Play the story · practical starting information
How to jump into this adventure
Where you begin
Your service begins on Ord Mantell as part of the Republic military. Prioritize Havoc Squad class missions while learning the layout of the war-torn starter world. The Republic's capital, Coruscant, is part of the continuing early story route.
What you actually play
Expect military operations, betrayals, recruitment into a rebuilt unit and command decisions made inside Republic institutions. Aric Jorgan is among the Trooper's original story companions; the later crew includes Elara Dorne and an astromech-style war droid, M1-4X.
Worth knowing
Best if you like squad drama and mission briefings. Pay attention to class missions before taking every optional planetary assignment. Do not confuse your Trooper narrative with its old Commando/Vanguard choices: the story and Tech Combat Style are now separate.
For the exact next mission on your character, open the Eras Window introduced in Game Update 7.7. Official Eras Window and Mission Log details · Official story missions. Current UI, availability, and chapter requirements can differ from the original expansion launches.
01 · Position within the galaxy
The story and the institutions it reveals
The Trooper's perspective is that of a working professional inside the Republic war machine. The story is shaped by military ranks, public oversight, classified technology and the difficulty of carrying out orders when superiors cannot be assumed to be right. It adds ordinary institutional logistics to a period often described through Sith and Jedi biographies.
The new recruit enters Havoc Squad during a deployment to Ord Mantell. The discovery of a mass Special Forces defection destroys the squad's trusted internal structure and makes the protagonist responsible for rebuilding it under General Garza's direction.
The protagonist enters the conflict in the position of Special Forces commander and professional soldier. Beginning on Ord Mantell, this narrative unfolds alongside the same Republic–Sith struggle explored by the other seven Origin Stories. A single storyline does not give a complete survey of the galaxy. Its conflicts and choices reveal the assumptions and restrictions facing this particular character, including who issues orders, controls travel, assigns rank, provides knowledge, and defines a mission's success.
02 · Main class narrative
Prologue and the three original chapters
The prologue begins on Ord Mantell. Follow your purple Origin Story missions, then read the three chapter sections below for story direction, important characters and the complete recap. Your current Mission Log and Eras Window, rather than a historical mission coordinate, provide the precise next objective.
I · A Dangerous Betrayal
What you will play
Chapter I — Investigate the betrayal associated with Havoc Squad while rebuilding the team's operational strength. Keep class mission briefings separate from the planets' wider Republic war arcs.
Story recap
Following Commander Harron Tavus's defection, the Trooper tracks experienced former colleagues and recruits a new Havoc Squad. The task is as much about repairing the Republic's special forces credibility as about winning combat missions.
World and character context
Defection cannot be explained solely by personal betrayal; it exposes grievances about command, treatment of veterans, and official accountability. The player learns that the military's public image and its internal culture do not always match.
II · The Return of Havoc
What you will play
Chapter II — Continue assembling specialists and conducting operations across Republic and contested worlds. Each new squadmate is tied to a story assignment, not a class-trainer unlock.
Story recap
Intelligence about a new Imperial superweapon puts the rebuilt unit in a campaign to assemble the people and technical capacities needed to stop the threat. The mission culminates in action against the Gauntlet platform.
World and character context
The military story foregrounds logistics, personnel specialties, and coordination across units. The protagonist's success depends upon institutions that existed before the hero appeared and will continue after the mission ends.
III · Final Showdown
What you will play
Chapter III — The original campaign brings Havoc Squad into high-stakes military confrontation. Decide how your Trooper responds to orders as the missions unfold, then complete the finale before starting major expansion stories.
Story recap
The campaign shifts to a broader invasion led by Imperial General Rakton. Havoc Squad and Republic forces confront the general's operations as war expands toward Corellia.
World and character context
Rakton is a capable opponent operating through state machinery. This makes the conflict a study of how professional competence can serve incompatible political orders, rather than a simple contrast between trained professionals and reckless villains.
03 · Recruit your crew
Where your five original companions join
As you progress the purple Republic Trooper storyline, the crew expands. The five linked recruitment cards below show where each companion joins the original adventure and what to follow next. These are not Alliance Alerts or modern combat-build rankings.
