End Times - SWTOR KotET Chapter 8 Walk-Through

End Times, KotET Chapter 8, is a fulfilment of a prediction made by Valkorion. At the end of Ascension (Chapter 5), he tells you that “If not for my conditioning, Vaylin would rain death on this world” (meaning Odessen). Vaylin, now fee of Valkorion’s mental prison begins doing exactly that, with the Eternal Fleet attacking Alliance Forces with everything she has. The very existence of the Alliance is at stake as the hellish fires of the Apocalyptically named “End Times” begins. This walk-through is more about story, but there are a few sections with pointers to help you. There are also a couple of bonus missions in Chapter 8 so I’ll take you through those as well. Odessen Assault here we go!

Note: This initial write-up includes Arcann and Senya should you choose to redeem Arcann. I have a character who chose to betray Senya so I’ll update this post with the variances in story when I have got that far!

Get the Gravestone in the Air

As Vaylin seems to have sent all her fleet, and the attack surprised the Alliance, the Gravestone was caught in dry-dock. The first part of End Times sees you battle to the Gravestone and free it from Eternal Empire forces to get it in the air. Once again you have to commandeer a walker (as you did in Wrath and Ruin).

Bonus Mission 1: Key Communication

Here you have a bonus mission – Key Communication – where you need to take out communication arrays (giant satellite dishes).

Some notes on using this walker:

• You have a self-repair ability but, unlock the droid you take control of on Iokath, you cannot self-repair while in combat. The repair ability is also interrupted the moment any mobs respawn.
• Make as much use of your AoE ability – Homing Missiles – to help against the large groups of Eternal Empire forces.
• You need to use Charge Weapons to use the Overcharged Cannons ability. This is a high damage, single target weapon. Most useful against Walkers and Gold Level foes.
• Homing misssiles have a Cool Down (max 30 seconds). This applies even if you don’t have any mobs in range (annoyingly).
• If you lose your walker there are others you can commandeer.

Enter Senya and Arcann

You hear that the Eternal Empire is trying to take the Gravestone. That’s when you get a holo call from Senya and Arcann, who begin despatching enemy forces around the area. You have to reach them to free the Gravestone.

Warning: when you approach the bridge (image below) be careful of the Cannon-mounted Skytroopers. Their pushback can knock you over the bridge. This is more an issue for melée and close combat fighting disciplines.

Luring Vaylin Down to the Surface

At this point Vaylin is in her flagship, managing and directing the battle from orbit. In order to end this war, you need to get her to come and face you. Time to head to the frontlines to be as obvious a target as possible. As you make your way to the frontlines, there are a few things you should be aware of:

• Remember the epic number of Shadestalkers from Visions in the Dark? You’re making your way through the Odessen countryside, so nature doesn’t just sit and watch!
• You get some new weapons in your temporary ability bar. Your Anti-Personnel Rocket is a great AoE ability. Make the most of it.
  

Once you’ve fought off enough enemies you find an Enemy Transmitter to tell Vaylin not to hide and come and face you. The game is on.

Bonus Mission 2: Allies in Battle

Through the battle you come across Allies you can speak to, with nice and obvious green arrows over their head. Sometimes these are Alliance Recruits, other times they are just “Alliance Fighters”. You need to speak to 8 of these. However 2 of them are inside the Alliance Base. These can be found in the room near Underworld Logistics (the same room that has the Companion Retrieval terminal).

Vette or Torian? “Decision Impossible”

Once you’ve gone through the second Walker Stomping session, you are faced with an impossible choice. Both Vette and Torian are overwhelmed and you can only save one of them. Why other Alliance members can’t reach them, I don’t know. But you have to make the choice.

Valkorion says: “By choosing who shall live you also choose who shall die. Are you ready for that burden?”

To which my answer is “No, I’m not, leave me alone!”. Both Vette and Torian are loved characters in SWTOR, and both are romance-able. So this decision made by BioWare was going to hurt. So I had to ask people on Twitter who they chose to save. Here are the results:

(Please RT) ahead of my next #KotET Post: During 'End Times' who did you choose to SAVE the most often?#swtor #swtorfamily @Swtorfamily

— Fibro Jedi (@FibroJedi) February 19, 2017

Whichever of the two you don’t save gets captured by Vaylin. It’s time to fight through the last stage to face the Eternal Empress herself. It’s do-or-die as End Times reaches its crescendo.

Reclaiming the Alliance Base

While I hated BioWare for the Vette or Torian decision, I have to give a big thumbs up for this next bit. You have to fight through a trashed Alliance Base. You know, that safe place with your Alliance Specialists in it? Not safe any more.

As you approach the base there is a Gold Level Zakuul Knight at the entrance – but Aric Jorgan snipes him from a nearby hillside. A great touch!

Reminder: if you are missing two from the Allies in Battle bonus mission, they are in the room next to Underworld Logistics.

Defeating Vaylin in End Times

Because you have multiple allies (at least in my main set-up with Arcann and Senya) you still get healed by your companions. However your main issue is Vaylin’s channelled ability. This is where she sits in mid-air before exploding. This can send you over the edge. Look for a purple circle outline and make sure you’re outside it.

Other tips I would have are:

• Pull her into one of the recesses (e.g. near the ‘normal’ entrance to the base). When she ‘explodes’ you’ll only be pushed into the wall, not over the edge.
• Try to avoid her ‘inner circle’ where possible as she has a stun ability.
• You have some weapons in your temporary ability bar – use them.
• If you’re DPS, consider using Arcann’s Attuned Reflection Barrier. He can’t act, but any abilities levelled at him are reflected back at the enemies.

Once you take Vaylin down, you can finally declare that “We’ve Won”. But it really does not feel like a victory. Vaylin’s left many scars and killed many allies. Here’s the end sequence when you finally take Vaylin down:

The Aftermath

At the end of your battle with Vaylin, she has a burst of energy which looked very much like when Valkorion ‘died’ at the very start of Knights of the Fallen Empire. Arcann sensed it – and felt like Vaylin’s life-essence flowed into you. Here’s the few seconds of video showing this.

Eternal Fleet Goes Haywire

Just as you think you can breathe after Odessen Assault, distress signals are picked up all over the Galaxy. The Eternal Fleet is bombarding planet upon planet, including Zakuul. Why? According to Valkorion, with the Eternal Throne standing empty, there is no one to command the fleet. That makes them revert to “their most primal function” – extermination.

So, whether you like it or not, you have to go to Zakuul to claim the Eternal Throne to stop the Fleet’s rampage.

TL;DR End Times – KotET Chapter 8

End Times is more a Battle of Odessen than KotFE Chapter 15 was to be honest! A real warzone, real assault and real casualties. You had to reclaim the Gravestone and clear your base out of enemy troops. You had to communicate with your allies through the battle. You were, in a very real sense, the Commander.

But war always comes at a cost, often a very personal cost. And that means losing either Vette or Torian. Odessen may be saved, but End Times simply paves the way for Chapter 9 – The Eternal Throne. Are you strong enough?