Top 15 SWTOR Settings for New Players

[@psylentphyst]

One thing I did to help with immersion was to turn off showing the Light/Dark icon in the dialog options and hide the companion approval window in the UI. This helped me pick dialog options I feel my characters would select based on RP rather than meta alignment or approval. Made things much more enjoyable for me.

[@Swtorista]

Yes! So they are hidden except on mouseover by default. deeper immersion to hide them entirely!

[@DawidKov]

@@Swtorista Personally I tend to use the number keys to select dialogues, so I didn't even know they showed alignment on mouseover.

[@GetterRay]

I wish I could take it a step further and get rid of the light/dark glow after choosing an option. I hate my complex moral reasoning being judged based on some incredibly simple black and white criteria.

[@XanderHarris1023]

There is a way to show companion approval? I usually try to Main a companion that is going to agree with me most of the time.

[@Mcgif21]

It’s weird, alignments actually help my roleplay experience. Wish more games had it. It doesn’t affect my choices at all but it’s interesting to see. One things I don’t like somethis though is (say you are a dark side character) you do a choice that is “light side” but in the long rune will actually lead to a greater evil outcome (and vice versa for light side). That’s the only time there is a mental dissonance for me.

[@Briansgate]

#12 I love 'show exploration missions' on starting planets. Not so much on planets afterwards, but on your starting planet, I think it's great.

[@rex.jrd10]

its alot of missions when you do it every planet and it got me bored. Im doing exploration only on starter planet and DK

[@CyberJawa1986]

@@rex.jrd10 I agree, I do starter planets and then Coruscant/Dromund Kaas, after that it gets too much and I usually just do Class Story, the main planet story, and heroics if I do find myself under level

[@elnaandrade5519]

Agreed

[@rikora22]

Amen, I usually turn it off around Tatooine onwards

[@senasaito2701]

I love it but I'm level 54 after leaving Alderaan. I do every single quest but not every Heroic. I just love all the stories so much. Even on my 29th character. Though I think xp should be a lot less.

[@sirmyself]

Follow up on #15: create custom chat tabs. I always create tabs specifically for my group, my guild and system info. It helps me focus during guild events or during my opreations/flashpoints because it separates those chats into individual tabs. I also like enabling the time stamps in the chat section of the preferences. It lets you know when someone says something in the chat.

[@GrizzlyMauls]

definitely wanted to say this myself, don't find it helpful to completely mute system. but preferences are preferences. great addition

[@Swtorista]

Yes this is a great tip!

[@shawnheidingsfelder8179]

Once you start making more than one character, you can also save and load your HUD setup, so you don't have to readjust everything every time you start a new character. I've found that very helpful, especially having to set up the extra quick bars and resize things.

[@elnaandrade5519]

How do you save and load the HUD?

[@mikepaulin9109]

Swtorista is my main source for everything SWTOR. Thanks for all the great content! :)

[@Captain.AmericaV1]

Returned after nearly 5 years and have to say I've missed it. 🤣🤣 The class stories are the most in depth I've ever seen in any game,

[@Swtorista]

welcome back!

[@mikerankin3381]

Thanks for the video! I haven't played in 5 years and recently came back. It was fun relearning what I once knew. But also learning what I NEVER knew when I originally started playing upon initial release. This video really helped me get started.

[@Swtorista]

welcome back!

[@WookieeRage]

Tip 8: I find this choice doubled edged since making my view Windowed mode also darkens the picture noticeably. Tip 15: I also create new chat tabs for Guild, Ops, and one with Nothing for recording or immersion play. Customizing multiple chat tabs is something I do as soon as I make the character. Thanks for the video and advice!

[@cxk7127]

Is "night mode" enabled on your desktop? I had the same issue and once I turned that off it was fixed

[@WookieeRage]

@@cxk7127 Thanks I will try that

[@Swtorista]

Ah interesting! I was wondering since it shouldn't darken.

