Makeb GSI Missions Guide

The below guide was originally written by FJ Brodie for his website FibroJedi. After he decided to shut the site down, I decided to reproduce this and his other GSI guides on my blog - with his permission of course. I also made a few small amendments to update them for the current level cap and to add some new information. You can still find an archived version of his original guide here. 

One of my favourite planets in SWTOR is Makeb. It’s sunny, picturesque and the music is relaxing. Although it has a few weekly Heroic Missions, once you’ve done Rise of the Hutt Cartel, there’s little reason to return – except maybe to gather crafting materials. However Makeb GSI Missions are relaxing repeatable daily/weekly missions. They also crop up occasionally in conquest. So here’s my guide, enjoy!

Makeb GSI Missions Locations Map

There are 5 GSI Missions available on Makeb. As with Tatooine, there are 4 ‘standard’ quests and one ‘Heroic’. There's also a weekly that requires you to complete 10 GSI Missions in one week and will get you bonus reputation and rewards.

Here’s the map showing where each mission is:

Quake Engines

This Makeb GSI mission takes place in the Westwater Settlements. If you’ve completed Rise of the Hutt Cartel, then the Hovertanks in this area are ‘Yellow’, meaning they don’t attack on sight. There are small regulator patrols, but you can clear this GSI Mission with minimal (and sometimes no) enemy interaction.

The aim here is to find three Vibration Emitters and dig them up using your Seeker Droid. These look like little black boxes with antenna sticking up. They rarely spawn near each other, so your best bet is to run/ride around looking for them. As with the Tatooine missions, using your eyes will save you a world of pain compared to using the droid and moving a few paces!

Here are a couple of screenshots showing what the vibration emitters look like:

Quake Engines Mission Rewards

• Repair Toolkit: Small Reputation increase with Galactic Solutions Industries
• Credits (at Level 80): 18,630

Origins of the Makrin

Makrin are a tree-like creature native to Makeb. I think they also appear on Odessen in KotFE Chapter 12 – Visions in the Dark. Young Makrin emerge from the ground shedding Proto-Bark Casings in the process. It is these barks that Galactic Solutions Industries need you to dig up.

Finding the Makrin

To find them you’ll need to travel to the Sunken Pool on Frinn Mesa. The Imperial entrance is marked below. Republic characters need to enter the clearing from a narrow gap in the cliffs to the north (around 1210,2110).

For the Imperials at least, once you’ve travelled there once, there is a quick travel point to save the hassle of the long trek. This Sunken Pool is serene and beautiful, but the creatures there aren’t always friendly!

Proto-Bark Casings can be really obvious (looking like a huge branch), but mostly they are small, unassuming shreds of wood. They do trigger a ‘tooltip’ when you hover your cursor over them.

Use your Seeker Droid to dig up three of these Makrin Proto-Bark and the mission will complete automatically once you dig up the third one. Oh and Makrin look pretty, but when you anger them, they are terrifying!

Origins of the Makrin Mission Rewards

• Repair Toolkit: Small Reputation increase with Galactic Solutions Industries
• Credits (at Level 80): 18,630

The Unbreakable Code

This mission takes you deep into Regulator Territory. You will need to defeat a few regulators and trash some droids on this one. Oh, and probably sacrifice a few lizards and Tonitrans (bring me back a steak if you do, okay?). The premise here is quite straightforward. You head to The Sanctuary area of Makeb and are looking for Four Transmission Towers. These are marked clearly on your map, but there are a lot of similar towers in this area! The Unbreakable Code is a Macrobinocular Mission. Get the towers in your sights, scan them, then upload the data to GSI Headquarters using the handy quick button in the mission list. Job done!

Unbreakable Code Mission Rewards

• Repair Toolkit: Small Reputation increase with Galactic Solutions Industries
• Credits (at Level 80): 18,630

Volcanic Metals

Time to head deep underground in the Volcanic Mesa on Makeb. Your mission here is to dig up a sample of Burnished Volcanic Metal in each of the four areas. These are hard to spot (see screenshot below). But again you are better using your eyes than relying on your Seeker Droid.

