What to expect in Update 7.9.1 in SWTOR! (launches August 4)

The developers have released info about what is coming up in Update 7.9.1 (tentatively coming August 8th)! Update 7.9.1 is focused on Galactic Season 11, which is a return of the previous seasons 2 and 4 rewards, with a few new items.

What is in Update 7.9.1?

• Galactic Season 11 – “Light and Shadow” (Fen Zeil & Amity Return)
• New Cartel Market Offerings – “ACCESSORIES” category
• Feast of Prosperity with new reward, in October
• First 8.0 PTS is now online

When is Update 7.9.1?

Update 7.9.1 launches August 4, 2026.

PS currently running events are:

• Nightlife Event Jun 30 – Aug 11, 2026
• PvP Season 10 Jun 2 – Sep 21, 2026
• Feast of Prosperity October 6 – November 3, 2026

What is coming later?

• 8.0 – with tons of new quality of life improvements, difficulty modes and ventures!
• More PTS testing phases for 8.0 content later in the year
• PTS testing for DX12 later in the year
• December 2026 – 15th Anniversary
• December 2026? Game Update 8.0
  • New Story
  • Level 85
  • New Gearing System
  • New Abilities & Combat Balancing
  • New 3-boss Operation in Story & Veteran Mode
  • New Dynamic Encounter planet – Ryloth, homeworld of the Twi’leks!
  • Story, Veteran and Master Mode for class stories and open world enemies
  • .. and more to be revealed!

Twitch Drops

Twitch Drops are a way of gaining rewards by watching players play Star Wars: The Old Republic on the Twitch live-streaming service, where gamers often share their screen while playing games and chatting with the audience. Players have long asked for Twitch drops to be added to the game, and the developers have now put in the back-end work to make this possible for players to gain rewards from.

Once 7.9.1 launches on August 4, to get the Vectron Colette EM4 Mount watch 5 Hours of any SWTOR streamer starting at launch until the end date 28 days later (August 25, 2026).

By the way, I’m live every morning 8 – 10 am Pacific every weekday morning, at twitch.tv/swtorista if you want to come say hi! I’ll be streaming plenty on launch day.

You should also be able to get the poster too.

SWTOR Twitch Drops Guide

Cartel Market Update – Accessories Category

This is a big one. Broadsword has communicated that there’s already lots of little “One item” cosmetics that don’t really have a solid category or place in a Cartel Market that mostly deals in full armor sets. This Accessories category will house stuff like the cool shades or toothpick sort of one-item deals. This opens them up to develop more accessory-like offerings in the future, such as the cybernetics focused update we’ll be getting! More news on those soon.

Feast of Prosperity

Just a new droid customization announced so far, developers wanna know if you can tell what it’s inspired by?

Galactic Season 11

The theme for Galactic Season 11 coming with Update 7.9.1 (likely starting August 18th, 2026) is called “Light and Shadow”. This and last season are going to be different from previous ones – you will be able to to earn the Companions and rewards from previous seasons if you missed them, in addition to some new rewards. Season 11 in Update 7.9.1 will have the rewards from Season 2 and 4, with companions Fen Zeil, and Amity.

If you are unfamiliar with Galactic Seasons, check out the Galactic Seasons Guide.

SWTOR Galactic Seasons Guide and Rewards – Season 11, Light and Shadow!

For returning rewards, the developers said:

• Rewards from Seasons 2 and 4 are returning in GS11 (Armors, Decorations, Weapons, Mounts, etc)
• Players will also see a few new rewards added to the tracks and vendors
• Companion Gifts on the Galactic Seasons Vendor have been discounted and during the season, Gifts for Fen Zeil and Amity will have an even greater discount
• Vendors will be updated with previously retired seasonal rewards
• After Season 11 is completed, Seasons 1 – 4 rewards will be added to the Vendors
• You will not be able to earn the old achievements, but you can earn new achievements that will grant you the old rewards.
• Previous Achievement-only rewards will have new achievements, but the original achievements will remain tied to their original season.

