I hit a GW rut

I got lucky and pulled a Rey from a pack early on, so I started out dominating due to her ability to 1-shot people. Recently, though, I've hit a rut in GW and I'm not only not clearing, but coming up 2-3 short. Here are my relevant characters:

5* 52 Phasma, Gear level 7
5* 52 Chewie, gear level 6
4* 52 Rey, gear level 6
4* 52 Sidious, gear level 5
2* 52 First Order Tie Pilot, gear level 6
4* 51 Consular, gear level 5
4* 47 Storm Trooper Han, gear level 3
3* 47 Dooku, gear level 3
3* 47 Luminara, gear level 4
4* 45 Talia, gear level 5
3* 45 Ventress, gear level 4
2* 45 Royal Guard, gear level 3
3* 44 Aayla Secura, gear level 3
3* 44 Jawa, gear level 4
2* 44 Gui-Gon Jinn, gear level 4

I also have acquired IG-86, Clone Sergeant, Snowtrooper, Savage Opress, Resistance Trooper, Ewok Elder, Ewok Scout, and Nightsister Acolyte.

I usually run Phasma as leader with Sidious, Rey, FOTP, and either Chewie or Consular. Sometimes I sub FOTP out because he's only 2 star and has no health. Once I get Luminara caught up, I'd like to use her.

I've gotten really lucky this week with free packs and just unlocked Dooku and Luminara with shipments/farming... I've considered going Phasma, FOTP, Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Rey to get as many extra attacks from Rey as possible. I've also considered that build subbing Luminara for Qui-Gon Jinn due to the popularity of Sidious. I farmed Savage Opress from shipments early on and feel like I probably made a mistake and should've used that time to star up Sidious instead. Does anyone have any suggestions on which route I should take going forward? My main focus right now is starring Sidious and Luminara

Replies

  • Looks like you don't have enough stars. I have a similar setup to you but more stars on my rey and lumi.

    I also gave up on tanks, since they just get focused down in GW and arena.

  • Ripitrox
    60 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    Make Luminara a priority upgrade and you'll be right back to full clearing. She's my main and only healer unless I run into a bit of trouble. Then I'll sub in JC for a dps to help heal her up for a round.
  • J7000
    2059 posts Member
    IMO I think you need 3 solid healers for GW.
  • Nah im at that point too. The devs need to redo the opponent system so that the level goes up each match. Im level 61, and today i versed a lvl 49, 51, 59, 54, 60, 55, 56, 61, 60 and then i didnt even attempt to do the next 61. Seeing how its hard to beat people who are a higher level in the arena, it makes me wonder why they think u can win continuos battles against them when they took out the retreat and heal
  • Nah im at that point too. The devs need to redo the opponent system so that the level goes up each match. Im level 61, and today i versed a lvl 49, 51, 59, 54, 60, 55, 56, 61, 60 and then i didnt even attempt to do the next 61. Seeing how its hard to beat people who are a higher level in the arena, it makes me wonder why they think u can win continuos battles against them when they took out the retreat and heal

    Your lucky...I haven't seen a team lower than 60 after the third or fourth battle in two weeks at least.
  • Ripitrox wrote: »
    Make Luminara a priority upgrade and you'll be right back to full clearing. She's my main and only healer unless I run into a bit of trouble. Then I'll sub in JC for a dps to help heal her up for a round.

    I agree with everyone above me. I usually beat 9/10 times and my main squad is Sid 5*, Boba 5*, Lumi 5*, Phasma 4*, JC 4*, all lvl 52 with lvl 6/7 gear. I use Chewi at the beginning of GW but replace towards the end with JC. I have to strategize my healings and specials or I have no chance of finishing it. I have Lumi at almost 6* because she is crucial for me in order to finish GW.
  • The key I find is healers, which you don't have enough of in what you claim is your main squad.

    I run Phasma (L), Sid, Fives, Daka, and then alternate Luminara and JC (all between 3* and 5* L49-52). I very rarely use any other toons, unless I put in Dooku for a Jedi heavy team or some cannon fodder to take some hits. Haven't failed a GW yet.

    I almost always have two healers in the team at once.

    Leave Chewies, Barrisses, etc until last, that way you can heal and then lower your skill cooldown before the next battle.

    From who you've got, I'd run: Phasma (L), Sid, FOTP, Luminara, JC. Gear Lumi and JC up a bit though, and maybe star Lumi up too. Not that difficult to at least get her to 4*.

    I'm not a fan of Chewie, but you could swap him in for the odd battle to soak up some hits while your cooldowns refresh.
  • Triqui
    2790 posts Member
    J7000 wrote: »
    IMO I think you need 3 solid healers for GW.

