Friday Feature: Looking Back at Five Years of EiF

This week, Empire in Flames celebrated its fifth year with player-held festivities as well as the return of the annual Riddle Hunt. In today’s Friday Feature, we showcase some memories and learnings that members of the staff have shared from their years here at EiF.

 

What is one thing that you have learned since working on EiF?

Halyn: Players will always do the unexpected.

Mina: Scripting with LUA! It’s not something I had never dealt with previously. 

Abi: There’s a reason we don’t have hard release dates – the second you set one, real lie gets in the way and you end up delayed by six months (or more)

Anishor: My C++ is rusty.

Jeil: Save your work, and make back ups. >.>

Wefi: Halyn checks the files before putting them in. So no surprise Shrek. 

Kelta: Things never go to plan. Also, we tend to think alike when it comes to hiding places.

Demi:  Always have several fresh clones of your dev environment at the ready.

Traycn: How clever players can be in regards to gameplay, collection hunting, and problem-solving.

Phoenix: Players break things that shouldn’t be able to break. LUA is a terrible language. We are capable of doing more than we originally thought. Learned a bunch of ASM/Hex Editing.

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Heroic Vendor Rewards

Recently, Empire in Flames introduced a new Heroic Vendor to the game whom players can talk to in order to exchange unusual coins for rare and interesting items. In today’s Friday Feature, we take a look at a familiar face and his Heroic wares – Watto! A staple of Mos Espa, Watto can be found in his junkshop located at /way -2895 2425 on Tatooine. While his shop may not look as impressive as it did in the waning years of the Galactic Republic, the business savvy Toydarian has nevertheless maintained his eye for unique goods and is always willing to make a deal… if you have something worthwhile to trade.

Unlike other vendors, Watto isn’t after credits or junk; he will only offer his wares if you have collected strange coins during your travels. These coins are earned through the successful completion of EiF’s three instances(or Heroics), with each of these instances rewarding their own coin:

  • Plasma Mining Facility – Oily Coin
  • Sith Shrine – Dusty Coin Coin
  • Axkva Min – Hand-struck Coin

Just as the coins are unique, so are the items you can exchange them for. Watto offers skill-enhancing jewelry as well as schematics to make all new Concealable armor pieces, which can be worn underneath clothing while still providing full protection. Never before has being fashionable been so easy! Without further ado, let’s break down what each of the rewards are, and what they’ll cost you. 

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Getting to Know Melee Skill Trees in EiF

In today’s Friday Feature, we feature a write-up by long-time community member Randolo. In this article, Randolo goes into detail on the four different melee combat skill trees, outlining pros and cons to each, as well as some tips and tricks to make the most of the skills. Thank you Randolo!

Hello, my name is Randolo, I’ve been a member of Empire in Flames since Launch Day, playing off and on casually until taking a much more active role in the community over the past year or so. With the variety of players we have on Empire in Flames (EiF), I wanted to address some questions and constructive conversations I’ve seen popping up over the last few months in the general chat. To make things a bit clearer and assist newer players, I decided to take a thorough examination of all the unique iterations of Melee skill trees available in EiF, detailing their strengths, weaknesses, and some fun tips for each one.

Before we begin, let’s go over a few terms you should learn about Melee Combat on EiF and phrases we will use throughout this article. These universal tips should also prove helpful to you in any combat scenario.

  • Center of Being (CoB) is a defensive buff that every Melee Skill Tree can use. It’s an ability you can activate manually, or create a macro to ensure it’s constantly running and always in effect. CoB reduces the damage you take (efficacy skill mod divided by three, every melee tree has 60 efficacy, so 20% damage reduction) though you deal 25% less damage while it is active. You cannot activate CoB with another active melee buff known as Berserk.
  • Berserk is a more aggressive melee buff that increases damage output by 25% and provides an accuracy bonus, but reduces Melee and Ranged Defense by 50 and halves your secondary Defense. While Berserk is active on your character, you are immune to Intimidate – a state that would otherwise reduce your outgoing damage and reduce your secondary defense. If you activate Berserk while Intimidated, you can immediately clear the Intimidate state. While the trade off of more outgoing damage at the cost of being more susceptible to incoming damage may seem risky in some situations, you can reduce the Defense penalty and further enhance the accuracy bonuses by using Armor and/or Clothing attachments with the Berserk skill mod. Again, you will not be able to activate Berserk if you are already running CoB.
  • Toughness is a direct Melee damage reduction. One point of Toughness is 1% damage reduction incoming Melee Damage while wielding that particular weapon. For example, if you have 20 polearm Toughness, you receive a 20% damage reduction using any polearm weapon but that Toughness goes away if you pull out your pistol, carbine, one-handed sword, etc.

Another thing to keep in mind are standard location hit attacks. You have Body Hit, Leg Hit, and Head Hit, all of which have been modified to attack your target’s Health pool. Teras Kasi’s Leg and Head Hit are the only exceptions to this which each target an opponent’s Action and Mind, respectively. Bleed attacks still target their original respective pools as well, however, Fencer has quite a few additional bleeds that we’ll get into later.

You can increase your damage up to 5% by utilizing a total of +25 [Weapon] Damage mods from Skill Enhancing Attachments (also known as tapes or SEAs) and GCW Planetary Bonuses.  Teras Kasi Artists get this automatically as part of their unarmed damage skill as they level, automatically granting +25 to Unarmed Damage at Master. You will not benefit from any additional Unarmed Damage SEAs. 

Before we get into the specifics of each Melee Skill Tree, here is a brief overview of how they relate to one another in terms of Overall Damage Potential and Tanking Potential/Toughness. Our Melee Skill Trees are Fencer, Swordsman, Polearm, and Teras Kasi Artist (TKA).

