Zero Company

Onboarding route

STAR WARS Zero Company Beginner Guide

A first-run route through the systems that cost you something when you get them wrong: turn order, Advantage, your first build, your first squad, Credits, Intel, the before-you-deploy checklist and the decisions you cannot take back.

  • 8Operators
  • 13Specializations
  • 123Missions & Operations
  • 148Tracked decisions

Your First Zero Company Priorities

Six steps, in the order that costs you the least when you get them right and the most when you get them wrong.

  1. 01

    Choose campaign settings

    Decide the settings you can never change again — before the first mission, not after.

    Go to step 01 →

  2. 02

    Learn AP, cover and Advantage

    Four mechanics decide most fights. Learn them before you learn any build.

    Go to step 02 →

  3. 03

    Build a balanced first squad

    Pick a role direction, then cover the jobs nobody else on the team covers.

    Go to step 03 →

  4. 04

    Don’t spend every Credit

    Credits and Intel both have later claims on them. Leave room for recovery and progression.

    Go to step 04 →

  5. 05

    Check the Holotable before advancing

    Deploying advances the cycle, and the cycle does not wait for unfinished Den business.

    Go to step 05 →

  6. 06

    Handle injuries before the next mission

    Downed is not dead, but untreated Injuries decide which roster you actually have.

    Go to step 06 →
Start with Step 01 →
I’m already stuck →

Before you start

Choose Your Campaign Settings Carefully

Most campaign settings can be revisited later. The one that cannot is the one worth reading about first.

Before you start

Permadeath cannot be changed after the campaign begins.

Decide it before the first mission. If you are new to tactics games, understand what an Injury costs you before you commit to a run where it is permanent.

  • Official rule

    With Permadeath enabled, a regular Operator who accumulates three Injuries is killed in action.

  • Official rule

    Losing a key Operator can fail the mission outright rather than simply costing you a body.

  • Official rule

    Difficulty and Permadeath are different settings. The difficulty rating can be adjusted outside of combat; Permadeath is locked in once the campaign starts.

  • Recommendation

    If this is your first run, learn the Injury system first and let the campaign teach you the rest.

Difficulty Guide →

Combat basics

Learn These Four Mechanics First

Not the whole rulebook. Just the four things that quietly decide whether a fight goes well.

Every Operator gets 3 AP

Official rule

Each Operator has 3 AP per turn. Movement, attacks, abilities, utilities and Overwatch all come out of the same pool, so the question is never which single action is strongest.

  • Move → Attack → Cover
  • Set up → Attack → Overwatch
  • ·Three points, many possible sequences — the sequence is the decision.
  • ·A turn that spends everything on one attack leaves nothing for cover or Overwatch.

Don’t ask which action does the most damage. Ask which order gives you the best turn.

Position beats a marginal damage upgrade

Recommendation

Cover and positioning are the cheapest survivability you have, and they cost no Credits at all. Treat a good firing position as worth more than a small damage increase.

  • ·An Operator who is down contributes no damage for the rest of the mission.
  • ·Repositioning before you shoot is often the real difference between a clean turn and a bad one.

Good position first, better damage second.

Combat Calculator →

Advantage is a squad-wide resource

Official rule

Advantage is shared by the whole squad rather than banked per Operator. Damaging enemies generates it up to a stored maximum of 10, and some abilities are paid for with Advantage instead of AP.

  • Generate
  • Save or spend
  • Use it at the moment that matters
  • ·It is a team pool, so one Operator’s big spend is the team’s spend.
  • ·It caps at 10, which means hoarding past the cap throws the extra away.
  • ·Some abilities cost Advantage, which makes it a real alternative to AP.

Don’t dump it the moment you can, and don’t sit on it until the fight is over.

Read the objective before you read the map

Official rule

Removing every enemy on the map is not automatically the win condition. A mission is completed by its stated objective, and some objectives never ask you to clear the opposing force.

  • ·The objective decides when the mission ends — not the red markers.
  • ·Every extra turn spent fighting is a turn the objective could have been finished in.

You are trying to complete the mission, not necessarily to erase every enemy.

Advantage caps at 10 for the squad, and some abilities are paid for with Advantage rather than AP — so spending it is a timing decision, not a resource dump.

First build

Don’t Chase a “Perfect” First Specialization

Pick the direction that matches the problem you want your first Operator to solve. A path that fits your play beats a path that tops someone else’s ranking.

  • Want the simplest turn-by-turn damage?

    Start with a direct offensive path

    Paths built around firing and repositioning ask the least of you while you are still learning AP and cover.

  • Want to keep the squad standing?

    Start with a survival and support path

    Recovery and durability keep a first run alive long enough to learn the systems that punish you later.

  • Want to move freely and pick your fights?

