Battlefront - Outer Rim livestream summary

Thursday evening took place a very long livestream lasting six hours, to present the next expansion Outer border from the game Star Wars Battlefront. This expansion will be released on March 22 for Season Pass holders and April 5 for those who purchase the expansion alone.

This livestream was split into three phases of approximately two hours each, with one streamer for every two hours. In order we could see trying the extension:

• JackFrags, with whom it should have been focused on the presentation of the expansion and the game modes (changes from the old ones, and info on the new ones).
• LevelCap, intended to talk about general gameplay changes, as well as new weapons and new functionality for Hutt Contracts.
• Darkness429, intended to introduce the new maps in extraction mode and talk about heroes.

By their side we found mainly Dennis Brännvall, lead designer of the game, and quickly also Mat Everett, community manager of the game. In the end, everyone spoke a little about each of the aspects which, according to the program, were each planned separately. , also it created a lot of repetition in the speech, where sometimes small details were scattered. For that, in advance sorry if I missed some of these details during the six hours and if this summary is not completely complete, I noted as many details as possible!

 

Trailer

We start this summary of information with the trailer for this expansion!

Since there have been quite a few details given on the adjustments of such and such a card for example, for those who are lazy to read everything, the following paragraph contains the essentials to remember. Details follow after.

 

The essential

• L'extension Outer border will be available on March 22 for Season Pass holders, the 5th April for those who will take the extension separately (this should be available for about fifteen dollars).
• There are two new heroes: Nien Nunb et Greedo, they both have specific mechanics that increase their powers based on the number of players they kill or damage dealt to enemies. One of the powers of Nien Nunb also changes depending on the map / game mode (see dedicated paragraph for more details).
• An additional game mode: Convoy. Game mode at asymmetric goals, the rebels must activate a robotic cart containing valuable cargo. The cart then advances alone along a very specific path while the imperial tries to deactivate it. The rebels must reach checkpoints before the end of the given time and then the end point of extraction, with a stopwatch which works like the turntable mode. Specific operation for the heroes, see paragraph dedicated to the game mode.
• Four new cards : two on Sullust and two at Jabba Palace on Tatooine. They are of intermediate sizes and intended for close combat (the theme for this first expansion). Available for the new Convoy mode and other small map modes, but not for modes like Supremacy or Walker Attack.
• Three new star maps including one loaded, a new super bonus (I love its animation), four blasters (some of which are available without purchasing the extension, without absolute certainty: the DL-12 and the DLT-19X) and a new look for the rebels: Weequay.
• System of Hutt contracts : You can buy a contract from a certain level (level 12 for all current contracts normally). Once purchased, you have to complete objectives in the same way as challenges, and once completed, you get one of the new weapons or cards from Jabba.
• Possibility of side roll for soldiers, like Han or Leia nowadays!
• Increase of the maximum level to 60 level.
• Changed the selection screen, and added Playlists, these do not allow you to choose a type of game but a card size that turns the game modes: 40 players, 12 players or with heroes.
• System D'team balancing when changing cards.
• New team play system, which allows you to easily indicate to your team the objective you are going to.
• Reworked the hero attribution system for the mode Hero Hunt.
• Mutual destruction of vessels of the same size that come into collision, even under shield ! It is therefore no longer possible to destroy Slave One by entering it and without suffering any consequences.
• Miscellaneous minor adjustments.
• Finally, information excluding paid extensions: free content will arrive even later. It is not over with the start of expansions.

 

Hero

So there is two new heroes available: Nien Nunb for the rebels and Greedo for the Empire. These heroes are only accessible to players with the expansion. Additionally, the introduction of additional heroes has led to other changes to the hero game modes. You will find these changes in the paragraph regarding the game modes. Note that these two heroes will not be available in non-multiplayer modes at this time, however, they will be in the future.

Nien Nunb

• Nien Nunb's first power matches the star map Pulse cannon.
• The second power is a anti-infantry turret.
• Nien Nunb can improve this turret to give it explosive shots (and she hurts a lot once she has them). For this, he must fill a gauge in killing enemy players or damaging enemy heroes. Note that the gauge is reset if you install a new turret.
• Using a blaster DH-17.
• Finally, the third power of Nien Nunb depends on the card and the game mode. Attack of the Walkers for example, it is a Orbital Bombing. On smaller cards, it is Proximity mines. Up to 4 proximity mines can be placed at the same time.
• Can perform side rolls.
• Nien Nunb is therefore more of a defensive and strategic hero, not someone cut out for the melee. Laying traps where to bring his enemies will undoubtedly be his specialty.
• Among his special emotes (yes all heroes have specific emotes) is his famous laugh, the one from the movie.
• Nien Nunb is pronounced like "Nayane", a sound in 'a' and not in 'e' therefore. It is also not pronounced like the number 9 in English nine.

