Talent
Zero Company Cold Blooded Talent
Spend an Action Point for Vicious — the Operator's next attack is an automatic critical hit.
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Verified
- 29 August 2026
- Version
- Retail 1.0 — launch-week Focus Tree tables
Quick answer
Costs 1 Action Point to apply Vicious to the Operator. Their next ranged or melee attack is an automatic critical hit.
- Available to
- Any Custom Operator
- Cost
- 1 Action Point
- First rank
- One Vicious stack, once per combat.
- Max rank
- Two Vicious stacks, three times per combat.
- Tags
- critical-setup
Build value
What this Talent is actually for
A guaranteed critical that needs no second Operator, which is the difference between this and the Scoundrel's Identify Weakness — same guarantee, no coordination, no slot spent on an enabler. That makes it the reason a squad can skip a dedicated crit-setter entirely. It is worth the most on whoever multiplies a critical furthest: a Sharpshooter at +50% critical damage, or anyone built into critical damage through Bonds.
Focus Tree
Every rank, and what each one changes
Focus Points buy these steps in order. Several of them change what the Talent does rather than making it bigger, so the last row is worth reading before you commit to the first.
The ladder carries its own evidence, and it is weaker than the Talent’s. EA named these Talents; guide writers read the numbers off the shipped game’s Focus Tree. Nothing here has been reproduced by this site.
| Rank | What it does |
|---|---|
| Rank I | One Vicious stack, once per combat. |
| Rank II | One stack, twice per combat. |
| Rank III | One stack, three times per combat. |
| Rank IV | Two stacks, three times per combat. |
Sources
- Star Wars Zero Company Talents Complete List
Hack the Minotaur · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: "10 Universal Talents" for custom Operators, one astromech-exclusive Talent and seven authored-Operator Talents, each printed as a four-tier table. A Life of Labor — "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". Anticipation — "1 use per turn", "2 uses per turn", "3 uses per turn", "3 uses per turn, can also target an ally". Cold Blooded — "1 stack; 1 per combat", "1 stack; 2 per combat", "1 stack; 3 per combat", "2 stacks; 3 per combat". Espionage — "+5 Intel Rewards", +7, +9, +12. Fortitude — "+2 Defense", +3, +4, "+6 Defense; ignore the chance-to-hit penalty for injury". Grit — "1 stack per 1 turn, +2 Max Health", +4, +8, "2 stacks per 1 turn, +12 Max Health". Sabotage — "1 per combat", "2 per combat", "3 per combat", "Unlimited". Taunt — "1 Taunt per turn", then "reduces Damage by 2", by 4, by 6. The Bigger They Are… — "+2 Damage", +3, +4, +6. Thievery — "+150 Credits", +200, +250, +300. Built-In Comlink — "Tier 1: +1 AP; 1 per turn", "Tier 2: +1 AP; 2 per turn", "Tier 3: +1 AP; Unlimited". Status definitions — Evasion: "The next incoming attack on your unit is automatically 'evaded' and misses." Vicious: "Guarantees that your Operator's next Ranged Attack or Melee Attack is a Critical Hit." Invulnerable: "Prevents all incoming damage from the next incoming attack." Bylined Hack The Minotaur, printed update date 2026-08-17 — which predates launch, and is recorded as printed rather than quietly corrected. The tables match two launch-week sources step for step, so this is registered as corroboration and its date is not read as a claim about which build it describes.
