Private matches coming!

[Corpse]

The upcoming January update (http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/forums/discussion/25232/star-wars-battlefront-the-road-ahead%23latest) is adding support to have private matches as of tomorrow. I.e. we could all play together pretty easily when we're on.

[NiteRunner81]

w00t w00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jedi Power]

Below are the patch notes specific to PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One for the January update. My favorite is the reduced minimum player counts.

Additional Content/Functionality:

Multiplayer modes added to the Tatooine Survival map. (Blast, Droid Run, Hero Hunt, Heroes vs Villains, Drop Zone)
Hoth Luke Skywalker skin added
Hoth Han Solo skin added
Private match functionality added
Daily challenges added

Setting for actively choosing server site added

Weapon and Star Card changes:

EE-3 Explosive shot damage decreased from 10 to 4 per shot
SE-14C Explosive shot damage decreased from 10 to 5 per shot
Homing Shot lock on time increased from 0.4 to 1.5
Homing Shot lock on distance decreased by 10 meters
Homing Shot projectile speed decreased slightly (30 -> 23)
RTC-97 overheat value is increased
Bowcaster replenish time tweaked (Normal 18 -> 25 and Upgrade 15 -> 20)
Flash Grenade replenish time tweaked (Normal 16 -> 20 and Upgrade 12 -> 15)
ION Torpedo replenish time tweaked (Normal 15 -> 25 and Upgrade 12 -> 20)
Thermal Detonator replenish time tweaked (Normal 15 -> 20 and Upgrade 10 -> 15)
Impact Grenade replenish time tweaked (Normal 16 -> 25 and Upgrade 12 -> 20)
Explosive Shot active time tweaked (Normal 7 -> 5 and Upgrade 10 -> 7)
Scan Ping recharge time tweaked (Normal 8 -> 10 and Upgrade 5 -> 8)
Cycler Rifle bullet dropoff reduced
Cycler Rifle damage increased from 90 to 100 at close range (10 meters)
DL-44 overheat tweaked and fire rate changed from 250 to 180.
Bounty Hunter trait card Level 2 reward percentage lowered from 100% to 85%
Bowcaster explosion damage lowered from 50 to 15 per shot
ION Torpedo lock on range decreased from 600 to 500 meters
Smart Rocket lock on range changed from 1000 to 500 meters
RTC-97 spread is increased when firing for a longer period
Scan Ping tweaked to have 50% shorter spotting time

Vehicle Changes:

Starfighters pickups have a 20 second respawn delay
T-47 Airspeeder pickups have a 10 second respawn delay
Millennium Falcon and Slave I health decreased by 30%

Game Mode Changes:

Removed a turbolaser on Sullust which could be used for spawn killing
Turbolaser respawn time has been increased with 15 seconds
New friend zones and additional spawn points for Supremacy maps
New friend zones and additional spawn points for Walker Assault maps
New friend zones and additional spawn points for Turning Point on Jakku
Bugfix for crashing instantly when spawning in a vehicle on Jakku
Fighter Squadron hero vehicle pickups have more randomized timing
Fixed a Heroes vs Villains bug where players could use their cards in pre-round that got corrected by server
Updated spawn management between big and small game modes

New game mode minimum player count thresholds:

- Walker Assault 20
- Supremacy 20
- Dropzone 4
- Blast 4
- Cargo 4
- Fighter Squadron 4
- Hero Hunt 4
- Droid Run 4
- Heroes Vs Villains 4
- Turning Point 20

Hero Changes:

Han Solo weapon damage over distance is lowered. (Damage goes from 70 to 30 between 10 and 25 meters)
Boba Fett weapon damage over distance is lowered. (Damage goes from 30 to 20 between 30 and 60 meters)
Boba Fett wristlauncher explosion radius decreased from 4 to 3, maxiumum damage tweaked from 1 to 0.8 meters
Boba Fett missile doesn't lock on anymore
Boba Fett wristlauncher explosion damage slightly increased in damage to compensate for the removing of tracking

Bug Fixes:

Stun inducing attacks now properly trigger stun animation loop
Fixing an issue where melee'ing at nothing completly stopped your movement
After the transition from the AT-AT the user screen could remain black, this is now fixed
Several instances of rocks that players could get stuck on have been fixed
Speederbike - Inconsistence between the range when you see the prompt button and when you could actually use the vehicle
Jakku - Invisible collision located on the landed rebel transport ship
Users with the most kills will now not be prevented from get the Trophy / Achievement ”Playing the objective” in Blast

[WD-40]

These are welcome changes.

[(SWGO)DesertEagle]

They overdid a few of the nerfs, but overall it's such an improvement.

I'm actually performing a whole lot better now.

[Jedi Power]

I have not been that great at this game to start with, and I really suffered last night with all the longer replenish times on the secondary weapons and the powering down of primary weapons. I also noticed that other players who are good seemed to be just fine. My kids were watching me last night and my life span averaged between 5 to 10 seconds. That is way way down for me! I found myself just being angry the whole time and not having as much fun. I miss the days of a game that you bought on DVD that would not be constantly updated and tweaked. You learn to deal with the good and the bad and adjust your gameplay style so it works. Now, that is a constantly changing target and I find myself not being able to settle in and learn the game and overcoming the shortcomings.

[WD-40]

I have not been that great at this game to start with, and I really suffered last night with all the longer replenish times on the secondary weapons and the powering down of primary weapons. I also noticed that other players who are good seemed to be just fine. My kids were watching me last night and my life span averaged between 5 to 10 seconds. That is way way down for me! I found myself just being angry the whole time and not having as much fun. I miss the days of a game that you bought on DVD that would not be constantly updated and tweaked. You learn to deal with the good and the bad and adjust your gameplay style so it works. Now, that is a constantly changing target and I find myself not being able to settle in and learn the game and overcoming the shortcomings.

As long as they do not keep re-tweaking the same things, I believe we can all adjust. However, the one thing that I used as a primary weapon ((Homing Shot) now takes too long to lock on. Seems more like 3 to 4 seconds rather than advertised 1.5 seconds. As such, I don't use it now, because if I try to lock someone, and they already see me, I'm likely dead before I get the shot off. It's also, too easy to get picked off waiting and waiting. Therefore, I just upgraded the Pulse Rifle and will give it a go for a bit to see if it is more effective for my style. I have to admit, I'm sorta glad they reduced the bowcaster power, as I was constantly getting raped by those jet-packing monkey strikes on several maps.

I'm glad the Ion Torpedo is cooled down faster, because that is deadly against the AT-ST. I can bring an AT-ST down in 2 or 3 shots with it depending where the torpedo impacts it. It's great against droids and infantry turrets too (one shot-one kill).

I noticed the overall scores have dropped, which, to me might be the result of all this. But, that was just two nights of playing, so we'll see.

[Jedi Power]

I have always preferred the longer range attacks but have also removed the Homing Shot from my list. I have been trying to get in the mix more, so I had been playing with Han's DL-44 lately, but they slowed the rate of fire and I have found I need to get rid of this weapon now as well. I had never unlocked the DH-17 until last night to try and find a new primary weapon, and I must say I was impressed with the medium to close range battles with it. Why I waited so long to unlock it is now the question I am asking myself.

[Corpse]

The DH17 is a good blaster. It shoots quickly and does 25 damage per shot. However, beyond 25 metres its damage starts to drop off. At long ranges it only does 5 damage per shot! Definitely don't use this as an all-rounder.

I'm pretty content with the E-11 in almost all situations.

I definitely enjoy this game more, now that primary weapons tend to be used as just that- the primary weapon. Rather than using bowcasters and homing shots all the time.

Now that the cycler rifle's been buffed, I've been having some fun one-shotting people when they pop a shield and try and run past me.

Overall, I feel that this patch has improved most elements of gameplay. However, the bowcaster has been nerfed to the point that it's useless. It was irritating when about 60% of my deaths were from it, but rendering it obselete is not the way to go. The homing shot's increased lock-on time is also welcome. I got some fair use out of it, but when I start shooting someone and they can send off a rocket for a kill without needing to aim, it just doesn't seem right. I'm glad that's fixed. On the other hand, I don't agree with reducing the homing shot's missile velocity. That's not necessary.

And barrage. Why the [m'kay] did they make the cooldown 40 seconds?

[Brazosgrad]

I totally agree with what you guys have said. I really am starting to like the DH17 as well as the targeting rifle (can't recall the number). I think I am slightly improving, but my reflexes just aren't up to what they were when I was in BFII. Trying to make myself be patient and re-teach my fingers to kit the right keys. I eventually had to remove the tilde key so I would stop activating the console. My biggest issue now seems to be consistently connecting to a server that doesn't screw with my ability to have clean communications.