I have more experience with Inquisitor classes than Warrior ones. I haven't healed at all as a Sorcerer though, so I won't really have much to say about the healing changes. I hear the gist of it is that they're getting nerfed. For the most part there aren't many changes to Assassin.
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Sith Inquisitor
-General
--Deflection's effects are now more noticeable.
--Electrocute's visual effects now occur more quickly after activation.
--Energize's effect now triggers a sound effect when it occurs.
---This is specific to Assassins, further specific to the Darkness spec, so it's odd that this is sitting in the general notes. Anyways, this is certainly welcome since currently it's kind of tricky to detect the Energize proc if you're not watching your buffs like a hawk.
--Force Lightning now correctly plays its sound effects when the initial application of damage kills the target.
--Force Slow visual effects now begin and end at the correct times.
--The Sacrifice ability has been removed from the Sith Inquisitor class. A similar ability can now be unlocked through the Legacy System.
--Shock sound effects have been polished.
-Sorcerer
--Due to changes in Sorcerer skill trees, Sorcerers have had their skill points refunded.
--Corrected an issue with Static Barrier that prevented its visual effects from refreshing when its effects were reapplied.
--Extrication now modifies threat by the correct amount.
--Corruption
---Force Bending no longer unintentionally allows its buff to be applied to more than one healing ability. Its effects have been slightly redesigned. It now increases the critical chance of Dark Heal by 60% and reduces the Force cost of Dark Infusion by 30%.
---Conspiring Force now refreshes properly when Affliction is refreshed.
---Fadeout now requires Efficacious Currents instead of Dark Resilience.
---Force Surge no longer removes the health cost from Consumption.
----From what I understand this a really nasty nerf.
---Revivification's tooltip now correctly states that the ability affects a maximum of 8 targets. The ability's functionality hasn't changed.
---A display issue that caused the first and second tick of Revivification to appear on top of each other has been corrected.
---Dark Resilience now reduces the health spent by Consumption by 2% per point (up from 1% per point). *UPDATED 3/29*
--Lightning
---Electric Induction now correctly affects Affliction.
--Madness (Sorcerer)
---Disintegration now increases the critical chance of Force Lightning and Lightning Strike by 3% per point.
---Calcify now increases the damage dealt by Shock, Force Lightning, and Affliction by 2% per point.
---Wrath now affects Lightning Strike and Crushing Darkness only. Crushing Darkness's periodic damage now benefits from the 20% damage bonus when it is used to consume the "Wrath" buff.
----This ruins the viability of Chain Lightning in the 0/13/28 build. However, the jury's still out on whether/how much of a nerf this is; the buff to Crushing Darkness may make up for the damage loss from not having Chain Lightning against single targets, and not having to cast Chain Lightning will be less stress on managing Force. And anyways, even if it did completely wreck the spec the next best spec is literally only dozens of DPS worse. Currently, 1/12/28 sims marginally higher than any other permutation of the hybrid spec. This literally means the only difference between what "should" be your spec now and what "should" be your spec on 1.2 is taking the 1 point out of Chain Lightning and dropping it into Seeping Darkness instead.
---Force in Balance no longer heals the caster if no targets are hit.
---Note that the promised fix to Lightning Barrage is neither in the patch notes or live on the PTS, ie we can still double-cast a double-speed Force Lightning on the proc.
-Assassin
--Mass Mind Control: Updated this tooltip to correctly state that the ability does not break stealth. The ability's functionality has not changed.
--Madness (Assassin)
---Raze's activation effects are now more visible.
---Force in Balance no longer heals the caster if no targets are hit.
Jedi Consular
-General
--Deflection's visual effects are now more noticeable.
--The Unity ability has been removed from the Jedi Consular class. A similar ability can now be unlocked through the Legacy System.
--Force Slow's visual effects now begin and end at the correct times.
-Sage
--Due to changes to the Sage skill trees, Sages have had their skill points refunded.
--Corrected an issue with Force Armor that prevented its appearance from refreshing when its effects were reapplied.
--Rescue now modifies threat by the correct amount.
--Seer
---Confound now refreshes properly when Weaken Mind is refreshed.
---Conveyance no longer unintentionally allows its buff to be applied to more than one healing ability. Its effects have been slightly redesigned. It now increases the critical chance of Benevolence by 60% and reduces the Force cost of Deliverance by 30%.
---Egress now requires Preservation instead of Valiance.
---Resplendence no longer removes the health cost from Noble Sacrifice.
---Salvation's tooltip now correctly mentions that this ability affects a maximum of 8 targets. The ability's functionality has not changed.
---A display issue that caused the first and second tick of Salvation to appear on top of each other has been corrected.
---Valiance now reduces the health spent by Noble Sacrifice by 2% per point (up from 1% per point). *UPDATED 3/29*
--Telekinetics
---Inner Strength now correctly affects Weaken Mind.
--Balance (Sage)
---Critical Kinesis now increases the critical chance of Telekinetic Throw and Disturbance by 3% per point.
---Empowered Throw now increases the damage dealt by Project, Telekinetic Throw, and Weaken Mind by 2% per point.
---Presence of Mind now affects Disturbance and Mind Crush only. Mind Crush's periodic damage now benefits from the 20% damage bonus when it is used to consume the "Presence of Mind" buff.
---Force in Balance no longer heals the caster if no targets are hit.
-Shadow
--Mass Mind Control: Updated this tooltip to correctly state that the ability does not break stealth. The ability's functionality has not changed.
--Kinetic Combat
---Kinetic Ward's appearance now refreshes properly when reapplied.
--Balance (Shadow)
---Force Synergy's activation effects are now more visible.
---Force in Balance no longer heals the caster if no targets are hit.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Comprehensive Review and Commantary on Patch 1.2 - Part 4: Sith Warrior/Jedi Knight
When it comes to SW/JK I'll be least able to comment on Juggernaut/Guardian changes, as that's one of the two classes I've not yet played to 50. My notes on Marauder changes are a little sparse too, since it's one of my characters I play the least.
Also, I've given up trying to wrangle with the formatting errors that keep cropping up once I post these. The spacing is gonna look wierd in spots. Sorry.
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Sith Warrior
-General
--Disruption no longer costs Rage to activate.
---GOOD. Though this problem wasn't exclusive to SW/JK (Powertech's/Vanguard's interrupt also had a resource cost) however SW/JK was more hurt by it (at least Powertechs/Vanguards are actively generating their resource the whole time).
--Intimidating Roar no longer costs Rage to activate.
