How to beat specific arena teams - guides?
August 28, 2017 7:47PM
edited August 2017
There are some stereotypical teams that show up frequently in arena (e.g. First order with zeta phasma lead, Resistance with zFinn lead, Phoenix). Are there general strategy tips/guides for how to beat them? (What teams work well against them, what teams work poorly, who to attack first, who to strip what buff from or apply buff immunity, what sorts of attacks to avoid, etc.)
Obviously some of this will depend on your team, relative mod strengths, etc. But for attacking those factions with one leader, there might be some strategies which are generally applicable.
I expect this information is out there someplace, but I haven't been able to find it. If it is not, maybe we should start a series of threads (one per opponent team) where people can share their tips.
[Edit: please post pointers to guides, or ideas how to put together guides, rather than specific tips about specific teams in this thread.]
[Edit: Okay, maybe they aren't frequent, but still a factor.]
Obviously some of this will depend on your team, relative mod strengths, etc. But for attacking those factions with one leader, there might be some strategies which are generally applicable.
I expect this information is out there someplace, but I haven't been able to find it. If it is not, maybe we should start a series of threads (one per opponent team) where people can share their tips.
[Edit: please post pointers to guides, or ideas how to put together guides, rather than specific tips about specific teams in this thread.]
[Edit: Okay, maybe they aren't frequent, but still a factor.]
Post edited by stohelit on
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Howdy, Stranger!
Replies
https://swgoh.gg/meta-report/
Most people are not playing in the top 10 or top 50, or even top 100. There is still value in giving assistance to the majority. One may still face these in GW.
I face a few FO teams in the top 100 (haven't been much above 50, so don't know what down there in my shard). I haven't figured out how to beat full FO team (max gear, zetas, good mods) with my zQGJ squad.
Phoenix appears to be an early game squad (based on farm locations), so expect those in early game might use/encounter it in arena or GW.
I’m fully aware that this will come off as dismissive at best, but the easiest answer to beat those teams is is to farm the meta. There’s a reason why those teams aren’t in the top ten and it’s because they cannot hold. If you really wanted to win and move up then farm what works. Otherwise all you’re going to do is find the anti resistance/FO/Phoenix team. That’ll work while you’re in the 100-200 range but what happens when you’re trying for the top 10 and you don’t have a team that can win?
If there are anti-meta characters which work in a lot of situations, that would also be useful addition to such a guide/guides. (B2?, Sun Fac?, others?)
My team are faster than the FO team (FOO is 210, my slowest char is R2 at 236).
I kill TFP first (if I can, with like 25k protection and 15k health it is a challenge).
Then when they finally do get to attack, they make a mess of my team.
zQGJ, zR2(just # crunch), Yoda, JKA, Ahsoka. - I know GK is meta, but have to work with what I have.
http://swgoh.gg/u/monstermash/
Kylo does his AOE almost every round which not only removes your foresight, but fills the FO TM. Aside from JKA, your jedi are not very resilient without foresight. Your biggest threat is of course FOTP, and if you manage to retain foresight when it is his turn that will slow him down but won't stop him because he probably has Advantage and will double-tap, removing your foresight and then hitting for effect.
Yoda helps a little by spreading foresight around a little more, but his Tenacity Up buff does not mean much since the FO does not exactly depend on debuffs to win. Against FO, I feel like zBarriss is more effective than Yoda, but in order for her to really stop the FO onslaught is by pairing her with GK. You don't have GK, so you might want to try Old Ben instead.
If you want to stick with a jedi squad, Barriss & Old Ben would probably work better than Yoda & Ahsoka.
You could always try neutralizing FOO too. FOO is mostly there to get everything going; his first turn is usually the most important move he does. He is usually very fast to go first and give Marching Orders to Kylo or FOST, who do their specials and fill the FO TM. So one tactic you could try is stopping FOO's first move. Han Solo shoots first and stuns; FO cannot avoid this. Stun FOO, stop the machine.
For Arena it varies as the meta changes. That's why there's the meta report to see what's currently the most common builds.
I run a rebel Rogue One squad minus Baze (too weak right now) with Bodhi in his place.
I *hate* Phoenix squads. Only way I beat them is by knocking out Hera early -- my logic being that removal of their ability sharing is key. If I choose to fight a full Phoenix squad, I usually sub in my 7* Ventress to remove their buffs and seem to be batting .500 that way.
The other cookie cutter formula I see a lot of in my ranks is rebel crews sporting the orange twins (Biggs/Wedge). If I'm particularly unlucky, they'll also have Lando in there. In those scenarios, I make Wedge and Lando my primary targets -- whichever one doesn't get ability blocked by Cassian's shock grenade has a bullseye on his chest.
