Phoenix Strategy - Your Ticket to Thrawn - Part 1: Survive

Dretzle
716 posts Member
edited June 2017
If you're anything like me, even if you paid for the $99.99 pack and have a fair shot at getting them all to 7* in time, you may have seen this https://swgoh.gg/db/events/artist-of-war-legendary-event/ and thought you had no way to level them to 80 and gear them to 10 in time. Fear not. I've been playing with Phoenix extensively in GW and I believe we'll be able to beat it at level 65 - 70, gear 8. It'll just take some good mods and a thorough understanding of their abilities and strategy. For the sake of this part of the Phoenix guide, I'm leaving Sabine out of the discussion, as she is the hardest to get and most will not have her ready for Thrawn.

It starts with understanding the squad focus, as this is unlike any squad I've yet played with. Biggs and Wedge helped take out a Death Star; they are heavy hitters and their abilities in game show it. Phoenix are all about hit and run, whittle the enemy down, survive to fight another day. Keep that in mind, be patient and take your time, and we can do this.

Let's start with Zeb and Kanan. This is the backbone of your squad. How so? These guys can keep your team alive. Their uniques, which are applicable to the whole team under Hera's leadership. Kanan: Counter attack and recover health when he suffers a debuff. Kanan actually makes the team benefit from suffering a debuff! Zeb: Bonus max protection based on health and recovers protection at the start of his turn. Protection recovery doubled when debuffed. These are the healers of your squad.

One of the biggest things I think I've seen people ignoring is their 2nd special. Zeb and Kanan both give themselves and a chosen ally protection up with their second special. They have other side effects (Kanan cleanses debuffs, Zeb provides tenacity up or retribution), but I don't even keep that in mind. Protection up. Spread the love with extra protection as often as possible. Many times this will be put on Chopper or Kanan to help them survive a few extra hits when taunting, but don't forget Ezra and Hera. Be prepared for anything by using these moves often.

Since we're talking about survivability, let's talk about taunts. Kanan's taunt (his first special) lasts for two turns, and Kanan is a slower character; this is your long lasting taunt. Load him up with protection up and let this fly. A nice side effect, because of his counter attack he'll be spreading around offense down with his basic. Chopper is more situational. Chopper is a fast toon and his taunt lasts for only one turn. Use this move when the enemy team is all high on TM, or you're ready to soak up one big hit. When he uses his taunt move, Kanan can also dispel debuffs on another character. Nice.

Before we move off of the subject of pure surviving damage, keep in mind Hera's Backup Plan special move. Not only does it revive a character if he dies when he has it, it also will heal the character over the next three turns. Besides uniques, this is your one health healing move. Don't be afraid to use it.

But survivability is more than just taking damage; it's also about reducing the damage coming in. Kanan and Zeb, again, are key here. Kanan's basic can apply offense down, which is guaranteed to apply if he crits. Feel free to load him up with crit chance (modding guide coming later).

Zeb's basic applies daze, which is semi-useful in itself, but it gets more interesting. If that enemy was already dazed, staggered, or exposed, he stuns the character for a turn. But a move that takes two hits to apply stun? How useful is that? It turns out, very. Hera's first special, Play to Strengths, calls another character to assist, dealing more damage and with more potency. Use this with either Kanan, to apply offense down on another character, or Zeb, to stun the character he just dazed.

But wait, that's not all. Ezra's second special is two-fold: First, it's a variance of call another ally to assist. For what it's worth, the other ally attacks first, and then Ezra attacks, but this is another way to get Kanan to apply offense down to another character or for Zeb to stun a character he just dazed (or to daze a character, blocking a counter attack, so he can stun him on his turn). The second part of Ezra's special is the bonus. Both characters chosen receive protection up if the assisting ally is a tank, or gain TM if the assisting ally is support. You may use this move if Kanan needs a bit more protection for his taunt, for example, or if you want to regain some TM by using a support character like Chopper or Hera. If Chopper is wearing down, the TM he gains from this assist could help him lose his taunt early.

You'll notice I haven't yet talked much about their attack strength. That's because that's not what's important. Focus on what they need to survive, their hit and run tactics, and as a side effect you'll whittle the enemy down. Other combinations can be found with a strong attacker to help them out, but for Thrawn you won't really have one, but that's okay!

