Hi there,

new/returning player,

I'm 75 for several days. (need to know more? I have 306 starter-setless-gear from doing FPs, I lack credits)

I'm extremely reluctant to start KOTFE campaign (shift+e default, I changed it)

Reason is I read you "lose" all your companions temporarily (until after chapter 9).

- I don't want to not have them , since I'm into crafting and want to continue it.... (need all my 8 followers for that)

1) Can you tell me anything about it?

- True?

- Pros?

- Cons?

- other? also opinion if you wish.

2) Can you do all the other content while / after starting KOTFE Ch. 1?

- like FPs, like searching for a Master FP?

- lke traveling with my ship to a beginner planet to help out a friend who I convinced to start the game?

3) Can you "cancel" this campaign, to revert your "disabled" status, if you so desire? ...

4) What about Master-mode (I see you can choose between Story/Veteran/Master difficulty)? Can I play that, if I so desire like beat it?

4 questions just as a suggestion of what to respond.

Thank you.

If you're level 75, you have the option of skipping past KOTFE/ET and going straight to Jedi Under Siege, the beginning of the Onslaught story line. Note, however, that although you skip PAST the KOTFE and KOTET expansion stories, you do not skip them as if they never happened. Here's what this will mean for you:

--You still have to do the Alliance Alert mini-missions to get your original companions back. The majority of these will be short and simple dialogues, but some of them will require a bit of questing. NOTE, however, that one particular companion can only be recruited back into your party during a Rakghoul Resurgence event. Although you can use the Alliance holoterminal in the base on Odessen to recall them immediately so they can craft. The STORY does not treat them as being returned, however, until you do the Alliance Alert mission.

--Your character is still treated as having done the KOTFE and KOTET story boards. Major story choices will be made for you based on your faction.

1)Republic Toons are treated as having made all light side major choices. If you like to play a dark side Pub toon, your ongoing personal story line will still treat you as having made a number of major light side choices.

2) Imperial Toons are treated as having made all dark side major choices. Your ongoing storyline will reflect this. The KOTFE and KOTET storyline furnishes you with a number of all-new companions, and if your story defaults to all dark side choices, you will have three fewer new companions than if you made light side choices. This should not have any effect on your character's strength and ability; however, you may experience a sense of "Wait, what does this mean" in certain dialogues.

-- One class does not get one of their companions back; the companion in question briefly appears in the story but does not rejoin you. One other class, a particular companion joins you, but then leaves you, and is written out of the story shortly after. Finally, a third class, one of their companions hasn't returned yet, and people are asking about when that companion will return. If you are one of these three classes, you will end up one companion short. There IS a workaround: You can use a holoterminal at the Alliance Base on Odessen to call them back. The STORY will still treat them as gone; however, you can still use a "copy" of them to quest with you, and to craft.

You cannot progress any further in the overall SWTOR story unless you either do KOTFE/ET manually, or else skip past them to Jedi Under Siege. A quest terminal in your ship will allow you to do either one of these.

Above was a pretty thorough explanation, but I'll touch on a couple of your questions they didn't seem to answer.

You will lose your class companions for a time, yes, but not necessarily all companions. Also some clarification: not all class companions will return by the end of KotFE/ET. Some don't return until Jedi Under Siege and Onslaught. Certain comps like the Gammorean Bodyguard you can buy from the NS Nightlife event never go away.

Once you start, you cannot revert that decision, to the best of my knowledge. Theoretically I suppose you could abandon it as long as you didn't complete any chapter, but I've never toyed with it. Someone else might know. That being said, as for other content like FPs: yes, you can step away from the expansions and do whatever else you want at any time. It effectively pauses it. You can resume it by clicking the "Play" button that is usually next to the current objective in your mission tracker.

The difficulties are just that, difficulties. Your question here is a bit hard to understand, but you can definitely beat it on MM. I hear it can be a royal pain in a couple places, though, so if you're just trying to power through it, play Story difficulty.

Once you start, you cannot revert that decision, to the best of my knowledge. Theoretically I suppose you could abandon it as long as you didn't complete any chapter, but I've never toyed with it. Someone else might know.

I can answer that a little better, although perhaps not for "straight-to-JUS". On one character, I had class companion conversations open (Broonmark on a Warrior) and opened the chapter menu (or used the console on the ship, don't remember) to start KotFE Chapter I.

Once I accepted the mission (putting it into my log) but had not yet launched it using the Play button in the on-screen mission log/viewer thing, Broonie's "I have a conversation available" triangle went away *immediately*. The companions were still there, but their conversations were gone.

I believe, therefore, that accepting the mission *immediately* discards incompatible stuff like missions and "ready to watch" companion conversations (which are effectively miniature missions). Companions don't depart before you actually launch/play the KotFE/JUS mission, but I would expect (I didn't check) that they depart immediately when you do that.

Aha. Thanks so much , Appreciated. That leaves no questions.

So if I want to continue crafting , I should bring at least a bit of time, and more if I want to make the decisions in KotFE/KotET.

And I read all the other details, thanks.

