Command Decisions is a column where Republic Troopers can get the skinny on the ins and outs of guilds and the officers and members that keep them running like well-oiled war machines.

Written By: Lady Republic

Hello, and welcome my first article for Republic Trooper’s Command Decisions column – a place to talk about all things guild-related. As some of you may know, I used to write Council Chambers, which was the guild management and advice column over on the former Ask A Jedi. We’ve always enjoyed a close partnership with the folks at Republic Trooper, and I’m delighted to be able to continue writing about guilds and troubleshooting over here! On that note, as with my former columns – always feel free to post in the comments section below with any questions, topics for advice, suggestions, or helpful feedback.

This week, we’ll be talking about one of the new features introduced in Patch 1.2 – Guild Banks. Guild banks in TOR are very helpful – but also very expensive. In fact, to purchase all 7 tabs for your new guild bank, you will be spending a total of 59,910,000 credits. At the Guild Summit in March, the developers said that in their demographic data, the average player only has about 400,000 credits at any given time. So – saving up for nearly 60 million credits is a serious endeavor.

Tags: Ask A Jedi, Bioware, Council Chambers, EA, Electronic Arts, guild, guild bank, guild master, Guild Summit, guilds, Lady Republic, LucasArts, Patch 1.2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

When the weekend rolls around it’s time to relax, grab a cold one, sit down with your squad, and catch up on some scuttlebutt. RT is here to provide you with some things that are worthy of talking about over a good pint with a few friends.

Hating On 1.3!

The roadmap for The Old Republic relies heavily upon BioWare’s ambitious patch schedule to keep the livelihood of the MMO intact. The first two major patch iterations have, if nothing else, delivered a lot of changes to the game. The nature of the changes that BioWare has included is the topic of much debate amongst the community and the information that’s beginning to trickle out regarding Patch 1.3 is no exception. The evildoers over at Darth Hater have a SUPERB guide—which they will keep updating—regarding any and all information on Patch 1.3.

Tags: Bioware, Corellian Run Radio, Darth Hater, David Souza, EA, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, MMOs, Operations, Patch 1.3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, The Avengers, The Escapist, TOR

The Rules of Engagement is the column that provides Republic Troopers with highly detailed intel on everything a Trooper needs to know to adapt and overcome on and off the battlefield.

Our resident Commando goes in-depth in discussing changes to the Advanced Class in Patch 1.2: Legacy

Earlier, I had given a review of the Trooper changes in Patch 1.2 concerning Combat Medics. This week I’d like to take a look at the Gunnery tree and analyze the changes we find there.

As before, let’s look at each change separately.

Charged Barrier now provides 1% damage reduction per stack

Pre-1.2: Provided 2% damage reduction per stack (5 stacks)
Change: 50% reduction in damage reduction (5% now vs 10% at 5 stacks)

Tags: Advanced Class, Ammo, Bioware, Charged Barrel, Charged Barrier, Charged Bolts, Combat Medic, Commando, Concussion Charge, Curtain of Fire, Demolition Round, DPS, EA, Electronic Arts, Energy Cell, Full Auto, Grav Round, Gunnery, High Impact Bolt, LucasArts, Mike Kern, Muzzle Fluting, Patch 1.2, Plasma Cell, PvE, PvP, Republic Trooper, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, tank, Tenacious Defense, TOR, Trooper, Warzones

Welcome to the Mess Hall, where every other week we will lay bare a new topic to be discussed on the upcoming episode of Combat Chatter. This is the Mess Hall, so eat up, get loud and say what you have to say! There are no ranks here…

Legacy Patch 1.2 was The Old Republic’s first major content patch, and with it came a sizable amount of new things to do and see in BioWare’s seminal MMO. Now that the masses have had a month to consume, assess and digest all that new content people have varying opinions on the current state of TOR, and what Patch 1.2—and future patches—will mean to the livelihood of the game.

I know many people (myself included) have been playing more since 1.2 went live, but the dilution of the population on the servers is unmistakable. It has now been confirmed that The Old Republic has shed about 400,000 of its initial subscriber base which would account for a noticeable lack of active players in game. While early subscriber attrition is to be expected in any MMO the question remains…what will BioWare do about the future health of those of us who are still active in TOR?

So let us know, in broad terms, your thoughts about The Old Republic’s most recent patch and the needs for Patch 1.3. Fire away below!

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Legacy System, LucasArts, MMOs, Patch 1.2, Patch 1.3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

Time slows.

Kat pitches forward. Blood splatters my face. I think I scream his name, cry out in horror and in panic. Shells explode all around me, their fragments tearing up the ground behind me, before me and to either side, yet nothing touches me here, in this haven of duracrete. Only Kat.

I rush to him, scrambling on hands and knees. There is so much blood and so it was a shell and not a sniper. Shrapnel has torn into Kat’s neck just below the hairline and above his shoulder blades. I ease him onto his side while I apply a kolto patch. He groans.

“Kat,” I say, desperate to believe him well, that this is nothing but a scratch that looks so much worse than it is. I want him to sit up and laugh and tell me its fine, not to worry. He does none of this.

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Galactic Republic, Kat, LucasArts, Mike Kern, Shiod, Sith Empire, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, Thirty Six Hours, TOR, Vanmere