Mostly-Objective Ship-by-Ship Analysis

Mageduckey

This guide is not meant to be a "Top 10" or a "Use these ships together for insta-win". Instead, it seeks to explore abilities, damage potential, utility options, and synergistic combos to help you get started thinking about who to use, when to use them, and how to use them. Hopefully this slightly subjective, yet mostly objective, look at the ships available will get your creative juices flowing so you can build a fleet of which you can be proud.

ALL VALUES PRESENTED ARE WITH ALL RELEVANT ASPECTS MAXED (max gear and 6 tier 5 level 15 mods on pilots, and max abilities, level 85, and 7* for both pilot and ship). Values are also natural - no buffs, no debuffs, no coconuts. Additionally, they are calculated for single-target only. Any AOEs, multi-attacks, or assists had their bonus damage values left out because they would distort the comparison. Lower level results WILL vary, primarily based on any gearing and rarity differential between pilots.

Ship Name

Ability Name (damage value at max level and max stats):
Ability Name (damage value at max level and max stats):
Ability Name (damage value at max level and max stats):

Total Health Rank: Health and protection combined
Speed Rank: Because speed is very important and we cannot (yet) mod our speed
Utility: One or two tags that describe the primary focus of the ship's kit

Reinforcements: Should you use this ship in your starting lineup or as a reinforcement?

Synergies: With whom should you use this ship to achieve maximum potential performance?

Gear: Amount of (significant) gear to take your pilot from "naked" to "maxed"
Shards: Number of locations in which you can acquire the pilot's shards
Overall Access to Max Stats: This is an attempt to compare the accessibility of max stats across all pilots. It includes expected number of shards gained per day if farming for the pilot as well as a rough average on the time it would take to farm all the gear from the ground up. This is meant to be a rough guideline to see if your "dream team" will be reaching its max stats before, after, or around the same time as other fleets. The higher the number, the easier it is to reach max stats.

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Ahsoka Tano's Jedi Starfighter

Reflexive Shot (26,535): Ahsoka has one of the lowest effective health pools. However, her basic has a 70% chance to gain Evasion Up for 2 turns to help increase her survivability. She also has the 6th highest basic damage, so even when her high-powered dispel is on cooldown she'll still be pumping out decent damage.
Shut Down (45,925): As the only guaranteed dispel right now (Fives and Vader both require a target lock), this ability is crucial to bypassing taunts, especially when Mace uses his ultimate on a taunt while you have Geonosian Soldier out (to prevent a turn loop). Although on a 3 turn cooldown, it can be reset if the enemy reinforcements. While the AI doesn't always reinforce right away, using it shortly after you kill an enemy will often result in cooldown shorter than 3 turns. This enables Ahsoka to put out just a little more damage.
Turnabout: This ability recovers 80% protection, which sounds nice, but at only 19k protection that amounts to a measly 16k life; this makes the heal very weak. The primary benefit of the heal is that she can cleanse DoTs, target locks, and other nasty debuffs. It is also one of the only means of applying Offense Up currently.

• Total Health Rank: 15th (92,880)
• Speed Rank: 5th (182)
• Utility: Dispel

Reinforcement: Ahsoka can work as a reinforcement, bringing in a mid or late battle push in damage. However, her cleanse is most useful up front so you can bypass the enemy taunts and blow up their attackers quickly.

Synergies: Ahsoka has no specific tags in her abilities, and with taunts being commonplace, she looks for no one in particular and is sought after by most everyone.

Ahsoka Tano

• Gear: 965 Purple, 440 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 2 Hard Nodes, Cantina Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.33/10

Biggs Darklighter's X-wing

Hit the Mark (21,517): Since his unique triggers on a special, giving Biggs advantage to guarantee he crits is a nice way to activate his taunt and let him do his job. Ackbar's Seize the Advantage and reinforcement bonuses work great with Biggs; the U-Wing's crew unique is the only other method of gaining Advantage right now.
Daring Assault: Biggs recovers 17,817 protection and taunts whenever a target lock lands. Using multiple ships with target locking potential increases Biggs' survivability and his usefulness. A nice bonus is that target locking someone who's already target locked will still trigger this effect.
Academy Maneuver (32,199+assist): Again, Biggs wants to working ships that provide target locks. This special has pretty poor damage for an ability on a cooldown, so you really want to get the assist from hitting a target lock if you can.

• Total Health Rank: 5th (122,748)
• Speed Rank: 10th (167)
• Utility: Taunt

Reinforcement: Biggs is great as a reinforcement for Ackbar because he gains Advantage; attack with his basic (which the AI never does on defense) and you've got yourself an instant taunt as a back-up play. If you're not running Ackbar, you have Vader, or you plan on starting the fight with Ackbar's Seize the Advantage, then Biggs can do well as a starting ship.

Synergies: Biggs wants target locks desperately; without them he has no heal and no taunt. If you aren't running ships that can reliably target lock (Vader, Fives, and Bistan being the only guaranteed target locks), you should either pick one up or consider dropping Biggs.

Biggs Darklighter

• Gear: 1230 Purple, 0 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 1 hard node, Cantina (10 energy), Galactic War Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.83/10

Bistan's U-wing

Opening Move (26,666): Although this ability does over 26k damage, Bistan's average damage output is only going to be around 18k because the primary reason to use him is his irresistible target lock, which is on a 3 turn cooldown. On the plus side, though, he can't be evaded while stealthed, which is all the time if using his target lock constantly. Additionally, while stealthed Bistan deals true damage, ignoring the enemy's armor. This makes his attacks do the same damage as attacks over 30k damage. He is a great counter to Sun Fac's 61% damage reduction while taunting (it would take an attack of almost 68k damage to achieve the same 26k true damage through Sun Fac's taunt).
Tactical Comms: Killing enemies doesn't happen super often (only up to 9 times in one battle, one of which doesn't count because it ends the fight), and on top of that 19% is a pretty inconsequential amount of turn meter to be giving when it's so infrequent. This benefit is marginal, even when Bistan also gains turn meter.
Scouting Mission: This is a solid reason to run the U-Wing. It is currently one of the only four sources of irresistible target locks in the game (Vader, Fives, and Cassian are the other two). Additionally, it grants stealth, keeping Bistan out of the line of fire and enabling his true damage.
Assault Plan: This is the primary reason to run the ship. Granting 20% turn meter to a random ally (important note is it isn't "other ally"; rather, the ship applying the target lock can also get the turn meter and Advantage) on each target lock is a great way to speed up a target lock fleet. Additionally, granting Advantage is an easy way to boost damage output. This is the machine that helps target lock fleets speed along nicely.

