I wanted to try Porkins out as I just thought it would be great to use the big guy. I did a little bit of looking into him and realized that R5-D8 was his droid that he used in the movies. It seems to be a good fit for him.

Porkins: PS 7 w/ EPT for 26 pts: If stressed, you can roll a red die to remove it. If a hit (not a crit) you get dealt a face down damage card (past shields).

R5-D8: For an action, you roll a green die. If it's an evade or eyeball, you remove a face down damage card.

I looked to make sure and there are 3 red hits. That's 3/8 chance of taking a hit. I looked at the green die and saw 5/8 chances of removing a damage. OK....so you can K-turn and try to remove the stress. If you take the hit, you can even then use your action to try to remove. Chances of getting a hit and then not getting the repair is only 14.06% That's not really bad.

I played it last night and Porkins was pretty good. It was a 3 way fight, but Porkins was able to get a lot of K-turns in without having the stress. In fact, he was able to still Focus or TL after doing so. Also, R5-D8 was removing hits that weren't caused by the special ability. I think I removed about 5 hits off Porkins with R5-D8 the whole game. This made him seriously better than would seem.

Now, I thought about Push the Limit on him. Imagine getting two actions WITHOUT getting the stress. It's almost Darth Vader, but with 3 attack die. Even if you do take the hit, you can use one of your actions to remove it. So....you end up back at square one, but not worse off. Also, there is no limit to the number of times you can remove a Stress in a turn. So.....you can K-turn, remove the stress, and then Push The Limit for a Focus and a TL.

There is also the idea of Stay On Target. You can change the direction of your dial after the fact with no ill effects. At PS 7 that's pretty useful.

Overall, I don't think enough people are really looking at Porkins seriously enough. They just look and see that he can deal damage to himself and ignore it. Maybe that 14% is enough to scare off most people, but I had a great time with him last night.

I like him with R5-D8 + PTL + Engine Upgrade. I've had a lot of success with that loadout.

Elusiveness on Porkins is perhaps the only time the card is worth taking, but it does wonders for his survivability against swarms.

I'm partial to this combo too, but I throw on a hull upgrade to get more milage out of it.

+1 to the above. Porkins is all I seem to take hull upgrades on nowadays.

34pts for a fighter that could cripple itself with bad luck?

While I'll agree that Porkins is interesting, and probably even fun, he's not reliable enough to put into a really competitive list. That's probably why you don't see everyone talking about fitting him into a list.

I'm sure he pulls off some amazing nonsense on occasion....then there is the game where he just winds up killing himself and getting finished off by a lucky Tie shot....since you just helped your opponent take out a 34pt ship.

I would say PTL and Engine would be the better build, at least then you can keep a focus up while using the robot, but that's 36pts....it's the focal point of your list and it can do damage to itself. He requires extra care.

34pts for a fighter that could cripple itself with bad luck?

While I'll agree that Porkins is interesting, and probably even fun, he's not reliable enough to put into a really competitive list. That's probably why you don't see everyone talking about fitting him into a list.

I'm sure he pulls off some amazing nonsense on occasion....then there is the game where he just winds up killing himself and getting finished off by a lucky Tie shot....since you just helped your opponent take out a 34pt ship.

I would say PTL and Engine would be the better build, at least then you can keep a focus up while using the robot, but that's 36pts....it's the focal point of your list and it can do damage to itself. He requires extra care.

How does he cripple himself? He can't critical hit himself. Also, with R5-D8, if he fails to remove a hit that round, he can still try again in subsequent rounds. Also, the chances of him getting the hit and then failing it is only 14%. That's not very high. As long as he keeps trying to remove it, I don't see it as an issue.

Also, I don't see him killing himself. Just don't use his ability when down to one or two hull points. If he is that low, just keep using R5-D8 to remove those hits without pushing the luck.

Porkins w/ R5-D8 is only 28 pts, not 32.

The point that I made that you're missing is that you make your opponents job of taking out a 34pt+ ship much easier with every unhealed wound.

THAT is what crippling himself/killing himself means. Not taking the stress damage until you're dead. I'm sure your opponent will kill this ship before that.

First off, I don't think anyone should make him a 34 pt ship. I didn't suggest that, even though others did. I don't think he's worth as much to boost up so high.

Second, the chances of actually taking damage is not that large. There isn't a significant chance that it would actually happen. Next, it is possible to remove the damage even before your shields are down. I am not sure I would recommend risking damage at a point when you could be killed by having the extra point of damage on your hull.

