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Old Republic

A Noobie's Guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: the Old Republic, a new MMO from BioWare and commonly called SWTOR, is an exciting new game based on the Star Wars universe and set in the time of the Sith's first appearance and the founding of the Empire, and the fall of the Republic.  Players are free to choose what side of the fight they will support, the Jedi and the forces of the Republic or the dark Sith Lords and the new Empire.

 

Each faction has 4 classes that can be chosen during character creation, and once selected it cannot be changed except by starting a new character.  The classes available for the Republic forces are Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, and Trooper.  For the Empire forces players can choose Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, or Agent.

 

Players are also free to choose what race they want their character to be, and a good selection of iconic Star Wars races are available.  However, it is important to note that not all races can be all classes!  For example, some races have no connection to the Force and therefore cannot select any Jedi or Sith class.

 

SWTOR is a leveling-based system. Anyone familiar with World of Warcraft should be familiar with the concept.  Essentially a leveling based system means that a character's progression is tracked by their level, a measure of their power relative to other players and NPCs.

 

Leveling is achieved by gaining experience which can be done in a variety of ways.  After a character gains a certain amount of experience they are rewarded by progressing to the next level and receive a specific number of points to allocate to their skills and attributes, allowing them to customize their play experience and differentiate themselves from other players of that class.

 

There is also a maximum level that can be attained and reaching that is considered "end game" or the point at which gaining more experience gives way to the pursuit of better and more powerful equipment and gear.

 

As mentioned, gaining experience can be done in a variety of ways such as questing and hunting NPCs.  Every time a player completes a quest or kills an NPC they gain experience points.   Different quests and NPCs reward different experience amounts based on their difficulty.

 

New characters start out at level 1, and as they gain more and more levels they can join an advanced class - a more powerful version of their starting class.  These advanced classes present the opportunity for players to specialize their play style and gain more powerful abilities to use.

 

Planning your character early on can be a big advantage when you get more powerful and also make for faster leveling since you know what skills and abilities you plan to focus on with that character.  It can also help prevent getting to a high level and feeling less effective that other players who planned their characters in order to maximize their effectiveness.

 

There are many guides and articles freely available online to help you plan your character's progression and it is recommended to do so.

 

In Star Wars: the Old Republic there are eight primary skills a character can increase when they level up.  The skills are Awareness, Computer Use, Demolitions, Persuasion, Repair, Security, Stealth, and Treat Injury.  The skill's power is determined by how well trained a character is in it, as well as that character's attributes - measurements of their Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom for example.

 

Your attributes are determined when you create your character and can be modified by the race you choose.  Some races are naturally stronger than others for example.

 

In addition to raising your skills to become more talented in them, when a character levels they also get to choose Force Powers, special abilities that you can use to help defeat enemies faster and in a more appropriately Star Wars fashion.

 

For example, using the Force to send an enemy flying through the air away from you and into a solid metal wall.  The Force Powers you can choose from are based on the class you selected at character creation.

 

Finally, one of the most interesting features of SWTOR is the fact that each class gets its own space ship to fly around the Star Wars universe in!  The ships are very large and have a crew of NPCs that can also serve the player in certain ways such as crafting gear for them.

 

Other players can also join you on your space ship, and BioWare has revealed that there will be missions requiring you to complete them in your space ship.  That's right, there is actually going to be epic space battles in SWTOR just like in the movies!

 

I hope you enjoyed this noobie guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic and learned enough to confidently begin your adventures in the Star Wars universe.  I look forward to playing with you and of course, may the force be with you!

 

About the Author

Dash Arens is a fanatical Star Wars fan and in fact, the original Star Wars movie was the first major motion picture he ever saw in theaters.  A small fact that he is entirely too proud of!

He is currently running a new web site in anticipation of the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic whose aim it is to help players levels as quickly and easily as possible through the game.  You can read more about SWTOR there: http://swtorlevelingguider.com

Just need a quick question about the New Trailer for Star Wars the old Republic?

In the new release of "Star Wars the old Republic," for the pc, maybe 360 and ps3, the trailer that was shown in E3 as CGI, my question who is the leading sith and the jedi fighting him?

This is not known yet. It is likely that they will create new characters for this. The events of The Old Republic are supposed to take place 300 years after the KOTOR events and 3700 years before the film events.

More information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Old_Republic

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Old_Republic

And the official website is www.swtor.com

I hope this helped you.

Star Wars Old Republic E3 2009 Cinematic Trailer