Guide to Vulk’s updated SWTOR UI layout featuring two drastically different designs – one for challenging group content and one for casual farming and leveling as well as instructions on how to install them and set up keybinds!
Table of contents
The VULKK SWTOR UIs are designed to offer you all the info you need in a simple, neat, clear, and well-organized format with convenient placements for all the elements!
New to SWTOR? Check out my Complete Guide to the SWTOR User Interface!
My original UI has been downloaded tens of thousands of times. I am glad so many players like and want to use it.
I have made several revisions to it, starting with the Knights of the Fallen Empire and the most recent one is for Update 7.2, when the minimap was redesigned.
When playing group content, it is best to have all the data easily accessible to you. When you are a DPS, you would prefer to focus on the enemies. When your task is to heal your team, having easy and quick access to the raid frames is crucial. And when casually leveling up a new character or farming dailies, you can enjoy the vistas with a minimalist UI and a close-up camera.
Overall, I like having a clean screen with plenty of space for the true gameplay to shine and not be buried under tons of windows, boxes, and other UI elements.
How to import Custom UI and Keybinds
To add a custom UI from another player into your game, you have to download a .XML file and place it in the “GUIProfiles” folder located here:
C:\Users\Your-PC-Account-Name\AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings
If the AppData folder is hidden, open “Folder Options” in Windows and navigate to the “View” tab. Choose “Show hidden files, folders, and drives”.
You can download my UIs and Keybind setups from the links below. I have included my keybind setups for each layout, but you can only add the UI file(s) and adapt your keybinds as you see fit.
I play on an UltraWide screen. The SWTOR UI is flexible, but you may still need to tweak and adapt some things to suit your specific preferences and needs.
Raid SWTOR UI
When you play a DPS, you may want smaller Ops Group Frames, placed in the corner of the screen to allow for more visible space. Optinally, you can disable the XP bar, which is positioned at the top center of the screen for leveling Characters and Legacy progress monitoring.
If you are a healer, I suggest tweaking the Raid Ops Group Frames. Move them closer to the middle of the screen without obstructing your vision of the battlefield. Make them bigger, easier to click on individual players’ bars. Display numbers on top of them if you like.
Using my keybinds is optional and not required to use my UI. You can tweak your keybinds however you wish.
Minimalist SWTOR UI
The Minimalist UI is designed to make the (slowly) improving graphics of the game to shine. In the recent years the developers have been updating assets to make outdated visually content look more in line with what the modern hardware is capable of achieving, but within the constraints of the game’s dated engine, of course.
This UI features a very minimalistic approach to what is visible. It is not suitable for some classes that require more keybinds, though for casual leveling and dailies farming, you do not need things like Heroic Moment and all of your hard-earned Legacy unlocks, pets and mounts to be at your fingertips.
This UI is designed to help immerse you into the game. Move the camera closer to your character and look from behind their shoulder, don’t use the classic MMO-style top-down view point.
Regarding Keybinds
I strongly prefer using keybinds. They allow you to activate abilities faster and speed up your gameplay while giving you precious seconds to look more at the action on your screen rather than at the quickbars with abilities.
The UIs I use and recommend take full advantage of keybinding. The quickbars are smaller and smushed at the bottom of the screen, taking less valuable real estate on your screen.
If you prefer to use the mouse to click and activate abilities, you may struggle to fully utilize my custom UIs.
I have an older video about Keybinds, which is valid even today. It is about my SWTOR preferences, but since I have been adopting the same or similar layout for any MMO I have played since ~2005-2007, I consider my UI to be universal, just because I have been using similar layouts in SWG, LOTRO and now SWTOR.
To learn how to best set up your Keybinds and why I have this specific Keybinds setup, check that video below.
This concludes my guide on how to install the custom VULKK UI and (optional) Keybinds. If you have any troubles, questions or just want to share your own unique setups, leave a comment below.
