Hi all,
I wanted to jump in and try and clarify some of the potential confusion in this thread.
There are two different topics here: The ability for existing players to change the Combat Style upon logging in to the 7.0 Game Update, and the rules around characters with Force Origin Stories when they are offered an option to swap Combat Styles with their opposite-aligned mirror.
Existing Characters and Combat Styles
- As Jackie posted, we fully intended for current characters to be able to choose a preferred Combat Style upon logging in for Game Update 7.0. We have worked for some time to try and make this happen, but recently ran into some technical hurdles that unfortunately prevents us from supporting this. So, as a result, when you log into the game after 7.0, your primary Combat Style will be your current Advanced Class. Choosing your Advanced Class was designed to be a permanent choice, and we will continue this with Combat Styles. We have no current plans to introduce a method to change one of your Combat Styles.
- As we previously stated, the ability to have a second Combat Style and the additional Loadouts that come with it are features for active subscribers. Related to this topic, we did see a question being asked of what happens to my second Combat Style if my subscription lapses?. In short, your second Combat Style will become unusable including its Loadouts. Note the quotations around the word second. If your subscription lapses, your useable Combat Style will be the one you last logged out on when the cancellation hits your account. This means that if you log out on your primary Combat Style, you will continue to be able to play with that one and its Loadouts. If you log out on your secondary Combat Style, you will continue to be able to play with that one and its Loadouts. Essentially, whichever Combat Style is active when your sub lapses is the one you will continue to use when you log back in.
Force Origin Story Considerations
- Force Origin Stories have some special considerations, since there are some restrictions in Combat Style choice that Tech Origin Stories do not share.
- To a brand new player, or a player who has not unlocked their Dark V/Light V achievements in their Legacy (Legacy of Sacrifice and Legacy of Unity), they are not presented with the option to choose an opposite-aligned Combat Style at character create nor when they unlock their second Combat Style, with one exception:
- If a player without these unlocks has been playing their character with opposite aligned morality, such as a Jedi Origin Story as a Dark Side character, or a Sith Origin Story as a Light Side character, they will receive the option to swap their current Combat Style to the opposite alignment equivalent upon completing their Act 3 story. In addition, when they are prompted to select their second Combat Style, they will have all Force Combat Styles available to them.
- Force Origin Story players who have already unlocked Light V/Dark V achievements will not see any restrictions, and all Combat Styles are available to them at both character create and when choosing their second Combat Style
There has been no change in the design of the Force Origin Story Considerations, which was first shared in this post. You can listen to me talking about all of these restrictions, and expand on why and the philosophy behind these decisions in the linked podcast in the post.
However, to build upon Jackies clarification post here, we wanted to give Force Origin Story players some choice when the 7.0 update releases. So all pre-7.0 Force characters that have opposite alignment to their current class will be given the option to swap their primary combat style to the opposite aligned equivalent upon logging in post-7.0.
This means if you are a Jedi Knight or Jedi Consular, and have at least 1 Dark Side point away from 0, you will be given this choice. Likewise, if you are a Sith Warrior or Sith Inquisitor, and have at least 1 Light Side point away from 0, you will be given this choice. This will be regardless of any Legacy unlocks or otherwise. Once that character is in the game, and the swap choice has been made or refused, the rules as described above will still apply.
Finally, I wanted to address some comments around my clarifications in Discord about the above topic. What I stated in this post is still true. I have recently been trying to clarify confusion around swapping Force Combat Styles by repeating the same information we revealed in the podcast and linked in the official forums. I will typically include a link to the official sources to reinforce where this information originated from. Any new information around Combat Styles or any other topic will be shared through official channels such as our blogs, the forums, our livestreams, etc and those mediums will be used to reinforce or clarify any questions being answered elsewhere.
Thanks,
-Chris