[@WookieeRage]

@@Swtorista I tested it and took screenshots. The screenshots look nearly the same in both Full Screen and Full Screen [Windowed], only slightly darker in the Windowed view. I'm not sure why, but it could have to do with using dual screens. The image doesn't interfere with play, but I wanted to ensure the best picture when recording.

[@WookieeRage]

@@Swtorista I did notice that only in Full Screen am I able to use "Full Screen Gamma." While in the Windowed mode this is grayed out.

[@Xyphyri]

Additionally, if you're an mmo mouse player, the interface organizer allows you to set grid dimensions for your quick bars. This is also helpful if you like to have a little tray of useful items such as stims and consumables, even if you don't use an mmo mouse. I personally don't use any 12x1 bars anymore. Helps me keep all my abilities and items in view. Make sure you save your keybind settings and interface setup to presets so that you can import them on other characters.

[@DawidKov]

Lots of good UI settings there. My personal preference was to move the enemies' channelled ability bar closer to the middle of the screen, and increase its size. That way I don't miss the window for interrupts.

[@Xyphyri]

@@DawidKov Yes! Moving channel bars and other important UI towards the focus of your eyes assists a lot for sure.

[@IgabodDobagi]

can't believe you didn't include the target of target in the ui editor even after you talked about that a while ago on your podcast. I have played the game since 2012 and never knew that was an option. As soon as I got on after your podcast where you talked about it I instantly turned that on and it has been SUPER useful since then.

[@lxris777]

What does it do?

[@Swtorista]

Target of Target is covered in the more indepth combat related settings in the written guide :) If you enjoy the podcast you know how long the settings suggestions can get haha!!

[@Swtorista]

It shows you who the enemy is attacking.

[@b1gjebus678]

4 characters at max level and i am now just learning these things! You are a life saver thank you soooo much!

[@Swtorista]

cheers!

[@sanguinius6815]

Haven't play Swtor since launch and you vids have been a godsend getting back up to speed.

[@Gidonamor]

Quickbars: I recommend swapping one quickbar from right to left, especially for preferred players. With the normal Extended Quickbars setting, the second bar sometimes blocks out some of the text you get from hovering over abilities etc.

[@BucketHeadFilms_]

I know this was made 2 years ago but I appreciated this thanks!

[@L00pTroop]

Well that is another good compilation of useful things 🙂 Personally I would add the show cooldown text in preferences -> user interface to the list cause it is a nice tool imho.

[@Swtorista]

Hey! Yes! I actually had more combat-related stuff but it was getting too long, that ones in the extended guide :D

[@DarthLai]

Text cool down on abilities. Very useful, can't go without it anymore

[@FidgetTheMidget8P]

A note on graphics settings: Occasionally, if you have custom settings, you'll encounter a cutscene that causes your game to crash. The solution is to reload, change your graphics to a default, and then go through the cutscene. The best example I can think of is one of your conversations with Doc on Balmorra as a knight

[@aru.tortuga]

Me and the wife started this game up again after playing it so long ago. Your videos are really coming in handy thank you!

[@Swtorista]

welcome back to you two!

[@aru.tortuga]

@@Swtorista Many Thanks!!

[@Alex-go8nw]

Aah, had a lot of new guildies asking that very question recently. Thank you for another quality video.

[@Swtorista]

cheers tell your guildmates... welcome to the game!

[@Alex-go8nw]

@@Swtorista Roger that!

[@jotakuplays1536]

I’ve been thinking of going back to swtor

[@psychomrw]

Thank you, this has been really helpful. I recently got back into SWTOR after not playing the game since shortly after the release of Knights of the Fallen Empire. So about six years ago.

[@XanderHarris1023]

If you don’t want to mess with customizing your UI then Advanced is the superior default option.

[@swtorfan6756]

I would also add Show Conversion Alignment, or whatever it's called. If you want to specifically choose light or dark side conversations, each option will have the light or dark symbol on it, ensuring you make the choice of your preferred alignment. :)

[@Swtorista]

I actually don't recommend this for immersion, as you can still double-check it if you hover over with your mouse! :)

[@Kravenrogue]

That is just Lazy, Cheap and immersion breaking No one only chooses one kind of response Based in "aligment" on Real Life, to some people you Will be "Good" to Others you Will be "Bad" and depends on how The person treats you and what is the situation

[@inthemiddleofsomecalibrations]

@@Kravenrogue If you don't like it, fine, noone's forcing you to use it. But why do you have to insult others for using it?

[@RaptorRed79]

WAIT!!!! There is a setting that helps to lessen that annoying camera shake. Oh Gods thank You! I have played SWTOR since launch and (Honestly) did not know that setting was there.

[@Swtorista]

yessssss!!!! That is the setting that inspired this guide haha. It's fairly new!

[@asdalmeida]

I also like turning on Timestamps in Chat. Really useful to prevent me from replying to something that was posted 5 minutes ago in General ;).

[@stormyphoenix7050]

Wanted to thank you for all the great advice. I came over from ps5. I have watch alot of your videos they helped alot.

[@Swtorista]

cheers and welcome to the game!

[@TraceguyRune]

1 important thing you missed is assigning key binds to the rest of your quickbars. The default ones are 0-9, but you should have SHIFT-0 - SHIFT-9, and even add some in like Shift-E, Shift-X, and Shift-Q, and even some Ctrl options, like Crtl-Z and Ctrl-X

[@alanna2341]

Love this guide so helpful and will be passing on to others!!! keep up the good work!

[@jasontheconner6120]

You could make this video amazing by saying the category first. For example, "On the left side Select user interface, then scroll down to conversations, then click on show conversation alignment gain." This is super helpful to new players.

[@short72hp1]

Thanks for the good video it's a good period of some stuff I've forgotten since I've the back you're the best :)

[@stuartpatterson253]

Another great video. I've been playing this game on and off since version 1.2 and thanks to you I am still learning new things. 👍🏻

[@Deltiasgaming]

Sweaty focus target!? Nice video keep up the good work!

[@Swtorista]

We have a badass podcast episode/text guide about these more intense settings in the written guide for any sweaty players that need them!

[@pedropuff1304]

I agree with all The tips. But I think is very usefull "show alignment" dark or light side and The "show cooldown time" system.

[@Kravenrogue]

That is just Lazy, Cheap and immersion breaking No one only chooses one kind of response Based in "aligment" on Real Life, to some people you Will be "Good" to Others you Will be "Bad" and depends on how The person treats you and what is the situation

[@pedropuff1304]

@@Kravenrogue It has nothing to do with laziness. I want a character in alignment 5 to complete some conquest or to change his appearance to dark side, for example. In my main character I see it's better and more suited to the moment in the story but my alts I do what I want with them. Not even the story I follow with these alts. I think showing allignment is very usefull.

[@Kravenrogue]

@@pedropuff1304 I understand your point, about The Alts, but this is a vídeo about people who just started out,, that would makes things less interesting for them Also, I have 8 Mains lol, one for each Class/Origin, so I take them all very seriously in the aspect if Narrative and RP, so I automaticly think everyone would do The same, but I understand your point also

[@Kravenrogue]

@@pedropuff1304 also I call lazy because you can tell which response will be more Dark or Light side, by Reading and understand the situation, most of the time you can tell The difference, but of course in some cases that is Harder to understand

[@Milliardo55]

Well I hope you'll make an updated video on this. Anyway one thing I learned from reddit is to turn Shadow Map Resolution as low as possible in Graphics. By default this is turned to its max setting--unfortunately it can cause stuttering or slowness of cut scenes, and can even affect gameplay overall. As people on reddit have noted, Shadow Map Resolution has not even been properly optimized anyway, so putting it on the lowest setting possible will greatly improve gameplay.

