I'm sure we all agree that aside from a few mistakes, class abilities and stats mirror eachother pretty well; leveling on the other hand, seems to be another story.

 

First off, the missions available cross faction don't exactly give us even experience.

When I tried a class on every starting planet, the variety of the number of missions was very different-

• Ord mantel had more missions that I could keep track of. I also found commendations easy to come by. I had about 12 by te time I left.
  
• Nal hutta also had plenty, but commendations were a rarer thing, getting me 8 when I left.
  
• Tython had somewhat less, but I had a huge 16 when heading for my AC.
  
• Korriban had suprisingly few, and commendations were VERY hard get, getting me only 2 once I reached the fleet.
  

 

Companions also, are completely different cross faction. Not only do you get them at different levels than your "mirror" class, but also a completely different companion type. Smugglers get their third companion, a melee tank, on nar shadda, while agents don't get their third until alderaan, and him being a melee DPS- the melee tank is their last companion. Droids also don't quite mirror meatbags armor-wise.

 

What do companions have to do with leveling? Say you're a healer, you won't be killing many things, and getting exp, when your only companion is a healer; while meanwhile your "mirror" class cross faction has that nice DPS dishing out kills for them.

 

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a solution to these imbalances, only pointing them out.

If you find a serious solution that doesn't involve remaking the storyline, please post it!

128 veiws, no replies?

 

COME ON!

The republic does indeed have an easier time leveling. It's not even close. Things like shadows getting their healing companion around level 22 and assassins having to wait til around 38 make a pretty huge difference. Edited January 26, 2012 by Caelrie

As far as commendations go, they're random. You'll get the same number of commendations as quest rewards regardless of which planet you start on, but the extra commendations you get as drops from mobs are based entirely on chance - and that chance is the same whether you're on hutta, korriban, tython, or ord mantell. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you dont.

 

The number of quests seems to differ slightly, but I've found that the experience you get in the end is generally the same. My bounty hunter, agent, sith warrior, sith inquisitor, trooper, and jedi consular all reached level 11-12 by the time I was done with the starter planets, and cleared all of the heroics and bonus missions I got with all of those characters.

 

Companions are the only thing that really isnt mirrored well, and it's been the source of a lot of complaints since early beta. My bounty hunter didnt get his second combat companion until the end of tattooine, around level 28-29 - but a trooper will have three combat companions plus the droid by the end of nar shaddaa, around level 24-25. My imperial agent didnt get her second combat companion until midway through alderaan, at level 30 or so, but smugglers will have two combat companions by the end of nar shaddaa and get a third at the end of alderaan. Jedi knights end up with a second companion around level 14-15, warriors at 18-22.

 

Still, every class gets a healing companion at level 14-18 in their ship droid, as annoying as he is, and most classes get a first companion that benefits them in most situations.

I quit reading at "im sure we all agree"

 

Empire >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Republic, all empire classes are way stronger then their republic counterparts.

I had enough korriban comms to get the armor piece that you can buy(for 8 comms i think).

I quit reading at "im sure we all agree"

 

Empire >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Republic, all empire classes are way stronger then their republic counterparts.

 

Someone doesn't understand the concept of class mirrors.

I just finished Korriban with 10 commendations. Most of them are indeed random drops. I got my first one off a lvl 1 slug before I entered the first cave lmao.

IMO Tython is a lot slower than Korriban too. The terrain is a lot more spread out as are the objectives. Flesh Raider camp is a nightmare, while the tombs take all but a minuit to get all the way through.

One time through is not enough to say this world drops commendations more and this one seldom drops. Too few iterations of the RNG. I think we all agree that the plural of anecdote is not data.

The republic does indeed have an easier time leveling. It's not even close. Things like shadows getting their healing companion around level 22 and assassins having to wait til around 38 make a pretty huge difference.

 

Unlike the bounty hunter which have to wait for their healer until level 7.

Someone doesn't understand the concept of class mirrors.

 

Someone doesn't understand that because one class is basically the same as another class, in reality they are not always the same.

Edited January 27, 2012 by genesiser

Someone doesn't understand that because one class is basically the same as another class, in reality they are not always the same.

 

that's why I said that they're mirrors ability-wise for the most part

Unlike the bounty hunter which have to wait for their healer until level 7.

 

5 or 6 for BH and the mirror troopers gets it around 2x. However they arent aware of anything that clearly contradicts their theory/complaint.

Edited January 28, 2012 by shadowAI

5 or 6 for BH and the mirror smuggler gets it around 39-42. However they arent aware of anything that clearly contradicts their theory/complaint.

 

The mirror for BH is Trooper.

My trooper got companions on planets 1, 3 and 4

 

My bounty hunter got companions on planets 1, 5 and 7

 

Inq was the same as BH

[*] Korriban had suprisingly few, and commendations were VERY hard get, getting me only 2 once I reached the fleet.

