SWTOR begins April Events with the Rakghoul Plague

With a real-world pandemic going on, Star Wars: The Old Republic brings back a plague that can be fought with weapons in addition to medicine.

Now that April is finally here, the team over at Star Wars the Old Republic has released its list of events happening this month. And while a double XP event and bounty week are coming, it is the Rakghoul Plague that is beginning the month.

The Rakghoul Plague originated in the 2003 Game of the Year Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic as a plague that existed in the Undercity, though later stories revealed that it originated from the hands of the ancient Sith Lord Karness Muur. There are two ways to be infected; the first is to be modified on the genetic level by the Muur talisman, or to bitten by a Rakghoul, which painfully transformed even the most powerful Force-sensitive into a Rakghoul unless the cure was taken.

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The last known breakthrough in Rakghoul Plague cures was made during Knights of the Old Republic when an amnesiac Revan returned a sample of the cure to Doctor Zelka Forn. Dr. Forn was able to mass synthesize the cure and distribute it at a low cost to all citizens of Taris.

Sadly, Darth Malak’s orbital bombardment of Taris prevented this knowledge from getting out into the greater galaxy.

Three hundred five years later, the heroes of the Republic helped a Republic scientist get their hands on Forn’s serum and boost its effectiveness to create the modern cure seen in the game.

And that modern cure was needed, thanks to the Tionese scientist Sannus Lorrick weaponizing a strain of the plague and setting it against the Tionese Hegemony during a series of flashpoints.

And it is this weaponized strain that the Rakghoul Event is based on. Every other month, some infected individuals somehow manage to get lose, transform and start infecting others. And this leads to a pandemic that leads to The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralization, or THORN, getting involved.

THORN acts as a quest giver for the Rakghoul Event, sending players into the Rakghoul nests to eradicate the source of the plague during the event. And this is done by fighting off the Rakghouls with blasters, lightsabers, explosives, and the Force as they eliminate the threat of the Rakghoul plague.

Some may say it is tactless to run a plague event during the current world situation, especially with how virulent the Rakghoul Plague is.  After all, if left untreated, the Rakghoul Plague can kill a player and spread the plague as they explode. But both the team and most of the player base agrees that it’s nice to have a plague that not only has a cure but can be fought with weapons.

The Rakghoul Event will only last from April 7th to April 14th, and due to where it’s located, it is for levels 25 and above. So if you want to burn off some frustration with the real world plague, log in to SWTOR, head to Tatooine and start burning through the Rakghouls.