[@Finx5008]

Heads up that there are a bunch of new User configurable settings coming with 7.0. Along with many of the tips shown here, I always... Disable: "Automatically close inventory" settings in User Interface section Enable: "Show Cooldown Text" and set the font a little smaller than default, also in the User Interface section Also, note that some settings are system wide, and some are per character. These are not clearly identified in the settings window.

[@Swtorista]

Oh! Didn't know new ones were coming woohoo!

[@YungJaeActual]

Just returned to SWTOR after not having played for 3 years and your videos are so helpful! I was wondering if you have a video or guide going through all your in-game settings in the Preferences tab?

[@peterhoarvlogs6506]

The fact that ive been playing for 5 years and didnt know i could limit the amount of things popping up in my chat is actually disgraceful 🤣 thanks for clearing that up🤣👌

[@Swtorista]

muahaha! glad to teach you something new!

[@Darkelf7201]

You are simply the defacto place to go for everything SWTOR :)

[@victoriataylor2556]

I really needed this video. Thank you

[@Swtorista]

cheers!

[@treblazer]

thanks been needing something like this and i’ve been playing for years now 😂 and i have the worst lag at times!

[@Swtorista]

good luck finding some good settings!

[@menschmatthes]

Great video! I would suggest to also show how to effectively slow down your rotation speed of your mouse. I dont know how they still did not fix this but what ever. This is a reason why i always only play for like 3 days and then uninstall again. I either want to play this game with a contoller, which is madness, or kinda like a shooter, so i want to continuously press ?rightlcikt? to have my camera work like in an 3rd person shooter. But thats just a personal prefernce i guess.

[@Swtorista]

Sadly the rotation speed ingame is already set at zero, that dump camera spin around bug has been around forever and has no real fix.

[@sharpy3453]

"so new players dont get overwhelmed" thats how i felt when the game launched... started leveling, started wondering what was taking so long.... holy crap this is taking forever.... finally i can move to the next planet.... this is taking forever.................fast forward years... hey i only have to do the class missions now to level, god this would have been nice 10 years ago...

[@MannyXVIII]

about the subtitles. I would also suggest everyone trying to learn or translate other langauges (such as Mando'a, the language of Mandalorians) to turn on conversation subtitles It is at least for me too hard to hear the beginning and endings of words if I want to go back to translate them. That's how I noticed that Torian's dad was suprised to see him alive. PS: -I noticed that your companion's lines in the open world also count as System Feedback ... I wish that was a seperate option becuase of the same reason as above.- should have listened to the whole tip. Thanks.

[@Swtorista]

Yes!! For this I check the Other tab in chat to see the translation!

[@critique7767]

Im a new player and i find this a great help after 1yr old upload😊

[@TraceguyRune]

0:33 If you hold shift when you right-click, you will auto loot. Been this way forever

[@Zabuchi25]

show exploration missions is the only way to do the old old heroic missions on each planet (tho they are no longer "heroic" in anyway)

[@MakoRuu]

I've always wondered why Alderaan shakes.

[@jish55]

Funnily enough, I just have my game set to window mode, not fullscreen (window). I like this because I can just minimize my game without any issues and it won't reload anything.

[@ksd_god4evergood]

Personally I wouls HIGHLY Reccomend Extended Quickbars if you have alot of Abilities but dont want to switch to page 2 on the quickbar I Use it for all my Characters And it's made my Experience a Bit Easier

[@ryan6140]

gosh that intro is SOOOOOO nostalgic.

[@Swtorista]

i miss the guides!

[@jacobboucher777]

This is the best SWTOR channel ever...

[@Swtorista]

thanks Jacob!

[@worxyboi4838]

to turn down game sensitivity: %appdata% AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings client_settings.ini add in this. Controls_CameraRotationSpeed = 0.06 Adjust number as needed.

