Evolving Rebels

StormTro0p3R_H

On my leaderboard, the top whale and I have the same payout. Us both being gentleman, we share 1st place. That is, as long as I can beat him. I've got his revolving force and a maxed out Droid team between me and the top payout. It keeps me on my toes and with a Rebel heavy roster, I have to constantly explore limited options.

It started as:
Admiral Ackbar (AA) L
Stormtrooper Han (STH)
Hoth Rebel Scout (HRS)
Qui-gon Jinn (QGJ)
Captain Phasma (Phasma)

This was great fun. At the time my STH was faster than any of the Droids' Jawa Engineers. The people on my leaderboard will back me up in saying that this thing could generate an insane amount of turns. But even so, without me in control it would just fizzle out and get wrecked.

Then:
AA L
STH
QGJ
Lando Calrissian (Lando)
Emperor Palpatine (Emperor)

Against Droids I had to use Royal Guard (RG) instead of QGJ and I had thought this would be the end for me, well at least until Jedi Knight Anakin (JKA) permanently replaced QGJ. But in one of our playful banters I made a video of how this team wrecked the whale's Wiggs team and he came up with a Rex lead, Sun Fac, Emperor, JKA, Lando team that just crushed this bad.

Then:
Emperor L
Darth Vader (Vader)
RG
STH
Old Ben (Ben)

So this is what I had to use. Ben only 5* and gear 9. Not rebels at all and while it was a great team, with serious control, I missed Lando. Important to note that it took careful control of Rex to win but apparently did well on defense against other Emperor and Ben teams.

Needing fire power, a way to stop the inevitable taunt from Sun Fac, and a way to let me keep pace from all the turn meter I was giving the Rex team I went to:

Lando L
STH
HRS
Phasma
QGJ

Quite the familiar look. Not as crazy with turns as the AA squad, this thing makes Lando drop bombs as often as possible. And those bombs are pretty beefy with his leader ability. HRS soars to new heights with this since he's modded to crit a lot, Lando makes him great. Nothing super special is needed to beat Droids, surprisingly. The low health of theirs and sustainable turns I get even after they've offed a guy is enough for me to win.

So, this is what top (as in #1 at payout) Rebels looks like on my leaderboard. The good 'ol turn meter manipulation machine with Lando finisher. A single team for beating Droids, Emperor, Rex, or Wiggs.

Jon_Snow

Shouldn't Ahsoka Tano be considered a rebel as well??!!

StormTro0p3R_H

Jon_Snow wrote: »

Shouldn't Ahsoka Tano be considered a rebel as well??!!

Finally! I've been saying this since day one and nobody has listened!! Thank you. **cheeky**

V1p3rdyn4sty

You are a gentleman

darkensoul

Love it. Great job.

RogerMoore_007

@StormTro0p3R_H I have been running similar lineups as yourself recently. My STH is +210 speed but I am struggling to stay top 20.

It's good in attack but heavily dependent on good RNG otherwise it falls apart

I'm now going with
AA
Lando
Phasma
STH
HRS

AA leads gives more tenacity, speed, squad debug and extra turns. That's a lot of utility but obviously he has replaced QGJ who is also very versatile. I'll see how my squad holds up over night!

StormTro0p3R_H

@RogerMoore_007 My STH can get up to 252 with AA lead. I spend a fair amount of time optimizing turn order to get multiple Lando bombs with AA.

I've recently went to
Lando L
STH
AA
Phasma
QGJ

So HRS became AA, who is basically an extra Lando bomb when the turn order is right. Phasma goes just before AA, so Lando is primed for some sweet bombs.

Zooey

Seems like Scarif could perform a similar role to HRS in the 2nd lineup no? Tradeoff would be he's slower and won't grant TM first turn. Either way, I'm excited to see what he can do.

Edit: and thanks a lot for the write up. It's good to hear more ideas.

StormTro0p3R_H

@Zooey I'm anxious to see what the pathfinder can do. The Offense Down on his AoE is so nice.

I'd really love a Rebel with a dispel...

StormTro0p3R_H

Moved to:

Lando
Emperor Palpatine
Raid Han Solo (Han)
STH
AA

Lando is slowest and it plays like: Han stuns opposing dispel (or Rex if he's there,) STH taunts, Han uses "Never tell me the odds," Emperor AoE stuns, AA does "Tactical genius," Lando rains down bombs. Emperor's second turn is his laughter ability, which offense ups and turn meters your team with STH taunt active.

