Hi Holotable Heroes,

Welcome to the February 2024 Road Ahead where we start our journey into the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace™ arc! In today’s post we will be presenting you with information and developer insight on the new Mandalore Bonus Zone, the Gungan Faction, the Galactic Republic Faction, Guild Gifting, Jar Jar Binks and a new raid, the Battle for Naboo! 

And yes we did say Jar Jar Binks! 

As a reminder, anything in the Road Ahead is subject to change. But without further ado, enjoy February’s Road Ahead! We look forward to reading and watching your reactions! 

The first item up for discussion is the new Bonus Zone! 

New Bonus Zone! 

While we don’t have full details on the new Bonus Zone, we are working on one and learning our inspiration from Star Wars Rebels, so you’ll find yourself on a scarred planet riddled with conflict and heavily influenced by the Galactic Empire. So gear up your Squad, prepare for battle and help your Guild to Victory! 

Who’s Required?

As we are still working on developing the new Bonus Zone, the requirements haven’t been finalized yet. However, you can expect that some of our newer Mandalorian faction characters (Bo-Katan (Mand’alor), Dark Trooper Moff Gideon, etc.) and some old favorites (like Sabine Wren) will likely make an appearance. We’ll be sure to post an updated list once the requirements have been locked in.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace™ (Episode 1) - Battle for Naboo Raid

What better way to celebrate Star Wars: The Phantom Menace™’s 25th Anniversary than with an iconic battle on the planet of Naboo! We are excited to give you all an early read-in and look at the next Raid and the direction we are looking to go while we build out our Episode 1 SWGOH adventure. You and your Guild will find yourselves in the middle of conflict, participating in the Battle for Naboo against waves of Battle Droids with no end in sight! Will you be able to sustain all that fire power? Gear up your Gungans who will give you your best chance of survival and maximum point potential! Our initial target date for this is around summertime, but we will keep you folks posted as we get closer to launch. 

Next - a word from the design lead for this raid! 

What has it been like working on the Raid?

I enjoy making events with narrative opportunities, like the Territory Battle and the Jedi Knight Cal’s Hero Journey, so working on the Raid has been a lot of fun. We’re trying to really nail that feeling of nostalgia and excitement that comes with watching the Battle for Naboo – do you remember the first time you saw those battle droids unload from the transports?

What are some characters/Factions that may be required? 

While the Raid is still in production and nothing is finalized, we are currently leaning towards subsets of characters found in these factions: Galactic Republic, Jedi, Separatists, and, of course, Gungans. In ‘Battle for Naboo’, the Gungans with Jar Jar Binks on their side will give you the best opportunity to be successful in the Raid. The Gungans will be featured as a faction inside the Battle for Naboo Raid, much like Jabba the Hutt was for the ‘Krayt Dragon Hunt’ and Leia Organa was for the Speeder Bike Pursuit Raid. When we get closer to Raid Launch, we will be sure to communicate with you the final details so you and your Guild can be prepared for action! 

Speaking of the Battle for Naboo Raid, here comes an awesome new faction, Gungans!

A word from the design lead for The Gungan faction: 

Gungans rarely left their home planet of Naboo, and because of this they were exceptionally proud and protective of their home. We wanted this faction to represent that moment in The Phantom Menace of them standing steady on the battlefield as the Trade Federation invasion unfolds in front of them. The Gungan team will have significant upfront power from their Shield Generator to defend against any would-be attackers. While much of the team works in an orderly fashion, there is a member that may cause a bit of disarray to the battleplans. 

Who are the Gungans? 

Boss Nass - A boisterous Leader who commands the Gungans of Otoh Gunga with pride and utilizes their unique technology to achieve victory. Boss Nass’ Shield Generator will provide Gungans a way to avoid damage early on in the fight. 

Captain Tarpals - Decisive attacker that sets up his teammates for success and inflicts sizable damage to the enemies.

Gungan Boomadier - Versatile attacker that capitalizes on enemy debuffs and ramps damage while using abilities when the Shield Generator is up.

Gungan Phalanx -  A stout tank that is willing to assist his allies in need and provide coverage with his shield.

New Legendary Unit:

Jar Jar Binks - A Gungan Support who isn’t afraid to interject into the battle and offer his own, how should we say this, brand of help…confounding the enemy. Since Jar Jar is a Legendary Unit, you will need the other 4 Gungans to unlock him. 

With Jar Jar Binks on their side, the Gungans will do great work and cause a bit of Chaos during the Battle for Naboo Raid, so be sure to gear them up and utilize the shield generator. 

Kit reveals and how to obtain these characters will be provided in their usual cadence, so stay tuned for more information! 

