SWTOR: Respec Time!

Okay, we are back again in a Star Wars: The Old Republic article, this time I want to talk about respec. So, Star Wars: The Old Republic is a new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game based on the movie Star Wars and a single player Role-Playing Game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. This time, the third installment of the series is developed by BioWare, that is responsible for spawning the revolutionary breed of Third-Person Shooter and Role-Playing Game, the Mass Effect series. This is the first time BioWare is developing an MMORPG.

Respec - SWTOR

Star Wars: The Old Republic offers fresh idea for MMORPG. Like the companion and crew skills system, and also, respec. So, what does respec means? Respec comes from the word respecialization. Respec is the ability to reset your skills back to zero so that you can “reshape” your character or undo the mistakes that you have made. It is a common system these days, seen to be used in World of Warcraft, Massive Action Game (M.A.G. PS3 exclusive FPS), and other games.

Maybe this is the situation that you are in. You chose to be a Sith Inquisitor and advanced your class to Sith Assassin. You thought that playing ninja style and decapitating republic dogs from behind is fun so, you leveled up the Deception skill tree. And you finally found out that sneaking is not as easy as chewing bacon sandwiches. You figured out that tanking is your real way of life, and here’s where the respec feature comes in. You can respec your character and level up the Darkness skill set instead. After a few hours, you feel like tanking is uncool unline assassin. And well, the awesome respec can come again. But, it doesn’t mean that you can change your class advancement. Choose your class advancement carefully.

Respec seems to be too good to be true. You can switch back and forth and try another sub-class or skills how many times you want. Well, the first time you respec your character, you needn’t to pay anything, not even a single credit. But the second time, you have to pay a small amount of credits, and it becomes more and more expensive each time you respec because the it is not something that you should do over and over again. The most expensive cost that I have ever seen is about 36 kilocredits. Whoa, that means the guy is a respec addict!

How to Respec Your Character in SWTOR?

So, how to respec your character? If you think that it is done just by opening the talent menu and clicking a respec button, you are wrong. There is no button called the respec button in the game. Instead, you got to find an NPC to respec your character. You can find the NPC in the same room with the class trainers in the Fleet Station. It is in the combat training area. And there is another one in Coruscant behind trade stands down below the Senate entrance.

Respec is proven to be very useful. You can use respec to change your specialization when you are going to slay monsters in PvE server or wreak havoc in PvP server. For example, you are a Sith Sorcerer. You have planned your character to be a damage dealer. So, you leveled up the Lightning skill tree. One day, a friend asked you to help him and his guild to raid a dungeon. But, the guild is already full of damage dealers and in need of a healer. In this kind of situation, you can shift to a healer by doing the respec thing and level up the Corruption skill set. Just don’t forget that respec is not freebies.

Deciding to respec your character now?

Then I Took Skyrim 1.03 Patch in the Knee...

Skyrim is the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series. A few days ago, Skyrim 1.03 patch was released and successfully took an arrow in the knee. No game is perfect (except Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots :p), Skyrim was born and sent to the wild lacking sugar. Of course, to sweeten it and protect the dignity of her fifth son, Miss Bethesda has released a couple of patches to fix things here and there and add some low-calorie sugar so that the massive sweetness won’t kill anyone with diabetes. The newest Skyrim 1.03 patch was released to all platforms. But not on the same day since Microsoft and Sony need to “certify” it first before deciding to fetch Skyrim 1.03 “certified” patch to their hungry customers. The first Skyrim 1.03 patch release was for PC, on the 7th of December 2011. It was released in the Steam. Then, the Xbox 360 patch came on the 16th of December 2011, about more than a week after the initial PC release. Don’t want to lose to Microsoft, Sony decided to quickly “certify” the Skyrim 1.03 patch and released the PS3 version in the PSN just the next day. Thank God and Mr. Butler that it only took Sony about a week to get the patch certified. I can still clearly recall the infamous “Mass Effect 2 patch-certifying” nightmare I went through. It was too horrible and painful that I don’t want to talk about it. Even Mr. Butler will wet his pants if he remembers this.

Skyrim 1.03 patch is a divine gift and salvation from God for us, gamers. Skyrim 1.03 patch has repaired disturbing bugs in the game. So what has been fixed for good?

