So there's been a lot of discussion lately about the Defender and its viability, in no small part thanks to its unique dial. Anyone gotten a chance to use theirs yet? And I'm only talking real physical ones, not Vassels or proxies. Legit ships only.

I fought against on in the final and found it underwhelming. I was able to focus it down fairly fastin only two combat exchanges.

I did use it in the finals to day it is fun, I like it is less squishy than an Interceptor but more agile than a Firespray, I took Rexlar Brath with Predator, and focused every round I was able, and I was happy with his performance Best part of the defender is you can try K-turning more because lets say you are jousting, you can take the k-turn and either A) you pull it off B) you bump and you are no worse off than if you pulled a 4straight and bumped

I did use it in the finals to day it is fun, I like it is less squishy than an Interceptor but more agile than a Firespray, I took Rexlar Brath with Predator, and focused every round I was able, and I was happy with his performance Best part of the defender is you can try K-turning more because lets say you are jousting, you can take the k-turn and either A) you pull it off B) you bump and you are no worse off than if you pulled a 4straight and bumped

In the friendly match I played after getting my ship, I took Brath and gave him Ion Cannon and Outmaneuver. Now, Ioning a ship into an asteroid is nice, but ioning Tycho (that evasive little scamp)into an asteroid is truly gratifying. I also found the 3 turns to be very useful, so long as you planned a turn ahead to set yourself up. He's a great fast striker.

Mine died so fast I never got to really experience it.

I was running rebels in the final match and it took me several rounds of firing to take down the Defender. I had a round where my entire fleet had range 1 shots (Blount, Knave, and 2 Blues) and only took off a single shield.

Mine died after 3 range 1 shots and 2 range 2 shots - total of 17 attack dice. I did get a direct hit crit which didn't help though.

Mine died after 3 range 1 shots and 2 range 2 shots - total of 17 attack dice. I did get a direct hit crit which didn't help though.

That sounds pretty tough. How much damage did it shell out in the meantime?

I only got off one range 1 shot on the z-95 without a focus as it was spent on defense already. I don't' remember how much damage I did, all I know is that I had a bounty hunter at range 1 as well and combined they only did 2 damage to the z-95.

I liked the fact that I could k-turn and still take an action, something that you can talk about to death but still feels strange when doing.

I also liked the fact that, despite it being a smaller based ship with the abilities of a larger ship, I could barrel roll. I almost forgot it had that ability.

3 everything is nice and all, making it durable, agile and a hard hitter, but my biggest problem was tight turning.

In a center of the table dogfight your only choice is the white k, making you predictable. You could certainly take that 1- or 2-turn, but it'll cost you an action unless you put either Adrenaline Rush or Yorr in your squad, and even with that you're spending precious squad points to...turn. Granted, Yorr is the better choice in terms of versatility and how many times you can use his ability versus Adrenaline Rush.

Also I could see using the ion and hlc to my advantage in future games. Another plus.

Yea I couldn't even have the pleasure of doing the white kturn with my defender as I had fat a** han in my way who moves last.

I used it today, and took out a B-Wing, the E-Wing, and the Z-95 of a 4 ship list with just the Defender. I had lost the Phantom turn 2 and the Defender almost won single handed. My opponent had a B-Wing with 1 shield and 3 hull left when he finally offed the Defender.

I was very happy with it!

I enjoyed using it, but I already have a pretty good handle on how far a 3 turn gets you, I use it a lot with my Interceptors (no one ever seems to expect an interceptor to do them i guess?). The Defender practically mandates that you be excellent at planning your dials a turn ahead, with a clear route to turn through. Either that or you try to fishtail through the back end of the fight, something that an Outmaneuvering Defender is perfectly happy to do...

Yea I couldn't even have the pleasure of doing the white kturn with my defender as I had fat a** han in my way who moves last.

I would pay money to have a rematch against Han. That nerf herder cost me the match! Yeah, perhaps my lack of planning might have had something to do with it...but it's Han's fault, dammit!

I enjoyed using it, but I already have a pretty good handle on how far a 3 turn gets you, I use it a lot with my Interceptors (no one ever seems to expect an interceptor to do them i guess?). The Defender practically mandates that you be excellent at planning your dials a turn ahead, with a clear route to turn through. Either that or you try to fishtail through the back end of the fight, something that an Outmaneuvering Defender is perfectly happy to do...

Well to be fair 90% of the time interceptors are stressed from PTL so a 2 turn usually is more effecient

Anyway, I look forward to using the Defender more and getting more proficient with it. Something tells me he's going to be the bane of Huge ships and YTs.

Used it yesterday and it was the MVP in the finals, taking a few shots but dishing them out in return.

Sadly I never got to use Rexler's ability - as either his token was removed (Wes Janson) or the target took enough hits to die.

There was at least two instances where the white Koio & Green 5 forward made a noticeable difference.

Used a Delta in the AOIA final this arvo with a HLC and was underwhelmed with the points to performance/ability ratio (might have just been my poor piloting though?) I think the Defender will go alright with an engine or with a specific role/support in mind.

The only experience i have gad with the Defender is when i played against it in Imdaar Alpha event final.

I had picked the E-Wing and Corran Horn and basically what happened was that Rexler took my 3 shields and then i double tapped him. It didn't even get to use the dreaded white K-Turn.

Was a short experience but it didn't allow to make for a lot of predictions since it lasted only one combat phase...

I think that the Tie defender is more suited to the ion cannon in its build than any other ship. It ions then flips in behind and keeps hitting the same ship and forcing it ahead of it.

The only issue is that the defender doesn't have a 1 move available but it could barrel roll and keep staying behind. But it then loses a TL or Focus action to roll instead.

I think that the Tie defender is more suited to the ion cannon in its build than any other ship. It ions then flips in behind and keeps hitting the same ship and forcing it ahead of it.

The only issue is that the defender doesn't have a 1 move available but it could barrel roll and keep staying behind. But it then loses a TL or Focus action to roll instead.

Not with Vessery which is IMO the better of the 2 unique pilots. If you make the right build that synergie well with it, not only do you get a target lock every single battle, you can even get it while stressed and use it!

I think that the Tie defender is more suited to the ion cannon in its build than any other ship. It ions then flips in behind and keeps hitting the same ship and forcing it ahead of it.

The only issue is that the defender doesn't have a 1 move available but it could barrel roll and keep staying behind. But it then loses a TL or Focus action to roll instead.

I've found so far that Brath is better at staying behind the opponent because they're more likely to move after him (and therefor be out of the way if you're a bit close). Also from most angles, the 1 bank still works to keep them in arc.