BioWare recently released patch notes for update 1.1.2, which is currently live on the Public Test Server. It includes the usual plethora of ability, mission, and companion fixes as well as some tweeks to the Biochem skill.

 

Biochem users will now be able to give/sell Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals to other players as they are no longer bound to the user nor do they require skill in Biochem to use. There seem to be two big reasons why this change was made. First of all it removes the pressure on players to take Biochem in order to optimize their performance, particularly at endgame. Second it opens up more options for Biochem players to make credits by selling these stims and adrenals on the Global Trade Network. Biochem also will be getting another nerf as the effectiveness of Biochem exclusive Rakata stimpacks have been reduced to be equal to Energized stimpacks. In fact Bioware announced that they intend to reduce, over a series of patches, the effectiveness of situational consumables on endgame combat resolution. The end goal being to make the outcome of endgame combat be based more on player skill and less on what items they have on hand.

 

BioChem is just the first of the crafting skills to see tweaks in order to make all the skills more applicable to end game content. Major changes are currently on schedule for the next major content patch, such as extractable basemods (armoring, barrel, etc.) from purple items, critical crafting successes on orange outfits, more bind-on-equip schematic drops for artifice and other professions, increased relevance of augments, better reverse engineering chance, and other improvements.  PvP is also going to see some changes in the future, with the power difference granted by PvP gear being reduced to make it easier for new level 50 players to compete in PvP.

 

You can read the developer post about the crafting changes here, and the full 1.1.2 patch notes after the jump.

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ – 1.1.2 Patch Notes

Classes and Combat

General

• Improved response time for ability activation requests in low-framerate situations.
• Implemented further improvements to ability responsiveness and client-side anticipation of ability executions.
• The activation bar now appears at the correct time (when the activation of an ability begins) and disappears when activation is complete.
• If Sprint was active when a player died, it now remains active when the player is revived.
• Abilities on cooldown are now more easily distinguished from abilities that can be used.

Jedi Knight

• Sentinel
• Pacify: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.
• Watchman
• Plasma Blades: Now increases damage dealt by burn effects by 5% per point.
• Searing Saber: Now correctly modifies the critical damage dealt by burn effects.
• Changes to Searing Saber and Plasma Blades result in an overall increase in Damage Per Second.

Sith Warrior

• Marauder
• Obfuscate: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.
• Annihilation
• Hemorrhage: Now increases damage dealt by bleed effects by 5% per point.
• Bleedout: Now correctly modifies critical damage dealt by bleed effects.
• Changes to Hemorrhage and Bleedout result in an overall increase in Damage Per Second.

Jedi Consular

• General
• Unity: Now properly provides damage reduction when used.
• Shadow
• All Techniques now cost 100 Force.
• Force Technique’s Force Breach now also deals damage when applied. Overall damage dealt by this ability has not changed.
• Kinetic Combat
• Technique Mastery: No longer increases the duration of Force Technique’s Breach effect. It now increases the damage dealt by Force Technique.
• Particle Acceleration: This skill now also triggers from Spinning Strike. It now triggers from damage dealt (rather than ability use) such that each hit of Spinning Strike, Double Strike, and Whirling blow have an individual chance to yield the Particle Acceleration buff. The chance to trigger has been reduced to 30% per hit, and it now properly increases the critical damage dealt by Project when a Force Potency charge is consumed.
• Harnessed Shadows: Stacks of Harnessed Shadows now last 30 seconds. Using Slow Time now yields a stack of Harnessed Shadows.
• Infiltration
• Circling Shadows: Now requires the purchase of the Shadow Technique skill. Shadow Technique must be active in order to trigger the Circling Shadows buff. This skill now also triggers from Spinning Strike.
• Balance (Shared Tree)
• Force Focus: Now additionally lowers the cooldown of Force Breach while Force Technique is active.
• Force Strike: Now triggers from activating melee attacks that hit a target affected by Force Technique’s Breach effect. This effect now triggers more easily but cannot trigger as frequently.
• Force in Balance: Heals the caster for 1% of maximum health for each target struck. This healing effect can no longer crit and no longer consumes Force Potency charges.
• Psychic Absorption: Now doubles the amount of healing generated by Force in Balance and Focused Insight.

Sith Inquisitor

• Assassin
• All Saber Charges now cost 100 Force.
• Lightning Charge’s Discharge now also deals damage when applied. Overall damage dealt by this ability has not changed.
• Darkness
• Charge Mastery: No longer increases the duration of Lightning Charge’s Discharge effect. It now increases the damage dealt by Lightning Charge.
• Energize: This skill now also triggers from Assassinate. It now triggers from damage dealt (rather than ability use) such that each hit of Assassinate, Thrash, and Lacerate have an individual chance to yield the Energize buff. The chance to trigger has been reduced to 30% per hit.
• Harnessed Darkness: Stacks of Harnessed Darkness now last 30 seconds. Using Wither now yields a stack of Harnessed Darkness.
• Deception
• Induction: Now requires the Surging Charge skill to be purchased and requires that Surging Charge is active in order to trigger the Induction buff. This skill now also triggers from Assassinate.
• Madness (Shared Tree)
• Crackling Charge: Now additionally lowers the cooldown of Discharge while Lightning Charge is active.
• Raze: Now triggers from activating melee attacks that hit a target affected by Lightning Charge’s Discharge effect. This effect now triggers more easily but cannot trigger as frequently.
• Death Field: Heals the caster for 1% of maximum health for each target struck. This healing effect can no longer crit and no longer consumes Recklessness charges.
• Devour: Now doubles the amount of healing generated by Death Field and Parasitism.

