5. Inspiring Through Fear: Darth Vader, Death Trooper, Emperor Palpatine, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Dark Trooper

There is no escape

As a plug-n-play, Darth Vader is one of the strongest Dark side characters available. However, his leadership ability is sometimes overlooked. Since his rework, Vader has shown he can be used as a leader with an Empire team, as this  Darth Vader team is one of the strongest offensively is great in arena.

Inspiring Through Fear Unique Team Abilities:

• Empire and Sith allies have a +30% Offense and have a 50% chance to remove 20% Turn Meter when they damage an enemy.
• Darth Vader gains 8 Speed until the end of the encounter for each of the following: Empire ally, Sith ally, Jedi enemy, Rebel enemy
• When Vader’s Merciless Massacre is applied, he gains Merciless and a bonus turn. Merciless:+50% Offense, +25% Critical Chance, and +50% Critical Damage; immune to Fear, Stun, and Turn Meter manipulation and Darth Vader's bonus turns do not trigger other characters' effects based on bonus turns or Turn Meter gain
• While Darth Vader is alive, enemies immediately regain Damage Over Time for 2 turns whenever Damage Over Time expires on them
• While Death Trooper is active, Imperial Trooper allies have +10% Health Steal
• Imperial Trooper allies gain 10% Turn Meter for each stack of Dark Trooper Squad the Dark Trooper has.

4. Tactical Deployment: Moff Gideon, Dark Trooper, Death Trooper, Admiral Priett, General Veers

"Assume I know everything" -Moff Gideon

Quickly becoming a fan-favorite, Moff Gideon is a brutal Officer from the Empire-Remnant era. His leadership abilities rely on Imperial Troopers as support.

Tactical Deployment Unique Team Abilities:

• At the start of the battle, if Moff Gideon has exactly one Dark Side Tank ally, two Dark Side Attacker allies, and one additional Dark Side Support ally, excluding summoned allies, all Dark Side allies gain 30% Max Health and Max Protection.
• With an all allied Imperial Troopers squad: whenever an enemy with the Leader tag uses an ability, Imperial Trooper allies gain 10% Offense (stacking) until the end of the encounter. When an enemy leader takes a turn, Moff Gideon gains 1 stack of Insight 
• Imperial Trooper allies gain 40% Offense and revive with 50% Health and Protection the first time they are defeated each encounter
• At the start of Moff Gideon's first turn of each encounter, he inflicts Demoralized on all enemies until they are defeated, Moff Gideon is defeated, or the end of the encounter. Demoralized: -50% Offense, -25% Critical Chance, -25% Critical Damage
• Imperial Trooper allies gain 10% Turn Meter for each stack of Dark Trooper Squad the Dark Trooper has. If Dark Trooper has 2 or more stacks of Dark Trooper Squad, Imperial Remnant allies gain Offense Up for 2 turns, otherwise: Imperial Remnant allies gain Offense Up for 1 turn instead
• Whenever an enemy is defeated while Veers is active, Imperial Trooper allies gain Offense Up for 2 turns, gain 50% Turn Meter, and recover 10% Protection

3. Legendary Strategist: Grand Admiral Thrawn, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Death Trooper, Director Krennic

A brilliant mind, yet ruthlessly cunning, Grand Admiral Thrawn has plans that run much deeper than the Empire

Grand Admiral Thrawn remains an excellent choice for any area of the game you play. It is a relief in itself finally unlocking him, but setting him up with the right pieces is just as important. 

