Jump to content

Felnadir

Members
  • Posts

    9
  • Joined

Reputation

10 Good
  1. Good evening Ajunta Pall. Thanks to the donations of many Quietus members, I had the privilege of attending the Austin Guild Summit for Bioware's SWTOR. I want to apologize for not getting to you all sooner in a written format, but I slept on a couch, drank alot more than I knew myself capable of, and found myself spending most of my time petting Lo'et's dog Roxie so she'd stop whining. For those that missed my ventrilo appearance on the 2nd night of the summit where I gave a thorough rundown of everything I saw (twice), I apologize and will try to sum up the good stuff real quick. Aside from alot of this and that the big take aways include: Group finder tool in 1.3 Improved Warzone scoring in 1.2 An additional warzone An additional flashpoint An additional Operation A wonderfully functional and customizable UI (not perfect, but more to come) Guild banks And the beginnings of the Legacy system Check out http://torwars.com/2012/03/06/review-of-warzone-changes-from-guild-summit/ for the warzone details given and http://torwars.com/2012/03/07/swtor-guild-summit-panel-legacy-system/ for details on the legacy system. For those who already saw all the above stuff and thus came here to hear my personal take on what happened at the summit, I can sum it up very quickly: "lot's of new content, stuff to make rerolling alts more varied, and 'this is not the world pvp you are looking for'". Not only did they scrap Ilum, they have no estimates on when it will get addressed. I'll take that one step further: SWTOR, according to Steven Reid, "was never initially intended to have world pvp". Although they did make that snazzy video about Ilum, http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/signs-war in my greater-than-decade experience, the complete and absolute lack of world pvp information means there isn't going to be any systems to support it. Talking to another Dev (whom shall remain unnamed), I had it explaned to me that Bioware did not intend to place much dev time on pvp at all, but found they had to change gears due to the anger on the forums. Another way of looking at it was this: I saw some slides while at the show in which Bioware described how popular certain activities had proven. For example, some massive percentage of 50s had experienced an operation of some sort as well as played a warzone. However very few people participated in world pvp. Apparently because people didn't spend a massive amount of time in Ilum, Bioware has deemed that world pvp is not a development priority. I find Bioware's lack of faith in world pvp disturbing. In fact, I find myself questioning somewhat their priorities and how well they know their game. Every developer I talked to (except one) didn't know about the hitching that occurs in game whenever a portion of the UI is used or quest updates occur. For those players unfamiliar with this, press auto run, then start opening anything like inventory or the character sheet: the game will freeze about a second everytime. It further amazed me at how audience members managed to take them aback with things like, "can we get a readycheck in game?" and "why are you destroying my guild by encouraging them to roll the other faction?" It also baffled me that they didn't realize people would hit level fifty in a matter of days, not weeks or months. On the otherside, I learned about game destroying bugs that literally trivialize content that haven't been addressed. So I had a great time in Austin. Its probably the nicest city I've ever been to and I've been to quite a few. It sort of reminded me of a cleaner and newer sort of Los Angeles. The events I participated in with Bioware were memorable and enjoyable (thanks for the open bar and all that roast beef). Even better, I enjoyed my time with my hosts (thanks Zyke, Lo'et) and Roxie (Lo'et's chatty dog). I believe SWTOR has a good future in store for those that enjoy the wow style of arenas, raid bosses and daily quests. For those that got excited by the prospects of Star Wars to include "war", I'm afraid the summit left many hardcore pvpers disappointed, myself included. So that in a nutshell was my take on the events. Feel free to leave your questions and comments below. I will try to address them periodically, but I'm much easier to get ahold of at my own website romequietus.com. Thanks again to the members of Quietus that made this trip possible: the valuable candid face time it earned us has gained us the above takeaway regarding world pvp.
