F2P Power Leveling Guide
February 28, 2016 4:30PM
edited March 2016
Posted in another thread, but I felt it warranted it's own. Mods can do with it as you choose, not that I could stop you anyway.
MY F2P Power leveling Guide current Meta as of 2/28/2016:
When you start at level 1 this is what you go for as a F2P end game team in the current Meta for Arena.
Ideally you should be crystal dumping into energy recharges as follows. 50/50 and 100 for cantina energy. If you are finishing in the top5 arena even better. then it is: 50/50 and 100/200 and 100 yellow eng recharge until you have about 50 crystals left for Arena recharge in the race to top 5 at PST 6:00pm everyday.
Just a little background on my exp. Have been playing since late Dec. Have 2 accts. One Max at lvl 70 and one Alt that I may drop just due to the Lunacy of GW and just don't have the time to commit to both. Both accts finish in the top 5 Arena and yesterday both finished no. 1. Alt is at level 61.
Main;
Darth Sidious (SID) 7*Lead
Geonosian Soldier (GS) 7*
Poggle 6*
Dooku 6*
Luminara (LUMI) 7*
Alt
Darth Sidious (SID) 7* Lead (sometimes QGJ for speed to take out Poe squads.
Geonosian Soldier (GS) 7*
Poggle5*
IG 86 6*
QUI GON JINN (QGJ) 6*
LUMI is still at 4* and it is hurting GW progress at this point to the point that I am not getting past node 3-4 but am also getting OP squads at those nodes too.
If i could I would switch IG 86 for Poe I would have. Didn't go for him on Alt as potential nerf was in progress. Had just gotten Poe fully geared and leveled on my main acct when nerf hammer happened very next day.
Strategy A:
1. Arena Shipments: (Sid to 7*) there really is no other viable option, unless you are building Keavan's Droid Stack.
2. Cantina Farming: GS until he is 7* 1A Cantina node
3. Cantina Farming: After GS is 7* it gets a bit interesting. Personally I would farm Jedi Counselor (JC) for GW in 3A until lvl 69 opens Dooku node. What about my 5th slot you ask. LUMI as explained below. Back to the Count and Dooku's speed/stun is HUGE against all of the QGJ teams now. Endgame, taking 1 toon out for 1 turn often is all you need for a W.
4. Cantina Shipments: POE is just as powerful as he was with speed tiers mid game so getting him first to 4 stars is REALLY helpful and he is still a top toon endgame although not as totally dominant as he once was. If you can get into top 10, top 5 even better you can throw 300 crystals into recharges which (w/24 hour recharge cycle) should net you 800+ cantina tokens for 10 shards a day or better. So get POE first to 4-5 stars (personally I would get him to 4 and stop until lvl 50 and then take him up to 5 and leave him there until 60 then to 6* and farm last at 70 to 7*) so now your Poe is 4* go after QGJ or you can skip Poe altogether and just QGJ only; but POE teams are going to hammer you for a few days when you get close to lvl 60 as he can get his speed to 142 before you can get enough toons to get above that to knock him out before he taunts.
5. Galactic War (GW) what a utter and TOTAL JOKE this table has become, but I digress. With GS in your line up Poggle is a necessity. But taking into account the MESS that GW is now this is how I would play it. Get Poggle unlocked and then switch gears and get Luminara to 4* switch back to Poggle to 5 and then go back to Luminara to 7*. Some might say get Luminara to Level 4* first but this could hamper some progress in Arena and IMHO you should be able to have the same effect in GW by going Poggle first and then Luminara.
6. Dooku. Everyday on your dailies you must do 5 hard core battles and 3 light side and 3 dark side for rewards. Dooku nodes are 1c light and 1c dark. So farm him there everyday until you get to lvl 69 and can open his node there where you can really make progress.
Strategy B.
1. Arena Shipments: (Sid to 7*) there really is no other viable option.
2. Cantina Farming: GS until he is 7* 1A Cantina node
3. Cantina Farming: Or w/ a Phasma lead team, Ren is very enticing, but I would still stick with JC until lvl 5 and then go after Ren if you want as Luminara can fill his slot. But the set back to farming Ren is minor IMHO so go after him if that is what you want to do.
