New player starting guide (my take)
This is the strategy I used as a new player, it worked rather well for me but I realize that other videos (by exponentially more experienced players) suggest other routes. This strategy I used has allowed me (currently level 76) to remain in the low 100s of arena, top 100 fleet arena, and complete galactic war over 90% of the time. I have also unlocked 6* thrawn and am waiting for a palp event to unlock him (should be able to get 7*).
The focus of the early game was Phoenix squad. I'll discuss them briefly before moving on to gameplay strategy-
Phoenix squad is lead by Hera, who's leader ability allows phoenix squad members to share their unique ability with every other phoenix squad member. This is what makes the team so powerful early game. There are 6 phoenix squad members, however 1 of them (sabine) is a very long farm, so we will be using the other 5.
Hera- leader ability allows you to share uniques among the entire team and grants ally's 20% turn meter whenever they use a special ability. Her special ability is a heal and resurrection buff that cannot be debuffed and lasts for 3 turns. This is an excellent buff for any character about to die. She has another special ability that causes another ally to attack instead of her with bonus offense and potency. I normally use this for either Ezra (your damage dealer of the squad) or for Zeb (to stun). Her normal attack isn't very powerful, however it exposes the enemy if it is the enemy with the highest health (grants extra damage against them). It may not be favorable to always go after the enemy with the highest health, but it is always helpful to take out the last enemy and may be helpful in other situations.
Chopper- His unique ability grants health at the start of each turn, and protection (if he doesn't have protection) whenever damaged. He has a special ability that allows him to debuff (great to use against an enemy tank to remove taunt and allow you to take out the squishy damage dealers) and stun droids, another special ability to taunt and grants him evasion (helpful to fill in when Kenan is not taunting to protect Ezra and hera), and his basic attack while very weak grants a random ally offense, defense, or speed and has a chance to reduce their cooldowns by 1.
Ezra- this is your main damage dealer. His unique ability grants offense up that stacks at the start of each turn up to a max dependent on skill level. His first special ability does extra damage and debuffs the enemy. If used against an enemy that is not debuffed, the cooldown for this ability is reduced by 1 and he gains bonus turn meter. I prefer to use it against unbuffed enemies when possible, however it is also good for debuffing a tank when chopper's ability is on cooldown. His second special ability calls another ally to attack with him. If you want more damage, select hera. if you want to stun the enemy, select Zeb. I prefer Zeb for this. His normal attack has a chance to double attack.
Zeb- This is your battlefield control character. His unique grants protection at the start of each battle and each turn. His first special ability inflicts stagger on the enemy and does extra damage. Stagger is a great tool- if that enemy is hit again his turn meter is reset. His second special grants him and another ally Protection up and either tenacity up (resistance to debuffs) or retribution (counter attack). I don't use this ability very often, but it is useful if you are expecting a powerful attack against one of your characters that has taunt. His basic attack inflicts daze on a target. If that enemy is hit with daze again (this is where Hera and Ezra's assist abilities come into play) then that character is stunned. It also dazes the enemy character if they are staggered or exposed.
Kanan- This is your main tank. His unique grants a counter chance and health recovery whenever debuffed. His first special grants him taunt and debuffs another ally. His second special debuffs himself and grants him and another ally protection up. This is good to share with chopper since he is your second tank. His basic attack inflicts offense down.
So to sum it up, when hera is lead each character gains-
-turn meter whenever they use a special ability.
-health at the start of each turn
-protection when damaged (if they don't have protection)
-offense up that increases with each turn up to its cap
-protection at the start of each battle
-protection at the start of each turn
-counter
-health whenever debuffed
At the very start- follow the tutorial. don't worry about leveling or improving gear on characters except as needed to advance. Your goal here is to reach a high enough level to unlock dark side battles, cantina, and arena.
Cantina strategy- you will initially want to unlock node 1-F (hera) and farm that node until she is unlocked. Once she is, advance to node 2-B to unlock ezra. Advance star ratings between these 2 equally until maxed out. In the cantina store purchase chopper shards until he is maxed out.
Light side/dark side battles- focus on farming gear primarily for your phoenix team. Dark side Hard battle 1-A is Sabine, you will want to farm this node daily so you can unlock her and improve her. you won't be using her on your phoenix team, however she is necessary for a ship you will eventually want, and 60 energy a day is not that much of a sacrifice for that. Phoenix team should make your light side team, for dark side only invest in improving characters as needed to farm Sabine and any gear you will need for your phoenix team.
