The Double XP Event, some times known as “double XP week” or “double xp month”, is a limited-time event in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This event takes place sporadically every few months or so but does not have a set schedule, and allows players to level up new characters faster than the normal rate of leveling up in the game. Players usually take advantage of this event to create new characters, either to easily see the class stories without any need to do any side quests, or to quickly gain high-level characters by leveling them up efficiently during the event.
UPDATE 2022: Max level is now 80, and Renown no longer exists, and the Double XP armor only works below level 76!
Contents
Take Advantage
In my opinion, the best way to enjoy Double XP is to create a character to see one of the eight class stories you haven’t seen yet. For example, if you’ve already played a Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior and have completed as many quests as you could find on them, Double XP is a great time to create a Sith Inquisitor, as you will already have seen all the planetary quests with the purple triangle you would have needed to do on those characters, and if you’re a subscriber, you should be able to focus on doing just the Sith Inquisitor class story without falling behind in level. Free-to-play players can do something similar, playing mostly just the main class quest, but may need to do at least some side quests.
Leveling Rates
For veteran players, here’s some context for rates of levelling. On my Imperial Agent, I used no special boosts except my innate 20% boost as a subscriber and my natural guild xp boost, and I reached level 50 by the time I reached Voss by doing only the Imperial Agent class quests, which meant I was about two planets ahead of where I needed to be. On my Bounty Hunter, I used every boost I could find including the now-retired bonus XP armor, and did some Galactic Starfighter between my class stories, and reached level 50 shortly after the first chapter, which was about 20 levels ahead of where I needed to be. On a free-to-play or preferred account, you’d only be getting 20% less xp, so if you use an XP boost, which would give you a 25% boost, you could likely get by doing just your main class quest .
See the Class Stories
There’s a lot of great reasons you might want to level a new character during Double XP, but I think the best reason is to be able to see the majority of one class story in a short amount of time. Unlike a good movie you’d sit down and watch all in one go, playing your class story might normally be spread out over weeks or months, and not only would it be spread out over time, you’d also be completing a lot of other quests in between your class story, making it harder to fully immerse yourself in the class story and remember every detail about it without mixing it in with the planetary quests or any side quests you might pick up. With Double XP you can skip all those, and really focus in on just your class story. Because Double XP is also a limited-time event, you might also choose to put your available game time towards your characters’ story, instead of checking out the other activities available in the game like Flashpoints or Crafting. While some of the stories are pretty straight forward like the Bounty Hunter’s, some of the stories have a lot of twists and turns that you may not be able to remember well if you play your story over a long period of time. If you’re looking for a class to play in a condensed amount of time, I recommend the Imperial Agent, as it has the most intrigue and small hints about the upcoming story that you will enjoy remembering and realizing are foreshadowing for the events to come. If you’re a lore lover, the Jedi Consular has an immense amount of lore packed in to it, and you’ll even meet nine Jedi Masters from the past who will share their wisdom with you. If you’re looking for somethign very action-packed, I’d pick up either the Jedi Knight or the Sith Warrior for a good fun class to play through if you haven’t tried either of them yet, as both can feel like a frantic race against time and that feeling is event stronger when you’re also racing the clock of Double XP and ignoring any Twi’lek’s who ask for your help saving their village along the way. If you are working towards the special legendary achievement that you can get for completing all eight class stories, Double XP is the ideal time to buckle down and enjoy some of the best storytelling in the entire game.
Try Different Combat Classes
Another reason to level up a new character fast is to create a combat class you have not tried before. For example, if you played the Trooper Vanguard already but didn’t particularly enjoy the story, but wanted to try out healing on the Trooper Commando, you can use Double XP to quickly level up a second Trooper – you may not even need to finish the Trooper story all the way to reach max level. If you wanted, you could also spacebar through the cutscenes you’ve already seen and blitz through the levelling process, and I’ve seen players report they’ve done this in as little as 6 to 8 hours going from level 1 to max level. If you’re a player with a ton of characters already, you may even enjoy creating different characters for each combat proficiency for a class you really enjoy, so one of your Jedi Consular Sage characters might be “your healer” and the other might be “your damage character”. With endgame armor being legacy-bound, it’s easier than ever to share armor between max-level characters.
Level Up Fast
If you’re looking to level up fast, there’s also a ton of different boosts and unlocks that you can unlock to speed things up even more. The only type of XP bonus that does not stack with the Double XP event is Rest XP, a special type of xp bonus subscribers get by logging off in a rest area like a cantina. All other XP bonuses, including XP boost items, legacy xp boost unlocks, and the retired XP boost armor, all can be combined with Double XP for super fast leveling. I’ve also got a ton of tips about how to level fast including what unlocks you can get to make things easier and all the different xp boosts available in my video called “How to Level Up Fast in SWTOR”. While levelling up though the class stories is going to be fastest for most players, an organized and fast team can also speed run through flashpoints to level up.
Double Rewards
Double XP events are also sometimes combined with Double Rewards events, so make sure to take a look at the event text when the next Double XP event is announced, as often even high-level characters can take advantage of double XP. For example, for the Double XP event I made this video for, the event states it gives “multiple weeks of Double XP, Valor, and more”. Valor is a type of level you gain from Player-vs-Player content for every match you play, and the higher your level the more PvP cosmetic rewards you an unlock including some very unique weapons and nice crystals. The “and more” usually refers to double rewards from Galactic Starfighter, the player-vs-player ship battles you can start as early as level 1.
Renown? Before the latest 7.0 update in 2022, you also receive double renown, but the renown system is now archived and retired.
Checklist
Here is a checklist I made with what I do to prepare my character for Double XP to make it more fun and faster when I play!