Blasting enemy troopers, dogfighting with iconic starships, playing as Hero characters, creating powerful hands of Star Cards… There’s an entire galaxy of gameplay waiting for you in Star Wars Battlefront — and we want to make your first moments on the battlefront count.

We’ve gathered 20 tips that will aid you on your path to becoming a master. These simple-but-crucial pointers come straight from the DICE development team and cover weapons, vehicles, and more.

Blasters and Weapons

Christian Johannesén, Designer

“Maintain controlled fire with your blaster to manage both heat and bolt spread.”

“With each successful cooling flush, the skill game increases in difficulty. When failing, dying or not activating the cooling flush, the difficulty level will decrease again.”

“The Ion Shot makes your blaster more powerful against vehicles, and weaker against troopers during its active time.”

Star Cards and Power-ups

Christian Johannesén, Designer

“The Ion Grenade is a great way to quickly deal with pesky Droids and turrets.”

“The Pulse Cannon does greater damage the longer it’s charged. A fully charged shot will defeat a person with one shot.”

“Combine the Jump Pack with an explosion based weapon — like the Bowcaster — to rain mayhem from above.”

“The Smoke Grenade not only reduces vision, but also blocks lock-on functions for weapons, turrets, and Droids.”

“Energy shields blocks incoming energy blasts, but solid projectiles like grenades, rockets, and the Cycler Rifle slug will pass through.”

“If you have a power up you do not want, you can hit interact (Square) in front of a power-up to change it for a new one.”

“The Cycler Rifle and Pulse Cannon must be fired while scoping in order to maximize its accuracy.”

“The Smart Rocket fires like a regular launcher, but the rocket will target and track a vehicle if fired in its general direction.”

Piloting Starfighters

Nick Baker, Designer

“If you take damage while trying to call in a vehicle the progress will be reset.”

“Evasive maneuvers break missile lock and Soft Lock.”

“Reduced velocity increases weapon power, increased velocity reduces weapon power for the A-wing, X-wing TIE fighter, TIE interceptor, Slave I, and the Millennium Falcon.”

Björn Sundell, Vehicle Designer

“Hold the Left Trigger to activate your targeting system on the starfighters. It helps you land your shots.”

Miscellaneous

Christian Johannesén, Designer

“A Trait will grant a passive bonus and level up with kill streaks. When dying, the Trait will lose a level again.”

“Customize your hand of Star Cards accordingly in Hero Hunt and Heroes vs Villains. Not even a Jedi can block an explosion.”

“Droids are not only great for attacking the enemy team, they also have a scan pulse that reveals enemies to your entire team.”

Jim Fagerlund, Mission Scripter

“In regular Battles, press the D-pad up to make your AI allies ‘search and destroy’ and D-pad right to ‘follow player.'”

Nick Baker, Designer

“The AT-ST has a weak spot on its back, try to target this when attacking one and defend it when piloting.”

There are many more tips to learn about Star Wars Battlefront, so stay tuned for more tips like these. We also recommend the Training Missions, where you’ll get a chance to pilot X-wings and play as Darth Vader on your own or with a friend before facing the heat of live multiplayer.

Good luck and may the Force be with you!