So there has been a lot of debate on whether or not PTL is worth it on Aggressors. Now with Advanced Sensors i flew the C and D ships. The C had Predator and the D had PTL. Now both seemed pretty good in their respected roles. But I was wondering what others thought about this.

I've been happy with ptl. You don't use it every turn, but it makes a world of difference. I don't find that it interferes with Segnor's and K's too often because most of the time I'm pulling the double actions before a green maneuver. Being able to advanced sensors-->boost--->focus and then pull a 3 forward to clear the stress and bump into the front guy aimed at you is really effective. You get to reliably joust with only their back line of ships.

I'm not sure if PTL is the way to go with this ship. At PS 6 and no ability to barrel-roll, it's not as maneuverable as the RG Interceptor. I'm still playing with this one to figure out the best roll for this ship in a 100 point squad.

Depends on what you want out of the thing. Push the Limit is a strong choice because the double actions lets you tank a bit better than any other EPT choice. If you don't have PtL, you have to fly more carefully to avoid the full barrage of enemy fire (although advanced sensors can help regardless of what EPT you choose). It doesn't help with arc-dodging like it does for interceptors, but being able to pick TL+focus or focus+evade are really helpful throughout a match. Its not the only choice however; although I don't think there are very many that work well on the aggressor. Predator of course, maybe Stay on Target + adv. sensors....but I don't see many others helping much except in maybe some very specific synergy-builds.

I've been happy with ptl. You don't use it every turn, but it makes a world of difference. I don't find that it interferes with Segnor's and K's too often because most of the time I'm pulling the double actions before a green maneuver. Being able to advanced sensors-->boost--->focus and then pull a 3 forward to clear the stress and bump into the front guy aimed at you is really effective. You get to reliably joust with only their back line of ships.

I've been doubting PtL on Aggressors for some time, always taking Predator instead, but this example kinda makes me wanna try it

The main problem comes in high end tourneys with decimators with rebel captive and tactian or i faced a list with 2 b wings with tactician it was either falcon or outrider.

I like Push the Limit ... a lot. But I only have one copy of it. I also have only one copy of Outmaneuver and one copy of Adrenaline Rush. I don't have Predator. But those four EPTs are my favorites on the Aggressor. You could also go for Veteran Instincts or Determination, but I'm not as excited about those.

With my limited card pool, my Aggressors are always different and I actually like that. My favorites are Push the Limit and Outmaneuver.

I'd imagine Expert Handling could be useful... how useful I'm less sure of.

I'd imagine Expert Handling could be useful... how useful I'm less sure of.

I haven't tried it. I imagine you'd want to use it with Advanced Sensors to clear the stress after barrel rolling, but then you can't adjust to make sure you have an attack. It's certainly worth considering.

I'm still not sure what the aggressor is, but the one thing I know it's not is an interceptor. I'm finding that hit and run tactics work best. The goal is to keep the enemy at range 3 so your cannons shine, as well as your auto-thrusters. It prevents either of your aggressors from being focus fired.

It then leaves your opponent in a terrible position. If they chase, they expose their flank to the other aggressor. If they don't chase, then the aggressor has ample time to turn around and do it all over again. PTL in this case is primarily defensive. You're a big ship, you aren't going to arc dodge everything. What you can do is stack evade and focus. As long as you aren't being focus fired, it's very difficult to hit a ship with 3 agility/range 3/evade/focus/AT

The aggressor's 3 straight (green) + boost = An a-wing's 5 straight + boost. This thing can can fly.

I've found the s loop is very often the key to survival, boosting first can shift your position radically and it's really important to get your shots in.

Sure, PTL is good, but I have been more sucessful with this build:

IG-88B and IG-88D(36 each)

*Stay on Target(2)

*Fire-control System(2)

*"Mangler" Cannon(4)

*Flechette Cannon(2)

*"Hotshot" Blaster(3)

* Munitions Failsafe(1)

*IG-2000(0)

