Updated March 2025
The toughest part of this article will be spelling “Armorer” without the U. I’d like to unleash my Canadian pride, but that will only make more work for my editor and I can’t have that. My ingrained desire for politeness supersedes all personal desires. This is the way1.
The Armorer is available in the This is the Way squad box.
Main card
Not only is 9sp and two force fairly uncommon, but The Armorer is also restricted to only the New Republic era. It’s one of the more limited eras, so squad building with The Armorer will also be a bit limited, but worry not – she’s worth it!
Abilities
Ten stamina is absolutely fine for a primary, no notes here.
I would venture to say Wisdom of the Mandalore is one of the best movement tactics in the game. “Move yourself and a buddy” is a pretty common template, but usually we’re talking dashes, maaaaybe advances. Jumps? Very rare. Sure, sometimes you’ll wish you had the distance of an advance, but you can’t have everything. Unless …
Both Hunter and Prey gives you everything. The verticality of a jump when you need it, the distance of an advance when you need it. After all that, why not expose someone you’re in melee with? Sure, The Armorer gets exposed too, but she can heal that off easily in her combat trees if she attacks the exposed target.
Just As We Shape Mandalorian Steel, We Shape Ourselves is basically a defensive version of Lord Maul’s Sustained By Rage ability. In the right circumstances it can certainly be a headache, but it won’t be having an impact every game. I do feel like this is an easy ability to forget, for either player, so pay special attention to it when playing with or against The Armorer.
Our Survival Is Our Strength. This is the Way is a perfect identity for a Mandalorian-focused primary. Honestly, I thought Hera would have this identity (back when we had seen all Spectres except her) but it works even better on The Armorer. A big issue with Mandalorians since the core box has been that they get super force-hungry once wounded. A free Mandalorians Are Stronger Together is awesome, as is Jet Pack for one force, but once the wounds come those toys can be cost prohibitive. Well, worry no more with The Armorer! While this ability does help your force efficiency late game, it usually won’t do much on the first deck. Since The Armorer only brings two force, things might feel a little tight for the first deck.
Insight of the Forge
Insight of the Forge is a fine stance mechanically, and it looks like tongs so that’s a win thematically! It gives some decent damage, some choice for conditions, a heal for your expose, and some movement options. Only one shove is not ideal when it comes to displacing enemies, so that is a strike against it.
Defensively 6/6 is good for dice, though the expertise isn’t great. It’s essentially clone armor with some crit mitigation (which, to be fair, is always handy). There are certainly going to be times where The Armorer feels a bit flimsy, especially against ranged attacks.
Overall, Insight of the Forge is a fine stance, but it is simply outclassed in most circumstances by its competitor.
Strength of the Hammer
Once again we have a thematic win as Strength of the Hammer looks like a hammer! Compared to Insight of the Forge, Strength of the Hammer is giving better expertise in all scenarios, an extra attack die, a second shove, and more front-loaded damage. On the downside, we have one less defense die in all situations and less flexibility early in the tree (which lacks conditions). It’s also a bit harder to max out at nine damage since you need seven successes vs. six. Personally, I’m fine with those trade-offs and I keep The Armorer in this stance most of the time. The choice at spot #4 to either more or get that second shove while always getting a heal for your own expose (or whatever else) is quite spicy.
One overall thought with The Armorer is that I think it’s easy to overrate her as a killing machine. Yes, she has a good attack profile and exposes enemies easily, but she isn’t a one-shot monster like some other primaries. That’s not to say she isn’t a good attacker, because she is, but I’d still plan for maybe four successes against an exposed defender (in Strength of the Hammer).
Synergy & Wrap-Up
| + Pros | – Cons |
| Extremely mobile | Limited list building options |
| Keeps Mandalorian abilities reasonably costed | First deck can feel tight on force |
| Effective melee threat | Inconsistent one-shot threat |
The Armorer is an extremely strong character, bringing pretty much everything you’d want in a melee-only primary. However, she is rather limited when it comes to list building. Mandalorians are good, and can consistently fight for that A-tier of lists, but may struggle to pop into the tippy-top S-tier. For her part, The Armorer will almost always rock Covert Mandalorians as her support since they are practically made for her identity. The secondary will usually be Bo or Paz depending on what you’re going for.
For primary pairings, Lord Maul and The Mandalorian are usually The Armorer’s best friends. Both bring some needed dice-less displacement. Maul makes force budgeting almost trivial while also being super mobile himself. Mando leans into Mandalorian synergy while also providing a revenge trigger. Either one can bring some Mandos of their own thanks to the era errata on Bo and Clan Kryze. They also open up the eras to create some funky crossover possibilities, which can be fun.
The Armorer is an extremely useful primary to tie Mandalorian lists together. Her identity allows them to keep fighting effectively in the late game when every turn can decide the winner. She’s fast and hits hard. Use her wisely and you’ll find some great success. This is the way.
- C’est la voie ↩︎
