With the release of Patch 6.3 for Star Wars: The Old Republic - The Dark Descent, part of the Onslaught expansion, we get a short story and flashpoint to explore called Secrets of the Enclave. It brings us “back” to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. As a big fan of the KOTOR 2 game, it is such a delight to revisit the wondrous and familiar ruins of the Jedi Enclave. Within SWTOR itself, this is the first time for the player character. I would like to share some of my thoughts on this new piece of story.

If you are only interested in viewing the cutscenes, look for the timestamps related to "Cutscenes", as I recorded the playthrough of the Flashpoint, including the bonus objective, if anyone might be interested to have a look at the layout. This video recording is my very first playthrough of the new story that came out on April 27, 2021.

0:00 Story Intro Cutscene
8:45 Solo-Story Mode Flashpoint Begins
19:30 Cutscene after 1st Boss "Graul"
21:30 Flashpoint Continued (Bonus Objective Segment)
27:55 Cutscene before 2nd Boss "Imperial Squad"
28:33 2nd Boss Fight
30:40 Cutscene after 2nd Boss
34:25 Flashpoint Resumed (Bonus Objective Boss)
41:15 Cutscene before 3rd Boss "Colonel Barden Golah"
44:00 3rd Boss Fight
47:50 Flashpoint Ending and Conclusion to Story

[Story Overview]
The story brings the player, the Alliance Commander, to explore the purpose of Darth Malgus’ visit to the ruins of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. So far, the true intentions of Malgus have been eluding the Jedi and the Republic. Previously during the Jedi Under Siege plot, Malgus also visited Ossus to procure an artifact that once belonged to the Jedi.

[“Revisiting” Dantooine’s Jedi Enclave]
The nostalgia is rather fulfilling when we are graced with the opportunity to walk on familiar grounds of the ruins of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. I remember visiting it many times through numerous playthrough of Knights of the Old Republic II. Really love the similar atmosphere that was preserved as we explore the story told within this Flashpoint.

[Flashpoint - Secrets of the Enclave]
The layout is rather standard like most Flashpoints, with some unique route diversions as you approach the lower level of the Enclave. I thoroughly enjoyed how the structure and details are very similar to the time in KOTOR 2.

There is a bonus objective that requires you to overload some terminals to gain access to another section of the ruins. Brings back memories where you had to hack some terminals to gain access to some routes, lockboxes, and droids back in KOTOR 2.

I certainly made the final boss encounter a little harder on myself, because I stealthed passed the last group of enemies before going into the cutscene. After that, it happens to put them into combat along with the boss fight with Colonel Golah. Just exploring which enemies can or cannot be avoided via stealth.

[My Thoughts on Secrets of the Enclave]
The last time I played SWTOR was up till the release of Iokath. Now that I am caught up with Onslaught, I initially felt that the release storyline for 6.0 content was rather short, but had a potentially meaningful choice at the end where I chose to let my Alliance stay independent for my character’s roleplay.

However, each major patch seems to have introduced some enriching story experience that is worthwhile. I feel that the story of Onslaught is just starting to shape up and expand into something much greater. I am definitely excited to see where the story threads lead, as we also have other side stories developing as well, for example the plot with the Mandalorians infighting.

Secrets of the Enclave managed to deliver a great hit of nostalgia for fans of KOTOR games, and the atmosphere of this story is ominous, just like Malgus’ plans. I am also rather curious with the development of some choices made by players, for example remaining an independent faction with the Alliance. That also technically puts the player’s Jedi character into a Gray Jedi, as you would not have direct connections with the rebuilt Jedi Order.

[My SWTOR Plans]
At the moment, I have only explored the Republic side of the stories post-Iokath, and will be looking into the Imperial side of the story as well.

I have been on approximately a 3-year hiatus for SWTOR, and only jumped back in weeks before the launch of the new 6.3 storyline. Feels great to be back again, as I have many fond memories about this game. Back then, I played DPS exclusively. With my newfound interest in Tanking from World of Warcraft, I decided to re-explore the game with Tank specialization to familiarize myself with the gameplay before I hop back into group contents.

In conjunction with Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you!

Game: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Developer: BioWare Austin
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Some music within this video are part of the Star Wars films soundtrack and used by SWTOR during gameplay, they belong to their respective copyright owners.

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