Let's talk SWtOR!

[Kulyok]

I'm okay with Agent finale spoilers, so I think I'll definitely give your fanfiction a read. (Though I have a feeling Agent story will surprise me more than once yet).

 

(And good luck with shopping for that bread and eggs! I'm nearly out of avocado, myself. We've got +2C now, slush everywhere, but we're promised -15C next week. Again. Grrr!)

 

Me growing all nostalgic, I went and re-watched Garrus ME3 videos, and some Anders DA2. (I also loved Carver, and somehow managed to get friendship with him. Too bad I can't play rogue or fighter - I can't stand to see him die). Aww. Still, it would feel a bit weird to play single player again, no other people around, chat empty. Strange, isn't it?

 

Thank you for the Line of Sight tips! I'll keep these in mind. Ha, yesterday my poor Jedi Consular lvl30 had to fight an Act 1 boss who was level 34, and there was nowhere to hide behind! I still don't know how she survived. But, really, it was unfair, Bioware - I spent half an hour fighting level 30 mobs, and then suddenly you spring a level 34 BOSS on me? Thank you very much!

 

Speaking of that Jedi Consular, playing Dark is fun indeed. I'm not going pure dark, and Tharan is probably the reason - the guy's supporting some peaceful stuff, and I'm tagging along(I'm supposed to be a guardian of peace, after all. But only for my own benefit!). Annoyingly, though, Tharan doesn't like throwing pretty girls out of the airlock and killing certain old women with my lightsaber, but that, naturally, doesn't stop me. (And I have a feeling Holiday's enjoying it - she's crazy jealous). Speaking of which, some dark choices are a bit too cruel, but I've discovered my character is a complete and utter coward, so I'm definitely going dark when I'm getting something like this:

 

Master: We're going to start a rutual and use your ability.

Me: Wait. You're going to siphon my power until I die?

Master: Well... yes?

Me: (sighs and looks for the dark side option) Sorry, Master. (draws a lightsaber)

Syo Bakarn: Oh. Well, I guess it was necessary for the good of the Republic. Let's make you a Master.

Me: Yay!

 

Strangely, I made the pure light choice at the end of Act 1 - I just felt sorry for the guy, it was too unfair. And strangely, it was my redemption - I went from -1050DS to -900DS, and I received the title of the Master with my own blue eyes and neutral alignment. Appropriate.

 

Act 2 for the Consular looks really interesting, with all these diplomats and diplomacy. I really, really want to flirt with the guy who's sending me to Balmorra, he's so handsome! Please tell me I can flirt with him, please-please-please!

 

 

But Nadia Grell is UGLY. Gosh! She looks like... I don't know what. Funnily, if she were a guy, she'd look very cool - short and slight figure, white-gray hair covering the face, narrow eyes, fancy black tattoos. But as a girl, she's ugly as hell. And the most unfortunate thing is, I can't have her in my party and customize her until the end of Act 2, and I'd be used to her default looks by then. Ah well.

 

 

Twani, it's interesting how your character's names start with Aa! I wanted to do something of the sort with my own characters, but managed only Stacey, Samanta and Stefana. (My others are a varied bunch - Kulyok, Alyona, Montale, Genri and Vergera, all girls).

 

 

Who's going to be my little crazy Kalesh? Who's going to be my little crazy Kalesh! You, yes, you are!

 

Awwwwwwwww! My Inquisitor's absolutely looking forward to that, because I grew a bit tired of choosing "reasonable" answers for Talos and Ashara. I want to have some crazy fun!

(And I'm looking forward to seeing Harkin again! Ah, old pal, it's been a while since you've tried to kill me, eh? Bow before Darth Kulyok!)

 

 

I'm a terrible jumper, too. Nar Shaddaa/Coruscant datacrons? Can't make them at all. I wish I could - some of the late-game datacrons give +10 to a stat, but, ugh. Sigh.

 

And I really should do some of these low-level heroics for dark points sometime. Because I only complete heroics once, and it's usually with my first character, who is light to her fingernails. (And my Agent was light at first). Heh, poisoining water on Hutta... wonder if this quest's available for my lovely Inquisitor?

 

Elephant people on Hoth ARE adorable! I even declined the quest with them for my Inquisitor, because I didn't want to kill 'em all(both my Warrior and Agent made the light choice there). But thosse small tech people on Nar Shaddaa for the Bounty Hunter? Not so much! I remember what they've done to C3PO in Empire Strikes Back, so I killed them without mercy. Sorry, Mako, I know you think they're adorable, but WE ARE BOUNTY HUNTING. THIS IS NOT A ZOO. So there.

 

 

Treek just seems so expensive! I mean, 3000 coins means ~20 bucks, and to pay 20 bucks for a virtual companion who doesn't even have quest commentary and quest approval? Meh. Though my Sith Inquisitor could use a healing tank instead of Khem, 'tis true... then again, she could use Talos just as well, and get amusing comments and approval points and 1000 kills achievement. So maybe I'll wait and pay a million at Legacy level 40. Not sure yet.

 

 

As for my own romances and proposals, it's pretty dull: Quinn/Vector/Andry - yes without hesitation, kissed Corso(but I like the Act 1 villain better, I really do! Why can't I get him into my party, like I did with Gault for the Bounty Hunter?), nudged Aric a couple of times(though I like the Nar Shaddaa SIS guy better), and still looking forward to Torian and Doc. NOT looking forward to Iresso. And, yeah, I wouldn't want to romance Vette, either. But then again, I'm just not into Twi'leks(or Chiss) people. I like pureblood Sith, though - the guy that asked me to scan Sith for a datacron on Koribban was very sexy. Cyborgs are fine, too, as long as Loghain voices them. Really, I think we should petition Bioware for a Moff Kilran mid-level flashpoint with flirting and maybe even hot sex for optional dark points.

Neither of my characters are going to settle down, though - though I think my Inquisitor and Andronicus could take a sabbatical and be pirates(and hire the Bounty Hunter to kill the remaining members of the Dark Council in the meantime. After all, pirating should get them enough credits!)

 

 

Really, about credits, I think the game doesn't work optimally there: they should give +3000-15000(depending on the level) credits each time the character insists on it. Otherwise there's no point in being a greedy jerk if the maximum you're getting is ~135 credits in a mailbox.

