Five Things To Do Before SWTOR Launch

With the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic due tomorrow for Early Access preorder players and on 20th December for everyone else, now is the time to get those last minute pre-launch activities complete. With the hours ticking away til we’re finally allowed to invade the live servers, now is a great time to distract yourself from clockwatching with this collection of useful missions.

The Last Minute Tune-Up

Now would be a great time to clear out your PC and have it ready for some intense game playing. Start by checking for driver updates for your graphics card and running Windows Update for all those latest bugfixes. Clear out a healthy amount of space for wherever you’re planning on installing the game- you’ll need about 20Gb for the client and another 5GB for temporary files. If you have one, look at squeezing the client on to your SSD in order to improve those load times.

Grab the Client

If you’ve preordered the game you can now pre-load it onto your system ready for your early access to become active. In order to do this simply head over to the pre-load page and follow the step by step instructions. You’ll need around 25GB free space to perform the install. Remember to run the client a few times to make sure it’s fully patched and ready to play.

Prepare Your Character

Before you get into the game it’s a good idea to think about what kind of character you want to play. Republic or Empire? Force Wielder or Pistolier? Tank, Healer or Damage Dealer? If you’re unsure then head over to Torhead, where you’ll find backgrounds on each class including the advanced classes available at level 10.

While you’re there have a think about which professions or Crew Skills you’d like to choose. You can have up to three skills and can choose between crafting, gathering or mission based skills. Do you want to keep your character well-equipped with new gear or are you hoping to make bundles of credits from the Galactic Trade Network?

If you have questions about the game then head over to R2-DB. Their unique question and answer system means that the thing on your mind might already be answered, but if not there’s a legion of fans on hand to help you out.

Get Some Lore

The game is set some three thousand years before the films, so anything you’ve seen is probably far in the future relative to when the game is set. Fear not though, as there’s a great way to catch up on all the history surrounding the game.

If gaming’s your thing then Knights of the Old Republic is available for you to download from Steam and play right now. It’s looking a little dated but if you’re interested in trying out some of Bioware’s earlier work then this might be for you.

If you prefer consuming your lore away from the PC then there’s a series of books set in the era, with the most recent one being all about Revan. There are also two comic series available from Dark Horse Comics, with digital editions available for both. This should help give you a feel for the technology, the setting and the characters you’re likely to hear about.

Note that flying to Alderann and yelling “Boom!” is seen as exceptionally poor taste.

Find Your Friends

If your friends have pre-registered their guild name then they should find out today which server they’ve been assigned to play on. If you’re looking to join them then the first character you roll on that server in the same faction will get automatically invited to the guild. If you’ve not planned ahead (like me) then you’ll be keen to find out where everyone’s rolling before you get started. Start that networking now, as you don’t want to spend effort on a character in  Early Start only to reroll elsewhere a few days later.

Your Own Tips

These are my top five tips for preparing for SWTOR, but what would you suggest? Id there anything that you’re planning or any ritual you have to accompany the start of a new MMO? What places have you been checking out for info and ideas? Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.