How the heck do you take out a Droideka?

Just something I'm trying to work out. I'm aware that the Jedi in TCW and the old microseries seem to do quite well against them, but I'm asking how you'd take them out if you're not Force-sensitive. I know the shields are weaker from behind, and if you can get right in its face, the wide-set blaster cannons can't get you, but I'm looking for a bit more.

Can their shields hold out indefinitely? If not, about how much damage would you have to heap on it to lower the shield? Once the shield is down, how much punishment can they take? Would grenades have any effect on them? What small-scale weapons would be most effective?

I know they're designed to be basically one-droid armies on their own, but you have to be able to take 'em down SOMEhow, or they'd have won the Clone Wars single-handedly (if they had hands, that is!)...

 

You check whether it is a Zahn-class droideka or a LucasArts-class droideka and adjust your tactics as appropriate.

 

That's correct.

If it's a LucasArts droideka, then you either Force push it, or drop something heavy on it, as it only has ray shields, not particle shields, it can only block weapons fire, not physical objects, similar to the Gungan shields.As for the Zahn-class droideka, well, it's one of the reasons I despise Survivor's Quest, aside from it being a book with absolutely no meaningful plot at all.

Okay, it's a single droideka, just one. Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker, a Jedi Master and a Jedi Knight are virtually powerless against it, all they can do is run, run, and run some more. So, the Zahn-class droideka has a built-in device that interferes with it's opponents brain, preventing them from thinking at all.

But in all seriousness, this is Luke Skywalker, the guy who dismantled an army of battle droids in Dark Empire by waving his hand. In TCW, Ahsoka kills two droideka's, a Padawan can fight 2 droideka's and win, how can a Jedi master, the son of the Chosen One, struggle with one for so long.

Luke and Mara along a corridor, a droideka in front of them, shields up, firing. Let's see, how about Mara step in front, cover Luke, while the Jedi Master concentrates, uses the Force to lift the droideka up, throws it across the hallway. Then it falls down, and is no longer upright. This causes it to lose it's equilibrium, and the shield will detect the floor as an enemy, and then simply ramp up the power in the shield, until it shorts out.
But as for the droideka's weaknesses, well, it's shields can't stop artillery bolts, and it can't stop physical objects. It's also not too sturdy, if you throw, saw a boulder at it, it'll go through the shield, and pretty much wreck the droideka.

It's also vulnerable when it's rolling. So Luke and Mara could have retreated out of range, and when the droideka folds up and starts to roll, just hit it with a Force blast. Or, you know, use some of that Force speed to race up to it while it's rolling, and just cut in half. SQ's Luke and Mara never seem to think of any of these thing, in fact, if Lorana's lightsaber hadn't been there, they would have probably died. Not really, as you can't kill the main characters, but that's the impression that SQ leaves. So, droideka's aren't invincible, there's many ways to take them out, but Survivor's Quest would make you think that they were the ultimate combat droid, unstoppable and able to kill even the strongest Jedi.

 

Survivor's Quest comes straight off the back of books in which Luke decided to limit his abuse (yes, abuse) of the Force.

And, frankly, given that two (or was it three?) droidekas make Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan run away with their padawan braids between their legs... I'm more inclined to go with the nigh unbeatable Zahn droideka over the wussie ones we've been seeing in TCW and the games.

EDIT: Though wasn't the Zahn droideka some sort of prototype uber-droideka, anyway?

EDIT 2: I have to admit though. From the minute TPM ended, I held a firm belief that one of the reasons the droidekas were introduced and shown to be so uber against Jedi was purely so that, in a demonstration of just how badass he was, Anakin Skywalker would take one out.

Boy, what a let down.

 

Actually, the droideka in Survivor's Quest was the only thing I enjoyed.

 

Taking down an opponent isn't abuse. Further, the HoT books are LUDICROUS at this point in the lecturing of Luke by Mara.

On top of that, I'm fairly certain that -- since almost every other droid taken out by Anakin and Obi-Wan were worse than droidekas -- that the only reason Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon ran was because Obi-Wan was an apprentice and Qui-Gon didn't want to risk him being injured.

 

I was talking about Luke's "to do more with the Force, I'll use more of the Force" approach. Which is abuse and a slow but sure path to the dark side.

