House Rules: technical balance fixes for casual play

By MajorJuggler, in X-Wing

Philosophy

These House Rules are intended as technical balance fixes to improve the less competitive pilots and upgrades for casual play. This encourages more diversity of pilots and squad archetypes during casual play than is present in the competitive tournament setting. Since these are House Rules, there is flexibility to do things that FFG cannot with the retail game:

  • Retroactively change the point cost and wording of certain cards.
  • Utilize half-point adjustments, which better reflects the cost of some pilot skill progressions and upgrade cards.
  • Add additional text to some pilot abilities that would not fit on the card using the normal print process.

Use of unreleased but fully spoiled cards for house play is of course encouraged, and these rules are intended to be balanced with upcoming releases. The general philosophy is to BUFF, and not NERF. I explicitly want to avoid nerfing existing powerful cards / combos, as these are already well established in the game, and are fun to fly. The approach is to change the existing mechanics as little as possible and balance underpowered cards with simple point adjustments, but occasionally pilot ability or card text has been changed. The rational for the fixes are based primarily on:

I plan on eventually making several new MathWing threads on currently unpublished results for several different topics, including:

  • Missiles and Torpedoes
  • AutoThrusters
  • R2-F2 (I already have dozens of figures representing thousands of data points just for this one)
  • Blaster Turret and Autoblaster
  • ... and more.

But that will all take some time, and right now I don't have the bandwidth to get to it all until probably next year. I have already posted some examples of my House Rules piecemeal, and it has generally met with very good feedback and interest in seeing the full list. So I figure that it is worth posting the House Rules now before publishing all the related MathWing articles.

Color Coding, Balance Discussion, and Credits
Key balance points for each section are directly under each heading in a spoiler tab. Credits to the original ideas and their authors are also given in this section.

.... like this.

  • TBD : indicates that I intend to apply a change, but I have not yet finished my analysis and testing.
  • Testing : indicates that this change is still undergoing testing.

Providing Feedback
Feedback is always welcome! If you would like to try out some of the changes here and report back, then that would be awesome. The best way for reviewing is to play a game on vassal, and email me ([email protected]) the game log with a description of the balance changes being tested. Since we are trying to determine balance, please run Lady Luck and make sure that the dice rolls are not a strong statistical outlier. Games that are strong statistical outliers will probably just be ignored, unless it is evidence that a particular change is overpowered and wins even when the dice are exceptionally poor. I can't promise that I will be able to review many or all of the games until I have more bandwidth next year, but I can make the games available for download, so the rest of the community can review them. Of course, just throwing some ships on the table and seeing how things play out is also fine, just be sure to let us know the exact squad breakdown on both sides, and some specifics on how things played out.


House Rules: technical balance fixes for casual play
Change Overview by Ship Type

ship | pilots | cost/EPT change (%) | named pilots | ability change (%)
94 43 45.7% 60 11 18.3%
Rebels
X-wing 10 10 100.0% 8 0 0.0%
Y-wing 4 2 50.0% 2 0 0.0%
A-wing 6 3 50.0% 4 1 25.0%
YT-1300 4 1 25.0% 3 0 0.0%

HWK-290 4 2 50.0% 3 1 33.3%

B-wing 6 2 33.3% 4 1 25.0%
E-wing 4 3 75.0% 2 0 0.0%
Z-95 4 1 25.0% 2 0 0.0%
YT-2400 4 0 0.0% 3 0 0.0%

Imperials

TIE/Ln 9 0 0.0% 6 2 33.3%
TIE/Ad 4 1 75.0% 2 0 0.0%
TIE/Int 11 7 63.6% 7 2 28.6%
Firespray 4 1 25.0% 3 3 100.0%

TIE/sa 4 3 75.0% 2 0 0.0%
Lambda 4 2 50.0% 2 1 50.0%

TIE/D 4 3 75.0% 2 0 0.0%
TIE/Pha 4 2 50.0% 2 0 0.0%
VT-49 4 0 0.0% 3 0 0.0%

Scum

(unreleased, TBD)

X-wing Pilots

For now, I have settled on how to balance the X-wings: 3 point cost reduction (to a minimum of 0) on a single upgrade. Originally I simply threw a free Hull Upgrade on them, but at Dom Cairo's suggestion I updated it to a more general case -3 cost title card, so you can put Engine Upgrade instead of some higher PS named pilots.

The obvious choice here for most ships a free Hull Upgrade. I made the decision to make the Refit cost +1 for Biggs and Wedge, and 0 for all other pilots. The conditional cost is unconventional, but since these are House Rules we can get away with it. You are of course free to use Biggs as before without the Hull Refit at 25 points, but you will probably want to spend the 1 point to give him the extra hull.

Here are the new MathWing numbers using a Hull Upgrade using the same method as in my MathWing thread.

------------------------------------- X-wings (stock) ----------------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS2 X-wing 21 | 18.4 | 20.2 | 17.8 | 88.3% | 86.3% - 90% | 135%
PS4 X-wing 23 | 19.8 | 20.4 | 17.8 | 87.1% | 85.1% - 88.7% | 159.1%
Tarn Mison 2 23 | 21.1 | 19.4 | 17.8 | 91.8% | 89.7% - 93.6% | 159.1%
"Hobbie" 1 25 | 21.6 | 20.6 | 17.8 | 86.5% | 84.6% - 88.2% | 185%
Biggs Darklighter 4 25 | 24.6 | 18 | 17.8 | 98.9% | 96.6% - 100.8% | 185%
Garven Dreis 2 26 | 23.3 | 19.9 | 17.8 | 89.6% | 87.6% - 91.3% | 198.6%
Jek Porkins 0.5 26 | 23.3 | 19.7 | 17.8 | 90.2% | 88.1% - 91.9% | 198.6%
Luke Skywalker* 28 | 26 | 21 | 19.7 | 93.7% | 91.6% - 95.5% | 189.1%
Wes Janson 2 29 | 25.5 | 20.3 | 17.8 | 87.9% | 85.9% - 89.6% | 241.6%
Wedge Antilles* 29 | 27.8 | 21.1 | 20.5 | 97% | 93.1% - 100.1% | 187.8%

