In a Rush: Soloing on Tython

Posted by FelizB on Feb 3, 2012 in Guides, Star Wars: The Old Republic | 0 comments

This guide will take you on a fast tour through Tython, from creating your Jedi character to the point where you are ready to pick your advanced class. It will not skipping any content or take any wild shortcut. It leads a Jedi Consular or Knight through the newbie zone, including the heroic quest and you’ll pick up three datacrons as a bonus. This is not a step-by-step guide. If you see a quest I didn’t mention on your path, pick it up. I will only point out key moments and places.

The Gnarls

Once you’ve taken the taxi from the start point, use the binding post. Your class quest will take you along a route where you pick up a side quest right away and another one a bit further along the path. Finish those quests. The class quest will eventually lead you to the Jedi Temple.

Jedi Temple

As you arrive at the Jedi Temple, bind and register at the taxi stand. On your way into the temple you will be offered the first “Combat Leadership” quests, if you are at least level 3. More will follow as you progress through levels and class quest. Now continue with your class quests, see your trainer and head toward Kalikori Village.

Kalikori Village

Once you arrive at the village, register at the taxi stand and bind as well. Pick up the side quests and move your class quest forward. Do the quest “The Thousand Steps” before you head out into the Flesh Raider territory. But make sure you are level 4 before you attack the level 5 elite in front of the tower at the end of the uphill path.

Within the Flesh Raider territory, near the first cave, you’ll find Bloodskin, a level 9 elite. Ignore him for now and come back later if you want to. Finish up your side  and class quests and return to the village for turn ins.

Jedi Temple

The Jedi Knight quest will send you from the Kalikori Village directly to Kaleth while the Consular quest has its next step at the Jedi Temple. However, Jedi Knights should stop at the temple nonetheless for training and the next step of “Combat Leadership”. On your way from the temple to Kaleth you can pick up two more side quests. You will eventually arrive at the forward camp “Elarian Trail”

Kaleth

One of the side quests has a stop at the Elarian Trail. Bind there and register at the taxi stand, than continue toward Kaleth itself. Within Kaleth you’ll be picking up one more side quest: “Flesh Eating Baby”. Finish your current set of quests within Kaleth. Then turn them in at the Elarian Trail and along your path to the Jedi Temple. Jedi Knights are actually being sent directly to the Kalikori Village by their class quest, but have to stop at the temple anyway for another turn in and to train. And everybody gets to do another step of “Combat Leadership”. Consulars are being sent to Kalikori Village after they’ve visited their master at the temple.

Kalikori Village

Jedi Knights will turn in their class quest here and pick up 2 side quests afterwards. One of those side quests was offered to a consular already at the temple. Thus, both classes should now have similar quests. A third side quest can be found when following the main path into Flesh Raider Territory. Make your way toward the Flesh Raider Cave finishing the side quests. Watch out for security chests along the path. There are a couple of hot spots. Both class quests continue inside the Flesh Raider Cave.

You’ll probably have to do the first step of the “New Recruit” quest still, before you can return to the village. This is a good time to use your fast travel option. Do your turn ins at the village. Jedi Knights have one extra step before they can continue to the Temple.

Jedi Temple

From the village continue to the temple for more turn ins, training and another round of “Combat Leadership”. Your class quest will sent you again to Kaleth.

Kaleth

At the taxi stand, pick up your heroic quest, but ignore it for now. We will solo it after we’ve finished the full class quest line. Head into Kaleth. You’ll see stairs leading around the corner into upper Kaleth. From there, go through a doorway (location=-620, 60) and climb the toppled pillar and find another toppled pillar on the top. Consulars actually have a stop for their class quest at the first doorway. Climb that one as well and you’ll see the red shimmer of a datacron in the distance (willpower+2, location=-640,-70). Now head back to either Kalikori Village or the temple, depending on your class.

Both class quests will send you back into the area of the Elarian Trail taxi stand, this time into the mountains. You’ll pick up another side quest at the taxi stand. Follow the path to the next step of “New Recruit”.  Below the signal fire is the entrance to a cave at (location= -31,20). This cave leads to another datacron (endurance+2). Return through the cave and finish the “Horranth Control” quest, then head into the Waterfall cave for the class quests, which will lead you to the forge.

