Spurred by Red Winter's recent "Porkins saves the galaxy" thread, I was compelled tonight to assemble this proposed breakdown of optimal pilot/droid pairings for the X-Wing spaceframe. And, while I'm at it, assigning the most naturally fitting elite pilot talents to the top four of our eight unique X-jockeys. (I have not considered the ordinance slot.) Improvements and disagreements are welcome.

My approach was to assign named droids uniquely, so that all eight ship builds could theoretically be flown simultaneously. Point cost was not a consideration, only maximizing upgrade card synergy for each unique pilot trait. I also treated each pilot independently, making no attempt to maximize synergy among pilots or build support functions into this list (other than Garvin Dreis' native ability).

In descending order of pilot skill:

PS9

Wedge Antilles (29)

R7-T1 (3)

Push the Limit (3)

=(35)

The idea with this is to capitalize on the fact that Wedge, with his potent attack capability, usually moves after all of his potential targets have settled into position. With this build, he can acquire target lock and then boost into range 1, then add focus at the cost of taking stress. So he can go from being naked of tokens at the start of the round, to having a TL+focus 4-dice attack against a reduced-agility defender, all without the need for squadmate support.

I considered Opportunist or Outmaneuver, instead of PtL, to boost the dice differential, but these are too situational, too opponent-dependent to my tastes.

PS8

Wes Janson (29)

R5-P9 (3)

Predator (3)

=(35)

Janson's ability to strip lesser PS opponents of a token is aided by the Predator reroll. His attack can force the defender to spend one token, his native ability strips another, and he thus has a higher probability of holding on to the focus token from his own action to regenerate health after combat. Hit or no hit, his early attack is still fruitful while keeping enhanced survivability.

PS8

Luke Skywalker (28)

R2-D2 (4)

Marksmanship (3)

=(35)

Luke's native ability is (quasi-mathematically speaking) like always having half a focus token on defense. Thus his action is best spent on offense, whether target lock or the offense-only "focus" action of Marksmanship. R2-D2 is, then, a natural fit to enhance his survivability above his modest natural defensive advantage.

PS7

Jek Porkins (26)

R5-D8 (3)

Push the Limit (3)

=(32)

See Red Winter's earlier thread. I doubt I would have realized what a great build this is apart from that original discussion.

And the remaining X-jockeys without elite talent slots:

PS6

Garven Dreis (26)

R5-K6 (2)

=(28)

Garven's chief benefit is, of course, farming out his focus token. Thus, taking a target lock action can be rare, and R5-K6 helps preserve the premium action.

PS5

Hobbie Klivian (25)

R3-A2 (2)

=(27)

Take the target lock action, declare an attack, droid mutually stresses you and the defender, then clear your own stress while spending the TL. (Again, gleaned from Red Winter's thread.)

PS5

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R2-F2 (3)

=(28)

Or R4-D6 (1) to escape rolling blanks against a 3+ dice attack. Seems to me that if the extra 2 points can be had, there's no reason to use any astromech other than -F2, and rarely a reason ever to take any other action than the bonus evade dice granted by the droid.

PS3

Tarn Mison (23)

R7 (2)

=(25)

Perfect survivability synergy. Any attacker is going to have to reroll his dice at best, or at worst create a jousting opponent who suddenly has a TL+focus return fire.

And to close the loop, the only astromechs not used above are the vanilla R2 and R5, and R2-D6 who just adds an elite talent slot. I considered using him on Garven Dreis, but didn't see a talent I thought worth adding.

Looking forward to feedback!

I'm a fan of Garven (usually alongside Dutch) and R5-K6 is not a good match with his ability. Quite the opposite as they're mutually exclusive - Garven always wants to focus.

Would is be cheating to use a card that's not out yet and suggest R2-D6 + Calculation? This improves Garven's offence while still making full use of his pilot ability - it's also not too expensive at two points total.

I think calculation on a plain X-wing is a better choice than Marksmanship.

Marksmanship on 3 dice gives you 57.81% chance of a focus into a crit. Assuming you only use Calculation if you have just one focus symbol, you have 42.18% chance of turning a focus into a crit. So that's 73% efficiency of Marksmanship for crits, while maintaining the normal focus action and 42.18% chance that you get to use the focus token for defense. And it's also cheaper by 2pts.

