Last week we took our first look at the life of the mysterious Sith Emperor from the time of his birth up to the point when he arrived at Dromund Kaas as the leader of the Sith. Today we will finish looking at what we know of this mysterious being and his life after arriving on Dromund Kaas. Like last week, this article will contain massive spoilers so turn back now if you want to avoid them. Otherwise, join me as we finish our journey looking at this immortal master of the Dark Side. Continue Reading »
No matter your opinion on the prequel trilogy, you have to admit that they got one thing right: lightsaber combat. The quick flurries, flashy moves, and amazing acrobatic feats really showed off how cool it is to fight with a lightsaber. Since the development of the modern lightsaber, seven distinct fighting styles have surfaced that take advantage of the lightsaber’s unique properties and capabilities. Last week we looked at how the lightsaber was developed, this week we are going to look at each of the fighting styles utilized by those who wield these mighty weapons. We will explore both the philosophy behind these forms, as well as their advantages and disadvantages in combat. Continue Reading »
Though it does not show up too often in the extended universe, Tython is one of the most important locations in all of Star Wars. The reason for this is simple. Tython is the planet where the Jedi Order was first founded and where the natures of the Light and Dark side of the force were first explored. From this planet emerged the beginnings of what can be considered the most influential and powerful group to exist in the known universe. Yet despite this, Tython has not been explored in great detail by the various lore weavers who have built the Star Wars universe into what it is. Starting planet of both the Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular, it has had less information revealed about it than any of the other Origin Worlds. Today we are going to dive into what info is out there in the final installment of our four part series featuring the Origin Worlds in The Old Republic. Continue Reading »
Veetha ran toward the Force pulse she felt from the street, her lightsaber hilt held firmly in her white-skinned hand.
After waking in the alley, the Rattataki apprentice of Darth Tagious reached out with the Force and felt her master’s displeasure with the Imperial agent and her bounty hunter lover. Veetha’s black lips curled into a sneer as she moved to join her master, but that’s when she felt the Jedi approach.
If I can bring down the Jedi, she reasoned, I will once again be in my master’s favor.
Veetha ignited her lightsaber as she cartwheeled into the street, her cloak flaring out as she spun like the petals of a black rose. She took a wide stance and held the glowing red blade in front of her, feeding off the fears of the citizens of the spaceport as they ran and hid.
The one standing before her did not run, nor hide. The bearded human simply lowered his hood and spread open his robe to reveal his Jedi armor beneath and the two lightsaber hilts on his belt. The droid that accompanied him beeped and chittered before wobbling on its legs and wheeling away.
Veetha’s eyes drew a triangle from hilt to hilt and then to the Jedi’s face.
“Hello, little friend,” The Jedi smiled. He drew his hilts and ignited the blades. The blue light danced off his armored breastplate. “My name is Kendris. What’s yours?”
Veetha, not being one for words like her master, screamed and charged at him.
As part of this Friday Update we get a surprising new feature. It is a video showing progression of a class from the very beginning with some early combat, through advanced class branching and finally we realize that the character is capable of awe inspiring feats as it reaches its full potential. The honor to be featured this way goes to the Jedi Knight (according to some sources the most popular class among game testers). It was very fun to see how the Jedi Knight goes from practice sword to light saber and how armor looks better and better as the character gains more experience. Also, I must say I am amazed by how epic both advanced classes feel and look with their final armors. You can check out the official Friday update page here or watch the video bellow:
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Visitors of Penny Arcade Expo have been busy recording various gameplay sessions all throughout day 1 of the convention and we have gathered all the relevant videos in this one post. There is some more footage of Taral V flashpoint as well as some starting planets gameplay. We also have Daniel Erickson giving a few more presentation of various planets and I suspect we will be seeing all of these videos as downloadable content from the official site. Until then enjoy.
Taral V Jedi Knight group gameplay
Video shows full in-game cinematic for the instance telling us the background story of why are we fighting this hard fight. Flashpoint footage is from the first third of the instance and the person playing is a clicker (you have been warned). Quality is Full HD and the video is worth your bandwidth.
Taral V Jedi Knight group gameplay – Last Boss
Video shows the last third of Taral V instance including the fight (and wipe) with the last boss. *spoiler alert* Last boss seems to have an add so it requires some coordination and unfortunately the Trooper died and Jedi Knight was not able to take aggro from the healers quickly enough (not his fault). The person playing seems to be a veteran MMO player and you can see just how smooth the gameplay is when played by a knowledgeable player. The video is HD and gets 5 stars from me.
Taral V Jedi Sage group gameplay
Jungle part of Taral V from the Jedi Sage perspective. Video is HD with detailed shot of the UI in the end
Bounty Hunter Hutta gameplay
We see the starting zone for Bounty Hunter with some great cutscenes and a chubby BH as our protagonist. HD quality is available and I recommend watching it this way because it brings out the best out of the game footage.