 

 

@Twani: question: if your Agent is ready to sacrifice everything for the Empire, why doesn't she turn or assassinate a younger sister who's clearly working against the Empire for the Republic? That's kind of desired for the Agent, isn't it?

[Domi]

Wow, you do like your Chiss, Twani. So, you have 2 more Zabraks, and a twi'lek. What race do you use for Aashen, Baras and Aaline? The legacies are pretty cool, though it is a bit hard for me to play with a few generations of characters in the same time frame.

[Domi]

I find it interesting too that both of you wanted to start character names with the same prefix. Modding habit? Mine are all different names. The Legacy founders are Bao and Blight Dur. Quinly, because I always have a Quinly for my primary Consular, Tishujen (twilek name generator corrected to look better) for the smuggler, Dusk Fell (because it sounded cool), Sevrinne (through I am considering cashing in the one name change I get and going with Becchino after reading too much about the Black Death) for my pure Sith, Lariko for Bounty Hunter (a spoof on the infamous song Suliko & a last name of someone I knew when I was a teen, lol) and Glean (though it would have been better for a spy) for the Trooper. Kindda mix of 'nicknames' and 'cool mix of sounds' names). We are cleaning Justicair's territory, though my hubby in the excitement pulled power cord and it caused a huge havoc on his machine I tried a warzone (yeah.... I suck), and my IA finally dragged herself to Level 15. Gotta say my best moment today so far was the paranoid Jael (?) who sent my IA to hunt the critters that are only revealed by lightening. I am starting to do all the equipment updates, hate doing it, but all the companions are starting to get hurt. My husbands AS is like 1,700 when Qyzen is about 600, dunno how the hell he does it. I hate, hate, hate Qyzen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kulyok]

Qyzen is crazy horrible. I've just started his Act 2 conversations(both he and Maco gave me a Level 40 quest, but I'm barely level 30!) and after he told me how he's eaten a piece of his own old skin, I just facepalmed and left him alone.

 

I recommend getting a set of orange gear for you, and set it with green mods from one of the shops in the Plaza near the Senate very cheaply. (A more expensive way is "use planetary commendations to update your orange gear" every ~4-6 levels, but you're not getting that many commendations until ~level 30).

 

Dusk Fell sounds cool. Like Jagged Fel, only cooler. I've chosen a Dwight legacy, but I saw people with cool legacy names like Gold or Sith-something.

[Domi]

(Gags) I don't care how sleazy Tharan is, I can't wait for him to join.

[Twani]

Well, my fanfiction is coming along nicely, although now it looks like I'm writing a multichaptered fiction about tying up all the loose ends the SC leaves you with. ;; I am the queen of trying to write some one off little thing, and then suddenly ending up with huge multi-chaptered fanfics out of nowhere.

 

Agent Act III is full of surprises (though it seems you've been spoiled on the big Hunter one and the finale options), and... really, it's great. Agent's are awesome. And Dusk Fell is a good name.

 

I'm having a horrible time with Operation Dark Side Trooper. Me: 'chooses dark side option' Aric: 'HISSSSSSS' -32, -32, -32 Me: 'hastily ends conversation and tries light side option' Aric: ' ' +28 or something. Amusingly, another DS option he doesn't give a darn about: leaving the kids using the hydrosupply on Coro to slowly die without water or money by telling them to scram (One thing in common with Aanan: THE WATER MUST BE CLEANNNNNNN). I guess he's just not a child person. He didn't seem to care about helping that little girl find her big brother, either. It's just as well: apparently, my Trooper isn't a kid person, either (she threatened the Cathar back on Ord Mantell with shooting the kid if the Cathar didn't cooperate- Republic Soldiers Needed Those Meds!!). Now I'm off to hunt the first traitor, and I'm at a limbo: is killing a traitor or saving a senator of the Republic more in line with 'REPUBLIC YAYY ALWAYS'. Maybe killing the traitor. Aric will probably approve of that DS decision.

 

(Funny moment of the day- I quickly canceled out, but I chose to throw Aric under the bridge with the Senators, just to see his reaction. He's like, 'Oh you little bi-'. Hysterical. I could get in on a movement to troll Aric, but as he's going to be my love interest, that probably wouldn't be appropriate.)

 

I'm thinking this Syo Bakarn guy sounds either sort of stupid, or sort of secretly evil. I suppose time will tell. Then again, NPC's as a rule aren't that bright.

 

Nadia Grell is sort of odd looking. I don't find her ugly, so much- I like the pale looking waif concept, on both males and females (well, sometimes- I wouldn't want everyone looking like that)- but I can definitely see why people would. It would be nice if as soon as the companion starts hanging around (I think it's really just her and Risha, but still) you could instantly customize them.

 

Oh the customization choices, somewhere around Balmora my Jedi Knight picked up some fantastically ugly yellow robes. They're horrible looking, a greasy yellow color (not even just like, bright sun light- it's more like mustard), and they have this weird square on the back that looks sort of like the BH jetpack, but THEY'RE NOT BROWN. So she's running around in them. I get so envious when I see people walking around in those beautiful dresses from the cartel packs, the ones that look like ballgowns and are dyed like, black and red and make your character all Kicking Ass In All Her Finery, to quote TV tropes. But none of the dress items are up for sale in the cartel market now, and I refuse to simply repeatedly buy packs hoping I'll get a dressy piece out of them. That seems ridiculous.

 

I think it probably is modding that made me start all my characters with Aa. Makes them nice and easy to spot in guild lists, too, which is also a perk. It leads to some stupid names, though. What sort of parents call their child 'Aavi'? Oh well, as she was a slave, maybe she was just named by a cruel overseerer.

 

I want Xalek so bad. Why must be come so late? After Voss? There's only one planet left after Voss! Well, I guess there's Makeb. It's sort of funny: I have Khem maxed, Andry almost maxed, so logically once I max the love interest I'll start talking around Talos (and he is heals, so plus)... so all of a sudden my crazy DS will become strangely reasonable (she'll still be taking DS choices, but less 'Murder and Mayhem await!' and more 'Tell me more! Science yay!'). Then I'll get Xalek and it'll suddenly be back to 'MURDER MAYHEM NO TALK JUST DEATHHH KILL OR BE KILLED'. The things we do for our companions...

