Except that there's lots of ways of gaining focuses and target locks that don't require a ship to waste its action , especially for the Rebels. The falcon seems like it would be a good candidate for expose, since it should be able to easily get a focus and target lock from support ships.

Chewbacca (42)
Expose (4)
Gunner (5)
Millennium Falcon (1)

Airen Cracken (19)
Squad Leader (2)

Garven Dreis (26)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Decimator + Expose + Gunner will be more expensive than Decimator + Marksmanship + Gunner, and less effective. Poor Expose...

Yes, i meant focus, thank you Vorpal, and sorry for the annoyance.

About expose + decimator, you are better off with predator + gunner + focus action and it is cheaper. Or what vorpal suggested, but this one is more "fireproof" when it comes to getting hits.

I know it sounds counter intuitive because more dice should equal better. But for example we have a 1/2 chance to hit in one attack dice, if we reroll that dice we have a 3/4 chances to get a hit overall, so instead of a 50%, it is a 75%.

If we have 3 attack dice, and we add one dice it goes from a median of 1,5 to 2 with expose. Meanwhile if we use target lock we would have 2,25, same for focus too (since instead of 4/8 results, it is 6/8 = 3/4; the difference on use between both is important tho and not to be underestimated).

So if you are using expose in anything with more attack dice than 1 over focus or target lock, you are shooting yourself in the foot, while also paying for the bullets, the weapon and the medical bill.

You are better off using and consuming your target lock two rounds, except if you were extremely lucky in the first one. That's just too situational. You would be better off with predator and using the focus action, every single round, seriously. If you want to use it because you like to use tons of dice, sure man, go ahead, but no need to over complicate things.

How isn't that cheaper, you wouldn't use gunner with expose ? Even if i didn't use gunner, predator + focus alone are better than expose by a lot.

Please, do the maths yourself.

gunner + focus + target lock + expose is better for attacking than:

gunner + focus + target lock + predator

gunner + focus + target lock + outmaneuver

gunner + focus + target lock + marksmanship

gunner + focus + target lock + any other EPT, with the possible exception of veteran instincts (whose value can't be quantified easily).

The concern is that 'expose' wastes an action, making it harder to achieve the focus and target lock. I argued that this concern is mitigated by taking appropriate support ships. The fact that expose almost requires support ships, and that the card itself costs 4 points, means that any ship taking expose should be able to take maximum advantage of it -- hence the 360 degree falcon + gunner.

You are better off using and consuming your target lock two rounds, except if you were extremely lucky in the first one. That's just too situational. You would be better off with predator and using the focus action, every single round, seriously. If you want to use it because you like to use tons of dice, sure man, go ahead, but no need to over complicate things.

How isn't that cheaper, you wouldn't use gunner with expose ? Even if i didn't use gunner, predator + focus alone are better than expose by a lot.

Please, do the maths yourself.

Yes, i meant focus, thank you Vorpal, and sorry for the annoyance.

About expose + decimator, you are better off with predator + gunner + focus action and it is cheaper. Or what vorpal suggested, but this one is more "fireproof" when it comes to getting hits.

I was saying putting just expose on the decimator was cheaper than putting predator and gunner on it. I believe you that predator and gunner is better but if I don't want to spend 8 points expose wouldn't be that bad since the only drawback by using it on the decimator is that it uses up an action, you wouldn't lose a defense dice since you have none to lose.

Okey, this is getting dense Jaden, either my english is really bad, or you are just not reading my posts.

Recap :

- Target lock and focus are better than Expose. They are free. Any ship has them. Why the hell do you want expose when you don't want to use that action for expose but for focus or target lock because they are better?

- Since this is true, you should be able to see that a naked decimator, just using focus or target lock, is already better than a decimator with expose (and cheaper!), no predator needed there. I was just telling you a good setup, not telling you how to make it better than expose, because as we have been telling you, EVERYTHING IS BETTER THAN EXPOSE WHEN IT COMES TO OFFENSIVE ACTIONS (not angry caps, but because this is crucial for you to understand why expose is a no no in the context you are saying).

