SWTOR Story Order

Sadly, playing the Old Republic isn't exactly obvious. It's not really open world, and if you screw it up, you can end up cutting off your story content before you're actually done. I did this myself with my first character, a bounty hunter named Graggory (which in retrospect seems like a normal name. The naming allowances in this game are pathetic.) Anyway, I created a Google Sheet that put everything in order, and color-filled each cell as I finished it (or skipped it, as is increasingly the case with repeating content.) But I found another flowchart online. I don't want to just "appropriate" someone else's work, so I'll write it up myself as an annotated list. I've linked to my Google Sheet before, but this actually seems like possibly a better option to show how stuff should be done, and in what order. I'm playing strictly as a single player, and eschewing any required multiplayer content. Luckily there's only one or two places where multiplayer content is required, mostly associated with the 2.x updates, i.e., the Rise of the Hutt Cartel era.

Before we begin; here are the various eras so far released for the game:

• Class stories (1.x) The OG content, somewhat updated, now, but still available as part of the free to play experience.
• Rise of the Hutt Cartel (2.x) The introduction of Makeb, as well as the macrobinocular missions, the seeker droid missions, CZ-198, Oricon and more. Now available for free to play.
• The Shadow of Revan (3.x) As well as a number of flashpoints, this added the Shadow of Revan storyline, and two planets; Rishi and Yavin IV. Available to free to play players.
• Knights of the Fallen Empire (4.x) Although not really divided into worlds the way it had been previously, but instead chapters, it does have some relatively open areas, including parts of Odessen and Zakuul. This content is not free to play, nor any that follows.
• Knights of the Eternal Throne (5.x) Structured the same as the 4.x update, but adding the open world content on Iokath and ending with Ossus.
• Onslaught (6.x) YOU ARE HERE. Although it's late due to the winter storms making it difficult for the devs, 6.1.2 (or was it 6.2.1?) was supposed to have launched yesterday. I presume, however, that new content for Onslaught is about over, and in 2021 we can expect a 7.x update sometime in time for the 10th anniversary of the game at the end of the year. It does add two new open world environments, Onderon and Mek-Sha, as well as a bunch of other story-centric content like story-mode flashpoints, etc. 

I've also put the "expected" level for each character at each step, although if you 1) are a subscriber and therefore have faster leveling, you may exceed it, and 2) if you do all of the exploration and planetary stories you'll get more XP and may exceed it, and 3) obviously, if you do both, you'll probably exceed it by quite a bit. When I'm playing through and doing all of that (which I'm not doing now, because most of the exploration and planetary stuff is repeated and I want to get through everyone's class story before I revisit most of it) I hit the game's max level of 75 sometime at the end of the chapter 1 or early to mid chapter 2, which is obviously super early. You were supposed to (originally) have hit the original level cap of 50 near the end of chapter 3 and in theory, you're not supposed to be level 75 until Onslaught. That's OK. The game's level-synching means that you're generally OK no matter what level you are, although being higher level is better even with level-synching, because you'll have more abilities unlocked and better equipment.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the story mode order, with some minor commentary by me. Italic stuff is optional/group and can be skipped if desired.

• Starting planet (Tython, Korriban, Ord Mantell or Hutta). Levels 1-10. There isn't really a distinction between class and planetary story at this point, there's only a few Heroics available, and the planets are about half the size of most of the rest of them in terms of area to explore and missions to do. If you're done and ready to move on to the fleet but aren't level 10 at least, I recommend hitting up whatever exploration missions you missed and maybe repeating the Heroic a time or two. Be at least level 10 before leaving, at which point you'll be taken to the Republic or Imperial fleet, can do some shopping, and hit up the optional (but highly recommended) single-player story flashpoint on your way to the next planet.
• Esseles (Republic) or Black Talon (Imperial) Story Flashpoint. While technically optional, this is highly recommended, and suitable for single players. It's pretty story heavy and is obviously meant to be played through.
• Coruscant (Republic) or Dromund Kaas (Imperial). The capitol planet for your faction, a good twice the size of your starting planet, and split into class and planetary story lines, along with a good selection of daily repeatable heroics and exploration missions. At the end of this world, you'll get your class's spaceship, and end the Prologue, officially starting Act 1. At the transition between acts, each class story also has a transition period of varied complexity. For the most part, it's pretty simple here, but for some classes and some transitions, you may end up bouncing around briefly to up to three or four planets or areas for cut-scenes and action sequences; although they are much smaller in scope than a planetary or class story on a planet.
