‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ February Update Released With New Map, Jabba’s Palace Teased

Star Wars: Battlefront received the February update Tuesday morning that brings an all new map to the game along with an expanded playlist to the Turning Point mode and a new Survival mission. A laundry list of bug fixes and gameplay balance changes also made their way to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC with the update. One change sure to brighten the day of those that love the star fighters is a change to the A-wing’s hitbox.

The new update weighs in at over 4GB and adds the new Twilight map to Hoth for Star Wars: Battlefront. This map will feature all of the large team battle modes as well as Fighter Squadron, Drop Zone, and Heroes vs. Villains. As the name suggests, it takes place as the sun is setting on the planet. Weather also plays a factor as a snowstorm kicks in and can obscure vision.

Meanwhile, those that enjoy the co-op Survival mode will now have the option to try and survive the Ice Caves on Hoth. Additionally, The Turning Point game mode added with the Jakku DLC in December is finally escaping the planet and is now available to play on the Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, Outpost Beta, and SoroSuub Centroplex maps.

Interestingly, DICE is giving the players the option to make the already film-like Star Wars: Battlefront into more of a cinematic experience. A Film Grain slider option has been added in the video menu that goes from zero percent to 200 percent.

Possibly of greater interest, the A-Wing hit box size has been increased. The Rebel fighter was seen as overpowered by many in the Battlefront community due to its speed, offensive capabilities, and small size. This made it hard for other fighters to hit in aerial combat. Hopefully, the new hitbox balances the not-space battles in the game a little more.

Some Heroes received balance tweaks as well. For example, Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber swing radius has been reduced by 0.05 meters, while his Saber Rush damage has been buffed from 2 percent to up to 8 percent. On the flip side, Emperor Palpatine’s Shocktroopers have had their primary weapon damage altered to match Princess Leia’s Honor Guard.

As previously covered, Details for the March free update include a new Endor multiplayer map for Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Turning Point, plus a new Tatooine Survival map. It’s unknown if free updates will continue past March, but Senior Producer Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir said DICE plans to listen to the community and provide updates throughout the year.

March also coincides with the start of the release of Star Wars: Battlefront DLC. The Outer Rim add-on is coming in March with a new Sullust map, plus a map based on Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine — the latter of which was teased in the following image released with the February update.

This will be followed by the Bespin expansion this summer, featuring Cloud City. The Death Star will then make its debut this fall, followed by an unannounced expansion pack in early 2017.

Each expansion pack is expected to bring four new maps each for a total of 16 new multiplayer maps. Each DLC will be sold separately for $15, or can be bundled together in the Season Pass for $50.

Here are the complete patch notes for the Star Wars: Battlefront February update.

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 380 m/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 missle 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

Misc. 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

[Image via Star Wars: Battlefront]