There's no better resource for new or returning Star Wars Galaxies players than the knowledge of their fellow players. Experienced fighters, traders, pilots, and others know the 'tricks of the trade' and are always graciously willing to share their tips with others. Read on for some gems of wisdom written by players for players you might learn something new!

Getting Around

Arkon of Chilastra starts off with a tip to help new players get around. Did you know that you can get a land speeder and a space ship within a matter minutes of landing on Tatooine? One of the first parts of the legacy quest grants you a free landspeeder, and by joining with a pilot faction (check the Pilot forums for more info), you are granted a basic space ship that you can use to instant travel from starport to starport.

For quick and easy shuttle boarding from shuttleport to shuttleport, Icobacca suggests instead of running between the ticket machine and the ticket collector, use the command /bo trans as soon as you have purchased your ticket. To take this further, you can make a simple macro and bind it to a key so that you don't have to move closer to the ticket collector or click on it to board.

Icobacca also advises you to travel to Kashyyyk the easy way! Instead of launching into space and jumping to hyperspace to the Wookiee home world, simply select Travel from the starship terminal radial menu and select Kashyyyk from the drop down menu.

Happy traveling!

Leveling Up

When trying to level up a character, Flynne Cordova of Bloodfin suggests mixing it up a bit, especially if you start to feel a little burnt out. Legacy quests getting to you? Go out in the wilds and find some creatures that you don't like the looks of and take your legacy-hate out on them. Sick of beating up on critters? Jump into space and run a duty mission, which will also help you figure out what works best for you in space combat.

Tired of space? Head back to legacy for a bit and make some progress. Not only does mixing things up help keep you from getting burnt out on any one aspect of the game, but it also can help you pace out the large experience gains you get from quests so that you don't use them all at one time. This can work really well after legacy when you start traveling to Mustafar and Kashyyyk for the quests there. Most importantly, have fun with the game. That is what it's there for after all!

Arkon from Chilastra offers another tip to those who are leveling from the ground up, especially players with combat professions. When doing quests and the like, Arkon recommends that you don't just complete the quest as quickly as possible, but stay at the waypoint the mission sent you to. For example, if you get sent to an underground base to destroy a single NPC down there, take your time and clear out the whole place once through. The extra experience never hurts. Oh, and make sure to have an entertainer experience buff on at all times when grinding.

Vreese Sai'nu from Gorath encourages all new players to experiment with different weapons. You may find that switching between both an energy weapon and a kinetic weapon lets you lay on a massive beating as you progress with the game. In fact, in high-level play you may find that different elemental damage types have special effects that stack if you use them wisely. For example, switching between a lightsaber with heat damage over time and a weapon that offers a chance at an additional attack can double up some of the damage you do. So get out there, have some fun getting some stuff, and keep those weapons polished!

Playing the Market

Thaonnor of Europe-Infinity advises that you don't buy items while you are leveling. It's a big mistake that many players make. You should be able to get good looted items as you are leveling. Save your money for when you reach level 90, and your gear will be good forever rather than just 10 levels.

If you are a new player, Emirtai suggests that you don't sell a veteran reward, quest reward, or any loot to anyone who's spamming something like "Buying 30k resource deeds for 2 mil!" Always check the trade forum of your server for the actual value of anything you want to sell that's uncommon, rare, a reward, or if you're not absolutely sure of its value.

There are a lot of people that take advantage of others on both ends of this, either by inflating the price or simply flashing a large amount of money (as seen by a new player) for an item that's worth 20 times that and then reselling it. Each galaxy has its own trade forum so make sure you check or ask for a price check on the correct one since each galaxy's economy is different.

Avy'enda of Starsider reminds all players that the maximum amount you can sell an item for on the public bazaar is 20,000 credits. Avy'enda sees a lot of new players put their item or painting - many times worth a million credits or more - on the bazaar for auction, hoping it will bring market value. Unfortunately for them, there is a cap of 20,000 credits for a sales price on the bazaar. So whichever savvy rich veteran player goes in and bids 20,000 credits first is going to get the item and the seller will have just lost out on 980,000 credits (/comfort n00b). For premium items, you are better off listing it on your private vendor, or else posting it for sale on the official forums in your galaxy's trade forum.

When using the bazaar, Halo of Tempest points out that you can also search player-placed vendors that are publicly listed by clicking the vendor search tab at the top of the screen. With the new bazaar enhancements, you can find some awesome deals out there. You can't actually buy items from vendors on the bazaar, but you can get a waypoint to the vendor and fly there fast so you don't miss out on a great deal.

GassyGunslinger states that to make money, the secret is to play the market. If there's a one-time item that everyone gets, GassyGunslinger suggests that you search the vendors for people selling them cheaply, and stockpile a bunch for a rainy day. In a year, they'll be worth a boatload. On the contrary, when something is new (like good enzymes and DNA) get them quick and sell 'em quicker. The more you delay, the more people will have and the less they'll be worth.

Banding Together

If you're new to the game, Eureka_Maru suggests that you find a good player association. Good guilds will help you answer questions, navigate the game, find groups for quests, find equipment, and just about everything else. (Periodically, a smart aleck may give you a hard time by telling you to check your guild rank by typing /guildr - don't type that! It will remove you from the guild.)

Stay tuned to the Friday Features for more game tips in the near future. Be sure to visit the official Star Wars Galaxies forums to find additional tips from your fellow players or to share your own!

Thank you to all the players who contributed the great tips in this guide.