Star Wars Zero Company Enemy Difficulty Guide: Why Each Faction Is Dangerous
Quick answer
There is no trustworthy pre-release ranking for the “hardest” enemy faction in *Star Wars Zero Company*. The confirmed factions appear to create different kinds of difficulty:
- Separatists: equipment pressure, especially the need to consider Ion weapons against droids.
- Infinite Coil: decision pressure, because varied abilities make target selection and kill order important.
- Outlaws: numbers pressure, because they can overwhelm your squad.
That means the hardest faction may depend on the mission, your squad, and the retail version's actual enemy stats. A universal ranking is Retail verification required.
Why a single difficulty ranking would mislead
“Hard” can mean several different things in a strategy RPG. One faction may punish poor equipment choices. Another may punish attacking the wrong target first. A third may simply create more threats than your squad can handle in one turn.
For a useful comparison, judge each faction by five questions:
- Does it require a specific preparation check?
- How many decisions must you make before ending the turn?
- Can the enemy outnumber your available actions?
- Does the mission objective make its threat worse?
- Does the pressure change with difficulty, map, or enemy composition?
- Keep a balanced squad until the retail enemy roster is known.
- Check whether the mission suggests mechanical targets before deployment.
- Against ability-heavy enemies, spend your first turn identifying priority targets.
- Against larger groups, protect action economy with cover and controlled angles.
- Pick defensive or mobile tools according to the objective, not the faction name alone.
- Separatist droids may make Ion weapons worth considering.
- Infinite Coil units can have varied abilities and may require careful kill-order decisions.
- Outlaws can overwhelm the squad with numbers.
- The Infinite Coil is associated with the Shadow Plague in the official lore.
- A reliable faction difficulty ranking.
- Complete enemy rosters and unit roles.
- HP, armor, resistances, damage, and ability values.
- Spawn, reinforcement, and difficulty-scaling rules.
- Exact best counters for each faction.
- Which campaign missions combine specific factions with specific objectives.
The fifth answer is Retail verification required for all three factions.
Separatists: the equipment check
Separatist droids are the faction most clearly associated with preparation pressure. EA has specifically indicated that players may want Ion weapons to dispose of them.
The practical lesson is simple: do not treat your loadout as separate from the enemy you are about to fight. If the mission briefing or scouting information points toward Separatist droids, check whether your squad has a sensible answer to mechanical targets before deployment.
This does not prove that Ion weapons are mandatory in every Separatist encounter. The exact enemy roster, resistances, and best loadout are Retail verification required.
What makes them dangerous: arriving with a squad that cannot efficiently handle the target type.
What to test at launch: which droids appear together, how strongly Ion damage matters, and whether other weapons or abilities provide equally reliable answers.
Infinite Coil: the decision and kill-order check
EA describes Infinite Coil units as having various abilities and says players must consider who to kill and in what order. This makes them a decision-density threat rather than a simple damage race.
Before focusing fire, identify the enemy whose ability can change the next turn. A support unit, control effect, durable threat, or high-impact attacker may deserve attention before the closest target. The exact categories and priority order are Retail verification required.
The Infinite Coil is also tied to the Shadow Plague in the official lore. StarWars.com describes the plague as being associated with unnatural resilience and deadly abilities. That establishes the faction's identity and threat theme, but it does not confirm exact in-game bonuses, resistances, healing, or revival mechanics.
What makes them dangerous: choosing the wrong target can leave several enemy abilities active at once.
What to test at launch: which abilities are telegraphed, which units amplify one another, and whether eliminating a particular unit first consistently reduces incoming pressure.
Outlaws: the numbers and action-economy check
EA says Outlaws can overwhelm players with numbers. Their threat is therefore not limited to an individual enemy's strength. The problem is how many threats your squad must answer before it can safely advance the objective.
Against a larger group, avoid creating a turn in which every Operator is exposed to a different attacker. Use cover, limit the angles from which enemies can reach you, and consider whether eliminating one immediate threat is better than spreading damage across several targets.
These are general tactical principles, not a confirmed Outlaw build or universal counter. Group sizes, reinforcement rules, enemy roles, and map-specific patterns are Retail verification required.
What makes them dangerous: the enemy may create more urgent problems than your squad has actions to solve.
What to test at launch: how reinforcements work, whether groups can be split, and how much terrain or objective layout changes the encounter.
Mission objectives can change which faction feels hardest
Faction pressure cannot be separated from the objective. A holdout can reward defensive tools such as Overwatch, while sabotage, rescue, or extraction missions may require movement and flexibility. EA has noted that Overwatch is useful for defending a point or supply run, but less ideal for missions that demand constant movement.
That creates a useful rule for beginners: choose the squad plan for the objective first, then adjust for the enemy faction. A numerically strong Outlaw group may be manageable on a defensible map. A dangerous ability-focused Coil group may become much worse when the objective forces you to split or move.
The exact faction-by-objective combinations in the campaign are Retail verification required.
What should beginners do before launch?
Do not build your entire plan around an unverified “hardest faction.” Instead:
The goal is to preserve options. A flexible squad is more useful than a narrowly optimized pre-release theory build.
Confirmed now vs. retail verification required
Confirmed now
Retail verification required
FAQ
Which faction is the hardest?
There is no confirmed universal answer before release. Separatists may test equipment, Infinite Coil may test decisions, and Outlaws may test your ability to manage multiple threats. The final ranking is Retail verification required.
Do all Separatist encounters require Ion weapons?
No such universal rule has been confirmed. Ion weapons are a preparation option worth checking when facing droids. The strength of that option at retail is Retail verification required.
Are all Infinite Coil units stronger because of the Shadow Plague?
The plague is confirmed as part of the faction's lore, but its exact gameplay effects are not confirmed here. Treat specific resilience or ability claims as Retail verification required.
Do Outlaws always appear in large groups?
EA has confirmed that Outlaws can overwhelm players with numbers, not that every encounter uses the same group size. Encounter-by-encounter composition is Retail verification required.
Bottom line
The useful pre-release answer is not “Faction X is strongest.” It is “Faction X asks a different question.” Separatists ask whether your equipment is ready. Infinite Coil asks whether you understand the threat order. Outlaws ask whether your squad can survive the action-economy problem created by multiple enemies.
Use that framework now, then replace it with tested retail data after launch.