SWTOR Launches New APAC Server: Everything You Should Know

Broadsword has announced that SWTOR will once again have a dedicated server physically located in the APAC region called Shae Vizla, coming very soon!

The main benefit of playing on a server that is physically located closer to your computer is that ping time is lower, meaning there is less of a delay between when you press a button and when you see something happen in-game.

SWTOR Shae Vizla APAC Server Release Times

Shae Vizla will be released towards the end of this week at the same time everywhere, though Subscribers will get 24 hours of early access to reserve character and guild names and get a small head-start.

We have included time zone conversions for several cities in and around the APAC region.

No Character Transfers to Shae Vizla at Launch

Character transfers to Shae Vizla will not be available at launch, but the devs intend to make them available at an unspecified later date. They claim this is because they “will be monitoring and observing how the community establishes its own identity, guilds, and economy” on the new server.

You’ll still be able to use the Master’s Datacron, Character Tokens, and the Commander’s Compendium, so you can bypass leveling if you want. The only mandatory progression system you’ll have to engage with is endgame gearing, and even then, that’s only if you want to do more challenging endgame content.

Regardless, you’ll need to create a new Legacy on Shae Vizla. Check out our guide on making or transferring a character on a new server for more information on what does and doesn’t come along when you decide to settle in a new home.

If you’re struggling to come up with an idea for a new character, I highly recommend you check out one of our excellent Character Role-Playing Build Guides.

Economic Implications

I suspect one of the biggest reasons that Broadsword isn’t allowing character transfers right away has to do with the credit economy. Players (and gold farmers) can stuff their toons’ suitcases with credits and expensive items when they transfer servers.

They probably don’t want to poison baby Shae with the hyperinflation that still exists on the other servers, even if prices have come down significantly and continue to drop.

Forcing everyone to start fresh lets the devs measure how their post-fixes economy will function in a live, full-scale, uninflated environment. Those measurements will prove invaluable once the amount of credits in circulation returns to its desired level.

Unless they’re employing some kind of monetary magic, the credit sinks the devs have implemented will likely need to be reduced once prices make their way back down to Dathomir after their extragalactic trip to Peridea (you watched the Ahsoka TV Series, right?).

Otherwise, we could experience too much deflation where 1 credit won’t be a small enough fraction to differentiate between low and high value. Low-value items won’t be worth the minimum cost, while no one can afford what high-value items are worth.

I imagine they’ll open up transfers once they have procured the economic data that will help everybody. Hopefully, Shae Vizla’s server identity has been established by that point.

They seem to want you to form new guilds with new toons rather than migrate entire guilds, even though that will still happen to some extent.

Other Odds and Ends

Broadsword offered an FAQ section in their official announcement. I’ve covered much of it already, but there are a few other things about the new server that I didn’t touch on.

PvP and Galactic Seasons

The current PvP and Galactic Seasons will have the same end date as the existing servers, so you’ll have less time to complete PvP Season 4 and Galactic Season 5 on Shae Vizla.

PvP Season 4 just started a little over a week ago and there’s still quite a bit of time left in GS5, so it will absolutely remain possible to complete both. Achievements and reputation will be a bit more challenging though.

If you’re a big fan of lowbie PvP, I think Shae Vizla will probably have the most active lowbie queues in years since a significantly greater proportion of players on the server will not be max level yet. Don’t forget that you can still progress through the PvP season while leveling!

Strongholds and Legacy Cargo Hold

Avid decorators will have a blank canvas to work with, and only Strongholds (SHs) initially purchased with Cartel Coins (CC) will be available for free on the new server. Other SHs will need to be repurchased. Remember, you don’t have access to your Legacy Cargo Hold until you purchase a Stronghold (and have created a Legacy)!

Shae Vizla Physical Server Location

SWTOR’s Shae Vizla live server is located in Sydney, Australia, just like it was for AWS cloud server testing earlier this year.

For SWTOR’s 10th anniversary, both Vulkk and I wrote pieces describing our memories of the first steps with the game. If you are looking to relive yours or just want to read about our experiences from (now) 12 years ago, check these out:

Thanks for reading our initial coverage of the new SWTOR APAC server, and stay tuned for future comprehensive SWTOR coverage. Check out what’s coming in Game Update 7.4 “Chains in the Dark”, the game’s next major patch. If you’re a new player, be sure to check out our Ultimate SWTOR 7.0 Beginners Guide!