 

(It's sort of like my Agent is a lot nicer when Vector and Temple are around, but a lot meaner when Kaliyo and Scorpio are around, and a lot more inquisitive when Lokin is around. Her personality changes! Of course, she's a master of infiltration...)

 

I tried for around an hour to get that one jumpy datacron on Corosaunt. Gave up, in the end; didn't get it. I want to get the achivements, but I just suck at this. I've heard buying a huge speeder helps for some of the jumps: you get extra room on your collision box, but then you have to cancel speeder real quick at just the right moment, which sounds too complicated.

 

Aw, man, there's a Chiss guy on Hoth in the Agent questline that basically proposed to my Chiss Agent (Vector took things rather well, all things considered). I'm not sure if it's open for all female agents, or just female Chiss Agents. I think he actually mentioned that 'in another lifetime', we could go back to Csilla together and I could be his bride. As I like the Chiss race, I found it sort of heartbreaking- unlike most of the one night stands, it felt like he had actually fallen in love with my character, and... that was obviously a no. He was military assigned to Hoth, she was Intelligence assigned to breaking a conspiracy (and attached to a certain joiner)- it would have never worked. 'But in another lifetime'. The strange part is, of course now after that being so long ago, I can't even remember who the character was, what he looked like, or what he sounded like. Just that I enjoyed the writing. Honestly, I'll flirt with anything in this game, no matter what they look like, for the most part. Especially with my Agents. They must sleep with everyone possible!

 

Yeah, I stopped asking for credits from people as it became clear you get practically nothing. Boo to that. Well, my Smuggler kept asking about credits to get Guss's affection up, but I sure wasn't doing it for the money. Just for those lovely affection points.

 

As for the story of my girls... my Agent hasn't killed my Jedi Knight because it means she basically has an ear in the Jedi order and it allows her to hear a good bit about defections, which have this strange history of happening wherever my Jedi Knight goes (and, privately, because she believes killing the Emperor and putting fear in the Sith so Intelligence and Military can get more power would be a good thing). Why she doesn't kill my Smuggler... well, let's say there are very good reasons why an Agent would want a Smuggler to complete Act II and most of Act III (and the smuggler's just running around about vengeance in Act I), but spoilers spoilers spoilers! Major Smuggler spoilers!

 

If you want them, though...

 

The Smuggler becomes a Republic Privateer in Act II- backed by an undercover Imperial Intelligence Agent and a Senator wanting to defect. She spends all of Act II doing the Empire's goals without realizing it, and only finds out around Act III how much she screwed up. Along the way, it's very likely the Smuggler will take out one of the Republic's best smuggler's and pirates. Act III, the Smuggler wises up, but in the end the only figure she kills of note is a slaver bastard who killed three Moffs himself in his quest to become Moff- not neccessary in my Agent's ideal Empire. The only regret is the Imperial Intelligence Agent gets captured or killed along the way, but he was just one agent, and for the amount of damage the smuggler does, it's a pretty decent pay-off.

 

 

After the end of Act III, my Agent does have every reason to kill my Smuggler, but hasn't yet because A) my Smuggler hasn't herself done anything else against the war effort so far (she doesn't run flashpoints, warzones, or even go to Illum), B) she still feels some sort of sisterly ties to her. If the Smuggler seriously starts going after the Empire in the war, she might regretfully take action, but so far she's operating on wait and see. She knows her sister is heading to Makeb, too- perhaps they'll meet and then... well, who knows what'll happen?

 

 

Races that I forgot... Aashleen is a Sith Pureblood, who actually has the same hairstyle and makeup as my Jedi Knight. That was not intentional- I don't know what I was thinking- but I'll probably have to do something with it. Aaspin is a human, which makes him doubly bitter against Aashleen: he wanted to be born red, toooooo! And Aaline is, er, that green skinned race (though she's light yellow) with the tattoos. You know the one. Yeah. That one. (Don't they start with M, too?)

 

 

Heh, poor Qeyzen. Now I'm tempted to start leveling that little Councilor. He can't be worse then the smuggler's boring wookie, can he? If he can... D: D: D:

 

 

For me, I buy orange gear as soon as possible, always choose armor/mods/enhancements/barrels/hilts as a reward, and after every planet go to the fleet and use my commendations upgrading my orange equipment. If you do the multistage bonus quests (usually they start out like, kill 15 gangsters, kill 40 gangsters, then activate an item and kill an elite gangster), each of those gives you three commendations when you turn them in. As I can, I slowly upgrade my friends equipment to orange and try and keep them updated, too, but that's much harder then just doing yourself. You can get ten commendations a day if you group up with three others in the flashpoint finder, though, so I... try to do that, at least on weekends.

 

 

Totally off topic, but I liked your Branwen banters with the EE kids, Kuylok. Didn't get around to opening Infinity Explorer to check Tiax/Coran/Xan, but hers were an easy read.

[Kulyok]

Alas, the gaming weekend is over. And Bounty Hunter week is almost over! (I'm getting the Professional reputation as soon as I get to cash in my reputation trophies next week, just you wait!) My Agent just can't stop doing dark bounties, and now that my Inquisitor's got a taste... uh-oh. I finally even got my Bounty Hunter to try an actual bounty, and it went so good my Smuggler and Jedi Consular joined in on the fun, too. Only my Jedi Knight remains pure, but I might well think of some reason to let her enjoy hunting criminals. (Or not. I can imagine my dark Jedi Consular doing it, but an actual Luke Skywalker? Er, probably not).

 

Best of luck with your fanfiction, Twani! (And, yep, maybe an Act 3 spoiler warning somewhere will be needed, after all I know the Hunter twist, the finale with the codex and a rumor about Kaliyo+disbanding, but this is it).

(And glad you liked Branwen's banters! I think Dorn-Branwen are my favorite ones).

 

So, I finally caved in, clicked the Cartel Market buttons and bought Treek for all my characters for 2800(2100+700) Cartel Coins! Now I've got a whooping sum of 15 Cartel Coins left. (Fortunately, today's the subscription day, so I must be getting my 500 monthly subscriber value). So, Treek. It's incredibly easy to get her - just click on the contract you bought, go to the Cartel Market, talk to the droid, and she's all yours. For other charafters, take the contract via the Collections menu.

