This week’s email comes from Decaf:

How well do you think the savages are defined in SWM? Which is your favorite?

 Did you think the Rancor had too little health? Has the Krayt not lived up to its expectations? Is the Acklay only used for its DR?  I hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

"Decaf"

Savages can be a lot of fun to play with if you know how to use them properly.  Currently we have eight savages in the game, and they are: Wampa, Acklay, Nexu, Rancor, Reek, Gundark, Massassi Mutant, and the Krayt Dragon.  Most of them are pretty good pieces and represent their movie versions pretty well.  The reek is the HP king of the savages and regardless of whatever else he does, is a beast (no pun intended) to take down.  The Krayt Dragon would have been a better piece if it had preceded the reek.  It is a good piece, but just falls short of anything the reek can do for the reduced HP for equivalent cost.  The gundark and Sith Mutants are great pieces to run with Exar Kun.  Both of their costs are low enough you can field several.  The Sith mutant can swing bigger than the Gundark, but the quad attack makes Jedi quake in their boots.  Minus Jedi, his DAM is a bit weak, but his HP is much higher than the Sith Mutant’s.  The wampa and Nexu are also good pieces to run with Exar since both are cheap as well and can do some nice damage with Exar’s CE.  The Acklay would be a really good piece if its attack were not so low.  Triple attack and cleave make him deadly.  Now if he can only hit something.  The DR does help it survive against non-Jedi though.  Lastly you have the lowly Rancor.  What can you say?  For being one of the ‘kool’ pieces to get out of Universe, he is really unplayable.  His base size slows him down quite a bit and with only 100HP, that’s short work in today’s game of 30 DAM characters.  Regeneration would be good if it were more than 10 HP and didn’t require him to stay still.  That and MR2 is pretty much wasted on a savage like him and the Acklay.  Outside of the Rancor I think they are all pretty true to their movie/EU counterparts.

Those looking to play savages in games can get away with running either the Reek or Krayt with Exar.  If using the smaller pieces, stick with the Nexu, Sith Mutant and Gundarks.  Because of the 10 base DAM of the gundark, I wouldn’t run more than one in a squad.  A mix of all three with Exar’s CE can be deadly.  Also, be sure to throw in some Varactyl Wranglers.  Savage creatures are a lot of fun, but it never hurts to have a leash to control them. ;)

My favorite is probably the Krayt just because I am a dragon lover plain and simple.  My favorite to play would most likely be the gundark.  I like the beef and quad.  You just have to hope you don’t run into DR pieces.

I hope this answered your questions Decaf, and thanks for writing.  Those of you that wish to send in questions can find the link in my name to the left of my reviews, or simply send them to sithdragon13@yahoo.com.  See you next week!