Empire crews have me beating Palpatine into mush first, followed by either Vader or Nihilus (again depending on who I can keep blocked).
Like I said, I'm a nobody and way less advanced than everyone here, but I thought I'd try contributing.
the problem I am encountering is the phoenix squad. I can get one hit in on Ezra before Kanan throws his tank taunt up, or chopper puts his tank taunt up. Then I'm focussed on either of those two. Any ideas?
Here's what I tend to do for common teams in my shard (spoilered because I talk way too much):
General idea here is to survive long enough to take out their nukes, and pop a cleanse on Han before he feeds his entire team turn meter. After that it's really just clean up duty.
NS: I love beating on NS teams; I only avoid them if they're running zombie with acolyte because I lack the AoE. I do Daka -> Ventress -> Talzin and then clean up whatever is left. I either cleanse, kill, or stun the zombie; a lot of people run her with enough speed I can't always kill my primary target before she pops her taunt again. A little patience is required, but I haven't timed out against one of these since the last time I fought a zombie + acolyte.
Nix: I hate mirror matches; it's really a toss up of whether or not I can finish it in time (I'd rather save my attempts for a guaranteed win or a fun match). How I do these is detailed below.
R1: Ignore Chaze--either cleanse Baze's pre-taunt or waste turns until it falls off, hoping that Chirrut uses his heal on him--and then kill Jyn. I do Jyn -> Cassian -> K-2S0 -> Baze -> Chirrut. I've yet to fight a R1 team that used Bodhi instead.
Resistance: I do: Rey -> Pilot/Trooper -> Finn/Poe. Just cleanse Poe's Taunt, wait till Finn's falls off, then clean up the rest of the squad. Key is killing Rey before she kills one of yours.
Jedi: Most of these are JKA teams. I either kill him or QGJ then clean up the rest of the squad. Have only seen one of these that had enough damage that they oneshotted half my team (I think that's because I'm running around in G8 like a scrub and they had G11 and all their omegas).
Troopers: I love fighting this team when I see it, not necessarily because it's easy (I died once--oops) but because it's different. The only one I've seen in my shard runs Veers L, Tarkin, Snow, Magma, and Storm; I focus down Veers, then go for Tarkin or whichever trooper I've countered near to death. If Storm pops his taunt I cleanse it. EZPZ.
First Order: See a couple of these. Tie Pilot -> FOO -> Phasma -> KRU -> Kylo is what I do.
Empire: It's been awhile since I've seen one, but I imagine I'll see more of them in the coming days and weeks (kind of hope I'll be able to fight this one I see in my matches after guild reset). Generally, when I did see them, they ran Tarkin, TFP, and a couple other characters. Usually a matter of killing TFP then moving on to whatever was next most dangerous, note that this was before the rework (The one I want to fight is: Vader L, Palpatine, Tarkin, TFP, and Magmatrooper; I would try going Palpatine -> TFP -> Tarkin -> Vader -> Magma.)
@Urias_Fenris
Ignore Chopper; his taunt only lasts for a single turn and isn't worth cleansing--at worst you're wasting a couple turns against his taunt--and he's fast enough it isn't going to be up very long (if you're slow enough he's popping it every other time you go to attack you need to address your mods ASAP; speed on mods is essential to arena). Save your cleanse for Kanan--he's slower, his taunt lasts for two turns rather than one, and getting rid of it should give you some breathing room to take on the rest of the team.
For Phoenix, I say the kill order is: Hera (removes the TM gain on special, BUP) -> Ezra (squishy; gets rid of damage) -> Sabine (squishy; gets rid of damage/crit) -> Chopper (removes protection up when hit/heal at each turn) -> Kanan (removes heal on debuff, counters) -> Zeb (protection recovery)
Killing Hera does not prevent them from sharing their uniques, if you think so you need to read her leader ability again; it just removes the 20% to 40% turn meter gain when they use specials.
ez
for phoenix there is no general rule. if your team heavily relies on debuffs or AOEs, kill kanan first
and then ezra to alleviate all the damage.
for FO i dont know what zeta phasma does i have no idea never met one in my arena, but generally you want to keep kylo shut down so he doesnt do his aoe again and again. keep the taunters in check and kill foo first. and then fo pilot.
Or else u heavy hitters with stunners like the vets.
Stun ezra and hera, mainly hera, so she doesnt bring back an ally from death.
Kill order is ezra/hera 1st.
