A SWTOR PvP Guide for new level 75 players, introducing you to the competitive EndGame environment, explain the requirements and how to play!
The guide is written for VULKK.com by Aviriia!
Introduction
This SWTOR PvP guide is designed to give a clear explanation about Player vs Player in Star Wars: The Old Republic – how it works, what you need to do to participate, what mechanics you need to learn, what rewards to expect from it and how to succeed in SWTOR’s PvP environment!
These are the areas which this guide will focus on and highlight: PvP Game Modes, Unranked vs Ranked PvP, PvP Challenge, PvP Instances, Stronghold PvP and General Advice.
Note from Vulkk: Large parts of this guide are also valid for PvP below level 75, however, this article is aimed at players, who have already completed their leveling process and are ready to face the EndGame PvP in SWTOR. If you are not at the level cap yet, check out the Ultimate SWTOR 6.0 Beginners Guide for new players to learn how to get to the EndGame and be ready for it!
PvP Game Modes available in SWTOR
In Star Wars: The Old Republic you can queue up for various game modes which will enable you to fight alongside your allies against an enemy group of players.
In SWTOR you can play one of the following PvP game mode:
- Capture Point Warzones
- Huttball Warzones
- Ancient Hypergate Warzone
- Voidstar Warzone
- Arena Matches
What are Warzones
In the Capture Points, Huttball, Ancient Hypergate and Voidstar the eight versus eight teams must fight for objective control. Each objective is different per game mode and I will explain them in further detail below in this guide.
Capture Point Warzones
The goal is to capture an objective and keep control over it. The team who has kept most of the objectives and scored the most will win the game.
The following Warzones are classified as Capture Point:
- Novare Coast
- Odessen Proving Grounds
- Alderaan Civil War
- Yavin Ruins
Novare Coast
The Novare Coast Warzone is a eight versus eight Game Mode where the two teams must fight to take control over turrets that will secure the beach.
There are three bunkers located on the map. One directly between the two starting bunkers, one on the north-eastern end and another on the north-western end of the map.
You must have control over at least two turrets to damage the enemy teams bunker.
At the start of the game both teams have a bunker which sits at 100% health. The team who’s bunker health percentage has been brought down to 0% loses the match.
Odessen Proving Grounds
Odessen Proving Grounds is a eight versus eight Game Mode where the two teams must compete to own Control Sectors to score points. There are 5 of these Control Sectors and a few spawn at random.
The spawning is limited for a period of time before it de-spawns and respawns on a random other control sector. Every second that a team controls a Sector, the team will be granted a point. You can score up to 600 points.
Around on the map you will find various Battle Mods which will help you and your team to win the match.
- The Red Battle Mod will help you disable an active capture point.
- The Green Battle Mod will activate a capture point.
- The Orange Battle mod will speed up the activation time when used on the activated capture point location.
- The Blue Battle Mod will multiply the points earned on the capture point when used on the location.
Alderaan Civil War
The Alderaan Civil War is a eight versus eight Game Mode where the two teams fight to get control over three cannons located in this warzone.
One cannon is in the very middle and there are one on each side – western and eastern.
Spawning points are on the bottom and on the top of the map. Players drop from their faction’s spaceships on speeder mounts and land near the middle.
Once a cannon has been captured it will take aim at the enemy fleet and will fire at it. Both fleets have 600 points at the start of the game mode and the team which has been brought to 0 points first loses the game mode.
Yavin Ruins
The Yavin Ruins is a eight versus eight Game Mode where two teams will fight to get control over the three cannons located in this warzone.
The rules about Alderaan Civil War apply to the Yavin Ruins as well. The team which ends up with 0 points will be defeated.
There are however a few minor differences to this game mode.
At first a buff has been added under the centerpiece of the map. The person carrying this buff will be able to speed up the capture of the enemy turret. And the other minor change is that killing an enemy player will also affect the enemy points and brings it slowly but surely down.
