In an update released March 25, 2019, the developers of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes introduced two brand new pieces of high-end gear to the game, the Mk 7 Kyrotech Shock Prod and the Mk 9 Kyrotech Battle Computer. The reasoning for the new gear was encouraging and hopeful to players.
The developers wrote:
Our goal with introducing these new pieces is to diversify the number of high value gear pieces and reduce the overall need of prior high value gear/salvage, such as Carbantis, Stun Guns, etc. Darth Revan is the first character to use these new pieces, and this process will be rolled out over a period of time as we release new characters.
Over the previous four years of the game’s life, it had become more and more clear that the gear crunch was very real and very frustrating to players, particularly as it concerned very common pieces like the Mk 5 A/KT Stun Gun and the Mk 3 Carbanti Sensor Array. To have those two pieces specifically mentioned in this update was very hope-giving to players, for it seemed to indicate that the developers were taking steps to alleviate the gear crunch with those pieces.
Now, two years later, we can say it: that was a flat-out lie.
Starting with Darth Revan, every single character to come to Galaxy of Heroes since then has required at least some Kyrotechs. But it has not at all corresponded to a change in the frequency and intensity of the need for Stun Guns and Carbantis – in fact, if my math is correct, the need for those pieces has actually increased!
Take a look for yourself: according to my rough math, here’s the average number of Stun Gun prototypes and Carbanti prototypes required per character, comparing the pre-Kyrotech era characters with the ones released since then:
| Mk. 5 A/KT Stun Gun Prototype Average Need | Mk. 3 Carbanti Sensor Array Prototype Average Need | |
| Before Kyrotechs | 105.0 | 214.5 |
| Since Kyrotechs | 156.9 | 238.9 |
As you can tell, the average number of Stun Guns and the average number of Carbantis that characters require has actually GONE UP since the release of the Kyrotech gear – which is the opposite of what the developers claimed they were doing with the release of the new gear. Of course, longterm players knew better than to take the developers’ word for it (as they’d given no actual indication they cared about alleviating the gear crunch), but their intentions were now in writing. We can now look back and say that they were flat out lying.
But, to be fair, the numbers in the bottom column might be influenced by Galactic Legends. This was a category of character that was not around prior to the release of Kyrotechs, and these characters (there are currently five of them) require insanely high gear investment, such that dwarfs other characters (and that’s especially true of the most recent one, Jedi Master Kenobi). So theoretically, it’s possible that these numbers are simply inflated by this new kind of character that requires a ton more gear than normal. But is that the case? No, it’s not. Here’s a look at the average need, excluding Galactic Legends:
| Mk. 5 A/KT Stun Gun Prototype Average Need | Mk. 3 Carbanti Sensor Array Prototype Average Need | |
| Before Kyrotechs | 105.0 | 214.5 |
| Since Kyrotechs | 138.7 | 235.5 |
As you can see, the investment is still incredibly significant – and it’s actually still a very significant increase as well. But perhaps just as problematic is that the developers really haven’t made it all that much easier to earn these gear pieces, at least certainly not in a way that can alleviate any sort of gear crunch. Mk 3 Carbantis are fairly accessible, since they are available in Challenges. There are a lot of them required, but there’s also a very steady and consistent stream of supply. It might not keep up with demand, but it’s still fairly reasonable. But Stun Guns remain, in my opinion, the hardest gear to acquire in the game. You can farm them, purchase them from the Guild Events Store (that is, if you’re not using your tokens for General Skywalker, Darth Malak, Hermit Yoda, or Wampa shards…), and they’re available as some lottery pieces from events like raids, Galactic Challenges, and Conquest. These events are new and thus are new streams of supply for these pieces, but it quickly becomes apparent that suggesting these have addressed the problem is laughable. These events don’t always reward Stun Guns (it all depends on your luck), and they run infrequently enough that it’s nowhere near a steady stream.
So basically, here’s my point: NOTHING has changed with Stun Guns or Carbantis. They are still about as difficult to get as they’ve always been, and there hasn’t been any noticeable change in how much they are needed – in fact, they’re actually needed MORE now than before. That’s very problematic. And part of the reason why is because now we have the two Kyrotech pieces, which are also slow grinds, and characters now require them at a high rate too:
| Average Overall (since Darth Revan) | Average Without Galactic Legends (since Darth Revan) | |
| Mk 7 Kyrotech Shock Prod | 204.2 | 188.7 |
| Mk 9 Kyrotech Battle Computer | 165.3 | 140.3 |
So here’s what we have: since the release of Kyrotechs, the need for Stun Guns and Carbantis has actually gone up and the Kyrotech pieces have simply been added on top of that.
And now that so much of the focus is on gearing characters up (as opposed to starring them up, which used to be the bar that needed to be cleared), particularly with Galactic Legends, this becomes all the more apparent. The developers lied two years ago when they said that the release of Kyrotechs would alleviate some of the other gear crunch. That simply hasn’t happened, and as such, the gear crunch is perhaps as frustrating and significant as it’s been in a long, long time.
Star Wars Thoughts 