Thrawn: My Story

Ebbda

Well, before I start I've only posted a couple of original posts but pop into the forums daily. I've never done this before:

@CG_Carrie

I know you're probably working on GearGate or whatever folks are calling it, but I'm hoping you'll read this if you have a spare few minutes.

I want 7* Thrawn. I'm a dark side runner and enjoy using them over the light side. My plan was stick to my guns and not farm 5/6 rebels for the sake of an Empire Legendary toon. It's pretty obvious I caved a few months back. It wasn't so bad. Sabine was the hardest to get 7* and I even got Chopper to 7* in case she failed. Spent the credits and omegas for all of them maxed and hit the gear conundrum: guns, cuffs and carbanti's. Yikes, the nightmare gear.

Knowing this would be an issue I researched and watched numerous videos on how getting a 7* Thrawn with the minimum amount of gear needed to be done. Mods, speeds, kill order, etc. Check! So I began what I knew would be a time consuming mission to get Thrawn. Everyone was saying it's possible with what I have but use top mods and you'll get there. May take a dozen tries or towards 100. I felt this was my penance for not adding higher gear levels so began!

180 attempts later, 8hrs and only coming close 3 times. I'm not blessed by the RNG gods on a good day but this was beyond a farce. No matter how well I did, the end result was the same. I contacted EA Help but they said all I can do is lost in the forums and hopefully you'll be heard. So, here I am.

I don't expect events to be easy. This one was always gonna be a trick but I knew numerous others achieved 7* with similar or less powerful Phoenix toons. But to spend 8hrs and constantly hit a wall despite having 5 well modded toons is a joke. My guild mate did it with Ezra g9 and the rest gear 8 and after 30-40 attempts, he hit the RNG jackpot. He even admitted he was baffled how I'd not managed it as my mods were far superior.

I think it's important to know for every success story there's a glaring fail. I've been encouraged in the forums and by guildmates to continue but I feel one thing eludes me: luck.

Add officer duties in game and pretty much for the last 5 days I've been in game. It's too much time.

So, CG_Carrie, should I keep trying or should I throw in the towel?

Thanks for your time.

Zerfius

Keep at it man! I nearly smashed my phone several time. I tried different teams, different mods, different kill orders. Eventually the stars aligned and I got my reward. Keep pushing!!

YaeVizsla

Oh, buddy.

So, all those minimums videos and threads? They're bad advice. The minimum is the minimum, but you always want to aim higher. Then keep pushing until you get what you're gunning for. Going for the bare minimum and little more puts you at risk, and means you've got no pad. And it's not like investment in Phoenix is ever truly a waste; it's a team that's always at least useful to have solidly prepped. If nothing else, for territory battle and territory war.

If this game is turning into stress? Stop. It's a game. It's supposed to help you relax. If it's not doing that, it's not doing its job, so put it down. If a game starts feeling like a job, put it down.

And six star Thrawn is not bad at all. Until this go around, I had six star Thrawn leading my arena team. Gear him up, put him to use, put a little more TLC into Phoenix for the next couple months, and finish the job next go around.

Zuckuss12

I also started trying around the minimum but also had stored up gear items, credits for levels, and omegas. After every 10 or so tries I would add something to improve each character. Eventually (luckily before dropping the next set of omegas) I got it. I'd say I tried about 150 times

TVF

I don't quite understand what you want from Carrie? Advice? A shoulder to cry on? And why would EA help do anything for you?

But otherwise, you just have to understand that this is one of the most difficult (and to some extent RNG-dependent) events in the game. I did it with all G8 but I probably got lucky. Took me about 10-12 tries. I hoarded enough gear to get everyone to G9 if necessary but luckily it wasn't necessary. Maybe you need more gear. Maybe you need more speed. Like was said above, work on improving your team and be ready next time.

MCThr33pio

Are you using Zeb? He turned out to be pretty key.

Also, the first three waves are mostly trash, try to go into the last round with all your cooldowns refreshed and all your special attacks ready to use.

TVF

Yep you want to call Zeb as much as possible for his stuns.

And the first three waves are simple, you shouldn't need to use any specials.

ProximaB1_

It's all rng. Anyone that says otherwise is wrong. So many people say you need more speed or tactics are important. Honestly from my experience none of that matters. The only thing that matters is the ai kill order. If you get lucky and they make bad decisions you win. If they don't you lose. No skill involved in this event. It's the same as mod farming some players get lucky others don't.
P.s. I have him so not a what about me post just being honest.

