Good morning gamers,
My son and I got started in our Star Wars Legion journey with the old Clone Wars starter set. I started with Republic but eventually bought out my son's Separatist collection by trading him Shadow Collective units (we discovered they're much more his play style). In the old starter, you got General Grievous, some B1 Battle Droids, and some Droidekas - at the time, they were a little expensive for what they brought to the table, but with the advent of Legion 2.6, these guys have come into a good place and are still able to compete for the Support slot in the current edition.
Droidekas: The Profile
Let's get the most recent update to these guys out of the way first: in early 2026, Droidekas (or 'dekas) went from being Ground Vehicles to "Heavy Droid Troopers," a new unit type that doesn't block line of sight, gives them a suppression value, and prevents them from being given orders by most of the Wheel Bike Grievous command cards. There were other modifications to the card - they lost the "Move" action from their AI keyword (now it's just AI: Attack), their weapons are now range 3, and they picked up Reposition (which gives them a full 90-degree pivot before moving instead of the standard 45-degree pivot). All in all, I think they're still a perfectly good units.
Their stats are good for their cost - 3 wounds each and 2 Courage is fine, they don't surge on offense but they have surging-white saves on defense, and they're speed 1 (with the option to be speed-3 with Wheel Mode - more on that shortly). Their relatively fragile defense stats are augmented by their Shielded 4/Generator 1 keywords, which gives them 4 super-dodges when they deploy and they reset one of those shields tokens at the end of the round. Unlike Clone Commandos, 'dekas don't have Recharge X, so performing recover actions will not reset any of their shield tokens (which is pertinent since one of Kalani's command cards allows units to perform a recover action), so you're dependent on Generator to bring them back. Still, knocking 4 hits or crits off an incoming range attack should help these guys survive the first wave of shots. Despite having 4 shields and 2 models, I will note that you keep all 4 shields even if you lose one of the 'dekas- perfect! All that said, these guys can't benefit from cover while they have Unconcerned active (more on that later) and similarly can't be repaired while Unconcerned is active.
On offense, these guys have AI: Attack (as was already mentioned) but with range-3 preserved and no Fixed: Front keyword, that should be fine. Their weapons have Immune: Deflect and Suppressive, which means that they can shoot with impunity into Force Users and focused-fire from several 'dekas should be able to panic enemy units easily. With 1 red/2 black per model, they should reliably get damage into their foes - and can hit 5-6 successful results reliably with aim support (either from Exemplar or some Comms upgrades). While you certainly don't want to be caught in melee, the fact that their weapons are Suppressive in melee means that enemy units who were looking for a reprieve from shooting won't find it by charging you.
When it comes to movement, these guys are speed-1 base, but have Reposition to make sure they move in the most effective way possible. They also have Wheel Mode, which swaps them over to AI: Move (which they used to have base), removes Unconcerned (so they can benefit from Cover X and be healed), gain Cover 2 (they lack Training upgrades that would make this cover save better, like Hit the Dirt), and improve their speed to 3. This makes them really fast but far more vulnerable to taking damage - I would only go into Wheel Mode at the end of Turn 1 if your opponent has 0-1 units to deploy (mitigates the amount of reprisals they can take) OR to race to an unprotected objective/an objective with a unit that has already activated. In short:
Wheel Mode should only be used to gain strategic positioning that still keeps the Droideka unit safe from the enemy.
Droidekas: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards
This unit has exactly one upgrade slot and it's Comms. I think any upgrade in this slot is optional, but there are a few good choices.
Comms x1
Now that these guys aren't Ground Vehicles (some will rejoice, others will mourn), you can't get upgrades like Linked Targeting Array or Onboard Comms Channel to give you aim tokens or an extra order by giving an order to these guys. If you want aims, you probably want to invest in multiple copies of Adaptive Combat Network, one of the new upgrades from Upgrade Pack 2. Tapping this upgrade when another unit with ACN suffers at least one wound gives the unit an aim token and it automatically resets at the start of the End Phase so it's ready for the next round. If you want to get an aim token for the same cost without leaning into ACN, you can always get an Emergency Transponder (this is one of the rare units that can benefit from it, since these are probably units you don't have orders on). You could look into Spotter Uplink if you plan to stay away from the action, but its utility is very much dependent on whether you think Cover is good or not.
