Colred's Galactic War Strategy Guide
Colred's Galactic War Strategy Guide
Greetings! This guide is intended to help players who may be struggling with their Galactic War campaigns. I wanted the guide to be accessible, so I stuck mostly to the basics: a tiny bit of theory, recommendations on squad composition, and a discussion of battle tactics. One quick note - there are many ways to be successful in Heroes of the Galaxy. My method is not the only, or even the best, way to beat Galactic War campaigns. That being said, my success rate in GW has been near-perfect for months now, so I feel confident that this method can work very well. I hope you find it useful.
Some quick theory:
In Galactic War campaigns, each battle continues from the previous battle. Health levels carry over, as do cooldown timers. Any defeated heroes will be unavailable for the rest of the day. Additionally, battles become more difficult as you progress through the campaign. These facts dictate the basis of our tactical approach. We need to keep our best heroes alive all the way to the final battle. This means durable squads with sustain have a serious advantage over more fragile, high-dps squads. Using a sustain squad means that battles will last longer, increasing the value of control skills (stuns, ability blocks, etc). Dictating the flow of battle becomes essential to keeping your heroes alive.
Core squad composition:
Leader: We need one GREAT healer. Two of the best are Luminara Unduli and Barriss Ofee. In addition to being extremely strong healers, both provide additional sustain through their leadership passives. I prefer Luminara over Barriss slightly because she has better dps and an Ability Block. Barriss has more health and her heal partially bypasses the Healing Immunity debuff. Other healers can work, but most will require a backup healer once you get to mid campaign.
Slot 2: We need a tank with a taunt. I HIGHLY recommend Royal Guard. RG has an automatic taunt with NO cooldown that fires any time an ally drops below 50% health. Just as importantly, RG is the best single-target cc'er in the game. Force Pike has a 50% slow chance AND an 80% stun chance. Every. Turn. Throw in some sustain, passive turn meter gain, and an active defense up, and no one can match Royal Guard's ability to influence the flow of combat. The one downside is that RG's taunt is automatic, so it can sometimes get him in trouble. Good thing you've got a great healer.
Slots 3 and 4: To maximize durability, we prioritize dps heroes with high health, self-sustain, passive resistances, or high-value abilities. Single-target dps are preferred, for reasons I'll explain more later. Two of my staples are Savage Oppress and Count Dooku. Savage has a huge health pool and passive defense up. His dps is decent, but he has an AWESOME finisher. Dooku is a bit more fragile, but his 100% counter chance makes him a perfect dps against aoe squads. He also gets extra attacks, and has ability block and stun skills (better % against Jedi). His Force Lightning can stun two targets. Other heroes can work fine here. Experiment with your roster to find a combo you like.
Slot 5: This is your flex spot. Pick your 5th hero based on the enemy squad. Add a self-healer like Ahsoko Tano for more sustain without sacrificing a dps slot. Use an anti-healer like Jedi Knight Anakin against healer comps. Bring a buff-removal hero like Qui-Gon Jinn to remove taunts. Early on, I used Jedi Consular almost exclusively in this slot. I still frequently find great value in a double healer composition, especially for the tough, late-campaign battles.
Tactics:
There are 4 keys to good Galactic War tactics:
1. Often, a battle is won or lost based on the choice of first target. Remember, you want to keep ALL your heroes alive. Prioritize anti-healers (such as Darth Sideous) first. They threaten your sustain. This is why we prefer single-target dps to aoe – to kill the biggest threats as quickly as possible. Focus nukers next, then aoe dps, then tanks and healers last.
2. You can use your cc's and active abilities to either secure kills quickly, or to protect your squad, so choose wisely. If there are 2 dangerous dps, cc one while you focus fire the other. Ability block or stun enemy healers to secure kills on low health targets. Remove enemy taunts to get to squishies more easily. Don't hesitate to use your finishers to secure kills.
3. Use your heals effectively. Don't waste them, but also don't hold them in reserve too long. The most important part of this strategy is keeping people alive. Especially Royal Guard. If you keep him in good health, it's almost impossible to lose anyone else in the squad. If you have healing trouble, add another healer. Speed is less important than survival.
