Star Wars: Galaxies Master Musician Guide - V1.0 Author: Koneko Date: 7-6-03 This FAQ is not to be used for profitable/promotional purposes; this includes being used by publishers of magazines, guides, books, etc. or being incorporated into magazines, etc. in ANY way without my permission. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, Russell Dorn . All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ. Please give credit where it is due. *-------------------------------------------* Table of Contents *-------------------------------------------* I. Getting Started II. Species III. Skills and Point Distribution IV. Instruments V. Songs and Playing VI. Musicial Techniques VII. General Etiquette VIII. Personal Information IX. Updates X. Credits *-------------------------------------------* I. Getting Started *-------------------------------------------* Hello and welcome to Koneko's guide to becoming a Master Musician. If you are reading this then you are most likely intrigued about the Musician profession or you are already in the process of making one and looking for some help. To become a Musician you must first become an Entertainer and get up to Entertainment Healing IV and Musicianship IV. After you have completed those steps you can go on to become a novice Musician. These are the only things you MUST do to move onto Musician. I have seen Musicians who also plan on mastering the entire Entertainer class, maybe becoming somewhat proficient Dancers too and I have seen plenty of other types out there, forming on the servers. This guide will help you through the steps to reaching Master Musician. First off, I'd like to start with a question that most players often spend much time thinking about, their character's species... *--------------------------------------------* II. Species *--------------------------------------------* There is no racial or gender restriction placed on any profession in SWG. Any species that the game provides is open to a player becoming a Master Musician. To help you with your choice, let's take a look at the species and their stats and other bonuses. 1. Human - The predominant species of SWG, Humans can perform well in any profession they decide to take up. Humans recieve the following modifiers... * Health +100 * Strength +100 * Constitution +100 * Action +100 * Quickness +100 * Stamina +100 * Mind +100 * Focus +100 * Willpower +100 Special Features: * Leadership +10 * Artisan Experimentation +15 My Opinion - Great species for a Musician. Especially if you plan to go into crafting on the side. I think that statistically, they are the second best species for a Musician. 2. Bothan - Short, fur-covered species, that have a special talent for making great spies. Bothans recieve the following modifiers... * Health +0 * Strength +0 * Constitution +0 * Action +300 * Quickness +300 * Stamina +100 * Mind +100 * Focus +100 * Willpower +0 Special Features: * Camouflage +15 * Cover +15 My Opinion - Bothans are a species which are especially well-suited to making excellent Scouts, but due to the high bonuses they recieve to Action, a Bothan Musician doesn't seem like such a bad idea. A Bothan might make the best possible Musician if you only plan on taking the Musician class a little ways up and not mastering it. I could see something like a Creature Handler/Musician doing well and being a fun and unique profession to experiment with. 3. Mon Calamari - The fish faces of the galaxy! The Mon Calamari are usually found in professions that require great intelligence and mind. Here are the modifiers they recieve... * Health +0 * Strength +0 * Constitution +0 * Action +0 * Quickness +0 * Stamina +150 * Mind +300 * Focus +300 * Willpower +150 Special Features: * Alertness +15 * Weapon Assembly +10 * Structure Assembly +10 My Opinion - Mon Calamari do extremely well in professions that drain the mind pool quickly, unfortunately, besides the nice bonuses they recieve to the mind type stats, they don't have much else going for them. The low Action pool would prove a great hinderance to a Master Musician, whom has to perform basically non-stop and as much as I love the little fish faces, I couldn't see them making a good Musician. 4. Rodian - Violent creatures, with insect like faces and and a love for bounty hunting. Rodians recieve the following modifiers... * Health +0 * Strength +0 * Constitution +0 * Action +200 * Quickness +200 * Stamina +450 * Mind +0 * Focus +0 * Willpower +50 Special Features: * Defense vs. Blind +15 * One Handed Weapon Accuracy +10 * Two Handed Melee Accuracy +10 * Weapon Assembly +10 My Opinion - Rodians aren't often thought of as the entertainer type, but with their increased bonus to Action, they have nice possibility of making a good Musician. Rodians would do best as a Musician who also wants to explore the world and possibly also take up a profession that is more geared towards combat. Decent species choice! 5. Trandoshan - Tall, lizard-like species, that is heavily geared towards combat. Trandoshans recieve the following modifiers... * Health +250 * Strength +300 * Constitution +400 * Action +0 * Quickness +0 * Stamina +0 * Mind +0 * Focus +0 * Willpower +100 Special Features: * Unarmed Accuracy +10 * Unarmed Speed +5 * Unarmed Damage +15 * Melee Defense +10 * Creature Harvesting +10 * Regeneration +1 My Opinion - Trandoshans are more well-suited to taking up a more combat oriented profession. Without a substantial bonus to Action, they won't be able to perform for long without needing to rest again, especially when they get some higher level instruments and songs. I think this species would have a harder time as a Musician. 