STAR WARS Zero Company Beginner Guide

The Den is the clock, not a lobby

Between fights the camera drops into third person inside The Den (Ring of Kafrene). This is where you treat Injuries, recruit, kit weapons and mods, spend Focus, and talk for Bonds. The Holotable is the strategic layer: current Cycle, Tactical Missions, Operations, and Influence. Walk the rooms once so the next deploy is a checklist, not a scavenger hunt.

Story missions want Hawks

Story missions typically require Hawks on the four-operator squad. Custom mercenaries and later authored Operators fill the other three slots. Do not bench Hawks to “try a cooler roster” on a story beat — the slot is reserved.

Once Hawks has a spec and The Den is not a maze, the next decision is who stands in the other three tiles.

Authored vs custom is not a power split

Authored Operators bring a locked unique talent and story. Custom Operators let you pick both specialization and talent. For a hole in the first four, a custom Medic or Scout is often more useful than forcing a third damage spec onto someone you like. Full names and locks live on operators.

Do not wait for Exotic to start

Jedi Padawan (Tel-Rea Vokoss) and Mandalorian Warrior (Cly Kullervo) are Exotic locks you meet later. Astromechs unlock via The Den’s droid path (community: “Repair Bay” — unverified label) and do not carry blasters. Hour one is eight Standard specs — Assault, Gunslinger, Heavy, Medic, Scoundrel, Scout, Sharpshooter, Soldier. Contrast table: classes.

With four names on the pad, the fight is an Action Point budget, not a cutscene.

Weapon AP is not cosmetic

Pistol shots are cheap (1 AP). Rifle is 1 AP on the first shot, 2 AP after. Repeater spends remaining AP. Longarm is 2 AP per shot. A Sharpshooter who walked too far cannot afford the Longarm — Overwatch still fires on leftover AP, even 1. Full costs: weapons.

Overwatch is the leftover-AP button

Overwatch is a cone, not a 360° aura. If the hit chance on your turn is garbage, spend the last point on a cone across the door the enemy has to use. Mechanics and flanking: combat.

AP is personal. Advantage is not — and that is the resource new players dump first.

Shared means one meter, four mouths

Scout is the Standard spec that exists to fill this meter. If hour-one fights feel “I never have enough for the rocket,” you do not have a Soldier problem — you have a generation problem. Pair Scout with whoever owns the expensive ultimate.

Do not save forever either

A full bar that dies with the mission is a wasted bar. Spend when a special changes the map: disorient a cluster, finish a Downed-threat, or give the AP-empty Operator something to do.

The Holotable decides whether you even take that fight — and Intel does not refresh if you stare at every pin.

Intel is a vote, not a collectible

Tactical missions feed Intel. Operations spend it. If every Operation looks good, pick the one that buys Medbay breathing room or a weapon mod you will equip this session — not the lore pin you can live without. Mission types: missions. Den upgrades: the den.

Black Market between deploys

Check the Black Market when you return. New weapon types and better utilities show up between Cycles. Credits you chase on the map exist to be spent here, not to sit in a pile while you run a 2-Injury Operator again.

Injuries are the reason that “one more mission” plan fails.

Hawks is the only permadeath exception

Do not learn the Injury stack on Trick or Tel-Rea. Authored deaths close plot threads. Custom hires are replaceable; named Operators are not. Toggle details: permadeath.

Medbay is part of the Den loop

Treat Injuries as a Cycle cost, same as Intel. A “healthy” roster that never visits Medbay is a roster you have not pushed — or one you are about to brick.

The list below is the hour-one failure list, not a second copy of this table.

One habit that fixes most of them

Before you confirm deploy: Hawks on the pad, no 2-Injury bodies, one plan for Advantage, one plan for leftover AP. Two seconds there prevents the “why is my roster empty” Cycle.

When that loop is automatic, lock a class on purpose instead of whatever Hawks spawned with.