*Luke (approximation): 20% more durability
*Wedge: as per ability

------------------------------- X-wings (House rules) -------------------------------
------------------------------- +1 hull at 0 cost -----------------------------------
------------------- +1 hull at 0 cost (Biggs, Wedge +1 cost) ------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS2 X-wing 21 | 20 | 20.2 | 19.4 | 96.1% | 94% - 97.9% | 115.8%
PS4 X-wing 22.5 | 21.6 | 20 | 19.4 | 96.9% | 94.7% - 98.7% | 131.2%
Tarn Mison 2 23 | 22.8 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 100% | 97.7% - 101.8% | 136.5%
"Hobbie" 1 24 | 23.4 | 19.7 | 19.4 | 98.3% | 96.1% - 100.1% | 147.4%
Biggs Darklighter 4 26 | 26.4 | 18.9 | 19.4 | 102.8% | 100.5% - 104.6% | 170.3%
Garven Dreis 2 26 | 26 | 19.2 | 19.4 | 100.9% | 98.7% - 102.8% | 170.3%
Jek Porkins 0.5 26 | 25.3 | 19.7 | 19.4 | 98.1% | 96% - 99.9% | 170.3%
Luke Skywalker* 28 | 28.3 | 21 | 21.4 | 102% | 99.7% - 103.9% | 162.1%
Wes Janson 2 28 | 27.6 | 19.5 | 19.4 | 99.4% | 97.1% - 101.2% | 194.7%
Wedge Antilles* 30 | 30.3 | 21.8 | 22.3 | 102.1% | 98.1% - 105.3% | 171.1%

X-wing Refit (testing)

  • Title: X-wing only.
  • Reduce the cost of one upgrade by 3, to a minimum of 0.
  • Cost: +1 (Biggs and Wedge) / 0 (all others)

Red Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 23 to 22.5

"Hobbie" Klivian

  • Cost reduced from 25 to 24

Garven Dreis

  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot

Wes Janson

  • Cost reduced from 29 to 28

Y-wing Pilots

These are all straightforward. The Y-wing is overcosted by about 2 points if you fly it without a turret, Horton really should have an EPT, and the Grey gets a slight discount.

All Y-wings now have a Turret Refit available to them, which reduces their cost by 2 when not using a turret.

Y-wing Turret Refit

  • Y-wing only.
  • Turret weapon.
  • Cost: -2 points.

Grey Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 20 to 19.5

Horton Salm

  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot.

A-wing Pilots

Gemmer's cost has been reduced by 1, which puts his PS1 adjusted cost where it should be given his relatively weak ability and lack of tournament usage.

Arvel gets a couple buffs here. First, he is the leader of Green Squadron, and all the Green Squadron Pilots have an EPT, so it seemed silly to not also give him an EPT. With Rebel Aces this means that he can have 2 EPTs instead of 1. Secondly, he can now ram people, keep his action, and also shoot at them. So it's kind of like a poor-man's Advanced Sensors, and very thematic. Enjoy flying into things and blowing them up.

Tycho's cost has been reduced by 2 to put his cost in-line with the normal progression and also to account for his ability being relatively weak. His ability is merely OK for a PS8 pilot, I don't see a need for him to pay an extra point for it.

MathWing:

------------------------------------- A-wings (stock) ----------------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 A-wing + Refit 15 | 14.6 | 15 | 14.1 | 93.8% | 93.6% - 94.1% | 112.5%
PS3 A-wing + Refit 17 | 16.9 | 14.8 | 14.1 | 94.8% | 94.6% - 95.1% | 141.1%
Gemmer Sojan + Refit 1 20 | 19 | 15.7 | 14.1 | 89.5% | 89.3% - 89.7% | 189.7%
Arvel Crynyd + Refit 0.5 21 | 19.2 | 16.4 | 14.1 | 85.8% | 85.6% - 86% | 207.1%
Jake Farell + Refit 2 22 | 21.7 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 92.3% | 92.1% - 92.6% | 225.2%
Tycho Celchu + Refit 1 24 | 21.3 | 17 | 14.1 | 82.8% | 82.6% - 83.1% | 263.8%

------------------------------- A-wings (House rules) ----------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 A-wing + Refit 15 | 14.6 | 15 | 14.1 | 93.8% | 93.6% - 94.1% | 112.5%
PS3 A-wing + Refit 17 | 16.9 | 14.8 | 14.1 | 94.8% | 94.6% - 95.1% | 141.1%
Gemmer Sojan 1 + Refit 19 | 19 | 14.9 | 14.1 | 94.4% | 94.2% - 94.7% | 172.7%
Arvel Crynyd 2 + Refit 21 | 21 | 15 | 14.1 | 94.1% | 93.9% - 94.4% | 207.1%
Jake Farell 2 + Refit 22 | 21.7 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 92.3% | 92.1% - 92.6% | 225.2%
Tycho Celchu 1 + Refit 22 | 21.3 | 15.5 | 14.1 | 90.7% | 90.5% - 91% | 225.2%
Gemmer cost reduced from 22 to 21
Arvel gains the EPT, and reworded ability
Tycho cost reduced from 26 to 24

Gemmer Sojan

  • Cost reduced from 22 to 21

Arvel Crynyd

  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot
  • Pilot ability now reads: You may declare an enemy ship inside your firing arc that you are touching as the target of your attack. Executing a maneuver that causes you to overlap another ship does not cause you to skip the "Perform Action" step .

Tycho Celchu

  • Cost reduced from 26 to 24 points.

YT-1300 Pilots

The ORS has a really, really bad jousting value compared to all of the other 360 turret large base ships in the game. The solution here is to give it the same attack power as the named YT-1300 for a 3 point boost, but keep its lower hull and shield values. Note that since this is a non-unique title, you may take multiples, but none of them can be the Millennium Falcon. Therefore you can evade 1 hit per round with C-3P0, but not 2 with the Millennium Falcon.

MathWing for reference, including the named pilots as a baseline.

----------------------------------------- YT-1300 --------------------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
Outer Rim Smuggler 27 | 21.4 | 27 | 16.2 | 59.8% | 59% - 60.4% | 253.4%
ORS + Gun Smuggler 30 | 28.7 | 30 | 21.7 | 72.3% | 70.1% - 74% | 179.5%
Chewbacca 2 42 | 41.7 | 33.1 | 24.8 | 75% | 72.7% - 76.7% | 256.8%
Lando Calrissian 2 44 | 44.5 | 32.5 | 24.8 | 76.3% | 74.1% - 78.1% | 278.7%
Han Solo 2 46 | 47.2 | 32 | 24.8 | 77.5% | 75.2% - 79.4% | 301.3%

Gun Runner

  • Title. Outer Rim Smuggler only.
  • 3 points.
  • Increase your primary weapon value by 1.

