Decimator/firespray is just as fun to fly as you think it is

By nikk whyte, in X-Wing

here's my list

rear admiral cheery, ruthlessness, ysanne issard, mara jade

boba fett, lone wolf recon specialist.

they stay on opposite sides of the board and make the enemy divide his attention.

i noticed the rise of the hammer and anvil build and my american caveman brain thought "why not fly two hammers?"

i had seen some people talk down ruthlessness, so naturally i started flying it. i killed two ships, echo and a royal guard pilot, in one shot. it was amazing. mara jade was less than useful against a PTL squad, as they are already stressed and will likely clear it the following turn without much trouble. looking for a 3 point replacement on that front.

lone wolf on the fett was awesome. it triggered nearly every turn, saving countless damage. i noticed it worked less on offense, but thats just how it goes.

My tourney list that I've been working on:

Rear Admiral (46)

Expose (4)

Moff (2)

Isard (4)

Rebel Captive (3)

Experimental Interface (3)

Bounty Hunter (33)

Gunner (5)

I like gunner because It helps make up for only two attacks a turn, but you can swap it for Mara Jade or recon specialist and add seismic charges or fletchette torps depending on your meta. I was origionally using just 3 ties but I have more fun with the firespray.

I'm a big fan of Recon Specialist on the generic Firespray and on Krassis. I guess it's actually really good with any of the pilots.

i think gunner is slightly overvalued by the community.

you still only get two attacks, its just that one has to completely miss. its the illusion of a third attack.

I'm a big fan of Recon Specialist on the generic Firespray and on Krassis. I guess it's actually really good with any of the pilots.

The one tournament I played in the only list to beat me had dual bounty hunters with recon specialists. It was brutal, the second game I played against him I was happy that I almost killed one of the firesprays before getting tabled.

i think gunner is slightly overvalued by the community.

you still only get two attacks, its just that one has to completely miss. its the illusion of a third attack.

True but if I only roll one focus and two blanks I basically get a do-over rather than spend focus for just a single hit. It isn't an extra attack, it's another opportunity for your opponents green dice to fail. (Which they will eventually) Plus it still works when stressed , when someone is running action denial, or when you use evade.

Gunner is good. What it's best for is stripping defensive Focus and Evade tokens.

Gunner is pretty **** good

Gunner's job is essential, that of an action-less accuracy increase, on ship's with crew slots but no system upgrades. It is pretty amazing on ships like shuttles (who rarely ever take actions thanks to fat size and a mostly red dial) and on ships that don't want to take Predator (like Boba, who should have been PS 9 but is instead PS 10 with V.I)

For someone like me, who simply cannot trust naked dice (but for good reason), it's a vital upgrade to have on ships/pilots that cannot modify their own offense dice

It's not the bee's knees, but it is almost the quality of system upgrades for the amount of sustained damage it almost guarantees.

I'd run it on Boba and any ship prone to being blocked, but in the case of this particular list boba's going for more of a brick re-rolls and double focus and I think the list needs it more. With only 2 ships, they had both better be really sturdy.

I also do think people exaggerate when they put gunner on FCS ships that aren't the shuttle :P

Edited by ficklegreendice

Gunner is good on ships that dont want to bother using focus for attacking. Its why its good on something like a Phantom since you can still Barrel Roll/evade and still be pretty sure youre red dice will still count. Also alot of Decimators end up blocked etc so again, dont need to rely on their actions.

I will say, in relation to Firesprays, Ysanne is a really good choice for a defensive build (2 Green Dice and 2 Evade a turn once youre shields are down) and can almost be a cheaper imperial YT, though being unique you need to decide if its more use on the Decimator (it generally is).

Edited by Sonikgav

I would have to disagree with Ysanne Isard on a Firespray. By the time she kicks in, you have at most 4 HP left. She's at her best on a VT-49. The Firespray works best with a Recon Specialist or a Gunner. If you're Boba Fett, Navigator is your guy.

I would have to disagree with Ysanne Isard on a Firespray. By the time she kicks in, you have at most 4 HP left. She's at her best on a VT-49. The Firespray works best with a Recon Specialist or a Gunner. If you're Boba Fett, Navigator is your guy.

5 HP before she kicks in.

4 is on the Shuttle which is why im not that bothered about her there, but the Firespray is Hull focused, so once those Shields are gone she can stem the flow. 5 HP with 2 Greens and 2 Evades will take alot to chew through, especially late game.

