Fast Enough - Lando's Falcon 2nd Ed

[Fast Enough - Lando's Falcon 2nd Ed]

Great....more large ships with boost. I thought we were trying to get away from that?

I'm already dreading Fenn + Falcon, why did we need more boost large base that are able to be coordinated?

[X-Wing 2nd edition announced]

11 minutes ago, Djaskim609 said:

50 bucks for each faction conversion kit---FU FFG. This really sucks--I built my collection over time and now I have to shell out this much effing cash? 

You don't have to do anything. You can keep playing 1.0 just fine, no one's holding a gun to your head- especially if you play at home mostly.

[X-Wing 2nd edition announced]

Welp. Looks like I'm in for an account name change. Gotta say FFG, you're really turning this game around! This is EXACTLY what the game needs! Jesus we'll be able to get real time updates for balance via the app! HYPE!

 

[TIE Reaper Preview!]

8 minutes ago, FlyingAnchors said:

RAW, yes.

AH NM, you can't use it to clear even with Mk.2 because it specifically says you can't do it when stressed. Sounds liek  the system officer might work though.

[TIE Reaper Preview!]

1 hour ago, Rakaydos said:

On the contrary, you must perform the white bank, but you may treat that white bank AS IF it was green.

See also Daredevil+R2 astromech. 

Can we Aileron 1 bank with TIE Mk.2, clear stress, and then perform a red manuver? Cause that would be friggin' METAL with a 1 sloop.

[Dear Carolina Krayts...]

You better be working HARD on a 'Carolina Reapers' list! Just sayin'!

Just think of all the spicy memes!

Also, google image search turned up this gem:

[Ban Veteran Instincts]

4 minutes ago, Unremarkable Cardboard Box said:

Krennick further improves aces like Vader and Quick draw.

You can't apply the Optimized Prototype condition to any 'First Order' Ships. IE FOs, S/Fs, Silencer, etc. Just FYI.

But yeah man, I'm all with you, I say cap PS at a max of 9 and call it good!

[ISB Slicer - Question]

Just now, ficklegreendice said:

I know everyone's excited for palp, but this'll probably be the sleeper hit

only real weakness is how fragile the reaper is. You're looking at a VI vermeil to maximize PS (so they have tokens to knock off before you jam em again), so 29 points base.

You'll take unmodified dice from whoever you jam, but you're still a B-wing 

LWF is amazing on a 1 Agility Ship. 2 green dice pretty much all the time.

[ISB Slicer - Question]

Wanted to break this out of the preview thread. So, with ISB Slicer, if you use Jam on an enemy ship that already took a focus/evade/TL action that round, you strip the token, immediately discard the jam...

Now, can you choose the same ship (which is not jammed because it stripped a token) and assign a jam to it? Is that what the timing here implies? If so that's some bonkers action economy. One action of mine for two of my opponents.

[TIE Reaper Preview!]

Whisper + VI + Adv. Sensors + Director Krennic + Adv. Cloaking Device.....assign the prototype to Whisper.....

.....think about that one for a second.

[The problem is not complexity]

7 hours ago, Kdubb said:

The day QuickDraw is the tippy top pilot of the game will be a beautiful one. 

 

She (he? Can’t recall) has no outlandish repositioning to avoid strong piloting of lower ps ships, does not drop infinite amounts of bombs, does not have a way to regenerate shields, cannot turtle in such a way that 2 attack dice ships never hit, and does not have a turret. One of the least NPE top tier pilots you could ever ask for. I would sing praises to the heavens if QD was the best of the best. Because if that was the case, I would be playing the game I loved again.

QD is easily, by a HUGE margin, the best balanced 'S-Tier' ship in the game. Is she powerful? Absolutely! Can she be managed and counterplayed against? YES!

AT MOST she gets 3 activations of her ability. If you play well against her and stack a high burst attack on her shields, she only gets one. Other than that, she's a solid ship but will absolutely melt to focused fire. She's not the best points fortress, she can't regen, abuse TLTs, or abuse infinite bombs.

If QD was top of the pile, this game would be in a MUCH better state. Ships like QD have counterplay.

[Saw's Renegades double S-Foils]

I really love new previews, it's a great reading comprehension test.

[The perfect second crew for Lowhhrick?]

Rebels totally needed more solid, Rebel Only crew options! Maybe this will be the power spike that makes Rebels competitive!

[Poll: What’s your favorite ship maneuver?]

I just love flying Wookie Gunships and doing like 15 white 2 turns in a row. I really like Wookies because they showcase my skill at maneuvering. I'm so good at X-Wing!