• Total Health Rank: 11th (103,729)
• Speed Rank: 7th (175)
• Utility: Irresistible target lock, turn meter manipulation

Reinforcements: Bistan can do fine as a reinforcement, but he doesn't benefit from any of the reinforcement bonuses. True damage can't crit, so unless you open with his basic instead of his target lock/stealth you lose out on that bonus damage. His target lock is irresistible so he doesn't need potency. And Valor benefits Mace, not Bistan. He's better suited to the starting lineup where he can target lock out of the gate for bonuses to his allies.

Synergies: Although Bistan is a Rebel and one of his abilities references Rebels, he doesn't really need to be with them. He's a solid substitute for Fives, provided you have another tank to fill in. He would prefer to be in a target locking fleet to best utilize his Assault Plan ability.

Bistan

• Gear: 1650 Purple, 330 Gold, 2 Raid
• Shards: 2 Hard Nodes, Fleet Shipments

Scarif Rebel Pathfinder

• Gear: 1290 Purple, 220 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 3 Hard Nodes, Cantina (8 energy), Fleet Shipments

Overall Access to Max Stats: 2.23/10

Clone Sergeant's ARC-170

Wing Cannons (22,181): Although his basic hits for relatively low damage, he has a chance to create a target lock, which benefits his crew ability. Since he's usually used in Republic fleets, the added source of target locks is nice because they don't have many (outside of Mace's basic and Fives' 5 turn cooldown).
Overcharge: This ability keeps Sarge in the fight and gives him some teeth. Every 4th turn he recovers 31,628 protection and gets 50% increased damage on his special and one hit from his basic.
Torpedo Strike (34,759): With his basic possibly creating a target lock, this is a nice punch every 3rd turn. If this comes up in rotation when he has a target lock present, you get bonus damage. If it doesn't, it's still a solid chunk of damage considering he's a tank. If you're dueling, make sure this ability is used while you have offense up to help guarantee the victory.

• Total Health Rank: 1st (150,052)
• Speed Rank: 20th (141)
• Utility: High health

Reinforcements: Clone Sergeant can play either side of the line. He has the most health, so he can withstand a lot of punishment at the start of a fight. He can also come in late in the battle when the enemy doesn't have all their best damage around, keeping him alive longer and giving him more opportunities to use his special and crew abilities.

Synergies: Clone Sergeant is a tank without a taunt. This is okay late game because he trades the lack of a self-taunt for damage and protection recovery. However, early game he wants to see a taunt over his head, so he's looking to pair up with Plo Koon and/or Mace Windu. Those are the only two who can drop a taunt on him. He wouldn't mind playing some shenanigans with Maul's Retribution buff either, especially if he has a chance to activate his Offense Up first.

Clone Sergeant - Phase 1

• Gear: 1160 Purple, 330 Gold, 4 Raid
• Shards: 3 Hard Nodes
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 2.95/10

First Order TIE Fighter

Target Acquired (24,284): As one of 3 ships with multi-attack basics (Falcon and Slave 1) and the ability to apply target lock on each hit, FOTP can land some solid damage on his basic. Ideally his proc chance on both effects would be higher, but even so he has a 66% chance to land his target lock (sticking it through tenacity is another animal).
Relentless Pursuit: If FOTP is flying in a fleet that hands out target locks frequently so that this can activate on every allied turn, FOTP will double his speed (82.5% TM gain outside his turn and 16.5% TM gain on his turn), which is already the 3rd fastest in the game. He doesn't have the most health, but if you can keep him hidden behind a taunt, he will activate twice as often as the enemy.
Strafe (47,114): This ability is almost broken. No other ship in the game can do an average damage of 47k each turn (natural/unbuffed). Add to the non-existent cooldown the fact that FOTP activates twice as often as your enemy and you are doing almost 100k damage (unbuffed, pre-armor) for each round the enemy takes (when most ships are around 30-35k natural). Out of a single ship.

• Total Health Rank: 17th (92,057)
• Speed Rank: 3rd (188)
• Utility: Speed, sustained damage

Reinforcements: This guy wants to see the bulk of the action. While he can work as a nice backup punch, he is best used in the beginning where he can start flexing his speed and abusing his unique and crew abilities for as long as possible.

Synergies: Get this man some target locks and a drink. He'll earn it. If you're not running a target lock-heavy fleet, though, abandon this guy (or at least abandon any hopes of seeing his best results). He does not benefit from Tarkin's or Vader's Empire bonuses, but he wants to be joined to Vader's hip for the target locks; since Vader obeys Tarkin's orders, FOTP is best used along with Vader under a Tarkin lead. He can certainly be viable elsewhere, but you absolutely must have constant target locks on at least 1-2 enemies if you want to see FOTP's true potential.

First Order TIE Pilot

• Gear: 1010 Purple, 110 Gold, 4 Raid
• Shards: 2 Hard Nodes
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 2.07/10

Geonosian Soldier's Starfighter

Front Line (27,067): One of the stronger hitting basic attacks. The bonus turn meter reduction is one of the only forms of manipulating the opponent's turn meter (Vader, Maul, and Resistance Pilot are the others). It is also the only one on a basic that will trigger every time, resulting in consistent reductions, albeit not the highest. The single downside to this is when you're attacking a ship buffed with Mace's ultimate (damage immunity). The target ship takes longer to activate, resulting in bonus damage immunity.
Swarm Aggression: Auto-assist. Cool. The 45% damage reduction reduces the effectiveness of this, but free damage is always welcome and the turn meter reduction on the basic can really help slow down your enemy. If you are fighting Mace, stick Soldier in reinforcements so this doesn't trigger and stick you in a loop fighting against a damage immune taunt.
Separatist Assault (41,221+assist): This crew ability has slightly better-than-average damage and calls a random ally to assist. That bonus 25% damage adds up thanks to the assist, so try to attack a target locked enemy if you can.

