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Returning player. Question about expansions


VarnieTsk

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Hi, I played back when the game launched, pre-order and all that. Played up until about the time they started messing with companions and on my Smuggler they changed Corso's abilities in a misguided attempt to get us to use Bowdar or something like that. lol. Hard to remember now. I'm pretty sure I wasn't playing when the first expansion came out.

 

So, totally noob question here and it probably looks like I'm just being dense, but how exactly do the changes with expansions work? My reason for asking is that I keep seeing posts about how this or that change came in with this or that expansion. I understand that with one expansion the companions disappear & are replaced with all new, random ones.

 

The mechanics of that type of change is pretty easy to understand since it's presumably worked into the story and I assume I'll hit that annoyance if/when I start that expansion content, but how do things like the crafting changes, skill gain changes, mob difficulty for solo/casual players, or any of the other changes like that work? Are they retroactive to before the expansions or do they only affect you once you start to play the expansion content?

 

I know this may all seem self evident to those who have been playing right along and have higher level characters but I'm trying to plan ahead and figure out if I even want to continue my characters beyond any or all of the expansions, or just keep recreating new characters with the vanilla game that I loved back in the day. So far, most of the changes don't seem to be affecting my current characters, aside from my matrix cubes having gone Poof and the shards not being returned so I can't even remake the cubes on those characters. (very annoying). My highest of the old characters was only lvl 39 but I worked hard for those shards and the response I got from an in-game ticket is that the matrix shards are no longer in the game. lol. Even I know you can still get them on new characters. So much for "customer service."

 

But I digress, so, my main question in other words is, if I stick with the content prior to any expansions will I "escape" being subjected to some of the stuff I've been reading about with the later content? I have to say that my return at about the time of an expansion is purely coincidental. I had no idea there was another expansion. And I also have to say I'm not very pleased with what I'm seeing. Especially the loss of the companions.

 

p.s. edit: As a for instance, the crafting changes in this latest expansion. Will that apply to my current characters, or only if/when I get to the expansions. Should I just not bother with crafting at all?

Edited by VarnieTsk
adding a p.s.
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I will attempt to help to the best of my abilities.

 

Some of the changes made along the way no longer matter as they were changed again in subsequent updates. With your crafting example, while I have not specifically checked this, I believe that everything grade 10 and below remained the same after 6.0 as they were before. However, I'm sure there were changes prior since you played, including the fact that there is even a level 10. You may find that some of your schematics are now in a category called "Archive," as (except in some limited circumstances) they can no longer be obtained, and/or are considered obsolete. The current angst is with how they handled grade 11 crafting, and will affect you when you get to that level.

 

Regarding your matrix shards, while I can understand that is annoying for completeness sake, you truly are not missing anything from a performance standpoint. You will receive artifact slot items from standard quest rewards that are far superior than the matrix shard versions.

 

Difficulty levels have been tweaked (borked? broken?) with 6.0 in all areas, so that will affect everything you're doing. However, I have a lower level toon I'm leveling that does not appear to be experiencing any issues, so "results may vary." Class changes, including skills and abilities, will have immediate affect. You'll likely find drastic differences there from when you played.

 

Regarding companions, it is true, when/if you begin the Knights of the Fallen Empire (KotFE) storyline, you will lose all of your current companions. You will begin building a much larger set of companions (it is by no means "random"), but they all begin at influence level 0, and you have to build them up as you would with your originals. In most cases, your original companions will come back to you along the way (and they will reappear at the same level they left). This will, however, have a direct influence on crafting, as you can only use your available companions to do so. So, for instance, when you first start KotFE, you will not be able to much crafting at all until you build your companion roster. (Note: Depending on when you stopped playing, if you had max influence with a companion, they may now be showing as influence level 10. This was from when they changed the way companion influence worked; and I can't even remember what it was called before, lol.) Also note, all companions can now be used in any fashion. You are able to set any and all companions to tank, heal, or dps mode.

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Regarding companions, it is true, when/if you begin the Knights of the Fallen Empire (KotFE) storyline, you will lose all of your current companions.

