Star Wars Home
Message Board
Pojo's Books

Mini of the Day
Mini Strategies
Mini News
Top 10 Lists

Contact Us

Magic
Yu-Gi-Oh!
DBZ
Pokemon
Yu Yu Hakusho
NeoPets
HeroClix
Harry Potter
Anime
Vs. System
Megaman

Pojo's Star Wars Minis Site
Mini of the Day
 

Destroyer Droid Set: Revenge of the Sith #30/60 Date Reviewed: April 28, 2006 Image from Wizards.com Rating: 4.0 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

 

Xoulrath	Ah, now we're talkin'! The Destroyer Droid. One of my favorite figures in the game and movies. Especially useful in-game, when the saves are with you, and always good with a bodyguard and Repair, especially when that Repair comes from Wat Tambor, with a value of 20. Let's look at it's Abilities first, because that is what makes the DD: Droid Immune to critical hits; not subject to commander effects Double Attack On its turn, this character can make 1 extra attack instead of moving. Shields 2 When this character takes damage, make 2 saves; each roll of 11 reduces the damage dealt by 10. Wheel Form This character can move up to 18 squares if it does not attack. This is really what makes the DD worth the hefty 30 point asking price. Stats aren't as important in this case, because, 1) Seperatist droids can receive insane Attack boosts; and, 2) The Shields 2 Ability, especially when combined with a Bodyguard Droid and Wat, can be your worst nightmare. The fact that the DD is a droid works the Shields angle even better, because of the built in critical hit immunity. It is especially nice when the point cost of a character like Mace Windu or Darth Maul is hampered somewhat because of this fact. Double Attack is always nice, especially when attached to 20 Damage, and the defensive front the DD brings to bear on opponents. It is made all the more worthwhile by a BDO's +4 Attack from Fire Control (reviewed Wednesday), and has a nice melding with the Super Battle Droid Commander, since that piece grants Careful Shot +4, which negates the ability to move, so you may as well stand and fire twice. Wheeled Form is great for getting set up to bring your arms to bear quickly, provided you don't outrun your support; and is very handy when a fast retreat is needed. 40 HP's, 16 Defense, +8 Attack, 20 Damage. Those are the stats. Not impressive, given the cost. It is easily forgiven, because, as already mentioned, boosting Attack is very simple and most important, cost effective. 20 Damage is always welcome, especially so on a Double Attacking figure. Since the DD will spend most of it's time in cover, a solid 20 Defense isn't bad, especially when combined with the "Feedback Loop" (Shields 2, Bodyguard Droid, Repair 20). The 40 HP's are more than appropriate once you realize the Shields 2 will negate, on average, half of every 20 Damage hit the DD takes, reducing it to 10; and has a 75% chance to negate a 10 Damage hit to nothing. Again, made stronger by the "Feedback Loop". You'll notice I haven't talked about the DD's weakness(es) yet. Well, as with a good number of some of the better pieces, the DD's weakness is also it's greatest strength. The DD is worth every bit of it's 30 points, so long as you run it in the "Feedback Loop", and bring at least a BDO, if not also an SBD Commander. Run it as a 30 point shooter, with no thought towards boosting his attack, or really maximizing the defensive potential, and you'll quickly wonder why so many people speak highly of this droid. There is one more thing that takes the DD off of it's pedestal, and that is the X-1 Viper Droid in the 200 point DCI scene. For a mere 46 points, and (at the moment) the guarantee you won't get stuck somewhere you can't get out, the X-1 is the better buy. Molecular Shielding is far prefferable to Shields 2, as it has about the same success rate, and causes Damage to the attacking character equal to it's Damage value. It is both offensive and defensive at the same time. Add to that it's beefier HP's, at 130; the same Defense of 16/20 (in cover); and a more impressive base Damage of 30, with Double Attack; backed by the same Attack value of the DD (and boosted in the same way), you realize it's more beneficial to bring the X-1, and it's slightly modified version of the "Feedback Loop". Another possible exception to the DD's prevailance in 200, is the combination of Grievous, Supreme Commander; BDO; SBD Commander; and Dwarf Spider Droids. All of which can be backed by a less defensive version of the "Feedback Loop", that focuses more on offense than defense; and makes a strong argument for itself. In the end, it comes down to what you want to do. The X-1 is nice, but too costly to be run effectively in 100, and the DD offers some real flexibility, both in points and movement in 200, that the Viper can't match. The Dwarf Spider build is great, as it gives the offense of the X-1, while keeping some of the manueverability of the DD, less the outright speed. It does, however, lose the defensive potential of both builds. That is where the DD shines. It is a great piece with balance on both offense and defense, at a not too steep price, that yields some great results in the process, provided it has the right support. Plus, the Clone Strike pose is great.
