...the humble Rookie Pilot.

Discuss.

Go ahead and start, why is it the most skill intensive one to use? Other than that it's propbably the first pilot for many players.

• It has a low amount of actions - target lock and focus only.

• tie into the above, it has no native arc dodging ability or movement modifiers

• In general, low PS requires more thought and skill than high PS - you need to plan ahead and predict what your opponent will do rather than respond to what they actually have done

• it is moderately expensive - you can't fit more than four stock X-Wings in a list - yet not a great deal tougher than the basic swarm fighters (TIE Fighters/Z-95's)

But then wouldn't Gold Squadron be tougher to use? Less forgiving dial, not as strong in attack natively. And let's not mention the poor, doomed to die, Rebel Operative who needs loads of points invested to make him even remotely interesting. .

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread when I offer that I feel the most challenging pilot to use is Colonel Jendon.

The shuttle is a good and fun challenge to fly, and Jendon's ability works only at Range 1, so it influences how you have to plot out your flight plans for the squad the shuttle is supporting as well.

But then wouldn't Gold Squadron be tougher to use? Less forgiving dial, not as strong in attack natively. And let's not mention the poor, doomed to die, Rebel Operative who needs loads of points invested to make him even remotely interesting. .

But the Y-wing is tough and forgiving. The Rebel Op is useless and wets his/her pants easily.

My vote goes for the basic Intercepter, Avenger squadron.

It has 3 attack so you are tempted to be aggressive but with only 3 hull, it won't last long. So you need to arc dodge, this is made more difficult by the lack of EPT. One mistake with this bad and you are one shotted to hell and back. No room for error with this baby.

The Rebel Op is useless and wets his/her pants easily.

But if you kit him out right he can be a cheap addition to your team being annoying from the sidelines.

My vote goes for the basic Intercepter, Avenger squadron.

It has 3 attack so you are tempted to be aggressive but with only 3 hull, it won't last long. So you need to arc dodge, this is made more difficult by the lack of EPT. One mistake with this bad and you are one shotted to hell and back. No room for error with this baby.

LISTEN MATE, the Alpha can and does outfly a Rookie Pilot every day of the week, you know this.

But then wouldn't Gold Squadron be tougher to use? Less forgiving dial, not as strong in attack natively. And let's not mention the poor, doomed to die, Rebel Operative who needs loads of points invested to make him even remotely interesting. .

Unmodified, yes, you'd be right - but both of those ships are cheaper than the Rookie and capable of taking turrets which give them a 360 arc, which makes them far simpler to fly.

The Rookie Pilot on the other hand needs to actually get a target in it's firing arc, and the only modification it can take which remotely helps it acquire that target would be Engine upgrade. That makes it no less than 7 points more expensive than the aforementioned Alpha Squadron...

But your original question was "what ship requires the most skill to use"

Answer Alpha Squdron pilot.

The rookie pilot is more forgiving if you make a mistake and since you will be trying to fly aggressively with the intercepter you are more likely to make an error.

OMG the aggressive LISTEN MATE brought this to mind:

Omicron Group Pilot...

Is anything else even worth metioning?

I'd say that in that case then the Academy Pilot is much less forgiving than the Rookie. Especially since you have to fly it in mass and formation to maximise its use.

Alternatively the Tempest; simply because its ship is so scorned many never even bothered fielding this pilot (or even recollect the name).

My vote goes for the basic Intercepter, Avenger squadron.

It has 3 attack so you are tempted to be aggressive but with only 3 hull, it won't last long. So you need to arc dodge, this is made more difficult by the lack of EPT. One mistake with this bad and you are one shotted to hell and back. No room for error with this baby.

LISTEN MATE, the Alpha can and does outfly a Rookie Pilot every day of the week, you know this.

But then wouldn't Gold Squadron be tougher to use? Less forgiving dial, not as strong in attack natively. And let's not mention the poor, doomed to die, Rebel Operative who needs loads of points invested to make him even remotely interesting. .

Unmodified, yes, you'd be right - but both of those ships are cheaper than the Rookie and capable of taking turrets which give them a 360 arc, which makes them far simpler to fly.

The Rookie Pilot on the other hand needs to actually get a target in it's firing arc, and the only modification it can take which remotely helps it acquire that target would be Engine upgrade. That makes it no less than 7 points more expensive than the aforementioned Alpha Squadron...

LISTEN MATE

4 Rookie x wings vs 5 avenger pilots, the interceptors will need to be flown with more skill and precision to win

But your original question was "what ship requires the most skill to use"

Answer Alpha Squdron pilot.

The rookie pilot is more forgiving if you make a mistake and since you will be trying to fly aggressively with the intercepter you are more likely to make an error.