 

She's a very cute, very dark, very bloodthirsty(to the point of being disturbing and creepy and eating the flesh of her enemies, yep) female Ewok. I tried her joining dialogue with all characters, and she's a good fit fir everyone, including the Republic chars, but when I unlocked her dialogues via approval with my Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior, it became obvious with Jedi Knight that she was holding back, and was more bloodthirsty than she appeared. But with Sith Warrior? Kill them all! Fry their remains and dance on their bones! No mercy! Hello, +486 approval! Myahaha! Anyway, I got her to 10000 approval easy as pie with these dialogue options, though my Sith Warrior feels a little strange - five minutes ago she was a peace-loving, making-Empire-better kind of girl, what happened to her after two minutes of Treek conversation?!

 

Treek's viable in combat, too - I equipped her with full Aim level 37 gear and went to that Nar Shaddaa bonus 4+ heroic I could never finish with Kira. Well, I did die four times, but we finished it with Treek just fine! So, I think she's good. All my characters are damage dealers, so a tank with healing abilities will do them good.

 

My only regret was not equipping Treek in Legacy gear. I'm not sure if her own gear is Bound or Bound to Legacy - if Bound, I have to equip her for othr characters all over again, and that's kinda too expensive, level 4 underworld metals aren't cheap). So, Treek's decent, and she's pretty good for my Jedi Knight until she meets Doc. I think I'm very tempted to use her for the others, but I've got just too many good characters to use Treek with everyone. Definitely will use her on my new chars, if any, though.

 

Is she worth 2800 coins? I'd say no if you don't have Rocket Boost/Quick Travel/No-cooldown fleet pass/GTN/mail/shop on your ship. If you do, then yeah, she's the logical next step.

 

(Funny moment of the day- I quickly canceled out, but I chose to throw Aric under the bridge with the Senators, just to see his reaction. He's like, 'Oh you little bi-'. Hysterical. I could get in on a movement to troll Aric, but as he's going to be my love interest, that probably wouldn't be appropriate.)

 

Hahaha! I wanted to, but was afraid to. After all, loyalty is Shepard's middle name. Aric's a bit dull, though, isn't he? I'm tempted to replace him with Forex just for the funny dialogue or Treek for the tanks, but wouldn't it be disloyal to my love interest? Sigh. If he were Garrus, I'd never replace him. But I might troll him a little, too! (I always tease him when he gives me those -2 disapproval points after I flirt with other people. Alas, these flirting moments are way too rare!)

 

And I so wanted to threaten that woman on Ord Mantell, too! But I reloaded - I thought that was too eeeeeeeevil, and I was determined to play Shepard as a paragon. (But if it were any other female actress? Those kids would have never gotten the meds!)

 

(snickers about Syo Bakarn. He's something, all right. But he's a bit less dull than all the other Jedi Masters, so I'm okay with accepting him as my quest giver. I'm not overly fond of Satele, after all - I rather prefer Jedi Knight's mentor with his odd sense of humor, or even good old Syo).

 

I'm getting some customization problems, too, but I can fully recommend Aspiring Knight's set for Jedi Knight - it's awesome. A bit open, but your parts are covered, and it looks decent. I think it's available both as a Cartel Market set and a normal crafted orange set(I got it as a normal one), and it's rather cheap - I myself sold the chest and pants for 1499 each, because I just used these for levelling up my Synthweaving and wanted to get rid of these. I really, really want a set of non-hooded white robes for my Jedi Consular, though, and can't find it - I saw a green version, but I want a moddable orange one!

 

 

I want Xalek so bad. Why must be come so late? After Voss? There's only one planet left after Voss! Well, I guess there's Makeb. It's sort of funny: I have Khem maxed, Andry almost maxed, so logically once I max the love interest I'll start talking around Talos (and he is heals, so plus)... so all of a sudden my crazy DS will become strangely reasonable (she'll still be taking DS choices, but less 'Murder and Mayhem await!' and more 'Tell me more! Science yay!'). Then I'll get Xalek and it'll suddenly be back to 'MURDER MAYHEM NO TALK JUST DEATHHH KILL OR BE KILLED'. The things we do for our companions...

 

(It's sort of like my Agent is a lot nicer when Vector and Temple are around, but a lot meaner when Kaliyo and Scorpio are around, and a lot more inquisitive when Lokin is around. Her personality changes! Of course, she's a master of infiltration...)

 

That's me, absolutely! My Inquisitor is going to stick to her lovely crazy persona, but my Agent? She changes hers in a moment, yeah. "Wait, Vector's around? Let's take this light choice. Oh, hi, Kalyio. LET'S BLOW STUFF UP!"

(And, yes, I'm worried how much it affects me. Tharan giving me -33's? Oookay, escape, we aren't going to say "I love a challenge", let's choose a cautious reply... wait, I'm on my smuggler and it's Corso? Scratch that, I love a challenge!)

 

 

Datacrons. Yay. Why can't they all be as easy as Ord Mantell datacrons? I suck at jumping, too, totally. Even with switching off speed ability, using the speeder and so on. I keep promising myself I'll do it for the achievement one day, and I even got the two datacrons via Tatooine balloon(yay!), but... nah. Won't happen anytime soon.

 

 

I remember Aristocra on Hoth. He's a nice guy, and I kissed him, too, I just could never understand why a handsome Chiss prince(or an equivalent) would be interested in my rather plain Agent(yes, she's the Hand, but it shouldn't matter that much in the Ascendancy). But it inspires loyalty(and Chiss on Hoth are cool): when that guy on Hoth asked me to betray the Chiss, I nearly laughed in his face.

 

 

Heh, poor Qeyzen. Now I'm tempted to start leveling that little Councilor. He can't be worse then the smuggler's boring wookie, can he? If he can... D: D: D:

 

Yes, oh, yes. You'll see. (My Bounty Hunter had a quest to capture/kill a similar creature, Trandoshan, on Hoth. Man, did she enjoy that! )

 

 

I've got all crew skills, so I try to keep up my people's equipment via Cybertech, Armstech and Artfice(and a bit of Armormech/Synthweaving thrown in), but it's much easier to use commendations, I admit. Problem is, my mains have full commendations, but my alts play mostly normal quests and class quests, so their commendations pools are rather shallow. so I just make my lovely Sith Inquisitor to crafts those hilts and enhancements. She sighs, but privately I think she's going to lure my Jedi Consular back to the dark side, after all.

