Is The Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide For You?

We paged through Prima's Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide, the essential atlas for spacemen and women seeking to dig into every galactic nook. The beefy tome include class-specific tips, detailed maps, and descriptions of each interesting locale.

Here's what we liked about the Explorer's Guide:

• Summaries of each class, including specializations. These digestible descriptions are a much better way to familiarize yourself with each class than the clinical character creation menu.
• Class tips help you decide what statistical attributes to invest in and how to minimize your character's weaknesses. The guide also describes the role your future companion will play. Want a reliable healer? Better get Mako.
• Maps of every last area in the game detail the locations of flight paths, quest givers, enemy zones, and other points of interest. Unsurprisingly, this is the bulk of the Explorer's Guide. These maps aren't as convenient as hitting the 'M' key on your keyboard, but it's a good way to make sure you don't miss anything.
• Planet descriptions add color to the celestial bodies you'll be visiting. For example, reading about Hutta's gang wars, pollution issues, and exploited natives helps place the planet's role in the galaxy. Learning which planets sound interesting to you is a great way to plot your journey.

If you'd rather solve your intergalactic navigation issues by paging through a well written and smartly organized book rather than fumbling with misguided internet searches, you can pick up the Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide for $24.99.