Players have seen some of the most significant historical events come to pass in The Old Republic: the Rakghoul outbreak, the rise of the gangster hutts, and more. But now, one more event of the Star Wars universe is set to arrive to BioWare's MMORPG.
After making their debut in chapter 3, the Dread Masters are finally primed to return for an all out confrontation with players in "The Dread War."
The Dread War was first mentioned this past summer, BioWare hinting at the final battle taking place on the Masters' fortress on the moon of Oricon. With the new environment, two new Operations have also been introduced: Dread Fortress and Dread Palace.
The also introduces the new Warzone Arenas, the lovely "Arenas of Death," on Corellia, Tatooine, and an Orbital Station. There's also a new mode for each zone in "Last Team Standing." Teams of 4 players are pitted against each other in battles to eliminate the opposing team. Best of three rounds wins the match.
Update 2.4 also sees the removal of 8v8 Ranked Warzones, as the limited number of 8-player groups willing and able to play in those matches makes 8v8 Ranked matches very rare. Warzone Arenas are restricted to subscribers as of Update 2.4 for the time being, though a removal of this restriction and an additional Warzone Arena map are in the works.
There's more details in the complete list of patch notes are below, courtesy of the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website.
Game Update 2.4: The Dread War
Highlights
- New Story Mission Area: Oricon! Located in an uncharted system well off the Hydian Way, Oricon is a remote moon that is immeasurably strong with the dark side - a perfect home for the feared Dread Masters! Begin the Oricon journey by talking to O6-D5 on the Republic Fleet or D5-F2 on the Imperial Fleet.
- Warzone Arenas! 4v4 Warzone Arenas are now active for Unranked, Ranked Solo, and Ranked Team play!
- New Level 55 Daily Missions! Explore the ship-strewn, mysterious landscape of Oricon as you battle the deadly Dread Guard and their minions. The Dread Masters are bent on destroying both the Empire and Republic and they're using their every resource to do so!
- New Operation: Dread Fortress! Begin your assault of the Dread Masters lair, an ancient fortress claimed by the Dread Masters soon after arriving on Oricon.
- New Operation: Dread Palace! Make your way beyond the Dread Fortress to the foreboding palace of the Dread Masters and battle towards the final confrontation with the galaxy's greatest threat.
- New Galactic Reputation Organization! A new organization has been added: Strike Team Oricon (Republic) (Republic)/Dread Executioners (Imperial).
- New Gear Sets! Three new sets of gear have been added: Dread Forged (new tier), Oriconian (new PvE Commendation gear) and Obroan (new PvP tier).
- New Vehicles and Mount! The Praxon Pyroclast, Gurian Volcano, and Strike Force Tauntaun have been added!
General
- New Story Mission Area: Oricon! Located in an uncharted system well off the Hydian Way, Oricon is a remote moon that is immeasurably strong with the dark side - a perfect home for the feared Dread Masters! The area includes two new Operations, two new Galactic Reputation Organizations, and completing a series of level 55 missions will unlock access to a [DAILY] mission series. Players can begin the Oricon journey by talking to O6-D5 on the Republic Fleet or D5-F2 on the Imperial Fleet.
- Oricon has been added to Priority Transport Terminals.
- The Cartel Bazaar is now a Rest Area.
- A Cargo Bay is now available to players in the Cartel Bazaar.
- Speeders on the Western Ice Shelf of Ilum no longer dismount players and prevent travel from Imperial Firebase 3 or Republic Recon Post.
- The Thranta that takes players to the Elysium base on Alderaan is no longer on a killing spree; it will not dump players to their death, thus preventing completion of the [HEROIC 4] Shock Doctrine mission.
- The in-game mail confirming access to the Digital Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel has been updated to no longer refer to the player purchasing the expansion.
- The Rakata Transporters on Belsavis are now connected to one another once they have been discovered.
