Star Wars Battlefront developer DICE has been making some rather substantial and extensive changes under the game’s hood for its February update and frankly, we’re not sure where to start – the list is freaking massive.
Before we start dissecting all of the little, large and much-needed changes though, you’re probably more interested in the new content that’s been added with the patch.
First up is the new Twilight on Hoth map that’s been added to several modes, including Walker Assault, Drop Zone and Heroes vs. Villains. Judging by the map name, expect to be battling it out as the Rebels or Empire in the freezing midnight blizzard that sweeps through the snow-covered planet when the sun (or is it suns?) sets.
[zerggaming]Continuing the chilly theme, Survival in the Ice Caves is a new map added to Survival Missions, and the previous pre-order bonus Jakku DLC has now been integrated into the base game, no longer requiring players to download it separately.
Doesn’t look like much, does it? It’s not, really – but that’s probably because DICE is hard at work on the brand new maps being released for Season Pass holders and as paid DLC.
Anyway, if you’re here for the balancing adjustments and changes to various weapons, characters and vehicles to make fights a little more fair, you’ll want to start trawling through the extensive patch notes to see what’s been adjusted:
Additional Content/Functionality
- General: Jakku DLC Content is being patched into the game, downloading it separately via platform storefronts is no longer required and can be deleted from your hard drives
- New Map: Twilight on Hoth added to Walker Assault, Supremacy, Turning Point, Blast, Fighter Squadron, Drop Zone, and Heroes vs. Villains
- New Mission: Survival in the Ice Caves added to Survival Missions
- Turning Point: Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, Outpost Beta, and SoroSuub Centroplex maps added to the playlist
Attract Mode: GNK Droid added – GONK! - Settings: Turning off music in the Sound menu now turns off music everywhere in the game
- Settings: Added a Film Grain setting slider in the Video menu
- Credits: Updated Game Credits list
Weapon and Star Card Changes
- Primary Weapons: Damage against air vehicles increased by 10%
- Bowcaster: Explosion damage increased from 10 to 15 per projectile and explosion radius decreased from 3 to 2.5m
- Bowcaster: Full charge direct hit from 20 to 40 per projectile and a normal direct hit increased from 20 to 30 per projectile
- Barrage: Damage increased from 50 to 55
- Barrage: Cooldown reduced from 40 to 35s (normal) and from 35 to 30s (upgraded)
- Barrage: First volley of grenades no longer disappear if the user uses the Refresh Power-up and then fires a second volley
Homing Shot: Lock time decreased from 1.5 to 1.2s - Homing Shot: Players in the AT-GAR turret now receive on-screen notification when locked on
- ION Torpedo: Speed increased from 350 to 380m/s and turning angle increased from 120 to 125 in order to more easily hit air vehicles
- Pulse Rifle: Movement speed while aiming decreased by 30%
- Tusken Cycler Rifle: Movement speed while aiming increased by 40%
- Tusken Cycler Rifle: Bullet speed increased from 300 to 450m/s
- Orbital Strike: Fixed bug where it sometimes would not trigger on button press
Vehicle changes
- A-Wing: Increased hit box size
- A-Wing: Now properly takes damage when colliding with an AT-ST while having the Shield active
- Slave I: Players can now see the Shield icon on Rebel vehicles when a Shield is active
- AT-ST: T-47 Airspeeder kills with a missile while firing the primary cannons at the same time now properly awards a kill (previously registered as a suicide)
- AT-AT: Fixed bug where the Orbital Strike ability would sometimes not have the aiming reticle move
- T-47 Airspeeder: Players will no longer receive an out of bounds message on Graveyard of Giants during Turning Point when a control point is captured
Multiplayer Game Mode Changes
- General: Pre-Round timer lowered from 30s to 20s
- Walker Assault: Fixed Power-up spawns on SoroSuub Centroplex
- Walker Assault: AT-AT health increased by 18% on Outpost Beta, 8% on Jundland Wastes, 20% on Forest of Endor, 4% on SoroSuub Centroplex, and 5% on Graveyard of Giants
- Walker Assault: Spawning as an Imperial Hero after the AT-ATs just pass the second set of uplinks no longer despawns one of the AT-ATs
- Walker Assault: The second AT-AT no longer bumps into the wreckage of the other on SoroSuub Centroplex when the first AT-AT is destroyed during the first Uplink
- Droid Run: Correct Objective Notification is now displayed to all players if someone is killed while trying to claim the Droid
- Droid Run: Improved spawn zones on Dune Sea Exchange
- Supremacy: Fixed Power-up spawns on Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, and SoroSuub Centroplex
- Supremacy: Improved spawn zones on Jundland Wastes, Outpost Beta, and Forest of Endor
- Heroes vs. Villains: Planted turrets on Dune Sea Exchange will now disappear in-between rounds
- Hero Hunt: Improved spawn zones on Ice Caves
- Fighter Squadron: Players are now protected while spawning on Graveyard of Giants
Mission Changes
- General: Both players will now properly see Charge Card pick-ups if Player One is using a 3rd Star Card Hand without a Charge Card
- General: Player 2’s changes to control settings no longer update Player 1’s controls when playing Split-Screen
Battle: Fixed AI Spawn issues on Tatooine - Survival: Wave 10 on Sullust will now always spawn if the player / co-op team dies and restarts the round or if a player picks up a Collectible during the Wave 9 transition
- Survival: Partner spawns on Sullust will no longer fail if the currently alive player is in a confined area
- Survival: Co-Op players can now unlock the “Complete on Hard Difficulty without spending a life” if one player dies and then waits until the other player completes the wave so they get a free respawn
Hero changes
- General: Heroes no longer get stuck in a stunned animation state
- Princess Leia: Endor outfit updated – Congrats on completing the Lead the Rebellion challenge!
- Princess Leia: Trooper Bane now only knocks back primary target, not nearby enemies
- Luke Skywalker: Increased Saber Rush’s damage against other Heroes from 2% to 6-8%
- Luke Skywalker: Lightsaber swing hit radius is reduced from 0.3 to 0.25m
- Han Solo: Zooming in no longer sometimes displays a gun scope
- Emperor Palpatine’s Shocktroopers: Modified primary weapon damage to match Leia’s Honor Guards’ primary weapon damage over time
Bug fixes
- General: Lighting, textures, audio, user interface, text, and collision fixes
- Controls: Legacy control schemes have had their layouts more clearly defined
- Colorblind: Enemy players highlighted with Scan Pulse now have the correct Deuteranopia or Protanopia settings on Graveyard of Giants and Goazan Badlands
- PC only: Fixed a bug where a player would lose functionality with an Xbox 360 controller after inviting a player to a Private Match and then starting the game
- PC only: Air vehicle sensitivity lowered from 0.9 to 0.45 for easier mouse control
- Achievements / Trophies: Updated text on “Impressive. Most Impressive.” and “Survivor” to clarify the requirements
Achievements / Trophies: “Playing the Objective” now properly awarded
Phew. Are you still with us after scanning all of that? Good.
DICE has a similar update in the works slated to release in March, which brings with it a new map set on Endor. In addition to that, the first of four Season Pass maps – Outer Rim – hits in the same month, placing the action on Tatooine against the backdrop of Jabba’s Palace.
Are you still enjoying Star Wars Battlefront, or has its allure faded with time? Let us know your thoughts on the current state of the game in the comments below.