    Start with a mobility-focused path

    Mobility turns bad positioning into a fixable problem instead of a lost Operator.

  • Want to control the fight from range?

    Start with a ranged control path

    Range and control let you decide where the fight happens, which is the cheapest form of defence.

A respec system exists, so a first pick is a starting point rather than a permanent commitment. Don’t stop playing for twenty minutes to optimise a decision you can revisit.

Best Specializations →How to Respec →

First squad

Build a Team, Not Four Individual Builds

The common first-squad mistake is four Operators who each solve the same problem. Ask these four questions instead.

  • Who creates opportunities?

    Control, marking and area pressure that make everyone else’s attacks land.

  • Who reliably finishes enemies?

    Damage that does not depend on a setup you may never get.

  • Who controls space or absorbs pressure?

    Somebody who can hold a position so the rest of the team does not have to.

  • Who covers recovery and utility?

    The job nobody wants to claim, and the one that keeps a run alive.

First squad check

7 / 9 capabilities covered

Measured from the recommended starting composition in the Squad Builder against the capability schema that page uses — resolved weapon profiles and ability records, not an opinion.

  • ✓Ranged Pressure
  • ✓Close Combat
  • ✓Mobility
  • ✓Control
  • ✓Support
  • ⚠Sustain
  • ✓Overwatch
  • ⚠Anti-Droid
  • ✓Area Damage

What this squad misses

  • SustainNo selected operator has a resolved healing or recovery ability record. Schema basis: abilities (healing / recovery).
  • Anti-DroidNo selected operator has a resolved record for anti-droid. Schema basis: abilities.
  • Long-range weapon profileNo selected operator is equipped with a Longarm category weapon.

Also on this composition: 3 of 6 operator pairs are verified Bonds.

There is no universally best early four. Which Operators you can actually field depends on your progression and your choices, and the game itself expects the lineup to change with the mission in front of you.

Best Squad →Build Guides →

Early economy

Don’t Spend Every Credit You Get

Credits are the resource new players run out of first, and the one that is hardest to recover from mid-cycle.

Community tip

Community feedback repeatedly shows early discretionary spending leaving players short of Credits for other systems. That is a pattern in player reports, not a rule the game enforces — so treat it as a habit worth forming rather than a law.

Early Credit rule

Before buying anything optional, ask which of these still has a claim on your balance.

  1. Priority 1

    Necessary progression

    Anything the campaign expects you to have before the next cycle.

  2. Priority 2

    Recovery need

    A squad you cannot field costs more than any single item.

  3. Priority 3

    A meaningful upgrade

    One upgrade that changes what an Operator can do, not a marginal stat gain.

  4. Priority 4

    Optional purchase

    Only once the three claims above are already covered.

Credits Guide →

Intel

Understand Intel Before Spending It

Intel is not a second wallet. It is what lets you plan a cycle instead of only reacting to it.

Mission → Intel → Operation → rewards.

  1. Mission

    Intel is earned by playing.

  2. Intel

    A campaign planning resource rather than a wallet balance.

  3. Operations

    Running an Operation spends Intel.

  4. Rewards

    Items, Credits and Influence — and a choice inside an Operation can affect Bonds.

Intel is a campaign planning resource, not simply something you buy things with. Running an Operation spends it, Operations hand back items, Credits and Influence, and a choice made inside one can move a Bond.

Intel Guide →

Campaign timing

Before You Start Any Mission

Deploying is what moves time forward. Everything you wanted to do in the Den this cycle belongs on this list, because the cycle will not come back for it.

Warning

Missions advance you to the next cycle.

Talk to your crew, check injuries, review Operations and settle your Intel and Credits before you launch — not after the cycle has already turned over.

Before next cycle

0 / 8

Mission Database →

This list is stored in your own browser only. It never reads your save file, and it is a reminder rather than a rule the game enforces.

Mission priority

You Cannot Do Everything

You are not meant to complete every Mission and Operation. The order you choose to give things up in is the actual campaign decision.

  1. 1Required or expiring soonAnything the campaign expects of you, and anything with a stated deadline.
  2. 2Progression you actually care aboutMissions tied to an Operator or a Bond you are building.
  3. 3A reward or resource you need nowCredits, Intel or gear that unblocks the next step.
  4. 4Useful optional contentWorth doing once nothing above is waiting on you.
  5. 5Content you can safely delayEverything else — and it is fine to let some of it go.
Official rule

Some Operations and Tactical Missions expire, and the game tells you which. Never invent a deadline — use the game’s own expiration information when it is shown.

Mission Priority →Mission Expiration →

Crew

Talk to Your Crew Before Deploying

The Den is not a loading screen. Conversations are how characters progress, and how their missions become available.