Cartel Market
- A new bundle is available on the Cartel Market. The PVP Consumables Bundle offers players 10 Medpacks and 10 Adrenals that can be used in all Warzones. Cost: 200 Cartel Coins
- A new bundle is available on the Cartel Market. The Major Warzone XP Boost Bundle offers Major Warzone Experience Boosts that can help the player level up quickly while in Warzones. Cost: 180 Cartel Coins
Collections
- Items from the Pursuer's Bounty Pack now have the correct icon for the account-wide unlock button in the Collections Window..
- The account-wide unlock now works correctly for Emote: Whatup
- The account-wide unlock now works correctly for the Poison Lobel Pet.
- The Collections entry for Cassus Fett's Armor Set now has the belt.
Companion Characters
- Characters created before Game Update 2.3 can now progress beyond the first affection conversation with Treek.
Crew Skills
- Removed Isotope-5 as a material requirement for crafting Rating 156 [Artifact] gear.
- All Cybertech grenades now bestow a new effect called Bastion on the target, in addition to normal effects. Players who have this effect applied are immune to further Cybertech grenade attacks for the duration of Bastion (3 minutes).
- Archaeology nodes with a 0 rating that can't be harvest no longer spawn on CZ-198.
Flashpoints and Operations
- New Operation: Dread Fortress! Begin your assault of the Dread Masters lair, an ancient fortress claimed by the Dread Masters soon after arriving on Oricon. This Operation is available at level 55 in Story and Hard Modes, and it contains 5 boss encounters with lockouts.
- New Operation: Dread Palace! Make your way beyond the Dread Fortress to the foreboding palace of the Dread Masters --and battle towards the final confrontation with the galaxy's greatest threat. This Operation is available at level 55 in Story and Hard Modes, and it contains 5 boss encounters with lockouts.
Items and Economy
- Dread Forged is a new tier of gear obtained from the Dread Fortress and Dread Palace Operations in Hard Mode.
- Obroan is a new tier of PvP gear obtained via Ranked Warzone Vendors on the Republic and Imperial Fleets. Itrequires Ranked Warzone Commendations as well as the associated Conqueror piece.
- Oriconian is a new set of PvE Commendation gear obtained Ultimate Gear Vendors on the Republic and Imperial Fleets.
- The Praxon Pyroclast is a new vehicle obtained as a rare drop via Dread Palace and Dread Fortress Operations boss encounters in Hard Mode.
- The Gurian Volcano is a new vehicle obtained as a Galactic Reputation reward via the Strike Team Oricon (Republic)/Dread Executioners (Imperial) Galactic Reputation Vendors on Oricon.
- The Strike Force Tauntaun is a new mount obtained as a mission reward upon completing the Oricon story missions. It requires "Legendary" rank with Strike Team Oricon (Republic)/Dread Executioners (Imperial).
- Dye modules can now be added to most Adaptable (Orange) Gear, including Lore-based pieces and crafted items below level 15.
- Primary Black/Secondary Deep Red dye module is now available via the Strike Team Oricon (Republic)/Dread Executioners (Imperial) Galactic Reputation Vendors on Oricon.
- Centurion and Mercenary Commendations have been removed. These Commendation types have been converted into Warzone Commendations at 1:1 ratio, are no longer displayed in the Currency Tab of the Inventory Window, and Warzone Vendors no longer trade items for them.
- Players can now can use either Shift + Left Click or Shift + Right Click to split a stack of items, which will allow the function to be used while the GTN Window is open.
- The JA-3 Speeder's engines now have sound.
- Movement sounds no longer persist after dismounting the Adno Mantis, Adno Locust, and Adno Saberwasp speeders.
- Players can now use Shift + Left Click an item while the GTN is open to populate the search box with the name of that item.
- Added a sortable "Unit Price" column to the GTN Window, which will display the listed item's price-per-unit.
- The GTN now auto completes with the price and duration of a player's last posted auction. In addition, the last price will be remembered on a per-unit basis. i.e. If a player puts 1 med pack up for 10 credits, and their next auction is a stack of 20 med packs (the same type as before) it will auto complete 200 credits (10 credits for 1 x 20 = 200). The remembered price and duration are reset upon area transition or log out.
- All Galactic Trade Network kiosks are now appropriately named.
