Quick Links
- What Is The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client?
- What Game Modes Are On The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client?
- How To Install The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client
- How To Launch The Northstar Client
- How To Update The Northstar Client
- How To Set Up Northstar Managers
- How To Play With The Northstar Client
Before there was Apex Legends, Titanfall 2 introduced the sort of high-speed, high-stakes mobility that few modern shooters have been able to replicate. Sadly, the Titanfall series has largely been supplanted Apex Legends. Making matters worse, Respawn essentially abandoned Titanfall 2's servers to hackers protesting the franchise's end who were constantly DDOS-ing loyal fans from playing their beloved game.
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Thankfully, those same fans created community-run servers unaffected by the aforementioned hackers. Titanfall 2 lives on thanks to the Northstar Client, a dedicated multiplayer client that not only makes player-run servers accessible but also adds all-new features to Respawn’s classic shooter.
Updated July 25, 2023, by Sean Murray: It's amazing what a dedicated community can do to keep old games thriving well past their prime. The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client is the perfect example and one we want to direct fans to for years to come. That's why we've refreshed this guide with improved formatting and a few breakout tips to help you set up Northstar.
What Is The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client?
Named after the in-game class of Titan, the Northstar client is a community-developed client for Titanfall 2 and is primarily the hard work of BobtheBob. It offers far more functionality than vanilla Titanfall 2 and does not rely on support from Respawn to stay online.
The client features a server browser, allowing users to find games of whatever mode they want to play, and join them on player-run servers.
It isn't an entirely separate game; think of it as a mod for Titanfall 2. You use it to launch the same game, just with some extra features. For anyone looking to play, it's a must, given the aforementioned state of vanilla Titanfall 2.
There is a very active community around Northstar, so you should have no difficulty finding people to play with if you need some teammates. Likewise, if you're looking to shake things up, the modding scene is similarly active, with numerous fun and interesting mods already becoming popular.
Northstar can only be accessed by PC players, so if you're on console, you are unfortunately out of luck. You will also need to own Titanfall 2 to use Northstar, as downloading the client is useless without the game itself.
What Game Modes Are On The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client?
In addition to all the modes from vanilla Titanfall 2, players have created numerous custom modes. Some fast-emerging favorites include Gun Game (which works exactly how you'd expect), Infection (not dissimilar to Apex Legends' Halloween mode), and Fastball (a 3v3 where death is permanent within each round, and the fight starts by having BT throw you into battle).
The server browser allows you to easily find spaces in lobbies for any game mode you're in the mood for, allowing you to hop into games at your leisure, rather than waiting on unreliable matchmaking to do the job for you.
If all of that isn't enough for you, the private match creator has a vast array of settings and toggles you can alter, allowing you to create unique scenarios or game modes of your own. Everything from making the ground lethal to disabling bleed-out can be tweaked, so there's no end of options to play around with.
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How To Install The Titanfall 2 Northstar Client
If you want to install Northstar for yourself, the first thing you'll want to do is head to its GitHub page, where you should download the pictured .zip file. Once you've downloaded it, locate the file on your computer, right-click it, and select "Extract All" to take the files out of the .zip and into a folder of the same name.
What you need to do next depends on your launcher of choice, as different launchers can store game files in different places.
How To Install Northstar Client On Steam
On the menu for Titanfall 2 in your Steam library, click the gear icon for settings and hover over "Manage" to pop out another menu. On this menu, select "Browse local files." This will open a new File Explorer window where Titanfall 2's game files are kept.
The folder itself is called "Titanfall2" by default.
If for whatever reason, locating the folder like this isn't an option, you can use the following path, assuming you've never moved things from their default locations. Go into "Program Files (x86)", then "Steam". Scroll down to "steamapps", open that, and go into "common", where you should see folders for all of your games, including Titanfall 2.
Return to the window with your Northstar client folder and copy everything in the Northstar folder (not the folder itself) over to the Titanfall 2 folder. This will give you everything you need to run Northstar.
How To Install Northstar Client On Origin
Origin doesn't have an easy way to access game files like Steam, so you'll have to navigate to the Titanfall 2 folder yourself.
Unless you've moved files around yourself, the default path for Origin should be as follows: open a new File Explorer window, select "Local Disk", then "Program Files (x86)". You should see a folder called "Origin Games". Open that, and Titanfall's folder should be right there.
At that point, it's the same as it was for Steam. Copy the contents of the Northstar folder into your existing Titanfall folder.
How To Launch The Northstar Client
The Northstar client does run as a separate application from Titanfall 2, so it's not as simple as just launching Titanfall 2 from your launcher of choice.
While you're still in the Titanfall folder with the Northstar files copied in, locate "NorthstarLauncher.exe" and run it, which should cause Northstar to open for the first time. You'll be met with an authentication pop-up, and after that, you're good to go!
To launch Northstar more easily in the future, you can pin Northstar to your taskbar while it's running, or add it to Steam or Origin with the "Add non-Steam/Origin" game option in the respective launchers.
All you have to do is locate the file as before, and you'll be able to launch it from within your launcher as you would any other game.
How To Update The Northstar Client
Just like a regular game, the Northstar Client receives updates, the most notable one since launch being the addition of the fan-favorite Attrition mode from the vanilla Titanfall games. In order to keep up with these additions, you'll need to keep your Client up-to-date, which, fortunately, isn't too difficult.
Updating the Northstar Client essentially involves just reinstalling the newest version of the launcher - simply repeat the steps already outlined in this guide every time a new version comes out, and you'll be able to play the latest release.
The team behind Northstar has a Discord, which is the best way to keep up with when new versions release.
However, let's assume you play a lot of Titanfall 2, and reinstalling the launcher every time an update comes out sounds a bit tedious. There is another way - it just requires a little bit more initial setup.
How To Set Up Northstar Managers
The Northstar community has developed launchers for Northstar itself that will automatically update the client for you whenever an update is released. We'll use the Viper launcher (named for the in-game Northstar pilot) as an example, but the VTOL and R2ModMan launchers are also popular and the installation process is more or less identical for each one.
Click the link above and navigate to the big "download" button on the GitHub page. Once the file downloads, simply run it and Viper will install itself. Once it's installed, it'll open, you can use it to launch Northstar, and it'll keep you up to date on any new releases of the client.
You can also launch vanilla Titanfall 2 from within Viper if you want to.
It's a good idea to add Viper (or your alternative launcher of choice) as a non-Steam game within Steam (or the equivalent for Origin), as not only does this make accessing it easier, it reduces the chance of having problems when running the client.
Don't be alarmed if you receive an error message mentioning an authentication issue with Origin when booting Northstar up; simply add it to Steam or Origin and launch from there, and the problem should solve itself.
How To Play With The Northstar Client
Once Northstar has booted up, you'll see a slightly different version of Titanfall 2's main menu. To access Northstar's servers and features, click "Launch Northstar", just below the multiplayer heading. From the Northstar menu, you'll be taken to the multiplayer screen, where you can use the server browser and private match options to access all the game modes described above.
Titanfall 2 is an incredible game, so enjoy its renaissance!
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