Episode 98: Onslaught is Coming!

Onslaught is the next expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic. I’ll tell you all about the places you’ll go, the things you’ll do, and when you can do it.

The SWTOR fan community was out in force in Chicago. I’ll tell you what we did to celebrate Star Wars and the Old Republic.

Game Update 5.10.2 is out, 5.10.3 is close, I’ve got a contest winner to announce, and could a KOTOR movie be in the works? Maybe? Maybe not.

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Episode ninety-eight of the State of the Old Republic Podcast was originally recorded on april nineteenth, twenty nineteen. It's the State of the Old Republic Podcast. This week, Onslaught is the next expansion for Star Wars the Old Republic. I'll tell you all about the places you'll go, the things you'll do, and when you can do it. GameUpdate 5.10.2 is out, 5.103 is close. I've got a contest winner to announce, and could a KOTOR movie be in the works? Maybe, maybe not. And with that, it's time to make the jump to Lightspeed and cue the moron. Thank you, Galt, and welcome to episode 98 of the State of the Old Republic podcast. I'm your host Ted, and as you heard in the opening, I have another great show lined up for you today. If Star Wars was going to end in 2019, which it's not, then it would be going out with one hell of a send-off. The rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian, Jedi Fallen Order, Clone Wars, and of course, something that's near and dear to all of our hearts, Star Wars the Old Republic Onslaught. War consumes the galaxy. Hungering for dominance, the ruthless Sith Empire fights to destroy their ancient enemies in the Galactic Republic. Assembling an overwhelming fleet of the Empire's most powerful warships, Darth Malgus sets out to obliterate a new and highly advanced Republic shipyard on the planet Corellia. Now desperate to prevent this catastrophe, the Republic rushes to gather the forces necessary to defend this vital facility. One that could finally turn the tide of the war in their favor. And thus the stage is set for us to begin the next leg and our continuing Star Wars saga. Now those words were part of the presentation that was given by Bioware as they announced Onslaught, the next expansion for Star Wars The Old Republic. If I had to guess, that's the opening crawl that will kick off the new story in game. The four dots at the end kind of give it away. And by the way, as far as opening crawls go, that one is really good. We've known for some time that Bioware was planning an expansion for 2019, but details have been locked away like ancient relics in Valkorion's vault. All has been revealed now, including when we might get our hands on this thing. Here's everything that's coming in Star Wars The Old Republic Onslaught. There's a new storyline, new planet Onderon, new planet Ish, Mec Shaw, new flashpoint on Corelia, a new operation on Duxin, that's D X U N, it's one of Onderon's moons. There's a new level cap of 75. Nautilins will be a new playable species, and the spoils of war, which is the new gear itemization system. Let's start with the storyline first. It looks like one of the first places we'll visit is Onderon. Onderon is a planet that's new to Star Wars The Old Republic, but not Star Wars. You might recall that Saw Guerrera is from there. You might also remember that our good friend Jaccaro in C2D4 once hailed from there as well. I am C2D4, former translator to her imminence Queen Lina of Onderon, and this is my current master, the renowned illicit transport specialist Jaccaro. While Charles didn't say that the duo would make a return in Onslaught, he strongly suggested that could happen. As to what brings us there, Bioware released a blog for Onslaught, and in it they wrote, The search for allies leads to Onderon, a planet of untamed jungles and savage beasts. For centuries Onderon has been a loyal member of the Republic, but will the planet's newly crowned king maintain the ancient allegiance? The next stop in our adventure is Mecshaw. Mecshaw is a new place we'll be seeing for the first time in Star Wars. According to Bioware, it is an independent fueling station and boom town built in the hollows of a mined out asteroid once controlled by the Huts. This lawless den of smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, traders, and refugees has become a crossroads for the entire galaxy. A place where opportunity and danger can be found in equal measure. The story will ultimately lead us back to Corellia, a planet that factored prominently in the last war between the Republican Empire. Bioware said that in the dramatic finale of the expansion storyline, you will see Corelia like never before. This new flashpoint will bring players to a new area on the classic Swotor planet Corellia for both solo and group players. Well I can't wait to see this all play out. It sounds very similar in structure to Shadow of Revan, and although they didn't mention a daily area, I do hope there's reasons to go back to Onderon and Mech Shah beyond the story. Along the way we'll be gaining new levels. I'm sure hitting the new level cap will be just as fast and easy as it was in Fallen Empire and Eternal Throne, something that just happens by merely playing the game. In addition to running through it all on our favorite characters, we'll have an opportunity to start fresh with a Nautilin. Nautilins will be available via the cartel market. However, Eric Muskow said that they're looking for a way to offer Nautilans for free to subscribers around launch, so it could be a limited time thing. And speaking of subscribers, just like some of the prior expansions, Onslaught will be free to all subscribers. I mentioned that the storyline will conclude with a flashpoint on Corellia, but that's not the only group content coming in Onslaught. There's a brand new operation on the moon of Duxin. As Bioware describes it, Duxon, Onderon's