User:Tentaka/Review of the NGE
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Originally published as "the New CU2" for Longknife Valley guild forums at http://lk.myfreeforums.org
[edit] The New CU2 Part 1: Review
CU2
"It truly is better overall than the SWG we all have come to know and love."
You're probably not going to like some of the changes =at first.= A good deal of this comes from people not generally liking change in the first place, and some of it, I think, actually may be due to some of the changes themselves. But I have to tell you, once I got accustomed to the new interface and the new style of play... I was hooked. It truly is better overall than the SWG we all have come to know and love.
Keep in mind that everything new requires a period of adjustment. After a day or two of playing with the new system you will adapt. The new system is much better and you will truly enjoy it once you get accustomed to the new interface and style of play. Some of the menus and interface options are the same as what you are already accustomed to, but enough has changed that this does feel, in many ways, like a whole new game. When they say faster paced - more like you might expect from Star Wars...they ain't kidding.
The BIG EXP NERF
"You are going to find yourself having so much freakin fun you won't even notice..."
Ok... here is something that will take some getting used to. Previously we were used to taking our lowbie characters into a group of Lvl 80's and hunting pickets for a day or so until we were cl 80 ourselves. With the new system I haven't had the chance to test what group hunting is like as of this writing, =but= leveling quickly is not gone from the game. Its just a change in how you do it. You are going to find yourself having so much freakin fun you won't even notice that you are leveling plenty fast.
Why and how? Easy. The game is now what I have decided to call "Quest Centric." That is: You level quickly by doing quests rather than hunting with high level teams. So... you need 4,000 exp to go from CL7 to CL8... you do 4 quests and bingo - CL8. Keep in mind, you get paid, and you get loot, and you get Exp from each kill in addition to Quest Combat Exp. In short Leveling quickly is more than readily available - but you wont care.
So far the quests don't seem to be the dull-as-dishwater types of quests that drove us to hunting in the first place.(I don't know about the rest of you... but Jabba's Theme Park just about drove me mad!) The new quests seem to be driven by the various characters from the movies. You get Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2D2, C3PO and so on as well as plenty of new SWG exclusive characters. I know it sound hokey... but I had to smile when C3PO introduced himself: "I am C3PO, Human Cyborg Relations" or when Han says "I don't like the sound of that, kid."
In all fairness, the charm of that wears off after a bit. But the quests are reasonably involving, and the loot is in some cases extraordinary. Also, and perhaps more importantly, you get a pop-up that lets you know exactly what you will get from each quest =before= you accept the quest. For example, some quests might give you exp and credits only, while others also give you items (such as a ring with +3 to your strength attribute). You still have to complete the quest to get your reward of course... but now you KNOW what you will get.
Of course it remains to be seen how respec'ed characters will plug into the quests - I cant see taking my CL 80 back to Mos Eisley for level 5 quests just so that they can find their way to the more appropriate contacts- but if this CU is as well thought out as it seems to be, we won't have much to worry about there.
What it comes down to is that I can see us working together more as a guild, all doing quests together and role playing our characters allot more than we have in the past. I see us getting "into" the game, and participating in the Star Wars Universe allot more than we did in the past.
Note: Something I think is worth mentioning is that in many games... when you start off, you are not considered terribly important. You are the upstart or the "nobody" that eventually (after levels and levels and levels) impresses someone. In CU2, when you start a new character, you are already someone considered important. Darth Vader is after you as you escape from imperial custody, Jabba has heard you are something special... and the contacts treat you well. They've heard of you, they are already impressed by you...etc. I know this sounds a bit silly... but I found that refreshing. It seems to be a reflection of the spirit of the CU and certainly is a reflection of the spirit of Star Wars itself.
One thing we must remember as we approach this upgrade. This game has become much more fluid and organic. The changes we are seeing here are very definitely an improvement over what we have become accustomed to. But we must also remember is that future publishes may very well further enhance what we are seeing here. We've endured allot of strange behavior from SOE over the past six months or so... this CU is =why= that happened. They didn't deal with allot of bugs and issues we all suffered with and all of us ascribed that to indifference on their part. Myself, it never dawned on me that they were actually working on developing a brand new foundation for the system. =IF= they take this and run with it... SWG will be the best game to play period!
