General Anakin Skywalker - Unit Guide

Ah, The Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker. Probably one of, if not, the most known characters in all of Star Wars. The man who would (20-year spoiler alert) become the infamous Darth Vader and arguably the most powerful Jedi in history. He was known for being a reckless powerhouse who could win entire battles by himself.

Luckily, he is exactly like that in Shatterpoint. Anakin is probably the only unit in the game so far who can carry a game on his back almost completely. He can fit in many different lists and styles of lists and he'll still be the MVP every. single. time. Let's talk about why.

P.S. This is gonna be a long one, so strap in.

• 7 Squad Points
• 4 Force
• 11 Stamina / 3 Durability
• Primary | 501st - Force User - Galactic Republic - Jedi

7 Squad points! This is a really neat spot to be in. At first, this system was confusing to me, but now I find that it is an elegant solution to the list-building problem. 7 Squad points means Anakin gets less of a supporting cast, but it also means Anakin is extra powerful. The current majority of Primary Units are valued at 8 SP so in theory, Anakin should win most fights against them in a Vaccum. However, this does mean that Anakin is forced into taking a 3-point Secondary or Supporting unit in his squad. There is not a huge difference between 3 and 4-point cost units, but it is noticeable. At the moment, Anakin is usually taking 501st Clone Troopers, who are... fine. You can also bring Magnaguards, which is a surprisingly good way to keep him alive. The other 3s are probably not worth considering (at the time of writing).

One of the greatest parts of Anakin's kit, and 7SP units in general, is the 4 Force Point value. Sure, 4 really doesn't seem like much more than 3, but trust me it can absolutely mean the difference between winning and losing a game. This means if you're bringing Anakin in a strike team you will, at the time of writing, always have at least 7 Force tokens to use and sometimes up to 8. This is particularly good for him and Republic units, in general, who tend to be quite Force hungry.

11 Stamina is phenomenal. Anakin is outside of one-shot wound range of every unit except Vader and Grievous, but those would take an act of god to pull off. What this really means is if you're only rolling half-decent defense dice, Anakin will still take 2-4 attacks to become wounded. He has pretty good defense, but I would also suggest not being super reckless and hoping he'll survive. What makes him extra tanky is the 3 Durability. This gives him an effective health pool of 33. If it takes 2-4 really good swings to wound him once then it's likely to take 6-12 really good swings to remove him, which likely isn't happening. If your opponent does choose to really try and focus down on Anakin it will take their whole list to do so, which means the rest of your list is free to run about as they please. No matter the scenario you come out on top. 3 Durability also means he is essentially guaranteed 4+ activations. Usually, my games last 2-3 deck reshuffles which means Anakin can activate as many as 5-6 times if you use your Shatterpoint on him.

Force Jump - Extra moves are very good. This ability can get Anakin across the table in 2 turns easily. Rex Tactic -> Ahsoka Tactic-> Advance -> Force Jump -> Kill something. Easy peasy. All of that is quite situational though. If there are ingress points around, I would use those instead. If you just need to go up or down I would recommend climbing. The only instances in which I use this ability are if I really need that extra Dash-sized move or if I need to leave engagement for some reason. An interesting bit about that is, you can climb as long as you're not engaged with an unwounded unit, so it might just be more beneficial to just wound the unit and then climb. With Anakin, that's not asking too much at all. All of that to say, this is an ability of convenience, not necessity. Use it sparingly and only when you really need it.

I'm Going to End This - On the other hand, this ability is something I use almost every chance I get to. I'm going to End This is one of the most powerful offensive abilities in the game, if not the most powerful. It is essentially just a double attack for Anakin at a cost of 2 Force, which is wholly worth it if you need it. This is the ability that, in my opinion, makes Anakin as good as he is. No other unit in the game so far (and hopefully ever) is able to deal as much damage in one turn. Anakin can do up to 22 damage in one activation with this ability. At the time of writing the highest stamina we've seen is on Vader, Jedi Hunter with 12. Anakin can do upwards of 11 damage in one attack, but more than likely less.

Let's think about it real quick. Anakin is rolling 8 attack dice in Djem So, which means he is getting 1 Crit, 3 Strikes, 2 Exp, and 2 Fails on average. 2 Expertise gives him 2 Crits, so he nets 3 Crits and 3 Strikes on average. Vader is rolling up to 6 defense dice which will give him, after expertise, 4 blocks on average. This all means that Anakin is getting 3 successes which do 7 Damage and a Strain. Do that twice, with average rolls, and Vader is wounded just like that.

This is an ability that has a few minor stipulations. As I said before, I use this ability every chance I get. Every relevant chance. This means I am not wasting the 2 Force to wound a unit that has 1-2 damage left and can be handled by my Clones. There are plenty of situations where you should not use this ability, but a lot of that is game, list, and board-state dependant. Use this on low-health B1s? No. Use this on mid-health Grievious? Every time.