largest moon, is teeming with wild jungled life, drawing the attention of the unscrupulous Zirka Corporation, as well as a band of fanatical transdotion hunters. The operation will be available at launch, so gather your friends and prepare for one of the galaxy's greatest challenges. First of all, Zerka. I hate those guys. Second, the operation will be available at launch. I'm assuming they mean the entire thing. There was no mention of the number of bosses, but I would expect it to fall in line with prior operations. I'm also assuming there will be veteran and master modes as well. And that's a first look at Onslaught. It's going to be released in September, and it will be going up on the public test server well before that. Now at the Cantina, I asked Keith Kanig if they'd be putting the story on the PTS, and he said he didn't think so. So we'll only be testing the other stuff. Expect there to be interviews and live streams and a lot more details to follow, but 2019 just got a lot more exciting for Star Wars The Old Republic. While it may not be the biggest feature in Onslaught, spoils of war is certain to be the most impactful as Bioware is completely changing gear and itemization. In the Onslaught blog they wrote, Our philosophy for this expansion is play your way. Items have always been an important part of your character's identity, but for the first time we are offering true depth and choice with exciting new items that let you decide how to play in the upcoming battle. One of the ways that we're adding this depth is with an entirely new type of gear slot, tactical items. These build-defining items directly alter your abilities and playstyle. Taking these new items, players will be able to pair them with numerous new set bonuses to choose from, including general sets that can be used by everyone. These item sets can be acquired through multiple paths, acquiring your gear no matter how you choose to play. Player versus environment, player versus player, galactic command, and crafting are all viable. New set items, tactical items, and more open a pathway to limitless depth, allowing you to play your character exactly how you want. Let's break this down Bioware is adding a new gear slot which will hold a tactical item. What are these tactical items? They are a new item type designed to directly affect how an ability works. Eric Muskow gave a fictitious example of how this might work. He said, for example, a tactical item might alter chain lightning, so it now does all of its damage to one target and no longer jumps. Or a tactical item could make the lightning jump to even more targets and do additional damage to secondary targets. Again, this is a made up example, but it gives you an idea of how these items are meant to work. The idea is that tactical items should modify one of your advanced class abilities to work differently. The goal is for you to use the ability in situations you previously wouldn't. Set bonuses haven't changed in forever, and Eric said that their philosophy behind set bonuses that is that they should be focused on the broader kinds of tools your class uses, but not specific abilities. Some examples are sets that center around bleeds, force damage, lightning shields, cover, and so on. Now in addition to tactical items and set bonuses that are specific to an advanced class or discipline, Bioware is looking to introduce items and bonuses that can work for everyone. Because these are more generic, it's likely they will impact things such as travel, crafting, harvesting, flurry attacks, rest and recharge skills, and so forth. Now, if you're fearful that the gear in Onslaught is going to have the same slot restrictions as the OSIS gear, well I've got good news for you. Eric Musgow talked about this on the forums when he wrote slot locking mods was a balancing mechanism the team was trying to help manage the pacing of gear for characters across legacies. As you highlighted, this wasn't well received and it led to two distinct changes as we look to Onslaught. First, we aren't planning to slot lock mods, mods armoring enhancements. We realized that was not the right lever to pull around gearing. Second, in all of our previous passes at itemization, we have had to maneuver around legacy gearing since it complicated how fast players could acquire gear. For Onslaught, instead of trying to control it, we want to fully embrace it and allow players to move all gear through Legacy much more easily. This way we just expect that all players are going to move gear and we can plan for it. It makes things easier from our side and a better experience for everyone who moves gear across their legacy. And when Eric says they want us to be able to move all gear through Legacy more easily, he truly means all gear. That's right, all of the new equipable gear will be bind on Legacy. This includes earpieces, implants, and relics. Now that all the new gear will be bind on Legacy and there will be new tactical items to acquire, it does raise the question, will the gear grind be too slow and will there be too much R and G. Regarding the rate at which we acquire gear, Eric said due to there being much larger diversity in what you are trying to acquire to gear your characters, more sets, tactical items, we actually intend to give you more drops than you would have received previously. For example, right now if you get set boots, you're done. In Onslaught, it may not be the set you are trying to get. So we want to give you more gear to have more opportunity to get the piece you are looking for. Eric also said, Since you will get more gear, you will get more things you don't need. We intend to make sure you have something useful to do with all of those items you get that you don't need, more details to come. All of this will be on the public test server at some point this year, but if you want to weigh in on the changes and offer suggestions, now is the time. Eric is looking for