Force Powers Update

If you follow this blog, then you know that I very recently posted an update about Force Powers, specifically about the Light Side Force Power called Whirlwind. One of our Officers, Winter Vos, not only invested in Whirlwind, but also contributed a post to describe it. This is only the beginning of the story.

Whirlwind is a Force Power that uses the lightsaber to stun all nearby enemies and, in turn, inflict some damage to add injury to the insult. Winter invested in this Force Power thinking that it would stun all nearby enemies, including Bosses who are generally immune to stun. He was wrong. And he posted about this on the forums, which, at last count, had 700 views. 

As it turned out, Winter also sent in a ticket to Kabam about this issue. To make a long story short, he asked the Kabam representative to pass along a note to the infamous Game Team. Thanks to Winter for sending his note to me as well, which I reprint here:

Dear Game Team, 

I have a concern about Force Powers that stun enemies. If a player invests 26 6* electrum in the following Light Side build, they will be practically helpless against Bosses who are immune to stun: Whirlwind 2, Cloud Mind 2, Force Pull 2, and Debris Barrier 2. While this example is hyperbolic, it certainly isn't beyond the realm of possibility. 

The player might as well use a Standard Ability build, e.g., Berzerk 3, Holographic Decoy 3, Durasteel 3, and Think Fast 3. This build requires no electrum, arguably works as effectively against most enemies, and unquestionably works more effectively against Bosses. 

Given the cost, why invest in any Force Power that stuns? This is a particularly important question when it comes to a Directional Force Power. Should Bosses be immune to Force Power effects? 

Thanks for listening! 

Humph. Good point, Winter. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, either. The Kabam representative had a very interesting -- if not worrisome -- reply. I reprint this reply in part:

They [the Game Team] are reviewing all of the information that you have provided. They have also indicated to us here in Support that they are reviewing all Abilities within the game. I would also recommend that you consider keeping an eye out for in-game announcements as more information about changes to the game should be coming soon.

I'm not sure if I should jump for joy, or cringe in terror at the phrase "reviewing all Abilities," which usually means "we're gonna nerf everything." One thing is clear, however. Kabam listened Winter's issue. I truly do hope that the change to which they refer has to do with general Boss immunity to Force Power effects, such as stun.

While I can  imagine that they'd make Standard Abilities weaker to make Force Powers seem  stronger and, thus, more attractive, that would turn out to be yet another move that distances their long-term player base. And I'm pretty sure Kabam knows they can't afford such a move. So, for now, we can only speculate about what changes are in the near future. Let's hope against hope that these changes help make Uprising the coolest Star Wars game ever.

Hoth SB

Congratulations to everyone yet again on a strong Sector Battle. We ranked 79 with 18.6mm VPs and we secured Major Influence. Woohoo!

Which is as much to say, in fact, that an ultimate defeat on Hoth was not our fault. At all. We showed up to grind. And grind we did.

Let's hope Kabam takes notice of the low SB turnouts lately and that, moreover, they take steps to correct the issue.

Good hunting!

The Cool Factor

In my recent "rant," I proposed that Kabam change the game in numerous aesthetic ways to make the game more various and, thus, interesting. To their credit, Kabam has achieved this with the new Dread Omen Raid maps, which are cinematically wonderful. It feels  like I'm playing Star Wars while running through the different destroyer nodes, even if, as it has been pointed out to me, the Mess Hall looks more like another control room than a cantina -- bring on the Chef Vader Boss, already! Who? Well, this guy:

"I find your lack of salt disturbing."

All joking aside, Kabam has made aesthetic changes that do, unquestionably, make the game visually exquisite. I mean, Uprising is essentially a cartoon. And for a cartoon, these new Raid maps look great. But, what other changes could they make? Aye, there's the rub -- as that famous British playwright, Billy the Kid, once wrote.

Why propose any changes at all, though?

Well, Aaron Loeb at Kabam likened the life of a mobile game like Uprising to that of television shows. Core audiences keep the show -- or game, in this analogy -- afloat. How do long-term players become long-term? Well, they're invested, simply put. Now, as we know, The Force Awakens  was put in the very capable hands of a guy you may have heard of, J.J. Abrams. And he did a terrific job! More to the point, Abrams and his go-to company of writers understand that audiences want more than simply a good story. They want cool.  In the final season of another J.J. Abrams project, a television show called Fringe  that ran on Fox for several years, two main characters break the fourth wall and discuss the issue of cool.  Ostensibly, this brief scene was a nod-and-wink to the core audience of the show:

As an interesting footnote, go listen to Governor Adelhard's little speech about the Anoat Sector that plays in the background at Konn-Nevos Spaceport. Sound familiar? If that isn't the voice of actor John Noble, who plays the character of Walter on Fringe  depicted above -- and who, coincidentally, did voice work for the mobile game Infinity Blade -- then it's an excellent impersonation.

Anyway. The propositions I make below aren't simply pragmatic in character. In my opinion, they'll increase the Cool Factor of Uprising. Of course, the more complex the change or addition to the game, the higher the Cool Factor tends to, ahem, rise. Why do I want Kabam to step up their game? In a word, because a Star Wars MMORPG should be cool.  If all you want is a high PR, in other words, then I gently suggest that you stop reading this post and go grind a Raid map or two.

So, rather than simply complain, as I did in my aforementioned post, I compiled a quick, spitball list of potential changes ranging from "easy" to "keep dreaming," and not necessarily just  aesthetic ones. Let's start with the easy changes first and then discuss those of the difficult ilk.

Cartel Banner Borders

As I've previously discussed, the great strength of a post-Cycle 5 cartel is its social character. An essential characteristic of cartels is rank. Each CM (Cartel Master) has their own, individual way to determine cartel member rank, but, at the end of the day, this rank shows some kind of personal achievement within the group.

With this in mind, I'd like to see borders added to the cartel banners that reflect the rank of a given player. A gold border for CM, a silver border for Officer, a bronze border for Regular, and no border for Recruit. It would be a nice touch.

Pragmatically speaking, players would immediately see their ranks in CC (Cartel Chat) as well as GC (Global Chat). As far as our cartel goes, newer low-mid-level players would know outright who to ask about gameplay, since that's one Officer responsibility. As far as GC is concerned, if I want to discuss any aspect of running a cartel with another CM, for instance, then I'd know who to PM.

Cartel Messages

I began this blog because, in the main, cartel communication in-game stinks. The only way that a CM can send a message to every member at once is in the cartel header. That's dicier than Twitter. So, I propose that Kabam devise a way for CMs to message all members in a single communication, ideally as mail that would appear in our inbox. Perhaps the addition of a Cartel Inbox would work nicely. While not strictly an aesthetic change, this could potential prove very useful.

Barring an inbox message, how about an alternative to the PM (Private Message)? A Public Message that every member received would prove invaluable. For instance, what time is the next IB, again? From a CMs perspective, a reminder might stimulate gameplay. And I'm sure Kabam is all for that.

Lando Again

I've posted a lot about the Lando missions, so I'll keep this one brief. In light of the new Dread Omen Raid maps, I propose several different new maps for the Lando missions. Of course, Kabam would have to implement this on its given tier system. Each tier would expand to, say, three different maps, each with unique features. Running the same mission every time is yawn. Make the Lando missions cool. 

Time Zone Bullets

Ever wonder what time it is for another player? I propose that Kabam add a small bullet or clock icon next to the time stamp in both CC and GC. Color code the icon according to time zone, and add a time zone legend in-game. I'd hope that this presumably simple addition to the game would promote social play.

Bev Plar Faction Missions

Thus far, we've seen Imperial and Kouhun missions offered by Bev Plar. I propose mission crates for every Faction. But wait, there's more. As a Best Reward, offer Faction Reputation and Silver Faction Currency instead of gear or crystals. Anyone who runs Best Reward missions probably needs neither of the latter.

What's more, rather than require chromium for these Faction Missions, require bronze Faction Currency instead. Essentially useless bronze Rebel medallions suddenly become useful again, for example. Additionally, such Faction missions would bolster a player's Faction Rank. Doesn't this make sense?

Greater Variety of Species

Anyone who has given the forums even a cursory look eventually comes across a post or two about expanded Species for Uprising. NPC Rodian and Mon Calamari characters already populate social areas where player avatars appear, for example, so why not add these species for player characters? Rodians play a consistent role throughout Uprising's storyline, in fact. What's more, Sullustan seems easy enough to add, too. How cool would this be!?

