Separating Story From Gameplay

Coming soon in Legacy of the Sith, you'll have more options than ever to bring your personal Star Wars characters to life with Combat Styles!

When we first developed SWTOR, one of our goals was to enable players to create custom characters that reflected the ones you knew and loved from the Star Wars galaxy. So, when we designed our eight player classes, we tied each of them to the styles of combat we felt matched them best: For example, Bounty Hunters can fight with two blaster pistols like Jango Fett, Troopers use blaster rifles like Clone Troopers, and so on. In gameplay terms, these options are your character's Class and Advanced Class, with each Class having access to only two Advanced Classes.

Over the years, more and more of the combat gameplay options in SWTOR have shifted out of the Classes and into the Advanced Classes. And while Advanced Classes used to be selected after your character had gained a few levels, now they're an integral part of initial character creation. Your Advanced Class is what primarily decides your combat gameplay, while your Class is (almost) entirely about your character's voice and storyline.

While the current array of Class and Advanced Class options allows you to create characters resembling many of your favorite characters, they don't cover all of the most popular character/combat combinations from other Star Wars media. Boba Fett is a bounty hunter who primarily uses a rifle, Captain Rex is a soldier who fights with two pistols, and so on. Wouldn't it be great if SWTOR let you create and customize these awesome characters, and more?

For Legacy of the Sith, our goal is to do just that. By separating your combat gameplay choice (Advanced Class) from your storyline choice (Class), you can make characters with new story and gameplay combinations that allow you to create your own personal Star Wars characters. In order to make the new options clearer, we've updated the names:

• Classes will become Origin Stories, embodying your character's voice, background, and where their story begins in the Old Republic.
• Advanced Classes will become Combat Styles which determines how your character fights from level 1 and beyond.

There are still two limitations on which Combat Styles are available to which Origin Stories:

• If your character has a blaster-wielding Origin Story--Trooper, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, or Agent--they will have access to only the "Tech" Combat Styles: Vanguard, Commando, Powertech, Mercenary, Scoundrel, Gunslinger, Operative, and Sniper.
• If your character has a Force-based Origin Story--Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Sith Warrior, or Sith Inquisitor--they will initially only have access to other Force-based Combat Styles that match their faction's overall alignment:
  • Jedi Knights and Jedi Consulars will be able to choose between Guardian, Sentinel, Sage, or Shadow Combat Styles at level 1.
  • Sith Warriors and Sith Inquisitors will be able to choose between Juggernaut, Marauder, Sorcerer, or Assassin Combat Styles at level 1.
  • If your character's choices lead them away from their faction's alignment and down the path of light side or dark side, they will eventually unlock the option to pick the other faction's Combat Styles in addition to their own.

With this new separation of Origin Story and Combat Style, there are so many new possibilities to play your character's story any way you choose. But what does this look like in-game? There a few different ways you will make this decision:

• If you are creating a new character, you will first choose your Origin Story, then your Combat Style. This offers you the choice up front, so you can start your journey with the story and play style combination that works for the type of character you want to play.
• If you create a boosted character, you will choose your Origin Story then Combat Style in a similar way to new character creation.
• If you have an existing character when Legacy of the Sith launches, when you log into the game, you will be able to choose a Combat Style immediately. You can choose a Combat Style similar to your previous Advanced Class or choose something new. The choice is yours!

By separating story and gameplay, you'll have access to unrivaled customization for your characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic!