One of the most popular, populated, guaranteed to create a pop pieces of content for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is the regularly released farming guides by big-name YouTubers. These kinds of videos draw in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of views, and long-term veteran players/content creators know it. Some have even realized that their longevity for playing has distanced them from the Day-1 players, and started fresh accounts in order to provide a more down-to-earth (or modern and useful) perspective on this.

More and more, however, these kinds of videos are useful for one purpose only – to gather views. Farming guides rarely serve as reliable rules, and even calling them guidelines can be considered a stretch. Let’s delve into the reasoning.

Do you remember when Commander Luke Skywalker was released, and it broke the game? Pepperidge Farm remembers. The power level of this character was matched only by the (then) insane unlock requirements. All the way back then, in August of 2017, CLS stormed the holotables and became the first in a long list of “if you go against this character and don’t have them, you lose” situations. Players couldn’t complete Galactic War (this was before it was simmable). Arena was dominated by him and his rebel companions. Then it was Rey (Jedi Training) who took his place. Then the Revans. General Skywalker. The Galactic Legends currently reign supreme – however, on your first day of downloading SWGOH, players likely marveled at Old Ben and Clone Wars Chewbacca battling stormtroopers, and the excitement of collecting all these characters in the palm of your hands.

Relics, six-dot mods, omicrons (or even zetas) were all nonexistent in the early days of the game. Before the Dark Times. Before the Power Creep. But for new players to the game, these exist as benchmarks to achieve, as opposed to new content that divides the community on continuing or retiring. For most content creators, who have been present for years, even creating a new account still focuses on endgame content, rather than relishing the excitement of bringing favorite characters to life.

Free to Play? Dolphin? Whale? Kraken? The overwhelming amount of difference that can be made is quantifiable compared to how much (or little) you spend. The Hyperdrive Bundle, the package that the game keeps on beating even long-time players with in their face, was meant as a means to skip over the haul to level 85; it has an estimated value of over $6500 for newer players, and $1500 for veteran players. At a mere $99.99, that seems like a steal – but realistically, who would spend $6500 to get to where most experienced players see as “the start of the game?” The bundle was spoiled in November of 2019, as a direct result of the game developers realizing the vast disparity between Day-1 players and launch players.

While the game is free to download, the revenue the game has raked in since launch totals over $1 billion-and that makes sense. A mobile Star Wars collectible game pulls from all different areas of the fandom, and the ability to be competitive drives others to want to succeed. Though the game is technically “free to play,” there is little doubt in anyone’s mind what the other side of the coin states (in bold) – “pay to win faster.” Most farming guides should go over the cost vs. value of spending of the game, but often players fall into the categories of not wanting/being able to justify spending on a mobile game, or not even sweating the hyperdrive bundle to get their feet wet.

How often have players given up on passion projects in order to farm/gear a character they need to develop? The game has made some strides in bringing some characters back to relevancy with omicrons, however there are still plenty of gaps that farming guides miss. Rogue One, arguably one of the most gritty Star Wars films made, has one of the weakest factions in the game, and has not withstood the test of time. Even a full relic 7-8 R1 squad would be laughed at. These characters may be fan favorites, though farming guides will readily tell you to avoid or do bare minimum investment due to low practicality. Most would simply say-wrapped in a verbal bow of course-“don’t waste your time on X, when instead for Y you get so much more.”

The game has evolved so much, that farming guides can provide only the most rudimentary path of least resistance. A true farming guide, however, should be tailored to each individual, taking all this into account and more. What are their goals? Are they wanting to be competitive? What influence does their guild have on their farms? So much has to be taken into consideration to help a player achieve their goals.

This isn’t to say that farming guides are (entirely) useless, however. For players with little to no guiding factors other than “well I like Star Wars,” farming guides from experts/veterans can be an invaluable tool to provide a map and course of action. The complexity has grown exponentially with the game, and having an experienced player pointing out potential pitfalls may save some from many minutes of unfun.

And there we have it! For some, farming guides provide invaluable, yet others will either blaze their own trail or find the information lacking any new perspective. Take them with a grain of salt, and enjoy the game!

By CommanDollar
Gaming-fans.com Guest Writer