SWTOR 7.4.1 Changes Overview and Patch Notes

Check out the Changes Highlights and the full patch notes for SWTOR Game Update 7.4.1, which releases on March 12th, 2024. Find out what this update brings to the game!

How game updates work in SWTOR

Game updates in SWTOR are pretty consistent and predictable these days. SWTOR’s update schedule features alternating major and minor updates released roughly every three months, typically on Tuesdays alongside server resets.

Expansions are released every few years for free to subscribers and contain a substantial amount of story, 1-2 new planets, group content (often including a new raid), and some significant improvements to gameplay and related systems. Expansions are denoted by the first number in the build version (5.0, 6.0, 7.0, etc.).

Major updates always contain new solo story content on a new planet or a new landing zone on an existing planet, usually accompanied by a daily area. They also often include some sort of group content and some sort of modernization to the game. The second number in the overall build version denotes major updates, so 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, etc., are major updates.

Minor updates always contain a new Galactic Season, which is SWTOR’s implementation of the Battle Pass system. They also include bug fixes and sometimes smaller features. The devs have also expressed their intent to include new date night missions for a couple of companions with each minor update, though it remains to be seen if they will stick to that. The third number in the overall build version denotes minor updates, so 7.1.1, 7.2.1, 7.3.1, etc., are major updates.

In other words, we will typically get two story updates and two Galactic Seasons per year, along with a bunch of other stuff.

Lettered patches (7.1a, 7.1b, 7.2a, 7.3.1c, etc.) are hotfixes for their associated major or minor update. They never contain new content or features and are typically meant to fix an immediate issue that was discovered after the update was released or allowed to exist in the live game for a short period. They are typically released within 1-2 weeks of a major or minor update.

Update 7.4.1 Highlights

Since this is an X.X.1 patch, it does not contain any new group content or advance the current endgame storyline. That said, 7.4.1 is larger than usual for a minor update. It will include Galactic Season 6 “Building a Foundation”, featuring a luxurious villa stronghold on Copero, Date Night cutscenes for several companions, Shae Vizla server character transfers, a portable GTN droid, Ancient Armaments, and bug fixes.

Galactic Season 6 and Copero Stronghold

Galactic Season 6 is called “Building a Foundation”, and the story missions will have you working with the Chiss Ascendancy. We have a full guide to Galactic Season 6 with all of its rewards and new features.

Rather than receiving a new companion or getting conned into helping a sinister droid pick up actual trash, the featured reward for GS6 will be a new stronghold (SH) on Copero.

You will unlock new rooms as you complete the story missions, and the final few rooms can be unlocked with credits or CC, just like other SHs. After the season ends, you will still be able to obtain the Stronghold in exchange for GS tokens. It is not yet known if other GS rewards will be changing to reflect this new featured reward.

Our Copero Stronghold Guide will give you all of the information you need, starting from the major questions like how to unlock all of the rooms and down to the tiniest details and hidden extras.

Companion Date Nights

Companion Date Nights are special new cutscenes you can share with your in-game lover in a romantic place of their choosing. The missions should become available as soon as you lock in the romance.

Since there are a lot of companions in the game that can be romanced, they will be released over time instead of all at once. Broadsword says they plan to release 1-2 with each minor update, though there will be 4 coming with 7.4.1.

The 4 companions in the initial batch are the ones that all characters could have access to, regardless of origin story, including Lana Baeniko, Theone Shan, Arcann’t Live Without You, and Koth Vorteno Way José¹.

It wasn’t mentioned in the patch notes, but based on footage from the livestream, lips also appear to have been greatly improved for the sake of higher-fidelity smooching. In slightly less relevant news, I continue to kick myself for deciding to get back together with Ashara on my main instead of Lana.

Broadsword released a short FAQ about Date Night that we wanted to share as well:

At what point in the story will these Alliance Alerts become available to me?
The Date Night Companion Missions will be available if the following conditions have been met:

• The player has officially unlocked a romance with that character
• The companion is currently available in the story
• How often can I replay Date Night missions?
• These are weekly repeatable missions!

Will I get an Alliance Alert if I use items that automatically complete story missions? 
Using items that automatically complete story content will not unlock Date Night Missions, as the default choices that are made do not focus on character romances. 

When will I see a Date Night created for my favorite companion?
We want to strike a balance in the order that we release class story companions, so hopefully your favorite companion is in the next batch we intend to release!

Can I lose access to my companion’s Date Night mission?
If your companion is unavailable in the story, that companion’s Date Night Mission will not be available. 

