Strategy of R8 Negotiator mirror match

Many people are still struggling on using Negotiator (GK) mirror match.  Today I want to go through how to do mirror match against one of the most common Negotiator starting 3: Hound's Tooth (HT), Anakin's Eta-2 Starfighter (JKA) and Umbaran Starfighter (Fives).

The most effective mirror match squad is HT, JKA, Fives as starting 3 with Ebon Hawk (EH), Ahsoka Tano's Jedi Starfighter (Ahsoka), BTL-B Y-wing Starfighter (Y-wing) or Sun Fac's Geonosian Starfighter (SF), and Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter (PK).

Strategy of using each fleet.

1. HT: HT can taunt quickly, because he will gain 25% Turn Meter (TM) whenever another ally takes damage from an enemy's attack while he is not taunting based on his unique ability.

2. JKA:  the main damage dealer and he will feed TM to Negotiator because of Valor.

3. Fives: critical for doing AOE if opponent fleets have Target Lock (TL).

4. PK: dispel debuffs based on his reinforcement ability.

5. EH: his reinforcement ability can dispel all buffs on all enemies which is very useful especially if opponent's JKA is in stealth.  Scramble Scanners can inflict buff immunity which you can use on JKA or HT.  Potent Pilot can dispel all buffs on target enemy which is another useful ability.

6. Y-wing or SF: as insurance if you lose your HT.  Both are good.

7. Ahsoka: another good damage dealer.   Shut Down can dispel all buffs on target enemy.  Turnabout can dispel all debuffs on Ahsoka especially when she has daze or Breach and Ahsoka and all other rebuffed allies gain Retribution for 2 turns.

There are few key moments that I will define as good RNG:

1. Your Negotiator goes first.

2. Your JKA can inflict buff immunity on opponent's HT.

3. Your Negotiator inflicts TL on JKA when using Mobilize.

4. Your Fives can kill Target Locked JKA when you use Umbaran Missile Pods.

5. Opponent's Y wing doesn't kill your JKA when using Torpedoes Away! when your JKA is in stealth without Unending Loyalty.

6. When you call EH out, opponent's JKA doesn't have Unending Loyalty and your EH can kill JKA with basic attack.  This is the best RNG.

7. EH inflicts buff immunity on JKA.

Key strategy to decide how you use each fleet and when you should use each ability:

1. You always want to call PK out first to dispel debuffs if opponent's GK inflicts daze on you.

2. Put taunt on PK to trick AI to attack him so he can fall below 100% health to trigger your JKA to move because of JKA's unique Surge All Power which will give TM to your GK because of Valor, and then if they defeat PK, your JKA will move again which will give TM to your GK again.  That's total 30% TM your GK will get.

3. Use JKA basic attack "Locked On" on opponent with TL so he can grant another random ally Valor for 2 turns which will give 15% TM to your GK when that ally moves.

4. Save Fives Umbaran Missile Pods if you can so you can use it when opponent's JKA has TL.

5. EH is a powerful ship:

5a. Use EH to dispel buffs and use basic attack to kill JKA if JKA doesn't have Unending Loyalty.

5b. Use EH to dispel buffs and use Scramble Scanners on JKA to inflict buff immunity.  Your fleet which moves next can kill JKA right away.

5c. To decide if you need to call out PK first or EH first, it depends on if you have daze and breach on your fleets.  Breach will prevent your Ebon to kill JKA if opponent's HT is taunting.  

6.  Ahsoka is very important especially if you lose JKA.  She can do massive damage, dispel debuffs and buffs especially daze, breach and taunt.

7. Three tanks:

7a. HT: if you can keep him alive, he will protect all other fleets to increase your winning chance.

7b. Y-wing: use Y-wing to dispel buff.  Y-wing will also taunt when ally loses Unending Loyalty.

7c. SF: SF can stun the target enemy when coming out of reinforcement.  SF can stun another target enemy if target enemy has buff.  SF will taunt when opponent fleet has buff.

As you can see in the video, my RNG was pretty bad, but if you follow above strategy, you should be able to win.  In GAC and TW, if you unfortunately lose on mirror match, don't retreat and just send in Raddus to clean it up.

May the Force be with you.

 

 

 

Strategy to maximize banners by using Negotiator vs Malevolence

Both Negotiator and Malevolence have been released for more than a year now as fleet meta.  Today I want to give a quick strategy overview how to maximize your Grand Arena Championship (GAC) banners by using Negotiator vs Malevolence.

1. Use BTL Y-wing Starfighter (Ywing), Anakin's Eta-2 Starfighter (JKA), Umbaran Starfighter (5s) as starting 3 fleets.

2. Bring Plo Koon's (PK) Jedi Starfighter (mandatory) and Ebon Hawk (EW) (optional especially if you really need banners in GAC to win the match).  In the video I also put Ahsoka Tano's Jedi Starfighter and Hound's Tooth which were not necessary at all.

3. Use 5s' basic attack on Hyena Bomber (HB) to give HB 20% Turn Meter (TM) so HB can move and use Synchronized Salvo to inflict Buzz Droid (BD)

4. JKA targets Sun Vac's Geonosian Starfighter (SF) and use Impeding Assault to inflict Buff Immunity on SF so SF can't taunt.

5. Negotiator targets HB and use Mobilize to inflict Target Lock (TL) and daze opponents.  If you have good RNG, you can inflict TL on all three opponent's fleets.

6. Use 5s' Umbaran's Missile Pods.  This attack deals +20% damage per opponent with TL.  So if you have good RNG, you should be able to take out at least one fleet.

7. Call out PK first to recover Health and Protection and dispel (BD).  Use PK's Inspiring Charge so your ships can gain TM.

8. Kill HB and then deal with SF.  

8a. If you have great RNG, you should be able to kill SF before Malevolence brings out his first reinforcement.  Great RNG depends on couple things: 

Do you get TL on all opponent's fleets when using Mobilize?  In the video I didn't, but at least I got TL on 2 opponent's fleets. 

Does Malevolence use Charging Malevolence on SF or HB or VD?  In the video Malevolence used Charging Malevolence on SF to dispel on debuffs on him.  Sometimes Malevolence will pick HB which HB will also help dispel debuffs on another ship.  That's the worst RNG.  

8b. In the video, Malevolence calls out Han's Millennium Falcon (MF) which is common in arena but not in GAC.  MF will give foresight to every opponent ship which is why you need to EW as next reinforcement to dispel those buffs.  Then you just need to focus on taking out MF to win the battle.  

You can see at the end of the video almost all of my ships have full health and protection.  In GAC, 67-69 banners is doable by using above strategy.

Negotiator is really a great Capital ship and I recently upgraded him to relic 8.  It's a great counter against Malevolence with potential 67+ GAC banners.

May the Force be with you.