A Quick Guide to Speed – Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes by Electronic Arts

Sadly we’ve seen a lot of people get speed wrong in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. It doesn’t help that the Team Instinct page on speed is completely wrong, as well as numerous other “recent” posts on speed on the web. Today we have this guide for you on how speed actually works in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

A Quick Guide to Speed – Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

In the old days, things worked in “ticks” of 1000 in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which created brackets of speed. Forget all of that. Today’s speed is all constant and relative, and only referenced by percentage in the game.

We think examples are the best way to illustrate how speed works in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Let’s take 3 made up characters, C3PO, General Hux, and Jabba.

  • C3PO has 100 speed.
  • General Hux has 75 speed.
  • Jabba has 50 speed.

In order for all of this to make sense in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, you have to pick a point of reference, or an “anchor.” The anchor can be anything, as long as all characters’ speed is compared to that anchor. Because we think it’s easier to understand, we’re going to use the fastest character’s speed as the anchor, which is C3PO.

Then the game calculates the percent difference from a character’s speed and the reference (charspeed/anchor). This is the “modifier”:

  • C3PO = 100/100 = 1
  • General Hux = 75/100 = 0.75
  • Jabba = 50/100 = 0.5

The fight begins, and speed is given to each character equally. Let’s assume it’s small, like “1”. Think of this as the heartbeat. It always happens, and always gives everyone “1” unit of speed. This one unit is modified against the character’s modifier to give a turn meter percentage. So, after 1 unit is given, this is what everyone looks like:

  • C3PO: 1 x 1 = 1 / 100 = 1% TM
  • General Hux: 0.75 x 1 = 0.75% TM
  • Jabba: 0.5 x 1 = 0.5% TM

Now lets say 50 total “units” of speed have been given. Here’s what the turn meter looks like:

  • C3PO: 1 x 50 = 50% TM
  • General Hux: 0.75 x 50 = 37.5% TM
  • Jabba: 0.5 x 50 = 25% TM

And another 50 units…

  • C3PO: 50% TM + 1 x 50 = 100% TM
  • General Hux: 37.5% TM + 0.75 x 50 = 75% TM
  • Jabba: 25% TM + 0.5 x 50 = 50% TM

C3PO has reached 100% TM, so he goes first. His turn meter is drained to 0, and the cycle continues. By the time General Hux goes, C3PO has gained another 33% TM (he is 33% faster).

Abilities that grant or remove turn meter are flat. They are not modified at all. So, for example, if Jabba gains 50% TM at the start of the fight, his bar starts at 50%. This would mean that Jabba would reach 100% TM at the exact same time as C3PO (they have effectively the same speed for turn 1). When two characters reach 100% turn meter at the exact same time, it is random who goes next.

Mods and gear that increase speed (say +25) do not affect starting percentages. They simply affect the base rate of turn meter gain.

How Do I Go First?

Let’s say you want your Vader to go before a BB-8 in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. BB-8 gains turn meter at the beginning of the fight based on how many droids there are. Let’s assume there are two: BB-8 and R2-D2, so BB-8 gains 16% TM. The math to figure this out is how fast the character is and how much TM they have left to fill.

For example, if BB-8 has 244 speed, and he starts with 16% TM, then he needs 84% TM to get to 100%. To determine how much speed a character would need to beat them, divide: 244/.84 = 290.47. Vader would need to be 291 speed to go first.

Additional Information

  • Since speed is relative, a character with 200 speed will go TWO TIMES as often as a character with 100 speed. This is why speed is the most valuable stat.
  • Abilities that grant turn meter can cause characters to jump ahead. Examples include Rex’s cleanse and leader, BB-8 Covert Data Transfer under JTR lead, Sith Assassin, Jawa Engineer and zMaul leader.
  • Han Solo is the only unique character that “goes first.” He technically does not go first. He starts the fight with 100% turn meter. That’s why it’s random when two Han Solo’s are fighting each other.
  • You can control the order in which your characters take turns by carefully controlling their speed. Even a single point of speed will make a difference. This is often not recommended, however, since so many factors can disrupt this.
  • The reference, or anchor, again, can be anything, as long as all other speed is compared to the same reference. We used the fastest character because it’s easy to see 1 to 1. Other people have mentioned you don’t need to do this, and that’s fine, you probably don’t, but people like comparisons, and knowing how fast you are in comparison to another character is, in our opinion, easier to understand.
  • We also understand that mathematically you can divide speeds by the reference and immediately know who goes next. Again, for the sake of understanding, We made it like a “heartbeat.” You can do the math all at once if you want!

More Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Guides in the Guide-Section.


Any comments or corrections for this quick guide to speed to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, please write down a comment below and we will update the guide. Thanks!

1 Comment on "A Quick Guide to Speed – Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes"

  1. Jesus good lord. I absolutely love this game but shit. I didn’t quite finish my PhD so I’m having a hard time understanding this shit.

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