Hi there.  I'm Jahn Compton, General in Omega Squadron and Director of the EH's Star Wars Galaxies effort.  I'm one of the lucky few who have gotten in on the Beta test Star Wars Galaxies, the upcoming MMORPG from Sony Online Entertainment.  I've been playing a character named Lede Hisk since about the beginning of May.  As a loyal member of the Hammer I'll be sharing as much information as I can so EH members can learn the game faster and possibly get an edge on the competition when the game is finally released on June 26. Two things before I get started: wear sunblock.  You don't want this to happen to you!  (Actually, with the latest update I've having serious graphics errors with all humanoid character faces.  I also seem to be the ONLY person having this problem.)  Second, DON'T MAKE FUN OF THE HAT. I'll be adding stuff to this regularly, so keep checking back for updates.  I've managed to save quite a bit of stuff from the Beta boards.

The first thing you need to do before the game comes out is to make sure you're signed up on The Station, Sony Online's FREE member website.  Hit this link to sign up if you're not already a member.  This should take you to the signup page, then pop you over to the SWG main page.  Make sure you check the main page often, as they add new, informative content a couple times a week and be sure you sign up for the SWG e-mail newsletter.

Next, read the Frequently Asked Questions.  Read everything.  There is a lot of good information here - information that you'll need to know before you start playing the game.  The SWG team does a pretty good job of keeping this updated as things get finalized in the game.

Third, read the Guide to Playing.  This will give you an even better idea of what your personal goals in the game can be.  Keep in mind that I'm writing this guide assuming that you've read the FAQ and the Guide.  I'm trying not to repeat too much of the same information.

I also recommend that you get and read the SWG Player's Guide.  This book is currently scheduled to be released on June 17th, but will be pushed back if the game is not released by then.  It should have a heck of a lot more information than I provide here.  And it should - they got paid to write that one.

With that said, let's get to it.

WAIT - BEFORE WE GET STARTED

The current (as of 6/16/03) system requirements for SWG are as follows:

*Computer
100% DirectX 9.0 compatible computer
*Operating Systems
Windows 98 SE, Millennium, 2000, and XP
*CPU
Required: Intel PIII 933 MHz or AMD Athlon 900 MHz
Recommended: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
*Memory
Required: 256 MB RAM
Recommended: 512 MB RAM
*Graphics Card
Required: 32 MB 3D Graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L) Capability
Recommended: 64 MB 3D Graphics card with Vertex Shader and Pixel Shader (VS/PS) Capability
*Sound Card
Required: PCI, USB or Onboard Audio Device
*CD-ROM
Required: Quad Speed CD-ROM drive
*Input Device
Required: Keyboard and mouse
*Connectivity Requirements
Required: 56K modem or faster Internet connection
*Monitor
1024x768 capable monitor required
*DirectX
Microsoft DirectX 9.0 is included on this CD. NOTE: DirectX may require the "latest" updates for your operating system. This may also include the latest drivers for your particular motherboard, sound and video hardware.
*Installation
Installation requires 2.0 GB of free hard drive space. It is recommended that you have at least an additional 500 MB of free space available after installing the game for the Windows swap/page file and additional patch downloads.
*Supported Chipsets at the time of release:
ATI Radeon 7200/7500
ATI Radeon 8500/9000
ATI Radeon 9500/9700
ATI Radeon 9800
Matrox Parhelia
NVIDIA GeForce 256
NVIDIA GeForce 2 family
NVIDIA GeForce 3 family
NVIDIA GeForce 4 family
NVIDIA GeForceFX family
Additional Chipsets supported.

Let me tell you this now - you will need a LOT more than 256 megs of RAM to be happy playing this game.  I currently have a P4 system and I started with just 256 megs.  I was CONSTANTLY getting about 1 frame every three seconds (not an exaggeration) when running through cities.  According to one thread, SWG is designed to use up to 750 megs of RAM, so if you can get it, get at least a gig of RAM for your system.  I've since upgraded to 512 megs and it works fine, but a gig will probably make for an even easier time.  (But keep in mind I had 256mb before they made some performance improvements, so it may be better now - but you're still better off with 512.)

NOTE: IF YOU FIND ANY ERRORS IN THIS DOCUMENT, PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT LOVEWILKIL@AOL.COM!  The game is constantly being updated, and I can't try everything, so there are bound to be mistakes here and there.  So if you find one, please let me know.
 

GUESS WHAT THEY ADDED THIS WEEK

Alrighty, now that I can post pictures, let's look at some of the cool stuff in the game.  First, something they once said would not be in the game, but you'll be VERY happy to see.

Of course having Stormtrooper armor in the game might lead to some unfortunate accidents.

