Quote The 1-50 Power-Levelling Guide

By: CrAzEdMiKe



Table of Contents:

I - Introduction

II - Planning your Character

III - Character Companions

IV - Exterior Support

V - Getting Started (Levels 1-21)

VI - Mid to Late Game (Levels 21-50)

VII - Damage Control and Course Correction

VIII - Equipping your Character

IX - Crew Skills

X - Conclusion

XI - Additional Material/Resources



I - Introduction

Spoiler Hey everyone! To begin I would like to state that I do not consider myself a SW:ToR expert nor am I very experienced in MMOs. In fact, SW:ToR is the only MMO I've ever played. That being said, I have a strong backround in RPGs as I've played Baldur's Gate I, II and Throne of Bhaal at least 100 times, Icewind Dale I & II a fair number of times. I also spent countless hours on Neverwinter Nights. The server I played on actually functioned extremely similarly to regular MMOs just on a smaller scale.



My point is I'm not trying to tell you that my guide is THE way to level easily. I'm sure there are lots of ways to get from 1 to 50 in this game, but this is the method I personally have employed with great success with many characters. I made a friend one day in a flashpoint and we had a blast together. He was a level 36 at the time and I was a level 30. Over the course of the following weeks, we played a fair bit together and did quite a few flashpoints together but were levelling seperately... That is until I ended up catching up with him and eventually beating him to level 50.



I personally thought that there were a lot of areas that he simply needed to refine in terms of how he was questing that would drastically improve the efficiency of how he levelled. There are some drawbacks to the way I am proposing and I will address them throughout this guide, but I'm hoping that at least a couple of these points may help speed up your quest to get to level 50.



So without further ado, let us begin!



II - Planning your Character

Spoiler



It's very easy while running through the world and finding a good piece of equipment that has completely different stats for your class and go "Hey, maybe I should use that instead." Do not succumb to this! Most people already have an idea in mind when they start their character... Whether it be something simple like the powerful Sith Warrior that is strong in the Dark Side and will smash face, to the honorable Bounty Hunter who seeks to protect and heal others. What you want your character to be is purely up to you and never let anyone try and sway you from that. You're paying for this game, so play what you want to play and don't look back.



With that being said, I'm going to make an extremely brief and simple list of the different classes and what their intended roles in the game are.



Juggernaut/Guardian (Tank/Melee DPS)

Marauder/Sentinel (Melee DPS)

Sorcerer/Sage (Heals/Ranged DPS)

Assassin/Shadow (Tank/Melee DPS)

Mercenary/Commando (Heals/Ranged DPS)

Powertech/Vanguard (Tank/Ranged & Close Range DPS)

Sniper/Gunslinger (Ranged DPS)

Operative/Scoundrel (Heals/Ranged & Close Range DPS)



This is a very simple list that is basically copy/pasted from the game to describe the roles of each advanced class. In terms of what these roles mean, a Tank would be described as a character that will actively attempt to draw fire and absorb damage for his allies. A DPS is a straightforward damage dealer that will attempt to kill it's target as quickly as possible. Healers are of course, well, healers... They seek to support their allies by keeping them alive as long as possible. Between these three roles, you should select your role based on what playstyle you would like to play.



The simplest of the three to play would definitely be DPS. In any situation your objective is simple: Kill the enemy. You will generally have few ways of being able to support your team in ways that don't involve simply killing the opponent. You will be more prone to taking damage and thus your fate will be kind of sealed to the supporting team members (Tanks and Healers). Whether it be in PvP or Flashpoints, you will operate better when enemies just leave you alone and you simply smack away trying to do damage. If you don't wish to worry too much about the rest of your team, I would advise playing a DPS character, especially since you will likely have a much easier time levelling with a DPS than with either a Tank or a Healer.



The next level of difficulty in terms of playing a character I would say is the healer. They become more difficult in PvP or in flashpoints since the demand for your heals will increase substantially, but good healing requires a firm understanding of how your energy relates to your healing, and when to use certain heals over others. Healers tend to become more effective as they gain more literal experience in healing related scenarios. In terms of levelling it does tend to be a little slower as your attacks will definitely have less punch and you are focused on keeping allies up instead of bringing enemies down. Although they may take longer to level than either DPS or Tanks, I do feel (and some of you may disagree with me on this) that healers are fairly straightforward and one dimensional in what they need to do.



The hardest character I feel there is to play is the Tank. From my experience playing a tank requires the most awareness of what is going on in the battle and requires a lot of attention to try and keep all the enemies focus on you. Tank is definitely tricky to play, but can be extremely rewarding when done well. When playing a tank you should definitely be moving your vision around your character constantly to check up and see if any enemies are attacking your allies. I've seen a lot of Tanks who get tunnel vision and start acting like a DPS where they taunt everyone once and focus in on a single target. This is not the job of the tank! The tank needs to be attacking everyone and pulling attention away from others. This is why I feel the tank is hardest to play. The big boss fights are usually the easiest fights for tanks to worry about as they have only one enemy to keep busy. The sign of a masterful tank is in a room full of enemies and they are all attacking that tank. If the tank does his job well, it will make the healers and DPS work more effectively as well, since they are not concerned for themselves and can take down the targets and heal with relative ease.



So once you select your advanced class, you should decide right away what kind of role you want to play in the group and stick to that role... Because your role will influence what kind of companion you will want to keep around with you, and believe it or not your companion will greatly impact your ability to level throughout this game. I will elaborate more on that in the next chapter.



Once you have decided what role you are going to be, the next phase of your planning should be to immediately hop to



There is a fourth type of character that I've deliberately ignored up until this point and that would be a hybridization of roles within one character. This isn't applicable to Snipers, Gunslingers, Marauders and Sentinels as they are all strictly DPS advanced classes, but other characters have the ability to dabble in different types of trees to try and achieve a unique result. These characters are what I would call niche characters and can certainly be useful in a certain type of group, but keep in mind that they will not fulfill a single role as well as a dedicated type of character would. These characters tend to be a lot stronger in PvP scenarios, whereas in flashpoints they tend to be a little hit and miss. Sometimes being backup heals or backup tank can be useful, but if the tanks and healers are doing just fine then you just become a subpar DPS. So keep that in mind if you choose to attempt a hybrid character. I also feel that hybridization is something that requires a player with a firm understanding of how the class operates to pull off... And sometimes these classes don't come into their own until a critical level where they acquire certain skills in both trees. In terms of difficulty to play, I would probably stick to a single role instead of trying to juggle multiple ones.