6. Zabrak - The Zabrak more closely resemble Humans then any other of the alien species. The Zabrak usually have large horns and tattoos which they display with pride. They recieve the following modifiers... * Health +200 * Strength +0 * Constitution +0 * Action +300 * Quickness +0 * Stamina +0 * Mind +0 * Focus +0 * Willpower +400 Special Features: * Defense Vs. Dizzy +10 * Defense Vs. Stun +10 * Defense Vs. Intimidate +10 * Anti-Shock +5 * Equilibrium +1 * Vitalize +1 My Opinion - The Zabraks are another species with great potential at becoming good Musicians with some of their remaining skill points placed into a typical combat profession. The big boost to Action is just what a Musician needs and the Health boost and most of their special features would be perfect for something like a Marksman. Consider this species if you plan on entering combat some time in the future of this character. 7. Wookie - RWARR!! Big scary wookies are furry humanoid-looking creatures that pack a big punch. Don't anger these fur-balls as they are quick to go berserk. RWARR!! Wookies recieve the following modifiers... * Health +350 * Strength +350 * Constitution +150 * Action +200 * Quickness +100 * Stamina +100 * Mind +100 * Focus +150 * Willpower +100 Special Features: * Trapping +10 * Creature Taming Bonus +10 * Rescue +10 * Warcry +10 * Wookie Roar +1 Miscenalleous Features: * Can only speak their own language, but can understand any. * Very limited clothing options. My Opinion - Wookies recieve TONS of bonuses and when you take a look at the Wookie on pen and paper it looks like a definite option. Unfortunately, consider this; A Wookie first off, can only SPEAK its own language. This could pose a problem, when interacting with customers. Tips are rarely distributed to Entertainers and when someone does give out a tip, it usually goes to that sweet-talking female dancer (especially because of the majority of male players). You need to fight back as a Musician and interaction is a KEY element to taking on an Entertainer's role. On top of the troubles with speech, they have a VERY limited clothing selection and won't always stand out from the crowd if they don't have the flashiest looking clothing. I am very neutral on a Wookie Musician. They have great bonuses, but the problems might out-weigh them. 8. Twi'lek - Another of the species, but this one has a knack for becoming an Entertainer. They look like Humans, except for the tentacle-like Lekku's that look like their hair. They recieve the following bonuses... * Health +0 * Strength +0 * Constitution +250 * Action +250 * Quickness +300 * Stamina +0 * Mind +100 * Focus +0 * Willpower +0 Special Features: * Wound Healing (Dancing) +15 * Wound Healing (Music) +5 * Battle Fatigue Healing (Dancing) +15 * Battle Fatigue Healing (Music) +5 My Opinion - You can obviously see why Twi'leks are the most popular choice for an Entertainer. They gain a nice boost to their Action pool, along with a boost to healing in their special features. I would easily recommend this as the best choice, especially for someone new to the Musician profession. *-------------------------------------------* III. Skills and Point Distribution *-------------------------------------------* First off, let me start with the Entertainer basic profession before moving onto the elite profession of Musician, because all Musicians must learn the following skills stemming from the Entertainer profession. BTW I highly recommend you to chose Entertainer as your starting profession, but if you want to pick up Musician on the side or you wanted to start as another profession for a different reason, then be sure to mitagrate your stats so that you can do well as a Musician. If you need help doing this, you can contact me using my personal information at the end of the guide, although the key thing when mitagrating your stats is to keep Action at a decent level. If it drops below 800, you could have some problems working your way up to a Musician. Also, before I walk you through the key skills for the profession, keep in mind that every character recieves 250 skill points to distribute as they see fit, while following their skill tree. Now, here is the key information for the Entertainer profession... Entertainer - Like all professions, the Entertainer's skill tree is made up of 4 different and unique types of skills. Image Design, Musicianship, Dancing, and Entertainment Healing. The tree also includes Novice Entertainer and Master Entertainer. 1. Image Design - This skill tree allows a player to customize their own or another player's physical appearance. Mastering this tree allows a player to advance to a Novice Image Designer where they will learn more advanced skills that deal with basically the same thing. For a Musician, this tree is useless and should be avoided unless you plan on mastering Entertainer. Each level gained in this tree, does however give additional options to modifying one's current hairstyle, facial features, and other options. 