Admiral Ackbar: couple of questions

clhs

A) What is it about Ackbar that makes him so popular recently? (And does he need to be a leader to be so good?)

And secondly

B ) Could his 'It's a Trap' health recover ever mean he's a viable replacement for Luminara? Am guessing no...

Thank you.

EDIT: my bracketed "B" became a smiley for some reason.

Dro1dm0de

He's used for raids and getting rid of the deathmark.

ABNRAS

His usefulness in raids for one. I also think that Lando being given Rebel identifier made rebel teams more viable, thus making AA more viable. I would not consider him a reliable healer though.

LaLiam

He isnt a reliable healer, but Ackbar-Leia-Rey is godly in arena, when they tweaked his leader ability he became so much more viable.

WildWest1974

Yeah, I had kept him at 4 star level 1 until I found out how good he was for Raids. Now I'm farming him up with all my might. 5 stars Gear 8 and climbing

JonWonKenobi

A ) they changed his skills so that his leader ability now makes a random rebel assist any non-attack move on your team, and they improved tactical genius so that instead of a random ally getting an immediate turn (which could mean your ally gains like 5% TM if they were already close to being full) it now makes your ally take two turns in a row (ie guaranteed 100% TM gain).

so if you have this team: AA(L), Leia, QGJ, Rey, RG - any non-attack move will make either AA or Leia assist bonus attack. When AA does either tactical genius or Its a Trap, Leia guaranteed to assist. when RG does his health boost skill, either AA or Leia assist. It's great. They also get speed from AA.

B ) Lumi isn't viable in arena anyway - but no his healing is very situational and better used to remove ally stuns etc

jedii_2040

AA is a good healer if there are any dots or negative effort, then he can remove those effects and give heal % for each effect removed. Like in Empire event, he heals the entire team after special attack of Vader.
Otherwise he is worst healer.

leef

jedii_2040 wrote: »

Otherwise he is worst healer.

did talia pay you to say that?

Varlie

JonWonKenobi is correct. The only thing I would add is that while it's not a reliable heal, "It's a trap" is perfect for getting rid of stuns so that your heavy hitters can continue hitting heavy.

In raids, it gets rid of the Death Mark before the targeted person can be attacked and, therefore, keeps you fighting longer.

I had him as my Arena lead for a long time but I'm on an older server and had to swap him out recently. Apparently the AI doesn't run my Rebel team like I run them.

clhs

Thanks, everyone. Mucho appreciato.

RAYRAY

Varlie wrote: »

JonWonKenobi is correct. The only thing I would add is that while it's not a reliable heal, "It's a trap" is perfect for getting rid of stuns so that your heavy hitters can continue hitting heavy.

In raids, it gets rid of the Death Mark before the targeted person can be attacked and, therefore, keeps you fighting longer.

I had him as my Arena lead for a long time but I'm on an older server and had to swap him out recently. Apparently the AI doesn't run my Rebel team like I run them.

I am on an old server too. A rebel team isn't going to hold on defense but an Ackbar lead with Leia, Rey, RG and Aayla/QGJ/Savage, 5s, etc will. You should try that team.

Jedi2407

He's awesome in the empire event.

jedii_2040

leef wrote: »

did talia pay you to say that?

I know the pain of having Talia. She is the only DS healer I have got. But still she can sacrifice herself in the time of need to give back some life to her allies.
With AA your need to have many *****

jedii_2040

Anyways I always tell the stories of Talia to Dooku when farming him in Cantina. I believe in 3 weeks, I have got him to 6*.

Now don't jump on to the guns. sometime these stories do help.

Varlie

RAYRAY wrote: »

I am on an old server too. A rebel team isn't going to hold on defense but an Ackbar lead with Leia, Rey, RG and Aayla/QGJ/Savage, 5s, etc will. You should try that team.

I have toyed with several teams: (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, ST Han, Qui-Gon), (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, ST Han, RG), (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, RG, Qui-Gon). The latter held my ranks better in defense than the others. ST Han is great but with everyone keeping QGJ on their team, he gets de-taunted to quickly and loses his functionality.
I may try RG, Fives combo now that I have Fives leveled and geared.

SpeedRacer

Varlie wrote: »

RAYRAY wrote: »

I am on an old server too. A rebel team isn't going to hold on defense but an Ackbar lead with Leia, Rey, RG and Aayla/QGJ/Savage, 5s, etc will. You should try that team.

I have toyed with several teams: (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, ST Han, Qui-Gon), (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, ST Han, RG), (Ackbar, Leia, Rey, RG, Qui-Gon). The latter held my ranks better in defense than the others. ST Han is great but with everyone keeping QGJ on their team, he gets de-taunted to quickly and loses his functionality.
I may try RG, Fives combo now that I have Fives leveled and geared.

