Comprehensive "Anti Droid" strategies
First lets establish what is currently making droids seem (and rightly so don't hate me yet droid users) like such a powerhouse in your arenas and GW nodes.
1: Due to Jawa Engineer they will almost always take thier turn before you.
2: HK-47 lead, 50% TM on crit is A LOT especially with the crit chance of HK lead and mods
3: They hit HARD, droid crits are some of the biggest in the game and they got lots
4: Synergy, droids in general have lots of characters that go really well together, from the old school Poggle to the brand new Nebit they got lots of options
5: Availability, with the exception of B2 and GG droids and droid synergies are entirely FTP
6: And lastly in combination with all their aforementioned strengths they have the biggest and best opening in game. They hit you first and they hit you HARD and then due to HK lead, they do it again. THIS is what is causeing the cries of nerf the one two punch before you make a move, then a third punch for good measure.
They're strong, uber fast, and very powerful.
So what do they lack?
:1 with the exception of b2 and 47 droids have relatively low hp pools, so burst damage is a good bet
:2 no natural cleanse. Once a droid has been debuffed it's pretty much stuck there.
:3 Not the best follow up. Once they've blown thier load (chuckles like 6th grader) they don't have a whole lot to follow it up. Don't get me wrong they still have DAMAGE but they have used most of thier utility skills for a few rounds.
And 4: their lineup is fairly dependent on all going at the same time back to back, interrupt that and it'll go better for you.
So let's find some solutions shall we? :)
Now we know what droids are good at we will evaluate ways to nullify these aspects, I do NOT claim that any of these strategies or characters are in any way a perfect counter or end all solution, but they will help you move forward. Let's get started
First and Formost Rex is the single biggest threat and closest to a true counter that exists. Droids get all thier aoe crits out and blow up your team? Not anymore! Rex lead means that it's your full teams turn after an aoe. He can also clear the debuffs that IG-88 relies on for his huge damage. Downside, he's not FTP. Yell at devs not me. MOVING ON
Counter 2 - MOAR DROIDS
Droids do a pretty good job going against fellow droids. Yes there is some modding for speed that can make it rng based but overall they're a pretty even match.
Counter 3: Counters - Droids don't like getting hit with their lower end hp pools, and especially getting hit for free. Ima fun die counter squads have potential to decimate droid squads based on aoe attacks.
Counter 4: Weather the storm - If you're still standing after they blast the crap out of you, you're doing well. Characters who are naturally tanky or have good survival abilities can be of great help. I'll mention a few and why
Rey - Forsight will grant a turn of survival and her attacks can blow up 88 or 86 quickly.
Luminara - for GW anyway her team heal is a good patch up after the volley
Evasion leads - can't crit what they can't hit. Ben gets special mention due to his potential to debuff and cripple the droids, even consider leaving him ungeared to have them intentionally kill him with an aoe and grant his buff to pass that hard GW node.
Counter 5: interrupt them.
Characters with turn meter reduction are excellent against a team that wants all of its characters to act the same turn. Mentions go to Clone Sargent, Old Ben (again) St Han, Rex, even Tarkin modded can be a trip up for a droid team in a GW node.
Counter 6: Taunts/Tanks
Droid AI does not like taunts. Taunts will stop the droids aoe ability (do note this will do nothing about the incoming ig88 assist attack which will take a huge toll on your hp)
Mentions go to St Han (a speed modded one can overtake a few lower droid teams and taunt before they aoe) RG (stun is your friend) and Sun Fac.
Counter 6: Stun and Rez.
Basically that. They will still get the first wave of attacks but after if you're running an Aayla, Daka, RG you can disable them and stop the bonus damage.
The single highest hit comes with Ig86 and his assist. At good mods this WILL kill one of your non tanks. Daka, or Ewok elder, bring em back and keep on surviving.
Counter 7: low tier counters
Mention of characters who have anti droid in abilities. These characters on thier own will not win you the fight, they are supplementary.
Eeth Koth, ima gun Di, Ugnaught (lol no just don't)
Special mention to jawas, they can do amazing things to droids but they don't do a whole lot else so be cautious gearing them.
Counter 8: Raw Tactics
Know the droids, know your squad. Think it out.
This is not applicable to countering the opening firestorm.
Know your target order 88 or 86 FIRST.... I don't care if they do have a B2 that's going to shoot you 4 times before you kill one. Take the 4 3-4K hits over the 30k assist attack or the 9-11k aoe on your whole team. JE will resurrect one once you kill them but should only take 1 shot to rekill them.
Once 88 and 86 are down work on B2... His damage can add up if left unchecked and you gotta be annoyed by him by now, go ahead take it out on him.
They don't have a B2? Good move on to the next highest threat. That's JE.
Save 47 for last. He will most often resurrect and you don't wanna waste bullets when you could kill somone really dead.
Do Note droid teams are a serious threat, but they are not "OP" they have a strategy and strengths and weaknesses like every other team. The biggest thing they do is a crit face roll at turn 1. Make it through that and you have made it past 75% of their threat. (Calm down droid users I know you still have damage but it's damage the opponent can predict and react to instead of free damage)
In arena you WILL lose a character or 2, you will be hurting and you will have to back out of a GW node and reform a team sometimes. For GW since their opening wave is so strong consider tossing in a suicide squad to take the hits.
