Anyone found an alternative to PTL + Soontir Fel?

I've begun to look again at alternatives to PTL for fell, as they can open up different ways to play Fel, some of which might be better.

non PTL Things that stress Fel - and the benefit - and comparison to PTL

Elusiveness -> Minor Defensive Buff : Inferior to Evade + reposition

Stay on Target -> Major Positional alteration : ???
Daredevil -> 90 degree facing adjustment : more extreme facing adjustment, not as flexible.
Opportunist -> Extra Attack Power : Requires multiple P.S. 9 or greater wingmen.

Experimental interface + X (Point cost is always greater than PTL.)

Expert Handling -> Lose target locks : better than PTL only if 1 action is always barrel roll.

Squad Leader -> Action Passing Fel : spreading the action love to another ship.
Daredevil -> Massive repositioning : Receive double stress, providing a very weak turn.
Marksmanship -> Increased offense : reduced repositioning power.

Expose -> Increased offense : reduced defense and repositioning power.

In general, there aren't a lot of choices that look better than PTL, but in some circumstances seem pretty decent...

Ei + Squad Leader Fel could be very good with Lt. Lorrir or Kir Kanos.
Ei + Expert Handling Fel is good against a target locking list - flies well with Jax.
Ei + Marksmanship Fel is good against shieldless lists.

Fel + Stay on target deserves some analysis and playtesting I think - You open up fel's dial in a way that's not usually open to the Baron - being able to pull green maneuvers in between the "SOT red" maneuvers - means you always have access to a focus token - and can really react to an opponents move, to escape being blocked OR follow a ship that decided to go in a different direction - and since you can use it with speed 3 - you can even flip into a K-turn with it. It's a different kind of slippery to PTL Fel, and removes the ability to barrel roll / boost after the SOT maneuver so it appears a bit weaker on the surface - because you also lose the ability to full turtle against a turret ship. Is what you gain worth it? (saving a point over PTL) Probably depends upon the player. A full 3 speed dial open is a much faster Fel than we usually see.

Fel was made for PTL, his power is being able to do both repositions and still focus. If you're not in the market for a PTL interceptor, go for another Interceptor pilot.

Elusiveness is worse than the evade Fel could take from PTL and almost obsolete on interceptors when Autothrusters hit, Stay on Target is pretty useless compared to PTL on the grounds that you can only use it every other round. The speed gain from being able to use the 3 maneuvers on the SoT move isn't actually much of a buff when you consider he can boost if he's PTLed. Opportunist is weak on a PS9 ship.

That being said, a couple of the Experimental Interface options look interesting. Fel still gets a focus and one reposition action (so he's on par with the rest of the TIE interceptor fleet). Marksmanship could be interesting but I don't think it's enough of a buff over focus/target lock (if a buff at all) to warrant the loss of versatility and extra three points of cost compared to PTL Fel. Daredevil's good for an explosive double focus turn but leaves you high and dry pretty much the entirety of the rest of the time. Expert Handling I wouldn't consider: it locks you out of barrel then boost (you have to boost then barrel) and costs an extra two points in order to (drumroll) remove a target lock. Not enamoured with that. Expose I'd recommend using as a really small cup coaster rather than actually considering using on something that isn't a Chiraneau Decimator.

Squad Leader sounds like a very nice action passer, and doing so at PS9 gives you an equivalent to Squad Leader Vader that can actually shoot. This I think is your most interesting option and worth considering in an Imperial squad in dire need of action passing.

Elusiveness -> Minor Defensive Buff : Inferior to Evade + reposition

Opportunist -> Extra Attack Power : Requires multiple P.S. 9 or greater wingmen.

What I find interesting about these two options is that you get the stress (and therefore the focus) *BEFORE* the rest of the ability activates.

Elusiveness basically guarantees you have a focus token against the first attack every round against your ship and Opportunist is sort of the reverse of that.

Running Opportunist Soontir with a Decoy Saber would increase the chance our brave and squinty leader will be throwing extra (focused) attack die.

The question is, though, is the versatility you give up by not taking PtL worth the bonus you get from the defensive (reroll one attack die against you) or offensive (get an extra attack die if your opponent has no tokens) options. I still feel it's a no, but hey, maybe Soontir with Elusiveness and Autothrusters might be *THAT* annoying.

Running Opportunist Soontir with a Decoy Saber would increase the chance our brave and squinty leader will be throwing extra (focused) attack die.

Or put Opportunist on the Saber?

Fel was made for PTL, his power is being able to do both repositions and still focus. If you're not in the market for a PTL interceptor, go for another Interceptor pilot.

Elusiveness is worse than the evade Fel could take from PTL and almost obsolete on interceptors when Autothrusters hit, Stay on Target is pretty useless compared to PTL on the grounds that you can only use it every other round. The speed gain from being able to use the 3 maneuvers on the SoT move isn't actually much of a buff when you consider he can boost if he's PTLed. Opportunist is weak on a PS9 ship.