Character Customizations

With the introduction of fragments -- or shards -- into Uprising, you have to wonder if Kabam simply took a page from the Star Wars: Heroes playbook, which bases character creation and development on a shard system. When it comes to character appearance, I'd like to see Kabam borrow from not only Heroes, but also, and more specifically, the aforementioned mobile game, Infinity Blade 3. In the latter, you can customize your character's stance. Why would I want to do this? Well, characters in Uprising all stand the same. In a word, it's boring. The antithesis of cool. I'd like our characters to have individually developed stances. Heroes does this, too, but in a different way. Take a look at the distinct looks of these Heroes characters:

Darth Sidious got his robes at The Sith's Wearhouse.
You're going to like the way you look. They guarantee it.

While similar in stance, each character has its own unique twist. You can see this most readily with Luminara Unduli and Princess Leia. Uprising could utilize a change of stance feature to allow players a higher degree of individualization. Speaking of which, let's move on to our next and most implausible of all changes.

Dazur Dar Crates and New Side Story Missions 

First, the Dazur Dar crates are terrible for high level players. A 100 Holodisc Contraband crate just dropped 50,000 credits and a 4* crystal for me. Really? The rewards for these crates either need an update, or Holodiscs should be easier to come by. Add full pieces of Legendary Vanity Gear to the 300 Holodisc Contraband crates, for instance.

Now for the insanity.

If Kabam really wants to ratchet up the Cool Factor of Uprising, they not only need to do something about the stances of characters, but their appearance as well. In general, many players don't bother with appearance because it costs precious resources to obtain Blueprints for any usable gear set above the 5* level. The ones who do are generally Commanders and Generals who collect Vanity Gear like candy. But, not all long-term players have the time to earn these ranks and thus the cool vanity sets. I propose that Dazur Dar help rectify this lack of cool for many long-term players.

Kabam could develop new Rumor crates that serve to forward the Force Power side story quests. What might these entail, you ask? Well, there are a number of potential routes:

I. New Trainers. Of course, this means new Force Powers, too. Thus far, however, we've yet to see Combat Passive and Non-Combat Passive Force Powers. How about a Combat Passive Force Power like Knight Speed that upgrades Hit & Run Rank 3? Or how about a Non-Combat Passive Force Power like Mind Trick that rewards the player with Major Influence buffs wherever they go?

Oh, and by the way, why the hell isn't Force Lightning a Directional Force Power yet? How about a Targeted Force Power that freezes enemy attacks, as Kylo Ren uses in The Force Awakens? Like I said, the goal here is not just pragmatic, but cool. 

II. New Swag. Why not offer a number of different Rumor crates to let the player explore varied missions that yield a variety of Vanity Gear pieces? Luminara, pictured above, serves as a great example. If Jedi left behind a lightsaber, albeit a broken one, then other Jedi gear potentially exists in the Anoat sector, too. How about a cool set of robes that aren't necessarily even Jedi gear? A lot of characters in the Star Wars universe wear robes, the majority of whom are just extras in the films and television shows. They shouldn't be that hard to come across.

And what about, on the other hand, a Rumor crate that yields a Vanity Gear set for Tanks and Attackers? At this point in the story, the Clone Wars are long over. But what about an Imperial Rumor crate that leads to a dark, dusty Imperial warehouse filled with not only outmoded clone gear and weapons, but also some nasty Security Droids? Heck, that's so cool even I might run the mission, despite my lightsaber! Or, what about a Diplomat Rumor crate that rewards the player with a Leia-like appearance? You, Kabam, have Solo and Skywalker appearances covered already, bros.  My point here, of course, is that such Rumor Crates would introduce an new, cool element of choice into the storyline of the game.

III. Lightsaber Mods. If you think the above is crazy and that I should keep dreaming, well, hang on to your lunch. While I doubt Kabam will ever  do anything this cool, I've got to suggest that, again, they borrow a page from Star Wars: Heroes and introduce Mods, or modifications, for lightsabers. This would require as many Rumor crate missions as they could imagine into existence!

Since the lightsaber begins at 5* broken and ends at 9* maxed, I propose that a player can begin to make Tier 1 Mods to the lightsaber at 7* maxed. This would include basic aesthetic features. Players could finally change their blade color. They could, at Tier 1, also change design elements. How about a longer, slightly curved hilt?

8* sabers maxed reach Tier 2 Mods, which would upgrade Ranged Protection, Block Chance, and Crit Chance. No need to add anything additional. Mods only enhance the properties of the lightsaber that already exist. Now, here's where this pitch becomes very interesting.

9* sabers maxed reach Tier 3 Mods, which would upgrade Attack Rating, Utility Rating, and Armor Rating. The genius of this modification system is that, once a player reaches Tier 3, the Mods replace the need to ever level up the lightsaber again.  In theory, a player could continue to modify their lightsaber by running Rumor crate missions that drop RNG modification mats forever.   You hear that, Kabam? Forever.  Talk about long-term!

So these are just a few ideas off the top of my head. What do you think would make a cool change to Uprising? Feel free to comment in the box below!

The Story So Far

Before the 3.0 update arrived, I'd no idea what to expect.

I'd hoped beyond hope that 3.0 would include a continuation of the storyline, as was the case with previous updates. We received Lando Missions and Raids instead. Which isn't at all bad, in my opinion. But, with a growing number of cantankerous speculations posted on the Uprising forums that we will never  see a continuation of the storyline, I began to wonder more about character arc than plot per say -- especially considering how, on this blog, I've briefly discussed becoming a Jedi, which is itself arguable. As far as I'm concerned, though, these two points are inextricably linked.

For those not in the know, a character arc is the transformation of a character over the course of a story. That much is simply put. The question is, though, how does the character arc of Uprising unfold? Let's begin with the Uprising Launch trailer:

So, the galaxy needs a new hero. That would be you. How does this unlikely hero begin their journey? Well, the Chapter 1 crawl describes you as a "young smuggler" now in the employ of a gangster named Happy Dapp. And your first action in the game is to shoot an Imperial Officer in the face with a Rat Stunner. Consider the stage set.

Or not so simply. The hero -- or protagonist, if you will -- progresses through levels, gaining power and notoriety in the process, but, in the main, stays a scrappy upstart with either a blaster or vibroblade in tow. What's more, we begin with the character in a questionable place in their life, unsure of their meaningful identity and purpose in this Star Wars universe, while generally on the run from the Empire.

Does this begin to sound familiar? If it doesn't, take what I just said and apply it to this guy:

A down-and-out farm boy leaves his desolate, unexciting home to fight the Empire and, in doing so, he discovers his purpose: "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi, like my father," Luke says. We begin as a down-and-out child of a deceased miner from Burnin Konn. Through as series of fortuitous events -- as though the Force itself were at work -- we, too, join the fight against the Empire. Who is the protagonist's father, again, by the way? It's worth noting that this, ahem, father issue is a highlighted feature of the Force quests, specifically the Force missions.

Now, Uprising didn't begin with the promise of Force Powers and wielding a Lightsaber. The closest we see of such a promise in the release trailer is Deathstick's badassery. But, by the time we reach Chapter 2, the Force Power quests are runnable side stories. In fact, here's the official Kabam announcement for the appearance of the Data Broker, who ultimately sells you the Force Power Rumor Crates:

Note the date. From early on, Kabam had the Force Sensitivity of our protagonist -- you -- squarely in mind. The parallels between Luke Skywalker and Uprising's Hero are fundamental. Some of the details may change, in other words, but if the archetype ain't broke, don't fix it too much. As the saying goes, that is. Very well, then. If the protagonist of Uprising doesn't begin the journey as a farmer, like Luke, then who? A smuggler, just like another beloved Star Wars character, Han Solo. But Solo isn't Force Sensitive. That would be Luke.

It's worth noting that, while Obi-Wan introduces Luke to a lightsaber in the original Star Wars film, the point in doing so is basically demonstrative. In other words, the training scene in the Falcon, for instance, demonstrates the Force. Luke feels it. He senses it. He isn't told about experiencing it,  save for Obi-Wan's original explanation of the Force, which also serves to inform the film's audience. But whatever the Force is or is not, though, you need to experience it -- to know it -- for yourself. Obi-Wan only need prompt Luke at the end of the film to reconnect with the Force, to "let go" of a targeting computer's bloodless, deadly logic.

