The Imperial TIE Bomber is making its way to Star Wars: Galaxy of heroes, ready to enforce the Empire’s will on those who dare to rebel. Often serving in the first line of attack, TIE bombers drop vast quantities of munitions, delivering devastating attacks with frightening accuracy.
Although the crewless TIE bomber is the first ship in Galaxy of Heroes to apply Burning, its main strength lies in being a defensive stalwart for Imperial factions. Crippling the enemy’s Offense and exhibiting bravado by Taunting is all in a day’s work as these ships seek glory for the Empire. Add the TIE bomber to your fleet and show those Rebel scum the Empire will not tolerate insubordination.
The Basics:
- The Imperial TIE bomber provides the Empire fleet with a crewless, faction-specific tank that weakens the enemy’s offensive capabilities
- The Emperor’s Shuttle in particular provides a good amount of survivability to the fleet when paired with the TIE bomber
- The ship gains Taunt at the end of turn if an enemy has Target Lock, which works well with the large amount of Empire ship abilities that apply Target Lock
- TIE bomber will remain Taunting every turn while Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced x1 is on the battlefield reapplying Target Lock
Unique Attributes:
- New Ship Debuff: Burning – We’ve seen this in character kits before but this is the first ship to apply Burning, which deals damage over time and reduces Evasion
- In combination with TIE bomber’s Unique, Burning prevents Rebels from attacking out of turn and reduces the enemy fleet’s Offense
- The Burning debuff can’t be resisted or dispelled by Rebel ships so it will not be cleansed by team dispels such as Han’s Millennium Falcon
- The Imperial TIE bomber is the Empire’s answer to the Rebel fleet’s high number of assists and sneaky tactics such as hiding important units from being targeted
Inspiration:
- The TIE bomber’s kit was primarily inspired by scenes from The Empire Strikes Back trying to root out the Falcon along with some moments from the animated show, Star Wars Rebels
- We also looked close at Battlefront 2’s Imperial TIE bomber as there is some debate over where exactly on the TIE bomber the laser cannons are located
- Most TIEs fire lasers from beneath the cockpit but there are some variants that fire from the wings; in our research we found some examples of the TIE bomber firing from either position
- We wanted to capture the lingering effects of a bombing run – a bomb explosion doesn’t just do damage when it hits you – it also damages systems and disorients pilots which take some time to recover
- Visually, the TIE bomber is a bigger, heavier version of the TIE fighter with a more robust frame and strong offensive capabilities
Strategy Tips:
- The Imperial TIE bomber’s Unique, Dual-Pod Design, heavily encourages having Empire units in reinforcement as it adds a flat amount of Protection, topping up the bomber’s Protection and keeping it alive each time an Empire unit is called into battle
- Using the Emperor’s Shuttle in the initial lineup can really help the TIE bomber perform its role of a tank by providing a large amount of recovery and Taunt if the enemy manages to remove Target Lock from their ships completely
- You may also want to keep the Emperor’s Shuttle in reinforcement in order to have the Special, Emperor’s Influence, immediately available for use which will allow you to recover the TIE bomber’s Health and Protection when the shuttle enters the battle
- Vader’s TIE Advanced x1 is very useful in the starting lineup for the Target Lock and the ability to reapply it frequently
- Fleets with the Imperial TIE bomber want as much Target Lock as possible since it’s critical for this ship to Taunt but also for the damage reduction it can apply to enemy Rebel fleets
- At the start of battle, it’s important for the Imperial TIE bomber to stop the enemy fleet from attacking the Emperor’s Shuttle and TIE Advanced x1 as soon as possible
Squad Suggestions:
- The Gauntlet Starfighter is a great first reinforcement as it provides a flat Protection bonus, which combines with TIE bomber’s Unique that also increases his Max Protection
- The Gauntlet Starfighter also provides a dispel and Protection Up with the Special, Reinvigorate, to deal with debuffs like Breach
- We’d recommend keeping the Imperial TIE fighter in reinforcements if you have TIE Advanced x1 on the battlefield in case you need another ship to quickly apply Target Lock
- Ebon Hawk is another very good reinforcement for this squad despite not being part of the Empire; the Chaff buff is good against other Target Lock teams and this ship can deal decent damage