Skyrim 1.03 Patch

Ahoy #1 stability has been enstabled!
A more stable game means more hours per sitting!

Ahoy #2 Radiant Story incorrect roles-filling fixed!
Well, I honestly don’t understand which role is fixed. But what I know is, put a bucket at someone’s head, and Mr. Bucketman and Mrs. Bucketman won’t give a damn about what you are doing.

Ahoy #3 Book-placing to the bookshelves in purchased house issues fixed! What issues exactly? I haven’t tried placing books yet.

Ahoy #4 Y-input fixed to correctly scale the framerate!
Umm, Okay.

Ahoy #5 Magic resistance miscalculation fixed, yo!
Now this is crucial. Before Skyrim 1.03 patch was released, “homo-genocide” is possible. Spawn your Flames Atronach and punish her flaming body with flames and she will die. Summon the Frost Atronach and put her back to her sleep with Frost and she will surely sleep in no time. See? Flames burn flames, ices freeze ices, how is that even possible? But then, this awesome Skyrim 1.03 patch came and everyone wins. No more iced ices and burned flames. Win-win situation.

Ahoy #6 Core 2 Duo users, you are blessed!
Don’t really care, mine’s not a Core 2 Duo (troll mode)

Ahoy #7: The Last Ahoy, No more idiotic, backward-flying fire-breathing lump of meat!
The last patch, 1.02, sent dragons flying backward with one wing with the speed of light like some two-headed, one legged onion man, taking a sh*t inside a toilet in a burning space rocket made of bouncy giant green dried snot going in a suicide mission to the sun.

Aye aye, Miss Bethesda has fixed that with the Almighty Skyrim 1.03 patch. Now you can slay the dragon in the Battle at Bonestrewn Crest without the need to puke!

But speaking of which, the Skyrim 1.03 patch did not remove the “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee..” just so you know.

I used to give a damn, then someone covered my head with a bucket...

SWTOR Inquisitor: Elegant Sith Class

SWTOR Inquisitor is one of the eight default classes and one of two Sith Empire classes that utilize Force. SWTOR Inquisitor seems to be a light-armored class similar to the Republic’s Jedi Consular. Sith Inquisitor uses the power of the Force along with lightsaber techniques. Inquisitors are fast, swift, and rather strong. SWTOR Inquisitor proves to be one of the strongest jobs in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Inquisitor is the type that can play all kinds of role. Be it a powerful assault caster, a party healer, or a tanker in a massive raid. Inquisitors harness the dark side of the Force to either crush their enemies or support their allies. SWTOR Inquisitor is a genius in force channeling and manipulation, and also has outstanding swordmanship. Inquisitors study the philosophy and dark past of the Force. Force Lightning is their well-known feared weapon.

SWTOR Sith Inquisitor

SWTOR Inquisitor has 5 companions, 4 of them are evil, and 1 of them has the good morality. They are Xalek, Khem Val, Talos Drellik, Ashara Zavros, and Andronikus Revel. Their starships are called “Fury”. There are 5 races available to choose: Human, Twi’lek, Sith Pureblood, Zabrak, and Rattataki.

Inquisitors use the double-bladed lightsaber with an unbelievable speed. Even though you are a bad guy here, you can rebel and be a hero instead. First, choose your style of play. You can be a frontline tanker with your extreme agility, making you a hard-to-hit decoy. A sneaky little venomous deadly snake with unrivaled stealth skill. If you want to be a supportive player, be a healer. And you can improve your Force to be a PvP Force-based Inquisitor.

There are 2 class advancements of SWTOR Inquisitor. They are Sith Assassin and Sith Sorcerer.

Sith Assassin focuses on the melee skill. Sith Assassins use double-edged lightsabers. They have super-fast speed and agility. There are 3 skill trees for Sith Assassin. Darkness, Madness, and Deception. Darkness skill tree is full of defensive abilities that will make you an excellent tanker. Madness offers Force ability to drain and corrupt enemies, but Madness is a shared skill. The last skill tree of Sith Assassin is Deception. Deception includes stealth skills to kill enemies without them even realizing. Force Lightning can be imbued into the double-edged lighsaber using the skill from Deception skill tree.

