Hk isn't worth it. I hoped he was. I leveled him, 7*ed him, totally maxed out he will hit for 2500 CRIT. Slow as molasses. He can absorb a lot of damage, but dishes out almost nothing considering he might go twice in arena before the match is over. He does have a nice buff, but his special is bad too. Meatbag Mayhem has a 25% chance of applying 4 negative effects, but most are resisted if they land, and they only land for the remainder of the turn. That means a speed team will srugg any effects off before you get to attack them. I'm dissapointed I wasted resources on him. Ig 100 would be better post buff.
This is an overly negative review of HK. I wouldn't recommend listening to it, Qeltar.
Source: I've run an HK lead since my first week of playing when the droid pack popped up (I couldn't resist).
HK hits for over 5000 a crit with offense up, which would also earn him some turn meter. His damage is nothing to scoff at, especially considering his excellent health pool.
Meatbag Mayhem has a measly 25% chance, sure, but with 4 effects and 5 people to potentially hit with them, these odds are not bad. This ability is fantastic against the ever-popular QGJ lead jedi teams. Increasing each effect chance to 50% essentially means that every single enemy should get slapped with at least one debuff. Now consider the fact that IG-88 gains 20% increased damage for each enemy suffering a negative status effect. Having used Meatbag Mayhem on a Jedi team, odds are that IG-88's damage literally doubled.
Now take into consideration the high natural crit chance of droids, bolstered further by HK's leadership, with turn meter for every crit. With an AoE ability like 88's Rapid Fire or HK's Meatbad Mayhem, +30% turn meter per crit can grant another turn for these droids instantly. Once the level cap is increased, HK's leadership will be increased to grant a whopping 50% turn meter per crit. This makes instant-turn refreshes guaranteed for all but the most unlucky men alive.
The revive is useful as well, and happens much more often than not, and with his health pool 27.5% is somewhere around 3500 health. Not bad.
The only legitimate complaint about HK is his speed - and it's true, his speed is... well, I won't sugarcoat it. It's atrocious. But you don't farm HK for his quick-hits and high damage. You farm HK for the best darn droid leader that ever lived.
I've seen my fair share of Poggle teams, but in my opinion, nobody beats out HK for a tried and true droid team. Just wait for the next big patch - droid teams will become stronger than ever before. Consider this my speculation on the character stock market - invest in droids now, profit later.
With 88 it's a free taunt basically, with a Poe you basically own he second turn and hopefully expose a few. Making it a lot easier.
Yeah good point with the Poggle buff and Poe taunt you get a good amount of turns in a row. I just find if my 88 is down the fight becomes a big uphill battle.
I'm surprised to hear that droid teams are not good on defense. I have a pretty good offensive team and I generally avoid fighting droid teams because all the one-shotting can really mess you up.
What kills my droids is when 88 is killed first and when I'm being attacked he's usually the one that goes down first.
@MLGebra - Thanks, also a good writeup. I know how annoying HK can be because I run one of those Jedi teams, and I can't drop Yoda from it because of all the droid and Sid/Kylo/Phasma teams that spam red boxes on my guys if I don't use Battle Meditation.
I've got enough shards to get IG-86 and IG-88 to 6*, and Poggle too, they just aren't leveled because I had to divert a lot of resources for the Yoda thing. HK-47 I'd have to start from scratch but I think I will at least grab the shards for him from my 40k stockpile and then decide later how many credits to put into him.
It would be fun to totally swap teams in arena and mess with people's minds a bit. (Not as fun as when they could only see the leader, but still fun.)
Appreciate all the insightful replies!
Hk isn't worth it. I hoped he was. I leveled him, 7*ed him, totally maxed out he will hit for 2500 CRIT. Slow as molasses. He can absorb a lot of damage, but dishes out almost nothing considering he might go twice in arena before the match is over. He does have a nice buff, but his special is bad too. Meatbag Mayhem has a 25% chance of applying 4 negative effects, but most are resisted if they land, and they only land for the remainder of the turn. That means a speed team will srugg any effects off before you get to attack them. I'm dissapointed I wasted resources on him. Ig 100 would be better post buff.
This is an overly negative review of HK. I wouldn't recommend listening to it, Qeltar.
Source: I've run an HK lead since my first week of playing when the droid pack popped up (I couldn't resist).