Deflect - This is an Ability that is seen in some fashion on most Saber-Weilders. Whether it's Deflect, Riposte, or So Uncivilized. This is one of those abilities that you should use every single time you can until you're wounded. An extra 2 damage here and there can make a huge difference. Once you've taken a wound, I would probably never use this ability for 1 FP, unless it is going to hand out a wound and win you the game because of it.

This is Where the Fun Begins - Just like almost all Primary Units, Anakin's Identity Ability is one of the main reasons you're bringing him. This ability is absolutely phenomenal. There are two separate clauses, so let's break it down.

1. When a character in this unit wounds an enemy PrimaryUnit or enemy Secondary Unit, after the effect is resolved, move the Struggle Token one space toward your Momentum Tokens. This part is a doozie. This is one of the best abilities in the game and currently, the only ability that affects something outside of the board. That something just so happens to be the struggle tracker and the main way you score points. Anakin is powerful enough to almost guarantee wounds on both Primary and Secondary units. This means that he should essentially always move the struggle tracker when he attacks one. He has access to two of the best stances in the game, which we will cover shortly, and an ability that lets him double-tap. If you properly take advantage of his double-tap ability and his Djem So stance, you will almost always wound whatever you want. This ability has won me multiple games. This scenario pops up frequently: Your opponent has left a Primary or Secondary unit to hold an objective by themself. Anakin activates, gets his butt over there, and attacks. He wounds them with or without the double-tap ability. You wound them so you add a momentum token, you wound them with Anakin so you move the struggle token closer to your side, and because they're now wounded, you gain control of that objective. This means you move the Struggle token at least twice and add a momentum token. If you have control of any other objectives this move can win a struggle swiftly and effectively.
2. Then, if the Wounded unit is a Primary Unit, each allied Galactic Republic character may [Heal]. Assuming you don't auto-win the game with the first part of the ability, then this second part will certainly help you do so. Even if you won a struggle, healing units will always help win the next one. This part of the ability is why I like to use Anakin as a Primary hunter, this and his insane damage output. Heals are a part of the "Light-Side" identity. Use them whenever you can. Removing conditions or damage on Republic Secondaries and Supports is amazing, especially since they have relatively low HP. Every time I get this ability to proc, I heal at least half of my Strike Team, sometimes all 6 units. The best part is there's no range restriction or requirement so you can heal a unit that is all the way across the board. Another sneaky good part about this clause is that Support units will get to Heal twice since the ability specifies Characters. Removing 2  damage off any of the Clone Supports is over a quarter of their total HP which is nuts good.

This ability is something that you should always be trying to proc. As I said earlier, it is not hard to Wound Primary or Secondary units with Anakin. He should be able to do it almost every time which means this ability should proc almost every time you attack. Another neat thing is that this ability will still proc off of stuff like Deflect, just as long as Anakin was the one to wound them.

Stances

Anakin's stances can be categorized just like all Primaries so far. Usually, the choices are Combat/Ability oriented or Offense/Defense oriented. Anakin is one of the Offensive/Defensive Units. His Djem So is insanely powerful and killy, but only has a good defense. His Shien is fairly killy but has really good defensive expertise and defensive abilities on his tree.

Form V Djem So

As I said above, this is Anakin's more Offense oriented stance. This stance has one of the highest damage caps and has a buttload of damage at the beginning of the tree.

8 Attack dice in Melee is really solid. He is averaging 3 Crits and 3 Strikes after expertise. That's absolutely nuts. Even, if you have a semi-bad roll he is still doing a ton of damage compared to other units' bad rolls. His attack expertise is incredible. He's generating crits like he's getting paid. You get a 1:1 ratio of Crits: Expertise for the first 2 expertise you roll. After that 3 Expertise gives you 2 Crits and 4+ gives you 3. He should be reliably doing 2-3 successes and on a half-decent roll, it is not uncommon to see him get 4-6, sometimes more.

The Combat Tree is what really makes this stance as crazy as it is. It caps out at 10 damage from 6 successes. That might sound kinda low, but his tree is almost reversed from what is normal. In the first box, he's getting 3 damage! Right off the bat, that is nuts. If you only manage to get 3 successes he's still doing 7 damage and a strain. This tree is all about damage so use it accordingly. Later in the tree, he has a split that gives you 1 damage and a Jump or 1 damage and a Pin. Both are good choices, but I tend to default to the pin because his next box has a shove. Shove + Pin is a really good way to get characters to stay right where you pushed 'em. The last box is also pretty great. Repositions are extremely valuable, but a little funky with him due to I'm Going to End This usage. This is his Default stance in my opinion. Anakin is one of the only units whose main objective is to be a beat stick and with this stance, he does an incredible job at it.