--Ravage can no longer be interrupted.
---Not sure how I feel about this change. On one hand it's not an oustanding PvP ability and will still be easy to deal with or disrupt (can still stun or knockback to cancel it presumably) but on the other hand all the change is really going to do is punish people who are paying enough attention to interrupt.
--Vicious Throw can now be used on targets at or below 30% of maximum health (up from 20%).
---Positive change, brings the ability in line with similar Sniper and Assassin execute abilities.
-Marauder
--Due to changes to the Marauder skill trees, Marauders have had their skill points refunded.
--Deadly Throw's "Trauma" effect can no longer be cleansed.
--Force Camouflage now additionally reduces all damage taken by 50% while active.
---This matches up with a corresponding nerf to the Annihilation tree. This is assumed to be meant to make it harder for Marauders/Sentinels to be able to use this as a get-out-of-death free card. Let's face it, having a free stealth+bubble on a 1 minute cooldown was a little OP.
--Obfuscate no longer has a Rage cost and is no longer limited by the global cooldown.
--Predation now affects all Operation Group members.
--Berserk (while in Ataru Form) now additionally reduces the Rage cost and global cooldown of Sweeping Slash.
--Carnage
---Ataru Form damage effects (procs) now deal weapon-based damage instead of Force-based damage. The overall damage of these effects has been increased by approximately 10%.
----This change is presumably to fix the fact that the damage procs from Ataru Form were sharing cooldowns with the relics from Karagga's Palace that occasionally deal extra damage.
---Ataru Form now correctly triggers when fighting very large targets.
---Erupting Fury has been replaced by Stagger, which increases Force Charge's immobilize effect.
---Unbound now additionally increases the movement speed bonus granted by Predation by 15% per point.
--Annihilation
---Ferocity has been replaced by Enraged Charge, which increases the Rage generated by Force Charge.
---Phantom no longer grants damage reduction while Force Camouflage is active. It now increases the duration of Force Camouflage by 1 second per point and increases the movement speed bonus of Force Camouflage by 10% per point.
----This used to give 100% damage reduction during Force Camouflage. It no longer does, but Force Camouflage now always passively has a 50% damage reduction.
---Seeping Wound now applies a 50% movement speed reduction (up from 30%).
---Short Fuse is now located in Tier 1 of the skill tree.
--Rage (Marauder)
---Decimate is now located in Tier 1 of the Rage skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Smash and Sweeping Slash and reduces the cooldown of Smash.
----This should be a nice buff to the Marauder Smash spec. It sounds like this skill should replace Quick Recovery (in the Annihilation tree), but there's nothing about that talent being removed.
---Dominate is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Alacrity has been replaced by Overpower, which allows Vicious Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Rage while the Marauder is in Shii-Cho Form.
---Force Crush's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
----Down from 21 seconds.
---Gravity now specifically affects Crippling Slash and Force Crush.
---Obliterate now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
----This makes Obliterate like a mini-Force Charge.
---Ravager now increases the damage of Ravage instead of affecting Force Choke.
----This may be a bit harmful to Smash spec.
---Relentless Fury has been replaced by Berserker. It requires 2 points in Shockwave and causes Berserk (while in Shii-Cho Form) to immediately grant 2 stacks of Shockwave per point.
---Shockwave's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
----I'd assume this is to help make up for the change to Ravager.
---Unbreakable Rage has been removed from the game.
----This used to make Ravage uninterruptable, which it now is passively anyways.
-Juggernaut
--Due to changes to the Juggernaut skill trees, Juggernauts have had their skill points refunded.
--Added Crash, a new passive ability granted at level 10 that causes Force Charge to stun the target for 2 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
--Added Enraged Defense, a new ability that allows the Juggernaut to spend Rage to lower threat. While active, one point of Rage is spent each time damage is taken to heal the Juggernaut for a small amount. This ability is usable while stunned and is not limited by the global cooldown.
--Vengeance
---Deafening Defense is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree. It now increases the Juggernaut's damage reduction while Enraged Defense is active.
---Rampage now generates 2 points of Rage when it is triggered.
---Single Saber Mastery is no longer restricted to certain stances.
---Stagger is now located in Tier 1 of the Vengeance skill tree.
---Sundering Throw is now located in Tier 6 of the Vengeance skill tree.
--Immortal
---Battle Cry is now a 2-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Crushing Blow now generates 50% additional threat.
---Force Grip is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Force Scream no longer consumes stacks of Revenge while the "Battle Cry" buff is active.
---Heavy Handed is now a 1-point skill with a slightly reduced overall effect.
---Quake is now a 3-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Shield Specialization is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Sonic Barrier is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Thrown Gauntlet no longer reduces the cooldown of Threatening Scream and is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
--Rage (Juggernaut)
---Decimate is now located in Tier 1 of the Rage skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Smash and Sweeping Slash and reduces the cooldown of Smash.
---Dominate is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Alacrity has been replaced by Overpower, which allows Vicious Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Rage while the Juggernaut is in Shii-Cho Form.
---Force Crush's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Chilling Scream and Force Crush.
---Obliterate now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Ravager now increases the damage of Ravage instead of affecting Force Choke.
---Relentless Fury has been replaced by Empowering Rage. It requires 2 points in Shockwave and causes Enrage to immediately grant 2 stacks of Shockwave per point.
---Shockwave's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Through Passion, a new 2-point skill located in Tier 6, has been added. It reduces the initial activation cost of Enraged Defense by 1 Rage per point.
---Unbreakable Rage has been removed from the game.
Jedi Knight
-General
--Awe no longer costs Focus to activate.
--Dispatch can now be used on targets at or below 30% of maximum health (up from 20%).
--Force Kick no longer costs Focus to activate.
--Master Strike can no longer be interrupted.
--Sentinel
---Due to changes in the Sentinel skill trees, Sentinels have had their skill points refunded.
---Crippling Throw's "Trauma" effect can no longer be cleansed.
---Force Camouflage now additionally reduces all damage taken by 50% while active.
---Pacify no longer has a Focus cost and is no longer limited by the global cooldown.
---Transcendence now affects all Operation Group members.
---Zen (while in Ataru Form) now additionally reduces the Focus cost and global cooldown of Cyclone Slash.
--Watchman
---Focused Pursuit has been replaced by Focused Leap, which increases the Focus generated by Force Leap.
---Force Fade no longer grants damage reduction while Force Camouflage is active. It now increases the duration of Force Camouflage by 1 second per point and increases the movement speed bonus of Force Camouflage by 10% per point.
