A few weeks ago, I was granted access to the closed beta server which housed Rise of the Hutt Cartel. This gave me a chance to check out SWTOR's digital expansion ahead of time, so I was pretty excited. On the flip side, I really didn't want to spoil the content before it went live. Time constraints also limited my exploration of the new content.
One of my favorite additions, which may be in 2.0 too, has to do with companion gifts. The tooltip will now tell you what kind of effect it will have on your currently summoned companion. No more guessing or looking up a chart on the web!
I also got a chance to play with the new Macrobinoculars and Seeker Droids. The binoculars, when used, let you look around your current surroundings. It kind of just zooms in a bit, and reveals otherwise hidden objects. There is a quest line that involves them. I'm not sure of there are other random objects that are just out there waiting to be found.
Then there are the Seeker Droids. If you did the HK-51 quests, they will be pretty familiar. You activate a Seeker Droid in a certain area and it will uncover some loot. The interesting things is that they work in tandem with the Macrobinoculars to help you narrow down where to deploy the droids. The downside is they are a consumable, so you'll either have to buy more or craft them. There is also a new Reputation Faction, based on Nar Shaddaa, that rewards you for completing Seeker Droid missions.
That about covers my time on the closed beta server. I wish I had been able to help out with Makeb testing more but the time and inclination was not there. I can't wait for it to go live for early access on the 9th though!
Death Only Makes Me Stronger
12 hours ago
