I STILL stink at ships, part III

Prev1
This is literally the third time I've posted a topic like this. I don't know what's wrong with my brain that I can put together good synergies for TW, TB, and arena but by God I can't figure how to build a team that gets below 150 in ships to save my life.

Here's my ships list: https://swgoh.gg/p/899527895/ships/

I use Thrawn as my capital and usually start with the TIE advanced and a TIE fighter along with Biggs. I call Phantom for an early numbers advantage (because it allows me to call reinforcements again on my next turn). My other reinforcements are usually Ghost, Ahsoka, and Plo. 90% of the time my TIE advanced or TIE figther gets killed in the first salvo. Sometimes I start instead with the Umbaran fighter and a TIE fighter; sometimes I start with the Hound's Tooth out and call on Biggs later. Either way, I'm pretty easily slaughtered and stay in the 150-250 range without much movement.

One thing I don't understand is why some people's Biggs seems invincible while mine frequently gets killed in just a few shots. I've even checked to verify and my power is often greater than theirs. I can't see any reason why this happens, so I assume it has to do with who I've got him paired with?

I lose a lot to people running Ackbar lead, which makes no sense. Thrawn is far stronger, isn't he? I feel like I have a decent set of ships but I clearly don't know how to arrange them or use them.

The last time I posted this, all the advice was, "you haven't unlocked all the good ships, your roster stinks!" But nowadays I'm mostly fighting people using the same ships I am (more or less) which is what makes this so frustrating. Although I do see a lot of people call Slave I, who comes in with taunt and retribution - I don't have Slave I unlocked yet. I'm working on it, and wonder if that would make a world of difference for me?

Any pleasantly-given advice will be welcomed. I openly admit that I am somehow blocked on putting together a strong combination of ships. I may also be terrible at USING them, so if there's a particular order or particular abilities I ought to be aware of using, I'm open to that as well!

Thanks for your help, maybe this time it'll stick? LOL.

SamUX

Replies

  • Huatimus
    3669 posts Member
    If you want Biggs Xwing stronger, put more gear on him, max out his abilities, and equip 6pip mods.
    If you're not putting 6pip mods, any max 5pip mod will do. Gold 5pip mods will increase your GP more than Grey 5pip mods but they don't actually add any ship stats at all. So you can have higher GP and still suckier ship.
    Your Line up is an old meta and even then their first reinforcement is not Phantom. There's a Fleet discord server, someone else can probably give you a link, there you can probably find an expert to give you custom advice. Good luck.
  • I can't break 150 either, but am more a mid-game player. Your roster seems good, though Slave1 might help, it does do a fair bit for me with a G11 Boba pilot nearly maxed, and the ship itself being near top ability levels (this month should 7* it and max it out). That said, I don't think Slave1 is a make or break ship.

    Things I've noticed that make a big difference for me - having the right starting line up and knowing when to call your backups (and calling the right one). Asokah isn't my strongest pilot of ship, but her debuff is awesome to me, so I have her on hold should the opponent send in a Slave1, because all those buffs he comes in with evaporate then).

    Strategy also plays a role. It sounds like you're not doing that bad, so you probably know what's up, but my rank changed immensely just by getting a much better handle on Ships in general. Knowing the kits, knowing how to defend against x ship, do the most damage with y ship, etc. helps a lot. I'm not just throwing my strongest ships at them without a clue like I was many months ago, now it's more intentional in terms of how I approach my offense, how I deal with their reinforcements, understanding when to use specials, etc.

    AND... I just took a closer look at one ship and pilot, and while I won't spend the time checking them all for you, I now see a huge problem. A LOT of your ship power comes from its pilot. So, let's analyze what I checked. Your Silencer is 7*, that's great, takes some time to get it there (even though it's one of the easier farms for ships), but it's a good ship, so can really help when used right. But you are KILLING YOURSELF with the way you've treated its pilot. You can so easily make that ship a lot more powerful, probably overnight. Ans this goes back to understanding the mechanics of ships, and why you need to study up more if you want to see a difference. Your KRU is barely at G8, with unmaxed abilities, and one of your mods is a 4-dot (plus half are Es). First thing to do is put a 5-dot mod in place of the 4-dot, doesn't even matter what it is, and boom, you just increased your ship power noticeably. G8 is also WEAK for a pilot if you plan to be competitive. KRU is a good enough toon, no less, you should have him better geared, in general. Get at least some of his abilities maxed instead of just sitting at Level 6. These are easy enough things you can do that are going to greatly improve your ship's power.

