STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

Thank you to all players who participated in the first PvP season following the PvP revamp and provided feedback.

PvP Season 2, “Piercing the Veil',” will be starting next week! Behind the scenes, dark forces are pulling strings and twisting the competition into a recruitment tool for an organization of assassins. Are competitors fighting for glory and prizes, or are they fighting for their lives? Let’s unveil the changes and new rewards players can expect in Season 2!

First up, we’re making slight changes to how Attacker and Defender medals are earned in a match. We are aiming to improve the quality of matches by encouraging players to play for the objective and play to win. Currently, these adjustments will only be deployed on the most popular map, the Alderaan Warzone, but we intend to roll out these changes to all the maps over time. Here are the details:

• Defender points per tick have been increased to 700 points per tick (up from 500 points per tick).
  
• Turret Control Zones have been increased.
  
• When within the control zones of a turret controlled by the player’s team, they will receive 500 defender points when defeating a player.
  
• When within the control zones of a turret controlled by the opposing team, players will receive 500 attacker points for every player they defeat.
  

You can find more information about these changes in our forum post (only available in English).

To allow players to focus on different PvP tasks, we’ve also reduced the requirements for the Arena Advocator and Warzone Warrior Achievements from 25 weekly completions to 12.

Like last season, players will still earn PvP Points by playing and completing PvP content. These points will be based on three criteria:

• Types of match
  
• Win/Loss
  
• Amount of medals earned during the match. The amount of medals has been adjusted to improve the completion of the season:
  
  • To receive full credit for the match, players now only need to get 7 medals instead of 8.
    
  • The associated objectives that referenced 8 medals now only require 7 as well.
    
  
  Here are the updated PvP points charts on how many points players can get from participating in Warzones and Arenas:
  

[center]Warzone[/center]


[center]Arena[/center]


In addition to this medal change, we made adjustments to matchmaking so that large groups are more likely matched up against each other. More details in this post.



PvP Season 2 rewards

Similar to the previous season, there is no distinction between the non-subscriber and subscriber tracks other than the number of Weekly Objectives they can complete. Players will get 4 (6 for subscribers) Weekly Season Objectives during the Weekly Reset. Players earn PvP points by completing PvP Season Objectives or by playing matches to progress through the Season PvP rewards track.

The Season PvP reward track will also be updated with new rewards themed around the new season, including the Shadowhand and Shadeveil Warrior’s Armor Sets, PvP Season 2 trophies, titles (“Mark of the Assassin” and “The Unseen”), and decorations.

From left to right: Shadowhand Armor Set and Shadeveil Warrior’s Armor Set.

From left to right: PvP Season 2 Trophy (Small) and PvP Season 2 Trophy (Large).

From left to right: Ancient Blades Display Stand and PvP Battler (Season 2).

Seasonal Vendor

Tullek
From the beginning of the season, Tullek, the seasonal PvP vendor, will have their inventory updated with the new season rewards, including the Shadeveil Assassin’s Armor Set, Shadowfiend’s Armor Set, PvP Season 2 flags (red and blue), and Shadowhand Armor Display decoration. These items will be available until the end of the season and then moved to the PvP rewards vendor, Giradda the Hutt.

Shadowhand Armor Display decoration.

From left to right: Shadowfiend Armor Set, Shadeveil Assassin’s Armor Set.

From left to right: PvP Season Blue Flag (Season 2) and PvP Season Red Flag (Season 2).

Giradda the Hutt
Rewards from the first PvP season, including the Cartel Enforcer’s Armor Set, Cartel Delegate’s Armor Set, and PvP Season 2 banners (red and blue), will be added to Giradda the Hutt’s inventory. Unlike other rewards in a rotation group, these ones will be permanently available in Giradda’s inventory.



Similar to the previous season, replicas and trophy decorations will be available in 4 rotation groups: A, B, C, and D. Each group will be active for 1 week and then cycle out for 3 weeks during the weekly reset on Tuesdays at 12:00 PM GMT/UTC (7:00 AM CT). More details on the rotation groups can be found in this article: PvP Revamp article.

Players still have a few days to prepare for the next PvP Season! We’ll see you in the Arena and Warzone maps when the season begins.

Game Update 7.2.1 will be deployed on March 28th. Servers will be taken down at 7am CT / 12:00pm UTC. A change is coming to the Master Datacron bundle with this update.Currently, the item allows players to boost their characters to level 70. Beginning with 7.2.1, this item will boost players to level 80.

When 7.2.1 goes live, this change will automatically be applied to players who currently have a Master’s Datacron in their inventory or Cargo Hold.

A reminder that the Master’s Datacron and Equipment Bundle contains:

• 1 Master Datacron
  
• 1 External Commander Equipment Lootbox which contains a set of equipment that is compatible to your character’s Discipline
  
• Grants your character a ship and ship droid companion
  

If you want the full level 80 boost, please do not use the Master Datacron or the Lootbox until AFTER 7.2.1 launches.

Patch notes will be posted on March 27th.

