Squad Leader Archive

Like many others, I received SL from a holo (last night). I am typically a soloer both because of my play style, but also because my play times are so sporadic. At any rate, I have a couple of initial questions:

1)I would like to get a feel for things by "soloing" with my pets and droid prior to leading PC groups. Currently, I am only a 0/0/0/0 CH, so I can only have 1 pet out at a time. Combined with my Probot, is that enough NPCs (2) to constitute a group? Vis a vis, is there a minimum number of NPCs or PCs that you must have in your group to qualify for SL XP?

I ask that because shortly after getting Novice SL last night, I had my pet out, and both of us were attacking and killing newb spawn outside of Bestine. I didn't seem to be receiving ANY SL XP.

2)Is 'leading' a group that consists of only your pets/droids simply pulling them out of your datapad like you normally would to use them, or is there a special command to a)designate you as the group leader, or b)invite your pets/droids to group ?

I tried searching for these answers in the forum, but didn't find anything that pointedly answered these questions.

Thanks for your time.

Anytime you're the Group Leader & someone recieves combat XP, you get SL xp. This means you won't get XP for things your pets kill unless you participate a bit (to get some Combat XP). The only minimum is 2 (minimum required to form a group). Pets (faction & non-faction) & Droids count.

Any group you start by issuing "group" to your pets, you automatically lead. When you join a group of PC's, you can use the /makeleader command to transfer leadership amongst the group.

The xp gain will be very slow going, untill you group with some PCs. After that, you will have trouble finding enough cred to train.

Check the command lists for your pets, and see if they have the "group" command. If they don't (specifically your critter), you will need to get them trained in it in order to group with them. Not shure how that works with droids.

OK, thanks for the replies, fellas. That info was what I was looking for.

Actually, I had a couple of higher level pets trained in the "group" command a while back, but I can't use THOSE particular beasties post-patch. I will need to get my remaining usable pet trained in grouping.

And, yes, I realize that it will be slow going if I solo. I just want to get started with it to get my feet wet, per se. As much of a pain as I find grouping with other players, I realize also that it will be a necessity if I don't want to be doing this profession for the next 3 months!

An additional question: Is there some sort of fixed ratio of SL XP that you receive to combat XP (i.e. 2:1 SL XP: Combat XP)?

there is no fixed ratio, it is determined by the group size. with a decent group size you will get several thousand xp per kill.

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Yeraze wrote:
The only minimum is 2 (minimum required to form a group). Pets (faction & non-faction) & Droids count.

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One more thing...

Is the minimum 2 including or excluding myself? I whipped out my Droid during lunchtime, for 5 minutes of gameplay just to see how this works. The Droid's command list includes the "group" command, so I issued it to the Probot, and then proceeded to kill a couple of Dwarf Nunas outside of Anchorhead. While I did receive 2 points of Combat XP, I didn't get any SL XP. I am guessing this is because you meant I needed 2 members in the group EXCLUDING myself?

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there is no fixed ratio, it is determined by the group size. with a decent group size you will get several thousand xp per kill.

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OK, thanks for the info!

Nope, just you & your droid should be enough.

Could be that you're killing stuff far too low level (Nunas? come on )

Getting your feet wet by only grouping with pets will not help you at all in being a squad leader.

Currently all of our skills, as broken as they may be, only effect PCs.. (I think steadyaim works with faction pets though.) And the grind from novice, which only has /sysgroup a skill that does not effect your pets at all, will be slow going.

I seriously suggest finding anyone you can to group with. Go to caves or places like fort tusken where there might be people already there. Ask if you can join the group to get xp.

Since you said you are a CH... what other combat skills do you have? Since CH is not going to help you at all in getting xp, you need to have good combat skills to get good combat xp.

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Yeraze wrote:
Nope, just you & your droid should be enough.

Could be that you're killing stuff far too low level (Nunas? come on )

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LOL, I know. Like I said, I only had 5 minutes during lunch, so I couldn't venture too far out. I will give it a go again tonight with some Mountain Worts.

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Getting your feet wet by only grouping with pets will not help you at all in being a squad leader.

Currently all of our skills, as broken as they may be, only effect PCs.. (I think steadyaim works with faction pets though.) And the grind from novice, which only has /sysgroup a skill that does not effect your pets at all, will be slow going.

I seriously suggest finding anyone you can to group with. Go to caves or places like fort tusken where there might be people already there. Ask if you can join the group to get xp.

Since you said you are a CH... what other combat skills do you have? Since CH is not going to help you at all in getting xp, you need to have good combat skills to get good combat xp.

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When I stated that I wanted to get my feet wet, I pretty much meant that I wanted to see how SL XP is gained just for my peace of mind. I realize it is a different ballgame when you solo, but unfortunately I can only play for an hour at a time most weekdays, and it often takes that long to find & assemble a group, then getting down to business at a strategic location. I will group with PCs when I can (mainly on the weekends), but might have to solo quite a bit as well.

As for my combat skills, I am slowly surrendering my Swordsman skills (was a Master on Sunday, and now am 0/4/0/0), but will primarily be using pistols (currently a 0/0/0/0 Pistoleer) to gain Pistol XP for any future professions requiring them.

I feal your pain.

I've been working towards MSL since Day Four (Was on vacation day one-three ), and I'm still not master (I just need training). Granted that was a lot of time spent before the xp change, but it still equates to not much playing time.

The best way to do it for people like you an me, is to manage your time so you get a couple hours in a row off. Head over to Ft. Tusken, and max out your xp. Train and repeat, if you have time.

I did this as what I like to call my "Tour of Duty" at Ft. Tusken. Ft. Tusken is, IMHO, the best "SL Boot Camp" ever. You have a combination of heavy hitters and n00bs.Focusing the firepower (and sometimes strong opinions) of the Vets, and at the same time keep the newbies in line is a challenge, but you'll learn, and then people will want to group with you. Makes the xp, and the experience much better.

It sounds like you weren't getting any exp because you let your pets/droids do the fighting. I could be wrong because I wasn't there, but you need to get in a couple shots in order to gain SL exp when you are grouped only with your own droids and pets as your group.