So once you've figured out what role you're going to be, the next step is choosing your companions and outfitting your character! Fortunately, this stage of your easy levelling can be done at ANY TIME. That's right, if you're a level 30 and you're reading this now, don't sweat it! The first and foremost thing you should do is have a plan for your character. By establishing a road map that you want to take your character down, decision making becomes so much easier.It's very easy while running through the world and finding a good piece of equipment that has completely different stats for your class and go "Hey, maybe I should use that instead." Do not succumb to this! Most people already have an idea in mind when they start their character... Whether it be something simple like the powerful Sith Warrior that is strong in the Dark Side and will smash face, to the honorable Bounty Hunter who seeks to protect and heal others. What you want your character to be is purely up to you and never let anyone try and sway you from that. You're paying for this game, so play what you want to play and don't look back.With that being said, I'm going to make an extremely brief and simple list of the different classes and what their intended roles in the game are.(Tank/Melee DPS)(Melee DPS)(Heals/Ranged DPS)(Tank/Melee DPS)(Heals/Ranged DPS)(Tank/Ranged & Close Range DPS)(Ranged DPS)(Heals/Ranged & Close Range DPS)This is a very simple list that is basically copy/pasted from the game to describe the roles of each advanced class. In terms of what these roles mean, a Tank would be described as a character that will actively attempt to draw fire and absorb damage for his allies. A DPS is a straightforward damage dealer that will attempt to kill it's target as quickly as possible. Healers are of course, well, healers... They seek to support their allies by keeping them alive as long as possible. Between these three roles, you should select your role based on what playstyle you would like to play.The simplest of the three to play would definitely be DPS. In any situation your objective is simple: Kill the enemy. You will generally have few ways of being able to support your team in ways that don't involve simply killing the opponent. You will be more prone to taking damage and thus your fate will be kind of sealed to the supporting team members (Tanks and Healers). Whether it be in PvP or Flashpoints, you will operate better when enemies just leave you alone and you simply smack away trying to do damage. If you don't wish to worry too much about the rest of your team, I would advise playing a DPS character, especially since you will likely have a much easier time levelling with a DPS than with either a Tank or a Healer.The next level of difficulty in terms of playing a character I would say is the healer. They become more difficult in PvP or in flashpoints since the demand for your heals will increase substantially, but good healing requires a firm understanding of how your energy relates to your healing, and when to use certain heals over others. Healers tend to become more effective as they gain more literal experience in healing related scenarios. In terms of levelling it does tend to be a little slower as your attacks will definitely have less punch and you are focused on keeping allies up instead of bringing enemies down. Although they may take longer to level than either DPS or Tanks, I do feel (and some of you may disagree with me on this) that healers are fairly straightforward and one dimensional in what they need to do.The hardest character I feel there is to play is the Tank. From my experience playing a tank requires the most awareness of what is going on in the battle and requires a lot of attention to try and keep all the enemies focus on you. Tank is definitely tricky to play, but can be extremely rewarding when done well. When playing a tank you should definitely be moving your vision around your character constantly to check up and see if any enemies are attacking your allies. I've seen a lot of Tanks who get tunnel vision and start acting like a DPS where they taunt everyone once and focus in on a single target. This is not the job of the tank! The tank needs to be attacking everyone and pulling attention away from others. This is why I feel the tank is hardest to play. The big boss fights are usually the easiest fights for tanks to worry about as they have only one enemy to keep busy. The sign of a masterful tank is in a room full of enemies and they are all attacking that tank. If the tank does his job well, it will make the healers and DPS work more effectively as well, since they are not concerned for themselves and can take down the targets and heal with relative ease.So once you select your advanced class, you should decide right away what kind of role you want to play in the group and stick to that role... Because your role will influence what kind of companion you will want to keep around with you, and believe it or not your companion will greatly impact your ability to level throughout this game. I will elaborate more on that in the next chapter.Once you have decided what role you are going to be, the next phase of your planning should be to immediately hop to this Website . From there you'll not only be able to look at the respective skill trees for your character, but you can also play around with the figures and get a good sense of how you're going to progress your tree. You can save the link of your build ideas to your favorites bar and keep them there for reference if needed. You can even take builds from off the internet if you prefer, after all it's your character! There's no shame in seeing a particular build and going "Hey, I like that. I want to do that!". So long as you have it saved and bookmarked so that if you don't remember exactly you can quickly look it up and it will tell you where to go.There is a fourth type of character that I've deliberately ignored up until this point and that would be a hybridization of roles within one character. This isn't applicable to Snipers, Gunslingers, Marauders and Sentinels as they are all strictly DPS advanced classes, but other characters have the ability to dabble in different types of trees to try and achieve a unique result. These characters are what I would call niche characters and can certainly be useful in a certain type of group, but keep in mind that they will not fulfill a single role as well as a dedicated type of character would. These characters tend to be a lot stronger in PvP scenarios, whereas in flashpoints they tend to be a little hit and miss. Sometimes being backup heals or backup tank can be useful, but if the tanks and healers are doing just fine then you just become a subpar DPS. So keep that in mind if you choose to attempt a hybrid character. I also feel that hybridization is something that requires a player with a firm understanding of how the class operates to pull off... And sometimes these classes don't come into their own until a critical level where they acquire certain skills in both trees. In terms of difficulty to play, I would probably stick to a single role instead of trying to juggle multiple ones.So once you've figured out what role you're going to be, the next step is choosing your companions and outfitting your character!