Ezra's basic can hit twice, and he has a high chance of doing this if he's not debuffed. His first special is another move with multiple uses. Use it to remove an enemy's buffs or, my favorite, if the enemy has no buffs Ezra gains A LOT of turn meter and reduces the cooldown of that special by one. Feel free to use it often.

Chopper can also remove buffs with his second special, with a twist. For each buff removed he gives your squad turn meter and removes it from the enemies.

There's still more to this team, but that should get you started for the Rise Up and Thrawn events. Focus on their survivability, both through taunts and protection up moves, as well as through dazes, stuns, and offense down, and your win will eventually come. Don't forget to mod them well and get them up to at least gear 8 for the Thrawn event if you plan on shooting for the 6 or 7 star Thrawn. Happy hunting.

EDIT: To correct the notion that Chopper is not a tank.
Post edited by Dretzle on

Replies

  • Varlie
    1286 posts Member
    edited June 2017
    That's an interesting and well thought out. I can (now) vouch for their survivability. I faced a particular defensive team in GW last night with GKz, Zarris, B2, Fivez, and Aayla. I had Hera (edited), Kanan, Zeb, Ezra, and Chopper.
    After I cleared their protection, I couldn't do anything on their health because of Zarris. After a few minutes of trying manually, I just pressed auto and let it run for over 5 minutes. No deaths on either side after five minutes. I finally had to retreat and bring in DN to take out Barris.
    Post edited by Varlie on
  • Dretzle
    716 posts Member
    Varlie wrote: »
    That's an interesting and well thought out. I can (now) vouch for their survivability. I faced a particular defensive team in GW last night with GKz, Zarris, B2, Fivez, and Aayla. I had Jyn, Kanan, Zeb, Ezra, and Chopper.
    After I cleared their protection, I couldn't do anything on their health because of Zarris. After a few minutes of trying manually, I just pressed auto and let it run for over 5 minutes. No deaths on either side after five minutes. I finally had to retreat and bring in DN to take out Barris.

    Very nice.

    One thing I should note, if I haven't already, is that Hera's leader ability allowing Phoenix to share uniques also greatly adds to their survivability. Zeb lets the whole team regain protection. Chopper lets the whole team regain health. Kanan lets the whole team have counter attack.

    But the protection regain from your zeta'ed Jyn, I assume, took place of Zeb's unique, I'm sure.
  • Varlie
    1286 posts Member
    I put Jyn above but I meant Hera. It was a full Rebels team. I haven't zetad Jyn yet but it is in my plans
  • Dretzle
    716 posts Member
    edited June 2017
    Thrawn tier 6 is completable with level 63 - 66, gear 8 toons. I didn't use Sabine -- don't have her to 6* yet -- but the rest worked well, and maybe even be what the event was tuned for with Chopper's extra taunt and extra buff cleanse.

    I must note, however, that I had to put top arena level mods on them to make it work. Really, I think it was more of a speed thing than anything, as the more turns these guys get, the more they heal themselves, can provide protection up, or can stagger and offense down the enemy.

    Following the strategy tips above will get you through phases 1 - 3. I entered phase 4 with full health and most of my protection remaining.

    Phase 4 Strategy:

    The Deathtroopers are your biggest threat; the stormtrooper in the back is not, but he taunts and auto-taunts and starts with crit immunity. Your first task is to cleanse the taunt from the stormtrooper with Ezra or Chopper. When cleansed, he'll taunt again, so be ready with Ezra or Chopper to cleanse the taunt again.

    Your next focus is the Deathtrooper on the right. He starts with a buff that I didn't read entirely, but it gives himself 100% crit chance among other things, it looked like. That buff can be cleansed with a stagger, so stagger him with Zeb when you can.

    Bonus in this tier is if you hit your enemies with debuffs, they may take a turn to use Thrawn's leader ability and cleanse themselves. You might find this annoying, but it could mean less incoming damage.

    The tactics above are all background to keeping your team alive. Never leave a man behind. Apply Backup Plan to whoever gets Fractured by Thrawn. This will help heal them when they're past Fracture, and revive them if they get taken out. You can't apply more buffs on a Fractured character, so leave the Backup Plan on them and get protection up on others with Zeb and Kanan. If you're able to taunt with Kanan, do so and pile the protection up on him.

