I really like flying Vader, with or without a missile. Adding the system slot to him just gives him that finishing edge he needs as the greatest pilot in the galaxy (canon, not my opinion).

If Accuracy Corrector was the go to on him, so what, at his cost

Vader, Engine Upgrade, Outmaneuver, Accuracy Corrector (38)

justifies being able to land 2 hits a turn.

I would say he would be comparable to a naked Brath.

And I would not. At all.

The advanced needs either a hefty drop in cost or an offensive upgrade. I'd give it a third attack die personally.

They look pretty **** similar to me.

Vader's may be the prototype and the TIE advanced may be a limited run ship, but it's hardly one of a kind. It's not unique.

The Tie Advanced was as unique as it gets in the original trilogy and I don't care for those, who messed with it afterwards (that includes you, George Lucas).

And that's based on what?

Maarek with a cannon slot:

Maarek Stele 27

Marksmanship 3

Heavy Laser Cannon 7

= 37 Points

Looks good to me. A good chance to produce a crit that gets through.

Vader with cannon slot:

Darth Vader 29

Heavy Laser Cannon 7

= 36 Points

You won't ignore THIS Vader.

A cannon slot would turn them all into HLC x1s though, which thematically doesn't fit too well. HLC is almost always found on 3 attack ships (the Outrider is a special case) so that it doesn't render the other cannon options useless through opportunity cost.

I shall continue to fly Vader because I like to.

I shall continue to fly Vader because he is still a good option in several lists.

I shall continue to fly Vader because he is an icon in the Empire.

When FFG "fix" the Tie Advanced I will fly Vader even more as then, he truly will be the best "pilot" in the Galaxy :-)

I do like the advanced.

First thoughts:

1. The Avenger and the Advanced have, I think been kind of moshed into one ship. That's why Maarek Stele ended up in one, and why we now have Proton Rockets (which you spent a lot of time in the Avenger using) as a card pretty much tailor-made for the Advanced. That means we may get a TIE Avenger Title card, but we're unlikely to see a TIE avenger release.
2. I agree with TheRealStarkiller on at least one point - the Advanced is not overcosted. It is underpowered. This is a command fighter, a custom prototype for elites, etc, etc. It should be comparable in cost and threat level to an X-wing - and I would far rather see it get scarier than cheaper.
3. One thing that goes a long way to explaining why X-wings see so much use - even aside from their stats - is the sheer number of named pilots for the bloody things. There's what - seven - named X-wing pilots now, and they're all pretty damned good. Now I'm not advocating that many; the equivalent of that should be the TIE/ln, which does have plenty, but some other named TIE advanced pilots would be nice. The fact that there are several named Storm Squadron pilots in the background might work.

I'm not saying its not overcosted. It is.

Making it cheaper would push it even more towards the A-Wing while it should be pushed towards the X-Wing.

The Proton Rockets, which are the Heavy Rockets you use in the PC games as Maarek Stele, won't fit to the X-Wing Maarek - since you cant fire them if you activate Marksmanship ... thats gross.

Making the cannon upgrade slot unique would prevent a common unnamed cheap cannon ship:

(unique) "Vader's Experimental Enhancement"

Tie Advanced only

Missile Upgrade

0 points

Adds a Cannon Upgrade slot to your upgrade bar

I agree with TheRealStarkiller on at least one point - the Advanced is not overcosted. It is underpowered.

Same thing. Its power and cost do not line up relative to the rest of the game. That being said, I get your point: I'd rather see it powered up into the 20-range fighter it's meant to be (via a badass title or improved statline) than to price it down to match its statline.

There's what - seven - named X-wing pilots now, and they're all pretty damned good.

The game is balanced around the X-wing and TIE fighter though, remember. The x1 is weak because the X-wing is good and everything since 1 has been (mostly) roughly on par with the X-wing rather than the Advanced.

X-wing

8 named

2 generic

3 releases (Core, X-wing, Transport)

TIE interceptor

6 named

4 generic

2 releases (TIE interceptor, Imperial Aces)

TIE fighter

6 named

3 generic

2 releases (Core, TIE fighter)

A-wing

4 named

3 generic

2 releases (A-wing, Rebel Aces)

B-wing

4 named

2 generic

2 releases (B-wing, Rebel Aces)

The rest have two generics and two named bar the larges and HWK which have one generic and 3 named, and all have one release (not counting Scum which is as a separate faction.)

The Proton Rockets, which are the Heavy Rockets you use in the PC games as Maarek Stele, won't fit to the X-Wing Maarek - since you cant fire them if you activate Marksmanship ... thats gross.

With that in mind I wouldn't be surprised if one of the buffs improves the Advanced's ability to critically hit.

I agree with TheRealStarkiller on at least one point - the Advanced is not overcosted. It is underpowered.

Same thing. Its power and cost do not line up relative to the rest of the game. That being said, I get your point: I'd rather see it powered up into the 20-range fighter it's meant to be (via a badass title or improved statline) than to price it down to match its statline.

Statline is fine. Just improve the firepower by any means but the statline.

I personally think an extra attack die wouldn't encroach on the TIE defender.