  1. Return to the Den

    Between missions, not during them.

  2. Check conversations

    Crew talk is how a character gets their story told.

  3. Relationship and story progress

    Bonds deepen through shared missions rather than through menus.

  4. Possible personal mission

    A conversation can unlock a mission tied to that character.

Talking to the crew costs nothing but the time you spend between missions, and it is the cheapest way to unlock character-specific content you would otherwise never see.

Bonds →Mission Database →

Bonds

Keep Useful Pairs Together — But Don’t Force It

Operators who deploy together deepen their Bond, and Bonds are where support abilities and Cross Training benefits come from.

  1. Deploy together

    Operators who fight alongside each other deepen their Bond.

  2. Bond progression

    The pairing changes what the two can do for one another.

  3. Support and Cross Training value

    Bond-linked pairs are where Cross Training becomes available.

Recommendation

Don’t protect a pairing at the cost of the mission, an injury, or a requirement that says a different Operator has to be there. A Bond is an advantage, not a deployment rule.

Bonds →Cross Training →Best Squad →

Injuries

How Injuries Actually Work

Going down is not the same as dying, but it is also not free. Understanding the flow early is what keeps a roster intact.

  1. Downed

    An Operator goes down in the middle of a mission.

  2. Rally

    Rallying is what puts them back into the fight.

  3. Continue the mission

    The mission carries on — the Injury does not disappear with it.

  4. Injury remains

    Being downed is paid for after the mission, not during it.

  5. Return to the Den

    Recovery is handled between missions.

  6. Medbay recovery

    Injured Operators must be dealt with before the roster is whole again.

Downed ≠ immediately dead.

Rallied Operators get back into the mission, and the Injury travels home with them. Under Permadeath, three Injuries on a regular Operator is where the run stops being forgiving.

How Injuries Work →

Decisions

Choices Change More Than the Conversation

Dialogue tone is the visible part. Rewards, Bonds, facts and follow-ups are the part that changes your run.

  1. Choice

    Dialogue is only the surface of it.

  2. Credits, Intel, Influence

    Branch rewards are the mechanical half of a conversation.

  3. Bond

    Some answers move a relationship up or down.

  4. Fact

    Some answers set something the campaign reads again later.

  5. Follow-up

    Some answers return as a later decision.

  6. Mission consequence

    Some answers reach into what you are offered next.

Not sure what a choice actually changes? Look up the decision before you commit, and compare the branches by the outcome you want.

Choice Solver →

The decision database tracks 148 decisions and 367 branches, each mapped to the rewards, Bonds and follow-ups that resolve from the game data.

Decision roadmap

Your First 10 Decisions

Not tips. The ten decisions a first run actually forces on you, in the order they arrive.

  1. 01

    Permadeath setting

    Why it matters: It cannot be changed once the campaign begins, so it is the one setting worth understanding before you play.

    Don’t overthink it: Read the warning above and pick the run you actually intend to finish.

  2. 02

    First Specialization

    Why it matters: It decides what your first Operator can do for the next several missions.

    Don’t overthink it: Respec exists, so a first pick is a starting point rather than a life sentence.

    Best Specializations →
  3. 03

    First Talent

    Why it matters: Talents belong to the Operator rather than the specialization, so the pairing compounds over a run.

    Don’t overthink it: Pick the one that supports the job you already chose.

    Best Talents →
  4. 04

    First squad core

    Why it matters: Role coverage decides whether a mission is hard far more than raw damage does.

    Don’t overthink it: Start from the recommended composition and change one slot at a time.

    Best Squad →
  5. 05

    First Credits spend

    Why it matters: Early discretionary spending is the most commonly regretted decision in a first run.

    Don’t overthink it: Cover progression and recovery first and you cannot go far wrong.

    Decisions that pay Credits →
  6. 06

    First Intel spend

    Why it matters: Intel runs Operations, and Operations are how the cycle keeps moving while you are not deploying.

    Don’t overthink it: Hold it until an Operation offers something you can actually name.

    Decisions that pay Intel →
  7. 07

    First Den investment

    Why it matters: The Den is where recovery and preparation are paid for, so it competes with gear for the same Credits.

    Don’t overthink it: Treat the Den as progression rather than as a luxury purchase.

  8. 08

    First mission priority choice

    Why it matters: You cannot complete every Mission and Operation, so the order you pick is itself the strategy.

    Don’t overthink it: Follow the priority order above instead of inventing deadlines.

    Mission Database →
  9. 09

    First injured Operator decision

    Why it matters: Injury decides your roster, and under Permadeath it decides which Operators you keep.

    Don’t overthink it: One Injury is a warning. Three is a problem.

    Decisions with injury risk →
  10. 10

    First major dialogue choice

    Why it matters: Some answers pay Credits, Intel or Influence, move a Bond, or set something the campaign reads again later.

