If I score two out of three hits with my autoblaster, isn't it better to force those hits through on a TIE Phantom than allow it to roll its 4 agility dice and cancel them?

If I was able to squeeze out reliable 3+ damage out of a 4-dice range 1 attack, I'd agree with you. But the Autoblaster looks like an attractive 5-point pressure device on high agility starfighters. Yeah it could be cheaper, but what would be a better alternative to take with it when facing down phantoms? Empire doesn't have turrets.

If the TIE Phantom pilot is that terrible of a player that they allow this to occur, then it doesn't matter if you have an autoblaster or not.

The autoblaster has a great ability, it should cost only two maybe three points and not the quite steep five that you pay for it.

OP, the Autoblaster is not bad. Autoblaster is quite excellent, actually. But it is a terrible choice for the ships which currently have the Cannon slot.

If we ever see a Cannon-enabled ship which has 2 base attack (Hey-o, Outrider!), then it will actually be a significant damage boost at Range 1 over the primary attack against things with more agility than 1.

In fact, I think a low-PS YT-2400 with Autoblaster (Without the Outrider title, even) will be an alright choice. A large ship with innate barrel roll, and maybe some clever Experimental Interface combo, will do well attempting to keep other ships at range 1.

OP, the Autoblaster is not bad. Autoblaster is quite excellent, actually. But it is a terrible choice for the ships which currently have the Cannon slot.

If we ever see a Cannon-enabled ship which has 2 base attack (Hey-o, Outrider!), then it will actually be a significant damage boost at Range 1 over the primary attack against things with more agility than 1.

In fact, I think a low-PS YT-2400 with Autoblaster (Without the Outrider title, even) will be an alright choice. A large ship with innate barrel roll, and maybe some clever Experimental Interface combo, will do well attempting to keep other ships at range 1.

Wild Space Thingy + Autoblaster + Leebo + Exp Interface is in the low 40s.

The Autoblaster is good, but highly situational. Though It is going to be much more interesting on the YT-2400 where it can get a 360° arc. The nice thing about the Autoblaster is obviously it's ability to just ignore defense dice meaning you obviously want to use it against high agility ships. The main drawback is it's range limitation. You have to be really good at catching the enemy at range 1 to make it work. The YT-2400 will make it easier by greatly expanding the area it covers, but for other ships you may been some ion support if cards like Navigator and Stay on Target to get someone into your sights.

Phantoms may have been bad examples for enemy ships. Interceptors and TIEs are better, and more common to encounter in the tournament arena. I'm still thinking Rexler with Autoblasters and Engine upgrade is an interesting idea, perhaps with Veteran Instincts, so I can move last, put myself where I need to be over aces, and blast away.

Would be better if I could get a focus token as well without boosting, and even if there's an agility 1 target in my sights I can elect not to use the Autoblaster and just fire four dice.

*shrug* I guess in the end I wanted to explore the idea that Autoblasters can still be worthwhile, and if I was alone in not liking to face them.

I'm still thinking Rexler with Autoblasters and Engine upgrade is an interesting idea, perhaps with Veteran Instincts, so I can move last, put myself where I need to be over aces, and blast away.

That's just way too many points. You're investing half your points into a single ship, and when it dies to focused fire you lose the game. It's a textbook case of a "win more" ship. Rexler with engine upgrade and an appropriate EPT is already awesome, you don't need to spend another 5 points to make him even more awesome, especially when you don't even get to use those 5 points very often.

and even if there's an agility 1 target in my sights I can elect not to use the Autoblaster and just fire four dice.

But then you just spent 5 points on a card that doesn't do anything. Remember, you can buy a lot of stuff for those points, and you're just 2 points short of a HLC that will do way more damage over the length of a full game.

I think the concept to the autoblaster is great but the cost and the loopholes really make it not worth the points.

Crits can still be cancelled.

evade tokens can be used.

so a not unlikely roll of crit, hit, miss is all canceled by 1 evade roll and an evade token.

for 5 points and the range restriction I would expect that no damage can be cancelled but sadly that is not the case.