Hoth – presented by Daniel Erickson
We see some areas of Hoth with surprising volcanic activity and future questing grounds set inside ice caves and ship graveyards. Available in HD quality as well. Thanks to Engrey for the footage.
Tatooine – presented by Daniel Erickson
Official trailer showing in-game footage of Tatooine vistas.
Sith Warrior – 14 minutes on Korriban
The video shows all cutscenes and footage from questing inside a cave on Korriban. This is footage similar to the one we’ve see at Gamescom last year, but nice to see it again.
Only a few days are left before Boston hosts the 2011 Penny Arcade Expo – East coast edition. This is a big deal in the SWTOR community because Bioware seems to love PAX and always does something special at these events. This event is also special because for the first time there will be an organized gathering of SWTOR fansites and fans at two community events. Here’s a list of important things you can expect from PAX East this year.
The Old Republic booth is 912 and that is where visitors will be able to sit down and play the game. For the first time the general public will be able to experience flashpoint content. Taral V, the flashpoint we’ve seen footage of several weeks ago, is what people will be able to play through at the show. Those that lean towards the dark side can avoid playing this Republic only instance and choose to play one of the Sith Empire classes and their starting planets. Never fear my Jedi friends, you get a treat as well because for the first time the general public will be able to play on Tython and try Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular. Just to make things even more awesome James Ohlen (Lead Designer) and Daniel Erickson (Lead Writer) will be hanging at the booth all throughout the event and will be available for Q&A sessions.
The things I hate missing out on are two community gatherings that will happen at PAX. There is the Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina organized by SWTOR fansites (I think the main sponsor is Darth Hater). Here are the details: Date & Time: Friday March 11th, 2011, 7PM Location: The Times Irish Pub & Restaurant, 112 Broad St. (Between High st & Wendell St.) Boston, MA 02110 Confirmed Participants: Ask A Jedi Corellian Run Radio Curse Darth Hater Massively Mos Eisley Radio TORSyndicate
The second event is officially organized by Bioware and it is by invitation only. You can get your invitations at the SWTOR booth and if you do you will be able to attend the Community Meet and Greet hosted by SWTOR community team. The details are as follows:
Date & Time: March 12th, 2011 Location: Westin Boston Waterfront hotel Confirmed Participants:
SWTOR Community team (meaning Stephen Reid, David Bass and Allison Berryman to name a few)
Developers (depending on how tired they are we might see James Ohlen and Daniel Erickson)
Remember that you can queue for the event up to an hour early so make sure you arrive there on time because the capacity is limited!
Although we are in the middle of packing for GamesCom and the excitement is almost palpable we wanted to bring you this week’s community news, at least the short version.
Star Wars Celebration V convention has ended and TOR was present with two panels. Darth Hater had the best coverage of the events and has exclusive interviews with writers Drew Karpyshyn (talked about the Jedi Knight) and Hall Hood (talked about the Smuggler) and concept artist Clint Young (talks about the artsy stuff).
Jedi Knight update was very exciting, especially with the cool trailer video that was released as well. Our friends at Jedi Archive Online did a very good dissection of the video, which you can find here.
Tor Syndicate, which we will be joining shortly, has their PodCast no.2 up and they yet again manage to provide loads of good information for anyone considering to make a SWTOR fansite or guild site. As if that wasn’t enough, they have an interview with ex SWTOR community manager Erick Adams. You can listen to “The Revenge of Darth Meow Meow” if you visit this page.
The sweetest thing as last. There is another SWTOR fan webcomic being created. Outer Rim stories just posted their first panel up and it is exactly the same idea I had for our comic when I heard about the details on space combat (including the Emo Darth Vader “Nooooooo”). Go, check them out here.
This Friday’s update has provided us with details on the advanced class choice you can make as a Jedi Knight. As seen in the scanned PC Gamer footage the advanced specializations are the Sentinel (dual lightsaber wielding damage dealer) and the Guardian (tank and buffer). Official’s site Holonet Jedi Knight page has been update with the new information. It has also been revealed that the associate for Jedi Knights will be the Astromech T7-01 droid. He got his own Holonet page as well in the biographies section.
The awesome trailer of the Jedi Knight class, that has been released alongside this update, shows that Jedi Knights will start on Tython. They will have some sort of force jump ability to get them up close and personal with their enemies (sort of like a warrior charge in WoW). There seems to be some sort of a buff ability for troops around the Knight (in that trooper scene). Saber deflection of laser fire is probably higher if you are a Guardian. Saber throw is another skill seen in the video as well as some sort of Chuck Norris high kick! I also must note that the graphics are looking mighty sweet and things look a lot more polished. From the look of things this is the class I personally will be going for.