• Hammer Station Flashpoint. This flashpoint does not come in a solo mode and cannot be played (well... is not supposed to be played) by a single player by himself. It's too bad that these kinds of flashpoint exist without also offering a single player option for those who wish to play them that way, but there it is. Because there is no single-player option, I consider this not only a can-miss, but a should-miss. I don't really appreciate the group content, I suppose. I have played this one with my Sith Warrior, though; the only one of my characters (I can't stand using the word toons here) with which I've dabbled in group stuff.
• Taris (Republic) or Balmorra (Imperial). Although as you start act 1, you are given, for most classes, both this mission and the next one at the same time, you're actually supposed to do this one first. You will actually hit both planets regardless of your faction, although the timing and order is different, and curiously they changed the appearance somewhat for the Imperial side, making it a night-time environment. After finishing the class story, you will also have an optional bonus series on these planets that you can do, which is somewhat like a truncated version of a second planetary story (and usually related to the planetary story) but which rewards you like a heroic (which seems a little cheap given the investment of time.) Needless to say, these are also optional like the heroics or exploration missions (or even the planetary story, if you come to it.) The expected class level for this planet is level 16. If you're still under 20 when you finish, you might consider some of the optional stuff.
• Nar Shaddaa. The first time both factions come together on the same planet at the same time, for level 20 content. There's an optional bonus series here too for each faction, although you won't be eligible to pick it up unless you're significantly over-leveled, so I'll note it below when you're "supposed" to do it. However, since the entire thing is optional anyway, I wouldn't hesitate to just go ahead and play that one if you're high enough level to qualify for it.
• Athiss Flashpoint. Like Hammer Station, this one only comes in group modes and is entirely optional.
• Tatooine. Both classes are again on the same planet, this one the most iconic and classic of all Star Wars planets. Tatooine is pretty big, has plenty of exploration missions, heroics and more, and there is a bonus series for each faction. According to my chart, you can actually play this bonus series after finishing the planet, or at least are supposed to, even if you're on the "standard" level track. I've always played it (if I play it at all) immediately after finishing the class and planetary stories, but what do I know; I'm usually over-leveled considerably. The planetary mission for each faction is technically different, but very, very similar. You're meant to be at least level 24 for this planet. In addition to the regular stuff, there's a lot of little one-off missions here (companion character mini side-quests, transition areas, etc.) as well as it being one of the planets that may host the rakghoul event periodically; the Star Wars equivalent of a zombie plague outbreak.
• Mandalorian Raiders Flashpoint. Can be picked up in the groupfinder or on the surface of Tatooine, this one, like the last three mentioned, is not a story-required one, and does not offer a mode for single players.
• Alderaan. At at least level 28, you can come to this very iconic planet. Old Republic has reimagined the native Alderaanians as quite dark-skinned, although whether they're supposed to look more African, more Polynesian, or more Hispanic is difficult to tell, and there are plenty of plain old white-folk among the natives too. I had thought that the iconic trooper NPC Jace Malcolm was supposed to be Alderaanian, given that you meet him here if you're doing the Republic bonus series, as well as his presence on the planet in one of the cinematic trailers, but apparently he's not. Jaesa Wilsaam, a Sith Warrior companion character, hails from here, although I use a customized appearance version of the character, so I tend to forget what her "default" look actually is. As with Tatooine, the planetary missions are extremely similar regardless of which faction you play, and there is a bonus series that you'll probably have to pick up later. It is also one of the potential rakghoul plague outbreak sites. It is also the last full planet in Act 1, and the story for each class shifts considerably after doing this planet and the transition stuff after it. 
• Cademimu Flashpoint. Another one that I wish BioWare would modify to include a single player mode for, but there isn't. You can pick it up on Alderaan or from the group finder icon no matter where you are.
• Nar Shaddaa Bonus Series. If you aren't over-leveled, this is where you'd do the Nar Shaddaa bonus series; after your transition but before embarking on the first Act 2 planet, I presume. 
