Rebel Yell

Since the first week that I began playing this game, one thing became pretty clear. Namely, if you wanted to build an effective squad, then you had best look at the Leaderboards. Somebody else had already figured out killer hero squads. Which means, of course, that they were murdering their way through the Squad Arena and Galactic War nodes with only an occasionally felt degree of chagrin -- thanks to the occasionally merciless RNG Gods, that is. As time went on, I wondered about the wisdom of such lemming logic and, lately, I've experimented with different combinations of heroes on my own. There's nothing like good, old fashioned trial and error to learn you a lesson.

Today, I'd like to discuss a Rebel squad that I've played with lately. My main Rebel squad, which does massive damage at deadly speed, is mostly an old standby: Wedge (Leader), Biggs, Princess Leia, Chirrut, and Bridger. The later two are newer heroes who mostly replaced Ackbar, Bistan, and Scarif Rebel Pathfinder, as well as the synergistic duo of K-2SO and Andor. And these newer Rebels work quite well with the older -- and very deadly -- trifecta of Wedge, Biggs, and Leia. In short, I want to develop a different Rebel squad that is just as effective, if not more so. At the moment, I can't say that I have. I can say, however, that the one I'm currently developing has potential.

When I make my way through Galactic War nodes, the squad I begin with usually gets wiped out about halfway through, with the exception of my main stable of Rebels and, in due course, my Sith squad with Darth Nihilus in the lead. Futzing with Rebel configurations the other day, I discovered this one: Ackbar (Leader), Chirrut, Bridger, Princess Leia, Ahsoka Tano (Fulcrum).

Now, this ragtag group may not sound like much at first, but let me explain how absolutely ferocious they are. Keep in mind, these heroes are lvl 85 7*. Still under basic development, Fulcrum stands as the exception at only 5*. Their gear levels vary: Chirrut and Bridger are at 9, Ackbar and Leia are at 8, and Fulcrum is at 7. All of this is as much to say that this squad has the potential to become much, much more powerful.

There are 12 GW nodes in total. I'd first like to show you what happened with my experimental Rebel squad by the time they reached Node 10. The opponents:

 
This squad wasn't exactly a pushover combo, but they weren't by any means scary. Their gear levels gave me pause, though. That's a ton of protection. Here's what happened:

As you can see, my squad had taken a bit of a beating by the time they reached Node 10. What surprised me was how infrequently enemy squads had the opportunity to attack Bridger. Here's what the battlefield looked like after a full round:

I went after Rey first, then enemy Bridger. My mistake wasn't killing Yoda outright, because his next move was to steal all those buffs! Suffice it to say, Bridger's Flourish (Special) dispels all buffs on the target enemy, so I went after Ren's Retribution buff next, dispatched him within a round, then mopped up. Here's what Node 11 looked like:

These knuckleheads were WAY more formidable, as per usual with GW nodes. And while Darth Maul is notoriously squishy, if you give him room to breathe he will make any hero with a Jedi tag (which is Bridger in this case) pay dearly. So, I mauled him first. I then started in on Yoda, but Kenobi taunted, which Bridger eventually dispelled. Suffice it to say, even though it looks as though this Rebel squad is outmatched, here's what the battlefield looked like 1/2 way through round 3:

Yep, that's what happens when you leave Yoda alone for a hot minute. The little thief stole my buffs AGAIN. He never had the opportunity to clone and share them, though, because this experimental Rebel squad mopped the floor with a fresh squad of lvl 85, 7* heroes. I failed to check their gear levels before the battle, but, from the screencap, I'd say they were all at least lvl 10.

Anyway, that's mucho buffs, folks. And mucho critical damage. In my next post, I'll lay out the pros and cons of this experimental squad, as well as explain where all that green came from. Suffice it to say that this squad is an absolute buff machine, with multiple opportunities for extra attacks, retribution, and the ability to both block and dispel debuffs, as well as add health and protection bonuses. Scary.

Good hunting, everyone. More soon.