The Star Wars Battlefront: Death Star expansion is now live for season pass holders, which makes this a good time to check out the patch notes to see what's changed. Most of the high points have already been covered—five additional Death Star-themed maps, the new Battle Station game mode, Chewbacca and Bossk—but it will also add the TL-50 Heavy Repeater and the K-16 Bryar Pistol blasters, two new Star Cards, and a couple of Hero vehicles you may be familiar with: Red Five and the TIE Advanced X1.
Red Five is Luke Skywalker's personal ride, the one he used to pop the Death Star like it was a poorly-designed balloon. The famous X-Wing packs shields that protect it from damage for a short period, fires proton torpedoes that track enemy targets, and carries an R2-D2 repair droid that can restore lost health.
On the darker side of the fight, the prototype TIE Advanced that Vader called his own also has shields (which no doubt annoys the hell out of the guys stuck flying the old TIE models), plus a “speed boost” function and a “Relentless Assault” capability that enables rapid firing of the primary weapon without overheating. Both ships will be supported by wingmen, who will be spawn options for two players whenever the hero vehicles are present: Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter for Red Five, and Victor Two and Victor Three for the TA.
Even for players who don't grab the Death Star expansion, this is a pretty big update. All traits have been updated, and most levels now have new abilities. The level cap has been increased from 70 to 90, new “visual unlocks” have been added, a half-dozen new Hutt Contracts are available, new power-ups are available in the Fighter Squadron and Battle Station modes, and Fighter Squadron will now have AI-controlled A-Wings and TIE Interceptors buzzing about. And smaller changes abound: The A-Wing has swapped its shields for a speed boost function, for instance, while the TIE Interceptor now fires a “laser barrage” instead of missiles, and Princess Leia's E-11 blaster damage now falls off at 30 instead of 25.
The Star Wars Battlefront: Death Star expansion will be available to everyone on or about October 4, following a two-week early access period for season pass holders. The full patch notes are available here.
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