On 13th December the biggest and long-lived Star Wars MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, has received a larger update after some time. “Showdown on Ruhnuk” introduces a new planet with a story of Mandalorian rivalry, a notable update to PvP, and other changes.
Ruhnuk
The new planet has its own story mission and a daily area with repeatable missions. Like other planets in recent SWTOR history, completing missions rewards you with advancing on a new separate reputation track, this one being Mandalorian-themed.
The story itself revolves around the pursuit of Heta Kol, the rogue Mandalorian, who made Ruhnuk into her base of operations. Ruhnuk itself is an arid planet, the makers got heavily inspired by Grand Canyon aesthetics.
PVP
For the first time in ten years PvP experiences a big change. Ranked PvP is being entirely removed and from now on there is no difference between Ranked and Unranked PvP matches. There is a new PvP reward track that maps and rewards the players’ progress, similar to the seasonal or conquest track. The rewards include trophies, decorations, armour and more.
Players can also choose from two options while queuing for PvP matches: 4v4 (arenas) or 8v8 maps. A new arena map, Onderon Palatial Ruins, is introduced.
Free-to-play players are also no longer limited in the amount of PvP they can play after the update. They only receive less PvP points than subscribers.
There is an aim to run several PvP seasons per year, each lasting about 12 weeks.
The first season PvP armour rewards: Cartel Delegate’s and Enforcer’s armour sets.
Changes to UI
User interface has been revamped slightly with different ways to display the map as well as easier way to hide the welcome window. For more conservative players the new UI is mostly a useless feature that fortunately allows for a lot of customisation. The one objectively positive thing is introducing a colourblind mode (of several types) for the UI which should make the game more accessible.
Life Day
Until 10th January 2023 the game also currently hosts the annual Life Day celebration event. Players can throw snowballs and hug wookiees to receive special Life Day and snow-themed items. Several new items have been added: a Life Day wreath decoration, a set of Wookiee-themed weapons (of all types), a special festive hat, plus all the other rewards from previous years.