 

 

So! Speaking of my gaming weekend, I finally finished Bounty Hunter's chapter 2. Among other things, it means that I've got full four class boost each time I use my class boost, which is nice.

I appreciated the story(though it still was a bit behind my Agent's/Inquisitor's/Warrior's, maybe), and Taris/Hoth were really interesting. The whole chapter was, I think - a nice change from the Great Hunt. I've also gotten Blizz, the unlikely Jawa, on Hoth! He's so cute! Like Forex for the Trooper, only cuter. Alas, my permanent companion is Torian, but I'll think of something for Blizz, I'm sure.

 

Speaking of Torian, my Bounty Hunter is now married(yes, already ). You get to see Torian's story on Taris, and it's a very good one - I'd say it's better than Andronicus on Tatooine or even Vector on Alderaan. The romance itself begins later, and like I said, it can be a bit shallow. It's mostly about "What kind of girl you like? I like you, do you like me? Let's shoot stuff together! Oh, and since Torian's a Mandalorian, let's throw in a phrase about Mandalorian cuisine and Mandalorian language". Yes, it's all true.

 

However, Torian's also got this very intense aura about him - he's very young, very serious(no sense of humor whatsoever, and strangely, it becomes him) and very driven, and it shows in the romance. You know, the feeling that the war is starting, the life they lead is actually dangerous, and dangerous things are happening. Something like Kyle Reese from the Terminator. And I like that. Also you get a few glimpses from the bounty hunter side - what they feel when they hunt, and that's pretty interesting, too.

 

So, my characer did fall in love, and even got the flutters in her chest. Torian is also a pretty kind guy - he would go out of his way to save those slaves on Hoth, or to help Blizz. He is up for a challenge and honorable combat(that goes without saying), but he's okay with "dark option: shoot him", too sometimes. He's lighter than Andronicus, but he does make a pretty strong(dark?) choice at the end of Taris if you let him, so I think he's about the same shade of darkness as Malavai Quinn, or a bit darker. Not as light as Vector.

 

I'd say his romance is not much worse than Andronicus. Better than Republic romances, I think. My only pet peeve is that with Malavai Quinn and Vector I have a feeling they'd love _me_ the actual me behind my character. With Torian and Andronicus, I have to get into my character's skin first real deep to see that they love my character and my character loves them. Still, I appreciate the romances.

(And maybe I shouldn't have gotten spoiled with Torian's talks online;... though they can be pretty cheesy. Again, his quests on Taris are pretty decent).

 

Oh, and remember me asking if there was a "I love you" - "I know" moment in SWTOR romances? Torian's got exactly this moment.

 

(Torian is also the only character who will give you -50 approval if you try the options like "Kill me, but let my companion go!" or "You're wounded, I can't leave you here alone!" Goes against his honor. And for a mercenary, he's pretty anti-money, too).

 

And there's this moment with Torian at the beginning of Chapter 3 - if you take him to negotiate with your Sith contact, there's a moment when you kill Sith's entourage, and the Sith tells you "not to interfere with mine, or I'll take what's yours" and he starts strangling Torian. Then he lets him go, but my Bounty hunter's heart did stop for a moment.

 

 

What I love about Bounty Hunter's crew is that there are lots of options(during your intercom talks) when the whole team is giving you +34 approval. It's kind of fun to select these options and have a row of four pictures saluting you. Loving this. Looking forward to Belsavis and other planets for the Bounty Hunter - though I have to advance some of my republicans first, and Bounty hunter still is worse than other three Empire ones, I think. Still, decent.

 

 

 

 

I've also completed Smuggler's chain on Tatooine, and due to the presence of a lovely Sith girl and a (less) lovely Jedi girl, I liked it a lot - the story was well done. I can't help thinking it was done with a male smuggler in mind, but well. Still, I think they're over-complicating smuggler's Act 1 story A LOT. Tatooine is a good example. Watch my hands:

 

1) you're hunting your rival and arch-enemy, who stole your ship and tried to kill you numerous times.

2) for that, you're trying to steal the treasure of a famous pirate your rival is after.

3) for THAT, you have to find the famous pirate's own rival, because he is in the know.

4) and for that, you have to find one of the famous pirate rival's lieutenants, because he's needed to find the famous pirate's old rival, because he's needed to find the famous pirate's treasure, because then you'll be able to steal it from your own rival.

 

Ye gods. Yes, it's less complicated when you explain it like this without names, but you get lost in new names rather quickly. And just compare it to Sith Warrior's story: "There's a Jedi Padawan who can sense sith spies all across Jedi space, you need to find her." or Agent's "There's a network of spies who are going to take down the Empire, infiltrate them and find out their plans". Or Bounty Hunters: "Hunt bounties, win the Great Hunt". Or Sith Inquisitor's "FIND THESE ARTIFACTS". It can be boring, but at least it's simple!

 

Anyway, my good Smuggler suddenly realized that Jedi and Sith aren't so different - and between a lovely Sith lady who was going to offer her fashion tips and a grim Jedi lady who was all "YOU CRIMINAL SCUM!" she somehow chose Sith lady. (And, yes, Corso gave me a -33 and a whopping -188, and while I was able to escape -188, I think I got dealt the -33 somehow). I have a feeling I will be rooting for the Empire, after all. Which means whopping disapprovals by Corso, which probably means Treek's company. (snickers)

[Twani]

Indeed, the weekend is over and real work starts again. Boo! I managed a pretty good amount over the weekend: I got Aaline from level 1 to 16 and hanging aboard her little starship with Qeyzen waiting for future saving of all masters (I chose that same dialog option you did with the Council- god, Satele Shan is cold 'The Jedi Council appreciates your sacrifice'- witch!). Aanan's been bounty hunting whenever he can (to the death, of course), but he can't take Kingpin bounties without some serious support and his guild is never around (maybe need to find a new one). Aalii is on Taris with 'I WILL GROWL AND HATE YOU FOR DARK SIDE CHOICES HAHAHAHAHAHA TROLLL' Aric trying desperately to be DS and failing miserably at it. And finally, Lord Aavi has finished Hoth and moved on to her Act II finale, giving me my precious inquisitor/councilor buff for all characters.