You will also have to be careful of the creatures here. There are gold- and white-level foes in this area. Even the ‘weak’ enemies have an annoying push-back ability which can send you flying into the lava. So try not to burn up during this mission!

You need four burnished volcanic metals. And you won’t be able to dig up more than one from each of the four zones. Your Seeker Droid will say that it cannot find anything to excavate, even though there are multiple samples in each zone. So be prepared to fight off (or if you have stealth, sneak around) plenty of critters.

Get your four samples and your mission will auto-complete.

Volcanic Metals Mission Rewards

• Repair Toolkit: Small Reputation increase with Galactic Solutions Industries
• Credits (at Level 80): 18,630

Guarded Research [Heroic 2+]

Guarded Research is a two-stage mission, similar to A Droid Defiant on Tatooine. You are after a set of schematics that Galactic Solution Industries wants to get their hands on, held somewhere in the Hutt Strongholds region of Makeb. As the [Heroic] tag implies, this is the hardest of the Makeb GSI Missions. Here we go…

Stage 1: Scan Three Communications Satellites

If you’re playing as an Imperial, two of these are visible from just outside the taxi area. The third you will need to travel on foot or ride around. I advise on foot as there are regulator forces, static and running around. And there are sentry cannons also manned by Regulators. So, unless you have stealth on your side, you’ll have to fight through some. Even if you do have stealth, there are stealth-detection droids scattered throughout this region.

As a Republic player, you'll have to travel a bit further to be able to scan all three targets. Be aware there are a lot of satellite dishes in the Hutt Strongholds, but you need the specific three to triangulate the location of the schematics.

Stage 2: Revealing the Schematics

Once you have all three, the location of the Schematics is revealed. And the hard work starts! I had a lot of trouble as a healer on this mission. Much easier with player DPS and companion heals, though a high influence level companion is advisable here.

Room 1: There is a panel half-hidden behind some crates. Interacting with this will trigger an alarm. Two sentry turrets will spawn and a gold-level NPC runs into the room. Despatch the turrets – they tend to target your companion so take those down as best as you can. Then kill the human. Heal up!

Room 2: There is a similar panel in room 2 as in room 1. This time however, two gold-level droids emerge from the lockers. Just focus on destroying the one with HL in its name first, as it heals the other one. If it gets stuck in its locker and you become unable to target and hit it, try running around an obstacle or a corner to break line of sight and force it to come out.

Room 3: The Rogue Mercenary Captain

Finally you get to your boss. Good time to trigger Heroic Moment. Some of his abilities are quite devastating, but the Rogue Mercenary Captain is not immune to interrupts, so make the most of that fact. Once you’ve dispatched this guy, collect the schematics from the Terminal that was behind him and the mission will complete automatically.

Guarded Research Mission Rewards

• Repair Toolkit: Medium Reputation increase with Galactic Solutions Industries
• Credits (at Level 80): 29,064

TL;DR Makeb GSI Missions

Although they took time to explain, the Makeb GSI Missions are quicker than those on Tatooine as there is less wandering around. The Heroic 2+ is pretty tough, but that balances the more easy-going four other missions. If you’d like more details about how to acquire your Macrobinoculars and Seeker Droid, you can check Swtorista's guide. May the Force Be With You. 

Hoth GSI Missions Guide

The below guide was originally written by FJ Brodie for his website FibroJedi. After he decided to shut the site down, I decided to reproduce this and his other GSI guides on my blog - with his permission of course. I also made a few small amendments to update them for the current level cap and to add some new information. You can still find an archived version of his original guide here.

Welcome to the back of beyond – also known as Hoth! Even on this snowball, Galactic Solutions Industries has research to do. And, of course, you’ve been coopted to do that research. So here’s my SWTOR Hoth GSI Missions Guide! I’ve included notes, screenshots and a couple of videos to help guide you through the icy wastelands.

Picking up the GSI Missions

Once you arrive on the surface of Hoth from the Space Station, you’ll need to locate the GSI Missions Terminal. In the past you also had to return to this terminal to hand in some mission items, but with patch 7.0, all the GSI dailies on Hoth were changed to auto-complete as soon as you fulfil the last objective.

