The guys over at Capital Games has posted a new developer insight. This time they are talking with the designers of The final unit of our Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary character – Starkiller. He has landed on the holotables with the force of a Star Destroyer being yanked from the sky!
Below, we take a dive into the motivations and inspirations our developers drew from while creating the kit for this fan-favorite Star Wars: The Force Unleashed character.
For more info and insights from the devs on this character, check out this interview with CubsFan Han:
UNIT NAME: Starkiller
ALIGNMENT: Dark Side
CATEGORIES: Dark Side, Attacker, Unaligned Force User
A powerful Dark Side Force User whose inner conflict lifts up other Force Users.
ABILITIES:
Basic: IMBUED LIGHTSABER STRIKE
FINAL TEXT (ZETA): Deal Physical damage to target enemy twice. If it’s Starkiller’s turn, inflict Shock for 1 turn to target enemy and deal Physical damage to all other enemies, which can’t be countered.
Unleashed: Reduce Special ability cooldowns by 1
Special 1: BOUNDLESS FORCE THROW (Cooldown 4)
FINAL TEXT (OMICRON): Deal Physical damage to target enemy and inflict Daze and Vulnerable for 2 turns, which can’t be resisted. Gain 25 stacks of Force Energy. This ability can’t be evaded.
Unleashed: Inflict Buff Immunity and Healing Immunity for 2 turns, which can’t be resisted
While in Grand Arenas: While Unleashed, dispel all debuffs on all allies, and the Buff Immunity and Healing Immunity can’t be copied, dispelled, or resisted.
Special 2: FORCE REPULSE (Cooldown 4)
FINAL TEXT (OMICRON): Dispel all buffs on target enemy and deal Physical damage to all enemies, which can’t be evaded. This attack deals 5% more damage for each buff dispelled.
Unleashed: Deal 25% more damage for each buff dispelled instead
While in Grand Arenas: Dispel all buffs on all enemies.
Granted Ability: SIZE MEANS NOTHING
FINAL TEXT: Limit one use per battle.
Deal damage equal to 80% of Starkiller’s Max Health to all enemies and Stun them for 1 turn, which can’t be resisted. Allies recover 100% Health and Protection. If this attack defeats an enemy, Starkiller takes a bonus turn. This ability can’t be evaded.
Unique: FORCE ENERGY
FINAL TEXT (ZETA): Starkiller has +30% Counter Chance, Critical Chance, Defense, Defense Penetration, and Offense, and he is immune to Fear.
Starkiller gains 4 stacks of Force Energy (max 100 stacks) each time he deals damage to an enemy, increased to 5 stacks on a critical hit. At 100 stacks, he loses all stacks of Force Energy and gains Unleashed until the end of the battle.
When Starkiller gains Unleashed:
- He gains 70% Counter Chance, Critical Chance, Defense, Defense Penetration, and Offense
- He dispels all debuffs on himself
- He takes a bonus turn
- His cooldowns are reset
- If there are no Galactic Legend allies, he gains the Special ability Size Means Nothing
Force Energy: At 100 stacks, lose all stacks and gain Unleashed
Unleashed: Abilities gain additional effects; can’t gain Force Energy
Size Means Nothing: Limit one use per battle.
Deal damage equal to 80% of Starkiller’s Max Health to all enemies and Stun them for 1 turn, which can’t be resisted. All allies recover 100% Health and Protection. If this ability defeats an enemy, Starkiller takes a bonus turn. This ability can’t be evaded.
