New and improved beginner’s guide for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes in 2021! (2024)

A while back, I published a beginner’s guide for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, the popular mobile game, with the intention of helping newer players start off.

And given the impressive popularity of that post, I’m hopeful that it did. But I haven’t updated that post in a long time, and part of the reason why is because the game has changed significantly since then. So I wanted to do a new and updated beginner’s guide for Galaxy of Heroes to give some tips, from an end-game perspective, on where the best place to start might be.

I’m actually going to begin with the same team I suggested back then, but the end goal is totally different; basically, if you’re just beginning playing Galaxy of Heroes, your goal should be getting a Galactic Legend as soon as possible.

What to know before you begin

1. What are Galactic Legends?

But before diving immediately into the teams I’d suggest, it’s probably helpful for me to briefly explain what Galactic Legends are and why they are so obviously your goal. Simply put, they are by far the most powerful characters in this game, but they also represent by far the hardest farm to unlock them. These characters are by design the strongest in the game and are tough to beat, and so the faster you unlock one of these, the faster you will dramatically improve your climbing and production in all phases of the game.

Currently there are four Galactic Legends in the game: Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Rey, Sith Eternal Emperor, and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. At the end of the day, any one of these four are going to be incredible for you as soon as you can possibly get them, so really the suggestion is to choose one to go after and then run with it. There are positives and negatives to each farm; for instance, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is easily the hardest farm of any of these four, particularly for new characters, but the characters you need to farm to get him are also the most worthwhile.

In this post, I am going to recommend pursuing Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. I believe (as do many players) that he’s the best overall Galactic Legend, the requirements are reasonable enough (relatively speaking, that is), and you’ll be helped along the way as you farm.

2. Farming has been sped up

Another thing that I want to mention here is that now is a good time to be jumping into the game, as in recent months the developers have made it essentially twice as fast to star up characters. Previously each node only gave you a chance at one shard, but now you have a chance at two shards. And previously the stores gave you five shards when you made a purchase, but now they give you ten shards. So, essentially, you can farm these characters twice as fast now as you could a few months ago!

That doesn’t necessarily give you an advantage over other players, since they have the same opportunity, but it’s huge and worth pointing out.

3. The Journey Guide is your best friend

Similar to the sped up farming, the Journey Guide has not always been in the game, but it’s an incredible aid. Here, you can see all of the Galactic Legends, Hero’s Journey, Legendary, and other special event characters to unlock. It will tell you how. to unlock each character, and help you keep track of your progress toward them. This resource is invaluable, and it’s something that you can sand should keep returning to frequently to keep tabs on your progress.

The first team to farm: Phoenix

Ok, so here we go: the first team you should go after really hasn’t changed since I did my previous post, and it’s the Phoenix Squadron. These characters are the heroes of the tremendous Star Wars: Rebels TV series. They are easy to obtain, very competitive in the early-to-mid game, and will help you make significant progress on other goals.

There are six characters with the Phoenix tag, and you’ll need five of them. Here’s how you can unlock these characters:

It is very obvious that you want to go after the first five listed and opt to leave Sabine out of your Phoenix squad early. The team will do fine without her and you will be competitive in early-to-mid game battles, and it will present easily the most accessible and quickest way to farm. My strong recommendation is to farm Ezra and Hera from the cantina nodes (you’ll likely want to split those farms, so alternate starring them up, or something like that). Then use the stores to farm Chopper (Cantina), Kanan (Squad Arena), and Zeb (Galactic War). This is a very accessible first team. Focus on starring them up to seven stars.

As for what to farm on light side/dark side nodes? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, let me explain why the Phoenix Squad is go good to farm early.

1. They are easy to farm.

I’ve already mentioned this, but the ease of farm makes them all the more attractive early on.

