Bond System

Overview

Star Wars Zero Company features a Bond System — a relationship mechanic between squad members that develops over the course of the campaign. Bonds form through shared missions and dialogue interactions at the Den.

How Bonds Work

The more two characters fight on missions together, the stronger their bond becomes. Lead Designer James Brawley cited Star Wars Rebels — specifically the Rex and Kanan relationship, a clone and a Jedi who began as enemies and grew into allies — as the emotional template for how bonds are designed to develop. Relationships can start negative and must be actively built.

Specific combat actions that increase bonds between two characters:

• Healing actions — using a Medic to heal a squadmate boosts the relationship between those two operators
• Shot assists / Call for Backup — calling a character in to assist on an attack builds the bond with that character
• Completing missions together — any shared mission time contributes to the relationship
• Operations — assigning two characters to work together on a strategy-layer operation increases their bond

Every character tracks a relationship with every other character. Stronger bonds unlock progressively larger benefits:

• Cross Training — when a Bond increases in level, both Operators can Cross Train to gain a permanent combat stat bonus
• Maximum Bond Cross Training — reaching maximum Bond level unlocks a special Cross Training with a Passive Ability, the most powerful tier of benefit
• Focus Points — earned primarily by increasing Bonds, these are spent in the Focus Tree to upgrade each Operator’s Talents, Abilities, and Passives
• Dialogue changes — conversations between bonded characters evolve based on the strength of their relationship

This applies to both story companions and custom recruits.

Dilemmas

At certain points in the story, Hawks faces a Dilemma — an important decision where every Operator weighs in with their opinion. How Hawks decides may strengthen or weaken Bonds with those Operators. Some Dilemmas carry authored consequences beyond Bond changes — the narrative lead confirmed that player choices can drive a character away from Zero Company entirely. See Dilemmas for full details.

Bond Decay

Bonds are not permanent gains — they can decay and fracture based on player actions. The PC Gamer video preview confirmed this explicitly: the team considered it “really critical” to allow bonds to deteriorate as well as grow, as managing a squad that doesn’t always get along is central to the leadership fantasy.

Approval Ratings

Characters track approval ratings for Hawks’ decisions — both in dialogue and in how missions are conducted. Characters express approval or disapproval in a manner comparable to Dragon Age companion systems.

Importantly, characters will not automatically leave the squad over low approval. However, authored story moments tied to specific relationships can trigger a departure — disapproval has narrative consequences, not just mechanical ones.

Ideological Friction

The squad composition is deliberately diverse and ideologically conflicted. A former Umbaran separatist, Mandalorians, clone troopers, and a Jedi Padawan all carry different histories and loyalties. Bonds must be actively built — they are not assumed.

PC Gamer’s hands-on preview confirmed Trick and Luco Bronc as a named friction pair: Trick is a clone trooper, and the Battle of Umbara during the Clone Wars was a brutal Republic campaign against Umbaran forces. The bad blood between a clone soldier and an Umbaran veteran is a specifically cited source of intra-squad tension.

Permadeath Interaction

If a bonded squad member dies via permadeath, their relationships are permanently severed. The narrative continues, and surviving characters may react to the loss.

References

If information is missing, it has not been confirmed by an official or press source.