4. Same as above with Poe and QGJ, but I have heard 1 (1 mind you) rumor that FO Officer synergies really well in a Phasma lead team. Most are not taking that option and taking into account with F2P experimenting is OUT, stick with above Poe/QGJ strategy.
5. GW: Switch Phamsa for Poggle.
6. Dooku daily farming in 1c light/dark nodes.
DPS Toons
GS. nuff said F2P equalizer
SID nuff said F2P equalizer
IG-86
Kylo Ren
Luminara is very popular as well for a number of reasons, she is one of the best in both Arena and GW so using her in the 5 slot is highly viable.
Support/Toolbox toons
Basic strategy for them is to get them to 4-5 stars depending on what level you are. 4* under level 50, 5* 50-60, 6* 60-70. Farm them last endgame.
Dooku (as F2P he really isn't hugely viable until endgame unless you get him Bronzium dropped to you or you get lucky buying the Darkside pack and don't get General "Good for Absolutely NOTHING" Veers ((Guess who I got)) No real problem here farming him last as that really is all you can do.
Phasma
Poggle
Poe actually is a good character in GW as he can burn a tough node for you without emptying your bench.
Stormtrooper Han is a good option to farm after Sid in Arena Shipments as he can burn a tough node for you as well in GW.
Barris is a must for GW especially in the mid game as the level variance is INSANELY DUMB. But unless she is a Bronzium drop, just not that viable.
To summarize teams A and B would be as follows:
A.)
1. Sid (lead)
2. GS
3. POE/QGJ after Level 62 and you may have to put QGJ as lead to get him to go in front of opponent POE taunt.
4. Poggle
5. Luminara
B.)
1. Phasma Lead
2. Sid
3. GS
4. POE/QGJ after 62
5. Luminara or Kylo Ren but Luminara is the better F2P option with GW being what it is currently and farming JC in 3a instead of Ren. But Ren is tough/tanky when paired with Phasma.
These strategies allow you to maximize your efforts in all of the nodes. Obviously you cant get to any of these level 1, but Arena is first to unlock, then Cantina and then GW. So play Chewy as your lead early on and get your highest starred guys/gals geared up and start farming.
GEAR IS HUGE. Always keep your main 5 at highest gear level that you can. This means you have to get to a point where you are not strong enough to unlock certain gear due to your own level cap or the light/dark battles are obliterating your squad. ALLWAYS MAX GEAR your elite 5.
Also make sure you go to http://www.swgohcantina.com. They have several guides and spreadsheets with a ton of information on characters, synergies and more. GREAT SITE and a MUST for the new player to spend time there.
so have fun, and prepare to be frustrated a bit by the constant meddling of Greek Gods that are paid to squeeze every buck out of this game. Be Patient or Open your wallet and fund the game for everyone else. Happy gaming peeps.
MY F2P Power leveling Guide current Meta as of 2/28/2016:
When you start at level 1 this is what you go for as a F2P end game team in the current Meta for Arena.
Ideally you should be crystal dumping into energy recharges as follows. 50/50 and 100 for cantina energy. If you are finishing in the top5 arena even better. then it is: 50/50 and 100/200 and 100 yellow eng recharge until you have about 50 crystals left for Arena recharge in the race to top 5 at PST 6:00pm everyday.
Just a little background on my exp. Have been playing since late Dec. Have 2 accts. One Max at lvl 70 and one Alt that I may drop just due to the Lunacy of GW and just don't have the time to commit to both. Both accts finish in the top 5 Arena and yesterday both finished no. 1. Alt is at level 61.
Main;
Darth Sidious (SID) 7*Lead
Geonosian Soldier (GS) 7*
Poggle 6*
Dooku 6*
Luminara (LUMI) 7*
Alt
Darth Sidious (SID) 7* Lead (sometimes QGJ for speed to take out Poe squads.
Geonosian Soldier (GS) 7*
Poggle5*
IG 86 6*
QUI GON JINN (QGJ) 6*
LUMI is still at 4* and it is hurting GW progress at this point to the point that I am not getting past node 3-4 but am also getting OP squads at those nodes too.