1. 29pts (the LEAST you can spend on him to reliably take advantage of his ability at all) is still significant. ANY EPT you take is going to push that over 30pts making him a focal point of your squad. 34pts is the Elusive/Hull combo people are talking about...cheaper than the PTL/Engine combo you suggested in your first post at 36.

2. There IS a chance of taking damage though, one that your opponent will SURELY take advantage of. Anyway you slice it, it's a detriment to your squad. It either helps, or it hinders, in this case, it's a bad thing for your squad and not only that, it's a bad thing that can happen to 1/3 of the points you have on the table.

Most elite pilot special abilities help the pilot without hurting him in the process. This is a rare exception...and the ability isnt really even that great.

Not good. Fun? Absolutely. Safe bet? You got better choices.

2. There IS a chance of taking damage though, one that your opponent will SURELY take advantage of. Anyway you slice it, it's a detriment to your squad. It either helps, or it hinders, in this case, it's a bad thing for your squad and not only that, it's a bad thing that can happen to 1/3 of the points you have on the table.

Most elite pilot special abilities help the pilot without hurting him in the process. This is a rare exception...and the ability isnt really even that great.

Not good. Fun? Absolutely. Safe bet? You got better choices.

This is the general attitude that I've read about him, but I don't think it holds up. I understand that serious tournament players tend to avoid the slightest risk in anything, but I believe it's not as risky as one might think.

Porkins R5-D8 + PtL + Hull Upgrade is the build I typically go with. Having that extra spot of hull to regenerate is nuts!

Remember: You can Koiogran, use Porkins' ability, use an action, PTL to use an action (possibly a regen, if needed), and then use Porkins' ability to ditch that stress as well...

Remember though, just because Porkins can remove stress, doesn't mean he has to. He can still use D8 to repair his Hull, and he can choose not to remove any stress if he doesn't want to.

Remember though, just because Porkins can remove stress, doesn't mean he has to. He can still use D8 to repair his Hull, and he can choose not to remove any stress if he doesn't want to.

For instance, if your intended maneuver next turn is green anyway...

26pts for a Cross-Faction slightly defective TIE Defender?

-- I'll take it! But what are the defects?

It moves slower, less Agile, slightly less shielded, cannot make quick hard turns and it doesn't roll, and too many High Stress Maneuvers might rattle the ship apart...

Oh and the Cannon option's swapped for an Astromech to monitor the rattling if you want to pay the 3 points for it.

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Jek Porkins — X-Wing 26
Expert Handling 2
R5-D8 3
Experimental Interface 3

Total: 34pts

Personally I prefer Hull over EI but the majority of the forum prefers Dual Actions if it's available. And EH is slotted where most would select PTL.

Remember: You can Koiogran, use Porkins' ability, use an action, PTL to use an action (possibly a regen, if needed), and then use Porkins' ability to ditch that stress as well...

PTL only allows actions from the action bar. R5-D8 needs to be the first action. After the R5-D8 action you decide about using PTL.

Remember: You can Koiogran, use Porkins' ability, use an action, PTL to use an action (possibly a regen, if needed), and then use Porkins' ability to ditch that stress as well...

PTL only allows actions from the action bar. R5-D8 needs to be the first action. After the R5-D8 action you decide about using PTL.

I recline corrected.

26pts for a Cross-Faction slightly defective TIE Defender?

-- I'll take it! But what are the defects?

It moves slower, less Agile, slightly less shielded, cannot make quick hard turns and it doesn't roll, and too many High Stress Maneuvers might rattle the ship apart...

Oh and the Cannon option's swapped for an Astromech to monitor the rattling if you want to pay the 3 points for it.

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Jek Porkins — X-Wing 26

Expert Handling 2

R5-D8 3

Experimental Interface 3

Total: 34pts

Personally I prefer Hull over EI but the majority of the forum prefers Dual Actions if it's available. And EH is slotted where most would select PTL.

You also get 2 sharp turns that aren't red, so its not all bad. Also more green options.

Remember: You can Koiogran, use Porkins' ability, use an action, PTL to use an action (possibly a regen, if needed), and then use Porkins' ability to ditch that stress as well...

PTL only allows actions from the action bar. R5-D8 needs to be the first action. After the R5-D8 action you decide about using PTL.