Hyperspace Beacon: Five quick and dirty tips for SWTOR update 2.3
This morning, the third major installment to Star Wars: The Old Republic since Rise of the Hutt Cartel hit the servers. BioWare calls Update 2.3 Titans of Industry; I call it Czerka, Czerka, Czerka. I've been on and off test center for the last few weeks, checking out not only the latest zone planet CZ-198 but also the Bounty Contract Week, and I figured that since you guys will likely be jumping right into this new content, I will give you a few tips of my own to help you better succeed in this new venture.
Disclaimer: These quick and dirty tips are not endorsed by Czerka Corporation, the Galactic Republic, the Sith Empire, or their affiliates. The Hutt Cartel might endorse these tips, but seriously, when have you known Hutts not to be quick and dirty -- well, at least, dirty?
The quests on CZ-198 are not difficult. Any level 55 in just about any gear should be able to handle the questlines. However, today and likely most of the next few weeks, the planet will be crowded. BioWare offsets a lot of the congestion by instancing once the zone hits approximately 100 characters on a given faction. But the area we have to play in is still small. In square footage, it's probably the same size as the Corellian Black Hole daily area, but it's divided into multiple floors, making it seem that much more crowded.
Grouping up allows you share kills in the tiny space. All the containers looted or destroyed by one player count for all the players in the group, so there is less fighting over spawns. But the biggest reason that you want to group up is for the quest called Droid Demolition on the Empire side and Manual Shutdown on the Republic side. They are essentially the same quest with slightly different motivations. Players destroy the contents of large Czerka crates by planting charges on either side. Unfortunately, these charges take four seconds to plant, and you can be interrupted if you are attacked while planting. If you run this quest solo, normally, you'd kill the mobs in front of the crates, plant the bomb, and be done. However, because you can't plant the bomb while you're being attacked, another player can take advantage of your distraction and plant the bomb himself. When in a group, have someone tank the surrounding mobs first, then another player in your group can plant the charge without being interrupted.
I debated on even including this tip, but then I figured that there are enough classes that can sneak around that they might miss out on something if I didn't tell them to kill things. When there is an abundance of people running around killing the mobs in front of you so that you can just click on the objectives, it makes it easier just to run through the zone not killing anything. I suggest not doing that.
Why? Because you do not want to miss out on the Republic quest "Workforce Reduction" and the Imperial quest "Staff Cuts." Each of these requires that you take out 35 Czerka employees. Do-gooders, don't fret; most of these employees carry blasters and are actively shooting at you, too. Secondly, mobs do drop random reputation items. Granted, most of the time these are just green rep items, but every little bit counts, right? Lastly, in the mission "Anti-Toxin Acquisition/Recovery," there are some womp rats sitting around the room where the tentacles spawn. If you're in less-than-optimal gear, as my Assassin on test center was, these little buggers can cause you a major headache if you happen to be knocked into them. I'd suggest killing them first before taking on the anti-toxin container.
Here's another tip that might seem to be a no-brainer, but I know there are people who are either intimidated by flashpoints or feel they are a waste of time. In all honesty, the flashpoints (especially the first one) can be completed solo if set to story mode and you have raid-level gear. Since you're already in a group (see tip #1), it's really just a quick ten-minute run per flashpoint. It'd be a shame to miss out on the rep items you can gain by completing the weekly quest.
I have four characters who can run the Czerka dailies, and you bet that I will be running them on all four of those characters. Of course, if you don't have time, I wouldn't suggest that you make time to run dailies. However, that Czerka Executive Cruiser looks real shiny and requires Legend standing with Ordnance Acquisition Corps (Imperial) or The Adjudicators (Republic). Given the optimal situation, I estimate that it will take six weeks' worth of reputation items to reach that level. The more characters that you run it on, the more likely you will be able to complete the rep grind in six weeks. I don't know about you, but my Artificer character is itching to have that black/blue dye schematic.
What? A macrobinocular quest in the new daily area? Yes. And you can complete it on each of your level 55 characters who have the macrobinocular item. You get a minipet, which is cool if you like minipets, but most importantly, you earn a purple rep item just for wandering around clicking on things. Of course, you can still gain a maximum of only 13563 rep points a week, but having more purple rep items reduces the number of grindy quest that you have to do in the long run.
I know dailies aren't the most exciting thing to do, but unlike the daily area on Makeb, this daily area is quick and easy. The dailies themselves should only take about 15 to 20 minutes, and the once-a-week flashpoint run shouldn't be too exhausting or grindy. Have you been playing on test center? What are your quick and dirty tips?
The Hyperspace Beacon by Larry Everett is your weekly guide to the vast galaxy of Star Wars: The Old Republic, currently in production by BioWare. If you have comments or suggestions for the column, send a transmission to larry@massively.com. Now strap yourself in, kid -- we gotta make the jump to hyperspace!
