Exar Kun

The Exar Kun heroic is SWG’s late-game flagship instance on Yavin IV, set deep beneath the Temple of Exar Kun in the planet’s Archeological Dig Site. The instance descends into the buried tomb of the fallen Sith Lord Exar Kun — a canon Sith from the Tales of the Jedi era — and pulls mechanics from nearly every previous SWG heroic, then layers new ones on top.

The fight

The fight takes place beneath the Temple of Exar Kun in the Archeological Dig Site on Yavin IV. Required combat level is 90; faction is irrelevant. Restoration’s recommended group size is eight, and Fandom calls Exar Kun the longest of the heroics — a clean clear typically runs 90–120 minutes. Lockout is one hour from completion. The instance is generally considered the highest-DPS-check heroic in SWG: it pulls mechanics from every earlier heroic and layers new healing- and positioning-intensive phases on top.

How to start

The prerequisite is the Controlling Spirit pre-quest. Once keyed, entry is through the Archeological Dig Site on Yavin IV: click the “An Ancient Brazier” interactable and choose Descend into Exar Kun’s Temple. The Aurilia Adventurer’s Guildhall flight terminal also offers a direct flight to the Dig Site.

Group composition

Exar Kun is the most healer-intensive heroic in the game. Fandom calls it “probably the most intense instance for a Medic”:

• 1–2 tanks: a light-side Jedi tank is canonical, but a top-end Commando tank or 29k-HP dark-side Jedi can substitute. A Pikeman cannot reliably solo-tank Exar Kun himself.
• 2 healers (required): two Medic or Combat Medic is the practical floor. A single medic must run a five-piece First Responders jewelry set just to keep up — and even then is gambling.
• 3–4 DPS: a mixed roster — Rifleman, Pistoleer, Commando, Carbineer, Bounty Hunter — works. An Officer (no profession record yet) is particularly valuable for action regen during the longest phases.
• Buff support: an Entertainer — Dancer or Musician — pre-buffs the group. Buffs must cover both kinetic damage and fire damage-over-time effects; do not skip either.

Bringing two of every healer slot is the difference between a clear and a wipe at the four-hour mark.

Strategy

The fight unfolds in multiple phases, each with unique scripted mechanics; players are expected to read NPC dialogue cues for timing rather than rely purely on combat threat. Broad principles:

• Stay spread. Most phases feature radial damage-over-time effects from Sith spirits and dark-side energy fields. Stacking the group multiplies the heal load.
• Interrupt summoning. Multiple mini-boss phases summon adds on a timer; coordinate one DPS to interrupt-cast every cycle.
• Burn priority targets. Several phases include a marked priority target that buffs the others; nuke it first regardless of incoming damage.
• Don’t chase phases. Each boss in the descent has its own positioning rules; resist the urge to apply the previous boss’s strategy to the next one.

Like the Nightsister Chamber of Banishment, dead players can clone and return — they re-enter at the boss the group wiped on, so a single death is recoverable without losing phase progress. Exact mechanics vary by patch; verify in-game.

Rewards

A clean clear awards every player an Exar Kun Token of Heroism at the Aurilia heroic vendor. The headline rotating drop is the Two-Handed Fifth Generation Lightsaber — one of the most sought-after Jedi weapons in the late game. Additional drops include high-end jewelry, Sith-themed décor, and rare schematics. Exar Kun is generally farmed last in a weekly token rotation because of its length, but its loot table is the richest of the five.