In this edition of SWTOR Weekly, I’m going to introduce folks to the story of my main character, as this week we see companion Aric Jorgan return to fight the Eternal Empire!
As I’ve stated many times before, it’s the story of SWTOR that constantly brings me back. No other MMO has managed to hold my attention like this game and we have the excellent writers to thank for that. This is, in every way, a true BioWare RPG, as well as a full-blown MMO. One of the hallmarks of a great BioWare game is the use of companions that accompany your unique hero through all their trials and tribulations. SWTOR is no different, and, in fact, boasts the highest number of companions in a single game, even more than Mass Effect or DragonAge. Slowly, we’re seeing these companions rejoin the Outlander in SWTOR: Fallen Empire, most recently with Aric Jorgan of Havoc Squad continuing to fight on Zakuul.
Aric holds a special place for me, as he was my first companion on my first full character. He’s the first one you get if you play as a Republic Trooper, but you don’t start out as BFF’s at the very beginning. In fact, he’s downright hostile to you, at first. By the time of SWTOR: FE, however, you’ve been through the wringer with him, and you’ll have even had a chance to promote either him or another character. If you play as a female Trooper, of any species, he is also a potential love interest. So… hope you’re a cat person.
The other Trooper companions are all great in their own right, and some of them were already available in Chapter IX of FE. Having the very first one get the spotlight is great, since they’ve been with us the longest. The same was true with Kaliyo Djannis in Chapter X. She was the first companion for the Imperial Agent, so I think we can probably expect to see the first companion for each of the classes to get their own focused chapter. Having only dabbled with the Imperial classes, I may be misremembering, but I’m fairly certain none of their initial companions have returned yet.
If you’re playing through Chapter XI and hadn’t previously played the Trooper class, Mr. Jorgan was the second in command (as long as you wanted him to be) of the Republic’s best special forces group, Havoc Squad (which, seems like a VERY auspicious title for just a squad; that’s not even a company!). He was actually the executive officer of Havoc Squad before your character ever showed up. I have to say, though, that the size disparities of the army elements (squads, platoons, companies, battalions, etc) are so weirdly presented, but I digress. Once the story gets underway and you’re thrown your first plot twist, you and Jorgan have to start working together, rebuild Havoc Squad across multiple worlds, with a variety of strange and cool characters, then lead them against the people who betrayed you.
Like every other BioWare RPG, also, you get to engage in so many conversations that lead to not just influence buffs to make them more effective in combat and crafting, but many side quests that help build up your companions and make you care about them. For Jorgan, I had to help him track down his old unit, the Deadeyes, a group of elite snipers. After he left them, they got into some trouble, and, of course, I had to help them out, at his request.
I had a lot of good times with Jorgan, and it even got to the point where my character and he were like the main guys in a buddy cop movie. Sure, my guy had a relationship with the at-first stuffy former Imperial-turned Republic soldier lady, but my bro was Aric Jorgan. We almost always had matching armor, which my team crafted themselves, and every time I’d get a new blaster cannon, he’d get my old one. He was DPS, I was heals. We were REALLY hard to put down.
Nowadays, they’ve changed him, along with the rest of the companions, so that he doesn’t need to worry about new armor or new weapons, since they level up with you. Jorgan can no longer carry a blaster cannon, but has returned to his more thematic roots as an elite sniper. From the looks of things, he has been leading Havoc in guerilla strikes against Arcann and the Eternal Empire. As much as I’m looking forward to recruiting him with my Jedi Shadow, I’m even more looking forward to bringing my Trooper up to speed in SWTOR: FE and reuniting with my good ol’ buddy.
It should also be noted that he is voiced by Timothy Omundson, from one of Leo’s current favorite TV shows, Galavant, and he also had a VERY strong performance in Supernatural. His performance here is very understated, but that’s the character. Another excellent example of voice-over work.
Hope you enjoyed this much more fanboy-ish look at one slice of life in The Old Republic and maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to give this another look.
You can find me on the Shadowlands server, mostly on the Republic side, but my Bounty Hunter, Jodo Gelion, is looking forward to some action, too.
Edit:
Forgot to include the archived video of the March Producer’s Live Stream from Wednesday, March 9th.
Watch live video from SWTOR on www.twitch.tv