Noob questions

[ajax34i]

Tyrnan, try to reduce your ability-queue time to 0.  It's somewhere in the preferences window; the default is you can queue up another ability (by pressing its key) 0.5 seconds before it's ready.  Normally, I'd say this is unrelated, as it's talking about cooldown timers, but who knows.

[Tyrnan]

Yeah I played around with it a bit more earlier (only realised maintenance wasn't today after I posted ) and the problem is definitely queuing a focus ability during the GCD, it just doesn't seem to recognise that the focus key has been pressed. So reducing the queue to 0 certainly fixes the problem, I'll just have to see if I can get used to playing without it.

[Miasma]

The focus casting really needs sorting out. As far as I can tell, from casual observation though 18 levels of playing a Scoundrel and screaming at my PC "No heal Corso you stupid fucking thing!", the game will disregard the focus cast key if you try to queue up a focus cast while another ability is animating on another target. As long as you wait for the attack/whatever to finish it seems to work fine.

Might do some more testing on it today (if I manage to update the test server before 4pm), it sounds like it might be a problem with the ability queue not checking for a target change/modifier.

The game doesn't even do targetting well when fighting.  I can have one enemy targeted and my character will just hit an entirely different one, if I tab target to a new mob sometimes it still hits the old one.  It's frustrating.

[ajax34i]

I start a long-windup ability at a target, my companion kills it, my character autoswitches to the next target, and my long-windup finally goes off on the NEW target.  I'd say that they don't queue target information with each ability at the moment of keypress, but rather, whatever goes off will go off on whatever target you have.  Which would also explain the lack of focus functionality - most people don't hold down the focus key until the ability goes off, they just queue it with the focus modifier then queue something else without it.

[Sky]

Tyrnan, try to reduce your ability-queue time to 0.  It's somewhere in the preferences window; the default is you can queue up another ability (by pressing its key) 0.5 seconds before it's ready.  Normally, I'd say this is unrelated, as it's talking about cooldown timers, but who knows.

Ok, that made my decision for my baby Inq. I play with a 1s queue and it's NOT LONG ENOUGH. Why not the full GCD, or better yet: I press a button and it queues up to fire when it's next available (unless there's a status issue or something)? With the 1s, it misses enough for me to still have to mash buttons most of the time. Rift got it exactly right, dernit (EQ2 also did it right, actually they did it best, like a lot of things).

So I won't be healing in TOR. Which is ok, I don't dig it anyway.

[Nebu]

I need to try reducing the queue to 0 to see if it will reduce casting lag in pvp.  Now I'm starting to wonder if the cast-lag I experience is related to my processor being bogged down more than the game itself.  Time to build a new box perhaps?

[Viin]

1.  Your only companion is the lizard tank, whom (because he's a tank) you have to gear him up so he can soak the damage, but the only techblades in-game seem to be from NPC weapons vendors and they're horribly overpriced and suck.  So your tank will miss quite a bit of oomph and endurance due to no decent weapon slot.  And, your only companion for a while is this ugly lizard.

Yeah I can make techblades but there's not really a demand for them - so I haven't. Happy to make you one though, I will even RE a few to see if I can get a purple. (I can make level 23-25ish blades right now).

[01101010]

1.  Your only companion is the lizard tank, whom (because he's a tank) you have to gear him up so he can soak the damage, but the only techblades in-game seem to be from NPC weapons vendors and they're horribly overpriced and suck.  So your tank will miss quite a bit of oomph and endurance due to no decent weapon slot.  And, your only companion for a while is this ugly lizard.

Yeah I can make techblades but there's not really a demand for them - so I haven't. Happy to make you one though, I will even RE a few to see if I can get a purple. (I can make level 23-25ish blades right now).

This really is a shitter for consular... Qyzen Soze is actually not bad a story told, but gearing his ass has been a frickin' nightmare. I have kept up on grabbing the latest green vendor blade, but still... he is the only one that uses this dumb ass weapon and therefore he is gimped for the duration.

[Miasma]

I don't see why they had to make both vibroblade and techblade catagories.  Trying to outfit a droid isn't fun either.  And who uses the techstaff?

[tmp]

Yeah I can make techblades but there's not really a demand for them - so I haven't.

