Elite dark troopers were a variant of dark troopers used by the Galactic Empire. With a more exaggerated helmet and far more advanced programming than standard dark troopers, these advanced battle droids were meant to serve as "super soldiers". They carried blaster cannons, SE-14c pistols, fragmentation grenades, thermal detonators, and concussion grenades. They, like all dark troopers, proved to be very effective in battle. Unlike Phase I dark troopers, these soldiers saw many more battles and were more experienced. The early elite dark troopers were cyborg clones, but were changed to droids.