Huttball Warzones
Huttball is a unique eight versus eight game mode where the team must work together to bring the ball to the enemy team line to score a point. The game will be over once one team has a 6-point difference with the enemy team or when the timer runs out. The team carrying the ball at that moment wins the match. There are three different types of huttball:
- Huttball (the original first map)
- Quesh Huttball
- Vandin Huttball
In Game Update 6.1.2d SWTOR decided to take Quesh and Vandin Huttball out of the game due to performance issues. As of now It’s unknown when the two maps will be added back into the game.
At large all the Huttballs are the same with the same mechanic and tactic. You cannot carry the ball longer than 45 seconds before the ball explodes and resets. To avoid this you must pass the ball to an ally and play as a team to win the game.
You can pass the ball to your ally by clicking on the button that appears on the screen and select the area on the ground where you’d like to throw the ball at. An enemy player however can intercept the ball by taking place of your ally’s position of where you threw the ball.
Apart from enemy players who are out there to kill you, the game developers have also added deadly traps all across the maps. From firepits, acid pools to deadly gas vents.
There are also grappling hooks in Quesh and Vandin which will help you get up onto the various levels of the map.
Overall Huttball will require lots of teamwork and is a game mode that you will need some form of coordination to succeed in.
Ancient Hypergate Warzone
Ancient Hypergate is a eight versus eight Warzone based around energy pylons that are located on the sides of the map.
The objective is to capture and power up the captured pylons by energy orbs located in the middle area of the map. To power up the pylons you bring the orbs to the captured pylon and run over the platform.
The game is set up in various rounds and each round has a set timer. When the timer hits zero the pylons that have been powered up will overcharge and will kill any that stand outside of the middle safe area of the map.
Killing enemy players will also give you points that will add to your score.
The pylons reset themselves after the explosion and you need to re-capture the energy pylon and repeat the same process until your team hits the limit of 600 points or more.
The game will end once one team has over 600 points. If both teams have over 600 the team with the most will win the match.
Voidstar Warzone
Voidstar is a eight versus eight warzone based warzone located on a Imperial Battle Cruiser which contains schematics to a powerful weapon.
The two teams are divided into an attackers and defenders group. The attackers must place explosives on the various doors and work themselves towards the room that contains the schematic and download it to win the match.
The defenders must defend the doors and when needed disable explosives.
Once the time runs out or the schematics have been downloaded the two teams will switch objectives. The defenders will become the attackers and visa versa.
What are Arenas
Arenas are all about Team Deathmatch. The teams are four versus four and they must fight each other until everyone from the other team has been defeated.
The team that wins two rounds will be victorious and will win the Deathmatch. The team of which all members die first loses the round. To win the Death Match you must have won two rounds.
You cannot choose to participate in Unranked Arenas only. These only pop in Unranked queue if there aren’t enough players to fill in the ranks of two full teams for a Warzone.
In Ranked PvP you can only queue for Arenas. Knowing the environments of the map, how to use line-of-sight to your advantage and every other little trick available to you, that’s what makes the Ranked PvP player stand out.
There are currently six different Arena maps, both available in Unranked and Ranked:
- Mandalorian Battle Ring
- Tatooine Canyon
- Orbital Station
- Corellia Square
- Makeb Mesa
- Rishi Cove
What are PvP Challenges
The PvP Challenge is a Group PvP challenge that you can do with friends and/or guild members.
Open the Activities Window and click on the PvP tab to find the Group PvP Challenge.
A PvP challenge allows two groups to create their skirmishes or record a Guild vs Guild challenge in the game.
The group leader can set to choose the available Warzone, Arena or even Starfighter map for the challenges.
The PvP Challenges are a great way to get familiar with the different warzones while playing just with friends or guild members.
The Group size for a Skirmish Challenge
The group challenges must have 2 groups with the maximum numbers of players allowed for the game modes.
- Arena requires 2 to 4 group members.
- Warzones require 2 to 8 group members.
