Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your video or guild should be featured in a future column, send them to me via PM.
Game Update 1.6’s most important addition is of course, the Ancient Hypergate Warzone. While we’ve seen video of it before, I thought it would be a good idea to jump into the Warzone on the live servers to get an initial feeling on the new addition. This preview serves as my first impression of the Warzone before any guides we happen to create.
We would love to hear your thoughts on the new Warzone.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to darth@darthhater.com.
This week, we ask you what you think about the F2P PvP Warzone restrictions, look at a PvP video that examines the Powertech changes, and check up on the Rage/Focus builds in the eyes of BioWare. Read on to get the good stuff.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to darth@darthhater.com.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to pvp@darthhater.com.
This week we look at an Assassin support build guide, discuss today’s forced server migrations, and ask for your feedback on the migration experience! Hit the jump for your weekly injection of PvP spices.
In Game Update 1.4, players will have access to several new PvP weapons. Each of these new weapons will cost 3,475 Ranked Warzone Commendations and the previous War Hero weapon to acquire. Listed below, you will find images with the stats included of all of the new weapons available in the update.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to darth@darthhater.com.
This week we discuss a huge update on the upcoming PvP-driven changes to abilities and to the resolve system, we look at an explanatory video that provides strategies for Alderaan Civil War, and we get your reactions on the incoming PvP changes. Hit the jump for more PvP news!
We're now more than six months past the launch of BioWare's highly anticipated MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we feel like it’s time to look back at the game and reflect. You’ll get our opinions on just about everything, including what we think BioWare did right with the game, what hasn't worked at all, and what they can potentially modify to improve the game we’ve all grown to love.
This is the second part in a four-part series. As always, feel free to comment and leave your thoughts in the section below.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to pvp@darthhater.com.
This week we discuss which warzone makes you groan, we look at a great Jedi Shadow PvP video (with accompanying series!), and some interesting discussion topics. Hit the jump for all the PvP news from the past week.
As you may have heard yesterday during the EA Press Conference, Terror from Beyond is on its way to Star Wars: The Old Republic next month. With that, many expected a new tier of gear as a part of the new Operation. Well, it appears we are getting a new tier of gear for PvE as well as weapons for PvP.
I talked to David Hunt (Systems Designer), and he shed some light upcoming gear. He said that (for PvE), Terror from Beyond's Hard Mode will include a new set of gear that is a sub-tier of the larger tier that started with Campaign gear. It will also have non-slot restricted armornings. Nightmare Explosive Conflict will speed up the acquisition of the new set and provides new challenges for Operation groups.
For PvP, new mainhand and offhand items will become available from the PvP vendors when Terror from Beyond is released. These will be included so PvP players don't feel the need to get the hilts and barrels from PvE items to get the highest weapon damage in some cases. The rest of the set will release when Ancient Hypergates becomes available. We also have plans to release a new Recruit MK-2 set.
For the thread in full, visit the SWTOR forums.
Welcome back to yet another installment of the Darth Hater PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically as necessary throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to pvp@darthhater.com.
This week’s installment looks at ranked warzones in the new payment model, a fantastic Scrapper Scoundrel PvP video, and some great discussion topics in the forums. Hit the jump for all the PvP news from the past week.
While BioWare confirmed today that they will not be presenting Star Wars: The Old Republic at Star Wars Celebration VI, they have revealed some additional details about their presence at the upcoming Gamescom convention. Taking place in Cologne, Germany from August 16 through August 19, the new Ancient Hypergates PvP Warzone will be available for attendees to play.
Play the New Warzone: Drop by Booth B-082 in Hall 6 on the show floor where you’ll find 32 PC stations dedicated to playing The Old Republic™. Convention participants will be the first to get hands-on with the new ‘Ancient Hypergates’ Warzone. We will give people the chance to play their own character or try the game for the first time by signing up for the Free Trial and playing one of the Origin Worlds. Show up at the right time and you might even get to play the new Warzone against members of the Development team!
There will be an EA press conference held on Tuesday, August 14 that promises new details regarding SWTOR. A community meet and greet event will be held on Thursday, August 16 at a yet to be revealed location.
More information regarding Gamescom plans can be found after the jump.
Welcome to the new Darth Hater weekly PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to pvp@darthhater.com.
This week’s installment looks at Free-to-Play warzones, a great hybrid Jedi Sage PvP video, and some great discussion topics in the forums. Hit the jump for all the PvP news from the past week.
Welcome to the new Darth Hater weekly PvP column, where we’ll collect and update the news about PvP that matters to the PvP community. This thread will be updated periodically throughout the week, so you can refer back to it for new information. If you have any tips on current content that should be featured, or if you think your PvP video or PvP guild should be featured in a future column, send them to darth@darthhater.com with the subject header PVP: Subject.
