R5-D4 Mods: SWGoH Best Mods for R5-D4

The Era of the New Republic may be in the rearview mirror, but its characters are about to be everywhere in Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and it is time to review mods for one of the most famous droids in the galaxy with R5-D4. The “best mods” series started back in my Gaming Fans days, and it ended up being what put that site on the radar of both the community and EA Capital Games. I have been writing these guides since mods first arrived in SWGoH in 2018, and more than a decade into playing this game, I still enjoy digging into a new kit. Today I keep the “best mods in SWGoH” series rolling with the Best Mods for R5-D4.

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R5-D4 joined the game in May 2026 as part of the Era of the New Republic, and he is a droid with one of the best backstories in Star Wars. In A New Hope, he was the red-and-white astromech the Jawas tried to sell to Owen Lars, right up until his bad motivator blew and Uncle Owen took R2-D2 instead. That moment put R2 on the path to Luke Skywalker and set the whole saga in motion. The short story “The Red One” in From a Certain Point of View later suggested R5 blew that motivator on purpose to help R2, which is why his basic in SWGoH is called The Red One. Decades later, R5-D4 turned up on Tatooine with Peli Motto and joined Din Djarin on Mandalore in The Mandalorian, which explains how he ended up on the New Republic side of this Era. The game describes him as an “Astromech droid who disrupts enemies by sabotaging his bad motivator,” and that is exactly how he plays. Let’s take a look at how we want to focus the mod stat gains for R5-D4 in Galaxy of Heroes.

Note that I have learned that I get a bit wordy in these Best Mods articles, so as a result the TL;DR on mods for R5-D4 is below. I am also keeping the new(er) format on the recommendations below, which I hope continues to make these best mods articles easier to decipher.

Era of the New Republic Characters:

R5-D4 is a big part of the New Republic squad led by Carson Teva, alongside Zeb. You will also need him at Relic 6 for Tier I of Rotta the Hutt’s journey. Other droids worth a look if you are building around astromechs include Chopper, BT-1 and Threepio & Chewie. For every Era and its characters, see our Eras & Era Battles page.

November 2026 Update: R5-D4 is now one of the required units for Galactic Legend The Mandalorian and Grogu at Relic 9 (see our Mandalorian and Grogu unlock guide and the best mods for The Mandalorian and Grogu).

Main Mod Stats to focus on…

Everything about R5-D4 revolves around his second special, Bad Motivator. When he uses it, R5 loses all of his Protection and gains that much Max Health, deals True Damage to all enemies equal to 50% of his Max Health, increases every enemy’s cooldowns by 2 and then drops to 1 Health and Stuns himself for 2 turns. If he is defeated during that Stun, he revives with 50% Health. It is the bad motivator from A New Hope turned into a weapon, and it is a lot of fun to watch.

The catch is that Bad Motivator starts with a 75 turn cooldown. What brings it down is Damage Over Time. Every stack of Damage Over Time R5-D4 inflicts reduces the cooldown of Bad Motivator by 1, and his basic, The Red One, inflicts 2 stacks every time he uses it. His Built for Adventure unique also has him assist whenever another New Republic ally uses a Special ability, and it adds 2 more stacks of Damage Over Time any time an enemy recovers Health or Protection. That means Speed comes first. Every extra turn and every assist is more Damage Over Time, which gets Bad Motivator back online faster. Top players are averaging a little over 315 Speed on R5-D4, and pushing past that is a good goal.

After Speed, it is Potency. The Damage Over Time, Expose and Shock from The Red One all have to land to do their job, and Damage Over Time that gets resisted does nothing for the Bad Motivator cooldown. Top players clearly agree, since Potency is the most popular secondary set and the most popular Cross primary on R5-D4.

Then comes Health and Protection, and here is the interesting part: both of them feed Bad Motivator. Because R5 converts all of his Protection into Max Health before dealing 50% of his Max Health as True Damage, his total Health plus Protection pool is essentially his damage stat. More Health and more Protection means a bigger hit, and it also keeps him alive long enough to cycle the ability more than once. Offense does very little for him, since his big damage is True Damage based on Health, so I would skip it.