    Maybe you aren't running Silencer, but then I go to one of your top ships, and a great one, the Tie Advanced (Vader's), and I see you have a 4-dot mod on Vader. Also hurting you.

    Hope this helps. Study up on Ships and get a really solid understanding of it, and you will easily see improvements.
  • VonZant
    3843 posts Member
    edited January 2019
    Max your Vader. Make sure he has the ability that refreshes your target lock when it expires. Put 5 dot mods on your pilots.

    I put Ghost in starting lineup instead of TFP. Che can call Vader to assist which means an extra target lock, and stealth him. The other things that maybe are not obvious: if you are using Thrawn - start with his heal ALWAYS. Even if your people are not hurt. He gives Vader offense up and Biggs defense up. Both of which are necessary. Then you use ghost to call vader to assist with offense up and somone will get the pain. Also when you bring phantom in ALMOST ALWAYS use her target lock ability instead of her attack. It spreads TL. Expiring + refreshing TL is what makes Biggs hard to kill. Just look at it like an Auto heal.

    Ghost should go: Assist with Vader, spread expose and defense dowb, then after Phantom reo forces, use her AOE forbonus damage.

    G8 pilits are fine off the bench but not in starting lineup.

    I'm typing on mobie snd hung over so can't be bithered to fix typos. Hopefully you get the picture
  • TVF
    36518 posts Member
    VonZant wrote: »
    G8 pilits are fine off the bench but not in starting lineup.

    At 3.2m GP, you should be able to field every ship with minimum G11 pilots, if not G12.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • VonZant
    3843 posts Member
    TVF wrote: »
    VonZant wrote: »
    G8 pilits are fine off the bench but not in starting lineup.

    At 3.2m GP, you should be able to field every ship with minimum G11 pilots, if not G12.

    I'm at 3M and have Cassian off bench at g8 and phantom at g9. Top 10-30 in fleet. I'm not as bad as @SamuraiUX but we are similar. We both build teams we like instead of what is necessarily the best. ;)
  • TVF
    36518 posts Member
    Well ok, "fine off the bench" is dependent on shard and your goals.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • Use Thrawn Cap with Ghost, Phantom, and Tie Fighter lead. Biggs, Hounds, Consular Starfighter, and Vader as reinforcements. Keeps me in top 50
  • VonZant wrote: »
    Max your Vader. Make sure he has the ability that refreshes your target lock when it expires. Put 5 dot mods on your pilots.

    I put Ghost in starting lineup instead of TFP. Che can call Vader to assist which means an extra target lock, and stealth him. The other things that maybe are not obvious: if you are using Thrawn - start with his heal ALWAYS. Even if your people are not hurt. He gives Vader offense up and Biggs defense up. Both of which are necessary. Then you use ghost to call vader to assist with offense up and somone will get the pain. Also when you bring phantom in ALMOST ALWAYS use her target lock ability instead of her attack. It spreads TL. Expiring + refreshing TL is what makes Biggs hard to kill. Just look at it like an Auto heal.

    Ghost should go: Assist with Vader, spread expose and defense dowb, then after Phantom reo forces, use her AOE forbonus damage.

    G8 pilits are fine off the bench but not in starting lineup.

    I'm typing on mobie snd hung over so can't be bithered to fix typos. Hopefully you get the picture

    LOL, you're a riot VonZant. And you get me. I get the picture and I hope you had a fun night.

    So: 1) I literally just used your strategy to the letter and won without losing a single ship. So wow! Obviously it won't work perfectly against everyone everytime, but thank you.

    2) I am totally going to buy Vader's target lock refresh next... I'm only two little ship token thingies away from it.

    3) I don't think I can comply with changing out his 4-dot mod, though. It has 11 speed on it. I've looked through my inventory and any mod I'd swap it with would make Vader, the character, worse and slower. If this is a matter of making the character weaker to make the ship better, I'm guess I'm just not into that. Ships are secondary to characters, to me.