LISTEN MATE - the original question still is "what ship requires the most skill to use". And the Alpha Squadron is nowhere near the top of the list.

Points value, agility, forgiving dial plus native boost and barrel roll make the Alpha much more forgiving than the Rookie Pilot. It packs just as much punch as well.

I'd say that in that case then the Academy Pilot is much less forgiving than the Rookie. Especially since you have to fly it in mass and formation to maximise its use.

Alternatively the Tempest; simply because its ship is so scorned many never even bothered fielding this pilot (or even recollect the name).

Nope, the Academy Pilor is one of the most points-effective ships in the game, and that's the reaosn why Imperials have an advantage in the out of the box game. Two Academies vs one Rookie (+ R2 Astromech) and the Rookie needs a LOT of help to win.

The TIE Advanced is a good shout however, it's a very close call between that and the X-Wing. The number of actions available to it mean it has flexibility the X-Wing doesn't, though.

But your original question was "what ship requires the most skill to use"

Answer Alpha Squdron pilot.

The rookie pilot is more forgiving if you make a mistake and since you will be trying to fly aggressively with the intercepter you are more likely to make an error.

LISTEN MATE - the original question still is "what ship requires the most skill to use". And the Alpha Squadron is nowhere near the top of the list.

Points value, agility, forgiving dial plus native boost and barrel roll make the Alpha much more forgiving than the Rookie Pilot. It packs just as much punch as well.

LISTEN MATE

No I am sorry but to say the Alpha is much more forgiving is just crazy talk, I could respect your view until you made that mental comment

I'm going to enter this discussion with the Y-Wing - and for specific pilot I'll just go ahead and say Dutch, since his position matters when considering the rest of your squad. Y-Wings can surprise people.

LISTEN MATE

4 Rookie x wings vs 5 avenger pilots, the interceptors will need to be flown with more skill and precision to win

LISTEN MATE - that sounds like a challenge. And/or a like load of horseradish.

Children please, calm down. It all isnt that important.

I'd say Biggs. At best he messes up your opponents plan greatly, at worst he helps your opponent to focus his fire.

Or maybe a ship like Echo, 35-40pts invested in a single 4 hitpoint ship is asking for trouble.

My vote goes to OGP

I could also see an argument made for Wedge/Howlrunner. Both pilots are primary targets in any list, so keeping them alive past round 3 take loads of skill on your part, or complete bumbling by your opponent.

HEY, LISTEN!!

Going off my experience, and nothing else, I'm actually going to nominate the Gold Squadron for Most Challenging Rebel To Fly.

- Low maneuverability dial

- Low attack and defense dice

For Most Challenging Imperial To Fly, (and I'm going to catch Hel for this) I'm nominating the TIE Phantom (all of them).

- Low defense when not cloaked

- Takes lots of practice to learn how to effectively use the Cloaking

- Poor piloting means (barring lucky dice) it won't last long

• It has a low amount of actions - target lock and focus only.

• tie into the above, it has no native arc dodging ability or movement modifiers

• In general, low PS requires more thought and skill than high PS - you need to plan ahead and predict what your opponent will do rather than respond to what they actually have done

• it is moderately expensive - you can't fit more than four stock X-Wings in a list - yet not a great deal tougher than the basic swarm fighters (TIE Fighters/Z-95's)

Point 1-exactly the same as the OGP

Point 2-exactly the same as the OGP. I would argue the shuttle arc dodges worse due to its dial and large base size.

Point 3-exactly the same as the OGP

Point 4-exactly the same as the OGP, you could argue about the "tougher" part, but with 1 agility, the extra hp goes away fairly quickly.

The Rookie Pilot on the other hand needs to actually get a target in it's firing arc, and the only modification it can take which remotely helps it acquire that target would be Engine upgrade. That makes it no less than 7 points more expensive than the aforementioned Alpha Squadron...

Exactly the same as the OGP.

Now let's compare dials fairly. The shuttle has the worst dial in the game, period. No k-turn, and it's only hard turn is red means it is worse than the basic Rookie pilot, all things considered. Plus with the large base combined with the bad dial, it gets blocked easily. Therefore, the OGP takes far more skill to pilot effectively than the basic Rookie Pilot.

In a basic Rookie vs basic OGP, the Rookie wins every single time. I can count on one hand the number of players who could fly the OGP and might make it a good fight (and I don't count myself among them), but my money is on the Rookie every time.

In my opinion from hardest

Shuttle withouth EU

Shuttle with EU

Interceptors/A-wings

Phantoms

Tie fighters

Most of the rest of stuff

Falcon