Recover your stolen freighter, pursue Skavak and begin a hunt for the notorious lost fortune.
12 indexed Prologue missions across the starting planet and Coruscant, plus complete guides for Chapters 1, 2 and 3 linked below. The mission sequence is source-indexed; exact doors, map floors and interior navigation still require gameplay verification.
START HERE / Republic / GET YOUR SHIP BACK
Before your first mission: build, gear and credits
Track Skavak from Ord Mantell to Coruscant and keep your freighter in sight. Whether you use Scoundrel, Gunslinger or another Tech style, your Smuggler quests stay the same.
Story ≠ Combat Style: This is a Tech-user Origin Story. You can use several eligible Combat Styles without changing the quests, companions or faction. Your Combat Style determines weapons, attack skills and role. Your Discipline determines whether you tank, heal or deal damage.
Choose how you actually fight
Match this to your character sheet before following the rotation advice.
Gunslinger · Sharpshooter · Damage
Ranged rangeTwo blaster pistolsDamage
Cover-based ranged pistol specialist; all three disciplines deal damage.
Opposite-faction Force Combat Styles require the appropriate Light V / Dark V Legacy unlock or another eligible alignment path. Tech styles are not faction-locked. Do not select a style you have not unlocked in-game.
HOW TO FIGHT / BEGINNER ABILITY PRIORITY
Sharpshooter combat basics
Main attacks to recognize:Take Cover · Use Aimed Shot · Use Trickshot openings
Take Cover → Use Aimed Shot → Use Trickshot openings → Fill with Charged Burst → Recover Energy
Take Cover
Use Aimed Shot
Use Trickshot openings
Fill with Charged Burst
Recover Energy
How to handle your role:Start with the strongest learned attacks, maintain any applicable damage-over-time effects, hit procs or glowing priority abilities when available, and avoid exhausting your combat resource.
Stay alive:Use your cover-oriented defenses, dodge telegraphed area attacks and move when a boss changes its target.
This is a learning priority, not a fixed maximum-level parse rotation. Use only abilities actually unlocked in your Ability Tree (press K). A tank or healing discipline follows a different priority from DPS.
By Imperial Dark Sector
01 / Stats and gearing
While leveling, keep your actual weapon/offhand and armor item ratings current; Mastery and Power help damage. At high-level PvE boss play, aim for 110% Accuracy, then your discipline's Alacrity breakpoint, then place remaining tertiary rating into Critical. Shield/Absorb are not DPS priorities.
What equipment fits this story: Two pistols for Gunslinger; pistol and scattergun for Scoundrel; other Tech styles have different required mainhands and offhands.
Put companions on Healing for forgiving solo leveling and compare the actual weapon and offhand slots before you equip a random purple-quality item. Try Fleet Supplies → Adaptive Gear and level-appropriate modification vendors before overspending on the GTN.
02 / Galactic Trade Network shopping
Look for an affordable compatible pistol/offhand if yours is weak; prioritize practical updates over cosmetics or overpriced 'rare' drops.
Search by an item name, item level and slot, check the credit cost against the same-level Fleet modification vendors, and compare the result with your current equipped gear. Look first for missing earpiece, implants or relics and a usable weapon/offhand. Avoid expensive endgame augments and gear you will outlevel in two missions.
Planetary quest rewards and ordinary vendors are often a better first purchase than the auction house.
Alternative: Armormech + Scavenging + Underworld Trading for outfits, or Slicing to sell useful gathered materials.
These are economic and crafting preferences, not requirements of the story or Combat Style. Buy occasional materials on the GTN instead of dedicating every slot to missions if you have spare credits. For credits during leveling, a gathering skill such as Scavenging, Archaeology or Slicing can be more practical than crafting.
While subscribed you get three Crew Skill slots rather than the normal one free-to-play or two preferred slots, more flexible credit use for GTN purchases, and broader access to expansion content and subscription-restricted group activities.
