Ultimate Star Wars Zero Company Soldier Build and Class Guide

Latest Update: September 12, 2026 – Categories: Star Wars Zero Company

Discover the Soldier class in Star Wars Zero Company – the best weapons, secondary specs, talents, and squad setups.

This guide is updated for Star Wars Zero Company Patch 1.1

Related SWZC

• All Story Characters
• Complete Classes Guide
• Character Creation
• All Focus Trees/Skills
• The Den Facilities & Upgrades
• Weapons & Mods Guide

Star Wars Zero Company is a turn-based tactics game set in the final days of the Clone Wars. The protagonist, Hawk, leads a group of mercenaries through cinematic missions and manages a base of operations between fights. Developed by Bit Reactor and published by Electronic Arts, this is a gritty XCOM-meets-Star Wars game.

In this guide, we discuss the Soldier class and build, a versatile frontline damage dealer. In Star Wars Zero Company, builds are shaped by decisions you make from character creation. Your operator picks a class (Specialization), a weapon type, a talent, a secondary class (Secondary Specialization) that unlocks later, and a Focus Tree path. This guide walks you through all the important decisions, choices, and companions you want to select for the Ultimate Soldier build.

Actively updating: we’re refreshing this build right now, including adding more details like a Focus Tree progression, weapon mods, and more.

Star Wars Zero Company Soldier Build & Class Summary

The Soldier is a mainstay offensive unit, capable of engaging enemies at close to medium-range with melee, grenades, heavy blaster fire, and a powerful rocket launcher.

If you want a medium- to close-range rifle-wielding DPS, the Soldier is for you. While simple, it’s effective due to its range, variety of weapon types, and group utility. Players can expect to use weapons of their choice, grenades, and a rocket launcher. This build leans into that flexibility, intended for players who value big booms over complex abilities and micromanagement. Among the story companions, Trick is the confirmed Soldier.

Here’s what you can expect from the Soldier Class Build:

Soldier Class Abilities

The Soldier is the all-rounder, able to engage enemies at close to medium range with melee, grenades, heavy blaster fire, and access to a rocket launcher! Thanks to their abilities they are one of the most flexible fighters in Star Wars Zero Company.

Specialization abilities can be further upgraded by earning Focus and spending it on the Operator’s Focus Tree.

Ability	Effect	Upgrades
Rocket Strike (Ultimate)	Fire a powerful rocket that explodes on impact, damaging all targets in the blast.	Tier 1: 12 Base DMG Tier 2: 16 Base DMG Tier 3: 20 Base DMG Tier 4: 24 Base DMG Tier 5: 28 Base DMG Tier 6: 34 Base DMG; applies Vulnerable
Brutal Strike (Standard)	Rush and strike a target, dealing Melee Damage and Dazing.	Tier 1: 12 Base DMG Tier 2: 13 Base DMG Tier 3: 14 Base DMG Tier 4: 15 Base DMG Tier 5: 16 Base DMG Tier 6: 18 Base DMG
Strength (Passive)	Increases Melee Damage and increases the throw range of all Grenades.	Tier 1: +2 Melee Damage; +2m throw range Tier 2: +3 Melee Damage; +3m throw range Tier 3: +4 Melee Damage; +4m throw range Tier 4: +5 Melee Damage; +5m throw range Tier 5: +6 Melee Damage; +6m throw range
Armsmaster (Passive)	Increases Blaster Damage and Grenade Damage by +2.	Cannot Upgrade

Soldier Class Abilities Explanation

Rocket Strike is the Soldier’s Ultimate ability. You fire a rocket that detonates on impact and deals damage to every enemy caught in the blast radius, which makes your best option when enemies are clustered together and the squad needs to push total damage across multiple targets at once. Unlike Sweeping Salvo from the Assault class, Rocket Strike deals raw damage without a debuff component, so the point here is pure damage.

