Game Update 5.2: The War for Iokath

This post compiles what we have been told so far about Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 5.2 PLUS it has some not-yet-released footage of the new Operation Gods From The Machine from top SWTOR content creators!

Start with these trailers, made possible by Bioware’s Influencer program:

ABOVE: Stardust Legacy trailer: Gods from the Machine

BELOW: Jason Taylor’s trailer: The War for Iokath is Coming

Late Edition: Bad Feeling Podcast promo trailer

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What is coming in 5.2

So, let’s review what we know about SWTOR game update 5.2 so far…

As the Republic and Empire reignite their age-old rivalry in a deadly battle for control of the ultimate superweapon, you alone – as Outlander and commander of the galaxy’s most powerful fleet – can decide the outcome. Choose to align your forces with the Republic or Empire in a brand new storyline, explore the ancient and highly-advanced planet of Iokath, or team up with allies to defeat Tyth — a deadly droid superweapon — in the start of a new Operation!

Who can access this new content?

The following post (March 27) from Eric Musco, SWTOR community manager, outlines the basics of who can participate and how to get started

There is only one requirement to be able to access the new story content in 5.2, the character must be level 70.

You do not need to have an active subscription to play the story content, but in order to have a level 70 you must have subscribed since KOTET launched. Also, normal restrictions still apply, so you must be a subscriber to access the Gods from the Machine Operation.

The character does not need to have completed KOTFE or KOTET to play the new story. However, it is highly recommended that you have. There will be spoilers to those storylines if you have not played them. Also, if you have not completed KOTFE and KOTET, default choices will be assumed in the new storyline which may not match your preference.

Playing Iokath will not affect your KOTFE or KOTET gameplay in any way (such as advancing the story, etc).

To launch the new storyline, head to your ship’s Mission terminal where you can accept the Mission “The Forgotten World.”

He further clarified in the same thread that you can access the new Operation via groupfinder at level 50 like other story mode ops. You will be bolstered accordingly and you do not need to complete the Iokath story to access the Operation. Speaking of Iokath story…

New Iokath Storyline

When a superweapon of unimaginable power is discovered on Iokath, you must choose to align your forces with either the Republic or Empire — and deal with the inevitable consequences.

“Superweapon” and Star Wars go together like cookies and milk, like peanut butter and Deathstars.

Official Teaser: The Alliance Commander’s Arrival

This teaser, released March 23, shows the Outlander and Theron Shan trying not not panic while saying the word Superweapon. He looks a little tense, right?

         Above: The domain of Iokath, as seen in Chapter IV of Knights of the Eternal Throne

New Daily Area

Fight your way through action-packed re-playable missions on Iokath!

A new set of dailies and rewards in the mysterious 3000 year old World of War Games!

For a one minute primer on what in the world Iokath is, we turn to ever-helpful ARIES as he explains it to Vette and the Outlander:

 Returning Companions

Prepare to fight alongside Former Sith Warrior Companion Malavai Quinn or former Republic Trooper Companion Elara Dorne. But beware, many years have passed… and your decisions may put old friendships to the test…

.. if many  years have passed, I want the number of Elara’s plastic surgeon…

Official Teasers

This teaser, released March 28, gives us a look at the two allies we have to choose between in the War for Iokath.

Below we see the legendary Jace Malcom as he conducts a briefing with Captain Elara Dorne. Malcom rose to the position of Supreme Commander of the Republic Military during the Great Galactic War. You may recall him from the SWTOR cinematic trailer “Hope” where he is shown as the captain of Havoc Squad during the Battle of Alderaan. Malcom had a relationship with Grand Jedi Master Satele Shan and is father of their son, Theron. He’s coming to Iokath, so this should make for an interesting family reunion! (Teaser released March 30)

Open World PvP on Iokath, including Walker Combat

This teaser, released April 4, shows the Alliance Commander using his handy Uber wrist app to summon a Walker.

From Eric Musco, March 28

With the launch of 5.2 “The War for Iokath” we wanted to be sure to encourage PvP wherever possible. It is a part of the design of the Missions on Iokath that players will be running into each other fairly often. This afforded us the opportunity to make PvP more of a focus beyond just a place for open world PvP to occur. Here are some of the things that set Iokath apart as it relates to PvP:

• In open world PvP, enemies and allies will be determined by the Faction you choose to fight for, not the faction your Class is a part of.
  • Ex: If you are Trooper who chose to fight for the Republic, you will be flagged as an enemy against a Jedi Knight who is fighting for the Empire.
  • Choosing which Faction to side with has no effect on your character outside of Iokath.
• You will be able to loot Iokath specific currency from other players that you kill. You will not actually be stealing that currency from them, but it will “drop” from them similar to how it works for NPCs.
• On Iokath you can spend that currency to do special things such as piloting a walker. You will be able to pilot the walker in the same area as other players and use said walker for murderous intent against enemy players.