TVF

Just because RNG is important, it doesn't mean the other stuff isn't important.

Without the other stuff you need perfect RNG. With the other stuff you can still get it done with good RNG that isn't perfect RNG.

darthjeary

My story is similar, except I gave up after 20 or so attempts where I would max get 1 DT down.

So I committed to gearing up my Phoenix squad for the next Thrawn event (this one). I ran my team naked (no mods) and got killed. I put decent mods on and it took me two tries.

IMO legendary events should be very hard and should require G9-10. Those who spend 9012421 tries and get it done at G8 seems almost like cheating to me. Spend the time, effort, and gear to get your toons to the appropriate level. Now I have a nasty Phoenix squad I use in raids and TW. As well as two very strong ships. Now I will work towards the Chimera for next time.

My final team all L85, all abilities maxed. Zero zetas.
Hera: G11 2/6
Ezra: G10 5/6
Sabine: G10 2/6
Kanan: G10 1/6
Zeb: G8 4/6

I give the devs all the credit in the world for making this event difficult and wish all of the Legendary/Hero characters were this difficult.

Beating the Thrawn event was the single most gratifying win I have had in this game thus far.

ProximaB1_

I honestly wouldn't mind it being this rng dependant if you didn't have to sit through the first 3 tiers to get to an actual fight. Or if the losing fights weren't so one sided. To sit through 3 battles just to watch zeb get head hunted isn't fun. There were times I barely dented them. The time I beat it didn't come close to losing a character. I can deal with difficult content but when you have no personal importance to the battle it's not difficult. If you had to make precise decisions ok, or if you could see your characters weren't good enough fine. That's not the case here.

Ebbda

Speed wise I had;

Hera: 204, Sabine: 219 Zeb: 180 (cut to 175 to get potency above 50%) Ezra: 199 and Tortoise Kanan: 175

I just wanted to let her know the insane time sink for nothing. No tears, just an alarming amount of time. It's their wish to lessen the load with regards to time with all events and raids.

I'll give it another 40-50 cracks tomorrow as it seems there's a glimmer of hope. Burning 500 carbanti's and 250 stun guns on toons I'm not fussed with to get one is something I'll have to think about. I'm as close to getting JTR as I am solving world hunger. My choice. Not a light side fan.

Thanks for all the comments, folks - I'll let you know how it goes. If you don't hear from me I completed it and had a heart attack, lol!

TVF

FYI I had a lot more luck when I slowed Kanan down much further, he was at 103. When he eats Thrawn's fracture, it keeps Thrawn out of the battle longer. Also I had Ezra at 231 speed. Don't remember the rest.

I wouldn't expect any changes though. Making it easier would be a giant slap in the face to the people who have already finished it.

FolsomTony

darthjeary wrote: »

IMO legendary events should be very hard and should require G9-10. Those who spend 9012421 tries and get it done at G8 seems almost like cheating to me.

Beating the Thrawn event was the single most gratifying win I have had in this game thus far.

I don't agree with your first point, and I'd have to say CLS and Thrawn were pretty close on the second point.

I tried with almost no mods, all gear 8, and was really whipped quickly, maybe 10 times, same result. The next morning, watched quite a few videos/how to guides. Then made a list of what mods I wanted to move both from and to (so I could put them back correctly), placing a high priority on potency/tenacity on Zeb, probably 60% each. Speed +30 arrows on everyone else, as well as my best speed secondary sets. Speeds were mostly +45 to +65 or so on everyone else. Auto play round 1 and 2, manual using the basic on round 3 to reset all cooldowns, and followed the most common attack order on stage 4.

2nd try later, I was unlocking 7* Thrawn. So, all in, maybe 12 attempts at all gear 8, and the best mods I could muster. It didn't feel like cheating.

catharsis478

Oh, I hear that feel.

The last time Thrawn came through--in January, I think?--I was in my mid-70's, level-wise, and didn't have access to their unique omega abilities; my team was G8. I pushed for level 80 and didn't make it; I slapped what gear I could scrape together during that week and put it on them, but didn't manage to get one to G9; and whenever I had down-time for that week I was running that fight, I would estimate that I tried somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 times, and I came close once. I learned a lot about how the fight works, about the things that worked better and those that didn't (honestly don't rely so much on Zeb's stun; it requires two hits from him so you'll have to rely on counters for it to be any kind of efficient strategy), nevermind the things that are pure RNG (like whether or not the Deathtrooper was going to target the poor sap that'd just been fractured).