---Inflammation now applies a 50% movement speed reduction (up from 30%).
---Valor is now located in Tier 1 of the skill tree.
--Combat
---Ataru Form damage effects (procs) now deal weapon-based damage instead of Force-based damage. The overall damage of these effects has been increased by approximately 10%.
---Ataru Form now correctly triggers when fighting very large targets.
---Fleetfooted now additionally increases the movement speed bonus granted by Transcendence by 15% per point.
---Temperance has been replaced by Stagger, which increases Force Leap's immobilize effect.
--Focus (Sentinel)
---Felling Blow is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Exhaustion's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Leg Slash and Force Exhaustion.
---Inner Focus has been redesigned. It now requires 2 points in Singularity and causes Zen (while in Shii-Cho Form) to immediately grant 2 stacks of Singularity per point.
---Master Focus now increases the damage of Master Strike instead of affecting Force Stasis.
---Singularity's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Swelling Winds is now located in Tier 1 of the Focus skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash and reduces the cooldown of Force Sweep.
---Unwavering Focus has been removed from the game.
---Zealous Leap now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Zephyr has been replaced by Zephyrean Slash, which allows Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Focus while the Sentinel is in Shii-Cho Form.
--Guardian
---Due to changes to the Guardian skill trees, Guardians have had their skill points refunded.
---Added Forceclap, a new passive ability granted at level 10 that causes Force Leap to stun the target for 2 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
---Added Focused Defense, a new ability that allows the Guardian to spend Focus to lower threat. While active, one point of Focus is spent each time damage is taken to heal the Guardian for a small amount. This ability is usable while stunned and is not limited by the global cooldown.
--Vigilance
---Commanding Awe is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree. It increases the Guardian's damage reduction while Focused Defense is active.
---Single Saber Mastery is no longer restricted to certain stances.
---Stagger is now located in Tier 1 of the Vigilance skill tree.
---Sundering Throw is now located in Tier 6 of the Vigilance skill tree.
---Zen Strike now generates 2 points of Focus when it is triggered.
--Defense
---Blade Barrier is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Blade Storm no longer consumes stacks of Courage while the "Momentum" buff is active.
---Command no longer reduces the cooldown of Challenging Call and is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Dust Storm is now a 3-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Guardian Slash now generates 50% additional threat.
---Momentum is now a 2-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Pacification is now a 1-point skill with a slightly reduced overall effect.
---Shield Specialization is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Stasis Mastery is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
--Focus (Guardian)
---Felling Blow is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Exhaustion's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Freezing Force and Force Exhaustion.
---Inner Focus has been redesigned. It now requires 2 points in Singularity and causes Combat Focus to immediately grant 2 stacks of Singularity per point.
---Master Focus now increases the damage of Master Strike instead of affecting Force Stasis.
---Singularity's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Swelling Winds is now located in Tier 1 of the Focus skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash and reduces the cooldown of Force Sweep.
---Through Peace, a new 2-point skill located in Tier 6, has been added. It reduces the initial activation cost of Focused Defense by 1 Focus per point.
---Unwavering Focus has been removed from the game.
---Zealous Leap now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Zephyr has been replaced by Zephyrean Slash, which allows Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Focus while the Guardian is in Shii-Cho Form.
Also, I've given up trying to wrangle with the formatting errors that keep cropping up once I post these. The spacing is gonna look wierd in spots. Sorry.
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Sith Warrior
-General
--Disruption no longer costs Rage to activate.
---GOOD. Though this problem wasn't exclusive to SW/JK (Powertech's/Vanguard's interrupt also had a resource cost) however SW/JK was more hurt by it (at least Powertechs/Vanguards are actively generating their resource the whole time).
--Intimidating Roar no longer costs Rage to activate.
--Ravage can no longer be interrupted.
---Not sure how I feel about this change. On one hand it's not an oustanding PvP ability and will still be easy to deal with or disrupt (can still stun or knockback to cancel it presumably) but on the other hand all the change is really going to do is punish people who are paying enough attention to interrupt.
--Vicious Throw can now be used on targets at or below 30% of maximum health (up from 20%).
---Positive change, brings the ability in line with similar Sniper and Assassin execute abilities.
-Marauder
--Due to changes to the Marauder skill trees, Marauders have had their skill points refunded.
--Deadly Throw's "Trauma" effect can no longer be cleansed.
--Force Camouflage now additionally reduces all damage taken by 50% while active.
---This matches up with a corresponding nerf to the Annihilation tree. This is assumed to be meant to make it harder for Marauders/Sentinels to be able to use this as a get-out-of-death free card. Let's face it, having a free stealth+bubble on a 1 minute cooldown was a little OP.
--Obfuscate no longer has a Rage cost and is no longer limited by the global cooldown.
--Predation now affects all Operation Group members.
--Berserk (while in Ataru Form) now additionally reduces the Rage cost and global cooldown of Sweeping Slash.
--Carnage
---Ataru Form damage effects (procs) now deal weapon-based damage instead of Force-based damage. The overall damage of these effects has been increased by approximately 10%.
----This change is presumably to fix the fact that the damage procs from Ataru Form were sharing cooldowns with the relics from Karagga's Palace that occasionally deal extra damage.
---Ataru Form now correctly triggers when fighting very large targets.
---Erupting Fury has been replaced by Stagger, which increases Force Charge's immobilize effect.
---Unbound now additionally increases the movement speed bonus granted by Predation by 15% per point.
--Annihilation
---Ferocity has been replaced by Enraged Charge, which increases the Rage generated by Force Charge.
---Phantom no longer grants damage reduction while Force Camouflage is active. It now increases the duration of Force Camouflage by 1 second per point and increases the movement speed bonus of Force Camouflage by 10% per point.
----This used to give 100% damage reduction during Force Camouflage. It no longer does, but Force Camouflage now always passively has a 50% damage reduction.
---Seeping Wound now applies a 50% movement speed reduction (up from 30%).
---Short Fuse is now located in Tier 1 of the skill tree.
--Rage (Marauder)
---Decimate is now located in Tier 1 of the Rage skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Smash and Sweeping Slash and reduces the cooldown of Smash.
----This should be a nice buff to the Marauder Smash spec. It sounds like this skill should replace Quick Recovery (in the Annihilation tree), but there's nothing about that talent being removed.
---Dominate is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Alacrity has been replaced by Overpower, which allows Vicious Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Rage while the Marauder is in Shii-Cho Form.