Sith Sorcerer is the last class advancement of SWTOR Inquisitor for now. Sorcerers harness the power of the dark Force to dispatch their foes without mercy. This class is Force-based. There are 3 skill trees, 1 of them is a shared skill, Madness. The other two are Lightning and Corruption. Lightning skill tree focuses on the Force Lightning. Choose it if you want to be an assault caster. You will get healing and support abilities if you improve the Corruption skill tree.

SWTOR Inquisitors are way too powerful that they are often hated by bullied players. So, overall, SWTOR Inquisitor is a deadly class, versatile, and handy in all kinds of condition. You love Darth Maul, you will surely love the Sith Inquisitor!

SWTOR Crafting – How to?

SWTOR crafting feature is exceptional. This kind of crafting system that involves NPC is rarely seen in other MMORPGs. SWTOR crafting allows players to craft various items like implants, guns, high-tech armors, lightsaber parts, and more. Crafting skill is included in the crew skills. Crafting is essential and important if you want to maximize your character’s potential.

First, I will introduce SWTOR crafting in general. Crafting can be done by either the player or NPCs called “companion”. Crafting is a special crew skill. Provided that you can only assign 1 crafting skill to the skill slot and leave the 2 other skill slots to other crew skills while you can use 3 gathering skills or mission skills at once. And if you change the crafting skill, it will be reset back to level 1 and you will lose all your hard-earned recipes.

SWTOR Crafting costs some time. While crafting low-level equipment only takes less than 10 minutes, high-level and sophisticated items will need more. That is where the NPCs come in. You can assign up to 5 companions to do crafting tasks. Each companion can only queue 5 crafting tasks. They will continue working when you are out doing some quest with your guild and even when you are offline. Your companions work tirelessly and will make sure that you sleep safe and sound when you are not in the game. Still, the companions don’t provide you 100 percent cashback guarantee. To prevent failures, you have to be good to your companions. It is recommended to give presents and talk whenever possible. Your companions will perform better SWTOR crafting with higher affection point.

SWTOR crafting is divided to 6. There are Armstech, Cybertech, Armormech, Biochem, Artifice, and Synthweaving. I’ll give you the quick short overview of each sub-profession. For non-Force user tanks, you should choose the Armormech since it mainly produces armors. Cybertech is a credits-making crafting skill. For any raiding guild member, you can get profit by selling potions and implants from the Biochem skill. Non-force users that choose to focus on crafting are best to choose Armstech since time is the essence to be able to construct good weapons. Force tanks is better to choose Synthweaving, the sub-profession is used to craft force armors. And aggresive non-tanks Force users are recommended to equip Artifice to make unique and special lightsaber parts.

Let’s get to the how to. First step....

SWTOR Crafting

1. Craft-learning
Learning is the key to success. That is what my teachers used to lecture me. In SWTOR crafting, learning is essential. Choose the suitable crafting skill for you. You learn it in your capital home city, just take a stroll around the storage area, auction house, and skill trainers. Remember that only 1 crafting skill can be learned per time. But you are free to learn another crafting skills by forgetting the one you learn now. Forgetting means you will lose all recipes and level of that SWTOR crafting skill.

2. Craft!
Open the crew skills menu (‘n’ is the shortcut). Give a click-click on the craft icon beside your companion. Then, you can choose what will your companion craft. The maximum queue is 5.

Bam! You (and your companion) have successfully crafted an item! Be sure to keep crafting since there are still a lot to uncover on SWTOR crafting.

SWTOR Server Status Overpopulated?

How is SWTOR server status doing now? Players that got no time to play must be wondering when they will play and whether they will get a seat in one of the servers or not. Even before the official release date, which is today, most of the servers were already swarmed.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game developed by BioWare and based on the epic space opera, Star Wars. The game is the latest installment of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. It takes place centuries after the events of SW:KotOR. Unlike the previous installment that was a singleplayer role-playing game, this one will surely satiate MMORPG lovers, especially the ones that played the previous games. To be able to play this game, players have to pay monthly subscription fees. A month subscription will cost you $14.99. While a 3 month subscription will cost you around $42 and even cheaper for the 6 month subscription, which is about $78. You won’t even believe that SWTOR has already attracted a lot of gamers attention. Try visiting the SWTOR server status page in the official website.