III - Character Companions

Spoiler



Ranged DPS Companions:

Aric Jorgan (Trooper)

Risha (Smuggler)

Sergeant Rusk (Jedi Knight)

Zenith (Consular)

Gault Rennow (Bounty Hunter)

Vette (Sith Warrior)

Andronikus Revel (Sith Inquisitor)

Raina Temple (Imperial Agent)



Xalek (Sith Inquisitor) and Malavai Quinn (Sith Warrior) are listed on



Melee Tank Companions:

Tanno Vik (Trooper)

Bowdaar (Smuggler)

Lord Scourge (Jedi Knight)

Qyzen-Fess (Jedi Consular)

Skadge (Bounty Hunter)

Broonmark (Sith Warrior)

Khem Vhal (Sith Inquisitor)

Scorpio (Imperial Agent)



Again, Xalek for Sith Inquisitors has the option of being a melee Tank as well. So keep that in mind if you're tired of listening to Khem Vhal's desires to eat you. =P



Ranged Tank Companions:

M1-4X (Trooper)

Corso Riggs (Smuggler)

T7-01 (Jedi Knight)

Lt. Felix Iresso (Jedi Consular)

Blizz (Bounty Hunter)

Lieutenant Pierce (Sith Warrior)

Xalek (Sith Inquisitor sort of... You can turn off most of his melee abilties to force him to use ranged more)

Kaliyo (Imperial Agent)



Healer Companions:

Elara Dorne (Trooper)

Guss Tuno (Smuggler)

Doc (Jedi Knight)

Tharan Cedrax (Jedi Consular)

Mako (Bounty Hunter)

Malavai Quinn (Sith Warrior)

Talos Drellik (Sith Inquisitor)

Dr. Eckard Lokin (Imperial Agent)



Melee DPS Companions:

Yuun (Trooper)

Akaavi Spar (Smuggler)

Kira Carsen (Jedi Knight)

Nadia Grell (Jedi Consular)

Torian Cadera (Bounty Hunter)

Jaesa Willsaam (Sith Warrior)

Ashara Zavros (Sith Inquisitor)

Vector Hyllus (Imperial Agent)



So the basic roles of your companions are not unlike your own. The main thing to be aware of is that you need to maximize the strengths of your companions in order to maximize your own. Since you're going to be using your companion primarily when you're levelling alone, you don't absolutely need your setup to be "flawless". Your objective is to level quickly, not perfectly. Here is what I recommend in terms of what type of companion should be paired up with your character role.



Tanks = Ranged DPS Companion

The nice thing about having ranged DPS is that they will pretty much always be shooting stuff. Since the AI for your companions is in a way flawless (as they will constantly be trying to use their abilities) ranged DPS won't skip a beat and will bring down your enemies with more speed and efficiency. It's also easier to see when one is being attacked as it will be more visible when an enemy is either turned away from you to attack your companion at range, or if a melee enemy will attempt to go after said companion. The ranged companion also won't attack until you attack, by which point as the tank you should already be drawing the aggro from the mobs allowing you to not have to worry as much for your companion's safety. If you're a Powertech having a ranged companion is definitely superior (I feel) to a melee DPS companion by virtue of that you'll be attacking first and your companion will be spending time running up to the enemy. A ranged DPS companion has the same range as you, and will start shooting right after you do. Melee tanks can certainly get away with having a melee DPS companion, as they will be closer by and can react a little more quickly in certain situations, but I still feel that having a Ranged DPS is superior and also better for general practice since it will encourage you to work on your map awareness.



Healers = Melee Tank Companion

As a healer, you're going to want to keep the battle away from yourself. Keep in mind, even though you may not be specialized for damage, all healers have an array of long range attacks and you should be utilizing them. In terms of levelling solo I actually feel like you should still be focused on trying to mow through the mobs as quickly as you can while keeping the heat off yourself. You can patch up your companion if he/she starts to get low, and you can do the bulk of your healing after the battle is done. Your fights wont exactly look pretty as your companion will be getting beat up all the time but it will get the job done more quickly than if you studiously dedicate yourself to keeping your companion at full health throughout the course of the fight. If you have a heal over time spell you can cast those on your companion around the end or after a fight so that he/she will be healed up for the next one instead of having to rest.



Ranged DPS = Melee Tank Companion

For reasons extremely similar to the healer, you're going to want to try and keep your enemies at a distance and having a melee Tank will definitely help with that. I didn't mention it in the healer section, but you should always assign your companion to attack enemies first (Control + 1) before unloading as they will draw the aggro first. This isn't necessary for most fights, however in some situations with some stronger enemies you'll definitely want them to go in first. The more damage they take the more you are capable of dealing uninterrupted.



Melee DPS = Healer Companion

Since you're going to be getting up close and personal with most of the enemies you'll face while levelling, I would advise a healer companion for these types of characters. Although a tank companion will distract a number of enemies away from you, the problem is that you won't be able to take advantage of a distance gap when facing melee characters (which there are many of in this game). Since putting distance between you and your enemies is counter-intuitive, your objective should be to simply overpower them with your superior DPS capabilities. A healer is the best choice in my opinion since healer companions generally utilize a number of stun abilities that will keep them from damaging you too severely and will give enough in heals to keep you alive long enough to mow through them.



For some classes, matching companions will be quicker to find than others. This is by no means a "necessary" thing to do either... If you feel like you want to roll with a different companion than I suggest, by all means do it! Again, these are my suggestions not my rules. In general you're going to be doing most of the work while levelling regardless of what role you pick and what companion you choose, but picking the right one can speed things up a fair bit.



