Focused on Yoda, neglected my DS squad
Yoda event came out right after I started so most of my time since I started has been devoted to farming five 5* Jedi for Yoda. Now I have three of them and I'm down to only working on Mace and QGJ so my farming for both of them is basically Mace's cantina node over and over. So now I want to start working on a decent DS squad so I can start working through the normal and hard DS nodes. Any advice on which DS characters to put my effort into from the ones I can farm for? I can farm hard nodes in the first 4 LS areas, the first 3 DS, and the first 3 Cantina sections though starting any of the Cantina nodes would be held up until I get 19 more shards to promote Mace to 5* and the Cantina shop is completely out because of QGJ. I currently have:
5* Savage
4* HK-47, IG-86, Phasma, Vader, Veers
3* Asajj, Cad Bane, Dooku, IG-88, Geonosin Soldier, Talia
2* Greedo, Magma Trooper, Mob Enforcer, Nightsister Initiate, Royal Guard
1* First Order TIE Pilot, Nightsister Acolyte, Snowtrooper
55/80 towards unlocking Sidious
5* Savage
4* HK-47, IG-86, Phasma, Vader, Veers
3* Asajj, Cad Bane, Dooku, IG-88, Geonosin Soldier, Talia
2* Greedo, Magma Trooper, Mob Enforcer, Nightsister Initiate, Royal Guard
1* First Order TIE Pilot, Nightsister Acolyte, Snowtrooper
55/80 towards unlocking Sidious
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Replies
I did almost the same thing (focused on LS/jedi - I started at the same time as the Yoda challenge and it suckered me in), so I'm hardly an expert on DS toons, but I will offer my observations so far on the ones I have been using on your list.
Savage: doesn't offer much to team synergy, OK at higher levels for finishing DS nodes, but doesn't do much for 3-starring levels. I stopped at 4* and decided to prioritize farming Asajj over him.
Droids: I've heard that they are good for DS nodes if you run the whole team, but it seems like they really only shine if you run multiple of them. I do like borrowing maxed IG-88 from allies, because he does tons of damage and when he inevitably dies I can still get 3 stars.
Phasma: not awesome, but good enough to make her a no-brainer given the ease of farming, good survivability, and arena potential (especially after the upcoming update).
Vader: decent in mid-levels, but being stuck at 4* is a problem when getting to stage 7 nodes.
Asajj: I wasn't sure for a while, but now I'm starring her up. Self-heal, stun, enemy debuff, good damage, reasonable HP once starred up. Easy farm.
Dooku: no-brainer to pursue him right now. As leader, RNG can save you and turn a would-be 1-2 star victory into a 3 star. Good in arena. Really needs to be 4* and gear 8 though before becoming useful, along with near maxed abilities.
Geonosian Soldier: imo by far the most OP toon in the game right now, and an easy farm. I'm not using him though because I refuse to put resources into a character I consider so boring. But he clearly offers a ridiculous combo of HP, damage, and speed without the need for any special team strategy/synergy. I hope he gets nerfed (sorry, GS users).
Talia: just terrible for DS nodes. I put resources into her because I thought, "I need a DS healer," but I can never keep her alive for 3 star victories. She's great in the healer/support challenge, and is probably great on a nightsister team, but she dies so easily. It seems like as soon as she uses her heal, taking her health down, the AI targets her hard. So frustrating. She's out of my DS line-up now and I'm doing much better.
Royal Guard: an absolute no-brainer. Crushes the tank challenge, usable in arena starting at 4*, and surprisingly can stay alive to a 3 star victory even in stage 7 DS nodes. He's made everything in this game easier for me. Unfortunately, he could be a hard farm if not spending a little money.
FOTP: I wish I could use him, and I've put in a lot of crystals to star him up. His damage is great. But he just doesn't have the HP until 6-7*. I only have him at 4*.
Sidious: easy farm, good for DS nodes and GW (heal on deaths). I farmed him to 7* early and he was good for arena as well, for a while. Now that my server is getting more mature, I feel he's a liability in arena. He's great on DS nodes with lots of jedi though, esp with Dooku lead - he dodges everything.