Imperial: Inside Dorn Base

For the Empire, the GSI Terminal is right near where you properly start the Hoth story arc.

Republic: Exit of Aurek Base

For the Republic faction, the Terminal and dropbox are found right by the TaunTaun vendors.

Quick-slotting the Seeker Droid and Macrobinoculars

If you haven’t completely finished The Shroud and the Dread Seeds questlines, you can find your Seeker Droid and Macrobinoculars in the Quest Items tab of Inventory. You’ll find GSI missions easier if you just quick-slot these, rather than keeping the Inventory UI open.

Missions

Some of the Hoth GSI Missions inter-link. This means you can often progress two of them at the same time. I’ve tried to remember to note down where this is the case to cut down travel time.

Crash Courses (DAILY)

Hoth has, apparently, a particularly strong gravitational pull. This has led to a number of starship wreckages scattered across the planet. For reasons we probably don’t want to know Galactic Solutions Industries want to figure out how to replicate the effect. The mission involves scanning wreckages and downed escape pods so GSI can reverse engineer the effect.

Crash Courses: Notes

Mission: Scan Crashed Ships or Escape Pods × 4
Region: Clabburn Tundra, one in Crescent Canyon

• If you’re playing an Imperial-faction character, the wreck at -3984,540 (Wreck 2 in the video below) is surrounded by Republic soldiers and the occasional Talz. You may need to clear a few out to scan it without being attacked.
• If you’re playing a Republic-faction character, the wreck at -2522,-465 (Wreck 4 in the video below) has Imperial mobs on the approach to it. Because of a dip in the snow you can’t really scan it from afar, so defeating some Imperials will be necessary. But I’m sure you won’t mind: there is a war going on, after all!

Note: this wreck is en route to one of the sites for Picking up the Pieces so it make sense to complete this mission at the same time as Crash Courses.

Mission Rewards (Assumes L80)

• Credits: 18,630
• Reputation: Repair Toolkit (Small Galactic Solutions Industries gain)

Picking Up the Pieces (DAILY)

Despite extensive funds and influence, the White Maw Pirates have made off with research data from GSI’s Superweapons Division. Data breaches are not just our galaxy’s concern! GSI want that data returned.

Thankfully (for GSI at least), the pirates’ ship crashed into Hoth, presumably thanks to the gravitational pull mentioned in Crash Courses.

Mission Summary: Scan and Recover Crashed Ship Parts
Regions: Clabburn Tundra, High Mount Ridge and Glacial Fissure

This is one of the Hoth GSI Missions with a random element in it. There are five possible locations where the research data may have crashed. The mission will not complete until you’ve found the specific crashed ship containing it. But the “correct” ship may differ each time you do Picking Up the Pieces.

Site 1: Crescent Canyon (Clabburn Tundra)

This wreck is near the most Northern point of Crescent Canyon. It is filled with Imperials and the occasional Wampa.

Site 2: Highmount Road (Highmount Ridge) -1635,471

Road! Ha! Please note this coordinate is not in the tunnel-like section lower-down but up on top. If you can see this view, you’re in the wrong area.

Apart from the occasional Ice Cat, nothing should bother you here.

Site 3: Highmount Bluffs (Highmount Ridge) -740,1607

This crash site is South of Leth Outpost (Imperial). The path South is patrolled by White Maw Pirates and their droids. Further South are Ortolans and Talz (Republic allies). Once you’ve passed the Ortolan camp, the path is easy to the next wreck.

Site 4: Eruption Impasse (Glacial Fissure) – 620,386

This crash site is in the same area (and on the same level) as the volcanoes for Forged in Fire. So if you haven’t found the GSI data yet by wreck 4, do Forged in Fire at the same time. 

Site 5: Northern Whitelands (Glacial Fissure) – 900,-862

If you have yet to complete Warped to the Core, then the Ambria’s Fury is just a short distance from Wreck 5. Aside from the occasional Talz (Republic allies) and Ice Cat, you should be fairly safe from interruptions while scanning this wreck.

Picking Up the Pieces Rewards (Assumes L80)

• Credits: 18,630
• Reputation: Repair Toolkit (Small Galactic Solutions Industries gain)

Beneath the Spires (DAILY)

Crashed ships of recent origin are one thing. Ancient starships buried under many centuries of ice and snow is a totally different matter. Galactic Solutions Industries believes unearthing (or un-icing?) these starships would be valuable to their research.

FJ’s Note: despite the Seeker Droid seeming to just scratch the surface when it “digs”, apparently that cable can excavate starship parts from under many layers of snow and ice!

Mission Summary: Dig Up Ship Components Near Ship Debris × 3
Region: Jagged Plains, Clabburn Tundra

Health Warning: World Boss Gargath may be wandering around here. He was there when I was! Aside from that there are plenty of Whitefangs lurking around here too.

All you need to do is locate 3 × Ship Debris (see screenshot below). Then excavate them with your Seeker Droid. You can hover your cursor over scrap metals. The hover text will then confirm if it’s ship debris.

Once you've dug up three pieces of ship debris, the mission completes automatically.

Beneath the Spires Rewards (Assumes L80)

• Credits: 18,630
• Reputation: Repair Toolkit (Small Galactic Solutions Industries gain)

Forged in Fire (DAILY)

If you’ve wandered SWTOR’s rendition of Hoth (on a day you don’t have a headache, or didn’t before you landed on Hoth) you will have noticed some small volcanos. These volcanoes (which are pretty small) yield metallic ores that are instantly cooled by Hoth’s rather cold climate.

GSI have called this “Embersteel” that it believes only occurs near these volcanoes. Your research could assist the Empire (or Republic) with state-of-the-art plasma cannons.

FJ’s Note: Of course, your research will only give you a small discount on such amazing tech. Available exclusively from GSI, naturally!

Mission Summary: Dig Up Embersteel Ores inside Volcanoes x 3
Region: Eruption Impasse (Glacial Fissure)

• If you have not completed Picking up the Pieces, then Wreck 4 is in the same area as the volcanoes.
• The area contains groups of Hailstorm Brotherhood mobs, aggressive to both Republic and Empire factions.
• Use your Seeker Droid on volcanoes to see if any Embersteel is contained inside. I think you need to scan near the top. But you don’t have to be near the top yourself – molten rock will hurt you a bit!
• If your droid returns and you have a red ring about you, pick a volcano a fair way from where you were stood.
• There are a lot of volcanoes in Eruption Impasse/Southern Crevasse, so this mission requires patience!
• The precise point you need to dig on a volcano may take a few attempts. If you get a green circle around you after a failed dig attempt just adjust the area you’re digging slightly. Move in the direction of the solid green segment of the circle.

Eruption Impass from above

Seeker Droid digging into a volcano

Red and green circles after a dig attempt

Forged in Fire Rewards

• Credits: 18,630
• Reputation: Repair Toolkit (Small Galactic Solutions Industries gain)

Warped to the Core (HEROIC 2+)

Health Warning: This Hoth GSI Heroic is by far the hardest of all those available for Galactic Solutions Industries. There are multiple factors at play and it is timed. Timed missions are really bad for my Fibromyalgia, which is one reason I’ve taken so long to psych myself up to write this SWTOR Hoth GSI Guide!

Back Story

GSI are really interested in one particular downed Imperial ship – the Ambria’s Fury. They believe its reactor core has been affecting the ship’s durasteel hull. They intend to use this effect to help build new thermonuclear weaponry.

Yes, you’re going into an enclosed nuclear radiation box! So GSI recommend (!) finding and using any protective gear you find.

Mission Summary: Investigate the Ambria’s Fury

Instead of doing screenshots of the mission, I’ve recorded it below. But these are a few key notes:

• The Ambria’s Fury is surrounded by groups of White Maw Pirates (aggressive to both factions). No doubt they’re hoping to find some components to sell, or to improve their own arsenal.
• Pick up the Protective Headgear! Your first thing is to find and loot the piece of headgear from the highlighted crate. This can be done immediately from entering the phase. Don't forget to also open your inventory and actually equip it. Just taking it out of the crate is not enough.
• The protection lasts 15 minutes maximum. There is no timer in the quest but you can hover your cursor over the buff to see time remaining.
• A couple of doors need clearing by destroying the barrels stacked in front of them.
• Look out for (and avoid!) pools of flowing radioactive liquid.
• You need to make it to the very far end of the Ambria’s Fury, as this is where your Irradiated Durasteel Samples can be found. This area is guarded by a Champion-class Wampa.
• Once you’re done, you can use Quick Travel to exit the phase. If your Quick Travel is still cooling down or you want to save some credits, run out as fast as you can. You will have cleared all mobs so the route out should be straightforward.
• Don't forget to put your normal headgear back on once you've completed the quest! 

Warped to the Core Rewards (Assumes L80)

• Credits: 29,064
• Reputation: Energy Field Monitor (Medium Galactic Solutions Industries gain)

TL;DR The SWTOR Hoth GSI Missions Summary

From data retrieval and digging samples from volcanoes to taking on a radioactive Wampa, the SWTOR Hoth GSI Missions have a wide variety of tasks to undertake. Some can be done without defeating any enemies at all. So dust off that cold-weather gear and go do something more interesting than stringing out a pointless Empire vs Republic battle! 

Alderaan GSI Missions Guide

The below guide was originally written by FJ Brodie for his website FibroJedi. After he decided to shut the site down, I decided to reproduce this and his other GSI guides on my blog - with his permission of course. I also made a few small amendments to update them for the current level cap and to add some new information. You can still find an archived version of his original guide here.

Welcome to my guide for the Alderaan GSI Missions in SWTOR! I really enjoy the tasks given to you by Galactic Solutions Industries here, especially digging up and testing ancient Killik weapons. But there’s a bit of everything in just five quests on this planet. There is a fair amount of travel involved, so I would urge you to enjoy the scenery of Alderaan while undertaking jobs for GSI. Relax and enjoy.

Note: Reputation gains are stated before taking any Legacy boosts.

Requirements

The only requirements for being able to pick up these Alderaan GSI Missions, and those on other planets are

• Seeker Droid: Available from Level 52 via quests Master Gend’s Mission (Republic) or An Invitation from Darth Acina (Imperial)
• Macrobinoculars: Obtained via The Shroud’s Gambit (Republic) and Shroud of Ruin (Imperial)

The quest-givers are protocol droids – some are on your faction’s fleet and some are on planets such as: Dromund Kaas, Coruscant, Makeb and Ilum. (More info on Swtorista.)

Where to Pick Up the Alderaan GSI Missions

The GSI Terminals can be found just outside
Rhu Caenus Spaceport - Imperial:

 Pallista Spaceport - Republic:

Antiquity Analysis – Find & Test Ancient Killik Weapons

The culture of the Killiks intrigues Galactic Solutions Industries so they send you to find some relics for study.

Where Are Killik Memorials on Alderaan?

To this end you need to visit one of five Killik Memorials. Choices are

• Kaamos Territory (2309,-1440): This is the closest location for Imperial characters but also requires you to make your way up a long, narrow mountain path and through a cave of Killiks.
• King’s Pass (2302,2313): This is also near a scan site for Big Red.
• The Juran Mountains (2144,-135): Overrun Mining Path, east of House Alde - a decent alternative for Imperial characters.
• Alsakan Lowlands (740,1233): Mensaav Laboratory Grounds, just north of Republic Wardpost Duvaal. And near a tower for Weather Forecast. Ignore the actual map marker here – you can’t actually reach that exact point!
• Alsakan Lowlands (1163,1488): House Teral. This is probably the most convenient location for Republic players, as it's very accessible and has three spawn points that are very close to each other.

Once there, you need to dig up 3 × Ancient Killik Weapons. There is no guesswork involved in finding where your Seeker Droid should dig. Simply look for the piled-up blocks and pottery and dig away. You will have to dispatch some Killiks to complete your excavation.

After you've collected some weapons, the fun part begins – testing them! Near to your faction’s spaceport on Alderaan is a shooting range. Simply target a droid and press the mission item icon in your tracked missions (or from Inventory if you prefer).

Antiquity Analysis auto-completes once you have tested three weapons. Sometimes you destroy a test droid and another one takes its place, sometimes they backfire!

