The Fanatical Swordsman

Ding!

About a week ago, I finished up my Jedi Sage (my 6th level 50) that I made the first day of pre-launch early access. Almost exactly a year later, but I finally got around to doing it.

At first, the Consular story dragged on Coruscant in the Prologue. I thought that the Consular story would be consistently boring, but apparently, it was just saving the best for later. Every chapter was more interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Up to this point I would’ve ranked the stories like so:

1. Knight/Warrior
2. Bounty Hunter
3. Smuggler
4. Trooper

Now with the Consular, taking into account all of the story, not just the Prologue (which is by far the worst Prologue of any I have seen), the rankings like this for me:

1. Knight/Warrior
2. Bounty Hunter
3. Consular
4. Smuggler
5. Trooper

I felt that the Consular delivered more consistent storytelling after the Prologue than the Smuggler story did. Now, don’t get me wrong, when it comes to the overall feel of the class and the story, I like the Smuggler better; it has the funny lines, the quick-draws, and the space-cowboy feel. The Consular has more interesting twists that I did not see coming, though, and delivers a more compelling story in general.

You want me to heal WHAT?!?

So I knew I was a competent healer, not to toot my own horn or anything. I didn’t say “fantastic,” I said “competent.” As in, people don’t generally die when I am healing, at least not in droves. I did a consistently good job in Flashpoints on my Sage, and I heal hard mode operations on my Commando, so I figured I could handle a story mode operation with my Sage in my newly acquired Tionese gear, with a few pieces of War Hero for spice. Also in my arsenal was a single Columi piece from a Flashpoint.

Lucky for me, I have a great guild, Forsaken @ Drooga’s Pleasure Barge on the Harbinger. We are still waiting for all of the other Forsakens to change their names from the server merges haha. But that isn’t why we are great, though it is a little idiosyncratic. The reason we are great is as soon as I hit 50, there is an invitation waiting for me to come do an operation! They asked specifically about the group finder daily story mode operation, so that works perfectly for what I was thinking.

I jump in the operation group only to find that the story mode Eternity Vault and Karagga’s Palace are locked out for two of our members. “No problem, we’ll just do Nightmare Mode,” says Foxfire, our raid leader. *gulp*

I have healed Nightmare mode on my Commando, so I knew what to expect, but the fact was, I am WAY more confident on my Commando than on my Sage, simply because that particular character is about 10 months older, at least as one I actually play.

Nevertheless, I jump in to Nightmare Mode EV, and snag a few Rakata pieces and some Black Hole Commendations for my trouble. I also need to thank Nilota, my dear friend and, at the time, my fellow healer. She probably pulled more than her weight, but, then again, she always does.

So I guess the lesson of the day is, PvP a lot towards the end of the leveling curve to grab some War Hero gear. Get your Tionese gear. And finally, don’t be afraid to try something out of your comfort zone, because you might be surprised what you can do!

Anyway, that was my first raid experience with the new character! Got any funny stories about fresh gear experiences? Share them below!