Patchnotes Game Update 5.2

[Corvinius]

Good day, Kestrels!

Scheduled to come in 18th april 2017 now it seems there are a bit of content as well as quite some fixes and changes rolling in.

Here are the Patch Notes provided by the ever vigilant Dulfy:

Highlights

New Iokath Storyline: When a superweapon of unimaginable power is discovered on Iokath, you must choose to align your forces with either the Republic or Empire — and deal with the inevitable consequences. Once you complete the storyline you will gain access to host of repeatable Missions in a brand-new daily area.
Returning Companions: Prepare to fight alongside Former Sith Warrior Companion Malavai Quinn or former Republic Trooper Companion Elara Dorne!
Gods From the Machine: Team up with friends and guildmates to take on the first boss of this new Operation, Tyth, the God of Rage.
Galaxy Map: Accessible from anywhere, explore the galaxy like never before with the new and improved Galaxy Map.
Galactic Command Gearing Changes: Crates get better as you level, greater chances to get set bonus gear, guaranteed Unassembled Gear drops on Operation bosses, and more!
Master Mode Uprisings: Earn new Achievements as you fight through all 10 Uprisings, now available in Master Mode.
Updated Class Story Introductions: The introductory scenes for the original eight class storylines have been significantly updated and improved.

General

The Knights of the Fallen Empire Chapter 1 “The Hunt” and Chapter 2 “A Dream of Empire” Mission Rewards have had their Command Experience values reduced.
The audio that plays when a Group Finder queue is ready has been improved to be more noticeable.
The 100% Command boosts, both from the vendor and Cartel Market now works at all Command ranks.
Republic players can now obtain the “Makeb’s Mysterious Survival” codex from the Makeb Weekly Mission. This once again allows Republic players to obtain the “Loremaster of Makeb” Achievement.
The Imperial Scholar title and codex can once again be earned by completing “The Hate Machine” Mission on Korriban.
Credits have been added to the in-game mail a player receives for choosing the light side conclusion of KOTET.
Removed an incorrect border color which would appear on the Knights of the Eternal Throne loading screen on some screen resolutions.
Coruscant authorities have taken an aggressive stance against weeds growing planet-wide. Players will see a reduction in plants randomly sticking up through metal flooring around the planet.
Imperial and Republic Fleet Exploration Achievements will now display properly in the Achievements interface.
The Quick Travel bind point for Breaktown now automatically unlocks during Chapter VII: The Lady of Sorrows when you arrive in Breaktown for the first time.
Custom HK-51 appearances will now appear properly during Chapter IX: The Alliance cinematics.
Quick Travel abilities can now be used from inside of ship hangars.
The following Legacy Perks now have additional benefits due to the new Galaxy Map:
Priority Transport: Personal Starship – If you have this perk you can travel directly to your ship from the Galaxy Map.
Priority Transport: Planet – If you have this perk you can travel to that location via the galaxy map for no credit cost.
All enemies now have a Command Experience value when killed.
The base Command Experience rate has been greatly increased. The new base rate is slightly lower than the adjusted rate from the Command XP event.

Classes +Combat

Corrected an issue where Veeroa Denz would not use the Finishing Strike ability while in Damage Mode.

Flashpoints + Operations + Uprisings

General

Bolster for all PvE content has been buffed slightly.

Flashpoints

All Story Mode Flashpoints will now drop loot as intended.
The final boss of Veteran and Master Mode Flashpoints will now drop loot for level 50-60 players, as intended.
Players will now only have one Bolster tooltip as intended during the Story Mode Battle of Rishi Flashpoint.

Operations

Defeating the Cartel Warlords in Scum and Villainy in 8-player Nightmare Mode will no longer also grant the Achievement for defeating them on 16-player Nightmare Mode.

Fixed a timing issue in the initial phase of the Blaster encounter which would cause Resonant Explosive Probes to have longer durations than intended. This could result in Blaster piling a bunch of explosive probes onto the same (very, very unfortunate) person in cases where he shouldn’t have been.