OKAY, NOW WE CAN GET STARTED

When you start the game, you can customize your character to a ridiculous degree.  You can choose their race, skin color, hair color, breast size... just about every body attribute is customizable - even how your lekku hang, for you Twi'leks out there.  Note that there are different attributes for each race.  Take your time planning out how your character looks, as you'll be stuck with that body and hair for a while (unless you can find an image designer, but more on that later).

After you've got your race/appearance settled, you can choose one of six starting Professions.  Here are those six, complete with a listing of the equipment you'll have once you get planetside (more or less - they've recently made some changes):

Artisan: Survival Knife, Flora Survey Device, Mineral Survey Device, Generic Crafting Device, CDEF Pistol

Brawler:Damage Stimpack-5, Survival Knife

Entertainer: Survival Knife, Slitherhorn, CDEF Pistol, Damage Stimpack-5

Marksman: CDEF Pistol, Damage Stimpack-5

Medic: Damage Stimpack-5, Action Wound Healer-1, Health Wound Healer-1, Generic Crafting Tool, CDEF Pistol

Scout: CDEF Pistol, Gas Survey Device, Chemical Survey Device, Flora Survey Device, Mineral Survey Device, Water Survery Device, Generic Crafting Device

Aside from the equipment, the only other difference in which character you pick will be in the HAM (see the next section).

Each one of these professions is vital to the success of the Emperor's Hammer.  In the EH Player Association, it'll be necessary for people of all Professions to work together to make us strong.

Medics will need to make stimpacks and other medical serums to heal our members who go into combat.

Artisans will hopefully make us some dope new threads, because trust me - you'll get REALLY bored with the default clothing REALLY quick.  Artisans can also move on to become Architects, Weaponsmiths and Armorsmiths, three VITALLY important skills in the game.

Scouts will need to survey and forage for metal, fiberplast and other substances so the Artisans can make our clothes.

Entertainers are necessary to heal Battle Fatigue.

It'll be the Marksman's and Brawler's jobs to go hunt animals and, with a minor bit of Scouting skill, harvest their hides, bones and meat so Artisans and Medics craft certain items and serums.

You'll undoubtedly end up with at least a Novice rating in two or three Skill Trees.  This will allow you to do more things for yourself, but the game is designed so that no character can do everything for themselves.  You're only alotted 250 Skill Points, and these are used every time you learn a new skill.  It's enough to Master three basic Skill Trees, but that's about it.  And you'll definitely want to save some of those Skill Points for the Elite and Hybrid Professions later on.

PLAY THROUGH THE NEW PLAYER TUTORIAL!

This will walk you through the basics of the game, teaching you everything you'll need to know to get started.  The Devs did a pretty good job on these things to make sure anyone can hit the ground running once they get planetside.

ONE NOTE ON CONTROLS - Whenever you click on something, a radial menu pops up.  If you want to intereact with the character/creature/container/whatever, WAIT UNTIL THE CURSOR STOPS RADIATING BEFORE YOU TRY TO DO ANYTHING.  The cursor will not bring up all the options until they've all loaded, and the radiating thing in the middle of the menu will stop once all options have loaded.
 

HAM

No, I didn't stop to get a sandwich (although it's not a bad idea right now) - HAM stands for Health, Action and Mind.  These are the three pools each character has that determines their health.  Instead of just one big health pool, like most games, SWG gives you three.  Unfortunately, when any of these pools gets drained, your character becomes incapacitated and can be killed (if some player or creature decides to give you the dreaded deathblow).  Each race gets different amounts of Health, Action and Mind so it's a good idea to see which race will give you the biggest pools for what you want to do in the game.

Mmm, that sandwich tasted good (hey - it was dinner time).  Now, the main thing to remember about your pools is that doing special moves uses your energy.  This means that if you want to use that Body Shot I mentioned above, it'll cost you a little bit from your Action and Mind pools to do it.  The thing to watch out for is this - if you're in combat, and you do a lot of special moves, it may only take a couple hits to that pool to knock you out.  And being incapacitated SUCKS.  You have to lay there, knocked out, for somewhere between 60-120 seconds wondering whether or not that Female Tusk Cat that you were fighting is going to come back and kill you.  If she does, well then it's off to the...
 

CLONING CENTERS AND ITEM INSURANCE

As far as I know, every city on every planet has a Cloning Center.  I believe it's even planned to allow PAs to have their own centers as well.  Basically what a Cloning Center is there for is to regenerate your body when you die.  Unless you paid a specific Cloning Center to regenerate you, you will come back at the closest Cloning Center to where you died.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The first three times you die, your body will be regenerated with all your stuff for free.  After your third regeneration, you will have to pay to be able to choose which Cloning Center will regenerate your body, and you'll have to pay (at about 250 credits per item!!!) to insure your stuff.  Anything that was not insured (like credits you had on your person) will be left on your corpse, which will be back where you died.  To get them back you, or someone you give looting permission to, will have to trek back to your corpse and retrieve them.  This can be a royal pain, especially if you last died in the middle of two groups of marauders who are both trying to kick your butt.