Antiquity Analysis Rewards (Assumes Level 80)

• Credits: 18,630
• GSI Reputation: Repair Toolkit (310 Reputation)

Big Red – Where is the Giant Red Thranta on Alderaan?

In an unusal data-gathering step, GSI has attached technology to a rare Giant Red Thranta. Apparently no one on Alderaan is allowed to kill it because of its rarity. But because it is still a wild Thranta it’s not always easy to predict where it will be.

So that’s your job. On your map you are given areas where the Giant Red Thranta may be found. You will need to travel to those areas and scan it with your Macrobinoculars in order to collect the data.

Possible Locations of the Giant Red Thranta

The coordinates below and the map markers indicate roughly where you should stand and use your macrobinoculars. Not where the Thranta itself may have been spotted.

• King’s Pass: (2055,2275)
• Juuran Mountains: (2181,493) – South and a bit East of House Alde
• Juuran Mountains: (2069,-1047) – North of House Alde
• Glarus Valley: (-187,-610) – West of Wardpost Hurne
• Kaamos Territory: (320,-2780) 

Big Red is large and static, and you'll usually already be able to spot it without your Macrobinoculars. Don't get distracted by other, smaller Thrantas flying around the area; that's not what you're looking for.

Occasional Bug with ‘Big Red’

I, along with other players, have come across an occasional bug where it seems the Thranta does not spawn at all. Unfortunately you won't know that this has happened until you've visited all five map markers and found that Big Red isn't at any of them. This is a bug with the instance (not your mission), so all you can do is open your map and swap to a different instance of Alderaan. Cross your fingers that Big Red will be present in that one and revisit each quest marker again.

Enjoy the Journey

Big Red encourages you to travel around a lot – so enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Most of Alderaan’s GSI Missions are slow and relaxing, so take in the views too.

Big Red Rewards (Assumes Level 80)

• Credits: 18,630
• GSI Reputation: Repair Toolkit (310 Reputation)

Retrieve, Restore, Recycle

The legacy of Czerka Corporation rears its ugly head again. Apparently Czerka illegally dumped radioactive waste on the beautiful planet of Alderaan. Your job is to find 3 × Chemical Barrels because GSI believes they could be turned into fuel. No mention of being eco-friendly here!

Locations of Chemical Dumping Grounds

There are two sites where you can unearth chemical barrels with your Seeker Droid:

• Kings Pass: (1635,1715) – East of Republic Wardpost Luurdes
• Kaamos Territory: (144,-2196) – Just South of a scan location for Big Red.

Dig Up Irradiated Plants

Your world map will show you the region to dig in. Again, though, there is no guess-work because you just have to find irradiated plants. Use your seeker droid to dig where these irradiated plants appear and voilà, you have a Chemical Barrel.

Remember that, even if you’re Level 80 you will have to dispatch nearby mobs (mostly Killiks) to get at the Irradiated Plants.

Deposit Chemical Barrels

In order for Galactic Solutions Industries to see if the chemical waste can make a fuel source, you’ll need to deposit the barrels at the place marked on your map. Then your mission will complete.

Retrieve, Restore, Recycle, Rewards (Assumes Level 80)

• Credits: 18,630
• GSI Reputation: Repair Toolkit (310 Reputation)

Weather Forecast

From the mission log:

"GSI is interested in reverse engineering Alderaan’s famous weather towers in order to develop weather controlling technology."

Your mission then is to locate all four towers and scan them with your Macrobinoculars to send data to GSI on how they work. Here's what the towers look like:

Remember: your Macrobinoculars are super-powerful. If you can see the tower in the distance, it can be scanned. No need to wander too far into enemy territory, for example!

Weather Forecast Tower Locations

• Alsakan Lowlands: (45,1680) – West of Wardpost Duvaal.
• The Juran Mountains: (2125,-1030) – right by a scan location for Big Red.
• King’s Pass: (1990,1200) – North East of Wardpost Luurdes.
• The Glarus Valley: (450,-870) – North of Wardpost Hurne.

Weather Forecast Rewards (Assumes Level 80)

• Credits: 18,630
• GSI Reputation: Repair Toolkit (310 Reputation)

[Heroic 2+] Trade Secrets

A saboteur working for The Shroud is known to be on Alderaan, but more importantly GSI data was stolen in the process! (Sarcasm intended!) They believe the saboteur is about to send the data from one of the major “Great House” locations.

