I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

eh...I would not say so in the slightest unless Kath had EU

the thing about Firesprays that make them so much more fun to play with and against than mind-numbing turrets is that they can be arc dodged. Yes, it's more difficult with two arcs, but the fact that they have blindspots makes them literally infinitely more possible to outplay. Basically, if Kath has no engines and the Guri player knows what he/she is doing, it is actually very possible for Guri and the boost/roll Viper to dance around Kath regardless of a 2-4 PS difference.

Now you won't always trigger Guri's ability, but compared to not getting shot it's pretty small potatoes.

On the other hand, turrets do exist and will continue to bore us for some time to come. But on the third hand, autothrusters

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

It's not hard to block a large-base ship and deny its actions. I think Guri edges out in terms of survivability because, if you see Kath in a list and she's not your primary target, there's something wrong. Depending on the list, Guri could very easily be forgotten and is well-equipped to handle a damaged large ship or most small-base ships.

Xizor with VI, AdvS, Inertial Damps, Autothrusters. That's a hyper-maneuverable ship able to handle almost any one-on-one fight, and with the right pilot ability to make it to the endgame.

I've been thinking the same, only possibly swapping AdvS for accuracy Corrector, that way if Xizor is in an enemy arc he can save his Actions for defense and still hit reliably.

He shouldn't need to, he'll be passing off hits to friendlies around him in opening rounds.

I DO like the idea of giving him predator so he can take a non-focus action to gain better position.

By the end of the game, all pilots above 7 should be dead and Xizor has used his wingmen (who very well might all be dead) to keep himself in near perfect health. If you hit hard enough in a 60 minute game, this is a winning combination. If you play well enough, it is the way to win a 75 minute game.

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

eh...I would not say so in the slightest unless Kath had EU

Sorry - I did kind of mean that because that's how I always fly her - should have been clearer - mea culpa

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

eh...I would not say so in the slightest unless Kath had EU

the thing about Firesprays that make them so much more fun to play with and against than mind-numbing turrets is that they can be arc dodged. Yes, it's more difficult with two arcs, but the fact that they have blindspots makes them literally infinitely more possible to outplay. Basically, if Kath has no engines and the Guri player knows what he/she is doing, it is actually very possible for Guri and the boost/roll Viper to dance around Kath regardless of a 2-4 PS difference.

Now you won't always trigger Guri's ability, but compared to not getting shot it's pretty small potatoes.

On the other hand, turrets do exist and will continue to bore us for some time to come. But on the third hand, autothrusters

Which is why I don't understand people who don't put Engine on the Firespray. It basically gives you a 360 field of fire IF you fly correctly and take asteroids and enemy ships into account.

I would say Super Kath, HLC, PTL, K4, Engine, or Super Xizor, PTL, Adv Sensors, Autothrusters.

I like Xizor a lot more than Guri because even though 7 is not a great PS bid, it at least beats something (Super Dash if you bid on init, Aggressors and other Scum elites that aren't Boba or Serissu) and Xizor's ability will actually get him to the end game vs Guri's ability that in my experience so far rarely triggers when it is relevant.

Basically, if Kath has no engines and the Guri player knows what he/she is doing, it is actually very possible for Guri and the boost/roll Viper to dance around Kath regardless of a 2-4 PS difference.

Now you won't always trigger Guri's ability, but compared to not getting shot it's pretty small potatoes.

On the other hand, turrets do exist and will continue to bore us for some time to come. But on the third hand, autothrusters

It's definitely possible, I've done it with Blues against named Firesprays several times before. Running into PS7+ Firesprays without Engine seems unlikely nowadays, especially Scum Kath.

In other news, how many arms/hands do you have?

In other news, how many arms/hands do you have?

Just the regular number - I am a bit of a clever-**** though

What about everyones fav, Dark Curse? :3

In my experience with Scum so far I'd have to go with Kath, and Ion Turret Kavil.

Kath is obvious - she's tough and tanky, has great action economy with the right build, (K4, PTL and engine upgrade is my fave so far) and she's best flown moving away from the enemy at all times, so she'll get 3 green plus turtle most turns, but shoots with 4 red.

Kavil is less obvious - but that's why it works so well.

Because he doesn't appear nearly as much of a threat with an ion turret as he does with the more obvious Blaster Turret and R4 build, he tends to be ignored until later in the game. But With VI or PTL and an engine upgrade he can dodge arcs pretty effectively and he almost never misses. If he's still close to full health towards the end of the game he's nearly unstoppable despite his low damage output.

That's a good point. A 4-dice ion turret cruising around following the other player's closer as it slowly drifts off the board is something that's going to happen more than once, I'd bet.

I would love to have Kavil as my closer, but I think any smart player is going to want to shut him down at once. Here's build I'm thinking of:

Kavil

Autoblaster

Unhinged Mech

VI

EU

If that guy survives for a one on one show down and he's in good shape, it would be hard to bet against him.

