TSW Starter Decks

The Secret World in the last patch added nine new Starter Decks, which are the inner ring abilities.

The new Starer Deck builds are Cage Master, Champion, Commando, Enforcer, Haruspex, Maverick, Polarizer, Punisher and Trickster.  Reading the posts on the TSW forum, all appear to be viable to use in Kingsmouth questing.  I haven't tested any specifically, but am glad FunCom has given more starter ideas for those new to the game.

Each new Starter Deck gives you a Multislot outfit which is really cool.  The variety of clothing in The Secret World is really one wonderful feature. (The outfits are the same for all three factions.)

As I had filled in the inner ring already, (30% completed the whole deck so far!) I claimed all the outfits last night and took some screenshots to share.

I borrowed InfamousBrad's (from the TSW forum) information on the abilities and builds. Thanks for all your hardwork InfamousBrad!

>>I went to the trouble of typing this information up specifically so that the builds-forum gurus could pick it over; my personal remarks will follow in a separate message. So, with no further ado, here are the nine "starter decks" from yesterday's testlive patch:<<

Cage Master (fists/blood): 51 AP
Active Abilities: Claw, Blood Spike, Wild at Heart, Hog Wild, Angelic Aegis, Pack Leader, Go for the Throat
Passive Abilities: Sharp Claws, Predator, Lick Your Wounds, Dark Potency, Unholy Knowledge, Angel's Touch, Out of the Woods
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#34v30040...10403410414316





Champion (blade/fist): 50 AP
Actives: Blade Torrent, Wild at Heart, Balanced Blade, Nurture, Surging Blades, Martial Discipline, Stunning Swirl
Passives: Perfect Storm, Regeneration, Immortal Spirit, Lick Your Wounds, Nurturing Gift, Sharp Blades, Fluid Defense
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#13v11131...10310312105116




Commando (rifle/shotgun): 62 AP
Actives: Safety Off, Fire at Will, Both Barrels, Buckshot, Lock & Load, Anima Shot, Slow the Advance
Passives: Extra Bullet, Eagle Eye, Hit & Run, Rapid Reload, Extra Clip, Anima Boost, Experience
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#97v90090...10705914912916




Enforcer (shotgun/chaos): 49 AP
Actives: Pump Action, Both Barrels, Call for Eris, Buckshot, Illusion, Breaching Shot, Kneecapper
Passives: Sawed Off, Gnosis, Dead on Target, Rapid Reload, Master of Illusions, Breach Party, Authority
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#75v70071...03705514714716




Haruspex (blood/elemental): 51 AP
Actives: Boiling Blood, Blood Spike, Infection, Combust, Angelic Aegis, Anima Charge, Molten Earth
Passives: Volatile Current, Elemental Force, Mind over Matter, Vigilante, High Voltage, Coup de Grace, Toxic Earth
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#46v40040...05603414614416




Maverick (pistols/blade): 54 AP
Actives: The Business, Shootout, Dancing Blade, Wanted, Above the Law, Martial Discipline, Dirty Tricks
Passives: Magnum, Straight Shooter, Immortal Spirit, Coup de Grace, Vigilante, Regeneration, Rapid Getaway
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#81v80080...10803812114816




Polarizer (elementalism/pistols): 46 AP
Actives: Shock, Shootout, Electrical Storm, Thor's Hammer, Above the Law, Anima Charge, Molten Earth
Passives: Volatile Current, Elemental Force, Mind over Matter, Vigilante, High Voltage, Coup de Grace, Toxic Earth
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#68v60080...10812614803616




Punisher (hammer/rifle): 44 AP
Actives: Smash, Haymaker, Fire at Will, Hell to Pay, Anima Shot, Stonewalled, Shockwave
Passives: Below the Belt, Street Fighter, Hard Impact, Righteous Fury, Anima Boost, Stone Cold, "Cool, Calm & Collected"
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#29v20020...05203912214216




Trickster (chaos/fists): 53 AP
Actives: Escalation, Call for Eris, Wild at Heart, Hog Wild, Paradox, Illusion, Domino Effect
Passives: Intensity, Lick Your Wounds, Paradigm Shift, Chaos Adept, Gnosis, Master of Illusions, Probability
http://www.tsw-builder.com/#53v51150...03505510514516

Starter Deck build information and links/builds from the TSW forum, InfamousBrad .

http://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?t=60952http://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?t=60952

TSW - Just A Flesh Wound

The Secret World added another auxiliary weapon with 4.1 - a chainsaw.  The quest, Just A Flesh Wound, is simple and fairly easy if your Q10, I tried it at Q6 and the 8,900+ health mobs were a bit hard to solo

A few days later, a couple of guildies, Law and Charney were on and as Law hadn't done the quest either we were going to go in, Charney came along to help kill things.

The quest starts in New York with Dr. Aldini (the plastic surgeon for remaking your characters looks) at his 'shop' Modern Prometheus.  It is an instance within his shop and is very short quest chain.

Dr. Aldinin requests body parts from his Meat Locker (instance below his shop). Pick up his bag of tools (in the corner) and head into the Meat Locker. 

You kill rotten nurses, and then use a different tool on each body to remove parts for the good Doctor.  

After we'd killed and hacked off body parts using the different tools provided by the Doctor, we sent them up to him via a drop box by the entrance.  He examines them, only to let you know they weren't fresh.

We went back into the instance (btw the rotten nurses do respawn) and at the end of his 'meat locker' we found the Flesh Blob behind a Flesh Cordon that you hack through.  The Flesh Blob looks just like what it's called, a blob of flesh.

As there were three of us, we started beating him down quickly and hacking partoff. 