Are there any rewards for playing Date Night missions?
Yes! After a number of playthroughs of the missions, players will be granted a unique title and decoration that embodies their special dates. 

Will playing Date Night affect my character’s story progression or relationship status?  
Though it will not affect your relationship status, Date Night Missions will always be available while the romance with the companion is active.

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Shae Vizla Character Transfers

You will finally be able to transfer characters to the Shae Vizla APAC server, and outfits are now preserved and transferred as part of the Character Transfer process. In order to preserve the current wasteland devoid of credits that many report to be Shae Vizla’s current economy, you will only be able to transfer up to 15 million credits per toon.

Subscribers that met certain criteria will be eligible to transfer up to 16 toons to Shae Vizla for free. However, they are not offering the ability to transfer entire legacies at this time. For more information, check out our guide on Shae Vizla Character Transfers.

Portable GTN Droid

After 84 years², we’re finally getting a Legacy Character Perk ability that summons a GTN Droid. Like the abilities that summon other droids for your Cargo Hold and Mail, this will be a per-character Legacy Perk with 3 tiers.

The total cost to fully unlock the GTN Droid per toon will be 25,500,000 Credits or 900 CC, and that toon will need to be level 80. Below are the costs and requirements per tier:

Fitted Gear and Ancient Armaments

An Ancient Armament is a piece of purely cosmetic version of an existing armor or weapon. They do not provide any stats and cannot be modded, augmented, or equipped.

Ancient Armaments are also known as Fitted Gear. All these items have names that start with “Fitted” and they can also be earned through new daily reward program called “Ancient Armaments”.

Fitted gear pieces can only be dyed and stamped into outfits, sold on the GTN, or traded to another player. These items are meant to replace existing gear with random stats that could no longer be sold on the GTN after it was overhauled.

You can obtain an individual Fitted Gear piece as a world drop, so as loot for defeating enemies and opening chests, or you can get a random complete set as a box from a new calendar as part of the Daily Login Rewards.

Read our full guide to Fitted Gear in SWTOR for more details. In it, we also share recommendations on how to approach gearing while leveling to make the process smooth and fun.

Cartel Market Items

There are a couple new Cartel Market items inspired by Captain Enoch and Inquisitor Marrok.

In addition, there will likely be a new Enhanced (AKA Shiny) Green and Gold Dye. The colors match the ones for St. Patrick’s Day, so the dye will likely go on sale on March 17th.

Given that wearing green is a huge part of the holiday, it’s also possible that all dyes featuring the color green will be on sale, though Broadsword hasn’t said anything about that.

Combat Style Bug Fixes, Not Balance Changes

Sadly, despite the need, there are no balance changes coming with 7.4.1. Instead, we’re getting a couple of bug fixes that create effect parity between combat style mirrors that never existed for the two whole years that these ability trees have been in the game! Since these bug fixes are changing the effects for one of the disciplines, they may feel like balance changes to some players, though they are not.

The actual patch notes are unclear, and the in-game effect text may remain unchanged, so here they are rewritten for clarity:

Corruption Sorcerer | Seer Sage

• The level 39 talent Corrupted Bastion | Resurging Power active no longer gets consumed by your next activation of Deliverance, Benevolence, or Keeper of the Peace for Seer Sages and now has the same following effect for both mirror disciplines:
  • Each tick of Innervate | Healing Trance can build a stack of Corrupted Bastion | Resurging Power, which increases the healing dealt by Dark Infusion, Dark Heal, and Rally | Deliverance, Benevolence, and Keeper of the Peace by 5%. Lasts 10s and stacks up to 3 times (up to 15%).

Pyrotech Powertech | Plasmatech Vanguard

• The level 23 talent Heatstroke | Suppressive Heat no longer features a shorter duration proc for Plasmatech Vanguards and now has the same following effect for both mirror disciplines:
  • Dealing damage with Flaming Fist | Shockstrike builds a stack of Heatstroke | Suppressive Heat, which increases the damage dealt by the Burning DoT from your Combustible Gas Cylinder | Plasma Cell by 25% per stack. Lasts 20s and stacks up to 4 times (up to 100%).

It’s depressing that both bugs have been allowed to exist for such an absurdly long time. The bug Sorcerer | Sage healer is problematic because the description is the same for both effects and the current use of the word “or” implies that it is consumed on use. However, the Pyro | Plasma bug is worse, though it would take another article to explain why.