I would also seriously advise keeping up on your companion equipment to a moderate degree. My suggestion would be to focus your physical purchases (such as the Galactic Trade Network) on your character since you won't always be in situations where you can use your companion. Once you have yourself properly geared for your level you can spend your commendations to purchase things for your companion after you've completed a world. To begin, character companions will play a crucial role in your levelling experience and they need to be chosen carefully. The role of your companion should be directly related to the role you have chosen to play. I'm going to summarize very briefly the different types of companions that will be available to you.Aric Jorgan (Trooper)Risha (Smuggler)Sergeant Rusk (Jedi Knight)Zenith (Consular)Gault Rennow (Bounty Hunter)Vette (Sith Warrior)Andronikus Revel (Sith Inquisitor)Raina Temple (Imperial Agent)Xalek (Sith Inquisitor) and Malavai Quinn (Sith Warrior) are listed on http://www.swtor-spy.com/companions/ as being able to perform different roles, so they can be used as well for ranged DPS.Tanno Vik (Trooper)Bowdaar (Smuggler)Lord Scourge (Jedi Knight)Qyzen-Fess (Jedi Consular)Skadge (Bounty Hunter)Broonmark (Sith Warrior)Khem Vhal (Sith Inquisitor)Scorpio (Imperial Agent)Again, Xalek for Sith Inquisitors has the option of being a melee Tank as well. So keep that in mind if you're tired of listening to Khem Vhal's desires to eat you. =PM1-4X (Trooper)Corso Riggs (Smuggler)T7-01 (Jedi Knight)Lt. Felix Iresso (Jedi Consular)Blizz (Bounty Hunter)Lieutenant Pierce (Sith Warrior)Xalek (Sith Inquisitor sort of... You can turn off most of his melee abilties to force him to use ranged more)Kaliyo (Imperial Agent)Elara Dorne (Trooper)Guss Tuno (Smuggler)Doc (Jedi Knight)Tharan Cedrax (Jedi Consular)Mako (Bounty Hunter)Malavai Quinn (Sith Warrior)Talos Drellik (Sith Inquisitor)Dr. Eckard Lokin (Imperial Agent)Yuun (Trooper)Akaavi Spar (Smuggler)Kira Carsen (Jedi Knight)Nadia Grell (Jedi Consular)Torian Cadera (Bounty Hunter)Jaesa Willsaam (Sith Warrior)Ashara Zavros (Sith Inquisitor)Vector Hyllus (Imperial Agent)So the basic roles of your companions are not unlike your own. The main thing to be aware of is that you need to maximize the strengths of your companions in order to maximize your own. Since you're going to be using your companion primarily when you're levelling alone, you don't absolutely need your setup to be "flawless". Your objective is to level quickly, not perfectly. Here is what I recommend in terms of what type of companion should be paired up with your character role.The nice thing about having ranged DPS is that they will pretty much always be shooting stuff. Since the AI for your companions is in a way flawless (as they will constantly be trying to use their abilities) ranged DPS won't skip a beat and will bring down your enemies with more speed and efficiency. It's also easier to see when one is being attacked as it will be more visible when an enemy is either turned away from you to attack your companion at range, or if a melee enemy will attempt to go after said companion. The ranged companion also won't attack until you attack, by which point as the tank you should already be drawing the aggro from the mobs allowing you to not have to worry as much for your companion's safety. If you're a Powertech having a ranged companion is definitely superior (I feel) to a melee DPS companion by virtue of that you'll be attacking first and your companion will be spending time running up to the enemy. A ranged DPS companion has the same range as you, and will start shooting right after you do. Melee tanks can certainly get away with having a melee DPS companion, as they will be closer by and can react a little more quickly in certain situations, but I still feel that having a Ranged DPS is superior and also better for general practice since it will encourage you to work on your map awareness.As a healer, you're going to want to keep the battle away from yourself. Keep in mind, even though you may not be specialized for damage, all healers have an array of long range attacks and you should be utilizing them. In terms of levelling solo I actually feel like you should still be focused on trying to mow through the mobs as quickly as you can while keeping the heat off yourself. You can patch up your companion if he/she starts to get low, and you can do the bulk of your healing after the battle is done. Your fights wont exactly look pretty as your companion will be getting beat up all the time but it will get the job done more quickly than if you studiously dedicate yourself to keeping your companion at full health throughout the course of the fight. If you have a heal over time spell you can cast those on your companion around the end or after a fight so that he/she will be healed up for the next one instead of having to rest.For reasons extremely similar to the healer, you're going to want to try and keep your enemies at a distance and having a melee Tank will definitely help with that. I didn't mention it in the healer section, but you should always assign your companion to attack enemies first (Control + 1) before unloading as they will draw the aggro first. This isn'tfor most fights, however in some situations with some stronger enemies you'll definitely want them to go in first. The more damage they take the more you are capable of dealing uninterrupted.Since you're going to be getting up close and personal with most of the enemies you'll face while levelling, I would advise a healer companion for these types of characters. Although a tank companion will distract a number of enemies away from you, the problem is that you won't be able to take advantage of a distance gap when facing melee characters (which there are many of in this game). Since putting distance between you and your enemies is counter-intuitive, your objective should be to simply overpower them with your superior DPS capabilities. A healer is the best choice in my opinion since healer companions generally utilize a number of stun abilities that will keep them from damaging you too severely and will give enough in heals to keep you alive long enough to mow through them.For some classes, matching companions will be quicker to find than others. This is by no means a "necessary" thing to do either... If you feel like you want to roll with a different companion than I suggest, by all means do it! Again, these are my suggestions not my rules. In general you're going to be doing most of the work while levelling regardless of what role you pick and what companion you choose, but picking the right one can speed things up a fair bit.I would also seriously advise keeping up on your companion equipment to a moderate degree. My suggestion would be to focus your physical purchases (such as the Galactic Trade Network) on your character since you won't always be in situations where you can use your companion. Once you have yourself properly geared for your level you can spend your commendations to purchase things for your companion after you've completed a world.



IV - Exterior Support

Spoiler If this isn't the first character you've levelled, you probably already have a good grasp of what's going on and how to get from 1-50. However, you now have an extremely helpful and powerful tool to make your levelling experience even faster and easier: The resources of your main character. Even if your main character isn't a level 50 yet, the amount of money he can generate from quests and his crew skills will be superior to that of your new character, and you should utilize that as much as possible. Sending a level 1 character 5,000 credits at the beginning of the game may not sound like much, but it will help speed that character through that initial world SO much faster as you can right off the bat buy a bunch of equipment (which would otherwise be considered expensive for an early level character) and be decently geared right from the get go.



Once you get off your intial world, your main character can help your alternative character even more by providing funds and equipment that might normally be very expensive or even unattainable. Crew skills on your main character can radically improve your levelling speed as you'll be able to send high grade equipment that matches your new characters level constantly.



If you're working on your main character, don't fret! You're in luck because there are many helpful guildmates that are here willing to help you! I know that I've put together equipment packages for about four or five people now and my guild, and have also crafted quite a few Enhancements, Hilts and Color Crystals (Since my main character is Artifice) for guildmates. If you're not part of a guild, just join one! You don't have to commit to anything you don't want to, so if you see a guild is looking for members, join up! Young guilds tend to be friendlier to newer players as they are looking to establish a player base and will more than likely be more eager to help you out. On the plus side, joining a guild can be a lot of fun and you'll be able to play with the same people and generally will get more enjoyment out of the game as a result.



As part of a guild, you have a support net so if you're looking to get something crafted make a callout! Most guilds also have a guild bank that you can check regularly for good equipment. You don't always need to rely on yourself. So if you need a hand with a particular mission or are looking for a crafter, don't be shy and just ask around. Sometimes the right player may not be on, but if you find out about a character who crafts certain items you can send them a mail in-game.



The only thing I would like to briefly mention (and is simply my personal opinion, not all guild members may feel the same way I do) is that I personally don't like when a guildmate asks for credits. I almost always have an excess of lower level materials so it's usually almost free for me to craft lower level equipment... But asking for credits to me is simply saying you don't want to put the work into the game to achieve the results of other people. I've given credits to people before and frankly I've always ended up regretting it as it's money that I've worked hard to earn and ends up being given away for what could be a completely irrelevant or stupid purchase. This is a side subject that isn't related to the guide exactly, but I feel it's something that should be said... Because if you start asking the guildies for credits it could alienate you from people like me and will actually shrink your exterior support mechanism.