 

Greedo

• Has a blaster DT 12.
• His first power is a Explosive, this one has a mechanic similar to the turret upgrade of Nien Nunb.
• Greedo not being the best bounty hunter in the Galaxy, he is not very confident. Kill enemy players or injure heroes allows him to fulfill his Confidence gauge. When this is empty the explosive is a DThermal Etonator, half it's a Impact Grenade and finally once full, it is a Thermal Implanter. This gauge decreases over time if it is not maintained.
• It also has a Dioxis pomegranate, one of the new star maps (see the dedicated paragraph for more details).
• Finally, like Han, he can charge a automatic fireMore multi-targets in his case. It seems that this shot instantly kills classic soldiers.
• Can perform side rolls.

 

Miscellaneous adjustments

• La luke running speed was lightly scaled down.
• L'Emperor and the Princesse Leia will no longer be able to display Shocktroopers/Honor Guards to infinity. There will be a limited number. No indication if it concerns all modes or only heroic confrontation.
• Darth Vader is now a bit more powerful: more health, greater range for his sword throwing, and longer ability to block blasters from 4 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Adjustments on Boba Fett as well? More information on this in the patch-notes.

 

Game modes

A new game mode Convoy appeared, while others had some tweaks, particularly Hero Hunt.

 

Convoy

• This mode is available on all four new maps. I have to admit that for the old cards I don't know if this will be available or not.
• This mode has asymmetric lenses, which revolves around a cart and checkpoints.
  • The rebels must activate the chariot, which then go alone at a fairly slow pace. In the manner of Rotating plate they must reach checkpoints within a given time. Reaching these points increases the time available. There are a total of three checkpoints.
  • The Imperials must prevent the rebels from bringing the cart to the last checkpoint, the extraction point. For that they must deactivate the cart and defend it against the rebels. Preventing them from reaching a checkpoint on time ends the game.
• It is not possible to place turrets and other physical objects (example: shield) in front of the cart to stop it. Carriage automatically destroy any turret when it reaches it.
• Le stopwatch is five minutes by a priori control point. If the timer reaches zero and the cart is still on, the game will continue until the Imperials have stopped it.
• The operation of the heroes is very particular in this mode.
  • You cannot choose the hero when collecting the hero bonus. A hero is automatically assigned.
  • This automatic hero depends on map and checkpoint In progress.
  • There can only be one hero bonus per checkpoint. Once the hero of this checkpoint is dead, he cannot respawn. In addition there is no way to heal (Leia and Palpatine give the team a super bonus).
  • Imperials cannot have heroes on the first checkpoint while rebels do not have hero bonuses on the last checkpoint.
  • This implies that if a hero survives until the next checkpoint, a team may have two heroes at the same time. It is therefore important to think in the long term and keep your heroes alive to more easily face those of the next point!
• To help them, the rebels can periodically activate a squad shield present on the carriage, and which therefore moves with it.

 

Heroic Confrontation

• For new cards, it is now a mode 16 players : 8 against 8, with the four heroes from each faction, and four soldiers.
• The first to be chosen as a hero select the hero he wants to play, the next one chooses from the three remaining heroes and so on.
• On the summary score table (tab), a hero symbol appears next to the selected players' nickname.
• The operation of the cards in the base game does not change. Other than choosing the hero.

 

Fighter Squadron

• The collisions between vessels of same sizes now cause the destruction of the two vessels, even if a shield is activated. No more destroying Slave One with the Millennium Falcon by entering it, shields activated, and without suffering the slightest damage. Note however, that the collision between a hunter and a hero ship does not change, the hunter is destroyed while the hero takes some damage.

 

Hero Hunt

• Game mode played very little and which therefore required adjustments to be playable.
• The objective remains the same: do damage and kill the hero if you are a soldier, or kill as many soldiers as possible if you are the hero.
• The change of players embodying the hero is no longer done in the same way:
  • Previously whoever dealt the killing blow to the hero became the next hero, which did not necessarily reward those who did the most damage to them.
  • The score now grants a percentage of chance : the higher the score, the higher the percentage.
  • When a hero is defeated, a new one is randomly drawn from three with the highest percentage. Of course, the probability between these three people depends on their percentage and is not equivalent. Example: My percentage of luck is twice as high as the other two players in the top three, so I would have a one in two chance of being chosen, while they will have only one chance in four.
  • When a person becomes the hero, his score is reset as well as his chances of becoming the hero.
  • This allows the people who play the heroes to spin more, and encourages doing damage without waiting for the hero's health to be low.
  • A small roulette animation is done for the selection of the next hero player.

Cards

Four news cards are now available, two on Sullust, and two on Tatooïne. From a personal point of view, I once again find that the maps offered here are simply magnificent from a graphical point of view.