HK hits for over 5000 a crit with offense up, which would also earn him some turn meter. His damage is nothing to scoff at, especially considering his excellent health pool.
Meatbag Mayhem has a measly 25% chance, sure, but with 4 effects and 5 people to potentially hit with them, these odds are not bad. This ability is fantastic against the ever-popular QGJ lead jedi teams. Increasing each effect chance to 50% essentially means that every single enemy should get slapped with at least one debuff. Now consider the fact that IG-88 gains 20% increased damage for each enemy suffering a negative status effect. Having used Meatbag Mayhem on a Jedi team, odds are that IG-88's damage literally doubled.
Now take into consideration the high natural crit chance of droids, bolstered further by HK's leadership, with turn meter for every crit. With an AoE ability like 88's Rapid Fire or HK's Meatbad Mayhem, +30% turn meter per crit can grant another turn for these droids instantly. Once the level cap is increased, HK's leadership will be increased to grant a whopping 50% turn meter per crit. This makes instant-turn refreshes guaranteed for all but the most unlucky men alive.
The revive is useful as well, and happens much more often than not, and with his health pool 27.5% is somewhere around 3500 health. Not bad.
The only legitimate complaint about HK is his speed - and it's true, his speed is... well, I won't sugarcoat it. It's atrocious. But you don't farm HK for his quick-hits and high damage. You farm HK for the best darn droid leader that ever lived.
I've seen my fair share of Poggle teams, but in my opinion, nobody beats out HK for a tried and true droid team. Just wait for the next big patch - droid teams will become stronger than ever before. Consider this my speculation on the character stock market - invest in droids now, profit later.
I believe your review is overly optimistic. First hk goes almost dead last. If he doesn't get a buff or critical he can hit for <1500. That's absolutely worthless.
As far as meatbag mayhem, it's a great debuff. No I will ask a few serious questions @MLGebra . How often is ig88 still alive by the time hk drops MBM? How many times have you been able to call ig88'a AOE BEFORE all the debuff disappear from MBM? I tend to pop ig88'a AOE when it comes up because 75% of the time he is dead before hk gets to use mayhem, and I would rather get the AOE damage and ability block before he dies.
I hear you. I was simply pointing out if you used those both. Lobots speed buff is nice, however it does not put 88 ahead of Rey, QGJ,GS, all 3 can take him in 1 shot. If Lobot took him to 151 not 141 then oh yes Lobot for sure, but at 141 he is simply dead meat like he was before.
HK gives Crit chance and speed on crit so is really a better leader. Lobot puts out less damage too. I know what the numbers say but I've used Lobot and HK together and HK hits for more damage almost every shot.
Got what your saying. In the 100 rank ladder I am in, there is 1 Rey and maybe 2 yoda... A few 5-6* QGJ but in my ladder at this time Lobot would keep 88 alive. As in the top 100 almost everyone has either Sid or phasma leads. Perhaps in other arena ladders this wouldn't work, and most defiantly Lobot wouldn't change anything in the top 10 of my ladder, however he could be the difference between rank 93 and rank 20 for me. Given proper gear and ability levels, I think in my ladder till I get to rank 20 I would be successful with Lobot.
The thing about opinions is we each have an arena ladder some of us are in the same. Some in others. And each ladder has its own meta. While in your meta and top tier Lobot wouldn't help at all in mine he could actually mean hitting top 20 and then switching in another team to compete there. And we each have an opinion of what is meta and ways around it as well as ways to compete in it. I respect everyone's opinion as I understand we all face different challenges in our own arena ladders. I study my ladder and try to come to a solution to the rise of rank. For me, I think health and armor team focus could get me to 1 on my arena ladder. I started out poorly informed and made horrible decisions. However in the last month my strategy has taken me from 600-700 rank to being in the top 100 and by next weekend, when I complete a couple more characters and get the gear up, I am confident I will crack the top 50 maybe more. And I have other characters I farm for future team plans.
I think the best offensive droid team does not even include him...
Poggle(L), 88, 86, GS, Poe
BUT, this team is bad for defense, and swapping 88 for HK will probably be better... Chances are 88 is going to get obliterated before he can even move in defense. HK will probably not, then can get his AOE off to do damage and activate Poe's expose, and any debuffs that land(maybe block QGJ or whoever from dispelling Poe taunt too).