 

Now that was an Act worth remembering. It can be frustrating, though: use the intercom! Talk to everyone. Go to DKas. Fight! Go crazy. Use the intercom. Go back to DKas. Snoop. Use the intercom. Go to Korriban. Taunt Harkin. Use the intercom. Finally, go to Belsavis. There's a lot of talking to your crew in the Inquisitor story, which is one of the better parts about it, I think. My character is forever yelling at and taunting Zash. Khem's her BFF, her morose monster, her herald and her first follower in this strange and bizzare world. Zash is just a meanie. Got Talos finally, which is a total 'oh, thank god'. My assassin is so wimpy, she really needs a healer behind her to succeed. Still going to work on maxing Andry out first, but I'm definitely using Talos in the field.

 

(I chose two LS options on Hoth. The first was letting the little elephant people keep their station as, I've said before, they're adorable. The other was letting Talos take holovids of the temple before I destroyed it. I thought it would give me affection points! That's my excuse, anyway.)

 

Qeyzen is... interesting. For thinking my character an avatar of his goddess, he's not too appreciative of her whims. My character: OMG KNOWLEDGE! Qyzen: OMG I HATE KNOWLEDGE. -2. Whatever, buddy. Unlike every other companion I have, basically, I just don't go out of my way to care when Qyezen throws a -32 at me. Even Vette and Mako I'll do an "alright, alright, let's see if we can compromise this". Qyezen it's just like, "meh". I will help the dying children and you will like it, you stupid reptile, because I Am The Herald of Scorekeeper and you will follow my judgement. Hm. I think I liked being Khem's 'return of Tulok Horde' better. The Inquisitor companions and the Councilor companions are like dark mirrors of each other, aren't they? Qyezen and Khem are both incredible hunters who enjoy tracking their prey who see you as an avatar of something they adore. Talos and Theran are both incredible scientists, only one loves the force while the other dismisses it. Andry and Felix are both ranged male love interests who love a good scrap and had bad run ins with sith artifacts. The only question is do you compare Zenith and Ashara for being the third companion completely misaligned with the rest of your crew (leaving Nadia and Xalek as adoring in their own frightening ways apprentices) or do you compare Ashara and Nadia for being naive padawans who automatically love the male Inquis/Counciloor and then Xalek and Zenith as pure dark siders? I don't know.

 

Ashara is actually getting more interesting to me, as weird as it feels to have a Jedi following my crazy Inquisitor. I actually feel like Aavi is almost corrupting her- I told her straight out her old masters were useless and got affection points for it, as she couldn't really refute it. But I just don't have enough influence with Ashara to see her to the end of her story with her no even 'liked' gift. I'm not buying a million gifts that cost thousands of credits just for +12, ugh. And I can't take her out to get affection with her as she only likes honor and LS and happy-happy-yay-yay.

 

I'll have to consider buying Treek, as she sounds amusing. It's just... that's a loooooooot of money. Cartel coins don't come cheap, as I am far to cheap to buy them when I'm already paying for a subscription. So I just get 500 a month (well, 600 actually, as I do have a security key), and that's it. And I'm trying to get the elegant dress by buying packs. I found the cuffs and belt for it, but no luck on the shirt and top.

 

Speaking of secret companions, at 52 Aa'lynne should be able to handle the Heroic 2 to get the HK line started no problem. Maybe I should do that. Scorpio could use some company in the 'crazy droids who likely want to shoot me in my sleep'. They can share tips!

 

Anyway, back to dear Aric. I teased him about having a crush on Elana (he doesn't, obviously) to troll him again. He's like 'WTH U ON- um, sir. Lieutenant. Forget I said anything.' I don't know, I think he has a definite snarky side, but unfortunately unlike most snarky companions, he doesn't like when you're snarky. So he'll be there making smart remarks at my side but expecting me to be all 'Yes, sir! FOR THE REPUBLIC!', etc. (I nearly died when the 'For freedom!' choice seriously had FemShep shout 'For the Republic!'- I'm thinking, 'Yes freedom, but no democracy' the whole time.) It's like with Sergeant Jaxo- I know she's a male flirt option (and has a sad fate), but I didn't mind her as female. She's like 'yo, my favorite sister-in-arms, what's up?' and I want to be like 'Dude, Jaxo, my favorite backup! Wasssup!' but instead Aric is all ':E :E :E' so I'm like 'Didn't anyone teach you to salute?'. I imagine once and a while I dump Aric and FemTrooper and Jaxo go out for drinks on Corosaunt and she's like, "So where's that killjoy who follows you around all the time?" and FemTrooper is like, "I dunno, girl, but he's this thing called 'love interest', so I have to raise approval with him at all times. God, get me more whiskey. Does anyone in this bar need a rifle butt in the face? Because I am totally up for a bar brawl.'

 

I may have an overactive imagination. I should get back to playing my Trooper; finished my work for today. Time to hunt down Needles and recruit Elena.

 

I'll look up the Aspiring Knight's set. My Sith Warrior actually has sythweaving, just never uses it- maybe she can make it. That's another character I need to play. I find the Sith Warrior story quite interesting, but I just got bored with Tattooine (the planet, not the class or world story) and ended up leaving her resting there in the cantina with Quinn. I wonder if Quinn would play pazak. Do Sith play pazak? Question of the century, there.

 

Cheers on Bounty Hunter Act II and Torian! My BH is still hanging around on the Fleet, sadly. She needs to go to DK, but doing DK again right after my Agent will be tough... doing Corosaunt Jedi Knight, Trooper, then Councilor all in a row was bad enough. I don't mind doing back to back Empire/Republic planets (both my Jedi Knight and Inquisitor are on Belsavis (I hate Belsavis)), but doing the same stupid 'Oh no the senator is taking deals from the migrant merchant's guild' quest three times in a row has basically put my opinion on the stupid thing to nothing. And the True Republic quest. That quest can just go die.