[edit] The New CU2 Part 2: Technical Changes
Movement
The first thing you are likely to notice as you start to move about is that your character now runs significantly faster that he or she did previously. The default movement speed is increased in the CU and much close to burst running. This is a simple change but - oh what an improvement! Those long distances between shuttles and destinations will seem significantly less and moving about the cities and through shuttleports is far less tedious than it is in the current system. Of course The baddies move allot faster, you move allot faster and everyone attacks allot faster, so... the keyword to the CU is Faster!
While the Game play is fast paced and wildly fun, some things have been lost that I wouldn't have wanted to see go. Positions such as Kneel, Prone and Sit do not seem to offer any bonuses of any kind. That is to say that you don't heal faster by sitting, you don't get more range or more damage from your ranged attacks by laying prone or kneeling. In fact if you are Kneeling, for example, and fire, your character pops up into the standing position. So much for using tall grasses for cover and such.
While that one loss in terms is not significant, the added fun of the rapid moving combined with all the other real superb improvements is in fact significant. I don't expect I'll miss the positions anywhere near as much as I did when I first started experimenting with the new CU.
The Interface
The interface has changed to a large degree, the most noticeable change is that the land based interface is much like the space based one... in that you have to use your Alt key to switch between Interface Mode and camera/movement mode. It's a little disconcerting at first, but once I got everything set up in my options menu, if found it much easier to use. You'll definitely want to set up before doing too much of anything, since =everything= is about controlling that mouse!
Along the bottom of the screen is your experience point monitor. It runs the full width of the screen. As you gain experience it fills with a yellow bar. If (in Alt Mode) you mouseover you can see the actual numbers. On the left is the chat interface which doesn't seem to have changed much except that the Group tab only becomes available when you are in a group and vanishes when you disband. To the right you have your toolbar (which is now a single tier instead of 2 tiers - and there is good reason for this) and above that your waypoint monitor, which you can enable or disable in your options menu.
Just above the WP monitor is the Access button to your menus.Where previously you accessed your skill tree, character sheet, options, macros and so on from icons right on the screen, those are now accessed through a single button that scrolls open, giving you access to whatever menu you wish to view. Once again, you need to be in ALT mode to access this button, however, you can also access it by hitting your escape key.
In the top right corner of your screen is your Radar, which is now slightly larger and a bit more functional as a result. Next to that, moving left across the top of the screen is the Quest Helper display, followed by the Target information window and your status information window.
Set Up
Before you do too much, you should get your settings adjusted to suit you. I found that the most important adjustment was in setting the Mouse Dead Zone to about 20-30% of the screen. This seemed to allow me to target and fight comfortably, but still turn and move with some reasonably subtle mouse movements. I'll continue to experiment with the settings to see if there is a better way to control your character, but so far about 20% - 30% seems the best.
To change your mouse Dead zone. Hit the Alt Key and toggle the Access Button to your menus or use your escape key to scroll open the menu. Select options, and in the familiar options menu select Interface. In the upper portion of that menu you'll see Mouse Deadzone and sensitivity. Adjust these scales to suit you. You should also open your Commands menu and drag any combat skills to the Toolbar. You'll want to have them handy for your first combat.
Combat
Everything about combat is different - and in this case improved. So far all of the professions I've tested out have the ability to fight both ranged and melee. This means you are not restricted to playing =only= a melee character or =only= a ranged character. This also means breaking out of the divided mindset of the previous version of the game. Previously you worked on specific melee skills or ranged skills which seemed exclusive to one another. In CU2 you work on your character not just on levels and it does seem that your character can be customized quite a bit more using this new system. Thus not all BH are =just= rifle oriented, for example. You might find a BH that is a much more skilled Hand to hand fighter or a better pistoleer. It =seems= that you make this happen by playing your character in the way you want to have him/her develop. There are still profession specific weapons, such as the "Spy Carbine" usable only by the Spy profession. Likewise there is a knuckler that can only be used by Jedi. So, what this seems to boil down to is that there may be less flexibility in character development than there could be, but perhaps more than in the previous version of SWG.