 Sadly we found it would have been a straight up quest with two of us in Q8 and Q9 gear (easily soloable by anyone in Q10), but with our third person in NM Q10, we killed the Flesh Blob too fast.

We  had to reset the whole instance twice to get it to properly update.  But it was a good XP killing the rotten nurses and lots of drops to be broken for materials. Besides its always fun hanging out with guildmates.

 The key to completing this for us was to hack limbs off slowly at a predetermined percentage.  Our solution was one person kill, one person healed and did a little DPS, Charney being the best geared, stood there and looked cute.

Quick quest with an interesting new weapon.  Now to get the points to actually be able to use it!

SWTOR, BioWare and Customer Service fail

Admittedly I was tempted to jump back into the TOR F2P, especially after receiving their email withe the extra Cartel coins, etc.  So, last week, I tried to login to my account and the fun began.

As I originally had a security authenticator thru my old iPhone, I hadn't added the app to my new one.  It was dead and in a drawer somewhere, so my silly thought was get a hold of Customer Service and have them remove the security feature.

My first email was met with this interesting response:

>>Greetings,

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Star Wars: The Old Republic Account.

In order to better protect your account, all Billing, Subscription and Account Security issues are dealt with via our Customer Service telephone support.

You can contact our Customer Service team using a mobile phone, landline or VoIP (such as Skype, Viber, Google Voice etc.).

Please note that international call charges can be avoided by using a VoIP programme, as most major VoIP programmes offer free calls to US '1800 numbers'. If you have access to a VoIP with this option, our number is +11-855-467-9867.

You can contact us using a mobile phone or landline by clicking on the following link and finding our customer support telephone number for your specific country: http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/5200

Customer support will be provided in English, French, and German only.

You can also avail of our self-help section on the website which contains many articles which can provide you with further information on our most frequently asked questions. For Account and Billing enquiries, you can visit our Help Center here:

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/1863.

If you have any questions relating to our recently announced Free To Play option, you can view them in our Help Center here:

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused. Should you require further assistance with any other issues, please do not hesitate to contact us again.


Regards,

Protocol Droid M0-T0,
Star Wars (tm): The Old Republic(tm) Customer Service&lt;&lt;

Call overseas? Yeah right. Apparently not the Droid I was looking for.

Second email sent, no response - five days and counting.

Last night a third email and today a phone call to their  USA, Canada: 1-855-GO-SWTOR (1-855-467-9867)  number. Forty-five minutes later I finally hung up.

Their online Help Center has been down 3 out of 4 times I've tried to access that. Apparently it is not meant for me to jump back into TOR at this time.  Bravo BioWare, I do believe your Customer Service is the worst ever.  

SWTOR Free to Play

BioWare finally released the launch of it's Free to Play model for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), it goes live Thursday, November 15th.

I've been tempted to jump back into TOR to finish some of the class quests I hadn't completed.  Fortunately the F2P option is not limiting that.  It is limiting Warzones, Flashpoints, etc., and even removing your head piece.  Interesting.

Those that did have a sub previously though, 

According to the FAQ on the TOR site, if I do go back under the F2P model, I would be listed as a "Preferred" client.

===========

What happens if I decide to change from being a subscription player to a Free-to-Play player?

Once your subscription has ended and you no longer have paid game time remaining on your account, your account will be changed to Preferred Status.

As a Preferred Status player, access will be unlocked to the following features: 

 

• The ability to run faster (Sprint) starting at Level 1.
• Cargo Hold access (Bank Slots) and higher login queue priority.
• Increased access to Chat and Secure Trading.
• Post more items for sale on the in-game Galactic Trade Network.  

 

If you convert to Preferred Status, you will need to choose which two (2) of your characters will remain active, and play those characters within the limits of Free-to-Play access.

For more information on Free-to-Play features, please see www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com/free/features

Versus the Subscription model:

What are the benefits of a subscription account?

 

In addition to unrestricted access to the full game and features there will be several benefits to a subscription account, including: 

• Unlimited access to regular Game Updates such as new Nightmare Mode content, a brand new Operation on the planet of Asation, a new Heroic mission series on the prison planet of Belsavis, and a brand new Warzone for our PvP lovers. Subscribers will also receive an automatic monthly grant of Cartel Coins for use in our new Cartel Market.

• The Cartel Market will offer a variety of in-game items including cosmetically customizable gear and convenience features that will enhance the game play experience. Subscribers will receive Cartel Coin rewards for every past and ongoing month of subscription.

• Subscribers will also receive a special bonus “Fan Favorite” Party Jawa. Celebrate your status as a veteran of the galaxy anytime with this animating Jawa, who starts a party every chance he gets!

===========

I did find the 'login queue priority' a bit humerous, are there really queues to login now?

So, the option would be to re-up my sub or try the F2P version.  I'm concerned on the restrictions of the F2P, but honestly I might dabble with TOR at best, but can't see going back and really spending time there right now.  There are just to many MMO's begging for attention - WoW, LoTRO, TSW, Rift, GW2 - to add TOR to the mix.

I think put this on the wait and see how the new model works out before making a decision.  Besides there is Storm Legion launching next week.  Dimensions, 10 levels and two new continents - I think that will keep me busy for awhile.


SWTOR F2P FAQ: http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449

Rift Free Weekend - Return to Telara

Return to Telara

Play FREE Nov. 7-11 

Ascended of all levels* can play FREE over the long weekend leading up to launch! Join the earth-shaking World Event and defend Telara from the legion’s vanguard troops. Try out the comprehensive Soul updates, as well as any of the new content features that you may have missed since RIFT debuted.