Arena- Phoenix team will be your arena team. it will be sufficient to keep you in the 100-200 range as a new player. In the arena shop, purchase Kanan shards. You'll probably max him out last.
Galactic war- phoenix team will be your GW team. They should be capable of completing GW each day early on and 90% of the time at higher levels. From the GW store, purchase Zeb shards. You'll probably max out Zeb first.
Challenges- don't invest too heavily into your various teams for challenges. Use phoenix when possible, and make sure your other teams are capable of 3 starring whatever tier you are capable of doing. I suggest using your sim tickets for these once you 3 star that teir.
Crystals- use them to purchase extra cantina energy. You can purchase cantina energy for 100 crystals 3 times a day. Don't waste refreshes after that, as they cost 200 crystals- save them for tomorrow.
Phoenix battle strategy- as a generalization, i follow this formula for who to take out first:
1: resurrectors (like Old Daka). You don't want to fight the same character twice. It's just a waste of turns.
2: 1 hit killers (like Darth Nihilus). Take them out asap
3: high damage dealers
4: healers
5: tanks
In terms of abilities, I normally start off the battle with Kanan taunt, Hera assist on zeb, Ezra assist with zeb, chopper basic attack, and zeb stagger. When Kanan's taunt wears off, taunt with chopper. Use ezra and chopper to debuff taunt. Kanan's and Zebs buffs used when needed to grant another character more suvivability.
However there are exceptions to various teams, I'll discuss them below:
Phoenix team- this is always a long and painful battle when your phoenix team is fighting another. THe best way to go about it is to debuf Kanan whenever he taunts (preferebly with ezra, since Chopper's debuff can stun droids) and take out chopper first. With this goes the health regen per turn. Then take out Hera so she can't hit anyone else with the resurrection buff. Then Ezra. Then Zeb. Then Kanan.
Empire team- if they have emperer palpatine, take him out first. If not (or once you kill him) take out Vader. After that take out anyone else they have and save storm trooper/royal guard/shore trooper for last.
Night sister team- Take out old daka ASAP. She can resurrect. After her, take out Mother Talzin. Then everyone else. The challenge for this team is Nightsister Zombie. It can't be actually killed until all other night sisters are dead and it auto taunts at the end of each turn. Use Chopper and Ezra to debuff this taunt if the zombie has less than 25% turn meter, otherwise it is rather weak so just kill it to clear the taunt then go back to attacking whoever is next on your list. Nightsister acolyte makes this team worth skipping in the arena- she can go invisible so you cannot target her, and it has a chance to refresh on each attack. It sticks you in an endless loop of having to attack the zombie.
After phoenix team, you will be moving on to your empire team-
Once you max out chopper, invest in Storm trooper in the cantina battles store until he is maxed.
Once you max out Hera and Ezra advance to cantina battle 4-B and farm Tie Fighter Pilot until maxed.
Once you max out Zeb from the Galactic war store, your farming focus will change to this priority- UNLOCKING ONLY Cad Bane (for scoundrel missions) > Biggs xwing > Imperial Tie fighter > Biggs.
Once you max out Kanan start to invest in Grand Moff Tarkin.
Tie fighter pilot, Storm trooper, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Vader (which you will unlock through achievements) will be 4 characters you will want to invest in. Until you unlock Palpatine or Thrawn, the 5th slot is just a throw away.
Once you reach gear 7 with your phoenix team, to help you max out your empire team you will want to farm LIght side nodes 3-C and dark side node 4-D daily until storm trooper is maxed out. You will still want to gear your phoenix team to gear level 8 (except Chopper, you wnat him at gear 9) and level them up to level 85 to be able to unlock 7* thrawn.
Once you reach this gear level 8 with your phoenix team, switch fully to gearing up your empire team.
For mods- all health mods for your phoenix team will be fine for what you need them to do. Just make sure the arrow mod has speed as a primary stat, and try to get speed as a secondary stat on every other mod.
Ships- you will want to purchase ship shards (and shards from the fleet store) in the following order:
Vader > Slave 1/Vaders Tie fighter > Ghost/Phantom II > biggs xwing/Imperial Tie fighter. Don't waste fleet store currency on biggs xwing or imperial tie fighter, you can get those through the GW store.