Junkyard Deal

  • Title. Outer Rim Smuggler only.
  • 0 points.
  • Decrease the total cost of all equipped upgrades on this ship by 4 points, to a minimum of 0.

Junkyard Deal FAQ:

  • The cost reduction does not apply to each upgrade individually. The total cost of all upgrades assigned to the Outer Rim Smuggler is added up, and then up to 4 points is removed. For example, equipping Anti-Pursuit Lasers and Gunner will cost a total of 2+5-4 = 3 points.

B-wing Pilots

I'm still working out what to do with both of these pilots, Ten Nunb in particular. I was thinking of completely reworking Ten's ability so that he converts all crits to hits and then adds 1 hit if he does, but have to run the numbers first. The main problem with Ten Nunb is that Keyan now exists, for 1 point less. Ten should be even more face-punchy than Keyan, but at the same time you don't want Ten to be overpowered.

Ibitsam probably needs a hair more than a point reduction, so I am considering rewording her ability to allow her to reroll up to 2 dice when she has a stress token. However I need to run the numbers on that, both offensively and defensively, and compare that to Keyan.

Ibitsam ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 28 to 27.

Ten Nunb

  • Cost reduced from 31 to 30.
  • Pilot ability now reads: When attacking, choose one of your [hit] or [critical hit] results. That die cannot be canceled by defense dice or evade tokens .

HWK-290 Pilots

The Rebel Operative gets a cost reduction to make it more viable.

Roark stays the same, having one of the best ghostbusting abilities in the game.

Kyle's ability has been reworded so he no longer gives away one of his tokens, he simply assigns a new token to a friendly ship.

Jan gets a cost reduction to increase her viability.

Rebel Operative

  • Cost reduced from 16 to 15.

Kyle Katarn

  • Pilot ability now reads: " At the start of the Combat phase, you may assign 1 focus token to another friendly ship at range 1-3. "

Jan Ors

  • Cost reduced from 25 to 23.

E-wing Pilots

Dropping generic E-wings 3 points will be one of the most controversial items on this entire list, but it is the correct cost. 4 E-wings in a single list, although good, is not overpowered. Even at 24 points, you are still paying for the privilege of having a set of upgrades and the dial. To put it in perspective, the E-wing statline jousting efficiency at 27 points is the same as the TIE Advanced. It has some nice upgrade potential, but not enough to dig the generics out of a hole that deep.

MathWing:

------------------------------------- E-wings (stock) ----------------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 E-wing 27 | 22.9 | 27 | 21.1 | 78.3% | 76.7% - 79.7% | 155.8%
PS3 E-wing 29 | 24.8 | 26.8 | 21.1 | 78.9% | 77.3% - 80.4% | 177.2%
Etahn Abaht1 32 | 28.7 | 25.7 | 21.1 | 82.4% | 80.7% - 83.9% | 211.3%
Corran Horn3 35 | 33.6 | 24 | 21.1 | 88% | 86.3% - 89.7% | 248.2%
PS1 + R2-D2, 3 regen 31 | 28.4 | 31 | 26.5 | 85.6% | 84.2% - 93.4% | 132.2%

------------------------------- E-wings (House rules) -----------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 E-wing 24 | 22.9 | 24 | 21.1 | 88% | 86.3% - 89.7% | 126%
PS3 E-wing 26 | 24.8 | 24 | 21.1 | 88% | 86.3% - 89.7% | 145.5%
Etahn Abaht 1 31 | 28.7 | 24.8 | 21.1 | 85.1% | 83.4% - 86.7% | 199.6%
Corran Horn 3 35 | 33.6 | 24 | 21.1 | 88% | 86.3% - 89.7% | 248.2%

Knave Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 27 to 24

Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 29 to 26

Etahn A'baht

  • Cost reduced from 32 to 31

Z-95 Pilots

The Z-95 pilots are all reasonably priced except for Blount, whose ability is only marginally useful.

Lt. Blount

  • Cost reduced from 17 to 16

YT-2400 Pilots

There are currently no changes for the YT-2400 pilots.

N/A

TIE Fighter Pilots

Night Beast gets a minor wording tweak so he always gets a focus token when executing a green move. (Credit: WonderWAAAGH and VorpalSword )

A tweak to Gundark, so his ability now also works on one eyeball result, but still only at range 1. This would be a PS8 ability without the range restriction. With Howlrunner nearby and attacking at range 1, he may be able to get away with taking evade for an action, or keeping his focus for defense, making him somewhat comparable to Night Beast.

"Night Beast"

  • Pilot ability now reads: After executing a green maneuver, you may assign 1 focus token to your ship.

"Winged Gundark"

  • Pilot ability now reads: When attacking at range 1, you may change one of your [focus] or [hit] results to a [critical hit] .

TIE Advanced Pilots

Now that the TIE Advanced fix has been spoiled by FFG, the only House Rule change to the TIE Advanced is to reduce the cost of the Storm Squadron Pilot by half a point, which mirrors the half-point change to the Red Squadron Pilot.

Storm Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 23 to 22.5

TIE Interceptor Pilots

There's a lot here, so I'll just go down the list:

  • PS1 Alpha: even at 17 points it is paying a significant cost for Boost and green hard 2's which see far less use on generics than on named pilots. One of the more extreme squad difference that this -1 cost reduction could result in would be going from:
    • Howlrunner + Hull Upgrade; 3x Alpha Squadron Pilot; 2x Academy Pilot, to:
    • Howlrunner + Determination; 4x Alpha Squadron Pilot; 1x Academy Pilot
    • So, convert an Academy to an Alpha, and downgrade Hull Upgrade on Howlrunner to Determination. It's not a significant change and seems pretty well balanced.
  • PS3 Avenger: same as PS1 Alpha, with an additional 0.5 discount on the PS progression.
  • PS4 Saber: currently overshadowed by the 22 point PS6 RGP, it will now be a compelling, but risky, value. One exciting example is 4x Sabers + Push the Limit + Targeting Computer. Note that they can't take the Royal Guard Title, so double upgrades are still out. I suspect this will come into play with the upcoming buff to the TIE Interceptors that the developers teased is coming in wave 6.
  • PS5 "Fel's Wrath": he now costs the same as a Royal Guard, but still lacks an EPT. If you kill him, he will now be guaranteed to punch you back in the face, unless you catch him staring out into space. A couple people mentioned that the free focus may be too powerful, so I flagged him as testing for now. If you playtest with him, please let me know how it goes.
  • PS5 Lorrir: Like Fel's Wrath, he now costs the same as the PS6 Royal Guard. His ability no longer gives a stress, so he should prove much more consistent and difficult to pin down. As with the other named PS5 squint, still no EPT.
  • PS6 Kanos: It's hard to ever justify getting an elite squint without PtL. Now there is a reason to get him over a Royal Guard: for one extra point you get his ability. Concern that he is too powerful is unfounded, because spending your focus + evade on offense will leave him vulnerable on defense. The exception is if he manages to completely dodge all arcs, in which case you can leverage his ability to add an extra damage.
  • PS7 Cowell: He's a pure value proposition, since his ability is questionable at best. A stressed actionless squint is a dead one. But it's still worth 1 point over the Royal Guard to get +1PS and his ability.