There are others who have a ton of credits who have no problem giving away a bunch... But as said, just be mindful when asking for credits from another player. Like in real life, time equals money in The Old Republic. You earn credits while questing or doing other activities which generally involve you putting in energy to get those credits. Imagine for a moment that it takes a certain player an hour of non-stop work to acquire 200,000 credits, and you ask that player to give you 100,000 credits. You are basically asking that player to donate 1/2 an hour of their time to you, time that you either don't want or can't take to achieve the same result. That's my little rant on the subject but I do feel it needs to be said, because it can really tick off a couple of people simply by asking the question. And once again, not all people feel the way I do.



Regardless, make sure to make use of your exterior support! Whether that be a higher level character you have or your guildmates, being able to access high quality equipment either for free or extremely low cost will help you level so much faster. If that resource is available to you, then you should use it.



V - Getting Started (Levels 1-21)

Spoiler Finally! We're actually going to start playing the game! By now you should already have decided what kind of character you're going to play and which companion you're going to be using. Hopefully you'll also have been able to access your exterior support to get some good quality low level equipment. High quality equipment at low levels actually makes levelling go by a LOT more quickly, so please if possible get some gear set aside in advance if you're making a new character or if you've already started, play catchup and try and tap into that exterior support.



Whichever world you start on, whether it be Korriban/Hutta or Tython/Ord Mantell, your objective early on is to just find as many mobs as possible and kill them. Don't even worry about your missions just yet. You get your first couple of levels fairly quickly and you won't be staying in the low level areas for very long at all. What I always try to do is farm up the mobs until I hit level 3 before starting any of my quests.



For the starting worlds it's super straightforward. It is a little annoying, but grab absolutely every single quest you can find and complete it. If you pick up a Heroic +2 quest, don't even worry about finding a group for it. Finding groups is definitely necessary later on in your adventures, but on the first world you start on just keep plugging at the regular and class quests until you've completed them all and have your companion. THEN once you have your companion and are higher level than the Heroic, you can blast through it pretty quickly without the need of having to find a group. You could make a case that the travel time to go back to the Heroic Areas is comparable to finding a group which can be true. But the starting worlds aren't all that large and the Heroic Areas are located in the same general area so you can get them done back to back fairly easily.



Make sure to attack any mobs you see. They go down pretty quickly and won't slow you down much. If you're really aggressive and do all the quests on your starting planet, by the time you get to the Fleet you should be level 11-12.



Once you hit the fleet, saddle up and get ready because you're actually going to want to spend a bit of time here. Your first priority should be to check out the crew skills area and pick a crew skill. The key is regardless of which crew skill you decide to take is to talk to each and every crew skill mentor. Each one will give you a codex unlock for a relatively small amount of XP... But If you're level 11 by the time you're done talking to all the different vendors you can hit level 12 simply by talking to all these guys. Once you've picked up that XP, head to your advanced class trainer and select your advanced class.



Once you have your advanced class selected and skills picked (both class skills and crew skills), you're going to want to head over to the combat training area and pick up the PvP Daily. As a low level the first daily is simply to play a Warzone match. There is no requirement to win, just simply to play one. While waiting for the queue to pop, see if you can get somebody to go on regular Black Talon/Esseles with you. If possible, try and entice higher level characters to join you by offering to spacebar the text and make it a social run. Even though you won't get XP from killing the mobs, the bosses still give somewhat decent XP per kill and the bonus mission and mission completion XP will stay the same regardless of who was with you in your party. If you can find someone who wants to do Black Talon/Esseles multiple times, you can get a fair amount of XP pretty quickly without having to work really hard for it.



Don't shy away from regular Black Talon/Esseles runs either though. It might take longer, but you still get a healthy chunk of XP from doing it. Your objective should be to PVP and Black Talon/Esseles your way to level 15 before you even start going to Dromund Kaas/Coruscant. The reason for this is simple: Your quests begin on Dromund Kaas/Coruscant as level 9 quests. The maximum number of levels you can be before quests no longer give you any experience is 6 levels. So if you have a level 9 quest in your log you can complete that quest as a level 15 and you will still get experience from it... And it will take you significantly less time to complete as a level 15 than if you were a level 9.



Since the regular quests on worlds (with the exception of Heroic quests) are one time only, they generally give a pretty juicy amount of XP and that is why they are able to maintain a pretty stable average for players travelling through the world. Most of the players who have gone through Dromund Kaas will find themselves at around level 16 when they reach the Dark Temple, and the reason for that is the math behind the experience rewards for doing the regular quests. If you start as a level 15, by the time you're done Dromund Kaas/Coruscant you're going to be approximately level 20-21.



So as said, do Black Talon/Esseles and Warzones until you hit level 15. It can be a little tedious at this point and it may even feel like you're not accomplishing anything, but keep this in mind: You must spend a certain amount of time regardless to complete one time quests that you will be doing later. By doing Black Talon/Esseles and Warzones repeatedly and early, they have a greater XP impact since one is a Flashpoint and the other just gives decent XP in general. By having two dailies linked to PvP you can sometimes play two Warzones if you're lucky and complete both. Even if you're not a fan of PvP just do it. The experience you gain in PvP is related to how long you are in the Warzone and how active you are within it. So even if your team is losing horribly don't let it bother you. Your objective is to earn experience, not necessarily to win (in the event of you completing the 1 Warzone win already).



Once you hit that level 15, make sure to check to see if you can get any upgrades to your equipment from either guildmates or the GTN (or of course other characters you might have). Get as good of gear as possible within a short timeframe and then head to Kaas. Don't forget that if you've done Black Talon/Esseles a bunch of times, you should have quite a few Dromund Kaas/Coruscant commendations and use them! Get mods for you customizable equipment and better gear if possible. You should have quite a few commendations, and don't be shy about spending them as you'll be getting plenty more.



Your objective is going to be very similar to that of Korriban/Hutta. Grab every quest you can find and complete them. The only key difference this time is that you're going to have to pay close attention to which quests you want to do in what order. Check your log a few times to make sure that the quest you are doing is on the far end of you "level reach" for getting experience. So if you're a level 17, prioritize the completion of level 11 missions before tackling any level 12 missions.



