Arena Shipments, IG-88 and a viable Squad option for everyone
January 13, 2016 11:58PM
edited January 2016
There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Arena Shipments goin on right now as people's first Go-To Arena purchase, Darth Sidious, is maxing out.
At the beginning of the game the answer to the question "Who to farm first?" was in most cases: "Sid". Now, after almost two months into the game the majority should have a 7* Sid. Regardless of Arena Rank. Top 10 is maxing out their 2nd Arena Shipment toon atm.
So, questions like "Who to farm next?" arise.
There are quite a few different options like: Han, HK-47, Assajj, Ackbar, Greedo, Savage, Eeth Koth or even CUP. Actually everyone sans Ugnaught and Nute Gunray is worth considering. Which in turn speaks volumes for the game's current state, balance wise. Maybe one day someone will come up with an Ugnaught/Gunray build that will blow everyone's mind. Or they get buffed or something. This probably won't happen anytime soon tho.
The level cap increase is just around the corner and new toons are on their way. The way i understand the announcements is that for now there is JUST the level cap thing happening and AFTER that the NEXT major update will bring new stuff. Chances are, we won't see any new toons for another 3-4 weeks.
So, regarding Arena Shipments you re either
Then, IG-88 is THE WAY to go.
He is actually somewhat similar to Sid yet fits a slightly different role. Sid is more or less an allrounder, usefull in any game mode. With his healblock, HP gain on any-units death and the recent +35% Evasion buff against Jedi attacks he should still be viable at level 70 despite his low hp.
IG-88 seems like a "less potent" version of Sid at first glance. His healblock is only 45% chance, his leadership is straight up worse, he is much slower and doesn't have a dodge mechanic (despite his description which reads: "High-Damage stifler with High Dodge, enemy heal reduction and enhanced critical damage". Hey John/Aaron, how about something like "+10% Evasion against enemy attacks" enrolled into his kit ? Being a feared and nimble bounty hunter and all that eh).
BUT the key part in his kit is - enhanced critical damage - which makes him hit WAY harder than Sid. Or any other AoE type toon for that matter. Everyone should by know how it feels to get blown up by a Darth Maul, if there happen to be any Jedi in the squad. Well .. actually IG-88 is like Maul. Except he's better. Yeah you read that right. In almost every aspect. He's faster, he hits as hard as Maul with his double damage against Jedi , except IG-88 ALWAYS hits that hard , no matter the target. And on top of that he has ability block. The source of his Damage is his Unique ( and applied debuffs ).
His unique reads: "IG-88 has +30% Critical Damage and deals 15% more damage for each enemy suffering a negative status effect".
He gets another + 15% Crit dmg = 45 % total, at level 62. Means he crits not like the rest for measly 150% crit dmg , nah this little dude will get those big numbers rolling with crits for 195% ! That's before any leadership bonuses. With Sid lead this number goes up to 215% crit damage! With Boba lead that would be 240% crit damage ! That's just huge. Wait there's more !
On top of that - or rather before all that crit calculation thing is happening - he gets + 15 % damage bonus for EACH enemy suffering a negative status effect --> that's 75% bonus damage if 5/5 are dotted / debuffed! Since Sid moves before him and applies dots to everyone means double the dibs for IG-88! Almost DOUBLE base damage AND more than DOUBLE crit damage! Yeahhhh double the fun. On average a maxed IG-88 crits for 5k! I've seen as high as 7k and i've seen less so let's say round about 5k. All those numbers make IG-88 the REAL carry of a team and make Sid look like a wet noodle.
That's ON HIS OWN --> IG-88 is a decent toon. Slightly weaker than Sid. That's why everyone went for Sid and not him. But! There was a toon added who alleviates IG-88 weaknesses and at the same time increases his effeciency! It's .. Poe! Everyone's favorite Poe pushes IG-88's performance through the roof. By PROTECTING HIM at high speed from nukes, by REDUCING ENEMY METER so that poor, avarage speed IG-88 gets his Nuke off AHEAD of the enemy team and by EXPOSING STUFF so that the poor droid has an EVEN EASIER time nuking the stuff out of people!
Below you can see the core of a rather versatile build a lot of you are goin to like. I'm actually quite surprised that outside of a few comments no one is really talking about it. Due to it's farmablility this build should fit the needs of most F2Ps as well as a lot of P2Ps who can spice it up with Chromium exclusive Characters. I consider this a rather basic build with a clear strategy in mind. Just like i said about Poe: In my opinion, this could be the Go-To build for the majority.
Basic order of events: Sid AoE ~3k dmg --> Poe Taunt/Meter Down/Expose(~2k dmg) --> IG-88 AoE ~5k dmg = 3+5 = 8k dmg --> Anyone with expose who is not a tank will likely die at this point + 2k dmg = ~10 k AoE damage. Rest is at ~25% Hp and possibly ability blocked. And you still have TWO MORE toons to go while the opposition HAS TO attack Poe(Taunt)! Who happens to be rather tanky with 89% tenacity + ~11,5k Hp now / ~ 14,6k Hp at level 70.