Couple times i've made the techblades they've sold within hours. Generally the only ones i see that don't seem to sell on Shien are from a guy who tries to charge for them 2-3 times the NPC vendor price (both being green gear pretty much identical stats-wise) so i'm not surprised in the least these wouldn't go.

[01101010]

I don't see why they had to make both vibroblade and techblade catagories.  Trying to outfit a droid isn't fun either.  And who uses the techstaff?

Torian I think is the only one that can use. Again dumb, but since Torian is later in the game... not as much as issue as getting your first pet and having it handicapped by weapon limitations.

[caladein]

Last IA companion uses Techstaves.

Edit: And Techblades, but I'm not sure if there's a reason to use those over the two-handers if you can.

[Ingmar]

There should be a quest on just about every planet (at least after a certain point) that rewards a techblade for him.

I'm pretty sure I've seen weapons he can use on some of the planetary commendation vendors as well.

[ajax34i]

Viin, thanks, but I'm not playing on Shien.  I went for what was, at the time, a light population server.

He can only use techblades (that's the problem); if they add any other melee weapon to him it wouldn't be a big deal to buy an orange from the commendation vendors, pull all the str mods out, and put in aim.  But I haven't seen techblades on the commendation vendors or on the AH; only weapons vendors have them.

I'm also thinking of taking up weaponstech; techblades should sell like cake, and more and more people will get a clue that they need one, and buy from me.

Nebu:

Delayed casting seems to actually be a known bug, it's probably not because of your computer.  There's a thread on the official forum that's reached the limit of replies and been extended 4 times now.  They're looking into it, supposedly.  Several things are happening:  "instant" abilities can be interrupted because they have animations that take up to 2 seconds to deliver the instant, 1-second spells have 2.5-second animations, and then the next queued spell doesn't start until the current animation finishes, even if the global cooldown is ready and you're spamming the button.  Other things too, like the wrong target or the spell not firing at all.

[01101010]

Viin, thanks, but I'm not playing on Shien.  I went for what was, at the time, a light population server.

He can only use techblades (that's the problem); if they add any other melee weapon to him it wouldn't be a big deal to buy an orange from the commendation vendors, pull all the str mods out, and put in aim.  But I haven't seen techblades on the commendation vendors or on the AH; only weapons vendors have them.

I'm also thinking of taking up weaponstech; techblades should sell like cake, and more and more people will get a clue that they need one, and buy from me.

Nebu:

Delayed casting seems to actually be a known bug, it's probably not because of your computer.  There's a thread on the official forum that's reached the limit of replies and been extended 4 times now.  They're looking into it, supposedly.  Several things are happening:  "instant" abilities can be interrupted because they have animations that take up to 2 seconds to deliver the instant, 1-second spells have 2.5-second animations, and then the next queued spell doesn't start until the current animation finishes, even if the global cooldown is ready and you're spamming the button.  Other things too, like the wrong target or the spell not firing at all.

I have noticed using my target modifier key to shield/heal Qyzen that if I hold down my modifier key and keep holding it, then hit my shield key, it fires off on him just fine. However, if I keep holding the modifier key down and fire right after the shield a heal or my HoT, it ends up healing me instead IF I FIRE IT OFF BEFORE THE GCD resets. I find that odd and very discerning given the times when I have to do this are the "oh shit qyzen needs a heal like now" times. When the happens, I just target my scaly tank directly, but screw myself out of any dps for a time.

[ajax34i]

I'm going to program my G15 with some keypress macros:  

F6 (target companion)
1  (bottom bar 1 - heal)
g  (target of target)

See how it works.  I'll probably have to add in some 50 ms delays for it to work.

01101010 - That's because they have the functionality that if you have no target or if the target is invalid, it casts on you.  Sort of, a copy of WoW, but it's finicky as hell and most of the time it doesn't work.  And certainly, with all the delays and animation issues they have, it's a pain to use and does more harm than good.

[Wolf]

what's a datacron and how does one find out about it, other than being told?

[apocrypha]

They are small cubes that give you either a permanent stat boost or some matrix crystals. The stat boosts are small, I don't know what the crystals are for yet. There's a few on each planet, 3-5 or so I think? They're often hidden, hard to get to and/or in heroic areas.

I first noticed one on Korriban when I saw something glowing at the top of a ridge that I couldn't easily get to, so I explored and found a way up and there it was.

I've found a couple more since then but not seen any for several planets now - I'm resisting the urge to Torhead them for the moment!

