This is an important weekend for Secret World Legends as headstart has already begun. If you’re a veteran of The Secret World already there are some things you should know before you get started. So let's take a look at everything you need to know about Secret World Legends (If you’re new to the universe of The Secret World you may find our review more helpful).
Getting Started
You’re going to need a new client to play Secret World Legends. Though you don’t have to get rid of TSW either. Keep that, the servers will still be playable. To get the new client head over to the game's website and click where it says download at the top of the screen. Keep in mind that SWL is a pretty big game, so you’ll be waiting a little while before you can play.
Account Transfers
While you could start over completely with a fresh, untouched account that basically means you’re throwing away all that time and money you’ve already put in! So, make sure you transfer your TSW account. Doing so will copy all your remaining membership time into Patron time, including Lifetime Patron status for Grand Masters. You’ll also have all the weapons unlocked from the very start instead of having to earn currency to unlock them. But perhaps most importantly, you will get a copy of clothing and vanity items from your account. Doing this is quite simple, head over to this link and on the top right side click on TSW Legacy Transfer. THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE ONCE. So make sure you’ve got everything out of your mail in TSW before you do the transfer otherwise those items won’t transfer. Here are some other important things to keep in mind about the transfer:
Clothing items must be in a Dressing Room or physically equipped by a character in order to be copied. Unopened Clothing in your Inventory, unopened Item Store Claims or unopened Delivered Items are not copied.
Clothing items are separate for female and male character models! To ensure that all clothing items can copy over from TSW, we recommend having at least one character of each gender model, with all potential items unlocked and collected in your Dressing Room.
This means that clothing items for male character models should be in the Dressing Room or equipped by a male character model. Clothing items for female character models should be in the Dressing Room or equipped by a female character model.Example: If you have only one female character on your TSW account, but own a clothing set with both male and female costume parts, only the female model outfit will be transferred to Secret World Legends. If you want the male counterpart, make sure to claim this outfit on a male character in TSW before initiating the Transfer.
Faction items are separate items! If you own faction-exclusive items, you must have them in the dressing room or equipped by characters of the corresponding factions to have them copied.
Characters with items you want to be copied must be active (i.e., not deleted) at the time you initiate the Legacy Transfer.
Apart from clothing, here’s a rundown on how other cosmetic items work with the Legacy Transfer system:
All pets you currently own in your Pet Window copy over, with the exception of pets awarded from the Museum of the Occult, as well as the Guardians of Gaia “Shem” pets.
All Sprint Styles and Mounts you currently own in your Sprint Window copy over, with the exception of the Franken-Chopper. Current owners of the Franken-Chopper instead receive the new “Speed Demon” bike in Secret World Legends. The Franken-Chopper is now a reward from a mission obtained from Moose at Level 50.
Achievements you earned in TSW do not copy over, although any clothing rewards you earned for completing those achievements do copy over.
Titles are not a part of the Legacy Transfer system and do not copy over to Secret World Legends.
You will also have to roll up a new character. This is because of changes they made to the character models themselves. So if you’ve ever wanted to change factions now is your chance. I don’t recommend Dragons. They give great foot rubs but their bedside manners leave a lot to be desired.
*Bonus tip: When you’re creating your character make sure you put them in a jacket, hat, and accessories even if you don’t want them wearing them right away. Less for you to unlock later in the game.*
The Tutorial
There is a new tutorial that is great for new players. It teaches them important things like red lasers are bad and robots want to kill you. Don’t worry though, the old introduction to the game (including the foot rub) is still there for your erm…pleasure.
Classes, Levels, And What it Means for You
So, there are classes now. But they aren’t as important as they are in traditional MMOs. In fact, for veterans, they really only have an effect on your play up until you get enough AP/SP together to change out of them. Yes, when you start you have to pick from the classes that they’ve created, but you can change weapons and leave the classes behind just as soon as you’ve got some levels under your belt.
What’s that? Levels you say? Yes, Secret World Legends has levels and some tasks are level locked to keep you from getting in over your head. It honestly doesn’t change combat all that much. Though it does make it easier for you to clearly judge your situation.
Weapons Have Changed
Weapons have changed a lot. Each one has a unique mechanic that takes some time getting used to. If you haven’t already you should check out the deep dive on weapons that Funcom put together. Honestly, they did a much better job explaining mechanics than I can do in this short column.
Upgrading Your Stuff
Getting a bunch of drops that you can’t use? You can sell them. Or you can use them to give your weapons and gear a bit of a boost. The choice is yours and you learn about this pretty early on when you’re at your faction headquarters picking up your phone. Though do keep in mind that you might be better off visiting the auction house and making some money instead of upgrading your gear.
Customize Your UI
Another big change is the move to a reticle system. At first, I was worried, especially as a roleplayer about it always being there. However, you can make it so there isn’t actually anything displaying where the reticle is. Be sure you go into the options and fiddle around to find what you like best. During beta and press preview I found playing without the reticle visible to be slightly awkward. But, I imagine it is something you could get used to doing.
Roleplaying
Oh roleplayers, you’re in for such a treat. First, there are new clothes. SO MUCH NEW CLOTHES. Second, new places to RP! There’s a dance floor and a restaurant in Agartha now just begging to be used. Don’t worry, all the places you know and love are still there too. Plus, the atmosphere in the combat zones just got a whole lot better. I’m talking about walking down the streets of Kingsmouth with maybe 10 other people in the whole zone. You’ll finally get that empty abandoned apocalypse you’ve always dreamed of having. It gets even better if you’re playing with a group. Then it’s just you, your friends, and the NPCs out in the big spooky world. Just think of how much that will improve the cat lady’s house.
Agartha
On that note, Agartha has had quite the makeover. Gone are the laggy tunnels of lag. Instead, you have pressure plates that send you flying through the air. Agartha is a new central hub for everything in the game. The LFG tool lives there. Looking for RPers? A Cabal? Dungeon? You can organize it all right there. This is also where you can do some shopping, including the auction house. Funcom went to great lengths to make Agartha the center of the world (pun totally intended).
I hope you enjoy Secret World Legends as much as you did The Secret World. This column will be running every week so be sure to come back for more awesomeness. I only ever made it to the City of the Sun God when I played. Though I adored the game and have been so excited to go on this new journey. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have the daunting task of deciding what to pair with fists. I’m going to try my very best not to make a million alts, which is how I normally play MMOs. At the moment it’s a bit of a toss up between hammer and shotgun. Let me know what you’re rolling up in the comments! Also, help me name this column! The temptation is to go for something related to honey or bees. But I’d love to hear your suggestions.
