Just how useless is Royal Guard?

EmporerIrenicus

I've been reading lately that the once all powerful Royal Guard is not only weaker than he once was (which I'd expect by now) but is such a dead weight that people target arena teams with him in for easy wins?

I realise this is because of the ever superior Shoretrooper...but since I can't get him anytime soon, is Royal Guard really such a waste in an empire team?

Which leads me onto two follow up questions I'd really appreciate an answer to:

1. Is there a replacement tank that works better than RG on an empire team? Such as Sun Fac or STHan.

2. If Tie Fighter Pilot were to be on a team without a pretaunter...what team would he work well on? Or is it a waste of time and he'd die straight away despite speed mods?

Thanks for any help guys, even if you can only answer one question that'd be great.

Drax_77

Imo it depends on your shard, meaning of there are a lot of wiggs teams without a pretaunt you'll be 4v5 off the bat. If there aren't many wiggs then rg still does fairly well on an empire team.

Sun fac is a useful tank on any team imo, just lacks the ability to taunt very quickly, so at times rg will taunt faster than sun fac can.

Tfp is also good in many comps, I run a zmaul squad and face a Rex lead that uses a fast g11 tfp, and he is a total pita to deal with, under Rex he gets a lot of turns, regains foresight and packs a nasty punch.

Hbk146

rg is still good. an empire team even with shoretrooper is inferior to sith teams however so if u go empire u r already taking into account not running the best team out there. u cannot run a team without a taunter except for a zaul team or jedi so yeah if u definitely want to go empire and dont have shoretrooper then rg is your way to go.

Rand_al_Thrain

Rg is a great tank. He helps protect your squad with an auto taunt. Plus he heals when another toon is hit. He can't get one shotted by wiggs plus he gives defense up to everyone

zhtd17

Without a pre taunt you'll suffer in offense also, yesterday wedge one shotted my approximately full health tfp and I'm not talking about the triple shot. But as they said above it depends on the teams you're facing

Billcarson66

I just hit level 80, only 1 zaul team in my top 50, and still lots of Wiggs. I use him with EP(l), Vader, DN, and Boba. Once my TFP is 7*, G9 or 10, I'll take him out. Let me tell you tho...his stuns are great. Anyone palps misses, RG gets. It's real helpful in keeping the enemy DN stunned so he can't do his drain force. Against Wiggs, he prevents a second triple shot by keeping Wedge stunned if I haven't dispatched him yet. Against chaze, I can get Malbus stunned so he doesn't counter until my DN or Boba can dispel him. I may or may not be targeted because of him, but his kit is still useful to me at my point in the game.

EmporerIrenicus

I started a new account a couple of months ago, luckily I got into a fresh shard where nobody was even beyond level 30 at the time. But it means rebel teams are rampant! Though quite a lot of them don't even use Wiggs and there's still a few different teams around.

I think I'll go Royal Guard and Tie Fighter Pilot from what everyone's said. Seems worth the investment for now. With the characters I've been developing I should be able to change to a Rex team with TFP and Sun Fac/Royal Guard when needed...Might work on B2 as well. Cheers for the tips everyone, I'm sure that'll keep me top 20 or 50 in arena for a while until the next meta. Then I'll go from there.

Good to hear about the stuns by the way Billcarson66, I might go for potency and health mods then.

NePlusUltra_kRh

For me, tfp will go before most biggs, but he lacks the dots to stop their combo. Use shoretrooper if they have wiggs, rg if not. That's my theory.

Dwinkelm

RG also works well in a double-tank scenario. I've run RG with both ShT and STH with great effect, either on a Wiggs team or Empire team. I think RG will also make a resurgence if Gar Saxon's lead ends up being viable (autotaunt with counter attack + Stun seems legit). So no, I don't think RG will be a waste of time.

Not to mention, if RG gets a Zeta (cleanse? Tenacity up? Potency up? Retribution? Additional EP synergy?), that could be game-changing for the toon as well.

EmporerIrenicus

I remember seeing a video here showing double tanks with Wiggs. It was Pathfinder and STHan but it seemed really effective...so I'll definitely give it a shot at some point Dwinkelm.

Perhaps Royal Guard, StHan, Wiggs/Boba and Vader...and one more heavy hitter.

SnokeTrooper

Not useless at all, especially good with Palpatine

Cannonfodder1018

RG might find use again under a Nihilus lead. Auto-taunt at 50% health comes sooner, which makes him more useful.

Dhoey321

Useless enough to keep me in top 50 every day. use him gear 10

dad2my3

I use him on my arena team.

WompWompRat

I use RG as part of a triple troll dark side tank team I use once in awhile to goof around in arena. EP (lead), Zihilus, Sith Trooper, Shoretrooper and RG. Very amusing and surprisingly ok team to play around with at times

Drazz127

RG is still a great tank. While he lacks a pre-taunt, his auto taunt is great.
However with many toons he has a weekenss, his weakness is definitely wiggs.
I don't have him geared very high, so I just use him as part of a stun squad to run through GW.
I now use Sun Fac in arena, just because my entire shard is wiggs. He works great vs STHan or Chaze.

ExarTheKun

STHan is decent against Baze teams (on offense). He just feeds TM whenever Baze counters. RG is okay on offense. He needs a rework for defense though. A self cleanse or something.

Juex777

RG isn't bad. He can easily be shocked or the like... He's pretty good on offense against a lot of teams. It does all depend on your shard and level. Shore is significantly better but RG puts up a good fight. His counters can practically ignore him but same can almost be said about about auto taunters..... Except in the very beginning of the match which can make all the difference

evanbio

I don't recall the arena comp, but I came up against an RG in arena not long ago. Believe it or not, came down to my Shore vs their RG. Guess who won. RG was way faster, and kept stunning Shore. It was a long, painful death.

My RG is currently only G9. But I'm considering gearing him up more. Stun is always a useful tool.

adiputrapap

RG really helpful from my experience. In my arena, i always use him to protect sth cause sth taunt feed tm to my team.When STH get dispel and under 50% health, auto-taunt RG is alive. So from my perspective, he is useful until your team is good enough not to use tank. And stun effect, sometimes change the flow in your arena battle.

ExarTheKun

Would be cool if they added a unique to RG, where every three (3) instances of damage on allies (excluding himself) he dispelled all negative status effects on himself. So shock and ability block still work, but only for a half turn or so.

LastJedi

RG is still a good arena toon. Just not top shelf, anymore. If u have a meta squad, theres no room for rg. If u dont, rg can fill the bill for many second class arena sqauds. I have used him on a top 50 EP lead squad as little as 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Tuftedpaper85

He's still a good toon and can be played with at the top, he's just underused. I definately see him synergizing well with sith trooper under a nihilus lead or doing a good job protecting damage dealers under some tankier set ups. His stun is also pretty useful