While support for Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) has ended, the community is far from dead. Thousands of players boot up Battlefront 2 to partake in large-scale battles in the Star Wars universe, playing as their favorite heroes and villains.
Choosing a hero and villain to play can be a daunting task, both because of each character's unique playstyle and the inevitable menu camper in your game. There isn't much you can do about the latter, but having a clear understanding of a character's strengths and weaknesses can make it much easier to find a hero that gels with your playstyle. Today, we'll be ranking all 22 heroes and villains in Battlefront 2, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each hero across all popular game types—Capital Supremacy, Galactic Assault, and Heroes vs. Villains.
Note: This list will only be ranking heroes and villains found in infantry playlists. We are not ranking Starfighter Assault heroes or non-hero characters like reinforcements. If you are more interested in reinforcements, check out our top reinforcements tier list.
Updated July 1, 2021, by Charles Burgar: Battlefront 2 might not be getting support from DICE or EA anymore, yet the game still has a strong community that plays Battlefront 2 to this day. The game has seen some radical balance changes and additions since this article was updated, hence why it needed an update. This list now includes every hero in Battlefront 2, ranking them based on their usefulness across all of Battlefront 2's most popular game modes.
22 BB-9E
Meant to be the First Order counterpart to BB-8, BB-9E is a support character focused on stunning targets and providing small bonuses to nearby allies.
As a stun bot, BB-9E is surprisingly strong in Heroes vs. Villians, capable of disabling blaster and lightsaber heroes alike with smart ability usage and movement. Unfortunately, BB-9E lacks in virtually every other department. Its support abilities are lackluster when compared to other heroes. Healing nearby allies for 3HP every few seconds is nothing to write home about, your Smoke Screen only marks enemies for yourself, and removing overheat from guns temporarily is something an Engineer can do.
When compared to BB-8, BB-9E is an objectively worse counterpart. Unless you’re playing with a coordinated team in Heroes vs. Villains, you’re better off playing another hero.
21 Captain Phasma
While Captain Phasma isn’t as bad as many players would have you believe, she isn’t great either. Her playstyle focuses on anchoring, playing around her turret to get easy kills. A character that doesn’t move often is rather boring to play, hence why you don’t see many Phasma mains.
Phasma has an excellent turret, solid staff ability, and her blaster gets the job done. The issue is that her defensive playstyle completely falls apart when your turret is not active. Most players will focus on your turret immediately before closing the gap to take you down. Good Phasma players can use her staff to counter this, but its slow swing speed makes it easy to dodge or parry. Unless you love Phasma’s playstyle or survivability, there are better blaster villains you can play as.
20 Lando Calrissian
Compared to most blaster heroes, Lando’s claim to fame is Sharp Shot. This ability allows him to fire high-damage bolts at up to five enemies. Sharp Shot is certainly a powerful ability for every game type, yet that’s all Lando has going for him.
His Nighthawk blaster has pitiful range, Disabler is easy to avoid, and Smoke Grenade has limited utility. It’s solid for disabling tracking from lightsaber attacks, but Lando’s lack of movement abilities puts him in a tight spot when going toe-to-toe with a lightsaber villain. A lack of crowd-clearing abilities makes him a subpar pick for Galactic Assault and Supremacy, and his lack of proper disengagement tools make Lando tough to recommend in Heroes vs. Villains.
19 Chewbacca
Chewbacca didn’t get much love during Battlefront 2’s lifespan, leaving him in a state that pales in comparison to other heroes. His Bowcaster is a tough weapon to use, as you need to land headshots to get one-shot kills against infantry. That immediately makes him tough to recommend for large-scale game types, although Chewbacca’s Bowcaster deals chip damage through enemy guards, making him solid at shutting down villains.
As for his abilities, Chewbacca has a solid albeit mundane set of skills. Furious Bowcaster is fantastic against heroes and grouped enemies, Shock Grenade provides a reliable stun, and Charge Slam is a solid escape tool or mid-air attack. His large hitbox and slow speed make Chewbacca tough to use in Heroes vs. Villains, but for skilled blaster mains, his damage output is surprisingly high. If he performed better in Galactic Assault and Capital Supremacy, he’d rank higher on our list.