any and all ideas for gearing and itemization, including a return to PvP only gear, which seems unlikely in this new system. There are threads in each of the advanced class forums for you to brainstorm any ideas that you have around what set bonuses and tactical items you would like to see in the game. Eric also stated that for your brainstorming ideas, go crazy. They want any and all ideas. And seriously, the spoils of war is probably the most impactful change happening in Onslaught. There is an opportunity to weigh in on these changes. If you do nothing and then complain about what gets implemented in the expansion, well that's on you. But at the heart of the convention lies the exhibit hall. It's where you go to truly immerse yourself in all things Star Wars. When you enter the Exhibit Hall, you are immediately transported to a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars music can be heard all around. There are life-size props, TIE fighters, and X-Wings. There are merchant stalls as far as the eye can see. As you traverse your way through the sea of people, you feel like Obi Wan and Qui-Gon making their way through the crowded streets of Los Espa. In fact, you are likely to see people dressed up as them and even some of the minor characters from the saga. This year, nestled in the corner of this giant hub of activity was Exhibit Booth 1344, the home of the Swotor fan community. For five days, players like myself, Dekion, Zen, Fiona, AJ, Kogas, Jesse, Will, Mox, and Jamie manned the booth greeting other players and fans of the game. There were daily giveaways, t-shirts, posters, and the journal of Nosteral. The grand prize was a studio version of the collector's edition of Star Wars The Old Republic, something that was given only to developers of the game when it was released. We handed out buttons with images of Darth Malgus, Satil Sean, Jace Malcolm, and Kefis, yes, Kefis. There was a playable demo of the game, not a trial version, but an actual account loaded with level sixty five characters of each class. There were 3D printed statues of Revan and Tulak Horde. Zen put on display his beautifully crafted Satil Sean dual bladed lightsaber. Oh, if I had a credit for everyone who asked if that was the grand prize we were raffling. At one point, Eric Musko showed up with a group of Bioware developers, Charles Boyd made multiple stops to the booth, and even a voice actor who did some of the ambient conversations you hear throughout the game came by. Kogas offered fans a virtual experience by live streaming from the booth. The real joy though was greeting all of the old Republic fans who stopped by, and there were a lot of them. Yes, there were many former players, but they all spoke of the game with great fondness. Not sure how many new or returning players we managed to recruit, but there's no doubt that there is a deep love for the old Republic among Star Wars fans. Now none of this would have happened were it not for Swotarista. She had an idea to bring together the Earth's mightiest Swotor fans for five days in Chicago. Assemble we did, and under her leadership, we teamed up to make this not only a celebration of Star Wars, but a celebration of Star Wars the Old Republic. The next Star Wars celebration will be in Anaheim next year. We look forward to your call, Swocharista, and stand ready to assemble once again. The Swotor Community Fan Table wasn't the only place fans of the Old Republic gathered. As is seemingly tradition now, Bioware held a huge cantina. Huge shout out to Boomy for live streaming for folks who couldn't be there. It was great to finally meet you, by the way. Like past cantinas, there was a tremendous amount of swag to be had. This year's goodies included an onslaught t-shirt, a small poster depicting Malagas and Tao Ildare. They also had some old Republic themed pins. And perhaps my favorite part, the developers were there graciously handing out free drink tickets. It was another great event to meet fans and talk about the game. The developers were gracious with their time and happy to answer questions. I learned from Eric Musco that their UI is incredibly hard to change, which is partly why things such as adding additional legacy storage is a pain. I spent a good deal of time talking to Brett Hoffman, who said he listens to the show from time to time. Hi, Brett. Brett is probably best known for working on Galactic Starfighter, and he gave me some tips for jumping back into it. He's done work with the cinematics team, and we talked about those awesome atmospheric space battles we see on the Republic side in OSIS. They're amazing and are very much in line with what we're seeing in the new films these days. I also got a chance to say hi to David Bass. You might remember that he was once part of the community team when the game launched. I was wearing my Guild Summit t-shirt, which he recognized because he designed it. He left Bioware and is now back. We reminisced about the Summit, which was a truly singular event. Regarding future cantinas, Eric said they always try to do New York and the celebrations. Beyond that, it's hard to know. All I can say is that these are great events, and I look forward to the next one, which will probably be Anaheim for me. Bioware released GameUpdate 5.10.2 heralds a victory to the live servers. The main features were guild heraldry and the new preview window, but GameUpdate 5.10.2 also came with a number of bug fixes as well. Here are just a few of them. Guild experience earned from conquest has been increased by 50%, 3G XP per conquest point, up from 2. The pop-up text when autocompleting the story to reach OSIS has been updated to be more clear on how it impacts the player. Players who use the story autocomplete to reach OSIS can once again access the troop deployment console and daily missions on IOCath. Using an elevator in a star fortress will no longer unsummon a player's active companion. Hair will no