SWTOR Update 7.4 “Chains in the Dark” releases on December 5th, 2023. It features more solo story, a new landing zone on Ord Mantell with daily area, GTN overhaul, new tiers of gear, DPS balance changes, and cutscene lighting improvements.
“Chains in the Dark” Solo Story
The “Chains in the Dark” storyline shifts the focus from Malgus and Nul back to the Mandalorian Civil War. The story takes place at Kessan’s Landing on Ord Mantell, the new landing zone.
Returning characters include Lane Vizla, Rass Ordo, and either Arn Peralun or Darth Krovos depending on your toon’s faction. The story will also feature some faces from other missions on Ord Mantell and a Zabrak collector searching for an old HK-24 droid.
FInd out how to unlock and start the new Story from SWTOR 7.4
New Landing Zone on Ord Mantell: Kessan’s Landing
There is a new landing zone on Ord Mantell called Kessan’s Landing. It is accessible to both factions, not just the Republic like the rest of the planet. The volcanic island features a daily area with associated reputation rewards and achievements, a world boss, and a datacron.
Daily Area and Reputation
Much like Ruhnuk and Manaan (and a partial attempt on Voss), Kessan’s Landing doubles as both a story area and a daily area with its own Reputation and associated set of cosmetic rewards.
Ord Mantell features a conflict between local separatists and the Republic, but now it seems that the Mandalorians are getting involved.
Are you guys excited for the third new daily area we’ve gotten in this expansion? I’m positively THRILLED!!! The best part is that despite this being a dev-professed alt-focused game, I’ll only be able to do the new repeatable content on the toons that have done all the story going back to Ossus.
For reference, Ossus came out on December 11th, 2018! If you had a baby when Ossus was released, they’d be in Kindergarten by now!
Stay tuned for our comprehensive Kessan’s Landing Daily Area Guide and Reputation Rewards Showcase!
World Boss: FR3-D0M
There’s a new world boss, a separatist war droid named FR3-DOM. He has a chance to drop a mount called the Mantellian Separatist Hover Turret, which is a reskin of a mount that’s available from the reputation vendor. The world boss is located near the coast on the northern side of the island.
Kessan’s Landing Daily Area Missions and Achievements Guide
New Datacron
Like the datacron on Ruhnuk, this one is locked behind a long mission sequence that sends you on a galaxy-spanning scavenger hunt where you gather pieces to create a shield that protects you from the apparently special lava that exclusively exists on this tiny island.
Geothermal Shielding Missions GuideKessan’s Landing Datacron Guide
GTN Overhaul
The GTN has been overhauled and contains a host of new features, including some market data that shows the recent and historic median price so you know if you’re getting a good deal. You’ll also always and only be able to buy whichever listing is the cheapest, so no more getting scammed accidentally buying a crafted black and red dye for a billion credits!
The system is far more focused on unit price and views stackable items as commodities where you pick how many you want and buy that many all at once from multiple sellers. You’ll also set the unit price rather than the total price so you don’t have to bother with that math yourself!
The GTN should remain accessible and easy to use, but if you’re someone who plays the market, there are some significant differences, including revamped fees, so be sure to check out our dedicated guide on the GTN overhaul tomorrow!
Read our new guide to SWTOR’s GTN in 7.4
New Tiers of Gear
We’re getting the iRating ceiling for endgame gear increased again! The new max tier for most PvE players will be 340, with Rakata gear going up to 344. Purple gear from R-4 Anomaly will be convertible from 340 Virulent to 344 Rakata. Legendary Implants and Mods from Hyde and Zeek will be going up to 340, and PvP gear will be going up to 336.
Read the SWTOR Gearing Guide
DPS Balance Changes
A few DPS specs are receiving the following balance changes, which have been rewritten using a standardized format for clarity:
Engineering Sniper and Saboteur Gunslinger
- Reduced the critical damage bonus given to Explosive Probe / Explosive Charge from the Laser Targeting / Sequential Targeting ability tree buff to 20% (from 25%).
Vengeance Juggernaut and Vigilance Guardian
- Removed the cooldown reduction from the Major Fracture / Cauterizing Brand ability tree buff
- Fixed an issue with the Deep Cuts ability tree buff where it wasn’t properly increasing the critical hit chance of your periodic damage
Pyrotech Powertech and Plasmatech Vanguard
- The Superheated Fuel tactical has been redesigned and now increases both the critical hit chance and critical hit damage dealt by Flame/Plasma attacks (effectively all elemental damage) by 25%.
The changes to Vengeance / Vigilance and Pyro / Plasma alter each spec’s optimal rotation and, in the case of Pyro / Plasma, optimal gearing as well. Check out my dedicated article explaining how these changes impact the associated specs.
In addition, I’m also covering in it a change unrelated to 7.4 regarding my recommendations for optimal alacrity percentages. I now suggest that most DPS and healers shoot for 7.5% alacrity instead of 7.15%.