The Forge

Jedi Conselors will have to enter the “Fount of Rajivari” before they can enter the caves to the forge itself. On the way to those caves, you’ll find “Grand Chieftain Keshk”, a level 9 elite for some extra loot. Further uphill, get on the ledge at (location=-135,1005) and jump onto the next higher grass patch. At the other end of this grass patch jump into the area below. Watch out for some more fleshraiders. You’ll find the last datacron(blue matrix shard, location=-90,920). Leave the area by running up a toppled pillar, across the wall and back past the Chieftain, now for real to the Forge cave.

Jedi Temple

Finish your lightsaber quest and, if you can, use fast travel to return to the Elarian Trail. Turn in “Horranth Control”, then head to the Kalikori Village to turn in “New Recruit” and finally return to  the temple. Most likely you’ll still have to do “Combat Leadership: Mark V”. Turn-in your class quest and see your trainer. If you don’t feel sure about being able to solo the heroic quest at this time, you can even go to the fleet, pick your advanced class and your crew skills and come back.

For the final heroic quest on Tython, head back to upper Kaleth and create havoc. At the end of the cave, you will also find a level 7 elite droid, for blue or green gear drops. Final turn in is again at the Elarian Trail.

Conclusion

The Jedi quest line on Tython is the most involved of all SWTOR class quests and will take a bit longer than the other newbie areas. To balance this a bit, there’s only one heroic quest. Don’t worry about the “lost” blue gear, by the time you are level 13, you’d be replacing it already with better gear, especially if you plan to go for the first flashpoint  “The Esselles” right afterwards. Similar, don’t obesess over not being able to get 8 commendations for your blue chest piece, things really aren’t that much gear dependent anyway. And don;t waste your money buying any equipment at in-game vendors while on Tython.

In a Rush: Soloing on Hutta

Posted by FelizB on Jan 28, 2012 in Guides, Star Wars: The Old Republic | 0 comments

This guide takes you from creating your character to the point where you are ready to pick your advanced class in an expedited manner, without skipping content. It leads a new Bounty Hunter or Imperial Agent through the newbie zone on Hutta, including the heroic quests. This is not a step-by-step guide. I will only point out the general direction and key moments in the storyline.

Poison Pit Cantina

You arrive here to get your class quest started. You are also given two side quests. Bind at the entrance of the cantina and activate the taxi stand. Finish those quests, pickup and finish the 3rd side quest before you head to Nem’ro’s Palace.

Nem’ro’s Palace

Follow your class quest line and pick up another side quest. They’ll both lead you to the Evokii Work Camp. As you leave Nem’ro’s Palace, you’ll see Nem’ro’s Bazaar to your right, which is  the vendor and trainer area. Side quests should point you to your trainers. Perhaps you repair equipment and sell off the vendor trash in your bags as well. On your way to the work camp, you’ll pass the bind point and taxi stand for Nem’ro’s Bazaar.

Evokii Work Camp

Along the path to the work camp, you will see a few animals. Shoot at least one of each species for the lore entries and the extra XP that comes with them. At the work camp you pick up another side quest and your first heroic quest. Here’s also a stop for the Imperial Agent class quests. The quests will lead you further south into an Evokii village, where you will find another side quest on a holopad. Don’t forget the to touch the Evokii totem, a lore object.

Continue south past the village. There you’ll find a level 5 Champion droid. You will need help to kill him. Finish the “Tech Jealousy” quest in this area. On the north side of the swamp is a toppled silo. Climb it and continue over the hill to your first datacron ( aim+2, location= -100,860). Jump down, continue north and finish “Trophy Hunter”.

Evokii Swamp

Leave the work camp, turn south and follow the wall eastward. You’ll see another Evokii village with a totem lore object for more XP. Turn back a bit and move north through the wall. There’s another bind point and a side quest, which will lead you further north. Remember you’ll have to jump onto the boxes to get to the quest object.

Don’t turn in the quest just yet. Continue north instead along the left side of the river. You’ll find a holopad for another quest. Kill chemilizards for the bonus quest. The head back south to location (-75,400) to kill a Wookie. Continue south and turn in your quests. Use your fast travel to return to Nem’ro’s Palace.

Nem’ro’s Palace

As usual, turn in your side quests and continue your class quest, eventually picking up 2 more side quests. Don’t forget to train. Then head for Nem’ro’s Bazaar taxi stand and continue to the location for “To Boom or not to Boom”. After that, you should see another heroic quest (location=0,200) on your way to the Rustyards.

