Star Wars Zero Company: Best Kabb Build for Refunding Action Points

Kabb Uppercut punches people into walls for a living, and in Star Wars Zero Company that job description is also a resource engine. His signature talent costs one Action Point, pushes the target backwards, and hands the AP straight back if the punch finishes the job. Build him so that punch kills reliably and Kabb stops being a one-action melee unit.

Quick answer: Run Kabb as Assault with Soldier as the second specialization, rank Fleet of Foot, Strength, and Uppercut first, and aim Uppercut at weakened or ledge-adjacent enemies so the kill refunds the AP.

How the Uppercut AP refund works

Uppercut is Kabb’s fixed talent. It survives any respec, it can be upgraded with Focus like any other node, and it costs 1 AP to use once per turn. Kabb rushes the target, deals melee damage, and pushes it backwards. Every object the target slams into adds +4 impact damage. If that total kills the target, all the Action Points spent on the attack are restored.

Radial ability wheel open in combat with the top ability highlighted around the active operator — Uppercut sits on Kabb’s ability wheel and costs a single Action Point. Image: Bit Reactor

Rank matters because the base damage decides how much health a target can have and still die to one punch.

Uppercut rank	Base damage
I	10
II	11
III	12
IV	14
V	16
VI	18

The number shown in a mission is usually higher than the table, because melee damage passives stack on top of the base value. Impact damage from the push is separate again, which is why the surrounding terrain is part of the calculation.

Two push interactions matter more than raw damage. A target pushed off a walkway or ledge dies outright regardless of remaining health, and a target pushed into an ally’s Overwatch cone triggers that reaction shot. Both count as the kill for refund purposes when they finish the target.

Change Kabb’s starting specialization at the Den

Kabb joins as a Scoundrel, which does nothing for a melee brawler. That specialization can be swapped as soon as you reach the Den, and it can be changed again between missions at no permanent cost. His base sheet explains why he needs help closing distance.

Attribute	Starting value
Health	28
Attack	7
Accuracy	8
Defense / Armor	0 / 0
Action points	1
Movement action points	1
Movement per action point	5 m

Five metres per movement point is not much when the enemy is dug into cover across the map. Everything below is aimed at shortening that walk so the Action Points go into punching instead of commuting.

Primary specialization: Assault

Assault is the close-quarters mobility class, and every part of its kit feeds the Uppercut loop.

Ability	Cost	Effect
Fleet of Foot (passive)	—	+1.0m to +3.0m first movement by rank
Bull Rush (standard)	1 AP	Charge and push; 8–14 base damage, +2m to +8m range
Strike the Flanks (passive)	—	+20% critical chance against Exposed enemies
Sweeping Salvo (ultimate)	4 Advantage	Cone damage plus Disorient; can crit at rank VI

Fleet of Foot is the unglamorous node that decides whether Kabb reaches a target at all on wide maps. Bull Rush gives him a second push on the same turn, with the same +4 impact damage per object the target strikes, so it can set up a second kill or finish one Uppercut left alive. Strike the Flanks pays off directly from the push, since an enemy knocked out of cover is usually Exposed and eating a 20 percent crit bonus from the rest of the squad.

Combat screen with orange CRIT hit markers highlighted over an enemy during an attack — Enemies knocked out of cover become Exposed, and Strike the Flanks turns that into extra critical hits. Image: Bit Reactor

Second specialization: Soldier for damage, Heavy for survival

A second specialization unlocks at Cycle 18. Its Focus Tree upgrades stop at Tier 5, so a secondary class is always slightly weaker than the same class taken as a primary. Astromech and Tel-Rea Vokoss are not available as secondary picks.

Soldier

Ability	Cost	Effect
Strength (passive)	—	+2 to +6 melee damage; +2m to +6m grenade throw range
Brutal Strike (standard)	1 AP	Rush and strike, applying Daze; 12–18 base damage
Armsmaster (passive)	—	+2 blaster and grenade damage
Rocket Strike (ultimate)	10 Advantage	Explosive area damage; applies Vulnerable at rank VI

Strength is the single most important node for making the refund happen, because it raises the damage of every melee button Kabb owns. Brutal Strike is the other half, adding a second 1 AP rush that Dazes the target, which restricts that enemy to non-damaging moves on its next turn. Rocket Strike is the fallback for the turns where the enemy refuses to stand anywhere useful.

Heavy

If Kabb keeps dying, Heavy is the alternative. Conditioning raises his maximum health, Unstoppable grants two stacks of Retaliation so he shoots anyone who attacks him, and Bulwark taunts enemies in a radius to pull fire away from the rest of the squad. It trades damage for staying power, so the Uppercut kills get less reliable in exchange for Kabb surviving the front line.