Pedantry: the above isn't true. You won't lose HK-51 and/or Treek if you have them, nor the various reward(1) or CM(2) companions that exist, if you have *them*. What you lose is all your class companions *and* your ship droid *and* your ship.

 

OP: The ship returns as part of Chapter IX of KotFE, while the companions (mostly) return at various points(3)(4) along the way.

 

(1) Nico Okarr, Shae Vizla, Master (Dazh) Ranos, Darth Hexid.

 

(2) A variety of droid and animal companions ("Probe Droid", "Akk Dog", "Nexu" and similar).

 

(3) One will never return:

 

Tanno Vik, most likely because the English-language voice actor passed away in 2012.

 

 

(4) One is still completely missing, while three others have appeared as NPCs and will most likely return properly in the near future.

 

Still no sign of Zenith, while Tharan Cedrax, Kira Carsen and Lord Scourge have (with 6.0) finally showed their faces again.

 

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Thanks for the answers. Going by this and everything else I've been reading, I very much doubt I'll ever play the KOTFE or anything starting with when companions disappear. I don't see myself being willing to start all over again with new companions not of my choosing with zero influence, etc., plus I'm pretty seriously displeased with a lot of other stuff I'm seeing beyond the vanilla.

 

I do like that you can now choose the companions' roles. That was a nice change. I like the legacy system & strongholds, and a few other things. I am more than pleased to see that Corso has his harpoon back, since it's removal from his abilities was a major turning point for me back in 2012. But as I said in another thread I posted in, most of what I'm seeing beyond the original content now just makes me kinda sad for this game that had such potential to be the one game that resisted the pressure to cave in to the spreadsheet warriors and min-maxers, even aside from the companions issues.

 

I see the signs of power-creep starting, as with every other game I've played that started out as casual, solo friendly, story driven RPGs and claim to still be, despite evidence to the contrary. (DDO & LoTRO, to name a couple). Upping difficulty to give the maxed out characters "challenge" is one of the first signs. It indicates that they are starting to balance the game difficulty around those who have the min-maxed, super uber characters with "optimal" gear, etc., and anyone who doesn't want to jump on that band wagon and start min-maxing their characters, having to plan out the character from level 1 with spreadsheets, etc., will be left out in the cold. And the game companies that do this always fail to see that it's a never ending upwards spiral, or they see it but just choose to go that route anyway. Usually those that have one or more on the dev team who is himself/herself a min-maxer. Meh. Not for me, thank you.

 

Those who play that way will just blast through any new content in no time at all and be all maxed out again in a heartbeat, and demanding even more "challenge." Then the games catering to this playstyle respond with even more difficulty, leaving everyone else even farther behind, especially casual or solo players and/or roleplayers, and unable to enjoy the game in the same way they enjoyed the early game. It's a vicious circle/treadmill that I was so hoping wasn't going to happen to this game.

 

Ah well, sorry for the rant and derailing my own thread. lol. Got carried away there for a few minutes. :) Bottom line is there's enough content in the vanilla game to keep me busy and enjoying it for the time being I guess, by going through different classes, etc. as long as the power-creep doesn't reach me at the lower levels too. (if that happens, I'm gone sooner than later, lol).

Edited by VarnieTsk
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Pedantry: the above isn't true. You won't lose HK-51 and/or Treek if you have them, nor the various reward(1) or CM(2) companions that exist, if you have *them*. What you lose is all your class companions *and* your ship droid *and* your ship.

 

I wouldn't call it pedantry, I was simply wrong. :rak_03:

 

I just...forgot about HK. I only have Treek on one character, and all the others (except later, Hexid) came out during a "break" when I wasn't subbed. I only recently, finally, got Hexid doing the Feats of Strength achievement. I'm not a fan of PvP, so it took awhile.

 

So, none of those comps were in the forefront of my mind. Unfortunately, for KotFE and KoTET, much of that is moot, since you are for the most part forced to use a specific companion during the chapters.

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