Darth Vader walks slowly and carries a big lightsaber in Star Wars Battlefront

As you might expect from a man who is half breathing apparatus, Darth Vader moves a bit more deliberately than Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Battlefront. A new post on Battlefront's official website lays out why that's a very good thing for the Rebels; because once he's bearing down on you, it's probably too late.

When he's close up, Darth Vader can use a heavy lightsaber swing to cut down swathes of Rebels in a single stroke. Once the main force is down he can throw his saber to clean up stragglers, or force choke them for extra style points. You can toss enemies around while you're telekinetically strangling the life out of them, naturally.

Darth Vader can deflect blaster bolts and absorb many more, so your best shot at taking him down is from behind. Recruit a couple of like-minded Rebels, hold your fire as you sneak through Vader's wake of destruction, and light him up to snag that lucrative Villain takedown point bonus.

Make sure you read our write-up of Star Wars Battlefront's hero system for more on how playing the Sith Lord will feel. You'll be able to try him out yourself when the free Battlefront beta goes live in October.

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Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.