EA details Star Wars: Squadrons' starfighter classes, abilities, and nostalgic designs

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Star Wars: Squadrons' eight starfighters are designed faithfully to the original trilogy

(Image credit: EA)

EA has given a comprehensive breakdown of Star Wars: Squadrons' starfighters, detailing the eight ships, their abilities and energy systems, and giving insights into the authentic design of the cockpits.

Here are the starfighters you'll get to choose from:

  • T-65B X-wing starfighter
  • BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber
  • RZ-1 A-wing interceptor
  • UT-60D U-wing starfighter/support craft
  • TIE/ln starfighter ("TIE fighter")
  • TIE/sa bomber ("TIE bomber")
  • TIE/in interceptor ("TIE interceptor")
  • TIE/rp reaper attack lander ("TIE reaper")

Those ships are broken down into four classes: Fighters, Bombers, Interceptors, and Support ships. Fighters are the most balanced of the group; agile, durable, and capable dogfighters, but without any one speciality. Bombers are slow and tanky with devastating projectiles, Interceptors are dogfighting champions; fast but delicate, and Support ships are designed to impede enemy ships and repair and resupply ally ships.

All ships have primary weapons and two auxiliary abilities like missiles or repair droids, which EA says is intended to streamline the learning process of piloting a starfighter. "If you know how to pilot one starfighter, you know how to pilot them all as they all share the same basic controls," reads the post from EA.

Some of the ships, including the New Republic ships and the TIE reaper, have shields that add a layer of protection between enemy lasers and your starfighter's hull, which will gradually deteriorate under attack and give way to your ship's destruction. There is a benefit to piloting a ship without a shield, which we'll get into below.

Star Wars: Squadrons has a Power Management system that lets you distribute and redistribute energy to different parts of your ship. For instance, diverting power to your engine increases top speed, and maxing engine power unlocks a speed boost. Sending power to lasers will make them charge faster and maxing lasers will overcharge them and make them stronger. Charging your shield yields similar results. If your ship doesn't have a shield, this whole process is sped up considerably, benefiting fast-paced emergency scenarios.

Finally, EA revealed that the starfighters' cockpits are designed to look like they were built at the same time as the original 1977 Star Wars.

"A big part of our work in bringing these starfighters to life has been the creation of the cockpits," the article reads. "This means that when we want to communicate the charge level of your lasers in an X-wing, we design the cockpit instruments for that as if we were Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) building the prop in the '70s."

Star Wars: Squadrons is set to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC October 2. It'll also be compatible with some PC-based VR headsets.

ICYMI, check out this extended Star Wars: Squadrons gameplay trailer.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.