The bottom line is this: as soon as your character is regenerated, the first two things you should do are pay the 100 credits to clone in that center (assuming that's the center where you want to be cloned) and insure all your items.  Nothing sucks worse than dying out in the field, being regenerated without any of your weapons and having to spend the next three hours dying over and over again as you try to get back to the corpse that still carries your trusty rifle.  Not that I'd know anything about that...

IMPORTANT NOTE TWO: They recently (6/16) changed it so Insurance is about 50 times as expensive as it used to be (it used to be about 5 credits per item), and they REALLY changed cloning.  If you do not clone at your predesignated cloning center, you will lose 2/3 of all your Health, Action and Mind points.  Yes, I said you will LOSE 67% of your vitality.  This takes a LONG time to heal.

SKILL ADVANCEMENT - EXPERIENCE IS ALL

The main point of this game is to gain Experience.  But in SWG, there are many different kinds of Experience, and you earn different kinds of Experience by doing different things.  Each Profession has four different Skills and each Skill has four different Levels: Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and Master.  You can view the different Skill Trees here.  When you get to Master level in all four Skills of a Profession, you can work a little bit more and reach Master of that Profession.  Got it?  Right.  Here are the types of Experience Points you need for each Skill, plus how many points you need for each Skill Level (current as of 5/29):
 

Master Artisan: 10000 General Crafting Points
 
 

Master Brawler: 620 Apprentice Points
 
 

Master Entertainer: 620 Apprentice Points
 
 

Master Marksman: 620 Apprentice Points
 
 

Master Medic: 620 Apprentice Points
 
 

Master Scout: 620 Apprentice Points

* - All combat forms give 1/10 the Weapon Experience in Combat Experience.  So if you earn 220 points of Rifle Experience, you also get 22 points of Combat Experience.

Also, you'll need to be a Master in certain Professions (not just certain Skills) before you can attain certain Elite Professions.  To become a Bounty Hunter or Commando, you'll need to be a Master Marksman.  To become a Doctor or Combat Medic, you'll need to be a Master Medic.  And to become a Bounty Hunter or Ranger, you'll need to be a Master Scout.  So if you want to become a Bounty Hunter, it'll take a lot of work.

I mentioned Skill Points earlier.  You start off with 250, and have to spend them (along with your Experience Points) to gain higher Skill Levels.  Here's the breakdown for the starting Professions:
 

So to become a Master Medic, you'd need to spend a total of 63 Skill Points (plus all your various Experience Points).

As you can see, there are many different things that each Profession can teach you, and there are new things you can do with every level of advancement.  One thing to look out for: at one point in Beta, learning a higher skill meant that you could no longer make certain things.  For example, anyone with Novice Medic could craft a Stimpack A.  But upon learning Organic Chemistry II, you learned how to make a Stimpack B, but LOST the ability to make a Stimpack A.  This was pretty annoying, which is why they took it out.  But before you go to a higher skill, double check to make sure there are no ugly surprises associated with the skill.
 

WHADOIDO?  WHADOIDO?

You advance in the different skills by earning Experience Points in different areas.  For example, you earn Weapon Points (for whatever kind of weapon you're using) every time you kill a beastie (and again, you earn 1/10 that many Combat Points as well).  So if you decide you want to become a Pistol Specialist (which is necessary to become a Smuggler), just kill stuff with your pistol and you'll get more points.  Once you have enough pistol points, you can trade them in to earn a higher level of skill using the pistol.  And earning that higher level of skill often means you learn special moves as well.  Learning Intermediate Pistol I gives you the Body Shot I ability, which allows you to target just the Health pool of your target.  To make things easier, here's the short version of what I've figured out so far about gaining different kinds of experience for the basic Skill Trees:
 

SO WHERE DO I LEARN ALL THESE NEW SKILLS?

There are two ways to learn new Skills once you have enough Experience Points in that Skill.  You can either pay an NPC Trainer a lot of money (you can find a trainer of pretty much every basic type in almost every city on each planet), or you can learn a skill from another player.  One of the beautiful things about having an EH Player Association is that we'll be able to train each other in almost every skill in the game.  Note - you MUST learn the Novice Skills from NPC Trainers.  Other Players can not teach you anything from a Skill Tree you do not already possess.  The good thing about this is that it only costs 100 credits to learn a basic Novice-level Skill.  Once you have the Experience to advance in a Skill, stand there and ask around until someone teaches it to you.  To teach someone a Skill, you must group with them first.  Then click and hold until the option to Teach Skill pops up.  Then it'll give you a list of everything you can teach that person.
 

