Entertainer Archive

MUSIC

Music involves both an instrument and a tune. Max XP can be achieved by using your highest level instrument OR your highest leveled tune. This means that if you're on Music 3 then you can group with a novice playing starwars1 and, as long as you play your fanfar, get the same XP you'd get if you were playing folk.

For this reason you'll want to upgrade your instrument whenever possible. Instruments are usually available on the bazaar in any busy town. It doesn't hurt to carry a few hundred units of wood and metal on you. That way, you can ask a higher-leveled musician to make you an instrument. If worse comes to worst, you can make it yourself when you achieve the proper schematic. However, most musicians are more than happy to make an instrument if asked politely. Just remember that some non-newbie instruments sell for upwards of 1000cr - 3000cr. Don't be offended if a musician wants some recompense for her crafting services.

Unlike dance, music is tuned for two flourishes every ten seconds. If you perform only one flourish per "tick" you'll get only half XP. Also, music flourishes are queued. That means that you can string up several music flourishes at once and they'll play out atsomething close to the ideal rate. As with dance, spamming flourishes will not increase your XP but it CAN drain your action bar. One advantage of music is that the queuing slows the action drain so that playing music incurs much less down time than dancing incurs. Hence, the recommendation that you save this branch for last.

Group XP bonuses work the same way for musicians as they work for dancers, so the same advice applies.

HEALING

To earn healing experience while dancing, a player with mind wounds and/or battle fatigue must target you and use /watch or choose watch off of the radial menu. To earn it while playing music, the injured player must target you and use /listen or choose listen off of the radial menu. Your ability to heal increases as you gain skill boxes in entertainer healing. At the entertainer level, your wound and fatigue skills are identical. At the elite levels, wound and fatigue are seperate branches, so you can be very good at one while being average at the other.

As mentioned previously, the group earns healing XP collectively. If you need healing XP then you have two choices - Set yourself up in a PA hall and have your PA members watch you or go to a busy cantina and join a group. You have no control over healing XP, it's just something that happens as people go in and out. Generally speaking, if you are in moderate to large-sized groups in a town that hosts a good number of combat types hunting nearby you will max out your entertainer healing before you max out dance and music both.

If people want to help you, you can always have them duel each other and inflict lots of mind wounds. Please don't do this kind of activity in a busy cantina, though. Save it for your PA hall or house or some other venue where you won't annoy the dedicated entertainers. Hotels and theaters are ideal for this sort of activity because they're in town but seldom used by the regular entertainment crowd.

MACROS

This is a touchy topic. Yes, it IS possible to go all the way to Music 4 or Dance 4 using unattended macros. Doing so is normally frowned upon by the general entertainment community. We already have combat types who look down on us because they don't like battle fatigue or they don't respect anyone who doesn't fire a gun to earn their living. AFK macrobots just reinforce the impression these types have that entertainers are nothing more than lazy slobs who can't be bothered to do any "real work". It's very frustrating to be a player who PLAYS an entertainer only to find that his profession is being judged based on other player's leaving the game to play itself.

I won't give a detailed how-to on macroing here. There are several available through the search function. One of them is in this thread:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=entertainer&message.id=4645

We understand that you will want to do this because you want to be a jedi as fast as possible. By supplying you this information, we in the entertainment community would request a few ground rules:

1. Don't use /say or /shout in your macro. It annoys everyone, not just the entertainers. If you had the resources to get two holocrons (which any sane person would so before embarking on entertainment as the route to jedihood) then any tips you get on the way to master entertainer/dancer/musician are not going to put a dent in your wealth. You don't need to compete with and annoy the real entertainers by spamming for tips or shouting for people to come see you doing your macrobot thing.
   
   
   
   


2. Don't hog the prime floor space. It won't make you any more attractive. Even without an AFK sign over your head it's obvious who the macrobots are. If you're rude then you fill find yourself being ignored by patrons andbanned from groups by fellow entertainers. Additionally, as stated before, as long as you're in a group you don't NEED to be the center of attention to get the XP you want.
   
   
   
   


3. Be calm in the face of criticism. Macrobots are a hot topic in our community and they get flack from many of us. If someone gets on your case for being a macrobot, just take it in stride, explain that you're doing this because a little force sensitive computer told you to do it and that you'll be gone from that person's orbit just as soon as you achieve your mastery. If people know why you're there, they may even try to help you out though you can't expect that.
   
