• Advanced Cloaking Device. The upgrade that almost broke the game, in particular on Whisper or Echo in combination with Veteran Instincts. It brings two amazing benefits: extra agility that round and the added mobility of a possible decloack the next round. So good it could probably cost 10 points and still be worth it.
• Engine upgrade. Fantastic added mobility on any large base ship; it can even turn the otherwise unwieldy shuttle into a dogfighter. Also seeing some recent use on small ships such as Corran Horn.
• Fire control system. Excellent damage boost to any ship with the systems slot; especially good in today's meta with a small total number of ships in play.
• Gunner. Gunner's benefit is a bit more subtle than at first glance; it's actually almost a defensive boost more than anything as it allows you to take defensive actions and still have a very good chance of making a shot. Excellent on turrets and synergizes very well with Whisper's ability.
• Push the limit. A very, very strong choice on any ship with a good range of actions; popular on the YT-2400, Corran, and essentially mandatory on any Interceptor that can take it.
• Predator. The re-roll of any single die is probably worth 3 points by itself; the second re-roll against ships with PS 2 or less is just icing on the cake. Excellent for ships that want or need to take defensive actions; synergizes well with abilities like Chiraneau's.
• Veteran Instincts. In another day and age, this was probably tier three or possibly even four; now it's mandatory for two of the best pilots in the game (Echo and Whisper) and because of this, a very good choice for any pilot in the PS 7-9 range.

• Advanced sensors. Probably tier one a year ago, especially for its use on the B-wing. It's still a very good upgrade, and will be excellent on the upcoming Starviper and Agressor, but doesn't quite see the play it used to in today's meta. The best "upgrade that looks useless the first time you read it".
• C-3P0. Probably tier one a few months ago, its usage has fallen off slightly in the past few months, as it is essentially only really good on the YT-1300.
• Chardaan refit. A very strong choice for any A-wing; only Proton rockets keeps it from being an auto-include. A recent build with six A-wings with Chardaan refit looks strong.
• Darth Vader (crew). Auto-damage will always be good. This upgrade has a natural home on the Lambda, and is seeing some play now on the Decimator.
• Heavy Laser cannon. This currently increases the attack of any ship which can take it; at range 3 it is then effectively adding one to your attack and lowering your opponent's defense by one. Not to be trifled with.
• Ion cannon turret. Not seeing a lot of use right now, but a very nice control piece to add to any squad.
• Lone wolf. Point-for-point, it's probably the best upgrade in the game if you can keep it activated. Of course, the difficulty is keeping it activated while keeping the ship it's on relevant and alive. A great high-skill card, and very good on certain ships (HLC Outrider Dash and Luke, in particular).
• Millenium Falcon (title). Almost an auto-include on a YT-1300, it's only not tier one since it isn't really meta-defining.
• Moldy crow (title). Makes the HWK a lot less squishy, and if built up enough, can lead to almost constant Focus/TL shots.
• Outrider (title). Almost tier one, this isn't perhaps quite as powerful as it could be because of the current high PS meta. HLC is, right now, the only real choice to use with the title, though Ion Outriders can be hilarious. It will be interesting to see whether Mangler Outriders become popular in the next wave.
• R2-D2 (astromech). Has seen a bit resurgence in popularity as it has a natural home on Corran Horn. One of the best end-game upgrades.
• R3-A2. This could be meta-defining, but isn't quite yet (next wave's BTL-A4 title might change this). An excellent tool to hunt Phantoms on a high PS ship.
• Recon specialist. I would personally put this at tier three, as I feel it doesn't quite make a difference as often as one things it should, but it does appear in a lot of builds.
• Rebel captive. Excellent anti-phantom tech, but also good in general.
• Ysanne Isard. Very good on a Decimator, and thus quite a popular choice in the current meta. Could be tier three in the long term.

