Behind the Scenes of Uprisings

The Knights of the Eternal Throne Expansion introduced action-packed four-player battles called Uprisings. Since their introduction, there are now ten Uprisings where players can fight against the most dangerous foes in the galaxy. With Game Update 6.2.1, we're bringing changes to Uprisings. For more insight, we sat down with one of our Game Designers, Alex Gold. 

To kick things off, tell us about yourself and what you do on the team

I'm a Gameplay Designer, with a focus on Encounters. This means I primarily design enemy and boss fights. If you're ambushed by an army of Skytroopers or cornered by a hulking rancor, you can sometimes blame me for that.

I've been working in games for almost fifteen years (time flies!). Star Wars and RPGs are both huge passions of mine, so BioWare is basically my dream job.

For those unfamiliar with Uprisings, can you explain what Uprisings are? 

Uprisings are like Flashpoints--they involve a group of four players, working together to take down legions of enemies and challenging bosses. Uprisings however, escalate the action to eleven. They're shorter than Flashpoints, and jam-packed with challenging content. They're great for when you want to jump in and take down an army or two.

There's lots of unique items and mechanics in Uprisings. You can find powerful Tempest Rocket Launchers, summon wild monsters to fight by your side, or mount a turret to fend off incoming walkers. In Trial and Error, it's even possible to become a rakghoul!

Uprisings are also generally more challenging than Flashpoints. Good luck conquering some of these on Master Mode!

What are you most excited for players to experience in our updated Uprisings?

When the Uprisings first came out, it was new experimental content for us, and we were still wrapping our heads around best practices. We've grown a lot as a team since then, so we're ready to deliver a tighter, more balanced experience.

As someone who plays SWTOR outside of work, I'm stoked for the opportunity to experience this content with other players. They only take about 15-20 minutes to complete; they're perfect for when I need a quick adrenaline fix, or when I want to save the galaxy, but don't have a lot of time.

Uprisings have also been rebalanced for Level 75, which means high-level gear will be more important. Most of our changes weren't major--we wanted to keep the spirit of these Uprisings intact--but there's some great quality-of-life additions and bug fixes. Some of the trash mobs have been trimmed down (namely, Destroyer of Worlds). Boss AoE indicators are easier to see in places. Knockbacks and stuns have been removed from several abilities. The boss of Fractured no longer randomly resets. It should be a much smoother playing experience all around.

Also, Uprisings drop better loot now. I think everyone will be happy about that..   ;-)

On a personal note, can you tell us what your favorite Uprising is and why? 

My personal favorite is Done and Dusted. It has a nice flow, and there's a lot of creative boss fights. Done and Dusted on Master was actually my first experience with Uprisings as a player. Our group wasn't super experienced at the time--I lost count of how many times we wiped. But when we finally pulled it off, we were literally screaming into our microphones.

Crimson Fang is also super neat. It's a gauntlet of dangerous foes and boss fights that never lets up. And Destroyer of Worlds is rad, mostly because it significantly changes up the way the game is played. Plus, I have a soft spot for giant terrifying space monsters with lots of tentacles.





Before we wrap things up, is there anything you would like to add? 

No matter how familiar you were with Uprisings before, this is a great time to check them out again. There's some awesome experiences here that you can't find anywhere else in the game. If you're looking for some quick action, Uprisings are the perfect place to go.

Thank you for your time, Alex! As a reminder, players can access Uprisings in three different ways: via the Galactic Command system, Group Finder, or Uprising Terminal in the Combat Training section of the Fleet. Players will be able to experience the updated version of Uprisings with our next Game Update, 6.2.1 launching on February 15th. For more information about this next update, be sure to keep an eye on our newsfeed.