SWTOR 7.4 Class Guides Catalog
Cutscene Lightning Improvements
All cutscenes in the game will feature greatly improved lighting that’s more accurate and detailed without being as harsh.
Hopefully, they can eventually bring these improvements to the whole game! Check out some examples:
Shiny Dyes and Other Cartel Market Items
We’ll be getting a brand new type of shiny dye for armor, along with a couple of new armor sets and weapons. There’s a good chance that there will be decorations too, but those have not been announced, if there are any.
Shiny Dyes
There is a new set of dyes that alter the specularity of the equipped armor. Specularity is basically how shiny the armor appears independent of the color, so these dyes can make the armor look more shiny or more matte, though they also change the color like regular dyes.
Each of these special dyes will only be available for direct sale for a very limited time. They will be rotated out on a weekly basis starting with the release of 7.4 and ending on January 6th, 2024. After that, the only way to obtain them from the CM will be to win them in an Ultimate Cartel Pack.
We don’t know why they will have such limited availability. If I had to guess, Broadsword either wants them to be some sort of holiday-only deal, or these dyes could be a temporary development while they secretly work on a far more comprehensive revamp of the armor customization system. To reiterate, this paragraph is just speculation.
Shiny Dyes Full Catalog
Weapons
We’ll be getting a dualsaber version of Darth Nul’s saber along with a full set of blasters that comes in multiple colorways. Also coming to the CM is a pair of blaster rifles that look to be inspired by those used by some Imperial Purge Troopers (Inquisitor Storm Troopers) and likely match the Suppression Trooper armor set.
Hopefully, we’ll get an eletrostaff and electrobaton too, but none were announced.
Armor Sets
There will be 2 new armor sets on the CM, including the Suppression Trooper armor set (pictured with the shiny dyes) and a set inspired by Sabine Wren called the Defiant Maverick armor set.
Full Patch Notes
Below are the official full patch notes for SWTOR Game Update 7.4, as released by Broadsword on swtor.com on Monday, December 4th, 2023. Note that the patch notes formatting is not our doing. This is how Broadsword decided to format and present the notes for this update. A bit strange…
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Chains in the Dark Storyline
Following the showdown between Shae Vizla and Heta Kol in Game Update 7.2, players will be returning to Ord Mantell to explore a small, provincial island called Kessan’s Landing to face the Hidden Chain strike team head on.
New Daily Area
Kessan’s Landing is a new Daily Area on Ord Mantell. Players will find that they can complete repeatable missions, and obtain new Achievements and Reputation rewards. There will also be a chain of side missions that will take players all over the galaxy, allowing them to assemble a piece of tech that will be very useful on Kessan’s Landing.
New World Boss
Players are encouraged to mind their feet and keep an eye out for burning patches of plasma that FR3-D0M tends to leave on the ground during combat. There is a chance that FR3-D0M will drop a unique mount called the Mantellian Separatist Hover Turret.
Cinematic Lighting Update
Beginning in 7.4, we are activating a new character lighting tool for all cinematic content. Any cinematic content in the game currently – from class stories to world arcs to more recent expansions – will employ this new character lighting system. Some of the highlights of this system include using environment lighting for more accurate shadows, detailed self shadowing on characters, and more custom lighting control in cinematics.
Life Day
The annual celebration is back! Life Day will be celebrated from December 12, 2023 – January 09, 2024 so make sure you hug a Wookiee in celebration!
Galactic Trade Network (GTN)Revamp
The GTN is completely rebuilt, making it more accessible but also familiar to players. Players will see a new advanced search section, and a more streamlined flow for claiming and selling items. More information can be found here. Forums Link
Gearing Changes
The maximum for Item Ratings for gear has been increased. More details can be found here. Forums Link
Quick Travel Map
Multiple fixes were applied to the Quick Travel map including:
- The quick travel points now appear on the map after the discovery of the area they reside in. The Corellia Tears of Taris, 2 points on Balmorra, the Voss Cantina and the Belsavis Cantina which were previously missing are now visible.
- All quick travel points are accessible after unlocking them.
- All quick travel points will now show on the world map, regardless of location- like behind an elevator.
- Objective tracking is listed on the quest breadcrumbs on the map
- Interacting with NPC vendors no longer shows their name as “Undefined” on the map
- World Map coordinates will now show properly when reaching 4 digits
Class Balance Changes
Engineering Sniper / Saboteur Gunslinger:
- Reduced the critical damage bonus given to Explosive Probe / Explosive Charge from the Laser Targeting / Sequential Targeting mod to 20% (from 25%).
Vengeance Juggernaut / Vigilance Guardian:
- Removing the cooldown reduction from Major Fracture / Cauterizing Brand
- Fixed an issue with Deep Cuts where it wasn’t properly increasing periodic damage critical hit chance
Pyrotech Powertech / Plasmatech Vanguard:
- Superheated Fuel now increases Flame attack critical chance and critical hit damage by 25%.
General
Corrected an issue preventing SCORPIO from being granted as a companion in KotFE Chapter VII: Lady of Sorrows. We also fixed an issue that would prevent the next chapter from starting automatically.