• A-wing test pilot. Decent, but often is just adding points to a 2-dice attack ship.
• Anti-pursuit lasers. Has a home on some very interesting builds; however, the fact that it only has a 50% chance of working really hurts it.
• B-wing/E2. Seen relatively limited use so far (Tactician in "Panic Attack" being the only major exception). An upgrade to watch for the future.
• Blaster turret. The requirement of a focus token really hurts it, as it can be completely stopped by blocking, stress, or Carnor. When it works, though, it is very good for its points.
• Chewbacca (crew). Seen a small resurgence lately due it's inclusion in the Spanish nationals list - does it have a home on the YT-2400 as well?
• Cluster missiles. Not terrible (as opposed to most ordinance), especially in a meta which includes Decimators, Falcons, and B-wings.
• Dash Rendar (crew). A useful damage boost, but has seen very little play so far.
• Dauntless (title). Decent title for the Decimator; works great with Oicunn's ability and has also seen use on Chiraneau.
• Determination. Tier four or maybe even five until very recently, it has a natural home now on Leebo and Decimators.
• Draw their fire. Splitting enemy fire is always useful, but the range 1 requirement is a pain.
• Experimental interface. Limited use so far, mainly with Expose on Decimators.
• Expert handling. Very neat upgrade on high PS pilots. Keep on eye on it as it is very strong on next wave's Palob and the Aggressor with Advanced sensors.
• Flechette torpedoes. Like most ordinance, probably tier four most of the time, but decent in the current meta, in particular as Phantom hate.
• Hull upgrade. Decent upgrade for ships with good defense capabilities.
• Intelligence agent. Very interesting upgrade, but requires some skill to get the most out of. Notable for its recent use in the Six-sigma build.
• Ion cannon. One of my personal favourite upgrades, but doesn't see a lot of play.
• Jan Ors (crew). The jury's still out on this one; possibly too expensive for what it does (compare to Millenium Falcon title).
• Kyle Katarn (crew). Has seen a natural home on Push-the-limit Dash builds, but not much other use.
• Lando Carlrissian (crew). I would personally put this at tier four as I don't like random outcomes, but it's seen a fair bit of use. Great when it works.
• Luke Skywalker (crew). The "Gunner with benefits" has a natural home on a highly upgraded YT-1300, but is very expensive for what it does.
• Mara Jade. I debated a lot about putting this in tier two, as it can be just as useful as Rebel captive. However,it hasn't had a huge impact yet; that may change over time. I'm surprised it hasn't seen more play on Lambdas.
• Mercenary copilot. Almost tier four, as it only helps in very limited circumstances, but has seen some use in the past few months.
• Nien nunb. Suffers a bit from the fact that one often has better things to put in the crew slot for ships that want to use it, but a decent upgrade for 1 point.
• Opportunist. Quite expensive, tricky to get to work, and takes up a valuable EPT slot, but has a great upside.
• Outmaneuver. Unfortunately, lowering defense by one isn't quite as useful as increasing attack by one and so this upgrade isn't quite as good as it feels like it should be.
• Proton rockets. One of the few decent ordinance cards, as a 5 dice attack with focus is a serious hit. Suffers a little bit because Chardaan refit is very good for the A-wing and the Advanced isn't as good as it will be soon. Is it worth a look on the upcoming M3-A?
• Proximity mines. Brought back to popularity by the recent faq change and Sable's World's build, but is still a bit tricky to use, especially as (compared with Seismic charges) it requires an action.
• R2 astromech. Very useful on Y-wings, but nothing amazing.
• R2-D2 (crew). In combination with C-3P0, has the potential to make a YT-1300 unkillable, but at the cost of a lot of offense; hasn't seen much use outside of a few builds.
• R2-F2. It's big problem is it requires an action, but ok for what it does.
• R5-P9. I haven't seen it much used, but it seems like it might be decent on an E-wing or X-wing with a shield upgrade.
• R7 astromech. Amazing on Tarn Mison, and not bad on a E-wing with Fire control systems.
• R7-T1. A very neat upgrade, but quite situational. Synergizes very well with Dutch Vander's ability.
• Royal guard tie (title). Neat idea, but hasn't seen a lot of use so far, probably because it increases the cost of a ship that can already die very quickly. Will probably be amazing with Autoblasters and Stealth/Hull/Shield in the next wave.
• Ruthlessness. Interesting ability, but has seen very little play so far. As with Assault missiles and Ion torpedoes, is probably suffering in the current small-ship meta, and may see more play in the future.
• Seismic charges. Has seen some competitive use; decent for what it does and doesn't require an action.
• Sensor jammer. Very interesting upgrade, and better than it look at first glance as it essentially lowers the defense of a ship that fires on it. Suffers a bit mainly because other sytems upgrades are so amazing.
• Shield upgrade. As with hull, decent on any ship with good defense, especially if they can regenerate the shields (eg., R2-D2 Corran).
• Stay on target. Very interesting ability, but hasn't seen much competitive use so far.
• Stealth device. Neat idea, but less reliable than hull.
• Stygium particle accelerator. Decent for it's points, and not a bad choice on the lower PS phantoms, but suffers in comparison to Advanced Cloaking Device.
• Swarm tactics. Decent PS boost, but often increases the value of a ship that is already high value.
• Tactician. Almost tier two, but very hard to use, as it can be tricky to keep one's ship in the appropriate range band.
• Targeting computer. Decent damage increase to an Interceptor.

