This guide was written for folks who aren’t interested in spending money on this game. I’ve spent $5 so far, to buy Count Dooku early on. The later packs which have released just are too pricey for my taste. If you’re going to put money into buying Data Cards, you have a whole new set of options that open to you which would require a much more in depth guide.
This guide is going to quickly go over the basics of the game and then focus primarily on how to build a Squad early on. To do that we’re going to be focusing on one specific character for each of the different type of reward areas. This is the most efficient method to create a strong squad as quickly as possible. You’ll see some of the slots for Light and Dark Side Squads are listed as “Player’s Choice”, some options are listed, but really if you get a 3* or 4* character from one of your Free Data Packs you’re perfectly fine using them until you’ve got more currency and a few strong characters already in play.
If you’re already level 40-50 you probably have a pretty good grasp on all the information in this guide, if not, once you hit level 40-50 you’re experienced enough to go out and make Squad choices on your own. For everyone else, let’s get into the guide.
Light Side / Dark Side Battles:
I use this primarily to unlock equipment needed to upgrade my characters. Farming the Hard Modes for Shards feels inefficient here, as only 3 can be run per day. There are some exceptions which I’ll cover in a bit. We’ll be focusing on 5 Light and 5 Dark Characters to advance this part of the game as needed, and choosing from them for all other portions of the game.
Squad Arena (unlocks at Lvl 8):
This is the PVP portion of this Game. It may sound daunting, but I strongly recommend getting into this as soon as possible. The advancement process is simple, first look at your Squad’s Power which is displayed in the top right portion of your screen. Then compare it to your potential opponents powers listed below their name plate. Ideally you will find an enemy with a lower power than you, but a higher rank. Challenge them and if you win you’ll swap ranks with them. Lose and nothing changes for you. I was able to advance into the Rank 100-200 range for a time, but have leveled out at 300-400 lately using the character I describe below.
Challenges (unlocks at Lvl 15):
These battles offer increased rewards, depending on the battle it may be Training Droids, Credits, Ability Materials, or Items for characters. You only have a limited amount you can play each day though, but these are only “consumed” if you complete the battle. Feel free to try bumping up to the next Tier of difficulty without worrying you’ll lose a round. I’ve noticed I have a shortage of Tanks for that challenge, all other challenges I’m able to run on Tier 2 or 3.
Squad Cantina Battles (unlocks at Lvl 28):
A great place to farm character shards. For any character slots you’re looking to fill for your starter teams I strongly recommend leveraging the shard availability in this portion of the game. The energy used for it is separate from normal battles, but regenerates slower. Later Battles (starting at 3-A) award a greater amount of Squad Cantina Shipment Points (17 instead of 13). So I recommend pushing forward as quickly as possible. I use my Sim Tickets on later (harder) Cantina Battles quite often.
Galactic War (unlocks at Lvl 40)
The Galactic War is similar to Squad Arena, only you’re able to use your entire list of Characters that you’ve unlocked. This is important because your characters will only regenerate a small amount of health between battles! You will face opponent Squads of increasing difficulty as you progress through this play mode. Progress can be carried over to the next day, but you’re also able to reset the War once per day if you can no longer progress. If you lose a round against an opponent its important to know that their characters will retain the damage you did to them if you return with another of your Squads. Even if your A Team has been wrecked, if the enemy only has one or two characters left your backup characters have a strong chance to finish them off. Progress as far as you can in the War, typically I get 400-600 points per day in this. Don’t stress too much about leveling all your characters yet. You’ll have time for that once your base Squads are established.
Borrow a friend / Allies:
During Squad Cantina, Light and Dark Side Battles, and some Challenges you’ll have an option to borrow a character from one of your Allies, or a random person that appears in the list. If this borrowed character has a Leader ability it will apply to all of your squad as well. Look for characters with complimenting leader abilities. My current favorite Dark Side pairing is a friend’s IG-88 (10% or more increased Crit Chance) with my Darth Sidious (10% or more increased Crit Chance and increased Crit Damage). That pairing has some significant potential to inflict pain in its Battles granting over 20% increased Crit Chance with 10% Crit Damage increase. I haven’t found an equally enjoyable Light Side equivalent yet, but Barriss Offee, with her increased Health and 2-4% heal for all Squad members each round, has been a welcome guest to my Squads also.
Squad Leaders:
I prefer to place characters who have a Leader ability which affect all Squad members. Sometimes a character will grant its Leader ability to “Only Empire” or “Only Resistance”. While these may offer fantastic buffs for a Squad that is composed of all characters from that faction it’s simply not something we want to focus on early in the game where character factions may vary quite wildly.
Arena Squad:
- Darth Sidious - His primary attack inflicting healing immunity on its target is amazing. I will be spending Squad Arena Shipment points on him until I max out all his stars. Too powerful to pass up.
