The Den in Star Wars Zero Company provides several upgrades that can enhance your Operators, strengthen your equipment, and facilitate healing. However, Credits are limited, so making smart choices regarding upgrades is important. Here are some of the best initial upgrades that should be given priority during your campaign.
Den Upgrades Overview
The Den plays an equally important role in your journey through Star Wars: Zero Company as what occurs during missions. From here, you can purchase various upgrades that improve your Operators, give convenient access to equipment, provide useful advantages in combat, and speed up the recovery of injured team members.
However, you are limited in credits and can simultaneously upgrade just a few items. This makes it worth selecting your upgrade options carefully. Depending on the types of Operators and weapons you use, the list of ideal upgrades may be different; however, there are some upgrades that are beneficial throughout the whole game.
Upgrade the Medbay Early
Investing in upgrading Medbay is an initial safe investment. Injuries become an issue as you progress through the game facing stronger enemies so having the ability to restore Operators to combat-ready mode becomes very important.
The upgraded Medbay allows treating two Operators at once which is helpful when many Operators are hurt in the course of some task or Operation. Since injured Operators cannot be of any help until they recover, it is important to minimize their recovery time to achieve maximum efficiency in the use of preferred Operators.
The Medbay also gains significance in Operations where Operators return from their missions injured. Instead of having a bunch of your crew being idle for a long period, you can send them for recovery sooner.
Improve the Black Market
You should consider the Black Market as one of your most important objectives and work towards its first quality upgrade. This is because the Black Market gives you a chance to buy equipment and accessories such as weapon modifiers and Utility Items. Therefore, upgrading its quality will positively affect the efficiency of your Operators’ effectiveness.
The first Black Market quality upgrade gives you access to improved equipment while changing its classification from Basic to Superior. The benefit of having better-quality equipment is that you will gain access to equipment with better stats, so the investment is worthwhile.
The next quality upgrade will decrease the prices by 15%. Since it is also a good investment, you should consider this upgrade only when you can afford it, but right now, the first quality upgrade is more important.
Consider an Extra Weapon Mod Slot
Weapon mods can significantly alter the capabilities of your Operators, hence, the Additional Weapon Mod Slot found on the Crew upgrades is essential. Adding an extra mod makes the gear of your Operators much more worthwhile and boosts combat efficiency.
This becomes even more important if you are already utilizing weapon mods. Since the benefit applies across your Operators rather than being restricted to one particular weapon user, it can remain useful as your roster develops.
Pick Up Combat Readiness
Combat Readiness is an important Crew upgrade that you should think about obtaining right away. The first level of this upgrade gives your Crew an additional Advantage in any combat situation.
The Influence of Advantage on combat scenarios can be major. Thus, by starting every encounter with an extra Advantage, your Crew members are going to have more chances to put this powerful option into action right away.
Expand the Crew Quarters
By upgrading Crew Quarters, you will increase the number of operators that you can recruit. This will enable the formation of more crews and provide you with more specialists to choose from.
Taking into account all the positive aspects of this upgrade, this does not necessarily have to be one of your very first purchases. It is perfectly fine not to upgrade your Crew Quarters right away. A smaller roster of very capable operators will still be able to handle missions normally and save Credits.
Once you start wanting more variety in your squads, though, additional Crew Quarters space becomes considerably more useful. What is more, it will help you recruit other crew members like Astromechs as well.
Unlock the Droid Repair Bay
The Droid Repair Bay is an important early Facilities upgrade as it allows for astromech recruitment. While astromechs aren’t frontline units, they are good support units.
The Droid Repair Bay should be worth getting early if you want more variety in your squad composition. It gives you a different form of support rather than just an enhancement for something you already have.
Invest in Teamwork
Teamwork can be quite advantageous in terms of helping your roster to grow when some Operators are not available for missions. Its upper level unlocks the Lounge where active units can spend time together and earn Bond XP.
This means that thanks to Teamwork you can boost bonds between Operators without needing to bring them to battle each time. Since higher bonds have multiple bonuses, Teamwork comes in handy for the entire roster.
Also, with higher levels, your assist damage improves so it might be a good plan to get back to this upgrade line in the course of increasing your Den level.
Don’t Ignore Influence Upgrades
Upgrades focused on influence are not as reliable as the previous upgrades but can yield huge returns when looking to unlock a reward in a specific zone.
Networking is worth mentioning because using a contact has the potential of generating Influence, which can be used for improving your reputation and unlocking various useful rewards. While it is not the earliest upgrade you’d acquire, it can pay off over time.
Mid Zone Influence is another powerful option when the target is in the middle zones. Upgrading Intel will be beneficial in opening various useful rewards like an additional slot for Facility upgrade in one of the zones and Weapon Mod Slots for Operators in another zone. Other rewards include better equipment from the Black Market and extra health for your Operators.
As these rewards depend on the zones, the upgrades associated with Influence must be considered according to your current need rather than buying every upgrade in the list.
Upgrade Your Most-Used Weapons
Weapon upgrades are much more dependent on your squad composition than the other Den improvements. Rather than blindly investing in every weapon category, look at what your Operators actually use.
Base damage is one of the safest upgrades because it improves your weapons’ consistency. If several members of your squad rely on the same weapon type, putting Credits into that weapon’s upgrades can be particularly worthwhile.
Critical-focused upgrades are another good choice if your Operators already rely heavily on critical hits. Certain skills, equipment, and Bond upgrades can further increase your focus on critical damage, making these weapon improvements more valuable for that type of build.
Movement Distance upgrades for pistols and rifles can also be useful when multiple Operators use those weapons. Extra movement gives them more freedom to reposition during encounters.
Range and Overwatch improvements are more dependent on difficulty and playstyle, so it is worth seeing whether you actually need the additional range before spending your Credits there.
A Good Upgrade Priority
If you want a straightforward starting point, focus first on upgrades that provide benefits regardless of your exact squad composition. The first Medbay improvement, early Black Market improvements, Combat Readiness, an Additional Weapon Mod Slot, and eventually the Droid Repair Bay are all strong candidates.
From there, expand your Crew Quarters or invest further into Teamwork depending on whether you need a larger roster or want to improve your Operators’ Bonds. Influence upgrades should be targeted toward zones with rewards you specifically want, while weapon improvements should follow the weapons your squad uses most.
The most important thing is not to spend Credits simply because an upgrade is available. The Den has plenty of useful improvements, but prioritizing the ones that directly support your current roster will give you much more value from your limited resources.
