This month has seen a lot of news about Star Wars Battlefront II; from a paid EA Access trial, to loot box changes, now we have even more news about the upcoming shooter.
Something that surprised some people was the news of DICE foregoing a season pass for Battlefront II DLC.
The upcoming slate of DLC that will be releasing centers around the newest Star Wars film The Last Jedi. Most of the content itself will center around either the New Order or Resistance as factions, with characters from both sides being added. Players will also participate in a battle between the two factions where your chosen faction may gain bonuses for it’s players doing well in battle.
DLC Roadmap
The detailed roadmap for next month’s content drop as follows:
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It all starts with choosing a side. On December 5, you’ll have an opportunity to align with the First Order or choose to fight for the Resistance. Your choice is important, as it will allow you to take part in special challenges that will grant your faction specific rewards.
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Things kick into high gear on December 13. Your favorite stormtrooper-turned-hero Finn joins the fight for the Resistance and Captain Phasma steps on to the Battlefront for the First Order. They can be purchased with in-game Credits that week. Whichever faction is victorious in completing the most challenges that week will net a reward as well: a special Crate of high-power upgrades for Finn or Captain Phasma.
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New locations and vehicles will also arrive. On December 13, the cinematic content from Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues with a new planetary map: Crait. The Starfighter Assault map of D’qar will join as well, plus a new hero ship – Tallie Lintra’s RZ-2 A-wing. Poe Dameron’s T-70 X-wing is also upgraded with a new ability inspired by Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
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Iden Versio returns. In Star Wars Battlefront II Resurrection, you’ll join Commander Iden Versio during the days of the First Order’s rise to power. This all new chapter of Star Wars Battlefront II’s single-player story mode will be available December 13.
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Your choice of faction will continue to matter. Throughout December, you’ll see your chosen faction’s progress reflected in-game, as you fight alongside allies from around the world to swing the tide of battle.
Some of this content was already known to be coming to Battlefront II — the addition of Finn and Captain Phasma — players will certainly enjoy new locations to viciously destroy each other in.
What’s most surprising about this content however is that we will be receiving a new chapter diving into the story of Iden Versio with Star Wars Battlefront II Resurrection. It’s a bit surprising to see singleplayer content coming for free to a multiplayer-focused game.
But new DLC isn’t the only thing we’ve found out about Battlefront II this week. We also finally have confirmed prices for the games microtransactions.
MTX Prices
Battlefront 2’s premium currency is called Crystals, which can be purchased in the following amounts:
- 500: $5/£4
- 1000: $10/£8
- 2100: $20/£16
- 4400: $40/£32
- 12,000: $100/£80
Those are the regular prices—they are currently discounted by ten percent, although whether that’s a temporary cut for the trial, or permanent for Origin Access subscribers, isn’t clear. There’s also Credits, which are a separate in-game currency earned through gameplay.
Loot crates that contain Heroes and Star Cards are priced in order of power, as per usual with these exploitative MTX models common to mobile gaming. Prices range from 100 to 200 Crystals. There are three types of crates available for purchase, Hero, Starfighter, and Trooper, each more expensive than the last. The breakdown is like this: Hero loot crates go for 100 Crystals or 2200 credits, Starfighter crates are 120 Crystals or 2400 credits, and the Trooper crates are 200 Crystals or 4000 credits.
DICE have introduced level-gating at certain areas so that players won’t be massively OP by just buying crates straight away, but some people still aren’t happy. It’s still possible to gain a substantial advantage by dumping money into crates with minimal regular play.
To upgrade Cards to rank 2, you need XP level 10; to Rank 3, you need XP Level 15, and to get Rank 4, you need XP Level 20. It’s not a huge grind, you should hit rank 15 within the first 6 hours of gameplay. So overall, it’s pretty easy for even casual players to get up to the level that they’re using Rank 3 Cards regularly.
They’ve also removed the ability to get Legendary Cards directly from crates, but you can upgrade 3-Star Cards at certain levels to get Legendaries anyway.
Hopefully all of these changes help maintain the balance of multiplayer so the Pay-to-Win players don’t massively spoil the game for everyone.