• Total Health Rank: 12th (101,127)
• Speed Rank: 22nd (137)
• Utility: Assists

Reinforcements: Geonosian Soldier can go anywhere. Ackbar's and Tarkin's reinforcement bonus both work, though Tarkin's will likely be wasted as you use Soldier's crew ability on entry. Mace's ability continues to only help himself, selfish bugger. He also works well as some turn meter reduction and extra attacks from the start.

Synergies: When you first see "double assist chance for Geonosians", you might be tempted to go for all three Geonosians. The problem with this is they are the 3 slowest ships in the game. Pairing Geonosian Soldier with Sun Fac is, however, a decent early-ships option right now, especially if you already have Soldier from early Cantina farming to help get through early stages. He is great in an Ackbar-led assist team, with his entire kit focused around those extra attacks.

Geonosian Soldier

• Gear: 550 Purple, 220 Gold, 2 Raid
• Shards: Cantina (8 energy), Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 8.75/10

Geonosian Spy's Starfighter

Undermine (22,920): On the lower end of the damage range for basic attacks, Spy has to be attacking someone with buffs in order for his basic to be relevant. Otherwise he just doesn't do much damage with this attack, especially for being an attacker.
Clandestine Operations: A 20% chance to stealth on being damaged is nice, but Spy doesn't have a lot of health to begin with. He can't afford to have this not trigger more than a couple of times before he's in the red and waiting to die. +35% critical damage helps in pumping out damage, but with only around 30-40% crit chance and no way to increase that, the damage gained isn't significant (40% chance after a 20% chance is an 8% chance to deal 23% additional damage).
Surprise Shot (38,195): Spy has one of the only 2 turn cooldown crew abilities. Being able to attack every other turn sounds amazing. However, the attack itself does only medium damage. Additionally, the nice "wombo-combo" option can only be achieved when combined with Maul AND an active target lock. If there were more ways to generate stealth on multiple allies, this would be far more plausible, but since the stealth only lasts for 2 turns anyway and Spy is slow, you will only get one massive shot off per Maul's stealth usage, which is a 3 turn cooldown. It's a fun way to wreck a tank in one activation, but you can't use it every other turn like this ability's cooldown suggests, and it doesn't always work; when it doesn't, you have a fragile attacker sitting there doing mediocre damage.

• Total Health Rank: 13th (93,080)
• Speed Rank: 21st (140)
• Utility: Combo potential

Reinforcements: Due to his slow speed, Spy could benefit from being a reinforcement simply so he gets to shoot once before getting blown up. He also benefits from both Advantage (Ackbar) and Potency Up (Tarkin) upon entering the battle. If, however, you're going for the big combo, he probably needs to be in your starting fleet.

Synergies: He has the same health as FOTP but without the damage or good synergy options. Once there are more options for applying stealth to ships, Spy could be extremely valuable since he could pull multiple ships every two turns, producing huge damage spikes. Until that time, though, Spy is too situational. He's looking for Maul, ideally an irresistible target lock, and a fast enough taunt setup that he can live to pull off the combo.

Geonosian Spy

• Gear: 1550 Purple, 330 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: Cantina (10 energy), Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 4.11/10

Imperial TIE Fighter

L-s1 Laser Cannon (25,312): A 70% chance to inflict target lock is solid, especially since there's only one chance to dodge the attack (unlike FOTP where the chance is 80% total but two separate attacks that can be dodged).
T-s8 Targeting Computer (37,715): The only source of Foresight so far, this guarantees that TFP's crew ability will trigger at least once, helping to speed up your fleet commander to get better turn meter positioning against your opponent.
Control Thrusters: All ships other than the Imperial TIE Fighter have 2% dodge/deflect chance; the Imperial TIE has 43% each. It might not have shields, but can evade far more frequently; when it does, it helps speed up your capital ship to hopefully gain an advantage on the enemy's capital ship, ideally reaching your ultimate first.

• Total Health Rank: 20th (72,723)
• Speed Rank: 2nd (190)
• Utility: Boost capital ship speed

Reinforcements: TFP can really go in either location. Poe's special will almost, but not entirely, kill TFP, so he can go in your starting lineup and live long enough to at least get 1 attack and one dodge activation. If the enemy doesn't have Poe in their starting lineup, TFP can start planting target locks and giving his commander speed from turn 1. TFP also works as a reinforcement, preferring that position if Poe is present. He can also wait in reinforcement with a Vader/Tarkin fleet to wait for the target locks to be distributed so he can reach maximum damage potential.

Synergies: TFP loves Vader, who speeds him up, and Tarkin, who gives him very sharp fangs. Under Tarkin, TFP's basic can hit as hard as 63,275 on a non-crit if every enemy is debuffed. Side-by-side with Vader, TFP will move 10% faster, putting him over Poe in speed (barring turn meter manipulation on the opponent's side). Due to Foresight guaranteeing at least one activation of his crew ability, TFP could work in a non-Tarkin fleet as a means of gaining the speed advantage over an equal speed enemy fleet commander.

TIE Fighter Pilot

• Gear: 1170 Purple, 220 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: Cantina (10 energy)
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.59/10

Jedi Consular's Starfighter

Republic Defender (15,510): This is a laughable amount of damage. It's only boosted to 20k under Tarkin (2 taunts) and 21k under Mace, with their respective uniques active. It is for this reason that Consular is not a threat outside of his special and his crew abilities.
Guarded Assault (38,531+assist): This is ability has amazing utility. Under an Ackbar lead, it can pull a tank to give 65-90% protection up to greatly extend their taunting services. It can also pull Sun Fac specifically as an additional means of generating a target lock. Wedge gets 25% turn meter on use. There are a lot of flexible options here. And don't let the sub-40k damage fool you - this is one of the few ship attacks in the game that deals special damage. Most ships' Resistance is 10% or more under their Armor, so this value won't be reduced as much as most other special attacks.
Stabilize: 65% protection recovery is solid, and 90% on a Republic ship is wonderful. Standard heal, though it might be best to use this on a tank because they have higher max protection, resulting in more total health given.

