Figuring out how to beat Fleet Battles in Star Wars: Squadrons can take several tries. This tricky game mode works a bit like Operations in Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5. One team competes against the other to move the frontlines and take out a pair of cruisers and a flagship.
How to gain morale in Star Wars: Squadrons Fleet Battles mode
Players can’t attack their foes at will. Instead, a bar at the top of the screen indicates a team’s overall morale. When the morale bar is full in Star Wars: Squadrons, the frontlines will move, and the team with max morale will get the opportunity to push forward against their enemy.
To gain morale, you can:
- Destroy enemy players.
- Shoot down enemy AI fighters.
- Destroy corvette-class ships.
- Eliminate enemy capital-ships.
- Take out flagship subsystems.
Each of these actions rewards varying amounts of morale. For example, destroying AI-controlled fighters will give a team less morale than shooting down players. This means pilots have to concentrate on the most valuable targets without overextending themselves.
Star Wars: Squadrons Fleet Battles phases
Fleet Battles are split into three phases:
- The “Kick-off”
- Frigate/Cruiser elimination
- Flagship elimination
The Kick-Off
When the match starts, both teams must wage battle to fill the morale gauge. It begins at the halfway point, so the most aggressive team is usually going to be the first to the line.
The best thing to do during the kick-off is to have two players start in anti-capital ship bombers. Each side has a corvette-class vessel that spawns in the middle of the map at the beginning of the round. Taking out the enemy corvette will net a big chunk of morale points, which can help to fill the meter quickly.
The rest of the team should configure themselves for anti-starfighter duty. Either fighters or interceptors work well here.
Frigate/Cruiser Elimination
This phase consists of an offensive and defensive side.
Offensive Strategy
Bombers are the name of the game here. The offensive side should have at least two anti-capital ship bombers in play. When a team goes on the offense, a corvette-class vessel will hyperspace in to support them. Make sure to target the cruiser or frigate that the corvette flies toward. It will be a big help with anti-fighter support.
The remaining three pilots should escort the bombers and keep enemy players off their tail. One of the players should fly a support ship and continually heal and restock the bombers after they make their runs. With luck, it should only take a few passes per capital ship to destroy them.
Defensive Strategy
Defense during this phase of the fight is fairly simple. At least one player should spawn as an anti-capital bomber and immediately begin attacking the enemy corvette-class ship. The other four pilots should stick close to the cruisers and help the bomber take out the corvette with an alpha strike.
Once the corvette is taken care of, all pilots should target enemy players with bombers taking priority. With good teamwork, a defensive phase can end fairly quickly against a disorganized foe.
Flagship Elimination
Taking on a flagship in Star Wars: Squadrons is more challenging than facing an enemy cruiser. Flagships have a large number of turrets, heavy shielding, and can use tractor beams to hold fighters in place if they fly too close. However, an organized team can make short work of a flagship with the right tactics.
Offensive Strategy
The tactics used against a flagship are much the same as those recommended for taking out a frigate or cruiser. One player should spawn in a bomber outfitted with ion weapons, and another should use an anti-capital ship bomber. Two should pilot fighters or interceptors, and the last player should provide support with healing and restocks for the bombers.
The bombers can follow in the corvette that spawns. This will provide them with anti-fighter coverage and soak up some of the fire from the flagship. When the bombers get within 1000m of the flagship, the one outfitted with ion weapons should start its run. With any luck, this assault should reduce the flagship’s shields to almost nothing. The second bomber should focus on the flagship’s targeting systems. When this subsystem is taken out, the flagship’s turret fire will become much less accurate, giving bombers a much better survivability.
After the targeting systems are taken out, prioritize the shield generators. With these gone, the hull of the flagship will remain permanently vulnerable. Then, it’s just a matter of pummeling it until it’s destroyed.
Defensive Strategies
Defending a flagship can be nerve-wracking. Unlike with cruisers, the enemy’s fire isn’t split between two targets. This makes it tougher to get a foe by themselves for an easy kill. At this point in the match, speed is less of an requirement than raw firepower, so four team members should be piloting their best anti-fighter vessels. The remaining player should pilot an anti-capital ship bomber to take out the enemy’s corvette.
The main goal when defending a flagship is to not let the enemy pull you away from it. If the defenders stay close to the capital ship, they can quickly react to the foe’s bombers, which will likely be doing the brunt of the damage. A good defense is to stick close to the flagship and take on enemy players as they come. The quicker enemy players are eliminated, the faster the morale gauge will fill so the tides can be turned.
