Posted by Kray | 12 Comments

Fully Operational: Hybrid Theory

“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!” — There is no better example of damage in the Star Wars galaxy than the scene attached to that quote. Each week in Fully Operational, join Kray as he takes a look at the damage dealing role in Star Wars: The Old Republic. And yes, we’ll blow up a planet if we get the chance.

I’m sorry, I really am — the title was just too perfect. Listening music for today is, unfortunately, not off of the Hybrid Theory album, but it’s close enough.

Back in August (I’ve been slacking!) we went over all the advanced classes in The Old Republic that you can choose from to deal your damage. Republic here, Empire here. The sharper tacks among you may be saying “… but Kray! Every class can deal damage! How does that make any sense?!” Aside from telling you to lay off the exclamation points, I would say you are indeed right. TOR is pretty unique in the fact that no matter what you choose, you have at least one skill tree available for damage dealing. And that’s what we’re talking about today.

(Almost) Everyone’s a Hybrid!

Flexibility is key when it comes to the advanced classes in TOR — nearly any character you create will have the ability to spec as either a tank or a healer from within their advanced class. To give a quick review, consult the hastily-constructed chart below.

Read More

Posted by Kray | 11 Comments

Fully Operational: The Republic’s Damage Dealers

“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!” — There is no better example of damage in the Star Wars galaxy than the scene attached to that quote. Each week in Fully Operational, join Kray as he takes a look at the damage dealing role in Star Wars: The Old Republic. And yes, we’ll blow up a planet if we get the chance. 

Hoo doggy, it”s been a while hasn’t it! The past few weeks have been a blur with conventions and beta and updates, but we’re finally back on track to bringing Fully Operational to you every Friday, barring any orbital space station attacks on my house.

Last time in the column we went over the  basics of Advanced Classes and jumped into the damage dealers for the Empire, so let’s not dilly dally any longer and show the Republic some love. As always, listening music is provided.

Jedi Knight

Style: Force User – Melee

Jedi Knights are probably the most iconic of all the Advanced Classes in The Old Republic, home to such names as Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi. These Jedi tap into the force to enhance their physical abilities, whether that be stamina or strength, and charge into battle, lightsaber in hand. Though the class does have a few flashy “spell-like” force moves, most of what you’ll see here is varying saber strikes and acrobatics.

Guardian

Weapons: Single Lightsaber
DPS Style: Melee – High Survivability
Offspec: Tanking

The Guardian takes his or her strength from the serenity of the Force, focusing their power into a single lightsaber. Donning heavy armor, this class has very high survivability due to the possibility of a pure tanking spec. As a Jedi Guardian, you’ll assume one of a few different lighstaber forms, similar to ‘stances’ from Warriors in World of Warcraft. There’s not a ton of information available on Jedi Knights, but what we do know is that Guardians will focus on sustained damage with a combination of debuffs and resource-refunding talents. The Vigilance tree will improve your damaging abilities and even give you a new lightsaber form, while the Defense tree focuses on — duh — your defense, allowing you to tank. The shared Focus tree adds some more force-based abilities and form buffs.

Sentinel

Weapons: Dual Lightsabers
DPS Style: Melee – Burst or Sustained
Offspec: More DPS!

If the Guardian is a stone wall of Force, the Sentinel is an avalanche. Instead of focusing on survivability, Jedi Sentinels let loose a little and let the Force flow through them in the form of a lightsaber in each hand. Attacking with both weapons at once means a lot of damage potential, and the Sentinel has a few options available. If you’re looking for a more sustained, build up approach, the Watchman tree focuses on the Juyo lightsaber form which, according to Star Wars lore, essentially means each strike will be more powerful than the last. The Combat tree believes in burst and flurries of strikes, allowing the Ataru form which triggers additional strikes and create large spikes of damage at a time. Focus, as with the Guardian, gives general upgrades and a couple force goodies.

Read More

Posted by Kray | 8 Comments

Fully Operational: The Empire’s Damage Dealers

“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!” — There is no better example of damage in the Star Wars galaxy than the scene attached to that quote. Each week in Fully Operational, join Kray as he takes a look at the damage dealing role in Star Wars: The Old Republic. And yes, we’ll blow up a planet if we get the chance. 

Hello and welcome to the first of many installments of Fully Operational! My name’s Kray and I’ll be your guide through the perilous journeys of a damage-dealer (otherwise known as DPS – damage-per-second.) I’m described by many who meet me as “very tall” and “has spiky hair”, which I think qualifies me more than anything else to write articles about the world of damage dealing in Star Wars: The Old Republic! Oh, this is for your listening enjoyment. You can thank me later.

But enough about me! Today’s installment of your new favorite TOR column is an overview of some of the DPS AC options out there, based on the information we have so far. It’s not everything, but Bioware has given us more than enough to get a rough idea on how each class will play. If you’re looking for help on choosing a DPS class for the launch, look no further!

Read More