Durrun

Sounds excellent. Will EP laugh on his own or only when hurt? Also Lando mods?

StormTro0p3R_H

AI won't make Emperor laugh unless injured, so AI will shock the 2nd turn

Lando has a Crit Damage set with a 5* Crit Damage primary (now it's potency but obviously that's not ideal.) His speed is just under AA's which is just under being filled by STH taunt.

So Lando has 245% Crit Damage after mods and his leader ability. Should add his Crit Damage set is only 3*....

Durrun

Sounds like a kickass Lando regaurdless. I'm working on mine but it's slow. Going to run Rex, Ani, Lando, sun, sarge. The gear on Lando is kicking my **** though

StormTro0p3R_H

So here's the end of my line:

Lando lead (167 speed)
Stormtrooper Han (242 speed)
Emperor Palpatine (200 speed)
Anakin (169 speed)
Admiral Ackbar (168 speed)

Han taunts and only EP is full, he stuns. Anakin goes next with AoE damage giving offense up. Ackbar goes with tactical genius and Lando drops two huge hurt bombs of around 22k on tje second drop.

Working on ever higher speed for Palpatine so a Raid Han on STH doesn't hurt as bad. Can be rearranged with a little offense loss for a 10 speed increase with AA lead.

All Rebels using Wedge and Biggs wouldn't be awful, but farming Wedge and gearing those two is a long haul.

Mazurka

Sweet rebel squad, I've always had dreams of setting up a Lando Ackbar wombo combo, but never took the time to properly gear Ackbar. It's seeming that lando's viability isn't where it used to be on my server anymore, everyone's too fast for Lando to get two turns, but Ackbar could be a way around this. How is it holding up for you on defense @StormTro0p3R_H

RogerMoore_007

@Mazurka @StormTro0p3R_H
I'm now running with
AA
Lando
Palpatine
STH
RG

I sometimes sub QGJ for RG but I find the dual tank combo is better for defense. My STH is 194 speed but +25 under AA so he stays competitive. Ultimately I think Lando lead is more powerful but I need the AA speed boost. I love having AA because once STH taunts, I have either:
Palp stun then shock or,
Lando goes twice

Either way it's decent. I can maintain top 20 but the top 5 on my shard have proper speed mods whereas I haven't unlocked them yet

RogerMoore_007

As @StormTro0p3R_H pointed out, Wiggs is a longer haul due to gearing so I'm improvising with what I have

Zooey

I can't really find a good way to fit Ackbar in my team right now, even though I do like him. I'm currently using Lando (L), EP, QGJ, Phasma, STH and will probably go to Suicide Old Ben (L), EP, Anakin, Lando, STH soon to deal with all the droids on my server. I do like your speed optimization @StormTro0p3R_H, but I don't think it's doable unless I can get STH to 220+ base (he's at 212 right now).

StormTro0p3R_H

The main issue I have is Droids and Rex. For Droid I have a 5* Raid Han, g8 with full 1* Potency mods. For Rex, I use multiple fights and overpower him about half the time.

I think ultimately Raid Han should be permanent, but I take out Anakin for him against Droids. My shards droids use B2 so emperor shock must stay in.

ARO

For some time I have been following rebel threads as I am running AA (L), Leia, Rey, QGJ, and RG, and I plan to naturally evolve my arena team once I reach lvl 80. I was kinda hoping that one of these setups would be a one size fits all but I guess it will keep on evolving.

I'm currently flirting with a Lando (L), STH, Phasma, EP and AA team and in medium term I'm looking at the possibility of throwing Dengar in there.

StormTro0p3R_H

Closest to an end is the AoE strategy. Thing is Rex is made to ruin the AoE teams. You can beat Rex with AoE, it's just a shoot out since he'll likely have Ani, Lando, Sun Fac, and some tech. So can you get the turns when you need them when both your Lando and his are at 100% turn meter? 50/50

And not really relevant here but:
Emperor Lead
Darth Vader
Royal Guard
QGJ
...3* g8 Sarif Rebel Pathfinder

Zooey

StormTro0p3R_H wrote: »

Closest to an end is the AoE strategy. Thing is Rex is made to ruin the AoE teams. You can beat Rex with AoE, it's just a shoot out since he'll likely have Ani, Lando, Sun Fac, and some tech. So can you get the turns when you need them when both your Lando and his are at 100% turn meter? 50/50

And not really relevant here but:
Emperor Lead
Darth Vader
Royal Guard
QGJ
...3* g8 Sarif Rebel Pathfinder

Problem with that last team is Rex again. If he doesn't get stunned, you're toast.

