Darth Hater

This week’s Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is a new Choose Your Side trailer staring the Smuggler versus the Sith Warrior. In the new video, players get a look at some of the tactics and strategies each side can employ to give them the edge on their opponent. The video also features several developers involved in the making of the game commentating on their choice of victor.

Hit the jump for the video embed and official Dev Tracker post.

On the outside, Star Wars: The Old Republic may seem like a traditional good versus evil conflict between the Republic and the Empire. But much like an office environment, there are many more factions, relationships, traditions and passive-aggressive memos involved in the grand scheme of things. Let’s take a look at some of the potential conflicts one may find during the Old Republic era.

UPDATE: We recently added images showcasing the Republic faction's Operations gear. You will find these images on their respective class pages.

Three tiers of Level 50 PVE gear appeared in the 11/26 patch: Tionese, Columi, and Rakata. Darth Hater spent some time poking around in-game and analyzing client data to attempt to determine how one could acquire some of the highest item level gear sets. All items included two- and four-piece set bonuses that curiously displayed only when the item is equipped; these set bonuses were mainly buffs to existing abilities and not unique to a particular tier.

So far, set names remain consistent to combat role through item progression, and carry a unified look throughout so you don’t look mismatched or out of place. Armor set names were the same for both factions, and we do provide some low-res preview images of both the Imperial and Republic versions of the sets on each class pairing page. It is confirmed that the Republic versions of the armor sets look different, and keep in mind Imperial Agents use knives while Smugglers use shotguns.

We would like share what we found, and encourage comments if you believe anything is inaccurate or have any additions, as we’re happy to credit you for any legitimate finds.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is three-fold. First we have a progression video for the Smuggler, stuffed with all the violence and lopsided smiles we can handle. Then there is a developer blog from on The Old Republic's expanded universe told in the pages of several books and comics. Lastly, a PAX highlights video is available for anyone who couldn't attend the event.

The Smuggler progression video follows the same formula as its predecessors, and highlights the different combat paths a Smuggler can take. Whether the Scoundrel or the Gunslinger is your Advanced Class of choice, you will have a variety of looks and skills to choose from, and it includes a particular homage to everyone's favorite archaeological adventurer.

We were also treated to a new Developer Blog by Senior Writer Alexander Freed. In this installation, he focuses on the expanded universe of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Freed has some key insights on what goes into developing these expanded stories from his first-hand experience of writing two tie-in comics (Blood of the Empire and The Lost Suns). He also shares what fans can expect from future adventures set in this era.

The first thing that any potential tie-in to Star Wars and The Old Republic should do is answer a series of questions: What does this story contribute to mythology of The Old Republic? What does a reader get from this story that changes the way he or she experiences the game? Does it give the reader a new perspective on a character? Does it explain a mystery that isnt resolved in the game? Does it explore the setting and the timeline in new depth?

Finally, we are treated to a video montage that highlights the PAX Prime event from two weeks ago.

But wait...there's more! A working dissection of the smuggler progression video is now available in the media gallery below. As with all dissections, we will not point out things we noted in prior dissections. More content for the dissection is coming throughout the day so make sure to check back at this post in the future.

Official DevTracker posts and video embeds after the jump.

This week's DevTracker Highlights give a hint at not only what Smuggler players can look forward to, but also how other classes interact with each other. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller covers the various play-styles of the Smuggler class, a group concealment ability, and survival in PvP. Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert describes how completing a class story quest with a group of the same class will work. Writer Joanna Berry examines the philosophical similarities between the Jedi Consular and Trandoshan. Hit the jump to see all the highlights.

In the Star Wars universe, the term "Smuggler" applies to any individual who engages in the clandestine shipment of goods. These goods are often highly illegal or rare (or both), though some Smugglers do traffic in legal goods, particularly in cases where buyers wanted to avoid taxes and other complications. With The Old Republic approaching release, we look at where this iconic class sits in the lore.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is the Battle for Alderaan Highlights Video. The video includes footage of a group of players taking on King Ulgo. Before this, a live stage demo from Gamespot featured the quest at E3 2011 along with many others. Up until now, the context of the event was muddy at best. However, we now have a greater understanding of Alderaan's story and more specifically, the self-proclaimed King Ulgo.