• Adrenaline rush. Not bad, but there are almost always better choices for the EPT slot.
• Advanced proton torpoedoes. Very expensive (that's half a tie fighter/Z-95!) and not easy to use.
• Assault missiles. Never particularly good, but terrible nowadays with very few swarms around.
• Concussion missile. Like most munitions, too expensive for what it does.
• Daredevil. Used in very few builds; Tycho and Engine decimators are probably the only ships that want to take this.
• Deadeye. Suffers since most ordinance isn't very good; only current use is on Nera Dantels, who is already a fringe pilot.
• Decoy. I have never seen this used, but it's not entirely terrible.
• Elusiveness. Almost never used, but isn't totally terrible for what it does.
• Enhanced scopes. A neat idea in theory, but has seen very limited play; the already high PS meta probably means it isn't needed if one wants it to be a guaranteed blocking ship.
• Expose. As with other not-so-great cards, the requirement that it take an action really hurts it. Has seen very limited use with Decimators and Experimental interface.
• Fleet officer. Almost no use so far; has a difficult time finding a good ship to be used on.
• Flight instructor. Very expensive for what it does, and really needs to be against PS1-2 ships to be of any use, of which they are few in today's meta.
• Han Solo (crew). Of limited use; outshone by many other crew upgrades.
• Homing missiles. See concussion missile.
• Intimidation. Very situational, requires some co-ordination with your other ships to use effectively, the EPT slot can often be better used.
• Ion pulse missiles. Ok in today's meta but even now rarely used. At least it doesn't lose its target lock after being fired!
• Ion torpedoes. See assault missiles.
• "Leebo" (crew). For two points, you can almost only use it one time, as large ships quickly get in trouble if they get predictable. As with many other crew, there are usually better choices for the slot.
• Leia organa. Never seen this used; quite expensive for a single use card.
• Marksmanship. Sounds decent, but you are paying 3 points to only get a slightly upgraded focus action; would be good on Corran if he didn't have better things to take in his EPT slot.
• Moff Jerjerrod. Sounds decent on a Decimator but has seen almost no competitive use; probably only worth 1 point.
• Munitions failsafe. I think this probably should have been 0 points as most ordinance already costs too much for what it does.
• Navigator. Sounds good in theory, but in practice is rarely used. Amusing combination with Boba Fett's ability.
• Proton Bombs. Very expensive for a one-use weapon. Would be hilarious to kill a fully upgraded Corran Horn with one of these.
• Proton torpedoes. I actually don't mind these, especially on a high PS pilot, but they almost never see play due to their cost/benefit ratio.
• R4-D6. A very, very situational ability. Perhaps it's only use is on Biggs.
• R5 astromech. Again, very, very situational; not much use even for 1 point.
• R5-D8. Ok damage regeneration, but one is often dead before it can really be used.
• Slave 1 (title). Not very good since most torpedoes aren't very good.
• Squad leader. Main problem is that takes an action away from one of your good pilots to give to a less good one.
• ST-321. Very expensive for what it does; would be decent if shuttles could take ordinance.
• Tactical jammers. Sounds decent in theory, but very hard to use in practice.
• Weapons engineer. Probably too expensive for what he does, and isn't that useful in the current meta of a few small ships.
• Wingman. Another upgrade I've never seen used, but decent in theory. It would probably see a lot more play if it was range 1-2.