---Force Crush's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
----Down from 21 seconds.
---Gravity now specifically affects Crippling Slash and Force Crush.
---Obliterate now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
----This makes Obliterate like a mini-Force Charge.
---Ravager now increases the damage of Ravage instead of affecting Force Choke.
----This may be a bit harmful to Smash spec.
---Relentless Fury has been replaced by Berserker. It requires 2 points in Shockwave and causes Berserk (while in Shii-Cho Form) to immediately grant 2 stacks of Shockwave per point.
---Shockwave's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
----I'd assume this is to help make up for the change to Ravager.
---Unbreakable Rage has been removed from the game.
----This used to make Ravage uninterruptable, which it now is passively anyways.
-Juggernaut
--Due to changes to the Juggernaut skill trees, Juggernauts have had their skill points refunded.
--Added Crash, a new passive ability granted at level 10 that causes Force Charge to stun the target for 2 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
--Added Enraged Defense, a new ability that allows the Juggernaut to spend Rage to lower threat. While active, one point of Rage is spent each time damage is taken to heal the Juggernaut for a small amount. This ability is usable while stunned and is not limited by the global cooldown.
--Vengeance
---Deafening Defense is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree. It now increases the Juggernaut's damage reduction while Enraged Defense is active.
---Rampage now generates 2 points of Rage when it is triggered.
---Single Saber Mastery is no longer restricted to certain stances.
---Stagger is now located in Tier 1 of the Vengeance skill tree.
---Sundering Throw is now located in Tier 6 of the Vengeance skill tree.
--Immortal
---Battle Cry is now a 2-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Crushing Blow now generates 50% additional threat.
---Force Grip is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Force Scream no longer consumes stacks of Revenge while the "Battle Cry" buff is active.
---Heavy Handed is now a 1-point skill with a slightly reduced overall effect.
---Quake is now a 3-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Shield Specialization is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Sonic Barrier is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Thrown Gauntlet no longer reduces the cooldown of Threatening Scream and is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
--Rage (Juggernaut)
---Decimate is now located in Tier 1 of the Rage skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Smash and Sweeping Slash and reduces the cooldown of Smash.
---Dominate is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Alacrity has been replaced by Overpower, which allows Vicious Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Rage while the Juggernaut is in Shii-Cho Form.
---Force Crush's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Chilling Scream and Force Crush.
---Obliterate now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Ravager now increases the damage of Ravage instead of affecting Force Choke.
---Relentless Fury has been replaced by Empowering Rage. It requires 2 points in Shockwave and causes Enrage to immediately grant 2 stacks of Shockwave per point.
---Shockwave's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Through Passion, a new 2-point skill located in Tier 6, has been added. It reduces the initial activation cost of Enraged Defense by 1 Rage per point.
---Unbreakable Rage has been removed from the game.
Jedi Knight
-General
--Awe no longer costs Focus to activate.
--Dispatch can now be used on targets at or below 30% of maximum health (up from 20%).
--Force Kick no longer costs Focus to activate.
--Master Strike can no longer be interrupted.
--Sentinel
---Due to changes in the Sentinel skill trees, Sentinels have had their skill points refunded.
---Crippling Throw's "Trauma" effect can no longer be cleansed.
---Force Camouflage now additionally reduces all damage taken by 50% while active.
---Pacify no longer has a Focus cost and is no longer limited by the global cooldown.
---Transcendence now affects all Operation Group members.
---Zen (while in Ataru Form) now additionally reduces the Focus cost and global cooldown of Cyclone Slash.
--Watchman
---Focused Pursuit has been replaced by Focused Leap, which increases the Focus generated by Force Leap.
---Force Fade no longer grants damage reduction while Force Camouflage is active. It now increases the duration of Force Camouflage by 1 second per point and increases the movement speed bonus of Force Camouflage by 10% per point.
---Inflammation now applies a 50% movement speed reduction (up from 30%).
---Valor is now located in Tier 1 of the skill tree.
--Combat
---Ataru Form damage effects (procs) now deal weapon-based damage instead of Force-based damage. The overall damage of these effects has been increased by approximately 10%.
---Ataru Form now correctly triggers when fighting very large targets.
---Fleetfooted now additionally increases the movement speed bonus granted by Transcendence by 15% per point.
---Temperance has been replaced by Stagger, which increases Force Leap's immobilize effect.
--Focus (Sentinel)
---Felling Blow is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Exhaustion's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Leg Slash and Force Exhaustion.
---Inner Focus has been redesigned. It now requires 2 points in Singularity and causes Zen (while in Shii-Cho Form) to immediately grant 2 stacks of Singularity per point.
---Master Focus now increases the damage of Master Strike instead of affecting Force Stasis.
---Singularity's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Swelling Winds is now located in Tier 1 of the Focus skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash and reduces the cooldown of Force Sweep.
---Unwavering Focus has been removed from the game.
---Zealous Leap now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Zephyr has been replaced by Zephyrean Slash, which allows Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Focus while the Sentinel is in Shii-Cho Form.
--Guardian
---Due to changes to the Guardian skill trees, Guardians have had their skill points refunded.
---Added Forceclap, a new passive ability granted at level 10 that causes Force Leap to stun the target for 2 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.
---Added Focused Defense, a new ability that allows the Guardian to spend Focus to lower threat. While active, one point of Focus is spent each time damage is taken to heal the Guardian for a small amount. This ability is usable while stunned and is not limited by the global cooldown.
--Vigilance
---Commanding Awe is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree. It increases the Guardian's damage reduction while Focused Defense is active.
---Single Saber Mastery is no longer restricted to certain stances.
---Stagger is now located in Tier 1 of the Vigilance skill tree.
---Sundering Throw is now located in Tier 6 of the Vigilance skill tree.
---Zen Strike now generates 2 points of Focus when it is triggered.
--Defense
---Blade Barrier is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
---Blade Storm no longer consumes stacks of Courage while the "Momentum" buff is active.
---Command no longer reduces the cooldown of Challenging Call and is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Dust Storm is now a 3-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Guardian Slash now generates 50% additional threat.
---Momentum is now a 2-point skill that provides the same overall effect.
---Pacification is now a 1-point skill with a slightly reduced overall effect.
---Shield Specialization is now located in Tier 5 of the skill tree.
---Stasis Mastery is now located in Tier 4 of the skill tree.
--Focus (Guardian)
---Felling Blow is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect. The effect now lasts 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Force Exhaustion's cooldown has been reduced to 18 seconds. Its overall effect is unchanged.