If i could I would switch IG 86 for Poe I would have. Didn't go for him on Alt as potential nerf was in progress. Had just gotten Poe fully geared and leveled on my main acct when nerf hammer happened very next day.
Strategy A:
1. Arena Shipments: (Sid to 7*) there really is no other viable option, unless you are building Keavan's Droid Stack.
2. Cantina Farming: GS until he is 7* 1A Cantina node
3. Cantina Farming: After GS is 7* it gets a bit interesting. Personally I would farm Jedi Counselor (JC) for GW in 3A until lvl 69 opens Dooku node. What about my 5th slot you ask. LUMI as explained below. Back to the Count and Dooku's speed/stun is HUGE against all of the QGJ teams now. Endgame, taking 1 toon out for 1 turn often is all you need for a W.
4. Cantina Shipments: POE is just as powerful as he was with speed tiers mid game so getting him first to 4 stars is REALLY helpful and he is still a top toon endgame although not as totally dominant as he once was. If you can get into top 10, top 5 even better you can throw 300 crystals into recharges which (w/24 hour recharge cycle) should net you 800+ cantina tokens for 10 shards a day or better. So get POE first to 4-5 stars (personally I would get him to 4 and stop until lvl 50 and then take him up to 5 and leave him there until 60 then to 6* and farm last at 70 to 7*) so now your Poe is 4* go after QGJ or you can skip Poe altogether and just QGJ only; but POE teams are going to hammer you for a few days when you get close to lvl 60 as he can get his speed to 142 before you can get enough toons to get above that to knock him out before he taunts.
5. Galactic War (GW) what a utter and TOTAL JOKE this table has become, but I digress. With GS in your line up Poggle is a necessity. But taking into account the MESS that GW is now this is how I would play it. Get Poggle unlocked and then switch gears and get Luminara to 4* switch back to Poggle to 5 and then go back to Luminara to 7*. Some might say get Luminara to Level 4* first but this could hamper some progress in Arena and IMHO you should be able to have the same effect in GW by going Poggle first and then Luminara.
6. Dooku. Everyday on your dailies you must do 5 hard core battles and 3 light side and 3 dark side for rewards. Dooku nodes are 1c light and 1c dark. So farm him there everyday until you get to lvl 69 and can open his node there where you can really make progress.
Strategy B.
1. Arena Shipments: (Sid to 7*) there really is no other viable option.
2. Cantina Farming: GS until he is 7* 1A Cantina node
3. Cantina Farming: Or w/ a Phasma lead team, Ren is very enticing, but I would still stick with JC until lvl 5 and then go after Ren if you want as Luminara can fill his slot. But the set back to farming Ren is minor IMHO so go after him if that is what you want to do.
4. Same as above with Poe and QGJ, but I have heard 1 (1 mind you) rumor that FO Officer synergies really well in a Phasma lead team. Most are not taking that option and taking into account with F2P experimenting is OUT, stick with above Poe/QGJ strategy.
5. GW: Switch Phamsa for Poggle.
6. Dooku daily farming in 1c light/dark nodes.
DPS Toons
GS. nuff said F2P equalizer
SID nuff said F2P equalizer
IG-86
Kylo Ren
Luminara is very popular as well for a number of reasons, she is one of the best in both Arena and GW so using her in the 5 slot is highly viable.
Support/Toolbox toons
Basic strategy for them is to get them to 4-5 stars depending on what level you are. 4* under level 50, 5* 50-60, 6* 60-70. Farm them last endgame.
Dooku (as F2P he really isn't hugely viable until endgame unless you get him Bronzium dropped to you or you get lucky buying the Darkside pack and don't get General "Good for Absolutely NOTHING" Veers ((Guess who I got)) No real problem here farming him last as that really is all you can do.
Phasma
Poggle
Poe actually is a good character in GW as he can burn a tough node for you without emptying your bench.
Stormtrooper Han is a good option to farm after Sid in Arena Shipments as he can burn a tough node for you as well in GW.
Barris is a must for GW especially in the mid game as the level variance is INSANELY DUMB. But unless she is a Bronzium drop, just not that viable.
