Those in my guild know I am a HUGE Nightsisters fan since their rework and the introduction of Mother Talzin. As I am quite passionate about Mother Talzin and the “Sisters,” and I am honored to have been asked to be a guest writer for her SWGoH Zeta review.
Mother Talzin, a native of the planet Dathomir (and famously known for her leader role in The Clone Wars animated series), practices “Dark Magick” that inflicts Plague, which is an absolute nightmare for opposing teams since it ignores protection and goes directly after their health. In addition, this Plague spreads to other characters at the beginning of each turn from her unique ability. This can be devastating to the opposing team – as one can imagine. Importantly, her leadership grants +30 speed and +50 potency to all Nightsister allies. With her two additional Zeta abilities, Mother Talzin is an invaluable leader, formidable foe, and terrifying to face.
Since this article will be focused on both of Mother Talzin’s two zeta abilities, let’s explore them here.
1) Her zeta leader ability is aptly named The Great Mother. Battle defensively from the grave is the theme here!… And who does not like an epic comeback for the win? The description seems long, but here is how it reads: “When a Nightsister ally uses a Basic ability during their turn, a Nightsister ally is Revived with 50% Health and called to Assist, then the Revived ally is immediately defeated unless an enemy was defeated.”
In Layman’s Terms, this means anytime a “living” Nightsister uses her basic ability, a single, “dead” Nightsister (if multiple are dead, it will be a different, random Sister each time) will rise from the grave and assist with their basic, then die again. Then, as the opposing team is getting beat up by all the assists, the dead Nightsister ally that last assisted in defeating an enemy is revived with 100% health again. This sounds complicated, but it is really not. Basically, under a zetaed Mother Talzin, you cannot kill the Nightsisters until all Nightsisters are finally dead. As long as one Nightsister is alive, the battle is not over, and any and all dead Nightsisters can rise again and be revived completely. It is also extremely fun to see the animation and mechanics work. This zeta works really well as long as any living Nightsister is alive and only using their basic ability. So this is how you can be losing the battle only to make an epic comeback for the win!
With this Zeta, I can recall many times where it felt like my Nightsisters were about to be completely defeated, only to come back and win the battle. How many other characters and squads in the game can do that? If you are thinking very few, you would be correct!
2) Her unique ability Zeta is figuratively named Plaguebearer and reads simply: “When any unit falls below half health, Talzin gains 35% Turn Meter.” This gives Mother Talzin increased turn meter when “any unit,” allied or opposing, falls below 50% health. As mentioned, Plague ignores protection and goes directly after an opposing team’s health. As a result, opposing characters will be falling below 50% health quite often. One will really notice this Zeta working when close to winning the battle as her increased turn meter from any character below 50% health will allow her to go faster and faster until the battle is over and you have won. This is another great zeta in my opinion.
Mother Talzin Zeta Review
Gameplay: Nightsisters can be utilized in all parts of the game, and I use them extensively every chance I get. Here is where they excel and the details on what makes them great…and most importantly, very fun.
Squad Arena: I can personally attest that Mother Talzin’s double zetas coupled with the Nightsisters’ mechanics have helped me rise to the top of my Arena shard. While it is still a challenge because of RNG, it is not unusual for my 92k arena team to defeat a 110k opposing squad, sometimes with relative ease. It may be due to my higher gear levels, mods, understanding and perfecting the mechanics of how Nightsister abilities and synergy work, but it would not work to this level without The Great Mother Zeta. With The Great Mother Zeta on leadership, they can win offensively as well as defensively. In addition, having the Plaguebearer Zeta on her unique ability helps “finish off” that menacing META character whenever their health gets below 50%.
Rancor: I have not tried using Nightsisters for Rancor raids as you need teams that provide turn meter reduction, and the Nightsisters mechanics do not allow for that. Thus, this is not an area of the game where the Nightsisters are extremely effective, so focusing efforts elsewhere is wise.
AAT/HAAT: As odd as it sounds, one might actually want their Nightsisters to die in the Tank Raid. As previously stated, having The Great Mother Zeta on Talzin’s leadership, when Nightsisters die, the dead souls will rise again and assist while the “still living” Sisters are using just their basic abilities.
Since my Nightsisters are heavily geared and can make it to Enrage in Phase 3, surviving is not as much of an issue. As a result, I personally focus on the B2 Rocket Trooper the entire time to gain maximum points. If you are concerned about your Nightsister squad’s survivability, it would be wise to also monitor whenever a B1 Battle Droid is low on health. In doing this, when you defeat a low health B1 droid, a Sister will revive at 100% everytime, according to the mechanics of how the Zeta works.
Having the Plaguebearer Zeta on her unique here is important too, as “many” B1 Battle Droids are going to have less than 50% health from inflicted Plague at any given time, so 35% more turn meter for Mother Talzin. As one could imagine, the more chances Mother Talzin gets to have a turn, the more points will be scored in HAAT. With the assistance of the Zetas, I can routinely expect to score in the 750k -1.5 million range. Fun stuff!
Territory Battles: Fortunately, I have never lost a match during any phase since the inception of Dark Side Territory Battles using Nightsisters (to be honest, it has not even been close, and I understand how difficult these battles are from using other factions). When the battle calls for Dark Side characters during Phase 1-6, Nightsisters are my ultimate “go to” safe team that I know will win my guild the maximum points. The Great Mother Zeta works it’s magic here. If a Nightsister ally happens to die, at any point in the battle, you can revive that Sister to full health again simply from defeating a single Rebel character. I do not recall losing many Sisters during the battle besides Zombie, and usually by the end of a match, they all survive and are back again!
Territory Wars: When Territory Wars were introduced, I could not wait to unleash the Nightsisters as my #1 offense squad against an opponent’s high Galactic Power (GP) “META” defense team (e.g. General Kenobi/Zeta Barris teams).
Recently, the latest strategy is to place them on defense, and watch the opponent struggle, as it might take an opponent 3-4 teams (or force opponent to use one very specific team they had not planned on using) to finally figure out and defeat the Nightsisters. Once again, The Great Mother and Plaguebearer Zetas help tremendously with this strategy.
My Rating of Zeta Mother Talzin: I have never regretted placing either Zeta on Mother Talzin’s abilities. In my opinion, The Great Mother comes very close to being perfect, so I will give it a 8/10. It makes the entire squad much stronger offensively and defensively and is very hard to kill. Her Plaguebearer Zeta on the unique is also a fantastic Zeta, but not necessary to win. It is more of a luxury, but a really nice luxury. I would rate it a 6/10. As good as the second Zeta on her unique is, I would definitely recommend distributing a Zeta on her leader ability first, as one can win offensively with strong surrounding Nightsister allies, but also defensively from the grave. How cool is that in a Star Wars game?
By Cowboy4974 of Descendants of the Empire
Images courtesy of SWGOH.gg