 

Jabba Palace

This card is located totally indoors and lets play vertically rather than horizontally insofar as it involves four floors. Whether you're at the bar for Jabba's guests, in his throne room, or stumbling into the Rancor Pit ... you'll have to face the opponent mostly in hallways. Many nods have been slipped into the background, such as the droid Gonk being tortured, Jabba's mud bath or even as already mentioned the pit of rancor. We can also escape from it by using a jetpack with precision. For the other winks, it's up to you to find them when you go out! Here is a gallery of images of this card.

 

Palace garage

Still on Tatooine, this map is at half indoors and half outdoors. If we are not here in a place visited directly by the films, we are nevertheless in an iconic place in a way, since we find ourselves in the garage where Jabba's barge is located. If we go outside, no large plain but stone corridors where we can confront each other, we keep the urban confrontation dimension, theme of this extension. Outside you will also find the small skiffs, where Luke and his companions are at the time of being offered to Sarlacc. Small series of images also.

 

Raffinerie de SoroSuub

We leave for Sullust and its lava fields, however, these will remain far from us, part of the landscape since this map is mainly indoors. There are nevertheless external walkways, above the lava, which can give an impression of Mustafar. As one of the streamers said about the scenery, and this also goes for the next map, it feels a bit like we've arrived in Middle-earth, in the land of Mordor. The sky is covered in dark clouds while a volcano is erupting. Mordor is not the only element of JRR Tolkien's universe that this map can evoke. Indeed, when entering inside, one has the impression of finding oneself in the Hobbit films, in the foundries of the Lonely Mountain, with channels dug in the stone, the molten metal running through them (watch out for do not stay on it, it does damage !). The interior is also very Star Wars to the extent that one could believe oneself on Geonosis in the factories of droids, with these giant crucibles, filled with metal and moving on rails on the ceiling. We don't forget the pictures!

 

SoroSuub pipelines

Just like the Garage du Palais, here we have a map mixed exterior / interior. On the outside, we also find the component of combat vertical from the Palace, thanks to a whole bunch of footbridges and pipelines that you can climb on, you can also move on the volcanic soil of the planet on this map. In the distance, we find the same atmosphere as the other map, and the same volcano in fact. Lightning is visible in the clouds in the distance, and reinforces the sinister side of the place, while remaining magnificent with this majestic Imperial cruiser in front of a blood red sunset. It's up to you to judge for yourself.

 

Star Cards and other in-game unlockables.

New Arrivals

Un new super bonus is available for everyone whose name if I'm not mistaken is Disruptor Rifle. Its operation is similar to the pulse cannon, a fairly powerful scope and you have to stay pressed to load it. Once the loaded shot completely we can release it for a destructive shot, quite explosive, and with rather nice animation. It is above all planned against vehicles, however, it is very effective against infantry as well and will be able to kill multiple soldiers simultaneously with its explosive effect.

Only one new look is available for this expansion, it is an additional race for the rebels, and which is entitled to its own voice: Weequay. The Weequays can be seen in Return of the Jedi on Jabba's barge and in his palace.

 

We also find four new blasters whose two should be available for everyone and not only the owners of the Bordure Extérieurs extension. Two blasters were teased on Twitter recently in an unlisted video mini-trailer, regarding free updates. To be confirmed, but these blasters should be available from level 12 by the Hutt contracts.

• DLT-19X
• DL-18
• Relby V-10
• DT 12

The first blaster is the DLT-19 X, graphically it looks a lot like the E-11 S that existed in Battlefront II, the Imperial sniper rifle. In fact at first I was even convinced that it was this blaster, but no! It is therefore a derivative of the DLT-19 here, with a telescopic sight and which discharges its entire cell in a single shot. It is therefore a sniper rifle with the particularity of overheat in one shot. A single shot from this weapon is sufficient if placed in the head, otherwise it only seems to remove about 95% of the health.

The second blaster is a DL-18 also named "Mos Esley Special". Its particular shape at the barrel level immediately seemed familiar to me, maybe for you too? This blaster is the one Han uses to shoot the Sarlacc in order to free Lando Calrissian and to be able to bring him back up. It's also the one Luke steals from a Force guard before shooting Jabba. Finally it is also the blaster model owned by Kanan Jarrus, the hero of the Star Wars Rebels series. This blaster should be similar to the DL-44.

We then have the Relby V-10, which is the blaster of Bossk (one of the future heroes of the next expansions?). This blaster is a semi-automatic rifle, you will be able to shoot as fast as you click your mouse, while the damage seems slightly higher than the AC-280 according to the stream.

The last blaster is that of Greedo, the DT 12 which is also a handgun blaster. Again it is in semi-automatic mode and the rate of fire should only be limited by your click rate on your mouse?

Finally, there is three new star maps.