To summarize teams A and B would be as follows:
A.)
1. Sid (lead)
2. GS
3. POE/QGJ after Level 62 and you may have to put QGJ as lead to get him to go in front of opponent POE taunt.
4. Poggle
5. Luminara
B.)
1. Phasma Lead
2. Sid
3. GS
4. POE/QGJ after 62
5. Luminara or Kylo Ren but Luminara is the better F2P option with GW being what it is currently and farming JC in 3a instead of Ren. But Ren is tough/tanky when paired with Phasma.
These strategies allow you to maximize your efforts in all of the nodes. Obviously you cant get to any of these level 1, but Arena is first to unlock, then Cantina and then GW. So play Chewy as your lead early on and get your highest starred guys/gals geared up and start farming.
GEAR IS HUGE. Always keep your main 5 at highest gear level that you can. This means you have to get to a point where you are not strong enough to unlock certain gear due to your own level cap or the light/dark battles are obliterating your squad. ALLWAYS MAX GEAR your elite 5.
Also make sure you go to http://www.swgohcantina.com. They have several guides and spreadsheets with a ton of information on characters, synergies and more. GREAT SITE and a MUST for the new player to spend time there.
so have fun, and prepare to be frustrated a bit by the constant meddling of Greek Gods that are paid to squeeze every buck out of this game. Be Patient or Open your wallet and fund the game for everyone else. Happy gaming peeps.
Post edited by SteelersCA on
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Howdy, Stranger!
Replies
I also have two accounts. One is iOS - lower P2P (like 5-10 USD per week), level 70 with 4 out of 5 characters maxed in every way. The other I started on Google about a month ago as an experiment to see how well I could do, spending NO actual money on the game. Really surprised by the results. Here's some data for anyone interested.
The competition on the server on which my first account lives is pretty high. Almost everyone in the top 200 is running teams with mostly 7* characters with total power of 25K, minimum. Flooded with maxed out Chromium only characters, Yodas (overrated, IMO), etc. Currently, my rank bounces around between 150 - 200. Team is all character level 70, gear level 8:
Phasma 7* (Leader)
Luminara 7*
Sidious 7*
IG-86 7*
Ventress 6* (can't wait for 7 - she slays)
My F2P Google account, created right after the GW update, is on a much friendlier server. Almost like a dedicated F2P server. There are Chewies, Jawas and JCs everywhere. No Yodas, Landos, or 7* FOTPs, etc... yet. Anyway, this team is only level 60 (player and characters), gear level 7, power of nearly 20k and today has arena rank #243:
Luminara 7* (Leader - nice leader ability, BTW)
Sidious 6* (Alternate lead in GW)
IG-86 6*
JC 5*
Fives 5*
If you're still reading, my two cents:
Ventress and IG-86 seem to be underrated by the community. Both deal lots of damage. I could (and might) write a whole post dedicated to Ventress. She has so many attributes and I'm glad they lately made her work as intended. As far as I know, IG-86 is the most farmable character in the game (as of today) and both of his attacks are devastating (offset by not so great health, but at 7*, one-shot + luck, there goes your opponent's Sid).
I agree that Poe is very much still a solid character and Phasma is neither overrated or over powerful, just popular and awesome. Oh and although Dooku swings often, it's because he must, in order to do any real damage. Rarely hurts unless he hits the same character 4 or 5 times.
Dooku is in my line up right now and I am telling you, with all of the people running QGJ as lead an instastun on QGJ and he is gone before he ever gets a shot off. Even with Poe in throwing an anchor. Once you get him past 6 stars, he isn't as squishy and he can't be taken down by GS with an Power Attack/Assist. So if you have Lumi in the line up he is healed back to working order.
Personally, I have been running,
Sid Lead
GS
Poggle
Dooku
Luminara
Don't have IG-86 up to 7* yet. but I am just following the advice that Cythus (I believe that is his handle) put out there Pre POE speed tier patch as a way for F2P people beat a POE/FOTP squad. The whole point of my thread was for the F2P person your options are very limited to be competitive as every patch since the first of the year has been geared to the Whales.