My DS team right now is Dooku, Sid, Royal Guard, Phasma, Asajj. It's a hodge-podge without much synergy, but they were easy to farm while I was more focused on LS toons. In order to 3 star the later stage 7 nodes, I had to borrow some very good toons from allies. None of my allies have a maxed Daka though, which I think will be required to 3 star a few of the nodes.
Edit: I would describe my DS strategy like this... Dooku/RG/Asajj try to keep enemy damage-dealers stunned. Phasma tries to get the team lots of at-bats to stun (turn meter manipulation). Sid is tagging with heal immunity if the enemy has a healer, hoping the AI wastes turns healing. I keep my fingers crossed that I evade the attacks from non-stunned enemies, and that they go for Sid (esp Jedi) and Asajj at a rate from which I can heal. If the enemies do get off damage, RG tries as a last gasp to taunt and keep the team alive, at which point I bring defense up once I can't stun (<50% HP) and pray for more evasion from Dooku lead. Poggle, IG-88, and HK-47 seem to be the best toons available to me to borrow, until I can find a good Daka (I'm working on Daka myself though).
hk
86
88
Phasma
Savage?
Daka
86
Talia
Savage
When you can get Daka
Talia is a nice option but any match could backfire.
Sid is easy farmed and helpful because he self heals when you kill the multitude of bad guys.
I used Assaj. She is great in DS missions because she hits last and by then you can likely kill 1 enemy and weaken a second. She will get offense up by the time she goes off the killed enemy; use her AoE and she will likely kill the second weakened one = cool down reset on AoE for next turn.
The first thing that you should do is finish unlocking Sidious. He is far too versatile to not have, every single one of his abilities is extremely useful. After you finish unlocking him in arena, get your Asajj to four stars. Then alternate between the two. Not too many people are fans of Asajj because of her bad AI control, but the only time that will matter for you is if you use her in an arena team. In the hands of a player, she is a BEAST (that said, I currently have her at 7* and my Sid at 6*, so I may be biased). That gives you an attacker and a good support. Asajj is extremely important for levels with enemies who give team buffs, because of her dispel, but you'll wanna focus on Sid before Asajj because he will up your game in all areas. (Aside: Asajj is also very valuable for GW, and I've been seeing her there a bit more recently. This is because her gear grants her the best life steal stat of any character, which just synergizes with her abilities in an amazing way (especially her AoE, which can be used multiple times in a row if used correctly), making her a great self healer (aside from her dispel/self heal). Also, she has a decent stun on her basic attack that, though not as great as Daka's, is still pretty powerful. This makes her very valuable for the healer/support challenge, and also takes her badassery up a whole 'nother level. AI targets her first, though, because she's so badass, and despite her self heal her health is only decent, making her somewhat fragile since she's VERY slow) You'll have to decide if you'll incorporate Savage into the equation, since right now he's fine for DS stuff where he's at, and that'll depend on where else you want to use him. I don't even have him unlocked, so don't look to me for advice on him.
For hard nodes, Talia should be your top priority. Right now she is your only decent healer, but she packs a huge healing punch. Getting her abilities and gear high enough will make her extremely competent, with a strong heal that increases turn meter and high life steal that is part of her basic attack. Her third ability also adds another DoT effect to your team, and though it's somewhat focused it lasts three turns once the ability is at level four (Aside: this makes her very valuable for the healer/support challenge, since Savage takes a buttload of extra damage when he is debuffed). You'll also probably want to focus on Dooku, since his anti-jedi abilities are really handy and because he's a strong attacker with a great counter. I also see him a lot in arena and GW, but be wary while using him in arena. He's good for rank climbing, and his stun is amazing on both offense and defense, but his health stat isn't too great and he can be killed in a couple of well placed hits if not healed quickly. Talia and Dooku are also your most accessible characters for hard node farming right now, which is a plus. If you find you like Dooku and want to keep him on your main DS team, that's great. Otherwise, at least keep some focus on him so he's ready to be switched in on Jedi levels. (Aside: it's also good to keep him up to date for GW. I barely switch him in, but when I do he wins me levels while saving a much needed character that would otherwise die. I can't really speak to his overall GW effectiveness since I don't have him on either my main or secondary team, though.) Also, once you finish farming Windu in Cantina, Talia has nodes there on 1-G and 5-E (the second of which you'd have to unlock), and Dooku has a node on 6-G (which is even further from where you are than 5-E is).