Movement in combat
In the previous version, moving had little impact on combat except to move into or out of range. In the New system, movement is as important as attacking. For example, If you dodge a blaster shot... it misses you. If you zig-zag while retreating, you might actually dodge blows or shots and make it out of aggro range. Likewise, the baddies run, dodge, retreat and so on, and you have to keep moving to hit and to avoid being hit.
Choosing your attacks
Default attacks are triggered by your left mouse button. Special attacks (those in your toolbar) are selected via number keys and triggered by your right mouse button. This will become clearer in just a moment.
To choose your weapon, open your inventory (the i button) and equip the weapon you wish to use. If you wish to fight Unarmed, simply do not use a weapon. If you want to use a sword, select a sword, and so on. Once you have equipped your weapon close the inventory by tapping your 'i' key again. In the example below we'll grab a carbine and find us a baddie.
Basic Attack
There is no longer a need for a set of Basic Attack buttons. The Left mouse button does all the work for you. To "target" any creature you simply move your mouse (cross hairs) over them, and click your left mouse button. The combat begins. You run, firing your carbine and doing your best to dodge his shots while he is doing the same. You have to be careful... now that you can aggro accidentally by missing your intended target and hitting a creature nearby.
Note: Its seems that certain weapons, such as some pistols and carbines are like automatic weapons. That is to say that with some weapons all you need to do to get a maximum rate of fire is to hold down the left mouse button. After a certain number of shots, you do have to re-trigger the weapon as there is a "click" much like you are reloading. Other weapons, such as Melee weapons and the one rifle I was able to try out required a manual click for each shot/attack. The result is that, in the early game, Carbines seem to be the more powerful weapon than rifles or pistols. Another tactic that seemed to work quite well was rapidly clicking the left mouse button in rapid fire succession. The worked especially well with unarmed and melee combat.
Special Attacks
The familiar special attacks (and some new ones as well) are still with us. These are selected from your toolbar using a number key, and are activated using the right mouse button.
(If you haven't already done so drag your special attacks to your toolbar. To do this, switch to ALT mode, toggle the Menu Access button, select Commands and then the familiar combat tab. Your combat skills are listed there. Drag the icon(s) to your toolbar just as you always have. )
For the following example lets say that you have chosen a carbine again and that you have a "root" Special Attack in toolbar slot 1, and a "buff" of some kind...say "Aim" in slot 2. Now the attack looks very different that the slug fest above.
Example: You move into range of your intended target. You select "Aim" by tapping the #2 key, and right click your mouse. Aim is triggered and powers up. While it is powering, you tap your #1 key to make sure you are ready with your root attack and move your cross hairs over your intended target. By this time, Aim is powered up, so you right click to fire your Root Special Attack. Your target is now rooted and cannot move. You, however, can move. So you strafe left, holding down your left mouse button and light that sucker up like a Christmas tree. The baddie's shots miss you completely because you are moving so fast, jigging and dodging like a madman and that automatic carbine of yours peppers him with blasts till he dies. Keep in mind, that all of this takes place in mere seconds now!
The Skill Tree
I found the skill tree a little difficult to understand at first. This was due to the fact that it was bugged when I started testing. As the test server got updated over the span of days, these bugs were corrected and the skill tree became allot clearer to understand.
The skill tree is now broken into four phases of about 22 levels per phase. Each of these phases look more like a speedometer on a car more than they look like a skill tree. Each numbered level within each phase represents a combat level, and as your character earns experience points the indicator bar fills providing you with a graphic representation of your progress. That Graphic representation is the meter of your progress toward the next Combat Level. Along the outer perimeter of the level indicator are icons that represent when special skills are granted. For example, at level 1 you might get a special attack, and again at level 3 and so on. Imagine four clocks, each layed out in front of you and you will begin to get the picture.
You can scan all four phases and view brief descriptions of each of the special attacks and other bonuses granted to you as well as see at what level special attacks and abilities are granted. If you are respecing your character from a CL 80 in the old system to a CL80 in the new system you will be well into Phase four of your development, which means you will have allot more skills and abilities already granted.
