While Star Wars: The Old Republic is chock-full of flashpoints, storyline and quests, sometimes it’s nice to relax in-game. It isn’t all about gaining levels and gearing up – taking some time out to enjoy the scenery or tidy up your toon can make a nice change from grinding. If you’re at a loose end and you’re not sure what you feel like doing tonight here are some suggestions!

Lovely afternoon for a drive! Source: www.gamezone.com

Go for a run

If your sense of direction is a little less than instinctive and you fancy a look at the pretty scenery, checking out a new planet before you play it can be a nice way to spend some time. Running around a planet without stopping for quest objectives gives you a chance to look around and note good crafting locations and short cuts, and if you like getting those codex points you can stop to kill the wildlife too! Keep an eye out for chests and codex items and your relaxing detour can save you some time later on as well as giving you a little xp boost and bringing in a few extra credits.

Play tag on the fleet

Get a few people together on your home fleet and play a game of Buff Tag! It helps if you’re on voice comms so you can mock each other loudly, but the rules are pretty simple: tag another player with a buff and run away! The Imperial and Republic fleets are great places to try this because clear line of sight can be hard to get.

Give Mako a make-over

Getting sick of the sight of your favourite companion’s colander-style helm? Dig out some of those old commendations you never used five levels ago and indulge in some retail therapy!  As long as it’s orange you can swap the mods and jazz up your entourage.

Mako will like you if you buy her stuff. Source: http://www.torhead.com

Race to the death

Recently we took a look at Galactic Swoop Racing, which promises to be a big thing in months to come. However if you aren’t lucky enough to have a Swoop Racing crew on your server and you don’t have the time to organise a big event you can simplify things a little and try some Death Racing! The idea is pretty simple – decide on a safe finish line, then locate a nice heavy heroic area with some friends. Find a safe spot in the middle and wait for any mobs you killed on the way in to respawn, then rev your speeder and get racing – the first one to reach the finish point wins! Make things more interesting with an entry fee and a cash pot and you could even make a few credits, so grab some guildies and race to the death!

Strut your stuff

Start a dance party in a busy spot and see how many people you can get to boogie with you. I do this a lot when waiting for guildies.

Make some fast cash

Running a little low on cash? Time to clear out all that crap you were saving for a rainy day and never used. Just about anything that can be used to level crafting will sell on the Galactic Trade Network, although you may have to re-list things that don’t sell right away. If you price them right you can turn a warehouse full of old materials, unused gear and modifications into cold hard credits – just search for similar items to get an idea of average prices. Other hot ticket items are Crew Skill missions, augments and any gear that is blue or above. Listing items at the weekend and leaving the auction up for two days instead of one will increase your chances of getting a sale.

Make a few credits! Source: http://www.trippintheforce.com

Dispense some forum wisdom

Whether you like to set people straight about the best levelling spec for Jedi Knights, share your favourite video guide or have a frank ‘discussion’ about the future of the game, the Official SWTOR forums are always full of people looking for advice, asking questions and sharing ideas which you can discuss or challenge (all in the interests of spirited debate of course).

Educate yo’self

Even if you’re finding things relatively straightforward, taking the time to read the latest guides can give you some great ideas. Whether you want to get the best out of your tanking spec or try out a new Crew Skill, have a browse and see what wisdom your community has to offer.

Go on a Datacron hunt

Whether you’re a Jedi or a Sith, there are a few really good guides around to help you find those elusive shiny boxes. Take some time out to revisit planets you left behind a few levels ago and pick up some bonus points (while trying not to fall off a cliff or slide from a pipe into a bunch of mobs). Grouping for this can be highly entertaining.

Gotta get 'em all! Source: http://www.fuseguild.com

Make some new friends

One thing that really makes SWTOR stand out is its huge and varied community. If you’re into Role-Playing, PvP or Operations have a look at some of the many player run websites all over the internet. If you can’t find what you’re looking for why not start your own?

Share your favourite downtime activities! 

We’d love to know what you get up to when you’re taking a break from the heavy stuff or spending some quality time with your guild!