The Old Republic New Expansion

[Talon]

New expansion coming for SWTOR: Shadow of Revan

(I've posted this in OT in case there are those of us who didn't originally play SWTOR that may be interested because the pre-order with subscription gives players a leg-up as explained below).

If you pre-order as a subscriber you also get a bonus of super super super experience when you complete class story quests (you level like crazy (12x the experience). Not all that useful if you're already at the top but...

...For anyone like me who never played SWTOR back in the day, this is a great way to catch up from 0 to level 50-55 prior to release of the expansion (December 2 if you pre-order, or 9 if you don't). Or just a great way to see lots of class stories without grinding kill-ten-rats quests.

You can still get the flavour of the planets by doing these side- quests, the boost only applies to the class story quests so it just gives one the option of not doing the really tedious side quests if one chooses.

For the record, all skills appear to be free. So they've had the foresight to stop you needing extreme credits (requiring side mission and rather defeating the purpose) to proceed.

The only hitch may be weaponry and armour for companions if not yourself.

Just be aware if you're playing with anyone else that you will far out-level them unless you both have this boost and do class quests for both characters. Seriously. Or if you foolishly already did your class quests before knowing about the boost and then following Mixxi on hers and suddenly being five levels behind before getting off the starter planet.

Skill trees are also going to be abolished in favour of a new Disciplines system with utility skills for customisation. Sounds a bit like traits in GW2 if I had to take a stab. Be interesting to see how it changes one's role/class identity. The idea is to give access to advanced class defining abilities much earlier (so you can feel like a healer or a tank right away at level 10 instead of level 30).

There's also new flashpoints and operations, two new planets and the level cap goes up to 60. Well, click the link and have a read.

[Azzerhoden]

When I re-subbed, I automatically got access to the previous expansion.  Is there discounts for the new expansion?

There is so much that is new in SWTOR, that my head fairly spins looking at things.

[Talon]

Not that I'm aware, Azzerhoden.

I suspect subscribers will automatically get access to the new expansion when it goes live, actually. But pre-ordering gives a few bonuses and early access to it. I'm very curious about the new disciplines system that will abolish the skill trees.

UPDATE:
They seem to have changed the rules. The subscriber class-quest XP bonus appears to be available for pre-orders all the way up to the 1st December. The only thing orders after the 2nd November miss out on is the 7 days of early access now.

Edit (24th October 2014): It appears that ordering the expansion is necessary. There is no mention of it being an automatic addition to your account for just being a subscriber. The information page wording suggests that purchasing the expansion is necessary whether by pre-order or upon release to access the new features. It's $19.99. If you're going to get it anyway, I'd suggest doing so prior to 2nd November for some bonus features.

[Auren]

I'd also like to mention that the class experience bonus applies to the main story quests for Ilum AND the expansion, "Rise of the Hutt Cartel" (Makeb story line) as well.  Using these bonuses, you'll be around level 50-52 by the time you finish Chapter 3 of your class story and should still be able to easily get to 55 using the storylines from Ilum and/or Makeb.

[Gith]

Also, using the XP Buffs that provide a 25% buff for 3 hours appears to combine with the x12 bonus. I leveled a PowerTech from 1-35 in about 5hrs. That being said I had Netflix running and I was skipping all convos and spacing through everything and skipping all fights and just running from objective to objective. Plus I had a stronghold so I could teleport to Fleet and my Ship instantly and I had the unlockable buff to quick travel time making it only 10mins cooldown which sped things up enormously.

All good tips for a quick level to 55.

[Talon]

Just for the sake of confirmation:

Players receive a boost to the amount of XP gained from Class missions, allowing them to advance to Level 55 at an expedited rate while enjoying their Class story missions (the exact multiplier is 12.32). Legacy Class XP perks and Cartel Market Class XP consumables do not stack on top of this boost. Guild XP bonuses and General XP consumables from the Cartel Market do stack on top of this boost. The Class Experience Boost is only effective while you are in active subscription status during the pre-order period.

[Azzerhoden]

I really don't need any exp bonus, as I seem to be climbing just fine.

I would like my guild rank upgraded to veteran though.