After having to listen to Quinn’s bullshit for however-many levels (I should have taken Vette with me instead), I was looking forward to a new companion.
***SPOILERS ABOUT JAESA WILSAAM, SITH WARRIOR COMPANION***
[Marauder/Sentinel] Leveling As Rage/Focus Is Good
In the spirit of Trying New Things, I tried Focus spec for a few levels when I took my Sentinel through Makeb. I did not love it, especially since I was comparing it to the Focus spec of pre-2.0 when the Force Sweep (Smash) actually hit hard. Cry.
Now in the spirit of Still Trying New Things, I’m leveling my marauder as rage. This time, I’m quite impressed. While the top of the tree is lackluster, and pretty nerfed, the bottom portion of the tree packs a nice wallop for low levels.
At lower levels, Focus/Rage spec buffs your already frequently-used aoe Force Sweep (Smash), but more than that, provides decent single-target burst damage. At level 20, you can get Zealous Leap (Obliterate). It creates a powerful (and cheap) combo since it procs a freebie Blade Storm (Force Scream) via the Momentum (Battle Cry) talent. There’s pretty much no ramp-up time, since you just hop in there and start smacking things around. A few levels later, Zealous Leap (Obliterate) also buffs the next Force Sweep (Smash) to be an auto-crit.
Since Zealous Leap (Obliterate) is also a small gap closer, this spec is pretty nice for mobility within the same pull – jumping to the next mob that is 4-10m away. This effect is similar to taking Close Quarters in the Annihilation/Watchman tree.
Powerful burst and powerful aoe low down in the tree make this spec a winner at lower levels. Having said that, I’m at level 36 now, and I will likely switch specs soon. Both the other specs outperform this one at higher levels, and now that Force Sweep (Smash) has been nerfed quite a bit, it’s not worth keeping the spec just for marginally improved AOE at the expense of single-target pwndom.
Malavai Quinn, Doctor of Whining
Holy geez, I thought Mako was a whiner, but prissypants Quinn takes the cake in this regard. So far he’s QQ’ed to me about a bunch of things.
“I don’t think we can wiiiin” – hello, I’m a Sith, I always win. ALWAYS. (Even in a sports bra.)
Then I killed something nasty and he started pissing and whining about the smell.
Seriously? There was a dialogue option for “quit your bellyaching” (literally, the dialogue wheel said “bellyaching”) so I told him to STFU in no uncertain terms. I guess I’m used to the republic side where the companions will argue back or cry, but he just said “Point taken, my lord.” Now if only people did that in real life.
Just as I had forgotten about his lengthy protests regarding killed-beast-odors, he starts yammering about Tatooine being HOT of all things. No shit, really? I can’t wait to get him to Hoth. In his underwear.
Fashion Honeymoon Is Over On The Sith Side
Remember how I said, not too long ago, “Every piece of armor I have gotten – green, blue, whatever – has looked badass.” Well THAT euphoria came to a screeching halt when I got my latest upgrade.
Sith in a sports bra? When I think about kicking ass and bending the galaxy to my whim, the “just got off the stairmaster” look doesn’t do it for me. In fact, I’m pretty sure sports bras are not recommended in the sith guidebook How to Make Enemies and Intimidate People.
Quinn, hold my Ipod, I have some asses to kick. (Incidentally, Quinn makes a great workout mix, even though it’s a bit heavy on the ABBA and Erasure.)
I’m currently in the process of making myself some synthweaving and armormech orange moddable gear to replace THAT. It’s a bit chilly on the ship, and Quinn doesn’t have any intention of keeping Njessie warm.
Sexual Harassment In Imperial-Controlled Space
Remember back when Issen tried to seduce Torian Bieber (AKA Bieber Fett)? Yeah, that was interesting. It felt to me not so much like an assertive female equal but rather a determined cougar trying to pry open his mandalorian codpiece.
Flash back to the rep-side. On that side, the boys have been more than receptive to flirting (Iresso pounces on any hints whatsoever). Or not flirting (Doc never gives up). Or saying very clearly “go the fuck away” (Cough Corso the stalker). They are clearly interested.
But the imperial boys! I think they’ve been spending way too much time frolicking on the gay planet with the way they dodge and weave away from very blatant advances. Maybe they’re control freaks and need to believe that it’s their idea first. Sigh.
The boytoy du jour is Malavai Quinn.
***THERE ARE VAGUE REFERENCES TO HEARSAY SPOILERS, BELOW***
The Most Hilarious Conversation You May Never Hear
The other night, I saw a scene for the third time in the smuggler story, and it was the most hilarious thing. I already have 2 smugglers, so as you can imagine, I’ve seen several permutations of various scenes in the story.
Well this time, it was my husband’s smuggler, who is male, encountering one of his previous BSOCK NPC’s. And, anticipating high comedy, he sent Corso, Bowdaar, and Akaavi back to the ship and brought out Risha. Sure enough, that produced a catfight of epic proportions with some serious snark from Tara Strong (she’s really growing on me).
This got me thinking – in order to even access that high comedy, you had to play as a male AND have previously BSOCKED the NPC AND pick the right companion to have with you (of 4 companions that your smuggler has at that point). That’s a hell of a lot of forks and branches that determine what you’re going to see. How many of these little gems have I missed (lots)? How many hours of dialogue has been recorded so that a very small percentage of the playerbase will enjoy it – if they happen to pick the right permutations of dialogue choices plus gender plus right companion.
Here we are sitting on comedy gold, of which each of us will only see a fraction, even as we endeavor to play through all the stories, and in some cases replay the stories. There’s no way I will be able to see each reaction of each companion to each leg of the story.
