General Advice

@EdSolo

There are two zetas that you didn't mention that I consider to be top notch. The first is critical for a fully-functioning First Order team, which is Kylo Ren Unmasked's leadership - Merciless Pursuit. The other is Old Ben's Devoted Protector.

I would use the swgoh.gg's ability to filter by faction to go through your teams one by one and assess which ones you really need to focus on (one at a time) so that you can build them up and really make them worthwhile to you across multiple game modes. Using your First Order faction as an example, you've got 3 well-geared, one in the middle (FOE), and the others still at G8 or less. If you were to focus on KRU with gearing for a bit and give him his zeta, and then focus on the FOO and or FOST, you'd have a terrific team for DS TBs, TWs, and better pilots for Ships content. The TIE Silencer is fantastic, so there is no reason not to work on KRU and give him the leadership zeta. First Order should be one of your "core" teams for multiple game modes.

Your Resistance faction is in really good shape. I'd bring Scavenger Rey up to G12, and BB-8 up to G12 plus the Multi-tool (for health steal), so you'd have an even better team for the Sith Raid (as well as the HAAT, and other game modes). These are much more ready than your First Order, though, so less work to do here.

Your Imperial Troopers look really good. None of them are at G12, but they may not need to be. Can they complete the two DS TB special missions that require Troopers (IPD, etc.)? If so, you can probably leave them alone.

As for the rest of your Empire faction, they're in pretty good shape, although you'll want to get your TFP to G12+3 to get him at the fastest possible speed for your Arena, which you've already acknowledged.

You're already working on completing your Nightsisters and have Daka and Talzin's zetas on your list of things to do. I'd keep working on Talia's gearing, since she's so helpful in the Phase 4 STR team. Otherwise, this faction looks like it could do just fine in the various other game modes that you'd use them in (DS TB, TW, Secrets and Shadows, etc.).

Your Phoenix could use a lot of work with gearing. They don't look like they could get your through a LS TB phase 6 combat mission right now, and the Ghost and Phantom are phenomenal ships for your reinforcements (when reinforcement abilities are maxed, especially).

Same thing with your Rogue One toons. They've got a couple LS TB nodes dedicated to them, but yours aren't ready to overcome that challenge. Also Bistan's U-wing and Cassian's U-wing are both fantastic ships (Bistan in the starting lineup and Cassian's from reinforcements), so I'd definitely work on gearing these toons, probably before the Phoenix, actually.

The biggest thing is that you've spread yourself pretty thin with your farming (characters instead of gear), so you've got a boatload of mediocre toons, rather than a core of very powerful squads that can handle what you need them to in one or more specific game modes.

Hope this helped. Would be happy to discuss more via PM if you think there would be additional value.

V

And here is the other tracker that I use to help keep me focused on which toons I'm working on for which teams, and what gear level they are at, and what gear level I want to get them to. As mentioned before, not everyone needs to go to G12.

If you do end up going for nightmare then Sion is pretty much necessary. There appears to be a meta shift happening so if you want to jump ship on Bastilla lead zeta it wouldn't be the worst idea.

@Val_Galahadred

I appreciate all the insight. You are right, I have been sacrificing gear farming for toon farming. Gearing Phoenix is one thing I had been thinking about, but of course all those stun guns are killing me in that aspect. I have poor luck on farming those. At this point, I'm down to 11 hard node farms (really 10 since Sion/Ren's shuttle are the same node). Of the 11, I'm currently focusing on Sion, Holdo, Baze and Ren's shuttle and Millennium Falcon. I have also been doing Dooku's two hard nodes since they are only 12 energy. With the endless rumors of a Separatist rework, I figure I should get him to 7* since I have him down to 116 shards to go. I will be hitting his cantina node once I finish FOE.

The KRU lead zeta is one that had crossed my mind as well. I have let them slide since I got BB-8. I would like to get BB-8 and Rey to G12, but it always seems that is someone else who can better use the gear pieces when I get them. At this point, my guild is quite a ways off from heroic sith.

In TB, I do pretty well. In LS, I can usually finish combat missions until the last phase. My R1 definitely needs a boost gear wise. I also need to finally get Baze to 7*. In DS, I finally was able to beat the PD mission once I put the zeta on Veers. I think my Bounty hunter team could use some work as well. I can beat the mission with the two waves of Wampas, but run into trouble in the later round that requires them.

I was going to go all in on gear farming once I knocked off a few more hard node toons. Besides the ones I mentioned above, I still need URoRRuR'R'R, Krennic, Lobot, Rose, Visas, and Bossk. Of those, I think Bossk may be the only must have. Maybe Visas and Rose if they are needed for a Hero's journey.

