Star Wars: The Old Republic will have its 10-year anniversary this December, and it is hard to imagine a better way for the MMORPG to celebrate the milestone than with the release of a brand new expansion pack. Star Wars: The Old Republic announced this sixth expansion, Legacy of the Sith, back in July, but it has now been given an official launch date of December 14th - just a week before the anniversary on the 20th.
In addition to delivering more chapters of the high-quality, dynamic storytelling BioWare is known for, Legacy of the Sith is changing the paradigm of The Old Republic with new systems, character creation, and gear progression. Game ZXC was invited to a special press release where it got a first look at some of the locations, characters, challenges, and systems awaiting players in just a few weeks.
Old Stars, New Wars
The Old Republic: Legacy of the Sith will take players to at least three new locations; some players will recognize, and others have never been seen before. Most of the story will take place on the ocean planet Manaan. Long-time Star Wars fans will recognize Manaan from the prequel scenario from the Shadow of Revan expansion, player strongholds, and even earlier from Knights of the Old Republic. The homeworld of the catfish-like Selkath is known for its natural supply of kolto – a valuable liquid substance used for medicinal purposes.
Though Manaan is known for its neutrality, Legacy of the Sith sees the Sith Empire seeking to conquer Manaan so they might deprive the Republic of its kolto supply. Under the direction of the draconian Darth Norok, a logistically-minded Sith Lord who has never lost a lightsaber duel, the Empire has invaded the ocean world, creating shielded underwater bunkers to mine the precious material for themselves.
Republic characters will team up with Tau Idair and Arn Peralun, two characters introduced in the Onslaught expansion, to convince the tough-as-nails selkath Colonel Gallo that the Republic only wants to help them push the Empire off their world. Players can expect to see other familiar faces too, like the collected Lana Beniko and the outspoken Major Anri, as well as plenty of characters new to The Old Republic.
Star Wars: The Old Republic plans on expanding upon Manaan in future patches after Legacy of the Sith arrives. Some time after the new year, it will be adding a new endgame area on Manaan where players can participate in repeatable quests to earn new gear and equipment.
Flashpoints and Operations
Eventually, both Empire and Republic characters will be led to the world of Elom; a planet mentioned before in the expansive Star Wars mythos, but never shown. They come to the mountainous planet in pursuit of Darth Malgus - renegade Sith Lord and poster child of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Malgus is seeking something in the ruins of a forgotten Sith Lord named Darth Null. The Republic sent science teams to look into the ruins, while the Emperor’s liaison, Darth Rivix, sent kill squads to wipe out both the Republic and Malgus. Neither returned. Players will follow up on these teams and discover their fates, thwart the opposing faction’s plans, and stop Malgus from achieving his goals.
Separate from the main story in Legacy of the Sith is the R-4 Anomaly, the expansion's new raid-like Operation. A continuation of the story from the Nature of Progress Operation from Onslaught, the R-4 Anomaly takes players to a secret Imperial research station that has since been abandoned by the Empire and taken over by a Sith splinter cult known as the Unmasked. While the exact challenges awaiting players in the Operation are unknown, one look at the station - with its red and violet glows and strange, overgrown root-like appendages - is enough to know SWTOR is leaning into space horror with this Operation.
The story that began in the Onslaught expansion and continues in Legacy of the Sith is a refreshing return to form. Star Wars: The Old Republic was built on the struggle between the Empire and the Republic, and while the Eternal Empire storyline was excellent, many will be glad to see that the classic struggle is still front and center in SWTOR’s upcoming release.
New Systems
In addition to the continuation of the story, The Old Republic is implementing several new systems that will change the way players will play the game. Character creation is receiving a massive overhaul, both with user interface and character choice. Previously, each character class story had only two advanced classes, which influenced what kind of weapon they use and how they fight. Characters made after Legacy of the Sith will instead choose one of the eight Origin Stories - the class stories and voice acting characters use - and their combat style, allowing players to customize the weapons, gadgets, lightsaber forms, and force powers they have access to regardless of story.
Tech-using classes will be able to choose between any of the eight combat styles previously available as advanced classes to the four blaster-wielding classes in the game. This means a Bounty Hunter could use a sniper rifle previously only available to the Imperial Agent, or a Republic Trooper could dual wield blasters like the Gunslinger or Mercenary advanced classes did.
Force-using classes will initially be limited to the four lightside or darkside combat styles, but can eventually unlock the ability to use darkside combat styles for jedi characters and vice versa. Unfortunately, existing characters will be stuck with the combat style of their current advanced classes, but The Old Republic is giving subscribers the ability to choose a second combat style in Legacy of the Sith for the first time ever, and existing characters will be able to pick their new style from all of those available to them.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is also switching to a vertical style of gear progression in Legacy of the Sith. Most RNG elements to item drops are being entirely removed. Instead of gear, players will collect either currencies that can be exchanged for equipment, or consumable items that upgrade their lowest-level piece of gear. This will allow players to gather more powerful gear in a more predictable and controllable manner, and they are more likely to be rewarded for their time and efforts.
Despite being an old MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic is still alive and well. The developers are aware of the game’s limitations, and are trying to update it for a new generation of gaming. With nearly 200 thousand active players, the game is still quite active, and the exciting new story and systems coming in Legacy of the Sith are certain to bring plenty of new players to the game while enticing old players to come back and see what’s changed.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is available for PC. Legacy of the Sith launches on December 14th.