    So I start with Ghost, Biggs, and Vader and hope I can get Vader strong enough that he isn't insta-killed (he often is). Who do I put on back-up? Right now I do Phantom, Ahsoka, Plo, and either Hound's Tooth or a TIE Fighter, but I'm not married to any of that. I save Plo til the end to repair everyone and Ahsoka for taking buffs off of Boba Fett. Hound's Tooth isn't high enough level to be great but it acts as a second taunter that's harder to kill? Although he sometimes seems to just give enemy Biggs back a lot of protection. =/ All my TIE Fighters are sort of squishy, so I'll have to look at bumping up their gear and mods. Yeah?
  • TVF
    36518 posts Member
    Keep in mind all you need for mods is dots and level. 5 dots (6 if you can spare them) and level 15. Primary stats, secondary stats, and sets do not matter for ships.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • Anurag
    2 posts Member
    edited January 2019
    OK.. I am a new guy with 1.1 mill gp but ranked 40-50 in ship arena.. I use 6 star tarkin as capital ship with tie silencer, jedi counselor ship and tie advanced as starting team. I use slave one, darth mual's ship and melenium falcon in reinforcements depending upon situation of the offense. Power of pilots is very important as I have my ship power around 315k with a few g12s ( tarkin mual and Vader) rest are g10-11. Hope that helps you out.
  • VonZant
    3843 posts Member
    I personally run Phantom, Cassian, Lando's Falcon and HT off of the bench. HT, FOTP, TFP, Ahsoka or Plo or Slave 1 should all be fine as long as you have their Reinforces upgrsded as much as you can. I like Cassian because he calls assist again with Vader and wipes buffs. My pilots are only G8. He serves his purpose.

    In fact, from my bench - with the exception of g12 Bossk and his 4* HT none of my pilots are above g10. Not a single pilot in my entire fleet has a 6 dot mod. They do all have 5 dot though.

    I'm glad you posted the thread actually because it didnt occur to me to do 6 dot mods. I'm going to put them on Biggs and Vader for sure now.

    Good luck. ;)
  • TVF
    36518 posts Member
    I had some spares from when I used to run JTR in arena (high crit chance, esp. triangles) that I didn't need as much anymore so I gave them to Tarkin when I was using him as my cap ship. Helped to outspeed other Tarkins.
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • Anurag wrote: »
    OK.. I am a new guy with 1.1 mill gp but ranked 40-50 in ship arena.. I use 6 star tarkin as capital ship with tie silencer, jedi counselor ship and tie advanced as starting team. I use slave one, darth mual's ship and melenium falcon in reinforcements depending upon situation of the offense. Power of pilots is very important as I have my ship power around 315k with a few g12s ( tarkin mual and Vader) rest are g10-11. Hope that helps you out.

    Thank you, Anurag. That was a good description of how you do what you do. Unfortunately, no, it's not helpful to me at the moment because I don't have Darth Maul's ship above 4-star, I don't have Millenium Falcon above 3-star, and I don't have Slave I at all yet. Tarkin's ship is also my lowest capital ship. I guess your line-up is something I could work towards, but I was hoping for something closer to what I currently have, which is why I posted a link to my ships! But thank you.
  • Ah well all my ships that I use are 7 star with the exception of capital ship and slave 1 both of which are 6 stars...
  • Jarvind
    3920 posts Member
    Don't worry about Slave 1. The AI calls it a lot because its reinforcement script basically separates into two categories: "my ships are dying" and "my ships are OK for now." If the first is true, it will call "survival" reinforcements which includes anybody that can taunt. Slave 1 taunts on reinforce, and most people have it, so that's why you see it a lot.

    It's not a bad ship, but it's not particularly incredible either; even when its reinforce ability is maxed and it gets crit immunity, it's usually too squishy to survive its own taunt. I actually think it's best used in the starting line of a secondary fleet, so it can be kept alive and get a chance to use the "lol win button" bomb attack.

    On to your other issues: Phantom is an incredible reinforcement, but probably best not to call it first if you're looking to push into the upper ranks. Quick numbers advantage is good for beating events, but it doesn't always secure the win against well-planned arena fleets. I would probably call either Plo or Ahsoka first; if Biggs is in good shape, call Ahsoka and nuke somebody with her special. If Biggs is hurting, call Plo to top him off and keep your lineup strong.

