Why not just make the advanced fix -2 modification and gives it a system slot?

1. Because just giving the ship a system slot doesn't help it any unless you spend even more points on it.
2. At 19 points it costs the same, adjusted for PS, as the TIE Interceptor.
3. You'll still take Vader over any other pilot, all the time.
4. Do we really want to see Advanced Sensors TIE Advanced?

1.The -2 balances out some of those extra points from the slot

2. The trade being boost and +1 attack and a better dial vs 2 shields then seems like a balanced trade off

3. How is that Different then Fel being used over basically any interceptor? (Turr is the only one even in the ballpark and Soontir is still more popular I think

4.Yes I do, if it isn't broken for a B-wing with the same action bar as a Tie Advanced why would it be bad for an Advanced to have it?

back on Topic, what might be fun is

Vader-Outmaneuver, Engine Upgrade

2x Onyx Squadron Defenders

or if you are dead set on 2 Advanceds

Rexlar-Predator

2x Storm Squadrons-either concussion or cluster missiles, and either stealth Devices or hull upgrades

3 ships with 6 HP and 3 Agility will be hard to kill and being able to launch an opening missile salvo+the Defender having an extra die will probably make this better then trying to just do a 3x Advanced build( which if you wanted you could do Vader+4pt missile, outmaneuver and engine upgrade instead of Brath)

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

They should not have done the retrofit for the Awings for the same reason. Now you can squeeze six PS1 awings into 100 points.

The only way I see them fixing advanced is to let them take system upgrades. Advanced Ties with Advanced Sensors would be very interesting. Maybe add a new targetting computer or something to add more firepower.

I have always been on the fence with the TIE Advanced. If you give Maarek PTL and EU and Vader EU they can dance about being extremely hard to hit shielded interceptors with less output and generally speaking, your opponent will not focus on them because they dont have the highest damage output. This is where their strength is. They are like Awings. Really effing annoying but sometimes not worth your time to deal with as the other stuff.

My money is on the fact that they will be releasing updates to the wave 1 and 2 ships in the coming releases.

Continuous improvement by Wave. I am not counting astromechs, EPTs, ordinance or upgrades as directed fixes.

Wave 1:

Xwing:

+addition of more unique pilots

Ywing:

~addition of EPT, one through unique astromech (so part marks for this fix)

?bombing ability?

TIE Fighter:

(Not sure they need fixing to be honest.)

TIE Advanced:

?advanced sensors?

?price reduction?

Wave 2:

Awing (Rebel Aces to be released

+price reduction

+unique pilots

+titles

YT-1300

?More crew?

TIE Interceptor

+unique pilots

+titles

Firespray 31

?More crew?

Who knows.

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

They should not have done the retrofit for the Awings for the same reason. Now you can squeeze six PS1 awings into 100 points.

How exactly would 5 TIE Advanceds be game breaking? That concept does not scare me at all...

As for 6 PS1 A-Wings... How is that worse than 8 PS1 TIE Fighters? Or 6 PS2 TIE Bombers? Or 5 PS1 TIE Interceptors?

Some suggestions of Squadrons that include 2 Tie Advanced. I think that with more than that. it's hard to stay competitive.

Storm Squadron + Cluster Missiles

Storm Squadron + Cluster Missiles

Gamma Squadron + Flechette Torpedo + Seismic Charges

Captain Jonus + Seismic Charges

Or:

Storm Squadron + Homing Missiles

Storm Squadron + Homing Missiles

Obsidian Pilot

Obsidian Pilot

Howlrunner

Or:

Storm Squadron + Homing Missiles

Storm Squadron + Homing Missiles

Black Squadron

Black Squadron

Backstabber

Or:

Darth Vader + Homing Missiles + Adrenaline Rush + Engine Upgrade

Maarek Stele + Homing Missiles + PtL

Obsidian Pilot

Obsidian Pilot

Why not just make the advanced fix -2 modification and gives it a system slot?