4. Once you're in control of a battle, start thinking about the NEXT battle. Don't waste cooldowns you don't need, especially cc's and finishers. Heal up a few rounds before the end, so you can start the next fight in good health, but also with your heal off cooldown or close to it. You want your squad to be as strong as possible to start each battle. This is also the reason we use leaders that add passive sustain instead of more offensive leadership buffs.
Here are some general tips:
1. Increasing your squad's power level increases the power of the enemies you'll face. That being said, you generally benefit more from the increased power than the AI, assuming the power is distributed properly. Try to build a roster of 5-8 heroes around the same power levels. That's more effective than having 1 or 2 super strong heroes and the rest much weaker.
2. Using the auto-combat option is usually okay for the first third of a campaign. After that, you may not want to risk full auto-combat. I often manually target my auto-combat for the second third of the campaign, then do full manual combat for the final third.
3. Your squad composition matters, especially late in the campaign, so pay attention to the enemy squad you're fighting. Learn what all the heroes do, and which ones cause your squad trouble and why. It will help you choose counters more effectively and improve your target choices.
4. GW allows unlimited retreats. If you're having trouble with a battle, retreat and try again. One adjustment to try - change your first target. A different kill order may make things easier.
5. Be flexible, and be patient. I once used a double tank, triple healer comp in order to get through a tough battle with everyone alive. It took awhile, but there's no time limit in GW battles, and I knew I'd need some of those heroes later in the campaign.
6. That being said, sometimes heroes may be expendable. If you come up against a really tough squad, consider if it's worth sacrificing one or two less important heroes to get past that battle. Just remember that the wrong choice could mean an end to your entire campaign.
7. For the final battle, don't worry about survival. Just win and get your rewards.
8. Always hit “restart” as soon as you finish a campaign. GW rewards are phenomenally good. Don't miss a restart by accident.
9. All of this information is just a starting point. Don't take it as gospel. Experiment with squad compositions and tactics and find what works best for you. Ultimately, try to have fun with it.
I hope you found this guide helpful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Feel free to offer your own insights as well. Thanks for reading. ~Colred
Greetings! This guide is intended to help players who may be struggling with their Galactic War campaigns. I wanted the guide to be accessible, so I stuck mostly to the basics: a tiny bit of theory, recommendations on squad composition, and a discussion of battle tactics. One quick note - there are many ways to be successful in Heroes of the Galaxy. My method is not the only, or even the best, way to beat Galactic War campaigns. That being said, my success rate in GW has been near-perfect for months now, so I feel confident that this method can work very well. I hope you find it useful.
Some quick theory:
In Galactic War campaigns, each battle continues from the previous battle. Health levels carry over, as do cooldown timers. Any defeated heroes will be unavailable for the rest of the day. Additionally, battles become more difficult as you progress through the campaign. These facts dictate the basis of our tactical approach. We need to keep our best heroes alive all the way to the final battle. This means durable squads with sustain have a serious advantage over more fragile, high-dps squads. Using a sustain squad means that battles will last longer, increasing the value of control skills (stuns, ability blocks, etc). Dictating the flow of battle becomes essential to keeping your heroes alive.
Core squad composition:
Leader: We need one GREAT healer. Two of the best are Luminara Unduli and Barriss Ofee. In addition to being extremely strong healers, both provide additional sustain through their leadership passives. I prefer Luminara over Barriss slightly because she has better dps and an Ability Block. Barriss has more health and her heal partially bypasses the Healing Immunity debuff. Other healers can work, but most will require a backup healer once you get to mid campaign.
Slot 2: We need a tank with a taunt. I HIGHLY recommend Royal Guard. RG has an automatic taunt with NO cooldown that fires any time an ally drops below 50% health. Just as importantly, RG is the best single-target cc'er in the game. Force Pike has a 50% slow chance AND an 80% stun chance. Every. Turn. Throw in some sustain, passive turn meter gain, and an active defense up, and no one can match Royal Guard's ability to influence the flow of combat. The one downside is that RG's taunt is automatic, so it can sometimes get him in trouble. Good thing you've got a great healer.
