Update 1.3: Allies took much longer to get out of the gate than it probably should have, given the fact it was meant to be a “content light” update, but that’s neither here nor there at this point, as it’s finally live! Woo! This week, we’re going to take a look at two of 1.3’s marquee features, namely the Group Finder and Legacy Perks.
Group Finder
If you’ve been playing MMOs for a couple of years now, there isn’t a whole lot to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Group Finder that you will find yourself surprised about, except for the fact that Planetary Destination queues don’t currently offer shuttle service. That’s right; you’ll have to meet up with your group mates the old-fashioned way. Other than that, you’ll be able to queue up for storymode versions of the Eternity Vault and Karagga’s Palace Operations, all Hard and Normal mode Flashpoints, and of course, the aforementioned planet quest content.
With that said, the Group Finder is a welcome feature indeed, and couldn’t have come at a better time. Now that server transfers are in full swing, the more populated servers are booming, and this makes for some fairly snappy queue times. If BioWare’s goal was to give people an easy way of quickly getting into group content, well the Group Finder is a home-run so far.
And no, the Group Finder is not cross-server. Not yet, anyway.
Legacy Perks
Legacy Perks are a new feature added to the Legacy system that allows players to purchase perks tailored to the activities and play style of a particular character. If you’ve rolled a new character and you want to level up doing nothing but Space and Class missions? Go for it! For a fairly reasonable fee, you can earn up to 28% increased experience per activity (assuming you can certify up to Legacy Level 25!).
Personally, I don’t think I’d get much mileage out of the +Experience perks unless I found myself particularly well-off in game and didn’t mind blowing the cash on it. Leveling is already pretty quick in Star Wars: The Old Republic, so these perks aren’t too important to me.
However, there are a number of other perks that I would definitely pick up on a new or existing character. The one that immediately jumps out at me is the ability to unlock Speeder Piloting I at level 10 (40,000 credits for the unlock). You’d still have to train the skill itself, but I’d gladly pony up the credits for that luxury. Similarly, the Priority Transportation perks allow you quick travel to important locations like The Black Hole daily area and if you’re into open world PvP, there’s even one for the Outlaw’s Den. I’m hoping that other PvPers pick up that particular unlock as one of the most annoying aspects of the Outlaw’s Den is how out of the way it is.
Update 1.3: Allies isn’t the most impressive update to come to Star Wars: The Old Republic to date, but I do feel that many of its major features were greatly needed in the game so I welcome them nonetheless. Unfortunately, it’s been a bit longer than I’d like since we’ve had a real meaty Update to sink our teeth into, so I can only hope that Update 1.4 is around the corner. The one downside of giving players easier access to all your content is that it’ll get churned through that much quicker.
How about that HK-51 droid? Eh? Eh?
What are your thoughts on Update 1.3’s Legacy Perks and Group Finder features? Share ‘em in the comments below!
