Talent

Zero Company Uppercut Talent

Kabb Uppercut's fixed Talent: a knockout punch that knocks enemies out of cover and refunds its Action Point on a kill.

Confirmed

Confidence: Confirmed
Verified: 20 August 2026
Version: pre-release (no retail build)

Quick answer

Once per turn, for 1 Action Point plus more depending on how far he travels, Kabb rushes an enemy, hits them for melee damage and knocks them backwards. If the punch kills them, every Action Point it cost is refunded — the travel as well as the strike. Ranks mostly raise its base damage.

Available to: Kabb Uppercut only — fixed, and it persists across every Specialization
Cost: 1 Action Point
First rank: 1 AP plus travel, refunded in full on a kill; knocks the target from cover.
Max rank: Higher base damage. The refund and the once-per-turn limit are the same at every rank.
Tags: displacement, anti-cover, mobile

Build value

What this Talent is actually for

Read it as a movement ability that happens to kill things, because the refund covers the travel: Kabb can spend a full 3 Action Points crossing the map, kill a B1 with the punch, get all three back and carry on as though he had not moved. Rank-and-file enemies are everywhere, so they work as stepping stones, and that makes him one of the most mobile Operators in the game rather than simply a melee one. The consequence for building him is that he does not have to be built for melee at all — a Sharpshooter's worst problem is repositioning and still having the points left to fire, and Kabb can punch someone standing near the high ground he wants, take the ground and shoot from it in the same turn. The same argument applies to a Gunslinger or anything else that lives or dies on position. If you are not going to use it, do not bring him; it is the whole character.

Pairings

Specializations it combines with

A Talent is chosen separately from a class, so these are combinations you assemble yourself rather than anything the game groups for you.

Assault
Bull Rush and Uppercut are both melee displacement that cannot miss, and both take the Strike the Flanks crit bonus against the Exposed targets they create.
Sharpshooter
Punching an enemy out of cover removes the penalty that was protecting it from the squad's longest-range attacker.

What we don't know yet

The game has not been released. These are open questions we have chosen not to guess at.

How the travel surcharge is calculated — how far 1 AP of rush covers before the second point is charged.
Whether the refund is capped at the 3 Action Points a turn normally holds.
Knockback distance, and whether it can push a target into a hazard for an instant kill as Bull Rush can.
Whether the Talent and the ability of the same name are one record or two.
How much the base damage rises per rank.

Other Talents

Sources

Lead Zero Company To Victory on August 27
Electronic Arts · Tier 1 — Official · accessed 6 August 2026
Supports: Operator introductions; 3 Action Points per turn; Advantage caps at 10; the eight Specializations; Bonds in the Personnel Facility; Hawks' species options
Is Z-COM our new X-COM? Star Wars Zero Company gameplay deep dive
ChristopherOdd · Tier 3 — Hands-on preview · accessed 11 August 2026
Supports: 2:13–13:51 — Sweeping Salvo at 4 Advantage with three uses per mission; Hawks granting an ally 1 AP for 3 Advantage; Combat Recon granting 1 Advantage per unit scanned; the Grit Talent's stacking invulnerability; Heavy attacks taunting; the droideka ray shield; the Scout's Spotted status; Defense as flat damage reduction
All Companion Abilities & Skills | Star Wars Zero Company
Dantics · Tier 3 — Hands-on preview · accessed 20 August 2026
Supports: 1:05–3:40 Kabb — starts Scoundrel; Uppercut costs 1 AP plus travel, once per turn, and refunds every point spent on a kill. 5:05–7:00 Trick — starts Soldier; For My Brothers rank by rank: half health, full health, no Injury, then an immediate stand-up refunding 1 AP. 7:02–8:34 Jae — starts Assault, changeable; Final Shot fires once per turn at 4 health or less, rising to 10, cannot miss, and is inactive while she is dead. 8:34–13:50 Tel-Rea — Specialization cannot be changed; Padawan Training's 30% base deflection; Harmony at 4% per stack to six; Noble Stance at +10% per AP; Lightsaber Strike at +4 damage per stack, consuming three; Shockwave at 6 Advantage; Force Meditations in place of Utilities, one slot rising to three; Force Pull, Lightsaber Throw and Elegant Weapon in place of a second Specialization. 13:50–17:55 Cly — Specialization cannot be changed, but dual Specialization adds any of the eight; +3 base Defense from Mandalorian armour; Combat Jump at 2 Advantage and no AP, triggering neither Overwatch nor retaliation; Ruthless at +2 critical damage rising to +6; Electro Web Dart at 2 Advantage; Electro Web Surge detonating on every darted target and ignoring Defense. 17:55–20:05 Luco — starts Sharpshooter; Combat Gas at 2 Advantage, no AP, once per battle, granting Sharpened Senses stacks worth +5% hit and +1 ranged damage each, two rising to six, one consumed per ranged attack. 20:05–21:15 Astromechs — three Utility slots, no blaster, an Action Point handed to another Operator, and an extra passive, ability and Ultimate at dual Specialization