Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel

Following Karagga's demise, Toborro, a Hutt, assumes control of the Hutt Cartel, declaring himself the new Supreme Mogul and appointing Szajin as his second-in-command. Seeing the weakness of the Empire, Toborro resolves to escalate Karagga's expansionist ambitions, centering his strategy on the planet Makeb, which is rich in isotope-5, a uniquely rare and potent mineral. This substance can distort electromagnetic and gravitational fields, and a single gram can unleash tremendous power. To achieve his goals, Toborro bribes the InterStellar Regulators, Makeb's defense force, to aid in the Hutt conquest. The Cartel then imposes a blockade on the Makeb system, allowing Toborro to commence isotope-5 mining operations in Makeb's core, heedless of the planetary consequences.

Upon being informed of the Hutt's schemes, Chancellor Saresh seeks counsel from the Jedi Order, learning that the Hutts are likely to continue their conquests if left unchecked. Consequently, she commits the Republic to assisting Makeb's populace. Saresh's forces establish contact with Shalim Avesta, the leader of the Makeb resistance and the planet's acting Head of State, helping him to rescue his niece Lemda, a geophysicist who was captured by the Regulators after discovering that Toborro's drilling would fracture the planet. After infiltrating the Hutt Embassy in Talaos City, Makeb's capital, the Republic forces and the Makeb resistance uncover the existence of the Ark, a massive vessel being constructed within the Giant's Spear mesa. This vessel is intended to transport Toborro, his Cartel associates, and their isotope-5 reserves off-world as Makeb disintegrates. The Republic and resistance promptly seize the Giant's Spear and the Ark, repurposing it to evacuate Makeb's civilians to safety.

Enraged, Toborro deploys the Regulators against the Avesta Plantation, but Republic forces intercept them on the Fingers mesa and destroy the Storm Carrier warship, killing Grevin, the Regulator Vice-Commandant, in the process. Toborro then reveals that the Ark is powered by isotope-5 before sending his Regulators to attack the settlement of Tarlam along with isotope-5 droids, powerful war droids powered by isotope-5, though the Republic and the resistance evacuate Tarlam's civilians to the Ark. Desperate for a fuel source to power the Ark, the Republic and resistance forces assault the Sanctuary research complex in order to locate Dr. Juvard Illip Oggurobb, a Hutt scientist and the creator of the Ark and the isotope-5 droids. The Republic forces are able to successfully locate Oggurobb with the Hutt's help in bypassing the Sanctuary's security systems, as Oggurobb wishes to defect to the Republic because he has realized Toborro has gone insane.

Oggurobb verifies that Toborro possesses the fuel rods, but cautions the Republic that the Hutt leader has maximized mining operations, which will accelerate Makeb's destruction before the evacuation is complete. Republic forces then disabled several mining platforms and vented the planet's core, reducing the buildup of heat and the seismic activity, giving them more time. Concurrently, most of the Hutt Cartel's leaders, recognizing Toborro's madness, approach Shalim Avesta and the Republic, requesting passage aboard the Ark. The Republic persuades Avesta to grant the Hutts sanctuary in exchange for an alliance between the Hutt Cartel and the Republic, securing a new ally in the ongoing war. Utilizing a secret passage provided by Oggurobb, Republic forces infiltrate Toborro's Palace to retrieve the fuel rods, confronting the deranged Cartel leader. Toborro unleashes Toborro's Glittering Fury, a formidable isotope-5 droid, against the intruders. After its defeat, the Hutt commits suicide by detonating his isotope-5 stockpiles in an attempt to eliminate the Republic forces. However, the Republic forces escape with the fuel rods before the palace's destruction and return to the Ark, where the fuel rods are installed and the Ark is launched just as the Giant's Spear collapses.

As part of their alliance with the Republic, the Hutt Cartel is directed to provide a new home and resources for the people of Makeb. Unexpectedly, Makeb's destruction is averted due to the intervention of Darth Marr's Imperial strike team. As the crisis subsides, it is discovered that Regulator holdouts and thousands of civilians remain alive on the planet's surface, prompting Supreme Commander Malcom to allocate Republic forces to rescue the survivors and secure the valuable world.