With this plan so far, your DS team so far is one support, one heal, and two (possible three) attackers. Up to this point the plan has been based on what is strong and easily available. From this point forward, anything I say is totally up to your playstyle preferences, my own experience, what level you are, and how you proceed through the content.
Assuming you have GW unlocked, you may or may not want to go for Phasma. I have found that, because he is a common grab for people, you can get away with not keeping him current. He is the leader for my backup GW team, but I barely use him otherwise. Because he is so common, he will probably appear frequently in your allies list, and you'll then have access to the most powerful version you would be able to have, while putting very little in to him. This strategy does NOT work for arena and GW, since you do not have access to ally leaders there. My personal preference is to use Lumi for GW leader because of her heal and evasion, which depending on your playstyle you may find useful as well. Even if you don't have him as leader, you may want to keep him up to date to be another support on your GW squad. In regards to arena, you may feel the same as you do in GW, or you may not. However, while on defense, if an attacker's Lumi isn't stunned or ability blocked then the attacker is probably going to use her Force Blast on him if she's faster than him (which I've found she usually is). Assuming the attack hits, the ability block procs (which is a 100% chance at ability level 6 and an 85% chance at ability level 3), and Phasma doesn't resist the negative status effect (not sure how often this statistically happens, though in my recent experience it can go either way), this will be followed by a beatdown of Phasma that will likely kill him (if the attacker used Sid to inflict him with heal immunity or he can be killed before a healer gets a chance to heal him). If that attacker also uses Boba Fett, there's a rather good chance that your Phasma won't get to use any of his abilities. Under AI control, he'll first use Fullisade, then use Victory March. Even if that Lumi is stunned on the first turn, Fullisade isn't the end of the world for the attacker. If he's your arena leader, even in death he still packs a punch, which may or may not help depending on the attacker. Then again, There are strategies against every character, and I'm getting way off topic for what you asked. Summary of Phasma: good to have, you can get away with not actually having him for most things.
If you choose not to go with Phasma for your fifth, then you should definitely spend effort getting Royal Guard. You'll need a good tank, and since his retooling Royal Guard is one of the best ones around (especially for Dark Side). I cannot speak with any experience about him, since I haven't used him since a low level and haven't spent the time yet on him yet (been a bit preoccupied with the Yoda challenge, though mainly in anticipation of the eventual meta shift when the protection stat that the devs keep mentioning in their posts is finally implemented). He has an extremely high health, grants defense up, and his auto-taunt is great for taking the heat off the more fragile members of your party. This synergizes well with Talia's powerful heal. The slow on his basic attack is very powerful (I've only seen it on three other heroes off the top of my head), the additional stun while he has more than 50% health is even more frequent than Daka's, and he has a very high potency stat. He also has a very decent speed stat, his unique ability brings in a lot of turn meter, and every now and then his Imperial Phalanx does as well. His speed, however, runs somewhat contrary to his taunt, since it goes away once he makes his move, but it is still great at fulfilling it's purpose. He has two major downsides, however. The first is that in terms of damage output, he is one of the worst heroes in the game (my reference for this will be at the bottom, since I have little personal experience with him). The second is that he is rather hard to farm. He only comes from two hard nodes and data cards, which is not ideal. Where you are in progression, only one of those nodes is unlocked. On a positive note for this, that node is LS 1-D, so you don't even have to use sim tickets (just play and set it to auto). Also, he has a not-infrequent shard drop rate in data packs, which is useful if you decide to go for him. You are also not too far from his second hard node (DS 5-F), which will make farming him easier once you reach it. There is also a major plus side to RG, since he is very likely to survive the meta shift with the introduction of protection, and also fits the current meta.
Before I wrap this up, I wanna do a review of the rest of what you have (who I don't necessarily recommend, with a couple of exceptions).
