SWTOR’s new Dynamic Encounters system was made available on the PTS for 7.6 over the weekend. There’s a lot to love but also some pitfalls Broadsword needs to avoid.
The PTS for Game Update 7.6 “Galactic Threads” is now available, and Broadsword wants you to test their new Dynamic Encounters system! I spent some time trying them out over the weekend and there’s a lot to discuss, including what they are, what’s good, what’s bad, and what the devs should do to improve them.
What are Dynamic Encounters in SWTOR
Dynamic Encounters are a new style of mission in SWTOR, though if you’ve played any modern open-world games, MMO or not, you’ll likely be familiar with the style. They’re quite similar to [AREA] missions if you remember those from back in the day, and many have compared them to the system that goes by the same name in Guild Wars 2.
Rather than picking up these missions from an NPC or terminal, they exist out in the field on your map. All you have to do is reach the marked location and the objectives will pop up automatically.
Everyone can see all currently available Dynamic Encounters on all maps, and anyone can complete them, though they’re only available for a set time. As old events expire, new ones become available.
Right now, Dynamic Encounters are only available on Hoth and Tatooine, but the interface shows that they’ll be available on other planets. The whole point of these systems is to make the world feel more alive and dynamic, so limiting them to only two planets is downright absurd.
You receive a small amount of Tech Fragments (50-100) and XP/CXP for completing the Dynamic Event and contribute to Conquest Objectives, but enemies at specific events also have a chance to drop pieces of specific Fitted Gear. One such set is the Dark Initiate’s Robes, which you can see below.
You can see which events can drop pieces a given armor set directly on the map when you hover over a Dynamic Event. Hidden Chain-themed events have a chance to drop pieces of the official Hidden Chain uniform (Jetpack sold separately).
A lot of players thought the Map and Utility Bar Revamp from 7.2 was pointless and useless. I guarantee that said revamp included necessary changes to make Dynamic Encounters work. The larger overlay map is an amazing QoL improvement anyway, and I’d hardly consider that useless, but I digress.
PTS Testing Rewards and Objectives
The devs are offering almost all of their old PTS rewards for 7.6 testing, including all the titles, both the physical form AND the astral projection of Kai Zykken’s Magnum Log, and the B1-SAL Probe Droid pet.
| Objectives | Cosmetic Reward | Title Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Complete 25 Dynamic Encounters on both Hoth and Tatooine as a Republic character |  Kai Zykken’s MK-85 Log Mount |  Cutting Edge |
| Complete 25 Dynamic Encounters on both Hoth and Tatooine as an Imperial character |  Kai Zykken’s MK-90 Holo-Log Mount | Strike Team Hero |
| Complete 25 Dynamic Encounters on both Hoth and Tatooine on both Republic and Imperial characters |  B1-SAL Probe Droid Pet | First Line of Defense Strike Team Specialist Strike Team Commander Led the Charge |
| Defeat Propagator Core XR-53 in SM | – | First of Many |
| Defeat Propagator Core XR-53 in VM | – | First Among Veterans |
The Good
It’s clear that the Dynamic Encounters were made by the devs with love. While many of them are standard “defeat X number of enemies” or “click on X number of clickables”, like the Hidden Chain Invasions, there are also a ton of unique events that could only take place on a specific planet.
For example, there’s an event on Hoth where you have to scale up a snowy mountain to pick special flowers for a wandering Ortolan because he’s hungry. The blizzard is an exhaustion zone, but the pollen help keep you warm and allow you to brave the otherwise treacherous climb.
Another event has you helping out a Frazzled Tauntaun who clearly needs a little break from her Taun Fawns. They’re near an icy slope, hoping to reach the top.
The event objective is to carry the Hopeful Taun Fawns to the top of the icy slope one by one so they can slide back down. Yes, it is every bit as adorable as it sounds, especially when a Dark Lord of the Sith is doing it.
This is the PTS, so of course there were bugs and unfinished bits. In this case, the animations and poses weren’t quite done yet, so it looked less like you were holding a live baby Tauntaun, and more like you were stuffing a turkey or doing an impression of Godrick the Grafted.