WHAT IS THIS WORD... CRAFTING?

Crafting is simply making stuff, be it clothes, medical supplies or blasters.  Without crafting, there is no game.  Outside of the equipment you get when you start, every item of anything in the game has to be made by someone.  And considering that every item in the game is designed to break after a while, you will eventually have to use an item that someone made.  So how do you make something?  Well, first you need a Crafting Tool.  With this, and the right ingredients, you can make nearly everything you will need early on in the game.  Of course, you'll need the material with which to make these things.  To get various materials, you'll need to go find them.

OKAY, SO HOW DO I FIND THEM?

You Survey for them.  By using the various Survey Tools (Gas, Chemical, Flora, Solar, Wind, Water and the all important Mineral), you can find the locations of the various resources that need to be harvested so you can make stuff.  First you set the range, then you can survey for stuff, one item at a time.  Every time you Survey for a substance, a blue Waypoint will pop up on your Radar.  It's a good idea to survey a bunch of times so you can be sure that you've found the most resource-rich location.  Eventually you'll find a nice vein of the substance you want, then you can Sample for it.  You don't need any extra tools for this - your Survey Device takes care of it for you.  You won't find stuff every time you sample, but if you stay in one place and keep Sampling (your character will keep at it until you either stand up or run out of energy) you'll find something.  Just keep in mind that Surveying and Sampling takes both Action and Mind energy.  If some creature decides to stalk you, you may be an easy target if you've been Sampling for a while.  What I like to do is find a place, sample until I'm almost out of energy, then set up a camp and rest until your Mind bar is back up all the way.  Then break camp and start over.  This way you get both Surveying Experience (for digging up the resources) and Wilderness Survival Experience (for having a camp).
 

HOW DO I KNOW IF I CAN ACTUALLY KILL SOMETHING?

Here's a nifty little chart for telling if you can kill something.  I outright stole this bit from a player named Gaiden on the Beta boards.  He wrote an excellent guide that you should read as well, assuming they leave the Beta Forum up.  When you target a person or creature, their HAM display pops up.  To the left of that is the chance-to-hit modifier.  To the right of the HAM is something called the Consider mark.  This is the indicator of the chance you have to kill the thing you're targeting.  Here's Gaiden's chart:

Green - very weak and gives little to no XP.
Light Blue - weak, but gives a little better XP return.
Blue - Somewhat harder to handle. Should still be easily defeatable, but at this lvl others may join in. 3+ of them is tough. Good XP.
White/Black - Equal to you in skill/lvl. One is plenty. Great XP.
Yellow - Stronger than you by one to a few lvls. May want a group to help take these down. Excellent XP return.
Red - You will be pulverized. A group of you may be pulverized depending on how much stronger than you these are. Best XP return at the highest risk. Don't even think about soloing one of these.

Keep in mind that the more bad guys there are in a group (they'll always be grouped together), the tougher the group'll be to take down.
 

THE SECRET TO MY KILLER SUCCESS

I've spent most (almost all) of my time in Beta trying to become a Squad Leader/Architect.  Along the way, I decided I wanted to become a Master Marksman and a Master Scout.  Turns out that these two skills really go hand in hand - you kill something with your Marksman skills, then you harvest their hide/meat/bone with your Scout skills.  So far I've made Marksman and have one tree to go in Scout (I'll decide then if I want to try my hand at Bounty Hunting).  This means I've shot and killed a WHOLE LOT of stuff.  Anyway, when I go out hunting, here's what I do:

First, MASK YOUR SCENT.  Creatures that smell your stank self will run after you and chew on things you don't want chewed on.  Masking your scent will allow you to sneak up on creatures.  You get this skill in the Scouting tree, with Level Two Hunting.

Second, CRAWL LIKE A MOFO.  As you gain skill levels in Scouting, your Camoflage level go up.  The higher your Camoflage level, the easier it is for you to sneak up on things - both creatures and NPCs.  To crawl, go prone and move.

Third, KNOW THE OPTIMUM RANGE OF YOUR WEAPON.  Pistols works best at 15m, Carbines at 30 and Rifles at 45.  When looking at your target, the number to the left of the HAM bar is the chance to hit modifier.  The higher the number, the more chance you have to hit the sucker.  Kneeling raises the chance of hitting, and going prone really raises the chance.  But you can't shoot someone at point blank range if you're prone.

Fourth, PUT YOUR WEAPONS IN YOUR HOTKEYS.  You can grab a weapon from your inventory and drag it up to a slot in your Hotkeys.  This way whenever you hit that key, you will equip that weapon.  (Just be careful - if you hit the key for your pistol when your pistol is already in your hand, you'll unequip it.)  This is a lot easier than opening your inventory and equipping your weapons from there.