2. They are competitive team.

You won’t be farming these characters just to never use them again. Though your use of them will probably drop off more and more as you progress further and further, Phoenix is more than capable of handling their own against a number of teams you will encounter early in the game and even in mid-game stuff, including in arena and other areas. You probably won’t have the most dominant team, but that’s why you’re going after a Galactic Legend, right? Until you get there, this team is good. It will keep you steady.

3. They are key to unlocking some great characters.

Here’s really where the Phoenix Squadron shines as an obvious choice to start: they can be used to unlock two really good characters: Emperor Palpatine and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Both of these characters are LEGENDARY EVENTS, which means that you need five characters of a certain faction to unlock the character at five stars; then you need those five characters at six stars to star the legendary character up to six, and the same with seven stars. And here’s the great thing: Palpatine requires five Rebel characters, while Thrawn requires five Phoenix characters. So with your five Phoenix characters at five stars, since they carry both the Rebel and Phoenix tag, you can unlock both Palpatine and Thrawn at five stars. Then by getting your Phoenix to seven stars, you can star Palpatine and Thrawn up to seven stars. You’ll need good gear on your Phoenix to do this, but it’s worth it.

Palpatine and Thrawn together make the start of the best Empire team, and if you can pair them with Darth Vader (farmable through achievement awards and the Fleet Arena Store), you’ll have the three main centerpieces to a great Empire team that can hold its own even in the end-game content. And they’re both obtainable using the Phoenix Squadron. So now not only do you have a good team in Phoenix, you also are well on your way to an even better team with Empire.

And maybe best of all? These characters are needed for Galactic Legends. Both of them are required to unlock Sith Eternal Emperor, but Palpatine (at Relic 7) is also required to unlock Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

The second team to farm: First Order

Ok, so now this probably makes more sense to you, because obviously if you’re going after Supreme Leader Kylo Ren you’re probably going to need a lot of First Order characters. And that is correct! You will actually need all ten of the other First Order characters in the game to seven stars, and more notably, all to various Relic levels. This will take some time. But you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

Here’s where the First Order characters are farmable:

You’re going to need all ten of these characters eventually if you want Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, so the order here isn’t quite as crucial. Part of what will complicate things a bit for you is that maybe the two best non-Galactic Legend First Order characters are both cantina farms (the two Kylo Rens), which you will already be using to farm Ezra Bridger and Hera Syndulla. So the best recommendation is to finish those two Phoenix farms as quickly as possible, and then move immediately to farming First Order from the cantina. I’d start with Kylo Ren (Unmasked), then move to Kylo Ren, and then move to First Order Executioner.

The same thing will apply to First Order Officer and Captain Phasma, who are obtainable in the Cantina Store and the Galactic War Store, respectively. You’ll already be using those stores to farm Chopper and Zeb, so as soon as you’re done with them, head for farming these First Order characters.

In the meantime, you can still turn your attention to some other characters to get a head start on your First Order team. Remember, as I mentioned earlier, you actually won’t be farming any Phoenix from light or dark side nodes (unless you choose to go for Sabine Wren, but I don’t recommend that as necessary). There are four First Order characters obtainable on these nodes: First Order Stormtrooper (2x), Sith Trooper (1x), General Hux (1x), and First Order TIE Pilot (2x). With cantina nodes, there’s no limit to how many times you can farm it in a day, so it’s harder to farm multiple characters at once. But with light and dark side nodes, you can do them five times each per day (and more, if you spend crystals to refresh). That makes it possible to farm multiple characters at once, so I’d go after as many of these First Order characters as possible at a time. Keep in mind that these hard node farms take a long time, so it’s best to start now and just keep farming. It will take a while, but at least you’ll have a head start. on your First Order team.

The other variable here is First Order SF Tie Pilot, obtainable only in the Guild Store. He won’t be there every time, but since you won’t be using this store to farm Phoenix, it also makes sense to farm him there – but it’s important to note that this store can be a very valuable place to buy gear, and in many cases that may be more advantageous for you early in the game. That’s ok. It will take you a long while before you get ready to unlock Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, so don’t feel a rush to have to get SF TIE Pilot right away. Feel free to purchase gear from this store to gear up your other characters, as that will be more immediately helpful and important. But just keep in mind that you will need SF TIE Pilot from this store, which will also take a while to farm.

