A few new tidbits of information came out of gamescom this year for style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars: The Old
Republic. As press gathered
into the dark BioWare show room we watched the Hope trailer which was
revealed earlier this year at E3.



Blaine Christine, Producer at BioWare Austin demonstrated the trailer
and began highlighting why the team believes style="font-style: italic;">SW:TOR
to be a truly epic MMOG.



First, we took a look at the advanced class system. While the system is
still in development and subject to change we were able to take a look
at some of the specializations of the classes that players will get to
choose as they level up.



If the player wants to be a character like Darth Maul, they would
select the Sith Assassin specialization from the Inquisitor class. This
would allow them to wield a double bladed sword and provide a stealth
element to their gameplay. The contrasting specialization for the
Inquisitor is the Sorcerer. As a Sith Sorcerer the player would be more
like the Emperor and have ranged abilities like force lightning.

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alt="star wars: the old republic screenshot"
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Moving into the Republic classes, Jedi Knights get a choice of Sentinel
or Guardian. The Sentinel is an Anakin Skywalker type specialization
(before he turned to the dark side) and is able to wield
dual sabers.
The Sentinel is a melee DPS class. By contrast, the Jedi Guardian
specialization puts the player into a melee tank role. They can wear
heavier armor but only wield a single light saber. This role was
likened to Obiwan.



We also saw the Trooper Commando specialization, which is a
damage-dealing tank class with heavy armor; the Smuggler Gunslinger
wielding dual pistols, and the Consular Wizard which is a healing
specialization.



Christine reminded us that every class has companion characters which
can affect the combat system.



Next up, we were treated to a little more information on space
exploration. As uncovered at E3, every player will have access to their
own space ship which serves as a base of operations and a place to
interact with friends.



However, new to gamescom, we also got our first peek at space combat.
Space combat is optional content that is complimentary to the story of style="font-style: italic;">TOR.
In order to participate, one needs only to open their galaxy map to
find the space combat hotspots. There will be specific rewards for
participation including upgrades to the player ship.