Fifth, THROW A TRAP.  You'll need a Crafting Tool to make Traps.  A lot of Scouts tend to wait and do Trapping after they've gotten everything else in the Scout tree.  THIS IS A MISTAKE.  The sooner you get started in Trapping, the sooner you finish - this skill takes a LONG time to master.  Use the bones, hide and meat that you harvest to make traps, then stick a trap on one of your Hotkeys.  Once you're in range (I believe it's less than 50 meters) hit the hotkey and you'll throw a trap.
 

WHY CAN'T I UNDERSTAND THAT WALKING BAG OF RAT FUR?

"Chumpbacca the Wookiee says 'aaaRRRRRRgggglllllll'."  Huh?!?  There are about seven different languages in SWG.  Unless you understand the language another character is speaking, anything they say in that language will look like gibberish.  Luckily all languages are easily learned and spoken.  Well, except Shyriiwook.  Only Wookiees can speak that - and it's the only thing that Wookiees can speak.
 

ALRIGHT ALREADY, HOW DO I MAKE A BUCK IN THIS THING?

There are two ways to make credits in the game - either sell something or complete a Mission.  There are two types of Missions available from Mission Terminals - Destroy and Deliver.  In a Deliver Mission, you run to an NPC and Converse with them.  They'll give you an item.  Once you deliver the item to the NPC who's waiting for it, your payment is automatically made to your bank account.  Likewise, once you destroy the target of your Destroy mission, your payment automatically gets deposited for you.  The credit amount for Missions will vary by how tough the mission is to complete - delivering something across the planet gets you a lot more credits than delivering something across town.  Keep in mind that you do NOT get expenses for the missions - you have to buy your own Shuttle pass to get across planet.

You can also talk to NPCs who give you missions.  These will often be quite different and require you to do things that you've learned (crafting, surveying and the like).
 

NEVER MIND ALL THAT CRAP, HOW DO I BECOME AN IMPERIAL?

You'll need at least 200 Imperial Faction Points before you can become an Imperial.  You can earn Imperial Faction Points in one of two ways: complete a Mission (Deliver or Destroy) from an Imperial Mission Terminal.  These are found in most cities near the Imperial Recruiters.  The other way is to kill Rebels.  And really, isn't that what we're all here for?

I hope this will still work once the game goes live (there's no guarantee, as I haven't seen him in Theed lately), but here's how I got over 200 Imperial points in one Mission: I talked to a Biker Scout who stood around the north side of the eastern Medical Center in Theed.  I completed the Deliver Mission, and I got a boatload of points.  I was a very happy boy.
 

FACTION THIS - REBELS ARE SCUM

As you should know if you read the tons of stuff you should read before the game comes out, you can side with either the Imperials or the Rebel Scum if you like.  Obviously, since we're the Emperor's Hammer we'll have decidedly Imperial leanings.  On each side, you can be either a Covert member or an Overt member.  Basically this standing decides whether or not the other side can shoot at you whenever they feel like it.  If you're a Covert member, Rebels (and those annoying folks who are undeclared) will only know you're an Imperial if they see you talking to or healing an Imperial.  If you're a Declared Imperial, everyone in the galaxy will know it.

Now here's where this stuff comes into play.  The game is set up so that some planets have Imperial leanings, and others cater to the Rebel Scum.  Since Tatooine is way the heck out in the middle of nowhere and has the whole "hive of scum and villainy" thing going for it, it's got a lot of Rebel bases and whatnot.  Since our beloved Emperor Palpatine is from Naboo, there's a huge Imperial presence on Naboo.

Being the raging Imperial that I am, I've spent almost all of my time on Naboo.  And in my travels, I've seen some interesting things.  The situation on Naboo, at least on the one Beta server, is that Imperials control all but one of the cities.  In the Imperial-controlled cities, things are nice and orderly and very rarely are shots fired within city limits.  But in the city of Moenia, things are different.  See, Moenia's one of the few places on Naboo where you can find a Rebel Mission Terminal, so there are LOTS of Rebels there.  And it shows.  The streets of Moenia are littered with player corpses.  Scarcely a minute goes by without the sound of blaster fire nearby.  Many of the Rebels there have taken the Galactic Rebellion to the extreme, and have adopted the motto - "If it's Imperial, shoot it."  The only times I have been OKed have been in Moenia.