1. Because just giving the ship a system slot doesn't help it any unless you spend even more points on it.
2. At 19 points it costs the same, adjusted for PS, as the TIE Interceptor.
3. You'll still take Vader over any other pilot, all the time.
4. Do we really want to see Advanced Sensors TIE Advanced?

1.The -2 balances out some of those extra points from the slot

2. The trade being boost and +1 attack and a better dial vs 2 shields then seems like a balanced trade off

3. How is that Different then Fel being used over basically any interceptor? (Turr is the only one even in the ballpark and Soontir is still more popular I think

4.Yes I do, if it isn't broken for a B-wing with the same action bar as a Tie Advanced why would it be bad for an Advanced to have it?

1. Yes the -2 point adjustment helps, but in this case it would simply set the default cost at 19, and you would rarely see people use the system slot.
2. The Interceptor would still be slightly better, so you wouldn't see much use of the TIE Advanced at that point, outside of Vader. My main point was that having different ships at different cost structures is A Good Thing. Especially since FFG introduced the ship at 21 points to be equivalent to the X-wing, why would you want to significantly deviate from that?
3. You are making a straw man argument: there are MANY other Interceptor pilots in use in Regionals lists. The same cannot be said for TIE Advanced; even when they were used occasionally in Store Championship lists it was almost always exclusively Vader. Vader is significantly better than any of the other TIE Advanced for the cost, whereas Fel is only slightly better for the cost.
4. It's not just an issue of "broken" and "balance", but functionality. Again, why radically change the ship from FFG's initial design if you don't need to?

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

Citation? There is zero evidence for this view. If you're worried about 5 TIE Advanced, then imagine facing 7 Z-95s and 1 A-wing...

Edit:

... or 5 A-wings and Tarn + R7. The A-wing doesn't get used competitively right now. It accounts for less than one percent of points in the Regionals results. I actually like the -2 refit cost. Now the Advanced needs its fix too.

Maarek Stele and opportunist are a match made in heaven. It is my current favorite combo. I have been running Yorr along with him and pulling a stress free K-turn and letting Maarek whip some butt is nice! Maarek becomes very deadly the more dice he throws and opportunist gives him that advantage. At range one he is a beast. I love the Advanced but it is a broken ship due to being too expensive but it can take a beating that would leave an X-wing in ruins.

Why not just make the advanced fix -2 modification and gives it a system slot?

1. Because just giving the ship a system slot doesn't help it any unless you spend even more points on it.
2. At 19 points it costs the same, adjusted for PS, as the TIE Interceptor.
3. You'll still take Vader over any other pilot, all the time.
4. Do we really want to see Advanced Sensors TIE Advanced?

1.The -2 balances out some of those extra points from the slot

2. The trade being boost and +1 attack and a better dial vs 2 shields then seems like a balanced trade off

3. How is that Different then Fel being used over basically any interceptor? (Turr is the only one even in the ballpark and Soontir is still more popular I think

4.Yes I do, if it isn't broken for a B-wing with the same action bar as a Tie Advanced why would it be bad for an Advanced to have it?

1. Yes the -2 point adjustment helps, but in this case it would simply set the default cost at 19, and you would rarely see people use the system slot.
2. The Interceptor would still be slightly better, so you wouldn't see much use of the TIE Advanced at that point, outside of Vader. My main point was that having different ships at different cost structures is A Good Thing. Especially since FFG introduced the ship at 21 points to be equivalent to the X-wing, why would you want to significantly deviate from that?
3. You are making a straw man argument: there are MANY other Interceptor pilots in use in Regionals lists. The same cannot be said for TIE Advanced; even when they were used occasionally in Store Championship lists it was almost always exclusively Vader. Vader is significantly better than any of the other TIE Advanced for the cost, whereas Fel is only slightly better for the cost.
4. It's not just an issue of "broken" and "balance", but functionality. Again, why radically change the ship from FFG's initial design if you don't need to?

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

Citation? There is zero evidence for this view. If you're worried about 5 TIE Advanced, then imagine facing 7 Z-95s and 1 A-wing...