Meanwhile, there are a ton of unavoidable conversations that are repeated over and over every time we boot up a new toon. How many times have we sat through the tedium of Lew Brell bitching and moaning about his idiot brother, or that Tython twi’lek kid who gets kidnapped by flesh raiders, or that crazy lady on Ord Mantell wanting her video footage, or that nutty sith wanting you to scan bloodlines for purity on Korriban… like a LOT. I know all of these by heart. The desire to see all the different stories is seriously hampered by the tedium of repetition of 90% of the rest.
Now, Bioware has said that a fully voiced game is expensive and – NO SHIT SHERLOCK! Especially when you have 5 or more versions of each story encounter. And there’s not a whole lot of return on that because again, only a small percentage will get each version.
There are some places where you are required to bring a certain companion. I usually bitch and moan about those because inevitably I’m dragged into combat with a companion that is ungeared and unsuited to the role of my character. (Especially that time I had to bring along that dingbat Skadge.) However, I would GLADLY submit to “you must have this companion with you” if it was a matter of snappy dialogue that they wanted me to hear. Yes, please. As long as I had a reasonable expectation that I wouldn’t get jumped upon by something that I could not possibly fend off using that companion.
In doing Makeb, it was necessary to cut down on the permutations and paths, and that’s ok. If we bring back companions into our storylines, however, it’s possible to do it without the necessity of recording 5 different versions of each encounter and exponentially increasing the cost. Pick a companion for each encounter and run with it. Figure out why that companion must be chosen. And then don’t make combat too awful. Done.
Joining The Side That Has Cookies
So, I’m moving to the dark side. The sith side. The side with the silly accents and awesome fashion.
When we first started the guild, we voted on faction. Republic won by one vote. Now it’s over a year later, most of the voters are gone, and the remaining guildies took a step back and said – wait, why are we still here? We can totally go over to the sith side!
I confess, this has rekindled my interest in the game – and I think the same can be said for everyone in our tiny guild. I’m seeing a lot more people logging in recently, and a guildie who quit the game has returned. We’re discovering new things and being evil and loving it.
I know, in a year, it will be just as stale over there. I will have done the dailies a kajillion times and the planet questlines a few times as well. However, that’s another year. I’ll enjoy the crap out of it now, kthx.
The original plan was for me to take my 50 Mercenary and try being ranged DPS for a while – but seriously, it would take me longer to learn to ranged dps (and possibly, after learning, still suck at it) than to just level a marauder. Besides, I have a damn guide about sentinel/marauder. I need to actually play the class to keep the thing up to date, right?
My baby marauder is level 15.
I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Sometimes I’m evil, sometimes I’m snarky, and sometimes assholes just need killing. I’m leveling as rage so that I can actually know what I’m talking about regarding the spec. Every piece of armor I have gotten – green, blue, whatever – has looked badass. I am not sure I’ll need to resort to the cartel market at all on this side (and Bioware sheds salty tears).
What are your favorite sithie outfits? Let me know! If you’re on Jedi Cov on the evil side, my new marauder is “Njessie” (I’m so original, shut up). Come say hi!
The Ugly Side to Dyes and Cats
As always, welcome to another installment of “holy shit, I can’t believe they’re wearing that” – dye and cat edition.
First up, we learn why we should limit the dyes that bioware comes up with.
Really, BW? Would that color scheme look good on any outfit?
Why Collections Don’t Do Much For Me
I was pretty psyched about collections until I discovered:
1. It only applies to cartel market items (AND NOT MY SPACE PANTS – unless there’s a whole screen I missed, but I doubt it)
2. It only applies to full sets (except for some separate items, like invisible gloves)
I have 5 level 50+ toons. All of them are wearing cartel gear. None of them is wearing a complete set. For all my collecting I have exactly ONE set unlocked (and that’s just because I bound the handmaiden boots before I realized they sucked eggs). Sometimes I do have a complete set, bound, but across multiple characters. In most cases, parts of the set (not just the hat) were gross and I refused to buy them.
My gunslinger is currently wearing the classic despot’s chest, which I might want my bounty hunter to wear at some point. However, I’d have to buy the entire rest of the set to unlock it. And by the time I did that, I’d probably be better off just buying another copy of the classic despot chest (even overpriced) and mailing it to my bounty hunter.
I can see collections being awesome for someone who purchases a full set and wants to crank out copies of that entire set. But for me, it is a practically useless feature. I wonder how other people are using (or not-using) the collections feature.
It Is Predictably Easy To Make Me Happy
Guys, you know what I’m going to say. 2.1 is dropping probably on Tuesday – and it’s going to be fucking amazing.
1. Character recustomization. OK, I know that some of y’all are peeved about cartel coins, and some are happy but let me do another WoW comparison, k?
While it’s true that small changes in WoW cost in-game credits, all the larger changes (including skin color, facial features, all the way up to species) cost cold hard cash. No stipend, nothing. Pay it, in addition to not-at-all-optional subscription. As someone who did 2 race changes, this is a big deal.
Now, I’m pleased as punch that these species changes will be in cartel coins, which means I can use my stipend for part or all of them, and likely spend zero real cash on them if I don’t blow all my cartel coins on fashion first. However, I will be miffed if the piddly little hair changes are too pricey, and it will make me just change hairdos less often. Kind of like how I don’t change my outfit nearly as much as I’d like because of the cost of mod stripping and augmenting.
2. Dye. Yes, match to chest doesn’t cut it! You see, as we’ve discovered, some items color match like crap. Either the chest turns everything funky-bad, or the item in question just won’t behave with color matching. Dye will solve the hell out of that.
3. Collections. This is very cool. Two words: space pants. I love those pants (using them for my current outfit, again) but I’ll be damned if I’m EVER running space missions again, ever, for any reason, ever. Yuck. So if I really want them on another toon, I’ll buy the account-wide access and cackle whilst not avoiding gross asteroids.