[@pendek3255]

I generally don't mess with settings, I just want to get to the action. But this video will do

[@soldierguard]

Great voice, great channel!

[@theswedishgamer68]

SWTORISTA: *Explaining game mechanics* Her Character: 🕺

[@Kevin-dh8iq]

Great video

[@spartandud3]

Do you think you'll do an updated UI tutorial? Like how to customize, where to find premades or what you personal preferences are?

[@Swtorista]

Hey! So not much has changed about the UI, but here is a few more tips swtorista.com/articles/swtor-user-interface-guide/ "Target of Target" on that page is my big one I often turn on :)

[@TheNebdar]

One other thing-> chat time stamp :) It helps to not respond to the few hours old questions :)

[@Swtorista]

oh interesting! I would never think to turn that on.

[@Swtorista]

Imma come reply to this comment in a year from now :D

[@RebeccaRaven]

I always disable the setting that auto-closes my inventory. Seems like I always have more to do in that window after I've visited vendors and medical.

[@lxris777]

Where do I turn that on?

[@Swtorista]

I learned this one recently, super cool!

[@RebeccaRaven]

@@lxris777 Preferences > User Interface > scroll to the end and uncheck the Inventory boxes.

[@rangerslayer2260]

I did not know about the chat settings. That will be helpful lol

[@nolanhewitt2563]

Also to show allignment conversation

[@Swtorista]

I actually don't recommend turning that one on by default, especially since you can double-check it on mouseover :)

[@nolanhewitt2563]

@@Swtorista or if you just wanna use number buttons

[@forystbrowne4160]

well done and useful, subbed.

[@forystbrowne4160]

I added resource nodes to my map while I was there, might want to point that out to.

[@forystbrowne4160]

also, I drive holding my right mouse button and get a very annoying auto-turn randomly, I've spoken to others that hate this and have learned to live with it. Have you heard of it and do you know of a solution?

[@tombrowne4624]

Are you able to change your force alignment of your sith sorcerers to a light side character

[@IAsimov]

Been playing this game for a while, but didn't know these options. MUCH appreciated!

[@deepstonecostco]

re: spam guild invites, the best way I found was to have a friend help me start my own private guild especially if like me you play like 99% solo! That way I could just have all my own extra vault space and no spam invites \o/

[@Swtorista]

thats a great plan, takes some set up though!

[@DnVFMVs]

Yeah how's that going for you?

[@Vlad-e1i]

Thank you for your time

[@Swtorista]

:)

[@wood-6534]

Good vid!

[@jasontheconner6120]

Great suggestions!!!!

[@navalarchitect1713]

Started swtor 2 days ago because I love Star Wars and mmorpg but hated the combat system. I can't look around freely which sucks.

[@Swtorista]

Right, the free-look option has never been available.

[@officialovercoming]

any news on upcoming updates? Do they plan to update the graphics engine or how it scales with multiple processors/threads?

[@Swtorista]

News - Watch the devtracker! www.swtor.com/community/devtracker.php test server just came down which bodes well. waiting for a date Graphics/engine - nope.

[@cadetwright6496]

Been playing since 2017 and learned much from you but in this video just learned how to have a max distance with my camera.

[@evil7011]

About stutter, no matter what your hardware is, it's still there for some players. Borderless full screen will fix it.

[@Alucardd-tt8eb]

3:33 actually got me lol

[@phantomfang1927]

Thank you for this

[@vegassims7]

Very very helpful

[@umutdeniztopcuoglu]

Hello, can we change the type of the control? I would like to play like "non-target". Thank you.

[@Darkzy3]

is there a setting where you can change how you control your character ? in final fantasy 14 there was a legacy option.

[@WilberPig]

I'm a little new to these games... does the camera happen to work like black deserts? or is it just like that?

[@Kymeri]

Oh my hahah #14. Even as a veteran player, I will sometimes forget to RELOCK the bar. Go into PvP and for some reason just drag abilities off if my cursor is close. Lock those bars everyone!