• Autoblaster. Got a slight buff in the recent faq (evade tokens can't be used to stop its hits), but has some very serious problems: very expensive for what it does, can still have critical hits be blocked, and the ships one would want to use it against (Phantoms and Interceptors) are almost impossible to get in arc at range 1.
• Countermeasures. 3 points for a one-time agility upgrade? Yech.
• R5-K6. Having only a 3/8 chance to activate its ability is just terrible, especially compared to fire control systems. And you know, after reading it again, it's even worse than I remember: you have to use a target lock to even get a chance to activate the ability. Just terrible.
• Saboteur. Hands-down the worst upgrade in the game. You have to be in range 1 of a ship with a damage card and use up your action...and then it only has a 50% chance of success. Even less when you consider that many damage cards don't affect a ship. Should probably cost negative points.

Edit: added Ruthlesness and Dauntless, moved Daredevil to Tier four.

I disagree vehemently with several of your placements.

Mostly that Elusiveness IS terrible for what it does. Substantially moreso than Saboteur.

It has a 1/8 chance of actively improving your opponent's attack, requires that you have no stress to activate, requires that you TAKE stress to activate (so no Yorr shenanigans), and if your opponent intends to use their focus, only improves your situation 1/4 of the time.

It shouldn't see play for 1 point, much less 2.

I'd of thought expose would be tier five for sure as there's literally one shop it works on, agree with counter measures friends used it on the yt 2400 and it's done little to keep his ship flying.

I disagree vehemently with several of your placements.

Mostly that Elusiveness IS terrible for what it does. Substantially moreso than Saboteur.

It has a 1/8 chance of actively improving your opponent's attack, requires that you have no stress to activate, requires that you TAKE stress to activate (so no Yorr shenanigans), and if your opponent intends to use their focus, only improves your situation 1/4 of the time.

It shouldn't see play for 1 point, much less 2.

Well, if you're making them re-roll a critical hit, it doesn't have a 1/8 chance of actively improving their attack...and forcing an opponent to use a focus on offense is not terrible, as that's exactly what Sensor Jammer does.

Still, I would agree that Elusiveness is, if not exactly tier five, certainly borderline tier five. But I definitely think Saboteur is worse

I'd of thought expose would be tier five for sure as there's literally one shop it works on, agree with counter measures friends used it on the yt 2400 and it's done little to keep his ship flying.

It certainly was tier five prior to wave 5, but it's seen use on a number of Decimator builds that have done well, hence my reasoning for moving it up to tier four.

I think Counter-Measures is decent on a YT-2400 with a Recon Specialist. It's not great, but it's useful to avoid a missile/torpedo and it makes shooting the rest of your list look like a better idea for the round you activate it.

Engine Upgrade should not be on Tier 1. It may be highly usable on certain ships, but far from one I would "seriously consider on any ship that can take it" (which would be every ship in the game). For its price point its decent in some situations, and for certain ships, but for 4 points there are far better choices.

Rec spec, reb cap and ysanne are tier 1 in my book.

Would you consider an upgrade that is mandatory on some ships but not on all that are capable of taking it to be Tier 2? Isard is essentially mandatory on the Decimator, barring the DeciVader (which plans to die anyway, unless you roll with a Moff Jerry and Isard for the late game).

Similarly, Engine Upgrade is far from mandatory on all ships capable of taking it, but nearly so on several specific ones.

You forgot Ruthlessness. I'd say its tier 3 for now.