Unique 2: THERE IS MUCH CONFLICT IN YOU
FINAL TEXT (OMICRON): At the start of battle, if there are no Galactic Legend allies and Starkiller has exactly one Jedi, one Light Side Unaligned Force User, one Sith, and one other Dark Side Unaligned Force user ally, all allies gain the following bonuses:
- 100% Critical Damage and Max Health
- 35 Speed
- 100% Max Protection until the first time Starkiller is defeated
- Immune to Daze and Stun
While in Grand Arenas: If the conditions for this ability were met at the start of battle, all of the following bonuses are also gained:
- At the start of battle, Jedi Tank allies Taunt for 1 turn
- All allies have +35 Speed
- Debuffed enemies deal 50% less damage
- Whenever a Sith ally uses a Basic ability, Starkiller assists, dealing 20% less damage
- Whenever another Dark Side Unaligned Force User uses a Special ability, all allies gain Critical Hit Immunity for 1 turn
- Whenever Starkiller uses a Special ability, Light Side Healer allies have their cooldowns reduced by 4, and Jedi Tank allies gain Damage Immunity and Taunt for 1 turn
The Basics:
- Dark Side, Attacker, Unaligned Force User
- A powerful Dark Side Force User whose inner conflict lifts up other Force users
- Omicron abilities are used in Grand Arenas. The boost he gains in this game mode is expected to endow his squad with a power level similar to some Galactic Legends
- Introduces the new status effects “Unleashed” and “Force Energy” to Galaxy of Heroes
Unique Attributes:
- Starkiller is an Unaligned Force User who works best alongside other Force Users. An ideal squad for Starkiller contains both Light Side and Dark Side allies. To wit, his kit looks for Force Users and gets more powerful when his entire squad are different kinds of Force Users.
- Starkiller’s Size Means Nothing Granted Ability can only be used once per battle. Also, it has a really epic animation.
- He works best under a Force-using leader who is not a Galactic Legend.
Inspiration:
- This unit represents Starkiller as seen in The Force Unleashed, not the clone of Galen Marek from the sequel.
- There were many memorable attacks and animations Starkiller used in The Force Unleashed, so it was tough to pare down the list. But, we feel we captured his most signature moves.
- We absolutely had to include his most famous ability, pulling a Star Destroyer down from the sky. Look for it in his Granted ability Size Means Nothing.
- Size Means Nothing refers to what Jedi Master Rahm Kota tells Starkiller as he is trying to pull down a Star Destroyer using the Force.
- Starkiller in this form is very conflicted, trained in the Dark Side and yet now tempted by the Light.
- We represent this conflicted state by having a lot of his power gated behind a team made up of him and all four types of Force users in our game.
Strategy Tips:
- Starkiller’s best squad composition includes characters with various specific tags; Dark Side and Light Side Force Users, and Unaligned Force Users as well.
- Be sure to properly select and time Starkiller’s abilities for the greatest benefit to his allies.
- Using his Granted Ability is obviously an exciting moment in the game. However, just because it’s available doesn’t mean the best strategy is to use it immediately.
- His Omicrons are powerful. They can apply undispellable debuffs, deal significant damage while dispelling enemy buffs, and grant his allies bonus effects.
- Starkiller’s Unique ability, There is Much Conflict in You, activates when Starkiller is surrounded by the proper squad composition.
- Different enemies call for a different mix of allies for Starkiller, particularly in Grand Arenas.
- Starkiller doesn’t prefer to be alongside a Galactic Legend ally. If there is one present on his squad, some of his abilities become inactive.
FAQ:
- Who is Starkiller?
- Starkiller is from the game The Force Unleashed. He was Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, and after being betrayed by the Dark Lord of the Sith, found himself fighting against the Empire. In those stories, he was instrumental in the founding of the Rebel Alliance.
- Does his unique work in 3v3?
- We have plans to implement a version of his ability There Is Much Conflict In You to work in 3v3 Grand Arenas before the next occurence of 3v3 GAC is available.
- Why is he not a Sith?
- Even though he was trained by a Sith Lord (Darth Vader), he has never been a proper Sith and so he has the Unaligned Force User tag.
- How do I unlock him?
- You need Dash Rendar, Kyle Katarn, Darth Talon, and Mara Jade, The Emperor’s Hand at Relic Level 5. This will allow you to play his event at any time as it is permanently open starting December 15th.
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