Din Djarin – Unit Guide

This unit guide will cover Din Djarin, the Mandalorian.

Din Djarin comes with a variety of upgrades and abilities that make him a tough unit on the battlefield. In this article, I will give an overview of his stats, discuss potential upgrades, provide some guidance on how to play Din, and finish with some list ideas.

Disclaimer: this article was written in December 2022, some of these tips may change due to Legion’s impending not-overhaul.

Strengths

• Mobility
• Tactical 1
• Independent: Aim 1 and Dodge 1
• Great saves: Impervious, with surging red saves
• Courage 3

Weaknesses

• Lacks Utility
• Close range

Overview

Points:

Din Djarin is a 105-point base unit, which puts him in line with most other bounty hunters. Due to the plethora of upgrades available to The Mandalorian, he often ends up costing closer to 130+ points. This puts Din in a similar place as Boba Fett; he is a premium bounty hunter unit who brings a lot to the table. At this more expensive cost, Din Djarin does not fit into as many armies as some of the cheaper bounty hunters like Bossk and IG-88, and requires some more effort to be fielded.

Offense:

Din Djarin has a total of 5 different weapon profiles and Arsenal 2. Din’s attacks are most effective from melee to range 2. His primary ranged weapon is the IB-94 Pistol, which averages 2.38 hits when unaimed. While this attack may seem lackluster, it can be augmented using Din’s many free aims from Independent and/or Tactical. The pistol has Longshot 1, which can increase its range to 3, and Lethal 1. The only other ranged weapon is the Flame Projector, which is single use, but adds a red attack dice for each miniature in the targeted unit. You may notice that 4 out of 5 of Din’s weapons can be used in melee. Din is most effective when taking small shots on the approach, then diving hard into vulnerable enemy trooper units. I will go into more details on all the melee weapon profiles in the upgrades section. While each weapon on its own is not the most impressive, Arsenal 2 allows you to combine them into devastating attack pools.

Defense:

Din Djarin, like all other Mandalorian characters, has 5 health with surging red saves and Impervious, providing him with 15 effective wounds. Din also has Independent: Aim 1 and Dodge 1, which helps to augment his survivability. Din is the only Mandalorian who has a counterpart. Grogu adds another health to Din and can heal wounds. All this together provides Din with a great defensive profile.

Utility/Support:

Din Djarin is primarily a combat-focused character, but he has some utility when upgraded with Din’s Amban Rifle and/or Grogu. His Amban Rifle has Immobilize 2 in melee, which can be useful for stopping enemy units in their tracks. Grogu has the Latent Power ability, which has a 1/6 chance of handing out suppression and immobilize tokens, or a 1/3 chance to heal a friendly unit each turn.

Mobility:

Base Din Djarin is only speed 2 with no mobility keywords, which is normal for most trooper units. Din has The Mando’s Jetpack upgrade, which increases his speed to 3 and gives him Jump 2. The Jetpack makes him one of the fastest trooper units in the game, greatly increasing his threat range.

Upgrades

Din Djarin has a plethora of upgrade options, and I have yet to find a reason to bring him without upgrades. I often equip at least 2 in my builds.

Training:

Because Din Djarin already has access to so many free aims I find the most effective upgrades are different than a typical bounty hunter.

Offensive Push

Hunter is usually my upgrade of choice for bounty hunters but Din Djarin already has Tactical 1. Since you will almost always move and attack, Offensive Push is a more reliable extra aim than Hunter.

Seize the Initiative

Depending on your army Din Djarin may be your primary play making unit, and in these situations, it is good to have extra order control.

Situational Awareness

Because of Independent: Aim 1 and Dodge 1 you can make an argument for Situational Awareness. The upgrade is only 4 points and you will often have 4+ free dodges per game.

Tenacity

Din is the only bounty hunter with a melee focus, so he uniquely makes good use of Tenacity. The extra red dice makes his attack pool hit just as hard as most light saber users.

Comms:

Since Din Djarin is aggressive and combat focused, he pairs well with upgrades that support this play style.