As far as HK leader, I don't think it's any good right now in Arena... The chance at turn meter gain(30% turn meter on crit) is probably not going to matter because almost all that matters for a droid team is their first moves. And 25% offense(88,86,HK,GS,Poogle) is 1000x better than 30% crit chance(88,86,HK)
I think the best offensive droid team does not even include him...
Poggle(L), 88, 86, GS, Poe
BUT, this team is bad for defense, and swapping 88 for HK will probably be better... Chances are 88 is going to get obliterated before he can even move in defense. HK will probably not, then can get his AOE off to do damage and activate Poe's expose, and any debuffs that land(maybe block QGJ or whoever from dispelling Poe taunt too).
As far as HK leader, I don't think it's any good right now in Arena... The chance at turn meter gain(30% turn meter on crit) is probably not going to matter because almost all that matters for a droid team is their first moves. And 25% offense(88,86,HK,GS,Poogle) is 1000x better than 30% crit chance(88,86,HK)
I like running different, Poggle lead makes Poggle better everyone else not so much. Also, if 88 is the sacrificial lamb and you bring Poe, the first two actions maybe are dedicated to 88 and when Poe goes the turn meter changes in your favor ... On defense with no control as to how the team reacts... I can only think with a Lobot for speeding up 86 as 88 will die, when he gets his turn again he can turn the red dots to health, and maybe be able to keep the team alive with Poe drawing fire long enough even on defense it could change the battle. I am not certain as I haven't gotten Lobot arena ready yet only 4*. But, I think in my ladder with all the Sid and phasma dots to apply Lobot could save the team for at least another round the one Poe buys the team left with turn meter manipulation. Maybe go Lobot GS 86 88 Poe and have a chance. 88 for the free taunt Poe for turn meter reduction Lobot heals on his next turn and GS and 86 tear it up. If they call Poe with offense down opportunity ... Even better.
I assume that on defense IG-88's survival rate would be around 0% regardless of who I ran as a leader haha (assuming the enemy is smart). Droid teams are reeeeaaally bad on defense, and most droid users recognize this. I dropped 120 places in the arena overnight. However, I also made almost all of those places back during the day. Some things will probably never change.
As far as offense goes, assuming I get a little help from RNGesus, IG-88 will live to see the Poe Taunt, the HK 'nade, and the AoE dropped. Once an HK-lead droid team gets rolling it's really a spectacle to behold. The obvious weakness being that none of the droids have the speed to stand up to the speed-based teams of today on defense.
The biggest source of my optimism for HK has yet to be released or even officially confirmed. There was some info datamined on a heavily droid-synergizing character called Jawa Engineer. This character, if released with the same abilities that were datamined for him, will undoubtedly shift the meta in HK's favor. Dare I shoot myself in the foot and say that Droid Squads would be OP if he is released as is.
Edit: My maxed out HK hits for ~2500 with no crit or offense up, even though he usually does at least one of those two things, if not both. I dunno, I've never really had any problems with his basic attack's strength. My only gripe remains his speed (which wouldn't be an issue if -- you guessed it -- Jawa Engineer is released!).
Lots of good back and forth here, nice quality discussion.. thanks!
For reference I am on a November shard that is very active in my time zone. Any sign of weakness is mercilessly exploited. So much so that I won't even try to use Rey below 6*.
Droids can be bad on defense and yes the opponent uses brains while on defense your stuck with AI ... But, again I say the enemy is going for 88 first then it leaves Poe a chance to gain turn meter reduction as well as possibly expose .., with a Lobot lead on his second move will be to remove there's dots, and thereby heal the team, between Poe and Lobot you gained a whole round even on defense, possibly long enough for the AI to deal a destructive blow to the opponent. My opinion haha. I could be wrong and wasting my time on farming Lobot.... But at least I can say I tried.
And jawa engineer ... Daka... Lobot.... Just depends on the viability of it working within your arena shard ladder.
I never farmed Poe, so I don't have someone to absorb the damage. I'm in a November shard as well, and usually end up in the 10-1 spot. In that kind of competitive range Ig86 and ig88 are both likely to take major damage. I usually lose one before they get to act. Ig88 especially is a OHK from Leia, QGJ, FOTP, GS, Rey, and sometimes Lumi, even at 7* maxed gear.