18 BB-8
Many Battlefront 2 players give this little droid flak for being a support-oriented character. It’s true that BB-8 isn’t the best character in the game, but players seriously underestimate how powerful Cable Spin and Rolling Charge are.
Unlike its First Order counterpart, BB-8 can output a respectable amount of damage. Rolling Charge makes for an excellent gap-closer that can kill basic infantry, which you can follow up with a Cable Spin to deal constant damage around yourself. Keep in mind that BB-8 also has a small hitbox, making you quite evasive when paired with BB-8’s good movement speed.
Nearby allies also gain passive cooldown reduction, although that benefit isn’t enough to make BB-8 a proper support character. This is a melee hero disguised as a support character. Overall, BB-8 is a solid choice for Galactic Assault and Capital Supremacy, and it can even shine in Heroes vs. Villains with a good team.
17 Boba Fett
No character in Battlefront 2 has the same level of mobility as Boba Fett. Armed with a jetpack and wrist rockets, Boba Fett dominates the sky with a multitude of explosive rockets and his three-round burst rifle.
Unfortunately, multiple nerfs throughout Battlefront 2’s lifespan have significantly reduced Boba’s effectiveness as an anti-infantry hero for Galactic Assault and Supremacy. Certain lightsaber and blaster heroes get the job done better. Heroes and Villains is a different story. Boba Fett’s Rocket Barrage and Concussion Rocket deal excellent chip damage against heroes. When paired with his jetpack, Boba Fett becomes a solid anti-hero character.
16 Yoda
As the first lightsaber hero on this list, Yoda stands as a solid hero for large-scale matches. His small hitbox and fast movement speed make him a pain to hit. Even if you get a shot off, Yoda’s Unleash and Presence abilities make him incredibly hard to kill.
Sadly, Yoda’s small hitbox doesn’t bode well against enemy villains. Lightsabers ignore Yoda’s small hitbox, making 1v1 duels much more difficult. Yoda also has slow lightsaber swings when compared to other heroes, making it easy to block his attacks. He might be a solid hero for carving through infantry, but Yoda becomes much less powerful when you enter Heroes vs. Villains or any lightsaber dueling scenario.
15 Iden Versio
In the right hands, Iden Versio is one of the most frustrating villains to fight against in Battlefront 2. Her Stun Droid ability can disable a hero for a short time, allowing her to annihilate an enemy’s health bar with her TL-50 blaster.
Iden’s blaster is arguably the strongest part of her kit, outputting enough damage to kill most heroes in a few seconds. Its alt-fire can pierce enemy guards, and Stun Droid gives her a damage window to fully take advantage of her blaster. She’s also good in large-scale modes, utilizing Droid Shield to get away with some reckless plays.
A good Iden player is terrifying in Galactic Assault, Capital Supremacy, and Heroes vs. Villains. With all of that said, her effective range and mobility are limited at best, making it easy to shut down Iden if the enemy gets the jump on you.
14 Finn
Some Battlefront 2 players might be shocked that Finn is this high on the list. That’s because the playlist in which you play as Finn fundamentally shifts his usefulness. In Heroes vs. Villains, Finn is arguably the worst light side hero in the game. In Galactic Assault and Supremacy, however, Finn is easily the best blaster hero in the game.
This dichotomy can be attributed to one thing: Deadeye. In essence, this ability gives you an aimbot for a short duration, forcing your bullets to land on a certain target. Since this automatically applies to a new target when someone dies, Finn can single-handedly clear out the entire enemy team with this ability if you have the right Star Cards equipped.
In Heroes vs. Villains, this ability is much less useful unless you’re fighting BB-9E. Finn’s lack of disengagement tools and guard damage abilities makes him tough to justify using over other blaster heroes like Leia or Han.
