A Princess, a Scoundrel and an Emperor Join ‘Star Wars Battlefront’ Roster

With less than a month to go until Star Wars Battlefront arrives, DICE and EA are finally sharing more details on the heroes and villains joining the battle on both sides of the virtual war in that galaxy far, far away. Already, players knew familiar faces like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader would be part of the action, alongside the bounty hunter no one can seem to get enough of, Boba Fett. Those three won’t be the only special characters fans get to play with, as the sides are going to get evened out a bit with these new additions.

Though Leia is a Jedi, during Battlefront‘s timeline, she doesn’t quite know it yet. Since she’s best known in the original trilogy for being an incredible leader, building her character for the game was a bit of a challenge for DICE. As lead hero designer Jamie Keen described on the PlayStation Blog, Leia’s tricky to create as a unique character since she doesn’t have a favorite weapon or visible ability in the films. With that in mind, DICE ended up focusing on her leadership abilities.

Leia’s abilities are all about buffering teammates, and anyone that spawns near her will turn into an Alderaan Honor Guard while she’s active on the battlefield. You’ll also be able to use an Enhanced Squad Shield, which can stop some Force abilities, and call in Supply Drops to help boost the Rebel troops. She does have a special offensive ability, Trooper Bane, which allows her to dispatch Stormtroopers in a single barrage. The ability will work on Villains as well, though it will only deal a lot of damage and stun them, rather than killing them outright.

Han’s looking pretty handsome, as always, but it’s going to take more than a smuggler’s good looks and charms to pull out a victory for the Rebel Alliance in Battlefront. Fortunately, DICE crafted Han to be the perfect hero the the lone wolves out there; you know who you are. Since he’s also another of the few characters without any special Force abilities, Han plays a lot like a boosted standard soldier, though the extra output to his offense will make him stand out from the crowd.

Rapid Fire lets players rattle off a barrage of shots without worry of Han’s blaster overheating for a short duration, and Lucky Shot is a heavily charged single-shot that deals massive damage to infantry, Villains, and vehicles alike. The best power he’s got though, or at least the most creative, is Shoulder Charge. Inspired by Han’s reckless head-first charge into the Stormtroopers on the Death Star in A New Hope, Shoulder Charge gives Han a speed burst to rush into, or out of, battle when active.

Emperor Palpatine isn’t exactly known for being an on-the-ground type of leader, but that doesn’t mean players won’t be able to step into his nasty old man robes in Battlefront. The Sith Lord will have use of his iconic Force Lightning, which is limited in range, but does have a Chain Lightning to extend the range a bit by sending it through multiple nearby targets. Just because he’s an old man doesn’t mean he can’t still move, which is where Force Dash comes into play. Using this speed boost, Palpatine can close the distance on Rebel troops in an instant, and deal out massive damage up close with the Force.

Like Leia, Emperor Palpatine is the face of leadership in the Empire. While he has his fair share of offensive capabilities, perhaps his biggest strength is the Imperial Resources ability. With it, you can drop boosts for Empire troopers in the same way Leia’s power works for the Rebels.

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