Once you’re able to field a formidable First Order team, you will now have yet another very competitive team to use. Kylo Ren (Unmasked) is important to have as a leader, and there are some characters who are better than others, but your First Order team will give you another very competitive team. If you managed to also unlock Darth Vader along the way, you now have (at least) three very competitive teams: Phoenix, Empire, and First Order.

But there’s a hidden bonus to these First Order characters. Obviously your goal here is Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, but with five First Order characters you will now be ready to unlock another legendary character: BB-8! He won’t be helpful to your quest for the Supreme Leader, but he’s a very good character when paired with some key Resistance characters. But more on that in a minute. Right now, just kind of think of BB-8 as a “free” unlock in your pursuit of the Supreme Leader.

Almost there!

You’re now getting very close! It will take a long time, but with Phoenix you have unlocked Emperor Palpatine, and then farming these First Order characters you almost have all of the characters needed to unlock Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. But three main obstacles still remain in your way!

1. GEAR

This is, without a doubt, the biggest obstacle to getting any Galactic Legend. You will need all of your pertinent characters to various Relic levels, which are among the very highest gear in the game. I hate to break it to you, but this gear farm will be agonizing. Though the developers have made character farming easier than ever, gear farming is still as difficult as ever. It’s a real grind, especially when you consider needing to get twelve different characters to various Relic tiers. This will take a long, long time. So don’t despair, and don’t give up. A big part of this game is the gear grind, but hopefully with some of these teams you’ll still be able to enjoy competitive gameplay as you work on it. But I want you to be warned up front: this will be the biggest obstacle of them all to getting Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

2. Veteran Smuggler Han Solo

The one remaining character that you will need, which isn’t First Order or Emperor Palpatine, is Veteran Smuggler Han Solo – Kylo Ren’s father. This is the most random requirement (faction-wise) for the character, but it does make perfect sense canonically. My recommendation is to save him for last. He’s available on Cantina node 5-E, so my suggestion is to wait until you have farmed your Phoenix (Ezra and Hera) and your First Order (both Kylo Rens and First Order Executioner) from cantina nodes and then move on to farming Han. With the gear grind that awaits you, you’ll probably still have plenty of time to star Han up before you’ve even completed gearing all of your First Order.

There is an added benefit to unlocking Veteran Smuggler Han Solo, however: with him and BB-8 both unlocked, you’re now two-fifths of the way to unlocking Rey (Jedi Training). She is a HERO’S JOURNEY event, meaning that she requires five specific characters, all at seven stars, to unlock. You will need Veteran Smuggler Han Solo and BB-8 (which you will already have, eventually!), as well as Rey (Scavenger), Finn, and Veteran Smuggler Chewbacca. These three characters are all useful elsewhere, and in fact Rey (Jedi Training), Finn, Rey (Scavenger), BB-8, and Chewbacca are all needed to unlock Galactic Legend Rey! So though unlocking Rey (Jedi Training) will not be your first priority, it will be worth unlocking and staring up those other three characters to finally unlock her. Once you’ve done all that, you’ll already have five of the twelve characters needed for another Galactic Legend!

3. The Finalizer

The only remaining requirement for Supreme Leader Kylo Ren that I haven’t mentioned is the Finalizer, the capital ship belonging to General Hux. You’ll need it starred up to at least five stars. So how do you unlock the Finalizer? Well, I’ll be honest: the requirements don’t make any sort of sense whatsoever. You’ll need these ships to do it:

Some of those don’t make any canonical sense, I know, but those are the requirements. Don’t worry about the capital ship – you’ll be able to get some as soon as you’re able to start playing fleet battles. But obviously the other ships – and pilots needed – present a lot of other farms that you’ll need to do. That stinks. There’s no other way around it. But there are a few silver linings:

A. Fleet Arena

As an early-game player, one of the best possible ways for you to get consistent crystal influx is by competing in Fleet Arena. Therefore, it might be advantageous to prioritize some of these ship farms. That’s a decision that is up to you; some players mostly ignore ships, while others go all-out. You’ll need to decide how you’re going to approach ships. However, it’s important to note that this could be a really good source of crystals for you.