• Balmorra (Republic) or Taris (Imperial). Act 2 for each class includes a significant shift in the story; each of the Acts could almost be considered as a separate movie in a trilogy that the three acts collectively make up. While it's certainly tied to what came before (and what comes after) there's usually a completely different plotline that you're following in each of the three acts. This is also the last time the factions are on a different planet at the same stage, although certainly you'll notice that they are on the other planet that they didn't do before. Other than the starting planets, eventually every character will do every planet, although like I said, the environment is different on Taris—Imperial Taris is at night-time while Republic Taris is during daylight. This means that you can't see your counterparts wandering around somewhere on the planet's surface, because technically they are different environments (although built from the same models). This planet is meant to be played at level 32.
• Balmorra (Republic) or Taris (Imperial) Bonus Series. Apparently, you should qualify to play the bonus series as soon as you finish the class stories. Of course, they're optional, as always.
• Taral V (Republic) or Boarding Party (Empire) Story Flashpoints. Like the Esseles and Black Talon, this flashpoint is meant to be played as solo (or you can do a more challenging version with a group) and is part of the story; you're meant to play it. Both can be picked up on the planet's surface as you finish up Balmorra or Taris respectively, or from your ship, or on the fleet, or from the group-finder icon. Both also lead immediately into a second flashpoint that also comes with a solo mode and which you're meant to play.
• Maelstrom Prison (Republic) or The Foundry (Empire) Story Flashpoints. The continuation of the story from Taral V or Boarding Party respectively. While not strictly speaking necessary from the point of view of your class story, these flashpoints are an important part of the "meta story" of what's going on in the galaxy, and will be much more important later in the game to have played. Again; technically optional, but meant to be played and highly recommended.
• Quesh. A very small planet, that looks like it should have been the second half of the also very small Hutta (except with a slightly more reddish color pallette), this is the first planet in some time to not feature any kind of bonus series. The class stories tend to be quite short, so the planetary stories are somewhat recommended, even if you normally are skipping those. Meant for level 36. In addition to the class and planetary stories, Quesh becomes a minor destination on a number of other side-quest type activities, act transition stuff, and more. 
• Hoth. After the short stint on Quesh, both factions will head to Hoth next, where you're meant to be level 37; only one level higher than Quesh. Hoth is a much larger environment, with lots going on. The planetary stories and bonus series are quite different, there are unusual exploration achievement possibilities (i.e., getting free tauntaun mounts and stuff). It is also the last major planet on Act 2, so while there's still the transition from 2 to 3 to do, you will start the third and final phase of your class story after finishing Hoth. 
• Alderaan Bonus Series. Although I've already done it with every character with which I meant to do it by this point, if you're leveled at the "expected" rate, you'll qualify to go back to Alderaan and do the bonus series after finishing Hoth.
• Colicoid War Games Flashpoint. There are two flashpoints that can be picked up on Hoth, but both are not story required and there is no solo player version of them, so only play them if you care to do group raids.
• Kuat Drive Yards Flashpoint. As the flashpoint above, although curiously there is a reputation track you can work on associated with this flashpoint. Sigh. They really need single player versions, as I've said before and will no doubt say again before finishing this post.
• Belsavis. This is the first major world of Act 3 for each class. There's actually quite a bit going on here, but some of it isn't meant to be consumed quite yet; think of it merely as your class story, and the planetary stories, and if you're over-leveled, you can do the bonus series too, although you're "supposed" to go back and do that later. If you're an imperial, you will also get the beginnings of the optional but fascinating Dread Masters story arc, which is a kind of meta story arc that isn't really related to the classes per se. Belsavis was meant to be played at level 41.
• Voss. This is a planet and culture made up by BioWare specifically for this game that has not, to my knowledge, made any other appearance anywhere else. As well as being one of the prettier planets in terms of scenery, there's plenty going on here, of course, including class stories, planetary stories, a bonus series (see below) and a reputation track which is mostly done by completing heroics. Meant for player level 44.
  
• Red Reaper Flashpoint. An optional flashpoint that you can pick up on Voss, which does not have a single player mode.
• Voss Bonus Series. I'm not sure why they decided that you're supposed to leave Voss to go do the Red Reaper and then come back and do the bonus series rather than the other way around, but it probably doesn't really matter. This one is complicated, but contributes, if I remember correctly, to your Voss reputation track, plus it takes you to some of the best scenery in the game, so if that interests you at all, I recommend it. It is time-consuming though. 
• Hoth Bonus Series. If you weren't already high enough level to do it, you're supposed to be high enough level now to go back to Hoth and do the bonus series.
