darth Hater team will bring you interviews, hands-on impressions, and all the breaking Star Wars: The Old Republic news coming out of the convention throughout the week.

Vee have ways of making them talk... stay tuned.

DH Gamescom Content:


UPDATE 8/18: Advanced Class Names Revealed in Press Presentations
UPDATE 8/19: Advanced Class Names Revealed on offiicial site here.

Please note our original post included some inaccuracies specifically with the Trooper descriptions, missing information for the Bounty Hunter, as well as some missing description points. We apologize for any confusion: the slides were shown to us for about 20s each and our priority was to get the accurate names for each Advanced Class.

  • Imperial Agent - Operative & Sniper

  • Sith Inquisitor - Sorcerer & Assassin

  • Bounty Hunter - Powertech & Mercenary

  • Jedi Consular - Shadow & Wizard

  • Trooper - Commando & Vanguard


More information about the Jedi Knight advanced classes:


  • Sentinel: Dual Light Sabers; Saber Fighting Specialist; Melee

  • Guardian: Single Light Saber/ Heavy Armor; Leadership/ Party Buffs; Tank



Blaine Christine gave the presentation, and these were some of the descriptions for each class. As he introduced these slides, he gave the example of how you would turn into Darth Maul: you pick your species as Zabrak, and as you level up, you are presented with the option to become a Sith Assassin. "The Assassin is going to be able to use a double bladed lightsaber just like Darth Maul. He is going to do a lot of damage, so that is his main function." He continued with a description of the Sith Sorcerer: "He is going to be a lot more like the Emperor; more ranged based. He will still use his lightsaber, but he is going to use Force Lightning and focus on that to fry his enemies from afar."

Then as a comparison, the Jedi Knight was touched on. The Sentinel uses dual lightsabers, was compared to Anakin Skywalker, and has a focus on dealing lots of damage with fast moves and action. The Guardian was described as a "traditional MMO tank" by wearing heavier armor, and the ability to soak up lots of damage.

Please note all the Advanced Class names were communicated in English along with the entire presentation, and we will update this post with more details as we receive them. We are committed to bringing you the most accurate official information coming out of Gamescom.

Shortly after the announcement of all the classes, we received another version of the multiplayer group demo that we originally saw at E3 -- but this time, all the Republic characters were playing Advanced Classes. The Jedi Sentinel was the dps off-tank, while the Trooper Commando was ranged tanking the large mob. The Smuggler had the Gunslinger specialization, and used portable cover while dual wielding blasters. The Jedi Consular chose the Wizard advanced class, and provided both healing and light crowd control.

More Updates and Media after the jump
New Space Combat Information

Space combat missions take place in "Hotspots." You will gain space combat-related rewards for completing the missions, which are based on typical scenarios from the movies.

Hands On Gameplay

All classes available for play at Level 2 except for Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular. Different build than at E3, but it seemed more about graphical improvement.

Screenshots


























Concept Art










Comments

  • Eslates's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 107
    #29 Eslates Posted 8/18/2010 11:17:06 AM
    Hmm alittle bit bizarre. The JC has a healing path, and the smuggler was seen in the E3 Multiplayer demo with some medicine abilities too.

    However, the Empires side has SI with no healing path and no healing for the IA either, Who's going to heal on the Empires side then? SW = no. And a bounty hunter can' possibly heal? Anyhow, what difference does that make when the Republic will have +1 healing class?
  • entropic's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 626
    #30 entropic Posted 8/18/2010 11:25:08 AM
    These are the AC's one possibility is that the SI and IA have healing abilities in their shared trees.
  • Szath's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 3
    #28 Szath Posted 8/18/2010 11:11:56 AM
    So they're really not going with LS/DS analogs then... consular was heals in the E3 demo, but from this information it doesn't look like SI will be able to perform the same role.
  • entropic's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 626
    #27 entropic Posted 8/18/2010 11:07:02 AM
    Awesome reveal but.... Jedi 'Wizard' you've got to be kidding me.
  • Ramarov's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 11
    #26 Ramarov Posted 8/18/2010 10:54:02 AM
    Wait what? SI Assassins get stealth? Do JC Shadows get it too? If thats true im so playing a JC Shadow!
  • brillobreaks's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 25
    #54 brillobreaks Posted 8/18/2010 1:47:53 PM
    Yeah, this is a waaaay bigger deal than just a few names. Stealth for Inquisitor? No healing on the Sith side? Really?

    Is this list of abilities actually accurate? Did someone from Bioware give this out, or is it just what DH cobbled together themselves to try and clarify which AC was which?
  • chronium's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 1,717
    #22 chronium Posted 8/18/2010 10:13:14 AM
    I'm most surprised with the Trooper advanced classes. To me they have the name backwards Vanguard should be the tank tree and Commando should be the DPS tree.

    The vanguard is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.

    That sounds like tanking to me.
  • LuckyArc's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 307
    #33 LuckyArc Posted 8/18/2010 12:05:43 PM
    Half of me agrees, half of me doesn't. I like the name Vanguard for the tanking trooper, but I still prefer Commando over anything else. And the way I think of it, Vanguard could be a deterioration of a Scout, out searching for the enemies and taking the high ground.
  • Dalqak's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 57
    #20 Dalqak Posted 8/18/2010 9:57:43 AM
    Well at least I can attach a name to the Imperial Agent AC I plan on pursuing! Still gotta wait though to see exactly how much focus on "healing" the Operative will have in her primary tree... :P

    I'll echo the "Wizard" comment, but I suppose with Sorcerers and Witches it'll work out in the end.
  • ArcherAvatar's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 554
    #19 ArcherAvatar Posted 8/18/2010 9:55:49 AM
    Whoa... dropping grenades already over there. BOOM goes the dynamite!!!

    Have to agree with some other posters... some of the names don't quite pass the sniff test. Best ones are the Trooper's (imo) all 4 of the other classes on the list have at least one AC name that just doesn't really work very well.
    The Good: Shadow, Mercenary, Assassin, Sniper, and of course both Commando and Vanguard
    The WTF: Wizard, and Powertech
    The So/So: Operative, and Sorcerer
    For one thing - aren't Agent and Operative basically the same exact meaning?

  • buymore's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 8
    #21 buymore Posted 8/18/2010 10:11:00 AM
    I definitionally (not a word I know) speaking I think agent and operative have very similar meanings. However, I think operative has a more "cloak and dagger" feel than agent. "Agent" is a word attached to a lot of different jobs, DEA Agent, FBI Agent, a lawyer can be an "agent for the court" etc. "Operative" implies a more James Bond and Sidney Bristow spy feeling.

    I don't have a problem with PowerTech, but I agree Wizard is really lame, and I think Sorcerer is right behind it.
  • Zerrak's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 159
    #23 Zerrak Posted 8/18/2010 10:14:39 AM
    Sorcerer has precedent tho, and really should be there.

    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sith_sorcerer
  • SandRock87's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 90
    #24 SandRock87 Posted 8/18/2010 10:15:10 AM
    I think Operative is sort of the same too. I think in more technological work like industrial plants they call people operatives too. And it sounds a lot like a Phone Operator :p

    Hello operator. Can you please patch me through with Darth Malgus.


    I mostly agree with Archer's name ranking. I thought Wizard was very strange and Powertech just doesn't have a nice ring to it.
  • T1M3's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 34
    #18 T1M3 Posted 8/18/2010 9:38:04 AM
    http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x72/AnimeChick415/funny Harry Potter/HarryStarWar.jpg
  • heybarn's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 240
    #25 heybarn Posted 8/18/2010 10:38:56 AM
    Touche good sir :-) LOL!
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