Brutal Strike is the Soldier’s standard ability and a melee rush that closes distance, deals 16 damage at Brutal Strike IV, and applies Dazed to the target in a single 1 AP action. Dazed is a status effect that disrupts the affected enemy’s ability to act at full capacity on their next turn, which means Brutal Strike functions as both an offensive move and a debuff in one. Brutal Strike is most valuable against high-damage enemies whose next turn would otherwise be dangerous: debuff them with Dazed to buy your squad a window to deal with the threat before it can do too much damage.

Strength is a passive that adds plus 2 Melee Damage to all melee attacks and extends grenade throw range by plus 2.0 meters. The melee bonus stacks directly onto Brutal Strike’s base damage, making each use of the Soldier’s standard ability hit harder without any additional cost, and the throw range makes the Soldier class your go to for grenade throwing AOE damage.

Armsmaster is a passive that adds plus 2 Blaster Damage and plus 2 Grenade Damage to the Soldier’s attacks, covering both of the class’s non-melee damage sources simultaneously. Combined with Strength, the Soldier ends up with passive bonuses touching every damage type in their kit including melee, blaster, and grenades. Armsmaster’s grenade bonus in particular stacks with Strength’s throw range extension to make the Soldier the most effective grenade user in any standard squad.

Best Soldier Talent Specialization

The best talent for the Soldier class is Sabotage: a fitting pick for a demolitions-minded Soldier who already leans on grenades and a rocket launcher (Strength and Armsmaster buff both). Sabotage allows your Soldier to trigger an explosive object on the battlefield to detonate, immediately affecting any nearby units. Tier 4 of this talent grants unlimited Sabotage uses, and the cost is 2 Advantage each use, not AP, so you can potentially stack a lot of explosive potential into a single round.

Sabotage

Trigger an explosive object on the battlefield to detonate, immediately affecting any nearby units. Costs 2 Advantage per use.

Tier 1: 1 per combat Tier 2: 2 per combat Tier 2: 3 per combat Tier 4: Unlimited

For a solid overall and beginner pick, grab the Talent called A Life of Labor. With this talent, the Operator gains bonus Health and Defense as well as Melee Damage and Critical Hit Damage at higher tiers. This gives you a solid bonus right away at Tier 1, and eventually buffs more of your kit at later Tiers including your Brutal Strike ability.

A Life of Labor

The Operator gains bonus Health and Defense as well as Melee Damage and Critical Hit Damage at higher tiers.

Tier 1: +5 Health; +1 Defense Tier 2: +5 Health; +1 Defense; +2 Melee Damage Tier 3: +5 Health; +1 Defense; +2 Melee Damage; +2 Critical Hit Damage Tier 4: +7 Health; +2 Defense; +4 Melee Damage; +4 Critical Hit Damage

For more information check out our full list of Star Wars Zero Company Talents.

Best Soldier Secondary Specialization: Heavy

Operators can unlock a Secondary Specialization once you hit Cycle 18 in game. Most custom Operators and some Story Companions can choose from any of the other 10 Classes in Zero Company to use as their Secondary Specialization (you can’t double up). The exception to this is the Astromech class and Tel-Rea, your Jedi Padawan. Secondary Specializations allow you to use all the abilities for that class but their Focus Tree upgrades cannot go past Tier 5, so a Secondary Spec will always be slightly weaker than if you had used it as your Primary Specialization.

For the Soldier Class we recommend the Heavy as your Secondary Specialization. The Heavy makes the Soldier even more durable, plus adds options to taunt enemies and retaliate for bonus damage when they hit you.

