Star Wars: Empire At War - Darth Vader

Star Wars: Empire at War - Darth Vader
This is a hint / walkthrough for a hero in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

On Land
At a first glance, Darth Vader acts like a basic tank that's really hard to kill, but watch him carefully and you'll see that the more health he has, the more useful he is, so don't necessarily exhaust him and then run for the Bacta Healing Station (he regenerates, but very slowly, and possibly only when he successfully deflects laser fire; on Thyferra).

• Vader can deflect laser fire. He does so more frequently and successfully when his health is higher. Sometimes, the fire reflects back at the attacker (so against lightly armored vehicles, he can actually just stand from afar and reflect blaster fire back until they are destroyed), but sometimes it ricochets and randomly hits something else -- possibly your own unit.
• His Force Crush prevents a vehicle from moving or firing, so a dangerous vehicle can be pinned and rendered harmless while other units are moved up to assist.
• When Vader attacks an Anti-Infantry Turret or Anti-Vehicle Turret, if his health is near-maximum, that Turret cannot fire while he has his attention on crushing it with the Force (this is the animation -- NOT the Force Crush ability, which works only against vehicles). In such a case, you can neutralize a turret and move up other units to help him take it down quickly.
• When his health is less, the Turret can fire back, and he can also try to deflect the fire. The less health he has, the more successfully the Turret will hit him. It is tricky to support him at this time because the Turret will often change targets to hit something less vulnerable than Vader, and may well kill it even with Vader hampering it.
• Darth Vader counts as Infantry except when it comes to dugouts -- Unlike regular infantry, he does not benefit from the constant healing provided.
• Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader can attack buildings and turrets from a distance, but they cannot both do so simultaneously -- One will move in and use their light saber.

In Space
As long as you keep an eye on the number of wingmen he has, Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced x1 is essentially indestructible. He is so indestructible that you can send him in solo to destroy a Pirate Asteroid Base or Class 1 Rebellion Space Station.

Note that his wingmen are easily destroyed if he flees in a straight line and there is weapons fire right at him. Instead, you will probably have to micromanage and zig-zag your way out of weapons fire. Be careful when you have the battle on accelerated time and Darth Vader is engaging a Corellian Corvette, as they have a lot of lasers in each volley, and a lucky spread can decimate his wingmen.