SWTOR Huttball Warzone PvP Guide

Huttball is a player-vs-player Warzone in Star Wars The Old Republic. In this guide we’ll be going over how to score points in Huttball, how to pass the ball, and how not to kick the Huttball, because Hutt’s Don’t Have Feet!

There is actually three different types of Huttball maps – but the rules are the same for each one, only the layout and traps change for each map.

Objectives

In the Huttball player versus player match type, there’s really only one objective: score the Huttball by bringing it across the other team’s endzone line, or stop the other team from bringing the Huttball into your team’s endzone.

Picking Up the Huttball from the Center

In the beginning of the match, the Huttball will start off in the center, and both teams will race to get the Huttball first.

To pick up the Huttball, you just right-click the glowing blue Huttball floating in the center of the map. The first person to right-click it gets it.

You can help your team get the Huttball by either rushing to get it yourself, or by stopping the enemy from getting it first – you can pull, push, or stun nearby enemies until your team gets the Huttball.

Once someone does have the Huttball, the fight really begins! The player who gets the Huttball should start running it towards the enemy’s endzone. They will try to stay alive as long as possible, and more importantly, try to pass the Huttball to a team mate who is further forward than they are.

Who has the Huttball?

You can see who currently has the Huttball by looking for either a yellow or purple beam of light. If the beam matches your team’s color, your team mate has the ball. If it doesn’t match your team’s color, the enemy has the ball.

The character holding the Huttball also glows the color of their team if they have the ball.

You can also see the Huttball moving on the map – it’s the yellow swirly icon.

The scoreboard also shows which team has the ball, with a spiky-ball shaped icon lit up in either yellow or purple, or with neither lit up if no one currently has the Huttball.

Yellow team has the ball:

Purple team has the ball:

No one has the ball, it’s likely in the center of the map:

You can see which color your team is by looking at the scoreboard on the top right of your screen. Your team will be labelled as “Your Team”, and the other team will be labelled “Enemy Team”.

Your Team Has the Huttball

If your team has picked up the Huttball, you can help your team in many different ways:

Slowing down, pulling, pushing, stunning or killing enemies who are trying to hurt your ball carrier
Attacking enemies so they get distracted and attack you instead of your ball carrier
Killing enemies so they get sent back to their respawn point
Protecting your ball carrier any way you can, including guarding, taunting enemies, or healing your ball carrier
Getting ahead on the map closer to your enemy’s endzone, so your team mate can pass the ball to you
Getting into the enemy’s endzone so you can accept a pass from a team mate and score the ball

As a newer player, you can contribute by simply slowing down the other team as much as you can.

As an experienced player who is familiar with how the Huttball works, you especially want to get ahead for your teammate to pass to.

The Enemy Has the Huttball

If the enemy has the Huttball, your ultimate goal is to stop them from getting to your team’s endzone.

There are lots of ways you can help your team if the enemy has the Huttball:

Slowing down, pulling, pushing, stunning and killing the enemy ball carrier
Pushing, pulling or stunning enemies in traps like acid pits or fire
Catching enemies in stealth who are in your endzone so they are exposed
Pushing enemies off ledges, or pulling them down from ledges, so they can’t accept passes up high in your endzone
Not being in your endzone in an area where the enemy can leap to you to get ahead

You Have the Huttball

You can get the Huttball a few different ways:

Picking it up from the center by right-clicking it
Killing an enemy who had the Huttball
Having a teammate pass you the ball and successfully catching it
or intercepting a pass from one enemy player to another

If you have the Huttball, your goals are to:

Stay alive (if you die with the huttball in your hands, the other team gets the Huttball)
Pass the ball to a team-mate without missing, ideally to a team mate who is closer to the enemy’s endzone
Run forward with the ball if there is no one to pass it to, and no one is killing you
and lastly throw the ball onto empty ground if you are going to die so at least the other team doesn’t get it

When you are holding the huttball, you are automatically slowed down, and it will feel harder to run than normal.

