So on a few "fix the e-wing" threads, some people suggest adding a new generic astromech to help out the overcosted generics a bit.

The RecSpecMech (god I love that name) was suggested as a way to improve the action economy of the e-wing. Problem was it completely broke the new y-wing and Corran.

So instead of it being a simple +1 focus token when you take the focus action, how about one of these ideas:

After preforming a green manuver, assign yourself a focus token,

OR a stricter version:

If you take a focus action after preforming a green maneuver, assign yourself a on additional focus token.

Then there's the gamblers variant, which might suit a less reliable r-series droid better:

After preforming a focus action, roll an evade die. On an [eye] or an [evade] result, add an adittional focus token.

That could also be triggered by preforming a green maneuver, or whenever assigned a focus token to allow chaining for new combos.

Or there could be a effect where you roll a number of evade dice equal to your evade value (affected by SD of course) and add a focus token for each [eye] result rolled. (Four dice average to 1 token per roll). This could be action triggered, or triggered by any other means. This would also primarily boost the e-wing, and also only see limited use outside of tourny play as people try to eliminate risk with lists. Just a fun little bot

What are your guy's ideas for a RecSpecMech? I want to know!

I have three ideas for the R3
R3 Generic
When you perform a green maneuver you may choose to roll one evade dice, on an [evade] you may take free additional action, on an [eye] you gain a stress, on a blank result nothing happens

R3 Generic

After performing a red maneuver you may take a free boost action

R3 Generic

When performing a [barrel Roll] or [boost] action for the first time that turn, you may perform one additional [barrel Roll] or [boost]

Those are all very interesting, but I think the last one might be a tad broken. The first two are cool though!

Those are all very interesting, but I think the last one might be a tad broken. The first two are cool though!

Its not my favorite

(I personally really like 2 despite 1 being probably the better one)

But I like anything that could give the E-wing more maneuverability

2 is my favorite because it gives X-wings a cool little boost as well with the ability to K-turn and boost to be right up on the enemy

How about a mech that works in pairs or groups. I imagine one that shares battlefield data with other versions of itself.

R3

When a friendly ship at Range 1-3 of you with an R3 Mech performs a Target Lock action or a Focus action, you may perform a free action of the same type.

- Allows groups of ships to TL+Focus together. Also helps low PS ordnance carriers when they buddy up with a higher PS ship so they can get the TL later on in the activation sequence.

R3

When you acquire a target lock, you may measure from any friendly ship at Range 1-3 of you that also has an R3 mech equipped.

- Allows you to TL from out of normal range. Someone has to be in range though.

R3

When attacking, you may reroll 1 dice for every other friendly ship in Range 1 of you with an R3 Mech equiped. Straight damage increase.

- Ships staying in formation get a damage buff, though it sort of removes the need to Target Lock.

R3

At the start of the Combat Phase, a ship with an R3 mech may choose to fire at either it's own PS, or the PS of a friendly ship in range 1-2 that also has an R3 mech.

- Swarm tactics but at a better range and limited to R3 mech network only.

Make the Rec Spec mech R3-Y0, or something and make it unique. R3 units are supposed to be high quality, expensive and somewhat rare, so making this one unique would be enough to be an interesting option that you can still have at 2 points while not ruining the game for other astromech units. I am all in favor of a generic R3 and R6 unit though! Perhaps it would have to provide a new kind of bonus for ships that maybe could boost defense without repairing the ship? How about...

"When attacked by an enemy who you are target locked onto you may change any (crit) icons into (eye) icons after weapon and pilot effects are resolved." 3

This is a great card for low PS ships that helps drive up the importance of choosing to TL instead of imediately jumping to focus as the "default action". It works for high PS pilots to make the TL that much more valueble. It is great on Tarn Mison. Y-Wings are no longer completely dominated by crits. Biggs with TL starts looking really good. It can be used in combination with Sensor Jammer on E-Wings! And yet I don't feel that it is broken because maintaining a TL can be tricky, but it makes the combination of TL and focus just that much more powerful in certain situations.

Astromechs are good but I see one of the main problem with Generics is that it is too hard to copy good generics.

For the Astromechs the bests ones are unique and rightfully so. Having a damage sponge E-wing with Shield Upgrade, Sensor jammer, and R2-D2 is great but you could only have one of them. The other E-wing would have to have a different astromech that could some how fill a similar roll.

For generic pilots the best out there are the ones that you can build into having a clone. HLC Defenders, I'll take 2 of those. Buzzsaw Shuttles (Gunner + FCS + EU) Heck I'll take a couple of Omicron group pilots with that configuration. PTL Green squadrons sound expensive at 22 points for only 4 hu...what? Aces came out and now there only 20 points, I'll take three!

