BioWare are on a roll with Version 5.4 and the continuing of class and other balance changes in SWTOR. With a pair of recent forum posts, the tentative details of two aspects of Star Wars: The Old Republic 5.4 are out in the open.
First up is a major shift in the progression towards endgame gear acquisition through Unassembled Components. Daily and Weekly mission rewards have been tweaked, with a nerf and a buff to their values respectively. Although unranked rewards remain at their pre-5.4 values. Mission rewards are being worked on to increase the viability of gearing for characters via that route.
Unranked – Overall, Component rewards earned per week unchanged.
- Daily Mission: Now rewards 10 Components, down from 12.
- Weekly Mission: Now rewards 54 Components, up from 40.
Ranked – Large changes were made here to really amp up the value of Ranked Missions.
- Solo Daily: Now rewards 15 Components, down from 16.
- Solo Weekly: Now rewards 100 Components, up from 30.
- Group Daily: Now rewards 30 Components, up from 20.
- Group Weekly: Now rewards 200 Components, up from 60.
Overall, the focus on long-term mission rewards is likely to really annoy some players who focus on PvP in ranked ladders. It remains to be seen what the full fallout from these changes will be.
The next set of updates focus on two balance passes of certain Disciplines. The Lethality Operative / Ruffian Scoundrel are getting a series of nerfs and buffs this time around. The Operative focuses on reducing the ability to proc other damage-dealing abilities will pushing a slight increase to the main abilities. The Scoundrel is being targeted with a similar design mindset.
These changes will likely increase the mobility and flexibility of these classes in certain situations. The playstyle will probably not shift too much with these changes though.
Operative
Lethality
- Corrosive Assault weapon damage has been increased by 13.97% but it no longer triggers Toxic Blast damage
- Corrosive Assault no longer deals additional damage per poison effect. Instead, Corrosive Assault weapon damage now triggers additional damage from your periodic poison effects
- Toxic Blast now costs 10 Energy and deals 14.29% more damage
Scoundrel
Ruffian
- Brutal Shots weapon damage has been increased by 13.97% but it no longer triggers Sanguinary Shot damage
- Brutal Shots no longer deals additional damage per bleed effect. Instead, Brutal Shots weapon damage now triggers additional damage from your periodic bleed effects
- Sanguinary Shot now costs 10 Energy and deals 14.29% more damage
DevNotes: The Lethality / Ruffian discipline was overperforming, so we made a few changes that lower its DPS down to the appropriate target. Corrosive Assault / Brutal Shots saw the bulk of the changes for Lethality / Ruffian because the ability was responsible for the bulk of the discipline’s damage. The triggered damage from Lethality / Ruffian periodic effects is less than the poison / bleed damage from the Corrosive Assault / Brutal Shots ability which it is replacing, causing overall DPS output to go down.
The increase to Toxic Blast’s / Sanguinary Shot’s cost along with the fact that it is no longer triggered by Corrosive Assault / Brutal Shots weapon damage means that its overall effectiveness has been reduced as well. We increased the energy cost of Toxic Blast / Sanguinary Shot because energy management for Lethality / Ruffian was trivial to the point that Adrenaline Probe / Cool Head and Rifle Shot / Flurry of Bolts often never needed to be used by the discipline.
Finally we have more details that have been datamined about the upcoming Umbara Stronghold in the 5.4 update. A preview of the Umbara Transport stronghold coming with patch 5.4 can be seen below. The whole stronghold is located on a train and you can decorate the carts from both the inside and from the top.
The small stronghold will feature a unique locale centered around the entire stronghold being a “moving” train. Although the stronghold itself will stay stationary, it’s likely that the environs around it will change to create the illusion of movement.
