Star Wars New Update 4.0.3 Highlights

December transforms the Star Wars: The Old Republic galaxy into a festive battleground with six major events running consecutively and overlapping. Unlike typical MMO holiday schedules, SWTOR’s December lineup offers both limited-time rewards and permanent progression opportunities that require careful planning to maximize. The strategic calendar below reveals how these events interlock to create optimal participation windows.

Smart event sequencing is crucial—prioritize Gree Relics during its limited window, then focus on Rakghoul Plague objectives that benefit from Double XP bonuses. The overlapping Anniversary and Life Day events provide continuous cosmetic rewards throughout the month.

The latest game update resolves several persistent technical issues that have impacted player experience. Interface stability improvements prevent the character selection screen from vanishing during deletion processes—a common frustration point for alt-happy players. Guild management receives quality-of-life upgrades with rank setting dialogs that properly reopen when closed via the X button.

Mission board functionality sees significant polishing. The Odessen Heroic Mission boards now operate smoothly even when players rapidly accept new assignments, eliminating previous error triggers. Companion mechanics receive crucial adjustments with Alacrity no longer incorrectly affecting summon speed and transport activation times—this fix alone improves gameplay fluidity for classes relying heavily on companion support.

Stronghold decoration collectors gain valuable additions. Players completing Knights of the Fallen Empire Chapter 1 can now display Darth Marr as a decoration, while HK-55 decoration access issues following Chapter VIII have been resolved. Placed HK-55 decorations now properly show holographic versions when the companion is active—a subtle but important visual consistency update.

Achievement hunters will appreciate the correction to “Kill it with Fire” tracking, which previously failed to register valid kills. These cumulative improvements demonstrate BioWare’s commitment to polishing existing content while delivering new seasonal experiences.

Relics of the Gree (Dec 8-15): This limited-time event on Ilum features the mysterious Gree aliens and their advanced technology. Focus on completing the “Gray Secant” operation for rare legacy weapons and the exclusive Xenoanalyst II mount. Pro tip: Form groups early as competition for objectives intensifies toward the event’s conclusion.

4th Anniversary Celebration (Dec 8-Jan 5): Spanning nearly the entire month, this milestone event offers unique rewards including the Anniversary Mount, special titles, and celebratory consumables. Don’t miss the daily login bonus during this period for additional commemorative items.

The Rakghoul Plague (Dec 15-22): Returning to Alderaan and Corellia, this event challenges players to contain the outbreak while earning Rakghoul DNA samples. These samples can be traded for the popular Tunnelworm mount and epidemic containment armor sets.

Life Day (Dec 15-Jan 5): SWTOR’s equivalent of Christmas brings festive decorations across the galaxy and special snow-covered planets. Complete the Life Day missions on Coruscant and Dromund Kaas for the festive armor and the highly sought-after Life Day speeder.

Double XP Event (Dec 18-Jan 1): Perfect for leveling alts or pushing through challenging content, this event doubles all experience gains. Combine with rested XP for quadruple experience rates during the winter break period.

Bounty Contract Week (Dec 22-29): Hunt high-value targets across the galaxy to earn Kingpin contracts and rare reputation rewards. The bounty hunter armor set remains one of the most visually distinctive cosmetic options available.

Maximizing your December event participation requires understanding the synergy between overlapping activities. The optimal strategy involves focusing on time-limited events first (Gree Relics, Rakghoul Plague), then leveraging Double XP for reputation grinds and alt leveling during the latter half of the month.

Common Pitfall: Many players waste the Double XP window on content that doesn’t benefit from experience bonuses. Instead, prioritize story progression, flashpoints, and planetary missions that yield substantial XP rewards. Avoid spending this valuable time on crafting or stronghold decoration which provide fixed rewards unaffected by XP multipliers.

Time Management: Allocate 2-3 hours daily during event overlap periods. The most efficient sequence: Complete Gree dailies (45 minutes), Rakghoul tunnels (60 minutes), then use remaining time for Anniversary/Life Day objectives. This approach ensures you capture all limited-time rewards while making steady progress on month-long events.

Reward Optimization: Target reputation caps early—Bounty Contract Week and Gree events have weekly reputation limits that reset each Tuesday. Hitting these caps early prevents last-minute scrambling and missed rewards.

For veteran players, the December lineup offers perfect opportunities to complete legacy achievements and collect rare cosmetic items. Newer players should focus on the Double XP event to accelerate through early game content and establish multiple character options for future updates. Check out our Complete Guide for more advanced MMO strategy techniques that apply directly to SWTOR’s event system.

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