Star Wars Zero Company How to Recruit Clones
You can recruit Clone Troopers in Star Wars Zero Company, but clones are deliberately locked until a later story event. Creating a Clone in the Character Database does not bypass that restriction, which is why you may have a fully customized Clone saved but never see them at the recruitment terminal early in the campaign.
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How to Recruit Clones
When Clones Unlock
How to Make Custom Clones
Why Your Clone Isn't Appearing
How to Recruit Clones in Star Wars Zero Company
Clone recruitment is tied to story progression (hitting mid-game). You first need to reach the point in the campaign where Clone Operators are actually unlocked, then you can recruit them through the same recruitment system used for your other Operators.
If you want to recruit a Clone you created yourself, the process is:
1. Progress far enough into the main story to unlock Clone recruitment.
2. Open Character Database from the main menu.
3. Create and save your Clone Operator.
4. Make sure the Clone is marked as active in the Character Database.
5. Load your campaign and head to the recruitment terminal behind the Holotable.
6. Check the available Operators and refresh the recruitment pool if your Clone isn't currently listed.
7. Recruit them with Credits once they appear.
The most important part is step one. You cannot force Clones into the recruitment pool early just by making several of them in the Character Database. Until the campaign actually unlocks Clone recruitment, they're effectively waiting in the database rather than participating in your current campaign.
When Do You Unlock Clone Recruitment?
Clones unlock through a later main-story beat rather than through a Den upgrade or Character Database setting.
Based on players who have already progressed further into the campaign, this happens in the mid-to-late portion of the game, with reports describing it as roughly the later third of the story. I wouldn't give an exact Cycle yet because the available information isn't consistent enough to pin one down without potentially giving you bad information or spoiling the story event itself.
What I can say confidently is that if you're still relatively early and wondering why no Clone Troopers are appearing at recruitment, nothing is broken. Keep progressing the main story.
This also explains why making a Clone immediately doesn't work. Character Database access and Clone recruitment are two separate systems. The game lets you design the character before the campaign necessarily lets you hire that race.
How to Make a Custom Clone Operator
If you want a specific Clone rather than simply waiting to see what becomes available, use Character Database from the main menu.
Clone is one of the available races for custom Operators, and from there you can build the character much more extensively than Hawks. You can customize their appearance and voice, then choose their specialization, Talent, and weapon class before saving them.
Once the Clone is saved, make sure the circle beside their name is selected so that character is active. Only active custom characters are added to the pool the game can draw from for recruitment.
This gives you a useful head start even though you can't recruit them immediately. If you're planning an eventual Clone-heavy squad, you can build the Operators you want beforehand, set them active, and have them ready for the point where the narrative finally opens Clone recruitment.
Just remember that custom Operator recruitment has its own progression requirement as well. Custom characters cannot be recruited into the campaign until you've dealt with the Hutt debt, while Clone characters have the additional story restriction specifically tied to Clone recruitment.
In other words, creating the Clone is not the same thing as unlocking the Clone.
Why Is My Custom Clone Not Appearing?
If you've already made a Clone and they aren't showing at the recruitment terminal, I'd check the story unlock first. This appears to be causing most of the confusion right now because players can see Clone customization options long before they can actually hire Clone Operators.
After Clone recruitment has been unlocked, there are still a few other things that can prevent your specific custom Clone from immediately appearing.
First, check Character Database and make sure the character is active. Saving a Clone doesn't automatically mean you want that character appearing in every campaign's recruitment pool.
Next, refresh the recruitment terminal. Custom characters don't necessarily occupy one of the currently displayed recruitment slots immediately, so it may take multiple refreshes before the Operator you made shows up.
You also need an open Operator slot. Zero Company limits how many Operators you can maintain at once, with your current cap shown in the recruitment menu. If you're already full, either increase the limit by upgrading Crew Quarters or remove an Operator before trying to add another.
Finally, recruiting still costs Credits, and the price of adding Operators increases as you continue hiring them. Unlocking Clones doesn't make their recruitment free.
Can You Make a Full Clone Squad?
Yes, once Clone recruitment is unlocked you can build heavily around Clone Operators, and creating several custom Clones in Character Database gives you control over what that eventual roster looks like.
The limitation is Hawks. Story missions frequently require Hawks, so a literal four-Clone squad isn't going to be available for every mission unless Hawks himself fits what you're counting as part of that setup. Side content and missions with fewer character restrictions give you more freedom.
I actually think this is another reason pre-building several different Clones is worthwhile. Instead of making four versions of essentially the same Soldier, I'd create different specializations ahead of time so that once recruitment unlocks you can assemble a Clone-heavy roster without also creating major gaps in healing, support, range, or frontline coverage.
Clone Recruitment Checklist
If your Clone still isn't showing up, run through this in order:
Clone recruitment unlocked through the main story?
Custom Operator recruitment unlocked?
Clone created and saved in Character Database?
Clone marked active?
Open space under your Operator cap?
Recruitment pool refreshed?
Enough Credits available to hire them?
If the answer to the first question is no, none of the others matter yet. Clone Troopers are intentionally story-gated, so there isn't a Character Database trick or Den upgrade that lets you recruit them early. Once that story event happens, your custom Clone pool can finally start becoming part of Zero Company.