A working dissection of both of the videos is in the media gallery below. Make sure to check back for more. As with all of our dissections, items noted in prior dissections will not be mentioned here again unless otherwise important. Feel free to add your thoughts and items you noticed in the video. If we decide to use your find, we will credit you in the dissection.

The official DevTracker post and video embed follow the jump. Alternately, you can view the high-definition version of the video via our Youtube account.

Update: BioWare just moments ago released a new video from E3, this time highlighting commentary from the fans lucky enough to get a chance to play. Embed of the video is available after the jump.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is E3 Details, new Advanced Classes Page, and on The Lost Suns with an interview Alexander Freed. As BioWare Austin's Community Manager Stephen Reid hinted at this morning, there are three updates today about SWTOR. This is all in preparation for the Electronic Entertainment Expo that starts June 6 and expectations are massive on the news coming out of the event. Stated in the E3 details post is a tidbit about what fans can expect from E3:

• More to share regarding the stories from the CG trailers


• Belsavis raid content


• Alderaan political intrigue


• Tatooine -- sandpeople and something unknown

As part of this week's Friday Update, MMORPG.com interviewed Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller about the Advanced Classes we will see in Star Wars: The Old Republic. He covers abilities from almost every class including the Jedi Knight's Force Leap, the different stances of the Sith Warrior, the Bounty Hunter's helpful Kolto Missile, and the Smuggler's explosive Shrapnel Bomb.

The Old Republic: The Lost Suns previewed earlier this week on StarWars.com, and today an interview with Senior Writer and Managing Editor Alexander Freed. He covers a brief overview of the comic that follows Theron Shan, a Republic spy set out to discover what the Sith Empire's plans are for the planets newly acquired in the Treaty of Coruscant. The comic canonically at the start of the game, about 10 years after Threat of Peace and 40 years after Blood of the Empire.

Included a bit after the rest of the updates went up was a new Advanced Classes page. The page is a newly redesigned page to fit the place of the older updates. It contains new information about the trees and abilities of the Advanced Classes.

Official Dev Tracker posts follow the jump. Images from today's Friday Update are contained in the Media Gallery below. If higher resolution versions of the images become available, we will update them. Aurebesh Working translation follows the jump as well as in the Media Gallery.

Update: It appears the list PC Gamer UK saw in the latest build is inaccurate.

Daniel Erickson
Hey Folks,

The species/class combo list you're referencing is not accurate. If it does appear in the magazine, that's unfortunate.

My guess is that an enthusiastic member of the press wrote down everything he saw in the character creation screen which, as we've stated often, is nowhere near final. Occasionally we'll have species in odd classes or in all classes because of a bug or testing.

Hope that helps!

Daniel

As with any game in development, everything in any current or past build is subject to change. It is important to note that no species/class combination is final until BioWare announces it. Thanks to Gerbo and Meglivorn for pointing out Daniel Erickson's comment in the Dev Tracker.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is the Advanced Classes Update Developer Blog by Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller. The update includes a deep dive from Georg Zoeller on the Advanced Classes in general, talent trees, abilities, and a few interesting tidbits from the testing program. Developer Blogs normally are not huge updates but this one is definitely not a normal Developer Blog.

Two choice quotes from the update:

Georg Zoeller
Jedi Shadow (Roles: Close - Mid Range Damage Dealing, Tanking)
Sith Assassin (Roles: Close - Mid Range Damage Dealing, Tanking)

Plenty more is covered in the Advanced Classes Update. Be sure to check it out and let us know your feedback on it in the comment section of this post. The Official DevTracker post follows after the jump.

Darth Hater had a conversation about conversation with Hall Hood, Senior Writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, at this year's PAX East in Boston. Hood is one of the writers involved in the story of the Jedi Knight as well as the Smuggler, and he also wrote the story for the Taral V Flashpoint available for play at the convention.



As always, the transcript is available after the jump.

Darth Hater's playthrough of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Taral V Flashpoint is online and embedded below. In the video Misenus (Pete Trerice) representing Darth Hater plays the Jedi Knight (Guardian), Eric Musco from TOROCast plays the Smuggler (Scoundrel), Lethality from Ask A Jedi plays the Trooper (Vanguard), and Zach from Mos Eisley Radio plays Jedi Consular (Sage). We hope you guys and gals enjoy Taral V as much as the team did at PAX East.

More incoming stuff incoming soon from PAX East. Make sure to keep an eye on the roundup post.

