If you are anything like me, you have been looking to the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic since the game was first announced. To say that I am a fan is an understatement.
For that reason, I have put together this SWTOR guide which you can use to help out your game. SWTOR’s release is just around the corner (December 20th). With the game finally about to come out, I will be compiling information on this SWTOR strategy guide at a very fast rate and really ramp this site up over the coming weeks.
Game Concepts
If you are new to Star Wars The Old Republic, here is some basic information about the game.
SWTOR is based more off of the world of the wildly popular Knights of the Old Republic rather than Star Wars Galaxies (the previous Star Wars MMO).
Players battle in the Star Wars universe in an age 3,500 years before the events in the popular Star Wars movies take place. The battle is between the Galatic Republic (Jedi, Trooper, and Smuggler) and the Sith Empire (Sith, Bounty Hunter, and Imperial Agent).
In this game, the balance of power between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire is fairly even. The Sith come from a far region of space and are slowly starting to invade the Republic. Unlike the Star Wars movies, the Imperials have not yet gained complete control over the galaxy, which is probably a good thing considering in SWG, 90% of the player-base sided with the Rebels rather than the Imperial army, despite the Imperials getting by far the best rewards. The faction balance should be more balanced with the new storyline.
Galactic Republic vs Sith Empire
It is my recommendation in this SWTOR guide that if you are more interested in Player vs Enemy (computer) combat, then you will want to side with the Galactic Republic, whereas if you want participate in Player vs Player primarily, side with the Sith Empire.
While populations are much more balanced than Star Wars Galaxies, most players who have a love of PvE combat tend to join up with the Galactic Republic based on their allegiance with the “good guys” from the Star Wars films. In my experience throughout many MMOs, the “good” faction tends to have the better raiding groups and more stable guilds to choose from.
On the other hand, the players who tend to love PvP and start PvP groups have a tendency to pick the “evil” faction. For some reason the bad guys attract players who like to PvP, and as a result, it seems that when all else is equal, the bad guys win more PvP games. This goes for the Horde in WoW, the Defiant in Rift, and is likely to be the case for the Sith Empire in SWTOR.
Class Differences
The other primary motivation for picking a certain faction in SWTOR is that each faction has different classes. More information will be added to this SWTOR guide once the game is available for play.
With that said, here is the announced class list:
The Galactic Republic:
- Trooper – The gameplay for this class actually looks awesome. You use primarily rifles and grenades. Gameplay looks like you are playing a character from Halo and running around in the Star Wars world. Players can specialize to become either Commando (DPS or Healing options) or Vanguard (DPS or Tanking options)
- Smuggler – While it looks like a thief-type class on the surface, this is actually more like an Archer at heart. Light armor, high damage, and requires cover. The Jedi Consular’s Assassin specialization is actually close to WoW’s version of the Rogue class. Smugglers can specialize to become either a Gunslinger (two DPS options) or a Scoundrel (DPS or Healing options).
- Jedi Knight – A melee class, can specialize as a tank (Guardian) or damage-dealer (Sentinel, though the Guardian has a damage-dealing talent tree too).
- Jedi Consular – A melee and caster hybrid, uses more “force” play and less melee play. The Shadow advanced specialization can become either a Tank or Melee DPS (rogue-like class), whereas the Sage becomes a damage-dealing caster/melee hybrid or a healing class.
The Sith Empire:
- Bounty Hunter – This is the Sith equivalent of the trooper. While the name is a lot cooler, gameplay looks similar – a ranged class with a lot of cool weapons. Oh, and of course a jetpack. The Powertech can become a Tank or DPS class, whereas the Mercenary has DPS and healing options.
- Sith Warrior – Sith equivalent of the Jedi Knight. This is a melee class. The Juggernaut can Tank or DPS whereas the Marauder can only do DPS.
- Imperial Agent – The Imperial Agent is the true thief archetype class. It can become both a melee class with stealth (Operative) or a ranged DPS class (Sniper). The Operative advanced class also has a healing spec, whereas the Sniper class has a debuffing spec (good for raiding).
- Sith Inquisitor – This appears to be the only true damage-dealing “caster” class in the game. Its Sorcerer spec can either become an outright casting damage-dealer or healer, whereas its Assassin spec can become a rogue-like melee class or a tank. The Sith Inquisitor uses the dark side of the force to cast lightning spells like the Emperor in the original Star Wars did.
Recent SWTOR Guide Updates
Our latest addition to the SWTOR guide is our SWTOR Stats Guide. There are a ton of stats in SWTOR, but the stats guide helps clear things up as far as what each stat does. We will be adding specific guides for each class as well to this section to see the best way to gear out your character.
Additionally, we recently created this SWTOR Crew Skills guide. This section contains overviews on all 14 of the crew skills and discusses the best combo for each craft in game as well as the recommended picks for those who want to avoid crafting and just earn credits instead.
Additionally, check our list of SWTOR Datacron Locations. Datacrons are small relics found throughout the game world that provide permanent stat boosts or rare items known as “matrix shards” which you can combine into powerful enhancements for your gear.
As mentioned, this Star Wars The Old Republic strategy guide is going to be undergoing some major updates over the next week or two. The majority of the content is up to date for release and all of the old beta info has been edited out. The next step is to continue to add quality guides and content on various game systems and expand the Datacrons guide. Also, look for some video content to be added to the Datacron list section and more content in general added to the site, particularly regarding PvP.
More to Come
As more information becomes available, this SWTOR guide will continue to grow. Check back regularly for more updates!