I wonder if investing in Bastilla and the Yodas might be a wise choice as well.

@EdSolo

Based on your response there, it still looks like you're focused a little too much on toons. When you say you "still need URoRRuR'R'R, Krennic, Lobot, Rose, Visas, and Bossk," what do you mean by that? Exactly what do you need them for? What's their purpose (other than to fulfill the OCD/Completionist drive? I see a utility for Bossk in the Bounty Hunters that you mentioned, and maybe Visas in an eventual STR team, but you really probably don't need any of the others, at all. Certainly you don't need them more than you need better gear for all of the toons that you already do have.

Same goes for Dooku. He's a pretty weak toon at end-game at your level. He doesn't really serve a purpose in any team. Sure, they might rework the Separatists and make him awesome one day. Work on him when that day comes. Don't farm him now because he might, maybe, one day be worthwhile. Instead, use those resources for the very, very many characters that you already have that are good right now!

@EdSolo

Here is the excel sheet that I use as a "farming tracker". It helps keep me straight on what I'm focusing on in each area of the game and each store, as well as who I'm prioritizing at the moment for Gear and Ability Materials.

I don't focus on regular energy toon farming for more than two or three characters at a time. That way half or more of my daily energy can go toward gear farming. The toons are useless without sufficient gear, so you've got to prioritize that.

@Val_Galahadred Those are pretty awesome.

Thanks @VonZant ; they really help keep me straight. I can just glance at the charts and see what I need to work on. Just wake up on auto-pilot and do my dailies with the available energy in accordance with the matrix, and never, ever, get distracted chasing after the new shiny toy.

You got some great advice from @Val_Galahadred already but just to give my two cents as well. I have done a bit of the same mistake as you have by focusing too much on farming toons instead of gear but that also means that you have a solid roster to build on now.

Where to focus depends a lot on which game mode you consider to be the most important for you. Nightmare team will be useful in arena, TW and TB but not so much in raids or for ships.

I think it sounds like a good idea to “finish” resistance (especially bb8) and NS first as you already have them at a very good level and they are both very useful factions. I wouldnt bother with farming Dokuu or with giving DN a zeta though, those resources can be put to better use elsewhere. Palpa unique is nice but not essential, Sion’s is a must have though.

You are an endgame player so I know I’m kicking in open doors now but First Order is one of the most versatile factions you can invest in: they have four good ships (especially silencer but the others are solid too), they are useful in TW, TB, raids (p2 and 4 of sith raid for example) and do ok in Arena. Unfortunately the toons you already have invested in are not the best of the FO toons available but if nothing else you can still farm KRUM for his ship and have them as a side project until you are finished with the other teams (FOE will be necessary and FOO as well).

Good luck!

When I say "need" I just mean that they aren't at 7* yet. Of the hard node toons, Sion, Holdo and Baze are the only ones I would say are critical to get to 7*. Bossk is a possibility for a better BH team. My worry is the unpredictable nature of the game which seems to require any toon at 7* for the next big thing. My only desire for Dooku is in case there is some event that requires him at 7*. Fortunately, he isn't that hard a farm, hence why I'm using my cantina energy on FOE at this point. I would consider FOE to be the only critical toon I have left to farm with cantina energy. Sith Marauder could be required for some future event perhaps.

I'm assuming the better FO teams have KRU lead, with Kylo, FOE, and two others.

Which other two would you recommend?

At this point, I spend about half my daily energy on hard nodes and the other half on gear. For cantina, it has been all toon farming instead of mods. I switch to mods when I am working on a specific team. All my toons have level 15 mods equipped. They may not be the best at this point, but the vast majority or 5* mods with the exception of a few triangles, arrows, and crosses. I just figure I can farm mods once I get the cantina toons I am working on finished since actually getting good mods through farming takes a lot of good luck. For my ship energy, 100 goes to the Sion node and the rest towards gear farming.

I like the gear farming column in your excel sheet. Currently I track the shards needed for each toon and have a general overall track if what gear levels I have for my overall roster. Setting priorities is a good idea. For example, I have 29 toons at gear XI currently. I would say maybe three of them are must upgrade to XII (BB-8, TFP, and Scav Rey). Toons like Phasma, Sidious, Luminara and Lando are probably a waste of gear at this point. Then they are a bunch in the maybe category like Leia, GMY, GMT, Finn and Poe. All of those are useful toons, but seem to perform well at this point. The question becomes when is it better to use a MK V stun gun on the hard piece of hear for BB-8 or use it raise the gear level on a FO or Phoenix toon. Generally, I use it on the lower toon unless I have the other parts for the harder piece of gear.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this topic. It is quite helpful and gives me a lot to think about.