I don't think this unit wants to be close to enemy units - Shields aren't usable against melee attacks and most of the resilience of this unit comes from its Shielded 4/Generator 1 ability. As a result, I'd avoid the Comms Jammer/Hacked Comms upgrades. There are probably better units to take HQ Uplink on (a B1 Battle Droid or STAPs get better use out of orders).
Like the Geonosian Warriors we discussed last time, I think there's some value in talking about command cards that help these guys a lot. Your generic Super Tactical Droids bring Tactical Download to the fight, which is good in any list that has droids/AI units. Having access to aim/dodge tokens wherever you are is great and helps keep your 'dekas alive (along with others). Kalani's 3-pip (Do Not Underestimate Our Means) is also very strong, as you can give your 'dekas a free speed-1 move at the end of the first round, which means you can get solid movement without going into Wheel Mode.
Now that these guys are Heavy Droid Troopers instead of Ground Vehicles, they can benefit from Roger, Roger!, which can give them either a dodge token (good on defense) or a surge token (good on offense). Similarly, they can also benefit from General Grievous's Supreme Commander card (which might give them multiple surge tokens if they're near their friends) or Crush Them command card (which can also give multiple surge tokens if you're killing enemy units). I don't know how compelling any of these cards are, but if you're already taking them, then your 'dekas don't mind benefiting from them.
Droidekas: Sample Lists and Strategies
Droidekas are incredibly versatile in Separatist lists - they're probably a good default choice for any list that isn't trying to get Scouting Party on Count Dooku or getting Coordinate on your vehicles with Wheel Bike Grievous. Our first list is a 15-act Separatist list that features Kalani, two Operative Super Tacs, and then a mix of B1s, BX Commandos, and Droidekas for filling in the ranks - and everyone except the B1s has Adaptive Combat Networks for aim support (couldn't find the points, guys):
- Kalani with Fire Control and Adaptive Combat Network
- 2x Super Tactical Command Droid, Auxiliary Command Droid with Tyrannical Taskmaster, Optimized Task Flow, Overclock, Adaptive Combat Network, and Electrostaff
- 3x B1 Battle Droids
- 1x BX-Series Droid Commandos with Asajj Ventress, Dioxis Mine Saboteur, Adaptive Combat Network, and BX Vibroswords
- 2x BX-Series Droid Commandos with Adaptive Combat Network and BX Vibroswords
- 3x Droidekas with Adaptive Combat Networks
- 3x BX-Series Droid Commandos, Strike Team with BX-Series Droid Sniper and Adaptive Combat Network
The second list is a bit of fun, but is a 15-act Separatist Invasion list that features no named heroes (two T-Series Tactical Droids - did you even remember that those guys are a thing?), and maxes out its Corps, Support, and Heavy options with B1s, Droidekas, and AATs - also, Adaptive Combat Network is everywhere:
- 2x T-Series Tactical Droid with Adaptive Combat Network
- 8x B1 Battle Droids with Adaptive Combat Network
- 3x Droidekas with Adaptive Combat Network
- 2x AAT Battle Tank with Infantry Support
One cool thing about this list is that the B1 chains can be kicked off by both commanders, so you can technically have two chains of B1s that circle back to the commanders. If those chains are within range 1 of the AATs, the AATs get orders as well. This means that before you play your command cards, the only orders in your bag are Droidekas - neat, huh? :)
Droidekas: Final Review
These guys are great - if you don't need a Crab Droid and you don't need STAPs, I'd highly consider taking these guys. They aren't dangerous to big squads of guys (like flamer Dwarf Spider Droids are) or against vehicles (like ion Dwarf Spiders are), but they're a good, reliable unit to have. Also, I hate building them - so many fiddly bits (nothing compared to B1s, but still)!
Overall Unit Review: 5/5 stars. These guys are everything you want in a support unit - durable enough for their cost, dangerous for their cost on offense, not hungry for orders, spammable on any budget. I'd take 2-3 of these in any list that doesn't need to run STAPs.
If you have other thoughts on this unit, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we're turning to the Heavy option that got the Heavy Droid Trooper treatment in the same update as Droidekas, Aqua Droids. These guys took the Separatist meta by storm and while they've been toned down several times now, they're still fabulous units. We'll see how the plans have changed with them next time, and until then, happy hobbying!
No comments:
Post a Comment