Damage Capability

  1. Fencer
  2. Swordsman
  3. Pikeman
  4. Teras Kasi Artist

Tanking Capability

  1. Teras Kasi Artist
  2. Pikeman 
  3. Swordsman
  4. Fencer

Fencers have some of the best damage output of the game, but they take a significant amount of damage if they receive a hit and have to rely on Dodge to avoid incoming damage. Swordsman is second for potential damage output but is slightly tougher than Fencers. Pikeman does not deal as much damage as Swordsman and Fencer but its Toughness and sweeping area attacks are second to none, making them reliable tanks. Finally, we have Teras Kasi Artist, which does the least amount of overall damage but makes up for it by having the most significant tanking potential and access to all states. 

It is important to note that there are some specific use cases where Pikeman may be a better choice for tanking a particular fight than TKA, or Swords might be better to bring along than a Fencer. We will get into those specifics as we break down each tree; the above lists are a comprehensive overview of how they relate to damage potential and defensive potential.

Let’s jump right into it, and focus first on Fencer.

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Friday Feature: Schisms of the Force Dev Q&A!

Schisms of the Force: Dev Q&A

Schisms of the Force was the highly anticipated update many moons in the making that debuted on May 4th, 2021, and brought the long-awaited Jedi profession to Empire in Flames. Since then, players – both new and returning – have had the opportunity to embark on the journey to becoming a Jedi and choose the path of light, dark, or somewhere in-between. As is the norm here on EiF however, the process to become a Jedi was new, different, and the profession itself differs from what someone might remember from Live. The secrets of the unlock and progression journey were also kept a complete secret to everyone but Lead Developer Halyn. After weeks of community trial and error, exploration, and crazy theory crafting, the first Master Jedi entered EiF on June 3rd but much of the intricacies of the profession, and what it took to being released, were as yet unknown. In this iteration of the Friday Feature, we got a more in-depth look behind the scenes with developers Halyn, Anishor, Abi, and Demiurge, and learned just what went into the making of Schisms of the Force, and what players can expect to see in the future. For those of you that have not completed the unlock process and want to maintain the mystery, be aware that there are significant spoilers ahead. If not, read on!

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Empire in Flames New Player Guide and FAQ

New Player Guide and Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to Empire in Flames! Below you’ll find answers to the most common questions our new players have. It also contains helpful information and references to other player guides you may find useful in your adventures.


How do I start playing?

Getting Set-Up

Step 0) Before you install Empire in Flames, you need to install SWGEmu and ensure that it works. You can find their instructions here.

Step 1) After you have installed SWGEmu (and verified that the game runs), download the Empire in Flames launcher here.

Step 2) Install the Empire in Flames launcher. Depending on which version of Windows you are running and your settings you may have some additional approvals based on UAC.

Step 3) After the installation of the launcher has completed, run the launcher.

Step 3a) You’ll have to point the EiF launcher at your SWGEmu install, so click on “SWG Install” and navigate to where you’ve installed SWGEmu – this is not the location of their launcher, but a directory that contains swgemu.exe

Step 4) After you have completed the above, the game will begin to patch. This may take a while depending on your connection speed.

Step 5) While you wait, head to our forums and create your account. Your forum account is linked to your game account, so make sure you remember the information as this is what you will use to log into the game. Do not share this information with anyone else.

Step 6) Once the launcher gets to 100%, read our Terms of Service, check the “Agree” box, and launch the game with the same username and password you created on the Forum.

Step 7) Create your first character and have fun.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you are having issues with the launcher, try running it as an administrator.
  • Occasionally you will need to whitelist the launcher in your antivirus software before it can run. This is less common, but still something to be aware of.
  • You will need to run the launcher as administrator every time if you set your EiF install directory as C:\Program Files\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\ – we have found the best result is to install it on a second drive or in its own folder outside Program Files.

Help! I logged into my account and none of my characters are here! What do I do?

Try not to panic. In almost every case, this is caused by accidentally mistyping your username. Log out, check your syntax and caps-lock key, and make sure you are logging into the correct account that you previously played on. If you cannot remember your username, search your game install directory for a file called “characterlist_youraccountname” – the listing here will show your account information. If you have forgotten your password, please reach out to an administrator via Discord. 

How many characters can I make, and what options do I have?

Characters

  • Characters: You can make 3 characters on your account, and have all 3 online at the same time.
  • Races: EiF features many new species/races that you may not have seen before. Be sure to check out all the options before you decide. We’ve also recently added Feeorin, too!
  • Character customizations: We have limitations on what customizations EiF is able to implement, but if it’s possible in the future, we’ll add more customizations
  • Racial Bonuses: Each race has different bonuses that may help you with combat or crafting. You can find them all listed at character select, or by reading up on the posting http://www.empireinflames.com/?p=282
  • Languages: Players start with one or more and can teach them to each other. EiF has added more languages and may add more going forward.

Can I have multiple accounts?

No. Multiple Empire in Flames Accounts are not permitted. Each user may only have one account per household unless approved by our staff. Measures are incorporated to detect multiple user accounts. If you would like to submit a request for another member of the household for the staff to review, you can do so at https://empireinflames.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=50

I’ve made my character. What do I do now?

Starting Out

  • Utilize EiF’s Social Media to connect with staff and players outside of the game. You can find the connection information here.
  • In game, the galaxychat channel is an excellent place to chat, connect, and ask questions
  • Start in a Player City. The NPC cities are not nearly as active as our player cities. Ask in Discord for recommendations. If you lean Imperial or NR, we have those! If you want to craft, some cities are excellent locations. If you are more of a roleplayer, there are cities with a lot of RP possibilities. Here is a listing of the current player cities in EiF.

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