Since Game Update 4.0, original class companion conversations unlock through class story progress, not an affection threshold. Companions can fill healing, damage and tank roles, with their gear serving a cosmetic purpose. Speak with them aboard your ship between planets.
Returning after an expansion? Since Game Update 7.9 (June 2026), Companions & Contacts has an Ineligible for Story tab. It lets you use narratively unavailable companions in gameplay without changing their story status. The older Companion Locator Terminal is disabled. Official 7.9 companion changes
Aric JorganOrd MantellEarly class storyYour first Havoc Squad companion comes through the opening military operations.Companion story and recruitment →
Elara DorneTarisClass storyMeet the former Imperial medic during the rebuilding of Havoc Squad on Taris.Companion story and recruitment →
M1-4XNar ShaddaaClass storyThe Republic war droid becomes a squadmate by the end of the Nar Shaddaa class missions.Companion story and recruitment →
Tanno VikBalmorraClass storyThe Trooper searches for a demolitions specialist during the Balmorra operation.Companion story and recruitment →
Sergeant YuunHothClass storyRecruit the Gand Findsman through the Trooper's Hoth missions.Companion story and recruitment →Connected companion research
Explore Aric Jorgan beyond combat
Aric Jorgan enters the Trooper storyline as an experienced Republic military professional. His service and sometimes severe approach to discipline help reveal what soldiers regard as legitimate command when special operations units fracture under pressure.
04 · Practical gameplay orientation
How to play this story without confusing it with a Combat Style
Choose this Origin Story for military operations, Havoc Squad, companion recruitment and choices about obedience, consequences and leadership. The historical Commando and Vanguard associations explain its visual design, but modern Tech Combat Styles are selected separately.
Starting world: Ord Mantell. Class-story ship: BT-7 Thunderclap. Original Advanced Class associations: Commando and Vanguard. Those associations describe the game's historical class presentation, not exclusive 2026 fighting options.
For all 16 fighting options, weapons, and disciplines: See the full Combat Styles guide →
Open the navigation-first mission walkthrough →
As of the 7.0 system, you choose the narrative Origin Story and your Combat Style as distinct character-creation decisions. Force-based stories select from eligible Force styles and tech-based stories from eligible Tech styles. Further eligibility, switching and additional styles depend on game unlocks, character status and current rules. For precise combat mechanics, compare the official 7.0 rules with the newest published patch notes; avoid using pre-7.0 ability lists as current build advice.
For a first playthrough, preserve your original class missions and speak with companions between major planets. Story decisions may change dialogue and relationships, while later shared expansions can converge on the same broader galactic events. Use the Eras Window to find the next main mission when returning after a long break.
05 · IDS anthropology dossier
Republic Trooper: social meaning of the playable career
The Trooper is the archive's central study of military organization. A unit is not merely its commander: it is promotions, sanctions, equipment, intelligence, specialist labor and public narratives about honor. Player dialogue sometimes invites resistance to questionable orders, revealing the tension between formal hierarchy and moral independence.
Each Origin Story establishes a particular social location rather than an unbiased historical perspective. The character's access to knowledge, legitimacy, patronage and mobility depends on institutional context. For this class, the most productive themes are military hierarchy, war crimes and duty, special operations. These themes are analytical questions applied to fictional material. They should not be mistaken for official authorial explanations, nor should outcomes chosen by one player be presented as the only possible version of the narrative.
An ethnographic analogy requires restraint. The game designs situations in which missions, dialogue menus and reward structures shape action. It cannot supply observations of real communities or evidence that a political theory is true. Its educational value lies in asking how a player learns to act within a social institution, what actions the mechanics reward, and whose experiences remain outside the story's field of view.
Follow the story
Where will you travel next?
Meet the companions, revisit the eight Origin Stories, or discover the expansions that continue these adventures.
06 · Source trail
Sources and continuity
- Republic Trooper complete class story overview · official SWTOR Encyclopedia excerpt
- Republic Trooper · official SWTOR Holonet class overview
- Official 7.0 patch notes · Origin Stories and Combat Styles
- Imperial Dark Sector Old Republic chronology
All storyline details are Legends material; the game's possible decisions cannot all describe one single character's history. The independent analysis on this page is clearly labeled and should be read in conjunction with primary story material.