Operators decide how hard Star Wars Zero Company feels from mission to mission. Some named heroes stand out for their raw stats and abilities, while the custom recruits you pull from the terminal in your Den can be excellent or forgettable depending on the class and talent they roll. Because every Operator, including story characters, can die permanently, picking a reliable core matters more than in most tactics games.
Quick answer: Cly Kullervo, Tel-Rea Vokoss, and Trick are the strongest named operators to invest in. For custom recruits, prioritize a Sharpshooter with the “The Bigger They Are” talent and a Medic with Sabotage or Anticipation.
Best named operators in Star Wars Zero Company
Named operators are unique characters unlocked through the campaign. Each has a fixed identity, a signature talent, and a starting specialization. About halfway through the story you can add a second specialization to them, which is where their best builds come together. Three of them earn a permanent slot in most squads.
Cly Kullervo
Cly is a Mandalorian bounty hunter built around mobility and area damage, and she can wipe out an entire cluster of enemies on her own. Her core loop is Electroweb Dart followed by Electroweb Surge. You tag several enemies with darts, then trigger the surge for AoE damage that ignores defense and chains between everyone caught in the radius. Because this spends Advantage instead of Action Points, she can still reposition or shoot afterward.
Her Combat Jump talent lets her spend advantage to leap across the map with a jetpack, so she can dive into a group, tag them, and pull out before they retaliate. Pairing her Warrior specialization with the Scout specialization gives access to Combat Recon and Tactical Timing, which generate huge amounts of Advantage in a single turn. That fuels more darts and larger explosions. Bunching enemies together with push, pull, or knockback effects before the surge maximizes the damage.
Tel-Rea Vokoss
The Jedi is exactly as strong as you would expect. Tel-Rea is a displacement specialist who wants to be in close, wielding dual lightsabers that deal solid melee damage with a good critical hit chance. Her mobility lets her close the gap fast, making her ideal for flanking and picking off isolated targets.
Her real value is Force Push and Force Pull. These let you reposition enemies across a wide radius, ripping them out of cover, shoving them into allies, pushing them off ledges, or dragging them into melee range. Used together, they set up devastating group abilities for the rest of your squad. Later she gains a lightsaber throw that deals extreme damage. She does not use the standard classes, instead progressing from Padawan into Wayseeker, with her Strong With the Force talent granting harmony stacks each turn to boost attacks and deflection.
Trick (CT-3301)
Trick is a starter operator and the backbone of your early squad. His For My Brothers talent gives him a free self-revive the first time he is Downed each mission, returning him at full health next turn. In a game with permadeath, that safety net lets you play him aggressively when others cannot take the risk.
He starts as a Soldier, and his Rocket Strike ultimate deals 30+ damage in a wide blast, clearing both enemies and the cover they hide behind. He also has strong melee options if you want a brawler. In the late game, adding the Heavy specialization turns him into a tank. Extra health plus the Unstoppable ability lets him retaliate against attackers and taunt any enemy he hits, locking down a position on his own.
Best custom operator combinations to recruit
Custom operators come from the terminal in your Den with a randomized specialization and talent. The specialization acts as their class, while the talent is a separate ability that shapes how they play. You are hunting for pairings that reinforce a clear role. The named heroes can carry you alone, but a good custom recruit fills gaps for specific missions.
| Specialization | Talent to look for | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Sharpshooter | The Bigger They Are | Boss and Elite killer via Zero In crits |
| Medic | Sabotage or Anticipation | Healing and Combat Stim support |
| Heavy | Grit or Taunt | Front-line tank |
| Soldier | A Life of Labor | Melee-focused damage |
The two worth actively chasing are a Sharpshooter and a Medic. A Sharpshooter with The Bigger They Are is the standout combination. Zero In raises Critical Chance and Chance-To-Hit, which is lethal with longarm blasters, and The Bigger They Are adds bonus damage against Elite and Boss-tier enemies. You won’t field this operator every mission, but they shine during tough late-campaign boss fights.
A Medic is the other priority. Medics carry multiple Medpacs, heal for more, and can apply a Combat Stim that raises an ally’s Max Health, Melee Damage, and Ranged Damage. That support is especially valuable early, before you unlock dual specializations, since a Medic can focus entirely on keeping the squad alive. A Heavy with Grit or Taunt gives you a dedicated tank, and a Soldier with A Life of Labor makes a strong melee threat.
Second specializations that unlock stronger builds
Roughly halfway through the campaign you can assign a second specialization, and this opens up much of what makes the top operators dominant. You can freely refund and reallocate points, so experimenting carries no permanent cost.
| Operator | Core spec | Second spec | Payoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cly Kullervo | Warrior | Scout | Combat Recon and Tactical Timing feed endless Electroweb Darts |
| Trick | Soldier | Heavy | Survivability from health, defense, and Unstoppable |
| Kabb Uppercut | Scoundrel | Heavy plus Soldier | Conditioning, Unstoppable, and Bulwark with Brutal Strike offense |
| Jae Mordant | Assault | Gunslinger | Keen Eye raises critical hit chance |
| Luco Bronc | Sharpshooter | Scoundrel | Instinct penetrates defenses, Never Play Fair boosts assist damage |
Hawks, your main character, is in almost every party, so his specialization should complement the team. Medic, Scout, and Sharpshooter all work well, and his Fearless Leader talent raises the assist damage and defense of every other operator while he is present. Since the unique sniper, Luco Bronc, only joins much later, Hawks can cover the Sharpshooter role in the meantime.
None of these picks are mandatory. The strength of Zero Company is the sheer range of squad combinations, and a skilled player can finish the campaign with almost any lineup. Treat Cly, Tel-Rea, and Trick as a dependable spine, keep an eye out for a Sharpshooter or Medic recruit with the right talent, and adjust the rest to fit the mission in front of you.