   
   
   


4. Do your macroing away from the cantina whenever practical. If you've got all the healing experience you need then there's no reason why you can't finish up your dance/music in the privacy of your home or PA hall where you won't be reinforcing the notion that entertainers in general are a bunch of AFK non-players.
   
   
   

IN CONCLUSION

I hope this guide has helped you start down the road to being an entertainer. If I might be so bold: It isn't often that you get a chance or reason to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. While you're macroing your way to master, take a couple of hours out to PLAY an entertainer. Find out what it's like to be on the other side of the mandovial. You might find you like it. You'll almost certainly find that it's a lot more work than you gave it credit for. Whatever you find, remember the experience when you return to your "true" profession and treat your entertainers accordingly.

Good luck with your quest. May the Force be with you.

Another useful tip that I picked up while I was Mastering Dancer - and it holds true for Musician and Entertainer as well - try and get into a large band whenever possible. The more entertainers who are actively participating in the group, the quicker you gain your exp. Also, if you're going to gain exp in a busy cantina, be prepared to possibly get booted if you try to AFK dance in a large group. I've seen entertainer groups run out of room while people are still trying to get in. Most entertainers will kick the AFK-bots in order to get active members into the group. But, other than that, I think Slick's guide is a good way to go about things!

Excellent summation, Slick.

I'll pimp myself and post a URL to an article I wrote 2 months ago. If I had to write it again, I'd make a few changes, but it mostly stays.

http://www.swgcenter.com/info/article.asp?ID=805

If you are switching between Dancing and Image Design, you can keep your HAM pretty full for your task. Dance until your Action is out. Then do some Image Design until your Mind is out. Rinse and repeat.

A great person to practice ID on is another Entertainer. After all, he's just standing or sitting there. And they usually don't mind being practiced upon. Ask before you start, though. If the player is not able to keep up with all the pop-up windows plus the flourishes and socialization, then he may not appreciate being designed upon. But if the cantina is empty, he'll probably be agreeable. I'd suggest a tip for the Entertainer if there's a chance that your XP grinding will cost him some interaction and tips.

Some more tips:

1) Unless it's changed since I was grinding ID, you have to be grouped with the person you /image. Another way other entertainers are good resources, since you're grouped with them anyway.

2) As SlickRiptide said, ID takes a lot of mind. If you're grouped with a Master Musician, ask (politely, possibly offering a tip) for a Focus/Willpower buff. He/she will do a /setperform on you, giving you a system message. You then type /listen, then in about 10 minutes /stoplisten. This will double your Focus (so you use less Mind on ID) and Willpower (regenerating your Mind faster). I did this on a bandmate, and she couldn't click fast enough to reduce her mind, turning her into a non-stop makeover machine for two hours. If you want even more help, a Master Dancer can do the same thing to your Mind pool.

Non-masters can also buff you, but the amount won't be as much. It scales based on their "Mind Enhancement" skill.

BUFF WARNING #1: There is currently a bug where if you have any buff (food, spice, doctor) applied to you, when you recieve the musician buff only the stat'smaximum value gets increased. Since secondaries don't heal, that means your Focus and Willpower won't get any better for the duration of the buff. But when the buff wears off, the buff get's subtracted from both your current and maximum values, which tends to put most people at 150 (the apparent lower cap). This isn't as much of a problem with the Dancer buff, since your mind will heal based on your Willpower regeneration. So if you're going to get both, get the Musician one first.

BUFF WARNING #2: If you do get a Dancer buff, there is a chance that you can incap yourself if your Mind is below your normal max when the buff wears off. Say you normally have 500/500 Mind. After the buff you'll have 1000/1000 (500/1000 if you got the Musician buff). Two hours pass, and since you've been doing ID, your mind is now at 250/1000. The buff wears off, subtracting the 500 you got from both your current and max, putting you at -250/500. Large negative values have sometimes resulted in excessively long incap times (although I've heard that more about spices, so their downer may have had an affect).