  2. Happy New Years. I've been posting 11-12 badges lately. Still trying to get 13.
  3. The resolve system does work. Yes a couple bugs do exist like the client and server may get out of sync resulting in endless cc. Again, due to the client/server not being in sync, sometimes a CC will sneak in near the beginning of a full white bar . Yes I hate these two bugs also. But the vast majority of complaints here about getting chain CC'd and snared are working as intended. JKs and SWs have the ability to charge an opponent and cause 100% snare that gives the impression of a stun. Whether the talent that makes this into a stun actually applies regardless of resolve is a mystery to me. Someone else can test that and report, but everytime I get chain cc'd with a full resolve bar I have heard the accompanying JK/SW charge sound and seen them wacking away at me. Oftentimes, I will use overload during this moment to get them off me or push them into fire. Again, as described in the quote above, a 100% snare is not affected by resolve. Snares are not part of the resolve system intentionally. SWTOR is a different game than whatever certain people are using as a reference. I personaly love the resolve system and believe it works well aside from the above mentioned bugs. People on my server are well aware how much i use resolve to my advantage. They know I run the ball in regularly regardless of all their CC attempts. Ajunta Pal server for those curious: feel free to ask around for testamonials. FYI: if your character feelslike he takes too much damage during cc, consider rerolling something tougher (like not dps).
  4. givin up all the secrets in this thread, huh? I've got the medpack just below the rakata and yeah I use it to get the 2.5k badge as a tank
  5. Before I posted the guide this morning, I thought about adding a note on taunts but decided not to in order to keep the tanking section relatively the same length as other sections. Also for personal reasons, I kind of hope they don't "change" how easy it is to score as a tank, but since the cat's out of the bag in the first response, I'll address it here: a well timed aoe taunt at the beginning of a match can score 3 tank badges in seconds. I often get the unbeatable message within moments of a match's fighting start. Last night I came just short of 100k protection due to the way the match worked out and my use of AoE taunts. (So yeah, taunting in PvP is EXTREMELY powerful and understated, but no I hesitate to open up that can of worms by adding it to the guide.) I had heard this tier of badges existed, but people had also argued that a 5k heal wasn't possible with current gear, so I left it out initially. If yall say it exists though, I'll put it back in. <private messaging system used to avoid cluttering thread>
  6. Rome-fu's Badge Scoring Guide When players play a warzone, they get badges for completing various objectives. One can very readily filter the experienced players from the newer ones by looking at the number of badges received. Players scoring 5 or less will receive a silver star and essentially distinguish themselves as having played a poor game. Much better players will score eight or more in a game. Since the badges earned in the course of a warzone directly calculate into more valor, xp, credits and most importantly warzone tokens, let's examine how to maximize those badges and top the charts. First, most players have a tendancy to look at their overall damage done and biggest hits. I don't know why this represents the metric people care most about, but let's put some things into perspective. A player can get 1 badge for scoring over 2.5k damage in a single hit. Additionally, he can get another badge for doing a total of 75k damage. For those with the gear to manage it, players do recieve an additional badge at 300k total and 5k in a single hit. 2.5k single hit 75k damage 300k damage 5k single hit So far, players stuck on doing big damage have earned 2 (exceptionally geared players 4) badges. If in the course of doing that damage the player gets a killing blow on an enemy, he gets another badge. As he continues killing, he gets another badge at 10 and 25 kills respectively. For most players, this total of 5 represents the most badges they'll get in a match. Some however will get the coveted and extremely difficult to get assassin badge by running off into the middle of nowhere and thereby doing nothing for the sake of his team other than killing an enemy while he's out in the middle of nowhere. Congratulations on the gold star at six badges. 