Combat in the upcoming VR-compatible Star Wars: Squadrons isn’t as simple as jumping into a ship and shooting an enemy down. If you want to rule the battlefield, you’ll need to get familiar with the game’s power management system.
Developer EA Motive gave us a deeper look into this mechanic in a recent update on the game’s official website. Star Wars: Squadrons’ power management system essentially sees players divert resources to one of three main areas: engines, lasers and shields. While it’s possible to have all three balanced out, top tier players will want to get a grip of this customization to secure the advantage in battle.
Star Wars: Squadrons Power Management System Explained
As you might expect, diverting more power to a particular area will help you excel in that field at the expense of the others. But that’s not the full extent of it; you’ll also get special abilities should you max out one of those options. Lasers for example, will automatically overcharge when powered to the max, giving you an initial burst of fire that deals double the amount of damage. Engines, meanwhile, will unlock an extra speed boost when topped up.
Shields work a little differently, as not every craft has them. For those that do, you can double their strength at both the front and back of the craft. If your ship doesn’t have a shield, though, you’ll have access to a power converter that lets you change power between lasers and engines much more rapidly.
Each area has a big benefit, then, but you’ll need to choose the right time to max them out. Go full strength on your lasers and you’ll move much more slowly with far weaker shields, for example.
It’s good to see some tactical depth being layered into Squadrons rather than, say, just lifting the existing flight mechanics out of a game like Battlefront. The game is out on October 2nd with full PC VR and PSVR support on their respective platforms. You can keep up with everything we know about it right here. Let us know what you think about the Star Wars: Squadrons power management system in the comments below!