Comms Jammer

If you expect to play against any CIS players Comms Jammer is an excellent upgrade. This upgrade can cripple the coordinate chain of an enemy droid army. Outside of the CIS matchup it is still a good option to help protect Din when he dives into enemy lines.

Emergency Transponder

Din Djarin already has Independent, so you often want to leave him orderless. This means Emergency Transponder is a great option to gain some extra value when you need it.

Hacked Comms Unit

Since Din Djarin is aggressive, and more of a short range unit, the Hacked Comms Unit is a good choice. It provides some extra order control once you have engaged the enemy.

Gear:

Din is one of the few characters that has unique gear that only he can take. Each upgrade here can be justified, depending on how you plan to play Din.

Din’s Flame Projector

The Flame Projector provides a devastating attack. If you combine the Flame Projector with Din’s IB-94 Pistol and attack a 6-model unit, the attack averages 7.7 hits without an aim. When augmented by the free aims he receives from Independent and Tactical, this attack has a reasonable chance of fully killing a core unit.

Emergency Stims

If Din is your primary playmaking unit you may consider Emergency Stims. This card helps him survive slightly longer to finish an important objective like Recover the Supplies.

Recon Intel

Recon Intel is only 2 points and starts Din Djarin in a slightly better position. If you plan on using the Amban’s ranged ability Recon Intel can provide an important extra speed 1 move to get you into a better starting position.

The Mando’s Jetpack

Despite the expensive cost (15 points) I think this upgrade is nearly mandatory. Din Djarin is most effective at close range, so you want the extra speed to engage and flank.

Armament:

For Armament, I personally always take the Amban Rifle because I believe it is not only a better weapon than the Beskar Spear but also costs less points.

Beskar Spear

The Beskar Spear is a melee-only weapon that gives Din Djarin Duelist. This weapon increases Din’s effectiveness against piercing melee units, such as force users or Wookiees. My main concern about this weapon is that Din would prefer to use his mobility to engage non-melee units. While he can hold his own against other melee units, he is happiest when hunting weaker non-melee units. If the Beskar Spear was closer to 8 points, it might be more of a consideration for me.

Din’s Amban Rifle

At the current cost of only 10 points, I think Din’s Amban Rifle is basically an auto-include. First, Immobilize 2 makes it so enemy units cannot withdraw from combat. This is amazing in situations where Din activates before an enemy unit, engaging them and preventing them from going after him and withdrawing. Immobilize 2 can also be effective for stopping enemy units in place. For example, you can stop an enemy unit running away with a hostage or supply box. Suppressive is just a bonus on this weapon, making it so you can remove standbys in melee. The cherry on top is the ability the gun comes with. The ability basically says that if you can see an enemy unit, you have a 75% chance to just give it an automatic wound and suppression. This means you can target units in melee and in closed transports and apply wounds to models that you cannot see. For example, when targeting a strike team, you will always apply the wound to the non-unit leader even if the unit leader is the only visible model in the unit. There are a variety of unintuitive interactions with this ability, so I recommend you look at this rules clarification thread.

Counterpart: Grogu

Din Djarin also has the unique counterpart Grogu the Child. Grogu is 17 points and only playable in Rebels. He provides an extra health, Hunted, Latent Power, and is Small. Latent Power is an extremely powerful ability. At the end of Din’s activation, you take a suppression token and have a 33% chance of healing a wound, or a 17% chance of giving out 2 suppression and 2 immobilize tokens. While this ability is very powerful, Grogu also comes with a serious downside: Hunted. If Grogu is defeated, you place an unclaimed The Asset objective token that your opponent can claim for a bonus victory point. Because Din is most effective at close range, I find Grogu is often too risky to equip.

How to Play

General Role:

Din Djarin is primarily a playmaker and damage dealer. The typical loadout I run includes Din Djarin with The Mando’s Jetpack and Din’s Amban Rifle. For this strategy section, I will assume you have both these upgrades equipped. I usually take ranged shots with Din on the early turns using the Amban ability when outside of the range of Din’s Pistol. Then, as the game progresses, I typically flank and engage using the mobility of his 1 pip to quickly close the gap.