- Count Dooku - His 100% chance to riposte with a chance to double attack on the riposte make Dooku almost overpowered. His Force Lighting granting increased chance to stun against Jedi is a great way to control the Jedi Consular’s you find on opponents teams. His downside is he is only available through Hard Mode Battles, so is difficult to rank up in.
- Jedi Consular - Powerful healer. You get him when you start the game. There’s nothing not to like about this guy.
- Luminara Unduli - Another powerful healer with a Force Push ability that can inflict ability block. I like to lead off with this on enemy tanks to allow me to continue to focus down their healer.
- Player’s Choice: Choose from any character in your Light or Dark Side Squad, start with the one with the most Stars and highest level. Later you can go Damage, Healer, or Tank depending on how you like to play. Experiment a bit and see what works for you.
Light Side Squad:
- Chewbacca (Leader) - His taunt only lasts one round, but he’s a character you start with. Solid for our purposes of progressing through Light Side Story. Some use him in Arena as well.
- Jedi Consular - See arena Squad.
- Jawa - High single target damage with a strong AE attack. Don’t underestimate this little guy.
- Luminara Unduli - See arena Squad.
- Player’s Choice (Damage based character is ideal)
- Apple Device: Poe Dameron (Squad Cantina Shipments) - He’s free right now due to the movie releasing, starts at 3 star. I recommend starting here, but not necessarily buying him through Shipments. Poe has a Taunt with a chance to expose all enemies. This guy is a tank with potential to grant a nice damage buff to the rest of your Squad.
- Android Device: Resistance Trooper (Hard Mode Battles) - Also free right now due to the movie releasing, starts at 2 star. Strong attacker, but hard to get ahold of shards to increase their star rating. Still a nice place to start.
- Luke Skywalker (Squad Cantina Battles) - Strong single target damage.
- Stormtrooper Han (Squad Arena Shipments) - Tank with a strong leader ability.
- Resistance Pilot (Galactic War Shipments) - High damage potential.
Dark Side Squad:
- Darth Sidious (Leader option 1 - Offense) - See Arena Squad.
- Count Dooku (Leader option 2 - Evasion) - See Arena Squad.
- Talia - Decent damage with a moderately useful heal. Also a character you get at the start of the game, and easy to rank up to 4* with Squad Cantina Battles. Solid starting choice.
- Old Daka - Healer with a chance to stun. The grind to get her is painful though, I still haven’t collected all the tokens.
- Player’s Choice (Damage or Tank, with Taunt, based character is ideal)
- Android Device: Captain Phasma (Galactic War Shipments) - She’s free right now due to the movie releasing, starts at 3 star. I recommend starting here, but not necessarily buying her through Shipments to start. Amazing leader ability, especially if you plan to build a full First Order squad eventually.
- Apple Device: First Order Stormtrooper (Hard Mode Battles) - Also free right now due to the movie releasing, starts at 2 star. Decent tank, but has no Taunt. Also hard to get ahold of shards to increase their star rating. Still a nice place to start.
- Geonosian Soldier (Squad Cantina Battles) - High damage potential
- Boba Fett (Squad Cantina Shipments) - Special with ability block and chance to self resurrect the first time he dies.
- IG-88 (Squad Arena Shipments) - Strong damage potential
Where to focus to obtain these characters:
Hard Modes
- LS 1-C: Count Dooku
- DS 1-C: Count Dooku
- LS 1-B: Jedi Consular (until Cantina 3-A is unlocked)
- DS 1-D: Jedi Consular (until Cantina 3-A is unlocked)
Squad Cantina Battles
- Battle 1-C: Chewbacca to 4*
- Battle 1-G: Talia to 4*
- Battle 2-D: Jawa to 4*
- Battle 3-A: Jedi Consular
- Others listed:
- Battle 1-B: Luke Skywalker
- Battle 1-A: Geonosian Soldier
Squad Cantina Shipments
- Old Daka
- Others listed:
- Poe Dameron
- Boba Fett
Arena Shipments
- Darth Sidious
- Others listed:
- Stormtrooper Han (Tank, Strong Leader Ability - Squad Arena Shipments)
- IG-88 (Squad Arena Shipments)
Galactic War Points
- Luminara Unduli
- Others listed:
- Resistance Pilot (Galactic War Shipments)
- Captain Phasma (Amazing Leader Ability - Galactic War Shipments)
Summary / Conclusion:
- I strongly recommend picking only one character from each of the Shipments and focusing only on them.
- Complete all the Daily Activities every day for Player Level Exp.
- Complete all the Challenge Activities every day.
- Progress as far as you can in the Galactic War every day.
- Use all your Energy before you go to sleep at night, it will refresh by morning.
- Use your Sim tickets if you’re in a time crunch or want rewards from a harder mission which you have 3 Star in already!
I hope you found this guide useful and enjoy Galaxy of Heroes!
