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Anti-Droid Ion Squad Build

Developers specifically recommend Ion weapons against Separatist droids — build the squad around that counter.

Theorycraft
Confidence
Strongly supported
Verified
4 August 2026
Version
pre-release (no retail build)

Build summary

Players heading into missions dominated by Separatist droid forces.

Campaign phase
any
Difficulty
Standard, permadeath enabled
Game version
pre-release (no retail build)
Strong against
Separatist droids

This build has not been tested

The game has not been released. Every mechanic cited below is confirmed, but the combination of them is our reasoning rather than anything played. It will be re-tested and re-labelled after 27 August 2026.

Loadout

The four bays

Weapon choices are role-based. No weapon statistics have been published, so treat them as starting points rather than optimised picks.

  1. Bay 1

    Trick

    Soldierrifle

    A clone trooper with the Soldier's explosives kit. Area damage answers grouped droid formations, and cover destruction removes what they hide behind.

  2. Bay 2

    Hawks

    Medicpistol

    Required for story missions, and the Injury prevention matters because droid engagements are attrition fights.

  3. Bay 3

    Custom Operator

    Gunslingerpistol

    Multi-target output to spread Ion damage across several droids in one turn rather than overkilling one.

  4. Bay 4

    Custom Operator

    Heavyrepeater

    Absorbs the return fire that comes with fighting a numerically superior force.

Reasoning

Why it works

Mechanic by mechanic. Anything stated as confirmed traces to a source listed at the bottom of this page.

  • Developers specifically suggest Ion weapons against Separatist droids — this is a confirmed counter, not an inference.
  • Droid forces are described as fighting in numbers, so multi-target output is worth more here than single-target burst.
  • The Soldier's explosives destroy cover and damage groups, which suits formations rather than individuals.
  • Attrition fights make Injury prevention more valuable, since three Injuries mean permanent death.

Execution

Example opening turn

An AP and Advantage plan. Costs are unpublished, so the order matters more than the exact budget.

  1. Step 1

    Turn 1 — Soldier: open with explosives on the densest group, destroying cover as well as dealing damage.

  2. Step 2

    Turn 1 — Gunslinger: spread attacks across the damaged droids to finish several rather than one.

  3. Step 3

    Turn 1 — Heavy: advance into the position that draws the most return fire.

  4. Step 4

    Turn 1 — Medic: hold AP for healing rather than committing it early; attrition fights punish over-extension.

Strengths

  • Built on a confirmed enemy counter stated by the developers.
  • Multi-target output matches how droid forces are described as fighting.
  • Sustain in the squad, which attrition engagements demand.
  • Thematically coherent — a clone trooper leading an anti-Separatist squad.

Weaknesses

  • Which weapons and mods actually deliver Ion damage is unpublished, so the loadout half of this build is incomplete.
  • Whether Ion is a weapon type, a mod, or a Utility is unknown.
  • Specialising into an anti-droid squad is a liability against Outlaws or the Infinite Coil.
  • Whether friendly astromechs are also vulnerable to Ion is unknown — relevant if you field a droid squad.

Alternatives

Safer and more aggressive versions

Including what to do when an authored Operator in this squad is permanently lost.

Safer
Swap the Gunslinger for a second frontline Operator when facing droid forces that outnumber you badly.
More aggressive
Swap the Heavy for a Scoundrel and use Identify Weakness on the largest droid, converting the squad's focus from spread damage to elimination.
Mixed enemy missions
This squad specialises. On missions with mixed factions, prefer the Combat Stim or displacement squads, which are not built around a single counter.

How this will be verified

Re-test in the retail build, recording version, platform and difficulty, then update the status label from theorycraft to tested. Specifically: identify how Ion damage is actually accessed — weapon type, weapon mod or Utility — and measure it against droid armour compared with standard damage.

Mechanics this build depends on

Other builds

Sources