Giving it a system slot is incredibly good but not game-breaking.

1. Advanced Sensors would be great, and would allow for dogfighting. Opens up the role for a tanky, nimble medium support fighter. Think Multi-role airplanes, used by the Navy. That's what the Imperials lack, is a middle choice. (We have the heavies like the Firespray and Defender at 30, but nothing in the middle. Interceptors aren't really tanky, they're Interceptors/Fighter-role-planes). Giving Bombers a good support class is also great for both 100pt and Epic.

2. Fire Control System gives free TL for missile roles. We now have a great viable missile boat, and Cluster Missiles becomes a huge thing.

3. Enhanced Scopes for blocking would be really good too. The Adv has the tankiness for that role. See how much this system slot uses all of the good parts of the ship and enhances it?

4. Sensor Jammer makes these things hilariously hard to hit if you have a list that takes advantage of it. Also allows you to use Opportunist on the Adv. Buffing its attack. Its perfect. People do this already. Maarek Stele would love you in Epic.

5. Having the same cost as the Interceptor makes sense. They're completely different stat wise and play-wise. High manevuerablitiy and 3 dice, vs high defense and 2 dice with good modifications. At 19pts (18 PS1) they're about what I'd want to pay. 27 for Vader is fine too. Seriously. He still has 2 attack dice and needs further upgrades. Have you seen Vader in any tournament lists?

6. It also still opens up their only useful modification, the Engine Upgrade.

--

There are 9 or so interceptor pilots. Compared to the 4 Adv pilots. All 4 are pretty much overcosted too. The generics aren't exciting like the RG or the Saber or even the Alpha. Of course there are other Int pilots that are used more.

As for functionality: FFG HAS NO CLUE WHAT THE ADV IS FOR. Its a failure. Give it a role and let it really do that job. That or open it up for modification/customization of a few roles (Multi-role).

--

Lastly, facing 5 Tie Adv isn't going to be game-breaking. It will be potent, but thats about it. 5 pts left over. 10 attack dice only. 25 hull at 3 agility. It'll be interesting.

I say leave the ship alone...Darth Vader is excellent and its only the lower ships that need the change. Once they do that they may start down the road of having to do chain upgrades like Games Workshop does with 40k.

They already started to kill the swarm and eventually may need to kill the Phantom.

Besides, the Empire has enough toys to play with.

Can we not turn this into another "how to fix it" thread? It is what it is, and I'm trying to figure out how to use what it is best.

I like the Omicron Group Pilot idea - had a similar thought with Captain Yorr: letting Maarek Stele push the limit without being stuck with the more limited set of green manouvres.

query, though - with Vader and Stele, push the limit for stele and concussion missiles a go go, plus Yorr to allow stress relief from koiogran turns and push the limit, you have nine points to play with. Obvious options are either a buzz-saw fit (fire control system and gunner) on yorr, or engine upgrades on the advanceds. Thoughts?. Sable Gryphon's recommended engine upgrade on the shuttle I'll skip as yorrs ability suggests he'll spend most of the game stressed.

the two TIE fighter wingmen are a nice idea too. Nice thought Red Castle. Not convinced on Homing Missiles, though -does anyone have much experience with them? They always strike me as lacking punch. I wonder if dropping them to concussion missiles and upping the fighters to Black squadron might work - a black squadron with Wingman is another nice pair for Stele with push the limit.

Knuckle samwich - will have to try opportunist. I often used to wonder about expose but the fact that it's an action out me off. By comparison, the ability to pull opportunist whilst locked is nice, especially since it works with secondary weapons. Underlines a need for vader to shoot first and clear tokens, though.

Oh - loathe though I am to enter the fix the advanced tirades - you can easily exclude vader from any fix because he can't use anything marked TIE advanced only -his ship is explicitly a TIE advanced X1

I definitely thumbs up KO's post here. Vader can find his way into a couple of Elite lists.