Uprisings

Completing Uprisings on Story and Veteran difficulty will now grant progress towards the General Uprising Achievements “Initial Uprisings (Story), Initial Uprisings (Veteran), Second Uprisings (Story), and Second Uprisings (Veteran).”
Kolto stations will now respawn when an entire party dies during an Uprising boss encounter.
The final boss of Landing Party will be more respectful of players’ schedules, and will now actually show up for the fight when they should.
Doors in the Fractured Uprising will no longer show as locked when you can interact with them.
All power-ups in the Destroyer of Worlds Uprisings can now be picked up by players.

Galactic Starfighter

Galactic Starfighter Daily and Weekly Missions now award Unassembled Components. Daily Missions award 8 and Weekly Missions award 20.

Items + Economy

Female body type 2 characters will no longer have terrifyingly stretched faces while wearing the following helmets: Revan’s Mask, Agile Reconnaissance’s Mask, Reaver’s Headgear, Dramatic Extrovert’s Headgear, and the Red, White, Blue, Gold, and Vented Scalene Headgear.
The Zakuul Voyager’s decoration preview will now face forward as intended.
Unlearned Schematics can no longer be equipped in armoring slots.
Since the Outlander Targeter’s Package MK-5 Implant is not a boot, it no longer has a boot icon.
Corrected the naming of Weaponmaster and Vindicator armor sets, previously their names were flipped.
Summoning the Zakuul Voyager mount will no longer incorrectly summon the Morlinger Phantom.
Using the Cybernetic Rancor mount will now properly grant the Stronghold Decoration to the player.
Using the Armored Ziost Ice Tromper mount will now grant the correct Decoration to the player.
The default preview window display for the Zakuul Personal Dropship has been zoomed out greatly.
The Statue: Naga Sadow Decoration will now appear correctly under the Civil > Statues category on the Galactic Trade Network.
The Coil Explorer’s Armor Set now lists the correct Cartel Pack source in Collections.
All White-Gray Color Crystals are no longer incorrectly listed as Silver rarity items in their Collection’s tooltip.
As a player increases their Tier 1 Command Rank (1-89) they will gain higher drop rates of Prototype and Artifact quality gear, while their Premium drop rates will go down. This is to encourage the player getting more consistent set-bonus gear as they level.
As a player increases their Tier 2 and 3 Command Rank (90-299) they will gain higher drop rates of Artifact and Legendary quality gear, while their Premium and Prototype drop rates will go down. This is to encourage the player getting more consistent set-bonus gear as they level.
Command Rank 300 is now Tier 4 of Galactic Command. Tier 3 will now be Command Ranks 181 – 299. Any Command Crates earned at rank 300 will now contain Tier 4 gear.
New Tier 4 vendors have been added to the fleet.
All Operation bosses will now drop one Unassembled Gear Piece; the final boss will drop two. This number is doubled for 16-player Operations.
Tier 1 Unassembled Gear Pieces no longer drop in Operations.
Bosses will now drop the following Unassembled Gear Pieces in existing Operations:
Tier 2 Legendary Unassembled Gear Pieces – Story Mode
Tier 3 Legendary Unassembled Gear Pieces – Veteran Mode
Tier 4 Prototype and Artifact Unassembled Gear Pieces – Master Mode (Non-final bosses)
Tier 4 Legendary Unassembled Gear Pieces – Master Mode (Final bosses)
Gods From the Machine bosses will drop:
Tier 3 Legendary Unassembled Gear Pieces – Story Mode
Tier 4 Legendary Unassembled Gear Pieces – Veteran Mode
Tier 2 Unassembled Gear no longer has a Tier 1 gear requirement to purchase from the Unassembled Component vendor.
Gear vendors will now only show your Disciplines gear by default. If there isn’t Discipline-specific gear, all items will be shown.
A dropdown menu has been added to gear vendors allowing you to switch to other Discipline’s gear, or to show all available items on that vendor.
Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 25% Command XP boosts are no longer available for purchase. Existing boosts will remain in your inventory and can still be used.
A new 25% Command XP boost has been added to the Command Token vendor, it works at all Command Ranks.
The tireless engineers at Czerka Novelty Labs have released a free software update for the Czerka Crate-O-Matic that incorporates a Zakuulan crate into the device’s repertoire. Czerka has refused to confirm rumors that this same update introduced a bug into the device wherein it may, in very rare cases, disguise a user as a potted plant.

