Databank Download: Cad Bane, Notorious Hunter Preview

SWP09Cad Bane

Today’s Star Wars™: Shatterpoint preview features Cad Bane, Notorious Hunter, who is indeed one of the most famous and capable of the galaxy’s bounty hunters, which is saying something given the competition for that honor. Bane has a dark and sordid reputation for taking on sinister work, including jobs no one else wants to do.

Cad Bane has a special sort of swagger and confidence, necessary traits for tackling the most difficult jobs in the galaxy, such as hunting Jedi. It was this that earned him the enmity of several of the Jedi Order’s most formidable masters, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu. Cad Bane always walked the darker side of his profession, having established strong ties with Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and working with others like Lord Maul and various Hutts. Given his prominence and the nearly impossible targets he agreed to pursue, Bane saw the benefit of working with others, gathering an impressive rotating crew of fellow bounty hunters, some nearly as notorious as himself. One of the keys to Bane’s success is his impressive arsenal of versatile tools and gadgets, employed expertly to give him an edge against Force users.

Cad Bane is utterly fearless and known to be implacable in his pursuit of his quarry, taking advantage of his Rocket Boots to gain added mobility akin to a jetpack. He makes use of his allies to facilitate cornering his target, and he insists No One Gets Between Me and My Job. This Reactive ability lets him follow-up on an ally’s attack if he’s close enough, inflicting some additional damage or Jumping closer to them if they are too far away.

While he is a capable assassin willing to focus on gunning down his target to the exclusion of anything else, Bane is sometimes hired for a variety of tasks. He is particularly effective at seizing vital objectives. How About You Step Aside facilitates this, intimidating foes trying to control objectives to give up ground when he threatens them, forcing them to back away. Those who do so are often left Disarmed as they fumble with their weapons or left Exposed and Strained as Bane draws near. Few things delight Bane more than seeing his allies wound those they have been hired to take down. I’ll Take on Any Job… For the Right Price, his Identity ability, refreshes Force tokens when this happens, doubly if the attacking ally was also a Bounty Hunter, as well as providing a small amount of healing for Bane.

Cad Bane’s two Stances are loosely geared to augment his capabilities when fighting at range or in close combat, though there are other situations where he may prefer one over the other. Needs No Introduction is a Stance which Bane’s utter confidence in his own deadly capabilities. This affords Bane the highest ranged attack dice pool and a strong Combat Tree offering solid damage and options to Shove and then Pin or Disarm the foe. This stance also has some tactical advantages, with a Combat Tree offering a couple options to heal or to Jump and having a slightly better defense Expertise Chart.

As Long as I Get Paid bolsters Bane’s wrist-mounted flamethrower with a higher melee dice pool and a Combat Tree with slightly higher potential damage, along with attack expertise charts offering more critical results, providing a degree of consistency. This Stance has an earlier option to Disarm the foe, and later options to Strain and Pin or Shove, but lacks the healing and free Jumps of the other stance. Despite these differences, both Stances are geared toward offense as the best defense, appropriate given Bane prefers to eliminate his enemies quickly and efficiently.

There’s no denying the villainous appeal of a gunman like Cad Bane. He is the perfect ringleader to bring a gaggle of Bounty Hunters to fight as his crew. If hiring one Bounty Hunter is a good idea, why not several?

Make sure to check back for our next Star Wars: Shatterpoint Unit preview, where we give you a first look at how your favorite characters from the Star Wars galaxy translate into the gameplay of Star Wars: Shatterpoint. Pre-order your own copy of the Fistful of Credits Squad Pack at your local game store or through the webstore today.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!