Lost and confused? Look at your map, as it will show you arrows in your team’s color to show you which way to run!

Huttball Explosion

If you hold the huttball for more than 45 seconds, it will explode, and kill you, giving the next nearest enemy the ball. At 35 seconds, a warning will flash saying “The Hutt is becoming angry!”, letting you know that you should either pass the ball to a team mate or onto the ground soon, as the Hutts are getting bored of watching you with the ball! As a bonus, this also knocks back everyone around your exploding body.

Passing the Huttball

To pass the Huttball while you have it, left-click the “Pass the Huttball” ability on your temporary ability bar – it will appear above your other abilities. It looks like a grey spikey ball on a blue background.

You then select an area on the ground to place it. You can throw it up to 30 meters away.

You can either try throwing it to a teammate, or throwing it onto the empty ground, which will reset the Huttball.

Be careful though, if a team mate moves after you throw the ball and they move outside of the blue circle placed on the ground, they will not “catch” the Huttball.

Even worse, if they move, and an enemy takes their place, the enemy will catch the ball instead. If you aim poorly you can also accidentally just throw the ball to an enemy.

If two players, either enemies or on the same team, are in the huttball’s passing circle, the player who is closest to the center of the huttball’s circle will “catch” the ball. So if your teammate is fighting with an enemy, if you try passing it to them, it’s likely that the enemy might catch the ball instead of your teammate.

Players who are stunned also can not catch the Huttball. So if you throw the huttball to your team mate, and an enemy runs up and stuns them, the enemy will catch that ball instead.

Players who are in stealth can not catch the huttball.

However, if a player is waiting in stealth for you to pass it, they can quickly unstealth and catch the ball if they are paying attention.

This is a very important part of most Huttball tactics – a “stealther” will stay stealthed in the endzone and wait for a pass, strategically unstealthing only once the ball has been passed and the huttball circle is on the ground, but not before then, so they don’t get seen in the enemy’s endzone.

It’s usually a bad idea to pass the ball to a team mate who is almost dead, as if they die with the ball, the enemy will get it. If you are worried you will die soon, and you don’t see a suitable teammate to pass it to, you can throw it on the ground away from enemy players.

Getting Ahead for the Huttball

“Getting Ahead” is the act of running ahead on the map towards the enemy’s endzone, so that your teammate with the Huttball can pass it forward to you.

Each map has some general locations that are especially good for catching the Huttball from.

If you are ready to catch the ball, you can use body language to let the ball carrier know – jumping up and down in place is a general way of saying you’re ready for a pass. If you’re in stealth, still jump, but make sure to unstealth the moment you see the blue Huttball circle appear around you.

If there are any enemies nearby – beware! If you are on a ledge, it’s common for enemies to try and push or pull you down from your position, so you can’t catch the ball. If an enemy is attacking you, don’t indicate that you are open, as the enemy will likely catch if unless you are very skilled and stun them when the ball is passed to you.

Huttball Reset

Whenever the huttball is thrown on the ground, accidentally dropped, or when a point is scored, the Huttball is returned to the center, sometimes known as “mid” for middle.

Player can accidentally or purposefully drop the Huttball they are carrying and return it to the center by…

Stealthing out (Operative/Scoundrel/Shadow/Assassin) – makes you hidden, but also makes you drop the ball.
Force Barrier (Sage/Sorcerer) – makes you invulnerable to all attacks… but you drop the ball.
Teleporting (Sniper/Gunslinger/Sage/Sorcerer) Phase Walk, Hololocate, Hideout – Using the “Teleport” abilities will make you drop your ball as you change locations
Force Camouflage (Marauder/Sentinel) While it’s not a true stealth ability, Force Camouflage will cause you to drop the huttball if you use it.

You also can’t pass the ball to any player who is actively using any of this abilities, until they are completed (so don’t throw the ball to a team mate with Force Barrier up, they won’t be able to catch it!).

