My GW strategy. A (hopefully) helpful guide.
February 17, 2016 8:00AM
edited February 2016
A lot of folk have been having a very rough time with GW lately and I totally feel your pain. Previous to the patch I had only beat GW once and usually got taken out only halfway through. Post patch I now beat it almost regularly and thought I'd share my tactics and maybe help a few folk out.
Quick introduction. I've been playing since a little after hard launch, but didn't discover this forum for almost a month and wasted lots of stuff on now benched chars. I'm not a "whale" nor am I totally f2p. I've spent a total of $15 on daily crystal packs which I use for cantina and LS/DS battle refreshes. That's $15 more then I intended to spend on a phone app, btw. I just really enjoy this game. I currently rank in the low 100's in arena.
A team is:
Lumi 70, 7*, gear 8, 7,7,7,6 as leader
Sid 70, 7*, gear 8, 7,7,7,6
Fives 70, 5* gear 8, 7,7,3,6
JC 70, 5* gear 8, 5,6,5
Dook 70, 4* gear 8 7,7,7,6
No, I haven't even begun to farm blow driers yet.
So Lumi as lead because she heals everybody a little bit at the start of their turn and every little bit helps. Also for ability block and Dmg. Dook for speed, counter, and stun. Sid for speed, Dmg, self heal, and heal block. Fives for speed down, counter, and survivability. JC for rapid cool down heal.
First thing I do is decide who's the biggest threat to take down first. Usually it's Sid, but I'll bypass him for 86, 88, FOTP, etc. That being said, if there is a Lumi, I force lightning her first every time for the stun. If the stun doesn't proc, I retreat and try it on my primary target. If it still doesn't proc, I use Dook's base attack to try for a stun on Lumi or just to Dmg my primary. The exception is Daka. I unload everything I have on Daka from the start until she's dead and in the ground!
So round 1, Fight! Stun Lumi, Sid hits primary threat, hopefully proc heal block. Opponent Sid does AOE and my Sid and Fives counter, proc slow and cut his life in half. If he's my primary target, he's dead. Then work through the threats one by one. Lumi is almost always at least my third target.
The exception is tactical use of Fives slow and Lumi's ability block. Since Fives has fairly low Dmg I usually walk is basic attack through each opponent, one by one, slowing them down from high to low importants. So I'll leave Phasma for last, but I'll make an effort to slow her. Same with ability block. One enemy might be close to death, but if Chewie is about to taunt, I'll hold of on the kill to ability block him with Lumi.
Now on to surviving each match to the end. The biggest trick is the healers. Lumi's leadership ability is a must. Her heal is massive, 45% of her max life and she has the 3rd highest max life in my stable. Plus 20% for two rounds. Slow reset though so I use this sparingly in emergencies and never need the end of a match if I can help it. JC's heal not so awesome, but super fast cool down so I have no problems using it to "top off" my team toward the end of the match as well as emergancies. Clever juggling of the two leaves me starting each battle with max health or very close to it.
Ability reserves. This is another big one. Once I've taken out 2 1/2 to 3 chars, I switch to basic attacks only unless absolutely necessary. The goal is to start each battle with my full Arsenal available. The exceptions being heals of course. Use as necessary. Dook's lighting. It refreshes so quick I can usually squeeze one or two more in and still have it available next round. And Sav's (I'll go into him in a minute) Overpower. If I can one shot the last enemy at 25% health before they can do even a little bit of Dmg, that's more health for me on the next round.
Pinch hitter. My JC and Dook are pretty darn squishy at the moment and REALLY have to be babied. Sometimes they just can't hack it in a specific fight. Accruing more Dmg then exceptable or out right dying on me without permission within a round or two. So I retreat and replace the affending squishy with my pinch hitter, Savage Opress 70, 7* gear 8, 5,6,6,6. (Hey batta, batta, swing!) He's from my arena team. He soaks the Dmg that was eating the squishy, deals some nasty Dmg himself, then goes back to the bench for the next fight. And I go back to JC or Dook.
Suicide squads. I have enough benched chars from the early days of blindly bumbling around to field 2 or 3 viable suicide squads. Chars in the 40's and 50's, 4*, partially geared. The big trick is to use a team with enough HP to survive at least one, but no more then two rounds. All you want is Old Ben and others with huge game changing abilities or first turn DPS to blow their wad, but not give them time to refresh, before you bring in your A team. Choose this tactic carefully though. They may not use the big guns on round one and it may backfire, with Sid dropping his AOE on the suicide squad and bringing his heal block in on round one of your A's. And don't worry too much about doing Dmg with your suicide squad. Certainly try, but don't expect much.
Replacements. I count on losing guys in the last 3 matches. At this point it's almost unavoidable even with an suicide squad attack. So in addition to Sav, I have 3 chars in the wings leveled and geared between my A's and my suicide squad to use as replacements. GS, Vader, and Kilo. They're usually enough to get me through the end.
Until very recently, even with all this, half the time I beat GW the last battle ends with a one on one, last man standing gun fight between Fives and Phasma. Only in the last week or so have I been finishing GW with my original A team intact.
The big takeaway is don't be afraid to retreat and try a new tactic. Target someone else, swap out a char, etc. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't using retreat. And if an important ability doesn't proc, try it on someone else or on another turn.
Once you pick a team, keep leveling them. I know there is a couple sharp curves when you get to a certain level and GW becomes noticeable harder. Impossible even. Give it time and you will overcome it with the right team, tactics, and stratagy.
And remember, the Dev's have said several times, GW is SUPPOSED to be HARD. That's why the rewards are so good.