---Gravity now specifically affects Freezing Force and Force Exhaustion.
---Inner Focus has been redesigned. It now requires 2 points in Singularity and causes Combat Focus to immediately grant 2 stacks of Singularity per point.
---Master Focus now increases the damage of Master Strike instead of affecting Force Stasis.
---Singularity's buff effects now last 20 seconds (up from 15).
---Swelling Winds is now located in Tier 1 of the Focus skill tree. It increases the damage dealt by Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash and reduces the cooldown of Force Sweep.
---Through Peace, a new 2-point skill located in Tier 6, has been added. It reduces the initial activation cost of Focused Defense by 1 Focus per point.
---Unwavering Focus has been removed from the game.
---Zealous Leap now immobilizes the target for 1 second.
---Zephyr has been replaced by Zephyrean Slash, which allows Slash critical hits to have a chance to refund 2 points of Focus while the Guardian is in Shii-Cho Form.
Comprehensive Review and Commantary on Patch 1.2 - Part 3: General Class and Combat Changes
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Classes and Combat
-Game Update 1.2. contains a significant number of changes and improvements to the overall class balance and combat gameplay in PvP and PvE based on player and guild feedback, focus testing, and more than two months of combat interaction data from our servers. Our overall goal is, as always, to create a level playing field for our players while ensuring that classes retain their unique playstyles and identities.
These changes are not limited to class abilities and skill trees, but also involve modifications to the underlying combat math (for example diminishing returns, additional augment availability, etc.), which has an impact on combat that is hard to capture in a list of patch notes.
Since our changes involve a number of skill changes for many classes, we are refunding all skill points to the affected Advanced Classes so players can adjust the distribution of their characters' skills as they see fit with the new changes in mind. As a reminder, players can reset any character's skill points in the Combat area on their faction's fleet for free once per week (additional respecs cost credits).
Based on community feedback, we have also added a number of improvements to combat gameplay, such as more reactive animations for certain abilities, better visual and audible cues for important effects, and quality of life changes such as more useful combat revival abilities.
For enthusiasts interested in the detailed mechanics of combat and optimizing their own character, we have added a combat logging feature, which writes a machine-parsable file to disk that can provide detailed insights into what really happens during a combat engagement.
--While the changes to the game formulae may be daunting for theorycrafters, things are actually getting a lot easier; the detailed combat logs now available are very detailed--I've been told by Ginnai, who has been working on damage meters based on logs from the PTS, that the logs contain all the damage formulae and every calculation made to determine damage/healing/etc. So any changes or empty spaces in how the combat mechanics of the game are understood are going to be quickly sorted out by the theorycrafting community.
--For the record, the only classes that don't have their skill points reset are Assassin/Shadow and Mercenary/Commando.
-General
--As a result of game balance efforts, many classes have had their skill tree layouts modified. Affected characters will have their skill points refunded on login.
--Visual effects for persistent ground-targeted player attacks now reflect the target area of effect more accurately.
---Based on my experiences on the PTS, this still needs a lot of work.
--"Rest" abilities, such as Meditation and Recharge and Reload, are no longer interrupted by taking damage if the player is not currently in combat.
---Darkhorse and I observed (and bug reported) that the racial abilities that act as alternate rest abilities (like Shadowboxing and Review Mission for Ratataki and Chiss respectively) did not get changed for this to be true--ie they are still interrupted by damage out of combat.
--The movement visualization when observing players with lower performance has been improved.
--Combat Training Dummies have been added to the game. Level 50 and 50+ Training Dummies can be found on the Gav Daragon and Ziost Shadow. Level 20, 30, and 40 targets can be found on Coruscant and Dromund Kaas. Level 10 targets can be found on Origin Worlds. Players can unlock Training Dummies for their personal starship through the Legacy System.
---There's no healing training dummy as requested at the guild summit. Disappointing.
--In-combat revival abilities (Resuscitation Probe, Hearttrigger Patch, Revival, and Reanimation) now revive the target with 25% health (up from 5%) to make them generally more useful for their intended purpose.
---There's no apparent fix for when the abilities seem to bug out and are unable to be used in situations where it normally should be usable.
--Several ability tooltips have been updated to include the correct values and information (these tooltip changes do not reflect changes to the ability; tooltips that previously displayed incorrect or incomplete information have been corrected).
--Several areas throughout the game that have had line of sight-related problems ("cannot see target") have been corrected.
--An issue that could prevent dual wield visual effects from playing correctly has been fixed.
--Players are now briefly stunned if they are dismounted forcibly from damage (instead of playing a fall animation).
--Fixed an issue that would occasionally cause players to become stuck and unable to move after the expiration of a stun debuff.
--Corrected an issue that could cause players to appear to continue to be dead after being revived.
--The diminishing return formula for several stats (including expertise) has been adjusted.
--Special abilities for several classes have been updated to emit light based on their actual weapon color crystal rather.
---Rather...?
--Minimum and maximum damage ranges now display correctly on the character sheet for all classes.
--Using a stun-breaking ability no longer keeps a player that was knocked down from standing up. *UPDATED 3/23*
--Medpacs can now only be used once per fight. When a medpac is used during combat, another cannot be used until after combat has ended. *UPDATED 3/23*
---Further dampens the usefulness of medpacs in both PvE and PvP.
-Combat Log
--Players may now choose to view victory and defeat messages in the chat window. This feature can be enabled in the new "Combat Logging" section of the preferences menu. This must be enabled for combat messages to appear in the chat window.
--The "Combat Logging" section in the preferences menu also allows players to stream all combat interactions originating from or directed at their character to a machine-parsable file. When this option is enabled, time stamped log files are written periodically to the Star Wars – The Old Republic\Combat Logs directory in the My Documents folder. Warning: This is an advanced feature. Constant combat logging may use a significant amount of disk space, and players may need to periodically delete old logs.
---They're not kidding. The logs take up a ton of space and are insanely detailed. As mentioned previously, MoX already has people working on putting together damage meters; since the logs only record your actions it'll ultimately require everyone be involved in compiling the data for them however. Additionally, Ginnai and others are investigating ways to collect the data in the background in realtime.
Classes and Combat
-Game Update 1.2. contains a significant number of changes and improvements to the overall class balance and combat gameplay in PvP and PvE based on player and guild feedback, focus testing, and more than two months of combat interaction data from our servers. Our overall goal is, as always, to create a level playing field for our players while ensuring that classes retain their unique playstyles and identities.