I disagree with R2-F2. Its too expensive and takes an action. Really only useful on Biggs and you have to stack him with focus to make it worth it. Usually isn't. Tier 4 at least, I'd even go Tier 5.

Same with Blaster Turret, but may be Tier 3 with the BTL upgrade.

Daredevil really has two homes, Tycho and Ociunn (and you really need EU). So I'd say Tier 4. It would be more used if it didn't have such a huge penalty.

Flight Instructor should be Tier 5, not because the upgrade isn't all that useful, but because its 4 points! That puts it into premium upgrade status. If it was 2 points, yeah I'd say Tier 4 is ok. I've never, ever, seen anyone run it, even pre-wave 4 with all the swarms. Now in the high PS meta its even more useless.

But other than those I think your list is pretty good.

Advanced sensors IS tier 1.

^ Advanced sensors still gets crazy use on my table. If I am Rebel I can't resist B-wings, if I have B-wings I have advanced sensors. I'd rate Autoblasters tier 3 or 4 too, I use them often with B-wings and they flat out maul ships with evade/high agi.

^ Advanced sensors still gets crazy use on my table. If I am Rebel I can't resist B-wings, if I have B-wings I have advanced sensors. I'd rate Autoblasters tier 3 or 4 too, I use them often with B-wings and they flat out maul ships with evade/high agi.

You are in the minority on Autoblaster. Its too expensive, too short of range, and only useable on ships with 3 attack naturally. Now I guess the Syck can use it, but would you run a Heavy Autoblaster Syck? That's 20 points for a 2 attack/ 3 hitpoint ship that ignores defense dice at range 1. For 2 points more I'd run HLC all day long. Even with the buff its still to limited to see a lot of play. It should either be 3 points or range 1-2. Kind of like an inverse HLC. Tier 5 is were it should be.

ACD isn't the upgrade that almost broke the game. Without VI the Phantoms are widely considered to be unviable. People are slowly coming around to trying other builds, but it was Veteran Instincts that made the rush to the top.

Fleet Officer tier 4?

Dude. Dude.

I'm not sure why you move some upgrades up or down because of the "meta". Tier 1 cards should always be good regardless of the state of the game. Here's an example of what I mean

FCS is Tier one now because of the large number of large ships being flown? I really like FCS but I'm not sure it's Tier 1. FCS isn't an auto include for ships with system slot for me. I would rank Advanced Sensors above FCS.

Some cards have very niche rolls, and won't see much play. Expose has to be Tier 5. It's only good on the decimator, and even then you still have to lots of tricks to make it work.

I think Moldy Crow's placement is way too high. It's a Tier 3 card, maybe Tier 4. It only sees play on one card (Kyle), and you have a good risk of getting blown up before you get to spend all those tokens anyway.

Fleet Officer is actually wonderful on an OGP with Advanced Sensors. Trigger the officer with Sensors, execute a green maneuver next turn to clear stress, and if possible block your own move to help her slow-play up the board. An easy Tier 3 card that turns Rexlar into a beast under the current meta.

I'm not sure why you move some upgrades up or down because of the "meta". Tier 1 cards should always be good regardless of the state of the game. Here's an example of what I mean

FCS is Tier one now because of the large number of large ships being flown? I really like FCS but I'm not sure it's Tier 1. FCS isn't an auto include for ships with system slot for me. I would rank Advanced Sensors above FCS.

Some cards have very niche rolls, and won't see much play. Expose has to be Tier 5. It's only good on the decimator, and even then you still have to lots of tricks to make it work.

I think this list should be read as what the OP believes, everyone will have a differing mentality. Its certain that not all ships or play styles want the same upgrade. I found multiple instances where the OP stated that things are only good on certain pilots, like dead eye. Dead eye also has a home on blount, but that was over looked.

Recon Specialist doesn't need to caveat for tier two. It could arguably be tier one. It's not great on something like the Falcon but put it on a ship with at least three attack and two defense and it really shines. A YT-2400 or Firespray gets a nice boost to durability from having Recon Specialist. It is particularly sexy paired with Lone Wolf.

