The Swtor developer livestream happened yesterday, and I’m really excited for some of the things they announced were coming in the 7.5 update. The first thing they talked about was the story, though they naturally didn’t reveal much. I think because so many have been asking them why Darth Malgus hasn’t made much of an appearance lately, they felt the need to reassure everyone that they haven’t forgotten about him. They went on to explain that they treat each new story update as the next chapter in a book.
The next story update is called Desperate Defiance and will center around Sa’har. She’s going to request our help to get Darth Nul’s holocron away from Heta. They showed a brief trailer where the player character was warning Sa’har that if she went through with this it would eventually get back to her brother and Heta Kol and she replied that she didn’t care. The devs also told us that since she is still a padawan we will have the opportunity to shape her growth as a Jedi. We are going back to Hutta, and they will be introducing three new characters.
They showed several screenshots of graphic improvements they’ll be making to Hutta and the screenshots looked really good. I’ve been wanting to make another bounty hunter for some time, so I think once 7.5 rolls out I’ll go ahead and make a new character so I can see all the improvements. Once thing I am sad about is that they did say the new area won’t have any daily quests. I’m still hoping they add something as incentive to go back to that area rather than it being a one-time thing.
Next, they talked about the upcoming spring event and I’m looking forward to it because it sounds like a lot of fun. We are going back to Dantooine to help restore and maintain farmland and will be able to plant, water, and harvest crops. We’ll also travel around the galaxy saving creatures and bringing them back to the farm. In the central area of the farmstead there’s going to be a dancing area where we can dance with the locals and other players.
Additionally, there will be a daily pie baking event where we bake different kinds of pies from recipes we collect and then place the pies on a stand to share with other players. A weekly egg hunt will be part of the event where we search for eggs in various locations on Alderaan, Rishi, Makeb, Onderon, and Yavin IV. They did warn that the eggs may be a little hard to find because they wanted it to be a true egg hunting experience. Lastly, they talked about the daily Zap-a-fish mission where we employ droids to catch fish. That last one cracked me up because zapping fish with a droid sounds so weird.
Next, they introduced ventures. Venture is a system players can partake in to gain a new subscriber locked award. A venture tab will be added for achievements for a limited time. Our first venture will be the basilisk Lane Vizla restored called B3-S1 aka Bessie. Players who have completed Lane’s quests will be able to start training and bonding with their very own Basilisk companion. Now the devs did emphasis that B3-S1 will start out as a temporary companion. For a limited time, we can take Bessie out on training missions where we train it on the different roles heal, tank, and damage depending on the mission. We will be collecting data which we use to feed and train B3-S1. As we continue to train Bessie, its looks will gradually change, and they will become better at all roles. Once Bessie’s training is complete, we will be able to fully unlock B3-S1 as a permanent companion.
They also discussed upcoming changes to PvP seasons. Season 6 will have a pirate hunter theme and this season will run for 16 weeks up from 12. All future PvP Seasons will be tied to game updates from now on. The season level has also been increased to 30 up from 25 and you’ll now have to get 9,000 points to complete the season up from 7,000.
To wrap up the livestream they also talked about new Cartel Market items coming out. Two new outfits, one which is inspired by the High Republic, and new facial hair and hair customization. The Nar Shaddaa Night Life will begin on July 9th and the public test server will be opening up soon. They didn’t give an exact date but they’re hoping it’ll go up very soon. (Edited: A few hours after I wrote this the PTS went live.) They also mentioned that there’s a large sale going on right now for a lot of items on the Cartel Market and double XP has already begun starting yesterday and will continue until May 16th.
They didn’t tell us when the 7.5 update comes out but I’m guessing either sometime this month or early June.
The Old Republic Era 