Haha Quel. Yeah I have gotten hooked on arena, but I have managed to make GW runs almost everyday. Next week I will be able to farm Barris and Daka. Hoping they change GW for me. I got my progress weekly goals. Gear one character to 8 and max ones abilities that matter. Been able to recover from my dumb moves early on. And I have been studying arena a lot. I once a week spend crystals to refresh arena to see how far I can climb. Managed a 48 finish once but was back down to 90's by morning. 2 more characters get 6* early next week and I am confident I can reach top 50 and not drop that far. I have not gotten droids max gear yet, had other goals but next week is Poe and 86 turn for some love. Both are 5* with gear 6. For now I am running Sid 7* Poggle 5*[6*] GS 5* Dooku 5* Lumi 7*. Next week I will have synergy team of phasma 6* Kylo 6* max gear with Dooku 5* max gear GS 5* max gear and Lumi or Poggle both max gear. When I get Poe geared I will run phasma Kylo Poe Poggle GS. Be able to rotate Poe out for Dooku or Lumi as needed. But I like he turn meter manipulation.
I'm on a late Nov Shard also and Poe is really not used anymore. I see him here and there and he is not the protector he was. 88 dies pretty easy. I love my 86 though he has taken a Rey hit before and lived, albiet barely. I like HK personally on a droid build over Poggle or Poe. He gives the crit chance and the speed on crit so they get fast with some power up and he lives long and revives.
January shard for me. I was not very smart early on but caught on fast enough to recover. I have a second account running Sid 86 GS Poe and Lumi. In top 20 currently about 6 levels behind the whales but able to keep pace. That account is March shard.
I will get HK 47 while I farm Lobot to compare so I am being fair haha.
I adjusted my thinking on fives based on proof I was wrong lol. Hence I have GS. I will make a team for fives though I love that guys staying power.
Lots of good back and forth here, nice quality discussion.. thanks!
For reference I am on a November shard that is very active in my time zone. Any sign of weakness is mercilessly exploited. So much so that I won't even try to use Rey below 6*.
Got what your saying. In the 100 rank ladder I am in, there is 1 Rey and maybe 2 yoda... A few 5-6* QGJ but in my ladder at this time Lobot would keep 88 alive. As in the top 100 almost everyone has either Sid or phasma leads. Perhaps in other arena ladders this wouldn't work, and most defiantly Lobot wouldn't change anything in the top 10 of my ladder, however he could be the difference between rank 93 and rank 20 for me. Given proper gear and ability levels, I think in my ladder till I get to rank 20 I would be successful with Lobot.
The thing about opinions is we each have an arena ladder some of us are in the same. Some in others. And each ladder has its own meta. While in your meta and top tier Lobot wouldn't help at all in mine he could actually mean hitting top 20 and then switching in another team to compete there. And we each have an opinion of what is meta and ways around it as well as ways to compete in it. I respect everyone's opinion as I understand we all face different challenges in our own arena ladders. I study my ladder and try to come to a solution to the rise of rank. For me, I think health and armor team focus could get me to 1 on my arena ladder. I started out poorly informed and made horrible decisions. However in the last month my strategy has taken me from 600-700 rank to being in the top 100 and by next weekend, when I complete a couple more characters and get the gear up, I am confident I will crack the top 50 maybe more. And I have other characters I farm for future team plans.
The problem here is the difference in the maturity of servers. From what Drew is saying it sounds like a Lobot lead can be good for droids on a younger server. My server isn't even as old as Qeltar's and no one is using a Lobot lead in the top 100 although there are 7 HKs and 3 Poggles and 2 of the Poggles are higher than any HK so maybe Poggle is the best leader. I still think HK is worth an unlock if the android exclusive event is any good.
I have ig88 and ig86 maxed. I had not farmed ig100 nor hk at all. I wish we had a little more notice. I am going to farm hk. I was just using arena tokens for a rebel team as a slow project. I would have switched to hk sooner if we had been told.
I have ig88 and ig86 maxed. I had not farmed ig100 nor hk at all. I wish we had a little more notice. I am going to farm hk. I was just using arena tokens for a rebel team as a slow project. I would have switched to hk sooner if we had been told.
Meh... These events are going to come often and fast trying to get more money. I have invested only maybe 60 and all I got was a 3* leia and a 4* old Ben.... Can't even farm them. I gave up on the money route. So I see these events as nothing more than a hook to get money. Oh and a 3* cad babe ...