- Starfighter requires 2 to 12 group members.
Guild Challenges
A Guild Challenge will record the wins and losses against other guilds. The groups that are made must be solely made up out of guild members from the same guild.
What are Planet PvP Instances
In Star Wars: The Old Republic there are two types of instances on a planet (or world). There is the PvE instance and the PvP instance.
Both instances are completely the same in terms of environments, missions and NPCs available. There is one main difference. On a PvP instance players from the other factions can attack you on sight.
To enable or disable the PvP instance right-click on the PvP or PvE icon on the mini-map or on your character’s portrait and toggle PvP or PvE focus. By doing this you will automatically switch over to the desired instance.
Open World PvP
In the game there are also places where you can fight other players no matter the instance that you are in.
Outlaw’s Den on Tatooine
One of those places is the Outlaws Den on Tatooine. This area can be found in the western end of the Jundlands.
You can unlock the Quick Travel Perk to be able to directly transport your character to the entrance of the area. You will find the perk in the Character Legacy Unlocks in your Legacy window. It will then appear in your Abilities window, in the Legacy tab.
If you need some help with the game’s UI elements, check out this SWTOR User Interface Guide.
PvP during the Gree Event
Also there is a PvP mission which encourages players to PvP at the returning Gree Event on Ilum.
Player vs Player Duels
Did you know that you can challenge your friends into a duel? By right clicking on their characters icon you can request a duel with them!
This can be done almost everywhere and It’s a great way to show off your PvP skill to your friends.
Strongholds and PvP
Strongholds are the perfect place to spend your time waiting between Warzone matches. This is where SWTOR devs decided to create a stronghold with special PvP features.
The Rishi Hideout has been introduced into the game back in 2018 and it gives you lots of PvP features which even can be further optimized with special PvP decorations. It can hold up to 75 players when fully unlocked and it offers a lot of features (described below).
Training Scenario
Right after the spawn area of the Rishi Hideout there is a special little area where you and your friends can play PvP together in a free-for-all style.
Training Dummy
The Rishi Hideout was the first ever Stronghold in SWTOR which introduced a training dummy. Before this training dummies were to be found only on the fleet, various planets or an additional unlock to your personal ship.
Sky deck
The Skydeck is found on the Patrol Carrier and it has an additional unlock. Upon the Deck you will find a huge platform where you can play various game modes. It contains hooks in which you can decorate it the way you want it to be.
There is also a terminal which allows you to pick a team to side with. You can play following two game modes through a simulation:
- Team Deathmatch
- Huttball
And for the non-pvpers there is also an option to turn off (or on) PvP through the stronghold menu.
To unlock the PvP activities in your Rishi Stronghold, visit the Stronghold Manager Window and open the Optioms pop-up tab for this specific Stronghold.
Bolster in SWTOR Unrakned PvP
This section explains the Bolster buff every player received when participating in Unranked Warzones and Arenas.
What is Bolster
Bolster is an automatic buff you receive when participating in instanced PvP gameplay such as Warzones and Arenas in unranked game modes.
Bolster boosts your character’s stats up the IR 306, which makes the gameplay more fair for lower geared character who are still trying to get their 306 gear together.
However, there will be a always a difference to those players who have fully optimized their 306 gear with for example augments and set-bonuses.
How Bolser works
Bolster does not affect Endurance, it boosts only your tertiary stats. When gearing you should consider using an item on every available slot. If a slot is empty, it doesn’t get bolstered and you lose on stats automatically.
The best choice for Unranked PvP to gain the most out of the Bolster effect is to use mods with low Endurance and high Power mods.
The best relics for pretty much all classes are the Crit proc one (Relic of Devastating Vengeance) and the Power proc one (Serendipitous Assault Relic). For a full breakdown of how to gear up properly for the SWTOR EndGame PvP at level 75 and how to prepare your class and role for Ranked matches, check the SWTOR Guides List for a specific instruction related to your Discipline.