Update: Lethality from Ask a Jedi posted the video of his perspective during this same session as the Trooper. Mos Eisley Radio posted their perspective of the playthrough video as the Jedi Sage.

As promised by Stephen Reid, BioWare released a new video today showcasing the Taral V Flashpoint. The 16 minute video features Director of Production Dallas Dickinson as he walks us through the flashpoint from the point of view of the Trooper, Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, and Smuggler.

Working Dissection of the walkthrough is in the Media Gallery below. As with all dissections, we will not comment on stuff seen in prior videos. Make sure to keep checking out throughout the weekend for more content for the Dissection as we will add new content as we go. Check after the jump for the official developer post regarding it.

Last Updated: 6:45 PM EST

Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, took some time at PAX East to speak with us about what players can experience playing through Taral V and other Flashpoints. He also graciously shed some light on a few debated topics like healing classes.

Hit the jump for the full interview, and enjoy the read as we prepare for our second day of full PAX East coverage.

The team at BioWare just showed off seven minutes of Space Combat via their demonstration stage at PAX. While on stage, Daniel Erickson revealed information on how you can upgrade your ship, general space combat mechanics, how to use the Star Map to reach your destination, and more. Check the video embed below for the demonstration in its entirety.

Working Dissection of the demonstration is in the Media Gallery below. As with all dissections, we will not comment on stuff seen in prior videos. Make sure to keep checking out throughout the weekend for more content for the Dissection as we will add new content as we go.

Live from PAX East 2011, BioWare announces this week's Friday Update - New In-game Trailer. The Trailer recaps the high level story -- Peace in the Republic, Empire Returned, War, all set to clips of in-game footage. We're bringing this content live so watch this post for the Friday Update news.

UPDATE 11a PT: We had a chance to chat with Stephen Reid and we will have the full interview up relatively soon, but we wanted to let you know about something you will see tomorrow:

Stephen Reid
We're having a Saturday update; we got something going up tomorrow. I'm not going to spoil it but it is related to Taral V. I think people are going to like it; you're not going to have to work too hard to figure it out but it is something people have been asking for consistently for quite a long time.

No, it isn't a release date. But yeah, we're having an update tomorrow.

Working Dissection of the trailer is in the Media Gallery below. As with all dissections, we will not comment on stuff seen in prior videos. Make sure to keep checking out throughout the weekend for more content for the Dissection as we will add new content as we go. Official DevTracker post follows after the jump.

Last Friday, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Principal Lead Systems Designer Georg Zoeller provided some insight regarding how BioWare and LucasArts designed the combat aspects of the Advanced Class system. We decided it was time to take a look back at the roles we speculated about prior to the Developer Blog and update our charts with the information gathered.

Georg Zoeller, Principal Lead Systems Designer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, authored a Developer Blog explaining Advanced Classes a bit more in depth and used the Smuggler as an example.



As you can see from the small set of skills mentioned above, players will be able to customize their personal Smuggler experience dramatically by distributing skill points across the three available skill-sets, defining their characters role as Smuggler as they see fit: Within the Scoundrel Advanced Class, a player preferring the traditional MMO healer role may spend the majority of their skill points training in the Sawbones skill-set with additional improvements to their core abilities from the Luck skill tree, or they could decide that a Stealth Healer role with points distributed between the Scrapper and Sawbones trees might be the role they want to play in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Back in December 2009, we speculated pretty close to what Zoeller describes in this article.

This post includes details of what we were able to learn from our hands-on time at the Penny Arcade Expo, which included six of the eight classes, and three of the four origin worlds. We invite you to add your own notes to the comments section of if you were at PAX and would like to share about your hands-on experience. As a reminder, we will not be covering things mentioned in prior 'General Information Learned' posts from E3 and Gamescom. Beware: bantha-sized post after the jump.

• Page 1: General Notes, Stat Modifiers, and Character Sheets


• Page 2: Equipment and Loot

Late night official Star Wars: The Old Republic forum goer taekwondoboy found a new Smuggler class video as part of Machinima Realm's debut episode. There is a third person view of stealth at 00:54, and what appears to be a Wookiee companion reveal at 01:00.



Hat tip to Darth Hater community member Tango for the alert.

Working Dissection after the jump.

Last Updated: September 16th @ 4:30 PM EST