Smuggler

• Gunslinger
• Sharpshooter
• Diversion: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Imperial Agent

• Sniper
• Marksmanship
• Diversion: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Bounty Hunter

• Powertech
• Advanced Prototype
• Hydraulic Overrides: Visual and sound effects are now easier to recognize.

Trooper

• General
• Troopers can now access their ship after leaving and returning to Corellia within 30 minutes.
• Vanguard
• Tactics
• Hold the Line: Visual and sound effects are now easier to recognize.

Companion Characters
General

• Companion Characters no longer occasionally appear unclothed when summoned.

Companions

• Doc
• Crazy Talk (mission): Male characters can now complete the conversation related to this mission.

Crew Skills
Crafting Skills

• Crafting skills no longer inform the player that no missions are defined for the Crew Skill.
• Biochem
• Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals no longer require Biochem to use.
• Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals are no longer bound, allowing them to be traded or sold to other players.
• Rakata reusable stims and adrenals have been reduced in power, providing buffs equal to Energized stims and adrenals.
• The Exotech Med Unit schematic obtained from the Eternity Vault Operation now functions properly and can be learned.

Gathering Skills

• Slightly lowered the amount of resources gathered from harvested droids and creatures.

Flashpoints and Operations
General

• Players are now able to obtain destined loot from chests when Master Looter is enabled and they are not the Master Looter.

Flashpoints

• The False Emperor
• Jindo Krey’s ship no longer occasionally enters a state that prevents it from taking damage.
• Kaon Under Siege
• Infected Mercenaries can no longer permanently stun players.

Operations

• Eternity Vault
• Soa no longer resets if he uses Mind Trap on the main tank.
• Karagga’s Palace
• The chest that is awarded for defeating Karagga on Nightmare Mode no longer appears partially inside a wall and now properly spawns.
• Foreman Crusher’s Perforating Rend now correctly applies itself to targets caught within the conical attack.
• Jarg & Sorno: The Carbonizer Probe no longer disappears if all of the players who attacked it died before the Carbonizer Probe was destroyed.
• Karagga no longer appears above portions of the walls during the fight.

Items
General

• Rakata weapons are now correctly rating 140 and are fitted with mark 25 modifications. These items were previously less powerful than intended.
• The number of commendations in Champion and Battlemaster Bags has been greatly increased, and the direct item trade tokens appear less frequently in Champion Bags. This change allows players to obtain PvP gear at a steady and significantly more predictable rate with an occasional bonus.

Vendors

 

• It is no longer possible to purchase items while holding down the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys.

Legacy
General

• The Legacy Experience required to advance to Legacy Levels beyond 20 has been increased.

Missions and NPCs
General

• Commendation rewards for Hard Mode Flashpoint daily and weekly missions and Operation weekly missions have been increased.

Missions

• Imperial
• General Faraire: Khourlet’s Elite Guards no longer hide behind a door, preventing progression in this mission.
• Last Stand: Players are now able to complete this mission as long as the Voss Scholars are inside the prison cell.
• The Big Show: Using Force Cloak, dying, or leaving the phase while on the step “Defeat the Screaming Blade Cultists” can no longer cause the necessary NPCs to disappear and prevent mission progress.
• Republic
• Leave Nothing Behind: The Frozen Biomass Container now remains lootable if the loot window is closed.
• Most Wanted: A mission item can no longer be rolled on if it is looted while the player is in a group.
• Need to Impress: Players can now speak to Ambassador Jannik if they have already completed the mission Gormak Country.
• The Lightspring: The toughness of Vaverone Zare and Nariel Pridence has been decreased. This mission can no longer be failed.
• The Shadow Fist: Mission progress for players who are on this mission has been reset to the first step. Players can no longer become locked out of the stealth generator room.

Bug Fixes

• Bonus Series missions on Tatooine can now be abandoned.

PvP
World PvP

• Ilum
• Particle Cannons can no longer be permanently disabled.
• Players now receive notification when they kill a target that is not worth Valor due to being killed too recently.

Space Combat
General

 

• The speed of enemy Ion Cannons has been reduced to improve balance in high-level Space Combat Missions.

UI
General

• The reverse engineering button no longer occasionally disappears after a crafting skill is initially learned.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Loading screens no longer appear in low resolution if the player selects the low-resolution texture option in preferences.
• Facial animations no longer fail to play correctly in some instances.
• During brief teleports, the splash screen does not appear incorrectly over loading screens.
• Players will no longer experience limited audio, black portraits, or the inability to initiate conversations when they reconnect after being disconnected.

Tags: Biochem, crafting, endgame, patch notes, public test server, PvP