SWTOR: A few gripes for an otherwise promising game

[Televators]

Greetings. I'm playing my 4th toon so far on SWTOR and this time I've chosen the Commando. I enjoy the gameplay, but I'm sitting at level 14 and I've already got FOUR AoEs and and 5-6 direct damage abilities that all perform very similar results. What's the deal here? Do I really need four 2-Ammo damage abilities that do roughly the same amount of damage? I have something like 10 very similar damage abilities at 14. Too cluttered, especially with a priority system.

Secondly, what's the deal with the WoW-Vanilla-era talent trees? "Improve the damage of X damage spell by 1/2/3%?" Come on BioWare!

I hope they do something soon with the UI as well. The unit frames are awful. Health bars colored red at 100%? No bueno. And they are very thin and hard to read at glance.

Finally, no information is relayed about procs -- this is unacceptable in a game where every GCD is filled with an action and there are ZERO visible queues that a proc-based ability is usable without pausing casting to see if the button is lit up. I shouldn't have to stop casting for this.

I hope these things get fixed because the game is smooth and can be an absolute blast to play. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

[Aeryana]

My main gripe with game play is that I feel like a hunter. I hate looking after pets. I hate for pets to be integral for my survival/success. I don't like pets... and yet this game revolves around them.

[monostat]

There are visual ques for proc based attacks, like for instance the marauder glows red to let you know your force scream has 100% crit rate. The problem is they are subtle and it took me till the 30s before I could spot it with any regularity. Not sure if all proc based attacks have a visual but if they don't then that's stupid and needs to be addressed once they get all the mundane technical issues worked out.

[Larynx]

My main gripe with game play is that I feel like a hunter. I hate looking after pets. I hate for pets to be integral for my survival/success. I don't like pets... and yet this game revolves around them.

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I agree with you, but in this game I don't feel like pets are a burden. They're executed really well in my opinion.

As for the OP, I don't find any of that an issue. The procs were difficult until I learned what icon meant what, but after that it was simple. Try being less tunnel visioned and it will not be an issue.


And about #1, read the tool tips for your abilities. Some will replace other abilities (such as Strike -> Mortal Strike for WoW), and others will have associated procs or talents that make them useful. I felt the same way until I took a second and actually worked out a proper rotation for myself.

To contribute to this thread, my biggest gripe with the game is that leveling more than one character is a pain because I need to go through the exact same quests. I can't simply level through class quests, or else after one planet everything is red. And even if I do complete all the quests on a planet, sometimes I'm still under leveled for the class quests or quests for the new planet. I've been doing red/orange quests on my SI since the 3rd planet. It's just not fun ending every fight, with more than normal mobs, at less than 50% health, or killing an elite with my companion dead and myself barely alive.