Bodyguard Droid

Shortly after Episode III came out, my wife (Mrs. Ten-Eyed Man) came out of the shower singing, “I wish I was a guard for General Grievous\That is what I’d truly like to be\’Cause if I was a guard for General Grievous\I’d be the coolest droid in the movie.” Truer words have rarely been sung to a hot dog jingle. The Bodyguard Droid is a terrific piece, befitting the way cool Jedi-fighting, staff-spinning, head-not-needing droids from the movie.

For 20 points, you get 60 more hit points to plug into the character of your choice, which is exactly double both the cost and the extra hit points for the Twi’lek Bodyguard (reviewed Monday). However, Bodyguard Droids go on to also double the Damage statistic of the alien pole dancer, as well as the Attack value (the Defense, while not doubled, is a healthy 3 points higher). Lightsaber Resistance pushes the Defense a little higher against the premier melee combatants of the game, which is a nice bonus.

This is all very well and good, but the ability that really makes the Bodyguard Droid incredible is the other really obvious one in his name: Droid. As a non-Unique droid for the Separatists, the coolest droid in the movie can reap handsome rewards like Double Attack, Careful Shot (useable on melee attacks despite the name), a total of +8 Attack from Fire Control and Supreme Commander Grievous, and the Repair 20 ability of Wat Tambor. Faction synergy just oozes off these guys. Supported correctly, a couple of them can be attacking twice per round at a +20 to hit (Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter may only need a ‘4’ to hit them, but they would only need a ‘3’ to hit him) (in your helmeted face, Vader!).

Finally, no discussion of the Bodyguard Droid would be complete without mentioning the Destroyer Droid. This is where the Separatists can really make use of that Bodyguard ability, because, as we know from the Destroyer Droid review a few weeks ago, the only problem with those guys is their low Hit Points. If you can plug in an extra 60 (which will still get all the benefits of Shields 2) (huzzah!), you’re doing well. If those extra 60 hit points can also fight, benefitting from the same stat boosts that you wanted for the Destroyer already, so much the better.

All in all, the Bodyguard Droid is a great buy. They can be used to defend other pieces, or they can be a key part of your own offense, using their eponymous ability to spread the damage between them and keep any one from getting eliminated.

Overall rating in 100: 4
Overall rating in 200: 4.5