Ability	Effect	Upgrades
Bulwark (Ultimate)	Taunts all enemies in the target area, forcing them to attack this Operator, and grants +2 Defense for the rest of the turn Costs 4 Advantage	Tier 1: 16m Taunt. Area Effect 4m. +2 Defense for the turn. Tier 2: 17m Taunt. Area Effect 5m. +3 Defense for the turn. Tier 3: 18m Taunt. Area Effect 6m. +4 Defense for the turn. Tier 4: 20m Taunt. Area Effect 7m. +5 Defense for the turn. Tier 5: 22m Taunt. Area Effect 8m. +6 Defense for the turn. Tier 6: 24m Taunt. Area Effect 8m. +6 Defense for the turn. Grants Impervious and Immovable.
Unstoppable (Standard)	Gain 2 stacks of Retaliation; each permits a counter against the next incoming attack	Tier 1: +2 Stacks of Retaliation Tier 2: +2 Stacks of Retaliation. Retaliation attack damage +1 Tier 3: +2 Stacks of Retaliation. Retaliation attack damage +2 Tier 4: +2 Stacks of Retaliation. Retaliation attack damage +3 Tier 5: +2 Stacks of Retaliation. Retaliation attack damage +4 Tier 6: +2 Stacks of Retaliation. Retaliation attack damage +4. Can be cast on an ally.
Conditioning (Passive)	Increases Max Health	Tier 1: Max Health +4 Tier 2: Max Health +8 Tier 3: Max Health +12 Tier 4: Max Health +16 Tier 5: Max Health +20
Heavy Armor Training (Passive)	Increases Defense by +2	Cannot Upgrade
Intimidating Posture (Passive)	This Operator’s primary Blaster Attacks now taunt the target on a hit.	Cannot Upgrade

Alternative pairings

• Assault: A strong pairing that adds mobility (Bull Rush, Fleet of Foot) and a cone ultimate to the Soldier’s firepower, for an aggressive frontliner.
• Scoundrel: sets up crits for the Soldier’s rocket and blaster fire.

The Advantage System

Advantage is a shared, squad-wide pool: you gain +1 each time the squad damages an enemy, and it caps at 10. Ultimates are the biggest spends, so managing the pool is central to every turn. Outside that base income, only the Scout’s Combat Recon and Tactical Timing generate extra Advantage.

Hawks can spend Advantage to refresh one squadmate’s Action Point once per turn, and the Soldier’s Sabotage talent costs Advantage too.

Best Weapon for the Soldier: Blaster Rifle

A Blaster Rifle (a Fast weapon, cheap first shot each turn) is the best option for the Soldier’s close-to-medium range fighting style. A Repeater is a strong alternative and the weapon the story Soldier Trick is shown carrying, since its Fire Repeating Blaster dumps all remaining Action Points for heavy damage.

• Blaster Rifle (Fast Weapon): 1 AP for the first shot each turn, 2 AP for every shot after.
• Repeater (Consumes all remaining AP): Firing uses the whole remaining AP pool, with damage bonuses at 2 AP and 3 AP.

Weapon modifications

The four best weapon mods for the Soldier are listed below:

Note: You start with one weapon mod upgrade, but can obtain four slots. You can do this through Den upgrades, campaign choice, and Zone Forn influence Tier 3. You must pick between a utility slot or a weapon mod. We will include four in our guide for your convenience, in priority order.

Best Soldier Utility Items

The four best utility items for the Soldier are listed below:

Note: you start with one utility item, but can obtain four slots. This is done through Den upgrade, campaign choice, and Zone Dorn influence Tier 3. You must pick between a utility slot or a weapon mod. We will include four in our guide for your convenience, in priority order.

Soldier Focus Tree Priority (progression order)

A custom operator can respec freely at the Personnel facility in The Den, and can slot any Universal Talent (check the recommended Universal Talents above), so build the Focus Tree to fit the role. You earn Focus Points as the operator levels and builds Bonds, and every ability starts at Rank I when you pick the spec. Below is the Talent to take, then the order to spend your points. Story Companions (Authored Operators) and Hawks will have their own specific Talent locked and won’t be able to change with a respec.

The Soldier’s build revolves around high explosive damage with grenades and rockets. Your main priority is the Rocket Strike ultimate for Focus upgrades. At max level, you not only get super high damage, but also the Vulnerable status effect. If the enemy(ies) don’t die in the blast, they will be easier to kill, as the next attack against them will be a guaranteed crit.

Your next priority depends on whether you use more melee attacks or grenade throws. Since grenades can be used every combat encounter, we advise upgrading that first, and mixing in Brutal Strike for good melee damage. Lastly, depending on your chosen talent, make sure to keep that upgraded as it has a big impact on your gameplay.