In this and other ways, the original Star Wars film stages the transformations that Luke undergoes in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.  While I won't belabor this point, the end of Empire  finds Luke having undergone some training by Yodi, but he is hardly a Jedi. Arguably, Darth Vader engages Luke in a saber "duel" merely feel out his potential future apprentice. In fact, Luke uses a blaster while carrying the lightsaber for much of the movie:

But let's return all this to our protagonist, shall we? While Uprising's Chapter 1 Smuggler gear is meant to invoke the appearance of Han Solo, at the end of Empire -- Chapter 2, essentially -- Luke looks like he's wearing Ultimate Adventurer gear:

Remember, the lightsaber that Luke carries in Empire  is blue, not green, as it is in Episode VI. And at this point in Luke's character arc -- and our own, I contend -- he has undergone a number of identity developments. He's officially part of the Rebel Alliance, seeks out training in the Force, and ultimately confronts Vader against the wishes of Yoda. In Chapter 2, our protagonist officially forms an alliance  between different Factions, seeks out training in the Force, and ultimately confronts the very deadly Commander Bragh, who, in a Vaderish symmetry, tries to let you off the proverbial hook to circumvent your, ahem, certain death.

While there are symmetries between the two character arcs, as I've tried to show here, they aren't the same. If they were, we'd get bored and stop playing. Or, at least, many players would. But the fundamental transformative arc is so formally  akin that it makes me wonder about the next installment of Uprising's storyline. I mean, Episode VI is called Return of the Jedi.  Was Luke officially inducted into the Jedi Order? Nope. He just shows up on Tatooine dressed in Jedi robes, wielding a lightsaber of his own construction, and letting the Force flow through him like a badass.

And this is why I think many players have reached a point in their own story where they can legitimately call themselves Jedi. But lightsabers, Force Powers, and cool duds do not necessarily make a Jedi. The choices that a character makes will, in turn, make that character a Jedi. That said, the structure of Uprising is such that the protagonist becomes a Jedi akin to Luke, whether the player wants to do so or not.  The choice, in other words, seems out of our hands. As Vader might say, it is your destiny. Search your feelings, you know it be true.

Ermahgerd Kabam

Thus far, the majority of my posts have been fairly serious in tenor. Today, I decided to buck that particular trend. I'm sure you've noticed the daily message:

Apparently, Kabam wants our feedback. And in light of Aaron Loeb's ostensible focus on long term players -- about which I recently posted -- I suppose it's finally time to rant my opinions. This is a blog, after all! I'll hit major gameplay issues, such as the inconsequentiality of assaults, the stupidity of Lando missions, and why Kabam deserves a Disruption Grenade dropped in their shorts, among other things.

I also suppose that I should remind the good people at Kabam of Brandin Tyrrel's lukewarm review of Uprising for IGN just after its release: "And it's all about the stuff. I'm grinding faction reputation and spending resources to upgrade my gear so I can upgrade my Player Rating so I can on harder missions so I can maybe find better gear that I can upgrade so I can upgrade my Player rating...and so on and so forth." Tyrrel was as right then as he is now. At the end of the proverbial day, today's big issue is yesterday's big issue. Namely, worthwhile rewards.  I'm pretty sure I speak for our entire cartel when I say that grinding isn't a problem per say. We grind hard. But grinding towards underwhelming dissatisfaction, well, here we go again...

Daily Assaults

Issue: In theory, the Lando missions and better Sector Battle rewards were supposed to make Assaults relevant again. In practice, this twofold approach fails. Hard. Even the top tier Gunslinger drops miss their mark and, while Sector Battle Captains are now guaranteed 5 5* electrum, the time commitment's hardly worth such a pithy bump. Yes, I said pithy. And the Lieutenant rewards are even worse. I'll return to these points under "Sector Battles." Suffice it to say, though, that assaults are consequentially inconsequential. Still.

Potential Fix: Best Reward assault missions potentially drop shards for every  Legendary Vanity Gear set available in the game in accordance with standard RNG practices. What's more, ratchet up the chances of such shard drops on multiplayer assaults to incentivize social play, which I discuss under the heading "Cartels." If Raids aren't multiplayer, then you, Kabam, need to step it up on those missions that do run co-op. You're running a mobile MMORPG, remember?

Lando Missions

Issue: As I outline above, Lando missions are lackluster at best for higher level players. Did I say "lackluster"? I meant crap. That's a technical term.

Potential Fix: Raise the bar for Gunslinger drops to at least 5* rewards guaranteed, which includes electrum. The joke called 4* electrum got old yesterday. Also, increase the percentage of Legendary Vanity Gear drops. You know, because people are vain. I am.

Sector Battles

Issue: Fewer and fewer players are bothering with SBs despite the restructured awards, as I so brilliantly outline above. Vain I said! The minimum VP requirement for the rank of Captain, for instance, dropped like a brick from approximately 1.5-1.8mm before the 3.0 update to roughly 800k VPs this past week. Ouch.

Potential Fix: Legendary Vanity Gear salvages only  T2 mats, which includes 1 guaranteed 6* electrum, in addition to the restructured changes. Lieutenants should receive 1 guaranteed 5* electrum in addition to the restructured changes as well. Quit playing us cheap, Kabam.

Imperial Sector Battles

Issue: IBs are usually met with either indignation, or indifference. The indignation's due to the fact that it takes a full 24hr SB to earn system influence, but only a 1hr IB to lose said influence the next damned day. This is not to mention that IB rewards in a 3.0 universe are, in gamer's parlance, garbage  to higher level players. What is more, the current IB timer schedule seems punitive rather than productive. Fuck me once, shame on you. Fuck me twice? Ermahgerd.

Potential Fix: Change all 4* electrum rewards to 5* electrum rewards and  guarantee Imperial Crystals on the standard Recruit to General tier system currently in place. What's more, change the IB imminent timer to 1hr for all  battles. That famous American philosopher, Tina Turner, once asked: What's love got to do with it? SB timers that don't cockblock the accumulation of BPs and rewards that aren't insults added to the injury: That's what love's got to do with it.

Factions

Issue: For a very long time now I've heard players complain that Faction Ranks are incredibly difficult to achieve. Personally, I log on at least 3-4 times a day to run crew on Reputation Finder missions and I've yet to see  any rank higher than Warrior, let alone earn one.

Potential Fix: Increase chances to earn higher Reputation Finder rewards, especially on daily Opportunity Runs. Use Lando missions to this end as well. An increased electrum payout at the end of an entire month  wouldn't hurt our feelings either, Kabam.

Disruption Grenade

Issue: An RNG gateway to control in-game progress? No explanation necessary. Insert string of fucking expletives here. And I already have  a lightsaber.

Potential Fix: Do away with the M-Sec shield, increase chances of DG Rank 1 drops in all crates, make DG Rank 1 purchasable from an existing trainer, or any of the other viable solutions that absolutely litter the Uprising forums. There's a thing called "high time" and -- no, put down the bong, Kabam! -- it means fix this shit.  Now. Pretty and please and thank you very much.

Much Ado About Lando

While I keep hearing from players -- both in our cartel and on the forums -- that the Lando missions are essentially useless for higher level players, I still run them regularly, if only to make Kabam feel a tad better about their fairly obvious attempt to freshly incentivize the daily ops and assaults that trigger these missions for our formerly favorite Calrissian. I ran a Lando mission tonight and realized afterwards that I had accumulated 120 Gunslinger Rewards without bothering to use any of them! Lando gets the shit end of the proverbial stick in this case, though, since it's Tae Nunb's contraband crates that, even at the high end, are full of meh.

More important than my own dissatisfaction with the Gunslinger drops is my newfound appreciation for video. Which is as much to say, I recorded my Lando mission, which I've posted below. I'm doing so for a number of reasons, but mostly to demonstrate to players how effectively Force Powers can work together. Again, my Jedi build: Dark Poison 2, Malicious Fury 2, Deceptive Leap 2, Debris Barrier 1, and Hit & Run 2.

In the comments section of a previous post on Force Powers, I was asked specifically about how much damage Malicious Fury does and, additionally, about the effectiveness of Debris Barrier. As for the former question, I haven't a clue! You'll note, though, that Malicious Fury briefly interrupts enemies while doing damage. More to the point, the more enemies there are in melee range, the more damage the power inflicts. This is uniquely different than other standard Self abilities, such as Armor Piercing. As for Debris Barrier, well, a picture paints a thousand wows. I've used this Force Power for awhile now and, while it doesn't make one immune to stun or knockback, I've yet to take a point of damage from any attack while Debris Barrier is engaged. What's more, you can clearly see that it does a significant deal of damage in its own right. I plan to invest in Rank 2 sooner rather than later.

Good hunting!