Which leads me to an important point - since playing this game, I believe more strongly than ever that the Empire is the rightful government in the galaxy and the Rebellion must be crushed.  Again, Moenia is the worst, most chaotic city on Naboo, and it's because the Rebels have no sense of order.  They also show no sense of honor.  The last two times I've been killed have been by cowardly Rebels.  One sniped me while I was trying to use a Mission Terminal outside the Starport.  I was trying to get a Deliver Mission before leaving town, and the next thing I knew I was being shot in the head.  Due to my incredibly slow framerate, I was hurting something fierce before I was even able to figure out who was shooting at me.  The next time I died was a few minutes later, when I was waiting for the shuttle out of town.  I was standing there, minding my own business, when someone started shooting me.  And then the idiot yells at me to "Get out of town, Imperial Scum!" when I was obviously WAITING FOR THE SHUTTLE SO I COULD LEAVE TOWN.  Frickin' moron.  By the time I was able to find him and shoot back, he managed to take me out just before I could get him.  And then when I went back to get my corpse, naked and without a weapon, some other Rebel idiot started shooting at me again even though I was defenseless.  It seems that Rebels have a really nasty habit of camping out by the Shuttles and the Cloning Centers, and kill as many Imperials as they can set their sights on, even if the Imperials are not looking for trouble.  For this reason, I say that Rebels need to be expunged from the face of the galaxy.
 

ALL HAIL PALPATINE

The Emperor's Retreat is located at coordinates 2400, -3900 on the planet Naboo, west of Moenia.  To access the main hall, you must complete five missions for the Emperor's Executive Assistant (COUGH-SECRETARY-COUGH).  This will allow you access to Naboo's Inquisitor, who will have more missions for you.  Once you complete those, you can do some missions for a very special guest.  I'm assuming that you'll eventually get missions from Palpy himself, but the whole theme park's been bugged lately.  Hopefully they will have this fixed before release.
 

LET ME TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS

Although not everyone who plays the game cares, the characters who get respect are those who follow certain unwritten rules:

Don't attack anyone in the Cloning Centers, Medical Centers or when they're waiting for a shuttle.

Tip your Medics and Entertainers.  Between 50 and 100 is nice, bu ttip more if they're healing a lot of damage for you.  And feel free to offer Medics any spare organics you may have so they can keep making medpacks.

If someone is running around in there underwear begging you to stop shooting them, stop shooting them.  Unless they suddenly shoot back.

Obviously there will end up being some groups that don't follow these rules.  Once they break them against us, they'll be fair game.  But until then follow the rules, and we'll not only be the best PA in the game, but the most respected.
 

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

THIS GAME TAKES TIME.  I'm not talking about the hours upon hours waiting for the Beta servers to come back up after an update.  I mean playing the game takes a lot of time.  There are very few shortcuts that gain you a lot of Experience quickly.  You will have to work for your xp.

ALWAYS HOLD A WEAPON.  Especially if you barely have enough RAM to run the game.  Here's why: Like I said, I was playing the game with 256 megs.  When my characters loaded, there was always a period of lag between the time the server let my character in the game and the time I could see anything.  I could hear what was going on around me, but I could't do anything.  Which was a bad thing when something came up and started gnawing on my leg.  Luckily, combat is turn-based and run from the server.  This means that if you have a blaster in your hand when your character loads (this counts when using the shuttle system as well), your guy or gal will start shooting at whatever is attacking you before you can even move.  I actually killed some stupid beastie before I could join in and play one time.  Note: the weapon you equip before traveling should be your best point-blank range weapon (I always have my pistol ready), in case someone/some creature runs up on you before you can move.

IF YOU ARE OVERT IMPERIAL, PEOPLE WILL SHOOT AT YOU.  I was a proud citizen the day that I publicly declared my Imperialness.  I went out and did some Destroy Missions for even more Imperial Status Points.  As I was running back into town, a Rebel Wookiee opened fire on me.  He didn't say "Hi there, I'm about to shoot at you." "BLAST HIM!" or even "s+0p !mper!al n00b!!!!!!!"  He just started shooting.  I ended up handing him his butt, but that's not the point.  The point is - if you're Overt Imperial, Rebels can shoot at you when ever they want.  The good side of this is that we can shoot at Overt Rebels any time we want.  But remember - if a Rebel kills you, you lose Imperial Faction Points.  And thus...

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.  If some filthy piece of Rebel Scum shoots at you, the game will not automatically target the person shooting at you.  This is maybe the best reason to load your system up with as much memory as you can afford - slow framerates can literally kill you.  But if you wander into an area in town and see a few corpses laying around, be careful.  That cyan dot on your radar might just be a cowardly Rebel waiting to ambush you.

GET THE BEST WEAPONS POSSIBLE.  As in any game, the better the weapon, the faster you can kill things and the better chance you have to stay alive.  So find a better weapon.  The CDEF Pistol that most players start out with scares me.  It's not that powerful, and I think I figured out why.  If you look at it from the side, it looks like the old-school Star Wars figure version of Princess Leia's gun.  Which means the barrel is about as big around as your finger, and it does about as much damage as it looks like it does.  Once you join the Empire, requisition a Power-5 pistol, fast (it should cost 50 faction points).  You can sometimes find better weapons on NPCs outside of town - kill them and loot their corpses - but the best weapons in the game will be player-made.  You should also be able to find weapons (and armor, and resources) in the various Bazaar Terminals in each city.
 