I agree with what most others have said in this thread.

It's not that the autoblaster is bad, per se, it's ability is great. For five points it had darn well better be. But it isn't great on the ships that can currently field it, and it isn't great for the points. Mathmatically it only trumps 4 attack against VERY high agility ships. So it certainly has it's niche, but it is a small one, because the same ships it is most useful against are the ones hardest to use it on.

It's one of those cases where math is more useful than experience, because of the nature of the experience in this case. It's really hard to compare Autoblaster to the effectiveness five points of upgrades COULD have had on your game. It's hard to compare it to the damage you could have rolled if you had just taken a regular shot (possibly with 5 points of upgrades backing it.

It is tricky because when it works it IS going to feel good and you are going to remember it, and you will have very little to compare it too.

But in this case I'm going to have to trust the numbers, and it's one of the few situations in life where the numbers are very straightforward. And the numbers say it is only marginally more effective than a 4 strength attack in the vast majority of likely situations, and against low agility ships it is actually less effective.

However, I do think the YT-2400 is going to change this. It's str 2 attack, large firing arc, 360 degree turret, and comparative maneuverability are practically tailor made to make the autoblaster shine.

Mathmatically it only trumps 4 attack against VERY high agility ships.

Not actually true. I worked it out at one point, and it's approximately the same as 4 Attack against 2 Agility, and better than 4 dice against 3 Agility or more. There are a lot of ships floating around the game with 3+ Agility: TIE Fighters, TIE Advanced, TIE Interceptors, TIE Defenders, TIE Phantom, A-wing, and E-wing.

The problem is that every one of those ships has boost, barrel roll, or both, and (with the possible exception of the Defender, depending on how you rate it) they all have fairly nice dials. And that effectively means your Autoblaster ship has to have a decent dial, the ability to reposition, and preferably wants to have a PS advantage. That's a lot to ask of a ship that's already paying 5 points for the Autoblaster itself.

You're right, though, that the YT-2400 could change things--since it probably has a decent dial (much nicer than the B-wing, at least), and it can barrel roll.

For another point against Autoblaster on a Defender:

You REALLY don't want the Defender at range 1 of anything unless it's out of arc. The defender is durable, sure. But taking range 1 hits can take it out of the game fast. It's a lot of points to lose in 1 ship.

But, if you maybe had another ship with an ION cannon that could help line up shots for the Defender...that could work really nice.

In the end I ran some lists tonight and swapped out the autoblaster for Predator and stuck swarm tactics on Howlrunner for a TIE brick. If anything it made me realize predator is going to be terrible to face with most of the lists I like to fly, as I enjoy running multiple generics with various things. Bleh.

Some other time perhaps I'll give Autoblaster a run and see if my personal experience matches what the rest of the community is saying

I think the concept to the autoblaster is great but the cost and the loopholes really make it not worth the points.

Crits can still be cancelled.

evade tokens can be used.

so a not unlikely roll of crit, hit, miss is all canceled by 1 evade roll and an evade token.

for 5 points and the range restriction I would expect that no damage can be cancelled but sadly that is not the case.

Crits are cancelled last, so would you not need enough evade results to cancel every standard hit before the crits apply? IE Autoblaster rolls hit hit crit, you would need three evades to cancel the critical.

Not really advocating Autoblaster as its autoterrible, but that is at least my understanding and that of many players I know.

Autoblaster Defenders? If you're paying that much you might as well pay the three more points to go up to Heavy Laser Cannon and punch through that Agility by weight of dice numbers.

Well ,im for sure not any kind of guru about this game (last sunday proved that once again) but what i see mostly as an argument "against" autoblaster is just ... weird....

"I could have 4 dice with my primary in range 1"

"Pay 3 more points and use HLC"

Well, im sure you know how valuable 3 points are on a build.

Me as an Imp player just say this... 2 ships on rebels side which can take an evade.

