How to unlock Holo Tactics and beat opponents in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Holo Tactics - playing a game
(Image credit: EA)

The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Holo Tactics minigame is one of the many activities available in Pyloon's Saloon that you can unlock if you hunt down the right characters on Koboh. If you like Star Wars board games such as Dejarik or you're even a Pazaak enjoyer from the days of KOTOR, you'll likely get a kick out of this holographic RTS minigame. 

In Holo Tactics, you choose opponents from Pyloon's Saloon, and face off against them over a number of waves. You pick your units, place them on the field, and watch as both sides blast the hell out of each other. Since you only have so many points to spend on units, there's also a resource management component, as you try to scrounge up enough extra points to defeat the final wave.

If that sounds like a good time, here's how to unlock the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Holo Tactics game, get new units, and also a few strategic tips for triumphing over tough opponents.

How to unlock Holo Tactics

To get access to the Holo Tactics mini game you need to complete The Odd Pair rumor you get from Moran in Pyloon's Saloon. This rumour unlocks after you visit the Forest Array and return to find the fixed-up Mantis, which unlocks the upper floor of the saloon. This rumour points you towards the Boiling Bluff area—the easiest way to get there is from the Untamed Downs meditation. Head back out of the cave and loop right around the rocky outcrop to find a ravine leading there. Either that, or you go right up the big ledge near the Rambler's Reach stables, and keep going towards Fort Kah'lin before turning off to your left.

From the Boiling Bluff meditation, you'll see a ledge to the left that you can jump up with a nekko mount. Hop across the platforms and kill the Mogu, before speaking to Bhima and Tulli, the two aliens nearby. After this, you can go back to Pyloon's Saloon and find them on the first floor, in the room off to the right of the fish tank with Holo Tactics all set up.

Holo Tactics tips

One of the most important tips for winning Holo Tactics is to acquire more units, which you get by defeating enemies out in the world, and scanning their bodies with BD-1. Since Holo Tactics is all about defeating successively harder waves of enemies, your real objective is to save and bank points for those later waves by using cheap yet powerful units early on. 

Since friendly fire is a massive problem in Holo Tactics—with B1 Droids, Rocket Troopers, and even Roller Mines hurting you as much as the enemy—expensive units have a tendency to die surprisingly fast. That said, if you save enough points for a few big monsters or an AT-ST and some supporting troops, you can often brute force a final wave.

I'd personally recommend the Raider Grunt and the Heavy Assault Trooper as two cheap but very strong units. The former hits well above its cost because of how quickly it attacks, so can go toe-to-toe with more expensive melee units. The latter melts pretty much anything provided it has time to wind up and some melee fodder to distract the enemy. The B2 Droid is also incredibly tanky so is a good pick for some survivability. 

On the whole, I'd say it's better to go relatively cheap in terms of your melee infantry, since they take the brunt of the attack at the start of a battle, then more expensive for your back-line ranged units. If you're feeling brave and have a few extra points, you can also try using cheap fodder like the BD-1 melee droids to draw in enemies before blowing everyone up. That said, explosives are massively unpredictable in Holo Tactics, and I'm not sure it's ever worth risking your streak.

Sean Martin
Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.