    Don’t overthink it: If you are unsure what a choice changes, look it up before you lock it in.

    Choice Solver →

Mistakes

Common Early-Game Mistakes

Seven habits that cost something concrete. Each one is tagged with whether the game actually enforces it or whether it is player experience.

  • Spending every Credit you get

    Community tip

    Recovery, the Den and progression all make claims on the same pool later.

  • Ignoring Intel

    Official rule

    Operations are paid for with Intel, so an unspent balance is an unused part of the cycle.

  • Starting a mission immediately

    Official rule

    Deploying advances the cycle, and Den business does not wait around for you.

  • Treating every fight as “kill everything”

    Official rule

    The objective decides whether a mission is complete — not the number of enemies removed.

  • Building four solo characters

    Community tip

    Role coverage and who enables whom matter more than four independent damage profiles.

  • Ignoring Injuries

    Official rule

    Injury shapes the roster you can field, and under Permadeath it compounds toward a permanent loss.

  • Never checking Den conversations

    Official rule

    Crew conversations are how character stories and their related missions get unlocked.

Troubleshooting

If the Game Feels Too Hard, Fix This First

Start from what is going wrong in the mission, not from a system name.

Site router

What Do You Need Help With Next?

Every destination below is a page this site already publishes. Nothing here is a promise.

Build

Campaign

Resources

Survival

Decisions

Something is wrong

Every link above points at a page this site publishes today. Deeper answers for Den upgrades, Credits, Intel, mission expiry and injuries live in the Strategy and Campaign sections, and this router picks them up automatically once they are live.

Back to the six priorities →How we label information

Questions

Zero Company Beginner FAQ

Is Zero Company hard for beginners?

It is a turn-based tactics game, so the difficulty comes from decisions rather than from reflexes. The systems that catch new players out are resource timing, positioning and the fact that deploying advances the cycle — all of which are learnable inside a first run.

What should I do first in Zero Company?

Decide the settings you cannot change later, then learn the basic combat mechanics before you touch a build. Nearly everything else on this page can be corrected later; those two cannot be unspent.

What is the best starting Specialization?

There is no single best pick. Choose the direction that matches the problem you want your first Operator to solve, because a specialization that fits your play is stronger than one that tops an abstract ranking.

What is the best first squad?

A squad that covers the most roles, not four Operators who each do the same job. Fielding four independent damage profiles leaves the recovery and control jobs unclaimed.

Should I enable Permadeath?

Only if you want the run in which losing an Operator is permanent. The setting cannot be changed after the campaign begins, and under it a regular Operator who accumulates three Injuries is killed in action.

Can you change difficulty later?

Difficulty and Permadeath are separate settings. The difficulty rating can be adjusted outside of combat, while the Permadeath setting is locked in once the campaign starts.

What should I spend Credits on first?

Progression and recovery come before optional gear. Treat discretionary purchases as the last claim on your Credits instead of the first one.

What should I spend Intel on?

Operations. Intel is a campaign planning resource rather than a wallet, so an unspent balance means leaving part of the cycle unused.

Do missions advance time?

Yes. Deploying advances you to the next cycle, which is exactly why Den conversations, injuries, upgrades and Operations should be handled before you launch.

Can missions expire?

Some Operations and Tactical Missions expire. Check the game’s own expiration information rather than assuming a deadline exists.

Should I do Operations before Missions?

Do whatever the cycle needs before you deploy, because launching a mission is what moves time forward. Whether that is an Operation, a conversation or a Den upgrade depends on what is currently waiting.

How do Injuries work?

Going down leaves an Injury once the Operator has been rallied and the mission continues. Injuries are handled back in the Den, and under Permadeath they accumulate toward a permanent loss.

Can Operators permanently die?

With Permadeath enabled, yes. A regular Operator who accumulates three Injuries is killed in action, and losing a key Operator can fail the mission outright.

Should I talk to everyone in the Den?

Yes. Crew conversations are how their stories progress and how character-related missions get unlocked, and they cost you nothing but the time between missions.

Can you respec later?

A respec system exists, so a first specialization is a starting point rather than a permanent commitment. It is still worth picking something you intend to actually use.

Do I need to kill every enemy?

Not unless the objective says so. A mission is won by completing its objective, and clearing the whole map is a choice with a cost in turns and risk.

What should I upgrade first in the Den?

Whatever unblocks what you are about to do — recovery when the roster is hurt, preparation when it is not. The Den competes with gear for the same Credits, so it is a progression decision rather than a luxury one.

Rules quoted above are current official descriptions of how the game works; everything tagged as a recommendation or a community tip is strategy advice rather than a rule. See how we label information.