HK-47: Very good one-time revive, nice offense up chance on basic attack, Meatbag Mayhem is extremely useful (especially against Jedi). Not viable due to the fact that you'll already be farming 2-3 characters in Arena Shipments. AoE very useful for DS, though, so maybe. A bit more damage oriented than support oriented with the offense up and with is leader ability, IMO should be considered an attacker.
IG-86: Great damage dealer, especially with the other droids you have. Doesn't fit too well into the team you'll be building, aside from the basic attack and the presence of an assist. Easy to farm, 2 hard nodes, cantina node, and GW shipments (you'd have to unlock the cantina node first, but it's on level 4, which is the level that I know you're on since that's where Mace Windu is). Would not recommend due to lack of synergy with team.
Vader: Really, really good, but not possible to farm without the shard shop (and even with that it takes forever). Still good if you gear him as high as you can. Very good abilities, leader probably useless to
you though. Also you don't really need another attacker.
Veers: Would not recommend, even jokingly. AoE ability block is nice but unreliable, though it deals extra damage to rebels (which is good for DS). Not a very good damage output, not very good on support. Speed up is nice in the meta, but not needed for PvE (especially since it disappears between encounters). Hard to farm, 3 hard nodes, one of which you have unlocked (LS 4-C), two of which you are not near (LS 6-C and DS 6-D) and are hard to 3-Star (and can be difficult to beat). Most players agree that he isn't good.
Cad Bane: Chromium Exclusive. Can't actually farm. If you somehow manage to get him high, he is actually really good (decent speed and health, good abilities with nice damage output, high potency).
IG-88: Would actually be a really good pick. Strong AoE ability block that has a slightly better than 50/50 shot of proc-ing and will become even better when lvl 8 becomes available, huge crit bonus when paired with Sid's AoE, healing immunity on basic (though somewhat unreliable, but will become pretty good when lvl 8 becomes available), very good leader ability that will become amazing when lvl 8 becomes available, and very high crit damage. Also he's fast. The downside is that he's vulnerable to Jawas, who you'll see plenty of in DS levels. The other downside is that Savage is already 2 stars higher than him, but to make future decisions based on that is illogical (in economics, it's called the Sunk Costs Fallacy), since those resources are already wasted and cannot be regained. In fact, definitely farm him instead of Savage. Like Mol_Eliza_oops said, Savage won't actually contribute to your team's synergy. Also like MEO sort of implied, IG-88 is somewhat of a glass cannon. But definitely, DEFINITELY work on him after Asajj. Rotate through Sid, Asajj, IG-88. When it becomes powerful enough, put IG-88 in Savage's place. Sorry I didn't bring him up before the recap, I just don't have much experience with him and had to pull up his stats (again, from the resource I'll put below).
Geonosian Soldier: Seriously similar to IG-86. Has much higher speed, but harder to farm (only a cantina node). Has offense up on basic instead of crit chance, and his unique ability is a flat crit chance bonus to all Geonosian allies (of which there are few, and you have only GS) and some turn meter on a crit (which is somewhat nice), which compares to IG-86's extra crit chance on basic, extra crit damage from unique, and 4.5% crit chance increase per droid ally (which is the same 9% if you're using IG-88) and a 15% crit damage increase (which synergizes well with the rest of its kit). Honestly, just go with IG-86 if you're considering this.
Greedo: Thermal detonator sucks, he's fast, has nice very damage on basic if he crits and gets the multiattack, but has a useless leader for a DS team since you only have one other scoundrel. Also, you're already going to be farming 3 characters from arena shipments, adding a fourth will make that grind much harder than it's already going to be.
Magmatrooper: Honestly have not seen him used enough or used him enough to say anything yet. Looking at his stats and abilities, he would actually be a really good addition to your team. High health and armor, decent damage, fast, and frequent turn meter gain. Also, his AoE ignores armor and reduces turn meter a respectable amount (with an extra chance to double it for massive removal). Very high potency and tenacity. If you aren't farming anything else in GW, go with him. He won't synergize very well, but you could possibly go for him instead of IG-88, resulting in faster farming for Sid and Asajj. Up to you.