Hi, I have 2 more questions:

- Starting with Onslaught should just be fine, right? I recently boosted a character just to see, but haven't had the guts to level/do a mission (then you can't refund it).

edit:

- How long does it take ~about~ to get to Chp.9? (KOTFE)

Starting with Onslaught should just be fine, right? I recently boosted a character just to see, but haven't had the guts to level/do a mission (then you can't refund it).

On a boosted-to-70 character, the companions who arrive and/or return through the story aspects of KotFE/ET and the Traitor arc have already returned. On a boosted-to-60 character, the companions who depart at the beginning of KotFE have already departed.

Pedantry: you cannot start with Onslaught. You can start at level 70 in Jedi Under Siege (sometimes called "Ossus" because that's where it happens), and then go into Onslaught.

On a boosted-to-70 character, the companions who arrive and/or return through the story aspects of KotFE/ET and the Traitor arc have already returned. On a boosted-to-60 character, the companions who depart at the beginning of KotFE have already departed.

 

Pedantry: you cannot start with Onslaught. You can start at level 70 in Jedi Under Siege (sometimes called "Ossus" because that's where it happens), and then go into Onslaught.

Where do I start onslaught from there?

And about previous topic: KotFE:

How long does it take ~about~ to get to Chp.9?

Where do I start onslaught from there?

 

And about previous topic: KotFE:

How long does it take ~about~ to get to Chp.9?

How long it takes depends a lot on how much you want to explore. It took me, on my first play through, over a day to get from the start of Fallen Empire to the end of Chapter 9, but I explored everything. I ran all over the swamp, all over Zakuul, all over Asylum, and died multiple times trying to get to places we are not supposed to go. If you do not explore everywhere and just play through, even without spacebarring through the cutscenes, it will take a few hours. Most chapters are about 30 mins long, and some of the early chapters are shorter, so expect about 4.5 hours.

It is certainly doable to start Fallen Empire and finish through Chapter 9 in a single day, so you will not be without access to your companions for very long. The thing to remember is that by Chapter 9 almost none of the OC comps have returned yet, but you can retrieve all of your companions from the companion locator terminal in the Alliance Base on Odessen. It is located in your personal quarters, which is on the branch leading to Hylo Viz. The terminal is on the right side of the room, from the door way, and looks like a holo projection terminal. It does not glow blue like other interactable objects but can be right-clicked on. Using the terminal will return your companions to you early but does not interfere with their normal return as part of the story.

Regarding starting Onslaught. Once you have completed Jedi Under Siege you should received a mission called Hearts and Minds, and completing Hearts and Minds should take you right into Onslaught. I say should only because these missions should be auto-granted, but sometimes things happen.

Thanks that's very helpful. On my first play through I want to take my time, but when I am doing such elsewhere it seems to some times take really long, so I rather ask.

By the way: Is there any way to change the starting Profession of a Premium/Expansion 70-Boost? I have 600/600/600 in Synth/Arch which I don't want, because I already have it...

Thanks that's very helpful.

 

By the way: Is there any way to change the starting Profession of a Premium/Expansion 70-Boost? I have 600/600/600 in Synth/Arch which I don't want.

Unfortunately, no. The same set of skills are granted to all boosted characters. The only difference is in whether the character is a Force user or a non-Force users. If I remember correctly the non-Force user skill set revolves around Armormech.

Thanks that's very helpful. On my first play through I want to take my time, but when I am doing such elsewhere it seems to some times take really long, so I rather ask.

 

By the way: Is there any way to change the starting Profession of a Premium/Expansion 70-Boost? I have 600/600/600 in Synth/Arch which I don't want, because I already have it...

Further to ceryxp's good answers:

If you just concentrate on advancing through the story, but you watch all the cut-scenes rather than space-barring through them, you can crank through KotFE chapters I to IX in five to six hours or so. You don't get to explore much, so it's not recommended for a first time through, of course.

While you cannot change which set of already-developed crew skill is given to a start-at-60 or start-at-70 character, you *can* abandon those crew skills and learn new skills (starting at level 1 ) to replace them. Open the crew skill panel ("B") and click the little X by each skill you want to get rid of.

Just because I haven't seen it mentioned yet, HK-51 and Treek (along with any reward companions like Nico Okarr, Shae Viszla, Master Ranos, Darth Hexid, Paxton Rall that you unlocked using the holo-communicator consumable item before) will stay available for crew skills during all of KOTFE 1-9. I specifically left out Cartel market companions because they can't be used for crew skills ... though technically they stay during KOTFE 1-9 as well. I'm pretty sure the Ugnaught comp from Dantooine, and the two Nightlife comps (Gamorrean and Rodian) stay available just like Nico et al.

I'll also point out that you can use the companions you are acquiring during KOTFE to do crew skills. They won't be influence rank 50, but you'll still be able to make all the same stuff you could before. It will just be slower and less crits. Still, there is plenty of reason to boost the influence of the characters you are recruiting

Certainly Lana Beniko stays with you through the end, and she is your sole companion for several chapters, so she is one I almost universally boost to influence rank 50 right away. Theron I also boost. Some of the other useful companions to boost include Koth, Senya, and HK-55.