 

Er, yeah, BH. I always wanted Blizz, honestly. Play a BH, get Blizz. That could be the class's callsign to me, and I would be totally okay with it, because Blizz looks like he's just the most adorable thing since, uh, T7. I want my own Blizz.

 

Ah, yes, I remember the Smuggler story and the Jedi vs Sith debate. I think there was an option to make them fight, and run off with the goods while they're distracted, which was what I did. In the end, though, it did force you to make a choice. I went with the Jedi, as, well, Corso. At that point in her life, I don't think Aamiie cared one way or another about the Jedi or the Sith: just two big religious groups, both crazy. Cordelia made her appreciate the Jedi a bit more (as you work with a fairly reasonable one), but that was a long time coming.

 

I wish the letters from your boyfriend (or girlfriend) (or husband/wife) stayed in your inbox perminantly. I don't even remember what Vector and Corso wrote anymore, it's been so long since they've been deleted. I also wanted to keep that letter from that Voss boy on my Agent, because it was sweet and sad. But, nope, everything is gone in 30 days. That's too soon!

 

Stuck on my Sith Warrior baby. With my Sith Sith Warrior, she removed Vette's collar after one or two talks with her because she didn't see a need to keep a slave- she needed a minion, and she thought there were better ways to earn loyalty. I can't decide if my stupid male is going to remove the shock collar or not. On the one hand, Vette could be one of his one weaknesses, like she is for a lot of male Sith Warriors. On the other hand, I don't like Vette very much, and I can shock her in to oblivion now. Hm. Decisions! Mean decisions!

 

Been running a lot of warzones with my healers, and been getting a pretty good amount of MVP votes for it. Makes me feel all shiny happy inside. Still hate Huttball, though. Managed to score one goal in the whole time I've been playing this game. One goal. Yeah. That's how bad I suck. (Go go operative healing!)

 

I, uh, wrote a Viconia banter for my mod. Yep. I'm totally on top of things, there. >.> Sigh. Need to stop writing fanfiction and do serious modding. It's just that lovetalks take forever for me to think upppppp... and fanfiction is fun and exciting and involves Lady Bond in SPAAACEEEE.

[Mike1072]

Huttball is the best. I wish it would come up in the rotation more often. In the low-level PvP, it's rare to see the good team coordination it requires, though, so you end up with a lot of messy 0-0 games.

 

And yeah, I would encourage you to avoid holding onto the huttball very long if you are an operative. Whoever has the ball is going to die shortly afterward. Make sure to assign a handy hotkey to the quickslot button where you assigned the Throw the Huttball ability: you might have to spam it frantically when enemies are simultaneously stunlocking you and blasting you to pieces.

 

The best strategy for scoring involves repeatedly tossing the ball to a teammate who's set up in a position ahead. Stealth characters are good at setting up in great spots past the fire traps. The ball can only be caught when you are unstealthed, though. It can sometimes be tricky to destealth in time and some ball carriers will be wary of throwing to someone who may not be paying attention, so it's a good idea to destealth when the ball carrier is in range and it looks like they're ready to toss.

 

There are some decent Huttball tips here. One good spot that can easily be thrown to from mid is past the first fire traps on either lower walkway (the positions labelled "Zone D"). You generally won't be able to get from there to the endzone unless you have force speed or catch the enemies off-guard, so you should be prepared to toss it (preferably to someone ahead or above you). A great spot for stealthers is past both fire traps on the higher walkway (the middle "Zone E"), though they can't stay hidden there for extended periods as enemies regularly pass by when they leave spawn. It can easily receive passes from the lower level ("Zone C") and has a short, straight path to the exit.

 

Certain classes just have better mobility tools for Huttball, though. Force speed (inquisitor/consular) is great for making the last sprint to the end or getting over a flame trap. Pulling enemy huttball carriers (assassin/shadow or powertech/vanguard) into fire traps is great for stealing the ball or you can pull them down to a lower level when they are close to scoring. Pulling allies (sorcerer/sage) can be used to bring a tankier huttball carrier closer to the goal. Leaping to enemies (warrior/knight) or allies (juggernaut/guardian) can jump you over traps or up from a lower ledge (can go right from the pit up to the area near the goal line).

 

As a healing operative, you could put your stealth to some use for ball passing, but you might find you're more useful just healing at this stage (and yes, that will get you mad MVP votes in any warzone). For MVP, I usually vote most team-oriented > best healer > best tank > most damage, because there's generally a maximum of 1 healer and 1 tank in my groups and I want to encourage them to keep doing what they're doing. I've been doing the daily missions for 2 warzone matches on my gunslinger for the last week or so and I'm enjoying being able to really mess up guys though I do miss having a more unique role.

 

I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up, but I've been trying to get enough XP to complete a planet in its entirety (between my PvP and rested XP and guild XP bonus), then skip the next planet aside from the class quest. So far, I've only skipped the Taris quests, but I'm finishing up Nar Shaddaa right now at level 26 (destroying the level 22 quests) and I seem to be on track to cruise through Tatooine's class quest on the way to Alderaan. I figure this might be a nice way to see stories to their conclusion without getting overlevelled and keep a lot of content unseen in case I want to level up another Republic character someday.

[Kulyok]

Heh, you guys discuss Huttball and PVP and to me it's like another game I'll probably not see. It's like SWTOR has another SWTOR inside, like a Russian matryoshka. Anyway, I agree it's a great place to be levelling - I like doing class quests only, too, and while rest XP helps, it's not enough - I wish there were other things for levelling besides space quests you could complete solo.

 

(I usually complete class quests and a planet quest if it's nice. If I don't like the planet quest(Republic Tatooine, for example, because Fauler is boring and can't hold a candle to Darth Silthar)), I just go to the last area of the planet(more XP) and do all the quests, including the heroics 2+. I love that Tatooine heroic with the Sarlacc pit, by the way, especially if you have stealth - easy comms all around).

 

 

I'm FINALLY on Balmorra with my Jedi Knight. I'm really sad - the Republic forces are in total chaos, Empire is strong as ever - but I know that by the end of the planetary quest, the Republic will likely have the planet back. It's awful! I don't want to back the Republic, Empire should WINWINWIN! But, alas, I want to do all the quests with my Jedi Knight, so here we go. (And I'm liking the quests so far, but maybe because I'm overleveled and got Treek. But quests are good. That killed agent with the intel who left a holo message - I felt really sorry for him).