Focus On Your Regulars

I recently came across an interesting and particularly relevant article, "Kabam: Look Beyond Whales, Focus on Your 'Regulars'," by Matthew Handrahand. According to Aaron Loeb, Kabam's President of Studios and Live Services, the long-term success of free-to-play games -- such as Uprising -- depends upon the "people who play them all the time." I find this kind of long-term thinking interesting since it wasn't too long ago that one of our cartel members, Winter Vos, pointed out that his approach to the game recently changed to a long-term, sustained mentality with the release of 3.0. Of course, Winter is one of the original members of KoB and has been a consistently daily player since he joined, so his point has more to do with the gaming experience than anything else, but the idea is essentially the same.

The question then becomes how to retain players for an extended period of time. And the answer comes quickly: Make an awesome Star Wars game. Now, that may seem reductive, but it's incredibly complex in practice. For example, the release of Uprising 3.0 gave us three new Raid levels to explore. Are they great? Sure. Are they awesome? Nope. Why? They aren't multiplayer. The forums are filled with indignation about the lack of multiplayer Raids. On the other hand, Uprising has done some things very right. I remember, for example, when the Commando elements to the game were introduced. I immediately spent all my Rebel Faction Currency on Rocket Launcher 2. Whew, it was awesome! Why? Rocket turned out to be a truly ultimate Tank Ability. While it was expensive, it wasn't prohibitively so. And, more to the point, it was fun.  

I suppose my ultimate point here is that, for Uprising to last, Kabam needs to make the daily grind interestingly  worthwhile, not just substantially  worthwhile, for its daily player base. How might they do that, other than increase the trickle of electrum into the game? Well, for starters, improve aesthetic elements that have little bearing on PR. They could easily loosen their belts on the new Legendary Gear shards, for example. Since the first Lando missions appeared, I've earned exactly two Ultimate Gambler shards. Two. In over a month. I understand why 6-8* and 7-9* gear shards are difficult to acquire, but this Vanity gear is even more difficult to find, even if it does drop, more often than not, just 2 5* electrum when salvaged. (I haven't seen a 6* electrum salvage in roughly a month from any Legendary gear I've earned.) And on this note, do you have any idea how difficult it is to find 4-6* Noble gear in the Holo crates? I've been wanting to upgrade my 3-5* set -- which I essentially use as an appearance set -- for a long, long time now. And it wasn't exactly easy to find the full 3-5* set to begin with. Kabam could very easily offer a wide selection of new Vanity looks for the great number of different players who grind this game.

And, as I suggested, all this hardly scratches even the surface of what they could do in terms of aesthetics, never mind anything else. The Star Wars universe is a vast, pluralistic one, full of variety. Shouldn't a great Star Wars game do that fundamental fact some justice? And don't even get me started on changing the color of the lightsaber! That could've been a whole new Rumor Mission crate to buy and explore.

Battle of BKonn

Congratulations for everyone are in order. We ranked 74 this last SB, securing ourselves Major Influence for a spell. Well done! At last tally, our Captains were Alpha, Kilgore, Budder, Winter, and myself. Rank 3000 on the leaderboards clocked in at 811,600 VPs, which was the cut-off for Captain. And, for the second week in a row, Nuramak crushed it. So much so, in fact, that I'm now going to call him Commander Nuranimal! Congrats, Nura. You earned it!

Post Cycle 5 & The KoB Co-op Initiative

Now that Cartel Competition Cycle 5 is officially nixed, I've thought a lot about the usefulness of cartels. How does the lack of a cartel competition change simply more than the tenor of our cartel? For one thing, CXP (Cartel Experience) means much less now than it did before, since our Global Rank only indicates how close we are to the Top 50. Personally, I feel a sense of accomplishment from a Top 100 rank. It means we're a healthy, active cartel. But, now that competition is over, rank shouldn't significantly matter.

I realize that I covered some of this ground in my previous post, "KoB 3.0," which is now featured in the sidebar. Even so, I'd like to share with everyone a few recent thoughts about cartel membership. To do so, let's touch upon its most important feature.

So far as I can see, the most important feature of a Post Cycle 5 cartel is that it's a social forum. Rather than chat in GC (Global Chat), you can chat about your latest Imp Op drop or what the weather's like in Chattanooga with familiar, friendly people. No trolls. No randos. No baiting. No kidding. And, especially for low-mid-level members, there's usually an Officer online to answer a quick question or two about gameplay.

On that note, for those of us who still run Daily Assaults, we can co-op. Now that the SB (Sector Battle) rewards have been restructured, even the most casual of players should find them very  attractive. Of course, to run deep into a SB, even the highest level players need to run Daily Assaults for BPs (Battle Plans). Insert groan here. But, if the sociality of cartels is a strength now highlighted, then multiplayer Daily Assaults should, in turn, prove an asset. Personally, I've run Daily Assaults with cartel members lately and it's been very fun to do so, whereas, alone, they were a chore.

So here's an idea: The KoB Co-op Initiative. While not everyone is always online at the same time every day, we do have tendencies, don't we? Just after refresh seems an ideal time to talk with other members online. For me, that's between 8-9 pm EST. My suggestion is to find members who are online at similar times specifically to run multiplayer. Use CC (Cartel Chat) to work out times and planets to hit. Remember, this is not for CXP, but rather to earn much needed BPs. For low-mid-level members, these Daily Assaults yield much needed gear and mats, too. As for higher level players, I just sold 200 pieces of dupe gear. That's a lot of credits.

All this is as much to say that, without Cycle 5, the great strength of a cartel is how it can facilitate cooperative play. This is not to devalue individual achievements. On the contrary, working with cartel members to help one another achieve personal goals seems the fundamental point of cartels nowadays. This can happen in-mission, or else simply talking in CC about how to kill that creepy boss on Anoat, what Ability Set you use during a SB, or whether Lando is, indeed, worthlessly drunk all the time.

Good hunting!

P.S.

Two things. First, the upcoming SB is also a great time to co-op on BP runs. This particular weekend is a little nutty for me, but, generally speaking, if you see me online during a SB, then by all means pm me to organize a set of BP runs! Secondly, since we're now playing in a post Cycle 5 universe, I've taken down the rank info on the blog. I'll also stop posting it on our cartel header. I do reserve the right, however, to post a killer SB rank to simply toot our own damned horn!

Jedi Build in Action

Below you'll find the first 30 seconds of a Normal Raid mission I ran on BKonn about a month ago. This is the first node. I post this video clip because it demonstrates how I use Deceptive Leap 2, Malicious Fury 2, and Dark Poison 2 together. 

This is my first attempt at uploading video to Blogger. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to post larger clips.

Force Powers, Part 2

I've used Force Powers for months now. I can't remember how long ago, for example, I first invested in Deceptive Leap 2. In the main, I used it with an Attacker build as an alternative to Rank 3 Holographic Decoy. As an Attacker, I also used Rank 3 HoB (Hold Out Blaster) and whatever Self ability suited the particular mission. As for my Ultimate Ability, I used Rank 3 Think Fast, which is fantastic.  At some point, however, I grew tired of carrying a Riposte blade and never  using it. I wanted to play true melee, rather than blast opponents from a distance. And, as I suggested in my "Melee v. Tank" post, I also understood that, to do so, I needed to rethink all of the tactics I used as an Attacker. In short, I hoped that Force Powers would allow me to do so. And they did. 

My next Force Power was Malicious Fury, which, by itself, stinks. The power saps the will of nearby enemies, which increases damage dealt based on the number of enemies drained. Rank 2 increases the damage enhancement duration by 50%. Malicious Fury lives up to its name when used in conjunction with a power like Deceptive Leap, however. I jumped behind opponents, usually two or three of them, initiated Malicious Fury, and then unloaded with HoB 3. The problem with this tactic, of course, is that HoB 3 works best ranged, rather than up close and personal. Therefore, I needed a Directional Ability that worked in this way. 

At about this time in the game, I'd finally earned a lightsaber and, shortly after leveling it up, I invested in Rank 2 Dark Poison, a Directional Ability that not only does more damage than HoB 3 per second, but also works in the opposite way. On the one hand, HoB 3 has great range, but the cone of damage isn't particularly wide. On the other hand, Dark Poison 2 lacks great range, but the cone of damage is tremendously wide. Suddenly, Malicious Fury looked like a brilliant move. Deceptive Leap, Malicious Fury, and Dark Poison all worked very well in conjunction with one another since all of them required "nearby enemies." And, of course, I started using Standard Attacks with the lightsaber as well. Whatever my melee build was ultimately going to look like, I'd finally moved away from Attacker.

Here is my current Ability Set 1:

My Jedi Build?

