Battlefront: A look at what we learned today about the Death Star DLC

We got a ton of new info today about Battlefront’s Death Star expansion.

Because I was travelling today and wasn’t able to post as in-depth as I normally like, I figured I’d do a full breakdown. Unfortunately, the place we’re staying at has a metered data connection. As such, I’ll probably be posting sparingly the next few days.

First off, the Death Star trailer will arrive this Friday, as confirmed on the Star Wars Show (there’s also a teaser for the trailer, stating at 2:06):

Here’s some more of what we learned:

Chewbacca & Bossk

Thanks to a deep dive on the official website, we got to learn all about the new heroes.

Here’s what we know about Chewie:

• He wields a bowcaster that initially shoots one explosive bolt.
• His trait is called “Furious Firing”. It adds one extra bolt per trait level, which means it can reach a total of four bolts.
• One ability is called “Multi-Bolts”. Activating this ability will cause Chewie’s bowcaster to double its output. This can be combined with his trait, which means he can ultimately shoot up to eight bolts at once!
• His “Might Roar” ability improves armor and damage for himself and nearby allies. Infantry allies close to Chewie will essentially gain the Berserker trait’s level three for a short time.
• The last ability is called “Ground Slam”. When activated, Chewie smashes the ground and damages nearby enemies.
• One of his taunts will be a roar.

For Bossk, this is what we learned:

• He wields an improved version of the Relby-v10.
• He runs with the “Trandoshan Regeneration” trait. This trait allows him to regain a percentage of his health with each infantry kill or high damage to a hero.
• The “Micro-Grenade” ability allows Bossk to active a grenade launcher on his Relby-v10. Grenades will explode after a short time or upon impact with an enemy.
• His “Predatory Instincts” ability enhances a number of aspects. This includes: gaining heat vision, faster cooldowns, increased damage and increased sprinting speed.
• The last ability is “Toxic Escape”. With this ability, Bossk will throw down an enhanced Dioxis Grenade and leap out of the way. The deep dive notes that the grenade is so powerful, it will even do intense damage to heroes.

Maps

The expansion will feature five multiplayer maps set in space and inside the Death Star. Presumably, this means we’ll get three ground maps and two space maps, but that’s unconfirmed. Hopefully, Battle Station’s second stage will change maps each playthrough.

Several locations inside the Death Star have been shown-off, including:

A trash compactor:

A hanger:

A conference room:

A couple of command rooms:

A chasm section:

A room filled with astromech droids:

All images above come from this BattlefrontUpdates video, which is video ripped from the official promotion page for the Death Star.

Star Cards & Weapons

We also learned what weapons and Star Cards will be coming with the Death Star. Besides the ones below, weapons designer Christian Johannesen also confirmed the bo-rifle is arriving to Battlefront (presumably free).

First, we have the TL-50 Heavy Repeater, which is on top in the image above. It “gather its energy into a devastating concussion blast.”

K-16 Bryar Pistol is the other weapon on offer. The official description notes that “it’s capable of discharging the entire heat source in one powerful blast.”

One of these will be fully-automatic and the other semi-automatic. By its name, I assume the TL-50 will be the full-auto.

Two Star Cards will come with the Death Star as well.

There is the Medical Droid, which stationary and occasionally gives out boosts to health and Star Card recharge rate. This droid reappeared in the original two Battlefronts.

The Laser Trip Mine is the other card. It is a “powerful explosive with a built-in scrambler.”

Customization

A number of new details about customization are also available:

• Imperial Officers and Death Star troopers are outfit options for the Imperials.
• Rebel pilots will be available as well. They can be helmeted or not.
• Stormtroopers on the Death Star will be shiny and free of grime.

We also got a slew of information via Twitter about balancing tweaks, a bug fixes (plus a tease regarding the future of Skirmish). We also learned that the Death Star playlist will mostly focus on just Battle Station. Heroes vs. Villains and Fighter Squadron will at least be making appearances.

I would like to go into more detail but considering that this has already taken awhile to write and the fact that the Internet is a bit spotty, I’ll probably stop for now! Looking forward to the Death Star’s arrival soon!

I’ll leave you with this image, which is packed full of details: