sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseam, but as a new player wanted to get some opinions on a theory I've been running with. We all know the awesomeness that Biggs provides. Under the right circumstances with the right upgrades (astromech and SD) he can roll a maximum of 6 defense die. And if you use him to the best of your ability he's spillting focus fire targets away from your opponent. But he takes one hit and the SD is gone. And you don't have the choice whether they fire on Biggs or not, other than how you position him in regards to your squad. Biggs is very effective at keeping high profile guys alive and splitting fire. No doubts about it. But he dies, and dies alot, and sometimes quickly. So you are basically giving the opponent 25ish points, 1/4 of your squad.

This lead me to examine some cool Luke builds I've seen.

Luke

+R2D2

+Draw their fire

We all know that Luke is very hard to kill with his quasi defensive focus ability and paired with an R2-D2 unit he can re-gen the shields lost every turn, he can take on a ton of hits. The DTF allows you too choose if you take the crit or not. So you can essentially split the damage across two ships at your discretion. Now it is more situational as the crits have to come up and you have to be in range, as opposed to be Biggs just requiring range. But the ability of choosing weather you take the hit of not has been really powerful in the handful of times I've played it.

Thoughts?

Yeah, there's no doubt that Luke w/ R2-D2 & Draw their fire = awesome. Even more awesome is Luke set up that way AND Biggs:

Luke w/ R2-D2 & Draw their Fire

Biggs

2 rookie pilots.

its a great 4X build (arguably the best?).

Recently I've been testing without Biggs and giving Luke an engine upgrade. Not only does that make luke more survivable in the end-game, but with the new tournament format, having a high-point, hard-to-kill ship is more valuable. Because if Luke costs 37 pts and survives the game, I only need to destroy 75 pts of enemy ships to be guaranteed a full victory. Thing is, Biggs adds more survivability in the opening round(s) of fire, so there's definitely a trade-off...

best meatshield is an empty Wedge. Regardless of who else you have, your opponent would go straight for Wedge anyway, so if you are not concerned about using Wedge, he actually functions as a Biggs, with PS9 and an additional effect.

Which is "better" all depends on what you want from them and how you use them.

If you have a number of "weak" ships but know how to fly Biggs carefully to maximize his ability he can do a great job keeping other ships alive. The downfall of Biggs is that he WILL die.

The DTF Luke w/ R2D2 is wonderful at staying alive but doesn't protect nearly as well as Biggs does which can leave other ships vulnerable. While Biggs is often the first to die Luke is often the last to die.

Yeah, there's no doubt that Luke w/ R2-D2 & Draw their fire = awesome. Even more awesome is Luke set up that way AND Biggs:

Luke w/ R2-D2 & Draw their Fire

Biggs

2 rookie pilots.

its a great 4X build (arguably the best?).

Recently I've been testing without Biggs and giving Luke an engine upgrade. Not only does that make luke more survivable in the end-game, but with the new tournament format, having a high-point, hard-to-kill ship is more valuable. Because if Luke costs 37 pts and survives the game, I only need to destroy 75 pts of enemy ships to be guaranteed a full victory. Thing is, Biggs adds more survivability in the opening round(s) of fire, so there's definitely a trade-off...

Luke

+R2-D2

+DTF

A-Wing

2x Blue B's

+Adv Sensors.

I wanted to force myself to fly an A-Wing and have the option of a 4x rebel build. Again I'm really new so my game experience is limited. I still haven't been able to really fly the A. I keep trying to flank with it, but I flank too early or I'm in the wrong spot and it's killed as my opponent marches forward to the rest of my squad. In the 3x games I've played with this list, the A dies first and without a shot taken. But the B's and Luke. The B's have so many shields that it just works to have Luke take the crits to keep them going longer. And with the adv sensors, they can really murder people. And Luke can use his focus almost entirely on offense. Really enjoying this build ATM.