1 Pip: This is the Way

Din Djarin’s 1 pip This is the Way gives him a free dodge token and Relentless. This command card is the lynchpin of his playstyle. If you are using Din’s Flame Projector, this makes his threat range roughly range ~3.6. Because most of his engagement potential comes from this card, you need to make sure you time it properly. Typically, melee units want to engage at the end of a turn to make sure the enemy cannot withdraw, but immobilize prevents this, allowing Din to engage units that have not yet activated.

2 Pip: I Like Those Odds

Din Djarin’s two pip I Like Those Odds gives a free aim token and provides pseudo-Gunslinger. The main difference between this ability and Gunslinger is that you can attack in melee and use Arsenal 2. This card is best when Din is in the middle of the enemy army, providing a variety of targets to attack. The most consistent way to use this card is to attack in melee, then shoot with the Pistol. Since the Pistol has Versatile, even if you do not kill the unit you are in melee with, you can still fire out of the engagement. The Flame Thrower also pairs nicely with this card. If you kill the unit you are engaged with during the first attack, you can then fire both the Pistol and Flame Thrower with the free attack.

3 Pip: Whistling Birds

Din Djarin’s three pip Whistling Birds gives him an ability which targets up to 3 enemy units at range 1. For each mini in the unit, roll a white dice, and the targeted unit suffers a wound for any paint rolled. This results in an average of 0.38 wounds per mini in the unit. So against a 6-model core unit, you average 2.25 wounds. This ability notably ignores saves, cover, and any defensive abilities. Similarly to the 2 pip, this card works best when Din is surrounded by enemy units.

2 Pip: The Hand Thing

Grogu also has a command card: The Hand Thing. This card cannot be selected during the Command Phase but can be used when a friendly unit at range 1 of Grogu is declared defender against a ranged attack. When played, you discard the card from your hand. The defending unit gains 2 dodge tokens and Deflect. This ability is powerful but takes up a valuable command card slot in your hand.

List Building

Krennic Boba Din

What is better than one Mando? Well, two of course! This army uses both Boba and Din as playmaking, focused pieces and supports them with a solid gunline. Rule With Respect adds dice to the Strike Teams and Death Troopers’ long-range attacks. This effect, combined with the Amban Rifle, makes the army dominant at long range. After this opening salvo, you still have a strong skirmishing gunline. Your two Mandos can flank and protect your gunline from enemy aggressive units or go deep into the opposing army. The Bounty keyword also gets much better when you are playing with two bounty hunters. Both Boba and Din are mobile, meaning they can flank and quickly close the distance between them and a bounty target.

Iden Dinbacks

Din’s Amban Rifle has infinite range, which complements nicely with Iden’s infinite range sniper, the DLT-20A. Din can kill the hidden model in an opposing strike team, and Iden can follow it up and finish off the remaining exposed model. Now that dodge spam has been heavily nerfed, critical weapons are good again, returning value to T-21’s on Stormtroopers and Dewback Riders. This army may get overwhelmed by an aggressive enemy army, so the Dewbacks and Din function well as linebacking units.

Din Air Speeders

With both Ion Spiers and Pykes receiving nerfs in the recent points adjustment, it is time for Airspeeders to shine again. This army is highly mobile and packs a serious punch. You can keep up on objectives like Bombing Run and Breakthrough, making the Blizzard Force matchup a little less scary. R2D2 is still a great unit. He can provide some extra health to the Airspeeders and Secret Mission can turn the tide of a game.

Conclusions

In conclusion, Din Djarin is a versatile and effective unit on the battlefield. His mobility and Tactical 1 ability make him an excellent choice for engaging enemy units and dealing high amounts of damage. His defensive capabilities are also strong, with a variety of upgrades and abilities that help him stay alive longer. While he may not have as many utility options as some other units, Din Djarin is still a powerful choice for any army. This is the way!