State of the meta

[thorrk 79]

Hello guys,

 

I am new to armada, so far I've bought a  starter set and a couple of expansions just to have fun with my brother. I am loving it and as soon as i find a good gaming group  i will  try the game competitively. 

 

But before further investments, I would like to know a bit more about the metagame in tournament and how does the game looks like at a competitive level.

 

I know that the game is pretty new and the meta is probably going to be shaken with the wave 2, but still I would like to acknowledge the current meta. For me it's the best way to measure how good the balance is, which is a huge factor for me.

 

By looking around I have seen a lot of different builds and combos, but as a beginner i have no idea what is part of the meta and what is just fun/original/experimental builds.

 

So if you guys can show me where i can find a list of the most popular/successful list from both alliance and empire that would be great.

 

Thanks

[Derpzilla88 1,092]

In my personal opinion, the meta still seems very all over the place. With only one set of expansions there doesn't seem to be too much of a "set" meta so far. I can tell you what I have seen so far, and anyone else can either add to it or correct me if I'm wrong.

 

- Victory-I's seem far more popular in fleet builds than Victory-II's because damage output for the imperials is important. Having black dice to attack with can win games from sheer number of  hits at the expense of needing to get close with your ships.

 

- Mon Mothma appears to be the best Rebel fleet admiral so far. Her ability gives a lot more survivability to the rebel ships.

 

- Gladiators function the best when equipped with Wulff Yularen and Engine Techs.

 

- Starfighter squadrons with Bomber are Rebel fleets best friends.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Derpzilla88

[Lyraeus 4,759]

[Green Knight 8,472]

In my personal opinion, the meta still seems very all over the place. With only one set of expansions there doesn't seem to be too much of a "set" meta so far. I can tell you what I have seen so far, and anyone else can either add to it or correct me if I'm wrong.

 

- Victory-I's seem far more popular in fleet builds than Victory-II's because damage output for the imperials is important. Having black dice to attack with can win games from sheer number of  hits at the expense of needing to get close with your ships.

 

- Mon Mothma appears to be the best Rebel fleet admiral so far. Her ability gives a lot more survivability to the rebel ships.

 

- Gladiators function the best when equipped with Wulff Yularen and Engine Techs.

 

- Starfighter squadrons with Bomber are Rebel fleets best friends.

I might claim the opposite:

- A-wings are a rebel's best friend

- Glads want to come in pairs (or triples) and only need acms

- All 3 rebel commanders are good for their cost

- Vic ii with gunnery teams rule the battlefield

Which 'proves' there's no set meta atm :-)

[Truthiness 5,140]

Wave 2 just flipped over the board. Ask us again a few months after wave 2 has officially dropped. There's a lot in there that's going to change the meta.

[Lyraeus 4,759]

Wave 2 just flipped over the board. Ask us again a few months after wave 2 has officially dropped. There's a lot in there that's going to change the meta.

I think I might do a State of the Meta Transition video. . . Pretty much what I think may occur over the next few months. . . sadly I dont think that wave 2 will be available for Worlds. . . 

[wittybanter 18]

--ACMs and Screed have insane damage output. If you have 3 ACMS on your fleet (Glads or Vics) you are going to generally win the close range game

 

--A CR90, angled right, can dish out as much damage as a Victory's front arc with a Concentrate Fire command (and they pick their command every turn). Mon Mothma can keep them alive.

 

--If you want to survive against Black Dice ships move fast. 

 

--Squads are not weak per se, but they are MUCH harder to play properly and win with than just a cap ship build.

 

I am pumped that wave 2 has enhanced comms to make squad commands long range. That and the card that changes dials to squad commands is going to make a carrier a lot more effective.

[grg86 3]

A few of these have been said before but after playing for a month and attending two Sullust events, these are my thoughts on the meta.

Rebels

• Assault Frigates with enhanced Armaments and Advanced Projections
• Mon Mothma is very popular but the others are not far off
• Salvation and X17 turbo lasers on Nebulons, X17 Turbolasers in general tbh.
• Dodonna's Pride or Jaina's Light for the Corvettes
• Awing or Ywing spam. With Luke or Tycho. (never see Bwings...)