For F2P people starting out right now, it is crucial to make the right decisions early, and even if you do you still have an uphill climb if you get on a server with big wallets.
BTW I have given up on my alt 2 days ago as the GW grind is just to much for 2 accounts and I am working fulltime, going to school full time and have 2 kids 9 and 7. So 2 accts was just stretching everything too thin esp with all the nerfs to GW.
I have been somewhat unimpress with IG-86 as his power attack/assist takes an extra cool down turn compared to GS and QGJ. Plus he is too slow. I am thinking SID, LUMINARA, GS, POGGLE and QGJ is a better option but it seems to be always the 5th spot is the question mark.
5th spot could be QGJ (unless he is lead), POE, IG-86 or Daka, but I think QGJ is the best bet as a lead to pump up his and Luminara's speed, but you may miss the Crit Chance/Crit Dmg buffs from Sid. I have gone with this model when have to deal with Poe teams at lvl 60.
Come on man, everything is OPEN to you....:)
Hope you didn't buy the Droid pack, then you and Keaven have to hang together. Actually in retrospect that was the best pack to get for the price.
First of all, thanks for your guide
I am myself an almost f2p player (I bought the 100cristals/days pack for more cantina refresh). I am currently level 60 (qgj lead, sid, gs, lumi, JC) and I took the same path as your guide except for the poggle choice. Could you explain me why you'd rather farm this toon instead of phasma ?
I understand that it grants you a synergy with gs, but that's all. I'd rather see poggle as a droïds team addition.
And since our teams don't have any droïds, isn't it kind of a loss to use him over phasma ?
Phasma is a good leader and also have very good support abilities. (slows, assist, free turn)
Won't it be more effective to use her overall ?
Thanks for your answer.
Actually, I have Phasma. When I started she was given as a bonus toon. Used her a ton, but she was adjusted a bit in the last patch and I am not sure about where her effectiveness is now. I would say if you are going to QGJ as the lead, Phasma really needs to be the lead for the bonus attack effect to work otherwise she is just a toolbox toon like Poggle except that Poggle works great as team member and Phasma works better as a lead and Poggle is faster.
Poggle's buff works on all your toons not just Droids. Works better on Droids, but it still works on everyone in the stack. JC is not a good Arena toon and you must swap him out ASAP. The thing about toolbox toons, like Phasma, Daka, Barris, Poggle, POE etc....is that they tend to hit like wet noodles (Barris being the worst to the bunch) so you really are just using them to buff your damage dealers or do some other useful things like heal/revive/taunt. So they tend to work good at 4* up to level 50, 5* up to level 60, 6* up to level 70 etc.....you just want their health high enough so they can't be one shot by your opponent or GS power attack/assist one shot killed so they can get their buff off.
Also Poggle's std. attack has the chance to ability block so if he does that at all after he buff's it is a bonus. Also, the AI will target him early so it saves your glass cannons from damage early on in the burst phase of the contest.
I hope that explains it. Thanks for the question. Phasma is good and I would say if you were targeting Kylo Ren she would be a must as your lead. But since you are not, Poggle to 5* then LUMI to 7* and you will be fine up to 70 and then take Poggle to 6* and beyond. Take him to 7* last out of all your toons in your stack.
Speed kills in the current meta, So a team like you have with:
1.) QGJ (lead)
2.) Sid
3.) GS
4.) LUMI
5.) POGGLE
Is going to be very competitive in the Arena given they are maxed on gear and ability mats for their level. I see a lot of people on my server are moving Dooku into their line up to take out the opponents QGJ so that may be a back burner farm choice esp when you hit 69 and his node opens in the cantina. Go get em.
