field manual
Field manual
How combat works
The rules a turn runs on, in the game's own words and with its own numbers: action points and what each weapon buys with them, cover and flanking, Overwatch, Advantage, the status effects that decide fights, and what an injury costs afterwards.
A turn
Every operator starts a turn with 3 action points and spends them in any order on moves, attacks and abilities. The game sorts actions by what they cost: a Fast Action is 1 AP, a Slow Action is 2, a Final Action takes everything left and usually scales with it, a Free Action is nothing, and a Special Action costs Advantage instead of AP. A Move is one AP per movement range, and most movement bonuses only stretch the first move.
Final ActionFinal Actions consume all remaining AP and generally provide extra effects based on the amount of AP used for the action. Special ActionSpecial Actions do not cost AP to execute. These actions instead require Advantage. These are powerful, but careful choices for controlling combat situations. ReactionReaction abilities activate when certain conditions are met. These abilities are automatic and never cost AP. Move ActionThe Move Action allows the Operator to move within a range determined by their Movement score. The Operator can combine multiple moves into a single action. AP cost depends on the distance of the move. Movement RangeThe distance that an Operator can move in a single AP. Most bonuses to Movement only affect the first AP's worth of movement, but some rare bonuses affect all moves. Melee ActionMelee Actions include a Move to the target. The first part of the move is included with the attack, but if the move is longer than a single move distance, additional AP are required. Action LockedSome actions, such as Overwatch, lock the Operator in an alerted state. These Operators cannot take any further actions on that turn and cannot gain additional AP. What each weapon does with the points
Any weapon goes with any specialization, and the Armory swaps them between missions. The class of blaster decides how many shots three points buy.
Commonly used as lighter personal sidearms or for close range defense. Blaster pistols are highly popular, but not as powerful as other blasters.
Blaster Pistols are Fast Weapons that can be fired without limit for 1 AP. Base Damage is modest and Critical Damage is the lowest of the blaster types.
A blaster weapon that is larger and more powerful than a pistol, typically used by military and military-adjacent operators. Blaster rifles are heavier than pistols.
Blaster Rifles have excellent Base Damage and good Critical Damage. They can be fired as a Fast Weapon once per turn for 1 AP. Additional shots each turn require 2 AP.
Additional shots this turn2 AP
Long barreled blasters with high power output and excellent accuracy at long ranges. These blasters are difficult to handle.
Excellent Base Damage and Critical Damage make these blasters a favorite of military snipers and hunters on frontier worlds. Longarms are Slow Weapons and require 2 AP to fire.
A larger, repeating blaster weapon, either handheld or mounted, that is typically used by heavy military units. These are among the most powerful of all issued blaster weapons.
Repeating Blasters have modest Base Damage but gain substantial Rapid Fire Damage when fired with 2 or 3 AP. Firing a repeating blaster uses all available AP.
The Pistol can be fired multiple times each turn, letting an Operator generate more Advantage.
Cover and flanking
The game counts chance-to-hit in strikes of five points. Cover is worth 7 strikes against anyone shooting into it, a 35% penalty, and full cover 10, a 50%penalty. The penalty is the cover's, not the target's: move around it and the target is Exposed, the penalty is gone, and Flanking bonuses apply. Much of it can be shot away; Explosive Grenades destroy it outright.
Range is its own penalty and stacks with cover. Close Range is anything within 6.0m, and every weapon has an optimal band beyond which each step costs strikes. Spotting a target (The Spotter, a Rangefinder, Deep Target Scan) removes the range and smoke penalties but not the cover.
CoverCover are objects on the battlefield strong enough to hide behind. When using Cover, a unit is protected and more difficult to hit with ranged attacks. Cover BonusThe bonus granted to a unit that is in Cover, which inflicts a -35% Chance-To-Hit penalty on any would-be attackers that aren't Flanking the covered unit. ExposedTargets are considered Exposed when they are not protected from the attack by Cover. Some enemies do not use Cover and bonuses do not apply. Close RangeAny shot taken on a target within 6.0m is a close range shot. SpottedChance-To-Hit penalties from Range and Smoke are ignored when attacking Spotted units. RelentlessThis unit does not take Cover but cannot be Exposed Overwatch
Overwatch is a Final Action: it ends the turn, and the operator fires once for each AP put into it at anything that moves or acts inside the cone. Each reaction shot deals half damage and has a 50% chance to stop the target where it stands, and an operator in Overwatch cannot be given AP. Burning disables it. A longarm's Overwatch shots cost one point each even though firing it normally costs two, which is why a Sharpshooter with Pick Them Off holds a lane better than anyone.