Engine Upgrade should not be on Tier 1. It may be highly usable on certain ships, but far from one I would "seriously consider on any ship that can take it" (which would be every ship in the game). For its price point its decent in some situations, and for certain ships, but for 4 points there are far better choices.

I originally had engine upgrade in tier two, but a couple of things changed my mind: (1) how often it's currently being used in winning tournament lists, and (2) many ideas and builds of Theorist, who advocates for engine upgrade on nearly every ship that will take it..he's even talked about doing well with 4x Rookie /w Engine upgrade. So I do actually think Engine upgrade is worth seriously thinking about on many ships, and it is definitely very popular in the current meta.

You forgot Ruthlessness. I'd say its tier 3 for now.

I disagree with R2-F2. Its too expensive and takes an action. Really only useful on Biggs and you have to stack him with focus to make it worth it. Usually isn't. Tier 4 at least, I'd even go Tier 5.

Same with Blaster Turret, but may be Tier 3 with the BTL upgrade.

Daredevil really has two homes, Tycho and Ociunn (and you really need EU). So I'd say Tier 4. It would be more used if it didn't have such a huge penalty.

Flight Instructor should be Tier 5, not because the upgrade isn't all that useful, but because its 4 points! That puts it into premium upgrade status. If it was 2 points, yeah I'd say Tier 4 is ok. I've never, ever, seen anyone run it, even pre-wave 4 with all the swarms. Now in the high PS meta its even more useless.

But other than those I think your list is pretty good.

Thanks for pointing out Ruthlesness...that made me realize I also forgot Dauntless...will add both of those later.

After some thought, I had moved Daredevil to Tier four, but must have used an older version of this list when I copied things over...I'll update that later as well.

I feel as if Flight instructor has a place, just not right now...it's not terrible if there are lots of PS1-2 ships around and you want to use a large ship. In my mind, Tier 5 is for cards that should never be used, no matter what your opponent is flying.

Advanced sensors IS tier 1.

I love Advanced Sensors; it's one of my favourite upgrades in the game. But, for whatever reason, it's just not seeing very much play right now, and so considering my criterion that tier 1 was only reserved for cards that were having an impact on the meta right now, I moved it down to tier two.

However, I could easily see that change with the next wave - I've been trying out both the Starviper and the Aggressor with Advanced Sensors, and they are amazing.

I'm not sure why you move some upgrades up or down because of the "meta". Tier 1 cards should always be good regardless of the state of the game. Here's an example of what I mean

FCS is Tier one now because of the large number of large ships being flown? I really like FCS but I'm not sure it's Tier 1. FCS isn't an auto include for ships with system slot for me. I would rank Advanced Sensors above FCS.

Some cards have very niche rolls, and won't see much play. Expose has to be Tier 5. It's only good on the decimator, and even then you still have to lots of tricks to make it work.

Well, that's a choice I made making the list; one could certainly make an alternative list which is "how objectively good are all the upgrades irrespective of what one's opponents might be flying". The list was more made with thinking about what I need to consider if I want to build a tournament list and/or what I think other people might be flying at tournaments right now. A sort of "current power rank" of the upgrades now in the game, rather than an attempt at determining how good the upgrades are in a vacuum.

Tier 5 I consider as cards that should never be played, no matter the circumstances, and while that was true for Expose before the Decimator, it's not true any more. In my mind, Tier four is for "cards which have very niche roles", which now fits Expose. But, again, that's a choice I made regarding how to break down the tiers, and one could have different criteria for each tier than I've gone with here.

Fleet Officer tier 4?

Dude. Dude.

I'd love to see more builds with Fleet Officer - I just haven't seen anyone use it effectively, or found a good place for it myself. But, this was actually one of the reasons for me writing out this list: to have other people point out interesting cards I'd overlooked. Do you have some good builds that have done well which include Fleet Officer?

I might not necessarily agree with where every option is in every tier, but I still think it's a list that's more "on" than it is "off," and I think reasonable thought and time went into it. Nice post, and a solid contribution to, if nothing else, get conversations going. Good stuff.