Any input is welcome, I hope you find this helpful.
The focus of the early game was Phoenix squad. I'll discuss them briefly before moving on to gameplay strategy-
Phoenix squad is lead by Hera, who's leader ability allows phoenix squad members to share their unique ability with every other phoenix squad member. This is what makes the team so powerful early game. There are 6 phoenix squad members, however 1 of them (sabine) is a very long farm, so we will be using the other 5.
Hera- leader ability allows you to share uniques among the entire team and grants ally's 20% turn meter whenever they use a special ability. Her special ability is a heal and resurrection buff that cannot be debuffed and lasts for 3 turns. This is an excellent buff for any character about to die. She has another special ability that causes another ally to attack instead of her with bonus offense and potency. I normally use this for either Ezra (your damage dealer of the squad) or for Zeb (to stun). Her normal attack isn't very powerful, however it exposes the enemy if it is the enemy with the highest health (grants extra damage against them). It may not be favorable to always go after the enemy with the highest health, but it is always helpful to take out the last enemy and may be helpful in other situations.
Chopper- His unique ability grants health at the start of each turn, and protection (if he doesn't have protection) whenever damaged. He has a special ability that allows him to debuff (great to use against an enemy tank to remove taunt and allow you to take out the squishy damage dealers) and stun droids, another special ability to taunt and grants him evasion (helpful to fill in when Kenan is not taunting to protect Ezra and hera), and his basic attack while very weak grants a random ally offense, defense, or speed and has a chance to reduce their cooldowns by 1.
Ezra- this is your main damage dealer. His unique ability grants offense up that stacks at the start of each turn up to a max dependent on skill level. His first special ability does extra damage and debuffs the enemy. If used against an enemy that is not debuffed, the cooldown for this ability is reduced by 1 and he gains bonus turn meter. I prefer to use it against unbuffed enemies when possible, however it is also good for debuffing a tank when chopper's ability is on cooldown. His second special ability calls another ally to attack with him. If you want more damage, select hera. if you want to stun the enemy, select Zeb. I prefer Zeb for this. His normal attack has a chance to double attack.
Zeb- This is your battlefield control character. His unique grants protection at the start of each battle and each turn. His first special ability inflicts stagger on the enemy and does extra damage. Stagger is a great tool- if that enemy is hit again his turn meter is reset. His second special grants him and another ally Protection up and either tenacity up (resistance to debuffs) or retribution (counter attack). I don't use this ability very often, but it is useful if you are expecting a powerful attack against one of your characters that has taunt. His basic attack inflicts daze on a target. If that enemy is hit with daze again (this is where Hera and Ezra's assist abilities come into play) then that character is stunned. It also dazes the enemy character if they are staggered or exposed.
Kanan- This is your main tank. His unique grants a counter chance and health recovery whenever debuffed. His first special grants him taunt and debuffs another ally. His second special debuffs himself and grants him and another ally protection up. This is good to share with chopper since he is your second tank. His basic attack inflicts offense down.
So to sum it up, when hera is lead each character gains-
-turn meter whenever they use a special ability.
-health at the start of each turn
-protection when damaged (if they don't have protection)
-offense up that increases with each turn up to its cap
-protection at the start of each battle
-protection at the start of each turn
-counter
-health whenever debuffed
At the very start- follow the tutorial. don't worry about leveling or improving gear on characters except as needed to advance. Your goal here is to reach a high enough level to unlock dark side battles, cantina, and arena.
Cantina strategy- you will initially want to unlock node 1-F (hera) and farm that node until she is unlocked. Once she is, advance to node 2-B to unlock ezra. Advance star ratings between these 2 equally until maxed out. In the cantina store purchase chopper shards until he is maxed out.
Light side/dark side battles- focus on farming gear primarily for your phoenix team. Dark side Hard battle 1-A is Sabine, you will want to farm this node daily so you can unlock her and improve her. you won't be using her on your phoenix team, however she is necessary for a ship you will eventually want, and 60 energy a day is not that much of a sacrifice for that. Phoenix team should make your light side team, for dark side only invest in improving characters as needed to farm Sabine and any gear you will need for your phoenix team.