MathWing:

--------------------------- TIE Interceptor (House rules) ------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 Interceptor 17 | 16.8 | 17 | 16.1 | 94.7% | 93.1% - 96% | 110.6%
PS3 Interceptor 18.5 | 18.4 | 17.1 | 16.1 | 94.2% | 92.6% - 95.6% | 128.8%
PS4 Interceptor 20 | 19.9 | 17.1 | 16.1 | 93.9% | 92.3% - 95.2% | 148.5%
Fels Wrath 1 22 | 20.9 | 18 | 16.1 | 89.4% | 87.9% - 90.7% | 176.5%
Lt. Lorrir 1 22 | 20.9 | 18 | 16.1 | 89.4% | 87.9% - 90.7% | 176.5%
PS6 Interceptor 22 | 21.5 | 17.6 | 16.1 | 91.4% | 89.9% - 92.8% | 176.5%
Kir Kanos1 23 | 22.5 | 17.6 | 16.1 | 91.4% | 89.9% - 92.8% | 191.2%
Tetran Cowell 0.5 23 | 22.8 | 17.4 | 16.1 | 92.4% | 90.8% - 93.7% | 191.2%
Turr Phennir 2 25 | 24.3 | 17.8 | 16.1 | 90.4% | 88.8% - 91.7% | 222.3%
Carnor Jax2 26 | 25.1 | 18 | 16.1 | 89.4% | 87.9% - 90.7% | 238.5%
Soontir Fel 3 27 | 26.9 | 17.5 | 16.1 | 92.2% | 90.6% - 93.5% | 255.2%

Alpha Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 18 to 17

Avenger Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 20 to 18.5

Saber Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 21 to 20

"Fel's Wrath" ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 23 to 22
  • Pilot ability now reads: When the damage assigned to you equals or exceeds your hull value, you may immediately assign one focus token to yourself and perform an additional attack. Then remove "Fel's Wrath" from play as normal .

"Fel's Wrath" FAQ:

  • If Fel's Wrath is destroyed by simultaneous fire, you may immediately gain a free focus token and perform an additional attack, and later also perform your simultaneous fire attack, regardless of who has initiative. Then remove "Fel's Wrath" from play.
  • If "Fel's Wrath" is destroyed by Corran Horn during the End Phase, "Fel's Wrath" may immediately gain a focus token, perform an attack, and is then removed from play.

Lieutenant Lorrir

  • Cost reduced from 23 to 22
  • Pilot ability now reads: When performing a barrel roll action, you may use the [1 left bank] or [1 right bank] template instead of the [1 forward] template .

Kir Kanos

  • Cost reduced from 24 to 23
  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot

Tetran Cowell

  • Cost reduced from 24 to 23

Firespray Pilots

The named Imperial Firespray get some significant buffs here, which puts their abilities about on par with the Scum Firespray pilots.

  • The PS3 Bounty Hunter has its cost reduced to 31 points, which puts its PS adjusted cost progression in line with the Scum PS5 Firespray pilot.
  • Krassis: His ability and tournament results seem pretty underpowered in practice, so he gets a utility buff by letting him fire his secondary weapons out of his rear arc. (Credit: Jo Jo )
  • Kath: Also considering the following less drastic change: When attacking, the defender receives 1 stress token if he cancels at least 1 [critical hit] or 2 [hit] results. If you try either, let me know how it works out. Wes Janson can outright strip a token as his PS8 ability, so I feel like conditionally adding a stress token at PS7 seems fair for a 38 point ship.
  • Boba Fett gets a huge buff as well. His original ability is so poor that it virtually never sees competitive use. I was considering restricting the new ability to "rotating to another maneuver of the same speed and kind ", but instead I erred on the side of extra buffing. Paired with Navigator, when he reveals a straight he can now change his maneuver dial to any maneuver (provided he has no stress, in which case he can't K-turn). That's really powerful, but it is also 42 points. For the same points you can get a fully decked out Whisper, and are getting into named VT-49 territory. So if you fly it, let me know what you think.

Bounty Hunter

  • Cost reduced from 33 to 31

Krassis Trelix

  • Pilot ability now reads: When attacking with a secondary weapon, you may reroll 1 attack dice, and may attack using your auxiliary firing arc .

Kath Scarlet ( testing )

  • Pilot Ability now reads: When attacking, the defender receives 1 stress token if he cancels at least 1 [critical hit] or [hit] result .

Boba Fett ( testing )

  • Pilot ability now reads: When you reveal your maneuver dial, you may rotate your dial to another maneuver of the same speed .

TIE Bomber Pilots

  • With House Rule changes to almost all of the Missiles, Torpedoes, and Bombs, TIE Bombers should be more consistent, especially with Jonus.
  • Gamma Squadron Pilots (Credit: TheRealStarkiller ) now gain the EPT, which significantly opens up the Bomber design space. For 24 points you can get a Gamma + PtL + Concussion Missiles.
  • Jonus gets a minor cost tweak, and is under testing.
  • Rhymer's cost has been brought back down out of the stratosphere to something more reasonable, although still expensive.

Gamma Squadron Pilot ( testing )

  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot.

Captain Jonus ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 22 to 21

Major Rhymer

  • Cost reduced from 26 to 23

Lambda Shuttle Pilots

The PS6 and PS8 Albino Space Bovine pilots really need some love. This should do the trick. I am particularly excited about the prospect of a PS8 Shuttle with an EPT. He did ferry the Emperor, after all. Colonel Jendon's range has been increased from range to range 1-2 (Credit: TheRealStarkiller ), which should increase his utility.

