STAR WARS Zero Company — first-steps tips
The game's been out for a day, so this isn't a 100-hour masterclass — it's what the official feature set tells you before you even deploy: how Hawks' class works, who to recruit, and how a squad actually comes together.
Start with Hawks, not the squad
Before anything else, you customize Hawks — his combat specialization and his appearance. The specialization is your first real class decision: it shapes how your commander fights on the grid, while the look is pure preference. Don't over-agonize; the rest of the team is built around your commander, and you can tailor it as you go.
Recruit by archetype, not by name
The roster spans "scoundrels to astromechs, or even a Jedi" — that's the official lineup. Think in roles: sneaky damage, droids with utility, a Jedi as your wild card. Building a team where each operative covers a different job beats stacking three of the same archetype, because abilities are designed to work together and unlock synergies on shared deployments.
Your squad is custom-made
You don't just get handed fixed characters. Zero Company lets you build the team with original characters and custom-made ones — tailoring appearances, loadouts and abilities per operative. If you want a clone squad, you can push the team in that direction from day one; if you want a gang of scoundrels, that works too. The "how to recruit clones" question people keep asking is really a loadout-and-cosmetics question, and the answer lives in the customization screen.
Plan at base, adapt in the field
Missions come in two flavors: planning at your base of operations and executing on an ever-shifting battlefield. Use the base for squad management — check synergies, swap loadouts, adjust abilities between missions. In the field, expect the ground to change mid-fight; the game's whole pitch is that decisions there feed back into how your playthrough differs.
The honest caveats
- Class-switching: Hawks' specialization is set through customization — no confirmation yet on mid-campaign re-specs. Assume commit, until guides prove otherwise.
- No multiplayer: don't look for co-op, there isn't any. Squad synergy is single-player business.
- First-week guides are thin: the game launched Aug 27, 2026. Wiki coverage (zerocompanywiki.com and friends) was still scaffolding at launch — expect the good stuff to land within a week or two.
The short version
Customize Hawks, recruit by role, build your own characters, and treat the base as your loadout hub. That's the whole opening loop — everything else is tactics you'll learn mission by mission, the same way everyone else is right now.