There is always going to be a difference hence why the maturity of the server will dictate advise. I listen to the older server advise personally but I have to play the shard I am on. I can't use all the advise as it differs from shard to shard depending on the top 10 arena teams really. I appreciate the older shard players advice as to where it's heading I have been able to stay somewhat ahead on farming. But it doesn't help my drop rate and doesn't help me with gear gathering.
I have ig88 and ig86 maxed. I had not farmed ig100 nor hk at all. I wish we had a little more notice. I am going to farm hk. I was just using arena tokens for a rebel team as a slow project. I would have switched to hk sooner if we had been told.
My IG-88 and IG-86 were each 20 away from 4*, I have IG-100 unlocked but am opting for HK-47 instead. I value arena currency far less than cantina energy. I am only going for 4* though, don't have enough arena currency banked to bring both IG-88 and KH-47 to 6*. Not to mention if we have 13 days, 17-24 March, it would take 4.4 shipments per day for 0 shards to 6* via shipments. Not worth the refreshes for me.
I know some droid teams use him.. but most these days seem to use Poggle instead. I've never run a droid team but I have enough shards for IG-86 and IG-88 to both get to 6* (they aren't leveled up yet, resources were going for the Yoda event). I would need one more droid for this new event next week and HK-47 seems the obvious choice.
I have a huge pile of tokens sitting unused anyway, but is it worth putting 18,000 into HK-47 to 6* him?
Thanks.
His leadership ability in a droid squad is about the only reason to get him. His special, once levelled up is also quite good in Arena.
Also, genuine question, why bother stockpiling tokens when, unless you have a ton of crystals to blow on refreshes, you can't really spend them any faster than you would normally earn them (800-1200 per day)?
I think I just like him as my favorite Droid from the entire Star Wars universe. His banter in KOTOR was priceless, I loved havING him as my companion. In game, I find he does decent damage despite being slow. I'm going to max him out eventually, he's 5* gear lvl 8 and does 1500 min to 3000 max for critical.
Hk isn't worth it. I hoped he was. I leveled him, 7*ed him, totally maxed out he will hit for 2500 CRIT. Slow as molasses. He can absorb a lot of damage, but dishes out almost nothing considering he might go twice in arena before the match is over. He does have a nice buff, but his special is bad too. Meatbag Mayhem has a 25% chance of applying 4 negative effects, but most are resisted if they land, and they only land for the remainder of the turn. That means a speed team will srugg any effects off before you get to attack them. I'm dissapointed I wasted resources on him. Ig 100 would be better post buff.
Dont know what HK are you playing. I hace seen him crit for 5000 self-buffed, mestbag mayhem applies a lot of debuff (specislly to Jedi) and it last enough to be worth it: ability block of offense down for one turn is great
I wasn't referring to a offense up buff. He hits for 1400 standard, 2500 crit roughly. If he buffs it's higher. That is if it happens. I would rather put poggle in and have a 100% chance to offense up the entire team plus speed buff for ALL droids
I went to arena right now, just to check. I have just hit Daka unbuffed for 2050, non crit non buff. I crit for 3000+ non buff. Also crit for 4200 vs Luminara with the self buff, which happens BEFORE you apply damage (so if you are unbuffed, shoot, and proc, he'll do buffed damage).
I also use Poggle, but sonetimes poggle die, or is stunned, or HK is called by Geo before Poggle acts, or I substitute Poggle for QGJ for an extra threat, and the self buff is nice to have.
4500+ damage, without any help from outside sources, is plenty for a support unit that is there for his leader skill, AOE debuff, and is tanky with 14000+ hp and a self ressurrection.
Replies
This is an overly negative review of HK. I wouldn't recommend listening to it, Qeltar.
Source: I've run an HK lead since my first week of playing when the droid pack popped up (I couldn't resist).
HK hits for over 5000 a crit with offense up, which would also earn him some turn meter. His damage is nothing to scoff at, especially considering his excellent health pool.
Meatbag Mayhem has a measly 25% chance, sure, but with 4 effects and 5 people to potentially hit with them, these odds are not bad. This ability is fantastic against the ever-popular QGJ lead jedi teams. Increasing each effect chance to 50% essentially means that every single enemy should get slapped with at least one debuff. Now consider the fact that IG-88 gains 20% increased damage for each enemy suffering a negative status effect. Having used Meatbag Mayhem on a Jedi team, odds are that IG-88's damage literally doubled.