Edited by Sonikgav

5 HP with 2 Greens and 2 Evades

???? How are you getting 2 evade tokens? You can't perform the action more than once a round.

5 HP with 2 Greens and 2 Evades

???? How are you getting 2 evade tokens? You can't perform the action more than once a round.

Ah thats my bad, sorry i thought it was assign an evade token, not perform an evade action.

Still it basically means you get a free evade for late game. Everything else, carry on as normal lol

here's my list

rear admiral cheery, ruthlessness, ysanne issard, mara jade

boba fett, lone wolf recon specialist.

they stay on opposite sides of the board and make the enemy divide his attention.

i noticed the rise of the hammer and anvil build and my american caveman brain thought "why not fly two hammers?"

i had seen some people talk down ruthlessness, so naturally i started flying it. i killed two ships, echo and a royal guard pilot, in one shot. it was amazing. mara jade was less than useful against a PTL squad, as they are already stressed and will likely clear it the following turn without much trouble. looking for a 3 point replacement on that front.

lone wolf on the fett was awesome. it triggered nearly every turn, saving countless damage. i noticed it worked less on offense, but thats just how it goes.

Gunner is good. What it's best for is stripping defensive Focus and Evade tokens.

Can attest with real life experience. gunner is just as good as we make it out to be.

here's my list

rear admiral cheery, ruthlessness, ysanne issard, mara jade

boba fett, lone wolf recon specialist.

they stay on opposite sides of the board and make the enemy divide his attention.

i noticed the rise of the hammer and anvil build and my american caveman brain thought "why not fly two hammers?"

i had seen some people talk down ruthlessness, so naturally i started flying it. i killed two ships, echo and a royal guard pilot, in one shot. it was amazing. mara jade was less than useful against a PTL squad, as they are already stressed and will likely clear it the following turn without much trouble. looking for a 3 point replacement on that front.

lone wolf on the fett was awesome. it triggered nearly every turn, saving countless damage. i noticed it worked less on offense, but thats just how it goes.

If you're looking for a 3-point stress inducing replacement for Mara, why not use a Rebel Captive? It serves as action denial against PTL builds asks offers some protection against high-PS Phantoms.

I absolutely would, but I don't own it. I was thinking mercenary copilot to (essentially) extend chiraneu's ability to range 3, while having a free point for the initiative bid.

Or the dauntless title for funsies.

Or the dauntless title for funsies.

I find Dauntless a little.... redundant. With alot of builds, action economy isnt really a problem for the Decimator.

For some reason at first i thought u said Determination and that got me thinking. For a ship so vulnerable to crits an upgrade that lets you not just ignore some of their effects, but actually discard the damage itself is godlike.

The Decimator is one of those ships that doesnt have a 'well this is the obvious best EPT upgrade' kind of thing going on. It can make great use of alot of different ones at a good spread of points costs.

Edited by Sonikgav

Just my own personal experience with gunner's utility, but I find the initial attack that whiffs usually forces my opponent to use up a focus if they have one, allowing the second attack to hit harder.

EDIT: Ninja'd, should have hit refresh ... how long have I been on this page?!

Edited by Manics

Just my own personal experience with gunner's utility, but I find the initial attack that whiffs usually forces my opponent to use up a focus if they have one, allowing the second attack to hit harder.

EDIT: Ninja'd, should have hit refresh ... how long have I been on this page?!

Determination is, in fact, godlike on the decimator. I just prefer the offensive spread ruthlessness can achieve.

I took ruthlessness on a bomber and did 8 damage in two turns. It was incredible.

Deci/Firespray would be fun if the firespray wasnt a poor man's Yt-2400. Just saying.

I got a list I want to try, but mainly because I haven't tried the decimator yet. Flew Dash (as a passenger) instead.

I have found that the only viable decimator build to run in a tourney is with Commander Kinkirk. I have played in three tourneys with it so far and have learned Decimators go down fast. Last night a tie swarm Echo build put 14 damage on me in one turn.

The firespray was a great wingman and I plan to perfect this build.

Edited by Benvader

Deci/Firespray would be fun if the firespray wasnt a poor man's Yt-2400. Just saying.

. I haven't faced a superdash with this build yet, but I know I need to.

Edited by nikk whyte