• Total Health Rank: 8th (104,920)
• Speed Rank: 15th (155)
• Utility: Targetable assist, protection recovery

Reinforcements: Consular can sit in the wings for a while, but he prefers to be out for the starting pitch; his main form of utility and damage is on a long 4 turn cooldown, so the sooner you use it the sooner it will come up again.

Synergies: JC loves to play with everyone. He gives an extra 25% protection recovery to Republic allies, but fits easily into most fleets due to his targetable assist and decent heal.

Jedi Consular

• Gear: 1000 Purple, 220 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 3 Hard Nodes, Cantina (10 energy)
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.83/10

Mageduckey

Millennium Falcon (Ep VII)

Quad Laser (27,162): Rey must be in the Quad Laser seat because it's just like her triple attack, albeit for less damage thanks to the 75% damage reduction on any additional hits. Still, it can be one of the highest basic damages if it gets at least two additional hits.
Against the Odds: This makes the Falcon a bigger threat the longer it's in the game. All three fleet commanders have an AOE they want to use, so this will slowly stack anyway over the course of the fight. Additionally, it forces your opponent to commit abilities with high damage to the Falcon lest they continually speed and buff her up. If she's buffed, she also has the added pleasure of slapping a target lock on the attacker to help spread the love with little red boxes.
Thrust Reversal: All three of the Falcon's other abilities want her to be buffed, and this is a great way to accomplish that. Protection recovery, extra evasion, and 100% bonus turn meter per surviving buff next turn. With one of the slower speeds in the game, the Falcon needs good taunt protection to ensure she lasts two full rounds of combat and that her buffs stick with her during the second time around. With three Thrust Reversal buffs remaining, the Falcon can do at least 129,020 damage (pre-armor) to a single target with her basic, counting only the guaranteed bonus hits from the presence of buffs, or 51,683 damage (pre-armor) to all enemies with Gambit. Combining the two (couple of basic attacks followed by Gambit) when the Falcon has more than just Thrust Reversal buffs would generate a lot of damage that your enemy couldn't counter right away (other than Retribution).
Gambit (20,673): This AOE is rather weak when compared to Boba's and Fives' options, but it reaches respectable damage when it sacrifices three buffs. A nice feature is that this is a multi-hit attack, not a multi-attack ability. This means the attack only has to pass the evasion check once. If you don't have any buffs on the Falcon, this should probably be saved unless it can guarantee a kill on someone hiding behind a taunt.

• Total Health Rank: 18th (91,514)
• Speed Rank: 16th (152)
• Utility: Multi-hit attacks

Reinforcements: With one of the most fragile ships in the game, Rey and Finn want to hide from all enemies. Combined with their low speed, they might have a hard time making it all the way to turn two unscathed (to actually use their Thrust Reversal buffs). However, if you bring them in from reinforcements, they skip turn one of vulnerability waiting to gain the stacks, and you can drop them behind a now-functioning wall to protect them until their slow ship makes it to another turn.

Synergies: As a Rebel ship under Han and Chewie, the Falcon.....errr, as a Resistance ship. Under Rey and Finn. Right. Ahem. Currently there are no synergies based on faction (Poe and Resistance Pilot don't care who they fight beside), but there are definitely potential synergies based on target locks (the Falcon doesn't care too much about them but can apply them outside of turn). However, the Falcon is such a fragile ship that relying on it to generate target locks when attacked is like wanting an ice sculpture to stay intact while you throw it in the air for dramatic effect. You might catch it safely on the way down, but there's a good chance you won't.

Finn

• Gear: 1030 Purple, 110 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 1 Hard Node, Cantina (10 energy)

Rey

• Gear: 1000 Purple, 220 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: 3 Hard Nodes, Guild Store

Overall Access to Max Stats: 2.92/10

Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter

Coordinated Assault (24,122): Speed Up on Plo Koon means more taunts and more turn meter manipulation. The damage is middle tier as well, which is nice because it's his only damaging ability.
Wings of the Republic: This is what makes a Mace Republic fleet difficult to take down in 7.5 minutes. Being able to select who receives your taunt gives immense flexibility and extended life for your tanks. Best used with two tanks and Mace so you can bounce taunt back and forth while healing whichever tank needs it more. Tanks have 50k+ protection, so 65% Protection Up is begging to be slapped on a Republic tank.
Inspiring Charge: Jawa Engineer turned into a Jedi and hopped into a starfighter. Most Republic ships are in the top half of all ships in terms of speed, so they're already going first and/or frequently. Having 40% free turn meter for the entire fleet builds on that speed advantage to further punish your enemies.

• Total Health Rank: 9th (104,694)
• Speed Rank: 6th (179)
• Utility: Targetable taunt, turn meter manipulation

Reinforcements: Plo could sit in reinforcements, but he definitely prefers to be on the front lines. He's the 6th fastest ship in the game, so he's practically guaranteed to survive until he can drop a taunt or give 40% turn meter.

Synergies: Due to the free 65% Protection Up on his taunt (along with a convenient cleanse), Plo really wants to work with Republic tanks (Rex, Sarge, and Fives). However, he can still be viable with non-Republic tanks, though they will miss out on 35k+ bonus protection every 3 turns.

Plo Koon

• Gear: 1110 Purple, 0 Gold, 4 Raid
• Shards: 1 Hard Node, Cantina (10 energy)
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 4.38/10

Poe Dameron's X-wing

Cover All Angles (30,091): Daze is a pretty strong debuff, given all the assists and turn meter manipulation that not only exists but is frequently used. Applying it on his basic gives Poe great utility, provided he has someone to set up target locks for him.
Bolt from the Blue: The length of the cooldown means this will likely only be used once or twice in a battle, but that's okay. +50% offense on the hardest hitting basic is a solid boost and helps Poe contend with Tarkin's damage stacking for Empire allies.
Perfect Shot (49,425): The hardest-hitting single target crew ability in the game. Although it's a guaranteed critical on 0 protection enemies, it can still crit through protection. So don't hold it back for more than 1-2 turns waiting for the "unavoidable crit", as it still does considerable damage without being a critical hit (60% more than his basic).

