A new story patch is out, and of course I have to offer my thoughts on it.
7.3: Old Wounds follows immediately on from Ruhnuk, and both us and Shae Vizla are seeking answers about Nul and her datacron from Darth Malgus before it potentially gets too late. We're also invited to Voss, as Sana-Rae and Arcann finally have answers from the expedition we sent them on towards the end of 6.0.
There's a fair bit to cover, so let's get started!
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The Good
The Story
7.3's storyline is a good solid chunk of stuff. We finally begin to get answers about Nul, even if the nature of the holocron frustratingly still eludes us. Turns out that she was originally a Jedi before being captured by Sith, although it's handled in such a way that the Jedi don't come out entirely sympathetic either. For all intents and purposes, Nul's story highlights Malgus's comments about the injustice of both Sith and Jedi calling the shots for as long as they have been and how that should change.
Of course, speaking with the benefit of knowing what happens 3,000 years later, it's clear that not much does change in the long-run, but it is certainly possible for a short-term and massive change to the status quo as dictated by Malgus.
Speaking of Malgus, I have to doff my proverbial hat to Jamie Glover. Malgus in this update is a combination of how we've always known him, from grand posturing to dismissing the trivial concerns of those who legitimately do not understand his work, and something completely new and unforeseen. Exhaustion.
After Shae fails to get the information she desires from Malgus about the location of Heta Kol - to be fair, while he is aware of her, it sounds very much like he wasn't actually planning on her being a part of galactic affairs, something which Shae seemingly refuses to accept - Malgus just sounds so defeated. Like this is his life's goal, people keep on getting in the way, and he's legitimately concerned that he will live out the rest of his days and the galaxy will just keep on being the way it has always been. To make matters worse, the one person in the whole galaxy who might have understood him... is his enemy.
If it's purely acting, and he's merely attempting to drum up sympathy for him, it's phenomenal acting on his part. I may not particularly like dealing with Malgus, but that moment there really did hit home. It's worth considering that Malgus is in his 70s, with his broken body held together by bolts and wiring, so even if he is stronger than many other Sith, he is ultimately still just an old man potentially nearing his twilight years. I can't blame him for feeling that his life's work is ultimately going to end up being for naught, nor can I blame him for trying to use that trick if it ultimately ends up being so.
The most interesting thing about Malgus comes not from our discussion with him, but with the new representatives of The Three on Voss after all is said and done. They highlight two things: firstly, that while Malgus "dreams", he is in the process of awakening something that will bring great chaos to the galaxy; and secondly, that if he dies then the chaos will come all the sooner. BioWare are hardly subtle about foreshadowing potential plot-points, so while part of me thinks this is just that Voss being dramatic, another now believes that this will end up being the final dramatic twist of 7.0: Malgus either dying outright or having his life fall in our hands.
All we know for sure is that at some point this expansion, we will be presented with a significant choice, and this will determine the path going forward. I can't see this being anything other than the set-up for 8.0, as it's unlikely that such a big decision will lead to anything other than an expansion-level event. We shall see what that decision is when the time comes, and what impact it is likely to have going forward.
On Voss itself, meanwhile, we get a nice little catch-up with both Arcann and Sana-Rae. Arcann, of course, feels the weight of Nul's corruption as he knows all too well what his father's influence could do to people, and Sana-Rae ends up revealing that she's basically become an outsider herself. The Three apparently didn't mind her helping outsiders while the war against Zakuul was going on, but now it's over and she's still helping us, they legitimately cannot understand why she is not returning when she should. Thus, by voss tradition, a voss mystic who does not return when needed is effectively shunned by The Three.
It's an interesting addition to Sana-Rae as a character, as it shows that she's putting her ties to the Alliance before her species' own traditions, but it does very little to make the voss seem sympathetic. Not that they already weren't suffering from haughtiness before this update, of course...
The gormak, however, come away really clean from this update. While a few of them do side with Czerka as a result of the still-fragile trust between the two once-warring factions, ultimately Czerka (of course) still end up being the bigger villains. The gormak are treated as honest, if easily manipulated, and the voss honestly come away feeling the worse for wear by essentially allowing this lack of trust to fester without bothering too much to try and fix it.
Fortunately for both groups, that's what we end up doing. It's nice that a decent part of this update actually has us try to patch things up before the story wraps up, rather than ending the story and then unlocking the joint efforts missions as most other zones with repeatable missions are. It's also nice to get an update on the voss-gormak alliance and see it actually kinda-working-out even with the bumps, so again I must say that I want to see more of this elsewhere.
How about Alderaan? Hint, hint.
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The Interpreter's Retreat
After the complete mess that was Ruhnuk, with its navigation troubles and at times ridiculous mob pulls, the Interpreter's Retreat is a very welcome breath of fresh air. No confusing tunnel networks, no annoying mob groups, just a nice easy-to-traverse area with relatively stress-free combat opportunities.
