The Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatist Alliance, was a collection of star systems and corporate titans that left the Republic and fought for independence against the Republic’s clone armies and Jedi Knights. The charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku was the Alliance’s political leader, while its military power came from credits and assets donated by powerful galactic trade groups.

This guide should serve as an introduction to the class types in this game, as well as break down the strengths and weaknesses of each of the unit types, helping you choose what to play, and when to play as them. Enjoy!

Equipment:
Wrist Blaster (blaster-rifle equivalent, attached the arm)
Tri-Shot (shotgun-alike on a short cooldown - equivalent to the blaster pistol)
Wrist Rocket (a rocket fired from the Super Battle Droid's arm)

This is, in my opinion, the weakest trooper in the entire game. This is not to say that I think they are a bad unit - they are just hampered by their size (their bulky silhouette is a bit easier to hit than other units, especially when you compare it to the B1 units that fight alongside them), as well as the fact that their Wrist Rockets are only situationally useful. Wrist rockets fire in a straight line and detonate immediately, but are fairly easy to dodge if you know they are coming. They also have a much, much smaller explosion radius.

The wrist blaster is fairly accurate, and the Tri-Shot is a great alternative to the blaster pistol when your opponent is close, as it does high amounts of damage at close range. However, just like the wrist rocket, it feels a lot more situational. The blaster pistol that the other troopers have access to has longer range, and while it does less damage, it is simply more useful in more situations.

The Super Battle Droid then, rather than seeming like the usual trooper "incredibly versatile", becomes merely "versatile" - a useful trooper still, but one whose abilities are never quite as reliable as the good old grenade or the blaster pistol.

Equipment:
Missile Launcher (fires one missile. Needs to be reloaded in between each missile)
Blaster Pistol (cooldown)
Thermal Detonator (grenade effective against personnel)
Mines (mostly anti-vehicle traps, but can be used against troopers as well)

The Assault Droid plays very, very similarly to the other Heavy Trooper classes in the other factions. The main difference is that their missile launcher can only be fired once, and then must be reloaded (quite slowly too). Thus, they probably have the weakest missile launcher (tied with the Empire's Shock Trooper). To maximize the missile launcher's effectiveness against infantry, it is easier to fire against the ground, using the splash damage from the explosion to kill or at least knock them off of their feet so you can use your blaster pistol.

The Assault Droid is most useful against enemy vehicles, but the mines can also be used to great effectiveness in certain chokepoints across a variety of maps. Narrow corridors or staircases can be great places to lay mines and kill multiple enemies at the same time. As with all other classes with Thermal Detonators, use them to their fullest potential by throwing them into the same kinds of narrow chokepoints, or use them to flush enemies out of their hiding spots so you can dispatch them with a blast from your missile launcher.

The Assault Droid, again like other Heavy Troopers, has more health but moves a bit slower than other classes. While these differences aren't huge in the grand scheme of things, it does pay to be aware of your character's limitations, especially in multiplayer skirmishes.

Equipment:
Radiation Launcher (a long-distance grenade launcher. Requires practice to use)
Blaster Pistol (cooldown)
Fusion Cutter (repairs vehicles, health/ammo stations, and turrets)
Dispenser Health & Ammo (does exactly what it says on the tin)

You may or may not have noticed, but I'm not a huge fan of the main body of the CIS troops. The Droid Pilot is another one to add to the list of "could have been better". While the Radiation Launcher is very deadly if you can actually land a hit, it is so wildly inaccurate that it requires an incredible amount of practice to properly harness. The blaster pistol, while a decent weapon, is outmatched by a blaster rifle in basically all situations. As such, you should only pick this class if you plan to stay in a vehicle for basically the whole time, or stick with a squad to drop health & ammo kits for others.

The Fusion Cutter heals vehicles and turrets, as well as health and ammo stations (the brick-like Gonk droids which dispense ammo, and the FX-series medical droid, which heals those who stand next to it). This makes a good Pilot invaluable, as they can repair vital installations for defense, like the turrets on Geonosis. They should also (obviously) be the troops first selected to drive vehicles, as they heal any vehicle they are currently sitting in. You should choose a pilot if you want to play one of the more specialized roles, either support or vehicle driver.

Something worth noting is the B1 battle droid's thin, skeletal model being slightly (and I say slightly) harder to hit than the Clone Troopers who you will be facing off against in Clone Wars battles.