Star Wars: The Old Republic, like many other MMOs, uses the Trinity System to define player roles in group combat. This means that players tend to fit into one of three roles when partied up: tank, damage dealer, and healer. For a quick explanation; a tank takes damage, a damage dealer deals damage, and a healer heals damage. These roles are obvious in a Player vs Environment situation; however, it is a lot harder to see where a tank fits in a Player vs Player situation. A tank’s role is more ambiguous in Warzones, where objectives and strategies are involved. After many hours of arduous PvP in Warzone after Warzone, I have come up with some strategies to optimize a tank’s performance in all four of the currently available Warzones. Hit the jump for the full breakdown.
Welcome back to The Front Line, DarthHater’s column dedicated to helping you improve your PVP experience, both as a member of a team and as a leader of one. Last month, we discussed how you can improve your PVP communication. Today, we turn our attention to situational awareness.
Situational awareness is one of those subtle skills that separates a good player from a great one. Players who are situationally aware often seem to have superior reaction times and knowledge of events around them. In reality, they are just keeping track of the developing situation beyond what they are directly faced with — an ability that you, too, can acquire. Hit the jump for more on improving your situational awareness!
Game Update 1.3 added a whole slew of new items, schematics and more to the game. With that, there comes a time where in some cases articles on specific things do not work. In hopes to relay the information while still allowing for ease of use, we are bringing back our General Things Learned post. This post will focus on all of the little things that are not worthy enough to pull out into its own post. Keep in mind this is a work-in-progress and more updates will come as we find entries worth adding to it.
The content includes a new badge tier, craftable PvP adrenal, vehicle, pets and more. Hit the jump and find out about the rest.
Welcome to The Front Line, a new column dedicated to helping you improve your PVP experience, both as a member of a team and as a leader of one. This week’s inaugural column will focus on how effective communication will improve your team’s chances of winning.
There is no in-game tutorial for communication, and it’s not something that everyone learned as they leveled their character to 50. Communication is a skill developed through practice, observation and emulation of other players and teams. Communication presents a unique challenge in every Warzone, because in order to react to an impending enemy attack your team first needs to be made aware of it. Regardless of whether it is typed in Ops chat or spoken via a third-party voice client, effective communication is an invaluable asset for anyone delving into PVP. Not only will it help your chances of winning and snag you MVP votes but long-term, you may eventually become recognized on your server as a valuable combat asset, a fact that will play to your advantage when Ranked Warzones finally hit servers.
Read on for analysis of common communication problems and some helpful tips on solving them. If any of the article’s PVP-specific terms are unclear, make sure to check out the glossary provided at the end of the article for clarification.
On the cusp of Game Update 1.2: Legacy hitting live servers tomorrow, Lead Game Designer Daniel Erickson announced somewhat disappointing news regarding Ranked Warzones – they will not be in the update.
It is with great reluctance that I have to announce Ranked Warzones are not going live with Game Update 1.2: Legacy. We had a fantastic run of testing on the Public Test Server and I can’t begin to thank the community enough for their tireless advocacy for this feature and the time people took to file bugs and voice their concerns.
After careful consideration, it is clear that to make Ranked Warzones the feature we all want it to be is going to take a bit more time. I apologize for any disappointment this may cause and ask for your patience as we work to make sure the Ranked Warzone Preseason launch is polished and fun. With Legacy, the new Warzone, Operation, and Flashpoint, as well as many other amazing features of Game Update 1.2 ready to go, we're very excited for tomorrow's additions.
In the future we'll be rolling the Ranked Warzone Preseason out in phases, listening carefully to player feedback and making adjustments as we go. The first phase will be full team, eight-player queuing only and from there we'll look at next steps as Preseason progresses. In the meantime we have provided an alternate purchase route for War Hero gear so you can start building your set while figuring out your teams.
For the announcement in full, hit the official site.
Update: For those wondering what impact this has on the War Hero gear.
As others have posted in the thread, you'll be able to trade Warzone Commendations for Ranked Warzone Commendations, so you will be able to begin purchasing War Hero gear before Ranked Warzones are implemented. We know many of you have been looking forward to Ranked Warzones, and apologize for the delay.
Also, for players looking for answers on whether this impacts eight person groups, Stephen Reid has your answer.
Unfortunately, this is the case. You will be able to queue in an eight-man team when Ranked Warzones are implemented.
Regarding the timing of this announcement, the decision was made late in our testing for Game Update 1.2, after the team had examined the data and done additional internal testing. There was no deliberate delay. As soon as the decision was made, we communicated that to you. We realize it's a late announcement, but we felt it was only fair to communicate the change before Game Update 1.2 was pushed live.
Work on re-instating Ranked Warzones has already begun, and is the highest priority for the PvP team right now. They all want to bring the feature to you as soon as possible. However, we will not compromise on quality by rushing it to launch. As Daniel said, once we are satisfied Ranked Warzones work well and are fun for all who want to take part in them, we'll launch them.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is now three months old, and many players have reached maximum level on at least one character. During the leveling process, the story component of the game takes center stage, leading players through the galaxy as they fulfill their destiny and play the lead role in what is often a very compelling experience. However, what happens once players reach level 50 and the story is over? Aside from the obvious activities (such as PvP and Operations), we explore other things people can do to keep themselves entertained at max level. In addition, with the highly anticipated 1.2 update now available on the Public Test Server, we will look at how some of these things will change once that update is live.
