The final addition to the “Summer of PvP” in SWTOR – Game Update 5.9.3 “Fame and Fortune” launches on October 2nd with a new Huttball Warzone map!
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UPDATE (Sepember 26, 2018): BioWare delayed the release of Game Update 5.9.3 “Fame and Fortune” with one week. The new date is October 2nd. The Double XP event was also pushed back one week.
Original story follows.
Game Update 5.9.3 – “Fame and Fortune” – to Star Wars: The Old Republic is the final addition to the “Summer of PvP” from BioWare. It includes the new Huttball warzone map, tank PvP changes and, as usual, some quality of life updates and bug fixes. Double XP comes back as well!
These past few months we saw BioWare focus heavily on one side of SWTOR – the PvP gameplay. A new 4v 4 Arena was released with Update 5.9.2 along with many changes to the existing warzones to make gameplay more balanced and interesting for all classes.
Game producer Keith Kanneg announced in his Fall Roadmap that 5.9.3 will close this cycle and wrap up the PvP updates for now as 5.10 once again shifts the gamer’s focus onto the Story. A brand new narrative will begin what would be a prelude to the big expansion in 2019 and the return to classic Empire vs Republic storytelling.
But, let’s focus on 5.9.3 only now.
The Vandin Huttball map mirrors in many ways the classic Huttball map, but it also introduces a few new features and… traps. It’s a full 8v8 PvP map, pitting the Frog-Dogs vs the Rotworms, as usual. You spawn from the left or right side of the zone and your goal is to carry the ball through the enemy’s goal line.
So far nothing new, right? The differences to the original Huttball:
- You are on a flying ship, so if you fall from the edges, you can die.
- New types of traps with different effects on you are awaiting.
- New jump-points are introduced to help you navigate across the zone a little faster and easier.
- The design of the map is similar to the original Huttball, but not exactly the same.
As you no doubt have guessed it, I have an in-depth overview for the new map, where you can learn about every little detail and new feature as well as get yourself familiar with the “new Huttball rules”. These rules are not exclusive to Vandin, but were introduced this Summer and changed the gameplay on these maps quite a bit.
BioWare announced a set of changes to the way tanks would be able to mitigate incoming Critical hits from other players in PvP a while back. These were expected to be a part of Game Update 5.9.2, but due to an issue discovered before the release, the changes were delayed. In the last PTS build, these changes were included for testing and passed. They are now part of the 5.9.3.
In the patch notes for the final PTS build before the server was shut down last week, the change was introduced as “Players are now able to shield Critical hits.” Here is the quote from community manager Eric Musco that explains what exactly happened and why the dev team decided to do it:
[…]we have one change planned for 5.9.2 which we hope will help their survivability in PvP. This will also help incentivize tanks to wear tanking gear in PvP.
- Critical hits are now affected by Shield / Absorb.
Currently, only regular hits from players can be impacted by shield procs. By including crits, this gives the potential for much more damage mitigation for tanks when being targeted by DPS classes. Here is a very basic example. Let’s say a normal hit would do 1,000 damage and a critical hit would do 2,000 damage. You are a tank and when your shield procs, you reduce damage by 25%. Previously you could reduce the normal hit to 750 damage, but would always take the 2,000 from a crit. After 5.9.2 you can also reduce the critical hit damage down to 1,500. This allows shield and absorb to be a direct counter-stat to Crit Rating for DPS classes.
Vulkk’s thoughts: It is very likely that this will create additional issues that will have to be tweaked with later update(s). Let’s not forget that this Summer new matchmaking system came into place. Based on server populations, match pop-ups and general player population, the tank pvp changes from this update could spawn unkillable tanks. But it could also inspire more players to play as regular tanks in PvP.
Starting October 2nd until October 9th there is another Double XP event across all servers. BioWare’s Eric Musco announced this as “Double XP” instead of “Double Rewards”, but I assume this was just a technical typo. All of these events in the past couple of years have always been “Double Rewards”.
The big difference is that in the original “Double XP” only your XP was… doubled. In the “Double Rewards” events, you also receive twice the CXP. Reminder: CXP stands for Galactic Command Experience Points – the alternative gearing method in SWTOR.
Vulkk’s thoughts: Nothing to add, really. Double XP is a fantastic opportunity for you to catch up on alts and stories you have either never tried or have already forgotten.
As you can see, SWTOR 5.9.3 Fame and Fortune shapes up to be on the smaller side. This is probably because the studio is preparing for the next big one – 5.10 “Jedi Under Siege”.
A few words on what to expect in 5.10.
Jedi Under Siege is expected some time in the late November or more likely in the beginning of December. It will introduce a new narrative with different stories and missions for Empire and Republic. You will explore a new planet that has never been features in SWTOR before. It is not a new planet for the Star Wars lore… I mean Legends. At the time of this publish, the name of the planet is still kept in secret, but the several hints from Keith’s Roadmap and BioWare’s live stream that happened on the day the Roadmap was revealed, point that this planet is going to be Ossus. It will also be a new Daily Area. Similar to what happened in 5.2 “The War for Iokath” – you will have a set of missions to complete and after that some of them will turn into dailies, but others will remain exclusive to the story.
The Master Mode of Gods from the Machine is also coming with this update. It brings with itself a new tier of gear too. BioWare plans to test a new approach to obtaining your high-end equipment in the game by making the new pieces craftable with components that will drop on GOTM and other Master Mode Operations. Expect more details on the new gear and possible ways to obtain it to be revealed soon.
You can rest assured that VULKK.com and I will keep you informed about every single update around 5.9.3, 5.10 and beyond!
If you are looking to catch up after a break with some of the updates you have missed, check this search query or browse the SWTOR News and Guides categories here on VULKK.com
PATCH NOTES
Expected on September 25th.
NEW AND UPDATED GUIDES
- SWTOR Vandin Huttball PvP Map Overview
- SWTOR Augments Guide: Everything You Need to Know
- SWTOR Conquest Guide
GAME NEWS
Links to all news and updates about SWTOR Game Update 5.9.2 from before and after the patch.