OverwatchOverwatch is an action that ends a unit's turn, and has them hunker down and fire at any enemy unit that moves through their Target Area. The Overwatching unit can fire a number of times equal to the amount of Action Points invested. Overwatch RangeThe Length of the conical Target Area created by a unit's Overwatch. Overwatch AreaThe Width of the conical Target Area created by a unit's Overwatch. Overwatch Chance-To-HitOverwatch Chance-To-Hit determines the chance that an Overwatch Reaction Attack on a unit will succeed. If a random roll against this chance fails, the attack will miss and have no effect. RetaliationAfter this unit is attacked, Retaliation triggers and allows a Reaction Shot against the attacker. One stack is lost after this attack. Advantage
The squad gains one Advantage every time an operator damages an enemy, per hit and not per point of damage, so a pistol firing three times builds it three times faster than a longarm firing once. It is spent on Special Actions, which cost no AP: a Heavy's Bulwark is 4, Cly's ElectroWeb Surge is 4, a Sharpshooter's Precision Shot is 6, a Soldier's Rocket Strike is 10, an astromech's Coordinated Support is 10 at rank one and 6 at rank six. A Scout's Combat Recon returns a point per enemy scanned for 1 AP, which is the only way to earn it without a hit.
Assists are the other free damage. Once a turn the game offers Call for Backup: a teammate joins the attack at no AP cost, and if the first hit is a critical the assisting shot is too. Fearless Leader, Never Play Fair and a Tracking Scope all raise Assist damage.
AdvantageAdvantage is used to power Special Actions. Each time an Operator damages an enemy unit, the squad receives 1x Advantage. AssistAssist your teammate on an attack. Most Operators join the attack, but some Operators provide bonuses on their teammate's attack instead. The effects that decide fights
ScannedWhile Scanned, this unit's Defense is reduced by 4 and attackers gain a +20% Chance-To-Hit. SpottedChance-To-Hit penalties from Range and Smoke are ignored when attacking Spotted units. VulnerableThe next incoming Attack on this unit will automatically become a Critical Hit. LethalIncreases Chance-To-Hit and Critical Chance by +5% for each stack of this effect. All stacks are lost when this Operator moves, or is knocked out of position. ShockedDecreases this unit's Movement by 50%. DisorientedDisoriented units suffer a -20% Chance-To-Hit penalty on Ranged Attacks. DazedA Dazed unit cannot Attack, but can still Move and use other Non-Offensive actions. A Dazed unit gains Stun Resistance when this effect expires, and cannot be Dazed or Stunned again for the rest of the battle. TauntA Taunted unit must target the source of the Taunt. StimulantIncreases Ranged Damage and Melee Damage by +2 and increases Max Health by +8. Strong StimulantIncreases Ranged Damage and Melee Damage by +3 and increases Max Health by +12. MoraleEach turn, Morale restores 1 Health per Stack and then 1 Stack is lost. InvulnerablePrevents all Damage from the next incoming attack. One stack is lost after the attack's damage is blocked. EvasionThe next incoming attack on this unit is automatically Evaded and misses. One stack of Evasion is lost after the attack. BurningBurning units suffer 1 Damage for each stack at the end of their turn. This damage Ignores Defense. The number of Burning stacks is reduced by half when Burning Damage is taken.