Mob Enforcer: Fast, good health, decent damage output, very high potency. Based off of stats it sounds good. However, it has a thermal detonator, which is always a minus, and that ability isn't even AoE to make up for it. It does have some turn meter gain with it, though. High chance to inflict damage down on basic. However, it's unique ability is clearly designed to synergize with scoundrels, and since you aren't going with Greedo it is somewhat of a waste. With Talia as a healer and RG as a tank, there is no reason anybody on your team should be falling below 30% health, rendering the unique ability completely worthless. Can also only be farmed in cantina shipments, which you already stated are dedicated to QGJ.
Nightsister Initiate: Royal Guard-level health and armor, somewhat fast, and really good damage output with her crit-based attacks. Good potency, decent tenacity, hp steal is good relative to most other characters. Honestly might be a good choice. Farmed in GW shipments, so if you aren't farming Phasma, Magmatrooper, or something else you may wanna go for it. However, she doesn't synergize with the team. She's just damage production.
First Order TIE Pilot: Glass cannon. Fast with an incredible damage output, decent armor, but still has a low health (actually better than some of the other characters discussed above). Moderate tenacity, a low potency that has no impact on his abilities, and a really high physical critical rating. Even without good health, he is an offensive beast. Very focused damage dealer, and synergizes very well with crit-boosting leadership abilities and with Phasma's leadership ability (double ally chance since he's first order). As such, he's extremely hard to farm, with only two hard nodes which you are nowhere near (LS 6-B and DS 6-D) that need a lot of strategy and luck to 3-Star. Also, if the devs follow through on their threat to change advantage to a single assured critical hit, FOTP will need to have his kit completely retooled. He may not survive the meta change due to his health, however.
Nightsister Acolyte: She's classed as a healer, yet only has self heal. Fast, fair health, moderately nice damage output, a high potency that's worthless with her abilities, decent tenacity, but overall bad. Nobody or no AI is going to focus on her as a threat, which means that a stealth chance on her basic is wasted. She has no role as support, since her negative status effect team cleanse needs her to make a killing blow, which is unlikely to happen and requires that the blow be when a cleanse is actually needed. Add in that you'd need to focus on a cantina node, and she is definitely not worth it.
Snowtrooper: Decent speed, good health and armor, high potency, great damage output. Unreliable ability block on basic attack, AoE special grants it offense up on a finishing blow. The defeat of any unit grants it turn meter (and any empire allies half as much, but you probably won't have any). Occasionally drops from data cards, but otherwise the only place to farm it is LS 8-C, which you're nowhere near.
In summary, Sidious, Asajj, Talia, and Royal Guard should be considered essential, and you should farm Phasma, Dooku, IG-88, Magmatrooper, or maybe Nightsister Initiate to eventually replace Savage Opress, who you should stop farming. The resource that I used for a lot of this, and mentioned multiple times, is swgohcantina.com. It is easily the best resource for character lookup and planning there is. Sorry this was so long, just wanted it to be comprehensive for your situation. This is specific to what you posted, and does not look at any heroes that you did not mention. For example, you should definitely farm Daka to replace Talia, due to her stun, speed, passive revive, heal with revive chance, and game mode versatility. Also sorry about anything irrelevant about other game modes that I included, I know you are only planning a DS team. My personal DS team is Boba Fett lead, Asajj Ventress, Darth Sidious, Talia, and First Order TIE Pilot.
Your GW looks free, I assume your arena farming is as well. Both your cantina's are booked which is a problem because Dooku and Daka are both really good.
Did read it all, but I don't have time to go through point by point. End result is my main effort will be on Sidious, Asajj, Dooku, and Talia.
I will be working on RG, but with only one node he's a bit more long term. I had also recently started working on Boba just because I wanted him so he'll be slow too.
I do also plan to level and gear up Vader and Phasma. I'm midway through getting Luminara to 6* in GW, but when that's done I'll switch to getting Phasma to 5*
End result is for now DS squad will be some mix of Savage, Sidious, Asajj, Dooku, Talia, Phasma, Vader depending on how shard farming, gear, and level are going.