Diala is a very utilitarian character, and might be the most diverse when it comes to being able to train for a role. She can be graduated to a frontline slayer, she can tank, and she can be support. Most commonly she's a little of all three. So... how do You "Diala"?

Over a good deal of games, Diala has become one of my faves, and much of my experience comes from the Imperial side. I've played Diala through the campaign four times now and played against her even more. The following is based on my perceptions and experience, no crunchy math. As always, your opinion may be different.

Class Cards.

1st pick, for 2 XP, Diala selects .... Defensive Stance.

"Whuuuut? Neither 1 point ability?"

Force Throw and Force Adept. As the Imperial Player, I hate these abilities. So annoying when they pop up. A handful of times the Rebel players have used each of these abilities to win the mission. However, both of these are very circumstantial, they are great, but in very specific situations... vs how many times does Diala get shot at? Again, opinions vary, and I won't say those abilities are bad, because they aren't; but my key thought on selecting upgrades is first, number of attacks. Second though is survivability. Defensive Stance turns a 1/6 probability of that super Full Dodge into a 1/3, and if you're the IP it seems more like 2/3. However, it's that second and almost forgotten listing on Defensive Stance that deals it for me, Focused if take no damage. Diala focused, like any hero Focused, does far more damage. Let me tell you, as the IP, that weighs in on my decision on which Rebel to fire at.

With her 2nd pick in the Class Card draft, for 4 XP, Diala selects... Way of the Sarlacc.

This one is likely to be unpopular. Going four missions without an upgrade makes those missions tougher. I keep in mind that equipment upgrades can help. WotS promotes number of attacks, something all Rebels need for end game missions. For two Strain, she goes into cuisinart mode and can make two, three, Heck I suppose the limit there is nine attacks ... though if your IP sets her up for this I'm reporting them to COMPNOR for being a Sympathizer.

Especially in the later missions, the Rebels need to produce damage on Imperial figures while still moving. This is important, if they don't they will get overrun by the Imperial machine pumping out 5+ Threat a turn, and that's in addition to mission deployment events and mission defined Threat increases. WotS allows Diala to cut and thin these forces down. Yes, the IP should not cluster his forces for you. Between WotS, Brutal Cleave, Havoc Shot, Grenades, and good old regular Cleave, you'd think this would be standard practice, but in reality it's very difficult to do in thin hallways and 3x4 rooms. She will get her chance, and often.

For her third pick, for 2 XP, Diala selects Battle Mediation.

"But R5! What good is that, she's already Focused through Defensive Stance."

Because a focused Diala is a nightmare, and because WotS is going to get her shot at and she'll probably have to rest at some point (It also keeps her moving forward). Here though, is my nod to team play, she can also Focus someone else. I promise you, there's a line to your left for people who want that Focus token; but you'll likely take it yourself because she might, just might, have that lightsaber, and being Focused makes that weapon hum a lot louder. (See below)

After that, fill as needed. You still have 3-4 more missions until the finale. Take the 1 pointers as needed or take Art of Movement in order to make getting those WotS shots easier.

Equipment.

Tier 1.

Diala loves to go shopping. We all do. We get cool stuff, and who doesn't love that?

At the first Tier though, there's really only one item I'm looking for, the Balanced Hilt.

A lot of people go for the Extended Hilt. Giving her Plasteel Staff/BD-1/Force Pike a point of Pierce gives each of those weapons a little more bite, the Staff could certainly use it. However, if you find a way to get her master's lightsaber into her hands, that Balanced Hilt turns that weapon deadly, far more than giving it reach does, but I'll talk about the saber later.

If you find Diala is getting beat up, get her the Combat Coat. I like giving her the Laminate Armor, but if you just can't wait, even the extra +2 Health can be worth it.

Tier 2.

Got that Lightsaber yet? Hrm, well let me show you this BD-1 Vibro-Ax. I believe the Lightsaber is her best weapon, but in the probable case that you didn't draw Temptation in your opening hand, the BD-1 is the way to go, even if you have to browbeat the wookie to get it.

Also, Laminate Armor, because +3 Health is better.