I'm building a rebel squad, few shards away to get ackbar and lando to 7*.
Tried similar toons as yours in arena, but it seems that ackbar and lando are kind of weak of protection, so they go down easily.

HRS could be easier to farm, with only one node will take ages to get him. Definitely defense up would help a lot.

So far squad will be ackbar lead, lando, leia and rg. Still doubt if qgj, han or other rebel toon to farm.

MBL_66

leef wrote: »

jedii_2040 wrote: »

Otherwise he is worst healer.

did talia pay you to say that?

Do you have a maxed out Talia? She's really not bad at all

MBL_66

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

leef

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

leef wrote: »

jedii_2040 wrote: »

Otherwise he is worst healer.

did talia pay you to say that?

Do you have a maxed out Talia? She's really not bad at all

i doubt any maxed out toon will be bad. i dont have talia maxed out, i dont have any toon maxed out. But as far as healers go, talia was the worst one during the early game compared to JC and lumi (technically not a healer, i know)

MBL_66

leef wrote: »

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

leef wrote: »

jedii_2040 wrote: »

Otherwise he is worst healer.

did talia pay you to say that?

Do you have a maxed out Talia? She's really not bad at all

i doubt any maxed out toon will be bad. i dont have talia maxed out, i dont have any toon maxed out. But as far as healers go, talia was the worst one during the early game compared to JC and lumi (technically not a healer, i know)

Oh yea she was quite horrible back then haha

SpeedRacer

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

Nice to see rebel squad is doing good in arena.
Unfortunately HRSoldier needs a lot of farm and i just started. Have u tried HRScout in place of phasma or qgj and RG instead of soldier?

MBL_66

SpeedRacer wrote: »

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

Nice to see rebel squad is doing good in arena.
Unfortunately HRSoldier needs a lot of farm and i just started. Have u tried HRScout in place of phasma or qgj and RG instead of soldier?

That's not soldier, it's scout. The farm for soldier is also too long for me lol

SpeedRacer

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

SpeedRacer wrote: »

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

Nice to see rebel squad is doing good in arena.
Unfortunately HRSoldier needs a lot of farm and i just started. Have u tried HRScout in place of phasma or qgj and RG instead of soldier?

That's not soldier, it's scout. The farm for soldier is also too long for me lol

Yeah, scout u can get faster at cantina shipments. Have u tried luke, some people like him, but i think scout is faster and similar damage.

MBL_66

SpeedRacer wrote: »

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

SpeedRacer wrote: »

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

Nice to see rebel squad is doing good in arena.
Unfortunately HRSoldier needs a lot of farm and i just started. Have u tried HRScout in place of phasma or qgj and RG instead of soldier?

That's not soldier, it's scout. The farm for soldier is also too long for me lol

Yeah, scout u can get faster at cantina shipments. Have u tried luke, some people like him, but i think scout is faster and similar damage.

No I never worked on Luke but I heard he's pretty good maxed out at gear 10. Maybe eventually I'll get to working on him.

clhs

BlowinLoadz wrote: »

AA is really good in raids for his cleansing ability and in arena he works best as lead. His leader skill and specials combined with a good TM manipulation team let's your whole team take multiple attacks before the opponent can do much. You really shouldn't count him as healer so no he can't replace Lumi but at some point eventually you get to where healers are not a great option in arena at all.

This is the current Ackbar team that I'm having fun with but I will have princess Leia ready soon and will change things up. This is a great option for f2p as well.

Great, thank you. My Ackbar is only five star at the minute but would be interesting to see if, when he's levelled up, he can replace my Old Ben as lead. Interesting that you say healers aren't important later on; you're the second person who's said that but I am struggling to see how I could manage without Lumi really. Might have to mix things up and see.

Nice username, by the way!

Kabbes

Don't use Han with Ackbar. Don't use any non-serious-DPS rebel with Ackbar. The point of Ackbar is that his rebel coordination triggers a rebel attack when a support move is used -- if this assist calls Han, it is basically pointless.

Leia, Luke and maybe HRS are the only rebels you should run with Ackbar, combined with at least one but ideally two toons that can regularly use a non-attacking support move that triggers an additional rebel attack. Anything else and there is guaranteed a better option than Ackbar for your team. Han is brilliant, but using him with Ackbar completely undermines his leader ability.

For the record, I currently use (level 80)

G9 Ackbar
G10 (soon to be G11) Luke
G9 GS
G10 Poggle
G10 Phasma

This team has no problem taking first place every day and is normally knocked back 23 hours later to about 15-20th

I also echo that healers are pointless in the endgame arena, by the way. Ackbar's best use of It's A Trap is purely to trigger an extra crit-up offence-up attack from Luke.