I hope this helps some of you! Feel free to ask questions or make comments. I know it's probably old news for others and I wish I had something new to offer, but this is what works for me and it's all I have. Take it in good faith or ignore it as you see fit.
Edited do to a poor choice in acronym.
Quick introduction. I've been playing since a little after hard launch, but didn't discover this forum for almost a month and wasted lots of stuff on now benched chars. I'm not a "whale" nor am I totally f2p. I've spent a total of $15 on daily crystal packs which I use for cantina and LS/DS battle refreshes. That's $15 more then I intended to spend on a phone app, btw. I just really enjoy this game. I currently rank in the low 100's in arena.
A team is:
Lumi 70, 7*, gear 8, 7,7,7,6 as leader
Sid 70, 7*, gear 8, 7,7,7,6
Fives 70, 5* gear 8, 7,7,3,6
JC 70, 5* gear 8, 5,6,5
Dook 70, 4* gear 8 7,7,7,6
No, I haven't even begun to farm blow driers yet.
So Lumi as lead because she heals everybody a little bit at the start of their turn and every little bit helps. Also for ability block and Dmg. Dook for speed, counter, and stun. Sid for speed, Dmg, self heal, and heal block. Fives for speed down, counter, and survivability. JC for rapid cool down heal.
First thing I do is decide who's the biggest threat to take down first. Usually it's Sid, but I'll bypass him for 86, 88, FOTP, etc. That being said, if there is a Lumi, I force lightning her first every time for the stun. If the stun doesn't proc, I retreat and try it on my primary target. If it still doesn't proc, I use Dook's base attack to try for a stun on Lumi or just to Dmg my primary. The exception is Daka. I unload everything I have on Daka from the start until she's dead and in the ground!
So round 1, Fight! Stun Lumi, Sid hits primary threat, hopefully proc heal block. Opponent Sid does AOE and my Sid and Fives counter, proc slow and cut his life in half. If he's my primary target, he's dead. Then work through the threats one by one. Lumi is almost always at least my third target.
The exception is tactical use of Fives slow and Lumi's ability block. Since Fives has fairly low Dmg I usually walk is basic attack through each opponent, one by one, slowing them down from high to low importants. So I'll leave Phasma for last, but I'll make an effort to slow her. Same with ability block. One enemy might be close to death, but if Chewie is about to taunt, I'll hold of on the kill to ability block him with Lumi.
Now on to surviving each match to the end. The biggest trick is the healers. Lumi's leadership ability is a must. Her heal is massive, 45% of her max life and she has the 3rd highest max life in my stable. Plus 20% for two rounds. Slow reset though so I use this sparingly in emergencies and never need the end of a match if I can help it. JC's heal not so awesome, but super fast cool down so I have no problems using it to "top off" my team toward the end of the match as well as emergancies. Clever juggling of the two leaves me starting each battle with max health or very close to it.
Ability reserves. This is another big one. Once I've taken out 2 1/2 to 3 chars, I switch to basic attacks only unless absolutely necessary. The goal is to start each battle with my full Arsenal available. The exceptions being heals of course. Use as necessary. Dook's lighting. It refreshes so quick I can usually squeeze one or two more in and still have it available next round. And Sav's (I'll go into him in a minute) Overpower. If I can one shot the last enemy at 25% health before they can do even a little bit of Dmg, that's more health for me on the next round.
Pinch hitter. My JC and Dook are pretty darn squishy at the moment and REALLY have to be babied. Sometimes they just can't hack it in a specific fight. Accruing more Dmg then exceptable or out right dying on me without permission within a round or two. So I retreat and replace the affending squishy with my pinch hitter, Savage Opress 70, 7* gear 8, 5,6,6,6. (Hey batta, batta, swing!) He's from my arena team. He soaks the Dmg that was eating the squishy, deals some nasty Dmg himself, then goes back to the bench for the next fight. And I go back to JC or Dook.
Suicide squads. I have enough benched chars from the early days of blindly bumbling around to field 2 or 3 viable suicide squads. Chars in the 40's and 50's, 4*, partially geared. The big trick is to use a team with enough HP to survive at least one, but no more then two rounds. All you want is Old Ben and others with huge game changing abilities or first turn DPS to blow their wad, but not give them time to refresh, before you bring in your A team. Choose this tactic carefully though. They may not use the big guns on round one and it may backfire, with Sid dropping his AOE on the suicide squad and bringing his heal block in on round one of your A's. And don't worry too much about doing Dmg with your suicide squad. Certainly try, but don't expect much.
Replacements. I count on losing guys in the last 3 matches. At this point it's almost unavoidable even with an suicide squad attack. So in addition to Sav, I have 3 chars in the wings leveled and geared between my A's and my suicide squad to use as replacements. GS, Vader, and Kilo. They're usually enough to get me through the end.
Until very recently, even with all this, half the time I beat GW the last battle ends with a one on one, last man standing gun fight between Fives and Phasma. Only in the last week or so have I been finishing GW with my original A team intact.
The big takeaway is don't be afraid to retreat and try a new tactic. Target someone else, swap out a char, etc. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't using retreat. And if an important ability doesn't proc, try it on someone else or on another turn.
Once you pick a team, keep leveling them. I know there is a couple sharp curves when you get to a certain level and GW becomes noticeable harder. Impossible even. Give it time and you will overcome it with the right team, tactics, and stratagy.
And remember, the Dev's have said several times, GW is SUPPOSED to be HARD. That's why the rewards are so good.
I hope this helps some of you! Feel free to ask questions or make comments. I know it's probably old news for others and I wish I had something new to offer, but this is what works for me and it's all I have. Take it in good faith or ignore it as you see fit.
Edited do to a poor choice in acronym.
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