Arena- Phoenix team will be your arena team. it will be sufficient to keep you in the 100-200 range as a new player. In the arena shop, purchase Kanan shards. You'll probably max him out last.
Galactic war- phoenix team will be your GW team. They should be capable of completing GW each day early on and 90% of the time at higher levels. From the GW store, purchase Zeb shards. You'll probably max out Zeb first.
Challenges- don't invest too heavily into your various teams for challenges. Use phoenix when possible, and make sure your other teams are capable of 3 starring whatever tier you are capable of doing. I suggest using your sim tickets for these once you 3 star that teir.
Crystals- use them to purchase extra cantina energy. You can purchase cantina energy for 100 crystals 3 times a day. Don't waste refreshes after that, as they cost 200 crystals- save them for tomorrow.
Phoenix battle strategy- as a generalization, i follow this formula for who to take out first:
1: resurrectors (like Old Daka). You don't want to fight the same character twice. It's just a waste of turns.
2: 1 hit killers (like Darth Nihilus). Take them out asap
3: high damage dealers
4: healers
5: tanks
In terms of abilities, I normally start off the battle with Kanan taunt, Hera assist on zeb, Ezra assist with zeb, chopper basic attack, and zeb stagger. When Kanan's taunt wears off, taunt with chopper. Use ezra and chopper to debuff taunt. Kanan's and Zebs buffs used when needed to grant another character more suvivability.
However there are exceptions to various teams, I'll discuss them below:
Phoenix team- this is always a long and painful battle when your phoenix team is fighting another. THe best way to go about it is to debuf Kanan whenever he taunts (preferebly with ezra, since Chopper's debuff can stun droids) and take out chopper first. With this goes the health regen per turn. Then take out Hera so she can't hit anyone else with the resurrection buff. Then Ezra. Then Zeb. Then Kanan.
Empire team- if they have emperer palpatine, take him out first. If not (or once you kill him) take out Vader. After that take out anyone else they have and save storm trooper/royal guard/shore trooper for last.
Night sister team- Take out old daka ASAP. She can resurrect. After her, take out Mother Talzin. Then everyone else. The challenge for this team is Nightsister Zombie. It can't be actually killed until all other night sisters are dead and it auto taunts at the end of each turn. Use Chopper and Ezra to debuff this taunt if the zombie has less than 25% turn meter, otherwise it is rather weak so just kill it to clear the taunt then go back to attacking whoever is next on your list. Nightsister acolyte makes this team worth skipping in the arena- she can go invisible so you cannot target her, and it has a chance to refresh on each attack. It sticks you in an endless loop of having to attack the zombie.
After phoenix team, you will be moving on to your empire team-
Once you max out chopper, invest in Storm trooper in the cantina battles store until he is maxed.
Once you max out Hera and Ezra advance to cantina battle 4-B and farm Tie Fighter Pilot until maxed.
Once you max out Zeb from the Galactic war store, your farming focus will change to this priority- UNLOCKING ONLY Cad Bane (for scoundrel missions) > Biggs xwing > Imperial Tie fighter > Biggs.
Once you max out Kanan start to invest in Grand Moff Tarkin.
Tie fighter pilot, Storm trooper, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Vader (which you will unlock through achievements) will be 4 characters you will want to invest in. Until you unlock Palpatine or Thrawn, the 5th slot is just a throw away.
Once you reach gear 7 with your phoenix team, to help you max out your empire team you will want to farm LIght side nodes 3-C and dark side node 4-D daily until storm trooper is maxed out. You will still want to gear your phoenix team to gear level 8 (except Chopper, you wnat him at gear 9) and level them up to level 85 to be able to unlock 7* thrawn.
Once you reach this gear level 8 with your phoenix team, switch fully to gearing up your empire team.
For mods- all health mods for your phoenix team will be fine for what you need them to do. Just make sure the arrow mod has speed as a primary stat, and try to get speed as a secondary stat on every other mod.
Ships- you will want to purchase ship shards (and shards from the fleet store) in the following order:
Vader > Slave 1/Vaders Tie fighter > Ghost/Phantom II > biggs xwing/Imperial Tie fighter. Don't waste fleet store currency on biggs xwing or imperial tie fighter, you can get those through the GW store.
Any input is welcome, I hope you find this helpful.