If you find that you are getting close to levelling up and have more than a few missions on your list that are almost in range of not yielding XP follow these instructions closely: Your objective should be to complete ALL the missions and killing as few enemies as possible. If there are bonus missions, ignore them. Bonus mission experience is less than a mission completion. What you do after you've completed the missions but haven't turned them in is to return to the locations where you turn in said missions and turn the missions in BUT DO NOT ACCEPT THE MISSION COMPLETION. You can keep two or three (can't remember off the top of my head) missions in your pending tab... Which means if you keep these missions pending you will get the experience from them EVEN IF YOU LEVELUP AFTERWARDS. That means you can be a level 18 and still get XP from completing a level 11 mission if you kept the mission in your pending tab. When you turn in the quest and the menu to accept pops up, just hit Escape and it will send the mission to your pending tab.



So again, like Korriban/Hutta/Tython/Ord Mantell your objective is to complete all the regular quests and if you can find the people do the Heroic quests as well. Your regular questing will be going quite smoothly as you'll be a healthy number of levels ahead of what you normally would be, and as a result you won't be aggroing as many mobs since the aggro distance will now be longer.



Contrary to your starting world however, you are now going to try and avoid mobs at all costs. If you're on a mission I would advise killing at least on group of mobs just to make sure that you're getting the bonus missions (only ignore bonus missions if you're getting too close to a levelup on a far reaching mission), but otherwise try to avoid mobs. Mobs consume a lot of time for relatively little XP gain. Again, if a bonus mission is involved then that's a different story, but generally you don't want to bother with random animals running around the planet. What you're also going to want to do is always pick commendation rewards from mission completions with the exception of if there is a piece of gear offered that is superior to your own.



Depending on how many Heroics you are able to get groups together for, by the time you complete all there is to be done on Dromund Kaas/Coruscant you should be around level 18-20. When you finish your class quest and get your ship, head to the fleet right away. Your first task is to pick up Emerging Conflicts I. Similar to when you got off your starting world, your objective now is to get to level 21 before you start Balmorra/Taris.



Complete as many of the Flashpoints and Warzones as you can. Just keep in mind that the XP you are getting from these not only yields more XP given the time required to do the quest (For instance you will gain more XP in 15 mins as a level 20 in a Warzone than you would if you were doing level 20 quests). You can balance the amount of PvP vs Flashpoints and space missions however you choose. If you're big on doing flashpoints, then keep getting groups together. Believe it or not, most players will actually be down for a second or third run of the same flashpoint just to try and get some gear for their character. This can yield you not only good gear, but decent XP as well.



Try and keep an eye out for moddable equipment for your companion. Your goal is to spend those commendations you earned on Dromund Kaas for equipment modifications for your companion. Ideally, you'll be using the Galactic Trade Network, Guildmates and hopefully other characters to field your character with top notch equipment. If your companion is geared with the highest mods available from Dromund Kaas that is generally a heck of a lot better than what a companion would normally be fielding anyway.



So once you hit level 21, hop in your shiny new ship and head to Balmorra/Taris!



VI - Mid to Late Game (Levels 21-50)

Spoiler Congratulations! Believe it or not the really hard part is now over. By securing a healthy six level lead you're now going to be able to apply the exact same principle you've been using for the rest of the game. You'll also have more "filler missions" to choose from to maintain that level lead. The reason the early part of the game is a little more difficult and tedious is because a lot of stuff hasn't been unlocked for you yet. For instance you didn't have as many flashpoints to choose from, nor were you able to do Space Missions to suppliment your experience gains.



By going through planets with not only a level lead but an equipment lead, you will carve through the regular quests like butter. The good news is that you won't need to rely as much on PvP or flashpoints (though I still recommend you do them) for quite a while. The Balmorra Bonus Series is a level 19 series quest (I'm not sure what the Taris bonus series level is as I am an Empire player). This means that after you're all done the class quests and other quests on Balmorra/Taris you'll be able to pick up the bonus series right away and keep that six level lead.



Not only will questing be a lot easier by having spent the initial time getting ahead in levels, but to boot you're going to be starting Nar Shaddaa with a speeder! By spending the time early game to get ahead in levels, you will speed up the rest of your game significantly. Believe it or not, you're quite likely to run into problems around Alderaan if you intend on getting XP for the Nar Shaddaa Bonus Series (since both fall in the same level range).



Eventually, your level gap between worlds is slowly going to close again, but this is going to be late late game when you're almost completed your class quests. At this time, one of my characters is a level 45 character and she has JUST finished Hoth... And I skipped most of the missions there because I was too high level for most of them (in regards to giving XP).



The nice thing about leaving grey missions is that you can use that as easy cash later. If you're in a bind and want to make some credits super quick, you have the option of going back to a planet that you didn't complete the regular missions and just blast through them REALLY easily and make a fair amount of money. If you've been PvPing and doing flashpoints, money shouldn't be too much of an issue as you can use commendations found in the flashpoints to upgrade your gear to gear of that level.



Flashpoints and space missions are what I feel the key to executing this style of levelling properly. By doing the dailies on a frequent basis you're going to be getting commendations that are close to your level. You may be just starting Balmorra/Taris, but if you've done Mandalorian Raiders you'll have access to Nar Shaddaa and Alderaan commendations, which can translate into equipment upgrades for either you or your companion (obviously prioritize yourself first). And of course, you'll also be getting drops that are closer to your level while doing these Flashpoints.



PvP is also really useful at some key points. If you have enough commendations saved up, you can buy PvP gear at level 20 that will really help you go through Balmorra/Taris... And there are also some sets available for level 40 as well. Even if by that point your gear is better, keep in mind you can give that gear to your companions. By spending commendations on your companions, you keep the credits to yourself which not only allows you to be more efficient spending-wise, but leaves you more room to purchase better equipment. You should check the GTN frequently, as it is an excellent source for finding equipment.



From my experience, I haven't actually really seen the planets Voss and Correllia for the following reason: I was level 50 by the time I arrived there and I simply did my class quest and left. Though keep in mind, you can lax up a little bit on the 6 level rule the further along you go in the game, partly because as you gain more levels it requires more and more XP to levelup... Which means you need to do more and more "filler missions" (i.e. PvP and flashpoints) in order to maintain that 6 level lead. You shouldn't have any problems doing this up until about level 45-46 at which point you're almost done anyway.