• Directive 7 Story Flashpoint. Although it's an aside from a story point of view that has nothing really to do with your class stories or even the meta story of what's going on in the galaxy, you're actually meant to go do Directive 7 here, and a solo version of it is the default. 
• Corellia. You're closing in on the end of the original content now. At level 47 (keep in mind that the original level cap was 50) you go to Corellia, the last of the class story planets. There is also a faction planetary story here, but no bonus series (although there's an entire separate area that can be considered a detached bonus series, if you like; see below.) Once you finish your class story on Corellia, (and the transition to the end) your class story is considered complete. There's more to do, of course, and more story content to consume, but from this point on, it isn't class specific, and is (at best) faction specific. You'll also have your class story "lit up" on the main page before you pick your character at this point; if you get all eight of the class stories done, you'll be a Legendary Player. Finishing the class story also grants you another special ability for your Heroic Moment ability, so the more class stories you've finished, the better the Heroic Moment will be.
• Belsavis Bonus Series. You're meant to go back and finish this one now, if you haven't already.
• Ilum. The next little bit is considered the "Interlude" and is a kind of epilogue to your class and planetary stories, meant to take place before the 2.x update which was Rise of the Hutt Cartel. This stuff is heavy on the meta-story, since the class stories are over. You're meant to be level 50 on Ilum; it was originally post story free-roam kind of stuff, although there is a "planetary story" arc and some story-mode flashpoints that are single player friendly that you're supposed to play through here. Ilum is a small planet, but there's a second half that is solely devoted to the Gree recurring event.
• The Battle of Ilum Story Flashpoint. This is the first of the flashpoints that you do after the Ilum planetary story missions, and can be (and is meant to be) played alone, although harder modes for groups is also available.
• The Flase Emperor Story Flashpoint. Another meta-story heavy flashpoint that everyone is meant to play, either single or group.
• Eternity Vault Operation. Operations are like group flashpoints, except even moreso; not only is there no single player option, but while flashpoints assume a group of four players, operations come in either eight or sixteen player groups. They are very complex and difficult, and are really kind of off the radar for most single-player type solo players. However, BioWare made the very questionable decision to make them integral to completing a tangent yet long and intriguing storyline about the Dread Masters. It was previewed slightly in the Imperial planetary stories for Belsavis, but this is the first portion of the story arc proper, and—of course—if you're a solo type of guy, the only way you'll ever see it is on Youtube.
• Karagga's Palace Operation. A second operation that is part of the Dread Masters plot.
• Kaon Under Siege Flashpoint. Part 1 of an optional two-part story related to rakghoul virus related mad scientists and plague outbreaks, this one is sadly not available for single players.
• Lost Island Flashpoint. Part 2 of the optional two-part story introduced in Kaon Under Siege.
• Explosive Conflict Operation. The next part of the Dread Masters story, and again, an operation.
• Black Hole. This is the "bonus series" for Corellia, but you have to land here separately as if it were a different planet, curiously; on your way to the surface, you have to select this instead of the regular landing spot, and you can't get from Black Hole to "regular" Corellia and vice versa except by flying in your ship, or at least going up to the orbital station. Meant to be level 50, and technically optional, (technically everything after the class story is optional) but I'm considering all of this stuff as part of the expected content that you're expected to play—except for the stuff that requires grouping.
• Terror From Beyond Operation. The next part of the Dread Masters story, and again, only available through the operations grouping function.
• Section X. A separate part of Belsavis, which works much as the Black Hole works on Corellia. Everyone can do it, it's meant for level 50, it has a reputation track, but curiously, it's part of the Dread Masters stuff. At this point in the game, they were really encouraging and/or expecting that everyone was doing grouping stuff, and weren't working very hard on making solo player friendly content, necessarily. It's also where you start the HK-51 quest; a long, involved quest that has you bouncing all over the galaxy looking for pieces of HK-51 (who's identical to the old HK-47 droid from Knights of the Old Republic.) I haven't actually finished that quest-line with any of my characters, but the first quest is really fascinating, and should be done in its own right, in my opinion. Section X is also the last 1.x era content, and everything after this point is 2.x Rise of the Hutt Cartel content. 2.x raised the level cap to 55, but at this point, everything was assumed originally to have been level 50 or lower. If I recall correctly, most of this post-storyline stuff was DLC that came out after the game's launch and was meant for capped level players to play.