- Star Wars Zero Company – Best Talents & Focus Tree Guide
KeenGamer · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: "10 universal talents" available to Custom Operators, each walked rank by rank. Anticipation — "Gain 1 Evasion once per turn" (Rank I), twice per turn (II), three times per turn (III), applying to allies (IV). Grit — "+2 Health and 1 Invulnerable stack" (I) to "+12 Health and 2 Invulnerable stacks" (IV). Cold-Blooded — "1 Vicious stack once per combat" (I), two uses per combat (II), three uses (III), "2 Vicious stacks" (IV). A Life of Labor — "+5 Health/+1 Defense" (I) scaling to "+7 Health/+2 Defense/+4 Melee Damage/+4 Critical Hit Damage" (IV). The Bigger They Are… — +2 Elite/Boss Damage (I) to +6 (IV). Taunt — "Taunt one enemy once per turn" (I), reducing target damage by 2 to 6 across upgrades. Sabotage — once per combat (I) to Unlimited (IV). Fortitude — "+2 Defense" while injured (I) to "+6 Defense and removes Injury accuracy penalty" (IV). Thievery — +150 Credits (I) to +300 (IV). Espionage — +5 Intel (I) to +12 (IV). Respec — "You unlock full respeccing very early, around Cycle 3", "Changing a Specialization is free and refunds the Focus Points invested", recruitable Operators can change both Specialization and Talent, and story characters' fixed Talents are not refunded. Bylined Ali Amir, dated 2026-08-28
- Here are the best talents for each specialization in Star Wars Zero Company
PC Gamer · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: Talent table, relayed by this site's editor from the published article: ten interchangeable Talents for recruitable Operators, each with a base value and three upgrade levels — The Bigger They Are… "+2 damage vs elite/boss", +3, +4, +6; Anticipation "1 Evasion/turn", 2/turn, 3/turn, "can apply it to an ally"; Cold-Blooded "1 Vicious stack, 1/combat", 2/combat, 3/combat, "applies 2 Vicious stacks"; Taunt "Taunt enemy, 1/turn", target −2 damage, −4, −6; A Life of Labor "+5 HP, +1 Defense", "also +2 melee damage", "also +2 crit damage", "+7 HP, +2 Defense, +4 melee, +4 crit damage"; Thievery "+150 Credits/mission", +200, +250, +300; Sabotage "Detonate battlefield explosive, 1/combat", 2/combat, 3/combat, Unlimited; Espionage "+5 Intel/mission", +7, +9, +12; Grit "1 Invulnerable stack/turn; +2 HP", +4 HP, +8 HP, "+12 HP and 2 Invulnerable stacks"; Fortitude "+2 Defense while injured", +3, +4, "+6 and ignores injury Chance-to-Hit penalty". Also relayed: recruited Operators can change both Talent and Specialization. The article body could not be retrieved by this site — pcgamer.com returns a membership interstitial to an automated fetch — so every value above was corroborated against retail-keengamer-talents and retail-htm-talents before publication, and no record cites this source alone.
Pairings
Specializations it combines with
A Talent is chosen separately from a class, so these are combinations you assemble yourself rather than anything the game groups for you.
- Sharpshooter
Precision Shot reaches +50% critical damage at max rank, so an automatic critical on a shot that cannot miss is the largest guaranteed hit available without a second Operator.
- Soldier
Rocket Strike is the biggest single attack in the game by area; a guaranteed critical on it converts a group clear into an overkill.
- Scout
Ambush is fired once a turn with the whole pool behind it, which is exactly the profile a once-per-combat critical wants.
Still unverified
The retail game is out. These are the points we have not yet reproduced or measured reliably enough to state as fact — recorded rather than guessed at.
- Whether the two stacks at max rank can be spent on two separate attacks in the same turn.
- Whether Vicious persists across turns if it is not used.
- How critical damage is calculated, so how much a guaranteed critical is actually worth.
Other Talents
- Zero Company A Life of Labor Talent
- Zero Company Anticipation Talent
- Zero Company Espionage Talent
- Zero Company Fortitude Talent
- Zero Company Grit Talent
- Zero Company Sabotage Talent
- Zero Company Taunt Talent
- Zero Company The Bigger They Are… Talent
- Zero Company Thievery Talent
- Zero Company Built-In Comlink Talent
- Zero Company Combat Gas Talent
- Zero Company Combat Jump Talent
- Zero Company Fearless Leader Talent
- Zero Company Final Shot Talent
- Zero Company For My Brothers Talent
- Zero Company Strong with the Force Talent
- Zero Company Uppercut Talent
Sources
- Lead Zero Company To Victory on August 27
Electronic Arts · Tier 1 — Official · accessed 6 August 2026
Supports: Operator introductions; 3 Action Points per turn; Advantage caps at 10; the eight Specializations; Bonds in the Personnel Facility; Hawks' species options
- Star Wars Zero Company: How Some of the Greatest Minds in Tactics Games are Pushing the Genre, Again