@Period you are argueing in a different context. Yes, if you can already provide the ship with the other actions (even one focus or target lock will suffice and make it better than having both) but it has its drawbacks that you are not telling:

- You are forced to fly in formation. In my little experience (since i started to play basically with wave 4) this is right now a big disadvantadge against any phantom list.

- You are still forced to use an action, therefore if you can't use actions, it is already gimping your damage output per points.

- Predator is 1 point cheaper, can be used always since it is not an action, and more importantly, it doesn't rely on other ship's ability to perform well.

Okey, this is getting dense Jaden, either my english is really bad, or you are just not reading my posts.

Recap :

- Target lock and focus are better than Expose. They are free. Any ship has them. Why the hell do you want expose when you don't want to use that action for expose but for focus or target lock because they are better?

- Since this is true, you should be able to see that a naked decimator, just using focus or target lock, is already better than a decimator with expose (and cheaper!), no predator needed there. I was just telling you a good setup, not telling you how to make it better than expose, because as we have been telling you, EVERYTHING IS BETTER THAN EXPOSE WHEN IT COMES TO OFFENSIVE ACTIONS (not angry caps, but because this is crucial for you to understand why expose is a no no in the context you are saying).

@Period you are argueing in a different context. Yes, if you can already provide the ship with the other actions (even one focus or target lock will suffice and make it better than having both) but it has its drawbacks that you are not telling:

- You are forced to fly in formation. In my little experience (since i started to play basically with wave 4) this is right now a big disadvantadge against any phantom list.

- You are still forced to use an action, therefore if you can't use actions, it is already gimping your damage output per points.

- Predator is 1 point cheaper, can be used always since it is not an action, and more importantly, it doesn't rely on other ship's ability to perform well.

Yes I see what your saying now I thought you were saying predator and gunner were cheaper than expose is all. Here are the actual stats

I did 1 with 3 dice a target lock and focus and the other 4 dice with a target lock and here is what came up

Attack dice: 4

With attacker target lock

vs. Defense dice: 0

Hit(s) Crit(s) Chance

3 0 0.177979

2 1 0.177979

3 1 0.133484

2 0 0.118652

4 0 0.100113

1 1 0.0791016

2 2 0.0667419

1 2 0.0593262

1 0 0.0351563

1 3 0.0148315

0 2 0.0131836

0 1 0.0117188

0 3 0.0065918

0 0 0.00390625

0 4 0.00123596

Total hits Chance

0 0.00390625

1 0.0468751

2 0.2109372

3 0.421876

4 0.31640636

Attack dice: 3

With attacker focus

With attacker target lock

vs. Defense dice: 0

Hit(s) Crit(s) Chance

3 0 0.476837

2 1 0.286102

2 0 0.114441

1 2 0.0572205

1 1 0.0457764

1 0 0.00915527

0 2 0.00457764

0 3 0.0038147

0 1 0.00183105

0 0 0.000244141

Total hits Chance

0 0.000244141

1 0.01098632

2 0.16479504

3 0.8239742

Interestingly here is the expected damage for each

3 dice focus+TL

Formulation* Expected Damage

Simple

Crits =1 damage 2.812499

Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage

4 dice+ TL

Formulation* Expected Damage

Simple

Crits = 1 damage 3.00000294

Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage

Here's the site I used which is quite helpful actually http://xwingdice.com/diceresults.php

It's showing a .82 chance vs a .42 for 3 hits however where expected damage is the 4 dice attack is a little ahead if I read that right. It shows a 3.xxxx and the 3 dice attack showed a 2.8 or 2.9 I believe

Overall tho the target lock focus combo comes out ahead

Thank you for the site. Normally you won't have two actions, you will have 1, except if you have push the limits or other ships to buff it. You are, again, understanding me wrong. I don't mean that focus + target lock is better than target lock + expose. I said that either focus, or target lock, on their own, are better than expose.

See with only focus.

