|
This Adventure area is now live.
Boba Fett has discovered that an ancient splinter group of Mandalorian mercenaries known as the Death Watch are not just the stuff of myth and rumor but are operating out of a hidden location. Boba Fett's network of spies has also discovered that the Death Watch assassins have contracted a heavy contingent of the Black Sun to help them in their unknown plans. Are you brave enough to find out what these heinous villains are up to? Work your way through this new adventure zone with over 6 action-packed new quests and unique new crafting missions to find out what has brought these ancient warriors out of hiding!
Background
For thousands of years, the Mandalorians served as fearsome mercenaries, working throughout the galaxy to help win wars and topple governments. Several years before the Clone Wars, however, the last of the Mandalorians were wiped out by the Jedi. Only Jango Fett survived. The galaxy at large generally believes the Mandalorians to be extinct throughout the galaxy, with Boba Fett possessing the last remaining set of fearsome Mandalorian armor.
Death Watch splinter group is a mysterious mercenary unit, using their fearsome battle armor and training to make credits for anyone who pays them. For ages, this group of surviving Mandalores has remained in hiding on a planet in the Outer Rim. Now, this tiny moon has seen Imperial scouts nosing about and landing supply ships. The Death Watch wants to know why. To help maintain their secrecy, they have contracted with the criminal organization known as Black Sun. The Death Watch and Black Sun mercenaries are keeping an eye, for now, on what the Empire is doing; and they're deciding how to manipulate the situation to their favor.
The Death Watch bunker is their hideout and it contains some very interesting things, including the only crafting facilities in the galaxy capable of making Mandalorian Armor.
The Death Watch Bunker
The Death Watch Bunker is a challenging new adventure zone with over 70 rooms designed for large groups to play through. It is not an instanced dungeon, but access is not as simple as just showing up to the front door. Not only is the bunker guarded by dangerous Black Sun mercenaries, but access to the bunker can only be gained by talking to the one person who might have a clue about how to sneak in...
Adventurers who dare to travel to the Outer Rim, cavort with criminals and sneak into this most deadliest of places will face Black Sun assassins, mercenaries, guards, henchmen, super battle droids, battle droids, droidekas, and blastromechs. Throughout the lower levels of the bunker, players will face the Death Watch bloodguard, wraiths, and even the Death Watch themselves!
Bring Friends!
The Death Watch Bunker is a difficult, high-level adventure zone meant to be played with large groups of players. Should you be brave enough to venture into the bunker, expect fierce resistance, hidden foes and even environmental dangers. This is no ordinary criminal hide-out!
The Black Sun
The Empire's control of the galaxy and the efforts of a ragtag Rebellion marked key moments in galactic history. Underneath these events, lurking in the shadows of the Empire was Black Sun, a vast criminal organization possessed of incredible power and influence. The syndicate's tentacles reach everywhere -- from the polished spires of Imperial Center to the seamiest Outer Rim tavern. Many of the organization's tens of thousands of operatives had no idea that they were benefiting Black Sun, so layered and intricate were the fronts that the syndicate hid behind. Black Sun had involvement in every known type of illegal activity, and its information network rivaled the accuracy and scope of even Imperial Intelligence. Assassins and mercenaries, this fearsome clan of privateers have their own unique armor!
The Death Watch
Having remained completely hidden for decades, the Death Watch will not take kindly to being disturbed and will do anything to keep their hideout hidden and their plans secret. Among the many other foes you will face in their bunker, expect to see the different types of Death Watch Warriors - - the Death Watch Bloodguard, the Death Watch Ghosts, the Death Watch Wraiths and the Death Watch Overlord!
Dangerous Allum Mines
Once inside, players will face many challenges. Mandalorian armor requires special materials so that it may be crafted. To attempt to craft this rare and exquisite armor, players will have to search the depths of the allum mines. The allum mines below the bunker are contaminated with bad air and the miner's air filtration systems are not working correctly; so players will have to find or build environmental protection masks. Although gas masks can certainly be found inside the bunker and out, players will have to go inside the bunker with an able crafter who has the correct skills to modify gas masks to filter out the deadly allum mine gas.
From there, they will have to gather all the necessary components and remain in the company of a crafter with the right skills to craft this mighty armor.
On Mandalorian Armor
Mandalorian Armor is a distinct set of armor worn by Jango and Boba Fett in the Star Wars movies.
The inclusion of this armor has been a source of much discussion since the saga of Star Wars Galaxies first began. When we first announced that we would finally be adding this unique armor to the game, LucasArts Producer, Haden Blackman (A.K.A. Shug_Ninx) stopped in to the community forums to talk about some of the design decisions.
Shug had this to say back in March:
"During our recent Dev Chat, we hinted at the fact that Mandalorian Armor will be added to the game via a new dungeon we're working on now. This caused some confusion among some players who thought that Mandalorian Armor was already in the game... Let me clear that up.
Short Answer: Mandalorian Armor has existed since launch, but we haven't given you a way to find it/make it/buy it...
The Long Answer: We've had the Mandalorian Armor assets for some time (since well before launch), but we've always struggled to find a good way to integrate the armor into the game. Like Jedi, we didn't want Mandalorian Armor to become commonplace - it's supposed to be rare armor worn by an elite crew of mercenaries (who, by this point in the timeline, have been all but wiped out). We knew that bounty hunters would covet a suit of "Boba Fett's armor," and would feel "cheated" if just anyone could make, buy, or recover Mandalorian armor. So, there was some back and forth before launch about how to best implement the armor, and the best choice seemed to be by folding it into some kind of dungeon or quest progression. As many of you also know, however, we're sensitive to cutting crafters out of the economy - we didn't want there to be an over-abundance of "uber-loot" items that remove the combat professions' dependency on crafters (as the game has evolved, we've become more open-minded about the types of loot we can drop, but we're still cognizant of the crafters' needs). During the race towards launch and in the weeks that followed, we just didn't have time to devise a dungeon or series of quests that could provide Mandalorian armor in a compelling manner (with a good backstory, which is really important to me, especially in this case) *and* remain true to our design goals regarding crafters.
A few months ago, a LucasArts employee who plays the game religiously started a grass-roots crusade to get Mandalorian armor into the game. I was sympathetic, but we had so much on our plates already. Fortunately, during a review of the dungeon assets in development, we discovered a rundown mine that nobody was sure how to populate. To me, it seemed like the perfect hideout for a gang of mercenaries - and thus, we decided that it would become the lair of the Death Watch, an offshoot of the Mandalorians. I'm not going to give away too many details, but I'm really excited about the direction for the dungeon and I think it's going to make both powerful combat characters and skilled crafters happy...
Stayed tuned in the coming weeks. Before you know it, you'll be battling your way through Death Watch assassins and soldiers in search of one of the most iconic outfits in the Star Wars lore. Just make sure you know a good Armorsmith... "
Haden Blackman
LucasArts Producer
|