• Total Health Rank: 16th (92,724)
• Speed Rank: 1st (193)
• Utility: Speed, daze

Reinforcements: Poe is great in a starting lineup because he will always go first. However, on defense the AI will always use his crew ability on the first turn. Unless it targets the enemy's Imperial TIE Fighter, it misses its opportunity to be a guaranteed crit. If Poe is in reinforcements, though, there's a chance an enemy might lose their protection by the time the AI brings in Poe. Despite this, though, his speed and powerful attacks are best utilized (on offense, anyway) when he is the first ship to activate in your battle because he will spend more time dishing out high damage to your enemies.

Synergies: "Look, I want you to take her. I mean it, take her! You need all the help you can get; she's the fastest ship in the fleet!" Poe is fast, hits hard, and doesn't really care which faction he shacks up with. All he wants to do is go fast and blow stuff up. Target lock providers preferable but not required.

Poe Dameron

• Gear: 1015 Purple,, 330 Gold, 4 Raid
• Shards: 2 Hard Nodes, Cantina Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 4.38/10

Resistance X-wing

Hot Pursuit (27,593): With the third highest basic attack damage in the game, Resistance Pilot has consistent damage in exchange for a more mediocre average damage value (but you don't have to wait on a cooldown for the damage spike). However, once you start throwing in Expose on target locked enemies, her basic will cause at least as much damage (total) as the initial hit in Geonosian Soldier's assist attack, probably more (since it's 20% of target's health). This 20% ignores any kind of damage reduction, so it is a great way to eat through beefy tanks.
Disarray: Daze is a solid counter to Ackbar fleets, which focus on assists, and also render his ultimate innert (on that one ship). It also slows down Rex and Plo from Republic fleets. Lastly, it can effectively halve FOTP's damage output (he gets 99% turn meter total for each of his regularly acquired turns when used properly). It is the second strongest debuff in ships, next to target locks.
I'm On It! (36,848): This crew ability deals average damage for a cooldown ability, preventing Resistance Pilot from having any major damage spikes. However, it acts as an additional source of target locks to help proc the Expose on her basic (and potentially sets up Expose on its own).

• Total Health Rank: 10th (103,758)
• Speed Rank: 14th (157)
• Utility: Expose

Reinforcements: Resistance Pilot works great as a reinforcement because although the target lock on her crew ability isn't irresistible, it is guaranteed to proc. So it will land more frequently than other ships' attempts, offering a mid-late battle option for reliable target locks to fuel the fleet's abilities. Because she is slower than a little over half the ships, she should ideally have target locks available to her no matter where she resides.

Synergies: Resistance Pilot needs ample target locks to spread Expose. Even if the target lock is only on one enemy, she wants to applying Expose every turn. Without it her damage is subpar, but with it she climbs to Poe's level of average damage output.

Resistance Pilot

• Gear: 1290 Purple, 110 Gold, 5 Raid
• Shards: Galactic War Shipments, Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 3.50/10

Rex's ARC-170

Hair Trigger (24,799): Rex's target lock is guaranteed to fire, though it could still be resisted. This is handy because most forms of target locking only have a chance to proc. However, this only occurs when the enemy has no buffs or debuffs, which is uncommon in a target lock-heavy fleet or against Mace (Valor) and sometimes Ackbar (protection up). Consequently, this is not as reliable a form of target locking as it might seem. The turn meter reduction is okay, but 10% isn't going to hold an enemy back very much.
Ready and Able: Tenacity is already 15% higher than Potency with ships, so adding another 10% difference will further increase your ships' resiliency to debuffs. The protection recovery is nice, but because it's only 19% it will really only be noticeable on tanks and to some degree supports. Since it affects "other allies", it won't be an effective form of healing for your primary tanks, but can certainly help top off your off-duty tank in a Mace/Plo build.
Republic Coordination: This ability is why Rex only wants to play with Republic friends. He can reduce the cooldown to two turns, providing insane healing and speed to select ships in the fleet. As if that weren't enough, he's classified as a tank, not a support - so in a Republic fleet you can slap Plo's or Mace's taunt on him and every other turn he'll recover half his protection on his own.

• Total Health Rank: 4th (126,524)
• Speed Rank: 13th (162)
• Utility: Turn meter manipulation, protection recovery

Reinforcements: Rex could be used as a reinforcement to rapidly boost another ship's turn mid-fight, but he much prefers to be on the starting lineup where his turn meter gain and early target locks (before buffs/debuffs are commonly distributed) can build momentum for his team.

Synergies: Rex wants to hang out with his Republic buddies. He can work in other fleets, but he is far more potent as a turn meter machine when he stays true to his faction.

CT-7567 "Rex"

• Gear: 1100 Purple, 0 Gold, 2 Raid
• Shards: Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.30/10

Scimitar

Dread Cannons (22,675): The second highest form of turn meter reduction (trumped by Vader at 100%), but only when Maul is stealthed. Since that only happens once every 3 turns, this is a somewhat unreliable form of turn meter manipulation if you intend to target specific ships with it.
Lurking Threat: A passive increase of 32.5% damage for 2 turns out of every 3 turns is a significant amount of additional pain you can bring to the enemy. This will also benefit any other stealth ships that may be released by CG. While a significant boost to your attackers, the bonus damage is roughly equivalent to having swapped out Maul for another attacker; if the stealth isn't needed for protection (aka you have tanks taunting regularly), you'd be better off going for another attacker or high damage support instead. The bonus damage helps make up for not having another attacker in Maul's place, but it doesn't give any more damage than an attacker would.
Slip Through: Stealth is a nice way to protect your ships because it can't be avoided with a simple dispel the way target locks can be ignored. Retribution is also wonderful, especially if placed on someone who has good effects on their basic (Sun Fac, Clone Sarge, and Boba all provide target locks in this manner). Now not only are you protecting your vulnerable attackers, you're dealing bonus damage and spreading additional effects. Three birds with one stealth.

