Old Republic Log VIII

We got the band together last night.  Well, 60% of the band, anyway.  Morgan couldn't make it and Paul works Monday nights, so it was just myself, Matt, and Luke.  We did The Esseles Flashpoint, which wasn't all that different than from The Black Talon that Matt and I did last week.

Still, the Flashpoints remain my favorite part of the game, because they're a tighter experience, with more challenging fights than you get out of open world questing but without the hideous lag that's prevalent in Warzones.  Especially Huttball.  I hate Huttball.

Anyway, I got a couple of pieces of gear during The Esseles, so at least I can show off Alia's new look.  However, I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to play Alia.  It turns out that melee DPS is pretty unforgiving in Old Republic, at least when you're playing on an sub-optimal machine as it appears that I am.  I can't count how many times I moved to get behind an enemy only to have it shot out from under me by Luke's Smuggler or Matt's Trooper.  Since Morgan appears to hate his Trooper's companion and has made himself a Jedi Knight, I'm thinking I may switch over to Trooper myself.  Maybe go DPS Vanguard, since Matt's running a healing Commando.

I'll talk spoilers about The Esseles after Alia's portrait.

Tasia, Level 16 Sith Sorceress, Imperial Fleet
Alia, Level 12 Jedi Shadow, Coruscant

The Esseles SPOILERS follow.

We've got SPOILERS sir!

So we did The Esseles.  It's pretty much a mirror of the The Black Talon, where this time you're on a Republic Transport and get jumped by an Imperial Battleship.  You fight off the attackers, then board the enemy ship in order to shut down the tractor beam, then escape back to your ship for tea and biscuits.  

What was interesting was the fact that the guy who gives you the mission in The Black Talon, Moff Kilrain, is the same guy who spends the whole of The Esseles taunting you.  It was a little disappointing that you never get the chance to give him a lightsaber enema, but I did think that it was a smart use of voice acting resources regardless.

The comparisons to Star Wars the movie are pretty strong in The Esseles, though.  You board the enemy ship to shutdown the tractor beam, then fight into the detention block, then jump down into the waste disposal area, then out into the hanger where you fight a Sith to get to your escape ship.  I was surprised, though, that there's no fight with a Dianoga in the waste disposal zone.  Maybe in Hard Mode.

We had some trouble with the Mandalorian, Ironfist, who kicked our asses twice before we realized that you can have a companion along if you've only got three players in.  We'd been undermanned the whole time up to that point and hadn't noticed!  I called in my Trandoshan Tank companion and then Ironfist went down.

There was some inter-party conflict at the end of the mission, which was interesting.  I've been playing Alia as the Bad Girl of the Jedi Order, and when I had the opportunity to betray a potential liability, there was actually some yelling on the line from teammates who wanted to spare her, even though they'd get their Light Side points regardless of what I picked.  I chose betrayal anyway, but since the dice weren't in my favor, she was spared.  

I can't ever recall anyone going to the wall to try and spare a WoW NPC, though.  So congratulations once again on the story for Old Republic, which manages to make people care even about the NPCs!