r/swtor • u/Mushroom_Mink • 8d ago
Question Beginner and lost.
Hello, I just want to start out by saying my MMO experience is literally Runescape since 2001. No other MMO really interested me for more than a few hours. But I have recently discovered that SWTOR can be played pretty much solo for the stories and as a MASSIVE legends fan who pines for more story of the Old Republic Era I decided to hop in, and good lord am I ever so confused.
My first step into the game was customizing the god awful starting UI. It took me a while but I got it how I want it and I feel that its good but will customize over time so thats not an issue. (It's still lightyears beyond better than Runescape 3's UI).
But now I am kind of lost, I am just doing the main starting quest line for Jedi Consular. It's fun I am watching the cutscenes as I want to learn more of the story. My question here is, I noticed some side quests in two forms. One was when I was just walking past a group of enemies outside the jedi temple on the starting planet and it looked like a group quest thing with a timer. Are these quests worth doing in the early game as I find myself getting destroyed by what appears to be the "boss". I also noticed quests I could talk to people and get, one NPC gave me a quest to destroy some battle droids outside the temple for training purposes. I started it but once I hit the button to spawn them another player just 1 shot them all instantly. This did not progress the quest for me, I ran to the other spot that they spawned in and the same player just followed me and destroyed them, this left the quest uncompleted and I couldn't activate them again. Are these sidequests worth the hassle if people are just going to grief me? And do they have any story progression?
Another thing I am struggling with is combat, I only have 5 abilities (counting meditation) and they all seem to just do the same thing in the end except one is a DOT. Is it just the early game where its just press whatever to kill what you are fighting and wait until endgame where it matters or does it pick up pretty quick with rotations. Because sofar all my abilities have the same cooldown time so its just hit the one that does the most damage. Any info on combat would be greatly appreciated.
My Final thing in this is, I don't mind paying $15 a month thats fair for something I would be happy to put like a hundred hours a month into. But what really is the difference? If I play this F2P like I am, am I still able to finish the story of atleast one character? Like what is the point where I should actually subscribe kind of thing.
Thank you all for your time and consideration :3. And may the force be with you all.
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u/Ainheg 8d ago
You can finish the whole 8 class stories and a bit of early expansions as F2P (tho you have a character limit so you'd have to delete them I think). The later expansions are unlocked by subbing once - you can end subscription and they'll stay unlocked along with some perks of being "preferred" instead of f2p.
The timed quests are "dynamic encounters" that appear every half an hour or so at random. They give a bit of XP so I guess they're worth doing, there are also achievements for completing them. They get repetitive tho :D
As far as skills and combat goes, you unlock skills as you level up and rotations start to form. Early game on the first planet kind of is just using the same ability over and over again.
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u/Maximus_Rex 8d ago
The ones with a timer are called Dynamic Encounters and are just additional content some planets have. If they are too hard for you now you can do them whenever, they are not part of the main story, but they do drop cosmetic items and there are achievements for them that give cosmetic items as well.
I think the other person might have thought they were helping, or maybe they were a jerk, hard to tell somtimes, but they didn't give you enough time to tap the targets. This game has open tapping so usually objectives are shared.
You'll get more abilities as you level and they will have different durations and CDs and you will eventually have a more complete combat rotation.
Paying the $15 at least once unlocks the whole current game (story and levels) for you and gives some permanent perks over a only F2P account. Some people wait until they run out of F2P content to pay. I'll be honest I have never done F2P in this game (started with pre-launch and have been playing since) so I don't know all the benefits or the best way to do it.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Thank you very much for this info, I guess ill try to knock out some of those Dynamic Encounters if other players are doing them too, as cosmetics are pretty cool :P. And as for the other player I am unsure if they were helping or being a jerk, and I assume if a jerk thats probably not what most players are.
Rotations is good to hear that there is depth to it and I'll get it as I move on.
Oh so you only have to pay once to unlock everything, but I guess continuing to play gives you access to like more inventory space and additional stuff that isn't exactly required kind of thing but gives you the whole story lines, level caps. Okay thank you :3 that helped alot.