That being said, a couple of the Experimental Interface options look interesting. Fel still gets a focus and one reposition action (so he's on par with the rest of the TIE interceptor fleet). Marksmanship could be interesting but I don't think it's enough of a buff over focus/target lock (if a buff at all) to warrant the loss of versatility and extra three points of cost compared to PTL Fel. Daredevil's good for an explosive double focus turn but leaves you high and dry pretty much the entirety of the rest of the time. Expert Handling I wouldn't consider: it locks you out of barrel then boost (you have to boost then barrel) and costs an extra two points in order to (drumroll) remove a target lock. Not enamoured with that. Expose I'd recommend using as a really small cup coaster rather than actually considering using on something that isn't a Chiraneau Decimator.

Squad Leader sounds like a very nice action passer, and doing so at PS9 gives you an equivalent to Squad Leader Vader that can actually shoot. This I think is your most interesting option.

I might still prefer Squad Leader on Vader though. At least he will have another action.

Squad Leader on Fel will lose him his only action and no focus because of no stress. He can get the focus when doing a K-turn, but then his Squad Leader is useless.

I have seen Squad Leader being used on Turr Phennir with good results though (sadly against me )

I would side with TIE Pilot´s suggestion. If you want a Interceptor without PTL, take a different Pilot.

Carnor Jax, Turr Phennir, Kir Kanos are some very good options!

Squad Leader on Fel will lose him his only action and no focus because of no stress. He can get the focus when doing a K-turn, but then his Squad Leader is useless.

I think you missed the part where Squad Leader is triggered off of EI.

Running Opportunist Soontir with a Decoy Saber would increase the chance our brave and squinty leader will be throwing extra (focused) attack die.

Or put Opportunist on the Saber?

Opportunist seems to work better on lower PS pilots. Your higher PS opponents will have shed their focus and/or evade before you fire. And 1 extra attack die is worth a lot in this game.

So I would put Opportunist on the Sabre and agree again with TIE Pilot

Running Opportunist Soontir with a Decoy Saber would increase the chance our brave and squinty leader will be throwing extra (focused) attack die.

Or put Opportunist on the Saber?

Doesn't have to be a Saber, could be any low PS ship. The goal isn't necessarily to point Soontir and the Saber at the same ship and swap firing order. The goal is to bring Soontir lower in the overall firing sequence of your whole fleet, while letting him line up his shot better due to him moving so late in the movement sequence.

Squad Leader on Fel will lose him his only action and no focus because of no stress. He can get the focus when doing a K-turn, but then his Squad Leader is useless.

I think you missed the part where Squad Leader is triggered off of EI.

Yup I missed that! Sorry!

Soontir + Thrust Control Fire is a good combo, albeit one that you don't want to end up voluntarily... best of all? It works with PtL!

Seriously though, if you ever take a crit with Soontir with at least one more attack to go and you're out of focus, this is the critical to have!

still nope

PTL on Fel.

Lock thread

EI costs more points and forces you to use an ability every turn, that you may want or not to use, reducing effectively your flexibility (do i want to boost + barrel roll ? do i want to evade + focus ? do i want to target lock + impulse into free token for offensive purposes?)

PtL is cheaper and gives you a much higher flexibility on action spending, it's just no contest in my opinion for a ship that demands and can make an amazing use of that flexibility.

PtL is a crutch. Gots to get mah tuh ackshuns!

I've been thinking about this myself lately. Back when I used Defenders more I loved Predator. But now I'm all in love with Fel and the boost+barrel I'm pretty much tied into PtL. I tried to see if anything else looked useful but it just doesn't compare for me.

http://dockingbay416.com/unorthodox-soontir/

PtL is a crutch. Gots to get mah tuh ackshuns!

Not stressing Fel is a waste. PTL is by far and away the best way to do it.

Fel Stays on Target?

Fel Stays on Target?

Kind of "meh", because you'll need to shed stress afterwards the usual way. It could save some specific situations tho.

Fel Stays on Target?

Kind of "meh", because you'll need to shed stress afterwards the usual way. It could save some specific situations tho.

It would mean a very different way of flying, true.

Also still not as reliable as PTL, though cheaper.

Fel Stays on Target?

Kind of "meh", because you'll need to shed stress afterwards the usual way. It could save some specific situations tho.

It would mean a very different way of flying, true.

Also still not as reliable as PTL, though cheaper.

While destroying your action economy.

Running Opportunist Soontir with a Decoy Saber would increase the chance our brave and squinty leader will be throwing extra (focused) attack die.

Or put Opportunist on the Saber?

Opportunist seems to work better on lower PS pilots. Your higher PS opponents will have shed their focus and/or evade before you fire. And 1 extra attack die is worth a lot in this game.

So I would put Opportunist on the Sabre and agree again with TIE Pilot

I ran fel with jax the other day and had opportunist and targeting computer on fel, the idea being that jax prevents them from focusing or at least discourages them from taking what will be a useless action, then fel target locks fires with 4-5 focus-target lock dice for massive damage, worked pretty well actually.

i also thought about giving him vet intsincts and running whisper/echo with decoy to have a ps 11 phantom during the combat phase, just a thought

http://dockingbay416.com/unorthodox-soontir/

I don't see the point of using EI + SL on Fel to pass an action to a Tie Fighter.