Several members in both the Tatooine Royal Navy and Threevil have recently hit level 50 or are nearly there. So what comes after the “level up” game is over? What content does SWTOR offer to players at the level cap?
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
You will almost certainly reach level 50 before completing all of the quests available to you. Your first step should be to complete any outstanding missions; these will conclude your class’s storyline, continue the ongoing Republic vs. Empire plot, and reward you with valuable credits and gear upgrades. Do note that the last mission of your class-specific story tends to be a step up in difficulty compared to the rest of the solo content that came before it, so it might be advisable to solicit help from a friendly guild member before attempting it. I struggled a bit with the final Smuggler mission and failed a few times, but with some adjustments to my strategy and better use of my cooldown abilities, I was able to complete it without assistance. On the other hand, several players have noted that the Jedi Knight story is exceedingly hard (so much so that BioWare has acknowledged the problem and is easing its difficulty in a future patch), so bringing a friend along could save you a great deal of frustration.
DAILY QUESTS
After completing your class’s finale, you’ll receive a new mission asking you to report to Ilum. Upon arrival, you’ll first be tasked with a small number of non-repeatable missions to establish the setting and the plot. After finishing these quests, you’ll unlock two new flashpoints (“The Battle of Ilum” and “The False Emperor”) and five or six repeatable daily missions. All but one of the daily missions can be completed without a group, and they each reward one or more Daily Commendations, a special currency that can be traded for purple-quality items. Ilum also features an open inter-faction PvP area with its own set of daily missions and rewards.
You will also receive a request to travel to Belsavis for a bonus mission series. Unlike similar bonus quests on other planets, completing the missions on Belsavis will unlock several other repeatable daily quests that — as with the ones on Ilum — reward Daily Commendations.
HARD MODE FLASHPOINTS
Like World of Warcraft, SWTOR allows level 50 players to return to beefed-up versions of flashpoints they’ve previously completed at lower levels. While the trash in hard mode flashpoints isn’t much of a threat provided your group makes smart use of crowd control abilities, the bosses represent a very significant increase in difficulty. Your group will need solid teamwork, coordination, and communication to emerge victorious, and knowing the gimmicks present in each encounter is essential. Very few hard mode bosses are simple “tank & spank” fights, and players are expected to have relatively decent gear before attempting these heroic encounters. Both of the two I’ve tried so far (“The False Emperor” and “The Esseles”), have featured a very hard-hitting miniboss relatively early in the flashpoint. I assume BioWare’s intent behind these minibosses is to test your group’s gear level; if you can’t defeat these encounters, it’s futile to proceed further into the flashpoint.
The hard mode bosses drop 1-2 purple-quality items each and also reward players with Tionese Commendations and Tionese Crystals, special currencies that can be traded for high quality gear.
There is also a daily mission to complete any of the hard mode flash points. Be sure to pick this up from the mission terminal on your faction’s fleet before you set forth.
OPERATIONS
For even more epic battles than the hard mode flashpoints, there are operations (SWTOR’s term for what most other MMOs call “raids”). The operations come in two sizes: eight player and sixteen player, and there are currently two available. “The Eternity Vault” continues the story of the Rakata species and the threat posed by the Infinite Empire, while “Karagga’s Palace” will see your team battle against a Hutt crime lord and his minions. Currently Karagga’s Palace only has one boss, but several more are being added in an upcoming content patch.
Both operations have three difficulty modes: normal, heroic, and nightmare. Normal mode doesn’t have strict gear requirements, and groups can expect to be successful wearing only the items they received as rewards from completing missions on the way to level 50. Heroic and nightmare modes, however, are much more difficult and will require players to have upgraded their gear via daily missions, hard mode flashpoints, and normal mode operations before attempting these harder difficulty levels.
MISCELLANEOUS
Aside from this new content that is exclusive to level-capped players, you can also repeat many of the activities that you’ve already been doing, such as space battles and PvP warzones (which will soon have a bracket just for level 50s). And if you just can’t get enough of BioWare’s storytelling, create an alt character! There are eight unique stories to experience, and starting a second character in the opposite faction of your main is a great way to meet people and make new friends in the other guild.