Imperials

• Multiple Glads with combinations of Screed, ACMs, Engine techs and Demolisher. 
• Victory 2s as ether carriers or Front arc batteries with Gunnery teams 
• Rhymer is very popular but then all characters seem to be. Mostly in a pair to bounce special rules around/off each other.
• All variations of the tie work really well. Often in some mixed group. Only exception I've seen is the Advanced seems the least popular. 

 

General points

• Rebels always include at least one Assault Frigate in a 4 ship list or 3 ship list and a solid unit of squadrons while Imperials general go for 2-3 ships.
• Theres really no focus in the two areas I've played in terms of everyone running pure ship builds over squadrons or visa versa. Ether you have 3-5 squadrons or you have none. Personally I've had great success with two ship + 6 Squadrons as Imps but playing 4 ship lists requires some luck/good tactics.
• Objective wise its hard to say. Seems a real mix but I've won almost all my bids with 3-4 points. My list has been built around going 2nd so I've played ALOT of Precision Strike and a little bit of Minefields. No one ever lets my Hyperspace Assault. Rebel wise I've seen a real variety of objectives played.
  
   

[thorrk 79]

• Awing or Ywing spam. With Luke or Tycho. (never see Bwings...)

   

   

• Interesting , I have the exact opposite feeling about this, the B-wings seems to me the most popular among the rebel list I have seen.

[Drasnighta 25,436]

The Problem with describing "The Meta" is there doesn't seem to be an over-arching, world-wide Meta.

 

We all have our little Sub-Group Metas that don't seem to directly interact.

 

I mean, even here, the Meta varies Wildly between the two main stores that run Events.  And that's just within the City of Calgary...

[clontroper5 4,014]

The Problem with describing "The Meta" is there doesn't seem to be an over-arching, world-wide Meta.

 

We all have our little Sub-Group Metas that don't seem to directly interact.

 

I mean, even here, the Meta varies Wildly between the two main stores that run Events.  And that's just within the City of Calgary...

This is actually very good news!

It means the game is well balanced

[Drasnighta 25,436]

 

The Problem with describing "The Meta" is there doesn't seem to be an over-arching, world-wide Meta.

 

We all have our little Sub-Group Metas that don't seem to directly interact.

 

I mean, even here, the Meta varies Wildly between the two main stores that run Events.  And that's just within the City of Calgary...

This is actually very good news!

It means the game is well balanced

 

 

 

Again, of course, that's my personal experience with it...  

The Sentry Box is generally very Fighter-Centric.  We had the odd player experimenting with All-Ship builds, but generally, they're punished by the Bomber Players...  

I *may* have had something to do with this...  ::innocent eyeroll::

[Reiryc 619]

Welcome to armada club!

2 rules

1. We don't talk about armada club

2. We don't use the word meta as its overused and just silly.

Please send your dues marked payable to reiryc

[Iskander4000 142]

After GenCon there was talk about how the meta was as many ships as you could squeeze into a list with 3 or fewer squadrons, but within a few weeks it seemed like we all snapped out of that. I like that there is a lot of variation, and hopefully Wave 2 will make that even better. The one thing that I have noticed, at least locally, is that going first is very popular. Which is fine with me, since I much prefer to go second.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Iskander4000

[Green Knight 8,472]

After GenCon there was talk about how the meta was as many ships as you could squeeze into a list with 3 or fewer squadrons, but within a few weeks it seemed like we all snapped out of that. I like that there is a lot of variation, and hopefully Wave 2 will make that even better. The one thing that I have noticed, at least locally, is that going first is very popular. Which is fine with me, since I much prefer to go second.

 

Going second is very nice. Not so much if you're outnumbered in ships.

[Drasnighta 25,436]

After GenCon there was talk about how the meta was as many ships as you could squeeze into a list with 3 or fewer squadrons, 

\

 

This is systemic of the issue I believe there is, in the fact that there is no overarching Meta.  GenCon was the one time we've had so far when a lot of people from varying areas all came together - Now, that being said, it was still a collection of relatively local metas with an emphasis on the US market, with no doubt a few outliers, but for the most part...

It was still a shock to a lot of us that it did what it did, and like most experiments with very few actual points of Data, its impossible to weedle out any other artifacts from the experimental measure.

[Boardy 79]

Right now, on the cusp of Wave 2, it's basically primordial muck. It can evolve in any way. Right now, no one really knows. Which, IMO, is one of the best things about this game.