August 28th to October 8th

We took a little break from our regular conquest schedule, and explored the new content on the SWTOR public test server (PTS). There are two main areas to check out – Onderon and Mek-Sha. There is also a new playable species, new gear, new mounts, and some PTS achievements. We haven’t played on our regular server as much this past month, it’s been so fun to check out the new PTS content – we are so excited for the Onslaught expansion to launch soon!

Our main goal for playing on the PTS was of course the new mount and titles! We grouped up and joined the PVP queue, and completed ten matches. We hadn’t played around with gearing our ‘newly level 75’ characters up beyond their level 70 transferred gear, so it was a bit messy but still a lot of fun.

Kai Zykken’s MK-85 Log Mount is such a fun speeder – even if it’s slow. As the game notes say, this mount does not increase movement speed at all! It has a cute flourish though – the little handlebar bell rings. Here are Banshila and Toombs taking their new mounts for a drive on Onderon –

Speaking of Onderon, I really like this new planet design! From the details around the Hunting Lodge, to the creatures roaming around outside – I can’t wait to play the storyline here. Also, I want a lot of these decorations for my strongholds!

These guards at the hunting lodge are wearing awesome gear that is also available from the reputation vendor. I’m sure I’ll give it to one of my characters, just have to decide which one! I really like the metallic shoulder/chest armour – I’m curious to see how it dyes as well.

These are two new mounts available from the Onderon reputation vendors – the Heavy Arkonok and the Adorned Grefna. These are saddled versions of two creatures seen roaming around on Onderon – I’m always happy to see new creatures added as mount options.

I love the vibrant colours of the bird-like Grefna creatures, they remind me of a cross between varactyls and raptors. I do enjoy earning new reputation levels, so I’ll definitely be working towards these new mounts as fast as I can when the expansion launches.

Mek-Sha is another new area we checked out on the PTS – it feels like a dark mixture of Iokath and Nar Shaddaa. We didn’t really explore this area too much – didn’t feel like taking on the new higher level 75 mobs without better gear! We did a simple daily quest we found close to the landing area – a quirky digging quest with a shovel.

Checking out some of the new gear available on the fleet, I put together this outfit which I absolutely love! The detail is amazing, with textures, buckles, and even stitching. I defintely need to put this outfit together when the expansion launches – perhaps for a new Nautolan character?

Banshila is wearing the Onderonian Force-Lord’s robe and boots, with Space Guardian belt, pants, gloves and bracers (all purchased from vendors on the PTS Imperial Fleet). The holstered blasters on her thighs are part of the gear!

It has been a while since there has been a new playable character species added to the game, so I am very excited for Nautolans! I found quite a few option combinations I quite like, like this purple jedi consular with yellow stripes. Matt also tried out the new species, with this blue jedi knight.

When a creating new character, I usually roll a few test versions, to see how they look under normal game lighting and scenes. I enjoyed playing this test ‘Cavara’ character, and will probably create someone very similar (I’m a little undecided on the headband option).

I find it too tempting to create new jedi characters, I have to limit myself! I probably have too many characters already, and I know I need to save a few slots for the new Nautolan species. It was fun to run around Tython again as a new padawan, it’s been so long since I’ve done those first quests.

Lastly, back over on the regular server, Banshila reached her personal conquest target and completed the ‘Titans Of Industry’ achievement.

Overall, I’m really excited for the new expansion, and while it was fun to take a break from our usual gameplay routine, I’m ready to get back to it – I need to save up some credits too!

• SWTOR Friend Referral links – MattG and Anaria

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