StormTro0p3R_H

Yet that is my answer to Rex. It works, he can get ability blocked too.
(Not on defense if that's what you mean. Offensively Rex beats everything but defensively the Empire can beat him.)
It's robust and can beat Droids and Rex easily.

Zooey

StormTro0p3R_H wrote: »

Yet that is my answer to Rex. It works, he can get ability blocked too.
(Not on defense if that's what you mean. Offensively Rex beats everything but defensively the Empire can beat him.)
It's robust and can beat Droids and Rex easily.

Interesting. My Vader sucks though . I totally forgot he ability blocked, do you use his basic first?

StormTro0p3R_H

Before Culling Blade but after his AoE. He gets loads of turn meter from that.

StormTro0p3R_H

The latest iteration of rebels? Empire.

Seems all there was to love about rebels (mainly the turnmeter gain manipulating fights) can now be done better with Vader and Emperor Palpatine lead.

Ackbar letting Lando rain down two bombs actually pales in comparison to the turn frequency the Empire has. It's crazy...

Emperor lead
Vader
RG
STH
Old Ben

Fun team and can be used against all current meta squads: droids, rex, wiggs, and other emperors.

Ego12Draconis

StormTro0p3R_H wrote: »

Jon_Snow wrote: »

Shouldn't Ahsoka Tano be considered a rebel as well??!!

Finally! I've been saying this since day one and nobody has listened!! Thank you. **cheeky**

No she shouldn't. Not this one. Rather the older one. This one's only a Padawan and not even exiled since she still got her two sabers

StormTro0p3R_H

Just to address the previous post: I was being sarcastic about Ahsoka. But back to "Rebels"...we've advanced to a game state, at least on my "Disneyland" shard, that Ability Block is a very potent weapon. Speedy Ability Blocks are devastating to every team. Imagine your team only hitting with basic attacks...it likely stinks. Enter the next iteration of Rebels:

AA lead
Old Ben
88
Lando
STH

The good: FAST ability blocks and tons of damage with the timing of STH, OB, 88, AA, Lando

The bad: not DROID fast so...

Lando lead
Old Ben
88
STH
Raid (OG?) Han

The good: stun JE and do all the same stuff as before. Trades a first time double Lando for a first turn stun.

The bad: Rex led Wiggs gets boosted by Raid Han...not hurt so...

Lando lead
Old Ben
88
STH
QGJ

The good: Liam Neeson...but really the dispel stops the one thing that could really hurt this team: RG or a faster STH (there are none faster than mine but EP/RG are everywhere)

The bad: Rex and Emperor go down easily, Droids require a sub in of Raid Han for QGJ.

So, looks more like "Scoundrels" if anything. 2 Jedi, 2 Rebels, and a Robot.

RogerMoore_007

I like AA lead the best...
This tempts me to start farming Old Ben

Good post by the way @StormTro0p3R_H

ARO

Evolving rebels they are. I am succesfully running AA (L), STH, Lando, QGJ and EP if I need extra speed for STH or Lando lead if more crit dmg is needed. End of June shard here.

StormTro0p3R_H

So a final few teams for you to consider...

Against General Kenobi:

Lando lead
Stormtrooper Han
B2 Super Battle Droid
Old Ben
Emperor Palpatine/Admiral Ackbar

Set turn order to STH, Lando, B2, Old Ben, and EP or AA. The passive buffs from Kenobi get blasted away by B2 and puts blocks up while he's at it. EP stuns/shocks or AA tactical genius for double Lando.

With Bistan:

Admiral Ackbar lead
Bistan
Lando
Stormtrooper Han
Old Ben

Set turn order for Bistan, AA, Lando, STH, Old Ben. Pretty sad I'll never see this flurry of rebel fury in action. Bistan gets his full 4 attacks from frenzy, Lando drops double bombs, STH chains with Bistan to get Mind Tricks happening at 272 speed with my mods on this team...

Have fun with ships! I suggest Ackbar as your fleet commander! And if you get a shoretrooper from the tournament try him instead of Old Ben in that last set-up if raid Han is a bother to you! Farewell all, I am retiring

To the devs, @CG_JohnSalera, @EA_Jesse, and moderators, @BentWookiee...thanks for making a great game and a great community!