Scavenging has a deep and rich history in the Star Wars universe, be it a Jawa, an Ugnaught, a Toydarian, or basically any other race under four feet tall. Everybody loves picking up junk and turning into more, slightly different junk. Even Darth Vader does it.

And in The Old Republic it’s not much different. Come across a dead droid, a crashed speeder, or some other piece of deleterious and turn it into parts.

Quests are also available to pick up materials, which is especially helpful if you’re missing some higher end mats. The materials you collect from scavenging can be used to make parts for Armstech, Armormech, and Cybertech as well as selling on the Galactic Trade Network.

One character should be enough to keep you steeped in Scavenging mats, as they tend to come fairly quickly and in large numbers as you progress through the game. This is especially true as any droid you encounter of tough status or above can be scanned and scuttled for parts.

The other shoe has dropped for BioWare’s infamously up and down MMO, and it is officially going free to play by the end of this year, with a player marketplace and raids being two of the few reasons remaining for paying for the game.

On some level, I think we all knew this was coming. Whether or not you want to avoid it, World of Warcraft is the only subscription MMO that’s remotely viable anymore, and that’s only because it’s built up so much momentum over the past 8 years, that it’s going to take another decade for it to finally die out.

Star Wars has done a lot of different things (this isn’t a post-mortem, I think they made the right decision here and free to play will extend the life of the game by at least another five years), but unfortunately I don’t think the market learns anything from this now. If anything there will be detractors that either go one way (people aren’t looking for story-based MMO gameplay, so we’ll get rid of that!) or the other (their subscription model didn’t work but ours will).

I am not looking forward to the microtransactions that EA and Bioware are no doubt slobbering over right now, partly because it reminds me how much I wish this game had been a single player direct sequel to the rest of the series. I am…partly…happy with what we got, but in the weeks leading up to my forced server transfer, I realized that I didn’t miss having people around. I liked not having to fight over spawns, over resources, having to zone out of all the annoying chat memes. It really is a great single player experience.

I’m looking forward to more story packs, expansions, and what free to play content in this universe they’ve created really means. It is throwing up the white flag a little bit, but at the same time it’s a new start, and one that we’ll have to pay for $2.99 at a time a few times a month instead of $14.99 a month. I don’t necessarily know if I like that, but I’m willing to stick around a little longer and give this a chance.

So, it may not be HK-47, but I was there at Comic-Con when Bioware revealed the newest crewmember that any class can recruit, the mysterious assassin droid HK-51. And yes, he will call you a meatbag, you stupid meatbag.

Nothing further has been announced about this (as in, how will we get him), but it’s still a cool addition that a lot of people will be excited about.

Bioanalysis is the study and gathering of plants and DNA material for use in medicine and consumption. In the Star Wars universe, most of the medical technology comes in the form of Kolto, a bacteria that will help heal wounds if you soak in it long enough, but other plants have similar restorative properties.

As you might expect, plant nodes exist throughout the worlds of SWtoR pretty frequently and will give you materials to apply to your Biochem profession. Diplomacy is the other crew skill that provides mats for this crafting profession, making them the most useful trio for one character.  Missions make for quick leveling of the profession, but are often costly and you can do most of your work in the field leaving your crew free to work at crafting and diplomacy.

The most useful crew skill while leveling (outside of Slicing) is Boichem, as it provides you a group of easily usable med kits and stims that will aid in your leveling (as well as a easily salable item on the GTN). As such, Bioanalysis is one of the few skills worth leveling up planet to planet while you are powerleveling a character to 50.

I don’t know why, but Archeology in Star Wars: The Old Republic is the study of not only ancient weapons and technology but crystalline formations.

Quests can be undertaken to collect crystals and artifacts for use in Artificing and Sythweaving, though the mats might be called for in higher level recipes of other professions, making a good market for rare crystals on the GTN.

As such, it’s helpful to have at least one character per account that you’re willing to cap out archeology with, as keeping a constant supply of crystal materials will quickly become time consuming and expensive.

Class Lore: Imperial Intelligence is tasked with tracking down, observing, and eliminating the enemies of the Empire. Either from the shadows or as the very visible military police, Intelligence answers only to the Empire and themselves.

During the time of the Old Republic, Intelligence is only countered in power by the Dark Council, and they and the Sith operate essentially above and independently from the rest of the Empire. Both sides ultimately seek to make it stronger, but eventually a division is coming.

The Story So Far: As a junior agent, you’ve been assigned to the planet Hutta to detect any weakness in the Hutt’s relations with the Republic and sever them by any means necessary.

Advanced Classes:

Operative: Military police. These agents are used to going into dangerous situations with blaster rifles drawn in a close-quarters battle. This selection includes DPS and healing trees.

Sniper: Masters of long range attacks, snipers infiltrate enemy territories and set up ranged positions to assassinate the Empire’s enemies. This selection only includes DPS trees.

Republic Mirror Class: http://www.hockshow.com/2012/02/12/the-old-republic-smuggler/>Smuggler

Starship: X-70B Phantom

Class Lore: For lack of a better phrasing, the Sith Inquisitor is the religious leader of the Sith. Their slavish devotion to the dark side and learning the ins and outs of the Force make most of them pretty awful fighters, but they make up the bulk of the Empire’s interrogation, scientists, and politicians.

So Inquisitors are always utilizing their command over the darkside to seize as much power as possible, undermining their warrior brothers and take control of the whole works in the absence of the Emperor. And at the time of the Old Republic, they’ve secured quite a bit of that power.

The Story So Far: You’re a slave being transported to Korriban for some Hunger Games style competition. See, all the slaves on your shuttle are force sensitive, and while they’re looking for a new recruit, only one though, so you’ll have to out think and out kill all the others.

Advanced Classes:

Assassin: Using speed and control over the force. They drop in in shadows and killing the enemies of the Sith. This selection includes tanking and DPS trees.

Sorcerer: Masters of the Force, these destroyers can destroy enemies without touching them. Additionally, they serve as the Sith’s frontline healers, using the force to close wounds and cure disease. This selection includes DPS and healing trees.

Republic Mirror Class: Jedi Consular

Starship: Fury

Class Lore: Sith Warriors are the arm of the Sith Empire. They are fighters with little reguard for the rest of the galaxy, just trying to enforce the laws of their masters and whatever personal agendas they had.

As of the time of the Old Republic, the Sith hierarchy is caught in a massive power struggle as things settle down after the war. More seats are opening up on the ruling Dark Council every day, and damned if the Warriors aren’t going to try to brute force their way into one of them.

The Story So Far: You are a fledgeling, but powerful recruit to the Sith order on Korriban. Under normal circumstances, things would be handed to you on a silver platter. But as it currently stands, you’re stuck between too Sith Lords fighting to gain favor and power at each other’s (and your) expense.

Advanced Classes:

Juggernaut: A nearly unstoppable force. The juggernaut throws himself into battle with a lightsaber and little reguard for his own body, or anyone else’s. This selection includes tanking and DPS trees.

Marauder: The ultimate Sith machine. Using two lightsabers, the Marauder just starts swinging, hoping eventually his enemy will give in to the constant onslaught. This selection includes only DPS trees.

Republic Mirror Class: Jedi Knight

Starship: Fury