- New Vendor: Operations Gear Vendor! Players can now exchange Arkanian, Underworld, and Dread Forged gear tokens for the appropriate armor piece via the new Operations Gear Vendor on the Republic and Imperial Fleets.
- Basic Gear Vendors now sell Arkanian Relics and Black Market gear.
- Elite Gear Vendors now sell Verpine gear.
- Ultimate Gear Vendors now sell the new Oriconian gear.
- Ranked Gear Vendors now sell the new Obroan gear.
- Warzone Gear Vendors now sell Conqueror Gear
- Warzone Gear Vendors now sell new Conqueror Relics.
- Partisan gear is no longer available for sale.
- Warzone Enhancement Vendors now sell Conqueror level Enhancements
- Ranked Enhancement Vendors now sell Obroan level Enhancements
- Warzone Enhancement Vendors no longer sell Partisan level Enhancements
- Reduced the cost of Schematics sold by the Basic Commendations Schematic Vendor:
* Bracers and Belt Schematics now cost 15 Basic Commendations.
* Implants, Earpieces, and Offhands now cost 60 Basic Commendations
Legacy
- New Galactic Reputation Organizations! Complete missions on Oricon to earn Galactic Reputation with Strike Team Oricon (Republic) and Dread Executioners (Imperial) and purchase special rewards including the new Strike Force Tauntaun!
- Players can now purchase Priority Transport: Oricon under the Travel section of Legacy Character Perks.
- Added a new category called "Dailies" to the Achievement Window which tracks Achievements for the following Daily Mission Areas: Cz- 198, Oricon, Black Hole moved, Section X moved
- The Achievement "Down with the Corporate Elite" no longer incorrectly completes by defeating 15 rather than 30 enemies.
Missions and NPCs
- New Level 55 Daily Missions! After advancing through the Oricon story mission series, players can further explore the ship-strewn, mysterious landscape of Oricon and battle the deadly Dread Guard and their minions via a new set of [DAILY] missions. Players must stop the Dread Masters, who are bent on destroying both the Empire and Republic and are using their every resource to do so!
- Players can now obtain [WEEKLY] The Dread Palace and [WEEKLY] The Dread Fortress from the Operations Terminal on the Republic and Imperial Fleets.
- PvP missions have been updated:
* [WEEKLY] missions no longer require wins and now advance with one point for a loss and two points for a win in an Unranked Warzone.
* Ranked Warzones no longer count towards [DAILY] or [WEEKLY] mission progress.
* Mission requirements are now as follows:
- Under level 55 [DAILY] PvP missions: 2 completed Unranked Warzones
- Under level 55 [WEEKLY] PvP missions: 5 completed Unranked Warzones
- Level 55 [DAILY] PvP missions: 4 completed Unranked Warzones
- Level 55 [WEEKLY] PvP missions: 15 completed Unranked Warzones
* Attempting to abandon the following missions now clearly indicates that they may not be able to be obtained again:
- Operation Breaking Point
- Big Guns
- Despair
- Disguises
- Breaking the Resistance
* Trouble in Paradise: Now that Navigator Uptin has learned to speak Basic, he wants to talk more and the conversation with him has been extended.
Space Combat
- The Grade 7 Improved Power Converter now enhances and reduces damage appropriately.
PVP
- 8v8 Ranked Warzones have been removed from the Ranked Warzone queue.
- To ensure proper matchmaking, players are no longer able to change Skill Tree points while in a Warzone queue or match.
- Bolster has been adjusted to account for the addition of the new Obroan and Dread Forged gear.
- 4v4 Warzone Arenas are now active! These small scale PvP maps reward victory to last team standing in the best of three rounds. Missions and rewards are provided in the same manner as current Warzones.
- The following Arena maps are currently active: Orbital Station Arena, Tatooine Canyon Arena, Corellia Square Arena
- Arenas count as a single Warzone in the Unranked Warzone queue rotation. (Each map is not weighed individually.)
- Players can queue for Arenas in Ranked Solo or Ranked Group modes via the PvP queue button on the UI minimap.
- Czerka VX-736 Injector can no longer be used in Warzones.
User Interface
- Using the "Ready" emote now shows up appropriately in the Chat Window.