Last Edited: June 9, 2019 at 12:45 AM
In Star Jedi: Fallen Order, players will take control of Jedi in training, Cal Kestis, as he seeks to evade the Empire and learn the ways of the force. Combat in Fallen Order is a crucial part of the game, and plays out in ways not seen in other Star Wars games.
In GameInformer’s July cover story on Jedi: Fallen Order, the game’s combat is described as “thoughtful combat”, and is in fact reminiscent of Dark Souls in more ways than one. Players will find that running in and hacking and slashing everything in sight may not work to their advantage. Instead, looking for openings, parrying incoming attacks, and whittling down an opponent’s stamina and armor – all while using force powers to augment your offense and defense – will be the key to victory.
In order to survive, you’ll need to engage enemies carefully. Your companion droid, BD-1, can give you only a certain amount of health packs (which leave you vulnerable during the process), and health packs can only be replenished when resting at a save point – which also brings respawns most enemies – similar to From Software’s Dark Souls series.
Managing Force and Block Meters[edit]
In addition to your health bar, Cal has two more separate meters that appear in the bottom center of the screen in combat.
Your Force Meter is the blue bar that tracks all your usage of offensive and defensive force powers. It does not regenerate on its own – nor can you find consumables to replenish it. Instead, you must fight enemies to regain that meter.
Because of this, using the force in combat should only be applied to assist your own fighting – relying on it too heavily will exhaust your force power, putting you in danger when you need it most. Try using powers like Force Slow, or Force Pull, before leaping into combat to get that meter back with combo attacks. Force Powers we’ve seen in action so far include:
- Force Push (Purge Troopers can weather this attack)
- Force Pull (Cal can follow up a pull to grab and skewer an incoming enemy
- Force Slow (Targets can include objects, enemies, and even projectiles – and can be used in tandem with Force Push or Force Pull)
Force powers appear to be mapped to the trigger buttons, and Force Slow to the bumper, but may be able to be swapped out over time. In addition, holding block while attacking can also throw out your saber for a spinning toss, and can even damage enemies on the way back.
You also have a smaller white bar just above the Force Meter, which is your Stamina/Block Meter. This tracks your overall ability to deflect and block incoming attacks. Unlike the Force Meter, it does replenish over time when not actively blocking – but taking enough punishment can stagger or break your guard, allowing enemies to attack freely and kill you.
Enemies can also trigger unblockable attacks, which appear to by symbolized by the enemy flashing red when launching his attack. Since you cannot block these aggressive hits, you’ll need to avoid them entirely.
Thankfully, Cal is able to get out of the way with a short hop by pressing the dodge button – but if the attack is wide-reaching, you’ll need to perform a dodge roll by double tapping the button.
Lightsaber Combat[edit]
Cal’s weapon of choice is the lightsaber he obtains early on in the story, and the color and hilt can be customized with cosmetics found in treasure chests across many planets.
Lightsaber strikes include a button for basic swings and another for heavier attacks. Tapping buttons in succession can land combo swings – but holding them will unleash larger strikes – like a force-powered dashing strike. These moves can also be used in conjunction with jumping too, or used alongside force powers.
Even though you can string together quick attacks, enemies aren’t likely to let you get away with wild swinging for too long before they do something about it.
Against certain unaware enemies, his light saber and cut through fodder like Stormtroopers and beasts in a single hit if done correctly – but enemies aren’t always so easy to take down. In groups, enemies can support each other, rebuff your advances, knock you to the ground, or employ shields or melee shock weapons to try and block your attacks if you go in wildly.
When going against tougher enemies, you’ll find that they have Stamina/Block meters just like you do – and elite enemies like the Purge Troopers have an impressive guard against your lightsaber. In order to deal damage to them, you’ll need to wait for the right openings, and whittle down their meter until you can break their guard and attack through their defense – or use Force Powers in tandem to keep them off-balance.
Parrying and Counters[edit]
Cal Kestis can also parry incoming attacks with perfectly timed button inputs. Against ranged blaster fire, an expertly timed parry can reflect bolts back at attackers. In melee combat, a parry at the right time can help Cal unleash a counter attack that breaks through an enemy’s defense – perfect for landing a killing blow.
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