As for astromechs well lets take a look at the generics (non unique)

• R2 astromech which works okay but since E-wings already have the most green maneuvers at speeds 1 to 2 that can take astromechs it is not that good of a slot filler for an E-wing even if only at 1 point.
• R5 astromech, with the E-wing LOW hull point value this one is simply not the one to take.
• R7 astromech, sort of a funny astromech but everyone knows the best set up is with Tarn Mison from the Rebel transport pack a unique X-wing pilot using a non-unique astromech. Other than that the need to spend a target lock just to get a few hits off of you is not that great of an ability.

Astromechs are good but I see one of the main problem with Generics is that it is too hard to copy good generics.

For the Astromechs the bests ones are unique and rightfully so. Having a damage sponge E-wing with Shield Upgrade, Sensor jammer, and R2-D2 is great but you could only have one of them. The other E-wing would have to have a different astromech that could some how fill a similar roll.

For generic pilots the best out there are the ones that you can build into having a clone. HLC Defenders, I'll take 2 of those. Buzzsaw Shuttles (Gunner + FCS + EU) Heck I'll take a couple of Omicron group pilots with that configuration. PTL Green squadrons sound expensive at 22 points for only 4 hu...what? Aces came out and now there only 20 points, I'll take three!

As for astromechs well lets take a look at the generics (non unique)

• R2 astromech which works okay but since E-wings already have the most green maneuvers at speeds 1 to 2 that can take astromechs it is not that good of a slot filler for an E-wing even if only at 1 point.
• R5 astromech, with the E-wing LOW hull point value this one is simply not the one to take.
• R7 astromech, sort of a funny astromech but everyone knows the best set up is with Tarn Mison from the Rebel transport pack a unique X-wing pilot using a non-unique astromech. Other than that the need to spend a target lock just to get a few hits off of you is not that great of an ability.

disagree on R7. this is an awesome ability for a ship that gets a free target lock, and mitigates a lot of damage, especially on someone like dutch, who has enough HP that it will trigger several times a game.

After preforming a green manuver, assign yourself a focus token

Strongly encourages green maneuvers. That means it either turns a mid-nimbleness ship to Lambda-level maneuverability in the case of the X-wing or strongly encourages PTL on the E-wing. The only E-wings that can take PTL are the named ones which aren't the ones in need of nudging.

I'd argue the RecSpecMech doesn't break the BTL-A4 or Corran. Corran's trading RecSpecMech for R2-D2, a setup that makes him regenerate health every turn. If the worry is powering up both attacks, he can already do this with Fire Control System.

As for the BTL-A4, R4 Agromech already does a very similar effect for Scum. If that R4 isn't broken on BTL-A4s, I'm not sure Recon Specialist would be.

To be honest, I think the best way to balance the RecSpecMech is the suggestion someone posted on the other thread: make it 3 points like the actual Recon Specialist.

I'd argue the RecSpecMech doesn't break the BTL-A4 or Corran. Corran's trading RecSpecMech for R2-D2, a setup that makes him regenerate health every turn. If the worry is powering up both attacks, he can already do this with Fire Control System.

But FCS + 2 focus tokens = TL + focus on two shots in one round!!! How can you not think that is broken??? Its not uncommon to get maximum hits with both TL + focus and @ range 1, Corran has really good odds of scoring 8 damage in one turn. So um yeah. Thankfully, FFG will be coming up with a nice fix for the x-wing and possibly the HWK when they get around to it. Patience, young padawans, patience

So on a few "fix the e-wing" threads, some people suggest adding a new generic astromech to help out the overcosted generics a bit.

The RecSpecMech (god I love that name) was suggested as a way to improve the action economy of the e-wing. Problem was it completely broke the new y-wing and Corran.

So instead of it being a simple +1 focus token when you take the focus action, how about one of these ideas:

After preforming a green manuver, assign yourself a focus token,

OR a stricter version:

If you take a focus action after preforming a green maneuver, assign yourself a on additional focus token.

Then there's the gamblers variant, which might suit a less reliable r-series droid better:

After preforming a focus action, roll an evade die. On an [eye] or an [evade] result, add an adittional focus token.

That could also be triggered by preforming a green maneuver, or whenever assigned a focus token to allow chaining for new combos.

Or there could be a effect where you roll a number of evade dice equal to your evade value (affected by SD of course) and add a focus token for each [eye] result rolled. (Four dice average to 1 token per roll). This could be action triggered, or triggered by any other means. This would also primarily boost the e-wing, and also only see limited use outside of tourny play as people try to eliminate risk with lists. Just a fun little bot

What are your guy's ideas for a RecSpecMech? I want to know!

I just realized that the RecSpecMech ideas are all bloody insane on Garven Dreis, particularly if he brings the Moldy Crow along for the ride.

Fly it with a fellow ship with the focus-regen bot for extra fun.