Having only a forward firing arc is hard. So Hotshot was huge help. Giving your opponent that mind set that you can still shoot him out side your firing arc, atleast once. Now since we have autothrusters these days, penetrating a hit outside of arc is deviously hard. Your hotshots will disappear uselessly; and they're really expensive, so that's why munitions failsafe is a go. But the real trick is this. On the second round of battle, when ships are already within range, you pick a main target for both your IGs. Then you target lock and shoot with your mangler; then again, you receive your target lock from fire-control system. On the third round, you perform a Segnors Loop to get behind your opponents, while they move forward. With the IG-88D-Stay on Target combo, you get to choose 4 different forms of segnors loop, for both your IGs! That helps A LOT when picking your SLoop. Then, on this round's combat phase, one of your IGs will shoot on the main target with flechette, therefore minimizing his options for maneuvering next round. Getting this done for was extremely easy because of B's ability. If the first IG penetrated with flechette, The other IG will shoot with Mangler on the same target for more trouble. Then, on next turn, the main target cant perform the K turn because of stress, so your IGs will simply perform a green maneuver, still having that target lock from fire-control system. Doing this repetitiously with unpredictable SLooping will make your opponents melt, one - by - one. I have played 9 matches with this build; my opponents varying from Fat Hans, to famous arc dodgers, to numerous nimble fighters, and I only lost once.

Try giving this build a shot guys, Its Awesome!!!

I've only played with the Aggressor once so far and found I LOVED Advanced Sensors on it.

-Cal

Wait, does Hot Shot Blasters work with Munitions Failsafe?

The aggressor works really well lightly equipped and with a whole mess of backup.

I flew D last night against deci/phantom with only outmaneuver, adv sensors, and auto thruster. AT saved me at least 3 damage, after hard s-looping behind the decimator to keep it and outmanuver active the whole fight.

Everyone says that being stuck at 6 PS (too many good options to use VI) hurts the aggressor. Not with Mux dropping ships to zero. I was able to effectively neuter echo so badly that she was dealt the final blow by a range one main guns Attack from the HWK. Not many people can say they've done that. I had two naked black sun Z's playing blocker (ps 3 is low enough to do that these days, while still being out of predators maximum effectiveness) and that's all it took.

Didn't lose a ship.

Push the Limit is definitely a good choice on the Aggressors, in my opinion PtL is worth it on every ship with access to Focus and Evade and has a decent amount of green moves.

As for the Aggressor I'd say it might vary a bit. I've done very well with B and C with PtL and FCS and a few other things. With C you get a Boost, an Evade and a Focus. Along with Autothrusters it gets really tough to take that down. PtL and FCS makes a great combo as you become a defensive beast and still keep a modification on your attack. If I were to use D I would probably go something like Predator, Outmaneuver or even Wingman and Advanced Sensors.

Unless you use D then the Aggressor is a great hit and run ship as previously stated. You will often find yourself at an edge while turning around, then going back into the middle to fight and then end up on the opposite edge while turning. You charge at the target, turtle up with Focus-Evade and shoot at them at Range 3, negating the additional defense die, gets one yourself in most cases, activates Autothrusters. Then you fly away to come around for another pass.

People are concerned with the forward only arc, but I'd say that's not at all a limitation to the ship. It is not made for messing around in the middle of things or slow rolling like Firesprays or Falcons, this ship wants you to hit the pedal to the metal. I like to think of it as a Fat A-wing, it flies with the same concept, just not the same way.

I am experimenting with dual Aggressors at the moment and have found not PtL to be a must, I liked VI and Predator and I am about to try Expert Handling. Adv. Sensors is almost a must include with EH though as you can mimic the barrel roll/boost action by using EH then a green bank move. If you are willing to hold stress EH followed by a hard one is nice as well.

Wait, does Hot Shot Blasters work with Munitions Failsafe?

It does, but you give up autothrusters.

I think predator is the better choice. Free dice modification > costly dice modification. A TL and a focus isn't much better than predator and a focus. If you get stressed or bumped you can still modify dice.

Adrenaline rush is a pretty good choice on them too considering how much you're doing k turns or s loops. If you're stressed you still have flipping around as an option.

Locally we're seeing a few more control lists popping up (not to mention Rebel Captive Decimators), so I am skewing away from PTL and towards Predator (or maybe IG-88B with FCS) for the Aggressor. I don't like the risk of taking multiple stress and losing out on pricey upgrades like PTL, AdvS, etc.

I've written about passive abilities on the Aggressor for my blog. There is a mistake about PTL and red moves in there, but so far I'm too lazy to fix it

https://immaterium.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/passive-aggression-ig-88-strategies/

I have found that the S-loop is extremely important for keeping ships in arc and staying at long range. I've been running B & C, with Predator+AdvS+Mangler+ID+AT+IG2000. Boost+S-loop covers A LOT of ground. You really want to be able to stay at range 3 and change facing often. Predator allows for all attack to have a reroll, B can strip tokens and attack again, C for the boost+evade to get to range 3. AT+evade token allows you to shake off attacks really well