So I've had some confusion regarding this certain astromech.

Can someone describe to me in layman terms what it really does and how to use it in combat?

Lets say you have a Rookie pilot with R4-D6.

A phantom attacks at range 1, and rolls 5 <hit> results. You can use R4-D6 to remove 3 of the 5 <hit> results, leaving 2. Then you'd get 3 stress tokens on the Rookie Pilot.

Edit: This process would happen after you rolled your defense dice. Because it only goes into effect when you're Hit. So in the above example the Rookie would of rolled 0 <evade> result.

Basically, if you take 3 or more damage, you reduce it down to 2 damage, and for each point of damage reduced, you gain 1 stress token.

Example: You are running Biggs with R4-D6 and get shot by a phantom. The phantom gets 4 hits and you roll 0 evades. You would then reduce the damage suffered to 2 and get 2 stress tokens.

Is it really worth the point, or should I go for a more expensive astromech, or just use R2 Astromech?

Is it really worth the point, or should I go for a more expensive astromech, or just use R2 Astromech?

It's undoubtedly worth it sometimes: if you're going up against a Keyan + Opportunist + HLC build, for instance, an X-wing is very likely to take 3+ damage. Y-wings are even more likely to get stomped with a single big hit, due to their low Agility, and it helps insure E-wings against that moment when your green dice all simultaneously forget how to find the squiggly arrows.

As for whether it's worth it in your particular build and play style in your local or regional metagame, the only person who can really answer that is you.

Is it really worth the point, or should I go for a more expensive astromech, or just use R2 Astromech?

Like most 1 point upgrades, it's really a metagame call.

It can be invaluable on Biggs, or worthless on him, depending on what you fly against.

It actually can be really nice on Biggs in today's two ship meta. If you can really weaken one attack out of two, it can make him very stubborn to kill.

To me it's about the opportunity cost. I think on a valuable target like Biggs, Wedge, Corran or Horton, it may be worth it.

But on a rookie pilot I think the R2 astro would be better.

Thank for all the help! You guys save me a lot of trouble.

Basically, if you take 3 or more damage, you reduce it down to 2 damage, and for each point of damage reduced, you gain 1 stress token.

Example: You are running Biggs with R4-D6 and get shot by a phantom. The phantom gets 4 hits and you roll 0 evades. You would then reduce the damage suffered to 2 and get 2 stress tokens.

It's simple but not so simple.

It only works on [boom] results and ignores as [kaboom] results. If that Phantom rolls [boom] [boom] [boom] [kaboom] then the droid will only cancel one [boom] result and give you a stress while you still suffer the other three results. The distinction in the symbols is important here.

Is it worth it, that all depends on the metagame and how likely you are to need it.