Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 2.4: The Dread War Launched

BioWare Austin has announced the release of Game Update 2.4: The Dread War for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and with the announcement comes a producer letter as well as a launch trailer.

Onward to an excerpt from the letter:

We are very excited to release Game Update 2.4: The Dread War today. This is our biggest Game Update since 2.0 and includes a story mission area with new missions on a new moon, two entirely new Operations, all new 4v4 Warzone gameplay and Arenas, class balance changes, three new sets of gear comprising some of the most powerful equipment in the galaxy, and new vehicles and mount rewards! Of course this all comes along with the normal assortment of bug fixes, game tweaks, and continued under the hood optimization tweaks.

Located in an uncharted system well off the Hydian Way, New Story Mission Area Oricon is a remote moon that is immeasurably strong with the dark side a perfect home for the feared Dread Masters! After advancing through the Oricon story mission series, players can further explore the ship-strewn, mysterious landscape of Oricon and battle the deadly Dread Guard and their minions via exciting New Level 55 Daily Missions.

The Dread Masters are bent on destroying both the Empire and Republic, but now you’ve caught them in their lair! After exploring Oricon begin your assault by challenging the Dread Masters directly in the Dread Fortress Operation, located in an ancient fortress claimed by the Dread Masters soon after arriving on Oricon. Make your way beyond the Dread Fortress to the foreboding Dread Palace Operation –and battle towards the final confrontation with the galaxy’s greatest threat.

4v4 Warzone Arenas are now active for Unranked, Ranked Solo, and Ranked Team play! These small scale PvP maps reward victory to last team standing in the best of three rounds. Missions and rewards are provided in the same manner as current Warzones. There are three all new Warzone maps for Arena Play: Orbital Station Arena, Tatooine Canyon Arena, and Corellia Square Arena.

Great deeds deserve great rewards, and with Game Update 2.4 Three New Gear Sets have been added: Dread Forged (new tier), Oriconian (new PvE Commendation gear) and Obroan (new PvP tier). There are also exciting New Vehicles and Mount rewards including the Volcanic Praxon, the Gurian Volcano, and the Strike Force Tauntaun!