I hope I have given you at very least a better understanding of what it is that makes droids so powerful, and also a few tools to help you overcome them. Thank you for reading :)
- Durrun
1: Due to Jawa Engineer they will almost always take thier turn before you.
2: HK-47 lead, 50% TM on crit is A LOT especially with the crit chance of HK lead and mods
3: They hit HARD, droid crits are some of the biggest in the game and they got lots
4: Synergy, droids in general have lots of characters that go really well together, from the old school Poggle to the brand new Nebit they got lots of options
5: Availability, with the exception of B2 and GG droids and droid synergies are entirely FTP
6: And lastly in combination with all their aforementioned strengths they have the biggest and best opening in game. They hit you first and they hit you HARD and then due to HK lead, they do it again. THIS is what is causeing the cries of nerf the one two punch before you make a move, then a third punch for good measure.
They're strong, uber fast, and very powerful.
So what do they lack?
:1 with the exception of b2 and 47 droids have relatively low hp pools, so burst damage is a good bet
:2 no natural cleanse. Once a droid has been debuffed it's pretty much stuck there.
:3 Not the best follow up. Once they've blown thier load (chuckles like 6th grader) they don't have a whole lot to follow it up. Don't get me wrong they still have DAMAGE but they have used most of thier utility skills for a few rounds.
And 4: their lineup is fairly dependent on all going at the same time back to back, interrupt that and it'll go better for you.
So let's find some solutions shall we? :)
Now we know what droids are good at we will evaluate ways to nullify these aspects, I do NOT claim that any of these strategies or characters are in any way a perfect counter or end all solution, but they will help you move forward. Let's get started
First and Formost Rex is the single biggest threat and closest to a true counter that exists. Droids get all thier aoe crits out and blow up your team? Not anymore! Rex lead means that it's your full teams turn after an aoe. He can also clear the debuffs that IG-88 relies on for his huge damage. Downside, he's not FTP. Yell at devs not me. MOVING ON
Counter 2 - MOAR DROIDS
Droids do a pretty good job going against fellow droids. Yes there is some modding for speed that can make it rng based but overall they're a pretty even match.
Counter 3: Counters - Droids don't like getting hit with their lower end hp pools, and especially getting hit for free. Ima fun die counter squads have potential to decimate droid squads based on aoe attacks.
Counter 4: Weather the storm - If you're still standing after they blast the crap out of you, you're doing well. Characters who are naturally tanky or have good survival abilities can be of great help. I'll mention a few and why
Rey - Forsight will grant a turn of survival and her attacks can blow up 88 or 86 quickly.
Luminara - for GW anyway her team heal is a good patch up after the volley
Evasion leads - can't crit what they can't hit. Ben gets special mention due to his potential to debuff and cripple the droids, even consider leaving him ungeared to have them intentionally kill him with an aoe and grant his buff to pass that hard GW node.
Counter 5: interrupt them.
Characters with turn meter reduction are excellent against a team that wants all of its characters to act the same turn. Mentions go to Clone Sargent, Old Ben (again) St Han, Rex, even Tarkin modded can be a trip up for a droid team in a GW node.
Counter 6: Taunts/Tanks
Droid AI does not like taunts. Taunts will stop the droids aoe ability (do note this will do nothing about the incoming ig88 assist attack which will take a huge toll on your hp)
Mentions go to St Han (a speed modded one can overtake a few lower droid teams and taunt before they aoe) RG (stun is your friend) and Sun Fac.
Counter 6: Stun and Rez.
Basically that. They will still get the first wave of attacks but after if you're running an Aayla, Daka, RG you can disable them and stop the bonus damage.
The single highest hit comes with Ig86 and his assist. At good mods this WILL kill one of your non tanks. Daka, or Ewok elder, bring em back and keep on surviving.
Counter 7: low tier counters
Mention of characters who have anti droid in abilities. These characters on thier own will not win you the fight, they are supplementary.
Eeth Koth, ima gun Di, Ugnaught (lol no just don't)
Special mention to jawas, they can do amazing things to droids but they don't do a whole lot else so be cautious gearing them.
Counter 8: Raw Tactics
Know the droids, know your squad. Think it out.
This is not applicable to countering the opening firestorm.
Know your target order 88 or 86 FIRST.... I don't care if they do have a B2 that's going to shoot you 4 times before you kill one. Take the 4 3-4K hits over the 30k assist attack or the 9-11k aoe on your whole team. JE will resurrect one once you kill them but should only take 1 shot to rekill them.
Once 88 and 86 are down work on B2... His damage can add up if left unchecked and you gotta be annoyed by him by now, go ahead take it out on him.
They don't have a B2? Good move on to the next highest threat. That's JE.
Save 47 for last. He will most often resurrect and you don't wanna waste bullets when you could kill somone really dead.
Do Note droid teams are a serious threat, but they are not "OP" they have a strategy and strengths and weaknesses like every other team. The biggest thing they do is a crit face roll at turn 1. Make it through that and you have made it past 75% of their threat. (Calm down droid users I know you still have damage but it's damage the opponent can predict and react to instead of free damage)
In arena you WILL lose a character or 2, you will be hurting and you will have to back out of a GW node and reform a team sometimes. For GW since their opening wave is so strong consider tossing in a suicide squad to take the hits.
I hope I have given you at very least a better understanding of what it is that makes droids so powerful, and also a few tools to help you overcome them. Thank you for reading :)
- Durrun