[@Swtorista]

LOCK IT! :)

[@Kymeri]

@@Swtorista Best advice to all players! :D

[@caminhosecretogamer1]

When I press L to read the mission description, the letters are very small, is there a way to make the letters larger?

[@waynemawston7806]

Right if you have a lvl70 char will you be able to change the main loadout ie your main class abilities or do you have to make a new char to get the class abilities the way you want.

[@schnebot]

Exploration missions were just called missions back in 2011... back then we needed to do all of them and often still didnt have enough of this or that for next planet(either comms tokens for gear or high enough lvl.) dont recall getting overwhelmed 5:57

[@aecirohawke2796]

Ty nicely done.

[@dirtystatic9290]

LOL @ how to suck less at SWTOR... love it!

[@Marcustheseer]

i think this is a newer isue but how do i remove the transparent map thats always on my screen? its slightly annoing.

[@elnaandrade5519]

Great video, thank you! I have subscribed I do have a question on some of the quests I have noticed that the areas are rather dark and I can't see to well what is going on, I don't remember having this problem when I first played the game when it first came out, is there any way of lightening this problem? TIA

[@Swtorista]

Hello, I don't think there's a specific way to do it, perhaps your computer has changed since then. I agree, many are dark 1) Increase the brightness on your monitor. many have a button for it. 2) Increase brightness in windows. google "windows increase brightness"

[@reedlarson3153]

I use 2 monitors so I don't need to tab out of the game.

[@slickadooie]

Please help, my basic attack is no longer right click and I don’t know I how I messed it up!!!

[@VergilMf]

Can I use my other quick bars by key or do I have to use the mouse to activate them?

[@Swtorista]

yeah you can keybind them! swtorista.com/articles/swtor-quickbars/

[@MardenZengar]

Let´s hope this advices still hold after 15th this month. They will probably change the UI

[@Swtorista]

Haha apparently there are new settings coming!

[@MrCarlWax]

Is there a way to fix the camera movement delay?

[@jonathanwyatt6572]

I'm a new player and im struggling a bit with camera and character movements. It keeps getting me killed

[@erikevenson4303]

ive somehow managed to turn my sprint off and cant find it in abilities to turn back on.

[@OregonAnon11512]

Inventory bound to B, crew skills to N, companion window T. Q3slot 3 usually '. And then turn or yell, whisper, and say channels off. Turn off chat filter cuz, reasons. But agreed with the rest.

[@Commander_Broble]

How can I make the galactic seasons tab on the top left smaller or scroll through it, it is bugging me so badly lol

[@Swtorista]

Like.. the big window that shows up when you log in? There is like a... arrow, on the top right of it, to minimize it. If you mean something else I'm not sure sorry.

[@Commander_Broble]

@@Swtorista I know I can minimize it lol x3 but there is times where it’s advertising something to me and it’s cut in half and I can’t see the rest of that makes sense

[@soulreapermagnum]

about #15, does that also include NPC dialog?

[@Swtorista]

I think so. So I use the OTHER tab to check that.

[@belphega9753]

Hey Swtorista :) i have a Question and maybe you have some good Ideas: I want to start with swtor again and i am some kind of RP/lore player. I want to make a Sith Warrior (Human or Pureblood) and want to know if there are some "Acolythe" Armors avaiable which i can use from the Start :)?

[@Swtorista]

Hello i love to use this one for acolytes! swtorista.com/armor/frenzied-warrior through the mail or collections from my main characters.

[@oryanstar1010]

HOW DO U MAKE CHAT BOX BIGGER AND TEXT ? PART BLIND NEED CAPS ON TO READ EVERYTHING

[@jasondomou6979]

can anyone tell me how to prevent the camera from changing directions when pressing a and d

[@katerinaFM]

The system messages unfortunately also have some of the subtitles for things your companions/npcs say outside of cutscenes, I wish they would make it separate.