Equipment:
Sniper Rifle (long-distance rifle, instant kill on a headshot, 2x zoom)
Blaster Pistol (cooldown)
Thermal Detonator (grenade for use against enemy troopers)
Recon Droid (lightly armoured droid to scout ahead, armed with an incredibly weak blaster pistol and incredibly powerful orbital strike)

Just like the Rebel Marksman, the Assassin Droid has a superior sniper rifle to their enemies, which has only a single zoom. The Assassin Droid's sniper rifle has a 2x zoom, meaning they can strike more accurately from further away. Always use this to your advantage, as Assassin Droids are as fragile as other members of the Sniper classes. They are an incredibly useful unit in the right hands, and can be used to snipe from long distances on maps with little cover, like Bespin Platforms, Geonosis, or from atop the rocky outcrops on the Dune Sea.

They are also in a very similar situation to the Rebel Marskman, as they are quite vulnerable to the Republic's unique unit, the Jet Trooper, as they can fly up and around to their vantage points. Fortunately, Jet Troopers are easier to pick out of the sky than the mega-jumping of the Dark Troopers for the Rebel Marksmen. Provided you can see / hear them coming, there is still a chance. Keep Assassin Droids away from enemy vehicles, and stay on the move after every few kills to avoid those you have previously targeted finding you and rooting you out.

The Assassin can also use a recon droid, which is armed with its own blaster pistol (which isn't very useful at all, so try not to pick fights with it, even if the recon droid is small and hard to hit) to scout an area out for you or your team. It requires you to remain stationary while operating it, so it could be considered a risky proposition to use it if you aren't located somewhere safe. A recon droid can call down an orbital strike too on a specific outdoor location, which can do an extreme amount of damage to an enemy placement. It is the Assassin's best way to deal with enemy vehicles, or fortified areas - if the droid can survive long enough to reach the destination the orbital strike needs to be called down onto.

Equipment:
Repeating Blasters (incredibly dangerous, high rate of fire twin blasters mounted on the arms)
Shield Emitter (creates a bubble-shield around the Droideka)

Here we reach the thing that turns the Confederacy from being overall a fairly mediocre faction into a death-dealing powerhouse. The Droideka is probably the most infamous unit in the entire game, given it is essentially a portable turret with an incredible amount of health.

The Droideka has two movement modes - rolling and unfolded. When rolling, the Droideka moves fast but turns clumsily, and can be hard to control. They are also vulnerable when in this mode, and the transformation in and out of rolling / unfolded can be hard to pull off, at least when you are first playing as them. In rolling mode, the Droideka also has no way of defending themselves.

When unfolded, the Droideka can fire its repeating blasters, which deal a large amount of damage at a high rate of fire, absolutely shredding any hapless enemy infantry unfortunate enough to be in your crosshairs. What elevates the Droideka from being a simple danger into that aforementioned death-dealing powerhouse is the shield.

The shield more than doubles the effective health of the Droideka, allowing it to shoot with impunity at anyone it can see without worrying about dying. It will take concentrated fire or a long amount of time to get the Droideka's shields down. Yes, the Droideka's shields do indeed fade after some time, but this takes quite some time (a test revealed it to be about forty seconds without taking enemy fire), meaning that by simply being there, a Droideka can lock down a command post very, very easily. They rotate slowly in their unfolded mode, but more than make up for that with their blistering rate of fire and high damage. In certain places with few directions of assault (the Ice Caves on Rhen Var Harbour comes to mind), the Droideka is nigh on unstoppable without a concentrated assault, capable of locking down whole avenues of assault practically by themselves. In certain places, you can even walk in unfolded mode into cover, recharge, and walk back out, fully recharged.

When the shield comes down, it can be hard to beat a hasty retreat (you need to get back into rolling mode and maneuver away, which can be pretty hard considering you should be the number one priority for elimination for Republic forces) - but if you can, all you need to do is wait for your shields to recharge, and you can come right back for another round. Probably one of the best units in the game (if not the best) in the hands of a master.

I must admit, I can't be quite sure on what basis something like "firepower" is ranked - I assume is it the damage from a single shot from their main weapon - but I was not present while the Prima Game team was defining these things, so it could be some obscure calculation regarding their potential damage output. Also, I believe "stamina" refers to health. Speed I hope is self-explanatory!

I figured despite some vagaries it is worth digitizing anyway, and might be of some interest to people wanting to really get stuck into the game's stats. These stats aren't everything!


Finally, thank you for reading, I hope you found this guide (or guides if you've read the other ones too!) to one of my favourite childhood games - it has been a great pleasure revisiting it, as well as seeing the lovely responses to these guides. Keep on fighting on the battlefront!