1 killing blow 10 kills 25 kills 1 solo kill Seriously though, thanks to this guide, the reader will know the way to get more than 6 badges without sticking it to his team by constantly running off into the middle of nowhere to collect his assassin badge. First off, many players have the ability to heal but then don't use it. It only takes a 2.5k heal to get another badge. So even those that don't spec for healing, should try doing their large heal a few times until it crits and thereby pops a badge. For those that do spec healing, one only needs to hit 75k healing total to get the next badge. Although the game needs healers, don't let the dps have alll the fun: try to cap a killing blow here and there. Drop some instant casts dots and spread some love around. There's not all that much reason why a healer can't get credit for players dying too. I pity the healer that works his butt off to keep everyone alive but then only scores 2 badges. Exceptionally well geared players can get another badge at 300k healed and 5k in a single heal. 2.5k single heal 75k healed 300k healed 5k single heal Secondly, players that roll tank capable toons, REALLY ought to tank some. At the very least, in the course of one life, throw guard on some melee guy who's going to get burnt down. While he dies, pop one's damage push off cooldowns, maybe use a taunt and watch as one's character gets a badge for 2k defense in one life, 5k defense total and then a little bit later, 10k defense in 1 life. That's three additional badges just for helping some a teammate not die as fast as he otherwise would. For those that make a habit of guading players in need, like healers, huttball runners and that awesome dps on one's team, expect to get another badge at 50k total defense. Coupling these tank specific badges with the killing badges above will get one easily into the 8+ badge territory. 2k defense in 1 life 10k defense in 1 life 5k total defense 50k total defense Finally catching badges isn't only about killing some random guys, healing some random guys or even shielding some random guys. There's actually badges for doing something that helps the team as a whole. I'm not talking about scoring with the huttball, or capping nodes, for some reason these actions don't count anymore (in previous beta builds they did). But for those who guard a captured node or presumably kill and heal/shield huttball runners, expect to get something called “Defender Points” (not to be confused with the previously mentioned tanking stuff). Defender points when accumulated to 1k give a badge. Triple that amount and get another badge. Since, defender badges happen to those players that actually guard stuff think about that the next time one desires to leave a node unprotected. Those guys who spend an entire warzone zerging around chasing that oh so coveted assassin badge could get two badges just for guarding a node or a door. Go figure. 1k defender 3k defender points In conclusion, don't be the guy that only scores 5 or 6 badges by games end. Don't zerg around aimlessly chasing that assassin badge. Defend a node, throw some heals or guard someone. Sure, some people get really excited to hit 400k damage in a warzone (I've seen videos, players can hit that). Honestly, I can see trying to do that on occasion just to do it. But ultimately, players that want the badges that in turn will give them the tokens to buy pvp gear, really ought to focus on first winning the match, and secondly maxing their badges using the method above. After all, 8+ badges don't pay as well in a loss, and incidentally winning a warzone while only getting 5 or 6 badges doesn't pay very well either. (Merry Christmas SWTOR, enjoy this free guide. -Rome-fu, Christmas 2011)
  7. No, your cc bar does not fill up
  8. Resolve, Crowd Control (CC) and You Players first coming to SWTOR often complain that the “resolve” system doesn't work. In my opinion, it represents a unique solution to the problem of chain CC. For those who understand how it works, like my readers at the end of this guide, resolve offers a system in which good players will make good choices and thereby reap the benefits that lesser knowledgeable players will complain don't work. First, what is crowd control (CC)? Crowd control, or CC as it's abbreviated, was originally intended in MMO's as an ability used by certain low dps classes to make them worthwhile in a group. The abilities range from a short term stun that allows continued damage of the target, to a long term sleep used out of combat to make a mob no longer take actions until it receives damage. PvPers immediately saw the value in these abilities and adopted them for their own uses often to the scorn of those pvpers that didn't have them. In SWTOR we have three types of CC: Snares: an ability that slows the target by a percent up to 100% Mezz: an ability which causes a target to no longer have the ability to take action for a period of time or until damage is taken (whichever comes first). Sometimes these abilities can only be used against certain types of targets (droid) or when a target is out of combat. Stun: an ability of a short term duration that prevents a target from taking action regardless of the amount of damage taken In PvP the three above categories have specific uses to consider. First, one will usually always keep one's target snared so that one can keep on top of them as a melee, or away from them as a ranged. Even in a ranged versus ranged fight, putting a snare on the enemy will help to unbalance his gameplay a bit and reduce the chance he can successfully use LOS (line of sight) to avoid one. Second, Mezz can be useful in a