There are 4 types of server: PvE, PvP, RP-PvP, and RP-PvE. PvE stands for Player versus Enemy, meaning, no killing between players, only in some area and battleground. PvP = Player versus Player. Players can freely spar in this server. The RP in RP-PvP and RP-PvE is the same. RP is the abbreviation of role-playing, more like hardcore mode where everything is made as real as it can be. Statistics show that players love PvP more than any other server type. Now, does it also affect the SWTOR server status?

SWTOR Server Status

The SWTOR server status page in the official website of Star Wars: The Old Republic shows more than a hundred US servers and about 90 European servers. The SWTOR server status page shows extreme traffic in European servers. Most European servers are full and in heavy traffic, while US servers are not really that crowded. When you are trying to join a full server, you will be queued. The queues could take minutes or even hours. I saw my friend that queued in the Swiftsure server, a Player versus Player server, and he had to wait like nearly an hour. I am very sure that from day to day the amount of players will increase gradually. Is it gonna be a problem?

Nah, of course not! The players will surely increase, that’s not deniable. But, the players will be evenly distributed. Yesterday, there were only like 80 US servers and 60 European servers, but today, there are more. BioWare will open more day to day, so don’t worry.

And if you have a wordpress blog and you want to share the information about the server where you are currently playing at, you can keep track of the SWTOR server status and show it at your wordpress blog with the wordpress plugin. Even though the plugin is a first draft, it works well so far. The plugin will show the population, status, language, server type, and queue size.

Now, that SWTOR server status is not a problem anymore, you can buy the game without any doubt!

SWTOR Crew Skills: Unique!

SWTOR crew skills is a new system and the first time in the series. This system allows you to order your companions (friendly, hired NPC) to do things for you while you are out on a quest with your friends or even when you are offline. Companions can be ordered to do three kinds of things. You can command them to craft weapons and useful items, go gather resources, and complete solo missions on your behalf.

Since we can’t do everything alone, BioWare invented the SWTOR crew skills system to ease your pain in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now, how does the SWTOR crew skills system works? First, the companions. You will need at least a companion (more likely a slave) to make use of the SWTOR crew skills system. Companions are scattered around the world. The first companion that you will meet is more likely to be the most helpful to your class. You can only “own” 5 companions at once. You can abuse their tirelessness to craft items in your ship, or take one out with you to help. Though you can only take one companion out, and leave the rest in the ship.

Before you are ready to boss your companions around, you have to understand the SWTOR crew skills system fully. There are 3 types of crew skills, which are Crafting, Mission, and Gathering. The assigned tasks are limited. Only 3 can be assigned to your whole crew. You can freely assign any crew skill you want, but only one crafting skill is allowed.

SWTOR Crew Skills

Gathering is one of SWTOR crew skills. You can give gathering errands to your companions. If they were successful, they would bring you rare items. Gathering can be done by the companions alone or rather with you. There are only 4 gathering skills, which are Scavenging, Slicing, Archaeology, and Bioanalysis.

Gathering - SWTOR Crew Skills

Scavenging
Scavenging allows your companion to scavenge materials from damaged or rusty technology’s parts. Usually assigned alongside Armormech, Armstech, or Cybertech.

Slicing
Slicing means breaking through locked boxes and high-security computer systems to get datas, schematics, and blueprints. Rarely used.

Archaeology
Archaelogy is one of the SWTOR crew skills in the Gathering category. When you assign the Archaeology crew skill, your crews will get the ability to search for ancient artifacts. You can use this skill with Artifice or Synthweaving.

Bioanalysis
Bioanalysis means that your companion will get you genetic material samples from plants and animals. Best assigned with Biochem.

Other than Gathering, there are still SWTOR crew skills. Now it is about Mission. Mission consists of errands on getting loots, seeking information, and other things that will benefit you. This crew skill consists of 4 sub-professions:

Mission - SWTOR Crew Skills

Underworld Trading
It is all about illegal trades and transactions. Like trading in a black market. Recommended to be paired with either Armormech, Synthweaving, or Cybertech.

Diplomacy
Diplomacy means negotiation. It affects the moral side. Assigning Diplomacy with Biochem is a good idea.