Interacting with objects and Characters
In the current system you left click to target and then right click to open a radial menu this would allow you to open a vendor terminal, mission terminal or watch/listen to an Ent for an inspiration buff. In the New CU, you can get the familiar radial menu by just running your cross hairs over the object or Ent, then holding down shift and tapping the Tilde key. (Tilde is the little "~" typically just left of your number 1 key). You'll need to do this to watch/listen and dual. You'll find that certain interaction are easier now. For example, if you mouse over a NPC, you'll notice that you can simply left click to converse. When you start conversing, your screen is automatically set to alt mode for you so you can interact with the various menus. This saves a few keystrokes and is an example of many of the little changes that make more sense and make Game play more convenient.
[edit] The new CU2 Part 3: New and Old Professions:
"make no mistake... someone put allot of thought into most of these professions."
The list of changes in the preview letter doesn't really do this CU justice. Overall I found the new professions refreshing and a hell of a lot of fun to play. As I mentioned previously the quests were involving and that helped allot... but make no mistake... someone put allot of thought into most of these professions. Starting a new character on the test server for each profession limited me to testing each to about level 7 or so before that leveling became a commitment unto itself. Given the fact that each new character goes through the Tutorial and has almost the same quests, there isn't much to compare between them at this point. Only time will tell how each profession compares to the others in the higher levels. They seem balanced nicely and their initial special attacks seemed about comparable... with one proviso. It seemed to me that the professions more or less required you to play that profession correctly. That is to say... If you choose a spy, for example, you need to want to sneak around a lot more than a Jedi might. Spys don't tend to excel at full on frontal attacks so their special abilities don't enhance direct face-to-face combat very well.
This means that you are going to have to read and think about the nature of each profession before you choose yours. There is allot more fun to be had, playing within you character concept in this new version. Remember that you get =more= experience from completing the quests than from individual baddies within the quest... so it may prove possible that a spy could sneak into and out of a baddie stronghold without fighting at all, whereas a more direct confrontational combatant would have to slug his or her way through.
Jedi
Star Wars without Jedi is like Star Trek without warp engines. That is to say...it just limps along on impulse power.
Ok... you can play a Jedi right from jump. I =know= this is going to irritate allot of people who worked like mad under the weight of the old system. I don't have anything to offer in the way of condolence for you folks. Yep, you were screwed (in a way) but please try to remember that you were screwed because the old system sucked hard - not because they have improved your class in this new upgrade. They have improved it by making it readily accessible and by adding allot of new stuff.
Thus far, Jedi seem to be the primo face to face fighters. They have some wickedly fun special attacks - such as Force Bolt and Throw - wherein you get to throw your weapon at the baddie and have it come right back to you. It seems you can use One handed, Polearm and of course Unarmed attacks quite well. It seems you can also use pistols, carbines and rifles if you so choose - although those weapons cant be thrown effectively <giggles>.
Of course the Test servers were swarming with Jedi. This is unavoidable, everyone wants to play a jedi and frankly, why shouldn't they? Jedi are fun and this is after all Star Wars. Star Wars without Jedi is like Star Trek without warp engines. That is to say...it just limps along on impulse power. I know, I know, they are supposed to be rare; the exception rather than the rule. But think about it... wasn't it irritating to you to have to slog through all those damn village quests- hours after hours of trolling for exp to trade in at rates that would have made bankers have to cross their legs - just to play what you wanted to play? Now you can play it right from the get go... and play it =as= a character instead of as a grinder. So don't look around and compare yourself to others... thats not the Jedi way is it?
Smuggler
The smuggler... he's just plain slick.
I was surprised to find that playing a smuggler was less like playing a thief that I had anticipated. Strangely enough... Spy has the thieving and sneaking skills that I would have thought belonged to smugglers. But that said... I was also surprised at how much fun smuggler was to play. The concept behind smuggler seems to be not so much avoiding being seen as it is about "getting away" once seen. In that light, the smuggler skills I was able to try out made a bit more sense.