For the majority of the first Raids on Burnin Konn, I continued to use Rank 3 Think Fast as my Ultimate Ability. It worked very well with Self, Directional, and Targeted Force Powers. So did Rank 2 Hit and Run, which not only increases movement speed after defeating an enemy, but also increases energy gain while moving. This is ideal for a melee build, since you have to run around, a lot! 

As I mentioned in the "Melee v. Tank" post, you generally take more damage as a melee player. For an Ultimate Ability, I wanted to rectify this problem. Hence, Rank 1 Debris Barrier, which creates whirling debris that both defensively absorbs attacks and offensively damages opponents at a per second rate. Rank 1 lasts for roughly 10 seconds, which is usually more than ample. Importantly, Debris Barrier also allows me to use Standard Attacks with the lightsaber after initiating Malicious Fury. This combination is deadly to every nearby enemy.  None of this works while blasting away at a distance with HoB. My attack lines are usually variations on Leap to Fury to Poison to Hit and Run to repeat. For confrontations with so many different dangerous Bosses, Debris Barrier works brilliantly up close and personal.   

I hope I've suggested that these Force Powers work more effectively in conjunction with one another. But they also work because I've committed myself to a Melee Build -- or, as Winter would have us call it, a Jedi Build -- which requires very aggressive gameplay. With that said, here's a quick list of pros and cons to each Force Power.

Rank 2 Deceptive Leap

Pros: Moderate cooldown, effectively deceives most enemies, leap distance and position controllable

Cons: Slight hesitation after leap achieved, holographic decoy duration shorter than Rank 3

Rank 2 Malicious Fury

Pros: Moderate cooldown, massive damage increase with many nearby enemies, interrupts enemies, moderate duration 

Cons: Does not work on droids

Rank 2 Dark Poison

Pros: Nearly 1000 damage per second more than HoB and Durasteel, poisons enemies for a long duration, weakens enemies, wide damage cone 

Cons: Short range, droids immune to weaken effect  

Rank 1 Debris Barrier

Pros: Absorbs all attacks for a moderate duration, massive damage per second to nearby enemies 

Cons: Does not generate Ultimate Energy when active 

So there you have it, my Jedi Build as it currently stands. If I can ever figure out how to post video of missions, then you'll be the first to know! In the meantime, if you want to see how these powers can work together in real time, just shout when you see me online. We can run a mission together. 

Until then, good hunting. 

Force Powers Update

I hope that everyone enjoyed Winter's post on his decision to invest in the Whirlwind Force Power. Now that he's had some time to use it on a regular basis, he sent me a doozie of an update.

As with all things Kabam, there's a major caveat emptor: Whirlwind does not stun Bosses.  He sent me a list of them. One Raid Boss, two on Hoth, and one on BKonn. Remember, part of his rationale to invest in this Force Power included using Whirlwind against Bosses. Apparently, he was mistaken about this ability's effectiveness against the Noble Boss he faced. Check out his forum post on this issue here.

Phantom What Now?

My guess is that many of you play Uprising because you're die hard Star Wars fans. Me too. When I first came across this brilliantly vulgar critique of the Star Wars prequels by Red Letter Media, I not only laughed my ass off, but I also realized how terribly right -- in so many ways -- this 7 part analysis proves. 

TFYM when you realize the movie you're in is doomed.

So, while I work on "Force Powers, Part II," please feel free to indulge, if you haven't already. Caveat emptor: NSFW. Like, NSFW at all. 

Force Powers, Part 1

While I still intend to post on the general gist of Force Powers and, more importantly, the specific Melee build I currently use, I just talked with one of our members, Winter Vos. He earned his lightsaber shortly after I earned mine. Winter has been discontent with his default Self Ability, though, and he just sent me a note that outlines not only why he chose to do away with Armor Piercing and replace it with a Force Power, but also the advantages of his Melee build, which, as he astutely points out, we should probably call something else. I'll post about my build in the near future, but, until I do, here's Winter -- and be forewarned, the following is epic: 

Even before I killed my way to the lightsaber, I kept hearing players in GC [Global Chat] harp on leveling up sabers to 7*. I guess this logic is in line with an obsessive focus on PR [Player Rating], considering how many of the top players don't use Force Powers at all. They spend all their electrum -- sorry, "event crystals" -- on leveling up gear. I saw one player with a full set of 6-8 Raid gear maxed to 7* already.  You really have to hoard electrum, nailing triple Commander for over a month to do that. Never mind the time it takes to grind all those shards. Anyway, my point is that most players in this game -- myself included -- are obsessed with PR. 

Or, in my case, I was  obsessed with PR. If I learned anything from sitting on that damned 100 level wall, stuck with all my gear maxed at 6* while waiting for the 3.0 update, then it was that Uprising is generally populated by players who hurry up to wait. It's like being surrounded by terrible drivers. Gas it as fast as you can to the next red light! Only, in this game, the red light lasts for months.  I understand this approach to playing because, as I said, I wanted to go go go get a lightsaber, too! 18,100 PR was my only goal for the entirety of T2 [Chapter 2] before the 3.0 update.

But wait. Now that I have a saber, as well as a bunch of 7* gear, why precisely am I still obsessed with PR? 

Well Winter, it's the Raids, stupid. The higher my PR, the deeper into the Heroic Raid map I can go and then, well, and then I can earn more electrum and shards, which will, ostensibly, allow me to run the Epic Raid map. Rinse and repeat. Not to mention that, the higher my PR, the more damage I do to Imperial dickheads. Waka waka! But to what end? Another wall? More hurry up to wait? For what? The Raids are a merry-go-round to grind grind grind.

All of this is as much to say that I just spent 5 6* electrum on a Force Power -- Whirlwind Rank 1 -- because I really want to enjoy the grind towards a 9* saber and 9* gear.  Yep, 9*. And we thought the electrum drought before 3.0 was bad. Has anyone done the math on how many 5* electrum it will take to level up just one piece of 8* gear to 9*? As far as I'm concerned, the release of 3.0 changed the nature of Uprising in many ways.  I'm now playing a long term strategy, rather than a short term, quick PR jump strategy. The game has changed for me. I feel the need to change with it. 

Ok, so, now that I've outlined why I did what I did, let's talk about Force Powers! But before I forget to do so, and because this is our  blog and not Cartel Chat, I'd very much like to say: Hey, Censorbot, go fuck yourself, buddy! 

Ahhhh, that felt SO good.

And so did absolutely obliterating 3 of those mini M-Sec droids on BKonn in roughly 8 seconds without taking a point of damage. That was on the first mission with this new Force Power. Here's my standard Melee build, Ability Set 1:

Targeted: Deceptive Leap 1

Directional: Dark Poison 1

Self: Whirlwind 1

Ultimate: Debris Barrier 1

Combat Passive: Hit and Run 2  

Non-Combat Passive: Cartel Savvy 2

First, I should mention, for players who don't realize it, you can have multiple Ability Sets ready and waiting to go. Just tap "Ability Set 1" to the right on the Abilities screen and you can create up to 5 different sets. And as for my standard Melee build, let's not call it Melee anymore. Melee is for Vibroweapons. If we can just make shit up -- like, you know, the name "Attacker" -- then let's go for broke. Imma call it my Jedi Build. Cuz I cut up like a duck, Z ;) 

For a long time now, I've hated every Self ability that I've ever used. Except for Ion Wave, which rocks, but it only rocks against droids. I picked Whirlwind rather than Malicious Fury because I wanted a Force Power that specifically took advantage of the fact that I'm swinging a lightsaber. And O man, Whirlwind swings it good.

Let me tell you about the power first. Then I'll talk about how I use it in conjunction with the others. 

The description for Whirlwind Rank 1 states: Attack and stun all nearby enemies with a lightsaber, dealing 12365 damage. Of course, the damage increases as PR increases. What I found interesting about Whirlwind was that most of my assumptions after reading this description were wrong wrong wrong! 

Basically, I assumed this power was like Cleave, only that you also stunned enemies while cuttin'em up. Nope. Whirlwind uses the lightsaber specifically to stun any enemies in melee range. It just so happens to also  do damage. Let me say that again: any enemy.  If you're as devious as I am, you just thought "boss." Yup, boss. Very boss. 