Trade Secrets: Possible Locations

•  The Apalis Coast: House Organa Cantina (Republic Ally): 809, -801
•  The Juran Mountains: House Alde (Republic Ally): 1750, -20
•  The Juran Mountains: House Thul (Imperial Ally): 1167, -1081
•  House Rist (Neutral): 589, 650

Great Houses of Alderaan – some Pointers

• House Alde: if you’re Imperial, House Alde is aligned with the Republic. You can however scan the transmitter from outside the walls (see screenshot below). Naturally if the saboteur is transmitting from inside House Alde, then you’ll have to fight your way through.

Close-up of the sort of transmitter you're looking for when scanning 

Taking on the Industrial Spy

Once you have confirmation of the Industrial Spy’s location, you’ll have to neutralise them. The boss is a Champion-grade foe with two normal-strength bodyguards. Take these out first – no more are spawned during the encounter. Then just bash the Spy into dust.

Trade Secrets Rewards (Assumes Level 80)

You have to complete at least one Heroic 2+ mission to fulfil the [Weekly] GSI Valued Partner Initiative. As this is a Heroic, the credit reward is much higher, as is the reputation gain.

• Credits: 29,064
• GSI Reputation: Energy Field Monitor (724 Reputation)

 Alderaan GSI Missions – Relax and Enjoy!

Seriously, if fast credits are your motivation, then you’re not going to do GSI Missions. By choosing to undertake them, you’re putting aside time to relax and smell the roses for a bit. The Alderaan GSI tasks are varied, interesting and enjoyable. I hope this guide has helped you out. Do let me know if anything needs to be changed or updated! Take care! 

Tatooine GSI Missions Guide

The below guide was originally written by FJ Brodie for his website FibroJedi. After he decided to shut the site down, I decided to reproduce this and his other GSI guides on my blog - with his permission of course. I also made a few small amendments to update them for the current level cap and to add some new information. You can still find an archived version of his original guide here.

One of the ways I have created variation in my gaming has been to mix up story content with other styles of missions. One of these is the Seeker Droid and Macrobinoculars Missions for Galactic Solution Industries (GSI). Often revolving around research, GSI Missions are less about combat and more about exploration and discovery. In this blog post, the first in a new mini-series I will cover the overview of the Tatooine GSI Missions in SWTOR.

Gaining Reputation with GSI

It’s a simple model really: Complete GSI Missions and be awarded a range of reputation points. However, there are bonuses: Complete any Heroic 2+ for a medium amount of reputation. And there is also a weekly GSI Valued Partner Initiative. This requires you to complete 10 GSI Missions for a large amount of Reputation.

At level 80, GSI Missions pay around 18,600 Credits for normal missions and 33,500 Credits for the (Heroic 2+).

For more information about the GSI Reputation, Seeker Droids and Macrobinoculars in general, you can refer to Swtorista's guide here. 

Tatooine GSI Missions

Let’s zero in on the specific missions for Tatooine. They are all identical for Imperial and Republic characters, apart from the first mission.

A Droid Defiant: Heroic 2+

If you’re playing an Imperial character, then A Droid Defiant takes place in Mos Ila. If it’s a Republic character then this mission takes place in Anchorhead. The aim of this GSI Mission is to find and dig up (using your Seeker Droid) – scrambler transmitters around the town.

The map markers show approximate areas and do not indicate the actual positions of the transmitters. Your Macrobinoculars will not pick them up, so you need to use your eyes. The transmitters are located up on walls or on the edges of roofs. The spawn locations do change but not radically and with enough repetition you can speed up the process of finding them. Just direct your Seeker Droid to dig roughly under their location; you don't need to place the dig circle up on whatever building they sit on. Oh, and trust me: jump on your favourite vehicle or creature and use your eyes. It’s more forgiving than using the Seeker Droid and moving a few paces!

Once you have found three transmitters, the rogue droid is triangulated. It’s an Elite Droid, but as it’s H2, you can defeat it with just a companion. The results will be delivered to the GSI Dropbox automatically and you’re well on your way on your Tatooine missions!