Missions + NPCs

Corrected an issue where the following Companions would not use voice lines while in healing mode: Vette, Andronikos Revel, Ensign Temple, Jaesa Willsaam (Light Side only), Lieutenant Pierce, Ashara Zavros, and Xalek.
Added more Cyber Mercenaries to the “Abandoned Bunker” Heroic Mission on Voss so that the Bonus Mission is now possible to complete.
It is no longer possible to incorrectly obtain the “Into the Killik Warrens” Mission on Alderaan.
Completing “The Forgotten Trophy” Alliance Alert will no longer grant the player Broken Commendations.
Invisible assassins are no longer hiding in Chapter XV of Knights of the Fallen Empire. Players can no longer be instantly killed by interacting with certain weapon lockers in the Chapter.
Corrected an issue where Shield Bunkers would not spawn on certain planets which would prevent Star Fortress Mission progression.
Adjusted formatting in the Mission tracker for some KOTFE and KOTET Chapters so that text would not be cut-off in French and German.
The “Cleanse the Corrupted” Mission on Voss has had the amount of mobs reduced and the bosses overall power lowered to make the Mission easier.
The Smokescreen Toxin debuff will now remain on the player as long as they are in the toxin room during the Biological Warfare Mission.
Bounty Hunters will now receive a moddable Blaster Pistol when completing the Mission “Escaping Hutta.”
Addressed an issue where if a Jedi Knight repeated Chapter III: Outlander they could no longer summon T7-01.
EPHEMERIS will no longer have two nameplates when encountered in Star Fortresses.
The final boss for the Mission “War on Spice” on Tatooine has had their difficulty increased.
Rathen-Predot, Chorto Rinn, and the Eagle will no longer respawn as friendly NPCs after the choices the Imperial Agent makes during the “Hostile Takeover” Class Mission.
Piij, the vendor for the Eternal Championship, will now be a little more chatty when you interact with them.
More Tarlem Militia Forces have been added to the phased Mission areas for “Landing Party” so that the Bonus Mission “Mauling the Militia” is possible to complete.
Elder Manka Cats on Alderaan will now properly count towards the completion of Beasts of Alderaan Achievements.
Corrected an issue where the player would not receive the Star Fortress Achievement “One For All” if their Companion landed the killing blow on Forta.
The first Herald of Zildrog will no longer despawn after Gungus is defeated in the Eternal Championship.
Tooltip copy has been added for the “Smokescreen Toxin” debuff that players receive during the “Biological Warfare” Mission on Corellia. Companions will now be affected by “Smokescreen Toxin” as intended.
Aric Jorgan will now be more chatty when the player interacts (right clicks) with him.
Ak’ghal Usar will now trigger voice lines properly during combat.
Nerf calfs around the galaxy have become strangely hungry as of late…

Warzones

Increased the requirements to earn Damage Done, Healing Done, and Damage Prevented medals.
The Command Experience bonus earned for each medal a player has at the end of a Warzone has been increased.


Source:

http://dulfy.net/2017/04/10/swtor-game- ... tch-notes/

[Corvinius]

POSITIVE:

- New content!

- (Finally) some more fixes

- Old companions returning!

- Adjustment of the CXP-Mess and boxes drops

Leaving it at a rate of slightly lower than the event will do much to lessen the already grindy CXP sytem.