Colonel Jendon ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 26 to 25
  • Ability now reads: " At the start of the Combat Phase, you may assign 1 of your blue target lock tokens to a friendly ship at Range 1-2 if it does not have a blue target lock token. "

Captain Kagi

  • Cost reduced from 27 to 26
  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot

TIE Defender Pilots

The named pilots are OK, but the generics are a very poor value, even with the white K-turn. Originally I was considering simply giving them a 4th shield, since this is what they had historically, but that would make the named pilots too powerful.

The PS3 Defender gets an EPT (Credit: TheRealStarkiller ) in addition to the 2 point cost reduction, for 2 reasons:

  • Balance: The white K-turn makes the PS1 Defender almost universally the better choice, because when moving first the white K-turn can't get blocked. At PS3 you can get blocked. So adding an EPT would help motivate you to spend the extra points. Right now I don't think anyone ever would.
  • Thematically: " Imperial High Command decided that defender pilots would only be selected from TIE interceptor pilots who had flown at least twenty combat missions and survived. We're either the best pilots in the Imperial fleet or the luckiest. " -- Rexler Brath. So the PS1 Defender pilots were already suppossed to be elite. The PS3 would be even better. An EPT makes sense.

Vessery is really good when you build an entire squad around him. If he gets a free TL every round, then his normalized damage goes from 1.7 (3 dice standard) to 2.4. That's a 40% increase, which is slightly better than Wedge's ability, which works out to 2.2. That results in a jousting efficiency of around 100%, assuming he always gets his free target lock.

The total predicted cost for any of the Defenders other than the Delta Squadron Pilot has to be taken with a grain of salt, since the white K-turn can be blocked.

Rexler's ability is frankly inferior, except in Epic play. I'm open to suggestions on what to do with him, but also perfectly willing to let him stay as is for now.

---------------------------------------- TIE Defender ----------------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency |
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | req eff
PS1 TIE Defender 30 | 26.4 | 30 | 23 | 76.6% | 75.1% - 78.1% | 161.6%
PS3 TIE Defender 32 | 28.6 | 29.5 | 23 | 77.8% | 76.3% - 79.3% | 181.5%
Colonel Vessery1 35 | 34 | 27.2 | 23 | 84.5% | 82.8% - 86.2% | 213%
Colonel Vessery* 35 | 40.6 | 28 | 28.3 | 100.9% | 98% - 103.7% | 146.8%
Rexler Brath1 37 | 36.2 | 27 | 23 | 85.2% | 83.4% - 86.8% | 235.1%
*Vessery: always gets free Target Lock (optimistic)
------------------------------- TIE Defender (House Rules) -----------------------------
Cost | | PS1 Jousting Efficiency | req
Ship name actual|predict| PS1 | JV | std | range | eff
PS1 TIE Defender 27 | 26.4 | 27 | 23.0 | 85.2% | 83.4% - 86.8% | 133.7%
PS3 TIE Defender 29 | 29.7 | 25.8 | 23.0 | 89.2% | 87.4% - 90.9% | 152.1%
Rexler Brath1 36 | 36.2 | 26.3 | 23 | 87.6% | 85.8% - 89.3% | 223.9

Delta Squadron Pilot
  • Cost reduced from 30 to 27

Onyx Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 32 to 29
  • Gains the Elite Pilot Talent Slot

Rexler Brath

  • Cost reduced from 37 to 36

TIE Phantom Pilots

I'm not touching the named TIE Phantoms or Advanced Cloaking Device, because I don't want to nerf anything, or feel that it is necessary. However, the generics are slightly overcosted glass cannons. It's extremely difficult to leverage the cloak actions successfully without ACD once firing starts, since it is rather self-defeating to lose your 4 attack dice. One point off makes them slightly more appealing. Now you can run 2x Sigma + 2 Shadow, or 4x Sigma and 2 of them with Stygium. It's certainly not the most powerful or well balanced squad, but it should be entertaining. If Imperials had Biggs, then we would be having a different discussion.

Sigma Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 25 to 24

Shadow Squadron Pilot

  • Cost reduced from 27 to 26

VT-49 Pilots

Rear Admiral Chiraneau and Commander Kenkirk are both great values and highly versatile. Captain Oicunn is slightly less cost effective at only 2 points less, but still has a great ability and I don't see a need to change him at this time. The Patrol Leader almost certainly costs too much by a point or two, but we I'll wait for some more wave 6 tournament results to come in before reducing its cost. Post wave 6 its greatest value will be carrying Vader crew for insurance against Autothrusters TIE Interceptors.

N/A

Missiles
I'm not 100% done analyzing Missiles, so these are placeholders, but they will likely end up being permanent changes anyway.

Assault Missiles ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 5 to 4.

Cluster Missiles ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 4 to 3

Concussion Missiles ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 4 to 3

Homing Missiles ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 5 to 4

Torpedoes
I'm not 100% done analyzing Torpedoes, so these are placeholders, but they will likely end up being permanent changes anyway.

Proton Torpedoes ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 4 to 3

Advanced Proton Torpedoes ( testing )

  • Cost reduced from 6 to 5

Turrets
Blaster Turret

  • Change TBD

Cannons
Autoblaster

  • Change TBD


Bombs
Proximity Mines

  • First half of card text now reads: Action : Discard this card to drop 1 proximity mine token. Then perform 1 free action .

Proton Bombs

  • Cost reduced from 5 to 4

Elite Pilot Talents

Most of these are fairly straightforward.

  • Decoy rarely has any practical use, so it gets its cost reduced to 1.
  • Expose is given a buff for any ship with more than 0 agility. I had to leave it unchanged for any ship that does not suffer the negative effects of the card, since Expose + Experimental Interface is actually an OK combination for the VT-49. It's still not a great card, but given its utility on the VT-49 there is only so much that can be done.
  • Marksmanship is a highly conditional 2nd action, so is priced at 2 instead of the traditional 3.
  • Squad leader is changed so the card is actually a net benefit, which also prompts a cost increase to 3 points. Incidentally it is now essentially the same as Fleet Officer, but as an EPT instead of crew.

Decoy

  • Cost reduced from 2 to 1

Expose

  • Card text now reads: Action: Until the end of the round, increase your primary weapon value by 1 and decrease your agility value by 1, to a minimum of 0. If this reduced your agility, you may perform a free action.

Marksmanship

  • Cost reduced from 3 to 2

Squad Leader

  • Cost increased from 2 to 3
  • Card text now reads: Action: Choose up to 2 different ships at range 1-2 that have a lower pilot skill. The chosen ships may immediately each perform 1 free action .