• Makeb. This is the main Rise of the Hutt Cartel planet. You're supposed to be level 50 to start it (although you're expected to get up to 55 when you're done) and there are no class stories here, but very different faction stories for Republic and/or Imperial, as well as a reputation track that you fill by doing repeatable heroics and dailies. A lot of people think Makeb is one of the prettiest planets in terms of scenery, which I can't argue too much with (although Voss and Tython are more my style, I guess) but it's difficult to navigate, and I personally find the dailies more tedious than most.
• Toborro's Courtyard Operation. My file calls this an "instance boss" but it's like an operation that's also similar to the world bosses that every planet has. I haven't done it, and solo players wouldn't.
• Macrobinocular Questline. This is a long questline that has you going to all of the past planets and looking up stuff. There's some "boss" regions on some of the planets, but not all of them, and after you've spent all that time doing it, the only way to complete it is a Heroic 4 which requires a group. D'oh! Again; BioWare was not really prepared yet to accept the fact that most of their players don't do groups, although they've since confirmed that their data suggests that that's exactly how it's done. Not sure why they haven't adjusted that Heroic 4 in light of that to make this finishable by all players. Still worth doing, even if you can't finish it, because the journey is pretty cool, even if the destination is unreachable for single players. It is a tangent with another separate bad guy who is mentioned often in the metastory after it happens.
• Seeker Droid Questline. Like the macrobinocular, you can do a lot of this on your own, but it's optional, and you can't actually completely finish it without grouping. It is tied in, in at least some of its content, to the Dread Masters tangent storyline.
• Scum and Villainy Operation. The next group-only part of the Dread Masters story.
• Czerka Corporate Labs Flashpoint. Not a solo one, although you can go do dailies and a reputation track on the CZ-198 world without having done this flashpoint, if you want. It's actually part 1 of 2 linked flashpoints.
• Czerka Core Meltdown. The second part of the two-part linked flashpoints. Not doable alone.
• CZ-198. Although this is the same private moon world as the two flashpoints above, you can go here solo and do dailies and stuff, and it's worth doing because you can get reputation and buy some pretty cool stuff. Plus, the planet itself is an interesting one. Again; too bad that this soloable stuff is related to non-soloable stuff, that BioWare really needs to come up with a solo version for. Meant for level 55; the level cap during the 2.x.
• Oricon. Another level 55 area. While you can (and should) do a lot of stuff here as a solo player, this is heavily tied to the Dread Masters storyline, and you haven't seen any of the operations for that plotline if you only play solo, nor can you finish the storyline that you'll do here without doing two additional operations. A lot of players recommend skipping this entirely if you're playing solo, but I actually quite like the Oricon planet; it's environment and theme, and the stuff you can get on the reputation track for doing the dailies. I think it's worth doing, and you can read a summary or watch videos of the operations on Youtube to find out what you would have done if you were willing to group for an operation. This is a major miss for BioWare that they made this content, which is considered one of the best storylines in the game, up there with the better class stories, missable to the majority of the players. I can understand why they did it in the first place, but it's a little harder to understand why they haven't adjusted it to make soloable flashpoint alternates to replace the operations so that single players can see the whole thing in game, not just from someone else playing and streaming or recording it. This is also the end of the Rise of the Hutt Cartel content (except for the two operations noted below); after this is the Prelude to the Shadow of Revan, or Forged Alliances, which is the lead-up to pretty much every phase of the game following this.
• Dread Fortress Operation. Part 1 of a two part conclusion to the Dread Masters story; only playable as a (at minimum) eight player group.
• Dread Palace Operation. Part 2 of the two part conclusion to the Dread Masters story.
• Korriban Incursion (Republic) or Assault on Tython (Imperial) Story Flashpoint. The Prelude to the Shadow of Revan is four linked flashpoints, which you can play solo. Integral to the storyline as it moves forward from this point. While the order of these two is reversed for Republic vs. Imperial characters, in reality they're not exactly the same; if you're a Republic character, you're invading Korriban and defending Tython, for instance, whereas if you're an Imperial character, you're doing it the other way around.
• Assault on Tython (Republic) or Korriban Incursion (Imperial) Story Flashpoint. You'll go immediately from the past solo flashpoint into this one; they are linked as a two-fer.