A Wing and E Wing... (out of the box)

And shooting against any other Rebel Ship with an Autoblaster.. even against A and E since Rebels like to forget that they have evade.. is pure insanity.

With a Defender you have no problem getting in Range 1 beside you really cant fly that good... (and neither can i but still i manage very easily to get in range 1).

Rexler Autoblaster and Predator... throw in a TL and a Focus

Most insane combo i have seen in a while...

Good luck Han evading that... ohhh you cant.. guess what... 3 crits...

On the imp side, depending on the ship you fly against, this is a guaranteed hit.

And i take a guaranteed hit even two over any 4 red against 3 green...

Thats my penny....

And most Rebel ships are two or fewer evade dice, meaning chances are a four dice R1 attack will deal as many hits as a three dice R1 autoblast.

You're going to be firing that HLC a lot more than the autoblaster, and at a lot longer Range so that Han you're Range 1ing isn't going to swat you with a four dice attack for the attempt.

Autoblaster is not worth 5 points. 3 maybe, but not 5. If you're forking out that much for a cannon fork out three more and go HLC. If you don't want to, save your five points and use your primary. Autoblaster is for Ten Numb against TIE fighters and not much else.

I think the concept to the autoblaster is great but the cost and the loopholes really make it not worth the points.

Crits can still be cancelled.

evade tokens can be used.

so a not unlikely roll of crit, hit, miss is all canceled by 1 evade roll and an evade token.

for 5 points and the range restriction I would expect that no damage can be cancelled but sadly that is not the case.

Crits are cancelled last, so would you not need enough evade results to cancel every standard hit before the crits apply? IE Autoblaster rolls hit hit crit, you would need three evades to cancel the critical.

Not really advocating Autoblaster as its autoterrible, but that is at least my understanding and that of many players I know.

Nope, on autoblaster crits get canceled first, so rolling a crit on an autoblaster probably means you actually lose a hit.

In spite of the slow-turns being red the TIE Defender has some good mobility, especially with the engine upgrade, and I don't think it would be too hard to get a target in range 1. I haven't run Autoblasters yet on my defenders but I've been on the other end of one, as I said.

Hopefully I'll have some X-wing time before the actual tournament to try Autoblasters with Brath and Engine upgrade. It'll be expensive, but so long as he performs well enough I'll be happy. Unless there are other suggestions for better combinations to run against high-agility ships? Predator seems good, and I like outmanuever, but these things don't seem to have the punch that an autoblaster pushing 3 damage past agility dice could deliver.

I've found that HCLs do plenty of damage and you outnumber high agility dice at R3, where they'd normally get an extra.

I think the concept to the autoblaster is great but the cost and the loopholes really make it not worth the points.

Crits can still be cancelled.

evade tokens can be used.

so a not unlikely roll of crit, hit, miss is all canceled by 1 evade roll and an evade token.

for 5 points and the range restriction I would expect that no damage can be cancelled but sadly that is not the case.

Crits are cancelled last, so would you not need enough evade results to cancel every standard hit before the crits apply? IE Autoblaster rolls hit hit crit, you would need three evades to cancel the critical.

Not really advocating Autoblaster as its autoterrible, but that is at least my understanding and that of many players I know.

With the autoblaster, the defender can cancel crits before hits.

I was reading the rule book and found something interesting though:

When spending an evade token, it counts as adding a die result (rulebook pg12, step 5 Modify Defense Dice: "During this step, players may resolve abilities and spend tokens that allow them to modify defense dice. This includes ADDING die results..." and "If the defender has an evade token, he may return it to the action token supply to add one additional evade result to his defense roll.")

If the evade counts as a "roll" then it wouldn't be able to cancel hits, correct? That would make autoblaster a lot better than what people think and would make it worth 5 points in my opinion. I'm gonna dig through the FAQ on this one...

EDIT: Yargh! Defeated by the FAQ. Evade tokens do cancel hit results. 'Tis a shame, 'cause otherwise I might have considered using it.

Wow. Impressive find anyways. Who knows, they might change their mind in the future with faq's