System Upgrades
Sensor Jammer

  • Cost reduced from 4 to 3 (requires more analysis, number TBD )

Astromech Droids

R5-D8

R5-D8 is Porkins' droid, so the intent was to make this card very good for him, and OK for everyone else. R5-D8 is now the hull equivalent of R2-D2, with a few differences:

  1. R5-D8 costs 3 vs R2-D2 costs 4.
  2. R2-D2 can be useful as soon as the ship has lost a shield, whereas R5-D8 has to wait until the ship has lost a hull.
  3. The triggering conditions are different: R2-D2 after executing a green maneuver, and R5-D8 after removing a stress.

Comments on each point:

  1. Given that a Hull Upgrade costs 3 points and a Shield Upgrade costs 4 points, the 3 point cost for R5-D8 does not need to be changed.
  2. This aspect makes R2-D2 superior to R5-D8, except for a few corner cases like with Jek Porkins.
  3. As a general rule, R2-D2 is much easier to trigger, unless you build a squad and EPTs (like Wingman) around R5-D8, or have a corner case pilot like Porkins.

So, this is a very healthy upgrade for this card, but still leaves it generally inferior to R2-D2, even adjusted or its cost. However, R5-D8 becomes very good on Porkins, as it will allow him to remove 1 stress per turn with impunity.

R5-K6

R5-K6 change to remove the die roll check suggested by Oenomaus .

R2-F2

  • Change TBD

R4-D6

  • Change TBD

R5

  • Change TBD

R5-D8

  • Card text now reads: Once per turn, after you remove a stress token, you may discard 1 of your facedown Damage cards.

R5-D8 FAQ:

  • If removing a stress causes multiple effects to trigger simultaneously (like triggering R5-D8 with Porkins' ability), then the player may chose which order to resolve the effects. Effects with the timing immediately must be resolved before R5-D8.

R5-K6

  • Card text now reads: "After spending your target lock, immediately acquire a target lock on that same ship. You cannot spend this target lock during this attack."

R5-P9

  • Cost reduced from 3 to 1.

Crew

Saboteur has been changed so the dice roll is no longer necessary and the card always works, but the cost has been increased by 1 to offset.

Weapons Engineer has been reduced from a cost of 3 to 2 for small and large base ships, because it does not generate the equivalent of one action per round. Weapons Engineer effectively has a 50% duty cycle, making its real value between 1.5 - 2 points. The cost has remained the same for Epic ships, which are able to fire multiple times in one round and therefore utilize all available Target Locks.

Saboteur

  • Cost increased from 2 to 3
  • Card text now reads: Action: Choose 1 enemy ship at Range 1, choose 1 random facedown Damage card assigned to that ship, flip it faceup, and resolve it.

Flight Instructor

  • Change TBD

​Weapons Engineer

  • Huge ship cost: 3
  • Small and Large ship cost: reduced from 3 to 2

Modifications
Munitions Failsafe

  • Card text now reads: If attacking with a secondary weapon that instructs you to discard it to perform the attack, and if the attack does not hit: do not discard the card, and you may acquire a target lock on the defender after attacking .

Shield Upgrade

  • Cost reduced from 4 to 3.5

Titles
ST-321

  • Cost reduced from 3 to 2

Changelog

October 10, 2014

  • Krassis Trelix : changed ability from: " When attacking with a secondary weapon, you may reroll up to 2 attack dice" to: " When attacking with a secondary weapon, you may reroll 1 attack dice, and may attack using your auxiliary firing arc. "
  • Colonel Jendon : changed ability to: " At the start of the Combat Phase, you may assign 1 of your blue target lock tokens to a friendly ship at Range 1-2 if it does not have a blue target lock token. "

October 11, 2014

  • Onyx Squadron Pilot : Gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot.
  • Gamma Squadron Pilot : Cost returned back to 18 from 17.5, but now gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot.

October 31, 2014

  • Ten Nunb : Minor wording change on his pilot ability from: " One of your [hit] or [critical hit] results cannot be canceled by defense dice" , to " When attacking, choose one of your [hit] or [critical hit] results. That die cannot be canceled by defense dice or evade tokens."

​November 3, 2014

  • Expose: Card text now reads: Action: Until the end of the round, increase your primary weapon value by 1 and decrease your agility value by 1, to a minimum of 0. If this reduced your agility, you may perform a free action.

November 14, 2014

  • R5-D8 : Card text now reads: Once per turn, after you remove a stress token, you may discard 1 of your facedown Damage cards .

November 21, 2014

  • Maarek Steele : cost changed to 24.5.

December 8, 2014

  • Added: X-wing Hull Refit title card (X-wing only +1 hull, costs 1 for Biggs, 0 for all others)
  • Rookie Pilot : cost returned to 21
  • Red Squadron Pilot : cost changed to 22.5
  • "Hobbie" Klivian : Cost reduced from 25 to 24
  • Garven Dreis : gains the Elite Pilot Talent slot
  • Wes Janson : Cost reduced from 29 to 28
  • Lt. Blount : Cost reduced from 17 to 16
  • Gemmer Sojan : Cost reduced from 22 to 21
  • Tycho Celchu : Cost reduced from 26 to 24
  • Outer Rim Smuggler : can take the Gun Runner title (+1 primary weapon value) for 3 points.
  • Kyle Katarn pilot: cost returned to 21 points. Pilot ability now reads: " At the start of the Combat phase, you may assign 1 focus token to another friendly ship at range 1-3. "
  • Bounty Hunter : Cost reduced from 33 to 31

December 12, 2014

  • Weapons Engineer : cost reduced from 3 to 2

December 22, 2014

  • X-wing Hull Refit title card now costs 1 point for both Biggs and Wedge
  • Storm Squadron Pilot: cost changed to 22.5 points
  • All other TIE Advanced House Rules removed now that FFG has announced the TIE Advanced Fix .

December 28, 2014

  • Delta Squadron Pilot cost reduced further to 27
  • Onyx Squadron Pilot cost reduced further to 29
  • Rexler Brath cost reduced from 37 to 36

February 15, 2015

  • Added " Junkyard Deal " title card for the Outer Rim Smuggler.

February 28, 2015

  • R5-K6 card text now reads: "After spending your target lock, immediately acquire a target lock on that same ship. You cannot spend this target lock during this attack."
  • R5-P9 cost reduced from 3 to 1.
  • Assault Missiles cost reduced from 5 to 4.