Rustyards / Chemical Marsh

Hand in the quest that brought you here, pick up two new ones, bind and register at the taxi stand. Then head north through the nearby gate and take a walk around the factory buildings, picking up quest objects and bonus quests. Ignore the stops for heroic quests. This route will also lead to all generators that need to be disabled for the Bounty Hunter class quest. At the north side of this route (location=500,0) you’ll see pipes leading out to the water and onto an island. Hop on those pipes and follow them to the next datacron (presence+2) on the island. When you return, finish your tour around the factory and enter it from the south.

Insite the complex head upstairs first. The remaining quests are straight forward and you can return to the Rustyards hub using your fast travel option. After turning in your quests head to Nem’ro’s Palace using the taxi.

Nem’ro’s Palace

Again, turn in your quests and move the class quest forward. The class quest will send you into Fa’athra’s Palace. On your way out, pick up a side quest. See your trainer and get another side quest on the east wall of the bazaar. From here, take the taxi to the Chemical Marsh. Pick up yet another side quest on your way to the Palace.

Fa’athra’s Palace

Bounty Hunters will have a bonus quest to collect bounties for some named Lieutenants located in the area outside the palace. Enter the palace and use the lore tag right at the entrance. The questing within the palace is straight forward including the class quests. Make sure you don’t forget Fa’athra’s stash after you’ve freed Oren Ward. There’s also a lore carbonite block next to Oren Ward’s. And to top it off, there’s a good chance to find a security chest in both rooms neighboring this one. Fa’athra’s stash may or may not be guarded by Gajoru the Vault Guardian, an elite, for additional loot.

Once done with the palace, use your fast travel option to the Chemical Marsh for the first turn in, then continue to Nem’ro’s Palace.

Nem’ro’s Palace

Turn in your side quests and wrap up the class quest, including a trip to the space port. Head back to the bazaar for the lore object quest coming with your customizable weapon. Finally see your trainer, either in the bazaar or even at the fleet to pick your advanced class. Return for the heroic quests.

Heroic Quests

Head for the sewer entrance to do “Factory Recall”. Once inside the sewers, you can go straight for an champion droid, a security chest and a datacron (blue matrix shard, location=-25,320). You should have sabotaged the boxes by now and can leave through the other exit. Factory recall continues in the next building. Make sure you go to the second floor for a security box at the end of the balcony. Hand in your quest and go to the location for “The Man with the Steel Voice”. That quest isn’t hard at all, but it leads you to “Hostage Situation”, which starts a bit to the west of it.

Hostage Situation will eventually lead to the basement of the Muckworks, where you have to kill a champion guard for some bonus loot. Part 2 leads you to the roof, to blow up the first Evokii space ship. You’ll have to defeat Baranj, the Starseeker (champion) first.

Turn in your quests and head for the space port.

Wrapping Up

Once you have turned in your last heroic quest at the Evokii camp, you can follow the road from the Evokii camp east until you cross a bridge. To the left on a wall is the final Evokii lore totem. Some closing remarks: don’t obsess over gear. It’s not worth your time to grind for that 8th commendation to get your blue chest piece. By the time you are 13, you’ll have it replaced already. Similarily, don’t buy any gear from the vendors. What you get through quests is good enough for the zone and will last you for a while on Dromund Kaas as well.

In a Rush: Soloing on Ord Mantell

Posted by FelizB on Jan 26, 2012 in Guides, Star Wars: The Old Republic | 0 comments

This guide will help you leveling a  Trooper or a Smuggler on Ord Mantell as fast as possible, without leaving out anything important. You will end up level 10 or 11, having done the heroic quests and ready to pick your advanced class. This is not a step-by-step guide. I will only point out the general direction and key moments in the storyline.

Drelliad Village

You are sent here after your class dialogue. Finish those quests, check if there is a security chest in the one building with open access. After turning the quests in, move onto Fort Garnik. Pick up the quest to kill snipers along the way.

Fort Garnik

When you arrive, you can’t miss the taxi stand, the bind point and your class trainer. There’s a lore object to the right of the smuggler trainer. Continue with your class quest dialogues. You will be sent to Talloran village. Take the side quests along the way. Next to the Cathar lady you’ll find another lore object.

Talloran Village

Once in Talloran, the Scavenger Hunt quest will lead you beyond town to the the beach and  to an island. The quest “Mercy” is a bit harder to pin down, since only separatist commandos carry the medicine and the quest helper’s location changes depending on the commandos being alive or not. There’s a chance for a security chest deep inside the second safe house. Head back to Fort Garnik and  turn in all side quests. Then continue your class quest, which will eventually lead you to.