    Remember, Ezra's Watch and Learn special can give a tank protection up, so use it on Kanan when he's taunting to keep him alive. Kanan's first special can cleanse another ally of debuffs and his second special cleanses himself. Use them to dispel Healing Immunity from your characters. With Chopper and Zeb, each turn they should be healing protection and health.

    For my run, I saved Thrawn for last. Focus on taking down the Deathtroopers first; they're your biggest threat. Then the stormtrooper way on the left, then the taunting stormtrooper in the back. If you have all five characters by the time you face Thrawn he should be pretty easy to take down.

    Again, I piled my arena mods on these guys to accomplish this. My Phoenix is only level 66, gear 8, 6*. I tried 3 times first with lesser mods and it just wasn't cutting it. I could barely break them at all. Hera I got to 222 speed, Ezra 200 with 216% crit damage, and Kanan I think had about 20k protection and 15k health. This may not be possible to achieve at level 66 gear 8 for everyone.
  • Dretzle
    716 posts Member
    I know it's getting late for this, but I finally had enough shards to do the tier 7 Thrawn event today. Beat it first try.

    I really think Zeb and Chopper are the underrated heroes here. They both provide healing (protection and health, respectively). Chopper has that extra buff dispel to take off the taunt from the Stormtrooper in the back. Zeb not only has that protection up move to help Kanan or anyone survive longer, but he can stagger, which takes the buffs off of the Deathtroopers, and his Daze/Stun basic can help a ton in limiting damage. When it came down to just Thrawn vs Phoenix, Daze made Thrawn use his cleanse, or Daze + Stun took him out for a turn.

    It's not damage you need here, it's survivability.

    But again, I believe speed is the key. Getting your guys as close to 200+ speed will make the whole thing a lot easier for you.
  • Manowar
    288 posts Member
    Excellent guide, thank you @Dretzle.
  • Just 3* it using tips from this guide. All gear 8 except Ezra. Mostly health mods but used tips you gave for each toon in terms of what primary and secondaries to use. I originally tried the new basic auto mod first and got trashed. Thanks for the info!
  • Dretzle wrote: »
    If you're anything like me, even if you paid for the $99.99 pack and have a fair shot at getting them all to 7* in time, you may have seen this https://swgoh.gg/db/events/artist-of-war-legendary-event/ and thought you had no way to level them to 80 and gear them to 10 in time. Fear not. I've been playing with Phoenix extensively in GW and I believe we'll be able to beat it at level 65 - 70, gear 8. It'll just take some good mods and a thorough understanding of their abilities and strategy. For the sake of this part of the Phoenix guide, I'm leaving Sabine out of the discussion, as she is the hardest to get and most will not have her ready for Thrawn.

    It starts with understanding the squad focus, as this is unlike any squad I've yet played with. Biggs and Wedge helped take out a Death Star; they are heavy hitters and their abilities in game show it. Phoenix are all about hit and run, whittle the enemy down, survive to fight another day. Keep that in mind, be patient and take your time, and we can do this.

    Let's start with Zeb and Kanan. This is the backbone of your squad. How so? These guys can keep your team alive. Their uniques, which are applicable to the whole team under Hera's leadership. Kanan: Counter attack and recover health when he suffers a debuff. Kanan actually makes the team benefit from suffering a debuff! Zeb: Bonus max protection based on health and recovers protection at the start of his turn. Protection recovery doubled when debuffed. These are the healers of your squad.

    One of the biggest things I think I've seen people ignoring is their 2nd special. Zeb and Kanan both give themselves and a chosen ally protection up with their second special. They have other side effects (Kanan cleanses debuffs, Zeb provides tenacity up or retribution), but I don't even keep that in mind. Protection up. Spread the love with extra protection as often as possible. Many times this will be put on Chopper or Kanan to help them survive a few extra hits when taunting, but don't forget Ezra and Hera. Be prepared for anything by using these moves often.

    Since we're talking about survivability, let's talk about taunts. Kanan's taunt (his first special) lasts for two turns, and Kanan is a slower character; this is your long lasting taunt. Load him up with protection up and let this fly. A nice side effect, because of his counter attack he'll be spreading around offense down with his basic. Chopper is more situational. Chopper is a fast toon and his taunt lasts for only one turn. Use this move when the enemy team is all high on TM, or you're ready to soak up one big hit. When he uses his taunt move, Kanan can also dispel debuffs on another character. Nice.