When Yoda explains to Luke the difference between moving a rock and moving a starship, he doesn't say: "No, no different, only different in the amount of Force energy you have to channel!"

 

It's been a very long time since I read the ROTS novel, but didn't Obi-Wan and Anakin take down a droideka by tipping it over with the Force?

 

I'm pretty sure in one book the gravity goes wacky or something and because the shields are impact related, the droidekas go bouncing around. Quite funny to think about actually.

 

How the heck do you take out a Droideka?

Flowers? Candy? Tell it it's pretty?

 

I rather liked it back in the day when droidekas were the Jedi Kryptonite. They were a legitimate threat few Jedi could walk away from.

Yes, those are the droidekas I remember!

 

I'm assuming Zahn-class, yes. Now, assuming that- what about disruptors? They're usually said to 'ignore' shielding, and can just disintegrate the hull of a starship, so wouldn't one just mangle a Droideka?

Of course, the short range and long recharge cycle would sort of offset that, but I'm just trying to come up with a list of viable tactics or weapons for normal soldiers to use against one.

 

I don't know about the droidekas. In the same movie that they're unstoppable against a couple of Jedi and entire squad of armed soldiers, pilots, and handmaidens, we see the Gungan army take out a handful of (shieldless) destroyers. I guess it's the kinetic thing. They're just ray shielded, so if you can get to them before they blast you with that rapid-fire, you're golden.

 

Shields can be overpowered and blown just like an x-wing's


And if your a jedi there has to be a shield generator on that thin so you can sabotage it

 

More Dakka the solution to all life's problems. Bigger, explosions.

 

"The slow blade penetrates the shield." Wait, wrong series..

I would have liked to have seen Starkiller take down a few Droidekas. It would have been a short contest. Some imagination and will power and most enemies are simple to kill no matter how hyped up they are.

 

Dune anyone? In the movie, didn't a slow bullet kill Patrick Stewart? Nevermind.

Movie Droideka, kill it while its moving. Run when it deploys.

TCW Droideka, it can shoot while rolling, but it is dumb as a stump, so sneak up behind it and blast it.

 

Can't you just take a rocket launcher to the destroyer droid? Those things aren't very mobile when they're not rolling and they're pretty much sitting ducks if you can bring in some heavier weaponry, as seen when Anakin uses the starfighter's cannons on them. Those shield generators have to make for a pretty large infra-red signature as well, so load up with heat-seeking missiles.

 

I don't think so. As far as I can recall it was just a regular droideka.

 

I'm a bit surprised nobody's mentioned Republic Commando. The droidekas there are fairly easy to disable with an ion grenade, after which they can be destroyed by other weapons.

 

The term Zahn-class is a joke aimed at the droideka faced by Luke and Mara in SQ, it is not a reference to the Zann-class Droideka Mark II that is produced by the Zann Consortium. The droideka in SQ had been on Outbound Flight since 28 or so BBY, the Zann Consortium did not exist at the time. Hope that clears up any confusion. Oh, as for the ion grenade, in Zahn's books the Jedi carry no equipment other than their lightsabers, where in Denning's books, the Jedi have blasters, grenades, protective suits of armorweave, etc. So, no, Luke and Mara thought that to take on a ship full of Vagaari they wouldn't need any blasters or other equipment that the Chiss could have given them. That droideka mechanism must really interfere with the brain.

 

The way I recall it, there are three types of droidekas during the Clone Wars - one shielded in The Phantom Menace, one not in Attack of the Clones, and another shielded in Revenge of the Sith. I don't know which ones are the better - it is possible that the later models are weaker, to save production cost (allowing for a larger army to be made). If that's the case, maybe the powerful ones in TPM and Survivor's Quest are another model than the weaker ones in The Clone Wars. Pure speculation, of course, since I haven't read SQ and can't remember the source of there being different Droidekas.

 

Whatever happened to the little force trick Arca used and Luke used in DE where you rearrange a droids innards to disable it? If Obi Wan blocked for Qui Gon in Ep I, they should have made short work of the droideka.

 

That was a crappy version of Duncan Idaho that got killed with a headshot, not Gurney Halleck( Patrick Stewart).

Anyways, Katarn would have little problem taking down one, as would Fett or elite fighters.