Warning: On higher difficulties, sending a 28-health operator into the open is how injuries pile up between missions. Pair Kabb with a Medic if you plan to lead with him every fight.

Focus spending order

Twenty-four Focus covers the core of the build. Bull Rush, Brutal Strike, and Rocket Strike are unlocked at rank one for free, so the paid ranks go into movement, melee damage, and the talent itself.

Node	Rank	Focus
Bull Rush (Assault)	1 / 6	0
Brutal Strike (Soldier)	1 / 5	0
Rocket Strike (Soldier)	1 / 5	0
Strength (Soldier)	2 / 4	4
Fleet of Foot (Assault)	3 / 5	6
Uppercut (talent)	3 / 6	7
Sweeping Salvo (Assault)	3 / 6	7

Past that point, keep pushing Uppercut and Strength. Bull Rush rank VI is the other high-value target, since it adds 8 metres of charge range on top of the damage, which effectively gives Kabb a second long-reach push in the same turn.

Weapon and gear for Kabb

Kabb starts with the EE-3 blaster rifle, and a rifle remains the better fit for this build. Blaster rifles have strong base damage and can be fired as a Fast Weapon once per turn for 1 AP, which leaves room for a punch in the same turn. A Repeater hits harder at point-blank range with 2 or 3 AP rapid fire, but firing it consumes all available AP, which shuts down the chain the build is trying to protect. Keep an Ion variant handy for droid-heavy missions.

Amplifier Barrel — +1 blaster damage at close range
High-Energy Capacitor — +2 blaster damage on the first turn of combat
Targeting Scope — reduces an enemy’s cover hit penalty by 10%
Ergonomic Stabilizer — +1 blaster damage after attacking, expiring at end of turn

For utility slots, Repulsor Units Mk. II add +1.0m to every move, stacking with Fleet of Foot. A Medpac heals 30 percent of an ally’s health for 1 AP and is worth carrying on a frontline operator. Concussion Grenade Mk. II deals impact damage and pushes enemies, giving Kabb a second displacement tool when the target is out of rush range.

Squad setup that keeps the loop running

The push is only worth as much as the squad behind it. Enemies knocked out of cover are easy targets, so a sharpshooter or gunslinger in the squad converts Kabb’s displacement into finished kills. Tel-Rea Vokoss brings her own displacement effects, letting you strip cover from two directions in the same turn.

Squad holding position behind crates in a ruined industrial arena with one operator highlighted — Keep ranged operators in cover and in line of sight so they can punish anything Kabb pushes into the open. Image: Bit Reactor

Advantage is a single shared pool for the whole squad, built by damaging enemies, so ultimates compete with each other. Hawks can spend Advantage to refresh one squadmate’s Action Point once per turn, and Kabb is usually the best recipient. That refresh plus an Uppercut refund can turn one turn into three actions.

How to play the turn so the punch kills

Before moving anyone, scan the enemy formation for the weakest target and check what is behind it. A wall, crate, railing, or another enemy adds +4 impact damage per object, and a ledge removes the target entirely.

Spend the free first movement to get Kabb into range, keeping him behind cover where possible. Fleet of Foot and Repulsor Units exist so this move does not cost an Action Point.

Target the chosen enemy and check the push direction before committing. The attack preview highlights the target in red, and the shot will not resolve if the game flags it as an invalid target.

Targeting an enemy outlined in red during combat with an on-screen button prompt — Confirm the target and the push direction before spending the Action Point. Image: Bit Reactor

Tactical view showing an INVALID TARGET warning over a highlighted enemy — An INVALID TARGET warning means the rush cannot be made from that position. Image: Bit Reactor

Fire Uppercut. If the target dies, the AP comes back and you get a second action. Spend it on Bull Rush against the next target, Brutal Strike to Daze a dangerous enemy, or a 1 AP rifle shot from where Kabb now stands.

Save Sweeping Salvo for turns where three or more enemies are lined up in the cone. Disorient carries a 20 percent chance-to-hit penalty on their ranged attacks, which is the cheapest protection Kabb gets while standing in the open.

Confirming the refund worked

The check is immediate. If Uppercut finished the target, Kabb’s Action Point indicator returns to where it was before the attack and his turn does not end. If the target is still standing, the point is gone and you are committed to whatever position the rush left him in, so treat any punch on a full-health enemy as a positioning decision rather than a damage one.

Ledge pushes are the one exception worth chasing every mission. Health totals stop mattering the moment the target leaves the map, which means even a heavily armored enemy can be removed for a single point that you then get back.