These changes are not limited to class abilities and skill trees, but also involve modifications to the underlying combat math (for example diminishing returns, additional augment availability, etc.), which has an impact on combat that is hard to capture in a list of patch notes.
Since our changes involve a number of skill changes for many classes, we are refunding all skill points to the affected Advanced Classes so players can adjust the distribution of their characters' skills as they see fit with the new changes in mind. As a reminder, players can reset any character's skill points in the Combat area on their faction's fleet for free once per week (additional respecs cost credits).
Based on community feedback, we have also added a number of improvements to combat gameplay, such as more reactive animations for certain abilities, better visual and audible cues for important effects, and quality of life changes such as more useful combat revival abilities.
For enthusiasts interested in the detailed mechanics of combat and optimizing their own character, we have added a combat logging feature, which writes a machine-parsable file to disk that can provide detailed insights into what really happens during a combat engagement.
--While the changes to the game formulae may be daunting for theorycrafters, things are actually getting a lot easier; the detailed combat logs now available are very detailed--I've been told by Ginnai, who has been working on damage meters based on logs from the PTS, that the logs contain all the damage formulae and every calculation made to determine damage/healing/etc. So any changes or empty spaces in how the combat mechanics of the game are understood are going to be quickly sorted out by the theorycrafting community.
--For the record, the only classes that don't have their skill points reset are Assassin/Shadow and Mercenary/Commando.
-General
--As a result of game balance efforts, many classes have had their skill tree layouts modified. Affected characters will have their skill points refunded on login.
--Visual effects for persistent ground-targeted player attacks now reflect the target area of effect more accurately.
---Based on my experiences on the PTS, this still needs a lot of work.
--"Rest" abilities, such as Meditation and Recharge and Reload, are no longer interrupted by taking damage if the player is not currently in combat.
---Darkhorse and I observed (and bug reported) that the racial abilities that act as alternate rest abilities (like Shadowboxing and Review Mission for Ratataki and Chiss respectively) did not get changed for this to be true--ie they are still interrupted by damage out of combat.
--The movement visualization when observing players with lower performance has been improved.
--Combat Training Dummies have been added to the game. Level 50 and 50+ Training Dummies can be found on the Gav Daragon and Ziost Shadow. Level 20, 30, and 40 targets can be found on Coruscant and Dromund Kaas. Level 10 targets can be found on Origin Worlds. Players can unlock Training Dummies for their personal starship through the Legacy System.
---There's no healing training dummy as requested at the guild summit. Disappointing.
--In-combat revival abilities (Resuscitation Probe, Hearttrigger Patch, Revival, and Reanimation) now revive the target with 25% health (up from 5%) to make them generally more useful for their intended purpose.
---There's no apparent fix for when the abilities seem to bug out and are unable to be used in situations where it normally should be usable.
--Several ability tooltips have been updated to include the correct values and information (these tooltip changes do not reflect changes to the ability; tooltips that previously displayed incorrect or incomplete information have been corrected).
--Several areas throughout the game that have had line of sight-related problems ("cannot see target") have been corrected.
--An issue that could prevent dual wield visual effects from playing correctly has been fixed.
--Players are now briefly stunned if they are dismounted forcibly from damage (instead of playing a fall animation).
--Fixed an issue that would occasionally cause players to become stuck and unable to move after the expiration of a stun debuff.
--Corrected an issue that could cause players to appear to continue to be dead after being revived.
--The diminishing return formula for several stats (including expertise) has been adjusted.
--Special abilities for several classes have been updated to emit light based on their actual weapon color crystal rather.
---Rather...?
--Minimum and maximum damage ranges now display correctly on the character sheet for all classes.
--Using a stun-breaking ability no longer keeps a player that was knocked down from standing up. *UPDATED 3/23*
--Medpacs can now only be used once per fight. When a medpac is used during combat, another cannot be used until after combat has ended. *UPDATED 3/23*
---Further dampens the usefulness of medpacs in both PvE and PvP.
-Combat Log
--Players may now choose to view victory and defeat messages in the chat window. This feature can be enabled in the new "Combat Logging" section of the preferences menu. This must be enabled for combat messages to appear in the chat window.
--The "Combat Logging" section in the preferences menu also allows players to stream all combat interactions originating from or directed at their character to a machine-parsable file. When this option is enabled, time stamped log files are written periodically to the Star Wars – The Old Republic\Combat Logs directory in the My Documents folder. Warning: This is an advanced feature. Constant combat logging may use a significant amount of disk space, and players may need to periodically delete old logs.
---They're not kidding. The logs take up a ton of space and are insanely detailed. As mentioned previously, MoX already has people working on putting together damage meters; since the logs only record your actions it'll ultimately require everyone be involved in compiling the data for them however. Additionally, Ginnai and others are investigating ways to collect the data in the background in realtime.
Comprehensive Review and Commantary on Patch 1.2 - Part 2: General Changes
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
General
-The Imperial Transportation Authority and the Galactic Republic Safety Council have authorized the use of vehicles in Orbital Space Stations and Spaceports.
--This is awesome, a real time-saver. This and the change to Sprint (see below) are some really juicy changes to mobility.
-In-game rewards will be available to players who participate on the Public Test Server. Players will receive a title if they attain level 10 on PTS, and another if they complete Chapter 1.
--Darkhorse and I finished up chapter 1 on the PTS last week, so once these titles are available I'll be able to tell you what they are.
-A new preference, "Character Texture Atlasing," is now available. Enabling this option increases the texture quality used when rendering character models.
-A new "Customize" option now appears on the character sheet. One of the features this button enables is the ability to color coordinate any individual piece of armor with the equipped chestpiece.
--There's a lil chestplate icon on the character panel now. In addition to the big "UNIFY TO CHEST" button there's also options for helmet and dark side corruption display. Once you've hit the unify button a little checkbox shows up next to individual pieces so you can toggle color unification for those on or off.
-A new preference, "Awareness Radius," allows players to adjust the number of characters displayed on-screen. Reducing this setting can improve performance in crowded areas on low-end machines.
-On planets with an Orbital Station, players can now travel directly from the planet shuttle on the surface to their ship.
-The Sprint ability is now available at level 1.
-General Bug Fixes
--Cinematics throughout the game have been polished. A large number of cinematics have been improved to address incorrect camera angles, smooth out animation issues, and to correct Companion Characters that appear in the wrong gear or at the wrong time.