small engagement where AoE will unlikely occur. For example, in Voidstar the disarm bomb ability is much shorter in length than the time a Whirlwind will take a player out of action. Lastly, stuns work best either in a chain with another player to maximize the amount of time an enemy has to endure damage OR when the other player is in a hazardous situation (environmental damage area). Additionally, stuns can be used a cast interrupt against healers OR as an actual stun to kill a player that doesn't know what he's doing or perhaps burned his CC Breaker earlier. Secondly, what is a CC Breaker? In SWTOR, every character has a stun ability and a CC breaker. The CC breaker is an ability that BREAKS CC. Different classes have different names for this ability. Not all classes have the same cooldown between uses of this ability. Not much more to say about that other than learn when to use it. Although all characters get a CC breaker, not everyone knows when to use it properly (to be elaborated on). Thirdly, what is Resolve? Resolve is SWTOR's method of preventing chain CC. Generally, for those leveling up through the pvp bracket, Resolve seems to do nothing. I myself have played part to numerous occassions in which I've been stunned, broken the stun with my CC breaker, only to get immediately stunned again. While quite frustrating, I eventually came to realize I was not using my CC break at the right moment. Resolve is a bar that fills up next to one's avatar and the avatar of one's enemy. When the bar fills up, the person gains immunity to further CC. The length of this immunity is almost long enough to run a huttball from the beginning of the ramps to the goal with a bit of luck. The problem is, most players find that the bar doesn't fill up until they're just about dead. Even when the bar does fill up, the immunity doesn't matter until the cc that filled one's bar wears off. This is where an experienced player knows why resolve is kinda cool. Finally, how do I take advantage of this system? An experienced player uses his damage mitigation abilities in preperation of an incoming CC. Then, while stunned and taking a beating, he doesn't take as much damage as the enemy is hoping to inflict. Thus the CC wears off and the player resumes his PvP having SAVED his CC breaker. Now, when the player gets CC'd again, he immediately uses his CC breaker (because two stuns will fill the bar) and gains immunity to all further CC for a good length of time. Getting this to work in Huttball while carrying the ball works wonders since most players have no idea their CC won't work when the target has a white bar of resolve. Its very important to remember that CC does not work on a player who has a white bar of resolve. Its also important to realize that using CC on someone will give them immunity to further uses once the bar fills up HOWEVER, resolve does not affect snares. So when the resolve bar fills up, one can still snare the player even to the point of zero movement. Furthermore, snaring a player does not increase his resolve bar. So use snares as often as needed without any worry. For those warriors with the ability to cause a 100% snare, remember that it will ALWAYS cause this effect. There is no immunity against it. Another simple strategy to use regarding CC is to test a player's knowledge. Instead of opening up with one's awesome 6 second stun, try using a garbage mezz on the player. If one has an addition stun like many melee classes do, try using that first. A less sophisticated player will automatically use their CC breaker, thus allowing one to immediately follow up with the long 6 second stun whenever it tactically suits one. I use this strategy all the time. In reverse, its important to know what stuns to break and which to eat. Anytime someone stuns one's character in a manner that throws one on the ground, beware using the CC break. A stun that floors a player will only last between 2 and 3 seconds. Stealthers will often mezz a player before starting a fight, just to see if the player will try to break it. If the situation will allow it, save one's CC break. Additionally, don't use a CC break on a snare unless absolutely necessary since snares usually have VERY short cooldowns and can rapidly reapply. Examples of CC not to break include, snares that result from getting pushed. Snipers and some Sorcerors have a 100% snare they do when they AoE push people away. Unless one is taking damage or really want to kill the pusher, consider eating this one. If one's character gets slept, don't break it. As mentioned twice above, abilities that cause a lose of control belonging to the "Mezz" class of CC breaks if one takes damage. So when tactically unnecessary for one to take action, just ride it out. There is only one objective in game that can be capped in the 8 seconds and that's the disarm bomb in voidstar. So in retrospect, resolve may seem like a broken system, but actually has some interesting layers of complexity to it. Those players who know these tricks, will see that resolve not only does work, but can be gamed to work for one.
×
×
  • Create New...