How to queue up for Warzones and Arenas
To queue up for warzones right-click the small imperial/republic symbol on your minimap and click on the Queue unranked button.
The easiest way to participate in the popular PvP activities in SWTOR is to open the Activities Window and then navigate to the PvP tab – the second left on the top.
Below I will explain everything except the Galactic Starfighter, for which there is a separate guide you can check out: SWTOR Galactic Starfighter (GSF) Guide for Beginners
On the fleet you will find a terminal that contains missions for PvP. The first mission will be an introduction to PvP and once finished with it you will be able to pick up both daily and weekly missions from the same terminal. In patch 6.1.2d they made it that only wins do count for both daily and weekly.
Here is the list of available missions:
- [Daily] March Them Down – Win 1 Unranked Warzone match
- [Daily] My Kind of Scum – Win 1 Solo Ranked Arena match
- [Daily] Arena of Death! – Win 1 Group Ranked Arena match
- [Weekly] The Spoils of War – Win 10 Unranked Warzone matches
- [Weekly] Time for Pain! – Win 8 Solo Ranked Arena matches
- [Weekly] Go Berserk! – Win 6 Group Ranked Arena matches
You’ll find the terminals in the inner section of the Combat Training area located on the Empire fleet. For the Republic this will be on the South-West side and for imperials the North-East of the fleet.
The system will attempt to place you in an eight vs eight Warzone scenario. If there are not enough people queuing, you may then be placed into an Arena match.
When joining a match and leaving it early you will be placed in a deserter queue which will prevent you from queueing. This lockout lasts 15 minutes. This was implemented with patch 6.1.2d.
Unranked vs Ranked PvP
With all the game modes described it is now time to delve into the unranked and ranked aspects of the game
Unranked PvP
Unranked PvP contains all the warzone maps that have been described above. From Capture Point, Huttball, Ancient Hypergate, Voidstar and Arenas.
However, Arenas only do appear when there are not enough players queuing up to get an eight versus eight match going.
Official requirements for Unranked PvP
The official requirement to queue for Unranked PvP is to be at least level 10. If you are a free-to-play player or preferred there is also a limit on the amount of games that you’ll be able to play.
Solo or Group Unranked
You can play Unranked Warzones alone or with friends. However, there can be no more than 1 tank or 1 healer in the same group. This is to prevent members all queuing up as healers or tanks.
Low level vs Level 75
You can queue for Unranked PvP at the level 10 up to 75. Once you hit level 75 you will only be queued against the people from the same level.
At this stage you want to look into gearing your character up to the max level of gear. At the time of writing this guide the maximum level of gear is 306.
If speed-gearing is your ultimate goal, the best method is to farm Flashpoints. Yes, they are PvE game mode, but they yield results much faster than just doing PvP. Sad, but true.
Are you new to SWTOR gearing? Check out the SWTOR EndGame Gearing Guide.
Ranked PvP
Ranked PvP is all about DeathMatch and has Arenas only as playable game mode. You can queue up for Ranked Warzones as Healer, Tank or DPS. The matchmaking will try and make equal teams. This means that you either have a full dps team. A dps with a healer on each side. Dps with a tank or a dps-tank-healer matchup.
Official requirements for Ranked PvP
The official requirements to join in for Ranked PvP is that you need to be level 75 with a valor of 25. To gain Valor you need to have done multiple unranked warzones. To check your valor you go to your Character Sheet. There you will be able to find your Valor Rank.
Suggested requirements for Ranked PvP
The official requirements are there for you to be able to queue up for ranked warzones, However when joining in with a match you want to be well geared and having the full experience of your class.
For this I made a list of things I highly recommend you doing first before even touching ranked PvP:
- Learn your class rotation and know which ability works best with the other. Reaching valor 25 doesn’t mean you immediately should jump into ranked without having good experience. By this you will loose the game but also destroy the rating of your team members. They won’t be happy about that. And neither will you.