Tier 3.

Force Pike. 3 dice and Stun. Useful for removing all the Strain that WotS and Defensive Stance is putting on you.

Temptation.

Take this side mission as soon as you see it. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be, and I believe that Lightsaber to be well worth it. If not for the reasons below, then for sheer fun value. It's better to have a Lightsaber.

A lot of people have commented on how underpowered this thing seems. Yes, that's how it seems. Rolling Blue + Red and trying to get those elusive surges that the saber needs can get frustrating.

Fortunately, you have the Balanced Hilt! No surges? Just turn that little mod card sideways and watch the Lightsaber cut through those annoying block symbols. With Pierce 3, even Vader and the AT-STs are grumbling to each other about facing her. Don't tell me they don't, the General Weiss model almost refused to stand his ground.

However, between Defensive Stance and Battle Mediation, Diala is rolling GRB a lot. 1. Surges aplenty. 2. Ow. That extra green die really allows her to put on the hurt. WotS only allows her to hit people adjacent to her, but using the Focus to get Cleave for the first swing, then the Hilt to get Cleave for the Second, WotS gets lethal in a hurry.

If that weren't enough, Defensive Stance allows her to return a point of damage to her attacker every time she uses it, further giving the IP cause for selecting another target, which increases her survivability.

That's it, those are my thoughts on the Jedi and how to best advance her to prepare for the Finale. Your opinion varies? Excel proves me wrong? I'm an idiot? That's what Reply to this Topic is for.

I think that build is fine, but like you said she's utilitarian, so it depends on the team what role you need filled.

In our current campaign the rebel wins have mostly been due to Diala with force throw and art of movement getting herself and others to the exit before the imperial has a chance to wound them all.

To the exit. I don't have the campaign guide, but I'd guess six missions have an exit to get to, and only two of those are story missions? Your point is valid though, whether you're racing to an exit or to any objective, the extra movement is nice. Art of Movement for positioning works well, I imagine Diala leaping a lot.

It's great when Diala can do that for you. I just don't see it happening as much the more I play, or more to the point, the more I watch others play. It probably happens maybe two or three times,again in my own experience, where this actually made a real difference in a campaign. The rest, could I say they wouldn't have won without it? No, they just couldn't have won that particular way. But the counterpoint I make to my own statement is this: as the IP, I defeat the Rebels a lot whether Diala has this Strain inducing ability or not.

It's only one point to add that utility. Maybe you want to take it right out of the gate. I just find that getting the others as soon as possible has resulted in the best Diala I can buy for me. Force Throw is a heavy Strain cost. So is Force Adept because suddenly Diala is Santa Claus and everyone wants a reroll for Christmas. A note to some players, I've seen people play Diala who have a hard time saying no to Force Adept requests until she's all strained out. Sucks because you want everyone too have a good time, but now you're sitting there with two or three more strain than you expected.

Not the case with everyone, certainly.

Perhaps I will try again with Force Throw. It is nice to have when you need it. I just needs the Ways of the Sarlaccs!

Is the plural of Sarlacc, Sarlaccs?

Perhaps I will try again with Force Throw. It is nice to have when you need it. I just needs the Ways of the Sarlaccs!

Is the plural of Sarlacc, Sarlaccs?

It's a self plural (and Ways of the Sarlacc would be the correct plural of Way of the Sarlacc either way).

In the campaign I played as Diala, most of my activations where move, rest, throw, focus.

Throw: I would use it to place another figure in an advantageous position more than to "misplace" an enemy one. It's like giving one ally almost an extra move, for no action cost.

Move, strain move: To be able to keep up with the team, I had to move and strain move a lot of times, but hey, guess what, Rest is my next action and I give my partners a focus token! Gharkaan charging while focused (with his reward card on top)? Scary!

Fenn Signis with a beefed up weapon and a focus dice to give him additional surges? Don't bunch up, is all I can say.

Rest: IF I was fully strained, I got back all my strain, ready to go again next round, if not, I get to heal!

My build was strain heavy, but the rebels won the campaign, so I'd say it was effective.