Engine on Vader, all day long and twice on Sundays. This will dramatically increase his utility at all points of the game and in all circumstances. And yes, Concussion Missiles on Vader are pure explodey goodness.

Maarek Stele just doesn't throw enough dice to make his ability work. If you try to build around his crits, you will be disappointed. So, just build and play him as a tough TIE with an EPT. PTL with Concussion, Predator if you have it already, or the always useful Engine Upgrade.

The generic TIE/Advanced are just too bad to be useful. Pick a different ship or ships to support Vader or Stele.

Can we not turn this into another "how to fix it" thread? It is what it is, and I'm trying to figure out how to use what it is best.

What people are getting at here with this line of thinking is, "Don't, unless we offer up xyz fixes".

I didn't see more than one vader in each of the tournaments I went to. The Advanced is not competitive. Players would rather take an equivelant number of TIEs than suffer an Advanced.

But for whatever it's worth, I asked the same question last year because I have FOUR advanceds and wanted some use out of them. Go look at this thread for some analysis by Ravncat about how to use Advanced lists. It's a little old, but should still be useful.

I think they could work in a bomber list, as another poster said, something to dogfight a little better. How about this?

Storm Squadron Pilot (27pts)

Concussion Missiles (4pts)

Gamma Squadron Pilot (22pts)

Cluster Missiles (4pts)

Gamma Squadron (24pts)

Cluster Missiles (4pts), Seismic Charges (2pts)

Captain Jonus (26pts)

Seismic Charges (2pts), Squad Leader (2pts)

99pts

From a game mechanics perspective, it buffs the TIE Advanced damage without having to drastically drop its points. It keeps it as a similar level ship as the X-wing. It needs to cost about 3 points less to be competitive, 2 at a minimum. So you would be looking at a 18-19 point ship at PS2. That's the same cost or even less than the TIE Interceptor. Do you really want to make the TIE Advanced cheaper than the TIE Interceptor in order to make it useful?

Here's 2 legitimate fluff reasons:

1. It represents the improved targeting system that the TIE Advanced had over the standard TIE Fighter. Technically the TIE Advanced has Target Lock, but in this game everybody focuses almost every turn anyway, so FCS makes for a better in-game realization. Currently TIE Fighters and TIE Advanced have the same damage output. In fact the TIE Fighters are actually better because they get paired with Howlrunner.
2. The TIE Advanced was known for being proficient with Cluster Missiles. A Free FCS would buff Cluster Missiles and make it the preferred missile for this ship.

Why did the Bomber and Defender scrap this targeting improvement?

I geniunely would just axe the cost down to 19. If the TIE advanced costing the same as the interceptor is broken then the TIE advanced doesn't need to be that cheap.

There is quite a lot of overlap (probably too much) between bombers and the advanced. The problem being that more points for an advanced isn't really much of an upgrade.

The real issue for the advanced is that Vader excluded, it just needs better pilot abilities. Preferably some command and control buffing abilities. Put howlrunners ability into an advanced and I guarantee nobody would be complaining about the advanced anymore (even at 27 points).

Can we not turn this into another "how to fix it" thread? It is what it is, and I'm trying to figure out how to use what it is best.

.....

the two TIE fighter wingmen are a nice idea too. Nice thought Red Castle. Not convinced on Homing Missiles, though -does anyone have much experience with them? They always strike me as lacking punch. I wonder if dropping them to concussion missiles and upping the fighters to Black squadron might work - a black squadron with Wingman is another nice pair for Stele with push the limit.

They probably didn't bothered to read this thread:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/107694-does-this-irritate-anyone-else/

Or all the other threads about how to fix the Advanced, so they need to talk about it once more.

...

Tomorrow I'm supposed to play so I'll give a try to one of the list I suggested, which one will depend on how I'm feeling.