I am not a f2p player but I do run a f2p account that is currently level 68. After playing my main account for a month I learned that I just could not get enough of this game so I created a f2p account on my tablet. Before doing this I had reached level 70 on my other account so I was able to get more knowledge about the game and the inner workings. In doing so I saw that going the route that everyone swares by is not the best way to go, Sid, Phasma, Lumi and QJC. It is not the best way to go because these characters have no synergy together. Meaning they don't work well when the AI controls them. Don't get me wrong, going that route is a lot easier but it is also harder to remove yourself from it when you need to (you are creating back habits that are hard to break). What you need to do is find characters that work together better. Figure out what type of team you want to play with and focus all your attention on them. There are generic synergistic team like Jedi, Sith, Scoundrel, Nightsisters and so on. Sticking with these teams will payout much better for you in the long run and each have their strengths and weaknesses. Jedi are light on attack but heavy defense, Sith are the opposite and so on. The easiest team(and the one that I recommend) are the Nightsisters. While they all have their weakness together they make a great team and when they are maxed out they are insanely powerful. You start the game with Talia, you can farm her in light side battles. Ventress will be the next obtainable character from the arena, Nightsister Acolyte from the cantina battles and Daka from the cantina shard shop. Last one is Nightsister Initiate from GW.
The thing is, I think players with less income (or interest in paying to play, for whatever reason) need more breadth than depth, in order to succeed in the "hard" Light/Dark battles, which unlock the shard farming for greater characters than what is given on the first day (or so) of play.
For a strictly F2P player, farming a synergy team when one is first starting (especially now) just isn't very practical. They start you out with a Light side, mixed group of characters and you work with what you get. Use Jawa, Chewbacca, etc. until you've made some progress, then get what seem to be the most powerful and easiest to farm characters. Although I think it's worth saving the time/currency to ignore Ewok Scout, entirely.
No offense, but most teams don't work well on defence even when they have synergy. The lack of consistent focus-fire and proper target selection ensures that. Ventress sometimes dispels her offense up buff and heals herself at max hp, making her extremely awful on defence. The only one on the nightsister team that I am afraid of is old daka, as her resurrections are game-changing.
lumi and JC are pretty much essential as they are a form of sustainable dps for GW, especially JC for his shorter heal cd when maxed. Without them, you might not be able to progress as far in GW, reducing the potential amount of war tokens,credits and ability materials required to improve your squad. Ventress, on the other hand, is not essential to squad progression, considering her heal has been modified to heal herself rather than the entire squad.
As of this moment, full sith/scoundrel/nightsister teams are awful and WILL not pay out in the long run, especially if you are looking at the end game.They are either lacking in speed or damage on attack, and there are simply better attacking options other than a full "insert generic team" It might be ok if you're fine with mid ranks, but at higher ranks,especially the top 10, you're placing a bulleyes on yourself whenever people are selecting a target.
An interesting take, but I believe the person who asked the original question is at level 60 and already has Sid, QGJ, LUMI and GS, better to keep going in that direction than switch gears completely at this point IMHO. Perhaps if he was starting at square one with a brand new acct he could try the nightsister route.
The problem with being F2P is the lack of options available to you. You can't afford to miss or experiment, hence the reasons for how I laid it out in the beginning. Most toons when fully geared, maxed and coupled with some or all Squad Synergy toons are extremely tough. However, a conservative approach is a MUST for F2P due to this app being even more whale friendly than it was several weeks ago.
Interesting discussion though, I like it.
@doldarius
That is a good point. Sorry about that. I didn't have enough time to really go through it. I will adjust it, Thank you for the feedback.
Geonosian Soldier (Farmed in 1A Cantina) Arguably one of the strongest toons in the current game.
Would it still be your advice as of the current version in July?
outdatet and even at that time not the best advice..
nobody is playing with sid today, or poogle..ventriss...poe..
Ok well I like the advice regarding just hammering one cantina battle over and over to get GS. I could pick up the droid pack but I'm not shelling out anymore than that + the darkside starter, so essentially I'm F2P ish...
His original advice regarding using crystals for energy to stay ahead of the rest and get up in the top ranks stills seems reasonable.
So what does a f2p go for then on the way to lvl 50... thank you!
Guild shop: Rey
GW shop: Lumi, then Phasma
Cantina nodes: GS, then Old Ben to maybe 5 stars (really only his leader is that important), then whatever you decide
Cantina shop: QGJ, then Daka or Fives
Arena Shop: Leia, then Ackbar, then ST Han; or St Han, then Leia, then Ackbar
Hard nodes: RG, Dooku, Fives, Daka, JC