[2020] Developer Insight: Sith Eternal Emperor

[Developer Insight - Kit Reveal]



Hi Holotable Heroes,

The story of the Star Wars Trilogy is the story of Palpatine rising to power and quest for eternal life. Today's Dev Insight takes a deeper look at the new Galactic Legend, Sith Eternal Emperor, Palpatine's strongest form the universe has ever seen.


The Basics:

• Sith Eternal Emperor is an Attacker that focuses on dealing tons of damage at the expense of whoever is in his way.
• In lore and on the battlefield, Palpatine is initially hiding in the background, manipulating his enemies and waiting for the right moment to strike.
• Sith Eternal Emperor needs a squad built around him specifically. We recommend at least a few tanks in your squad in order for Palpatine to survive long enough to reach his Ultimate.
• Sith Eternal Emperor in his pre-transformed state allows you to prepare the battlefield for when you switch on the pain and activate his Ultimate ability.
  • Activating his Ultimate changes Palpatine from a supporting role to a very strong Attacker
  • Note: This does not to change his Relic mastery stats, Sith Eternal Emperor stays an Attacker
• His Ultimate, I Am All The Sith, greatly ramps up his power and ideally you would activate it when most of the enemy squad has the Deceive debuff.

Unique Attributes:

• There are two ways to charge Sith Eternal Emperor’s Ultimate detailed below.
• Deceive is a central part of keeping Sith Eternal Emperor alive and it charges his Ultimate.
  • A Deceived enemy can’t target Palpatine which allows him to hide from more problematic characters in the enemy squad.
  • Sith Eternal Emperor gains additional Mastery whenever a Deceived enemy uses an ability.
  • The Unique, Sow Discord, allows Deceive to spread to the weakest enemy whenever they use an ability.
  • Deceive can continue to spread after Sith Eternal Emperor transforms into his ultimate form.
• Unraveled Destiny - This ability Links two characters together and both units will lose Protection whenever one of them takes a turn. Sith Eternal Emperor steals a portion of the Protection lost.
  • Linked also causes units to deal less damage, and prevents Critical hits.
  • His leader ability, Sith Eternal, allows Linked enemies to fuel his Ultimate.
• Upon Transformation, Sith Eternal Emperor is granted two new abilities: a new basic and a very strong Special, Power! Unlimited Power!
  • This Special has the potential to wreck the whole enemy team and put you a very good position to win the battle.
  • When Sith Eternal Emperor uses Power! Unlimited Power!, he immediately destroys Linked units (excluding Raid Bosses and Galactic Legends)

Inspiration:

• As the Emperor of the Sith Eternal and the Final Order, we wanted to make sure the character represented the history of the Sith as well as the machinations he orchestrated to take over the galaxy on more than one occasion.
• Palpatine was a puppet master, only becoming a tangible threat in the final movie of each of the trilogies in the Skywalker saga. This is where the idea of Deceived came from. Setting the pieces in place so that in the end everything will go as you have foreseen it. (You hope!)
• The Linked ability allowed us to tie the fates of two characters together, much like Rey and Kylo Ren’s destinies.
• The mechanical life support he is initially bound to is called an Ommin harness. We wanted to make sure that this aspect of the character was represented in the unit and while it’s faded in the battle view, you can get a better view of it in the character screen.
• The event to unlock Sith Eternal Emperor takes you all the way back to when Mace Windu and the Jedi came to arrest him and he delivered the memorable line of “I am the Senate.”

Strategy Tips:

• Control who can attack Palpatine with Deceive and use Unraveled Destiny to Link two other units and slow down the enemy squad’s biggest threats.
• Deceive the most powerful units with abilities that directly target units. Sith Eternal Emperor can still be damaged and affected by AoE attacks.
• Link the fastest character on the enemy’s squad to help damage another enemy as much as possible. Every time the fast enemy takes a turn, they will be damaging their ally which can add up quickly.
  • You may even want to Link an enemy Galactic Legend even though they won’t be destroyed when Sith Eternal Emperor uses Power! Unlimited Power! as their very high speed will quickly bring down another unit.
• Your strategy should revolve around protecting Palpatine until he can use his Ultimate - even if it means a 3-4 tank team.
• Sith Eternal Emperor, when in his Ultimate form (Restored), can almost take on an entire squad by himself.

Squad Suggestions:

• Tanks are very important to this squad. We would even recommend running 3 or 4 tanks just to ensure Sith Eternal Emperor can reach his Ultimate.
• Sith work particularly well under his Leader ability as they also gain Mastery whenever a Deceived or Linked enemy uses an ability.

FAQ:

• His granted Special 1, Power! Unlimited Power!, does not start on cooldown and should be used as soon as he transforms.
• 10% Mastery (stacking) from Deceived and Linked enemies only lasts until the end of encounter, not end of battle.
• Sith Eternal Emperor loses 2 abilities when he Ultimates, Deception and So Be It, Jedi, and then gains Revitalized Shock and Power! Unlimited Power!