After meeting the relevant original-story and account requirements, a subscriber can choose a second Combat Style and use loadouts to switch equipment and builds. This does not grant a ninth class story or change your existing Origin Story. A second Combat Style selection is not a temporary respec.
Subscribers can also queue more companion crafting tasks. Availability of some content and perks depends on your current account state.
05 / The endgame in one minute
At level 80, obtain your starter endgame set, then research a discipline-appropriate Tactical and Legendary Implants. Optimize the full set, not each item in isolation. Check whether any special discipline passives change the usual Alacrity target.
At level 80, start with the appropriate gear vendors, ordinary level-80 activities and Flashpoints or Conquest. Harder Operations and PvP demand stronger role mastery, a coherent full gear set and sensible use of defensives. Buying a high-item-rating weapon from the GTN does not replace understanding your discipline.
These five-step priorities cover all 48 disciplines for 7.9-era beginner play; they are not a fixed global-cooldown parse and unlocks vary by level. Exact skills, tree choices, stat breakpoints, endgame item ratings and availability can change. Cross-check your current in-game Ability Tree, item tooltips and group content requirements.
Equip the story weapon and offhand you can actually use. Check item level and compatibility before paying GTN prices; mission rewards usually do the job.
Levels 21–40
Compare quest gear, cheap adaptive modifications and Flashpoint rewards. Replace genuinely outdated weapons, not an entire outfit every few levels.
Levels 41–60
Keep the combat role in mind: DPS and healers do not benefit from tank shielding pieces. Check empty earpiece, implant and relic slots.
Levels 61–79
Save credits for your level-80 build. Avoid costly temporary augments, buy only if drops and vendor items leave a real weakness.
Level 80 · current cap
Progress through Conquest and appropriate group content. Learn the role-specific Tactical and Legendary Implant recommendations before investing heavily in augments.
GTN checklist: correct weapon type, current item rating, allowed level, actual role benefit, price per item, and a better-priced Fleet or story alternative. Sell spare crafting materials only after checking their use in your own Crew Skills.
THE NEXT MISSION, WITHOUT GUESSWORK
Find the quest you are playing
Enter a mission title or NPC name. The search opens the combined story, side, planetary and Heroic index.
Open the Mission Log (L), select the correct purple class mission and read the active objective, not the last completed step.
Open the map (M) and switch to the correct region and floor when inside a building or underground phase.
If the objective marker seems to sit through a wall, search for the actual phase doorway, elevator, transport or nearby stairway.
After a planet finale, inspect the ship holoterminal, intercom and companion conversation prompts before flying elsewhere.
Check for parallel planet leads or mutually exclusive choices before assuming you must complete every similarly named entry.
If the guide does not have a verified entrance screenshot yet, follow the current in-game mission marker rather than a guessed coordinate.
Game version: The combat and gearing guidance above is for the 7.9-era game, level cap 80. Update 8.0, Masters of the Force, is under development with a level-85 cap, new abilities and gearing changes. The official September 30, 2026 developer letter said no launch date had been announced. Check the official 8.0 update →
Chapter 1 is source-indexed through its finale with explicit ship and planet continuation choices. Chapters 1–3 are indexed; current-game interior routes still need verification.
All four Republic Origin Stories continue with the shared Ilum planetary campaign. Finish your class finale and turn-in, then find Lieutenant Ha'laa on the Republic Fleet for Crystal Ball. This is not a fourth class-story chapter.
Next class-story mission: Beryl's Bargain / Nar Shaddaa Landing. Chapter 1 · Parallel Taris and Nar Shaddaa leads. Open the complete Chapter 1 guide below, then use the Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 links above to continue the purple class story. Yellow planetary and Heroic missions are separate.
Verification: Mission names and objective summaries were cross-checked against the published Swtorista/Exarch quest list. No unverified elevator, GPS marker, instance entrance, or combat tactic is presented as certain.