I'd argue the RecSpecMech doesn't break the BTL-A4 or Corran. Corran's trading RecSpecMech for R2-D2, a setup that makes him regenerate health every turn. If the worry is powering up both attacks, he can already do this with Fire Control System.

But FCS + 2 focus tokens = TL + focus on two shots in one round!!! How can you not think that is broken??? Its not uncommon to get maximum hits with both TL + focus and @ range 1, Corran has really good odds of scoring 8 damage in one turn. So um yeah. Thankfully, FFG will be coming up with a nice fix for the x-wing and possibly the HWK when they get around to it. Patience, young padawans, patience

But FCS + 2 focus tokens = TL + focus on two shots in one round!!! How can you not think that is broken???

That happens fairly regularly anyway when you bear in mind that focuses don't turn up on every roll. If it were truly broken you'd see Corran paired with focus passers much more frequently.

I'm much more scared of the PTL, Engine Upgrade, R2-D2 Corran that regenerates a shield every turn while remaining hypermobile.

I'd like to have this astromech for the rebels since they cant have the agro mech. I think 3 points is fair, and I'd word it just like recon spec. At 2 points, it might be a little too good.

If Marksmanship & FCS isn't broken on Corran Horn, I can't see 2x Focus + FCS as broken either.

I'm with spider. You are also talking about a unique pilot in an ideal setup. range 1, and he would have previously attacked to have the TL for both attacks, then he has to spend both his focuses offensively, leaving nothing for defense. then you also assume that no hits are cancelled, all for a max of 8 damage.

compare with an APT with focus or marksmanship there is the potential for 5 damage all in one shot (in other words, you only roll evade dice once, not twice)

what about a 5 dice range 1 phantom shot with FCS and recon spec?

All of these suck if you are on the recieving end, but all of them are highly situational as well.

Astromechs are good but I see one of the main problem with Generics is that it is too hard to copy good generics.

For the Astromechs the bests ones are unique and rightfully so. Having a damage sponge E-wing with Shield Upgrade, Sensor jammer, and R2-D2 is great but you could only have one of them. The other E-wing would have to have a different astromech that could some how fill a similar roll.

For generic pilots the best out there are the ones that you can build into having a clone. HLC Defenders, I'll take 2 of those. Buzzsaw Shuttles (Gunner + FCS + EU) Heck I'll take a couple of Omicron group pilots with that configuration. PTL Green squadrons sound expensive at 22 points for only 4 hu...what? Aces came out and now there only 20 points, I'll take three!

As for astromechs well lets take a look at the generics (non unique)

• R2 astromech which works okay but since E-wings already have the most green maneuvers at speeds 1 to 2 that can take astromechs it is not that good of a slot filler for an E-wing even if only at 1 point.
• R5 astromech, with the E-wing LOW hull point value this one is simply not the one to take.
• R7 astromech, sort of a funny astromech but everyone knows the best set up is with Tarn Mison from the Rebel transport pack a unique X-wing pilot using a non-unique astromech. Other than that the need to spend a target lock just to get a few hits off of you is not that great of an ability.

disagree on R7. this is an awesome ability for a ship that gets a free target lock, and mitigates a lot of damage, especially on someone like dutch, who has enough HP that it will trigger several times a game.

R7 is good on Tarn as I said but I was talking about R7 use on non-unique pilots because R7 is a non-unique astromech upgrade. Tarn is a unique pilot so you cannot have 2 TaR7 builds.

I was talking about good astromech builds for non-unique pilots because the topic was on making non-unique E-wing better. The best non-unique builds are ones that you can build at least two of the same, I already acknowledge Tarn + R7, but that is a unique build you can only have 1. Read the post completely before you reply.

R3 - 2 points. Whenever you receive a Focus token, you may roll a single attack die. On a [hit] or [crit] result, gain a second Focus token.

Alternatively,

R3 - 2 or 3 points. Whenever you perform a White maneuver, you may assign one Focus token to your ship.

Or,

Training Astromech - 2 points. Requires Pilot Skill of 3 or lower [this prevents Red Squadron, a generally experienced group, from taking a droid meant for trainees]. Whenever you take a Focus action, you may assign a second Focus token to your ship.

"Action: You may reduce your attack value by 1 until the end of the turn. Then, regain one shield." Maybe 1 point?

Trying to capture the old PC game flavor of shutting weapon power to shields. Helps with durability at the expense of offense. Less useful for the named guys, who usually want their action for an EPT.

I like the idea of a Unique RecSpecMech and the idea of the generic R3 giving out some kind of squad based bonus. What about something like:

R3 Astromech

After spending a Target Lock to re-roll your attack dice you may pass the token to another friendly ship with an R3 Astromech @ R1instead of discarding it.