Mannett Point

Again, pick up two side quests when you leave town, a third one at the walker near the bridge and a fourth on the shore before you cross the water to Mannett Point. Bind at the shore as well and pick up the taxi stand. Make sure to get to both ends of the bridge, because there might be a security chest on either side. Once you’ve crossed the water, don’t head into town right away, follow the shore to the left to your first datacron (red matrix shard, locaiton=750,150). It is guarded by a level 6 Elite.

Once inside town, just follow a left hand rule and finish off quests as you see the targets. That way you won’t overlook any quests. When done, head back to the shore and hand in your first quest, then run back to town handing in the remaining side quests along the way.

Oradam Village

Your class quest line will send you to Oradam Village next. See a trainer before you head out. On your way to the village you’ll pick up two more side quests. You should finish the first one “Generator Problems” right away. Occasionally there’s a security chest behind the generator building.

Once you arrive in town, head straight for the taxi stand at the north end and bind there. Pick up the two heroic quests and another regular quest while in town. Smugglers also have one stop for their class quest. Leave town through the west gate. Just outside the gate you’ll pick up a third heroic quest. Ignore the heroic quests until you are done with your class quests.

Follow the path in a south west direction until you hit the Volcano camp. Bind and pick up the taxi stand. On your way to the camp, troopers should start hunting the scavengers for their class quest, smugglers will have to go to the beach past the volcano camp. Both classes should head to the beach anyway to pick up the next datacron. Once you leave the camp turn right to the beach, then follow further southwest (presence+2, location = -1000, 200).

Smugglers should use your fast travel option to return to Fort Garnik, Troopers have a stop in Oradam Village.

Fort Garnik

Continue with the next step of your “Hail the liberators” quest, turn in the others and move on with your class quest. Smugglers will now have their companions at their side, Troopers will have to do the next location alone. And to top it off, Bioware forgot to add that little quest that gives you an endurance mod for your new weapon. Pick up the side quests and see your trainer before you head out to Oradam Village again, where you then turn in “Hail the Liberators”.

Go to the Volcano camp and leave southwest bound, going uphill where you went to the beach earlier. At the next turn, you will pick up yet another side quest, which can be missed if you aren’t paying attention. Continue to the Separatist Stronghold.

Separatist Stronghold

The Stronghold is pretty straight forward for Smugglers now. Troopers will have to overcome some difficulties with the first step in the class quest there. The room has multiple groups with level 10’s classified “strong”, and you will simply run out of steam at some point. If you are level 9 at that point, things are a bit easier, otherwise, die once or twice, but make sure, you can reduce the group size of your opponents at least by one.

The remaining storyline is easy. Finish it up together with the side quests and return to Fort Garnik to finish up the class story.

Savrip Island

This is the heroic area with 3 quests and a bonus quest. Start by moving onto the island and clearing a path toward the Savrip Champion. The fight is doable for a level 10 with companion. After that destroy the southwest beacon and move to the droid escort. Do the quest and get onto the ledge to your right and head toward the hilltop for the last datacron ( Aim+2, location=-650,-570). From here you can just head downhill and attack the Savrip Champion one more time. The rest of the heroics is simple, go on a killing spree and destroy the beacons.

Winding Down

In winding down I want to say just one more thing: Don’t obsess about gear. Pick up what you can, but don’t go out of your way to get that eighth Ord Mantell Commendation for your blue chest piece. It’s also a bad deal to forgo the blue pieces of equipment from the heroic quest in favor of a Commendation. By the time you turn 13 you’ll have it replaced already, even as early as the next flashpoint. Plus, in this level range things really aren’t gear dependent. Also, don’t waste your money buying gear from the vendors at all during your time on Ord Mantell.

In a Rush: Soloing on Korriban

Posted by FelizB on Jan 24, 2012 in Guides, Star Wars: The Old Republic | 0 comments

This guide is supposed to help you getting through Korriban as a Sith Inquisitor or a Sith Warrior as fast as possible, without leaving anything out. The guide will not describe every single step along the way, only things that should be done at certain points in the game. Quests that are offered along the obvious path should all be picked up and finished. They will only be mentioned if more explanations are needed or if there is some obstacle to overcome.

Arrival

Once you are through the opening sequence, stop to set up your UI preferences, your key bindings and your quickslot assignments. Then run out into the valley, bind and kill a few slugs for the first bonus quest. Then head into the tomb and do the quest offered there. Otherwise, you won’t have money to train. Finish up the quests in the tomb and head to the academy. Don’t forget to bind on your way in.