If you don’t see any yellow or purple beam of light in the air, the Huttball is probably being reset.

Teams can “control mid” by having team members there ready to get the huttball, and killing any nearby enemies. That way, when the huttball resets, they are ready to grab it and start running it forwards.

Maps

There are three different Huttball maps you might get, though the rules for all of them are the same:

Original Huttball (Nar Shaddaa, horizontal/flat map)
Queshball (Quesh Huttball, vertical map with an orangey color terrain)
Vandin Huttball (Vandin gas planet map, horizontal map with a dark green color)

They each have a different set of traps to be wary of, different layouts, and different ways to get around, but all the rules when it comes to passing and scoring the huttball are the same on all three maps.

Passing Through Traps

Different classes have different tricks when it comes to passing safely through traps, whether they are trying to get forward quickly without waiting for the traps, or are carrying the ball. It is important to know how the different traps work.

Fire traps only damage you while you are standing in the fire.
Acid traps only damage you while you are standing in the acid waterfall.
Gas/poison traps gives you a debuff that kills you over 5 seconds, taking you from 100% health to zero over those five seconds. Even if you step out of the trap, you will still die once you are out if you got poisoned – so you don’t want to touch the poisonous gas at all.
Electricity traps will stun you whenever you pass through or touch the electricity – and you can not use your stunbreaker to get out or roll through them safely. If you get stunned, you’ll just have to wait until you are unstunned long enough to run out.

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Scoundrels and Operatives can roll through the fire traps mostly unscathed, even while it’s lit, using their roll ability (Scamper/Exfiltrate passive at level 68+.) You’ll either take no damage or “one tick” of fire damage for 25% of your health, rather than the full blast.

Gunslingers and Snipers can use their roll as well to the same effect (Covered Escape / Hightail It) – make sure to jump after you finish your roll to quickly keep moving forward.

All of those, Scoundrels, Operatives, Gunslingers and Snipers can use their stunbreaker called Escape, and you can use it if you get stunned and hopefully run out of the trap in time.

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Sages and Sorcerers can use their Force Speed to go fast and not be stunned while using it (Level 73 choice called Egress.) They’ll still take some damage if they get caught in the trap though – but since they go through faster, they take less, around 30% of their health.

The Shadow and Assassin can also use their Force Speed to go fast and not be stunned while using it (Level 64 choice called Force Phase.) In addition, they can use their Force Shroud / Resilience before going though an inactive trap, as it will give them 3 seconds where they can’t be stunned.

All of those, Sages, Sorcerers, Shadows and Assassins, have a stunbreaker called Force of Will / Unbreakable Will, and you can use it if you get stunned and hopefully run out of traps in time.

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Vanguards, Powertechs, Commandos and Mercenaries can use their ability that allows them to run fast and not be stunned when passing unlit fire zones with enemies nearby. (Hold the Line / Hydraulic Overrides, lasts 10 seconds, immunity from movement effects.) In addition, your stunbreaker is called Tenacity / Determination, and you can use it if you get stunned and hopefully run out of traps in time.

Commandos and Mercenaries can also turn around and jump through inactive trap areas to avoid them all together, so they can’t get stunned while passing through. (Propulsion Round/Rocket Out, level 68 choice.)

Sentinels and Marauders can use their speedy ability to dance through the fire trap. This will let them also safely pass through inactive traps without getting stunned. (Blade Blitz / Mad Dash, Level 68 choice.)

Sentinels and Marauders, Guardians and Juggernauts can all use their stunbreaker if they get stunned on a trap, and hopefully get out on time. (Resolute / Unleash)

All of these are also very useful for when it comes to carrying the ball, so being familiar with your movement abilities for your class can be really useful!

Original Huttball

The original Huttball map is the one that has been around since the launch of the game – the easiest way to recognize it is that it is set inside a building on Nar Shaddaa, is mostly horizontal, and there are bright green acid pits near the center where the ball spawns.

