A new developer blog has appeared on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site to talk about a pair of changes coming to the game when v2.0: Scum & Villainy arrive. The first features changes to the current bolster system, making it less level oriented. The second changes the bracket spans.
In Game Update 2.0, we are introducing a new Bolster system that will behave differently than what we currently have. You will still get a Bolster buff while in PvP areas and Warzones, but it will no longer be based purely off of character level. Currently, Bolster is setup to bring characters up to a set level of stats that are appropriate for entry-level PvP. The amount of stats given to a character is based on their level, more stats for lower level, to bring them up to this “entry-level” PvP base. At level 50 we stop bolstering characters, which you can see adds to the huge drop off of effectiveness once a character goes from 49 to 50. With Bolster, the most important change is that the stats are no longer granted on an assumption of stat power based on character level. Rather we look at each one of the Item Ratings (including the Mods, Augments, Armorings, etc. that go into the armor/weapon) of the current equipped gear and base the amount of stats given based on these values. The worse your items are the more stats you are given to get you to the base value we want every PvPer to be at.
Read more on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site.
