Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Developer Insights: Echo

ABILITIES:

Basic: DARING DEFENSE

FINAL TEXT: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. Grant Defense Up and Evasion Up for 2 turns to the weakest Clone Trooper ally who doesn’t have them.

Special 1: ONE STEP AHEAD (Cooldown 3)

FINAL TEXT: Inflict Buff Immunity on target enemy for 2 turns. Inflict Expose on all enemies for 2 turns. Dispel all debuffs on target other Clone Trooper ally and call them to assist. If that ally was Bad Batch, this Buff Immunity can’t be dispelled, and Echo increases the target enemy’s cooldowns by 1 (excludes Galactic Legends). This attack can’t be evaded.

Special 2: NEVER ANY DOUBT (Cooldown 3)

FINAL TEXT: Clone Trooper allies gain Evasion Up for 2 turns. Dispel all buffs on all enemies and inflict Daze and Healing Immunity for 2 turns.

For each buff dispelled, Clone Trooper allies gain 10% Offense until the end of their next turn and Bad Batch allies gain 5% Turn Meter. This attack can’t be evaded or resisted.

Unique 1: (ZETA) ONE THAT SURVIVES

FINAL TEXT: Whenever a Clone Trooper ally gains or loses a buff from a Bad Batch ally’s ability, they recover 4% Health and Protection, doubled for Bad Batch allies.

Whenever a Bad Batch ally inflicts a debuff on an enemy, that enemy loses 8% Protection. If that enemy had less than 50% Protection and more than 50% Health, they also lose 8% Health. This effect excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends.

Echo of Clone Force 99 has joined the Holotables! Echo started off as a clone trooper that liked to stick to the rules and do things by the book. He earned his nickname by compulsively repeating his orders and regulations but was captured in a daring raid on the Citadel and thought to be lost forever.

His comrade and commanding officer, Captain Rex, never had any doubt that he would survive and later found Echo captured and modified by the Separatists to provide clone battle strategies to the droid army. Once Echo was rescued from this terrible fate, his knowledge of the Separatist forces helped his squad stay One Step Ahead. His Special ability, One Step Ahead, weakens his enemies and increases the target enemy’s cooldowns by 1 if he also targets a Bad Batch ally. After recovering from his ordeal, Echo was no longer the clone trooper he used to be and joined the ranks of the Bad Batch as a trusted and unique member of Clone Force 99.

Unlock Echo in the all new Marquee event: Clone Force 99 IV

The Basics:[/u]

• Echo supports the Bad Batch squad by distributing buffs to allies and preventing the enemy squad from gaining buffs.
• His Special, One Step Ahead, inflicts Buff Immunity on the target enemy for 2 turns which can’t be dispelled if he targets a Bad Batch ally to dispel all debuffs and call them to assist.
• Echo can disrupt the enemy squad’s plans with his Special, Never Any Doubt, which dispels all buffs on all enemies and inflicts Daze and Healing Immunity for 2 turns.
• Echo also provides the squad with some survivability with his Unique, One That Survive, which provides Clone Trooper 4% Health and Protection whenever they gain or lose a buff from a Bad Batch ally’s ability, doubled for Bad Batch allies.

Unique Attributes:
Echo’s Unique is… unique – One That Survives triggers when a unit gains or loses a Bad Batch Buff which includes when those Buffs expire.

Inspiration:

• There is no doubt that this version of Echo is a far cry from the 501st version we’ve had in the game for quite a while now. This allowed us a clean slate to create all-new, thematic, abilities for the unit.
• We wanted this Echo to look and feel like a completely new unit with cybernetic body parts and a completely different kit to CT-21-0408 “Echo”
• Echo’s story is quite extraordinary and we pulled the ability names right out of moments from the show – such as Commander Rex never having any doubt that Echo was still alive and out there!
• The animations for his Special, Never Any Doubt, references when Echo plugs into the command console to disrupt the Separatist Droid plans. He has a scomp-link for an arm so of course we’re going to plug him into something!

Strategy Tips:

• Echo’s Unique, One That Survives, is the most important ability to plan around – The heal for Bad Batch allies when they gain or lose buffs can be a powerful tool for keeping your allies alive throughout a battle but can also deal a huge amount of damage by applying a large number of debuffs to the enemy squad.
• The heal from his Unique is going to trigger surprisingly often, even Echo’s Basic, Daring Defense, can provide regular heals to the squad from assisting.
• His Special, Never Any Doubt, can give allies a massive amount of Turn Meter if timed correctly – 5% for each buff dispelled can add up very fast against an enemy squad that loves to apply buffs.
• You are usually going to want to save Special 2 for the right moment where you can remove key buffs from the enemy squad but also as many as possible.
• The other Bad Batch units will greatly benefit from Echo’s many buffs and synergies – Hunter loves the extra Expose!

Bad Batch Overall Tips:

• The Bad Batch is a squad that is focused on giving each other important buffs.
• The 4 Bad Batch units can help trigger each other’s abilities and all interact together in unique ways.
  • The main question for the Bad Batch is who will fill your 5th slot.
  • You can use Rex to great effect if you don’t have a 501st squad.

FAQ:

• What happens if the weakest ally already has 1 of the buffs (Defense Up or Evasion Up) when Echo uses his Basic?
  • Each buff from Echo’s Basic is targeted independently, so if the weakest ally has Defense Up already but not Evasion Up, that ally will gain Evasion Up and the next weakest ally without Defense Up will gain Defense Up.
• Does a buff expiring count as losing a buff?
  • Yes, Echo’s Unique will trigger when a Bad Batch buff expires.