3) SlickRiptide didn't explicitly mention this, but grouped musicians have to play the same song. So if your highest song is StarWars 2, the group has to play that (or lower) for you to start. Related to that, there is still a bug where if you are playing, then join a group playing a different song, the group and the audience hears both, which sounds really bad. If you're jamming solo, then get an invite, do a /stopmusic before /join. And while it may not commonly be a problem, you may be asked to stop playing so the group can do a higher song. Don't make a fuss, just switch to dancing or leave the group and solo. Entertainers tend to be a close-knit class, if you get a bad reputation you'll have a hard time joining those big xp-generating groups.

4) Make friends with your local medic. The less time you're sitting waiting for your action to heal up means more time earning xp. And even without stimpacks, medics can /tenddamage your action. As a bonus, this inflicts mind wounds and fatigue on them, which you then heal (getting heal xp). If a PA member is trying to get medic xp, you'll make a great guinea pig.

5) Don't wear armor while entertaining, especially if it has high Action encumberance. Armor reduces your Quickness (how much action playing/dancing and flourishes cost) and Stamina (how much you regenerate between Action hits). While dancing in a full suit of Composite may look cool, expect to spend a lot of time sitting down.

6) Don't expect many tips. Actually, don't expect any, that way you'll be pleasently surprised when they do show up. There are a few things you can do to improve your chances, though:

• Be personable. When someone walks in, give them a /greet, /nod, /wave, or just say hello (and don't forget to use their name). AFK-bots don't get tipped, let your audience know you're there.


• Make small talk. If a big group comes in all banged up, ask what they were up to.


• Don't spam for tips. Even an occasional reminder can sound like begging. And "tips, plz" will dry up your income 99.999% of the time.


• Look good. Except for the novelty value (which wears off quickly), no one likes to see performers in their underwear. At least get a decent outfit of casual pants and a ribbed shirt (shouldn't cost you more than 2-300 credits).


• Hit the harder planets. Everyone knows you can find entertainers in Theed or Coronet; its the ones at Endor's outposts who are really appreciated (since your audience saved themselves a 4k round trip ticket).


• (solo musicians) Change up your songs once in a while, especially if you've got a long-watching audience. As long as you're using your highest instrument, you'll take a minimal (if any) xp hit. I tend to get tired of a song after about 20 or 30minutes, I figure the audience is the same.

I'm sure you've all heard about the Jedi Holocrons by now. These devices offer clues along the path to force sensitivity. Currently, these holocrons have only been known to indicate profession mastery. Many of them are ordering the recipient to master dancing, entertainment or music.

This means that we're in for a rush of new entertainers whose goal is not so much to master the profession as it is max it out as fast as possible in order to drop it and move on to the next required profession.
While I normally disdain macrobots and grinders, I feel we need to be realistic. These folks are just trying to achieve a goal in the way that the game is forcing them to do it. Applying peer pressure to them won't help them or us. The best thing we can do for our profession is to help such folk get through it and out of it with a minium of fuss.

With that in mind, I'm offering this guide to mastering entertainment. The general principles will also apply to dance and music.

In return for supplying this guide, we who are dedicated entertainers ask for something in return from the Jedi aspirants - courtesy and respect. If you feel you must macrobot in order to grind through,then please do it in your house or PA hall whenever possible. If you need healing experience and don't have a guild to support you then please keep your eye on your goal.

• Don't move into our cantinas and write macros that spam for tips. You're here for XP, not money.


• Don't take up the prime dancing space. The live entertainers deserve the best spots for doing their job. If you're in a group, you get just as much healing XP when you're placed quietly off to the side as when you're in the center of the dance floor.


• Don't complain about how stupid dancing/music is and how bored you are and how much you hate it. We're not forcing you to do it. You've made the decision to pursue an activity you normally wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole because the Jedi Slot is worth that effort to you. We will tolerate you, maybe even help you, but don't expect us to feel sorry for you.

Alright, then, on with the show.

STAT MIGRATION

You're going to be at this for a week at least. Possibly 2-3 depending on how often you play and whether you are shooting for a basic or elite mastery. You might as well get yourself setup right. An entertainer is not required to run around the countryside. Turn down your health-related stats and build up your action-related stats. If you're going for master entertainer then a decent mind score will be helpful as well.

FLOURISHES

Dance and music both require you to perform actions called "flourishes". A flourish is a keystroke that triggers an animation by your character and, if you're playing music, a short bit of musical accompaniment. If you're not flourishing then your character will stand around "idling".

