Star Wars: The Old Republicis nearing the release of its sixth expansion pack titledLegacy of the Sith. While expansions for MMO games often promise and deliver sweeping changes to the meta,Legacy of the Sithis poised to completely overhaul the wayBiowarehas handled the class system forStar Wars: The Old Republic’s decade of existence.
One of the key features thatStar Wars: The Old Republicbrings withLegacy of the Sithis that it separates class playstyles from class stories, allowing players to pick their origin at the character creation screen and later decide upon a secondary “combat style” from other classes, even from the opposite faction.
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In practice, here’s how the new class system works: the overhauled character creation screen lets the player choose their faction first – either the Sith Empire or the old Galactic Republic. This effectively decides the player’s allegiance and side when engaging in Player vs. Player content. The next choice is about their class origin – and these correspond with theoriginal 8 base classes of the game, with 4 being locked to each faction.
After choosing their class origin is where things get interesting. Having separated combat styles from class stories, players are now permitted to create previously impossible combinations such as starting out as a Sith Inquisitor Juggernaut or even a Trooper Sniper. This is still not without some restriction, as the game makes a hard distinction between Tech-based combat styles and Force-based combat styles. Tech-based origins such as Trooper and Smuggler have access to any of the other Tech-based combat styles, regardless of faction. Force-based origins like the Sith Juggernaut or Jedi Consular only have access to Force-based combat styles of their faction at character creation.
After creating their character, each player is allowed to undertake a quest to choose their secondary combat style and, as of now, this choice appears to be permanent. This is where Tech-based characters can choose to add any of the other Tech-based combat styles, while Force-based characters can elect to “flip” their primary combat style to the opposite faction’s mirror class (for example, a Jedi Sage may become a Sith Sorcerer) or remain on their current primary combat style. Regardless of their decision, Force-based classes, like their Tech-based counterpart, are still offered to add a secondary combat style.
Once again, this is not without restriction, as it seems that the requirement for Force-based classes to flip their primary combat style is rooted in possessing the prerequisite achievements that are tied to theLegacy system present inStar Wars: The Old Republic. This means that for an Imperial Force-based class such as a Sith Marauder to turn into a Jedi Sentinel, they must have the “Light V” achievement on their Legacy.
In terms of gameplay, players can switch from primary and secondary styles at will, so long as they are outside of combat or instanced content, which is undergoing anoverhaul of its own forLegacy of the Sith.
Thus far, the reception has mostly been positive, with players celebrating the freedom that the system brings. However, there is some disappointment and concern expressed in the decision to make the choice of combat styles a permanent one. Given that the new class systems are still in the public testing phase, they are still subject to change.
Star Wars: The Old Republicis available for PC.Legacy of the Sithis slated to launch sometime in December.
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