Pit Raids: Some Notes

Hello everyone. First, I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that, just above this post, you'll find a link to an article on the Zero Damage Rule that we put into effect some time ago. If you're not already familiar with this rule, take note. Repeat offenders will, unfortunately, find themselves removed from the guild. While I don't like doing so, it's pretty imperative that we all follow some very simple rules here and there to improve guild quality of life.

Next, I'd like to post on my main Pit Raid squad with the hope that it will give you some ideas about developing your own. My main Arena squad consists of Leia (Leader), R2, Chirrut, Fulcrum, and Biggs. When I finally get CLS, I'll drop Biggs and insert him into the Leader position. Balanced on offense and defense, this Arena squad does pretty well at the moment. And, even though they put up sizable numbers in Pit Raids, they are not my main Pit Raid squad. For that, I developed a squad built around Turn Meter Reduction (TMR). Let me explain.

A number of characters have attacks that will reduce enemy Turn Meters. In Pit Raids, this is particularly important because, using TMR attacks, you can significantly slow down the Rancor and, in turn, do much more damage. By building a TMR squad to run in the Pit, you're basically building a squad that will delay the inevitable Enrage trigger for as long as possible. What's more, you're also delaying or evading altogether the Rancor's speciality, which is to simply devour one of your characters.

So, my main Pit Raid squad consists of Vader (Leader), Nihilus, Death Trooper, Thrawn, and Tarkin. I've taken screen shots so you can see their level of development. You'll note that Tarkin carries a Favorite Flag, since I've been working on him daily! Also keep in mind that, again, I don't run these characters in the Arena. My Rebels have the Arena Mods! Anyway, here are the five:

1. Darth Vader (Leader)

In the Lead Position, Vader can do some serious damage with his Zeta Leader Ability "Inspiring Through Fear." First, the entire squad gains 30% Offense, but that's not what really is at stake. Note that the squad also, importantly, receives a 50% chance to remove 20% TM when they do damage. What's more, this TMR can't be resisted.

What makes this Zeta ability so deadly, however, is that his DoTs not only stack, but reappear in full after you've attacked with Culling Blade. You know how much damage Vader can do with Culling Blade when an enemy has, say, 3 DoTs on them? Well, try stacking 50+! The longer the encounter, more the more opportunities Vader has to stack DoTs, and this squad is built to make a single encounter as long as possible.

2. Darth Nihilus

Nihilus is in this squad for basically one reason and one reason only. His Special Ability, "Annihilate," does MASSIVE amounts of damage to a Boss. You'll note, though, that the Cooldown is an astronomically high 8 turns. That's why Nihilus works so well with Vader's stacked DoTs and, as we'll see, Tarkin's "Intimidation Tactics," which stacks even more debuffs on the Rancor. Why are debuffs important to Nihilus, you ask? Well, in a nutshell, he has a 100% chance to reduce the cooldown of "Annihilate" against debuffed enemies. In this debuff-heavy squad, Nihilus is a beast.

3. Death Trooper

Speaking of debuffs, Death Trooper's Special Ability, "Terminate," helps soften up the Rancor boss. Debuffs grant this attack a guaranteed Critical Hit and, more to the point, it inflicts Deathmark on the Rancor for 2 turns after you've taken out the gate in Phase 2 and 3. Normally, the Deathmark debuff will cause an enemy target to lose 50% of their Max Heath when hit. With bosses, it's unfortunately reduced to .03%, which seems measly, but it sticks for 2 full turns of attacks. (You can find a fairly comprehensive compendium of buffs and debuffs here.) In the future, I may chose to replace Death Trooper with a character who has a TMR ability--such as Bistan--but for now he's my go-to.

4. Grand Admiral Thrawn

Speaking of TMR, we now have 1/2 characters who significantly slow down the Rancor. Thrawn's Special, "Fracture," not only does decent damage, but it removes 50% Turn Meter. Against the Rancor, this is significant, especially when the entire squad also has a 50% chance for a 20% TMR on any attack when Vader's the Leader. What's useful, too, is how Thrawn can not only grant himself and Tarkin extra protection with his "Grand Admiral's Command" ability, but he can also give Tarkin 100% Turn Meter. That reduces the number of cooldown turns for all of Tarkin's Specials, but it's especially important for "Ultimate Firepower."

5. Grand Moff Tarkin

Yep, that's another 50% TMR guaranteed. The Rancor can't resist it. If you find the right attack cadence between Thrawn and Tarkin, you'll be reducing the Rancor's TM more times than you will care to count! You'll also note that this attack gains Offense equal to double Tarkin's % Potency, which is why the Omega on his Basic Attack is crucial, since it grants +50% Potency (stacking) until the next time Firepower is used. So, not only does Firepower grant TMR, but it also puts a healthy dent in the Rancor's health. At the end of the proverbial day, here's what this DS squad did in the T5 Pit recently:

Not too shabby. And, if I recall correctly, Tarkin's numbers are low because he unfortunately got devoured just before this squad finished Phase 3 and moved on to Phase 4. Had the RNG been a bit different and I lost, say, Deathtrooper (whose Deathmark doesn't work in Phase 4) instead of Tarkin, this whole squad would have done much, much more damage. 

So, there you have it! I hope that sharing the deets on this Pit Raid squad will give you ideas for your own. In fact, now that I've written all this out, I'm seriously considering the replacement of Death Trooper with another TMR character. Old Ben comes to mind. And, as I mentioned, Bistan too. Good hunting, everyone!