[Xwing is suffering despite what the clickbaiters say]

1 hour ago, clanofwolves said:

Please ignore my ignorance, but I cannot recall, and haven’t ingested enough tea to investigate, which came first, Turret-Wing (counter to Ace-Wing) or Autothruster-Wing (counter to Turret-Wing)? We’ve got some amazing Aces in the game now, but it seems around here, it’s still Turret-Wing that’s the top dog by far.

Autothrusters came out in Wave 6 with the StarViper expansion. Fat turrets were a big thing quite a bit before that.

As for why Turret Wing (tm) is top dog? Because turrets take 0 skill. Ability to not care about arcs is HUGE in this game, and while turrets are so potent (looking at you TLT), Aces will take a back seat.

[poll: how long have you been playing?]

Playing for two years, only play the Quickdraw Faction. Bought my Raider exactly one week before the old Palp Nerf.

Not happy with the state of the game, though it is better than last year.

Biggest complaint: The top meta ships for Rebels are WAY too easy to fly and/or have trivially easy abilities to use. For example:

Miranda, No Counterplay: Got into range 1 of Miranda through great maneuvering? Congrats! Now eat a 4 dice PWT attack AND a Sabine Bomb. Her ability synergizes too well with multiple problem cards (5 dice Harpoons, TLTs). I think it should ONLY be usable in-arc, with her primary. No K's should have PWTs.

Lowrisk, Too EZ Mode: I wonder what action the Wookie will take? REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. REINFORCE. There is NO meaningful decision-making when it comes to Wookies. Their dials are WAY too good for a ship with a 180 degree arc. This ship is the most skill-less hunk of gosa in the verse. I hate this ship, hate reinforce in 100/6, and hate people who fly them. Ideal but unrealistic solution: Give wookies the Lambda dial. Actual Solution: Drop attack to 2 OR remove EPT from all pilots.

Nym, Too Versatile: This abomination of a ship really wins the award for poorest ship design since the JM5K. Huge upgrade bar, tons of easily abused combo-tastic slots, AND WHY IN THE LOVE OF GOD DOES IT HAVE AN EPT??? PS 10 Nym should NEVER have been a part of this game. Remove EPT from all Scurrg pilots, problem solved.

Fenn, Too Powerful: Another ship that should NEVER have had an EPT. PS11 Coordinate is really, really dumb. Combined with the Ghost's Engine Upgrade, it removes a ton of counterplay options from your opponent. I don't mind the Sheathipede in other ways (like Stressezra), but PS11 Coordinate Fenn is WAY too much for the power curve of this game. Remove EPT from all pilots, still a great ship. Problem solved.

Ghost: Lets be honest, TLT spam isn't fun. Honestly, Phantom and Phantom II should never be allowed in the same list. FAQ to make them mutually exclusive. You either get Fenn/Ezra OR double-tap TLTs. NOT BOTH. Ghost is fine otherwise, it just gets inflated because of the current state of combo-wing.

This current cadre of non skill-expressive ships bums be out. Tier S Rebels are too easy to fly, too easy to implement, and too combo-tastic for most lists to stand a chance against. While I'm happy that multiple Rebel archetypes are having success, I'm disappointed that the list building for X-Wing is so much more important than good flying. Most Rebel lists currently have a playstyle of: "Don't crash into obstacles, vomit a ton of red dice at your opponent in any direction, and fall back on too reliable defensive abilities when you get caught out."

We have a ways to go until this game is balanced.

[Xwing is suffering despite what the clickbaiters say]

7 minutes ago, clanofwolves said:

Leaving the Jumpmaster's upgrades and pilot skills alone and simply giving it the Lambda dial...

This is my proposed fix for Wookies- they wouldn't be quite so EZ mode if they actually had a restrictive dial. Imagine if you saw a Wookie take a maneuver other than a white 2 turn! Also, with a Lambda dial their arc would actually make sense.

[Xwing is suffering despite what the clickbaiters say]

1 hour ago, DelGriffen said:

TLT don’t bother me as much anymore, it’s all about hugging them and not letting go. Pretty much like Dash, stay in the doughnut 

How's that work against Miranda who can tag you with a 4 dice PWT at Range 1? Or Ghosts with 2 Arcs (5 dice) and PS 11 Coordinate?

[Xwing is suffering despite what the clickbaiters say]

39 minutes ago, FatherTurin said:

I’ve gotten lost somewhere along the way.  Is the problem that there are unfun interactions that reduce the skill level needed to compete at the top levels of competitive play, or at least require said players to take a similar list to avoid getting creamed by (as famously stated by PGS) a kid smearing ice cream on his face?