Academy

Follow the class quest within the academy. Both classes will be sent to the lower wilds as their next step. See your trainer before you leave the building. Pickup and finish the Allegiance quest at the taxi stand before you head for the lower wilds. By now you should be level 4 or halfway to level 5.

Lower Wilds

From the taxi stand a quest will lead you to Lord Renning’s camp.  Lord Renning’s quest will lead you deeper into the wilds. Stay on the right side of the canyon to pick up another quest from a datapad and continue following the right wall around a corner and a bit uphill to pick up your first datacron, a willpower+2 datacron. Finish all quests in the area, then hand in Renning’s quest. Leave the area using the taxi stand above the camp. There’s a bind point as well.

Back at the Academy

Back at the academy turn in the remaining quests. After the class quest, you can pick up 3 more quests: Jailbreak which leads you into he same area as your class quest, “Purity”, which has you checking 4 Sith academy members and “Blood Legacy”, which we will finish once we return. Scan the academy members inside the building, head to the taxi stand and finally to the shuttle to scan the last member. Pickup the “Armed and Dangerous” heroic quest from the mission board there. Across the shuttle behind a wall and looking into the canyon, you’ll find the endurance+2 datacron.

Into the Tomb of Tulak Hord

Right at the entrance to the antechamber you can get the heroic quest “The Hate Machine” and just after the imperial guards on the right wall, you’ll find a holopad with another quest. Pass through the antechamber with a little side trip to pick up your class quest items. Once inside the atrium, follow the path to the right, until you pass through an arch. To the left of the arch within a little hole is the next datacron with a red matrix shard. It is sometimes protected by a level 8 champion. Leave him alone and get him on your second pass through the tomb.

Continue to the archives to pick up the class quest items. Don’t forget the lore object behind the tablet and a potential treasure chest in the same room. Ignore the heroic quest. Remember, you want to solo this and you are level 7 right now. Not going to happen. Once outside in the atrium again, pickup the parts for the Jailbreak quest and continue to the machine vault. Rinse and repeat, get the class quest item, ignore the heroic quest, try to get a chest.

Once back in the atrium, wrap things up: make sure you have the jailbreak pieces, finished the bonus quest and got enough robots killed. You also should have been able to kill the Slave Rebellion Leader (lvl 6, Elite) on each pass through the atrium.

Academy

Turn in your quests. You might not be level 8 yet for “The Blood Legacy”, but you should be able to solo it anyway, just use your stuns or crowd control spells to get some rest for yourself. The force and health gained during those short breaks is usually enough to push the elite mob over the edge.

Tomb of Naga Sadow

By now you should be level 9 or close to it. Your class quest will send you into the Tomb of Naga Sadow for the last steps on Korriban. The problem is, Sith Warriors have now already Vette by their side, while inquistors have to fight their way in solo in order to find their companion Khem Val. On your way in, you pick up three more side quests and another bonus quests. Nothing more needs to be said about those.

For a Sith Warrior, the end of the class quest line and all side quests is straight forward, no further difficulties to be expected. The side quests require one more trip to the Tomb of Naga Sadow after turn ins at the academy.

The inquisitors face a couple of harder fights against level 10 droids marked strong, plus the final fight against Khem Val, before he gives in and follows you. You may die a couple of times on your way in. Keep trying or wait until you turn level 10.

Tomb of Tulak Hord Once More

Once you’ve finished up your class quest on Korriban, you can either go back right away to the two heroic quests in the tomb. You should be level 10 by now and those quest shouldn’t be much of a challenge anymore. Or, if you are overly careful, you can go to the fleet first and pick your advanced class and crewskills. By the time you’ve done that, you are already level 11. And now the heroics should be really easy.

Winding Down

In winding down I want to say just one more thing: Don’t obsess about gear. Pick up what you can, but don’t go out of your way to get that eighth Korriban Commendation for your blue chest piece. By the time you turn 13 you’ll have it replaced already, even as early as the next flashpoint. Plus, in this level range things really aren’t gear dependent. Also, don’t waste your money buying gear from the vendors.

SWTOR Flashpoint Black Talon Video Walkthrough

Posted by FelizB on Dec 21, 2011 in Guides, Star Wars: The Old Republic | 0 comments

Here’s a video walking you through the Black Talon flashpoint.  It focuses much more on the boss fights taking place within the flashpoint than showing the dialogue, as other videos do. For newbies like all of us are, flashpoints are not trivial and you can die a couple of times if you enter unprepared.