For dancing, this means standing and rocking back and forth rhythmically. For music, this means standing making a generic swing motion with your instrument and playing an idle-riff over and over. Idling consumes action even though you aren't neccesarily "doing something".

You'll want to set aside a special toolbar just for your entertainment activities. Look on the abilities screen under "miscellaneous". You'll find eight abilities labeled "flourish1", "flourish2", and so on. Drag each ability icon from the ability screen to a corresponding hotkey on the toolbar. You can now perform a flourish by just pressing the function key that corresponds to that flourish. (When playing music, you must have an instrument equipped or you can't play.) Each flourish consumes a certain amount of action. The amount is dependent on the level of the dance/tune that is being performed.

IMAGE DESIGN

Image design is both the hardest and easiest branch of the entertainer profession. Easiest because, done right, the experience flies and you can get through it in a few hours. Hardest because it cannot be macroed due to all the popup windows and button clicking required.

Image design involves changing the appearance of other PC's. This is an interactive process. The other PC must accept the change in order for you to get the XP for it. You CAN grind through solo. Just target yourself and use /image to start a session. However, the XP for working on yourself is only 25% of what you get for working on another player.

This means that the most efficient way to get through is to partner with another player who also wants to advance through ID. Just sit facing each other and click away.

To start an image design session, just target the player you want to alter and type /image. Alternatively, use the mouse and the radial menu. Follow the menus, choose an item to change, make your choices, and commit it. The other player will receive a popup asking for confirmation. What that is given, the change is made and you get the XP.

Tip: You don't actually have to change anything to get XP. You just have to do the commit/accept routine. Save time by skipping the various sliders and menus and just commit immediately.

Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson! - Once you change your partner, you may very well lack the skill to change her back. Please make sure she understands the consequences of clicking the 'accept' button! In particular, NEVER, EVER give hair to a bald person. Nobody, not even a master image designer can restore baldness once it's been removed.

ID uses a significant amount of mind with each change. You will run out of mind quickly. A mind buff from a high-level dancer/musician is in your interest. If you're doing this after the mind damage heal for combat medics has gone live, then you'd do well to hire a CM to stand around and keep you and your partner healed up to avoid downtime. With a decent-sized/leveled band in the cantina, your CM will get his mind wounds healed at close to the same rate he acuires them and you'll indirectly be giving healing XP to the dedicated entertainers. A nice win-win for everyone.

The first two boxes of ID will fly by. If you need training and the local entertainers can't help, you can normally buy it at the theater at the rate of 1Kcr/skill level. You should be able to finish the last two boxes in about four hours of dedicated grinding.

Healing does not occur while doing ID so this skill won't help yougain any healing XP.

DANCE

I recommend dance next. Not because it's fast but because it's slow. I might even recommend interspersing dance and ID just because you'll have that feeling of accomplishment that ID gives you to help boost you through the dry spells when dance seems to take forever.

Dance gives you the most XP when you are doing your highest level dance. You get a "tick" of XP every ten seconds. To keep your XP flowing at the max rate, you need to flourish once every "tick". Flourshing less often will result in "XP decay". That is, the flourish will give you max XP. The next tick will give you one less, the next one less, etc... until it reaches zero. Flourishing more often will not gain you more XP. It will only use up your action in a hurry. If you need to conserve action,then you can flourish ever thirty to forty seconds and take advantage of the decay to keep up your action. However, dances cost action even when you aren't flourishing. As it happens, that base cost is currently high enough that it's difficult to recharge in between flourishes. This will change in the future. For now, resign yourself to down time unless you have someone around healing you.

You gain bonus dance and healing XP if you're in a group. The larger the group, the bigger the bonus. It behooves you, therefore, to find a very popular cantina and join up with a max-sized group. The hot spots vary from server to server, but Theed and Coronet appear to be hot spots on nearly all servers. The bonus XP is based on the number of people flourishing at the time. A huge group where you're the only one dancing won't do you any good.

On a side note, players who watch you and clap or cheer will give you an "audience participation" bonus to your XP. If you're practicing in your PA hall, encourage your brothers and sisters to cheer you on.

I didn't see this mentioned above, but any band member can change the music that the band is currently playing using /changebandmusic. This is useful for fixing things when you joina group while playing a different song than they are.

If you're going to AFK Macro, (please don't) then do it in YOUR OWN HOUSE. Get the hell outta my cantina. lol