So.... wanting give my Royal Guard flight another outing, but looking to customise them a bit.

Previously, I've used a flight of four Royal Guard Pilots with Push The Limit, or two and Carnor Jax in 'proper' Royal Guard TIEs (Royal Guard TIE title, Hull & Shield Upgrade modifications).

I was hoping to play around a bit with things which have been released since the Imperial Aces pack and/or forthcoming things.

Kir Kanos. I've never really had much use for him - his ability is nice, but I always think I'm going to miss Push The Limit.

However, the fact that he's really wanting to hover at range 3 means that Autothrusters strike me as a good match - it's improved durability without needing an action. A stealth device is a good pairing; the more dice you have the better an extra one is - and since he wants to be at range 3 with an evade token and a blank-to-evade dice modification in his pocket, what would be a 5th agility die makes him very hard to hurt.

Carnor Jax. Autothrusters and stealth are a no-no here. Jax wants to be up close and personal, so if he gets any modifications for durability, Hull and/or Shield upgrades seem better. If he and Kanos are splitting up, then Lone Wolf is probably a nice idea. Experimental Interface also seems like a nice idea for Royal Guard - it's essentially Push The Limit as a modification rather than an Elite Pilot talent, allowing you to take action-requiring elite talents. I'm not sure if there are any elite talents which justify it, though. One that jumps to mind is Daredevil - a '1' bank followed by a '1' turn is ridiculous manouvrability - but does leave you with two stress tokens. Don't know how often you'd get use out of it.

If Carnor is going to be in amongst the enemy, then Intimidation is also potentially useful - since you're trying to be in range 1 of the enemy, collisions are possible - so you might as well take advantage of this and make Kanos' long range shots nastier.

Anyone got any thoughts?

I have a couple builds with 'Royals' I use Vader and either 2 RGTs or a RGT and Jax, the first with 2 RGTs get push and hull with stealth. the other is similar, but Vader gets an EU and PRocks and either Outmaneuver or Predator.. sometimes Adrenaline Rush for that 'surprise' moment when I can K turn and hit em up style with the PRocks.. lol

I've been thinking to put Intimidation on a couple Black Squad TIEs just to see how they run.. may do that with a Decimator build..

Kir Kanos. I've never really had much use for him - his ability is nice, but I always think I'm going to miss Push The Limit.

However, the fact that he's really wanting to hover at range 3 means that Autothrusters strike me as a good match - it's improved durability without needing an action. A stealth device is a good pairing; the more dice you have the better an extra one is - and since he wants to be at range 3 with an evade token and a blank-to-evade dice modification in his pocket, what would be a 5th agility die makes him very hard to hurt.

Like someone pointed out previously on other thread, Fleet Officer helps Kir Kanos, but its kinda costly way to get him working. IMO the more you have dice, the more you need focus. But if I'd ever to make such a build, I'd put Lt. Lorrir there also because he too needs focus. But again 1-2 range limitation of Fleet Officer is quite harsh for both interceptors.

I know what you mean about adrenaline rush. Vader's two actions are too awesome to lose just because you pulled a koiogran turn, and TIE advanced aren't slow but struggle to shed stress compared to interceptors.

Hmm...

Darth Vader - Adrenaline Rush, Engine Upgrade, Proton Rockets

Carnor Jax - Push The Limit, Hull Upgrade

Kir Kanos - Royal Guard TIE, Stealth Device, Authothrusters