"Casual"/Not tip top tier but hopefully some chance against top tier?

Any good vs rock paper and scissors right now?

I think so.

It's close to one of my favorite lists, if only it could afford Outmaneuver on Rexler.

It's close to one of my favorite lists, if only it could afford Outmaneuver on Rexler.

I wish too. But I'd rather have Phantom hunting backup.

Alternatively: Ion Cannon for Phantom control in case he decides to ignore my Defender. Outmaneuver or Predator on Rexler. and Hull on Soontir. 100pts

I've been flying Defenders a lot. I like it and only like it more with it getting too little love.

I like the named pilots, though I've flown Vessery much more than Rexler. However, recently I wanted to try something else so I tried one of the low PS regular pilots with a HLC and it was a nasty little critter. Of course that makes it more of a blocker and won't be the best counter to highly maneuverable and high PS enemies.

I think the Rexler, Ion cannon, Predator and Fel with PtL and Hull plus Doomshuttle is the better list.

You don't use the Ion cannon all that frequently, but it is huge in some match ups. Predator makes a massive difference to Rexler so that he can save his focus for flipping crits.

A great list that I run variations of.

1 thing I've decided for my list is to replace Vader with another upgrade. I love doomshuttles and I understand you can be conservative with Vader's ability. I just feel like you need more bulk to the list when deciding to kill your own ship.

Doomshuttle shines when list HP is over 22-25 ish. In 3 ship list though, every hit point matters.

My current variation of the list includes a double tactician shuttle. Double stressing ships in a 3 ship build seems to be far more useful then doomshuttle.

Just some thoughts

I would consider "downgrading" the Doomshuttle to an OGP + FCS. That frees up 1 point, so you can upgrade Brath's VI to Predator. You really want rerolls + focus on Brath, especially if he has a HLC. You need to be doing max damage with that gun.

Brath + Predator + HLC (47)

Soontir Fel + PtL (30)

Omicron Group Pilot + FCS (23)

I feel shooting Whisper before she gets to cloak is really important though. Overall Predator Rexler is better but that PS10...

I'd go with VI Vessary and a non doom shuttle. Go ahead and TC soontir too.

Fel + PtL

Vessery + Opportunist + HLC

OGP + FCS

Throwing 5 dice at range 3 vs Phantoms while holding Focus and TL is absolutely brutal.

I feel shooting Whisper before she gets to cloak is really important though. Overall Predator Rexler is better but that PS10...

You also have the Omicron Group Pilot with FCS. 3 dice with F+TL stack is a big deal even against 4 agility.

Fel + PtL

Vessery + Opportunist + HLC

OGP + FCS

Throwing 5 dice at range 3 vs Phantoms while holding Focus and TL is absolutely brutal.

I like this one, I'll take it and run with it:

Fel + PtL + TC + Hull (35)

Vessery + HLC (42)

OGP + FCS (23)

• Fel TLs on Whisper and evades, gains free focus. He shoots Whisper but keeps the TL the first round.
• Vessery hangs back and shoots his 4 dice HLC with F+TL. Even if Whisper still has a focus, you'll do an average of 1.3 damage. You only have a 24% chance of missing.
• OGP also hangs back and shoots. FCS gives a free TL on Whisper, so Fel is free to spend his TL next round without Vessery losing his buff.

A related type of build is:

Whisper + Veteran Instincts + FCS + Rebel Captive

Vessery

OGP + FCS

Here the 4 dice moves from Vessery to Whisper, but it is easier for Vessery to get his free TL. He simply has to shoot at the same target as Whisper. Rebel captive is a great counter to other Phantoms. Against Fat Falcon you need everything to nuke it early and hard to break it down fast.

How about

Vessery + Opportunist

Whisper+FCS+VI+ACD

OGP

99

Edit: Duh. I was thinking outmaneuver.

Yeah Opportunist could work well, the problem is shedding the stress on a Defender is pretty annoying.

I like the Soontir / Vessery HLC Opp build too but people will pretty much always hold focus against Vessery, no?

I like the Soontir / Vessery HLC Opp build too but people will pretty much always hold focus against Vessery, no?

Yeah, Opportunist can be hard to make consistent unless you have Wes.

How about

Vessery + Opportunist

Whisper+FCS+VI+ACD

OGP

99

I agree that the problem of a stressed Defender isn't a small one, so for that reason I'd drop Opportunist back to Adrenaline Rush (which opens up your dial instead of closing it off). That frees up 3 points, which is enough for FCS on the Omicron. Alternately, if you're willing to pull the FCS from Whisper, you can do this:

Colonel Vessery (35)

Adrenaline Rush (1)

"Whisper" (32)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Omicron Group Pilot (21)

Weapons Engineer (3)

ST-321 (3)

Total: 100

The Vessery/ST-321+Weapons Engineer combo is a favorite of mine for a while now, and Whisper is a nasty enough threat that--if she doesn't win the game outright--she probably ensures that Vessery and the OMG make it to the endgame in good shape.

I like the Soontir / Vessery HLC Opp build too but people will pretty much always hold focus against Vessery, no?

Yeah, Opportunist can be hard to make consistent unless you have Wes.

Who cares, though? If your opponent had focus and needed it but didn't use it, then you've already done a guaranteed point of damage with no tactical cost at all. That's a lot better than taking a point of stress to roll a die.

Defenders probably get the best use out of it since they can use it on the K-Turn, however.

I like the Soontir / Vessery HLC Opp build too but people will pretty much always hold focus against Vessery, no?

Yeah, Opportunist can be hard to make consistent unless you have Wes.

Who cares, though? If your opponent had focus and needed it but didn't use it [and couldn't use it on a subsequent defensive roll when being attacked by Vessery or the OGP], then you've already done a guaranteed point of damage with no tactical cost at all. That's a lot better than taking a point of stress to roll a die.

Added the required conditional in [brackets] to finish the conditions... unless you're intentionally not focus firing (bad idea), the target will likely be able to use the focus anyway. You certainly are better off with Opportunist than without, by a fraction of a hit per round, but it's not obvious to me that it's worth 4 points.

Vessery, HLC, Opportunist

Soontir PTL

Yorr

100