• Dioxis pomegranate
• Adrenaline
• Scattergun

We start with the Dioxis pomegranate, this gas with which the Federation of Commerce tries to poison Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Here the pomegranate disperses a gas cloud who stays there for a little while, and who makes damage over time to enemies ... but also to you even if you stay inside. It can be a good element to defend points or corridors by positioning them in such a way as to weaken the enemies who would like to cross them. Two unknowns remain on this gas, does it pass through the shields? And the second concerns a line by Dennis Brännvall during the stream, who compared the cloud to that of the smoke grenade, so does it block the locks as well? However, it is semi-transparent which makes it easy to aim with a blaster, unlike a smoke grenade.

Then we have the map Adrenaline, which requires loads. It greatly increases health regeneration and accelerates its triggering on activation, for several seconds. It comes in handy when under enemy fire to quickly regain health, or when playing hide and seek with another long-range shooter.

Finally we have the Scattergun, which is comparable to a shotgun which delivers directly two shots. In addition, it fires projectiles which pass through shields. Note that a single activation, if you aim right, is enough to kill an enemy.

 

Finally, the demonstrations took place on a development server, which gave an overview of two other star maps that will probably arrive later, one Bacta bomb, as well as a new trait named Berserker.

 

Adjustments

Various adjustments have been made to the already existing elements. The following list is not exhaustive, but covers the points covered during the livestream:

• Adjustments, whether for cards, blasters or even heroes, are made according to player feedback, and / or according to the developers' proposals following the analysis of game data.
• The radius of the explosion Thermal Detonator has been slightly increased while its cooldown is slightly reduced.
• La Blaster turret notably saw its angle of fire be increased. They found that they are often not really used and just activated to get rid of them. For them each of the bonuses should have a use even if each one prefers one, and this is not the case for the blaster turret for the moment.
• Several changes regarding Squad Shields :
  • Now repels projectiles like grenades or missiles.
  • It works both ways, so you'll get trapped with your grenade if you try to throw it from inside.
  • An ion grenade continues to explode on the shield and deactivates it.
  • Cycler Rifle and Scattergun always pass through.
• The damage Barrage are again increased slightly.
• The poor should they also have been entitled to a balancing (let's hope the DL-44 will see its damage or reduced range!).

 

Hutt contracts

A new system will be added: the contrats hutt. Hutt Contracts will be the only way to get all Star Weapons and Cards (as well as their upgrades) that will be added in the future. How it works ?

1. First, we have to buy the contract with the money won in the game or thanks to General Staff. Different hutt contracts require different levels and have varying costs.
2. There are specific challenges to accomplish to fulfill the hutt contract. Example: use the cryo-cell 25 times. Depending on the contracts, there may be one, two or three challenges to complete.
3. Once the contract is fulfilled, Jabba gives us the contract reward.

The idea of ​​these Hutt contracts is not to allow former players who have credit reserves to buy everything directly. Here they will be able to buy all the contracts directly but will still have to unlock them one by one through the challenges. This allows, among other things, to give end-game objectives to these players, and to avoid a rapid gloom of novelties, thanks to the satisfaction of the success of the unlocking.

 

News and additional changes

There are other new features and changes that will come with this expansion that don't fit into any of the previous categories:

• Maximum level increased from 50 to 60.
• At each change of card, there will be a automatic team balancing. Details about it:
  • It is not done when the faction changes on the same card, so as to be able to have revenge against the same team on the one hand, and a player does not find himself having to make the same card twice in a row in a row. the same faction.
  • Le play partner chooses before entering the game will be always kept.
  • Le playgroup is not guaranteed. The balancing system will try not to separate the groups but this is not a sure thing.
• New function of "Teamplay" which allows you to quickly indicate to your teammates (without the chat) towards which objective you are heading. In addition, a small number appears next to the objectives to indicate the number of allied players heading there.
• Revised summary table of scores. The first thing shown on the left is now the score, as this is the sort criterion. In addition a ping indicator has been added. Finally, at least for the Heroic Confrontation mode, a small icon indicates the heroes.

• They know that players like to know their stats, so after the experience screen after a game, a new statistics summary screen has been added. It only gives the number of killed and the number of deaths for the moment, but it will give more information later.

• L'selection screen of the game was redesigned. You can now stand in line for a playlist instead of standing in line for a particular game mode. The playlists allow the normal change of map, also to change game modes in random ways. There are currently four playlists:
  • Game modes at 40 players.
  • Game modes at 12 players.
  • Game modes with hero.
  • Outer border (in theory 8 to 9 hours of play to go around).

 

If you want to see reruns of the livestreams, you can watch them on the guest streamers' channels: JackFrags, LevelCap, and Darkness_429.

So what do you think of all this? Self-balancing or even Hutt contracts?