Watch out: One of the spawn locations in Mos Ila (around X 880, Y 3190) has been bugged for years, and if a scrambler transmitter is located there, you'll be unable to dig it up (even though you can see that it's there), no matter how precise you try to be while targeting it with your Seeker Droid. Unfortunately all you can do if this happens is change instance to see if it's in a different location there, or else come back another day.

The offending location in Mos Ila 

Tatooine GSI Maps

The next four missions come with clearer maps, so here they all are. Click to enlarge them or feel free to download them later for reference!

Above the Fray

Above the Fray sees you trekking across the Desert Dustball looking for Moisture Vaporators, the back bone of farming on Tatooine. If you’re running this as an Imperial, it’s much easier as one of the vaporators is actually above an Imperial outpost (the most Southern marker). Thankfully your Macrobinoculars are really powerful, so you can get close to the Outpost as a Republic player and still see the Vaporator to catch it.

This mission is called Above the Fray because your targets are above eye level, so you’re looking up the cliff faces.

To show just how powerful the Macrobinoculars are, here’s an example of reaching one of the Moisture Vaporators.

Scanning the Depths

This mission sees you looking down…a lot. You’re looking for Meteorite Fragments in the valleys around The Wound. The map markers are very vague! And you’ll have to fight some Sand People away from the cliff edges to get the angles right. Although you need to look down, the meteorite fragments are not really deep. And you can see them with your eyes – they are a bluey-green hue, which is a stark contrast to the red and brown tinge of the cliffs. Once you know what you're looking for, you may find it easier to search with your eyes first before trying to scan, as scanning down into the ravine often ends up limiting your field of view.

You’ll spend most of this mission traipsing around The Wound. And the exact spawn points of the fragments do change slightly. Once you’ve found a fragment, scan it with your Macrobinoculars, breathe a sigh of relief and move on.

If you’re also doing The Shroud Story Arc, you can couple finding various items from the Tatooine GSI Missions with locating the Shroud’s Encrypted Transmitters. One of them is right next to a Meteorite Fragment for Scanning the Depths!

Buried in Time

Time to head out to the Krayt Dragon Graveyard for a much simpler GSI Mission. This time you will need your Seeker Droid, but you don’t need it for searching – only digging. You’re looking for small Fossilized Eggs near Larvae Clusters. These are bright yellow and are visible to the naked eye. Each Krayt Dragon skeleton tends to have 2-3 clusters spawning near it. So if you find another player digging these up there are plenty to go around! You’ll know if you have found one by hovering your cursor over the clusters before using your Seeker Droid to dig them up.

If you're still having trouble finding these after cruising around for several minutes, your camera settings might have something to do with it! Shintar has a whole post about this particular problem here, which also contains screenshots and exact coordinates for a bunch of different Fossilized Egg spawn locations.

Once you have excavated 3 batches of fossilized eggs, they will automatically be returned to the GSI Dropbox in Mos Ila or Anchorhead.

Looking for Droids

Warning: This is a Random Number Generation Mission. Galactic Solution Industries report some missing droids – probably the thieving Jawas again! You are to scan Jawa Sandcrawlers to find out which one contains the droids. It’s based on random numbers because it may be a different crawler each time.

To remind you again, your Macrobinoculars are really powerful, which matters especially in the Dune Sea! As soon as even the smallest tip of a Sandcrawler is visible on your screen, use your Macrobinoculars to scan them. No point wandering all the desert when your technology can do the trick!

Tip: If you're feeling cheeky and don't fancy moving around too much, the correct Sandcrawler for the mission is re-randomised every time you reset the mission. So you can start by scanning the one near your faction's outpost and if the droids are not there, just reset the quest in your log and try again until the mission completes. Note that Broadsword has added a 2-minute cooldown to the reset button to prevent people from going too crazy with this.

TL;DR The Tatooine GSI Missions

I’m enjoying the Tatooine GSI Missions, not because of the Reputation, but because of its gameplay style. It’s investigative, not based on your killing prowess. Scanning the Depths can be frustrating, but for a gaming session, they are really relaxing!