Commando/Mercenary: When using a Regeneration toy, Supercharge building stops when the Rest & Recharge abilities are canceled.
Sentinel/Marauder: When using a Regeneration toy, Centering/Fury building stops when the Rest & recharge is canceled.
Meridat Stato (Imperial Fleet Vendor), Nelva Stato (Republic Fleet Vendor) and Felusia Stato (Stronghold Vendor) are now selling the “Simple Merchant Rug” decoration again.
The vendors are now selling only one copy of the Basic Junker’s Light.
Players who received the incorrectly named Elite Tactician Blaster Pistol will now be able to use it to unlock the Hermit’s Vigil in Collections. To trigger the Collection unlock, players will need to equip the weapon or move it to the cargo hold storage and BACK into their inventory.
PvP Season 2 and 3 items are now properly showing in Giradda the Hutt’s inventory, the PvP Classic vendor.
The Burning Rampage Chestplate will no longer stretch when the character moves their head.
The Empire Director Mantle’s cape will no longer clip with the male body type 4 characters or players’ hands in combat stance
The map notes for the “Hidden Signals” bonus mission now appear properly on the minimap.
The Player can no longer accept both “Peace is a Lie” and “Power through Strength” by claiming the missing mission items from the Collection. Only one of the two missions can exist in the player log at one time.
The words “Weapon Tuning” are added to “Festive Snow Fall” in order to be easier to find on the cartel market.
Loading screen tip has been updated to “A Broadsword or EA employee will never ask you for your password”.
The “Advanced Orange-Yellow Crystals” required level to use is now 10, in line with the rest of the color crystals.
The mission-granting items from Galactic Season 5 can now be found in both the “All” category and their own category of the Galactic Season 5 section.
The codex entries for The True Anomaly, The Uxibeast and Weequay Species now have images.
Siege Skytrooper health has been reduced while morphed in a Walker in Season 2: Chapter VIII: End Times on Master Mode.
The Collapsible Bowcaster Grek is categorized as a Blaster Rifle as per tooltip in Collections.
Enhanced shadows no longer appears over solid objects such as grates and fences.
Graphics quality levels adjusted to more closely match the coloration of Ultra. Low quality level has improved lighting, emissive, and skin shaders and looks closer to the lighting seen in Ultra
Enhanced shadows adjusted to reduce sparkles and dark halos seen around characters when viewed from a distance.
NPC and Low graphics settings have improved skin shader and reduced compression artifacts in textures.
Scrolling cloud shadows enabled in certain areas
Lieutenant Xorem, the mission giver on Ord Mantell for the mission “Victims of War” is now always visible.
Killing the Geonosian Queen in her Operation also completes the quest associated with the task.
When sheathed the Classic Lightweight Vibrosword sits at the same height as other vibroswords, including the Classic Vibrosword.
Fixed an issue where Imperial characters using Male Body Type 3 could get stuck while completing the Galactic Season objective “Mousecapades” on Alderaan, Taris, and Hoth.
The collision on the stairway in the Cantina on Rishi is adjusted so that all characters of all body types can step over it without jumping.
There is no longer a floating bush in the Appearance Modification Station or anywhere else on the Imperial Fleet.
Plants no longer have unintended holes in their leaves on Alderaan, Hutta and Oricon.
The “Dathomir Rancor” now has a picture in the Cartel Market..
The Space Missions “[HEROIC] Thanium Disruption” and “[HEROIC] Cha Raaba Assault” are now giving credit towards the Galactic Season Objective “We’re Not Out of This Yet”.
The K-NorCo B5C now has the same flourish as the K-NorCo B5B mount.
There is no longer a difference in appearance of the Empire Director Cowl, Scorching Sands, Shadeveil Warrior and Shadeveil Assassin sets when viewed on your character vs other characters.
The Model Redeemer Starfighter can now be unlocked in Collections.
A few turrets in the Section X area of Belsavis are no longer floating in the air.
The Imperial Banner is no longer clipping with a Sith Statue on the Korriban Arrival Port, because it was removed.
Reduced the reflectivity on some Imperial Walls .
All listed Uprisings count towards the Galactic Season objective “Quelling the Uprising”.
It is no longer possible to use a jump shortcut in the Flashpoint: Athiss.
Players can no longer fall through the floor and reach an unintended area in the R-4 Anomaly Operation.
Players who have destroyed the Galactic Season 5 Mission unlocks can now re-purchase them from Jaleit Nall, the Classic and Non-Seasonal Rewards vendor.”.
The Hover Light Weapon Tuning now works correctly with Female Body Type 4.
The position of all Jetpack Mounts has been adjusted to fit the characters back on all body types.
Max Bet Chips can now be purchased with Collector’s Edition access without needing to purchase the VIP Wristband.
Trees are no longer clipping through the bridge in Darth Baras’s Secret Lair.
It is no longer possible to summon ineligible characters to the VIP area on the Fleet.
