Hey folks, our squad is now 1-2 in the Bespin campaign, and the last two missions have been difficult to say the least. Need your expert tips before tackling the final mission (Hostile Takeover)

Some background:

Imperial - Black Ops

Rebels: murne (company of heroes, rebel propaganda, waylay), E-11

Onar (get down, keep up, brute strength), starter weapon (we should have given him the E11 once murne got waylay)

Davith (shrouded lightsaber, covert operative), guard, hilt

Lando (lando)

Verena (point blank shot, combat momentum), DL44, tac display

We're in the last upgrade phase and I've got 5 xp to spend (each rebel will have a total of 9 xp, the imperials 11). I'm torn about how to complete Verena's 9 xp build. The imperial has been doing a great job at creating gaps and making it hard for her to gain position for close quarters, and further frustrating her use of PBS with the hide mechanic. Since both combat mastery and master operative shine when adjacent to enemies, and I'm having trouble closing gaps (and dealing with hidden) , perhaps I'd be better off maxing out on lower xp abilities (Ktara, create opening, student of battle) to complete her build. Any thoughts?

Master Operative is pretty good, but Ktara Maneuver is a pretty important ability for Verena to close the distance to hostile figures. Student of Battle and Create Opening are both okay abilities that make it easier to create CQ chains with Verena. I think in your situation you would be better served by Ktara Maneuver+Student of Battle over Master Operative.

I hope your group is finding good synergy between Onar and Verena, Onar's Rush works really well with Verena's abilities. You definitely should take the E-11 and give it to Onar though, his starter weapon is terrible against Hidden enemies.

I have played a few app campaigns with Verena, and I have found that I don't really have much use for Combat Momentum, and I would probably play Verena without it in a regular campaign as well. K'tara Maneuver helped only marginally, so I haven't used it after the first one, but the campaign, items, and other heroes matter quite much.

I think @Tvboy has the right idea about Student of Battle and Create Opening - Student of Battle makes CQs much more consistent and at least she can recover 2dmg on missed attacks - especially great with the Black Ops deck. (If you had 1XP more, I would still get Master Operative with Student of Battle.) The push from K'tara Maneuver could combo well with Murne's False Orders though, especially if there are nice hidden and focused imperials to use False Orders on...

What Verena ended up with three different app campaigns:

Verena Talos - 15 Health, 6 Endurance, 4 Speed - (Military Blaster), Fighting Knife, Create Opening (1XP), Concussion Grenades, Student of Battle (2XP), K'tara Maneuver (2XP), Master Operative (4XP), Pulse Cannon with Plasma Cell, Laminate Armor

Verena - 15 Health, (Military Blaster), (Fighting Knife), Create Opening (1XP), Gaffi Stick, Student of Battle (2XP), Laminate Armor, Point Blank Shot (3XP), Hidden Blade, Master Operative (4XP), Disruptor Pistol with Spread Barrel, Missing Key (supply card)

Verena : 15 Health, 6 Endurance, 4 Speed, Fighting Knife, (Military Blaster), Create Opening (1XP), Disruptor Pistol with Tactical Display, Laminate Armor, Student of Battle (2XP), Point Blank Shot (3XP), Hidden Blade, Master Operative (4XP)

5 hours ago, Tvboy said:

Master Operative is pretty good, but Ktara Maneuver is a pretty important ability for Verena to close the distance to hostile figures. Student of Battle and Create Opening are both okay abilities that make it easier to create CQ chains with Verena. I think in your situation you would be better served by Ktara Maneuver+Student of Battle over Master Operative.

I'm thinking the same. Lack of a gap closer is killing her effectiveness.

5 hours ago, Tvboy said:

I hope your group is finding good synergy between Onar and Verena, Onar's Rush works really well with Verena's abilities. You definitely should take the E-11 and give it to Onar though, his starter weapon is terrible against Hidden enemies.

We've mostly been using Onar to try to disrupt the imperials use of blocking shenanigans, never thought of the 1-2 spaces he might give Verena! Good tip!

14 hours ago, a1bert said:

I have played a few app campaigns with Verena, and I have found that I don't really have much use for Combat Momentum, and I would probably play Verena without it in a regular campaign as well. K'tara Maneuver helped only marginally, so I haven't used it after the first one, but the campaign, items, and other heroes matter quite much.

I think @Tvboy has the right idea about Student of Battle and Create Opening - Student of Battle makes CQs much more consistent and at least she can recover 2dmg on missed attacks - especially great with the Black Ops deck. (If you had 1XP more, I would still get Master Operative with Student of Battle.) The push from K'tara Maneuver could combo well with Murne's False Orders though, especially if there are nice hidden and focused imperials to use False Orders on...

What Verena ended up with three different app campaigns:

Verena Talos - 15 Health, 6 Endurance, 4 Speed - (Military Blaster), Fighting Knife, Create Opening (1XP), Concussion Grenades, Student of Battle (2XP), K'tara Maneuver (2XP), Master Operative (4XP), Pulse Cannon with Plasma Cell, Laminate Armor

Verena - 15 Health, (Military Blaster), (Fighting Knife), Create Opening (1XP), Gaffi Stick, Student of Battle (2XP), Laminate Armor, Point Blank Shot (3XP), Hidden Blade, Master Operative (4XP), Disruptor Pistol with Spread Barrel, Missing Key (supply card)

Verena : 15 Health, 6 Endurance, 4 Speed, Fighting Knife, (Military Blaster), Create Opening (1XP), Disruptor Pistol with Tactical Display, Laminate Armor, Student of Battle (2XP), Point Blank Shot (3XP), Hidden Blade, Master Operative (4XP)

Laminate armour x3... I'm beginning to question my choice of combat coat for her! Especially since the imperial has made it a priority to burst damage her down first in all the games so far..

I think we have a group with some decent synergy if we keep Murne, Lando, Onar and Verena close together. The problem is that each mission so far has dictated that we split up to run objectives before the clock runs out. This game never stops hitting you with strategic challenges! As we learn these characters, I'm guessing we'll be better for the finale.

App campaigns give armors as rewards, so sometimes you don't really get to choose. The "default" assignment of armors would be Combat Coat to white die defense and Laminate Armor for black die defense, but adjusting when needed - like Shyla with Deadly Grace would also be a good candidate for Combat Coat.

Learning the heroes and their synergies isn't that easy in app campaigns and minicampaigns because there are less missions, but the other side of the coin is that you won't suffer your "failed" choices for long.

(Verena could also benefit from High-Impact Guard if you come across it and have the credits to spare.)