Track Your Target

Scoundrel? I like the sound of that.
   - Han Solo, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

No one profits more from an Empire at War than the scum and scoundrels of the Star Wars™ galaxy. While other heroes and villains fight on the front lines, scoundrels scrape by with their wits and tricks to ensure they come out on top.

Today we’re previewing the Yellow heroes and villains of Empire at War, the new set of boosters for Star Wars: Destiny. Yellow characters use efficient events and overflowing resources to overwhelm their enemies with tricks and traps in the epic duels of Star Wars: Destiny.

On The Hunt

Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is why relentless bounty hunters are in high-demand during times of war. 

Of these bounty hunters, one of the most fearsome is Bossk  (Empire at War, 17), the Wookie Slayer. Bossk enters Destiny at eleven points for a normal version or fifteen for an elite. His dice include two ranged damage sides, a melee side, a disrupt, and a resource. Furthermore, any time you activate Bossk, you may move one damage from an opponent’s character to another character. Not only does this allow you to control where damage goes, especially against a character with the Guardian keyword, but it also ignores shields, making Bossk extremely versatile and dangerous.

Bossk’s signature vessel,  Hound's Tooth  (Empire at War, 20), can help finance any Yellow villain’s ventures. At two cost, the Hound’s Tooth features one disrupt symbol, two shield symbols, and two resource symbols. These symbols can provide a massive number of shields and resources at face value, but also, any time you activate Hound’s Tooth, you may remove one of your yellow character dice to gain one resource. The Hound’s Tooth is a valuable support that can be used to gather the resources you need for powerful effects like Crime Lord  (Awakenings, 23), or the new Pilfered Goods  (Empire at War, 83).

Bossk isn’t the only bounty hunter to enter the fight in Empire at War. The enigmatic Cad Bane  (Empire at War, 18) enters Destiny at thirteen points for a normal version or seventeen for an elite. His die features two ranged damage symbols, a discard symbol, a shield, and a resource. Furthermore, as an action, you may play an upgrade from your hand on Cad Bane and then activate him. This gives Cad Bane the ability to be incredibly efficient. If the card you play to upgrade him is  Fast Hands  (Spirit of Rebellion, 150), you can play it on Bane, activate him, and then use the ability of Fast Hands to resolve one of his dice. Cad Bane hits fast and hard, and can surprise your foes with his ability.

The  LL-30 Blaster Pistol  (Empire at War, 22) can be used to ensure your Yellow villains bring in any target. For two resources, the blaster features two ranged damage sides, a modified ranged damage side, a shield, and a special symbol. The special symbol can be used to turn another one of your dice to a side showing ranged damage. The blaster also features the Ambush keyword, meaning you can take another action after playing it, and Redeploy, meaning if the attached character is defeated, the blaster can move to another one of your characters, sticking around the entire game.

Yellow villains revel in destruction and can manipulate their dice in a variety of ways. Anarchy  (Empire at War, 78) allows you to remove one of your yellow dice and then deal damage to each of your opponent’s characters equal to the value showing on that die. This can be any symbol, meaning any high-value symbols like the resource sides on Hound’s Tooth can be used to devastating effect.

The more characters an opponent has, the more targets your Yellow villains get to take down. Bounty Postings  (Empire at War, 79) allows you to draw one card for every character an opponent has. When your characters are outnumbered, these cards can provide more options, or more fuel to reroll your dice.

Win With Style

Making their way side by side with these villains are the gold-hearted scoundrels of Star Wars. While on the side of heroes in an Empire at War, scoundrels fight with an unparalleled style and finesse.

The pinnacle of style is none other than Lando Calrissian  (Empire at War, 39), Galactic Entrepreneur. Lando enters Destiny with thirteen points for a normal version or sixteen for an elite version. Lando’s die features one ranged symbol, one focus symbol, a discard symbol, and two resource symbols. Lando makes an impact from the very beginning of the game, allowing you to start with one additional resource, allowing you to play powerful cards right from turn one. Furthermore, Lando’s two resource sides can help pay for the powerful events that often populate Yellow hero decks.

Lando pairs well with the new X-8 Night Sniper  (Empire at War, 55), which features two ranged damage sides, a modified ranged damage side, a disrupt, and a resource. As an action, you may spend one resource to turn the X-8 Night Sniper die to any side. At two-cost, Lando can both attach the gun and use its ability on the first turn without trouble.

Also joining the side of the Yellow heroes is none other than  Chopper  (Empire at War, 42), the temperamental astromech crew member of the Ghost. Chopper is a one cost support that features two melee sides, a disrupt symbol, a resource, and a special symbol. Chopper’s special symbol allows you to remove a die showing a value of two or less. This can constantly interrupt your opponent’s plans as Chopper chips away at their options, not to mention pinging their characters with melee damage and removing their resources.

Yellow heroes get plenty of new tools in Empire at War to ensure they can come out ahead. The Energy Slingshot  (Empire at War, 43) is a one cost upgrade that features two ranged damage sides, two disrupt sides, and a discard symbol. Additionally, after you resolve the slingshot, you may spend a resource to reroll the die instead of removing it from your pool. This can allow the slingshot to continually ping your opponent with damage, disrupts, and discards for as long as you have the resources to fuel it.

Tough Haggler  (Empire at War, 44) is another way to ensure you have more options than your opponent. The three-cost upgrade features a disrupt symbol, a resource symbol, a modified resource symbol, and two special symbols. These symbols allow you to view an opponent’s hand and choose two cards in it. The opponent then either discards those cards or spends two resources. Either choice can be devastating for your opponent, forcing them to either get rid of powerful cards or lose the resources that may be needed to play them. Tough Haggler can keep your opponent on the ropes, constantly trying to keep their resources and cards in hand rather than focusing on playing them to the table.

One of the biggest tricks Yellow heroes receive in Empire at War is the ability to Impersonate  (Empire at War, 111). For two resources, you may move damage among your characters as you wish. This can completely disrupt your opponents plans if they were heavily focusing on one character, moving their damage to your other characters. With impersonate, the focus of your opponent is in your hands, forcing them to make inopportune decisions no matter what.

Yellow heroes are also adept at surviving, overcoming impossible odds to win the day. At a cost of three resources, Tenacity  (Empire at War, 114) embodies this, allow you to exhaust an opponent’s character if they have more characters than you. This can be a great tool to defeat decks that focus on overwhelming their opponent with massive numbers, and can eliminate a character for an entire turn.

Scoundrels and Scum

In an Empire at War, no one has more tricks up their sleeve than Yellow Characters. Whether it’s in tracking targets or outwitting their opponent, the scoundrels and scum of Star Wars are a force to be reckoned with.

Play with Style and purchase Empire at War (SWD07) from your local retailer when it becomes available in the third quarter of 2017!