At the same time, Dark Councilor Darth Marr becomes aware of Makeb's valuable isotope-5 resources and dispatches a small strike team to secure the isotope-5 reserves for the weakening Empire. The team crashes on the planet due to Makeb's violent atmosphere. They are contacted by an Imperial agent who tells them to take control of Gravity Hook Seven to secure Imperial transport on- and off-world. Once they do so, they meet the Imperial agent in person, who introduces herself as Katha Niar, formerly of the Ministry of Logistics. She introduces the rest of her team as Lord Cytharat, their tactical advisor; Doctor Nadrin Tro, a Neimoidian scientist; and the Cathar Hanthor and Sergeant Bedareux.

The Imperial team goes to the resort of Solida Hesk, a Makeb collaborator with the Hutts. They learn from Hesk that the isotope-5 is being held at a facility called Stronghold One. In order to gain access to the stronghold, they decide to foment a rebellion against the Hutts to distract them. They track down the rebel leader Pollus Avesta and convince him to attack the Hutts. With the Regulators distracted, they attack Stronghold One. However, they find that the Hutt Archon Szajin has already processed all of the isotope-5 stored there into battle droids. They report back to Darth Marr, who is displeased with their failure. They decide that the only way to acquire isotope-5 is to secretly stabilize Makeb's core, allowing the Empire to take control of the abandoned planet. First, they travel into the planet's core via a mining shaft to locate the deposits of isotope-5 using an energy pulse. Doctor Nadrin finds a way to stabilize the core, but they require Makeb engineers to operate the drilling lasers. They rescue one group of engineers from the Regulators and abduct others from a Republic refugee convoy. They then enact their plan by attacking the drilling platforms to secure them from Hutt forces. The scientists and engineers accelerate the destabilization of the core, allowing it to settle into a new equilibrium before the mantle cracks.

Darth Marr congratulates them on their success. They return to Niar, but find she has been captured by Szajin's forces. They assault Szajin's Palace and rescue Niar, however it is too late, as now Szajin knows about Makeb's stabilization. They confront Szajin, who fights them in an isotope-5 powered mech. After Szajin is defeated, he orders his mercenary leaders to transmit the truth to the Hutt Cartel, but they use the mining lasers to provoke a massive groundquake that kills most life on Makeb, assuring the secret will be kept. They kill Szajin, and Niar dies from her injuries.

During this period, the forces under the command of the Dread Masters manage to acquire the Seeds of Rage. These are potent dark side artifacts, originally crafted by the Sith Lord Fulminiss. The Dread Masters were able to convince a guard to help steal them from the Arcanum, the Sith Emperor's secret storehouse of Sith artifacts and dark side experiments. To spread fear and darkness, the Dread Masters bury the Seeds on various planets across the galaxy. The Seeds warp the environments around them. This prompts both Darth Acina, the keeper of the Arcanum, and Cedral Gend, a Jedi Master, to seek assistance in locating and recovering the Seeds. Meanwhile, the Sith Lord Tagriss launches a raid on the Arcanum after discovering its location, causing widespread destruction and absconding with the powerful Darkstaff.

A mysterious spy, known only as The Shroud, poses a threat to the Republic and Imperial capital worlds of Coruscant and Dromund Kaas.

A key element of Rise of the Hutt Cartel is the introduction of Makeb, a new planet, into both the game and Star Wars lore. This addition brings with it a fresh narrative centered around the Hutt Cartel's conquest of Makeb, aimed at challenging the power of both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel introduces a brand-new level 55 operation known as Scum and Villainy. This operation tasks players with traveling to Darvannis to disrupt the formation of a Hutt mercenary army. The expansion also includes a level 55 nightmare mode version of the Terror From Beyond operation.

In addition to the main Operation, Scum and Villainy, the digital expansion also adds a mini-operation, Toborro's Courtyard, which can be accessed on Makeb.

Included in the purchase of Rise of the Hutt Cartel is the addition of Hard Mode Level 55 versions of flashpoints such as Cademimu V and Hammer Station.

The expansion also marks the highly anticipated increase of the level cap, raising it from 50 to 55.