MIXED FEELINGS:

- Still wild tweaks about the CXP system

Go work on real content and leave this broken system for once in a state or better discard it!



Still no fan of the CXP system at large.

Would like a return to crystal or commendations with CXP as a "bonus" ADDING to it.

CXP as it is means too much grind and a totally messed up gearing experience.

At least that is how I feel about it...

- drop adjustment of the boxes

Thanks Bioware!

For the people who are on the upper scale of command ranking now:

You were just guinea pigs and people coming AFTER you will get vastly better drops!

Elimination of green drops and trash. Higher drop rates of (better) gear.

Instead we gain a tier 4 which is grind only.

Yup - as a sub I feel quite like "Meh!"

Feeling quite cheated and used.



Though I understand it might "level" the ground for newcomers and returners the changes are so sweeping since introduction of command CXP I'd wish they return to something like good ol' crystals or commendations only...

NEGATIVE:

- Gear tier 4

Can't say I like it too much.

OPS and Master content are already quite easy with 242 gear.

Squeezing in another tier brings more problems than good.

If they adjust the Master content and OPS then lower geared players are messed up.

If they do not adjust it the "hard" content will become just "cakewalk" (with only OPS mechanics being a possible stopgap).

Without adjusting PvP buffs (which are on 232 rate) PvP will take a major hit.

It is already badly unbalanced with PvP fanatics geared in all 242 gear just crushing 232 buffed/less geared players in one-vs-one and WZ.

The gap of 10 grades is just too big, dps and damage resistance difference just too great.

With even higher difference the mess will be getting worse.

Especially due to the event buff several fanatics are now on command rank 300 and will roll over newbies in PvP with even higher gear gap...

- No proper PvP buff making skills more important than gear

PvP buff 232 is just too low.

The differences in damage output and receiving damage by overgeared players makes PvP a very sour experience nowadays.

If they do not raise the buff to mediate this gap PvP is in for a major tailspin.

Which is felt already...

- No class balancing / no skill fixes

As of now game is in serious need of class balancing and skill repairs.

The merc/commando revamp is just too strong and needs some adjustment to the other classes.

Sorc/Sages need some adjustment especially in the healing section as people currently barely bother to roll other heals as the heal output is vastly different and sages are supreme by a large margin.

Also some skills are badly broken and just bug in PvP/FP/OPS.

That needs fixing badly.

- No new real PvP content / no new real FP/OPS content

Simple.

We need more of both.


Summary:

While "negative" seems a long list it is more because I wanted to explain why I say it is negative.

All in all I am happy there is new content/fixes/graphic+comfort functions polishing rolling in.

Nagging and complaining only is not something I will do....



Greetings

Corv

[SethAltair]

I'm really happy they are finally fixing the 'no kolto stations' bug and the landing party. They were really frustrating and could really prevent a team from finishing an uprising. I'm also curious about the new introductory scenes. I guess this means more alts I hope Iokath will also feature the pretty overgrown ruins and not only the heavily industrial metal maze.

[Corvinius]

Addendum:

"To account for Tier 4 gear, PvP Bolster has been increased to item rating 238."

Since the gap to highest tier 4 (244 Rating) is down to 6 grades that will do very much to change PvP.

But in the same time it renders the equipment pyramide of the Tier system null and void.

You will only have a bit of a advantage beginning w 240 gear. And of course the set bonus from the full set matters a bit.

I for myself can live with it and think it evens the field in PvP.

10 grades difference as of now was really too much and had a very averse efffect on PvP.

Still it shows that combining the Pyramid tier gearing with PvP was a fail.

It was the reason why the earliest devs soon divided the gear tiers to PvE and PvP.

Gave a clear divide as the "systems" really do not interact well.

The massive change the gearing system underwent in just 4 month shows that even the devs are not happy with it.

And that is the reason why I certainly do not miss former producer Ben "Command system is great!" Irving...