Here’s everything that was revealed in the livestream, and the press releases that followed!
Story Flashpoint - Secrets of the Enclave
When we last saw him in the final cutscene of Onslaught, following the attack on the Meridian shipyards on Corellia, Darth Malgus had gone rogue and was en route to Dantooine. The ex-False Emperor and ex-Empress’ Wrath had the explosive device implanted in his skull - Darth Acina’s leverage to ensure his loyalty - removed en route to the formerly peaceful planet. Those of you who are familiar with the tie-in novels that act as a prequel to The Old Republic will also have recognized Aryn Leneer from the end of Onslaught too - her appearance in the game is also related to Malgus’ excursion to Dantooine. The Flashpoint will be similar to Objective Meridian in so far as it will change contextually based on your faction - as a Republic player, you will fight Imperial forces and be accompanied by Arn and Aryn, while Imperial players will fight Republic enemies alongside Darth Krovos and Darth Rivix. You can also expect it to be absolutely full of easter eggs and deep-cut references. One of these we know explicitly - it was revealed during the livestream that players will start the flashpoint by going through the Crystal Cave, in order to later access the ruins of the Jedi Enclave. This oozes Knights of the Old Republic, as both the Crystal Cave and the Enclave itself were iconic, key locations in the legendary classic RPG. The current daily area on Dantooine already plays on the KotOR nostalgia by reusing music from the game, but this will crank things to 11. Aryn and Malgus have a hell of a history, with their rivalry being explored in-depth in the SWTOR novels and comics. In short, Aryn was the padawan of Jedi Master Ven Zallow, who was slain by Malgus during the Sacking of Coruscant. If you’re interested in the deeplore, we won’t spoil much - what matters is that last we knew of, Aryn settled down on Dantooine, which is where Malgus now went. This Flashpoint will be a treat to fans of the Old Republic era in many ways. It’s a throwback to the KotOR days, while also giving screen-time to characters who, despite being in the spotlight in tie-in media barely appeared in the game itself. Whether this is a final showdown with Malgus or not remains to be seen - we sure hope not. Not only was he basically right during the Ilum storyline, Imperial characters had a chance to get to know him during Jedi Under Siege and Onslaught, and throwing that character development out would be a shame.
New Stronghold - Fleet Apartment
Players have asked for this for a while now, and BioWare finally obliges - a pair of faction-specific Strongholds will be added to Carrick Station and Vaiken Spacedock, giving players a chance to decorate their own apartment on the fleet. Similar to how the Corusctant and Dromund Kaas strongholds are palette swaps with the same layouts, both fleet apartments will have the same, simple layout with slight design differences based on which faction we’re in. The developers actually went and showed off some in-game screenshots of the unfurnished apartments. Calling these new Strongholds “apartments” is deliberate. In a complete 180° reversal to the absolutely massive Alderaan estate we got last time, these Strongholds are designed to be small and compact - space is limited on a space station, after all. This likely means that they will also be appropriately priced, and since all the amenities we usually set up in our Strongholds will be available on the Fleet anyway, decorating it might be easier and cheaper too. The Fleet Apartments overlook the VIP lounge above the central fleet cantina areas. As nice as it would be to actually see the other players running around below, the way instancing works in SWTOR makes this unlikely.
Galactic Seasons
Expanding on the Login Rewards system introduced in 6.2, Galactic Seasons is bringing the timed progression system that’s been so popular in live service games to SWTOR. Essentially, Galactic Seasons will be approximately 5 month collections of challenges and rewards broken down to 100 tiers. Different seasons will have different themes, affecting both rewards and the challenges you need to complete to earn them. Divided across 100 Reward Levels, the actual goodies you earn will be different for free-to-play players and subscribers with the latter getting better loot, but the rewards will definitely make it worth for both categories of player. To clarify, Subscribers will be getting both types of reward. Basically, the challenges you need to complete to earn Galactic Season Points will be existing or new Weekly Conquest Objectives, giving players even more incentive to grind them. Every reward level will require the same amount of Season Points to clear, but this number has not yet been revealed. You will be able to keep track of your progress as well as what rewards you’ll be working towards in the given season in the same window as your login rewards, just on a different tab. Logically, the better rewards will be earned with the latter levels. So what are these rewards? Initially players can expect minor goodies like those included with the login rewards, but later on you’ll start getting some real high-end stuff: armor and mounts otherwise only available on the Cartel Market, up to 2000 Cartel Coins, rare crafting materials, season-exclusive outfits, season-exclusive titles and season-exclusive companions. BioWare has revealed the first such companion - The Stranger From Kubindi! This Kubaz companion, called Altuur zok Adon, will be unlocked in the earlier reward levels, with later ones including special gifts that will increase his influence significantly - allowing you to hit 50 with just Galactic Season rewards - and special weapons and customizations applicable only to him. Here are all the rewards that have been officially revealed by BioWare for the first Galactic Season, starting when 6.3 launches: Free to Play:
New Kubaz Companion Character: Altuur zok Adon Premium Adon Companion Gifts Gifts for Altuur zok Adon which grant a large amount of Influence. Seasonal Armor Set Silver Cartel Weapon Crate Contains 1 Silver quality Cartel Market weapon from a selection of previous Cartel Market Weapons currently not available for direct purchase. Silver Cartel Armor Crate Contains 1 full Silver quality Cartel Market armor set from a selection of previous Cartel Market Armors currently not available for direct purchase. Silver Cartel Mount Crate Contains 1 Silver quality Cartel Market mount from a selection of previous Cartel Market Mounts currently not available for direct purchase. Galactic Season Tokens Special Tokens which can be traded to Ki’at Thavo, the new Galactic Seasons Vendor located on the Fleet. Seasonal Decorations Seasonal Title
Subscriber:
2000 Cartel Coins Prototype Adon Companion Gifts Gifts for Altuur zok Adon which grant a large amount of Influence. Artifact Adon Companion Gifts Gifts for Altuur zok Adon which grant a large amount of Influence. Legendary Adon Companion Gifts Gifts for Altuur zok Adon which grant a large amount of Influence. Companion Weapon Companion Armor Set Companion Customization Seasonal Armor Set A variant of the Base Set from the Free/Preferred Reward Track, but with more attachments. Seasonal Weapons One of each Weapon type will be available. Weapons which can be dual-wielded grant two copies! Seasonal Mounts Both Creature and Vehicle. Seasonal Tokens Special Tokens which can be traded to Ki’at Thavo, the new Galactic Seasons Vendor located on the Fleet. Seasonal Decorations Seasonal Titles
There will also be a special Galactic Seasonal Vendor added to the fleets, with even more unique items on offer. If you don’t have the time to grind out all of these reward levels, there are ways to make progress faster - if you have started earning points towards a level, you can jump forward to the completion of that level using Credits, and you can skip forward using Cartel Coins too. Galactic Seasons also carry with them a pleasant implication - SWTOR is doing great! Ever since Onslaught and the Steam release, the playerbase of the MMO has been much healthier than before, and while we don’t have official earnings reports on it, developers have stated that financially the game is performing admirably. If Galactic Seasons are projected to last 5 months, then planning for them definitely means there are still years in this game.
When Will 6.3 Launch?
We don’t know unfortunately - BioWare didn’t reveal anything about this, but we don’t suspect it should take too long. The press release of Galactic Seasons implied that 6.3 will hit the Public Test Server shortly, and full releases often happen mere weeks after that.
