It’s a little jarring to see the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s adorable mascot, BB-8, killing stormtroopers by the dozens, but that’s exactly what he’s capable of in the newest Battlefront 2 update. The game’s “BB Update” added BB-8 and BB-9E as heroes for the Resistance and First Order, respectively. Each mixes up Battlefront 2’s hero gameplay significantly, allowing players to zip around the map, doling out droid destruction.
The BB Update is Battlefront 2’s latest since the Battlefront 2: The Rise of Skywalker update in December. In the Rise of Skywalker update, DICE added four new reinforcement troops - the First Order Jet Trooper, the Sith Trooper, the Caphex Spy, and the wonderfully overpowered Ovissian Gunner - and added the sequel trilogy era to Co-op mode. This did lots to bring needed variety to the game, but the BB Update did so to an even greater degree.
BB-8 and BB-9E rank among Battlefront 2’s hero characters as the most unique, by far. Their small size and extra-fast movement speed mean they can dash around the battlefield like no other. BB-9E is billed as a support-oriented hero, and he certainly leans more that way than BB-8, but both droids are best utilized in team-based scenarios. Each is equipped with an enemy-scanning “wall hack” ability, an area-of-effect damage ability, and an increased rate of Command Post capture, meaning they’re great at rushing through objective points, quickly dealing solid blows to enemy forces, and then cleaning up with a capture afterwards.
But while BB-9E’s abilities, like the weapon-overheating Shock Spin and ally-buffing Charge Up, focus on causing non-lethal harm to enemy forces, BB-8 is all about damage. His main attack is the same as BB-9E’s (the radial-damaging Shock Prod), but he also has access to the fun Rolling Charge, which acts like Battlefront 2’s Han Solo Shoulder Charge ability, and the especially brutal Cable Spin, which whips nearby enemies with three tow cables. Combined with the defense debuff his Resistance Backing scanner ability applies to enemies, BB-8 is capable of taking down large groups very quickly. The following clip from YouTuber Phantom, for example, shows BB-8 earning a 96-enemy killstreak.
It’s too early to tell if BB-8 is overpowered, especially while most players are still unlocking his full potential through Battlefront 2’s Star Card progression system, but his lethality is certainly more than what most Star Wars movie fans might expect. Rather than a cute, plucky astromech, Battlefront 2’s BB-8 is more like The Mandalorian’s IG-11: an assassin droid designed to mow down enemies with precision.
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Battlefront 2’s BB Update released on February 3, 2020 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