Slots 3 and 4: To maximize durability, we prioritize dps heroes with high health, self-sustain, passive resistances, or high-value abilities. Single-target dps are preferred, for reasons I'll explain more later. Two of my staples are Savage Oppress and Count Dooku. Savage has a huge health pool and passive defense up. His dps is decent, but he has an AWESOME finisher. Dooku is a bit more fragile, but his 100% counter chance makes him a perfect dps against aoe squads. He also gets extra attacks, and has ability block and stun skills (better % against Jedi). His Force Lightning can stun two targets. Other heroes can work fine here. Experiment with your roster to find a combo you like.
Slot 5: This is your flex spot. Pick your 5th hero based on the enemy squad. Add a self-healer like Ahsoko Tano for more sustain without sacrificing a dps slot. Use an anti-healer like Jedi Knight Anakin against healer comps. Bring a buff-removal hero like Qui-Gon Jinn to remove taunts. Early on, I used Jedi Consular almost exclusively in this slot. I still frequently find great value in a double healer composition, especially for the tough, late-campaign battles.
Tactics:
There are 4 keys to good Galactic War tactics:
1. Often, a battle is won or lost based on the choice of first target. Remember, you want to keep ALL your heroes alive. Prioritize anti-healers (such as Darth Sideous) first. They threaten your sustain. This is why we prefer single-target dps to aoe – to kill the biggest threats as quickly as possible. Focus nukers next, then aoe dps, then tanks and healers last.
2. You can use your cc's and active abilities to either secure kills quickly, or to protect your squad, so choose wisely. If there are 2 dangerous dps, cc one while you focus fire the other. Ability block or stun enemy healers to secure kills on low health targets. Remove enemy taunts to get to squishies more easily. Don't hesitate to use your finishers to secure kills.
3. Use your heals effectively. Don't waste them, but also don't hold them in reserve too long. The most important part of this strategy is keeping people alive. Especially Royal Guard. If you keep him in good health, it's almost impossible to lose anyone else in the squad. If you have healing trouble, add another healer. Speed is less important than survival.
4. Once you're in control of a battle, start thinking about the NEXT battle. Don't waste cooldowns you don't need, especially cc's and finishers. Heal up a few rounds before the end, so you can start the next fight in good health, but also with your heal off cooldown or close to it. You want your squad to be as strong as possible to start each battle. This is also the reason we use leaders that add passive sustain instead of more offensive leadership buffs.
Here are some general tips:
1. Increasing your squad's power level increases the power of the enemies you'll face. That being said, you generally benefit more from the increased power than the AI, assuming the power is distributed properly. Try to build a roster of 5-8 heroes around the same power levels. That's more effective than having 1 or 2 super strong heroes and the rest much weaker.
2. Using the auto-combat option is usually okay for the first third of a campaign. After that, you may not want to risk full auto-combat. I often manually target my auto-combat for the second third of the campaign, then do full manual combat for the final third.
3. Your squad composition matters, especially late in the campaign, so pay attention to the enemy squad you're fighting. Learn what all the heroes do, and which ones cause your squad trouble and why. It will help you choose counters more effectively and improve your target choices.
4. GW allows unlimited retreats. If you're having trouble with a battle, retreat and try again. One adjustment to try - change your first target. A different kill order may make things easier.
5. Be flexible, and be patient. I once used a double tank, triple healer comp in order to get through a tough battle with everyone alive. It took awhile, but there's no time limit in GW battles, and I knew I'd need some of those heroes later in the campaign.
6. That being said, sometimes heroes may be expendable. If you come up against a really tough squad, consider if it's worth sacrificing one or two less important heroes to get past that battle. Just remember that the wrong choice could mean an end to your entire campaign.
7. For the final battle, don't worry about survival. Just win and get your rewards.
8. Always hit “restart” as soon as you finish a campaign. GW rewards are phenomenally good. Don't miss a restart by accident.
9. All of this information is just a starting point. Don't take it as gospel. Experiment with squad compositions and tactics and find what works best for you. Ultimately, try to have fun with it.
I hope you found this guide helpful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Feel free to offer your own insights as well. Thanks for reading. ~Colred