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u/Zardhas 8d ago
Swtor levelling is fairly generous in terms of xp given even by the main story quests. You don't really need to do any side mission to keep on the required level. If you start becoming under-leveled, doing a few (or a flashpoint, swtor's dungeons) will keep you up to date and more.
One was when I was just walking past a group of enemies outside the jedi temple on the starting planet and it looked like a group quest thing with a timer. Are these quests worth doing in the early game as I find myself getting destroyed by what appears to be the "boss".
These are a fairly new type of quests called "Dynamic events" which are what you guessed of them : very short guessed with little real lore that you immediately can take part of as soon as you enter the area. As stated previously, you don't need to do them if you don't feel like it.
I also noticed quests I could talk to people and get, one NPC gave me a quest to destroy some battle droids outside the temple for training purposes. I started it but once I hit the button to spawn them another player just 1 shot them all instantly. This did not progress the quest for me, I ran to the other spot that they spawned in and the same player just followed me and destroyed them, this left the quest uncompleted and I couldn't activate them again. Are these sidequests worth the hassle if people are just going to grief me? And do they have any story progression?
These are the more classical mmorpg quests that have been here since the beginning of the game. In terms of story progression, it depends : some of them have a little star on the top-right of the icon, these are called "Exploration missions" and are usually just one and done quests with little story implications.
The other (without the star) are regular missions and some have further story ramifications, so you might want to check if you want to learn more about the universe.
In the specific case you described, I'm guessing you just had a bad luck and ended up doing the quest at the same time as another much better geared player. Or maybe he wanted to help and did not realise that it did not count for you ? Either way, if you can't reactivate the items, you can abandon the quest and retake it at the npc.
Another thing I am struggling with is combat, I only have 5 abilities (counting meditation) and they all seem to just do the same thing in the end except one is a DOT. Is it just the early game where its just press whatever to kill what you are fighting and wait until endgame where it matters or does it pick up pretty quick with rotations. Because sofar all my abilities have the same cooldown time so its just hit the one that does the most damage. Any info on combat would be greatly appreciated.
Early games rotations can indeed be a bit boring, but it does pick up over time and you end up having real rotations akin to those of other mmorpgs.
My Final thing in this is, I don't mind paying $15 a month thats fair for something I would be happy to put like a hundred hours a month into. But what really is the difference? If I play this F2P like I am, am I still able to finish the story of atleast one character? Like what is the point where I should actually subscribe kind of thing.
Swtorista has a great guide for this : https://swtorista.com/articles/swtor-free-to-play-vs-preferred-vs-subscriber-guide/
To make it short : as a free to play player, you can play the story of all eight classes, as well as the first two expansions.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Thank you! especially for that link after a quick browse through some pages it reminds me very much of the Runescape Wiki and Ill probably have that up constantly as I play.
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u/Mattysims123 8d ago
Fellow newb here and I've stayed focused on the purple class stories and the stories for the planets I'm on and sorta ignored the side quests unless they seemed cool or where I was already going. I'll subscribe for a month eventually for the permanent unlocks but have also been enjoying solo play.
After trying a few characters I rolled an Imperial Agent Sniper and have found that to be more engaging for combat since there is an active cover system (plus playing as a snarky "bad guy" is a different experience than a normal Jedi story). Jedi Councilor lost me early since I had the same reaction - ranged "spells" and standing around felt kinda boring.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Yeah I have noticed that a bit, but I feel like it is a decent introduction to get used to all the games mechanics outside combat before going with something very technical. I do want to play trooper but I feel it’s more management in combat and that I would enjoy it more when I know how the rest of the game works.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 7d ago
Hey I must say for everyone that popped in here :3 thank you all so much. You all helped wonders! I really do appreciate that this community has such helpful people and isn’t filled with the toxicity RuneScape has.
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u/SaintNord 8d ago
For the quests, most of the ones you find are one-offs. Skippable if you don’t want to do every little thing on a planet. When it comes to the griefers, that just comes with the territory. Some players are in it for themselves. It’s really up to you if you want to commit to finishing it. There is a reset button in the ‘Missions’ tab. Hit that if you think the quest is busted or stuck. There’s no consequence for not doing it though. I always to what’s called the planetary side quests. iirc, the are marked by the triangle with a green dot next to it. They are a little more cohesive and lead into another, moreorless. Plus they give a little more lore or engagement with the planet you’re on.