    Def get anyone you use actively in fleet to G12. It's a pain, but the last few gear pieces make a huge difference. I haven't gone as far as to 6-dot mods on all my pilots, mainly because a lot of them are just stocked up with junk mods I would otherwise throw away, but if you use them on the ground that will help too. I would not suggest getting zetas just for fleet, as people sometimes do; the huge GP increase that a zeta gives does not have a corresponding increase in crew power. They will boost ship stats a little, but not enough to blow a zeta on somebody you rarely use in a ground team.
    u58t4vkrvnrz.png



  • Darthvestor_80
    484 posts Member
    edited January 2019
    Ships stinks anyway especially after removing 2 ships from a fleet most of us spent 2 years building. I came to play Galaxy of heroes not galactic junkyard. I refuse to waste anymore time with ships regardless of rewards. I hate you cg
  • VonZant
    3843 posts Member
    I agree with @Jarvind on zetas. I dont have zetas on Thrawn or Vader and do just fine.
  • VonZant
    3843 posts Member
    edited January 2019
    Be gone double post!
  • You can increase ship speed by 1 for every 2 six dot mods on your pilot. Start with your cap ship, get all 6 mods to six dot, then move to Biggs and Vader. 6 dot mods also add to the stats of the ship, damage health etc.
    Make Bronzium autoplay opening an option.
  • Vader is always best as a first reinforcement. When he comes in use his special first, if you've maxed his abilities and reinforcement abilities he will gain 100% turn meter and hit hard on his basic. Also inflict damage over time for 3 turns which is good as it works other ships whilst you're trying to kill or debuff bossk or biggs.
  • Generally most top 20 guys will have g12 pilots and maxed ship abilities and rarity.
  • TVF
    36518 posts Member
    Vader is always best as a first reinforcement.

    Always?
    I need a new message here. https://discord.gg/AmStGTH
  • I played geos and bossk and auto the battle... Then the mace timeout team happened lol
  • SamuraiUX wrote: »
    I don't know what's wrong with my brain that I can put together good synergies for TW, TB, and arena but I can't figure how to build a team that gets below 150 in ships to save my life.


    I use Thrawn as my capital and usually start with the TIE advanced and a TIE fighter along with Biggs. I call Phantom for an early numbers advantage (because it allows me to call reinforcements again on my next turn) Either way, I'm pretty easily slaughtered and stay in the 150-250 range without much movement.

    One thing I don't understand is why some people's Biggs seems invincible while mine frequently gets killed in just a few shots. I've even checked to verify and my power is often greater than theirs. I can't see any reason why this happens, so I assume it has to do with who I've got him paired with?

    I lose a lot to people running Ackbar lead, which makes no sense.

    The last time I posted this, all the advice was, "you haven't unlocked all the good ships, your roster stinks!" But nowadays I'm mostly fighting people using the same ships I am (more or less) which is what makes this so frustrating.

    Any pleasantly-given advice will be welcomed. I openly admit that I am somehow blocked on putting together a strong combination of ships. I may also be terrible at USING them, so if there's a particular order or particular abilities I ought to be aware of using, I'm open to that as well!

    SamUX

    That's my thought process too
  • While I'm here, are all the sith Empire good on ships? There's some synergy there, but with ships you never know until you've tried it
  • I'm thinking all sith then reaper and the gar Saxon one
  • Kai_Mulai
    683 posts Member
    edited January 2019
    The Empire ships work well together, especially under Tarkin or Thrawn. Sith ships are interesting, but new enough that I haven’t tried them. But you’re going to need a tank, and neither faction has one. So you’ll need Hound Tooth, Biggs, or Sun Fac as well.
  • Kai_Mulai wrote: »
    The Empire ships work well together, especially under Tarkin or Thrawn. Sith ships are interesting, but new enough that I haven’t tried them. But you’re going to need a tank, and neither faction has one. So you’ll need Hound Tooth, Biggs, or Sun Fac as well.

    Sith have the bomber now.
    Ally Code 766-465-766 swgoh.gg/u/trystansr/collection/
  • I’ll be. That what I get for not reading carefully and not using the ship. Didn’t realize bomber was a tank.
  • TVF wrote: »
    Vader is always best as a first reinforcement.

    Always?

    Well I like fighting opponents with Vader in starting team. If you can target him straight away and get his protection off, usually just one hit. Then breach him with bossk and xanio bloods Aoe, which also gets selected call an ally assist. Then your vader comes in the damage over time can be enough to kill him off. Also Vader gets a counter attack which makes him nasty to attack.

    My experiences are that vader is squishy on defense, but a monster on offense.
Sign In or Register to comment.