2. Musicianship - Obviously, this skill tree must be maxed out to become a Novice Musician. The experience needed to increase this tree can only be gained by playing songs with your instruments and using flourishes and you see fit. At each level gained in this tree you will gain either a new song, the ability to use a new instrument, or the ability to make an instrument through crafting. The details of this tree are included under instruments and songs. Be sure to check there for details. 3. Dancing - Another useless tree under the Entertainer profession, unless you plan on becoming a Master Entertainer. Dancing is basically the same thing as Musicianship. Each level will give access to a new dance. If you want to gain experience in this skill tree, use /startdance and begin your performance. It is recommended that you use flourishes and your highest level dance availible. 4. Entertainment Healing - This skill tree is a definite must have! It is especially easy to gain experience in this skill tree when compared to the Musicianship tree and most max this out earlier then the Musicianship. Each level gained in this tree provides a better chance at healing your customers. Remember though, battle fatigue can only be healed in certain areas, such as Cantinas, and Hotels. You will only gain experience in this skill when someone is /listening to you and they need to be healed, but the experience gained is usually very high! 5. Master Entertainer - If you want to be the ultimate Musician, then mastering the Entertainer class might appeal to you. It requires a mastery of every other skill tree under Entertainer it will net you the ability to play the Ceremonial song and use the Mandoviol instrument, among other things relating to the other skill trees such as a new dance. *-------------------------------------------* Musician - Ahh! Here we are! The reason you probably came to this guide in the first place. This is the Musician's skill tree, which is composed of Musical Techniques, Musician's Wound Healing, Musicial Knowledge, and Musician's Shock Healing. The tree also includes the important Novice Musician and Master Musician. 1. Novice Musician - Sigh... When you master the skills required for a Novice Musician you don't just earn the skill, you then have to get Musician experience which can be put towards Novice Musician before advancing in the skill tree further. 2. Musicial Techniques - Ohh!! Pretty!! Lights, lights everywhere!!! This skill tree has some fancy techniques that can be used while performing. It includes things like Dazzle, Colored Lights, and Spot Light! This tree requires Musician experience to level in it. This tree also includes the ability to craft new instruments. 3. Musician's Wound Healing - Yay! This tree allows an even better healing skill. You will probably have stored away entertainer healing experience that can be used in this as soon as you hit Novice Musician. 4. Musical Knowledge - This is like the Musicianship skill tree from the Entertainer profession. It allows you to play new songs and use new instruments. It requires the hard to get Musician experience, like the Musical Techniques tree, so get to grinding! 5. Musician's Shock Healing - More healing! Get this as soon as you hit Novice Musician if you have enough entertainer healing experience. Your customers will love the increased healing. 6. Master Musician - Finally! You made it! Meow!! Er... yeah.... This costs 620 Apprenticeship points, which can only be aquired by teaching others skills you know by grouping with them and bringing up their radial. You shouldn't have a problem aquiring these points as many young Entertainers in the cantina will need your help. *-------------------------------------------* IV. Instruments *-------------------------------------------* What Musician could do without an instrument? None, I tell you!! This section is entirely devoted to them, including, when they are gained, how to make them, and where you can find them. All instruments must be equipped like a weapon before you can use /startmusic. NOTE: Be sure to use the highest level instrument you have whenever possible as this will net you the greatest amount of experience while playing. Also note, that not all the instruments sound differently. Some sound just like another, but one might be a higher level instrument, which nets you with more experience. 1. Slitherhorn - If you chose Entertainer as your starting profession you should start with one of these in your inventory. Novice Entertainers can also craft one of these. This is the basic instrument. Sounds like a wood-wind instrument. 2. Fizzz - Your first new instrument, gained as playable at Musicianship I and it can be crafted at Musicianship II. Sounds different from a Slitherhorn, more like a brass instrument. 3. Fanfar - Playable at Musicianship III and it can be crafted at Novice Musician. Identical to the Slitherhorn in sound. 4. Kloo Horn - Playable at Musicianship IV and it can be crafted at Novice Musician. Identical to the Fizzz in sound. 5. Mandoviol - Only playable at Master Entertainer. Not all will decide to take the skill to get this instrument. Sounds somewhat like a violin. 