One gigantic advantage to playing a smuggler... Rooting. In a game thats about running and dodging, having the ability to strip this away from your opponent is an advantage well worth having. I've enjoyed the smuggler more than anything I've played thus far. Yes, even more than Jedi. There is a reason Jedi leap and jump around in the movies folks... they =have= to! The smuggler... he's just plain slick. He hangs back at range, roots and debuffs, and generally rains chaos down on his opponents.
Still, I'd rather have seen some stealing skills added to the list. Likewise in the crafting arena, I would have liked to see smugglers be able to make functional gambling tables for cantinas. I may be too rooted myself in the idea of smugglers as thieves... But who knows... maybe in a future publish...
Spy
make no mistake... he can fight when he needs to fight.
As I mentioned above, the spy is all about sneaking and stealing... but make no mistake... he can fight when he needs to fight. Within the context of the test server (my limited time and the nature of playing only the early levels of the class) I wasn't able to explore this profession anywhere near enough to be able to give you a clear picture of the benefits to this profession. But to try to give you an idea of whats headed your way if you like the idea of playing a spy... right off the bat (at a very early level) you get a special high damage attack called "Eliminate." It does not quite live up to its name, in that it isn't an assassination attack... but it will take a baddie 1-2 CL's above you to about 1/2 HP in a single shot. Not too shoddy!
I did find the sneak abilities a little on the weak side. I felt that the duration of "sneak" was too short given the movement reduction and of course there is still the chance of being discovered. I would have thought that such a skill would be a toggle (once on it remains on) or at least have a very long duration. Again, I was only about level 7 or so when I tested this... so I hold out hope that it improves rather significantly as the levels increase and other concealment skills are added.
Commando
If you think blowing stuff up is fun...
To be fair, I never played a commando in the current version of the game so I have very little to compare it to. I do know... When playing other professions, I was loathe to see a commando join the group. It usually meant lots and lots of AOE attacks... which meant lots and lots of aggro. This in turn seemed to mean lots and lots of incaps and death for everyone. My general feeling was...if you were going to be a "Leroy Baggins" then Commando was the way to go.
I skeptically play tested the new commando to level 6 and yes indeed...AOE is still the basis for this profession. The basic Special was, like in all combat professions, a single target attack that does extra damage. While not as powerful as the Spy's Eliminate, and with no effects like the Root of Smuggler, it was still a handy and precise attack. Grenades are available right from the start, and the second special was a stun attack which has been improved so that the stunned Mob actually stops and does not attack - Ultra handy in the new style. Whoo Hoo!.
It looks like they improved the amount of damage the commando's AOE does. The style that seemed to work right from the start was Hit them with a grenade, then clean up using the carbine or pistol. This was especially effective, and I suspect that as long as the commando is of an appropriate level to the rest of the group, the commando will be a highly sought after teammate. I was invited to join a group of 2 other commandos and we quite literally cleaned up a Gang of Black Sun pirates that had infiltrated the Tutorial space station. If you think blowing up stuff is fun... and frankly who doesn't, then Commando is for you!
Bounty Hunter
I personally just don't see a Bounty Hunter as a "stand and deliver" type of character...
The new Bounty Hunter seems to rely on higher damage attacks coupled with specials that slow the target. While perhaps not as effective as root in terms of actually holding a target, I did find that it slowed the target sufficiently to get off a second high damage attack. These two specials were enough to kill baddies 1-2 levels =above= the BH's own level and severely cripple baddies of 3-4 levels above. Not bad eh?
While many of the specials are named "ambush" and the like, I saw very little in the way of stealth or assassination style specials, which I thought would be a trademark of the BH profession. Likewise Increased range would boost this profession significantly. I personally just don't see a Bounty Hunter as a "stand and deliver" type of character, and that in and of itself made the class difficult for me to play. That's not to say that =you= will find it difficult - in fact the higher damage at higher levels will very likely make the BH a formidable opponent. I suspect that playing BH smartly means being very careful about developing your BH appropriately. opponents that are ranged fighters, you'll want to Melee...and Melee opponents will be decimated by the BH's ranged attacks. You have to think about how to turn your opponents strengths into weaknesses... and =that= is at the heart of a Bounty Hunter's profession.