VII - Damage Control and Course Correction

Spoiler As much as we all like to stick to the rules... Often we don't. I myself have once in a while said "Screw this planet" and left before I finished all the quests. Ideally, you shouldn't do this as you'll be having a very easy time doing the quests. However, in the event that you've been levelling according to what your log says and haven't thought of doing something like this until now, you're going to have to change course and do some damage control.



The first thing I would do is check previous planets to see if there are any Bonus Series that I missed. Bonus Series on planets are higher level than what is shown on the Galaxy Map, which means you'll be able to get a fair amount of XP from completing those missions. You should try and pick a planet that is around your approximate level, but a little bit lower. For instance, say you're a level 31 and you're on Alderaan, and you read this guide and decide "Hey, this makes sense." What you'll want to do is go back to Tatooine and check and see if there's a bonus series available.



If you've already done the bonus series for the previous planet, try and get groups together to complete all the Heroic missions. Broadcast the fact that you're quite a few levels higher than the mission and you generally won't have any problems finding people to join up with you.



Again, PvP and Flashpoints are your "filler missions" and you're going to need to do quite a few of them to catch up. Again though, you can pick flashpoints that are 6 levels below you and have a relatively easy time going through them as an easier time finding group members. Never underestimate the power of advertising. If you were on the fleet and were waiting for a Warzone and someone called out "Looking for one more DPS for Cademimu"... You might think about it and then go "Ahhh but Warzone takes less time I'll wait for queue to pop." If instead you saw "Group of level 31-35 characters looking for 1 DPS for Cademimu"... You'd start thinking "Hey, these guys are overlevelled... This should be a quick and easy run and they might not need any of the gear drops."



When you're overlevelled for the world you are supposed to be on, you'll want to do flashpoints around your level. If you're at or underlevel for the world you're on, you're going to want to apply the 6 level rule to flashpoints... Do ones that are below your level because it will be faster and easier. Don't turn down callouts for flashpoints equal to your level or higher though, since those will really help you catch up on experience bigtime.



The whole idea is to make levelling as quick and efficient as possible. PvP is also an excellent way to catch up in levels as the yields for XP in PvP can get quite high especially if you become active and good at it. At higher levels, a single Huttball match will give me 18,000XP... That's a good chunk of XP. The wonderful side effect of PvPing a lot and getting good at it is that you start to have a lot of fun. A few too many times I've gone overboard and lost out on quest experience because I PvPed too long. Don't let it scare you off, it takes some time to learn and again, tap into that exterior support and ask guildmates if they want to start a PvP group. There are quite a few experienced PvPers that sometimes just won't PvP because they don't want to go in solo.



Space Missions are also a great way of getting some easy repeatable experience. If you neglect Space Missions like I do, however, you may need to purchase a lot of upgrades for your ship in order to compete in some of these missions.



But regardless, once you have corrected your course and done the appropriate damage control, you should be able to get ahead of your world by 6 levels and continue as normal. Don't get stressed out by the time taken to get these six levels ahead... Because by getting that far ahead in levels makes the rest of your levelling not only easier, but a lot faster. You're investing time now to save time in the future. Never forget that.



VIII - Equipping your Character

Spoiler



Every time you finish up a world and are done the relevant flashpoints for your level, before heading out to the next world you should check up on yourself and see what gear needs improvement. Often you'll be picking up chestpieces, helmets, gloves, leggings and weapons from flashpoints. However, the areas where you'll find yourself needing equipment will often be Bracers, Belts, Earpieces, Relics and Implants.



As a result, those pieces of equipment are the ones you're going to want to prioritize upgrading, as you won't be finding many during your flashpoints (and also not necessarily winning the rolls on them either). Fortunately, most of these items can be crafted, which means if you select one of the trades as a crew skill (more on that in next section) you'll ideally be able to support one aspect of your personal upgrading.



Again, try and get help from guildmates. As you get higher up in level you will have to purchase materials for the guildmates as crafting a single piece of purple level 45 armoring requires 4 Promethium, a resource that on average (for my server) sells for 10,000 credits PER UNIT. That means to simply purchase the necessary Promethium requires on average 40,000 credits per armoring. Make sure you know the item costs for stuff you request. If you don't know what is required to make certain recepies, check out



Keep in mind you're actually going to have a fair amount of money saved up throughout most of the game. Because you'll be primarily spending commendations to try and get gear, this will save you a boatload of credits. You'll be able to afford some expensive splurges on some high quality equipment. That same equipment is also going to last you a fair bit longer, as a purple gear is rated just a little worse than blue gear 4 levels higher. The more purple gear you get, the more mileage you'll be able to milk out of it.



In terms of what kind of equipment you should be getting for your character, your role will highly impact this. If you are DPS, you should be focusing mainly on making sure your weapons are well upgraded and that most of your equipment's stat distribution goes towards your primary attribute (either Strength, Willpower, Cunning or Aim). Secondary skills that you should be looking for should be Power, Crit and Surge.



If you are a Tank, then you're going to want to focus more on your armoring than your weapon. You're also going to want to prioritize Endurance over your primary attribute, and focus on defensive secondary skills (Defense, Shield and Absorption). Which one is most important somewhat depends on your class and your own personal preference, but generally a healthy balance between the three will usually do nicely for most tanks.



If you're a healer I feel that there's actually a fair amount of room for flexibility regarding which stats and secondary skills to prioritize. I've seen some healers focus heavily on crit and surge ratings while others power and alacrity. I'm not experienced enough with healers to be able to honestly give a decent assessment, but I do believe it is very class dependant and I'm sure there is plenty of material out there regarding this topic that you could find and learn from.



When you've finished up a world and have moved up in "level bracket", scour the Glactic Trade Market for any gear that it better than your own. Even green gear, it doesn't really matter. If your gear is relatively up to date with your level, that means that this same gear will be more powerful than the world you are attempting to conquer.