So Whirlwind fundamentally stuns multiple enemies in melee range. Droids, troopers, lurkers, monsters, you name it. While I literally just got it and haven't had a lot of time to really learn how to use Whirlwind super effectively, this is how I destroyed those mini M-Sec droids I mentioned:

With my new Jedi Build in tow, I did my Cartel Op today. I hadn't used Whirlwind at all, so I was clueless. So I get to BKonn and, wouldn't you know it, mini M-Sec droids start bumbling towards me and lobbing bombs. Just terrific. By the time I was 3/4 through the map, I'd figured out 1 basic attack line using Whirlwind: Deceptive Leap to position my attack and deceive opponent, Dark Poison to damage opponent until holographic decoy ends, Whirlwind to stun and damage opponent -- which, obviously, stops any  opponent attacks, special or not -- then, if anybody's still standing, finish them with Dark Poison. 

At the end of the BKonn map, I had to face 3 mini M-Secs after destroying several pairs of them. I decided to try a different attack line: Whirlwind to stun and damage opponents, Dark Poison to damage opponents, Deceptive Leap over opponents when stun ends, and Dark Poison to finish opponents. The cooldown on Whirlwind was so quick that, rather than use Dark Poison to finish, I could have used it again to stun and damage the droids, finishing them with the saber instead.

I should also mention the Daily Op I ran. I easily took down a Noble Boss -- or maybe, Ignoble Boss? -- using Debris Barrier and Whirlwind together. Debris Barrier absorbs all attacks and damages nearby enemies at 8243 per second.  So, you already know what I'm going to say, right? 

The attack line: Deceptive Leap to position attack and deceive opponent, Dark Poison to damage opponent until holographic decoy ends, Whirlwind to stun and damage opponent, Dark Poison to damage opponent until stun ends, Debris Barrier to absorb all attacks and damage opponent, lightsaber standard attacks to damage opponent, and Whirlwind again to finish opponent while Debris Barrier is in effect. Shit got real for Ignoble Boss in a hurry.  

And this note turned into a novella in a hurry, too! 

But I guess my point in writing all this is to point out that Uprising is a game. Yep, it's a game. I play it to have fun. Force Powers are not only powerful, but they're fun to use. And I'll now happily leap, whirl, and poison my way to Kabam only knows where. I'm a leaf on the wind. 

Captain Winter Vos

Jedi Knight of Bail

Officer, Knights of Bail

Lvl 100, 21484 PR 

Hoth SB

I just want to take this opportunity to say congratulations to everyone on such a strong showing this SB. Kabam changed the rewards structure and we, at least, responded. Our final tally was 18.7 mm VPs (Victory Points) which netted us Rank 77 on the Leaderboards.

If my own tallies are correct, we had a number of players rank Captain. Besides myself, there was Alpha, Nephilim, Winter, Mike, Kilgore, Mara, Budder, and Zevish. If you managed to earn Captain and aren't listed here, please give me a shout! And a special congratulations to Nuramak, who finished with a whopping 3.1 mm VPs. The Empire may have an army, but we have a Nuranimal!

All this said, we lost the battle. Again.

Those Stormtroopers look SO smug.

The Freedom Point tally is still at 10/20 on Hoth, and I imagine that victorious Imperial SBs have something to do with it. In any event, check the IB schedule for the next event. We'll have to defend Hoth -- and our hard-won Major Influence -- yet again. As always, enjoy the buffs!

Hoth SB Underway!

As I write this, the Hoth SB is 2 hours deep. While I'm not yet in the thick of the fight, I did want to take a minute and post about this SB, specifically the rewards. You'll note that Kabam has finally  restructured them. At just a glance, the rewards look the same. Tap on the "?", however, and the story changes.

Wait, I think I see better rewards on the horizon! 

The rank of Captain, for instance, now rewards the following in addition to 1 piece of 7* Snow Trooper Vanity gear and 1 random piece of 4* Commando gear: 5 5* Event Crystals, 5 5* Heroic Raid Crystals, 1 4* Crew, and 1 4* Rebel Crystal. 

Not bad at all. Hopefully Kabam keeps up this SB incentivizing. Good hunting, everyone!

DG Update

For those of you who don't know, Disruption Grenade is an Ability that's only available via the Holo crates sold by the Data Broker. Since DG is necessary to defeat the final Light Side Force Mission boss, the entire Uprising community is at the mercy of RNG to finally earn a lightsaber.

While there are many, many posts on the forums about this, I recently dug up this particular thread. If you're experiencing issues with finding DG, please post on the forums. If not in this thread, then in another! I also suggest you send in a ticket to Kabam support. Let them know you're very  unhappy.

Melee v. Tank

When I was new to Uprising, I played Melee. In the beginning, carrying a blade and using the following Ability set up worked really well:

Targeted: Diving Roll or Charge
Directional: Wild Swing
Self: Cleave or Power Cell
Ultimate: Shock Strikes
Combat Passive: Durable

As I progressed in level, though, I realized that despite using Durable I'd take quite a bit of damage. This was because playing Melee required that you engage your opponent up close and personal. As missions became harder and PR was difficult to raise, I wound up switching from Melee to Tank. A Tank will attack from a ranged position, making it harder for opponents to inflict damage. They basically take up one position and fire all they've got. Here's a basic low-to-mid level Tank Ability set up:

Targeted: Grenade or Holographic Decoy
Directional: Hold Out Blaster or Snipe
Self: Cover Smoke or Armor Piercing
Ultimate: Intimidate or Barrage
Combat Passive: Relentless

Tanks are much deadlier later in T2, when Abilities like Rocket Launcher, Sticky Bomb, and Shield Generator are available. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Melee. In other words, quite early on in the game, Melee becomes relatively unplayable. And it stays that way. Kabam never released bigger, better, and badder Melee Abilities. Not long ago, when I used a Riposte Blade at level 100, I tried also using my old Melee Ability set up for fun. Aaaaand I got absolutely murdered. 

In part, this is due to how Kabam nerfed Shock Strikes, though I won't complain about that here. The point is that Uprising has never been kind to Melee players. Frankly, I'm unsure what to call the middle ground of part Melee and part Tank, which needs be far more adaptive to what each mission demands. Let's call it Attacker, since a high Attack Rating helps tremendously. I ran as an Attacker for a long time. At 100 level and using the aforementioned 6* Riposte blade, my base ability set looked like this:

Targeted: Charge 3
Directional: HoB 3
Self: Armor Piercing 2 or Crowd Control 3
Ultimate: Think Fast 3
Combat Passive: Hit & Run 2

With this build, I changed Abilities as the mission required. Droids on Mataou? No problem. Self Ability changed to Ion Wave 2. Wampas on Hoth? No problem. Targeted Ability changed to Holographic Decoy 3 and Self Ability changed to Snare Trap 3. And so forth. In other words, as an Attacker, I approached each mission individually.

While there are many different base Ability sets one could use as an Attacker, tailoring my Abilities to the job at hand worked very well for quite awhile. Against Purge Troopers, for example, Armor Piercing works excellently with Durasteel Cutter 2 or, better, DC Rank 3, especially if you're carrying a blade and don't mind getting close to your enemy. The range of DC isn't all that great, and you hit only a single enemy at a time, but Armor Piercing also makes Melee attacks more effective.

All of this led me to reconsider my entire approach to Abilities. How about Force Powers? What could they do for me that standard Abilities couldn't? The answer is for different post. But suffice it to say that playing Melee effectively takes not only a lot of skill, but also the willingness to be adaptive. At the end of the proverbial day, every mission is about controlling the narrative.  I've said this before, but it's so true.

For instance, using Charge 3 and Crowd Control 3 with a blade seems odd, doesn't it? Charge moves you forward, into the enemy, while Crowd Control blasts them away from you. It's counterintuitive. And that's exactly the point. Both of these Abilities interrupt  your enemy, which is crucial in so many different situations. Add HoB 3 and Hit & Run 2 to the mix, for example, and suddenly you can charge and interrupt a group of enemies, gain Armored in the process, then unload with HoB. When you're almost out of ammo (energy) you can use Crowd Control to knock back and, again, interrupt any enemies still standing. The great part about this? You're using HoB. It has awesome range. Next, you mop up the last of those opponents you initially attacked. Hit & Run refills energy as you run, so now you run towards your next opponents with, essentially, Haste. This is a very effective strategy for an Attacker.

One of my main gripes with Uprising is that your main weapon isn't the one you carry, it's your Targeted ability.  At the outset, Kabam allowed us to use the weapon we carry as our main weapon, since you could use Abilities like Wild Swing or Snipe. These are sorely ineffective Abilities, however, and I don't suggest that anyone use them. Which is as much to say that, it doesn't matter if you carry a blade, rifle, or pistol -- an Attacker build will prove effective. It will also demand, however, that you play smarter and  more aggressively. It's amazing how quickly you can cover a lot of ground, for instance, while using Charge, Hit & Run, and Think Fast.