So the mod stats to focus on for R5-D4 are Speed first, then Potency, with Health and Protection to make Bad Motivator hit as hard as possible. When you start rolling his secondaries, our mod slicing guide will help you decide which mods are worth the materials.

Which Mod Sets to use & Dev Recommendations for R5-D4

The developers at EA Capital Games recommend Health and Potency for R5-D4. Since both are 2-mod sets, R5 gets three sets, so you can choose which one to double up on based on your best secondary stats: two Health sets and a Potency set if your R5 needs a bigger Health pool for Bad Motivator, or two Potency sets and a Health set if his Damage Over Time is getting resisted. Top players lean toward a Speed set with a Potency set, which is a fine option if you are short on Speed secondaries, but Health and Potency line up best with how Bad Motivator turns his Health into damage. With that in mind, here are my recommendations for the best mods for R5-D4:

Transmitter (Square): The Transmitter mod always has a primary focus on offense.
- Recommended Mod Type: Health
- Recommended Secondary Stats: speed, potency, health and protection
Receiver (Arrow): The Receiver mod can have a primary focus on several stats including speed, critical avoidance, accuracy, health, protection, defense and offense.
- Recommended Mod Type: Health or Potency mod (whichever set you double up on), Speed focus
- Recommended Secondary Stats: potency, health, protection and tenacity
Processor (Diamond): The Processor is always going to have a primary focus on defense.
- Recommended Mod Type: Health
- Recommended Secondary Stats: speed, potency, health and protection
Holo-Array (Triangle): The Holo-Array is a very specialized mod that can have a primary focus on critical chance, critical damage, health, protection, offense and defense.
- Recommended Mod Type: Health or Potency mod (whichever set you double up on), Health focus (Protection focus is a fine alternative)
- Recommended Secondary Stats: speed, potency, health and protection
Data-Bus (Circle): The Data-Bus mod always has a primary focus on either health or protection.
- Recommended Mod Type: Potency mod, Health focus (Protection focus is a fine alternative)
- Recommended Secondary Stats: speed, potency, protection and tenacity
Multiplexer (Plus): The Multiplexer (plus or cross) mod can have a primary focus on potency, tenacity, health, protection, defense or offense.
- Recommended Mod Type: Potency mod, Potency focus
- Recommended Secondary Stats: speed, health, protection and tenacity

R5-D4 Zeta and Omicron

R5-D4 has one Zeta and one Omicron, and both are on his unique, Built for Adventure.

Zeta: This is a must. It is where R5-D4 becomes the engine of the New Republic squad: every stack of Damage Over Time he inflicts gives all allies 10% Max Health (stacking, up to 100%), Bad Motivator increases all enemies’ cooldowns to maximum, Retaliate expiring on an ally triggers every stack of Damage Over Time on the enemy team, and the first time a New Republic ally falls below 50% Health, the whole squad recovers 100% Protection and R5 takes a bonus turn.
Omicron (Territory Wars): With an all non-Galactic Legend New Republic squad, all New Republic allies gain 50% Defense and Tenacity, and Bad Motivator’s cooldown is reduced by 30 at the start of the encounter and every time it is used. That is a huge cut to a 75 turn cooldown, so this is the one to get if your guild leans on New Republic in Territory Wars.

One more fun detail from his unique: every stack of Damage Over Time R5-D4 inflicts also gives The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor) a stack of Whistling Birds (max 20), so the two work well together, just like on Mandalore.

R5-D4 Mods TL;DR

Sets – Health set + Potency set, plus a second Health or Potency set based on your best secondaries
Square – Health mod with speed, potency & health
Arrow – Health or Potency mod, Speed focus with potency, health & protection
Diamond – Health mod with speed, potency & health
Triangle – Health or Potency mod, Health focus with speed, potency & protection
Circle – Potency mod, Health focus with speed, potency & protection
Plus – Potency mod, Potency focus with speed, health & protection
Zeta & Omicron – Built for Adventure (Zeta first, Omicron for Territory Wars)