Photo-Receptor Focus on: 1.3: Allies
By Maer
Today, 1.3: Allies is live and there are some nifty additions to the game. Augment kits, ranked warzones, more legacy perks and, of course, the long-awaited Group Finder tool, all make their debut. There are some other new things that are worth mentioning and might not be a big deal to some, but are fun, nonetheless. So, today let’s chat about some of the less obvious things that you might want to check out.
More after the jump…
The best one is a lovely chunk of credits or PVP gear for your level 50s. All you do is go to the PVP console in the Combat area of Fleet. Accept and complete the quest called “New Technology”. As your reward, you will be given an option to upgrade your PVP gear or receive a token worth 350,000 credits. Yes, that’s three hundred and fifty thousand credits! You can take the token to any vendor and sell it.
However, here’s your chance to experience PVP in good gear. If you’ve put off doing PVP because you didn’t have great gear, then this is an awesome way to get it. If you already have great PVP gear, then this is a way to reimburse you for your previous efforts. Either way, this was a smart move by Bioware to get those of us who like PVP, but have stayed away because we didn’t have decent gear, to finally experience PVP as it should be. Thanks, Bioware!
Another excellent addition is the improved graphics for lower end video cards. The new graphics will allow those who don’t have those super high end graphics cards to enjoy some of the finer details they’ve been missing since launch. Since the graphics are so well done in SWTOR, this is another welcome move by Bioware. Everyone should be able to see the great work that the artists did without having to invest hundreds of dollars.
Want more commendations? Using the new Group Finder tool to complete random Flashpoints is a good way to get extras. You can even go in with your own premade group, as long as you chose random Flashpoints. Another good move, which proves that Bioware is striving to get the game where the players want it.
Do you plan to augment every piece of gear you have? Then you will need 140 (one hundred, forty) Augmentation Slot Component MK-6s. There are fourteen pieces of gear that can be augmented and each kit takes ten MK-6s.. That includes relics. So, you will want to craft and then Reverse Engineer a level 48 green gear piece. Remember, this needs to be gear, so check to be sure that you are making something that will give you the component.
Some things that are not as welcome are the new body suits for some of our companions. I’m not quite sure of the rationale behind this move. When Ashara wears that cute little slave girl outfit, you see a green body suit that is anything but attractive.
It’s awesome that the social gear is scaling to medium and heavy armor, but the body suits ruin the effect. Yep! I did have to bring some fashion into this. You might not know it was really me behind this screen, otherwise. Anyway, the body suits were not a good move and I hope they take them out. (Bioware, my offer to help with fashion choices still stands.)
I’m sure there are other things that we’ll make a point of mentioning to you, as we discover them. But right now it’s game time for me. I have lots of Reverse Engineeering to do to get my 140 MK-6s.
For now, that’s my two credits. What’s yours?
Ready…Set…Discuss…
so looking forward to seeing the performance improvements! I played on the PTS and noticed a improvement but won’t really be able to tell until I’m playing my main with those settings.
I don’t know what they did exactly to improve the latency and the engine but I noticed a significant difference.
P.S. Right now, there are 10 Full US servers out of 12 destination ones. It’s a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!