In the end, the Abilities you use define your experience of the game. Choose wisely.

Imperial Sector Battles: A Schedule

In case you were wondering, here is the general scheduling pattern for IBs:

• SB
• 29 hours later 1 hour trigger
• IB
• 29 hours later 6-7 hour trigger
• IB
• 29 hours later 6-7 hour trigger
• IB
• 24-30 hours later 12-18 hour trigger
• SB
• Repeat

This was posted in the forums by member Slumpert, and it makes quite a lot of sense to me. As a general scheduling pattern -- like, you know, as a rule of thumb -- this is super useful, so I thought to post it. I'll also add this schedule to the sidebar soon. Thanks, Slump. 

Cartel Competition Cycle 5, Cartel Rank, and SBs

As I suspected -- and as many players wanted -- Cartel Competition Cycle 4 was the last of its kind. Here's the official post from Kabam:

"At this time, we are not conducting Cycle 5," Kevin writes, "We do not have the means to execute this competition in a satisfactory way." Execute?  Ahem. Really?

So Cartel Comps are dead. For now. What precisely does this mean for KoB?

Essentially, cartel ranks mean nothing. Being a Top 50 cartel used to mean receiving special awards from the competition at the end of each cycle. Being a Top 100 cartel, on the other hand, used to mean chasing after a coveted spot among the Top 50. Of course, for us this means that such a chase is over.

This also means that one of the few remaining upsides to cartel membership is Cartel Influence, which yields powerful buffs. As you know, Cartel Influence is earned and defended through SB and IB ranking. In a nutshell, cartel rank for any SB is now particularly important.  

This is complicated by the fact that cartel rank depends in large part upon the individual ranks earned by cartel members: Recruit, Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, and General. Why complicated?

Well, a high SB rank requires a high number of banked BPs (Battle Plans) to use and, unfortunately, these are earned on Daily Assault Missions, which have become fairly meh for most high level players due to the introduction of the new Raids. Moreover, the 6 hour clocks for an Imminent IB tend to Kabam-block players from banking BPs, since we cannot earn them while any battle is imminent.

The moral of the story? SBs and IBs are more important now than they were before, and this comes at a time when fewer and fewer players bother to run either battle. So, why should we care?

While earning either Minor or Major Cartel Influence in a given system grants significant buffs, SBs in particular are still important because the reward structure is still useful for low-to-mid level players. I earned my first 4-6* weapon from a SB!

More to the point, although the opportunities to earn Event Crystals are more plentiful nowadays, the salient rank of Captain still yields 1 piece of Legendary Gear, which salvages Event Crystals, either 2 5* or, more importantly, 1 6*. Remember, it takes 10 5* Event Crystals to make only 1 6*. In other words, earning the rank of SB Captain is still very much worth the effort.  Especially if, like me, very expensive Force Powers make you grin.

KoB 3.0

1.

I started our cartel in December 2015, a few weeks after I began playing Uprising in earnest. I was level 25. I had no idea what I was doing. In many respects, I still don't.

I did know, however, that if I was going to create a cartel, then the name needed to tie into the spirit of the game. The last time I checked, Yodi never ordered pizza, Han Solo wasn't Tony Stark, Nerf Herders was also a pop punk band, and Order 66 didn't end well. In other words, the name had to embody good purpose in the Star Wars universe.

Partly because I'm a soft touch, I chose to name the cartel after Bail Organa, the adoptive father of Princess Leia, who died when the Empire destroyed Alderaan. I would come to find out later, by progressing through the game, how well this name did indeed tie into the spirit of Uprising's storyline. And the "knights" part was easy. While reminiscent of Jedi Knights, the name "Knights of Bail" meant that you could still fire a rifle, lob a grenade, and fit in with your mates. Nobody in the game was close to being a Jedi. At least, not back then.

I'll spare you the details about just how difficult it was to recruit new members, develop a core of Officers, and ultimately build a strong crew of Regulars and Recruits. Suffice it to say, the process progressed slowly, but well. Until Chapter 2, that is. Suddenly, all the T1 gear we earned meant very little. In a word, most of it was garbage compared to T2 gear. Players generally became discouraged and stopped playing, many of whom were in our cartel. That was the end of KoB 1.0.

2.

Facing the loss of many cartel members, I decided it was time to rebuild, rather than fold. I doubled -- tripled -- my efforts to recruit new members and foster communication in Cartel Chat, especially during SBs, when co-op efforts consistently mattered. I found a number of great players, many of whom became Officers. Everyone was a daily player, grinding away for that next piece of gear, that next crystal, that next weapon, that next chance to blast an Imp.

More to the point, I changed the cartel banner design to reflect the new wave of energy that defined KoB 2.0. And I ultimately chose the Noble Court insignia since, well, we were named after Bail Organa, after all.

If you're a 100 lvl KoB member, you probably joined during the halcyon days of 2.0. You also solidified a crew who regularly crushed SBs and posted insane CXP numbers. Congratulations on making it this far into the game. Not many people do.

3.

The release of Uprising 3.0 reminds me of KoB 1.0, in that players generally grew disenchanted with the game and, in the end, stopped playing en masse. As my "Roll Call" post more than suggested, we, as a cartel, are very much in the thick of yet another transition period.

Our new cartel banner tells the story. With a Jedi Order insignia replacing that of the Noble Court, our goal now is to become Force wielding badasses with lightsabers. Some of us are already. Good badasses, to be sure, but badasses nevertheless.

What do I mean?

4.

Once upon a time, I came across a post in the forums on Force Power Abilities. The poster claimed that nobody in Uprising was a Jedi and that, moreover, dominating opponents wasn't the objective of the game. While I respected this opinion, the argument is specious.

Manipulating and, thus, dominating your opponent in this game is entirely the point. I mean, if you really want to shake hands with Purge Troopers who try to blast, gas, bomb, and/or barbecue you to death, then be my guest. And, more to the point, while it's true that nobody's a Jedi officially speaking -- what, like, Yoda must appear to induct you into the cult? -- I do wield a lightsaber and my four main Abilities are Force Powers. Hey, if it walks like a duck, ain't it a duck?

My point is, of course, that the general goal used to be leveling up gear, running SBs, and having fun doing so. Now, the majority of our crew is grinding away for 7* gear to run deeper into Raid maps, working on Force Power side quests, and ultimately looking forward to earning a lightsaber. In other words, our goal is to become a group of badasses. What's more fun than that?

5.

Any such change or revitalization of a cartel unfortunately means kicking a number of players who have been inactive for quite some time now, which opens up spots for new members who love to play the game.

All except one, that is. Grin Moon.

I recruited Grin when he was level 60-something. He brought incredible energy, heart, and humor to the cartel. Much more than I could ever muster, truth be told. He was one of the first recruits to join KoB 2.0, and he helped shape the cartel into its current iteration. We wouldn't be where we are without him.

Grin went dark when the 3.0 update went live. This is no coincidence. If you ever wonder how much time has passed since the first Lando Missions appeared, look no further than the number of days Moonie has been inactive. He has been sorely missed. And he will remain a recruit -- no, The Recruit -- for Knights of Bail. Goodnight, Moon.

So. This is as much to say: Welcome to KoB 3.0. Let's crush assaults, let's crush SBs, let's crush our way through the Raids -- let's crush anything and everything that obstructs our path to Force Powers and a saber. Crush it for us. Crush it for you.

In short, knights, let the badassery ensue.

Stay Tuned

I'm experiencing some technical difficulties with Blogger at the mo. Stay tuned for a cartel update shortly! 

Cartel Championship Cycle 4 Rewards

You should find Cartel Championship Cycle 4 Rewards in your inbox today. We began the first week of the month, before 3.0 dropped, at Rank 68. After 3.0, however, is a very different story. Suffice it to say, though, that as a top 150 ranked cartel, we received 5 Guaranteed 5-Star Purge Trooper Armor Fragments. Congratulations to everyone.

Of course, I should point out that these awards are why CXP and, ultimately, cartel rank prove important. The higher we rank, the better the rewards, as with all things Kabam. To get an idea of what I mean, I'll leave you with Kabam's official post on the Cycle 3 reward structure. Suffice it to say, top 50 is sweet.

More soon! Good hunting.

Hoth SB

Congratulations to everyone on earning Major Influence on Hoth this past SB!

Globally, however, we got crushed. The Empire won this round by a mile, apparently. I do hope that Kabam takes notice and, finally, restructures the SB rewards to incentivize gameplay. I wouldn't mind earning more for our grind, to be honest.