Queen Amidala + New Galactic Republic Characters 

Another iconic character is making her way to the Holotable, Queen Amidala! She will be a future Conquest chase character as well as accompanied by 2 new characters for the Galactic Republic faction. While we don’t have full details ready to share on her supporting cast yet, we will say these characters are also iconic and we can’t wait to tell you more about them 

Now let's hear from the design lead working on Queen Amidala! 

What does Queen Amidala do?

She does some interesting new things that haven't been seen a lot in Star Wars™: Galaxy of Heroes. Without going into many details, there’s a lot coming with her that is going to be fun to play while also making you learn to get the most out of her squad. We’re still working on the details and functionality, but I am excited to see the reaction to what is to come. In a later section, we’ll go over the Decoy mechanic a little bit!  

How will they synergize?

She has some interesting mechanics around fairly unused Buffs in our game. I think using her squad to gain the most potential out of the buffs while staying behind the decoy mechanics will be crucial to making the most of her team. 

Where will they be used?

Her Omicrons are in GAC, but she will also have solid Raid utility, helping you power through the Battle for Naboo.

We will provide more details in the future on the Queen and her crew at a later date!  

Any new Mechanics? 

Decoy! Naturally. 

It’s a summoned unit with a permanent taunt which leads into the thematic feel for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace™ and her character, as the decoy sets out to protect the Queen. 

The uniqueness of her kit happens while the decoy is active. Queen Amidala will gain a new status effect called Queen's Protection, and for how many stacks of QP Queen Amidala has, she gives double of its effects to other Galactic Republic allies.

Once the Decoy is defeated, the Queen gets to take a bonus turn, gains a gnarly locked buff, and inflicts an enemy with something nasty. 

How's it been working on Queen Amidala? 

I legit lost my mind when I found out I would get to work on her! I don’t know about you folks, but I feel that Queen Amidala has some of the MOST iconic costume designs in a movie. The dresses, the makeup, the crowns, she is everything! So much that I just wanted to make her as iconic as she was in The Phantom Menace. Trying to match that has been challenging, but something I really looked forward to doing everyday, especially since she was such a role model for me growing up! My hope while creating this character is that I gave her the justice she deserves through her abilities and viability on the Galaxy of Heroes Holotable!  

Guild Gifting

Last but certainly not least, a feature that has been requested a ton in our surveys, Guild Gifting is coming to the Holotables! With this feature you will be able to, as you guessed it, gift bundles to fellow Guild Members through a very easy UI system. Below you will find a few images from our prototype builds that will showcase to you how this feature will work. 

Step 1: Go to Gifts in the store tab and select the gift you want to give

Step 2: Pick a member of your Guild you’d like to gift to (If you are unable to send them that particular gift, the option will be grayed out)

Final Thoughts From the Star Wars™: Galaxy of Heroes Team

CG_Meathead (Community):

We thoroughly enjoyed talking about these amazing characters coming to Galaxy of Heroes  this year. Personally, I'm really excited about the Gungans and the Republic Faction under Queen Amidala, though I am trying to figure out who I’m going to go after first. That’ll be a late night with coffee, snacks, and conversation with myself to figure that one out. Or a couple late nights because, you know, snacks and coffee. I look forward to my Guild sending me gifts. I mean, me sending people in my Guild Gifts. 

Conceptually, the Raid feels awesome. Having been able to sit in the meetings for the Battle for Naboo Raid, I can easily say the passion and excitement displayed by the folks working on the Raid, especially for how they want to capture the moment properly, has been exciting to see and experience. 

 CG_Miller (Lead Game Designer): 

The Phantom Menace celebrating its 25th anniversary this year offers up the perfect platform to introduce some Episode I content, namely Naboo and the Gungans, with a featured spotlight on the one and only Jar Jar Binks! If you couple that with fending off a massive horde of Trade Federation Battle Droids in the Battle for Naboo raid, we have a very exciting start to 2024! We love leaning into on-screen synergies and scenes as the inspiration for our characters, ships, and events in the game, and our Phantom Menace content is perfect for this.

CG_Coffee (Producer): 

Jar Jar: I’m ecstatic we are getting him into the game along with a Naboo environment and the Queen herself. The Phantom Menace has a soft spot in my heart and a lot of the team (and our players!) grew up watching it, so there was no way we were letting the anniversary go unnoticed. It’s been a joy watching the team work through all the ideas they had to bring some of the excitement in Episode I to life in our game, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. 

And with that, so ends the February 2024 Road Ahead! We appreciate you taking the time to read over what we have going on in the near future and look forward to reading your conversations and posts about the above. 

2024 is going to be a great year for Star Wars™: Galaxy of Heroes and we are thrilled to be on this journey with you all. 

-SWGOH Dev Team