What is the difference between Story Mode and Veteran Mode? I have been trying to get these done but with no sucess.

This guide is from 2015 but is still the most comprehensive walkthrough. Basically you do the initial story mission on any of the relevant planets, go back to Odessen and figure out the next steps with Theron, do the missions on each planet to destroy the ground base, THEN do the veteran mode, and if you pass then you get the companion and the achievement.

One new wrinkle is that SFs have apparently gotten more difficult since 7.0 because of changes to comp healing. idk if that's true, I finished all of them in 6.0.

A few tips:

- obviously, use a lvl 50 comp set to heal.

- level each of your specialists on odessen to 10--each one gives you a buff you can redeem at the machine at the beginning of the vet FP. You can also find a gadget of theirs near a champ which can give you a deployable turret which is very helpful. There is a cheevo to doing it without the buffs but avoid until you've gotten proficient at doing SFs

- Stealthers are useful in the first section of the SF to skip mobs, but useless in the last area (the sun room). Gunslingers can be useful in the last area because entrench can block the knockback mechanic while you're trying to activate the console.

- Read the section in the guide carefully on how to disable the console /shielded areas/droids, because it is not very intuitive and you'll die a lot using trial and error.

- Again, read the guide carefully for the boss fight, specifically when you need to interrupt the boss channels and avoiding the edges of the area, because the boss can knock you off it and insta-death.

I did all of them solo, and I'm not a great player. The guide is very helpful. That said, it might be easier to do with someone else: I see people on fleet asking for help all the time. The problem is that once you've done the cheevos, there's not much reason to do them again; the time investment is so heavy that for players who know the mechanics, it's just not worth it, even for conquest.

So basically Vet Mode is what I need to finish the Heroice mode?

The text that says "Heroic" is bugged. In 5.0 they changed the names of the modes of lots of things, including the mode that's required for the "Destroy the Star Fortress" missions, but they didn't change the text that says "Heroic" to match the general name changes.

So, yes, Vet Mode is required when the Star Fortress(1) mission text says "Heroic".

(1) For other contexts, this isn't true.

SM is a cakewalk where it's almost impossible to die. Vet mode is quite challenging and there are mechanics that must be followed. If you die, you'll have to break out of prison before you can resume your progress.

I'd imagine that just about the only way to die in a Story Star Fortress would be to set your companion to passive and go AFK in the middle of a group. Be warned that sometimes getting tossed in jail will bug you out in a couple of possible ways. Making it so that, even if you disable the collar, you won't be able to use abilities. or by dumping you in a completely different map for the same Star Fortress halfway through, making it so that you can't collect any more of the temp abilities.

This guide is from 2015 but is still the most comprehensive walkthrough. Basically you do the initial story mission on any of the relevant planets, go back to Odessen and figure out the next steps with Theron, do the missions on each planet to destroy the ground base, THEN do the veteran mode, and if you pass then you get the companion and the achievement.

 

One new wrinkle is that SFs have apparently gotten more difficult since 7.0 because of changes to comp healing. idk if that's true, I finished all of them in 6.0.

 

A few tips:

 

- obviously, use a lvl 50 comp set to heal.

- level each of your specialists on odessen to 10--each one gives you a buff you can redeem at the machine at the beginning of the vet FP. You can also find a gadget of theirs near a champ which can give you a deployable turret which is very helpful. There is a cheevo to doing it without the buffs but avoid until you've gotten proficient at doing SFs

- Stealthers are useful in the first section of the SF to skip mobs, but useless in the last area (the sun room). Gunslingers can be useful in the last area because entrench can block the knockback mechanic while you're trying to activate the console.

- Read the section in the guide carefully on how to disable the console /shielded areas/droids, because it is not very intuitive and you'll die a lot using trial and error.

- Again, read the guide carefully for the boss fight, specifically when you need to interrupt the boss channels and avoiding the edges of the area, because the boss can knock you off it and insta-death.

 

I did all of them solo, and I'm not a great player. The guide is very helpful. That said, it might be easier to do with someone else: I see people on fleet asking for help all the time. The problem is that once you've done the cheevos, there's not much reason to do them again; the time investment is so heavy that for players who know the mechanics, it's just not worth it, even for conquest.

They are definitely more difficult in 7.0+, but not insurmountably so. I did Alderaan just before 7.0 on 8 characters, but all of the rest, which are mostly more difficult, during 7.0.2. It took some time to figure out how to approach the fights, but with Combat Styles and Loadouts, I managed to get there eventually. For all but Nar Shaddaa and Voss, I would reccommend going as DPS with a healer companion (Z0-0M if you have her, or a dual pistol user like Vette if you don't) and as a Tank for NS and Voss with the same companion as the others. It will be slow, but the Exarchs in those have self-heal channels, so the fights are going to last longer, even if you interrupt as often as you can, which means way more chances for a string of big hits, stuns, knockbacks into death patches, and just overall death.

Use everything that you have in the Exarch fight, but probably avoid even picking up Hylo's grenade ability, and maybe try to burn off any excess Dendrite abilitiy charges. You do this to make room on the temporary ability tray, which only has 12 slots, so getting the grenade, or having any Dendrite charages left ofter finishing the final console, will block you from being able to use Legacy Force Choke from Heroic Moment, and having both will mean that you also lose access to whichever the next one back is, I think Sticky Grenade. Not a huge loss on the Sticky Grenade, but the choke is pretty nice to have. Use Unity, use all of the other temp abilities as often as they come up, and be sure to use the Photelectric Dampening Field, and refresh it when it gets down to 1 charge left.

The only exception that I would make to using a Tank for the self-healers would be a truly ranged DPS class. One that isn't throwing away most of its heaviest attacks by not closing in to melee. Something like a Mercenary, Commando, Sniper or Gunslinger. I managed both on a Mercenary, but only because she had no access to a Tank spec, and I just wasn't cutting it healing a DPS companion.

Even with guides and advice, it will take time and patience to figure the Exarch fights out, but they're doable. I even managed the achievement for soloing one (Belsavis was my choice) without using the Alliance buffs or temp powers in 7.0.2, so it can be done.