One of the best offensive characters in Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Ezra Bridger was released in-game in April 2017. A member of the Jedi, Rebel and Phoenix factions, Ezra got a mini-rework in October 2017 (just before the start of the final season of Star Wars Rebels) which added a Zeta Ability and even more offense as a result. While the Phoenix Squadron started off as completely FTP, the need for them in the Grand Admiral Thrawn legendary event to unlock and upgrade him, and later in Territory Battles: Rebel Assault sparked some heated debate and strong opinions about SWGoH.

Ezra Bridger’s Zeta is on his special attack, Flourish, which can already dispel buffs from an enemy and deal big damage at level 7. The Zeta upgrade reads “+50% Damage, +25% Turn Meter Gain and gains Defense Up for 2 turns.” Thus, the final text reads, “Deal Physical damage to target enemy and Dispel all buffs on them. If the enemy had no buffs, this attack’s cooldown is reduced by 1 and Ezra gains 75% Turn Meter instead. Ezra gains Defense up for 2 turns.” Basically, this attack not only dispels buffs and does massive damage, but if the enemy has no debuffs Ezra gains 75% Turn Meter and sees the cooldown on Flourish reduced by one. Awesome offensive opportunity for an already hard-hitting character.

 

Ezra Bridger Zeta Review

Gameplay: Gameplay with Ezra Bridger and a Zeta on Flourish takes a very good attack and makes it better. Hits over 20k are common, but the addition of the Zeta does not, in my opinion, make the attack great, like the Zeta on Garazeb Orrelios’s special, Staggering Sweep, which is one of the game’s best single-hit attacks.

Squad Arena: Using him at Gear 12 with a fully Zeta Phoenix squad in the Squad Arena on my test account through EA’s GameChangers program I found that the Phoenix Squadron can indeed compete with top-tier teams, but none of them, not even Ezra, is a Top 5 character in the game. As a result, you have to overcompensate and over gear the Phoenix toons to compete. However, if you simply love Star Wars Rebels and the Phoenix toons, you’ll be happy to know they can compete inside the Top 50 in most Squad Arena shards.

Rancor: The Rancor is just not a place where I suggest the use of the Phoenix squad. While regenerating Protection and Survivability is the team’s strength, they are not a Turn Meter removal team and as a result will not perform as well as other character combinations against the Rancor.

AAT/HAAT: In the past, my use of Ezra in HAAT had been on a Rebel squad with a Wedge Antilles lead, Biggs Darklighter, Leia, Ezra and Captain Phasma. This squad was able to put up over 700k-1 million at Gear 10/11 with top-tier mods before Ezra’s Zeta where he could hit for as much as 25k on a single Flourish attack. Since adding the Zeta and getting Ezra to Gear 12, the numbers are better, but it certainly does not stack up to the offensive power of Zeb Orrelios.

Territory Battles: Given the importance of Phoenix toons in Territory Battles: Rebel Assault, the Zeta on Ezra is made more valuable as a result. Phoenix are needed for a Special Mission in Phase 1 and a standard Combat Mission in Phase 5, so having a strong Phoenix squad is important. Because Ezra works well with Leia and other Rebels he is often the one Phoenix toon I will not use in Platoons so that I can save him for Combat Missions.  In addition, events like the Grand Admiral Thrawn Legendary Event, the Emperor’s Demise Legendary Event and the Secrets and Shadows special event all have Ezra as an eligible character, so of those investing into this one as once of their first Zetas, it can have several benefits to your game.

Territory Wars: Because the Phoenix Squadron is a very strong defensive squad, Ezra and company are one of the more valuable teams to use on defense in Territory Wars in the early going. While the new game mode is sure to be tweaked to fix the issue with ties, it will be interesting to see if this strategy continues to be of value as players get more used to Territory Wars.

 

How I Use Ezra Bridger: I have used Ezra in an all-Phoenix team in the Squad Arena, in Phase 4 of HAAT and extensively in the Galactic War, events, in Territory Battles and on defense in Territory Wars. He is farmable on Cantina Node 2-B which uses just 8 energy, so I recommend farming Ezra if you are an early game player and powering him up (see SWGoH 101: Which Characters First?).

My Rating of zEzra: A Zeta on Ezra Bridger is not a game changer, but it is not bad either. I feel it is just a hair above average in comparison to other Zetas in-game. On my personal account I have no plans to Zeta Ezra in favor of Sabine or Zeb if the need for a Phoenix toon Zeta arises. Thus, my rating for Ezra Bridger’s Zeta ability is a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

 

Images courtesy of SWGOH.gg