[Zetor]

I saw two datacrons so far, but I wasn't exploring for them or anything - one of them was on Ord Mantell in the elite area (stumbled across it while doing the quests there in a group) and one of them was on Tatooine on a hard/impossible-to-reach ledge that's probably reachable through some secret tunnel. Datacrons emit the same 'loot beam' you see on corpses, so they're visible from a distance... the main challenge is actually getting to where they are. 

[DraconianOne]

what's a datacron and how does one find out about it, other than being told?

What Apocrypha said.

On the starter planets, they're reasonably easy to find if you venture off the beaten path at all (there are a couple of areas where if you say to yourself "I wonder what's down here?", chances are good that you'll find one). In some cases (Korriban, Ord Mantell for sure) you can see something glowing in the distance with a very noticeable vertical light beam similar to the loot drops that is basically a big sign saying "LOOK HERE!" (Fake edit - Zetor beat me to it)

On every planet after the starters, they require more seeking out (apart from the first one on Coruscant) and, in some (all?) cases, can only be got with a tediously frustrating amount of platform jumping.

The matrix crystals that you can find can be combined to form an equippable relic but I don't know the specifics.

If you check the codex entry for a planet, it should show you how many datacrons you can find. There are, obviously, plenty of guides already available but I'm resisting the urge to look as well.

[Mosesandstick]

I'd buy a drink for anybody who gets all of them without requiring a guide. Some of the jumping is stupidly infuriating. Some of them are also a bit more creative and require interacting with the world or using a friend.

[Azuredream]

There's one on the fleet that gives +10 to all stats and requires a stupid amount of preparation and execution and 3 other people. Gold star to the people who found that one.

[Wolf]

people interested in raiding are going to love that 

[Miasma]

While on tatooine I overheard curses and frustration because I guess you have to wait for around an hour for this baloon that slowly orbits the desert to float by a certain place high enough to jump on to it, then stick the landing when you get to the datacron, after a half hour spent on the balloon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD4Q3ObBlZA

[01101010]

While on tatooine I overheard curses and frustration because I guess you have to wait for around an hour for this baloon that slowly orbits the desert to float by a certain place high enough to jump on to it, then stick the landing when you get to the datacron, after a half hour spent on the balloon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD4Q3ObBlZA

Oh is THAT what people were bitching about... screw those crons. Corusant is a steaming hole and those crons were the last I will ever monkey around with.

[Fordel]

Datacrons aren't something you do while leveling up, they are something you do 4 months from now while you are waiting for the next content patch. 

[Cadaverine]

The matrix crystals that you can find can be combined to form an equippable relic but I don't know the specifics.

From SWTOR-Holo.net:


Someone mentioned one in the Fleet that's +10 to all stats?  Anyone got a link on this, because I'm not finding anything about it.

[ajax34i]

Well, combining the blue, red, and yellow datacron shards you get from Ord Mantell, Tython, and Coruscant (Republic), you get a relic at level 15 or so that's decent for that level (has stats), 5 levels before you're able to get the light or dark side relics from the Coruscant vendor (those are activable trinkets - no stats).

Still, you're probably right.

[Sky]

Are they re-usable? Otherwise, I'd imagine you should hold them until 50.

I've been using the relics from the light side vendor, green but decent stats (I'm stacking End). They have 20s activations but I never remember to use them.

[Sjofn]

Datacrons aren't something you do while leveling up, they are something you do 4 months from now while you are waiting for the next content patch. 

That's my plan! 

[cironian]

Are they re-usable? Otherwise, I'd imagine you should hold them until 50.

You can disassemble them, but each disassembly consumes a power core costing 8k. So no worries about reusing them at high level, but for your first matrix cube, make sure you've got the combination right, since that's a lot of money at level 20.

[Azuredream]

Someone mentioned one in the Fleet that's +10 to all stats?  Anyone got a link on this, because I'm not finding anything about it.

Video guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7miHDE_VOA
Written guide: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=108876

[Sky]

That's the wrong fleet 

[caladein]

people interested in raiding are going to love that  

I don't prefer it to having no such system at all with stat boosts, but it's a lot better than grinding out AA/PA experience or Deeds, which all need to be shot into the Sun.

[kildorn]

Like liked Deeds and the whole trait system concept from LOTR! :(