Xbox Wire · Tier 2 — Developer interview · accessed 6 August 2026
Supports: Greg Foertsch and James Brawley on the eight Specializations, Combat Stim + Gunslinger synergy, Advantage, and Specialization changes on authored characters
- Star Wars Zero Company Talents Complete List
Hack the Minotaur · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: "10 Universal Talents" for custom Operators, one astromech-exclusive Talent and seven authored-Operator Talents, each printed as a four-tier table. A Life of Labor — "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". Anticipation — "1 use per turn", "2 uses per turn", "3 uses per turn", "3 uses per turn, can also target an ally". Cold Blooded — "1 stack; 1 per combat", "1 stack; 2 per combat", "1 stack; 3 per combat", "2 stacks; 3 per combat". Espionage — "+5 Intel Rewards", +7, +9, +12. Fortitude — "+2 Defense", +3, +4, "+6 Defense; ignore the chance-to-hit penalty for injury". Grit — "1 stack per 1 turn, +2 Max Health", +4, +8, "2 stacks per 1 turn, +12 Max Health". Sabotage — "1 per combat", "2 per combat", "3 per combat", "Unlimited". Taunt — "1 Taunt per turn", then "reduces Damage by 2", by 4, by 6. The Bigger They Are… — "+2 Damage", +3, +4, +6. Thievery — "+150 Credits", +200, +250, +300. Built-In Comlink — "Tier 1: +1 AP; 1 per turn", "Tier 2: +1 AP; 2 per turn", "Tier 3: +1 AP; Unlimited". Status definitions — Evasion: "The next incoming attack on your unit is automatically 'evaded' and misses." Vicious: "Guarantees that your Operator's next Ranged Attack or Melee Attack is a Critical Hit." Invulnerable: "Prevents all incoming damage from the next incoming attack." Bylined Hack The Minotaur, printed update date 2026-08-17 — which predates launch, and is recorded as printed rather than quietly corrected. The tables match two launch-week sources step for step, so this is registered as corroboration and its date is not read as a claim about which build it describes.
- Star Wars Zero Company – Best Talents & Focus Tree Guide
KeenGamer · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: "10 universal talents" available to Custom Operators, each walked rank by rank. Anticipation — "Gain 1 Evasion once per turn" (Rank I), twice per turn (II), three times per turn (III), applying to allies (IV). Grit — "+2 Health and 1 Invulnerable stack" (I) to "+12 Health and 2 Invulnerable stacks" (IV). Cold-Blooded — "1 Vicious stack once per combat" (I), two uses per combat (II), three uses (III), "2 Vicious stacks" (IV). A Life of Labor — "+5 Health/+1 Defense" (I) scaling to "+7 Health/+2 Defense/+4 Melee Damage/+4 Critical Hit Damage" (IV). The Bigger They Are… — +2 Elite/Boss Damage (I) to +6 (IV). Taunt — "Taunt one enemy once per turn" (I), reducing target damage by 2 to 6 across upgrades. Sabotage — once per combat (I) to Unlimited (IV). Fortitude — "+2 Defense" while injured (I) to "+6 Defense and removes Injury accuracy penalty" (IV). Thievery — +150 Credits (I) to +300 (IV). Espionage — +5 Intel (I) to +12 (IV). Respec — "You unlock full respeccing very early, around Cycle 3", "Changing a Specialization is free and refunds the Focus Points invested", recruitable Operators can change both Specialization and Talent, and story characters' fixed Talents are not refunded. Bylined Ali Amir, dated 2026-08-28
- Here are the best talents for each specialization in Star Wars Zero Company
PC Gamer · Tier 3 — Retail review · accessed 29 August 2026
Supports: Talent table, relayed by this site's editor from the published article: ten interchangeable Talents for recruitable Operators, each with a base value and three upgrade levels — The Bigger They Are… "+2 damage vs elite/boss", +3, +4, +6; Anticipation "1 Evasion/turn", 2/turn, 3/turn, "can apply it to an ally"; Cold-Blooded "1 Vicious stack, 1/combat", 2/combat, 3/combat, "applies 2 Vicious stacks"; Taunt "Taunt enemy, 1/turn", target −2 damage, −4, −6; A Life of Labor "+5 HP, +1 Defense", "also +2 melee damage", "also +2 crit damage", "+7 HP, +2 Defense, +4 melee, +4 crit damage"; Thievery "+150 Credits/mission", +200, +250, +300; Sabotage "Detonate battlefield explosive, 1/combat", 2/combat, 3/combat, Unlimited; Espionage "+5 Intel/mission", +7, +9, +12; Grit "1 Invulnerable stack/turn; +2 HP", +4 HP, +8 HP, "+12 HP and 2 Invulnerable stacks"; Fortitude "+2 Defense while injured", +3, +4, "+6 and ignores injury Chance-to-Hit penalty". Also relayed: recruited Operators can change both Talent and Specialization. The article body could not be retrieved by this site — pcgamer.com returns a membership interstitial to an automated fetch — so every value above was corroborated against retail-keengamer-talents and retail-htm-talents before publication, and no record cites this source alone.