New Operation: Gods from the Machine

Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Machine Gods….

Team up with friends and guildmates to defeat Tyth, a deadly droid superweapon, in an explosive new Operation!

SWTOR is releasing a new operation in stages, one boss at a time, an innovative way to deliver the content to us sooner rather than later. The raid will be assembled over the course of 2017, starting with the first boss, Tyth.

Who is Tyth and why is he so mad?

Tyth is the first boss in Gods From the Machine and he is one angry dude. Apparently his name is pronounced with a long Y sound, like Tython, which I guess makes sense, though I wanted it to be a short Y sound so I could call him “Tythany” and really piss him off.

The following excerpt is from the SWTOR raider, blogger and Corellian Run Radio cohost Ravanel’s‘ prescient piece Who is Tyth? The War for Iokath and the Old Gods: SWTOR raid boss speculation from January and contains some lore with insight into Tyth and some educated speculation about possible upcoming bosses in this 5-encounter raid.

Much like the Romans, Zakuul had its own pantheon, referred to as ‘the Old Gods’, before Valkorion took over and reformed the planet. It consisted of six primary gods: Izax, the chief deity, his wife, Scyva, and their four children: Tyth, Aivela, Esne, and Nahut. The demon serpent Zildrog was another entity worshipped by the Old Ways, although some argue that he was merely a metaphor for a certain aspect of Izax.

So what if the Old Gods of Zakuul can be found on the ancient world of Iokath in some form or another? Legends often have a seed of truth, and Iokath seems to precede Zakuul, although its history is wrapped in a veil of mystery since its inhabitants have disappeared. It is also possible that the artificial intelligence on Iokath have created androids based on elements of Zakuulan culture – we know they love to challenge people. What if we get to fight the Old Gods (real or not) in the new Iokath raid?

A potential scenario would look like this:

1. Tyth

2. Aivela

3. Esne

4. Nahut

5. Izax & Scyva

Bonus boss: Zildrog

(Ravanel’s full post is here. You can follow her on Twitter @Rav_Griffon)

Remember that this is speculation, but it makes a great deal of sense. The fact that the operation is called Gods from the Machine makes Ravanel looks wicked smart (which, of course, she is!)

Also I would like to suggest that if Zildrog is the bonus or final boss in GFTM, we need the title Breath of the Dragon for beating him on Veteran Mode and the mini-pet reward is a no-brainer!

Inside the Valley of the Machine Gods

First, a huge thank you to Bioware for giving me access to the new operation for this sneak peak and to the other members of the Influencers group and guildmates who came in to down the boss and have some fun!

Community Reaction and Early Footage

Several of the Influencers tried out the new operation and made detailed walkthrough and commentary videos.

Kid Lee

YouTube

Twitch: twitch.tv/kidlee

Twitter: @kidleeasf

Kid Lee’s Tyth comprehensive overview shows our group in a start to finish Tyth encounter including trash and trash talk!

SWTOR Central

YouTube: youtube.com/c/swtorcentral

Twitch: twitch.tv/swtorcentral

Twitter: @SWTOR_Central

Initial Impressions/Overview:

4K Tour of the Valley of the Machine Gods instance:

Boss Fight video showing SWTOR Central and his guild taking on the giant warrior:

JT Holonet

You saw his trailer at the beginning of the article and he will have a write up at CorellianRun.com

YouTube

Twitch: twitch.tv/bb_network

Twitter: @JT_holonet

Website: corellianrun.com/

Podcasts: Passionately Casual and Corellian Run Radio

Bad Feeling Podcast Contest!

Be sure to enter Bad Feeling’s 200 million credit new operation giveaway! See @badfeelingpdcst on Twitter or visit badfeelingpodcast.com

Also tune into Twitch THIS THURSDAY for the official SWTOR livestream for The War on Iokath!

When: Thurs, April 6 — 2 PM PT

Where: twitch.tv/swtor

Well that about wraps it up. Thanks to Eric Musco and Bioware for this opportunity to preview the new operation!

A special thank you to the PTS Ops team who made this journey possible!

@R2D2arm (Ajay)

@Neffanel (Neff)

@FtWorthJim (Mox)

@JT_Holonet (JT)

@BadFeelingPdcst (Brian)

@KidLeeask (Kid Lee)

@Deathr0wNZ (Ring)

@Grognard_JT (Grog)

I’m looking forward to seeing how people like this new boss and his busy and unique mechanics as well as how the community responds to the staged-release model that SWTOR has adopted for this raid.

Please leave your comments below and be sure to visit all the amazing SWTOR players and content-creators listed above!

Till next time keep playing and, I don’t know, fly causal.

Stardust Legacy