Flying your ship in Star Wars Squadrons isn’t as simple as just steering and shooting. If you’re going to become a dominant force in dogfights, you’ll need to learn about diverting power in Star Wars Squadrons. This guide will explain what diverting power to engines, weapons, and shields does, how to divert power, and why you should make the most of it.
Star Wars Squadrons Divert Power Explained
The ability to divert power to different systems within your ship is present in every craft in the game.
When you first take flight in a mission or multiplayer match, your ship will be set to a Balanced power setup. This means that equal power is going to your engines, weapons and (where applicable) shields.
The ability to divert power allows players to boost either their Engines, Weapons or Shields at the expense of the others. It’s worth pointing out that only the TIE Reaper on the Empire’s side has Shields. The rest only have the option to divert power to the Engines and Weapons systems.
Diverting power to your engines increases your speed and agility, and charges the speed boost ability when maxed out.
Diverting power to your weapons systems increases the recharge speed of your blasters and creates a powerful overcharge when maxed out.
Diverting power to your Shields increases their recharge rate, and creates a damage-absorbing overshield when maxed out.
As you can see, diverting your power to one of your ship’s systems can be really helpful in particular situations. For example, you might want to divert power to your engines to help you evade incoming missiles that have locked onto you, or from an enemy on your tail. You may divert power to your weapons when you’ve got an enemy in your sights for a quick kill, while shields can protect you from a similar fate.
How to Divert Power in Star Wars Squadrons
As we noted above, at the beginning of a match or a mission, your ship will automatically be in a ‘Balanced’ power mode. This means all of your ship’s systems will be receiving an equal amount of power.
Down below, we’ve included a quick table for how to divert power to each of the systems across all three platforms.
You’ll know that you’ve successfully diverted power to one of your ship systems by looking at the lights on your ship’s dashboard.
In the image shown above, we’ve diverted all power into weapons, so the line of red lights is maxed out at the expense of engines (blue) and shields (green).
Why You Should Divert Power Regularly
Things can change in a flash when you’re fighting it out in space. One minute you’re evading incoming fire, the next you’re gunning down an unsuspecting enemy you’ve managed to sneak up behind. Then their teammates come to seek revenge.
In the example above, you’d want to divert power to your engines to help evade incoming fire or use the boost ability to get away. You may then want to divert power to your weapons while you gun down enemies to deal damage at a faster rate.
Shields are an underrated system of your ship that should be utilized as much as possible. These can be great for soaking up a ton of damage that would otherwise kill you. Use these to your advantage by acting as a distraction to the enemy, while your teammates get behind them and gun them down.
That’s everything you need to know about diverting power in Star Wars Squadrons. For more tips, tricks and guides head on over to our guide wiki, or check out more of our coverage below.