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally Date: March 7th - March 14th, 2023 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 20+

In the growing shadow of war, swoop fans across the galaxy descend on Dantooine, Tatooine, and even Onderon for the sport’s biggest spectacle—The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally! They’re packing the stands, eager to take their minds off their troubles and cheer their favorite swoop gangs. The bikers are here to take on dangerous challenge courses, show off their piloting skills, and flaunt their souped-up swoop bikes. The thunder of the engines, the deafening applause from the fans, the wind battering their helmets… there’s no bigger rush for these thrill seekers.

Despite their reputation as wild rebels whose makeshift courses disregard local districting restrictions, swoop gangs aren’t a serious threat to anyone--something all true swoop fans know! They just love adrenaline-pounding speed, sweet jumps, and big explosions, and the All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally combines all three in one crowd-pleasing package. The biggest gangs on the circuit — Horizon’s Razor, the Pit Screamers, and the Blatant Beks — are ready to show their fans a great time.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Swoop Rally Mounts (regular and gold versions)
  
• Swoop Gang Outfits
  
• Promotion Droid Mini-pets
  
• Various Stronghold Decorations
  
• … and more!
  

Rakghoul Resurgence on Tatooine Date: March 21st - March 28th, 2023 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 25+

The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralization (T.H.O.R.N.) has issued an official level-2 emergency alert concerning an outbreak of the Rakghoul plague on Tatooine. Quarantines have been put in place to restrict traffic of the plague off-world, but exceptions will be made for individuals with priority clearance.

T.H.O.R.N. is recruiting qualified volunteer emergency responders to travel to affected areas to combat the spread of the Rakghoul plague. More information about the outbreak can be found by checking the News Terminals on the Republic or Imperial Fleet!

T.H.O.R.N. wishes to remind you that plague symptoms can be treated if they are identified in the early stages of infection. Whether or not you have travel plans, please consult your nearest trusted medical supply droid and get vaccinated!

Back in December of 2022 we opened our Public Test Server (PTS) and invited players to check out Star Wars: The Old Republic in 64-bit. A 64-bit client along with a host of other content is coming soon when 7.2.1 launches and players are going to get the chance to test out even more of it soon. Let’s dive in and walk you through everything that is coming in the Update, and what will be available for testing.

Galactic Season 4 - A Passage of Peace
7.2.1 will mark the beginning of the next Galactic Season - A Passage of Peace. Like previous Seasons, this one will come with a host of new rewards players can earn and will feature a brand new companion, Amity, for players to learn and traverse the galaxy with. Stay tuned for more details on this season and a sneak peek at its rewards!

One new reward we are thrilled to share is that players will be able to use their Galactic Seasons Tokens to purchase a brand new apartment Stronghold on the planet of Mek-sha. The Mek-sha Hideout Stronghold is similar in size and scale to the seasonal Fleet Strongholds.

PvP Season 2
As a reminder our inaugural PvP season post-revamp will run until the end of February . Players can then look forward to Season 2 starting with the launch of 7.2.1 where they can earn all new rewards! Similar to Galactic Seasons, stay tuned in the coming weeks as we begin to reveal what these new rewards will be.

We have been actively monitoring your feedback on PvP following our revamp in 7.2 and we are exploring a variety of changes. The first among those are some changes to Attacker and Defender medals which we are testing with the Alderaan Warzone. More on that in the PTS section below.

Combating Inflation
As many longtime players will likely recognize, the credit economy in SWTOR has had some pretty substantial inflation over the years. This makes it challenging for players to engage in our trade economy, especially new players. One of our goals this year is to begin correcting some of our economic inflation. We have a couple of initiatives which will begin in 7.2.1 and expect more changes in future releases throughout the year. More details in the PTS section below.

64-bit Testing
7.2.1 will also mark the release of our 64-bit client and although we have been testing this on PTS since December of last year, we encourage players to continue logging in and letting us know of any issues they experience.

We encourage players to log into the Public Test Server and report any issues they may experience. It is vital to gather as much information as possible during this testing phase as there are thousands of permutations of processor, memory, graphics card, etc… that exist for PC gaming. Knowing how certain configurations perform with the game is crucial. Please play as you normally would, and if there is anything strange happening, let us know about it!

PTS
Now that players know what to expect in Game Update 7.2.1, what exactly will be available for testing on PTS?

• In the Alderaan Warzone, players will now earn Attacker and Defender points when defeating enemies near Objectives. Check out more details in our feedback thread here.
  
• 7.2.1’s PTS is our new 64-bit client so please login and let us know of any issues you experience with your natural play, here.
  
• We are making some changes to credit costs to account for inflation. Full details in the feedback thread here.
  
• Devs will also be participating in PvP matches on Friday, February 10th at 1:30pm CT to test these changes alongside players.
  

During this phase of PTS, we will be granting an Opal Vulptilla Mount to players who complete the following tasks:

• Log onto the PTS
  
• Complete a Warzone match
  

This reward will be distributed with the launch of Game Update 7.2.1.



We look forward to seeing everyone on the PTS!

*Content on the PTS is available only in English.

Here is the list of the Galactic Seasons 3: “Luck of the Draw” Season Objectives from February 7th - March 7th. Has a note, Season 3 of Galactic Seasons will end with the 20th week on March 7th, so get in your final season levels while you can!



Week 17 (February 7th - February 14th)



Week 18 (February 14th - February 21st)



Week 19 (February 21st - February 28th)



Week 20 (February 28th - March 7th)