SWTOR Class Progression

In this article, I will be covering the proposed SWTOR class progression model. As more information is officially announced about the game, I will create articles on each individual class progression so that you can see how each class advances throughout the game.

Progression is a very important aspect all MMORPGs and SWTOR will be no different. Players will be able to progress via two fronts: class progressions and gear progressions.

SWTOR Class Progression System

The class progression system in SWTOR has some similarities and differences to other games. First off, players will indeed be able to level up in a standard way. As you complete quests, do warzones, battle baddies and the like, you will earn experience points which will translate into leveling up.

Leveling up offers players more stats, experience points, and the like – it will not be like the original SWG where players had skills only and no leveling up to speak of.

Additionally, players will have forced advanced class progressions. In other words, as you work through the story-line quests in game your character will advance itself from its base class to a new class altogether which has its own abilities and skill-sets.

As an example, you can start out as a Jedi Knight which is the Galactic Republic’s only pure melee class. Once you reach a certain level or complete a certain task (requirements for advanced classes have not been announced yet), your Jedi Knight can advance into a Sentinel or a Guardian.

The Sentinel sacrifices some defense for more offensive capabilities, whereas the Guardian sacrifices some offense for defensive capabilities. The Sentinel is likely to be a top DPS class whereas the Guardian is likely to be a top tank.

Right now, there is no way for players to freely “respec” between the two specializations – once you pick your specialization, you are stuck with it. There are rumors that the developers may implement a “long quest chain” at level 50 in order to allow you to switch a single time, but right now that is just a rumor. Pick your advanced class wisely.

Alignment

As you go through the game, you can earn dark side and light side points based on how you interact with NPCs you meet in the game world. Doing the “right thing” earns light side points, whereas generally evil actions lead to dark side points. These points will cancel each other out – if you earn +100 light side points and +100 dark side points, you will have 0 net points.

As you gain a lot of one type of point, you will “level up”. For example, if you earn 1000 net light side points, you will become Light level 1 (denoted “Light I”). If you get 2000, you will become “Light II”. The same goes for Dark Side points.

As you level up your alignment, you will gain access to new gear but also lose access to certain gear. Some gear requires Light alignment to use, whereas some gear requires Dark alignment to use. There is no real advantage to either side, as both sides have the same sorts of gear available.

The trick is to actually pick one alignment – you will need it to use some of the better gear in the game. Be light or dark but avoid remaining neutral.

Gear Progression

The other way of progressing your class in SWTOR is via gear. Gameplay videos have demonstrated that the gear progressions are designed not only to offer improved stats but improved looks as well. Beginner Jedis will battle with charged poles rather than lightsabers, only upgrading to the real thing later. Similar things can be observed in regards to the players armor.

Another thing I have to mention about gear progression and what most players are interested in is how exactly the best gear in the game is earned and how progression works at end-game. Right now, there have been three announced methods of earning gear: dungeons and raids, crafting, and PvP.

There is no word yet on how the three things will stack up in terms of quality. We do know that players can “crit” when crafting (i.e. craft a +1 version) of items and that +1 crafted items are supposed to be very good. We do know that players can earn gear from collecting tokens from warzones (much like in WoW) but how good the gear is we will have to wait and see.

There are PvP vendors which provide epic gear for participating in Warzones at level 50. This gear is has its own stat known as “expertise”, which “increase your effectiveness in PvP”. This involves increasing your damage dealt (and healing) and decreasing the amount of damage you take fmo enemy players. This has no effect outside of PvP.

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