 
 

THE ECSTASY AND THE AGONY - STIMPACKS

Here's a guide I found on the Beta boards that a person named pleasuremodel put up.  It's pretty handy:

Defaults:
Stimpack A heals 75 health, 75 action, 3 charges, requires medical skill of 5 (novice medic)

Stimpack B (OC 2) heals 104 health, 104 action, 4 charges, requires medical skill of 5 (Novice medic)

Stimpack C (OC 4) heals 154 health, 154 action, 4 charges, requires medical use of 34 (Pharmacology 4)
 

Ingredients:
Stimpack A (total 3 organics) requires 3 organics in a single step process

Stimpack B (total 32 organics, 18 inorganics, 8 chemical, 6 water) requires you to make 1 liquid suspension (6 organic, 6 water) and 1 Bio Effect Controller (6 organic, 6 inorganic) and 1 Chemical Release Duration Device (8 organics, 8 chemicals) and combine these 3 finished products with 12 more organics and 12 more inorganics and you will get a stimpack B.

Stimpack C (total 34 organics, 20 inorganics, 8 chemical, 6 water) requires you to make 1 liquid suspension (6 organic, 6 water) and 1 Bio Effect Controller (6 organic, 6 inorganic) and 1 Chemical Release Duration Device (8 organics, 8 chemicals) and combine these 3 finished products with 14 more organics and 14 more inorganics and you will get a stimpack C.

Comparisons:

code:
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Type    Total Healed   Default Charges    Required Ingredients
  A          225              3                         3, single step process
  B          416              4                         64, a four step process
  C          616              4                         68, a four step process

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Comments:
Stim A: best bang for your buck...requires little resources that also happen to be the easiest to get in game. Experimentation doesn't have a big impact on them and they can be made in the field.

Stim B: Time consuming to make, resource intensive, experimentation has an OK impact like moving 4 uses up to 6.

Stim C: Identical in everyway to Stim B (except 4 more resources used up when you click through the final process), experimentation has a heavy impact and since you have to be at a crafting station to make them, you might as well push up the potency or number of uses. I used all 5 of my meager experimenting points and the healing went from 154 to 265, making this stimpack pack a punch. The only downside is that you need pharmacology 4 to use them unless you experiment on ease of use, and even lowering that still requires an experienced medic to apply them.
 

CLOTHING SCHEMATICS

Thanks to Anabelle

By skill level:
Novice Artisan:

Simple Shirt: 16 fiberplast, 4 metal (total resources required 20)
Casual Shoes: 8 fiberplast, 4 inert petrochemical, 8 hide (total resources required 20)
Casual Pants: 16 fiberplast, 4 metal, (total resources 20)

Domestic Arts I:

Fiberplast Panel: 8 fiberplast, 2 metal (total resources 10)
Shorts: 15 fiberplast, 8 bones (total resources 23)
Wrinkley Pants: 13 inert petrochemical, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 23, steps required 2)
Headwrap: 10 fiberplast, 6 inert petrochemical, 6 fiberplast (total resources 22)
Plain Robe: 13 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 23, steps required 2)

Domestic Arts II:

Metal Fastener: 5 metal, 10 metal (total resources 15)
Hide Boots: 20 fiberplast, 10 inert petrochemical, 15 inert petrochemical (total resources 45)
Plain Short Robe: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 1 metal fastener (total resources 45, steps required 2)
Short Sleeve Jacket: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Casual Jacket: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 40, steps required 2)

Domestic Arts III:

Pocketed Work Pants: 20 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)
Work Slacks: 20 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)
Multipocket Belt: 15 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Two pocket Belt: 15 fiberplast, 10 metal, 1 metal fastener (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Soft Undershirt: 30 wooly hides, 15 polymer (total resources 45)
Short Sleeve Shirt: 30 scaly hides, 15 polymer (total resources 45)
Leather Gloves: 10 fiberplast, 10 fiberplast, 10 polymer (total resources 45)
 

Domestic Arts IV:

Travel Pack: 50 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 5 wooly hides, 5 metal (total resources 70)
Administrator’s Robe: 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 5)
Frock: 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel, (total resources 60 steps required 5)
Rugged Jacket: 30 fiberplast, 20 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 3)
Laborer Jacket: 30 fiberplast, 20 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 3)
Shoulder Strap: 1 metal fastener, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)

Novice Tailor:

Plain Shirt: 20 leathery hide, 20 bone (total resources 40)
Casual Shirt: 20 scaly hide, 20 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Striped Pants: 20 leathery hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Thin Striped Pants: 20 scaly hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Ribbed Pants: 20 wooly hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Padded Jacket: 20 polymer, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 2)
Wooly Jacket: 20 polymer, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 2)
Workman’s Belt: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 inert petrochemical, 10 metal (total resources 40)
Leather Gloves: 15 leathery hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Large Pocket Pants: 20 fiberplast, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Ribbed Shirt: 30 scaly hide, 30 metal (total resources 60)
Smock: 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)
Councilman’s Robe: 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)
Sleeveless Dress: 30 inert petrochemical, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)
Bangles: 5 steel, 10 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 20)
Metal Bracelet: 5 steel, 10 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 20)
Formal Shirt: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Dress Shirt: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Metal Necklace: 5 steel, 15 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 25)
Large Pendant: 5 steel, 15 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 25)
Striped Necklace: 10 steel, 20 steel, 10 crystalline gemstone (total resources 40)

By Category (through Novice Tailor):
Shirts:
Simple Shirt: 16 fiberplast, 4 metal (total resources required 20)
Soft Undershirt: 30 wooly hides, 15 polymer (total resources 45)
Short Sleeve Shirt: 30 scaly hides, 15 polymer (total resources 45)
Plain Shirt: 20 leathery hide, 20 bone (total resources 40)
Casual Shirt: 20 scaly hide, 20 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Ribbed Shirt: 30 scaly hide, 30 metal (total resources 60)
Formal Shirt: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)
Dress Shirt: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)

Pants:
Casual Pants: 16 fiberplast, 4 metal, (total resources 20)
Shorts: 15 fiberplast, 8 bones (total resources 23)
Wrinkley Pants: 13 inert petrochemical, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 23, steps required 2)
Pocketed Work Pants: 20 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)
Work Slacks: 20 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)
Striped Pants: 20 leathery hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Thin Striped Pants: 20 scaly hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Ribbed Pants: 20 wooly hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)
Large Pocket Pants: 20 fiberplast, 15 inert petrochemical, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 3)

Robes and Dresses:
Plain Robe: 13 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 23, steps required 2)
Plain Short Robe: 20 fiberplast, 10 hide, 1 metal fastener (total resources 45, steps required 2)
Administrator’s Robe: 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 5)
Frock: 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel, (total resources 60 steps required 5)
Smock: 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)
Councilman’s Robe: 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)
Sleeveless Dress: 30 inert petrochemical, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 5)

Jackets:
Short Sleeve Jacket: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Casual Jacket: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Rugged Jacket: 30 fiberplast, 20 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 3)
Laborer Jacket: 30 fiberplast, 20 polymer, 1 metal fastener, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 75, steps required 3)
Padded Jacket: 20 polymer, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 2)
Wooly Jacket: 20 polymer, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 60, steps required 2)

Shoes:
Casual Shoes: 8 fiberplast, 4 inert petrochemical, 8 hide (total resources required 20)
Hide Boots: 20 fiberplast, 10 inert petrochemical, 15 inert petrochemical (total resources 45)

Gloves:
Leather Gloves: 10 fiberplast, 10 fiberplast, 10 polymer (total resources 45)
Leather Gloves: 15 leathery hide, 15 inert petrochemical, 10 inert petrochemical (total resources 40)

Hats:
Headwrap: 10 fiberplast, 6 inert petrochemical, 6 fiberplast (total resources 22)

Jewelry:
Bangles: 5 steel, 10 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 20)
Metal Bracelet: 5 steel, 10 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 20)
Metal Necklace: 5 steel, 15 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 25)
Large Pendant: 5 steel, 15 steel, 5 crystalline gemstone (total resources 25)
Striped Necklace: 10 steel, 20 steel, 10 crystalline gemstone (total resources 40)

Belts:
Multipocket Belt: 15 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 1 metal fastener (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Two pocket Belt: 15 fiberplast, 10 metal, 1 metal fastener (total resources 40, steps required 2)
Shoulder Strap: 1 metal fastener, 30 fiberplast, 1 fiberplast panel (total resources 55, steps required 3)
Workman’s Belt: 15 inert petrochemical, 15 inert petrochemical, 10 metal (total resources 40)

Containers:
Travel Pack: 50 fiberplast, 10 polymer, 5 wooly hides, 5 metal (total resources 70)
 

Components:
Fiberplast Panel: 8 fiberplast, 2 metal (total resources 10)
Metal Fastener: 5 metal, 10 metal (total resources 15)
 

The columns are
R - Number of Resources
CXP - Crafting XP
UXP - Usage XP
CXP/R - Crafting XP per Resource

* indicated unconfirmed.