B. Seeing the bright side of the farms

The best news of them all is that TIE Silencer, the ship piloted by Kylo Ren (Unmasked), is available on the exact same cantina node as he is! So by farming Kylo, you’ll have his ship too. And this ship is a really good one, so this is great news for you! And then five of the pilots are First Order characters that you’ll want to be farming anyway. Another, Darth Vader, is a character I already mentioned might be worth going after to pair with Palpatine and Thrawn.

The other three pilots needed, then, are all bounty hunters. There’s Bossk and Boba Fett, both of whom fit in to most of the best bounty hunter squads, as well as a very solid addition in Cad Bane. And Hound’s Tooth, Bossk’s ship, is probably the best in the entire game, while Slave I is also a very useful and versatile ship as well. Additionally, I should point out that Hound’s Tooth is available on a single hard node (ugh), but on that same node is also Jango Fett. So by farming Hound’s Tooth, you’ll probably make significant progress on Jango as well. And that would mean having four bounty hunters already, including three of the very best in the game in Bossk, Boba, and Jango, and a very competent fourth in Cad Bane. One more, and you’ll have yet another very useful squad (I’d recommend either Dengar, The Mandalorian, or Greef Karga as the fifth, but you have options). And with five bounty hunters? Well, then you can unlock another legendary character in Chewbacca, who is great. But be warned: that event is very difficult and will require high gear levels.

C. When the chase begins…

Once you have all of these ships, you can complete the Finalizer event when it next comes around, but from there you just ‘earn the right’ to complete an event. The event will come around a couple of times a month, and each time you can complete it to get ten Finalizer shards. Thiswill eventually allow you to finish the farm needed.

Finally unlocking the Supreme Leader

When you’re FINALLY ready to unlock Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (it will take a while!), you can begin the event. It’s permanently available in the Journey Guide, so you won’t have to wait. But there is a catch: you need tickets to be able to play the event, and you can only start earning these tickets once you’ve qualified to enter the event (it’s a crappy system, I know). So for Kylo Ren, you’ll need to farm these tickets from dark side nodes, and these will allow you to play the event. You keep farming these tickets and playing the event until finally you unlock the character. In my experience, this takes about a week or two.

Then you can keep playing the event, once you’ve geared up the Supreme Leader, to unlock his ultimate ability. But this will take a long time as well.

And there you go: you now have your first Galactic Legend! And along the way, you will have compiled a number of other formidable squads: Phoenix, Empire, First Order, and Bounty Hunter, while having a really good head start on a Resistance squad too. You will also have a very solid fleet squad as well.

So yes, it will take a long time. The grind is real and intense. But don’t give up!

Have fun!

And my final suggestion, and this is the most important one, is this: HAVE FUN! There are plenty of times where this game is a real drag, and the grind is just so boring and unbearable and frustrating that you’ll want to quit. You can, if you want to, because the frustration never stops. But if you keep going, remember that this is about having fun. So if you have a favorite Star Wars character, it’s ok to farm them. I’ve given you a guide that I think can be a very helpful road map in starting out, but it is not the only way, nor do you have to follow it exactly. If you love Luke Skywalker, go for it! If you love Rey, then go after her! If you love the prequels, then the Galactic Republic is a great team! This game is ultimately about having fun with all of these Star Wars characters and ships, and so feel free to go after the ones you love the most. Some will be better than others in the game, but if you’re having fun, that’s really. what matters.

So good luck on the holotables, and may the Force be with you!