New Rewards for Season 11

“This speeder is the yellow speeder Anakin uses during AOTC Coruscant chase but with the front engines cut off” – Jawaface

Previous Rewards

8.0 Announcements

8.0 Expansion

There is a LOT of new info about 8.0 even though the 7.9.1 livestream didn’t talk at all about the new planet or new story. This will for sure get it’s own article soon in the future, but at a glance, here’s what was mentioned! Keep in mind what we already knew:

• New story on the way (no updates on what it is)
• Level Cap up to 85
• Combat Balance and New Abilities on the way
• New Gear (370)
• New 3-boss Operation
• New Planet: Ryloth

Difficulty Modes

The most exciting announcement is the addition of Story, Veteran and Master mode difficulties for the class stories and open world content in 8.0. More Info

SWTOR Difficulty Toggle for Class Stories being introduced with 8.0! Story, Veteran and Master Mode

If you ever wanted to play Star Wars: The Old Republic in a more difficult mode, you’ll be able to starting in 8.0! Classic and Expert mode are being added to the Ventures system with unique rewards attached to running a dedicated character through all types of content on both Veteran Mode and Master Mode, including the class stories, planetary arcs, heroics, and more! More Info

SWTOR Classic and Expert Modes being introduced with 8.0! (Veteran and Master Ventures)

Fitted Armors & Weapons in Collections

Fitted Pack weapons and armor will be added to Collections. Meaning all of those weapons and armors you have been getting from Fitted Packs from daily logins and Galactic Seasons can now be unlocked in Collections starting in 8.0!

Toys as Abilities

Toys will be converted to Abilities!. That means your favorite Rest and Recharges, Trainers, and more will no longer be items clogging up your inventory and are now abilities that you can put on your hotbar.

XP Levelling Adjustments

The developers will be rebalancing the leveling experience to ensure that players going through the game avoid things like dramatically overlevelling their main story content and leveling up to fast to be able to properly learn their classes

Decoration Persistence

Decorations, when turned on or off, will stay on/off even when you leave your stronghold. This works for all kinds of decorations that are clickable like lights and computers. A player also spotted the Y-axis adjustor in strongholds, though this has not been announced and may not make it to live!

First Operation Boss on PTS

The first boss from the upcoming Children of Nul operation is now available for testing on the Public Test Server. At the moment, you can boost a character on the PTS to level 85 and pick up some free gear, then jump straight into the room where the new boss is waiting to be tested – there’s no trash enemies or hallways to explore.

The new operation will take place on the Engima, exploring new areas of Darth Nul’s massive ship and uncovering more of her experiments on the nature of the Force. There will be 3 bosses in this operation, and it will launch with Story and Veteran mode difficulties. It seems to be only in 8-person mode, with no 16 available, much like R4.

At the moment, the first boss Nul Acolyte is available on Story Mode and Veteran Mode on PTS. I have heard from other players that it is quite difficult, and the first boss in story mode is being compared to the first boss of R4.

SWTOR First Raid Boss for 8.0 Expansion now on the PTS (Public Test Server)!

New Abilities on PTS

The public test server now has the new abilities and passives for these Combat Styles available, with more to come in the future:

• Sentinel / Marauder
• Vanguard / Powertech
• Sage / Sorcerer

New 8.0 level 85 abilities on PTS for Marauder/Sentinel, Sorcerer/Sage and Powertech/Vanguard

In general, all disciplines will get:

• Each Discipline will earn a new ability and passive
• New abilities are earned at level 83
• New ability will be an upgraded replacement to an existing ability
• Upgraded ability will be a shared Combat Style ability

After  7.9.1

What will be coming up after 7.9.1, apart form the news about 8.0? The recent livestream has given us a ton of insight into…

German & French Voice Acting

At the launch of Update 7.8, players using a French or German client will be able to play Galactic Threads with English voices, and subtitles in their native language, but German and French recordings will be coming in the future, date to be announced. The reason the voice acting for these two language is likely delayed even with the SAG-AFTRA voice actor’s union resolving their strike is that German and French voice actors do not have a unified Voice Actors union, unlike the US having SAG-AFTRA. This makes any negotiation with voice actors  complicated and per-person or per-agent, so it sounds like the developers have decided to at least get the English voice acting out rather then delaying the story even further. This delay has continued to Master’s Enigma and Legacy Reborn, with no word on the German and French voices as of Update 7.9.1.