Attack dice: 3
With attacker focus vs. Defense dice: 0
Crits = 1 damage 2.25000219 Real
Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.33807025811

Now only expose

Attack dice: 4 vs. Defense dice: 0
Crits = 1 damage 2.000002774 Real
Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.11742686418

If you add one focus, or target lock, expose will come out ahead, but for that, you need to get support ships.

And i already said this in my latest post.

I believe that expose was made with Darth Vader -pilot- in mind.

When the core set/wave 1 was first released, Expose was probably viable (correct me if I'm wrong, that's before my time).

Nope, it always sucked.

The thing I'm confused on is why do people use r2f2 then and no one complains about him? He is essentially the same thing no? Your using an action up to increase a stat. Expose uses an action to increase a stat as well. It is also increasing a red die which everyone knows has better odds than a green dice. Expose also reduces agility by 1 but on a decimator that effect is moot.

Because Expose is worse than the focus action when it comes to average damage, which is free and doesn't reduce your agility. Unless you roll all natural hits focus wins. Hell, Marksmanship wins.

I'd love to see expose get some new life in a build that revolves around giving free actions.

Colonel Jendon

A Low Pilot Skill VT-49 with Expose

Give someone higher PS and "Squad Leader".

Vt-49 can have target lock, focus, and roll 4 normal attack dice per turn.

Thank you for the site. Normally you won't have two actions, you will have 1, except if you have push the limits or other ships to buff it. You are, again, understanding me wrong. I don't mean that focus + target lock is better than target lock + expose. I said that either focus, or target lock, on their own, are better than expose.

See with only focus.

Attack dice: 3

With attacker focus vs. Defense dice: 0

Crits = 1 damage 2.25000219 Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.33807025811

Now only expose

Attack dice: 4 vs. Defense dice: 0

Crits = 1 damage 2.000002774 Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.11742686418

If you add one focus, or target lock, expose will come out ahead, but for that, you need to get support ships.

And i already said this in my latest post.

No i understood that but you don't need a support ship is what I'm saying because the ship your wanting to take out would have a target lock still on it from the previous round. For instance

round 1

Move then take target lock action on enemy ship

Attack enemy ship with primary weapons (3 dice attack)

Round 2 move then take expose action

Attack enemy ship with primary weapons+1 and spend target lock if need be.

The only reason you would need a support ship is like you said if you want to take a focus or TL action at the same time you take expose. I was figuring on using the TL from the previous round. I'm Sorry if I didn't word things right.

Thank you for the site. Normally you won't have two actions, you will have 1, except if you have push the limits or other ships to buff it. You are, again, understanding me wrong. I don't mean that focus + target lock is better than target lock + expose. I said that either focus, or target lock, on their own, are better than expose.

See with only focus.

Attack dice: 3

With attacker focus vs. Defense dice: 0

Crits = 1 damage 2.25000219 Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.33807025811

Now only expose

Attack dice: 4 vs. Defense dice: 0

Crits = 1 damage 2.000002774 Real

Crits = 1.234848 damage 2.11742686418

If you add one focus, or target lock, expose will come out ahead, but for that, you need to get support ships.

And i already said this in my latest post.

No i understood that but you don't need a support ship is what I'm saying because the ship your wanting to take out would have a target lock still on it from the previous round. For instance

round 1

Move then take target lock action on enemy ship

Attack enemy ship with primary weapons (3 dice attack)

Round 2 move then take expose action

Attack enemy ship with primary weapons+1 and spend target lock if need be.

The only reason you would need a support ship is like you said if you want to take a focus or TL action at the same time you take expose. I was figuring on using the TL from the previous round. I'm Sorry if I didn't word things right.

You are still losing an action every second round.

You are still losing an action every second round.

Only if you choose to activate it, If I were to use it I would only use it if I knew I was in a good spot. Like dreadstar stated focus and TL is better and it's free. I was only contemplating using it either on the decimator where the agility penalty wouldn't matter or on the yt2400 in place of hlc and outrider title so there is no range 1 hole. Use the points you save for something else. Just a thought was all.