Marksmanship always made sense for more than one attack, but now I think nobody will think to use it anymore for just one attack.

I'm a fan of Garven (usually alongside Dutch) and R5-K6 is not a good match with his ability. Quite the opposite as they're mutually exclusive - Garven always wants to focus.

I too like the Dutch/Garven team, but it seems like calling Garven's ability and R5-K6 "mutually exclusive" is looking at it the wrong way. They are complementary, in that an X-Wing only has two choices for an action: focus and TL. Garven wants to focus, R5-K6 wants to preserve a TL. So this droid provides a chance of having both actions in play on the round after the droid activates -- allowing for Dutch or other similar supporting squadmates to provide their assist elsewhere. It's obviously handy when squadmates are dead or out of formation, of course.

But I definitely take your point with Calculation...not in my deck yet, so I didn't consider it. Good choice for putting R2-D6 to good use among the X-jockeys.

Marksmanship on 3 dice gives you 57.81% chance of a focus into a crit. Assuming you only use Calculation if you have just one focus symbol, you have 42.18% chance of turning a focus into a crit. So that's 73% efficiency of Marksmanship for crits, while maintaining the normal focus action and 42.18% chance that you get to use the focus token for defense. And it's also cheaper by 2pts.

Your math-fu is strong... I think. Prob & Stats was my worst grade in college.

What does your odds table say about Marksmanship specifically on Luke? Like I said, his native skill is roughly like having 50% of a focus token on defense.

My interest in Statistics and Probability was rekindled by X-wing!

So I never got to do Luke's calculation, and I'm really surprised at the results.

For 2 dice, he averages 1.1875 evades on every attack. A normal X-wing would be 0.75 without focus, and 1.25 with focus. So Luke gets 87.5% of the efficiency of defensive focus, for every attack!

With 3 dice, he's at 1.70 evades (normal is 1.125, focused is 1.875), efficiency 77%! Still going strong.

Luke gets natural results on 2 dice which are slightly better than 3 dice unmodified, on 3 dice slightly better than 4 dice unmodified. So Luke is in an E-wing with 3 hull 2 shields, with a slower dial and no barrel roll. And no Systems slot.

Most fascinating. So do the odds make Marksmanship a good buy for him?

And of course the defensive odds stay strong for Luke across multiple defends, which would seem to make him a better buy than at first it would seem.

Most fascinating. So do the odds make Marksmanship a good buy for him?

Actually, I was arguing the opposite, you might as well use Calculation since it's almost as good on a single attack.

What about lone wolf on Luke instead of marksmanship for added survivability?

Loving the list btw.

Also think this list would be better if you included Dutch, Horton, etahn and corran.

It's more restrictive but I like to think the astromech are released with specific pilots in mind.

Eg I think r5-k6 is built for Dutch. When he gains a target lock he passes one off free.

Then when he shoots & spend his & gets a chance to reacquire one & pass off another TL to someone with lower ps or another for next round.

Dutch acquires TL

Hands one to a friendly

Dutch spends a TL

has a chance to reacquire with droid.

Passes off a TL again!

In a perfect example that's four TL a turn among 2-3 ships!

I considered doing this for all astromech-carrying types, but when I realized how few unique named mechs there are, I stuck with X-Wings for this thread. My conceit was to try to pair named pilots with named mechs uniquely, and deviated from this only on Tarn Mison because the synergy was so perfect.

I really like your idea of R5-K6 on Dutch! Can't believe I've never thought of that.

May I suggest Experimental Interface instead of PTL on Wedge? That opens his EPT up for something like marksmanship (as you have EI) or VI to shoot after those pesky Phantoms.

Good choice. I did not delve into modifications.

I considered doing this for all astromech-carrying types, but when I realized how few unique named mechs there are, I stuck with X-Wings for this thread. My conceit was to try to pair named pilots with named mechs uniquely, and deviated from this only on Tarn Mison because the synergy was so perfect.

I really like your idea of R5-K6 on Dutch! Can't believe I've never thought of that.