Force Throw is just incredible since you can use it on your teammates. It's a great opening move or fantastic to have if there's impassable terrain.

It's almost mandatory in "Fly Solo".

Diala's best abilities in order:

Force Throw

Force Adept

Way of the Sarlaac

Defensive Stance

Battle meditation sucks, since if she had a focus already, she must spend it on the attribute test for battle meditation. It's strategy-limiting. The one reason it's nice is that you can assign the focus to a teammate, but the above limitation makes it suck.

Snap kick is good, but the green dice has 1 side that does 0 damage.

Dancing Weapon is great if you already have too many crowd-control characters and no glass cannon characters.

Force Adept, there's tons of stat checks, so granting a re-roll at a critical moment to teammates is very useful. If your Imperial is using Tech Superiority you'll need it for Arc Blasters.

Force Throw just makes everyone better, setting up clusters for Fenn to Blast 2 everyone. Or setting up Brutal Cleave for Gaarkhan. Or Throwing people to trigger "entering a space" so Mak can use Disengage.

We discovered something midway through our campaign of Fenn, Mak, Diala, and Garkhaan: our Diala was useless.

After two narrow losses, we were utterly trounced in "Fly Solo" (when our morale hit rock-bottom). Our Imperial player graciously allowed us to "rebuild" Diala's support cards from:

• Art of Movement (the only upgrade she had through 5 missions)

To:

• Force Adept
• Battle Meditation
• Defensive Stance

That was two missions ago (one win, one loss). She's useful now as a support character; her un-focused attacks are so weak that she was contributing almost nothing previously, and the ability to force a re-roll on a critical attack or skill check has been huge.

What I learned during all of this is that while Gideon is designed as a support character, Diala works best as one in Gideon's absence.

We discovered something midway through our campaign of Fenn, Mak, Diala, and Garkhaan: our Diala was useless.

After two narrow losses, we were utterly trounced in "Fly Solo" (when our morale hit rock-bottom). Our Imperial player graciously allowed us to "rebuild" Diala's support cards from:

• Art of Movement (the only upgrade she had through 5 missions)

To:

• Force Adept
• Battle Meditation
• Defensive Stance

That was two missions ago (one win, one loss). She's useful now as a support character; her un-focused attacks are so weak that she was contributing almost nothing previously, and the ability to force a re-roll on a critical attack or skill check has been huge.

What I learned during all of this is that while Gideon is designed as a support character, Diala works best as one in Gideon's absence.

I think your flaw is you configured Diala as a support character. You really need to get her Way of the Sarlaac or Dancing Weapon.

She's a beast with Way of the Sarlaac and the BD-2 Vibro Axe or Vibro Knuckles. Attack every character and Cleave 2 other characters.

With Force Throw, there's no way for the Imperial to arrange characters to prevent Way of the Sarlaac, short of breaking up squads, which is strategically huge since that cancels out a lot of passive abilities that require adjacency.

Battle Meditation / Defensive Stance should be one or the other, not both. Use the 2 points to get Force Adept and Force Throw.

Force Throw would've helped you win Fly Solo, since it allows you to throw Han more spaces.

I think your flaw is you configured Diala as a support character. You really need to get her Way of the Sarlaac or Dancing Weapon.

She's a beast with Way of the Sarlaac and the BD-2 Vibro Axe or Vibro Knuckles. Attack every character and Cleave 2 other characters.

With Force Throw, there's no way for the Imperial to arrange characters to prevent Way of the Sarlaac, short of breaking up squads, which is strategically huge since that cancels out a lot of passive abilities that require adjacency.

Battle Meditation / Defensive Stance should be one or the other, not both. Use the 2 points to get Force Adept and Force Throw.

Force Throw would've helped you win Fly Solo, since it allows you to throw Han more spaces.

Stop helping them!

Gaarkhan already has the BD-1, and we're pretty far into the campaign (Captured, a side mission, The Source, and the finale remain), so there probably isn't a lot of time to change her role. Finally, Force Throw would not have likely made a difference in Fly Solo; Han died immediately after he activated.