Take the below Focus upgrades in this order as you start earning points:

Best Party Composition and Squad Synergy

Squads deploy four operators, which can include unique Story Characters or custom-built characters, and Hawks is mandatory in story missions. With this in mind, you’ll want to build a balanced team around the Soldier rather than doubling up your own role: a healer to keep everyone standing, a melee threat to pull pressure off you, and a long-range specialist to pick off priority targets. That spread lets you hold at medium range and push in for close quarters only when you choose to.

• Melee DPS: Tel-Rea Vokoss (Jedi Padawan). Her lightsaber melee and Force Push draw enemy attention and open space for the Soldier.
• Healer: a Medic, built as a custom recruit or for Hawks. Combat Stim buffs the Soldier’s damage before an ultimate, and healing keeps the front line up.
• Scout: Use a Scout / Sharpshooter combination to gain the Advantage resource faster and have longer range.

Avoid: Don’t pick another Soldier (Trick), or you lose overall party versatility. Moreover, picking a heavy melee or frontline group will limit your range situations or healing options.

Best Soldier Bonds/Cross Training

Bonds in Star Wars Zero Company are created when Operators work closely together in missions, particularly when Calling For Backup and dealing assist damage. Bonds are also built when Operators work on the same Operations together. Increasing your Bonds with other characters awards you Cross Training which are specfic stat boosts that both characters benefit from at the same time. We recommend prioritizing the following Cross Training upgrades for the Soldier Class:

1. Fitness Work: Increases Max Health by +4 for both Operators.
2. Ranged Combat Drills: Increases Ranged Damage by +1 for both operators.
3. Target Practice: Reduces chance-to-hit penalties from range by 5% for both operators.
4. Free Form Training: both operators gain an additional +2 focus points

How to play the Soldier (turn-by-turn)

We will update this section upon launch. However, you get three AP per turn (Action Points). This can be used for all of your activities, including movement. Your goal will be to spend AP wisely by moving into position, firing, and using consumables when appropriate.

Hold a flexible mid-range position and use Brutal Strike to rush and Daze a priority target for 1 Action Point, or throw grenades (buffed by Strength and Armsmaster) at grouped enemies. Save Rocket Strike for a cluster you can catch in the blast. Lean on the Soldier to cover whatever the squad needs that turn. You get three Action Points per turn.

Soldier Build Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is the Soldier build good in Star Wars Zero Company?

Yes. The Soldier is the most reliable all-rounder in the roster and the easiest class to pick up first. Its strength is flexibility: grenades and a rocket launcher give it built-in area damage against clustered Separatist droids, while heavy blaster fire handles single targets. The trade-off is specialization; a Gunslinger out-bursts it against many targets and a Sharpshooter beats it at long range, so the Soldier wins on adaptability rather than peak output.

2. Can you respec or change class in Star Wars Zero Company?

Yes. Any operator can respec into any standard class at any time from the Personnel facility in the Den. The exotic classes are the exception: the Jedi Padawan (locked to Tel-Rea Vokoss) and Mandalorian Warrior (locked to Cly Kullervo) cannot be reassigned. Character signature abilities persist through a respec.

3. What weapon should a Soldier use?

A Rifle is the best baseline for its close-to-medium range, with an Ion weapon swapped in against droid-heavy Separatist forces.

4. What is the best secondary class for a Soldier?

Assault is the strongest pre-launch pairing for an aggressive frontline Soldier; Heavy suits a tankier anchor and Medic a self-sufficient skirmisher.

Change log and updates

• v1.7 – September 12, 2026 – Updated for Zero Company Patch 1.1
• v1.6 – August 31, 2026 – Updated weapons and utility sections.
• v1.5 – August 28, 2026 – Added focus tree progression.
• v1.4 – August 27, 2026 – Actively updating build, focus progression, and cross-training.
• v1.3 – August 24, 2026 – Updated best weapons section.
• v1.2 – August 20, 2026 – Updated best Talents and ability upgrades.
• v1.1 – August 12, 2026 – Added full skills list, talents, and weapons details.
• v1.0.1 – August 6, 2026 – Added melee skill.
• v1.0 – August 5, 2026 – Created pre-launch based on EA videos, commentary, and Q&A.

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