Proper equipment is the key to making this levelling strategy work, so if you're not sure how you should be equipping your character, either ask around the guild or check out various other forums and I'm sure you'll get a fairly decisive answer quite quickly. With the right tools for the trade, you'll find yourself in funny situations where you're able to solo a Heroic 2 or even sometimes a Heroic 4 mission. Yes it can be done! So long as you have the right tools. I've gone into some mild details about this already, but this deserves it's own section due to it's sheer importance. The reason being six levels ahead is so impactful is not so much by your character's skills or abilities it has earned (though they certainly do help), it is actually by virtue of having superior gear.Every time you finish up a world and are done the relevant flashpoints for your level, before heading out to the next world you should check up on yourself and see what gear needs improvement. Often you'll be picking up chestpieces, helmets, gloves, leggings and weapons from flashpoints. However, the areas where you'll find yourself needing equipment will often be Bracers, Belts, Earpieces, Relics and Implants.As a result, those pieces of equipment are the ones you're going to want to prioritize upgrading, as you won't be finding many during your flashpoints (and also not necessarily winning the rolls on them either). Fortunately, most of these items can be crafted, which means if you select one of the trades as a crew skill (more on that in next section) you'll ideally be able to support one aspect of your personal upgrading.Again, try and get help from guildmates. As you get higher up in level you will have to purchase materials for the guildmates as crafting a single piece of purple level 45 armoring requires 4 Promethium, a resource that on average (for my server) sells for 10,000 credits PER UNIT. That means to simply purchase the necessary Promethium requires on average 40,000 credits per armoring. Make sure you know the item costs for stuff you request. If you don't know what is required to make certain recepies, check out http://www.torhead.com/schematics . That way you can save everyone a whole lot of time and hassle by finding the materials yourself, send them down and then that person will be good to go to start crafting equipment.Keep in mind you're actually going to have a fair amount of money saved up throughout most of the game. Because you'll be primarily spending commendations to try and get gear, this will save you a boatload of credits. You'll be able to afford some expensive splurges on some high quality equipment. That same equipment is also going to last you a fair bit longer, as a purple gear is rated just a little worse than blue gear 4 levels higher. The more purple gear you get, the more mileage you'll be able to milk out of it.In terms of what kind of equipment you should be getting for your character, your role will highly impact this. If you are DPS, you should be focusing mainly on making sure your weapons are well upgraded and that most of your equipment's stat distribution goes towards your primary attribute (either Strength, Willpower, Cunning or Aim). Secondary skills that you should be looking for should be Power, Crit and Surge.If you are a Tank, then you're going to want to focus more on your armoring than your weapon. You're also going to want to prioritize Endurance over your primary attribute, and focus on defensive secondary skills (Defense, Shield and Absorption). Which one is most important somewhat depends on your class and your own personal preference, but generally a healthy balance between the three will usually do nicely for most tanks.If you're a healer I feel that there's actually a fair amount of room for flexibility regarding which stats and secondary skills to prioritize. I've seen some healers focus heavily on crit and surge ratings while others power and alacrity. I'm not experienced enough with healers to be able to honestly give a decent assessment, but I do believe it is very class dependant and I'm sure there is plenty of material out there regarding this topic that you could find and learn from.When you've finished up a world and have moved up in "level bracket", scour the Glactic Trade Market for any gear that it better than your own. Even green gear, it doesn't really matter. If your gear is relatively up to date with your level, that means that this same gear will be more powerful than the world you are attempting to conquer.Proper equipment is the key to making this levelling strategy work, so if you're not sure how you should be equipping your character, either ask around the guild or check out various other forums and I'm sure you'll get a fairly decisive answer quite quickly. With the right tools for the trade, you'll find yourself in funny situations where you're able to solo a Heroic 2 or even sometimes a Heroic 4 mission. Yes it can be done! So long as you have the right tools.



IX - Crew Skills

Spoiler One of my weakest points throughout levelling my characters is crew skills. Because I am trying to achieve maximum levelling speed I will often skip past many nodes that can be found on the world. Not only that, but I don't send excess crew on missions all that often as it does cost a fair bit of money to upkeep.



My reasoning towards postponing crew skills until later is this: I find it's much much easier to buff up your crew skills when you have 4+ companions to work on crew missions than it is with only 2-3. Second, if you're actually looking to take up a trade, crafting costs a lot of credits to get up and running in any decent way. Credits that I prefer to spend on upgraded new equipment.



However, my advise would be this (and I wish I had taken it myself for my last character). If you're starting from scratch, pick Slicing as your gathering skill. This will allow you to earn extra credits along the way. You may have to divert course a few times to pick up nodes, but making extra cash will directly translate into better equipment for you later. Once you start hitting high enough levels and credits aren't so much of a concern, you can switch the slicing out for the skill that is actually important to whatever trade you are going into and then start working on that.



In terms of which crafting profession to take, that is purely up to you. There are pros and cons to each and they also depend on what other characters you have and what crew skills they have. If this is your first character, I would probably advise either Artifice, Cybertech or Biochem as each is able to make equipment that will help all types of future characters.



There is of course the option of relying more on crafted gear than purchasing gear off of the GTN. This process is slower and takes more energy, but the upside is that if you're a Synthweaver or Armormecher is that you can use those purple schematics and begin crafting them to sell on the GTN and actually begin to make profits.



Crafting gear yourself I feel would slow your levelling down, but would set you up better for post level 50 better. That's an area that is ends up being a big tradeoff for me is that I end up with a nearly completed character with virtually no skills for crafting. However, I feel that that is very easily mitigated for certain crew skills since Bioanalysis and Scavenging both can get boosted via defeated enemies (animals and droids respectively). So depending on which crafting route you decide to go, you might be able to keep it updated more easily than another.



Again, try and base your crafting on how valuable it will be to your character and potential future characters. Read up on the different crew skills to figure out which one is right for you and your character.



X - Conclusion

Spoiler Whew! Well, I think I've covered pretty much everything I want to talk about! I may end up making some editing tweaks here and there over time... But like I said in the beginning, this is the method I use to level my characters and it has worked wonderfully for me, and hopefully it will for you too!



I intend for this guide to be something of a work in progress, so if you have any comments, questions or suggestions please post them! If you have any tips or tricks that I didn't cover or just am not aware of, also feel free to let me know!



I hope this guide has been helpful to you! And if so, happy power levelling!



Yours truly,

CrAzEdMiKe





XI - Additional Material/Resources

Spoiler



F.A.Q. / Tips and Tricks / Benchmarks

Project Krovados - The quest to find out what the nitty gritty numbers are!

Torhead Skill Calculator

List of Companions and their role + Crew Skill bonuses This is a quick addition to the guide with some links for some additional stuff that I've put together to further complete this guide, as well as a few links to some handy sites that I often use. By: CrAzEdMiKeI - IntroductionII - Planning your CharacterIII - Character CompanionsIV - Exterior SupportV - Getting Started (Levels 1-21)VI - Mid to Late Game (Levels 21-50)VII - Damage Control and Course CorrectionVIII - Equipping your CharacterIX - Crew SkillsX - ConclusionXI - Additional Material/Resources