The first one, with the bombers, should give a great alpha strike. What bothers me is, what if it doesn't, It's after all only four ship attacking with 2 dice. But with Jonus reroll, it should be okay. I intend to put the Advanced in front to take the first beating. 5 hit point, 2 being shields, with agility 3 should do good, at least so it can unleash his missile before dying. The shield help absorb the early crit. Once the first strike is sent, you can move out of formation and maneuver as you please. Both bombers at the back have Seismic charges ready to be unloaded to put pressure on an opponent who would want to go behind us after the first pass.

Second one have missiles for the first strike and Howlrunner to help afterward. Kinda like a mini swarm, but less ship, 5 instead of seven. But the missiles should help to give an early good punch and the shield should at least help prevent the dreaded one-shot, bane of the Imperial Navy.

Third one replace Howlrunner and the need to fly into formation for a flanker to give more punch.

As for missiles, it's really a matter of taste, but without the help of Jonus, I find homing missiles more reliable than concussion missiles, thanks to the target lock. And if you're facing imperials, the no evade should help too. I prefer 4 dice with reroll than 4 dice with 1 blank changed to hit. Too many times did I roll 2-3 blank with a concussion missiles. But if you're fine with it, definetely switch both homing for Concussion missiles and obsidians for Black Squadron in the second list, it should help the formation flying and let you decide wich ships go front instead of absolutely the Tie Fighter.

Only three ships, but one PS9 and one PS7. Plus they're tough: I'll accept the risk of taking a critical hit on my third damage point of five specifically in exchange for the point saving, and Adrenaline Rush strikes me as very useful for Darth Vader - so much of his value is tied up in that double-action, that being able to keep it the turn he pulls a Koiogran strikes me as quite useful. One-point elite pilot talents are generally good ones, but let's be fair, how often is he going to get any value out of Veteran Instincts ? Wingman might be another good one, mitigating Stele's Push The Limit , but then I'd need to find another point somewhere.

i have to disagree here. Vader with VI would be a great idea, this last weekend for the imdar tourny i saw rebel lists that included wedge = 9, and wes with VI = 10, that wes shooting at 10 stripping tokens wether he hits or not is bad for vader.

if i run vader 1 point for VI i consider well spent

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

They should not have done the retrofit for the Awings for the same reason. Now you can squeeze six PS1 awings into 100 points.

How exactly would 5 TIE Advanceds be game breaking? That concept does not scare me at all...

As for 6 PS1 A-Wings... How is that worse than 8 PS1 TIE Fighters? Or 6 PS2 TIE Bombers? Or 5 PS1 TIE Interceptors?

I think 3 Y-wings, 2B-wings or 3 B-WIngs 2 A-wings is worse than 5 Advanceds. 5 Advanceds has 1 more total HP than an 8 ship Tie Swarm

Why not just make the advanced fix -2 modification and gives it a system slot?

1. Because just giving the ship a system slot doesn't help it any unless you spend even more points on it.
2. At 19 points it costs the same, adjusted for PS, as the TIE Interceptor.
3. You'll still take Vader over any other pilot, all the time.
4. Do we really want to see Advanced Sensors TIE Advanced?

1.The -2 balances out some of those extra points from the slot

2. The trade being boost and +1 attack and a better dial vs 2 shields then seems like a balanced trade off

3. How is that Different then Fel being used over basically any interceptor? (Turr is the only one even in the ballpark and Soontir is still more popular I think

4.Yes I do, if it isn't broken for a B-wing with the same action bar as a Tie Advanced why would it be bad for an Advanced to have it?

1. Yes the -2 point adjustment helps, but in this case it would simply set the default cost at 19, and you would rarely see people use the system slot.
2. The Interceptor would still be slightly better, so you wouldn't see much use of the TIE Advanced at that point, outside of Vader. My main point was that having different ships at different cost structures is A Good Thing. Especially since FFG introduced the ship at 21 points to be equivalent to the X-wing, why would you want to significantly deviate from that?
3. You are making a straw man argument: there are MANY other Interceptor pilots in use in Regionals lists. The same cannot be said for TIE Advanced; even when they were used occasionally in Store Championship lists it was almost always exclusively Vader. Vader is significantly better than any of the other TIE Advanced for the cost, whereas Fel is only slightly better for the cost.
4. It's not just an issue of "broken" and "balance", but functionality. Again, why radically change the ship from FFG's initial design if you don't need to?