Medic
the ability to resurrect dead allies early in the game.
The new medic is both a healer and a combatant. The addition of specials that use the medics knowledge of anatomy to strike the opponent in a more critical manner is a nifty addition to the specials. Like the Combat Medic, the new medic also uses chemical and biological attacks to debuff and damage opponents. Add to that the ability to heal damage and you have a fun and absolutely necessary addition to any team. Medics now get resuscitate at cl 10, giving them the ability to resurrect dead allies early in the game. Later, the medic gets an AOE revive, giving him the ability to resurrect multiple fallen allies. So no more waiting for revive to recharge when many have fallen.
On the down side, in the lower levels virtually all the healing power is AOE and =does= aggro which means the medic becomes a prime target for baddies pretty quickly in a close fight. That coupled with the inability to target self makes playing a medic a difficult proposition. The resuscitate skills do cause a "temporary" lessening of abilities - so when you are revived there is likely to be a waiting period while everyone waits for that timer to expire. The description in the skills that say "heals all friendly targets in the area" is also a little misleading... Non-teammates are =not= healed. So no more, running up to a damaged character and giving them a quick boost or fix - at least not during combat. Once again the limitations of the test server prevented me from fully exploring this profession that is to say an AOE Bacta Spray isn't much use outside of combat so I wasn't able to see what good a medic is outside of combat.
Officer
...likely to have the greatest dimension and a huge amount of playability.
Of all the professions I would say Officer is the most unique and interesting. The officer is clearly an evolutionary leap from Squad Leader, but with what looks to be some very interesting and fun brand new specials. These specials include a fair number of group buffs, and plenty of combat specials as well. Theres a touch of healing/first aid at higher levels and a very interesting special called supply drop which reportedly causes a crate of supplies to be air dropped at or near the officers location. At cl 90 there is also a special that calls in an orbital strike... which is quite intriguing. During the test I found that the Officer was quite capable of standing on his own and while I suspect that the Officers real strength is going to shine through in a group, if you insist on soloing - you can do so with this profession.
There isn't much I can offer in regard to downside here. I think in part because of limited testing, but certainly to a greater degree because this profession looks to be the jack of all trade kind of professions. A sweet and interesting mix of many skills - not anywhere near as specialized as the others and as a result likely to have the greatest dimension and a huge amount of playability. The most interesting of the specials seem to be in the mid-to-high range of cl, and I just couldn't spend the amount of time necessary to explore this profession anywhere near as much as I would have liked.
Trader
The more things change...
The improvements presented by the trader class over the previous multiple crafting professions are in fact improvements. But they are more on par with a smaller publish than the changes to just about everything else in the game. This profession seems to reenforce the old adage the more things change the more they stay the same.
Still, the new Trader profession does have some benefits. For example, previously it didn't make a whole lot of sense that merchant was a separate skill set, a mistake that they have definitely corrected here. The consolidation of merchant skills within the normal leveling of crafters makes sense and is a definite improvement. The consolidation of the older professions into four specific subcategories is also an improvement in my opinion. It will give crafters the ability to make more things across the boards. I tested Trader with a Structure sub-class... giving me the products formerly related to Architect, Tailor, Armorsmith, Chef and Shipwright. Thats allot of diversity for one guy to have and so it should be fun making such a wide range of products.
The down side is that there doesn't seem to be anything super new about the Trader profession at this point. I didn't see any new items. You don't get experience for surveying or sampling, only for crafting. And other than limited numbers of meats, hides and bones collected as "loot" gathering resources seems to still be the biggest problem facing the Trader. Of course those numbers of resources gathered as loot are low since all the characters I was able to test are low level. Likewise, now that spy is replacing Master Ranger, there doesn't seem to be a profession dedicated to harvesting organic resources, which, frankly may be either a boon to Traders in that =everyone= harvests or a Bane in that =too many= delete those harvests rather than sell them. Can you say: "Galactic inflation?"
