One of the stars of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Cassian Andor shows us the good, the bad and the ugly side of the Rebellion against the Empire. In Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Cassian is a “Rebel support who buffs allies at the start of battle and debuffs enemies during battle.”
In addition, Cassian has a large impact on the ships side of the game with his own U-Wing which is very strong once powered up.
Cassian Andor has a single Zeta Ability in-game. While I have looked at this Zeta for a while, thanks to my QA/dev account as a part of the EA/CG GameChangers program for Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, I was able to test this Zeta Ability out.
The Zeta is on his unique ability, Groundwork, adds the following text: “at the start of each encounter all Rebel allies gain Protection Up (20%) for 3 turns.” Added to the original, level 7 text, the maxed ability reads “At the start of each encounter all Rebel allies gain Protection Up (20%) for 3 turns all Rebel Attackers gain Defense Up for 3 turns, all Rebel Supports gain Potency Up for 3 turns, and all Rebel Tanks gain Tenacity Up for 3 turns. If K-2SO is present, he gains all of these buffs.” Thus, each time a battle starts the enemies are first hitting the bonus Protection meaning you are better positioned for longer battles or battle with many waves of enemies.
chance, meaning, she will often leave a character with more health than they started with.
Cassian Andor Zeta Review
Gameplay: Cassian’s Zeta is one that translates well into the Galactic War and Territory Battles because as the battles continue, the additional Protection is added at the start of each. The Galactic War, in particular, is awesome since each new battle features bonus Protection to the tune of 20%. Add to this the fact that with the right mods on Cassian Andor, K-2SO and anyone else you use with them (I suggest a Zeta Jyn Erso leader), you can beef up the Protection on each character and therefore make that 20% boost an even higher number. For more on Territory Battles keep reading.
Squad Arena: I have tested the Rogue One toons, including Zeta Cassian Andor, in the Squad Arena and, like most things in this game, having Gear 12 characters with 200-250 Speed on each is basically a requirement for Squad Arena dominance. Yes, there are characters who are better than others, and while Cassian’s 20% Protection boost is a nice to have, if you combine it with Jyn’s leader Zeta and K-2’s Zeta it can translate into some Squad Arena success. I would not expect consistent Top 10 finishes in a November/December 2015 Arena shard, but the Top 100-200 seems reasonable with high gear levels on all of your toons.
Rancor: The Rancor Raid has really become stale and redundant in SWGoH, and Cassian’s Zeta is not one that I would expect to have much impact here. If your Guild is full of 7-star Han Solos you’re likely either running all FFA Rancor Raids or faction attacks. Only a Rogue One faction attack would really warrant the use of Cassian, and while the extra Protection would be nice at the start of each phase it would not be a big difference-maker.
AAT/HAAT: I have used Cassian Andor in HAAT before to test him out, and he just does not fit the teams that put up huge HAAT numbers. Unless there is some character combo I am unaware of, the Zeta on Cassian’s unique is not going to have the impact that a Zeta Cody or a Zeta Finn will have in the Tank Takedown Raid.
Territory Battles: What is awesome about Cassian’s Zeta is what it means in Territory Battles. That 20% Protection Up to start each encounter means you have that extra Protection in each wave of the Territory Battles where Cassian is fighting. So while many will not need it in the three battles of the Phase 2 Special Mission, that Phase 6 Combat Mission requiring 7-star Rogue One characters just became a lot more reasonable for anyone with a Zeta on Cassian Andor’s Groundwork unique ability.
How I Use zCassian: My use of zCassian is mostly in the Galactic War and Territory Battles – the two places where I was eager to test him out. He came through as hoped given the 20% Protection up is at the start of ever GW battle and each wave of enemies in TB.
My Rating of zCassian: My rating for Cassian’s Zeta is a 6.5. I’d go higher if the Zeta significantly impacted more than the Galactic War and Territory Battles, but the value from Territory Battles alone makes this better than most. 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. Cassian’s Zeta is nice to have, and I am now considering it for my personal account, but it’s not a must-have.
Images courtesy of SWGOH.gg