It’s impossible for me to come up with a smooth transition from something like that, so we’re just going to move on.
I get the impression that these events aren’t as dynamic as they tend to be in other games with such systems. While there are heavily reused event objectives, there seems to be almost no procedural generation that often necessarily accompanies this type of mission to keep things feeling fresh.
I suspect the devs are relying on the fact that you don’t ever remain on a planet for very long to prevent things from getting stale. Yeah, carrying Taun Fauns up a hill is only cute one or two times, but you’ll be leaving Hoth before you have a chance to encounter them again.
On the whole, SWTOR’s Dynamic Encounters are pretty great, and if they can manage to be this creative with quest objectives on every planet, they have to potential to be a lot better than similar systems in other games.
The Bad
I am concerned about how they’re shown and “given” to players. Progress is conveyed through percentages rather than a tally, suggesting that everyone who participates is contributing to the same objective, everyone there will get credit when it reaches 100%, and that the event will disappear when that gathering of players finishes it.
I haven’t seen it play out like that.
Instead, you go to the area marked on your map, receive what is effectively a regular quest, and have until the global availability timer runs out to complete it. The mission sticks around until the timer runs out, so others can come along after you and complete it independently, time permitting.
When that arbitrary timer runs out, the event disappears in the blink of an eye, and you’re left with nothing. Perhaps the armor pieces that drop from enemies are meant to address this, but given that those items will likely be the primary motivator for doing these events, I’m not sure that they can handle double-duty.
There’s no need to make the player to feel like Cinderella did when her stagecoach turned back into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight for what is ultimately a solo activity.
Oh yeah, did I mention that these events keep the MMO aspect of this game at arms-length? Despite being out in the open world, there is no group requirement for any mission. I haven’t encountered any that fit the bar for Heroic difficulty, even the Champion enemies.
I get it, the devs have a difficult time justifying the allocation of development resources to less popular aspects of the game, like group content. At the same time, a lack of support also leads to atrophy.
The fact that all these events are visible on the map to everyone takes away from the liveliness that these events are meant to imbue in the world. There’s nothing interesting to stumble upon if you point everything out. There’s no sense of wonder, discovery, or triumph.
Ubisoft has done that sort of thing in their games for years and has been rightly criticized for it. Now, they face an acquisition because their now former customers are finally catching on.
The best-received games avoid spelling everything out for the player. Breath of the Wild doesn’t give you a map of all the Koroks. Baldur’s Gate has cutscenes that few will ever get to see. Elden Ring doesn’t have a quest log, and exclusively provides information through Shakespearian riddles from often-giggling loons.
Thankfully, the apple isn’t rotten all the way to the core. As I mentioned before, the Dynamic Encounters themselves are pretty good. The problem is really just with their delivery, but I don’t think that will be too difficult to fix.
The Solution
The unique encounters, like the hungry wandering Ortolan and the Tauntaun slide should not be displayed on the map, nor should they have time limits associated with them. Scatter the cosmetic sets currently available on the Specialty Goods Vendors and give them out as rewards for finding and completing these events.
The more repetitive missions like faction base and outpost attacks should be publicized and timed. The events should have better-defined waves of enemies that spawn over the course of the timer and that gradually increase in difficulty, culminating in [HEROIC 4] by the end, with rewards offered on a per-wave basis to participants.
Larger-scale timed events should be added that occur on a few planets at a time across the galaxy, broadcast throughout the galaxy as a news bulletin or something. They would follow the same structure as the repetitive wave-based onslaught missions outlined above but end with a World Boss rather than an H4 mini-boss.
Incentivize participation by letting World Bosses drop themselves as loot in the form of mounts or CM-style companions, depending on what’s appropriate. They’ve already done something quite similar with Lysslo dropping from the Geonosian Hive Queen on Ossus.
Dynamic Encounters have the potential to be an incredible addition to SWTOR, if their problems can be addressed. They also shine a spotlight on other issues that have plagued this game throughout its tenure, primarily related to world traversal, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Another thing you can clean from the currently available PTS is the vast upgrade Ilum’s visuals have received! This planet was beautiful before, but now it trully shines!