Sith Dragon	Destroyer Droid Separatist Cost: 30 HP: 40 DEF: 16 ATK: +8 DAM: 20 Double Attack, Shields 2, Wheeled Form Here we have one of the best pieces the droid armies have available for them. The destroyer droid is quite simple but very effective. 40 HP may not sound like much, but when you add in the shield rolls, this guy just got an infinite amount of life, great save rolling required. The 16 DEF is solid, and can make it at least miss-able by all but major beat sticks. Its +8 ATK is very standard for big droid pieces. By itself, it isn't real great, but if you get the Battle droid officer, Grievous SC, and the Super Battle Droid Commander all involved, you have a piece that can end up with a +20 attack! No one will turn that down. As for the abilities, the double attack is good because it can sit there and pound away at characters and do a hefty amount of damage for only 30 pts.Shields 2 is all about the dice roll, and you should play it cautiously as you never know when your die may turn on you. I usually miss about every roll there is so my destroyers tend to go down rather fast, but I have seen games where its shields have withstood double attacking Jedi for several turns while taking minimal damage. Wheel form is a good thing when used correctly. Unlike other Wheeled abilities out there, you are not given an attack at the end, but with the nature of this character you shouldn't. What it gives you is the ability to run up and get into position fast, and if need be retreat in a hurry to your healers and bodyguards. The destroyers effectiveness diminished with the release of Universe. After the Universe set, we were given a great many characters that can dish out over 30pts of damage in a single attack on a regular basis, so while the shields can still negate up to 20 of that, it can no longer keep all of the damage off of the droid. Against 10 DAM hitters you stand a very good chance of not taking any damage between the two rolls. With 20 DAM characters, even blocking only half of your rolls, just turned the destroyer into an 80 HP character. However once you start talking +30 DAM this little guy takes a beating unless you can roll perfect shields and will most likely be gone in two attacks without healing and bodyguards. 100 pt: This guy can be good in this format, but he won't get as much support to help him out. With a number of characters that can do well in this format with double attacks and/or 30 DAM, Sep droids as a whole are not going to do well here. 200pt: Here you can use all the tools and back-up you need to make this guy effective. You have access to bodyguards, repair, and attack boosters. Plus his attack help is greater as well. You can now add in more destroyers, Vipers, spider droids, etc. Droids are becoming very dangerous in this format. "Dude, the fat guy totally just blew up!" -Pink 5
Ten-Eyed Man	Destroyer Droid At this point in the game’s history, the Separatist faction suffers from some problems. The big problem is that it’s sort of divided into two sub-factions: the droid army, and everybody else. Since the big, bad Sith types in this faction don’t get much in the way of support, they can be difficult to use, except in a sort of “lone wolf” or “kill a few pieces then get in way over your head and get cut to ribbons” sort of capacity. But screw the big, bad Sith: we’ve got Destroyer Droids. They’re dreamy, with their Wheel Form-provided mobility, fairly high (and very buffable) Attack rating, Double Attack, and Shields ability. It’s that last thing that makes them worthwhile despite their pathetic 40 Hit Points on a 30-point figure. Many, many games have been decided one way or another by the quality of a player’s Shields rolls (thank goodness there’s no way for DDs to benefit from Clone Strike Yoda’s Commander Effect, or they’d be all but unstoppable). Besides the actual tactical advantage of Shields, there’s also the subtle psychological advantage they provide. Many opponents are hesitant to “waste” attacks on something that might just ignore it, even when the Destroyer is their only real opposition. Shields also provide the valuable service of working well with Darth Sidious’ Pawn of the Dark Side ability. Normally, he grants a non-unique follower an extra turn, then inflicts 10 damage on it, but Shields 2 makes for a 75% chance to ignore the cost and just get another Double Attack off with the Destroyer. Neat (though those that don’t like gambling on a 75% chance should check out the Hailfire Droid). Finally, the thing that made the Destroyer much more playable was the addition of the Bodyguard Droid for the Separatists in Revenge of the Sith. Another 60 Hit Points that still get to benefit from Shields and have a respectable melee attack of their own? Heck, yes. The one problem with this concept is things like Force Lightning and Missiles, which can punish you severely for having your pieces all standing next to each other. Watch any enemy pieces with abilities like this carefully. The bottom line is that the Destroyer Droid is one of the major workhorses of the Separatists, and one of the better reasons to play the faction. Overall rating in 100: 4 Overall rating in 200: 4.5