Stop helping them!

Gaarkhan already has the BD-1, and we're pretty far into the campaign (Captured, a side mission, The Source, and the finale remain), so there probably isn't a lot of time to change her role. Finally, Force Throw would not have likely made a difference in Fly Solo; Han died immediately after he activated.

I wouldn't worry about the help, it's a bit late for us to re-re-do Diala's support cards at this stage. =)

It's interesting to see the different takes on builds, though.

Stop helping them!

Gaarkhan already has the BD-1, and we're pretty far into the campaign (Captured, a side mission, The Source, and the finale remain), so there probably isn't a lot of time to change her role. Finally, Force Throw would not have likely made a difference in Fly Solo; Han died immediately after he activated.

IIRC,

As for Diala, our diala has vibro knucklers (late Force Pike).

IIRC, the elite STs and Han start the round the door is opened already activated.

Assuming Diala didn't take a turn yet (big if, in ours she did not), the first move is to Force Throw Han 3 extra spaces.

Only if

It's interesting to see the different takes on builds, though.

I'm just saying from experience. We did the right thing by getting Force Throw and Force Adept right away, but our critical mistake was getting both Defensive Stance and Battle Meditation after that. We're hurting bad in our 3-player game, losing every story mission (lost Flying Solo purely because of a stupid mistake on our part).

Waiting to the final missions to get Way of the Sarlaac is a huge loss.

Way of the Sarlaac makes Diala the best character because she can perform up to 9 actions. All board games are about resource management of a critical resource, either by gaining them (abilities) or taking them away from your opponent (killing). In Imperial Assault the critical resource is Actions. Most characters can get 3-5 actions, 9 is huge.

Force Adept is awesome because it's virtually the only chance the Rebels have to win A New Threat (aside from poor Imperial Play or lucky dice rolls). Having to do dice rolls to progress a mission is one of the big issues in this game (where 1 more round is detrimental in a 5 round mission), and having something that lets you affect a core game rule is huge. Almost every mission has this game mechanic, and even BGY has a 11% chance of 0 surges (50/50 of 2 surges).

Force Throw I've touched on enough, but it just makes everyone better, setting up Quick Draws for Jyn (throw someone within range), triggering Disengage for Mak (Force Throw is "entering a space"), setting up Cleave/Brutal Cleave for Gaarkhan, or setting up Blast for Fenn. It takes away control from the Imperial and gives it back to the Rebels.

Min/maxing this game is tricky. It can be tempting to min-max power, but in reality it's best to pick things that min-max strategic options, because of the back-and-forth game mechanic and hidden information.

Min/maxing this game is tricky. It can be tempting to min-max power, but in reality it's best to pick things that min-max strategic options, because of the back-and-forth game mechanic and hidden information.

I think this is a key point that we didn't discover until about halfway through this campaign (our first, admittedly).

One of Fenn's first upgrades was Tactical Movement. That card is useful just about every round. Playing Mak, I should have picked up Disengage sooner than I did. Hindsight and all that. I think that's one of the reasons that our Diala player went straight for Art of Movement rather than Force Throw. Force Throw does give you more flexibility, but after getting rocked in "A New Threat" simply because we couldn't get anywhere fast enough; I think that influenced his decision.

Min/maxing this game is tricky. It can be tempting to min-max power, but in reality it's best to pick things that min-max strategic options, because of the back-and-forth game mechanic and hidden information.

I think this is a key point that we didn't discover until about halfway through this campaign (our first, admittedly).

One of Fenn's first upgrades was Tactical Movement. That card is useful just about every round. Playing Mak, I should have picked up Disengage sooner than I did. Hindsight and all that. I think that's one of the reasons that our Diala player went straight for Art of Movement rather than Force Throw. Force Throw does give you more flexibility, but after getting rocked in "A New Threat" simply because we couldn't get anywhere fast enough; I think that influenced his decision.

Yup, Tactical Movement is incredibly useful, since that's 0.5 actions. Disengage too, that's +3/4 action. Both can usually be activated every turn.