April 15, 2015

  • "X-wing Hull Refit" replaced by more general "X-wing Refit" that reduces cost of 1 upgrade by 3 points.

Edited by MajorJuggler

[reserved]

I so want FFG to full on errata a certain PS5 interceptor into that Juggler's Wrath. That TIE... is awesome.

You fixed Gundark but not Night Beast? For shame.

I'm in love. This is exactly what I needed from Kath. These just feel very appropriate.

Etahn biggs and 2 b's fits at that cost. Pretty mean. Except phantoms. So maybe not.

You fixed Gundark but not Night Beast? For shame.

I am always open to suggestions. :)

I thought the same thing, Night Beast is mentally " TBD " even though I didn't mark him that way.

Nice. I'm getting together with some buddies this weekend. We'll give these a go and see how they fare..

I am always open to suggestions. :)

I thought the same thing, Night Beast is mentally " TBD " even though I didn't mark him that way.

It's all in the wording. I got yah, bro:

"Whenever Night Beast executes a green maneuver, you may perform a free focus action during the Perform Action step."

I have... a lot to say about this, but much of it doesn't seem constructive, and I'm working on a deadline right now. I'll satisfy myself by saying this: to me, it appears as if you've fixed (or, let's say, "fixed") three kinds of things here.

(*) Large and genuine issues (e.g., TIE Advanced is a bad value proposition).

(*) Small or questionable issues (e.g., Captain Jonus didn't really need a trim).

(*) Fundamental problems with the game engine (e.g., mid-PS generics are typically a bad investment).

The first two I'm willing to grant you, but the third (IMO) should definitely not be fixed with ad-hoc point adjustments--they're simultaneously too much and not enough. More later, as I'm able.

I am always open to suggestions. :)

I thought the same thing, Night Beast is mentally " TBD " even though I didn't mark him that way.

It's all in the wording. I got yah, bro:

"Whenever Night Beast executes a green maneuver, you may perform a free focus action during the Perform Action step."

More in line with the original, but without the obnoxious stress issue: "After you execute a green maneuver, assign 1 focus token to your ship."

This is exactly what I was planning to do. With a little more finesse and individual point change but overall exactly what I thought and felt.

I do disagree with lowering the cost of etahn though. With everything coming down in cost I feel like we should keep etahn at the same value. He has a very very good ability and it's incredibly powerful in games that are above 100 points. Even at 125. At 300 it's ridiculous.

Also. I'm glad you did something about the old named Bs but I'm still not sure I like them.

Also do you not worry that you are fixing the game too much and not letting people find exciting ways to use some pilots who are only slightly over costed?

That's a ton of work that you've put into this. But it seems to counter the whole point of casual play. Emphasis on the word "casual."

If both players are experienced, I'm not sure what you're gaining by adding a perceived balance to the game.

If an experienced player just consistently brings a beatdown list, then that person should either mix it up or everyone else should stop playing with that person all together. If someone wants wants to just run a fun, "fluffy" list, just give the other player more points, or make sure the other player also runs a fun, fluffy list.

If playing against a new/unexperienced player, just self-nerf or throw them 10-15 extra points.

I agree with the mid ps fixing review. It's hard to remember each different ships changed cost without some easy way to reference them. And even them still a little hard.

I hope that newer releases will open up more interaction with older ships and not just with newer ships. This is a good way to prevent toal power creep and make classics still relevant. Buff where things are not used ffg!

That's a ton of work that you've put into this. But it seems to counter the whole point of casual play. Emphasis on the word "casual."

If both players are experienced, I'm not sure what you're gaining by adding a perceived balance to the game.

If an experienced player just consistently brings a beatdown list, then that person should either mix it up or everyone else should stop playing with that person all together. If someone wants wants to just run a fun, "fluffy" list, just give the other player more points, or make sure the other player also runs a fun, fluffy list.

If playing against a new/unexperienced player, just self-nerf or throw them 10-15 extra points.

Casual or not. You're not convincing me to play major rhymer or a tie advanced versus any slightly competent squad.

Perhaps it's not that casual just means "whatever" or let's have a beer and be so drunk we make poor choices or who cares let's have fun with really bad ideas.

Giving more impetus to try different squads helps. It also diversifies the meta slightly. More choices of equal power also lead to player stylistic and practice strength. This you don't get when you have a strong meta game.

As someone who has a LOT of experience with Krassis, your "fix" for him is insane. The leap in power is just crazy. He doesn't need that fix.

I have to say, I'm not a huge fan. I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I think you have gone about it the wrong way.

In general, you are just reducing the points cost of every ship by 1-2 points. If you do that across the board, the impact it has is much less. I am not going into more detail than that, but I think if the goal was to make some of the less attractive ships more interesting, all you have done is make ships that were in the middle come to the top and still left the "bad" ships at the bottom.

I generally like the "fixes' for some of the pilot abilities, but there are a few that are outright ridiculous. Kath may as well read "when kath shoots at something, give it a stress".. Seriously? thats crazy powerful, especially since she was the 2nd most takable Firespray behind the naked one. Again, I won't list everything, but there were several that I felt were too much.

More in line with the original, but without the obnoxious stress issue: "After you execute a green maneuver, assign 1 focus token to your ship."

But then you can't do quadruple nested effects off of the focus action. That would also give you double focus tokens, regardless of whether you're stressed or not.

Edited by WonderWAAAGH

As someone who has a LOT of experience with Krassis, your "fix" for him is insane.

Yeah that did seem a bit overboard. Krassis is one of the better Firespray pilots due to his ability. Same goes for Kath.

I agree with Hida as well, reducing the point value on a few ships here and there, like Tie Advanced or such sure that makes sense. But by doing it for nearly every ship in the game, isn't much different then just increasing the points.

All of this IMO goes to the basic premise you had which is IMO faulty. There is nothing wrong with nerfing the over producers to bring them in line with everything else.

If for example Tie's are too cheap, the better answer is to increase the cost, rather then reduce the cost of everything else. It's a more controlled and easier to manage method.

I'll give you props for the work you did Major, but I don't think I'll be using your new rules. But hey hope anyone who does has fun with it. :)

Edited by VanorDM

As someone who has a LOT of experience with Krassis, your "fix" for him is insane. The leap in power is just crazy. He doesn't need that fix.

I always wanted: You may fire secondary weapons out of your auxillary arc.

Might have to increase his cost though.

Kath needs a fix though. Most overrated ability in the game.

