A few days back we heard that the announcement would be pushed back for “a few weeks” without any real timeline as to what was the hold up or how long that few weeks would turn out to be. Turns out, that “few weeks” ended up being just a few short days from the delay announcement to the actual announcement. I'm shouldn't be surprised that no one is excited that we got the news for Shadow of Revan far sooner than expected, so I guess I'll single-handedly be stoked for the community as a whole that we did get this news in days, rather than weeks.

Just when we thought we were done with Senior Badass In Charge, Revan comes back with a vengence that will force both Empire and Republic to put aside differences and work together to take on Our Great Cult Leader. One thing that the community is really excited about is subscriber-only perk that we were waiting to hear about, a 12x XP boost available for subscribers. It's not just the XP boost here – it's the ability to level a character solely by playing through the class story, rather than needing to do side quests to keep at certain experience levels. Anyone who doesn't want it should hold off preordering until December 1, when the XP boost wears off. If you want the XP boost, preorder as soon as possible, as it will be available immediately for all preordered subscribers. This will get you up to level 55 with any outstanding characters you might have just in time to be ready to get through the five new levels added in, which will bring the level cap to 60.

Players receive a boost to the amount of XP gained from Class missions, allowing them to advance to Level 55 at an expedited rate while enjoying their Class story missions (the exact multiplier is 12.32). Legacy Class XP perks and Cartel Market Class XP consumables do not stack on top of this boost. Guild XP bonuses and General XP consumables from the Cartel Market do stack on top of this boost. The Class Experience Boost is only effective while you are in active subscription status during the pre-order period.

Revanites are planning an apocalyptic war that will bring both Republic and Empire crumbling down, which players can experience across two new planets, Rishi, the tropical haven for pirates, and Yavin 4, the home of Massassi warriors. Shadow of Revan also brings about two new role-neutral Flashpoints, as well as two new level 60 Operations. A new Discipline System, new crafting schematics, Revanite gear to earn, new mounts, including armored vehicle transports will also become available. The launch date is December 9, but anyone preordering before November 2 can gain early access to the expansion by December 2. All preorders for Shadow of Revan come with a free upgrade to the Hutt Cartel expansion, which becomes available immediately upon purchase.

Along with all of these additions to the game with Shadow of Revan, or 3.0, comes a major overhaul to the class system, which introduces Disciplines. Disciplines will replace the current class tree system, offering more customization to classes to better assist aligning a class with your personal playstyle. This overhaul does quite a few things. First up, each class will be able to specialize in one of three Disciplines. The example in the developer blog gives the three for the Commando: Combat Medic, Gunnery, and Assault Specialist. You'll recognize these immediately, as they names of the Disciplines are either named or themed after the already existing skill trees, which will take the guess work out of which one you want to choose.

One really rad change that's happening with the move to Disciplines is that you no longer have to buy essential abilities with points. As you increase in levels, these essentials will unlock and become available abilities. This brings it back to level-based progression, rather than point allocation. In addition to this level-based progression, a new Utilities section is added to the Discipline you choose. Utilities offer added customization. These are tiered, with each new tier requiring a certain amount of bought Utilities in the current tier before the next unlocks. Utilities, along with the Discipline Path, will allow for greater flexibility and customization beyond what the current class skill trees offer.

Disciplines become available at level 10, after an Advanced Class has been selected. After a Discipline has been selected, players will be able to experience that role immediately. DPS get more DPS, healers get heals, and tanks get tanking abilities, all right off the bat. No longer are you required to grind out levels to get to the point where your character finally feels like it is performing your desired role. As a healer and a tank, I squealed with delight knowing that I can run a Flashpoint immediately after getting level 10 and actually be able to heal or tank, and not just be the worst DPS carry in history. I'm super excited about these upcoming class changes and can't wait to test them out!

Enough about me, though. What about you? What's your favorite part of 3.0? Are you looking forward to getting back at this crazy cult? Are you excited about the changes to the class trees? I think BioWare is pleasing a lot of the community with the addition of two new planets, especially with Yavin 4, a much requested planet since before launch. Will you be preordering to take advantage of the XP bonus as soon as possible?