• Total Health Rank: 7th (105,058)
• Speed Rank: 19th (147)
• Utility: Group Stealth, pseudo-taunt with retribution

Reinforcements: Maul is very slow. While he's the tankiest of the supports, at only 105k health there's a chance he will be blitzed down at the start of combat before he has an opportunity to stealth. However, if you put him in reinforcements, he will get to activate immediately upon entry and can stealth your team, putting Retribution on the one ally least in need of saving. Additionally, the AI will use Slip Through upon entry when your fleet is defending, acting as a pseudo-taunt that can immediately save your attackers and turn the tide of battle. He works okay up front but desperately wants to come from behind the reinforcement curtain to mess up your opponent's plans.

Synergies: Maul has no specific requirements for allies, and can function well with several fleets. He obviously lacks faction-related synergy with anyone (right now he's a lonely Sith), but he provides a means of late-battle immediate "taunt" that your opponent can't just dispel past. Pairing Maul with Boba, the beefiest of attackers, can result in just as much punishment as it does protection. Dropping it on Clone Sarge in a Republic fleet is handy if Plo has been killed off and Mace's taunt is on cooldown. However, it might not be wise to use Maul with Fives; Fives' basic is one of the weakest and with Retribution he'll be handing out turn meter like candy without doing any substantial damage to justify it. While you can intelligently avoid that on offense, the AI will likely slap Retribution on Fives because he's a tank. Retribution also pairs nicely with Ackbar, who grants protection up and +critical damage on each counterattack. This can effectively cancel out much of the enemy ships' damage (if on a ship with high enough base protection) while still getting some damage of your own.

Darth Maul

• Gear: 1245 Purple, 330 Gold, 3 Raid
• Shards: Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 4.87/10

Slave I

Rotating Twin Blaster Cannons (26,333): With higher basic damage than more than half the ships available (without even counting his multi-attack hits), and yet boasting the 6th highest health pool, Boba is a great attacker. He doesn't trade health for his damage, has a chance to target lock on his basic, and has two of the four non-fleet commander AOEs in the game.
Seismic Charge (13,374+20% HP): "This ability starts on cooldown." Unfortunate, but acceptable because it's a phenomenal finisher. It ignores protection AND armor. It will do between 45% and 49.5% of every ships health (not protection). A good rule of thumb is if your enemies' health is yellow, pull this trigger and they die if they don't evade. Pretty handy to have on hand, especially with the numerous protection recovery and protection up options in play.
Proton Torpedoes (41,900): There are very few ways to apply Ability Block on ships, and Boba has one of them, giving him additionally utility. This attack shines in a fleet built around target locks so you can maximize the AOE damage.

• Total Health Rank: 6th (108,595)
• Speed Rank: 17th (151)
• Utility: AOE damage

Reinforcements: Boba is an interesting ship. He's the tankiest of the attackers (highest non-tank total health), giving him a chance at surviving the first round until proper taunts can be placed. He's pretty slow, though, so keeping him in reinforcements and bringing him out after several target locks have been generated is certainly viable. The latter might also provide more opportunities to keep Boba safe until he can pop both AOEs for maximum damage.

Synergies: Boba wants to be with a strong target lock team. While he can still do significant damage with Seismic Charge regardless of who he's with, the more targets he can hit with Proton Torpedoes the more valuable he's going to be to you. Under Tarkin, with Offense Up and all 5 enemies suffering debuffs, Boba can technically get between 64% and 74% of anyone's health with Seismic Charge (ignoring armor and protection). The Empire might not want disintegration but they sure don't mind obliteration.

Boba Fett

• Gear: 1410 Purple, 110 Gold, 7 Raid
• Shards: 3 Hard Nodes, Cantina Shipments, Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 2.50/10

Sun Fac's Geonosian Starfighter

Air Superiority (21,742): This is the third weakest basic attack in the game. You won't be making any plays off the damage, but it's better than nothing (see Jedi Consular's basic for that). However, this basic is a beauty when used in an assist-focused fleet or with Maul's Retribution buff. With guaranteed proc chance, all you have to worry about is the enemy's tenacity.
Grudge: The guy's got a scar where his right eye should be; of course he's holding a grudge. Sun Fac is in the middle of the tanks on total health, and he can only taunt when the enemy is buffed. Since both Ackbar and Mace apply buffs to their ships frequently, Sun Fac is a solid option against both. He gains +40% defense when auto-taunting, bringing his total physical damage reduction to around 60%. Suddenly his 136k total health turns into 340k effective HP. The auto-taunt also makes him a great counter to Ahsoka and Fives as their dispel won't prevent him from taunting on the next buffed enemy's turn.
Prime Target (37,858): The damage on this is a little below average for crew abilities, but with buffs being commonplace the chance to stun is quite handy. With limited stuns and crown control available right now, this is pretty useful. Too bad it's on the slowest ship in the game (barring his turn meter gain on auto-taunt).

• Total Health Rank: 3rd (136,192)
• Speed Rank: 23rd (136)
• Utility: Auto-taunt

Reinforcements: Sun Fac is great in reinforcements as your opponent won't know he's there and will likely apply buffs as normal. Then Sun Fac can swoop in and soak damage like nobody's business. He can definitely be used in the starting lineup as well, though, as a means of discouraging your opponents from buffing at the start and slowing down their plan this way instead (though here they can see him coming).

Synergies: Sun Fac doesn't need anyone in particular, though he probably wants some allies toward the top of the speed chart in order to make up for his slow, low damage. He doesn't mind sitting next to another tank who can taunt while the enemy isn't buffed, or he can grab a taunt from Plo or Mace and just miss out on the 40% defense increase. He fits nicely into the Jedi Consular+Geonosian Soldier assist fleet core because of the doubled chance of calling Soldier to assist and the ability for Consular to apply a target lock with his select assist.