    Before we move off of the subject of pure surviving damage, keep in mind Hera's Backup Plan special move. Not only does it revive a character if he dies when he has it, it also will heal the character over the next three turns. Besides uniques, this is your one health healing move. Don't be afraid to use it.

    But survivability is more than just taking damage; it's also about reducing the damage coming in. Kanan and Zeb, again, are key here. Kanan's basic can apply offense down, which is guaranteed to apply if he crits. Feel free to load him up with crit chance (modding guide coming later).

    Zeb's basic applies daze, which is semi-useful in itself, but it gets more interesting. If that enemy was already dazed, staggered, or exposed, he stuns the character for a turn. But a move that takes two hits to apply stun? How useful is that? It turns out, very. Hera's first special, Play to Strengths, calls another character to assist, dealing more damage and with more potency. Use this with either Kanan, to apply offense down on another character, or Zeb, to stun the character he just dazed.

    But wait, that's not all. Ezra's second special is two-fold: First, it's a variance of call another ally to assist. For what it's worth, the other ally attacks first, and then Ezra attacks, but this is another way to get Kanan to apply offense down to another character or for Zeb to stun a character he just dazed (or to daze a character, blocking a counter attack, so he can stun him on his turn). The second part of Ezra's special is the bonus. Both characters chosen receive protection up if the assisting ally is a tank, or gain TM if the assisting ally is support. You may use this move if Kanan needs a bit more protection for his taunt, for example, or if you want to regain some TM by using a support character like Chopper or Hera. If Chopper is wearing down, the TM he gains from this assist could help him lose his taunt early.

    You'll notice I haven't yet talked much about their attack strength. That's because that's not what's important. Focus on what they need to survive, their hit and run tactics, and as a side effect you'll whittle the enemy down. Other combinations can be found with a strong attacker to help them out, but for Thrawn you won't really have one, but that's okay!

    Ezra's basic can hit twice, and he has a high chance of doing this if he's not debuffed. His first special is another move with multiple uses. Use it to remove an enemy's buffs or, my favorite, if the enemy has no buffs Ezra gains A LOT of turn meter and reduces the cooldown of that special by one. Feel free to use it often.

    Chopper can also remove buffs with his second special, with a twist. For each buff removed he gives your squad turn meter and removes it from the enemies.

    There's still more to this team, but that should get you started for the Rise Up and Thrawn events. Focus on their survivability, both through taunts and protection up moves, as well as through dazes, stuns, and offense down, and your win will eventually come. Don't forget to mod them well and get them up to at least gear 8 for the Thrawn event if you plan on shooting for the 6 or 7 star Thrawn. Happy hunting.

    EDIT: To correct the notion that Chopper is not a tank.

    Nice
  • Who is best to have suffer fracture?
  • Great guide, but I have something to add.
    1. Make sure that Chopper or Ezra goes into phrase 4 with at least 70%TM. The amout of pre-battle TM you get is exactly the end-turn TM of phrase 3. This way they can dispel as soon as possible. The same law appies for galactic war.
    2. Start Kanan's turn with taunt and Hera's with putting backup plan on him. If Thrawn fractures anyone else, you're done for.
    3. Reduce the damage of the Deathtroopers as much as possible. Both Deathtroopers start with their special buff. Stun lock one of them until you kill him. For the other one, dispel his special buff with Zeb's stagger and reduce his damage with Kanan's offense down.
    4. Never attack Thrawn unless he's dazed. It's very difficult to stun him, but dazing is possible. It keeps him from counter attacking.
    5. If you're powerful enough, and you want to avoid unnecessary risks, kill Thrawn before the stormtrooper commanders. The commanders actually doesn't heal Thrawn for a lot. The longer Thrawn is alive, the more chances that he'll kill one of you. Very useful tip if you want to three-star the event.
    6. Do not underestimate Kanan's offense down. It's very useful.
    7. Do not waste Ezra's Flourish unless stormtrooper is dead. You don't want Thrawn to use grand admiral's command and let him taunt again.
    8. Use Zeb and Kanan's to keep Hera and Ezra alive. For Zeb, try to get retribution instead of tenacity up. It helps a lot to have Zeb counter-stun and counter-daze everyone. Ezra with a counter is deadly as well.
    Hope it helps!
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