 

Speaking of which, Treek and I met Doc! And my Montale immediately fell in love. (snicker) I wanted to play her as a bit jokey and flirty, but I had so few opportunities! And now she really shines. Doc: "Hello, gorgeous, here to save us?" - "Why, I can't let anything BAD happen to you, handsome, can I?" - "What if I asked nicely?"

MYAHAHA! They hit it right off, I tell you. That, and I had no Kira in my party. I think we're gonna have some fun here.

 

 

I think Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular are dark sisters, sort of. But it's just not possible to compare their parties - I mean, Talos, Andry, Ashara and Xalek, not to mention Khem, are so much better! And Sith have Koribban, it's so KOTOR! Ever since I set foot on Sith Academy's world, I always had the feeling I was playing the continuation of KOTOR(never had that feeling with Jedi folks). I see the parallel, yeah, Nadia-Ashara, Iresso-Andry, and so on, but just comparing Khem to that idiotic lizard sounds like blasphemy.

(Congrats on the Inquisitor class bonus, by the way!)

 

I'm gonna grit my teeth and get Ashara her affection thingies - after all, my Agent runs lots of Diplomacy quests for Light Side points, and Republic presents are many. But now I also have to get Treek to 10000 for ALL my characters(because I just can't stand when a character has conversations and they're unlocked), and that's going to be... uh, long and boring. Ah well. One character at a time.

 

Do let us know how HK-51 turns out! He was my KOTOR1 favorite, and always will be. I also loved Carth, but it so happened that Jolim Bimbo(or whatever his name was) slowly creeped into our party and replaced Carth, so it was HK-51 and Bimbo in the end.

 

Your descriptions of Aric are so juicy, I should really go and complete Chapter 1 with my Trooper. Problem is, it's Tatooine again, and I just went through Tatooine with both my Jedi's and a Smuggler, so... no. Just not now. Let's have Balmorra first. And Quesh. Haven't seen Republic Quesh yet, after all.

 

(I don't like or dislike Jaxo, but maybe I haven't seen enough of her. As it is, I just don't remember who she is. Is she that military girl who escorted the Senator back after my Trooper saved his mined ass?)

 

I'm for shocking Vette with dark Sith Warrior. It's interesting, isn't it? I haven't seen it yet, myself. And you can always compensate with gifts, since she's got 96 approval for each Underworld Trading certificate.

(I love Korriban and Sith so much, I really should create another baby, especially since I got "more hairstyles" option and I want to try the long hair. But eight characters to juggle! No, sometime later.)

 

 

 

Best of luck with modding, heheheh! SWTOR is so addictive, isn't it?

 

 

P.S. Twani, for your Jedi Consular - COME TO TEH DARK SIDE! WE HAVE TREEK! (if you do the light side option at the end of Chapter 1, you get an interesting letter. I liked it, won't spoil, but the sense was "don't trust the darkness, it will consume you, and don't trust the light, it will blind you". I think it's nice, very fitting).

 

(and I'm wondering how come you haven't got in-game credits - you don't do cybertech? Ear implants, armor, mods? Biochem? Level 24-32 med units, stims, implants? Artfice/Armstech, purple hilts/barrels for 39000 a pop?)

[Domi]

Oh, my. This was a long weekend for us, so save for catching up on the Olympics, and doing family stuff we managed quite a bit of adventuring Both Consular and Smuggler are level 19, and I did buy Riggs' affection to make sure his romantic line and quests starts just fine. It's still Seriously, Riggs, seriously?! but I am adapting (and can't turn italics off, sigh). I like Risha much more for the type of character I would have wanted to play with the Smuggler, but for a Twi'lek, I am allowing that Riggs cowboy/Old South Civil War(?) style might be appealing. I must say I am sticking with his "John Snow" look as much as I wanted the oriental Customization 7. Neither his default, nor 7 works with his delivery.

[Domi]

Please, bear with my non-paragraphing style! And no Italics ever again! Imperial Agent - I had the MOST gratifying moment in my gaming since, maybe forever by betraying the Revanites to the hopefully horrid punishment (I've asked for death and torture, but a girl can't have it all). Other LS/DS were hit and miss. I made an RP Oops by not letting droid soldiers to serve the Empire (they were already screwed up) because I liked the Duchess, but took a hit on Kalyio's affections and Duchess was not exactly happy either. On the other hand, the scientist guy neither impacted Kalyio any on the DS, nor the credits were anything worth note. Still, very LS on the Agent, but want to go to at least Dark I before meeting Vector, wherever that might be. Level 16 with the IA, but will catch up during the week, since my hubby won't have time till the weekend, so my good girls will be parked.

[Domi]

hey, Twani, did you post the link to the fic or you are still keeping it WIP? If the SWTOR could be modded, I would be making Attros Finn joinable. I am at the point of frigging armoring the ship's droid to replace Qyzen the Annoying Lizard. Seriously, you get to be stuck with a character forever, he better be, like, appealing. Honestly, Consular gotta be the worst class to play for companions! The coolest guy is not a romance, and even just any non-horrid companions are coming in soooo late. Argh. Well, at least I am playing with my husband, that makes it more fun. We've actually managed Heroic 4's, so yay, teamwork! As for Aric, does he HAVE to be the ONLY ugly Kathar in existence? I mean that Jedi on Thyton who took the baby-Fleshraider was nice-looking, and I asw some player-created chars that looked just fine. And Aric, no matter what customization looks horrid.

[Kulyok]

Attros Finn is a nice guy. I kept waiting for him to turn out a hidden villain or a flirtable nice guy, but no such luck. Jedi Consular is really in a no-flirt position, except for Tharan. Well, so far.

[Domi]

Yeah, I totally wanted him to be flirtable. Cheat. With Twani's talking about yellow robes, I am kindda happy I went with the social dress, even though it will be a pain to maintain the full set modded to the level. When (if) I manage to acquire Zenith, I am going to color it red/white. Hopeful Query: I can't just go to Balmorra once I hit level 28 and pick Zenith, can I? I have to drag my butt through the story on all other planets first, right?