The extra and repeatable missions aren't too bad, either. I really quite like the daily in the gormak cantina, and it's nice to see a race that the base-game tries its damnedest to present as savages actually get their chance to shine and show how civilised they really can be. Wonderful stuff.
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The Shrine of Silence
After years of getting flashpoints that are the end-point of the newest story, or indeed are the central focus of the newest updates, it feels so nice to finally get one that's just another thing to do rather than a key part of the new story. Honestly, it makes you realise just how much you miss that concept of a nice and completely self-contained flashpoint with no other story elements required to understand it.
The fights themselves are also quite interesting, with two notable mechanics which I have seen before in other MMOs now working their way into SWTOR. You have the circle that grows in phases on the first boss, Tantrum, and you have the inverse-circle where the safest part is right by the boss (and is often but not always followed by the inverse) on the bonus boss.
The one gripe I really have with this flashpoint is that the bonus boss is actually part of a missable puzzle. When unlocking the first boss door, if you take all three lights to the first shrine you completely bypass the opportunity to unlock the secret shrine, something I was not aware of until I first tried it with some guildies in master mode. I sat back and let them figure it out as I was trying to stay silent on things like mechanics and secret achievements for their benefit, but since I had only ever done it the secret way even on the PTS I was unaware of what we'd miss out on until they solved it the 'right' way. I stepped in and informed them that the bonus wasn't showing up in doing it that way, so we reset the instance.
I mean, I don't mind a flashpoint puzzle, but I do feel it's a bit odd to restrict a whole other boss behind completing it a certain way. That's the sort of thing ESO does, and... no, don't try to be ESO, SWTOR!
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The Eeehhhhhs
Mandalorians
In amongst all of this, we're treated to a follow-up cutscene of how Heta and her forces are recovering from Ruhnuk. Sa'har tries, and initially fails, to help her brother Ri'kan use the Force, showing that she still has compassion for him even if he rejects her attempts. After all, Heta found him, Heta showed him freedom, that has to mean she has his best interests at heart more than his sorcerer sister does, right?
...right?
Ultimately, Heta once again proves that she's only interested in those who are able to get what she wants without showing any signs of weakness. She summarily executes Dar'manda forces if they're present alongside Bask Sunn for their trick on Ruhnuk, presenting him as the reason she lost even if the machinery wasn't used on her (she can't look weak herself, of course), and deliberately ignores Ri'kan's attempts to muscle up close to her when announcing who among them will be privy to her full plans.
So once again, much like the end of Ruhnuk, we get the idea that Ri'kan feels more and more displaced by his sister. She got taken by the Jedi. She found Heta's newest weapon. She alone gets to know the full plan alongside Heta. That's gotta sting.
The reason why this is in the "Eeehhhhhs" section is because this just feels like wrapping up loose ends more than actually revealing anything meaningful other than Ri'kan's Force-usage being linked to his pure rage, which we already saw in the Disavowed trailer! The Dar'manda were honestly never going to be a force in Heta's army going forward the moment Bask Sunn made his offer in 7.2, so this 'twist' again just feels like mopping up more than anything.
Plus, again, this is just more "the plan, the plan". Get on with it. For goodness' sakes, if we're still waiting to find out what "the plan" is when 8.0 gets here...
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Tau and Rivix
After the brief preview of 7.3 given in the developer stream, you'd think that Tau and Rivix would be key characters throughout, right? They're in 7.3 for about five minutes, first shown duelling each other for the remnants of Nul's lightsaber, before then bringing it to us and kickstarting the conversation with Malgus.
Then that's it.
I mean, it's still good to see them, especially as this is the first time Rivix appears for Republic characters (not that we ever get to see him with our own characters, of course), but this is just another expository cutscene which we have no involvement in and is just bringing us up to speed. As Shin noted in this blog entry these are honestly something of an oddity in a game that's meant to be telling our story. At least this isn't as egregious as the Mandalorian example, as the hilt does play a part later on, but still...
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Conclusion
Yep, no "Bads" I can think of to note down!
On the whole, 7.3 is a really nice update. The story is of decent length, even if most of it is running around the retreat doing the joint efforts missions, but it still works well enough. The plot-thread about Nul's holocron is just getting more and more tiresome, and I really hope we get some actual answers soon.
I'm now really interested in seeing where Malgus's story goes. As mentioned, his slumping and almost defeatist attitude is really quite disarming in just how different he is to his usual self, and Jamie Glover really knocked it out of the park there. While I originally wanted to see a flashpoint surrounding the breakout, I can now honestly see us freeing Malgus and teaming up with him in an attempt to wrest the datacron from Heta's hands.
Seems like the sort of outcome that would fulfil both the "...nothing lasts forever" comment regarding his and ours continued enmity and the warning about how Malgus must live. That last bit certainly suggests he'll be fighting again sooner rather than later, and with us in the immediate vicinity. Quite what all that will result in, and when, remains to be seen...
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