• Mak can do up to ~5 actions per turn (Disengage, Expertise, No Escape for 3 attacks).
• Fenn can do 2.5-11.5 (Blast is 1/2 action per character you do it on, assuming Rebel Elite Blast 2... realistically after attack and defense are rolled I'm happy if I do 2-3 damage, so Blast 2 is 0.5 attacks). His card lets him do Havoc Shot twice.
• Jyn can only do 3 actions, but they're powerful (Quick Draw, then 2 actions). Sidewinder can effectively let her do more, but her power upgrades are more worthwhile.
• Gaarkhan can do 4 actions per turn (Charge + Brutal Cleave = 3 actions, +1 more).
• Diala can do up to 10 actions per turn (Way of the Sarlaac x8, Force Throw 3 spaces = 1 move for someone else,,, or an attack on something with 1 health left, 1 other action).
• Gideon can do up to 4.5 actions per turn (Command x2, Hammer and Anvil = 2, and give 2 movement points)

Of course, there's other abilities that prevent you from having to repeat actions (+dmg to attacks, or reroll failed stat checks), but as far as gaining more actions, the above outlines it pretty well I think.

is tricky. It can be tempting to min-max power, but in reality it's best to pick things that min-max strategic options, because of the back-and-forth game mechanic and hidden information.

Yup, Tactical Movement is incredibly useful, since that's 0.5 actions. Disengage too, that's +3/4 action. Both can usually be activated every turn.

• Mak can do up to ~5 actions per turn (Disengage, Expertise, No Escape for 3 attacks).
• Fenn can do 2.5-11.5 (Blast is 1/2 action per character you do it on, assuming Rebel Elite Blast 2... realistically after attack and defense are rolled I'm happy if I do 2-3 damage, so Blast 2 is 0.5 attacks). His card lets him do Havoc Shot twice.
• Jyn can only do 3 actions, but they're powerful (Quick Draw, then 2 actions). Sidewinder can effectively let her do more, but her power upgrades are more worthwhile.
• Gaarkhan can do 4 actions per turn (Charge + Brutal Cleave = 3 actions, +1 more).
• Diala can do up to 10 actions per turn (Way of the Sarlaac x8, Force Throw 3 spaces = 1 move for someone else,,, or an attack on something with 1 health left, 1 other action).
• Gideon can do up to 4.5 actions per turn (Command x2, Hammer and Anvil = 2, and give 2 movement points)

Of course, there's other abilities that prevent you from having to repeat actions (+dmg to attacks, or reroll failed stat checks), but as far as gaining more actions, the above outlines it pretty well I think.

This is way off.

a) The idea that you'll get an 8 or 9 attack WotS (more than 3 is usually a slip up from the IP, 8 or 9 is them deliberately letting you do it because they think it would be awesome).

b) Not taking into account strain, so Gideon can only do 5 (masterstroke means mobile tactician procs twice) every other turn and Diala, Makand Garkhan must use their spare action resting effectively nullifying it. Also

c) Arbitrarily leaving out Sidewinder, Opportunist and/or Quick as a Whip (Jyn has more like 6 actions every turn with these)

*Edited to hopefully be less of a **** about it.*

More on topic I've had great success with Diala as a support/Tank with Force Adept, Art of Movement, Battle Meditation and Defensive Stance. Force Adept is a nice little thing that makes everything just more likely to be better, Art of Movement drastically reduces the threshold for you to win so many missions (in one campaign literally half of the (four) missions the rebels won were on the back of it), Battle Meditation means you don't care if they pour damage into you since you can rest twice and focus allies and Defensive Stance is obvious. Dancing weapon is also good for versatility and single target damage(that and a rocket punch with the gauntlet is thematically the most awesome thing in the game) My initial impression of Force Push was negative (partially based on the assumption that it actually needed to be a push) given the strain cost but I'll probably try it given the endorsement of this thread.

Anyway I think the takeaway is that there are a ton of ways to Build Diala and have her be useful (unlike most of the other characters).

is tricky. It can be tempting to min-max power, but in reality it's best to pick things that min-max strategic options, because of the back-and-forth game mechanic and hidden information.