    So far (lvl58) I only use 2, and it goles well. I use JC and Lumi. Also have 4* Daka and Barris as back up, but I never use them right now.
  • More depth and stars should help your situation...
  • scuba
    14034 posts Member
    I use the depth option. I work more on building teams for GW than for squad arena. I have spent some money in game for packs. I start out running bariss, daka, leia, sid, ventress. That team will normally last till about half way plus. The I will loose one or two typically daka an bariss first. Normally end with lumi, sid, dooku, phasma, and a tank. Also sub in jc at some point. Typically last or second to last I send in a sacrificial team with Kylo and a bunch of tanks to take out one or 2 of opposing team. Then mop up with my main team.
  • Starring up Sid and Lumi is a great idea. They're both fantastic in GW.

    I'd consider using Lumi as your lead for the passive healing. Just save their tanks for the end and you can spend a couple turns healing and resetting cooldowns. Like someone said, leaving a Chewie and a Barriss is like having a passive skill that refills your health and cooldowns at the end of each match. Barriss works a bit better because of her huge health, but I'd try it out with Lumi to see how it works.

    Perhaps it's just me, but barring some crazy RNG or insane team (either usually triggers a retreat for me) I've never lost Barriss. Her health is too big and she just doesn't seem to be a priority for the AI to kill if you have another, lower health healer on your team.

    Talia is no slouch, either. Her heal may seem cheesy because you lose health, but it heals quite a bit and gives turn meter so it can really be a game changer when used at the right time. If it allows you to pop off another heal and an attack or two so you can get to that "stalling out while whittling down the tanks" mode she can go from fairly low to almost full by the end of the match.

    I don't know if I'd prioritize this over some better options, but the FO Stormtrooper has been a pleasant surprise. He has good health, does decent damage and the counter and slowdown are always welcome. He's not great (but fun with Phasma as the lead) but can add depth to your team.

    I've found that glass cannons are only situationally useful in GW. If you have a suicide squad that needs to take one or two guys out for you they can be nice, but it's not as viable for long term success. Each toon you want to use for more than one match has to be able to take a couple of hits without dying.
  • To echo what others have said, just star up your characters, and you'll be fine.

    I usually run:

    Lumi 6* (Leader),
    Sid 7*,
    JC 5*,
    Daka 5*
    (all level 61s),

    and whatever else (5* Kylo, 4* Dooku, 4* Vader, 7* Phasma). This will usually get me through to the last 2 - 3 chests with no deaths. If someone dies, retreat, switch it up and try again.

    With that much healing (especially Lumi's AOE), you can take a lot of damage.

    The new retreat function allows you to try different squads out, and retreat with no harm done if they don't work. It also teaches you which enemies to target first, and in which order, which helps at PvP.

    The last 2 - 3 chests, you might have people die, but you can brute force your way through the rest as long as you level up more than just an A squad.
  • Lots of great advice here, I appreciate it!

    I'm definitely prioritizing Luminara right now as it seems almost consensus that she'll make a good difference when geared and starred up. I've been taking a bunch of DPS'ers in because it worked against lower levels (Lots of 1-shots) but now that I'm facing teams with DPS and healers that have large health pools, I'm not able to take them out before they pick off one or two of my own.

    I'm going to try running JC and Luminara tonight and see what happens. I'll have Luminara to 4 stars soon and keep going from there.
    garublador wrote: »
    I don't know if I'd prioritize this over some better options, but the FO Stormtrooper has been a pleasant surprise. He has good health, does decent damage and the counter and slowdown are always welcome. He's not great (but fun with Phasma as the lead) but can add depth to your team.

    I've got 15/25 shards towards unlocking him through chromium packs and I was actually interested in trying him out because he seems solid. I'm a shard away from unlocking First Order Officer, too. Eventually I'd like to try a team of Phasma, FOTP, FO Storm Trooper, and FO Officer with Luminara healing and see how that advantage synergy works out.
  • I don't really have any trouble now that I have realized how the new retreat operates. As soon as I lose someone, I back out and try again. If I keep losing someone, then I try switching up the team, but it hasn't really been necessary yet. My GW team is:

    Barris 4* (lead)
    Lumi 6*
    JC 5*
    Res Pilot 6*
    Geo Soldier 4*

    All are purple gear, level 58 (I just crossed level 61 yesterday) and close to maxed out in abilities.

    Having the passive heal is nice. I have considered putting Lumi as lead and bringing in someone else, possibly Phasma to get some AoE and turn manipulation going. But Barris's huge passive heal plus occasional heal on strike has just been too good to let go of.

    Rarely does this team come out of a GW match with more than one person at less than max health, and that one is usually only 10-20% down. I usually only need one real heal during the later matches, maybe two if I run against a stacked team.
  • EM650
    1120 posts Member
    edited January 2016
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