I also think R5-K6 was made for Dutch - I played him in a local casual tournament with a fair amount of success.

A BLT-A4 piloted by Dutch has even more potential - I've looked into the possibilities here:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/134204-maximizing-the-second-shot-on-a-btl-a4/

I don't think that X-Wing's have clear-cut optimal Astromech pairings. The top half have natural access to EPTs making tailored Astromechs difficult since depending on the EPT a different Astro would be a stronger choice.

Likewise the lower half have access to R2-D6 and with their mid-low PS make the suitable candidates for Opportunist, which to an extent could be considered Deadeye + Proton Torpedo.

Although if you were to ignore EPTs (maybe it's "No EPTs" week) then Optimal Astromechs are easier to find.

----

Top 4:

Wes Janson — X-Wing 29
R5-K6 2

K6 is a strong fit as it allows F+TL shots on the follow-up turns it procs. His ability is relatively neutral in regards to Astromech choices. Tied for first is R3-A2 since the easiest way to predict your target is to limit their choices.

The runner-up is R7-T1 as his ability is fire arc based having the Boost proc makes keeping your main target in range easier.

Wedge Antilles — X-Wing 29
R7-T1 3

Natural PS9 so added maneuverability makes him even more deadly with move-last shoot-first.

Runner-up R7-Astromech having high natural PS gives him relatively free reign of TL options and with his naturally Offensive ability you've got the option to shift to the defensive if caught without an eligible target.

Luke Skywalker — X-Wing 28
R5-P9 3

R5-P9 ties his Thematic choice (R2-D2) as it opens up the dial's movement options. R2-D2 while more restrictive on the dial allows for stronger actions on both offense or defense.

Runner-up R2-F2, with a naturally strong defensive ability R2-F2 allows for extra avoidance on those High Volume shots.

Jek Porkins — X-Wing 26
R5-D8 3

Top choice is his Thematic buddy as he becomes near immortal if the Force is strong with the green dice. Having essentially a White-K makes Porkins the Rebel's equivalent to the TIE Defender.

Runner-up is R3-A2, not being bothered by the stress it gives allows Porkins to keep his dial open.

Bottom 4: The following is ignoring R2-D6 as a primary choice.

Garven Dreis — X-Wing 26
R2-D2 4

R2-D2 works well with Garven as his primary action wants to be Focus. Having a droid that doesn't deny him his Focus action is best paired with him.

Runners-up R3-A2, R5-P9, R3 because does not require an action and P9 because it uses a Focus Token* (used at end of phase, best in tandem with Moldy Crow within range)

R2-D6 choices, Deadeye, Calculation, Squadron Leader + EI

Biggs Darklighter — X-Wing 25
R2-F2 3

R2-F2 because Biggs will be fired upon. Beating out R5-P9, R5-D8, and R2-D2 while all 3 are regenerative R2-F2 allows for stronger protection from volume of shots. The above 3 while very strong on him won't help as much against high volume attacks.

Runner up, R4-D6, like F2 this droid can protect Biggs from High Volume attacks. Also the above 3 tie for runner up on Biggs, but there costs and effects are better off used on a higher valued ship; which is why the mention of R4.

R2-D6 choice, Determination

"Hobbie" Klivian — X-Wing 25
R3-A2 2

Hobbie's ability revolves around TL's to remove stress, he's effectively 'Porkins lite' and with R3-A2's effect occurring before TL's are spent allows him to clear it through spending a TL during the same attack.

Runner-up R7-T1, allows him to Boost as well as TL. Allowing him to reposition for arc dodging or ranging.

Worthy of mention: R5-K6, R7

R2-D6 choices, Opportunist, Elusiveness, PTL, Expert Handling + EI

Tarn Mison — X-Wing 23
R7 Astromech 2

R7's top choice for him and there's currently nothing that comes close in synergy.

No runners up.

R2-D6 choices, Opportunist

Worthy Mention, Torpedoes are noteworthy, if a higher PS Pilot are within his Arc he has the chance to deal a fair amount of return fire. Opportunist would be of similar effect.

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Again these recommendations are not factoring EPTs as depending on which EPT selected you may want a droid paired with that over the Pilot's natural abilities.

Nice expansion on the possibilities.