Star Wars: The Old Republic celebrates 10 years with a new expansion
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
While BioWare are keeping their lips sealed on Dragon Age and Mass Effect newness for now, they've announced some surprise newness for their 10-year old MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. They're launching a new expansion named Legacy Of The Sith, which will add new story, combat styles, areas and more. It's coming out towards the end of this year, and the devs say this is the start of a year-long celebration for the game's 10th anniversary (so even more updates will arrive throughout 2022).
"Legacy of the Sith will send players to the darkest depths and farthest reaches of the galaxy and unlock the ability to choose your personal combat style, allowing for more options than ever before when it comes to living and breathing your own Star Wars fantasy," BioWare say. Last night they did a dev stream chatting about all the upcoming stuff, which you can watch below.
The new storyline will have players exploring the underwater depths of Manaan, battling to take control of a facility for either the Empire or the Republic. Completing this will unlock a new base of operations for your chosen faction. You'll also be able to journey to a Sith fortress on planet Elom, where Darth Malgus may have been up to no good.
BioWare are also introducing something called Combat Styles, which allow players to separate their class story from their gameplay style. Basically it sounds like you can customise your characters moreso than before, swapping out loadouts to better suit how you play.
Legacy Of The Sith will also kick off the game's new season, Shadows Of The Underworld. That will arrive with new rewards themed around the Shadow Syndicate, as well as a bunch of quality of life improvements.
On top of all that, the devs say that as they head into TOR's 10th year, they're looking at improving player experience for both newcomers and veterans. "Players can expect a completely new character creation experience, along with new looks for the character sheet, inventory, and much more," they say.
"We cannot thank you enough for the years of support, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on Legacy of the Sith this Holiday."
It may be getting on a bit, but we still reckon Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the best MMOs on PC in 2021. Though it does also contain some of the least qualified Jedi.