Date Nights

There are about 28 romanceable companions and the developers were hoping to release more date nights in the cadence of 1-2 Companion Date nights per Galactic Seasons. We do not know when the next date nights will come. 7.9.1 Livestream Note: There was no mention of the next Date Night.

Romanceable Companions

• Akaavi Spar
• Andronikos Revel
• Arcann (Update 7.4.1)
• Aric Jorgan (Update 7.5.1)
• Ashara Zavros
• Corso Riggs
• Doc
• Elara Dorne
• Felix Iresso
• Jaesa Willsaam
• Kaliyo
• Khem Val
• Kira Carsen (Update 7.8.1)
• Koth Vortena (Update 7.4.1)
• Lana Beniko (Update 7.4.1)
• Lieutenant Pierce
• Lord Scourge
• Mako
• Malavai Quinn
• Nadia Grell
• Raina Temple
• Risha
• Tharan Cedrax
• Theron Shan (Update 7.4.1)
• Torian (Update 7.8.1)
• Vector
• Vette (Update 7.5.1)
• Zenith

Seasons

We will see the continuation of PvP Seasons and Galactic Seasons – Galactic Seasons Season 11 will be starting in Update 7.9.1, PvP Season 10 is currently running and PvP Seasons Season 11 will starting after that.

Dynamic Encounters

Dynamic Encounters are now available on many planets, with more likely coming in the future.

• Tatooine
• Alderaan
• Ilum
• The two Capital planets:
  • Coruscant
  • Dromund Kaas
• The four smaller starter planets:
  • Tython
  • Korriban
  • Ord Mantell
  • Hutta
• Dantooine (Biomes)
• Ryloth! (8.0) 7.9.1 Livestream Note – These were mentioned to be coming to PTS at a later date!

DirectX 12

The developers have been working on switching the game to DirectX 12 since 2023. Here’s the latest details! 7.9.1 Livestream Note – Dx12 won’t be mentioned during livestreams, keep an eye on Keith’s producer letters for updates on it. “Great Progress” so far.

SWTOR DirectX 12 Progress Update – Frostbite Engine Integration!

Other

Graphic Updates

The developer have been working on graphical updates on multiple planets. So far we have seen graphical updates on…

• Character Modernization (lighting, textures, colors – ongoing)
• Preview Window
• New Alien Skin Colors
• Metallic Dyes and Textures
• Tython (waterfalls and trees)
• Korriban (lighting and textures)
• Hutta (lighting, ambient fog and trees)
• Ord Mantell (newer area)
• Ilum (ice and textures)
• Hoth (ice and textures)
• Banks / Cargo Holds
• Character Select Screen
• Font colors and sizes adjustments for accessibility

We will likely see more in future updates over time scattered between updates.

Dye Changes

In the 7.6 Developer stream in late 2024, the developers mentioned some changes to dyes might be coming. We have not heard more since. This has not been brought back up in a while and may have been shelved in favor of other projects. 7.9.1 Livestream Note – Dyes mentioned quickly, new ones on the way. Not much about changes.

GTN Changes

In addition to the recent changes to the GTN, the developers spoke in the past about potentially adding a buy-order system – you can put in a request to buy an item at a certain price, and other players can fulfill the order. Whether this will be added or not still is unclear, now that the new GTN is up and functional. This has not been brought back up in a while and may have been shelved in favor of other projects.

• This will be an overhaul of how the GTN Works to increase usability make finding what you want easier and buy or sell items at a fair price all while providing you with more Market information than ever before to help players make informed decisions (source developer livestream 7.3)
• We will also be building a commodity order system that lets you place orders for specific items and get them at a competitive price (source developer livestream 7.3)

Crafting Update

New level 80 high-end Augments were added to Crafting in Update 7.6 and 7.7, but will there be a significant re-haul of the crafting system in the future, possibly in 8.0? We don’t know! We do now have level 75 augments, but what crafting might look like in the future is a mystery.

“We are not raising Crew Skills, Gathering or Crafting levels upon the 7.0 release, but they are a part of our 10-year celebration plans. – Community Manager late 2021, before the 7.0 launch”