1.We agree a point reduction would be a good thing, however I think it would need to be out to see if people would use it.

2. and 4. The issue isn't the original design its how it fits going forward, FFG appears to have determined A-wing usage to be lower than desired due to cost, so they are dropping its cost, and many people complain about interceptors being too fragile so having a cheaper and more durable advanced at the cost of an attack die might be more attractive to some players. Also X-wings are still very popular and Tie Advanceds are not, there is a reason for this so while "equals" players obviously seem to think that they are not

3. As someone else brought up Interceptors have almost 3x the choices of Advanceds (including Aces) There are 4 Generic Interceptor tiers 2 have EPS, there are 2 Advanced Tiers neither with EPS, 2 Named Advanced pilots 7 named Interceptor ones, if there was another alternative to Vader besides Maarek their would be more usage of them and less of Vader, but if you have to pay 27pts for a named advanced 2 more points for a significantly more useful ability is an easy decision

Also not to derail this thread further from the intended topic but it might have been a few years since my philosophy class but I think you mean false analogy rather than strawman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_analogy

i've just seen strawman being thrown around in lots of threads and think it may be misused by alot of people on the internets (how dare we use accurate terms when discussing things)

Anyways back to the OP were you just looking for Advanced lists for use now or were you interested in ones for wave 4+?

The problem with reducing the cost of the advanced is that it would allow you to take 5 at 100 points. That would be game breaking.

They should not have done the retrofit for the Awings for the same reason. Now you can squeeze six PS1 awings into 100 points.

How exactly would 5 TIE Advanceds be game breaking? That concept does not scare me at all...

As for 6 PS1 A-Wings... How is that worse than 8 PS1 TIE Fighters? Or 6 PS2 TIE Bombers? Or 5 PS1 TIE Interceptors?

I think 3 Y-wings, 2B-wings or 3 B-WIngs 2 A-wings is worse than 5 Advanceds. 5 Advanceds has 1 more total HP than an 8 ship Tie Swarm

Who the bloody hell runs BBYYY? Did you mean BBXYY?

I'm in the camp that a 5-Advanced faux-Rebel Swarm would be interesting to field, but I can't see it doing that well.

Still, 5x Gamma + Seismics are doing well, and they've got the same attack dice, and slightly less survivability (though with the added PS and the incredible bonus damage from the Seismics they'd still have a huge advantage)

Also not to derail this thread further from the intended topic but it might have been a few years since my philosophy class but I think you mean false analogy rather than strawman

No, I meant straw man. The point you made was factually false, you stated:

"3. How is that Different then Fel being used over basically any interceptor? (Turr is the only one even in the ballpark and Soontir is still more popular I think"

Here are some snippets of statistics that we have from 4 weeks worth of data on the 2014 Regionals. These are percentage of points spent, using weighted averages for each squad proportional to: attendance / placement rank.

i have to disagree here. Vader with VI would be a great idea, this last weekend for the imdar tourny i saw rebel lists that included wedge = 9, and wes with VI = 10, that wes shooting at 10 stripping tokens wether he hits or not is bad for vader.

if i run vader 1 point for VI i consider well spent

Not a bad point - but I'm happier with Adrenaline Rush , I think: Soontir, Han and Wedge (or a Veteran Instincts -boosted equivalent) are something that will come up every-so-often, whilst the ability to pull both of Darth Vader's actions whilst coming out of a koiogran - or to Koiogran whilst stressed for some reason - strikes me as something which will come up more often.

More importantly, I trust a TIE advanced to still be there after one or two attacks, where I'd be much more hesitant about an Interceptor surviving.