6. Trazz - Playable at Novice Musician and it can be crafted when you reach Musicial Techniques II. 7. Bandfill - Drums, which are playable at Musicial Knowledge II and can be crafted at Musicial Techniques III. Identical to the Ommni Box in sound. 8. Chidinkaloo - Playable at Musicial Knowledge III and craftable at Musicial Techniques III. Identical to the Fizzz in sound. 9. Ommni Box - Sounds like the Bandfill. Playable at Musicial Knowledge IV and can be crafted and Musicial Techniques IV. 10. Nalargon - The final instrument. Can be crafted when you reach Musicial Techniques IV, but it takes a Master Musician to use them. The Nalargon is much like an organ. Crafting Instruments - To craft an instrument when you gain the correct ability. You must either go out and gather the correct amount of resources or buy them as needed. Then, when you get the correct amount (check your draft schematics under ctrl + D, if you are unsure) you can open your inventory and select and use your crafting tool (if you don't have one you can purchase one from an Artisan or from the Bazaar) and select the correct instrument to make and some pop-ups will guide you through the rest of the process. *-------------------------------------------* V. Songs and Playing *-------------------------------------------* Under this section you will find out when and how you can learn new songs. Also, you will find information on how to gain the most possible experience and information about things such and flourishes and bandflourishes. Let me start with the different songs and how they can be gained. NOTE: If possible, you should play the highest level song you know to gain the most possible experience. Unfortunately, because when grouped with lower level Entertainers who might only have access to one or two songs, you could have trouble gaining experience, because bands should always play the same song, even if you have to help out those Novice Entertainers, it is just polite. I will cover this under General Etiquette. 1. Starwars1 - Gained at Novice Entertainer. Sounds decent, but not my favorite song and it can get annoying. Medium-paced. 2. Rock - Ughh, I hate the sound of this song. It is gained at Musicianship I, though. 3. Starwars2 - Yay! Pretty! Fast paced and upbeat. You will most likely remember this song being played in the cantinas from the movie. Gained at Musicianship II. Woo!! 4. Folk - Slow and with a light sound to it. This is gained at Musicianship III. 5. Starwars3 - Ughh! For the supposed "Imperial March" they did a terrible job at this song. It doesn't sound to good on the instruments, but using some flourishes you can OCCASSIONALLY hear some of the "Imperial March." Gained at Musicianship IV. 6. Ceremonial - Gained when you reach Master Entertainer. I decided to leave out Master Entertainer, so if someone could please inform me on how this song sounds or send me an mp3 if availible, I would GREATLY appreciate it. 7. Ballad - Gained at Musicial Knowledge I, decent song, but my favorite is still Starwars2. 8. Waltz - Gained at Musicial Knowledge III. 9. Jazz - Learned at Musicial Knowledge IV. 10. Virtuoso - Gained as the final song when you reach the rank of Master Musician. *-------------------------------------------* NOTE: If you are familiar with the flourish and bandflourish system as well as how to gain the most experience, you may chose to skip this added information. Before I move onto the techniques a Musician learns I want to point out some key notes on Flourishes and playing in a band. * When you group with dancers or a band that includes at least one other Musician, when you use /startmusic you will automatically play the song the current Musicians are playing. This can sometimes be problematic because when a newbie joins the group and your band is playing something like Starwars2, you will have to change the song to Starwars1 or another song the new Entertainer can play because otherwise they will not be able to participate and therefore not gain experience. This is a problem, but everyone should always change to make the new Entertainer feel welcome. Unfortunately, doing so, will make you change to a low level song and you will therefore not gain as much experience as if you were playing something like Folk. This can be really disappointing to an aspiring Musician, because Dancers, which are basically the same profession with a different style don't have this problem, so most people just decide to make a Dancer. A Dancer can join a group and use their highest level dance while the newbie uses basic dance or something. This needs to be fixed! Unfortunately, until that happens (yeah, right) you will have to accommodate for the new Entertainers. Sorry, but it is true. * Now, besides this problem, let me explain some other things while playing or in a band. First, use /startmusic and chose your song you want to play. When playing the song you can use flourishes which are unique sounding music that your play which drains the action pool, but increases your experience. To do a flourish, type /flourish and a number 1-8 while playing. Each flourish is different for each song and instrument (except the instruments that sound the same) and to gain the most experience possible, I recommend doing two flourishes about every few seconds. * Also, you can do /bandflourish which is basically a flourish, but it causes every Musician to do it too. It can add flavor to a band, but DON'T abuse this!! /bandflourish has a major set-back. It causes the person who used it to gain experience, but it just drains the action pool for every other member of the band, with NO experience gained. If someone in your band is abusing this, use /bandflourish off to toggle it off, so it won't repeatedly drain your action pool and force you to rest. * Bonuses to Experience where you might not expect it: 1. The command /applaud gives a bonus of 1 experience. 