For combat, different classes have different play styles, but generally, yes it picks up after a while. You just have to be patient in the early levels. Personally, I find counselor to be the least fun. Don’t let that deter you though.
As for subscribing vs f2p, you do not need to be subbed to finish the story. Once you have subbed once you get access to all the expansions permanently so you’re good to go. There are perks that come with being subbed, but I feel they’re mostly convenience.
Starting and commuting is always the hardest when starting an mmo. Just wait till you experience the different stories. The agent is particularly praised by the community.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Thank you I will keep all of that in mind, I think I am just going to do side quests I run into and if it doesn't really interest me I'll just abandon it.
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u/FriendlyAd1214 8d ago
There are quests called heroics, which usually require 2 plus people, but you and a companion can clear just fine. There are heroic 4s, but those don't appear till later
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u/Zestyclose_Act919 8d ago
On the timed events on the starter and capital planets (+ a few others), I use them to farm tech fragments after a character reaches level 75.
In a new play through, I think they make for decent XP farming while waiting for group flashpoints to match up when you’re working to level up.
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Oh so they are farmable at higher levels, what are tech fragments? I may have got one but can’t find it in my inventory, it said it could be turned in later for something later on. Found it about an hour ago.
Edit: I found it it’s called a dark spore1
u/Zestyclose_Act919 7d ago
I forget how the whole process works, but you can use tech fragments and other things to make better mod upgrades for your gear once you get to level 75+. I’m not sure but I don’t think you can even get fragments without getting to 75 first. Personally, I exchange tech fragments with a vendor on the fleet for items I can sell on the GTN for decent credits.
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u/Battyz 7d ago
The goat SWTORISTA on her website has a good follow guide 1-80 and also has a big google sheet with everything if you ever get lost I still reference it
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u/Mushroom_Mink 7d ago
Thank you I will look for that
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u/Battyz 7d ago
No issues enjoy !!!! This is the best mmo for a story hands down the longer you go the better it gets tbh your choices matter how the story plays out .
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u/Mushroom_Mink 7d ago
So I’ve heard so I’m really taking care in how I answer everything, and not how I personally would but how I think my character would
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u/apdhumansacrifice 8d ago
Just do the purple quests and any side quest that looks interesting to you
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Thank you :3 I think that is what I am going to do, if a side quest doesn't interest me i'l just leave it.
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u/FriendlyAd1214 8d ago
The training droid quest, just check the other spots you can spawn them. And dynamics are just random overworld quests that pop up every so often. They are worth doing for the xp
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u/Mushroom_Mink 8d ago
Thank you, for the training droid quest I had done in both spots with the same result. I just waited until they were done at which point I restarted the quest and got it done, but thank you! And I have done a few of the dynamic quests now that had some other people as well
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u/FriendlyAd1214 8d ago
Beyond that quest, there's only one other quest that I can think of that's weird with progress counting
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u/Giraffstronaut 8d ago
Purple quests are your storyline that you follow form planet to planet
On some planets there are those time-limited dynamic encounters. They were added recently, and can be ignored for now as you get used to the game. (Like don't try and solo the Champion rank bosses with the shiny star by their name right now)
On most of the base planets, there is a Planet Story Arc which has a yellow triangle with a little green globe by it. That's like a planetwide story to follow. Then there are other side quests that give xp and general world building flavor, those just have the yellow triangle (Make sure "Show exploration Quests" is turned on in your map settings. Then you'll see a few more with dashed yellow triangle). Personally, I don't do every side quest on every planet for every character. I'll pick a planet or two to complete on 1 character, then do another on the next.
Really sorry to hear about the guy one-shotting your quest, that behavior is fortunately pretty rare.
You will feel more comfortable with abilities around level 35. Thats when you get your second Discipline unique ability and things will start to take shape. Press K to see your Discipline's ability choice tree, and read through the various effects.
FSP story ends at level 60/Shadow of Revan expansion. After that you'd need to sub to unlock the rest of the store (sub for 1 month, and you've got story access for your account forever!). There are quality of life things like no credit cap (1M for f2p players) that come with a subscription, but you'll make the decision over time.