As for missiles, it's really a matter of taste, but without the help of Jonus, I find homing missiles more reliable than concussion missiles, thanks to the target lock. And if you're facing imperials, the no evade should help too. I prefer 4 dice with reroll than 4 dice with 1 blank changed to hit. Too many times did I roll 2-3 blank with a concussion missiles. But if you're fine with it, definetely switch both homing for Concussion missiles and obsidians for Black Squadron in the second list, it should help the formation flying and let you decide wich ships go front instead of absolutely the Tie Fighter.

Yeah. When I have more than three fighters on the board at once, being able to play tunes on movement order helps a LOT. Especially with Wingman , Swarm Tactics , or other abilities which require me to hang around in close proximity.

For some reason I had a blind spot to spending the target lock with Homing Missiles . I'm still not sure which performs best but I'm not going to die in a ditch to the last decimal point; more importantly, it improves their effectiveness against interceptors and fighters - which is good for matches against imperial opponents. Plus, as imporantly, it gives me something to spend the point on if I take a Tempest Squadron Pilot - which I can see Maarek Stele and Vader flying with - as opposed to a Stor m Squadron Pilot , who they wouldn't (they're the Tatooine garrison out of Star Wars Galaxies).

The Engine Upgrade is a fair point for Darth Vader and Maarek Stele - boost plus barrel roll is a scarily manouvreable combination. The only problems are (a) I don't have a Falcon expansion (which isn't insurmountable - I can borrow the cards from a friend) and (b) I must say I'm quite pleased with the Hull Upgrade in the couple of games I've played to date - an extra hit on a fighter as tough as an advanced goes a long way (see the whole thing with the TIE defender)

I'm still feeling my way into this - I've had a couple of games with a three advanced force, and whilst I must say I was missing the ridiculous agility of the Royal Flush Gang (Carno r Jax and two Royal Guard Pilot super-interceptors with Hull Upgrades , Shield Upgrades and Push The Limit ), I've been quite pleased with how they've done. Certainly, they've not been as bad in a straight fight as they generally get made out to be - certainly one-on-one, the evade action is worth its weight in gold.

Will have to try the Maarek Stele / Darth Vader /Lambda or Firespray set next.

Will have to try the Maarek Stele / Darth Vader /Lambda or Firespray set next.

I'm by no means confident in it, and I don't think Opportunist really fixes the problem: Vader may not strip tokens, or you might go up against someone with multiple tokens, or Maarek could have trouble clearing stress, etc. But if you want to run a list centered on Advanced, I think it's hard to do better: the generics are very hard to run effectively, and Opportunist at least gives Maarek some power and increases the likelihood of punching through with a crit.

I'm trying not to go nuts on push the limit - unlike an Interceptor, it's not an ability to use every turn, but it was mostly driven by the desire to double-action the missile (of whichever variety) and/or be able to pull focus and evade.

Still curious for advice on the shuttle idea:

Captain Yorr

Darth Vader with Concussion Missiles and Veteran Instincts

Maarek Stele with Concussion Missiles and Push The Limit

leaves me enough for either two Engine Upgrades for the advanceds (making them serious dogfighters) or a Gunner/Fire Control System combo for the shuttle (giving it enough of a firepower boost to be a credible threat in its own right). Not sure which is the better pick to try first.

Less need for Adrenaline Rush if you've got Yorr drawing off stress tokens, so Pilot Skill 11 it is.

What do you mean, Carlist Rieekan ? Oh, %^&!!"£......

I agree that opportunist doesn't fix the advanced but it certainly makes Maarek a deadly ship where before he was not. I run him with Yorr and Howlrunner (for reroll and stripping focus). In the games I have used him that way he has been the heavy hitter and can be downright punishing with the right crit. He is a bit expensive but he is my current favorite imperial ship to synergize with.

Off topic, but I had noticed someone earlier talking about PTL on Vader. is this even possible? As it is, he gets 2 actions without stress. Would adding PTL give him a third stress inducing action?

If it wouldn't add anything to him, why would you think about PTL on Vader - it just doesn't make sense..

Of course I'm speaking as a player who's ONLY missing ship atm is the Advanced, so obviously I don't fly them..