I need a crash-course in the last few months of SWGOH

Wildcats1203

I quit playing this game several months ago, within a week of mods being introduced. I've decided to pick it back up. My top characters are level 80 and range from g9 to g11, but none of them have a single mod. I'm also hopelessly confused by the ships that are apparently now in the game.I'll include screenshots of my roster, but could somebody give me a summary of the last few months? What mods do I need (also, I still don't really fully understand how mods work), how do I work the ship update, what benefits did the Obi-Wan raid bring, what's the meta (it was Qui-Gon, Rey, and evasion when I left), what do the new characters do, are there any new recurring events, and pretty much anything else I've missed since the introduction of mods. Thanks!
My roster:
http://imgur.com/msvRrZw
http://imgur.com/GHvklUM
http://imgur.com/shpEfXp
http://imgur.com/pxI6RFQ
http://imgur.com/6kJwQPz

APX_919

Quick run-down on Mods:
1) You have to complete the basic mod battles in order to unlock each series of Mods - each series affects a different stat (health, defense, potency, speed, offense, critical chance, tenacity and critical damage).

2) A mod has a primary stat associated with it and it will ultimately have 4 secondary stats. A level E mod (basic) has only the primary stat. A level A mod has all 5 stats listed. Level A mods are better than E mods because each mod can be leveled much like a character and with each level an exposed (i.e. known) secondary stat has a chance to increase. I've found that level B and C mods seemingly have better odds for these increases.

3) Mods also come in rarity types with 1* being most common and 5* being least common. A 1* mod though cannot become a 5* mod (this is unlike characters). A level 1 1*-E mod is extremely basic and a level 15 5*-A mod is extremely rare.

4) You can get 1-2* mods of level E-D rarity in the mod battles. Once the first series of these is complete you can start mod challenges to get better mods (3-5* up to A rarity).

Of these mods, Health, Crit Damage, Crit Chance and Potency seem to get the most use. All mods have some synergy bonus when used together and when maxed out. 2 Health mods will net you a bonus of 10% to base health (for example).

Speed secondaries rule the day and any mod that has a 5 or better speed secondary is worth keeping. 15-20 is ideal but rare as snow on Mustafar.

APX_919

Quick run-down on "the Meta":

Until about a week ago, the AoE meta was in full force led by Wedge + Biggs (collectively known as Wiggs) along with Lando and Jedi Knight Anakin. One week ago two new characters were introduced: Baze and Chirrut. Like Wedge and Biggs who have a tremendous synergy (and bromance potential, let's be real here), Baze and Chirrut (Chaze) do too. For about two days this was the ultimate nightmare team to face in the Arena: Wiggs + Lando/JKA + Chaze.

Then came the ship update and the Boba rework. Boba Fett, who had long been demanding a rework, finally got one and what a one he got! He is now nigh-on-undefeatable with the right mods and Zeta abilities (another new thing introduced in the update).

HobaFett

You must have been doing pretty well before you quit!

APX_919

Update on Events:
1) Challenges are fully simmable (that did occur with the mod update but not sure if you knew this one)

2) Tournaments are a thing now - every two-four weeks there's a tournament for a new toon (or ship now) that costs ally points to refresh. This is how Chirrut and Shoretrooper (another Meta toon) were introduced.

3) There is a new raid - the AAT tank raid. The Heroic raid awards General Kenobi shards (a soon to be meta toon, too new for now but oh, he's coming) and the Normal Tier VI raid (no lower tiers) awards frustration (well, actually it awards some cool gear but takes a long time to beat due to insane health levels)

APX_919

Update on Ships:
Everyone's really new to this one (only 2-3 days old) so just follow the tutorial and have fun, nuff said!

Well, one other thing. When you left Sun Fac and Rex were P2P only toons but now they can be found in Ship Shipments and both are stellar toons in the Meta.

APX_919

Update on Toons:

Your current top roster is actually in good shape - JKA and QGJ are still awesome and Rey is still a heavy hitter. Rey needs good Health mods with secondary speed and protection to survive though (tenacity helps too) and JKA and QGJ need health mods with speed and potency. Overall not much need for improvement here.

I'd start farming Sun Fac and Rex since they are awesome toons (Sun Fac is a tough tank and Rex makes short work of crit damage heavy teams).

Wildcats1203

Thanks for the updates guys. Looks like getting back into the game shouldn't be too difficult.

pac0naut

I was going to say @Wildcats1203 - You don't need a crash course in the last few months, you need one just for the last few DAYS. That's how fast everything has changed.

WhenISayRun

Terrific and very helpful summary, APX_919!

MeiYuDai

There was a credit shortage.

People complained.

There was a credit heist.

The heist disappeared.

People complained.

Ships were released.

New ship credit system dryer than a martini with no vermouth.

Happy Thanksgiving.