--Cinematics and mission phases have been updated for consistency. For instance, several occurrences of NPCs appearing alive in a phase after a cinematic in which the player chose to kill them have been corrected.
--Corrected many instances of misplaced geometry, visible seams, and incorrect collision with world objects throughout the game.
--Many locations where player characters could become stuck on world geometry or fall through the world have been corrected.
--Some visual effects and animations have been adjusted and fixed in instances where they played incorrectly.
--Dark side appearance, if enabled, now appears correctly at character selection. *UPDATED 3/23*
General
-The Imperial Transportation Authority and the Galactic Republic Safety Council have authorized the use of vehicles in Orbital Space Stations and Spaceports.
--This is awesome, a real time-saver. This and the change to Sprint (see below) are some really juicy changes to mobility.
-In-game rewards will be available to players who participate on the Public Test Server. Players will receive a title if they attain level 10 on PTS, and another if they complete Chapter 1.
--Darkhorse and I finished up chapter 1 on the PTS last week, so once these titles are available I'll be able to tell you what they are.
-A new preference, "Character Texture Atlasing," is now available. Enabling this option increases the texture quality used when rendering character models.
-A new "Customize" option now appears on the character sheet. One of the features this button enables is the ability to color coordinate any individual piece of armor with the equipped chestpiece.
--There's a lil chestplate icon on the character panel now. In addition to the big "UNIFY TO CHEST" button there's also options for helmet and dark side corruption display. Once you've hit the unify button a little checkbox shows up next to individual pieces so you can toggle color unification for those on or off.
-A new preference, "Awareness Radius," allows players to adjust the number of characters displayed on-screen. Reducing this setting can improve performance in crowded areas on low-end machines.
-On planets with an Orbital Station, players can now travel directly from the planet shuttle on the surface to their ship.
-The Sprint ability is now available at level 1.
-General Bug Fixes
--Cinematics throughout the game have been polished. A large number of cinematics have been improved to address incorrect camera angles, smooth out animation issues, and to correct Companion Characters that appear in the wrong gear or at the wrong time.
--Cinematics and mission phases have been updated for consistency. For instance, several occurrences of NPCs appearing alive in a phase after a cinematic in which the player chose to kill them have been corrected.
--Corrected many instances of misplaced geometry, visible seams, and incorrect collision with world objects throughout the game.
--Many locations where player characters could become stuck on world geometry or fall through the world have been corrected.
--Some visual effects and animations have been adjusted and fixed in instances where they played incorrectly.
--Dark side appearance, if enabled, now appears correctly at character selection. *UPDATED 3/23*
Comprehensive Review and Commantary on Patch 1.2 - Part 1: Highlights
First thing's first, the official patch notes for 1.2 can be found either here or here. I toyed with the idea of editing out anything not worth commenting on or leaving out changes to the Republic classes but I think that in the interest of making this a one-stop discussion of the upcoming changes it would be best to include everything. I am gonna move the order of a few things around though (notably, putting Empire classes first so I can fit in my commentary for those but also include the Republic versions afterwards). Also, I won't have something to say for every little note and tweak, so bear with me here. Finally, as much as I'd like to do it as one big wad, this is clearly way too big to cram into one post, so I'm gonna break it up into chunks for separate posts.
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Highlights
-Players can now unlock a wide variety of rewards by leveling characters and reaching new Legacy levels, including buffs for your characters, unlocking additional Species choices for every class, and upgrades for your personal Starship. Build your own Legacy with the new Family Tree!
-Players can now unlock a wide variety of rewards by leveling characters and reaching new Legacy levels, including buffs for your characters, unlocking additional Species choices for every class, and upgrades for your personal Starship. Build your own Legacy with the new Family Tree!
--If you haven't already played a character to chapter 2 on the PTS to check it out for yourself, you can read this article for a good preview of the new legacy features. The vast majority of them are asthetic, or at least don't have much bearing from a character advancement standpoint. It's also noteworthy that the highest required Legacy Level for any of the new features is 25. Kind of a kick in the nuts to a Legacy fiend such as myself but eh.
-Lost Island, a new Flashpoint, is available for play! Having uncovered the sources of the Rakghoul plague outbreak in the Tion Hegemony, players must travel to Ord Mantell and confront Dr. Lorrick, the mad scientist who engineered this horrific biological weapon.
-Explosive Conflict, a new Operation, is available for play! The Trandoshan mercenary warlord Kephess has seized the planet Denova, a world rich in resources valuable to the war effort. Players must assault his war camp, situated atop a mountain in densely-wooded terrain, fighting Imperial defectors and heavy war machines along the way. 8- and 16-player Story and Hard Modes are currently available for this Operation.
--My guild's been in line to get copied to the PTS for weeks now, so I wish I could say more about this. Nightmare mode won't be available upon release of 1.2; it's to be released at a later date. I've heard rumors that even Story Mode is difficult and requires Rakata level geared players, but that sounds awfully contradictory to the stated design philosophy in having a "Story" mode.
-Novare Coast, a new objective-oriented Warzone on the planet Denova, has been added to the game. This Warzone, like Huttball, supports same-faction matches if there are not enough members of the opposing faction to be found.
--Played this a handful of times on the PTS while Darkhorse and I were working on getting through chapter 1. It's very Alderaan Civil War-esque in that it simply breaks down to who can hold two points better. Unlike that WZ however, progress can only be made towards winning if you control two points--each objective is a gun turret that each fires after a set time, one shot is required to knock out a base's shield and the second is required to damage the actual base (the shield's regenerate such that the base will not be damaged by only one cannon firing at it). The players' bases are at the southwest and southeast corners of the map, with objective points at the northeast and northwest corners and one in between the two bases to the south.
-New repeatable high-level daily missions are available in a new area on Corellia, the Black Hole!
--Reportedly, there are 5 new solo dailies and 1 new Heroic daily which both give the existing Daily Commendations. Additionally, there is a weekly that reportedly gives 6 Black Hole Commendations. There are new relics that are meant to be bought using Daily Commendations now. Supposedly, these relics may also be craftable, but require recipes and blue and purple materials the source of which has not yet been discovered.
-Guilds now have access to a shared Guild Bank, accessible on the Fleets, with expandable storage.
-A new tier of gear has been added for both PvP and PvE.
--Black Hole and Campaign gear comprise the new PvE tier; the new PvP tier is War Hero gear. Last I saw on the PTS the set bonuses and stats on several pieces were still missing.
-Ranked Warzones are here! Players can now queue up and participate in PvP matchups to rank themselves against the competition.
