SWTOR Fixes Bolster Rate That Made Undergeared Characters Too Good In PvP

BioWare tweaked and adjusted a lot of things with its Update 5.1 patch earlier this week. We covered most of the major points in an interview with Charles Boyd, but one thing that slipped through the cracks -- and the patch notes -- was the adjustment to PvP bolstering.

If you'll recall, bolstering is what lets undergeared players compete on a somewhat fair level in PvP, "bolstering" their stats to something better approaching those of characters with top gear. However, with the Knights of the Eternal Throne patch, bolstering didn't "approach" the stats of those characters -- it exceeded them.

As Community Manager Eric Musco explained on the forums, that was a mistake that the team rectified in 5.1 -- though they forgot to mention it in the patch notes. The highest gear rating possible is 242, and the bolstering effect was boosting players up to 250. Now, the bolstering effect only goes to 232, similar to the 208-200 difference that existed during the Knights of the Fallen Empire era of the game.

Not surprisingly, though, the Galactic Command system is mucking things up a bit. Players are complaining about how long it takes to get geared and close that gap under the current system, comparing it to the relative ease of doing so under the old system. Galactic Command might have been a decent idea, but it's hard to jury-rig it into a game that's this far along without breaking other systems along the way.