Does anyone have any experience with, or can help with the Mathwing, on these crew riding with Kenkirk?

I'm trying to decide which would be the best addition to this build,

Kenkirk

Marksmanship

Gunner

Experimental Interface

Ysanne, and its not even close

I was thinking vs swarms mainly that Flight instructor may actually negate more damage? Plus you can use it while stressed.

With Isard you may only get to trigger a couple of times, if your taking lots of hits.

I think Isard may win out vs other two/three ship builds, but not vs swarms?

Just for practice:

Flight Instructor Math

3/8 chance of getting evade from a dice roll

+2/8*3/8 chance of getting an evade from Flight instructor against >PS2.

or +5/8*3/8 chance of getting an evade from Flight Instructor against <PS3

against >PS2 = ~0.468 average evades against each attack

against <PS3 = ~0.609 average evades against each attack

Ysanne Math

1 evade against 1 attack + 0.375 average evades against each attack

So, in order to for Flight Instructor to exceed Ysanne Isard's [edit] statistical damage prevention, you'd have to get attacked by 5 ships at PS2 or lower (3.05 average evades, vs 1.875 average evades + 1 guaranteed=2.875).

Note however that Ysanne still has a higher floor, a guaranteed 1, to Flight Instructor's possible 0 evades. Also note that this doesn't account for range 3, asteroids, or mixed PS squads.

TLDR: Flight instructor can be slightly better in some situations, some of the time. Ysanne is better all of the time in most situations, and better most of the time in other situations.

That's the sort of maths I was looking for.

So assuming she was the only target of a tie swarm for example, with all bringing guns to bear. It's likely that FI would prevent more damage.

I get that it's very situational but that helps with the decision, cheers Tvboy

That's the sort of maths I was looking for.

So assuming she was the only target of a tie swarm for example, with all bringing guns to bear. It's likely that FI would prevent more damage.

I get that it's very situational but that helps with the decision, cheers Tvboy

It's only good in certain situations AND it's only situationally good in those situations. Seriously though, don't run it instead of Ysanne. Please.

The only problem I have with Isanne is not triggering when stressed. The greens are ok on the Decimator, and the combo with Engine Upgrade is great too, but if your taking stress from anything during activation it's not always going to be an option.

I've only just got round to flying the Decimator really, paired with Whisper, and I'm investigating options.

Just to add to tvboy's point, consider how much better Flight Instructor is likely to be. A list that uses Swarm Tactics might shoot on PS8/8/8/6/1/1/1, for instance, in which case Flight Instructor produces an extra 5/64 of an evade each round it's attacked by every TIE fighter. If your opponent is a little crazy and running something like Howlrunner/Mauler + VI + EU/5x Academy then you're in better shape, with Flight Instructor producing an extra 23/64 or about a third of an evade on average.

But more importantly, consider how unlikely it is that you'll find yourself in a situation where Kenkirk has lost all of his shields without his list killing a single ship in an opponent's swarm. Even in those swarming contexts, killing just one or two ships puts you back over the threshold and makes Isard the better choice.

The bottom line is that you shouldn't run Flight Instructor if you have the option to run Isard instead. She's just better.

You have the option - if you really want to - to run both. It's not like you're short of crew slots on a Decimator, is it?

If you're taking Kenkirk, it's because you want a damage sponge.

Less sure about Marksmanship/Experimental Inteface, to be honest. I guess with gunner you get two shots, so it has value, but stress is annoying to get rid of.

I think the most durability-laden VT-49 I've seen suggested was:

Commander Kenkirk

Determination

Ysanne Isard

Flight Instructor

Gunner

Hull Upgrade

61 points of "won't you just sodding die?!?!?"

That's pretty tanky! After thinking it through, it would make much more sense to go with Chiraneau for the gunner combo. With Predator and his ability, it'd be much the same, but without the stress of ExInt.

That's pretty tanky! After thinking it through, it would make much more sense to go with Chiraneau for the gunner combo. With Predator and his ability, it'd be much the same, but without the stress of ExInt.

It would be hard for Engine Upgrade to not save you more health than one Hull provides. It's the best defensive upgrade a Decimator can take.

You have the option - if you really want to - to run both. It's not like you're short of crew slots on a Decimator, is it?

If you're taking Kenkirk, it's because you want a damage sponge.

Less sure about Marksmanship/Experimental Inteface, to be honest. I guess with gunner you get two shots, so it has value, but stress is annoying to get rid of.

I think the most durability-laden VT-49 I've seen suggested was:

Commander Kenkirk

Determination

Ysanne Isard

Flight Instructor

Gunner

Hull Upgrade

61 points of "won't you just sodding die?!?!?"

Can we turn this up to 11?

Kenkirk+above upgrades Hull swapped for engine

Kagi

Sensor Jammer

Reb Captive

Engine Upgrade

How long will this list take to die? I'm going to test this.

You know, flight instructor got re-released as a much more affordable & flexible card and given a far less restrictive condition

It's called Lone Wolf

You have the option - if you really want to - to run both. It's not like you're short of crew slots on a Decimator, is it?

If you're taking Kenkirk, it's because you want a damage sponge.

Less sure about Marksmanship/Experimental Inteface, to be honest. I guess with gunner you get two shots, so it has value, but stress is annoying to get rid of.

I think the most durability-laden VT-49 I've seen suggested was:

Commander Kenkirk

Determination

Ysanne Isard

Flight Instructor

Gunner

Hull Upgrade

61 points of "won't you just sodding die?!?!?"

Can we turn this up to 11?