• Depths of Manaan Story Flashpoint. This flashpoint is now the same regardless of your faction, and introduces the very first Alliance stuff, or the prologue to it, more accurately. It also revisits one of the major planets from the earlier hit game again. Again, like the rest of this four-part flashpoint series, you can and should play all of them solo.
• Legacy of the Rakata. The final of the four linked flashpoints, and again, revisits the Rakata Prime planet from Knights of the Old Republic. After this, you actually do the Shadow of Revan 3.x material. I don't know if these flashpoints were originally released as content leading up to the DLC, or if they were part of the DLC; I believe the former, but as we move into the next phase, we get new planets and a new level cap of 60.
• Rishi. One of my favorite planets; the piratey beach planet of Rishi has a definite theme and tone that is really pretty different than anything we've done to date. You're supposed to be level 55 to play this planet, and it's pretty fun, with dailies and a reputation track that gives you some pretty cool stuff, including some of my favorite armor pieces. There are two embedded flashpoints that you do as part of playing through Rishi, and while there are multiplayer options, they are designed as solo flashpoints first and foremost. There's also an operation associated with Rishi. You don't do them before or after, though—all three of these are embedded within the Rishi narrative if you do them. The flashpoints, in fact, you have to do to advance the story.
• The Ravagers Operation. An operation, and like all operations, optional.
• Blood Hunt Story Flashpoint. I like how they created a lot of story flashpoints at this stage of the game. Keep in mind that even the story flashpoints from the main 1.x iteration of the game weren't soloable at first, and you were expected to group up to play them, or you couldn't do them. Only later did they make them soloable. These others from this 2.x~3.x phase and beyond, however, were designed with a solo mode included from the get-go. In my opinion, all of the flashpoints should include a solo mode, and the Dread Masters operations should have been flashpoints too... with soloable options. But I may have already mentioned that half a dozen or so times in this post alone...
• The Battle of Rishi Story Flashpoint. The conclusion of the Rishi part of the Shadow of Revan.
• Yavin IV. Meant for level 57 and above characters, Yavin IV is a planetary story place that you can do fairly quickly and there aren't any flashpoints on it, but there are dailies that you can go back and do for the reputation track, as well as an optional operation, mentioned below. You fight Revan as the final boss on Yavin IV, but then there's an epilogue or transition attached that leads into the next story phase after that.
• Temple of Sacrifice Operation. An operation. If you're into those kinds of things, you can do it, but it isn't necessary for the story.
• Ziost. An interesting conclusion to the Shadow of Revan. You play this planet, but you can't go back to it ever again, because if you try to, it's changed. If there are things you wanted to make sure that you did, you'll either have to do them with another character, or stick around long enough to finish them before concluding this stuff. After the planet has changed, you can wander about the new version of it doing dailies, mostly for the reputation track. Ziost is meant to be a level 60 planet.
• Colossal Monolith Operation. An instance boss, like the Toborro's Courtyard earlier.
• Knights of the Fallen Empire. This was the 4.x update to the game, and the stuff in this expansion works very differently from what preceded it. First of all, you will lose all of your companions, and get new ones. Secondly, there is no longer a faction storyline, there's just one storyline. This was off and on true for everything following the class stories, but it's especially true now. Thirdly, there aren't any planets anymore. Rather than going planetside and wandering around looking for the icons for the story arc, you play chapters. Now granted; the chapters take you to planets, but you don't have that free roam kind of thing anymore for most of those planets. The first half of it (up through chapter 9) were released at first, with subsequent chapters drizzling out over a couple of months or so later originally (a moot point now, of course.) You do get a bit of your free roam capabilities back, at least with regards to your new base of operations on Odessen after this point, but you never go do planets like Vandin, and just wander around like you can on most planets. You also get a whole laundry list of star fortress and companion alerts to do, which are kind of like mini flashpoints to unlock some of the companions of various characters from the original 1.x phase of the game. Most of these are on planets that you already know. For the chapters that came out after this midpoint (10-16) you're supposed to be level 65.
• Knights of the Eternal Throne. Although shorter than Fallen Empire (only nine chapters), this 5.x stuff works very much the same as the second half of Fallen Empire did. However, after you finish the chapters, you go back to something not too unlike what we've been doing after the class stories; planets that you can go to to do your missions, and then dailies and a reputation track to give you an excuse to stick around. The level cap went up to 70 for 5.x, although you're only meant to be 65 to start, of course. 