Treasure Hunting
Treasure Hunting skill can get you rare crafting recipes. Usually taken with Artifice.

Investigation
Letting your companions to investigate will net you some sweet secret and information. Actually, it is effective to equip with any crafting skill, but it is better to assign with Armstech.

Crafting involves raw materials. Your companion can craft armors, implants, and weapons. The raw materials can be obtained by gathering it yourself or by assigning Gathering task to one or more of your companions. Crafting is not only about constructing things, but you can get materials too. Using the reverse engineering, you can destroy items and get the materials. But, you can only reverse-engineer items if you have known the recipe before. Crafting could take only a few minutes of your time, but it is also possible to take many hours. Crafting skills are six, they are armormech, armstech, artifice, biochem, cybertech, and synthweaving. The quick description for the crafting skills are below:

Crafting - SWTOR Crew Skills

Armormech
This is the crafting skill to craft non-force armors and electrical shieldings. It is best assigned with Scavenging and Underworld Trading.

Armstech
Armstech skill allow the companions to craft weapons. Scavenging and Investigation are the recommended crew skills to take with Armstech.

Artifice
It is the crafting skill to make Jedi and Sith artifacts. Using this crew skill, you can produce lightsaber parts, modifications, and enhancement. Archaeology and Treasure Hunting are the best skills to assign along with Artifice.

Biochem
Biochem is the art of crafting bio-chemical items like serums, medical packs, and implants. They are mainly used to boost the user’s strength. Assign Bioanalysis and Diplomacy with this crew skill.

Cybertech
Companions assigned with Cybertech skill are capable of crafting gadgets also parts for droids and high-technology armors. Best taken with Scavenging and Underworld Trading.

Synthweaving
Synthweaving is crafting light armors with extraterrestrial elements. Armor that is crafted with the Synthweaving skill is suitable for Jedis and Siths. Archaelogy and Underworld Trading are the effective skills to accompany Synthweaving.

SWTOR crew skills system is a magnificent improvement, nuff said.

Battlefield 3 Guide for Dummies: Jobs

Honestly, I’m not a kind of pro or maniac or something else in Battlefield 3. I did not play Battlefield from the first game, I started playing from Battlefield 2. I skipped Battlefield: Bad Company due to savings crisis and continued playing Battlefield series from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 up to now. And here I am, sitting on my desk, writing a guide about jobs in Battlefield 3. Even though I’m not that MVP guys in Battlefield 3, but I can give you some explanation and quick tips on how to play your role. Let’s begin. Ready, steady, go!

To be a useful soldier in the multiplayer battles, you must have the ability to adapt. You have to change your job depending on what’s happening out there. You have to observe your surroundings, your enemies, and your teammates. I mean, when you are in a vehicle-based map, it is best to be an Engineer whether to support your team or to destroy the opposing team’s arsenal of vehicles. But, if there are already a lot of engineers in your team, it is better for you to choose another job to further effectively support the team. A medic to revive downed teammates or maybe a support to resupply your team’s rockets and ammos is not a bad idea. Don’t forget to remember my theory of adaptation: Surroundings, Friendlies, Enemies. Here are the detailed jobs descriptions and guide:

Battlefield 3 Jobs

Medic
The docs play a huge role as the attackers in rush or in infantry-based conquest maps. They have the defibrillator, the tool of ultimate salvation. The assault rifles are their main weapon while they have medpack that can be replaced with the M320 grenade launcher or the M26 Mass shotgun.

In my version, there are 2 types of medic depending on their role and equipment. But regardless, medics still have to stick to the team. The first role is the Assault Medic and the second one is Support Medic.

Assault Medics are the docs that trade the ability to heal with an ability of destruction. They exchange the medpack with M320 GL or the M26 Mass shotgun. If you are this type of assault, an assault rifle equipped with underslung rail is highly recommended as an underslung M320/M26 is faster to switch to and has a faster reload time. Assault Medics’ job is to help breakthrough the frontline while still reviving teammates. M320 is used in a situation where the enemy is hiding behind a cover or hiding indoor. The M26 Mass acts as close-quarter battle weapon while the M320 also acts as a backup weapon.