This way, it's kinda like using your wingman's targeting data and by stipulating that you can only pass it along if the TL was used to re-roll your attack dice, you stop the daisy chain yet still allow someone to really get the most out of a torpedo shot.

Considering how much I love R3-A2 and how its benefit is tied to taking a stress to pass a stress, why not run with the theme?

•R3-D1 (2 pts) Whenever you recieve a stress token, you may assign a focus token to your ship.

I feel as though we received Wedge's ability at 4 pts with outmaneuver being an EPT why not give the Rebels Baron Fel's ability with an astromech that has a built in cost reduction and is limited by being unique? The R3-D series were an upgrade of the original R3 series which was designed for use in capital ships. The D series supposedly improved on the original through its easier integration in the Rebellion starfigher corps.

I also just really like the stress theme with the R3 Astromech they already have and considering how Expert Handling and Stay on Target generate stress and rarely get used on X-wings, this could help create more depth in squad building and possibly more play time for Garven Dreis without being game breaking awesome.

Lol, Mara jade and rebel captives giving R3's focus tokens. Whose side are they on, anyways?

I originally proposed the "assign yourself a focus token after a green manuver" astromech as a fix to the X and E generics. I much prefer it to a recspec clone for a number of reasons, but first things first.

What Are We Trying To Do?

The goal is to make the X and E generics more effective. The X-wing generics have fallen on hard times of late and the E-wing generics were always overly expensive. At the same time, we can't overly buff the good X and E pilots or Y wings.

Why Focus Tokens?

1) It helps the X-wing and especially the E-wing stay alive longer, while not boosting the Y-wings durability much.

2) It helps the X-wing and E-wing do more damage, or otherwise use a focus on attack AND defense.

3) It helps make rebel Blaster Turret Y-wings viable and further improves the ability to run the BTL title effectively.

Why Not A Recon Specialist Clone?

1) Recon Specialist is already in the game and simply making an astromech have the same effect as a crew isn't good design.

2) Requiring a Focus action is less flexible action economy wise than focus-on-green. By forcing you to take the focus action, you cannot perform beneficial action combinations like focus+TL or focus+evade.

3) Recon Specialist is easier to trigger and is therefore more powerful than focus-on-green. Such an astromech would likely cost recon spec's 3 points, especially considering the interaction with Garvin. It is hard to justify a 3 point upgrade on a generic, particularly ones we already think are overpriced.

Why Not Random Effects?

Random effects are inherently inconsistent, which makes them very unattractive for competitive lists. Moreso, random effects lend themselves to a boom-bust cycle, where one turn goes very well while another does poorly. This is incredibly hard to build a list around. C-3P0 saw extensive use because he was consistent. Lando rolls 2 dice, which not only improves his consistency but also his power level. Just about every other random effect upgrade in the game is too unreliable to see use. Dice are fickle and will screw you at the worst possible moment.

So, Why Focus-On-Green?

1) Being limited to triggering on green maneuvers, the astromech is not a particularly strong form of action enhancement. This lets it have a lower cost of 1-2 points, which is easier to justify.

2) Being limited to greens also has a built-in effectiveness progression. E's get the most benefit while X's still get a decent boost. Y's find it much harder to get that focus token. This is a good thing.

3) Limiting the focus to greens makes it less attractive for Corran and Garvin, our two most worrying cases. In Garvin's case, the extra focus passing might justify this astromech on him, but it will be a tough sell on Corran.

4) Focus-on-green always triggers if you do a green, even if you bump. Not a major plus, but a plus nonetheless.

5) Focus-on-green is VERY flexible when considering the interaction with the other available actions

5a- All rebel ships with astromechs also can carry torpedoes. Being able to combine TL+focus not only improves these ships, it also improves torpedoes. Flechette and ion torpedoes become even more usable. APTs suddenly become a real threat, though not to the same extent as on Nera Dantels. Protons probably will still not be great.

5b- TL+focus allows for some very strong primary attacks, of which the X and E wing see greater benefit from.

5c- Once again, the E-wing sees more benefit than the X and Y. Being able to combine focus+evade on a generic improves their effectiveness greatly, while focus+barrel roll isn't a bad trick either.

5d- Double focus is still possible, since focus-on-green assigns focus tokens, not focus actions.

Ok, So How Much Should Focus-On-Green Cost?

This is a harder question. We have a variety of ships that are probably over costed so we can justify a lower cost and we also have a few data points. First, we have Recon Specialist at 3 points. Since this effect is generally less powerful due to the trigger, this should cost less. X-wings are not too far out of line, so 0 or negative costs are right out. So, now we have a choice between 1 or 2 points... The Scum R4 is easier to use action economy for 2 points, but that brings up other considerations. Scum as a faction are designed around strong action economy and individual ships while dispensing with group buffs, so R4s can get away with a higher efficiency than rebel astromechs. Given than, I feel that 2 points is justified.