I'm massively overhauling my scripts to calculate ship efficiency. I'm vacuuming up all the various potential fixes for the TIE Advanced and calculating them all, in a more holistic and comprehensive manner than I have done before. Potential fixes include:

1. simple cost reduction
2. add attack dice
3. add negative cost Fire Control System
4. add a 0 cost System Upgrade slot, then pay 2 points for Accuracy Corrector, which would be auto-include
5. Give them all a built-in "Wedge" ability (-1 AGI on target), potentially negative cost
6. Give them all a free 1 eyeball to hit, potentially negative cost
7. Give them all 1 free reroll on offense, potentially negative cost

I also redid my calculations for computing the PS1 equivalent cost for all the ships. If you consider Vader's ability to be worth 3 points, then he turns out to be the cheapest Advanced on a PS1 adjusted basis. Which we already knew, but now it is quantified.

Here is my shot:

Precision Targeting System - Modification - TIE Advanced only - 0 pts

When performing an attack, you may change one [focus] to one [crit].

Basically it increases firepower and/or action economy while also directly boosting Maarek by helping his ability trigger. If Vader takes this, he loses the ability to take Engine Upgrade.

Honestly, I could see making this a title like "gunnery ace" or something, but I would worry about making Vader too good. Then again, is Vader really all that good as it stands?

Added to the list to analyze (see above) - however the issue is that taking Target Lock as an action significantly lowers your durability on a 3 AGI ship. And not taking Target Lock essentially defeats the purpose of the ability. The ability works well on PS8 VT-49 since focus is useless on defense except for range 3.

I really like this SW and this game...and have really enjoyed reading some of the forums.

Wow people know their stuff...impressive

I've read the posts re: what people think/suggest FFG should do to l fix the Tie Advance and get it back to being bad-ass (like it should be)

I'm sure FFG has been listening to all the great ideas by many many folks

My only ask to FFG is to consider theme when they come up with their fix (whatever it is)

and suggest that the Tie-Advance be a very, very dangerous ship on the board

....so dangerous that maybe it's new title card requires that you can only ever have one Tie-Adv per squad.

I mean...lots of Ties...lots of Bombers..lots of Interceptors....Shuttles...even phantoms and defenders feels very Imperial and right

BUT....when Vader flew his solo Tie-Adv in the Battle of Yavin picking off Y's and X's without mercy...his ship was totally unique out there - very much of a Red Baron thing going on

I hope that maybe FFG can preserve some of that "Alpha of the Wolf Pack" feeling with the Adv with whatever they come up with.

To all the designers at FFG - great works guys/gals...keep it up

Cheers!

Green Bandit.

If the follow the movies, Vader should shoot accurately but most of all fly like Manfred von Richthofen (the red baron).

Remember Anakin could fly and build high tech ships as a kid.

Vader flies brilliantly now with an Engine Upgrade. His shooting is just off

Vader flies brilliantly now with an Engine Upgrade. His shooting is just off

I wonder how it would be if Vader had Wedge's ability and vice versa.

Outmaneuver gives him that ability (almost) and is very effective.

And with Engine Upgrade, Vader is on slippery TIE. It is quite fun. Solidly tier 1.5.

Outmaneuver gives him that ability (almost) and is very effective.

Yeah I know - but then you need Engine Upgrade and Outm. and you are at 36 points.

Thats not my point.

My point is what is if Vader had Wedges ability at 29 points.

Would Vader be considered to be badass enough to be called Darth Vader?

Would you use Vader without any upgrades like you use Wedge?

And with Engine Upgrade, Vader is on slippery TIE. It is quite fun. Solidly tier 1.5.

To be honest. I'd expect Darth Vader to be brutal, rather then slippery.

He isn't known as the most slippery pilot in the Galaxy.

Outmaneuver gives him that ability (almost) and is very effective.

Outmaneuver and 2 red dice with TL and Focus give an average of 0,07 more hits compared to Expose with 3 red dice and TL only. But Expose gives a 50% better chance on crits and a maximum damage of 3. Plus you don't have to dodge the arc, but that is advisable in most cases with Expose, even if Vader will probably shoot first.

should probably have something like Title (Darth Vader Only), whenever the defender is hit by your attack, you may choose to discard 1 upgrade card on the defender.

**** C3P0, **** ACD phantoms, **** TIEint PTLs, **** meta

Apologies if this have been mentioned but im about to go to bed, and having read four pages of the seven i just dont have time for the other three.

With regards to the OP, while a fix to make the TIE adv more potent would be great i cant see FFG making a 'unique' small ship you only have one of.

It would never make its production costs back!

Apologies if this have been mentioned but im about to go to bed, and having read four pages of the seven i just dont have time for the other three.

With regards to the OP, while a fix to make the TIE adv more potent would be great i cant see FFG making a 'unique' small ship you only have one of.

It would never make its production costs back!

not unless they make it some seriously overpowered rubbish that everyone must own 1 of, like say, i dunno, this particular Imperial Wave 4 ship

Lord Vader should have 2 EPT slots, 2 upgrades, and an option to drop the missile slot for an extra attack dice in addition to his current 2 actions. Making the 2 banks green maneuvers would also help. This would be similar to combing test pilot and royal guard from the current Aces releases, and releasing a new Vader dial. I'd buy a character specific ship with dial if it was the legendary Vader.