13 Rey
Out of every lightsaber hero in Battlefront 2, Rey is the easiest to play. She has a fast lightsaber, solid movement options, and Mind Trick—an ability that disorients inexperienced players. Players looking to get used to Battlefront 2’s lightsaber combat can’t go wrong with Rey.
Despite her great attack speed and abilities, Rey struggles to duke it out with the best of Battlefront 2’s roster. Her inability to deal damage through guards hurts her viability in Heroes vs. Villains, and her lack of damage resistance or healing abilities can get you in trouble if you play too aggressively. With that said, her excellent lightsaber attacks and solid ability kit make her one of the best lightsaber heroes for newer players.
12 Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia has virtually everything you’d want from a blaster hero: an excellent primary weapon, the ability to deal guard damage to lightsaber heroes, a good DPS ability, and a bubble shield that supports allies while keeping you alive.
Galactic Conquest and Capital Supremacy are great game modes for Leia to thrive in. Her Thermal Detonators and Defender Pistol shred through most enemies you’ll come across. When paired with a bubble shield that regenerates health to any ally inside, Leia is surprisingly hard to kill and does a good job supporting her team.
Leia can also hang in Heroes vs. Villains thanks to her Thermal Detonators and custom E-11 blaster. Rapid Fire is one of the strongest abilities on a blaster hero, giving Leia a rifle that can shutdown heroes faster than Iden’s TL-50. Whether in Galactic Conquest or Heroes vs. Villains, Princess Leia is a great hero.
11 Bossk
Bossk is an underrated blaster villain. He’s similar to Leia in that he has no bad abilities, has a solid blaster, and doesn’t require much effort to play. Unlike Leia, Bossk is a menace for zoning and controlling parts of the map.
Dioxis Grenades deal solid damage over time over a wide area, Proximity Mines can annihilate a hero’s health bar, and Predator Instincts activate Bossk’s grenade launcher that can stay active for minutes with the right loadout. He’s a great blaster villain for Galactic Conquest, Capital Supremacy, and even Heroes vs. Villains thanks to how much AoE damage he deals.
10 Darth Maul
Darth Maul is one of the most fun lightsaber villains in Battlefront 2. He can close the gap in an instant with Spin Attack, damage distant enemies with Furious Throw, and stun unsuspecting enemies with Choke Hold. With all of these pros, why isn’t he higher on the list?
Simple: bugs. Darth Maul is by far the buggiest character in Battlefront 2, so much so that it actively harms his effectiveness. Some notable bugs include:
- Spin Attack won’t damage enemies.
- Choke Hold sometimes won’t grab someone in its effective range.
- Furious Throw gets stuck, leaving you without a lightsaber for a few seconds.
- Block will sometimes stop working if you block before using Spin Attack.
The fact that Darth Maul is so high on the list even with these bugs should be a testament to how strong he really is. Maul’s sheer mobility and rapid attacks make him a terrifying sight in Galactic Assault and Capital Supremacy, although he isn’t the best character to play for Heroes vs. Villains.
9 Count Dooku
Count Dooku is the ultimate Jedi slayer in Battlefront 2. In the right hands, Dooku can shut down virtually every hero in Battlefront 2 thanks to his absurd damage output. Expose Weakness, Duelist, and Lightning Stun all work towards annihilating an enemy’s health bar as fast as possible.
For large-scale modes, Dooku is a solid choice. His Lightning Stun is solid for dispersing groups of enemies, although the damage provided by Duelist and Expose Weakness is overkill most of the time. He might not be the best for Galactic Assault of Supremacy, but Count Dooku is an excellent choice for Heroes vs. Villains.
8 Han Solo
There isn’t a better blaster hero than Han Solo. He has one of the best blasters in the game, an explosive device that can deal massive damage to crowds and villains alike, and he has a good movement skill.
There isn’t much else to say about Han; he’s a great blaster hero. Han can melt through infantry and heroes with little issue, making him a great pick for every game type. If you can master his ability kit, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most satisfying and powerful heroes in all of Battlefront 2.