Sun Fac

• Gear: 1620 Purple, 110 Gold, 2 Raid
• Shards: Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 4.59/10

TIE Advanced x1

Deadly Accuracy (22,150): Okay. So Vader wins the target lock war. The damage is minimal if not buffed by Tarkin's unique (which gives 30% offense to Vader for each debuffed enemy), but the utility of permanent, unavoidable, irresistible target locks cannot be overstated. If you're using him with people that care much about target locks, that is.
Advanced Targeting System: No time outs, no cleanses, nothing short of someone dying will cause those pretty red boxes to disappear. Handy for a Tarkin fleet that's looking for some persistent debuffs to fuel the offensive fire. The turn meter gain isn't that noticeable unless TIE Fighter Pilot and Vader are assisting, but it also applies to Tarkin, helping you outrun other fleet commanders in an attempt to burst down the enemy.
I Have You Now: Unfortunately, both debuffs provided by this ability are resistable and temporary. However, they last for two turns, which can shut down key ships long enough to disrupt combos. The turn meter gain here is great for getting back into the target lock factory. It's also a viable dispel, since the enemy can't clear your target lock off their taunting tank.

• Total Health Rank: 14th (92,936)
• Speed Rank: 9th (170)
• Utility: Target lock King

Reinforcements: Vader could work as a reinforcement, but what he really wants is to be out front so he can see those tiny red boxes over multiple enemies as soon as possible. Just make sure he's protected so he doesn't die before he can get the ball rolling.

Synergies: His speed is in the middle, and he's quite fragile, so pairing him with a speedy taunt option is almost mandatory; otherwise, you'll lose him swiftly on defense and your fleet will sorely miss the steller utility. Other than defending him, he needs to be with people who can use target locks effectively. Ships like Fives, Resistance Pilot, Wedge, Boba, and FOTP all thrive when they join the darkside. Turns out they know the power of the darkside of the force.

Darth Vader

• Gear: 880 Purple, 330 Gold, 1 Raid
• Shards: Achievements, Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 5.30/10

Mageduckey

Umbaran Starfighter

Plasma Weapons (18,294): Second place for lowest basic damage, and gives away 25% turn meter every time he uses this paltry attack during his long crew ability cooldown. It does though apply Offense Down, Defense Down, and has the potential to dispel positive status effects. Not too shabby, so long as you're not looking to Fives to have any sort of consistent damage output.
Reckless Piloting: This can be a troubling unique to come to terms with because granting so much turn meter to the enemy is unheard of. However, there are ways to mitigate this disadvantage (on offense, anyway). When attacking with your basic, you won't deal damage, so why bother trying to hit their damage dealers. Instead shoot at someone who's turn frequency doesn't matter as much. At the very least you can target ships with >75% turn meter to try and mitigate how much you give the enemy.
Umbaran Missile Pods (36,954): This is why you pick up Fives (in addition to his massive total health pool, though that's only relevant with Maul, Plo, and/or Mace). Irresistible target locks are hard to come by (the only other one not gated behind a tournament structure requires two fully geared characters to reach max potential, and it's a lot slower, too), and the damage potential is pretty impressive when you have several target locks applied.

• Total Health Rank: 2nd (137,570)
• Speed Rank: 4th (183)
• Utility: Irresistible target lock

Reinforcements: If you're using Fives for big AOE damage in a target lock fleet, he should probably go in reinforcements so his crew ability is up to do massive damage at an opportune time. In contrast, as one of the fastest ships in the game he is a wonderful candidate for getting a target lock out there to trigger abilities (most commonly Biggs) before the enemy can activate too many ships.

Synergies: Although Fives doesn't need to be with his Republic buddies to work well, if he's to play the role of "Guardian of the Fleet" he needs to sidle up to Plo and/or Mace so they can target him to receive their taunt. He can do wonders in a Vader-enforced fleet under Tarkin, where he would receive +35% damage for each target locked enemy (who he's also hitting). He probably works better under Ackbar, though, for if you line up his crew ability and Ackbar's ultimate ability you can clear some serious health off the enemy side in "one" turn.

CT-5555 "Fives"

• Gear: 1025 Purple, 220 Gold, 2 Raid
• Shards: 2 Hard Nodes, Cantina Shipments, Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 6.21/10

Wedge Antilles's X-wing

KX9 Laser Cannons (27,742): Wedge has the 2nd highest basic damage in the game, and he deals even more damage via applying DoTs whenever he lands a critical hit. Each DoT removes 5% of the target's max health, and they stick for two turns. This means Wedge's DoTs deal just much damage as Resistance Pilot's Expose. They trade out immediate damage to get rid of the pressure to attack that same enemy again within the next two turns. Wedge's are slightly more vulnerable to cleanses, though.
Lead the Way: Wedge wants to be attacking out of turn as much as possible; while there is only one targetable assist right now, using Wedge in a fleet based around assists will help increase the overall turn meter benefit he gets from this unique.
Eyes on the Breach (46,580): This is the third highest crew ability damage, helping Wedge maintain one of the highest average damages over multiple turns. Deals bonus damage for any debuffs on the enemy and has the chance to apply up to 3 more DoTs on a target locked enemy.

• Total Health Rank: 19th (90,093)
• Speed Rank: 11th (165)
• Utility: DoTs, sustained damage

Reinforcements: Wedge doesn't mind being in reinforcements under Ackbar because Advantage will help ensure he gets off two DoTs upon entry. In an assist-focused fleet, having him start would give him more opportunities to trigger hsi unique before either he dies or those with the assist abilities die. He can be used in either location with fairly similar results.

Synergies: Wedge pairs well with Biggs (who would have guessed?), as well as other assist-based characters under an Ackbar lead. Because it's only a 10% gain per debuff, Wedge isn't scrambling to get on a debuff-focused team; it's a nice bonus, but it's only 10% each once every 4 turns. Not enough to turn your whole fleet around, but certaily a nice boost on his already strong crew ability.

Wedge Antilles

• Gear: 1130 Purple, 330 Gold, 5 Raid
• Shards: Cantina (12 energy), Fleet Shipments
• Overall Access to Max Stats: 3.50/10

No permission to host this is given without my (electronic) written consent.

Mageduckey

Reserved.

Update: Fixed Bistan and SRP supposedly having hard nodes. Reversed Access score to be more intuitive - now the higher the score, the easier it is to gear/promote the pilot.

Most_Licey

Thanks for preparing this.