2. The command /cheer supposedly increases experience gained. 3. The more people who watch increase the amount of experience gained. 4. The more people you are grouped with (who are playing/dancing actively) gives a bonus to experience. *-------------------------------------------* VI. Musicial Techniques (A.K.A. Nothing but a pretty light show) *-------------------------------------------* Sigh... As much as I LOVE the Musicial Techniques they really are nothing but a pretty light show. I wish they would help gain experience, but unfortunately... no.... Here are the Techniques you gain and when you can learn them... 1. Colored Lights - Musicial Techniques I, pretty lights, like the name implies. 2. Dazzle - Ahh!! I'm blind!! Gained along with Colored Lights at Musicial Techniques I. 3. Spotlight - Decent, not my favorite, but gained along with the majority at Musicial Techniques I. 4. Firejet - Gained at Musicial Techniques II. 5. Ventriloquism - Gained at Musicial Techniques III. *-------------------------------------------* VII. General Etiquette *-------------------------------------------* Please, try to be a friendly face in your local cantina and obey some of these general tips for etiquette. You don't want to be the Musician everyone despises. You won't get any tips!! Hehe!! =^.^= 1. Don't repeatedly use the /bandflourish command. A lot of the newbies don't know about /bandflourish off and you will CONSTANTLY drain their action pools without them gaining ANY extra experience. Be kind! 2. Help out the newbies! Most don't even know what skills you need to become a Master Musician. If someone needs to learn a skill, always speak up and teach them for free. Most people give out a tip for this anyways and even if they don't, you will gain a friend, they will probably be more helpful to the group now (as in knowing a higher level song = more experience for you) AND you will gain Apprenticeship points needed for any class you intend to Master, not only Musician. 3. Don't bug the customers and always interact with them. It is the number one most annoying thing when I hear someone in my group whine about wanting tips from the customers every two seconds. It seriously bothers me, because most of the time this only encourages the customers to NOT give out tips, which will most likely lower the money you could earn that night because of one bad seed. Also, always greet the customers by name as they come in. 4. Don't be rude to anyone in your group. Some of the Musicians get annoyed because so many dancers (especially the female ones) get all the tips, but don't act rude to them, it only shows the customers how rude you are yourself. Be kind and interact with everyone in the group! 5. ALWAYS play the same song as everyone else in the band. It really ruins the sound and drives away customers if you don't. Now, some of you might be wondering about this because it contradicts a statement I already made saying when you join a group and use /startmusic you automatically play the same song the current band is playing. Unfortunately, a little bug (could it be called a bug?) is that if you are ALREADY playing a song like, folk and you are invited to group while still playing, you will still be playing the song you were before joining the group, so, folk. If this happens and the band is playing a different song, immediately /stopmusic and then use /startmusic to join in with the band's current song. 6. Cats!! Meow!! =^.^= *-------------------------------------------* VIII. Personal Information *-------------------------------------------* My name on the gamefaqs boards is Koneko, if you didn't know that. I'm a 19-year-old male, majoring in Japanese, who is currently enjoying his Musician, Artisan (soon to be Tailor) and Scout (soon to be Creature Handler) on SWG. Other games I frequently play include any decent RPG, FF games with the exception of the terrible FFVIII and FFX, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Online games you can catch me on besides SWG include Diablo 2: LOD. If you have any questions, comments, flames, rants, egotistical claims, etc... email me at Koneko@Doramail.com *-------------------------------------------* IX. Updates *-------------------------------------------* None as of now. If I get a lot of emails or the game changes in some way I will make them as needed. *-------------------------------------------* X. Credits *-------------------------------------------* Credits are given to those who deserve them: * Gamefaqs.com for allowing me to host this. * SWG for the great game. * Matryn, for some great content on her own guide. * The SWG Message Board. * My kitty katty kat cat, meow!! =^.^= *-------------------------------------------*