The Defense on this stance is good. He's rolling 5 Defense dice at both ranges and in melee. His defensive expertise is pretty solid, but definitely not the best we've seen. His 1-2 section is nice, but you're not generating a ton of blocks. Essentially all that section does is guarantee you'll block one die no matter what. His 3+ section is still not bad, but it's not too great either. Netting only 2 blocks off of 3+ is a little rough for a Primary hunting unit. The Crit swap will almost always come in handy, but with how few blocks he's rolling initially, it usually just adds another strike tot the pile of unblocked strikes.  This is all okay though. Remember he's got 33 effective HP and 11 Stamina, so even with a few bad rolls he'll stick around.

Form V Shien

This would be Anakin's more Defense-oriented stance. It also has quite a few abilities and fewer damage icons, but can still get the killing job done if necessary.

He's getting 7 attack dice in melee, which is only 1 fewer than Djem So, so not too much of a decline. The big decline in output comes from his Attack Expertise chart. This chart is not nearly as good as Djem So's. He's not generating any Crits until he rolls 4+ expertise, which is no good for a beat stick Primary. He's still getting a 1:1 Expertise: Strike ratio for the first 2 expertise icons rolled, which is solid but won't do a whole ton. He's averaging about 5.5 Strikes and Crits after expertise, 0.875 of which are Crits. That means that a lot of his success with this stance will heavily rely on your target's defensive capabilities and rolls. I would personally advise against using this stance against primaries and some secondaries. The last thing you want is your main damage dealer, who will only activate 2-4 times in a game to completely whiff one of their attacks. Now, it's a dice game so this is always possible, but some stances are still less reliable than others, like this one.

The Combat tree is still pretty good. It caps out at 8 damage from 5 successes but has a ton of abilities to boot. It splits pretty early, so I'll talk about each section separately. His first box has 2 damage and a shove, which is a really nice way to start off this tree. His top section then gives you a Max of 6 damage from 5 successes, but will also give you 3 Heals, a Reposition, and 2 Shoves. The 3 Heals are really what make this section worthwhile. He likes heals when he can get them, but who doesn't? The repositions are a little hard for me to justify on his first swing unless you're wounding your target, but usually, you wanna stick around and not shove them too far so you can use I'm Going to End This. If you run the tree from the IGTET attack, then by all means shove and run to your heart's content. The bottom branch of this stance is where he's doing his 8 damage from 5 successes. He's also getting 3 Shoves, a Jump, and a Disarm. The main reason you're using this branch is for the Shoves. 3 Shoves is an incredibly far way to push your target. His damage is secondary to that. The Jump is also quite handy when you need it, as all free moves are very good. The Disarm is cool, I don't mind it since it should help him stay alive longer. Not allowing other primaries to use their attack expertise is incredible.

His defense is a big reason why you want to use this stance. He's rolling 6 Defense Dice at range and in melee which is 1 more than Djem So on both fronts. His defense expertise is improved quite a bit as well. He's getting a 1:1 Ratio of Blocks + Crit->Strikes to expertise for his first 2 expertise icons. 3 Gives him 2 Blocks and a Crit Swap and 4+ gives him 3 Blocks and a Crit Swap. This is quite good. He should be averaging 4 Blocks and 1 Crit swap after expertise in comparison to the 2.65 Blocks and 1 Swap from Djem So.

Squad and Strike Team Ideas

Before I wrap up today's article, I am just going to cover a few different Squads and Strike Teams I have tried, I recommend trying, or I think could be good.

Pure Clones

• General Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Commander Cody
  • Commandos
• General Anakin Skywalker
  • Captain Rex
  • 501st Clones

This is a variation on the most common Republic list out there. This list brings Commados > 212th in order to Coordinate Fire: Damage when Anakin is attacking. This should mean almost always units exactly when you need to.  This list maximizes the abilities of almost all of your units and Obi-Wan is a lynchpin. Rex Helps Obi and Ani, Cody helps the supports, Obi helps everyone, and Anakin murders things.

A small note for Ahsoka too, she, when paired with Rex, is an incredible asset to Anakin. Giving him 2 free extra moves is amazing at getting him where you want him to be.

Masters and Apprentices

• Luminara Unduli
  • Barriss Offee
  • Commandos
• General Anakin Skywalker
  • Ahsoka Tano
  • 501st Clones

This is a list I've been wanting to try. I think it could be a ton of fun and actually pretty good. It's hard to justify a Republic list without Obi-Wan, but it's possible. Lumi can heal everyone, Ahsoka can give free moves to Ani, and Barriss will give both Lumi and Ani extra dice in Melee.

Whenever Padme and her Handmaidens are out I will also be running them with Anakin for a while. I can't wait to see if Padme and Anakin are able to play off of each other at all.

Overall, I think Anakin is one of the best units in the game if not the best unit. He is incredibly list versatile and brings a ton to the table. He can put in a ton of work just damaging and wounding units. He doesn't need a lot of support, but a few Heals can't hurt. He is one of the only units I think that never needs justification in a list. Bring him, kill things, have fun, look cool, and win games on his back. I think he is also one of the most user-friendly units in the game so far.

That's all I have to say about Anakin Skywalker! Thank you for sticking around and reading the whole Guide!