Now take into consideration the high natural crit chance of droids, bolstered further by HK's leadership, with turn meter for every crit. With an AoE ability like 88's Rapid Fire or HK's Meatbad Mayhem, +30% turn meter per crit can grant another turn for these droids instantly. Once the level cap is increased, HK's leadership will be increased to grant a whopping 50% turn meter per crit. This makes instant-turn refreshes guaranteed for all but the most unlucky men alive.
The revive is useful as well, and happens much more often than not, and with his health pool 27.5% is somewhere around 3500 health. Not bad.
The only legitimate complaint about HK is his speed - and it's true, his speed is... well, I won't sugarcoat it. It's atrocious. But you don't farm HK for his quick-hits and high damage. You farm HK for the best darn droid leader that ever lived.
I've seen my fair share of Poggle teams, but in my opinion, nobody beats out HK for a tried and true droid team. Just wait for the next big patch - droid teams will become stronger than ever before. Consider this my speculation on the character stock market - invest in droids now, profit later.
Yeah good point with the Poggle buff and Poe taunt you get a good amount of turns in a row. I just find if my 88 is down the fight becomes a big uphill battle.
What kills my droids is when 88 is killed first and when I'm being attacked he's usually the one that goes down first.
I've got enough shards to get IG-86 and IG-88 to 6*, and Poggle too, they just aren't leveled because I had to divert a lot of resources for the Yoda thing. HK-47 I'd have to start from scratch but I think I will at least grab the shards for him from my 40k stockpile and then decide later how many credits to put into him.
It would be fun to totally swap teams in arena and mess with people's minds a bit.
Appreciate all the insightful replies!
As far as meatbag mayhem, it's a great debuff. No I will ask a few serious questions @MLGebra . How often is ig88 still alive by the time hk drops MBM? How many times have you been able to call ig88'a AOE BEFORE all the debuff disappear from MBM? I tend to pop ig88'a AOE when it comes up because 75% of the time he is dead before hk gets to use mayhem, and I would rather get the AOE damage and ability block before he dies.
I hear you. I was simply pointing out if you used those both. Lobots speed buff is nice, however it does not put 88 ahead of Rey, QGJ,GS, all 3 can take him in 1 shot. If Lobot took him to 151 not 141 then oh yes Lobot for sure, but at 141 he is simply dead meat like he was before.
HK gives Crit chance and speed on crit so is really a better leader. Lobot puts out less damage too. I know what the numbers say but I've used Lobot and HK together and HK hits for more damage almost every shot.
The thing about opinions is we each have an arena ladder some of us are in the same. Some in others. And each ladder has its own meta. While in your meta and top tier Lobot wouldn't help at all in mine he could actually mean hitting top 20 and then switching in another team to compete there. And we each have an opinion of what is meta and ways around it as well as ways to compete in it. I respect everyone's opinion as I understand we all face different challenges in our own arena ladders. I study my ladder and try to come to a solution to the rise of rank. For me, I think health and armor team focus could get me to 1 on my arena ladder. I started out poorly informed and made horrible decisions. However in the last month my strategy has taken me from 600-700 rank to being in the top 100 and by next weekend, when I complete a couple more characters and get the gear up, I am confident I will crack the top 50 maybe more. And I have other characters I farm for future team plans.
Poggle(L), 88, 86, GS, Poe
BUT, this team is bad for defense, and swapping 88 for HK will probably be better... Chances are 88 is going to get obliterated before he can even move in defense. HK will probably not, then can get his AOE off to do damage and activate Poe's expose, and any debuffs that land(maybe block QGJ or whoever from dispelling Poe taunt too).
As far as HK leader, I don't think it's any good right now in Arena... The chance at turn meter gain(30% turn meter on crit) is probably not going to matter because almost all that matters for a droid team is their first moves. And 25% offense(88,86,HK,GS,Poogle) is 1000x better than 30% crit chance(88,86,HK)
I like running different, Poggle lead makes Poggle better everyone else not so much. Also, if 88 is the sacrificial lamb and you bring Poe, the first two actions maybe are dedicated to 88 and when Poe goes the turn meter changes in your favor ... On defense with no control as to how the team reacts... I can only think with a Lobot for speeding up 86 as 88 will die, when he gets his turn again he can turn the red dots to health, and maybe be able to keep the team alive with Poe drawing fire long enough even on defense it could change the battle. I am not certain as I haven't gotten Lobot arena ready yet only 4*. But, I think in my ladder with all the Sid and phasma dots to apply Lobot could save the team for at least another round the one Poe buys the team left with turn meter manipulation. Maybe go Lobot GS 86 88 Poe and have a chance. 88 for the free taunt Poe for turn meter reduction Lobot heals on his next turn and GS and 86 tear it up. If they call Poe with offense down opportunity ... Even better.