Cartel Focus Update

As you may have noticed, for the past few weeks I've changed the Cartel Focus to the planet on which the new Raids appear. While this practice does have its benefits, I decided to change the focus back to BKonn. Why? Well, this guy:

Who names their kid Walfrey, anyway?

Walfrey Solanse is his name and those Crystal Clusters are expensive. Considering that we're all trying to upgrade very high level gear and weapons, I thought it wise to continue farming BKonn for Weapon Crystals on Cartel Opportunity Missions. As always, if you'd like to see the Cartel Focus change, please give me a shout. 

Roll Call

It's no secret that the release of Uprising 3.0 discouraged a significant number of players globally, for a number of reasons, and we were certainly not immune. With this in mind, I'd like to take a quick roll call, specifically of players who have been inactive for more than a day or two. Here's the list:

• Julius Valentine (Tech issues)
• Darrion Monte (MIA)
• Grin Moon (Tech issues)
• Ikiel Charon (MIA)
• Tender Foot (MIA)
• Odel Tage (MIA)
• Roles Wellsal (MIA)
• Aerryn Oler (Medical)

I post this list because some of you may have heard from one of the MIA players unbeknownst to me. I mean, I really don't like kicking members, especially those who have been part of our crew for some time now. So, if you've any info to share, please either leave a comment, or find me online sometime. 

Thanks, everyone. Good hunting! 

The 6* Wall

The 6* wall. The majority of us know exactly what this wall entails, since we've sat on it for many a day before 3.0 arrived. A number of members are still on that wall, so I decided to post tips and strategies for overcoming it.

Before I do, I feel it necessary to clarify one particular point. While I did take advantage of the Saboteur Special Offer -- I had the necessary chromium stockpiled, coincidentally -- I was ready to level up my Riposte Suppression Blade to 7* Max and go get a Lightsaber. Luckily, I didn't, since I decided to wait and see what the new Raids were all about. Could I earn 6-8* or 7-9* gear? I was clueless. As it turned out, I spent chromium on gear and Event Crystals on 2 Force Powers instead. I'll address Special Offers at the end of this post.

But first, a few words about the new Raids, specifically the Normal Raids. Currently on Hoth, the Frozen Armaments Raid map contains 3 Prize Nodes at different PR ratings:

Bottom Node: 19,500
Top Node: 13,500
Final Node: 9500

These PR ratings essentially mean that, if you're stuck on the 6* wall, you've probably got a PR that allows you to access 2/3 Prize Nodes. The Final Node is the easiest and, thus, guarantees a Legendary Reward of 2x 5* Event Crystals and 1 4-6* piece of Commando gear, which isn't particularly helpful in raising anyone's PR to any significant degree, since most of us already have earned this gear already. Obviously, the Event Crystals are necessary. But the Top Node, though, guarantees 1 5-7* piece of Commando gear, and this is where our story begins.

So far as I can see, the Raids were designed to ensure that T2 gear stays relevant. When T2 came out, T1 gear fell by the wayside, which irked many founding players. With the 3.0 update, players need to upgrade their T2 gear to 7* first, and only then can they begin the hunt for 6-8* gear shards.

Which leads us to the 1 5-7* piece of Commando gear that the raids guarantee. Like many players in general, I got suckered into using Tie Pilot and Imperial Officer gear. And I say suckered because the Havod necessary to level just 1 piece of this gear is rare. Conversely, players who earn this 5-7* Commando gear can grind the Normal Raid map for crystals. 

Moreover, many players have stockpiles of 4-6* Commando gear from Daily Assaults they can salvage, as well as a healthy pile of Weapons Crystals, which can be used to trade for an array of Faction Crystals necessary to level gear to 7*.

In other words, while Imperial gear has a slightly higher PR than most other gear and, interestingly, has a killer Attack Rating, shelving the Imp Gear and replacing it with standard Faction Gear when you finally level it to 7* isn't the end of the world. My Imp gear is shelved while I wait for the opportunity to collect more Havod. Sigh.

So, in brief, the Normal Raid map will guarantee at least 1 piece of 5-7* gear that you can eventually level up to 7* with enough grinding and, let's face it, RNG luck.

Now, you can also obtain 5-7* gear on Daily Opportunity missions, Crane Pulls, and Special Offers. I'll briefly address each of these in turn.

I just received a 7* Daily Op that guaranteed 2 5-7* weapons. I've received these in the past as well. The 5-7* weapon is particularly important because, as we know, it's generally easier to level up weapons than gear. Keep your eyes open for this opportunity.

As for Crane Pulls, I haven't pulled that crane in a LONG time! However, since Kabam did lower the price, it may very well be worth it. I do know that a few of our members benefited from the 3.0 Crane when it first went live, though the crane is no longer hemorrhaging 6-7* items! So, be wary.

The Special Offers have been interesting thus far, considering the Saboteur debacle. My guess is that Kabam intended to randomly offer gear sets on a rolling basis, from planet to planet as the Raids moved, but the outcry from founding players about the Saboteur set was so loud that Kabam rethought this strategy. And while these Special Offers are interesting, they can prove a little dubious. At the end of the day, Special Offers are on a par with Crane Pulls, only with the caveat that you kinda sorta maybe know what you're going to receive for your chromium:

The description is deceptively ambiguous. What do such Raid Chests contain, exactly? Well, you will receive a full set of 5-7* gear. But that's not the end of the story.

These Raid Chests are akin to Crane Pulls in the sense that the 5-7* gear you receive may already be leveled up to either 6* or 7*. For 750 Chromium, a full set of just 5-7* gear is really pretty good, in my opinion. Receiving the 6* or -- gasp -- the 7* version seems to proverbial ice this particular cake.

So, a list of things to remember, a few of which I fail to mention above:

• Raids guarantee at least 1 5-7* gear
• Raid maps yield mats needed to level up 5* to 7*
• Daily Assaults, Daily Creds, Cartel Ops, and Lando Missions yield needed mats as well
• 7* Daily Opportunity guarantees 5-7* gear and/or weapons
• Crane Pulls may yield 5-7* gear and/or weapons
• Raid Chest Special Offers guarantee at least one full 5* gear set 

There you have it. Sitting on the 6* wall is a bummer at times, but, as I hope I've demonstrated in this post, there are many opportunities available to obtain the gear, weapons, and materials needed to hop over to the other side and raise your PR.

Keep an eye out for a Lightsaber post in the near future!

Kabamed Again

Just when you may have thought it safe to assume that Kabam fixed the dreaded 6 1/2 hour long Imp SB counter, a few minutes ago the upcoming Imp SB turned imminent on Anoat:

6:32:22. Really now?

The past Imp SB triggered imminent an hour before the battle began, and I haven't heard anyone complain that Kabam finally (seemingly) fixed the clock. May I take a moment to say, unequivocally, goddammit!

While this is 100% Kabam's fault -- and after I finish this post, I'm going to the forums to let'em have it -- I want to apologize to everyone for this nonsense.

As you can see, I was almost finished with my assaults for the day when the SB popped. Now, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. And so will you. It's frustrating that Kabam makes the game literally unplayable for such an unconscionable duration of time, since suspending assault missions for Battle Plans means, also, suspending significant chances for triggering Lando Missions. I suppose I could run Daily Credit Missions, but those are pat nowadays, especially given the new Raid drops.

What is particularly frustrating is that we've Major Influence on Anoat. I suspect that, when I wake up tomorrow, we won't any longer. Thanks, Kabam.  

Jedi in Australia?

I recently came across an article on Nerdist.com with the intriguing title, "The 'Jedi Religion' Is Causing Problems In Australia." What the what now? Read it here.

DG / 5M-Sec Issues

If you're experiencing difficulty with either finding the Disruption Grenade, or finally beating the 5M-Sec Boss, please check out this forum thread I began earlier today and weigh in. Let's make our voices heard.

Imp SB on Mataou

Congratulations are in order. As a cartel, we kept our recently hard-defended influence on Mataou intact during this past Imp SB. For all those who got into the fight, good going!

And, despite facing a terrible loss and being down -1 Freedom Point during the resolve period, we apparently were globally victorious on Mataou. Whew.

Worth noting is that Kabam finally fixed the countdown clock. This Imp SB triggered imminent roughly 1hr ahead rather than 6hrs, as it had done up until very recently. Thank you, Kabam.

While searching for an image of Mataou to use with this post, I came across this, and I just had to share:

This really should read: Straight Outta BKonn