Final SWTOR 1.5 Patch Notes

1.5 is Alive! Sorry, that was lame, but here are the full SWTOR 1.5 Patch Notes:

Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated

11/15/2012

Highlights

• Free-to-Play is here! Players can now experience Star Wars: The Old Republic up to level 50 (with certain restrictions) without paying a subscription fee.
• The Cartel Market is now accessible. Players can use Cartel Coins to purchase boosts, unlocks, cosmetic items, and more!

Travel to Section X on Belsavis and learn why the nefarious Dread Guard has seized control of this ravaged area of the planet! Section X can be accessed on Belsavis and via the daily mission shuttles.

• HK-51 can now be acquired as a Companion Character! A shipment of the infamous Assassin Droids can be found in the wreck of an Imperial transport ship, The Fatality, in Section X. Reactivating HK-51 requires finding and assembling parts from across the galaxy.
• Nightmare Mode is now available for Operation: Explosive Conflict! Bosses in Nightmare Mode present a new level of challenge, new mechanics, and high-quality rewards (such as a new vehicle and Dread Guard set pieces)!
• Dreadtooth, a new world boss, can be found roaming Section X. Each time Dreadtooth is defeated, he returns with a temporary, stacking power buff which increases his difficulty and the quality of his loot rewards.

General

• The names of guilds that are inactive (any guild that has had no members log in for 8 weeks) will now be released for use by new guilds. If a guild member logs back in once a name is released, that guild member can reclaim the guild’s name if it has not been taken. If the name has been taken, the guild will be granted a free rename.
• If no member of a guild logs in for 8 weeks, the next guild member to log in will be promoted to Guild Leader.

Classes and Combat

• Subscribers are no longer charged credits for skill point re-specializations.
  

  Jedi Knight

  Sentinel

  Watchman

  • Merciless Zeal’s healing has been reduced to .5% per point (down from 1% per point).

  Sith Warrior

  Maurader

  Annihilation

  • Hungering’s healing has been reduced to .5% per point (down from 1% per point).

Group Finder

• Travelling to a new area while in a Group Finder queue no longer occasionally causes the UI to behave as if the player is not in the queue.

Missions and NPCs

• Some missions on Origin Worlds now offer Experience Boost rewards.

Items

• The cost to remove mods from items has been reduced for subscribers.
• The Collector’s Edition vehicle and all vehicles available in the Cartel Market can now be used with the lowest-level rank. Their speed now scales based on the rank unlocked by characters.
• Subscribers can now access speeders at level 15.
• Campaign armorings are now available for purchase on the Black Hole vendor for Black Hole Commendations.
• Dread Guard relics are now available on the Daily vendor for 300 Daily Commendations.
• A new set of droid armor is now available from the Daily vendor.
• More robes have been adjusted so that their backsides are not inappropriately large when worn.
• New speeder vendors are now available on Taris (Republic) and Balmorra (Imperial).

Legacy

• Players can now unlock their Legacy at level 10.
• The Legacy panel now accommodates much larger Legacies.
• Each rank of the Legacy Experience perk now grants +6% experience (as opposed to a gradual increase of +2/4/6/8/10). The total possible bonus from Legacy perks is still 30% in each category.

PvP

• The caps for Warzone and Ranked Warzone Commendations have been increased. All players can now accumulate up to 4500 Ranked Warzone Commendations and 2750 Warzone Commendations.
• Elite War Hero armorings, barrels, and hilts have had their stats improved slightly.

UI

• Several emotes are now voiced!
• Subscribers now have access to 2 additional quickslot bars.
• Different quickslot bars can no longer be jumped to in the primary quickslot bar if they are already visible in another location on-screen.
• The deposit for items placed on the GTN is now a percentage of the item’s value (instead of being based on the player’s set price).
• Vehicles, mini-pets, weapons, the results of crafting schematics, and color crystals can now be previewed in the item preview window.
• An additional Cargo Hold can now be purchased.
• The title selection window is now scrollable. Players can now choose their Legacy name display from this window.
• A progress bar has been added to the currency pane to indicate player proximity to currency caps.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Several typos and instances of incorrect text have been corrected in all languages.
• The Imperial Medcenter in the vicinity of the wreck of the Ambria’s Fury has been moved Northeast.
• An issue that caused dark outlines to appear around characters’ eyes has been corrected.