Support Medics or Pure Medics are docs that dedicate their lives to heal and support the team. They don’t have the sheer force of destruction, but in exchange, they have the medpacks. If you play as this type of medic, make sure that you stay real close to your teammates. Killing is your second objective. Always provide medpack to teammates after gunfights or when taking cover. You have to be careful because you are the key of survival for your team.

Engineer
Engineer are mechanics and the master of destruction. They are specially equipped with the rocket launchers. They also has the repair torch to repair tanks, the anti-tank mines, and also awesome EOD bot. I think engineers are engineers, no need to categorize it.

Use anti-tank mines when you are a defender. Place it in the main road where the tanks and vehicles usually pass. I would rather use a rocket launcher because it is more manageable. You will never know where the vehicles will go and which route they will take.

If you are in match with crazy pilots that kill a lot in the opposing team, use the STINGER or the IGLA to destroy the aerial vehicles. I don’t guarantee that every shot will hit, but if like 4 men are targeting and shooting the same vehicle with it, it will go down anytime soon. Only use the STINGER if there is SOFLAM around. STINGER is the worst launcher without the help of laser designation but the best on laser-designated targets. Don’t forget that if you are using RPG or SMAW, your targets are not only vehicles, but also buildings and covers with enemies in it.
If you seem to have trouble on planting charge or the armed M-COM that you are defending is filled with enemies, you can try the EOD bot to do the arming and disarming in the behalf of you.

Support
Support soldiers are heavy-armed soldier that bring packs of ammo along with a light machine gun. Their main job is to support the assault medics and provide ammo resupplies to the team. Supports also have some exceptional equipment like C4, Claymore, and the mortar. I categorize it into 2: The passive supports and aggressive supports.

Most passive supports use LMGs as they main weapon instead of PDWs and shotguns. It is better to attach the bipod instead of foregrip to the LMG. They utilize all gadgets. You will wait a lot or move slowly and carefully when you choose this job. If you are a defender, it is best to place claymores in different places. It is recommended to place claymores on the corner of a turn or in narrow places. You wait calmly for the enemy with deployed bipod. And you can set the C4 around the M-COM area to trap the enemies. When you are in the attacker team, you can use mortar to provide support with smoke shells or bombard the M-COM area with explosive shells. Stay close to your mates and go prone a lot. You are not the front-most soldier. But you are the supporting one. But don’t forget to give ammo to every friendly that you meet.

The aggressive ones use the LMGs and sometimes the shotguns, mostly seen the USAS-12 with frag rounds. If you choose to be an aggressive support, your main objective is to plant the charge or take flags in Conquest. You can use C4 to blow up tanks or guard armed M-COMs. Claymores are also useful to trap charge-defusing enemies. The mortar is not needed. Remember that you often drop ammo packs.

Recon
The last job is recon. Recons have gadgets that are used for the sake of spotting and targetting. The sniper rifles are their primary weapon. You can choose between MAV, SOFLAM, and T-UGS. There are 2 kinds of recon, the stealth recon and the sniper recon.

Stealth recons give the team a really big advantage. They use the T-UGS along with the Spawn Beacons to help the team. Stealth recons are going behind the enemy line without them knowing. Then they place the radio beacon somewhere hidden without the enemy realizing. And boom, the enemy M-COM will be full of friendlies in no time and the enemy will be surprised. You can use sniper rifles with ACOG or red dot sight. The Laser attachment is recommended for easier and stable hipfire or if you are confident enough, use the suppressor to hide your gun’s muzzle flash and noticeable sound. But if you can’t do the quick-snipe thing, you are free to use your favorite PDW instead. Don’t kill a lot of enemies when you are sneaking, but if you want to kill one, make sure that the opposing team won’t realize. Place T-UGS near the M-COM or around the flag area in Conquest mode.

The sniper recons are the dwellers of the back-most line. Prone, looking for prey with their zoom scope. Like the name, sniper recons use sniper. They are the long-range warrior. If you feel that you are a good sniper, you can try to do marksman headshots from afar. My record is silly, only 420 metres. To support your team, use MAV to spot enemies and SOFLAM to designate target. The combination of mortar and MAV is indeed deadly. I’ve seen it in a lot of battles.