Learn how to unlock and complete the SWTOR Alert mission, Death Before Dishono, and recruit Xalek, one of the original Sith Inquisitor Companions!
Xivhkalrainik, also known as Xalek is one of the classic SWTOR Companions for the Sitn Inquisitor. Similarly to all other companions, Xalek disappears after the events of the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion.
You can find and potentially recruit Xalek back into your ranks via an alliance alert called “Death Before Dishonor”.
Requirements to unlock “Death Before Dishonor”
The Death Before Dishonor alert becomes available after you complete SWTOR KOTFE Chapter IX, which unlocks the whole Alliance System in the game.
After that, you have to complete To Find a Findsman. This quest is a requirement for a lot of the Alerts and involves finding and bringing Yuun.
You can pick up and complete the “Death Before Dishonor” mission on any character that meets the above requirements, regardless of faction, class and level.
If you do the mission as a Sith Inquisitor, you will see a different dialogue and cinematic scene.
How to Unlock and Complete "Death Before Dishonor" in SWTOR: Xalek Recruitment
A quick summary of the steps you have to make to unlock and complete the Alliance Alert Death Before Dishonor in SWTOR, allowing you to recruit Xalek as your companion!
Instructions
- Complete Chapter 9 of Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion to unlock the Alliance System.
- Complete the "To Find a Findsman" alliance alert.
- Open the Death Before Dishonor Alliance Alert and click on the button to start the mission. If you are a Sith Inquisitor, you will see unique dialogue in the cinematic.
- Go to the tunnel on Ilum that connects the Eastern and Western Shelves. Find the Instanced entrance and go in.
- Find the Mining Foreman and talk to him.
- Travel to the southeastern corner of the Ilum map. Enter the first tent in the marked location and pick up the datapad.
- Click on the holo terminal behind you.
- Travel north to the marked location to check out Shaft 12.
- Head back to the Mining Foreman in the tunnel between the Ice Shelves.
- When you arrive, you will meet Xalek, who is responsible for what has happened there and at Shaft 12.
- You can choose between the Dark and Light Side here. To recruit Xalek, allow him to finish what he has started. You can opt to fight Xalek if you prefer the Light Side Choice.
- Return to Sana-Rae to finish the "Death Before Dishonor" mission.
Death Before Dishonor Walkthrough
After you receive the Alliance Alert for “Death Before Dishonor”, click on the purple button to start the mission.
Travel to Ilum. In the tunnel connecting the Eastern and Western Ice Shelves there is an instanced entrance that will lead you to the camp where you will find the Mining Foreman. Speak to him.
The Foreman will ask for your help and will send you to check out a mining site far into the south-eastern corner of the Ilum map.
You can save some time by fast-traveling to the Eastern Ice Shelf camp. The destination is marked with an “area marker” on your map.
Enter the first tent on your right and check out the datapad. It is on the table to your left as you enter the tent.
There are three entries in the datapad and the notes read:
Big natural caverns at the site was a real blessing. Weather here is so blasted awful. Should have the temp habs thrown up in a few hours and we can start in with the excavators tomorrow.
Well, turns out someone else thought this cave was a pretty safe place to stay too. Found some signs of life. Some small temple, or shrine maybe, is sitting n the crystam seam. Pharb thinks it’s probably some long-dead primitive’s worship spot, but it doesn’t look all that old if you ask me. Sent word to the foreman, but we are probably losing at least a day to sorting this out.
Looks like we are keeping to the schedule. I’ll bet corporate didn’t bother trying to sort out who might have the rights to cultural artifacts. Won’t matter once the digging starts. Kind of a shame, someone put a lot of care into the thing. Maybe I’ll take a holo.
Checking out this datapad will not do anything at this moment for you. It is not part of your current objective. However, reading the notes now will save you some traveling back to it later. So you best do it now.
Next, turn around and click on the Holoterminal to start a short “KOTOR-inspired” cinematic.
Next, you have to travel up north to check out Shaft 12 where this distress call came from. Head to the new marker on your map, which is now sending you to the far north-eastern end of the Ilum’s map.
Note that there is a Heroic area nearby. If you are not geared up properly, these guys might be trouble.
When you arrive to the location, you will learn that the entrance to the shaft is blocked, and the area is full of bodies. There is no sign of Anna, who you spoke to via the Holoterminal back in Shaft 16.
Now an update pops up reminding you of the Datapad that was in the tent at Shaft 16. You read it already, so no need to read it again. Head back to the Mining Foreman in the tunnel between the Ice Shelves.
When you enter the Mining Foreman’s Camp, you will start to see bodies here as well. A new foe has invaded the camp and is punishing the mining company employees.
During the next cinematic you will learn that this is no other but Xalek – the classic Sith Inquisitor companion. If you are an Inquisitor, your cinematic here is different.
Xalek is unhappy because the miners are disturbing the old burial grounds of his father and he believes that the only punishment for that is to be given through his lightsaber.
Here you have options with multiple choices. You can kill Xalek, defeat him in a duel to prove your worth and make him follow you as your companion or flat-out refuse to intervene at all.
To recruit Xalek from “Death Before Dishonor” you need to allow him to finish what he has started or you can take the “lighter” path by having the remaining miners rebuilt his father’s tomb. The first one is a Dark Side choice.
Then you will have to defeat him in a dual that will prove your worth to him and he will agree to follow you. Xalek, like any other NPC in the game is not hard to beat at all.
You should have no trouble defeating him using any companion you have available, or even without a companion if you have decent on-level gear and know your class.
After that, head back to Sana-Rae to finish the “Death Before Dishonor” mission. Depending on your decisions and if you recruited Xalek or not, the dialogue with Sana-Rae will be different, but the rewards from this mission would be the same anyway.
It is safe to say that nobody would want to do this mission specifically because of the rewards it offers. You would do it for the new (or returning) companion, for the achievements or just for the sake of completing everything you have available.
Learn what the SWTOR Aliance System is, when it was introduced, how it works and how to use it to gain more followers, reputation across the galaxy and rewards.
Check out more of the SWTOR Alliance Alert Missions Guides I have available. Thank you for reading my SWTOR Guide on how to recruit Xalek after SWTOR KOTFE.