7 Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan has a rather large learning curve, but those that can master this Jedi are rewarded with a devastating hero that excels against villains and fodder infantry alike.
All-Out Push and Defensive Rush make for solid anti-infantry abilities in larger game types like Capital Supremacy. Unlike most lightsaber characters, Obi-Wan has S-tier defenses, featuring an immense Stamina pool and Star Cards that allow him to block for a hilariously long time.
For Heroes vs. Villains, Obi-Wan can use Restrictive Mind Trick and Defensive Rush to trick his enemies. You have to react to what the enemy is doing, but doing so successfully gives Obi-Wan dominance over the fight. A good Obi-Wan player is incredibly tough to kill, both in Heroes vs. Villains and large-scale modes.
6 General Grievous
While Grievous is still somewhat buggy, he is undeniably one of the strongest villains in Battlefront 2. His abilities all work towards making Grievous one of the most aggressive villains you can play.
Claw Rush is the star of the show, causing Grievous to crawl at an incredible speed, damaging anyone he touches. It can also be used as an escape tool if you get rushed. Unrelenting Advance also allows him to close the gap while deflecting blasters. If that fails, you can use Thrust Surge to close the gap quickly.
Grievous deals great damage and has great mobility, making him an incredibly tough villain to kill when played well. His steep learning curve does make him tougher to recommend for inexperienced players. Still, those looking for a high-risk, high-reward character won’t find a more suitable villain than General Grievous.
5 Kylo Ren
Kylo Ren is an aggressive Sith that has a good mixture of survivability and damage. Abilities like Freeze and Frenzy allow Kylo to launch himself into battle without worry of getting shut down by blaster fire or a few explosives.
Due to Kylo’s great mobility and great lightsaber damage, he is an excellent character for Galactic Assault and Supremacy. Infantry don’t stand a chance against Kylo’s Frenzy and Pull abilities. Against heroes, Kylo also fares surprisingly well. A good Kylo player will wait for the perfect moment to strike, unleashing an onslaught of stuns and lightsaber swings. He might not be as powerful as Darth Vader or Sidious, but he’s certainly one of Battlefront 2’s strongest Sith.
4 Anakin Skywalker
If you’ve been in the Battlefront 2 community for a while, you might remember when DICE first released Anakin Skywalker. He was overpowered, capable of wiping entire teams without much issue or input. After multiple balance patches, Anakin has brought balance to Battlefront 2's hero roster.
As one of the few heroes with four abilities, Anakin dominates the opposition with powerful lightsaber strikes that can break an enemy's guard, two AoE attacks, and a powerful pull ability. Anakin's excellent base stats and ability kit allow him to slice through infantry like butter while giving villains a tough time. He's also a fairly easy character to play, with most of his abilities covering a wide area. If you play aggressively, Anakin will reward you with a rather long killstreak.
Similar to Darth Maul, Anakin's main weakness is his plethora of bugs. Some of his abilities won't damage enemies, the damage resistance provided by two of his abilities only last for part of the ability's duration, and Heroic Might can disable Anakin's ability to use his abilities or swing his lightsaber for a short time. These bugs are the only thing standing between Anakin and the top spot on our list.
3 Emperor Palpatine
It wouldn't be a proper hero tier list if Sheev himself wasn't near the top. The dark lord of the Sith is easily one of Battlefront 2's most powerful characters. Instead of wielding a lightsaber, Palpatine electrocutes enemies with Force Lightning as his default attack.
What makes Palpatine so devastating is his mixture of high mobility and devastating abilities. Palpatine has one of the best dodges and highest jumps out of any hero, allowing him to reposition much faster than most heroes. When Palpatine is in a perfect position, he can use Electrocute to lock you in place, leaving you open for his Dark Aura of Chain Lightning abilities. He deals absurd damage when used properly, capable of shutting down most heroes without issue. Whether you love Heroes vs. Villains or Battlefront 2's large-scale modes, Palpatine is nothing short of a top-tier villain.