I assume that on defense IG-88's survival rate would be around 0% regardless of who I ran as a leader haha (assuming the enemy is smart). Droid teams are reeeeaaally bad on defense, and most droid users recognize this. I dropped 120 places in the arena overnight. However, I also made almost all of those places back during the day. Some things will probably never change.
As far as offense goes, assuming I get a little help from RNGesus, IG-88 will live to see the Poe Taunt, the HK 'nade, and the AoE dropped. Once an HK-lead droid team gets rolling it's really a spectacle to behold. The obvious weakness being that none of the droids have the speed to stand up to the speed-based teams of today on defense.
The biggest source of my optimism for HK has yet to be released or even officially confirmed. There was some info datamined on a heavily droid-synergizing character called Jawa Engineer. This character, if released with the same abilities that were datamined for him, will undoubtedly shift the meta in HK's favor. Dare I shoot myself in the foot and say that Droid Squads would be OP if he is released as is.
Read up on it here: http://swgoh.gg/characters/jawa-engineer/
Edit: My maxed out HK hits for ~2500 with no crit or offense up, even though he usually does at least one of those two things, if not both. I dunno, I've never really had any problems with his basic attack's strength. My only gripe remains his speed (which wouldn't be an issue if -- you guessed it -- Jawa Engineer is released!).
For reference I am on a November shard that is very active in my time zone. Any sign of weakness is mercilessly exploited. So much so that I won't even try to use Rey below 6*.
And jawa engineer ... Daka... Lobot.... Just depends on the viability of it working within your arena shard ladder.
I will get HK 47 while I farm Lobot to compare so I am being fair haha.
I adjusted my thinking on fives based on proof I was wrong lol. Hence I have GS. I will make a team for fives though I love that guys staying power.
The problem here is the difference in the maturity of servers. From what Drew is saying it sounds like a Lobot lead can be good for droids on a younger server. My server isn't even as old as Qeltar's and no one is using a Lobot lead in the top 100 although there are 7 HKs and 3 Poggles and 2 of the Poggles are higher than any HK so maybe Poggle is the best leader.
Told about what?
There is always going to be a difference hence why the maturity of the server will dictate advise. I listen to the older server advise personally but I have to play the shard I am on. I can't use all the advise as it differs from shard to shard depending on the top 10 arena teams really. I appreciate the older shard players advice as to where it's heading I have been able to stay somewhat ahead on farming. But it doesn't help my drop rate and doesn't help me with gear gathering.
Jawa event requiring three 6* droids.
His leadership ability in a droid squad is about the only reason to get him. His special, once levelled up is also quite good in Arena.
Also, genuine question, why bother stockpiling tokens when, unless you have a ton of crystals to blow on refreshes, you can't really spend them any faster than you would normally earn them (800-1200 per day)?
This means 2xTurns for him an 88 when their AOE is casted.
Also +30 TM for each crit its terryfing.
I run a droid team, 47,88,86, poggle and now RG.
With RG and all your toons surviving round 1, the victory is assured. Since I use RG I end always top 1-10, totally recommend you.
Can you guys share the reddit link about the new droid event???
Edit (I found it): https://www.reddit.com/r/SWGalaxyOfHeroes/comments/4a0aid/datamined_droids_event/
I went to arena right now, just to check. I have just hit Daka unbuffed for 2050, non crit non buff. I crit for 3000+ non buff. Also crit for 4200 vs Luminara with the self buff, which happens BEFORE you apply damage (so if you are unbuffed, shoot, and proc, he'll do buffed damage).
I also use Poggle, but sonetimes poggle die, or is stunned, or HK is called by Geo before Poggle acts, or I substitute Poggle for QGJ for an extra threat, and the self buff is nice to have.
4500+ damage, without any help from outside sources, is plenty for a support unit that is there for his leader skill, AOE debuff, and is tanky with 14000+ hp and a self ressurrection.