Kenkirk+above upgrades Hull swapped for engine

Kagi

Sensor Jammer

Reb Captive

Engine Upgrade

How long will this list take to die? I'm going to test this.

Maybe I just don't take enough TLs that don't come from FCS but Kagi's ability wouldn't make him a priority target for me. Why take him over any of the other Shuttles?

You know, flight instructor got re-released as a much more affordable & flexible card and given a far less restrictive condition

It's called Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf is one of the best upgrades you can take on a turret ship. It provides both attack benefit and defense, plus your turrets aren't likely to keep formation with arc firing ships. It's like a cheaper predator that also works on defense, with the restriction that Predator works better against low PS.

You know, flight instructor got re-released as a much more affordable & flexible card and given a far less restrictive condition

It's called Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf is one of the best upgrades you can take on a turret ship. It provides both attack benefit and defense, plus your turrets aren't likely to keep formation with arc firing ships. It's like a cheaper predator that also works on defense, with the restriction that Predator works better against low PS.

Predator also lets you reroll eyeballs which you can't do with Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf is made much stronger by Focus tokens, I always try to take Recon Specialist with it for that reason.

You know, flight instructor got re-released as a much more affordable & flexible card and given a far less restrictive condition

It's called Lone Wolf

Lone Wolf is one of the best upgrades you can take on a turret ship. It provides both attack benefit and defense, plus your turrets aren't likely to keep formation with arc firing ships. It's like a cheaper predator that also works on defense, with the restriction that Predator works better against low PS.

Predator also lets you reroll eyeballs which you can't do with Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf is made much stronger by Focus tokens, I always try to take Recon Specialist with it for that reason.

Alternately taking Lone Wolf on Chiraneua gives you a free mini-focus at range 1-2, so unless you get two eyeballs your gold. But on other ships Lone Wolf + Recon is a good combo, both attack and defense will either be able to spend focus or re-roll.

But of course Chiraneua (sp?) loses the defense bonus of Lone Wolf in that case.

Or, just go all out.

Kenkirk

Lone Wolf

Flight Instructor

Mara Jade

Ysanne Isard

This isn't an endorsement, just an idea about how defensively you could build a Decimator. On defense, this ship will get one evade plus at least one defensive reroll no matter who is shooting at it. Against PS 3+ Flight Instructor allows you to reroll eyes and Lone Wolf allows you to reroll the blanks, against PS 2- Flight Instructor allows you to reroll anything and Lone Wolf allows you rerolls against blanks. Add Mara Jade just to make k-turning and focus fire more difficult, and this beast could be quite a challenge to bring down within the time limit.

Because Kenkirk is the only decimator that reliably rolls green dice (well...he gets to roll green dice the buggers are never reliable), I think he's the main candidate for LW. Imo, you have to use both the offensive and defensive sides of it to bring out the most in it.

Oicuun's epts are up in the air between the efficiency of predator and the hilarity of Dare Devil

Chiraneau is someone I know people like with Predator, but I literally only ever see him with V.I in my area. That's because we have so many phantom players that all the phantoms have rebel captive, leading to a ship that was included almost solely to take the stress and let phantoms kill phantoms...

Because Kenkirk is the only decimator that reliably rolls green dice (well...he gets to roll green dice the buggers are never reliable), I think he's the main candidate for LW. Imo, you have to use both the offensive and defensive sides of it to bring out the most in it.

Oicuun's epts are up in the air between the efficiency of predator and the hilarity of Dare Devil

Chiraneau is someone I know people like with Predator, but I literally only ever see him with V.I in my area. That's because we have so many phantom players that all the phantoms have rebel captive, leading to a ship that was included almost solely to take the stress and let phantoms kill phantoms...

I usually run Chiraneau with Expose + Experimental Interface, he has no agility to suffer from expose and it bumps him up to 4 attack dice. He has to get rid of stress every turn, but Howlrunner (or Fel) with Wingman help a lot.

You have the option - if you really want to - to run both. It's not like you're short of crew slots on a Decimator, is it?

If you're taking Kenkirk, it's because you want a damage sponge.

Less sure about Marksmanship/Experimental Inteface, to be honest. I guess with gunner you get two shots, so it has value, but stress is annoying to get rid of.

I think the most durability-laden VT-49 I've seen suggested was:

Commander Kenkirk

Determination

Ysanne Isard

Flight Instructor

Gunner

Hull Upgrade

61 points of "won't you just sodding die?!?!?"

thats my go-to decimator build, except with rebel captive instead of flight instructor, which i would argue is an even more defensive upgrade.

Hard to crunch the math on that one tho, impossible to quantify how much damage you prevent by consistently stressing the highest PS opponent - how many opportunities that ruins for him to keep you in arc when his greens or whites wont quite turn him far enough to catch you when you boost, and also how many attack modifying actions he didnt use on his shots on you because of the stress.

I reckon thats the most defensive decimator there is - engine upgrade to dodge arcs, ysanne, kirks pilot ability and rebel captive.

Maybe I just don't take enough TLs that don't come from FCS but Kagi's ability wouldn't make him a priority target for me. Why take him over any of the other Shuttles?

TIE Advanced with Advanced Targeting Computers really won't like him. It's one of the reasons I love the system slot but I'm not treating the ATC as an automatic choice to put in it.

well...he gets to roll green dice the buggers are never reliable

Oh, I feel your pain. The Emerald Octahedrons Of Inevitable Betrayal have thwarted me so many times....

I like Kenkirk plus lone wolf. Plus - with a 60+ point ship, you're not going to have too much else to keep clear of...