STAR WARS Zero Company beginner guide: how long to beat, difficulty, tips, PC specs

STAR WARS Zero Company is an XCOM-style turn-based tactics game set in the final years of the Clone Wars. You command the elite squad Zero Company: former Republic officer Hawks brings together clones, mercenaries, droids and even a Jedi Padawan. It is developed by Bit Reactor, published by EA and came out on 27 August 2026.

Below is what is worth knowing before your first launch: how many hours to plan for, which settings to choose at the start, how to avoid losing your soldiers and what your PC needs.

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How long it takes to beat

The developers quote 30–40 hours for an average player, depending on difficulty and experience with tactics games. HowLongToBeat has no solid data yet, so here are the guide estimates:

The story is linear: no branching paths, no romances and no New Game+. One playthrough shows you the whole game.

Which difficulty to pick, and what about permadeath

There are four difficulty levels: Story, Normal, Hard and Expert. On Hard and Expert enemies are tougher and weapon range is shorter. The Bacta Tank is also disabled there, so an injured soldier needs a full campaign Cycle to heal.

Separately from difficulty there are two toggles:

• Permadeath is on by default. A soldier who takes a third injury dies for good.
• Beskar Mode is an Ironman option: a single save and no manual saving. Without it the game autosaves every battle round and after every Cycle.

For a first run, Normal without Beskar Mode is a good choice. Turn permadeath off if you don't want to lose levelled-up soldiers to one bad mission. Sources disagree about what can be changed mid-campaign, so decide right on the new game screen.

Combat in five minutes

Action points and Advantage

Each soldier has 3 action points (AP) per turn: moving, shooting, using an item or an ability. Count them before you move: if moving leaves no AP to shoot or take cover, it is better to stay put.

Advantage is a shared squad meter with 10 pips that fills when anyone deals damage. Your strongest abilities cost Advantage rather than AP. Don't hoard it: the meter is meant to be spent in this fight.

Cover, flanks, Overwatch

• Cover can be partial or full, and it can be destroyed, so recheck your position every turn.
• Instead of taking a low-chance shot, flank or take the high ground.
• Use Overwatch when you expect enemies to advance, or when the shot right now is not worth the AP.

Injuries

A soldier who runs out of health is Downed and takes an injury. A teammate can Rally them — do it, because injuries stay after the mission. Don't take a soldier with two injuries into the next mission: let them recover in the Medbay first. Some missions fail if Hawks himself is taken out.

Base, missions and soldiers

• The Den is your base: recruiting, gear, weapon mods, Medbay, facility upgrades and mission selection. Visit it between missions.
• Tactical Missions are battles. Operations are non-combat tasks: they cost Intel and give resources. Read them before skipping.
• Picking a mission moves campaign time forward, so some opportunities expire. Influence in a region unlocks rewards on the Galaxy Map.
• Bonds link soldiers: deploy those who work well together more often, and watch how your dialogue choices affect them.
• Regular recruits can be respecced. Unique heroes (the Padawan, the Mandalorian) cannot.
• An astromech carries three items with two uses each and can give allies extra AP.

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PC system requirements

OS: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, DirectX 12, about 50 GB of disk space.

An honest note on performance: the game launched with serious issues. In early September Engadget reported constant stutter, input lag and crashes, including right before a mission ends. The developers acknowledged crash and CPU-related problems. The game is especially heavy on the processor, so dropping graphics to Low does not always help. We could not find whether fixes shipped after September — check recent Steam reviews before renting. On Steam Deck, according to RPG Site's testing, the game is practically unplayable: around 11 FPS in battles even on the lowest settings.

What to know before renting

• There is no Ukrainian, neither text nor voice. Voice-over is English and German; subtitles are available in several more languages, including Polish.
• The game is single-player only: no multiplayer or co-op.
• On Steam it requires an EA account linked to Steam and an internet connection. So the first launch must be online. Sources don't clearly say whether you can then play fully offline. The order is the usual one: sign in, download, launch once online, then follow the instructions.
• Scores: around 85 on average on OpenCritic, IGN 9/10, PC Gamer 90/100, GameSpot 8/10, Eurogamer 4/5. Steam reviews are "Mostly Positive", with most complaints about the technical state. Praise goes to the tactics and the squad; criticism to how safe it plays and the low story stakes.

Sources

• Steam store page and Steam API — requirements, languages, EA account requirement, release date
• TechRadar: 30–40 hours according to the developers
• PC Gamer: a linear game with no New Game+
• allthings.how: difficulty and Beskar Mode and playtime
• Gamerfuzion: beginner's guide
• TheClick: beginner guide
• OpenCritic: scores
• Engadget: technical state after launch
• PCGH: performance test
• RPG Site: Steam Deck