Hmm. If I recall correctly, doing all the non-Heroic missions on Korriban gives you 7 commendations as rewards. To get the 8th (for the chest armour) you either need a drop or to do at least one of the Heroics.

Unlike the bounty hunter which have to wait for their healer until level 7.

 

my bounty hunter is a healer. so in other words, GREAT DPS UNTIL THE NEXT COMPANION!

Commendations are about luck also. I had 5 when I finished Ord Mantell and 13 when I finished Tython. Last time on Ord Mantell I think I had 16.

I've played from 1-50 on both the Empire and Republic. This thread is just a lie.

 

/thread

I too have leveled 1-50 on both sides.

 

The leveling experience for all classes is fine. Both Sentinels and Marauders seem to have the most issues while leveling, but this has less to do with their companions and more to do with the fact that they have a terribly poor capacity to absorb damage while not really having that much greater damage output than other sturdier classes.

 

Given the fact that you can do a few Space Combat missions or PvP a little and then be WAY ahead of the leveling curve pretty much smooths out all leveling issues until you reach the final planets.

IMO Tython is a lot slower than Korriban too. The terrain is a lot more spread out as are the objectives. Flesh Raider camp is a nightmare, while the tombs take all but a minuit to get all the way through.

 

Regardless of companions, this right here I have found to be a big problem which I think may have helped to create some of the population imbalance we see now.

 

The beginning questing experience feels so much more streamlined on the imperial side. I was able to blow through the starter world on my Bounty Hunter in no time, all the while listening to all quest dialog and cut-scenes, where my Consular took what felt like double the time skipping all the cut-scenes and dialog since I'd done them all at least 3 times already.

 

Level 13 Bounty Hunter - 6 hours 52 minutes, Level 13 Jedi Shadow - 10 Hours 13 Minutes. That's a pretty large discrepancy. Ord Mantel isn't as bad but Tython just feels SO slow to get through, especially when you've done it before. The Bounty Hunter was my first ever imperial-side character so I imagine had I been through it before and knew where I was going and skipped conversations and cut-scenes I could cut an hour off that easily. The Imperial side just seemed to have a much more thoughtful design than Reps.

 

As for the companions, this is a problem for some classes and not so much for others. Unfortunately, story was given precedence over playability where it really should have been the other way around. Decide what a particular class would need and tailor the story to fit that need.

 

That's not just an issue with companions but an issue that you see all throughout the game, crossing entire areas which hold no content but are just an environment to pass through. One of the best examples (and one I've come to loathe on my JK) are the orbital stations. Exit ship (zone) - pass through long air-lock corridor (zone) - cross orbital station (zone) - finally on planet. - Rinse and repeat for the return journey.

 

Don't get me wrong I think the environments in this game are absolutely stunning and am happy to explore many of them, but there are some areas where playability should have taken much more of a front seat as they get annoying very quickly.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Fyrewolf

Regardless of companions, this right here I have found to be a big problem which I think may have helped to create some of the population imbalance we see now.

 

The beginning questing experience feels so much more streamlined on the imperial side. I was able to blow through the starter world on my Bounty Hunter in no time, all the while listening to all quest dialog and cut-scenes, where my Consular took what felt like double the time skipping all the cut-scenes and dialog since I'd done them all at least 3 times already.

 

Level 13 Bounty Hunter - 6 hours 52 minutes, Level 13 Jedi Shadow - 10 Hours 13 Minutes. That's a pretty large discrepancy. Ord Mantel isn't as bad but Tython just feels SO slow to get through, especially when you've done it before. The Bounty Hunter was my first ever imperial-side character so I imagine had I been through it before and knew where I was going and skipped conversations and cut-scenes I could cut an hour off that easily. The Imperial side just seemed to have a much more thoughtful design than Reps.

 

As for the companions, this is a problem for some classes and not so much for others. Unfortunately, story was given precedence over playability where it really should have been the other way around. Decide what a particular class would need and tailor the story to fit that need.

 

That's not just an issue with companions but an issue that you see all throughout the game, crossing entire areas which hold no content but are just an environment to pass through. One of the best examples (and one I've come to loathe on my JK) are the orbital stations. Exit ship (zone) - pass through long air-lock corridor (zone) - cross orbital station (zone) - finally on planet. - Rinse and repeat for the return journey.

 

Don't get me wrong I think the environments in this game are absolutely stunning and am happy to explore many of them, but there are some areas where playability should have taken much more of a front seat as they get annoying very quickly.

 

I haven't put thought into that until now, since I enjoy planets that can keep my attention for a while.

 

Orbital stations, on the other hand, I hate. Besides what you said, they don't make sense when you consider story. I mean, if the empire is trying to provoke the republic to break the treaty of coruscant, why don't they just sabatoge an orbital station in a way that it can't be proven it was them?