Then sabine/kanan.
Finally zeb/chopper.
If u run into PS with sabine..she is 3rd out of 5 on kill list.
In any and all battles, 1st take out hera and ezra without fail.
Or u will be slowly tortured and ur team butchered.
I am getting my EP and vader to high level just for them.
If u have sith, definitely use them.
Especially dooku nihilus and maul (try ur chromium pack of 8 for luck).
Other option against Ps which i have not tested is a FO team and NS team.
With highly prioritized kylo ren, phasma (L), kru. Last 2 again go for siths.
For Ns, u need an awesome ventress and daka and talzin to plough thru (alongwith zombie - A MUST!)
Note..ur team needs to have higher gp if u use teams like these.
I struggle against stun teams. I stilll beat them, but EP, Dooku, and Old Daka slow me down. I still win, but I have to pay attention. Heavy hitters also can be a challenge. They cannot hit hard enough.
I can beat most teams in the 100 range in my newer shard. But I don’t see success going against teams currently running in most older metas.
If Titans (CLS,GAT,GK,Han,R2) use GK,Zarris or RJT
If zEP use Rex(L)
If RJT(L) use NS or use Rex,GK,Han,DN,GAT or zEP
if NS use zEP
if Rex(L) use Titans or RJT
If Thrawn(L) use GK,Zarris
I have to ask whether or not this post was worth raising this thread back from the dead, mister necromancer. You aren't really adding anything to the discussion.
Edit: So I'm not being a dirty hypocrite...
I've since changed arena teams to: Palpatine (L), KRU, Sion, Vader, and Thrawn.
I don't have a zeta on Palpatine's leadership yet, and my gear is still lower than I would like it to be--Sion is at 8, KRU at 9, the others are all at 10--so it really just comes down to speed and how well I can control the enemy team. Sometimes the other team doesn't even get a turn, sometimes they tear through my guys before I really get a chance to move. Ah, well; I'm doing better in arena that I ever did with my Nix team, let's hope it doesn't take me too long to get to Palpatine's zeta.
I do sometimes have problems with NS teams running Talia because I'm so used to her not being a threat I tend to ignore her until she's cleansed all my debuffs and no longer have control of the fight (she's now first or second in my kill order... if I think about it).
My new "A-Team" is:
- Talia lead (7* (lvl 85) gear 10, three time set bonus from health mods. Health mods: 5* offense (Tenacity secondary ((box), 1* speed (secondary crit chance (arrow)), 2* Defense (with offence secondary (Diamond)), 2* Critical Chance (tenacity secondary (Triangle)), 1* protection (health secondary (Circle)), and 1* Offense (crit Chance secondary (Cross)))
- QGJ (7* (lvl 85)) gear 9, set bonus from offense mod set and health mod set (5* health offense mod with secondary of health (box), 1* Offense mod: Speed primary Crit chance second (arrow), 2* Offense mod: Defense primary and protection second (diamond), 1* Health mod: Offence primary and tenacity second (triangle), 1* Offense mod: protection primary and crit chance second (circle), and 2* offense mod: potency primary and protection second (cross)
- Ezra (7* (lvl 85)) gear 9 (unmodded: I do not have the mods unlocked for him yet).
- Mace (7* (lvl 85)) gear 8. 5* Health mod: primary - Off, 2ndary - Off (Box), 2* Def mod: primary - speed,
2ndary - protection (arrow), 5* crit dmg mod: primary - defense, 2ndary - potency (diamond), 2* health mod: primary - crit dmg (triangle), 1* health mod: primary - protection, 2ndary - protection (circle), 2* Health mod: primary - potency, 2ndary - health (cross).
- Lumi (7* (lvl 85) gear 8. 2* health mod: primary - offence, 2ndary - potency (box), nothing in the arrow slot yet, 5* health mod: primary - defense, 2ndary - health (diamond), 5* health mod: primary - protection, 2ndary - speed (triangle), 2* speed mod: primary - health (circle), 1* health mod: primary - potency, 2ndary - protection.
I have been following closely to the mod suggestions at crouching rancor. some mods I have not yet unlocked because the characters required are either not leveled out, or unlocked.
http://www.swtor.com/r/tFWnvT
Talia is not a good lead for that team. Remove Talia, make Qui Gon leader, and add another Jedi. Zeta QGJ leader if you plan to use the team for a while.
If it's your A, B or C team regardless, kill the leader if you feel like you won't take them all down.
When you re-enter the battle with your next group they don't have a leader ability in a leader slot. I.E Hera doesn't exist so they can't share uniques.