In regard to slot 4 and 5 there's actually a large variety of random toons viable for this build. Depending on the added toons the strategy somewhat changes. "Pure AoE nuke", "picking off wounded targets", "cripple builds", even "meter builds" work. Seems like almost everything works with this core.
Viable options are:
Not that hot on defense against speedy nukers like Leia, Rey and / or QGJ since they can just nuke IG-88 first round ( before your Poe gets a chance to move ) and your team falls apart. But due to the current AI there is not that much room for holding rank anyway atm. Assuming top 10 with maxed stuff on both sides, human player is heavily favored. If Poe's level 70 143 speed is accurate you will have a decent chance even against the big boy Chrome-only teams out there. If Poe's speed gets reduced by one digit you won't be able to hold rank but might have a shot at Offense.
TL;DR: IG-88 was good before hardlaunch, in the AoE/Nuke meta, he is good now and odds are he is going to be good at 70. Go get him, pair him with Poe and Sid --> Profit.
Thank you for your attention. Feel free to comment, suggest and/or criticize.
Good Luck have fun farming/nuking.
At the beginning of the game the answer to the question "Who to farm first?" was in most cases: "Sid". Now, after almost two months into the game the majority should have a 7* Sid. Regardless of Arena Rank. Top 10 is maxing out their 2nd Arena Shipment toon atm.
So, questions like "Who to farm next?" arise.
There are quite a few different options like: Han, HK-47, Assajj, Ackbar, Greedo, Savage, Eeth Koth or even CUP. Actually everyone sans Ugnaught and Nute Gunray is worth considering. Which in turn speaks volumes for the game's current state, balance wise. Maybe one day someone will come up with an Ugnaught/Gunray build that will blow everyone's mind. Or they get buffed or something. This probably won't happen anytime soon tho.
The level cap increase is just around the corner and new toons are on their way. The way i understand the announcements is that for now there is JUST the level cap thing happening and AFTER that the NEXT major update will bring new stuff. Chances are, we won't see any new toons for another 3-4 weeks.
So, regarding Arena Shipments you re either
- a) stuck stockpiling (in hopes that with the level cap there's at least ONE toon added to arena shipments that just so happens to be the NEW Go-To toon for everyone). Even in this best case scenario, spending those 26400 tokens needed for a 7*, without draining your crystal resources, might take a while.
- b) maxing out random stuff you got from Chromium Packs
- c) going for the "risky" toons. Characters that seem mediocre now but MIGHT become relevant in the (near?) future. Greedo is a good example. He WILL have gear advantage at level 70. His Thermal Detonator WILL get a rework (soon?) and he is already as is not THAT bad of a toon with a lot of potential in his multi attacks.
- d) buying / maxing toons you would just like to play and have fun with. ( could/should possibly be the most "fulfilling" answer to all questions like that )
- e) going for specific toons that have potential to work in your specific squad. E.g. HK-47. Slow, Avarage hitting, bulky support toon that feels rather mediocre. BUT stick that guy on top of a bunch of driods and he becomes THE LEADER. Lots of pew pew for those driods thanks to his meter-gain on crit mechanic. Unless there's a heavy Jedi-Meta going there is no real reason for him to be run outside of the droid leader position tho.
- f) going for the " Safe bet " aka: The REAL AoE King, .. IG - 88.
Then, IG-88 is THE WAY to go.
He is actually somewhat similar to Sid yet fits a slightly different role. Sid is more or less an allrounder, usefull in any game mode. With his healblock, HP gain on any-units death and the recent +35% Evasion buff against Jedi attacks he should still be viable at level 70 despite his low hp.
IG-88 seems like a "less potent" version of Sid at first glance. His healblock is only 45% chance, his leadership is straight up worse, he is much slower and doesn't have a dodge mechanic (despite his description which reads: "High-Damage stifler with High Dodge, enemy heal reduction and enhanced critical damage". Hey John/Aaron, how about something like "+10% Evasion against enemy attacks" enrolled into his kit ? Being a feared and nimble bounty hunter and all that eh).
BUT the key part in his kit is - enhanced critical damage - which makes him hit WAY harder than Sid. Or any other AoE type toon for that matter. Everyone should by know how it feels to get blown up by a Darth Maul, if there happen to be any Jedi in the squad. Well .. actually IG-88 is like Maul. Except he's better. Yeah you read that right. In almost every aspect. He's faster, he hits as hard as Maul with his double damage against Jedi , except IG-88 ALWAYS hits that hard , no matter the target. And on top of that he has ability block. The source of his Damage is his Unique ( and applied debuffs ).
His unique reads: "IG-88 has +30% Critical Damage and deals 15% more damage for each enemy suffering a negative status effect".