• Uprisings. There's a long list of uprisings that were also added as part of 5.x. These are meant to be like group flashpoints (there's no solo mode for any of them) but shorter and quicker to do. They don't have any important story implications; they're just stand-alone mini-adventures.
• Iokath. This level 70 planet is the return to something more like, say, Yavn IV or Rishi in how it works, and it takes place after the chapters of Eternal Throne are complete. Unlike most reputation tracks to date, there are actually two reputation tracks, depending on whether you ally your Eternal Alliance with the Republic or the Empire. You can, however, switch and do dailies for both, so you can advance both tracks. There's some cool armor and a few other things doable here, so it's worth spending some time on the reputation upgrades. 
• Gods From the Machine Operation. An operation associated with Iokath, for those who like operations. Other than the dumb Dread Masters format, operations became completely optional for those who like that kind of stuff, while the devs recognized that most players aren't all that interested in that kind of play, which was probably a good move. (Again, if only they'd fix the Dread Masters so everyone can see that plotline in some format.)
• Crisis on Umbara Story Flashpoint. After the Iokath storyline is done, there are three linked story flashpoints that can be played solo; in fact, given the plot in them, it's a little hard to imagine them being played as a group, although the option does exist, as with all flashpoints. 
• A Traitor Among the Chiss Story Flashpoint. Part two of three of the linked flashpoints.
• The Nathema Conspiracy Story Flashpoint. Part three of three. Following this, you get another planet which was the latest 5.x release and which led into Onslaught.
• Ossus. Also called Jedi Under Siege, although this is the format we're used to now, right; it's a free roam planet with dailies for reputation, but a planetary story mission that doesn't vary by faction or class. Jedi Under Siege is the mission title, Ossus is the planet. 
• Geonosian Queen Instance Boss Operation. The by now obligatory little operation associated with the new planet.
• Onderon. The new(er) planet for the Onslaught 6.x release. We've been in 6.x for some time, and I suspect that the original plan was a 7.x release in 2020, if the China virus hadn't interrupted it while everyone panicked and made fools of themselves with mask and lockdown cults. As per the now familiar pattern, there's some planetary story stuff, tailored to the Empire/Republic dichotomy, and dailies for reputation. Oh, and there's the...
• Nature of Progress Operation. ... obligatory optional operation associated with the planet. This is, however, to date the last operation available.
• Mek-Sha. A planetary story, but the dailies are a bit different; you can actually only do one daily per day, and it has you traveling across the galaxy for various reasons. Mek-Sha is a level 75 planet, the new level cap, which is still in place as I write this.
• Objective Meridian Story Flashpoint. Another story flashpoint, according to the pattern that's been around since Shadow or Revan at least.
• Echoes of Oblivion. I'm not quite sure what to call this. It's not a planet, exactly, it's not a flashpoint; it's kind of like a chapter from the Fallen Empire or Eternal Throne phase of the game, except... standalone. Unlike the late era stuff from earlier versions of the game, it doesn't point to what the 7.x theme will be, although maybe that's because there's still more content yet to come for 6.x before 7.x launches. If 7.x does, that is.
• Spirit of Vengeance Story Flashpoint. On the other hand, there's a lot of Mandalorian-themed stuff on the build-up to this flashpoint. If 7.x has more of a Mandalorian theme, that would hardly be surprising, given the recent success of the Mandalorian streaming show.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm very curious what 2021 will bring. Most people who play think that that some kind of 7.x update is inevitable, but of course, it's not really. There may be iterative 6.x updates until the game shudders and dies... which honestly, may be closer to reality than we know. It's coming up on ten years old now at the end of 2021, which is an insanely long time for this type of game. We tend to think that it's a decent revenue stream, but that only makes it a decent profit center if costs are kept to a minimum, after all. Which means not a lot of money can be put into development of new content. (And keep in mind that SWTOR was the most expensive game ever developed at one time. It's still the second most expensive even now. I don't think it really ever came close to its goal of supplanting World of Warcraft in its heyday, but then again, it's still around, so that's something...) And at some point, that comes to an end and profits dribble down to basically nothing. That's part of the reason I've really dived into it the last few months and will be doing my recording project on it; once the game is gone, it's gone and that's that. I want to have something to remember it by when that happens.