Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff got his hands on the playable Star Wars: The Old Republic demo at PAX East. He was the tank in the 4-player Taral V Flashpoint instance. How did it go? Read on to find out!

If you were on the floor at PAX East over the weekend, you couldn't help but notice the massive Star Wars: The Old Republic booth. Players lined up for hours to get their hands on the Taral V Flashpoint demo, while others crowded near the stage to watch various presentations and take pictures with Darth Vader, stormtroopers and some Jedi.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to try out the demo from the perspective of a Trooper Vanguard. This meant I was jumping into the instance as a level 32 tank and just learning my abilities for the first time. No pressure, right?

Before members of the press broke into teams to play through Taral V, we watched a survival guide video hosted by Director of Production Dallas Dickinson. He said the demo contained approximately half of the instance, and we'd need to work as a team to emerge victorious. Here are his tips to playing the four level 32 Republic characters in the demo:

Trooper (Vanguard advanced class): As the tank, it's your job to initiate battles and draw the attention of your enemies. Try leading off with Full Auto, an attack that unloads a barrage of firepower at the target. Stock Strike is an ability that does damage up close. You can launch a Sonic Round or a Neural Jolt as a taunt.

Smuggler (Scoundrel advanced class): As the best healer in the group, it's your responsibility to keep everyone alive, especially the Trooper. Take up a defensive position to put up cover and then focus on healing the tank with med packs. The key to playing the Smuggler as a healer is managing your energy level. You can regenerate your energy level with the Cool Head ability if needed.

Jedi Knight (Guardian advanced class): You'll focus primarily on dealing damage, but you can also taunt the enemy since you wear heavy armor. Enter the battle with Saber Throw or Force Leap. Use Sundering Strike up close, then unleash Overhead Slash and Blade Storm.

Jedi Consular (Sage advanced class): You're mainly all about damage, but you can also heal with abilities like Benevolence to help out the Smuggler. You may want to start the battle by using Weakened Mind and Mind Crush since they are damage-over-time abilities.

Dickinson reminded us that most characters have stuns, and all of them have abilities that boost health out of combat. Once the lesson was over, it was time to make our way to the demo stations and put what we learned into action.

Tanking the Taral V Demo

The demo stations were comprised of rows of four computers, so I picked a random stool and sat down. In front of me was a card with a basic outline of the abilities for the Trooper Vanguard. Looks like I was the tank. I made a note of the location of my taunts, browsed through my long list of damage-dealing abilities and prepared for battle.

Before pulling out our rifles and lightsabers, we participated in the opening cutscene for the Flashpoint. Star Wars: The Old Republic has a strong focus on story, and this scene explains the Flashpoint's plot. Master Oteg, a character who looks like a young Yoda, asks us to help liberate a Jedi prisoner from an Imperial prison. It's our job to assault a compound on Taral V and access a computer that can lead us to the prisoner. Each player has the opportunity to answer Oteg's questions with one of three responses, and one player is randomly selected during each question to move the story forward.

Continued on Page 2.