He gets another + 15% Crit dmg = 45 % total, at level 62. Means he crits not like the rest for measly 150% crit dmg , nah this little dude will get those big numbers rolling with crits for 195% ! That's before any leadership bonuses. With Sid lead this number goes up to 215% crit damage! With Boba lead that would be 240% crit damage ! That's just huge. Wait there's more !
On top of that - or rather before all that crit calculation thing is happening - he gets + 15 % damage bonus for EACH enemy suffering a negative status effect --> that's 75% bonus damage if 5/5 are dotted / debuffed! Since Sid moves before him and applies dots to everyone means double the dibs for IG-88! Almost DOUBLE base damage AND more than DOUBLE crit damage! Yeahhhh double the fun. On average a maxed IG-88 crits for 5k! I've seen as high as 7k and i've seen less so let's say round about 5k. All those numbers make IG-88 the REAL carry of a team and make Sid look like a wet noodle.
That's ON HIS OWN --> IG-88 is a decent toon. Slightly weaker than Sid. That's why everyone went for Sid and not him. But! There was a toon added who alleviates IG-88 weaknesses and at the same time increases his effeciency! It's .. Poe! Everyone's favorite Poe pushes IG-88's performance through the roof. By PROTECTING HIM at high speed from nukes, by REDUCING ENEMY METER so that poor, avarage speed IG-88 gets his Nuke off AHEAD of the enemy team and by EXPOSING STUFF so that the poor droid has an EVEN EASIER time nuking the stuff out of people!
Below you can see the core of a rather versatile build a lot of you are goin to like. I'm actually quite surprised that outside of a few comments no one is really talking about it. Due to it's farmablility this build should fit the needs of most F2Ps as well as a lot of P2Ps who can spice it up with Chromium exclusive Characters. I consider this a rather basic build with a clear strategy in mind. Just like i said about Poe: In my opinion, this could be the Go-To build for the majority.
- Sid ( Lead )
- Poe
- IG-88
- Random (AoE) toon
- Random (AoE) toon
Basic order of events: Sid AoE ~3k dmg --> Poe Taunt/Meter Down/Expose(~2k dmg) --> IG-88 AoE ~5k dmg = 3+5 = 8k dmg --> Anyone with expose who is not a tank will likely die at this point + 2k dmg = ~10 k AoE damage. Rest is at ~25% Hp and possibly ability blocked. And you still have TWO MORE toons to go while the opposition HAS TO attack Poe(Taunt)! Who happens to be rather tanky with 89% tenacity + ~11,5k Hp now / ~ 14,6k Hp at level 70.
In regard to slot 4 and 5 there's actually a large variety of random toons viable for this build. Depending on the added toons the strategy somewhat changes. "Pure AoE nuke", "picking off wounded targets", "cripple builds", even "meter builds" work. Seems like almost everything works with this core.
Viable options are:
- Maul + Lando works cause even more aoe threats --> possible turn 1 team wipe IF 55% ability block sticks on Healer(s). Somewhat slow tho, a lot of toons will go before Maul + Lando even after Poe reduced their meter = Pure AoE nuke
- Dooku + random (aoe) toon works cause 90 % Jedi ( Healer ) stun first turn to prevent that heal --> comeback. Also usefull against Jinn and / or Ben.
- GEO + IG-86 works cause assists --> huge dmg spikes turn 1. ( Rather fast setup ) = Picking off wounded targets
- Ben/Tarkin + random (aoe) toon works cause Off Down/Ability block (+meter down) ensures they can't fight back = cripple build
- Kylo + Phasma works cause 3k aoe + either yet another 1,8k aoe/slow or meter buff = AoE meter mix
- QGJ + random (aoe) toon works cause a fast Jinn assist is just King. (+ Dispel/Off up if needed )
- Leia/Rey + random toon works cause fast single targets nukes ensure kill potential
- Lumi + random (aoe) toon works cause Lumi hits hard, has an emergency heal and is mostly maxed anyway
- Poggle + random (aoe) toon works cause he's fast and provides Off Up (+ Spd Up for Droids )
- Any mix of the above or basicly any other decent toon that happens to bring something usefull to the table
Not that hot on defense against speedy nukers like Leia, Rey and / or QGJ since they can just nuke IG-88 first round ( before your Poe gets a chance to move ) and your team falls apart. But due to the current AI there is not that much room for holding rank anyway atm. Assuming top 10 with maxed stuff on both sides, human player is heavily favored. If Poe's level 70 143 speed is accurate you will have a decent chance even against the big boy Chrome-only teams out there. If Poe's speed gets reduced by one digit you won't be able to hold rank but might have a shot at Offense.
TL;DR: IG-88 was good before hardlaunch, in the AoE/Nuke meta, he is good now and odds are he is going to be good at 70. Go get him, pair him with Poe and Sid --> Profit.
Thank you for your attention. Feel free to comment, suggest and/or criticize.
Good Luck have fun farming/nuking.
Post edited by Darivon on
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Sid, Poe, IG-88, Kylo and Vader could be pretty nasty.
This is exactly the team I am trying to build.