Or is the problem that these abilities are found on ships that you personally do not like from a show that you personally did not enjoy?

Definitely the first, I think 'known' vs. 'unknown' ships is a silly argument, especially considering that the ship the game is named after has ALWAYS been terrible.

PGS hit this right on. Well said.

[Xwing is suffering despite what the clickbaiters say]

Hard to say if X-Wing is suffering or not, everyone is really only armed with anecdotal evidence either way. Really only FFG knows the truth of their sales figures.

I think, ultimately, the game is in a better place now than last year at the same time. There is definitely a more diverse set of lists being flown at top cuts, even if they are all Rebel- and that's a step in the right direction. I think the Reaper release is going to bring Imperials back into the limelight (Palp Aces is going to come roaring back, and Krennic Aces are going to be good too), so I'm not worried about Imps. I am worried about Scum. The JM5K nerf showed that it was really their only tier S ship, and Assaj is having a hard time holding the faction up. Scum definitely needs some love.

There is one thing I'm not happy about with the current 'Meta' lists. They have a high skill floor, and are not really 'skill expressive'. I have never, ever watched/seen a Lothal/Fenn list win a match and feel like it took skill. You basically just fly around trying not to land on obstacles, and then roll furious amounts of dice all while denying all of your opponents agency with easy to use abilities. I fell like Lothal/Fenn could be flown by a trained dog or monkey- and that's just not what I want to be top dog in the game. Same goes for Miranda and Lowrisk- both these ships are just retardedly easy to fly, super forgiving if you make mistakes, have no counterplay, and ultimately very boring to see on the table. Miranda especially is a bummer, because she's just this amazing unequaled point-fortress- and I really hate the fortress strategies that have become a regular part of the game. The Loopin' Chewie incident was a real eye-opener, and a really sad commentary on why we don't want/need regen point fortresses in the game AT ALL.

I'm hoping Duncan Howard shows us the true skill path by winning worlds with Palp Aces, but alas I think Rebels have this one in the bag.

34 minutes ago, Gilarius said:

Do certain things need balancing better? Yes.

Is the sky falling? No.

I think this sums it up. The game needs improvement, but we are getting better. I THINK.

[The Upsilon Shuttle.]

21 hours ago, Commander Kaine said:

The Empire seems to be the faction where every idea is safely tested out, ever careful about the possible combinations and synergies. At least in the last 6-7 waves. This is good.

What isn't, is that rebel and scum ships rarely have these careful considerations. Rebel and Scum ships are not conservative in design, they go wild. There are many many examples of this. This is bad. 

I nominate Commander Kaine to take over for Alex Davy. All in favor?

[The Upsilon Shuttle.]

5 hours ago, MaxPower said:

I really dislike how over the top some forumites reactions are. This is what led to the contracted scout crisis.

If the upsilon were 8 points cheaper, it would be the best ship in the game. And utter bull. I mean... it would be in every palp ace build ever, and those lists are already very potent.

8 points may be a bit much, but even at that extreme level:

Starkiller Base Pilot 22 (down from 30) + FCS +Palp + Pattern Analyzer: 34 points. Would it be good? Sure, Palp Aces would be definitely stronger. But would it be game breaking? Hardly. It still dies just as fast as a Lambda, gives up half points easy, and is super-easy to arc-dodge. The 'Best Ships' in the game get to ignore multiple game mechanics. This wouldn't even be close to something like the VCX- even at the full 8pt discount. Plus, I think we can all agree that a full squad of 4 Upsilons with FCS throwing 16 dice at opponents would be hella metal.

[The Upsilon Shuttle.]

11 hours ago, Commander Kaine said:

It's just curious to see how often they err on the side of the rebels.

Yeah, funny how that works.

[Harpoons Imp+Scum only]

Having TLT equipped to an upgrade slot should disable your Primary weapon and get rid of all your bomb slots. One of the main problems with TLT is there's no counterplay vs ships like Ghost, Nym, or Miranda. Got into range 1? Well get ready to eat free bomblets and 5 dice primary attacks!

[The Upsilon Shuttle.]

I want to like the Upsilon, but alas, arc-bound large ships are hot garbage, and this one is about 5-8 points overcosted. I've played with mine extensively, and they never seem to be worth their staggeringly high cost. 4 dice attack seems really good until you realize that this ship isn't the Ghost with an Aux. arc AND a turret slot. LOL.

To fix it, I'd make an ace pack for it that has new dials/cardboard (give it a K turn), and give it a rear Aux arc. Maybe a title that allows you to use a coordinate action at the beginning of the combat phase (take that Fenn!).