-Players can now customize their User Interface by moving and resizing UI elements!
--Played around with this some on the PTS. Be aware that a lot of the interface options from the current options menu are now found as options for individual elements in the UI customization screen.
-A new level 50 World Boss with a challenge for a well-coordinated 16-player Operation Group has been sighted in the Gormak Lands region on Voss.
--Reportedly this boss is raid-gear-relevant, ie it will be worth doing regularly. Supposedly, to fight the boss it's required that you obtain an item through either crafting or Daily Commendations that prevents a damage aura of some sort (it's not clear if only the operations group needs it or each person needs one) that allows it to be fought safely. I'll be curious to see how this turns out if multiple groups from either faction have to fight over spawns or items required therefor.
-Players can now leave comments on entries in their Friends List in the Social Window.
To distinguish the patch notes from my commentary, all the original patch notes are in italics and my own comments will be in bold.
Highlights
-Players can now unlock a wide variety of rewards by leveling characters and reaching new Legacy levels, including buffs for your characters, unlocking additional Species choices for every class, and upgrades for your personal Starship. Build your own Legacy with the new Family Tree!
-Players can now unlock a wide variety of rewards by leveling characters and reaching new Legacy levels, including buffs for your characters, unlocking additional Species choices for every class, and upgrades for your personal Starship. Build your own Legacy with the new Family Tree!
--If you haven't already played a character to chapter 2 on the PTS to check it out for yourself, you can read this article for a good preview of the new legacy features. The vast majority of them are asthetic, or at least don't have much bearing from a character advancement standpoint. It's also noteworthy that the highest required Legacy Level for any of the new features is 25. Kind of a kick in the nuts to a Legacy fiend such as myself but eh.
-Lost Island, a new Flashpoint, is available for play! Having uncovered the sources of the Rakghoul plague outbreak in the Tion Hegemony, players must travel to Ord Mantell and confront Dr. Lorrick, the mad scientist who engineered this horrific biological weapon.
-Explosive Conflict, a new Operation, is available for play! The Trandoshan mercenary warlord Kephess has seized the planet Denova, a world rich in resources valuable to the war effort. Players must assault his war camp, situated atop a mountain in densely-wooded terrain, fighting Imperial defectors and heavy war machines along the way. 8- and 16-player Story and Hard Modes are currently available for this Operation.
--My guild's been in line to get copied to the PTS for weeks now, so I wish I could say more about this. Nightmare mode won't be available upon release of 1.2; it's to be released at a later date. I've heard rumors that even Story Mode is difficult and requires Rakata level geared players, but that sounds awfully contradictory to the stated design philosophy in having a "Story" mode.
-Novare Coast, a new objective-oriented Warzone on the planet Denova, has been added to the game. This Warzone, like Huttball, supports same-faction matches if there are not enough members of the opposing faction to be found.
--Played this a handful of times on the PTS while Darkhorse and I were working on getting through chapter 1. It's very Alderaan Civil War-esque in that it simply breaks down to who can hold two points better. Unlike that WZ however, progress can only be made towards winning if you control two points--each objective is a gun turret that each fires after a set time, one shot is required to knock out a base's shield and the second is required to damage the actual base (the shield's regenerate such that the base will not be damaged by only one cannon firing at it). The players' bases are at the southwest and southeast corners of the map, with objective points at the northeast and northwest corners and one in between the two bases to the south.
-New repeatable high-level daily missions are available in a new area on Corellia, the Black Hole!
--Reportedly, there are 5 new solo dailies and 1 new Heroic daily which both give the existing Daily Commendations. Additionally, there is a weekly that reportedly gives 6 Black Hole Commendations. There are new relics that are meant to be bought using Daily Commendations now. Supposedly, these relics may also be craftable, but require recipes and blue and purple materials the source of which has not yet been discovered.
-Guilds now have access to a shared Guild Bank, accessible on the Fleets, with expandable storage.
-A new tier of gear has been added for both PvP and PvE.
--Black Hole and Campaign gear comprise the new PvE tier; the new PvP tier is War Hero gear. Last I saw on the PTS the set bonuses and stats on several pieces were still missing.
-Ranked Warzones are here! Players can now queue up and participate in PvP matchups to rank themselves against the competition.
-Players can now customize their User Interface by moving and resizing UI elements!
--Played around with this some on the PTS. Be aware that a lot of the interface options from the current options menu are now found as options for individual elements in the UI customization screen.
-A new level 50 World Boss with a challenge for a well-coordinated 16-player Operation Group has been sighted in the Gormak Lands region on Voss.
--Reportedly this boss is raid-gear-relevant, ie it will be worth doing regularly. Supposedly, to fight the boss it's required that you obtain an item through either crafting or Daily Commendations that prevents a damage aura of some sort (it's not clear if only the operations group needs it or each person needs one) that allows it to be fought safely. I'll be curious to see how this turns out if multiple groups from either faction have to fight over spawns or items required therefor.
-Players can now leave comments on entries in their Friends List in the Social Window.
Everything's Granado
Well, the revisit to GE lasted all of a day before I remember why I quickly lost interest last time. It's a very old school MMO. It's got some nice ideas, but the vehicle that delivers them is woefully unrefined.
Which means its time for a comprehensive review of patch 1.2, which is what I'll be working on the rest of this afternoon. Expect to see it posted later tonight.
Which means its time for a comprehensive review of patch 1.2, which is what I'll be working on the rest of this afternoon. Expect to see it posted later tonight.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Biding Time 'til 1.2
Trying to put off finishing Lantus and Desyrel until 1.2 so I can put at least some of the Legacy system advantages for alts to use in leveling, so that means I'm basically out of stuff to do until it lands. Playing bits of Tera gave me this really weird urge to play Grenado Espada again, so I'm gonna download the US version tonight, should help kill time. Otherwise I'm also playing a Commando on another server (Pyridium, on Zakkeg Beast) to see some of the Republic storylines.
One of these days I might do a comprehensive commentary on the 1.2 patch notes since that's something I'd like to do after taking on a chunk of it yesterday--and it would no doubt kill most of a day.
I've got a vague hope that 1.2 hits tomorrow but I'm well aware that's quite unlikely.
One of these days I might do a comprehensive commentary on the 1.2 patch notes since that's something I'd like to do after taking on a chunk of it yesterday--and it would no doubt kill most of a day.
I've got a vague hope that 1.2 hits tomorrow but I'm well aware that's quite unlikely.
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