Overwatch is disabled when units are burning. HarmonyHarmony with the Force affects the capabilities of the Jedi. Deflection Chance and Lightsaber Damage improve with each stack of Harmony. RecoveringThis unit is fighting through its pain, and will regain lost Health on its next action. DefenseDefense represents protection from either physical armor, toughness, or skill. Incoming Damage is reduced by an amount equal to Defense. Injuries, the medbay and difficulty
An operator at zero health is Downed and takes an Injury; a teammate can Rally them back into the fight, and a Trauma Kit returns them at full health. Each injury is 15% off chance-to-hit until it is treated (one tooltip in the game still says 10%), and a third injury kills the operator for good, on any difficulty, with permadeath on or off deciding only whether that is permanent. Droids cannot be healed by a Medpac or a Medic, and need the Droid Repair Bay to be repaired at all.
Medbay Beds take a cycle to heal an Operator. The Bacta Tank heals Operators instantly but costs more. You can add more at the Upgrade Facility. Both the bed and the tank charge credits per injury, from values the game sets at runtime; the two Cheaper Medical Supplies upgrades take 150 off each. On Hard and Expert the tank is disabled, so a bed and a cycle are the only treatment, and Cautionary Intel cuts the chance of injuries on dangerous operations by a fifth.
DownedA Downed Operator is incapable of continuing to fight and suffers an Injury. An Operator who suffers enough Injuries is permanently killed. InjuredInjured Operators cannot fight effectively and suffer a -15% Chance-To-Hit penalty for each injury.
An Operator who suffers a 3rd injury is Killed-In-Action and lost forever. RallyRallying a Downed Operator will restore them to the fight and allow them to take actions again. NormalIntended for players new to tactical games.
Enemies deal normal damage with normal accuracy. Weapon ranges are generous and mistakes are easy to recover from.
HardIntended for players familiar with playing tactical games or players seeking a more challenging experience than normal.
Enemies are tougher and deal more damage. Effective weapon ranges are reduced requiring more maneuvering and more risk. Initial bond levels between Operators are lower. The Bacta Tank is disabled.
ExpertIntended for players with great expertise playing tactical games or players seeking the highest level of challenge for STAR WARS Zero Company.
Careful tactics and planning are crucial on Expert difficulty. Enemies are tougher and deal greatly enhanced damage. Effective weapon range is greatly reduced requiring aggressive maneuvering and careful planning. Initial bond levels between Operators are much lower. The Bacta Tank is disabled.
AbsoluteThe highest bar of difficulty. Every battle is a brutal fight for survival.
Between missions
Launching a tactical mission advances the cycle, and a cycle is the clock everything else runs on: operations expire when their window closes, a construction takes at least one, a medbay bed takes one, and the Black Market restocks on each. So the routine before every launch is the same: spend the intel on operations, buy what the next mission needs, assign the injured, start an upgrade, talk to the operators in the Den, then go. The credits side of it is on the credits page.
The Influence Lens on the Holotable shows a variety of unique rewards you can earn by gaining Zone Influence. Talking to your Operators is a great way to discover new Operations and Missions. Operators have limited Utility and Weapon Mod slots. Look for opportunities to increase them at the Upgrade Facility, Influence Lens, or along the Campaign.
Rumor GatheringCompleting Missions provides an additional +5 Intel.
Spy NetworkGain +5 Intel each Cycle
Persuasion IPlacing a Contact provides +2 Influence
Persuasion IIPlacing a Contact provides an additional +3 Influence
Unlock LoungeUnlocks the Lounge. Operators remaining at the Den during a mission gain +5 Bond XP.
Improved LoungeOperators remaining at the Den during a mission gain an additional +5 Bond XP.
Cautionary IntelReduces the chance of Injuries on Dangerous Operations by 20%
Expedited DeliveryAdds the ability to refresh available items in the Black Market
Cheaper RefreshReduces the cost to refresh the Black Market by 50%.
Droid Repair BayInteract with the Astromech in the Pit to unlock this upgrade.
Unlocks recruiting Droids at Recruitment and repairing Injured Droids at the Medbay.
Additional Utility SlotAll Operators gain an additional Utility Item Slot.
Additional Weapon Mod SlotAll Operators gain an additional Weapon Mod Slot.
Every keyword the game marks up is defined on the glossary, and the builds that put these rules to work are under best builds and squads.