In short, quite a bit remains to be seen in the Trader Arena. With so much diversity and change going on in this CU, =someone= had to be the red headed step-child...and Traders... tag - you're it! While I imagine that the artwork and other effort needed to create new items is what may have caused this, the lack of new items has caused a significant problem for those of us who have Master Crafters of any kind. Since there are 10 new levels to be had, and no new Items, you're actually losing some of the mastery you've already acquired. Since, for example, the YT-1300 was a Master Shipwright Schem, and under the new system you are not a master anything (you still have 10 new levels to grow, remember?) you have to grind again to get those Schems back. Of course because you also have many other items to craft this may impact you less, the bottom line is it =feels= like a bit of a cheat.
What might improve the profession overall? More items of course. More types of ships, more types of armor and clothing and guns and foods and so on or perhaps more diversity in customization. Being able to make Ship chassis support more mass using specific add-ons, making weapon mounts - making "sockets" and skill bonus items... and so on. What else? How about being able to earn lots as their skills develop. Much like earning political influence allowing Traders to be able to place more harvesters based on their own skills rather than having to beg lots from guildmates. Maybe making warehouses with more storage than regular houses and being able to make houses with additional storage or unique floorplans or simply be able to lease structures instead of just sell them. How much does a 1000 Item storage warehouse lease for on Tattoine these days? How much does it cost to rent a luxury yacht for the party you are throwing?
Entertainer
more was lost by the CU than was granted as far as Ents are concerned
Not much has changed here in terms of the abilities, except for the fact that all three sub-professions of entertainer have been merged into a single skillset. This does mean that you can dance your way to Master Entertainer, and consequently play any of the instruments and do ID on folks, which is all-in-all a great thing. Likewise you can use an instrument to level, so no more dancing yourself right out of the cantina! Of course all the changes aren't going to please everyone, and while the CU did merge the Ent profession, almost nothing was granted in terms of adding to the playability of the Ent profession.
Sadly, since Camps are no longer a part of SWG, there wont be any Ents traveling with groups and buffing along the way, and they cannot gain anything beyond even the most rudimentary of combat skills so fighting anything above a CL4 is impossible. Gone are the days of Master Doc/Master Dancers accompanying a group into the wilderness. Entertainers are now absolutely bound to cities -simply because they have no hope of surviving or benefitting in any way from leaving. While this profession is still the most excellent in terms of connecting with and enjoying other =players,= my initial feeling is that more was lost by the CU than was granted as far as Ents are concerned.
What could be done to improve the Ent Profession? If the Ent really =must= remain in the city and not go on quests and hunting and such, giving them the ability to dance =with= patrons would be an excellent addition. This type of "grant dance" capability would hugely improve the profession for those who enjoy roleplay. On the other hand, if Ents =can= be free to go "afield" then a dual skillset, allowing for combat leveling would be excellent in my opinion. I would love to see the TK skills (or TK-like skills) added to the Entertainer profession. Sort of making them akin to Capoeira Dancers, where dance itself is a form of combat/Martial Art. Adding some First aid skills, and perhaps some harvesting skills to help fill what I imagine will prove to be a harvesting gap would truly finish off adding a level of dimension to this profession.
Summary
"you'll have a much more enjoyable time playing SWG than you ever have before. "
All in all the new professions are excellent. Those converted over more directly from the current game leave a bit to be desired but I do hold out allot of hope that the first few publishes (after any fixes) will be loaded with benefits for the Entertainers and Traders alike. For Direct combat, you'll love Jedi, Commando and Smuggler. BH is no slouch either. If you prefer support roles, Medic will be the way for you, and if you like lots and lots of sneakiness - Spy's the ticket. If you want a character with some real sweet combinations of all of the above, you'll want to play an Officer.
The new style of play, the faster movement, faster combat, and all of the new interface improvements are a great leap forward. You shouldn't be impacted by the "experience point nerf" if you pay attention to the fact that you get ample exp from quests. The bottom line? With all the new combat specials and abilities that are being added to the game with this CU, you'll have a much more enjoyable time playing SWG than you ever have before.
See Also: Longknife Valley;