Huttball Map

Start Point

At the beginning of the match, the two teams will start on opposite sides of the field. If you look out the window of the original Huttball map, you’ll be able to see some of the ramps leading forward, possibly some fire traps going off, and a sign in the distance showing the enemy team’s logo, where their endzone is.

You’ll either want to run up the various ramps forward, waiting for the fire trap to go away, or to jump down into the pit below and up the ramps on the side and run forward, though most people usually take the ramps to get to the center of the map faster.

Huttball Spawn

The Huttball is located in the very center of the map, between the two team’s endzones, and is surrounded by acid pits.

Endzone

The colorful arrows on the floor lead to the matching team’s endzone. Yellow leads towards the Frogdog’s endzone, and the pink-purple arrows lead to the Rotworm’s endzone.

If you are on the Yellow Frogdog team, and have the ball, follow the pink-purple arrows to score into the purple Rotworm’s endzone.

If you are on the Purple Rotworm team, and have the ball, follow the yellow arrows to score into the yellow Frogdog’s endzone.

To get to the endzone from the center where the Huttball spawns, you can:

Pick up the ball and pass it to a team mate who is farther forward.
Run across the middle ramps to the endzone.
Take the air vent, then run up the high ramps if it lands you somewhere useful.
Run down into the pit, and pass the ball to a team-mate in the endzone.

Acid Pits

Near the center of the map, surrounding the spot where the Huttball spawns, are two large acid pits.

Stepping in these won’t damage you a lot – so it’s ok to quickly run through them, or step in them accidentally. But, if you stand in them for more than a few seconds, your health will fall fast.

Fire Traps

The fire traps are more dangerous than the acid pits – you’ll likely only survive for about half a second inside a lit fire trap.

The fire traps are dormant by default, and over time will start glowing red like a hot stove as a warning, then will catch on fire and bar-be-que any players who are standing inside of them. Another way to see if they are about to light up is if the four posts surrounding them are glowing orange.

If you are stuck in front of a fire trap on a ramp, you can either wait for it to finish going off, or try jumping down elsewhere to move forward.

It’s common to be pushed into the fire – or even to be pushed and then stunned in the fire.

If you are carrying the ball, and need to go through a fire trap spot, be aware that someone will likely try and stun you in it! So be ready to either use your stunbreaker, or pre-emptively use an ability that will let you pass through it safely.

Air Vents

On the left and the right of where the Huttball spawns, there are two air vents that will shoot you up into the air if you walk onto them.

Unfortunately, where you land is totally random – you might go forwards, sideways, high up or down low. You’ll land somewhere vaguely near the middle, and there’s no way to tell before hand where you will land. Even if you follow someone on to an air vent, you might not land in the same spot as them or even go in the same direction.

Getting Ahead

There are a couple of useful spots you can get ahead to catch the Huttball at on this map.

Just up the ramp, past the acid pits in the center.

Up the ramp, past the fire trap, and onto the corner of the middle ramps.

On the higher ramps, which you can get to from the side of the maps or from a lucky gust from the air vent.

Further ahead on the middle ramps, especially past the fire traps.

In the actual endzone.

Buffs

Damage Boost (red, above) – 15% bonus to damage and healing, while fighting other players for 25 seconds. Hidden near the outer walls of the middle of the map.

Health (aqua colored, above) – Walk over it to heal 75% of your health. On the left and right of the map of the pit area near the endzone, just up the ramp.

Speed Boost (green, above) – Run at 200% speed for 15 seconds. Only in the pit in front of the endzones.

Queshball

Dubbed “queshball” by most players, the Quesh Huttball map is one of the most confusing to learn the layout of due to its vertical shape. This one is easy to recognize when you load into it as you’ll be looking down from your team’s start point, and won’t even be able to see the Huttball, as its hidden further down below you on the map.