- Wear fully geared set-bonus gear on 306. This includes augments and preferably min-maxed mods and enhancements. Everyone in ranked will have the best gear that there is and best gear matters in Ranked PvP.
- Use PvP Items. On the GTN you can find various grenades and at the PvP vendor you are able to find Warzone Medpacks and Adrinal Stims. Those items may come out very handy in a ranked warzone and it has saved my own life countless of times when getting focused in Ranked Warzones.
Solo or Group Ranked
Ranked can be played through both Solo and Group queues. In solo you are randomly placed with other solo queuing players. With group Ranked you and a team of friends will play against other players who have gathered a group for Ranked PvP.
Rating and Leaderboards
When you play Ranked PvP you gain a personal score on how your character has played. This is called Rating. The higher the rating means the better you have done in ranked games.
On the SWTOR website you’ll find a leaderboard of the current ranked season top players. Also you will be able to find your own score there and see what place you currently are on.
There are various ranks to obtain through ranked which require you to have a certain rating and amount of wins.
This however sometimes changes per season:
- Unranked
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum (Top 96 players)
- Top 3 Advanced Class on the leaderboard
The players with a rank receive a flair according to their rating, a special season battle flag, a season decoration and title. All are unique depending on their obtained rank in Ranked PvP.
Season Rewards
You gain Ranked Tokens per match played and per daily and weekly finished. With those tokens you can buy decorations, weapons, mounts and much more at the Ranked Vendor on the fleet.
After each season with a rank will receive a certain amount of tokens of which they are able to buy more rewards.
Conclusion
Aviriia’s advice when it comes to PvP
In 2012 I fell in love with PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic. And together with Hard Mode Operations and Roleplay it has been my focus point in this game ever since.
Almost every time when I livestream SWTOR new players come in asking for advice about PvP. What should I pick? Tank? DPS? Heals? Which advanced class should I pick? What class is the best?
Pick the class that you think you’ll enjoy the most and play it. You don’t like it? Try another one. It’s what I did over all the years and after having played all classes I stuck with three which I focus the most on.
In the very end It’s about having fun.
Some players can get really far off if things don’t go their way. Salty players, Toxic Players – you can think of a hundred words on how to name them. You will one day encounter them no matter where. It may be in SWTOR or any other online game with a competitive environment. My advice if you come across them in your PvP games, ignore them and have fun. And that is what PvP is all about. It’s about having fun.
About the Author
Born and raised in The Netherlands, Aviriia has been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic since launch day. It being also her first MMO on the computer she originally came to play with friends for the RP and story aspects of the game. Over the following years after she got introduced into regular warzones and later eight versus eight warzones where so played as a Sorcerer Healer. Now having switched over to Assassin DPS she can be found regularly in Unranked and Ranked warzones on the European Darth Malgus server while also Livestreaming those matches on Twitch.
Hopefully you found this guide helpful and if you wish to ask any more questions about PvP, leave a comment here.
Aviriia also livestreams SWTOR PvP every week on Twitch and can be reached on both Discord and Twitter:
From Vulkk
Aviriia approached me with a proposal to write a helpful guide for the PvP community of SWTOR.
She wanted to help all new players by explaining how PvP works in the game, specifically at the level cap and EndGame, what game modes are available and how to play in them all. She also wanted to focus on how important it is to know your class and how your gear impacts your performance.
I would like to thank Aviriia for her contribution with this SWTOR PvP at level 75 guide. I hope you have enjoyed the read and learned enough to get your started.
If you have questions or want to share your own experience, please, leave a comment under the article. Thanks!
Note: In this guide the images you see are primarily Aviriia’s own contribution. I have added a few from my own archives and have used some of Krea‘s PvP map layouts as well.
If you are skilled and experienced in a segment of SWTOR’s world that has not yet been covered with a guide or tutorial on VULKK.com, and if you want to share your knowledge with the whole community, contact me!
