Imperial Stormtroopers were the most recognizable ground forces of the Empire’s military,
and while the standard white armored troopers made up the backbone of Palpatine’s iron
military fist, they were far from the strongest units within the Stormtrooper corps itself.
We’ll go over a few categories as some of these troopers only specialized in certain
aspects of combat, from precise combat abilities to brute force.
When it comes to sheer, overwhelming firepower that category likely goes to the Phase 3 Dark
Trooper.
This was the final phase of the Dark Trooper project, which created what was said to be
one of the most powerful set of trooper armor ever produced during its time period.
While capable of being used on its own as it contained a droid A.I.
brain, the Phase 3 Dark Trooper armor was most effective when used as an exoskeleton
for a highly trained organic soldier.
At a height of nearly 3 meters and having some of the strongest armor ever produced,
this suit was compared to being a walking tank.
Not only that, but it also contained a jetpack allowing the trooper to quickly catch up to
its fleeing prey.
When it came to weapons, the dark trooper suit had mounted mini missile launchers within
its shoulder pads and hidden wrist mounted blasters.
Their greatest firepower however came from the assault cannon that they were equipped
with.
The assault cannon was essentially a giant chain gun that fired massive blaster bolts
that could cut through nearly any body armor and building material it came into contact
with.
A few were even equipped with missile launchers as well.
The only real way to stand a chance against the barrage from an assault cannon was with
a personal energy shield, but even then that would only buy someone just a few extra seconds.
And while this dark trooper was nearly unkillable with the armor at full power, if the suit
were to get disabled by some means, then it would leave the trooper inside nearly useless.
As a few cases the trooper was cybernetically infused into the suit, but even if they were
able to get out, they had no weapons to use, as the heavy assault cannon was far too heavy
for any Human to pick up and use on their own.
But nonetheless, the Phase 3 Dark Trooper was the most powerful in terms of raw firepower
and brute force, with a few special units being created for different task forces, like
the Inquisitorium dark troopers who worked alongside the Inquisitors, though its unknown
of any special modifications within their armor.
Aside from being vulnerable to E.M.P type weapons, the phase 3 dark trooper armor was
also extremely expensive, with estimates at about a few billion per suit, which is one
of the reasons they were never mass produced beyond a few dozen units.
The next category will look at stormtroopers who have the highest combat training and whose’
abilities aren’t fully reliant by the armor they wore.
For this we’ll look at Imperial commandos, Nova Troopers, Imperial heavy troopers, and
Stormtrooper commanders, as they all had a high fighting prowse and combat expertise
within their respective fields.
Imperial Commandos were the Empire’s counterparts to the Republic Commandos.
Nearly all the members of this special unit were clone veterans of the clone wars, and
as such had vast experience in the field of combat.
While they wore specialized armor that enhanced some of their abilities, their main strength
came from their expert training and experienced sharpshooting and close combat skills, which
were so refined that they were typically tasked in hunting down Jedi survivors.
Their teamwork among their squads was second to none when compared to other stormtrooper
divisions, which made them very deadly in groups.
Nova Troopers on the other hand were specially trained to perform essentially any task that
was required of them, from covert ops missions to operating in the front lines alongside
regular troopers.
Nova Troopers were highly decorated stormtroopers who were recognized for their superb adaptability
to nearly any situation they were put in.
Because of this, they were often the personal guards of high ranking Imperial officers and
were the main on-the-ground forces among civilians whenever Emperor Palpatine made public appearances
and addresses.
Although they were honorary soldiers who were capable of a wide range of specialities, they
only wore regular stormtrooper armor that was merely painted black and gold, which made
their abilities even more impressive as their adaptability came solely from their physical
and mental strength rather than their equipment.
Imperial Heavy Troopers were highly specialized soldiers who excelled in close quarters combat,
so much so that they were even able to compete with trained force sensitives and low tier
Jedi.
They were also known to be able to take down Wookiees and other naturally strong aliens.
Their armor gave them extra protection toward physical weapons and they were almost always
armed with electro staffs.
Then we have the Stormtrooper Commanders.
These were the successors of the Republic’s ARC troopers, and were regarded to be the
Empire’s best soldiers who weren’t genetically or cybernetically enhanced, as they wore just
regular stormtrooper armor that typically had blue markings on them.
Due to their superb fighting prowse and leadership abilities, stormtrooper commanders were the
superiors of nearly every other stormtrooper division within the corps, with even Shadow
troopers taking orders from them.
Although they were remarkably skilled as soldiers, due to not being enhanced in any way or given
special equipment, they were usually ineffective toward unique enemies such as Jedi or force
users in general.
And as a bonus in this category, we have the Guardsman Stormtroopers.
While these guys weren’t technically within the Stormtrooper corps, as they were just
Royal Guards with the same armor on that was just painted red, it is important to note
that they likely were the best trained soldiers to ever wear stormtrooper armor.
Royal guards in general were as powerful as one could humanly possibly get without having
the force, with them excelling in every regard from close quarters combat to marksmanship.
And them wearing regular stormtrooper armor just made their jobs easier as they wore armor
that was more practical for traditional combat roles.
The final category in this video will go over specialized stormtroopers who had characteristics
that made them extremely dangerous in their own unique ways and possibly the most effective
in specific situations.
First are the Terror Troopers.
They were an experimental class of stormtroopers who were cybernetically modified to be outfitted
with cloaking equipment that allowed them to turn completely invisible at will.
On top of that, their modifications gave them deadly claws in their hands as well as the
ability to perform superhuman feats, such as moving at incredibles speeds and jumping
meters high in the air.
They were usually used for assassination missions, but were also known to combat force users.
Next are the Shadow EVO troopers.
These guys were shadow troopers who wore specialized armor that gave them the same abilities as
EVO troopers, which allowed them to survive in some of the most hazardous environments
imaginable as well as provide them additional protection toward blasters.
As a result, these shadow EVO troopers were able to operate their stealth missions in
far more environments than their regular shadow trooper counterparts.
Finally we have the Cuis clone stormtroopers.
These guys were cloned stormtroopers who were created from a former Emperor’s Hand.
As a result, they were all born with the ability to manipulate the force and were trained in
lightsaber combat by Darth Vader.
The force allowed them to perform abilities that no other stormtrooper could, and it gave
them an edge when facing Jedi and other enemies of the Empire that were force sensitive.
While they were powerful in fighting, due to the complicated nature of cloning force
sensitives and the dark side in general, all of these force sensitive stormtroopers were
ultimately killed by Vader after they were corrupted to turn on their masters.
As a result, the idea of creating force sensitive stormtroopers was abandoned.