Pacdiggity

AMAZING guide. Cant tell you enough how helpful this is!

Flamethrow

Great guide thanks!

Amnor

I was looking for a guide like this. Thanks!

Ricter

Well done.

Mageduckey

Update: Fixed Bistan and SRP supposedly having hard nodes. Reversed Access score to be more intuitive - now the higher the score, the easier it is to gear/promote the pilot.

Zeus23

Mageduckey wrote: »

Update: Fixed Bistan and SRP supposedly having hard nodes. Reversed Access score to be more intuitive - now the higher the score, the easier it is to gear/promote the pilot.

Great!!!

make more "reserved", you will need them a lot)))

Mageduckey

Zeus23 wrote: »

Mageduckey wrote: »

Update: Fixed Bistan and SRP supposedly having hard nodes. Reversed Access score to be more intuitive - now the higher the score, the easier it is to gear/promote the pilot.

Great!!!

make more "reserved", you will need them a lot)))

I think one reserve post should be sufficient to hold however many updates I post; most edits are minor and I don't mention because I'm fixing a typo or clearing up some wording. I only posted about the reversing of the Access score so people who had already started looking through the "files" would know the system was altered.

Tamonizer

Great guide! What do you guys think should we first focus on farming?

Mageduckey

It depends what kind of fleet you want and what pilots you already have at a decent level. There's a need for balance between getting early ships going for the comparative advantage (since those are your best pilots) and focusing on the ships you want in your eventual fleet. If a ship is in both, definitely focus on that.

If all you're looking for out of ships are zeta mats, then you should probably emphasize dark side ships so you can do Tarkin's tier 4 challenge without wasting too much time or resources.

Otherwise, go for the kind of fleet that suits your style of play. If you want a tanky wall, go with a Mace-led Republic fleet. If you want a fast, somewhat glass cannon build, go with a Tarkin-led debuff focused fleet (Vader/FOTP/TFP/Biggs). If you want a balanced fleet, go for an Ackbar-led assist focused fleet (GS and JC being your biggest contributors).

Free_Empires

"No coconuts"

BobaMyFett

What about cassians u-wing?

Mageduckey

BobaMyFett wrote: »

What about cassians u-wing?

Because it was pulled I decided I would wait to do a section on it until it became available/relevant. I do, however, need to add sections for TIE Reaper and Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle.

Woodroward

@Mageduckey
Since you have been the forums' long-reigning ship guru, any chance you are up to updating the stats here for G12 characters?

I see you've been inactive for a bit though...

Mageduckey

Only inactive on the forum. Still playing daily

I haven't done much with this guide in the last few months because, well, ships are essentially a dead feature Also part of the guide (the stats portion) is irrelevant now that swgoh.gg has ship stats. They're even sortable. I guess I could add the strategy portion for the missing ships, but even then most that are missing aren't farmable or don't drastically impact the terribly stagnant "meta".

Spirulina999

Thanks for the truth, as always! I enjoy fleet farming and battles, am having zero success in events and challenges for capitol ship shards - only Executrix and 3 each DS and ls ships at 5 stars, all now requiring that. Not willing to gamble $ for whatever the data cards have. Not enough resources at f2p to invest in characters and ships at same time. Farming tie advanced, Scimitar, is ghost a waste due to slow speed? Should I focus on Wiggs pair to farm? I cannot get tie raider or Kyle shuttle, Cassian u wing and **** too far off, even Bistan u wing straining resources to build up.
Ally code 491-538-127. Thank you

swgohfan29

@Mageduckey :

My own analysis of Kylo Rens Command Shuttle

Gearing Up FO for BB8, KRCS is definitely something u might want to consider. With a triple crew, its hard to level, but one may consider that it was all worth it. Lets check it out

Disclaimer: I m using maximum ability and skills here. Also, i m not really highly ranked in ship arena.

Basic: 22-24k damage: KRCS only attacking move packs a below average punch. Still, as a support ship, this move is not really meant to be used often.

Special: Surprise Raid 3 turn cooldown
Target ally gains 100% Turn Meter and Advantage for 1 turn, and their cooldowns are reduced by 1, but they lose 25% Protection.

: FOO must have had a word with Kylo here. Combine this move with Slave1 to unleash sesimic bomb a entire turn early. Alternatively, use it on TIE fighter with a neligible disadvantage and spam foresight, granting your capital ship TM. Consider Jedi Consular Starfighter as well.

Special:
Strike Team 4 turn cooldown
Target ally loses all Turn Meter, then all other allies gain 23% Turn Meter, plus 25% of the Turn Meter that ally lost (doubled for First Order allies). If Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle targets itself, First Order allies gain Advantage for 2 turns.

Captain Phasma's Crew ability is basically victory march with a slight disadvantage: non FO dont get the advantage buff. Most of the time you want to target yourself, and admittedly i have not seen a case where targetting another ship is beneficial. With gains of around 50%TM to all ships plus 25% more for FOTP, this move is strong for a support ship like Kylo.


· Special ·
Advanced Jamming Array 4 turn cooldown
Dispel all buffs on target enemy, with a 55% chance each to remove 30% Turn Meter and inflict Healing Immunity for 2 turns.

Dispells are never a bad thing, so AJA will never be bad. Clearing Retributions, taunts and proct up will always have their uses, albeit onlu every 4 turns. Consider if not using Ashoka. Most of the time the other effects will get resisted:Consider them as a added bonus.


Unique
Zeal of the First Order
Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle has +30 Speed while it has Protection and +30% Counter Chance while it doesn't. If First Order TIE Fighter is present, it receives 25% Turn Meter every time the Command Shuttle takes damage

This is certainly a solid skill. KRCS has natrually low speed and high health/proct, so absorbing hits from attacking enemies whilst speeding up a already speedy charcter is the icing on the cake. If KRCS counters on a target locked enemy, FOTP will gain about 45%TM. Also, whenever KRCS counters he regains about 10k proct. It ll be hard to take him up. Join with Tarkins Retribution Reinforcement bonus.


STATS
Physical Damage:10.9k
HP plus Proct:120.6k
Speed: 135 (LOWEST)