Edited by Jo Jo

Letting "Fel's Wrath" attack twice in the same turn (if killed by a lower PS pilot) seems excessive, especially on top of the cost reduction and free focus.

Letting "Fel's Wrath" attack twice in the same turn (if killed by a lower PS pilot) seems excessive, especially on top of the cost reduction and free focus.

Yeah, I can't believe he made Wrath too good. Maybe drop the free focus. So his last-ditch attack isn't modified... well unless you kept a focus on him.

You don't want to lower the basic costs of defender they are balanced as they are.

I forgot one.

Titles

ST-321

  • Cost reduced from 3 to 2

I have... a lot to say about this, but much of it doesn't seem constructive, and I'm working on a deadline right now. I'll satisfy myself by saying this: to me, it appears as if you've fixed (or, let's say, "fixed") three kinds of things here.

(*) Large and genuine issues (e.g., TIE Advanced is a bad value proposition).
(*) Small or questionable issues (e.g., Captain Jonus didn't really need a trim).
(*) Fundamental problems with the game engine (e.g., mid-PS generics are typically a bad investment).

The first two I'm willing to grant you, but the third (IMO) should definitely not be fixed with ad-hoc point adjustments--they're simultaneously too much and not enough. More later, as I'm able.

In regards to Jonus, specifically:

The intent is to make TIE Bombers a preferred platform for Missiles and Torpedoes, so you can run a pure Bomber squad. I have to finish my evaluation with Missiles and Torpedoes, including the effect of Jonus. He currently pays an extra point over the normal progression for his ability. Maybe that's OK even for a ship that costs 16 points baseline. For now I'll let it ride.

In regards to half-point cost reductions on pilot skill progressions. As long as you are OK with:

  1. Cost reductions in general, and
  2. Half point values

... then there is no reason not to drop some of the mid level generic pilots (PS4's typically) half a point, because that does in fact more accurately reflect their value. The cheaper the ship, the less the incremental PS cost is, and we already see this on FFG's ships:

  • TIE Fighters PS1 to PS3 is 1 point.
  • Z-95 PS2 to PS4 is 1 point.
  • A-wings PS1 to PS3 is 2 points, but they gain an EPT.

Ships that are neither dirt-cheap or very expensive fall in a no-mans land, where it costs 2 full points to get +2PS, but it is really not worth that much. So they don't get used, and you see this in tournament statistics.

As someone who has a LOT of experience with Krassis, your "fix" for him is insane. The leap in power is just crazy. He doesn't need that fix.

I'll take it into consideration and try to finish my MathWing on him soon. The issue with any Firespray + HLC is getting enough shots with him to get value out of it.

However, Krassis has consistently underperformed competitively. So it is difficult to claim that he needs no change.

In general, you are just reducing the points cost of every ship by 1-2 points. If you do that across the board, the impact it has is much less. I am not going into more detail than that, but I think if the goal was to make some of the less attractive ships more interesting, all you have done is make ships that were in the middle come to the top and still left the "bad" ships at the bottom.

I generally like the "fixes' for some of the pilot abilities, but there are a few that are outright ridiculous. Kath may as well read "when kath shoots at something, give it a stress".. Seriously? thats crazy powerful, especially since she was the 2nd most takable Firespray behind the naked one. Again, I won't list everything, but there were several that I felt were too much.

First half: Not true, I am specifically targeting only certain ships. You will note that ships that perform well in Regionals / Nationals / etc and that have good predicted MathWing value (these two almost always go together) have not been touched. The worst ships, like the TIE Advanced, have received the biggest buffs.

Second half: Thank you for your feedback! I was also considering changing her ability to: When attacking, the defender receives 1 stress token if he cancels at least 1 [critical hit] or 2 [hit] results .

This may indeed be the better approach. I would love to hear some play examples on even the above ability (crit or 2 hits = stress).

I agree with Hida as well, reducing the point value on a few ships here and there, like Tie Advanced or such sure that makes sense. But by doing it for nearly every ship in the game, isn't much different then just increasing the points.


All of this IMO goes to the basic premise you had which is IMO faulty. There is nothing wrong with nerfing the over producers to bring them in line with everything else.

If for example Tie's are too cheap, the better answer is to increase the cost, rather then reduce the cost of everything else. It's a more controlled and easier to manage method.

I have to fundamentally disagree with this. Changing foundational ships will fundamentally change the way the game plays. I am trying to avoid that at all costs.

I'll give you props for the work you did Major, but I don't think I'll be using your new rules. But hey hope anyone who does has fun with it. :)

Thanks! :)

Etahn biggs and 2 b's fits at that cost. Pretty mean. Except phantoms. So maybe not.

This is exactly what I was planning to do. With a little more finesse and individual point change but overall exactly what I thought and felt.

I do disagree with lowering the cost of etahn though. With everything coming down in cost I feel like we should keep etahn at the same value. He has a very very good ability and it's incredibly powerful in games that are above 100 points. Even at 125. At 300 it's ridiculous.

We are 25 recorded tournaments into wave 4, and Etahn has consistently done poorly. The reason is fairly simple, he is in one of the most points inefficient ships in the game. However, being a high value target and also being tanky has a lot of synergy, hence the -1 cost adjustment and not the full -3 treatment that I gave the generics.

You could already fly:

Etahn; Biggs; Blue; Rookie

Now you can upgrade a Rookie into a Blue. It's a nice little boost, but not game breaking. And yes, force multipliers are always better in epic games.

Also do you not worry that you are fixing the game too much and not letting people find exciting ways to use some pilots who are only slightly over costed?

The majority of these ships have had a long time for players to vet.

Letting "Fel's Wrath" attack twice in the same turn (if killed by a lower PS pilot) seems excessive, especially on top of the cost reduction and free focus.

Yeah, I can't believe he made Wrath too good. Maybe drop the free focus. So his last-ditch attack isn't modified... well unless you kept a focus on him.

I have thought about this quite a bit. He already costs 5 points more than an Alpha Squadron Pilot, and that's really all he is. Ultimately it felt more appropriate for him to gain the focus for attack. This was the difference between him feeling like "Fel's Wrath " and "Fel's Splat ".

You don't want to lower the basic costs of defender they are balanced as they are.

As much as I would like to agree, the generics' tournament stats have been absolutely terrible, especially the conditional effectiveness. Let alone the value proposition which essentially makes the ship a TIE Advanced with a different dial. But we'll see.

Edited by MajorJuggler