The star of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jyn Erso is a character whose place in the Star Wars timeline was inserted thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, and the subsequent addition of new Star Wars movies. The daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso, we are first introduced to Jyn in the Star Wars canon timeline in the book Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel. In Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Jyn Erso is an “offensive Rebel Leader” who has a very enjoyable kit to work with and a Zeta Leader ability which had me intrigued from her initial release.

In SWGoH Jyn Erso has two Zeta Abilities – on her Leader ability and her Unique. While I added a Zeta to her leader ability early on, I was finally able to test her Unique Ability Zeta through my QA/dev account as a part of the EA/CG GameChangers program for Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes. Let’s take a look at both of these Zeta abilities.

For her Leader ability, Into the Fray, the Jyn Erso Zeta game text reads “Rebel allies have +35% Potency and recover 5% Protection whenever they gain a buff. Enemies that suffer debuffs during Rebel allies’ turns have a 50% chance to also become Exposed for 2 turns. This Expose can’t be Resisted.” The key part to the Zeta material use is the “Rebel allies … recover 5% Protection whenever they gain a buff” section of the text. Think about that – put her in a squad with characters who consistently gain buffs like a Chirrut and Baze combo or a Cassian and K-2SO combo and every time a new buff appears you recover 5% protection as well…

The unique ability Fierce Determination, before the Zeta reads “Jyn gains 10% Potency each time she scores a Critical Hit.” Add the Zeta and it then reads “Jyn is immune to Stuns and gains 10% Potency each time she scores a Critical Hit.” So the Zeta is quite straightforward – using it means she can no longer be stunned by her enemies.

 

Jyn Erso Zeta Reviews

Gameplay: Jyn’s Leader Zeta is one of the more enjoyable ones in my opinion, but not nearly as much fun to use as Finn’s Zeta ability in SWGoH. I have used her as a Leader many times since opening her at 4-stars in the first Tournament where her shards were the prize, and since placing a Zeta on her Leader ability I have used her several times in the Galactic War while testing her in other areas of the game as well. Today’s first 8 nodes of the GW saw my squad (Jyn (L), Chirrut, Baze, K-2SO and Cassian) mow through the competition with K-2SO losing Protection early (he and Cassian are Gear 8, the rest Gear 11) but recovering and maintaining about 10-20% of his protection throughout. For long battle and survivability the Protection recovery is very good, and it works very well on keeping K-2SO and Baze strong given their taunts. Add in the buffs from Chirrut and that helps out a lot.

As for the unique Zeta, while it is not needed in all settings, there is significant benefit in not ever being stunned. This is of course beneficial in any PVP match-up like the Squad Arena, against the Rancor (if you all him to ever hit you) and in Territory Battles – Hoth against the many Snowtroopers and Stormtroopers you face.

Squad Arena: Personally, I do not use my Zeta Jyn Erso in the Arena. I tried it out one day and did not like how it performed against the Rex leads, Zeta Maul leads or really any of the Elite squads. Thus, I do not see this as a viable Zeta for a consistent Top 20 Arena team.

Rancor: Jyn Erso was awesome against the Rancor already, but as a complement to a zVader or alongside Teebo, not as a leader. While the Zeta on her Leader ability is nice since you recover Protection (Rebels only), she was 10/10 on the Rancor before the Zeta so this is not impacted by the Zeta at all. The unique Zeta is likely a better move for someone struggling to get higher scores against the Rancor than it is for a late-game player with multiple other Zetas. Since the Rancor stuns its targets often when he lands an attack, having your Turn Meter reduction Queen always available is a nice benefit to getting those scores up.

AAT/HAAT: When Jyn Erso was first added to SWGoH I saw her kit and the Zeta Leader ability and was instantly intrigued. My hopes were Phase 4 of HAAT, but that proved not to be the place for Jyn. As Clones soon dominated Phase 4 and others, like myself, looked to Chaze and Wiggs to stay competitive, Jyn Erso was left without a spot in Phase 4. While her ability to remove Turn Meter gave her a chance in Phase 3, the Zeta remains irrelevant in this spot as she is not best used as a Leader.

Territory Battles: Territory Battles forces players of SWGoH to not only have depth, but also to use specific characters. Jyn Erso’s Zeta leadership ability is a solid one in other areas of the game, but personally I saw little use of it other than for fun in the Galactic War. However, with Territory Battles – Hoth now here her Zeta leader ability adds in value. Given the need for Rogue One characters on the Phase 2 Special Mission and the Phase 6 Combat Mission, Jyn becomes incredibly valuable in the initial version of Territory Battles. Team her with a Zeta Cassian and a Zeta K-2SO for maximum benefit and if you can also add Baze and Chirrut the three Zeta toons will make this a tough squad to beat.

 

How I Use zJyn: My use of zJyn was mostly for fun in the Galactic War before the launch of Territory Battles. Personally, I find a Zeta Jyn to be one of the more enjoyable Zetas to use in SWGoH, however I have found it is not the difference-maker that the Zeta Maul was for much of 2017. As I stated earlier, the Zeta on her Leader ability is a nice boost for a long battle or the GW, but it is certainly no game changer in my opinion. That having been said, with the need for a Rogue One team in Phase 6 of Territory Battles – Hoth, the Zeta on Jyn’s leadership ability is certainly a nice one to have to gain protection and increase survivability.

My Rating of zJyn: My rating for zJyn’s Into the Fray leader ability is a 6/10, getting a boost thanks to Territory Battles – Hoth. For her unique ability, Fierce Determination, I give it a 3/10. Back to my earlier statement – I believe that “the unique Zeta is likely a better move for someone struggling to get higher scores against the Rancor than it is for a  end game player with multiple other Zetas.” If you are a mid-tier player and want to be the Rancor king in your Guild, I can see Jyn’s anti-Stun Zeta being a nice boost to your score.

While I am trying to reserve a 10/10 for the best of SWGoH, I have yet to find one that is so OP that it deserves a 10. Jyn’s Zetas are both nice to have, with the leader Zeta definitely being the more valuable of the two.

 

Images courtesy of SWGOH.gg