Star Wars Squadrons Drift Guide: How to Divert Engine Power, Boost, and Drift

Drifting in Star Wars: Squadrons can be risky. But if done correctly, a drift maneuver can get you out of dangerous situations fast. Whether you want to turn quickly and evade incoming fire or engage a pesky starfighter on your six, it’s a useful tactical maneuver that can save your skin. But how do you drift in Star Wars: Squadrons? Pretty easily, it turns out. 

There is a drift tutorial in the third mission of Star Wars: Squadrons (fifth if you count the two prologue missions). Here, your wingmate Keo teaches you how to drift by having you skim across the surface of a Star Destroyer. A lot is going on in the mission, and while pulling off the maneuver to advance isn’t too difficult, it’s easy to forget the details in future missions. 

Before you start drifting, there are a few things you need to know how to do. 

How to Divert Power to Your Engines

You first need to know how to divert power to your engines in Star Wars: Squadrons. This will give you the ability to boost. 

To funnel power from your weapons and shields to your engines: 

• Press “left” on the D-pad on controller or “1” (default) on keyboard

The blue bar on your control panel will be maxed out, while the red and green bars (the latter only on applicable ships) will show two squares each. 

How to Boost

Now that you’ve rerouted power to your engines, the yellow bars near your speedometer will begin to fill. Once one bar fills completely, you can boost. Fill all of the bars, and you can boost for a longer period of time. 

To boost, press: 

• L3 (PS4)
• LS (Xbox)
• Space (PC)

You don’t have to be going full speed to boost or build your boost meter. You will boost and go full speed from any starting speed. 

How to drift

To drift, you first have to boost, so it’s best to let at least two or three bars fill before trying this maneuver. Here’s how to do it: 

• Boost
• Hold the right stick (or mouse) hard to the right or left
• Hold L3/LS/Shift while still holding the right stick (or mouse) left or right 

Make sure not to go into a barrel roll when pressing the holding the stick down on controller. It’s easy to do and essentially negates the drift. If you’re having a hard time with it, you can also change the inputs so that you double-tap the left stick instead of hold it to drift. 

Drifting is Dangerous

Drifting is dangerous in multiplayer because it can leave you wide open to attack if not done correctly or at the right time. It’s a high-risk, high-reward tactic that should be practiced before being used in a dogfight. 

However, it can absolutely devastate your foes if they don’t see it coming. You can also use it to counter homing missiles if you don’t have any countermeasures left.

That’s all you need to know about how to drift in Star Wars: Squadrons. If this guide was helpful, consider taking a look at our other Squadrons tips articles, including tactics for taking down a Star Destroyer.