Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to talk about the latest expansion dropped for SWTOR, KOTET!
First off, the story. KoTET starts off not long after KOTFE Ch16 ends; Vaylin has now taken the Zakuulan Throne, and Vitiate is now implementing his plan to take control of your body. You have to fight off the efforts of both of them to bring about the peace the galaxy finally needs. I actually enjoy the nine chapters of the KOTET story, and I was glad to see the majority of plot threads tied up, and the ones that weren't so good, like the Sion plotline, were abandoned. In fact, the only thing you hear from the Sions is in an email after the story is over.
However, there are things I didn't like. For example, two big characters that I wanted to see return more than anyone did not. In fact, KoTET didn't have anyone return. The only characters that came in for the expansion were Shae Vizla and Master Ranos, whom you only got if you got to a certain tier in the DvL event. Something I didn't accomplish, so all I got was Shae Vizla.
I'm also not a fan of Galactic Command, since the focus after the story is over is multiplayer content. However, this WAS a big contention point for PVP players and flashpoint/operation players, so they finally got the content they've been craving for a year. Galactic Command gives some great rewards for people who like that stuff, so I'm glad to see them happy, even though that content is not my cup of tea.
However, we can't have an expansion without an engine change, and we got one with 5.0. 5.0's changes are all about mobility and making classes more distinct. First off, we no longer start as one of 8 base classes; we start as what used to be specializations. So you don't start out as, say, a Jedi Knight anymore, you start out as a Sentinel or a Guardian. You still go through the Knight story, but your playstyle is different from the start. Each class starts with their preferred weapon style (for example, a Sentinel starts with two training blades, while a Shadow starts with an electrostaff), and each has distinct abilities that are exclusively reserved for that class. Also, some classes gained new abilities to compliment their playstyle; for example, a Gunslinger no longer uses Dirty Kick as a stun, because they are pure ranged fighters. Instead, they get a shot that does the same thing. Scoundrels also regain an AOE that either drops at their feet if they're not a healer, or can be sent a short range away if they are a healer. (these changes, of course, go across the faction line; IA classes have the same changes but with different animations and names based on their faction).
On top of that, crystals were removed from the game; no more data crystals, no more radiant crystals, no more warzone commendations. Credits are now far more valuable than they were before. However, you still get a special currency for bounty broker missions and Galactic Command, but someone who actually does that content would be better suited to tell about that.
All in all, SWTOR KoTET and the 5.0 changes were beneficial. Class changes make things more distinct, and the Zakuul storyline was wrapped up nicely. The only downside, for me at least, is the fear that I'm going to be sitting for months waiting through content that I don't care for before I get more story. But only time will tell.
But for now, check out my referral code, and stay beautiful freaks!
