Let's not leave out JTR
A lot of the focus is on the Sith Raid and I think that those who enjoy it a bit are doing Heroic and the only guilds that can do Heroic have plenty of JTR teams. Let's face it. there is a direct correlation between being able to complete Heroic and having JTR. That means a singular character makes the difference.
OK. It's not the first time a toon has been meta and it won't be the last. Nor should it. And if it is going to be OP then it shouldn't be a cake walk to get. Not saying they should hand it out, but CLS is petty high value in the game and there is a reasonable path to get him.
I myself have 2.4 MM GP, but don't have JTR. Let's explore why. Well I didn't get her the first go round due to my lack of BB8 (among other things which I will cover below). That was a result of me lacking enough FO to get him to 7 star. Now I'm OK with this 100%. It's the first peek at her and I'm not expecting to get her the first time. I didn't get CLS the first time, I didn't get 7 star palp or 7 star yoda (though I got lower versions at least) the first time. In fact if I recall for them it took 3 or 4 times to get 7 star. Thrawn I got a 5 star i think then took me 2 more times to get him 7 star. I had a challenge in front of me, a means to get it and small rewards along the way in a usable character, albeit lower star rating.
So not having BB8 at 7 stars I knew I'd need another pass or two at the BB8 event, and BB8 is a pretty good character to have and worth farming. The FO teams aren't too bad and the grind on them isn't outrageous though FOST took a while. At the end I had a cohesive FO team and with BB8 a nice addition to my resistance team.
Now let's look at the other aspect of JTR. Two tier 8 cantina toons.Hey maybe they are good to have in a team and worth farming apart from JTR, but I don't see many of them in the arena. Not that it is an indicator of usefulness in itself. Regardless the grind for it and the RNG for me at least was soul sucking. I stopped altogether. I'd go 2-3 days in a row with my afternoon cantina refresh included and get 0 shards. Nothing. I mean how unexciting is that? Sure that happens with other toons as well, but two in tier 8 requiring the most amount of energy and you go multiple days in a row, multiple times with nothing. I feel like farming Baze I'd spend my energy and get blanked, but the next day I'd at least get one. 3 days in a row getting nothing makes it the most unexciting thing to do in the game or at least feel that way. And not just for one character, which may be tolerable, but two. And yes there have been days I've spent on refreshes, but not any more. What a waste. Meanwhile you go release KRU in cantina and I'd pull 4-7 day and 4-7 ships shards. What do you think is more exciting or fun to do. So KRU got attention from me.
Vet Chewie and Han though are a soul sucking kick in the pants all to get the one character that has tangible meaning in the Sith Raid and is a deciding factor in if you are doing Heroic or not.
Ideas? Maybe ease up on the vet drop rate a tad, but I don't ways agree that increasing drop rates is the best answer so maybe drop them down to tier 5 or 6 in the cantna so you get more attempts in a day? Or how about having tiers for JTR where you can unlock her at 5 stars so you can see a progression of rewards for your time as opposed to a waterfall effect. (Think Agile Devs!!!) Then maybe be able to utilize her in raid. I'm thinking a 6 star JTR fully geared (to 11 because not 7 star) may still have some Raid value.
TL/DR: One toon is the factor in doing the Sith Raid on Heroic and quite a few people don't have her because farming Vet Chewie and Han is as boring as the Sith Raid itself with similar rewards for time and effort.
OK. It's not the first time a toon has been meta and it won't be the last. Nor should it. And if it is going to be OP then it shouldn't be a cake walk to get. Not saying they should hand it out, but CLS is petty high value in the game and there is a reasonable path to get him.
I myself have 2.4 MM GP, but don't have JTR. Let's explore why. Well I didn't get her the first go round due to my lack of BB8 (among other things which I will cover below). That was a result of me lacking enough FO to get him to 7 star. Now I'm OK with this 100%. It's the first peek at her and I'm not expecting to get her the first time. I didn't get CLS the first time, I didn't get 7 star palp or 7 star yoda (though I got lower versions at least) the first time. In fact if I recall for them it took 3 or 4 times to get 7 star. Thrawn I got a 5 star i think then took me 2 more times to get him 7 star. I had a challenge in front of me, a means to get it and small rewards along the way in a usable character, albeit lower star rating.
So not having BB8 at 7 stars I knew I'd need another pass or two at the BB8 event, and BB8 is a pretty good character to have and worth farming. The FO teams aren't too bad and the grind on them isn't outrageous though FOST took a while. At the end I had a cohesive FO team and with BB8 a nice addition to my resistance team.
Now let's look at the other aspect of JTR. Two tier 8 cantina toons.Hey maybe they are good to have in a team and worth farming apart from JTR, but I don't see many of them in the arena. Not that it is an indicator of usefulness in itself. Regardless the grind for it and the RNG for me at least was soul sucking. I stopped altogether. I'd go 2-3 days in a row with my afternoon cantina refresh included and get 0 shards. Nothing. I mean how unexciting is that? Sure that happens with other toons as well, but two in tier 8 requiring the most amount of energy and you go multiple days in a row, multiple times with nothing. I feel like farming Baze I'd spend my energy and get blanked, but the next day I'd at least get one. 3 days in a row getting nothing makes it the most unexciting thing to do in the game or at least feel that way. And not just for one character, which may be tolerable, but two. And yes there have been days I've spent on refreshes, but not any more. What a waste. Meanwhile you go release KRU in cantina and I'd pull 4-7 day and 4-7 ships shards. What do you think is more exciting or fun to do. So KRU got attention from me.
Vet Chewie and Han though are a soul sucking kick in the pants all to get the one character that has tangible meaning in the Sith Raid and is a deciding factor in if you are doing Heroic or not.
Ideas? Maybe ease up on the vet drop rate a tad, but I don't ways agree that increasing drop rates is the best answer so maybe drop them down to tier 5 or 6 in the cantna so you get more attempts in a day? Or how about having tiers for JTR where you can unlock her at 5 stars so you can see a progression of rewards for your time as opposed to a waterfall effect. (Think Agile Devs!!!) Then maybe be able to utilize her in raid. I'm thinking a 6 star JTR fully geared (to 11 because not 7 star) may still have some Raid value.
TL/DR: One toon is the factor in doing the Sith Raid on Heroic and quite a few people don't have her because farming Vet Chewie and Han is as boring as the Sith Raid itself with similar rewards for time and effort.
