I have 5 points left in my list for outfitting Wedge. He will be protected by his good buddy Biggs for (hopefully) a couple turns. What do you guys think?

PTL and an R2 unit with 1 point left over?

Predator and some kind of droid?

PTL and R7 unit for some late game survivability?

Engine upgrade and R2?

Im kind of leaning towards PTL and R7.

I wouldn't really worry about loading Wedge with goodies, because he's already super high on the priority list

If you have the points to spare and your opponents like to use a lot of low PS ships Predator is the way to go.

I wouldn't normally load him up but he cant quite be priority 1 as Biggs is in the list. Id rather put the 5 points on him than Biggs and I cant point shave to afford another ship.

It does depend on the rest of your list and your comfort level facing high mobility lists, but lately i've been wanting to run wedge with r3a2 and engine upgrades. Lets him move last and make sure he's pointed at something. And most of the high value targets that you really want wedge pointed at don't want to be stressed, so he helps you keep those targets in arc for everyone else. Stay on target also will work in place of engine upgrades but you end up wanting an secondary method for clearing stress.

What he needs is increased survivability.
So... Biggs.

VI and EU to counter other high-PS priority targets, especially phantoms. PTL on Wedge is a waste, your only other action is a target lock so you might as well just take predator instead and get almost the same "TL" but without the stress or need to take a first action to trigger the "TL".

I second UnfairBanana's comment. Wedge is already fairly expensive and a high priority target as well, putting more stuff on him can be costly in so many ways. That said, predator is always nice.

Wedge + Outmaneuver + R2-D2 + Shield Upgrade = Fear from everyone you fly against!!!

Wedge + Outmaneuver + R2-D2 + Shield Upgrade = Fear from everyone you fly against!!!

Fun but expensive. Sadly outmaneuver isn't the most useful on Wedge, his ship isn't quite mobile enough for it to truly pay off. However with EU instead of shield it just might be a bit more feasible.

What else is in the squadron?

Since Predator could be used I'd stay away from PtL with only 5 points to spend. What are you going to use it for? TL + Focus isn't much better than Focus + Predator except the second saves you the Stress.

I know I favor the options that will give Wedge some added mobility. Engine Upgrade can be nice as he gets to see what the opponent is doing first while R7-T1 gives that option plus more but with a few more strings attached. Pairing either of these with VI can make sure you're moving last and let you respond to enemy actions.

jediyojimbo, on 25 Nov 2014 - 4:02 PM, said:

Wedge + Outmaneuver + R2-D2 + Shield Upgrade = Fear from everyone you fly against!!!

Fun but expensive. Sadly outmaneuver isn't the most useful on Wedge, his ship isn't quite mobile enough for it to truly pay off. However with EU instead of shield it just might be a bit more feasible.

I'll agree to that, But with R2-D2 + SU makes him hard to kill.

I've found R2 D2 very useful on wedge. As long as you disengage before you start getting hull shredded, rocket off for a bit cruise back in on greens, re-enage.

Doesnt always work but has kept him alive for ages before and won me a game or two.

Personally, I like Predator & R5 Astromech. The R5 can save Wedge from taking a Direct Hit, though I often times wish I'd taken an R2 Astromech after Wedge K-turns.

Used to stick R2 Astromech and Opportunist on him, then pair him with Wes and sometimes Jan. (Nowadays we have Keyan HLC for that )

Personally, I like Predator & R5 Astromech. The R5 can save Wedge from taking a Direct Hit, though I often times wish I'd taken an R2 Astromech after Wedge K-turns.

Can, but probably won't. The R5 will only stop you from taking a direct hit if it's the first damage card you get AND you don't get any more damage before the end of the turn. The R2 is much more useful if you want a 1-point droid.

Sadly outmaneuver isn't the most useful on Wedge, his ship isn't quite mobile enough for it to truly pay off.

And there's also a big problem with redundancy against 1-agility targets. Outmaneuver is literally a blank card in that situation, and you really don't want blank cards. Take predator instead.

Wedge is the ultimate Predator

that's all you need. It lets him constantly focus (can be useful for defense) and gives him re-rolls that he would not normally have after bumping or K-turning. It's an amazing EPT for him.

Send him after the Academy pilots, avoid the inevitable spin on the word "predator" as he goes after pilots who are still in school, have fun !

Use the other points on the rest of the squad

R7-T1 + Swarm or Squad Leader, DTF + R2D2 or R5P9, Determination + R5D8, PTL + R7. Are all options I'd consider within the 5pts range. Personally if running 'The 3 Amigos' I like the double DTF combo for those unlikely multi-criticals on biggs and to DTF trade once biggs bursts into flames.

you know what is school bully mean? Like really really piss-off annoying?

You shoot biggs, take tons of return fire! ARGH!!! Kill of the other escort, shoot wedge a time or two...

and then realize that half your squad is gone and wedge restores a shield? Oh sir. That is a crime worth crying about.

R2D2

As long as you have already put R2-F2 on Biggs to keep him in the fight for an extra turn or two, then Predator is always good for Wedge. Outmaneuver is more Jake Farrel or Tycho Celchu's deal.

That said, if you have Biggs protecting him, consider using Expose for those turns when you will be protected from return fire as Wedge's PS9 will allow you to survey the board and know exactly how much he will have to suffer (hopefully none) before deciding if you want to trigger Expose.

I disagree with putting R2-D2 in the mix primarily because he requires green maneuvers, something you should be avoiding if possible.

By far the best upgrade for Wedge is Biggs. Since you have Biggs in the mix already, give Wedge R2D2 and Draw their Fire (as Iverlin said). Keeping Biggs around for another shot or two is priceless, and R2D2 will be helpful if you get into a one on one or one on two endgame.

VI plus Engine Upgrade is great, but doesn't play well with Biggs.

Predator.

Wedge's advantage is in his ability to take away an opponent's agility, so why not try to make that extra* damage stick? The last two points can be spent on any number of goodies, but balancing points spent on a single ship vs. points spent on ensuring other ships pull their weight is important too. Biggs may die and it may happen earlier than you want.

*extra as in they opponent loses the ability to roll an agility die vs. an attack die where one would have been.

consider using Expose

No, don't consider using expose. It costs 4 points (as much as R2-D2!) AND an action AND lower agility, all for a firepower boost that is less than taking a focus action. So you're throwing away points to reduce your firepower, when you could instead take predator and increase your firepower. I think it should be obvious why this is a bad choice.

The biggest problem X-wings have is an inability to fine-tune maneuvers once they see what the opposition has done. For that reason, I love putting engine upgrade on the high PS pilots. Pair it with Predator to maximize damage, and Wedge should be doing ok for himself.

For super fun, pair him with a VI-having Wes Janson (also with EU), and the two of them should be taking down a small-based ship every turn.

Although EU is always boss (expensive, though, and there's always R7-T1 in the astromech slot) I found you can also compensate for the X-wing's incredibly basic maneuverability by including a lot of blockers (Bandits) and wedging (Heh) them in the gaps between asteroids.

Doesn't matter how fancy a ship gets if it can't boost or barrel-roll after bumping

Less useful against B-wings (slower than the X-wing though) and Advanced Sensor Phantoms (in which case, just be thankful they don't have Fire Control)