longer clip through a variety of tier helmets which players can purchase on Osus. To ensure players get the appropriate gear for their desired playstyle, it is no longer possible to open an artifact lockbox without an active discipline. The Republic Starfighter and PvP decoration vendor, Captain Nietzsche, has long been suspected of treasonous activities. It was recently discovered that he was incorrectly pedaling the Imperial Generator node decoration. This grave error has been corrected. Captain Nietzsche now sells the Republic Generator Node Decoration. Wearing this sinister warrior's belt with certain helmets will no longer stretch the player's character in very sinister ways. Scorpio can now be summoned from the companion locator terminal after completing Osus. Sith Inquisitors who sided with Zash will no longer receive Chemval's Alliance after completing the Osus storyline. Darth Mars Lightsaber is once again visible in combat during Knights of the Fallen Empire Chapter 1, The Hunt. Kira Carson will no longer appear twice during the cutscene for the Jedi Knight class mission Euphrates. We unfortunately had to request that Doc reduce his rather long, elaborate, and completely humble title from the Companion in Contacts window so that it would fit properly. And finally, Vector's eyes now change during his romance cutscene as intended. And one last bit on GameUpdate 5.10.2. There is a double XP event going on that runs until April 23rd. And that's GameUpdate 5.10.2. Go out there and create a guild emblem and play some Space Barbie. That's what I'm gonna do. And now that GameUpdate 5.10.2 is out the door, 5.10.3 is not too far behind. The Dontoin Incursion is now available on the public test server. Some things to be aware of the event is running, but the cinematics are not hooked up. They're saving those and other story elements for launch. This phase of testing includes the event, which means it's violent and chaotic. When the event isn't running, you will still be able to visit DonTuin. Where it should be a bit more peaceful. In fact, there will be a couple of missions that you can run when the event isn't taking place. As you know, Dante was one of the planets that was part of Knights of the Old Republic. There was a Jedi Enclave there, and regarding that Enclave, Charles Boyd said this. I know a lot of folks are hoping to visit the Jedi Enclave, which won't be accessible as part of this update. I didn't feel like that location was a good fit for this kind of event. Also, we just went to a Jedi Ruin in the last story update, so we've held it back for the time being. That said, while I have some ideas for how to use it in the future, I'm interested in hearing what you all think. Would you want to see it added as part of the event later? Used for some other kind of story content or crazy idea, Jedi Enclave Ruins Stronghold. Let us know what you think would be cool. Okay, I'm just gonna vote for the Jedi Enclave Ruins Stronghold right now. I took a quick visit to Don Twin on the PTS, and the planet looks wonderful. It'd be great to ha it would be a great place to have a stronghold. That said, I'd rather get one on Capero before Don Twin. I can't wait to check it out further, but I love seeing that a preponderance of the enemies you fight are republic slash imperial soldiers. The war is on, folks. The war is on. This all stems from an interview that Kathleen Kennedy did with MTV News, where Kennedy was asked if there was any development on Knights of the Old Republic. In response to that question, Kennedy said, You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at, but right now I have no idea where things might fall. That to me does not scream an old Republic movie or even a television show is in the works. What it does tell me is that the Old Republic is on their radar and they'd like to do something. If anything, I'd say a concept is in the works. Whether it's a movie or television series, we have no way of knowing. My takeaway is this we will eventually get a live action something about the old republic, but not before we get another movie or two. I have a contest winner to announce now, as you recall before I left for Star Wars celebration. I put a 30-day subscription code up for grabs on Twitter. All you needed to do was reply to a tweet and tell me what you were hoping to hear from the Cantina. You could also just reply with gimme stuff or tell me your reactions to the announcement if you entered after the Cantina. The lucky winner was at Atticus Strider, whose handle on Twitter is John Quinn. He replied with I want to hear the announcement of the next expansion. Well that we did and a whole lot more. Many of you wanted to hear about the expansion. Several of you wanted to know about new ops, some were hoping to hear about a new playable species, and a handful of you just replied with Gimme Stuff. I was rooting for one of you guys to win it, by the way. Again, congratulations to Attica Stripe. And final note for today, the character screen is getting new music in Onslaught. It was revealed during the SWOTOR Cantina. Have a quick listen. And that's the State of the Old Republic for today. Let me cut in the sublight engines and cue the music and congratulate you on surviving another half hour listening to episode 98 of the State of the Old Republic podcast. I'm your host Ted, and I thank you for tuning in. You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, YouTube, and BuzzSprout. You can also listen to the show directly from the show site, which is SotorPodcast.com, and there is an RSS feed where you can subscribe to the podcast directly. If you have a question for the show, you can email me at SotorPodcast at gmail.com. You can also tweet your questions too at SotorPodcast or send me a direct message, and be sure to follow me on Twitter to get the latest information about the show. For episode 99 next week, until then, remember the Sith Code, take it out.