Legendary Strategist Unique Team Abilities:

• Empire allies have +15% Max Protection, +25% Offense, and gain 20% Turn Meter whenever they Resist a detrimental effect or suffer a debuff. Whenever an Empire ally gains or loses a status effect, they recover 2% Protection
• Empire allies gain a new Special ability, Maneuver: Dispel all debuffs on this character and gain 50% Turn Meter
• When using Grand Admiral’s Command, Thrawn can set-up a devastating attack for Darth Vader. After swapping turns and recovering protection, Vader can apply his Force Crush, followed by Culling Blade. If Culling Blade defeats an enemy, Vader can go again with his Terrifying Swing
• With Thrawn’s Ebb and Flow: Whenever another Empire ally uses a Special ability while Thrawn is active, that ally gains 15% Turn Meter

2. My New Empire: Lord Vader, Maul, Royal Guard, Darth Vader, Amiral Piett

Lord Vader has hate and ambition in his heart, he uses these to propel his powers to new heights

After undergoing a slight rework, Lord Vader’s team is now one of the strongest of Empire squads. While I still give the slight edge to Emperor Palpatine in terms of a full Empire squad, this team is extremely powerful due to Vader’s Galactic Legend status. I don’t list them at number 1 since Maul is not part of the Empire, and has a case for being the second strongest character on this team.

My New Empire Unique Team Abilities:

• Dark Side allies have +20 Speed, +20% Mastery, and +15% Max Health, doubled for Empire or Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies. At the start of the battle, other Empire and Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies lose all Protection and gain that much Max Health. If a Dark Side Unaligned Force User ally was present at the start of the battle, for the rest of the battle all Empire or Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies take 30% reduced damage from enemy Light Side Unaligned Force User attacks. If all allies are Dark Side at the start of the battle, Empire and Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies are immune to Fear, Empire Tanks gain Taunt for 2 turns, and when an Empire ally loses Taunt, they are inflicted with Marked for 1 turn, which can't be dispelled, prevented, or resisted.
• Whenever a Dark Side ally loses a buff, Empire and Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies gain 1% Mastery (stacking) until the end of the encounter. Whenever a debuffed Dark Side ally takes damage, Lord Vader gains 2% Ultimate Charge, increased to 3% if that ally was an Unaligned Force User.
• Empire and Dark Side Unaligned Force User allies have +35% Critical Chance and Critical Damage when targeting a Galactic Republic enemy. Whenever an enemy critically hits an Empire or Dark Side Unaligned Force User ally, that enemy has -30% Critical Damage (stacking) for 3 turns.
• This unit takes reduced damage from Percent Health damage effects and massive damage effects. They take massive damage from destroy effects (excludes raid bosses) and are immune to stun effects. This unit has +10% Max Health and Max Protection per Relic Amplifier level, and the damage they receive is decreased by 30%.

1. Emperor of the Galactic Empire: Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Thrawn, Admiral Piett, Moff Gideon

"I AM the Senate"

Emperor Palpatine once again remains the top Empire squad. The synergy this team produces is unmatched, and while you could swap out Piett and Gideon for the likes of Lord Vader and Maul, this team the way it is can be difficult to beat. 

Emperor of the Galactic Empire

• Empire and Sith allies have +35% Potency and 35% Max Health. Jedi and Rebel enemies have -35% Potency and -35% Evasion
• When an Empire ally inflicts a debuff during their turn, they gain 20% Turn Meter. When a Sith ally inflicts a debuff during their turn, they recover 20% Health
• While active, Palpatine inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy’s Max Health for each of the following: they are Shocked; they are a Jedi; they are a Rebel. This damage can't defeat enemies
• With Admiral Piett’s The Emperor’s Trap: whenever an Empire ally begins a turn or attacks out of turn, all Empire allies gain a stack of The Emperor's Trap until the start of the next enemy turn, non-Empire ally's turn, or the end of the battle. The Emperor's Trap can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented The Emperor’s Trap: +6% Offense and Potency per stack
• if Darth Vader is an ally (Admiral Piett): Darth Vader and Admiral Piett have +20% Accuracy, Potency, and Tenacity.
• Piett’s Imperial Ambition gains allies Offense Up for 2 turns and Admiral Piett gains Stealth for 2 turns
• When a debuff on an enemy expires, Empire and Sith allies gain 5% Turn Meter.

You may also be interested in:

• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Characters
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Jedi Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Empire Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best First Order Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Raid Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Ewok Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Dark Side Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Arena Teams
• Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Best Bounty Hunter Teams