Yup, Tactical Movement is incredibly useful, since that's 0.5 actions. Disengage too, that's +3/4 action. Both can usually be activated every turn.

• Mak can do up to ~5 actions per turn (Disengage, Expertise, No Escape for 3 attacks).
• Fenn can do 2.5-11.5 (Blast is 1/2 action per character you do it on, assuming Rebel Elite Blast 2... realistically after attack and defense are rolled I'm happy if I do 2-3 damage, so Blast 2 is 0.5 attacks). His card lets him do Havoc Shot twice.
• Jyn can only do 3 actions, but they're powerful (Quick Draw, then 2 actions). Sidewinder can effectively let her do more, but her power upgrades are more worthwhile.
• Gaarkhan can do 4 actions per turn (Charge + Brutal Cleave = 3 actions, +1 more).
• Diala can do up to 10 actions per turn (Way of the Sarlaac x8, Force Throw 3 spaces = 1 move for someone else,,, or an attack on something with 1 health left, 1 other action).
• Gideon can do up to 4.5 actions per turn (Command x2, Hammer and Anvil = 2, and give 2 movement points)

Of course, there's other abilities that prevent you from having to repeat actions (+dmg to attacks, or reroll failed stat checks), but as far as gaining more actions, the above outlines it pretty well I think.

This is way off.

a) The idea that you'll get an 8 or 9 attack WotS (more than 3 is usually a slip up from the IP, 8 or 9 is them deliberately letting you do it because they think it would be awesome).

b) Not taking into account strain, so Gideon can only do 5 (masterstroke means mobile tactician procs twice) every other turn and Diala, Makand Garkhan must use their spare action resting effectively nullifying it. Also

c) Arbitrarily leaving out Sidewinder, Opportunist and/or Quick as a Whip (Jyn has more like 6 actions every turn with these)

*Edited to hopefully be less of a **** about it.*

More on topic I've had great success with Diala as a support/Tank with Force Adept, Art of Movement, Battle Meditation and Defensive Stance. Force Adept is a nice little thing that makes everything just more likely to be better, Art of Movement drastically reduces the threshold for you to win so many missions (in one campaign literally half of the (four) missions the rebels won were on the back of it), Battle Meditation means you don't care if they pour damage into you since you can rest twice and focus allies and Defensive Stance is obvious. Dancing weapon is also good for versatility and single target damage(that and a rocket punch with the gauntlet is thematically the most awesome thing in the game) My initial impression of Force Push was negative (partially based on the assumption that it actually needed to be a push) given the strain cost but I'll probably try it given the endorsement of this thread.

Anyway I think the takeaway is that there are a ton of ways to Build Diala and have her be useful (unlike most of the other characters).

There is one mission where this is possible. In Luxury Cruise rebels win terminals if there's no imperial figures around them. We literally had Gaarkhan in the middle surrounded by 8 imperial figures with him trying to fight them off.

We did not, unfortunately have Way of the Saarlac at that time. Nor did we win (if we had it I think we would have).

I still believe that Force Throw is a trap. It's a viable tactic that has its uses, do not mistake me, it's great when you really need it.

However it's two Strain every time. For two Strain, you could WotSarlacc and deal an incredible amount of damage. For two Strain, someone else can move two spaces instead of three.

As was stated earlier, this game is about resource management, and those resources are actions, attacks/rests/strain/health. Moving another character twice means that Diala has to rest before she can do much else. I understand that Diala does not Have to do this every round, however if she does not have it, then she is forced into another action. Over the course of the mission(s), I have found this to be towards my benefit, especially in the later missions when the Rebels need to clearing away the deluge of Imperial Forces.

By not taking either 1 point ability until later, or never, yes you give up a tactical option, but you streamline the Jedi in doing do.

Again, this works for me. Well. Your mileage may vary.

I don't know about you guys, but my IP kept his units well separated, since he learned in Aftermath that blast and cleave and reach don't give them survivability.

So Way of the Sarlacc? Less than useful in my case. If I wanted a target, I had to go and get it and bring it to myself.