I got him on my second try this time around--I would have likely gotten him the first had I not been a petulant brat about moving my arena mods around (I could've done it with the mediocre mods I had on them to begin with... if I felt like doing it 20+ times)--and all that really changed with the team was getting to G9, level 80+, omega abilities (I was running them as my arena team for awhile there so ended up putting most of their omega abilities on them). I didn't even really need to think about half of the strategy I had in the previous event--they didn't hit so hard now, I could breathe a little--and I got through it without losing anyone (well I think Chopper died but he had BUP on him).

(And then one of my mid-70's guildmates gets him--Hera, Ezra, Chopper at G9 and he managed +90 speed on Ezra--and I'm still not quite sure how to feel about that. On one hand; I'm happy for you. On the other hand: ;gkdf;lgkdf;lkg;dfkg)

Anyways, here's the advice I've been peddling around the forums for this fight, in the event it helps you out (honestly you've probably figured it out most of it by now). Good luck:

catharsis478 wrote: »

Kill Order: Deathtrooper x2 -> Stormtrooper Commander x2 -> Stormtrooper -> Thrawn

First: Avoid cleansing Stormtrooper until he actually uses his taunt--ideally, use Ezra's--the pre-taunt falls off in a turn whereas the used taunt holds for three (if you stun him before he can use it, and Thrawn doesn't use his cleanse/protection recovery on him, watch for it to fall off so you don't waste any more turns than absolutely necessary). If you kill him by wailing on him in the meantime, no big deal.

Second: Get rid of the buffs on both Deathtroopers--before you even try to kill one or the other--with either Zeb's special or either Chopper or Ezra's cleanse (note: avoid using Chopper's cleanse whenever possible, as it can feed Thrawn's team turn-meter from the resisted effects). Once you've done that, kill whichever one is lower on health/protection (some people will prioritize killing the one that just used its AoE if one used it and the other didn't).

From here it's really just a matter of managing how much damage you're taking--BUP, protection up specials, applying offense down, juggling taunts--and clean up duty. Take out one STC then the other--if one gets dazed whack him with Zeb until he's stunned so you don't have to worry about him healing his buddy--and then the ST if he's still up--the last thing you want is for him to taunt just as you're beating on Thrawn--then you can focus down Thrawn. Use Kanan to apply Offense Down on Thrawn whenever the opportunity arises; follow your instincts on using BUP, if you have no instincts to speak of use it on whoever is Fractured; Chopper's taunt is superior to Kanan's in this event, use it.

And phrased slightly differently (in the event it makes more sense this way):

Kill order should be DT -> STC -> ST -> Thrawn; you can remove Deathtrooper's buff (which makes them hurt a lot) with Zeb's special or either Chopper or Ezra's cleanse; Chopper's cleanse is a double-edged sword and can feed Thrawn's team turnmeter; wait until the Stormtrooper actually uses his taunt before cleansing it; consider relying on counters to spread daze/stun with Zeb, and use assists on Kanan to apply offense down on Thrawn (makes his damage much more survivable); focus on survival and apply BUP judiciously (most advice says on the fractured character, but sometimes they ignore them and focus-fire one of your other dudes instead).

Also, Kanan's speed has no bearing on how long Fracture lasts... that's completely up to Thrawn.

Kelarn

Try making Ezra your fastest toon, and swap in Chopper for Sabine. His extra taunt, dispel and healing unique make him pretty valuable in that last battle. I juggled the fractures between my two tanks, and finished with everyone still standing at the end. GL!

TVF

catharsis478 wrote: »

Also, Kanan's speed has no bearing on how long Fracture lasts... that's completely up to Thrawn.

Lol you're totally right...it did seem to help but that was probably just the RNG talking.

Ebbda

Wow...

Credit heist. I now have a gear 8, lvl85 chopper. Gonna drop Sabine as suggested and give it another go, lol!

Fingers crossed for later

Ebbda

NO HEART ATTACK AND DID IT!!!

I wanna thank everyone for the encouragement, advice (I kinda like Chopper now, lol) and support through this frustration.

I'm sure some think the forums can be toxic at times but this is one clear instance that the community rocks!!!

207 tries later. Nearly did it on the third attempt. Weirdly I had all five alive with just the blue dude left!

Seriously, kudos to you all! A game highlight despite a raging headache, lol

Thank you ALL and may the Force and RNG be with you

TVF

Grats!

ProximaB1_

Congrats chopper is a fun character. I use him with zumi lead. He dodges everything when taunting with a dodge lead.