I'd say Guri, most likely. The Segnor's Loop maneuver with his free Focus at range 1, Autothrusters and Advanced Sensors (assuming Virago, of course) is such a potent combination for range 1 survivability from fat turrets, Kavils or a range 1 face-blast from another ship that it's silly. Advanced Sensors into Evade, S-loop behind / into the opponent's grille, take the Focus, and blast away.

As a side note, munitions are also excellent for Guri. Advanced Proton Torpedoes, I think, have found a home. Advanced Sensor Target Lock, get behind them with an S-Loop (or in their face with a Boost) and unleash a volley from a weapon that automatically turns three blanks into Focus. You're almost guaranteed five dice of damage. Saving this for the end-game is huge if you can manage it.

Guri is pretty much useless against Kath unless Guri has VI and initiative and Kath doesn't - But I suspect we'll see a LOT of VI-ed Kaths over the coming months.

I see Guri more as a solid mid-game player

eh...I would not say so in the slightest unless Kath had EU

the thing about Firesprays that make them so much more fun to play with and against than mind-numbing turrets is that they can be arc dodged. Yes, it's more difficult with two arcs, but the fact that they have blindspots makes them literally infinitely more possible to outplay. Basically, if Kath has no engines and the Guri player knows what he/she is doing, it is actually very possible for Guri and the boost/roll Viper to dance around Kath regardless of a 2-4 PS difference.

Now you won't always trigger Guri's ability, but compared to not getting shot it's pretty small potatoes.

On the other hand, turrets do exist and will continue to bore us for some time to come. But on the third hand, autothrusters

Which is why I don't understand people who don't put Engine on the Firespray. It basically gives you a 360 field of fire IF you fly correctly and take asteroids and enemy ships into account.

It's most likely because it's incredibly inefficient outside of the scum characters, and because it's difficult to use a large base boost just for repositioning thanks to the large base size.

The imperial bounty hunter is a badass at 33 points, not so much at 37. The imperial character firesprays (with the exception of Krassis) were generally dismissed as being overpriced (no word on whether or not the new cards have change that) and Boba, imo, didn't really need it with his ability.

Now we get scum Boba and Kath, absolute badasses, plus the excellent security droid which opens up basically another action, making PTL a very desirable EPT (especially with the prospect of stacked focus + evade) and indirectly increasing the appeal of EU. Hell, even the 45 point MM looks pretty scary.

So, that's probably why you didn't see many imperial EU firesprays. For similar costs, the VT-49 just did it literally infinitely better (stupid turret rules). The strength of the imperial firespray (re: bounty hunter) was it's more-than-the-sum-of-it's-parts combination of relatively cheap cost, large base, two arcs, evade action, plentiful hull + shield, and two agility. I've run two + soontir for a while and they're awesome (they bully fat han right off the table )

In my experience with Scum so far I'd have to go with Kath, and Ion Turret Kavil.

Kath is obvious - she's tough and tanky, has great action economy with the right build, (K4, PTL and engine upgrade is my fave so far) and she's best flown moving away from the enemy at all times, so she'll get 3 green plus turtle most turns, but shoots with 4 red.

Kavil is less obvious - but that's why it works so well.

Because he doesn't appear nearly as much of a threat with an ion turret as he does with the more obvious Blaster Turret and R4 build, he tends to be ignored until later in the game. But With VI or PTL and an engine upgrade he can dodge arcs pretty effectively and he almost never misses. If he's still close to full health towards the end of the game he's nearly unstoppable despite his low damage output.

That's a good point. A 4-dice ion turret cruising around following the other player's closer as it slowly drifts off the board is something that's going to happen more than once, I'd bet.

I would love to have Kavil as my closer, but I think any smart player is going to want to shut him down at once. Here's build I'm thinking of:

Kavil

Autoblaster

Unhinged Mech

VI

EU

If that guy survives for a one on one show down and he's in good shape, it would be hard to bet against him.

That's why I recommend ion Kavil as a closer and not blaster Kavil.

Blaster Kavil is great - but everyone knows that - so he's a high priority target and he rarely lasts too long - he'll do plenty of damage on the way out, but he's an opener, not a closer.

ion Kavil appears to be counter-intuitive, and not so much of a threat - so he tends to be left alone - it's only in turn 6ish when he's dropped 6 consecutive ion hits on your opponent and left their formation in tatters that it occurs to them that he might actually be a lot more of a problem than they first anticipated - but by then they've lost a few ships and Kavil is sitting pretty on full health.

That's why he's a closer.

I would love to have Kavil as my closer, but I think any smart player is going to want to shut him down at once. Here's build I'm thinking of:

Kavil

Autoblaster

Unhinged Mech

VI

EU

If that guy survives for a one on one show down and he's in good shape, it would be hard to bet against him.

That's why I recommend ion Kavil as a closer and not blaster Kavil.

Blaster Kavil is great - but everyone knows that - so he's a high priority target and he rarely lasts too long - he'll do plenty of damage on the way out, but he's an opener, not a closer.

ion Kavil appears to be counter-intuitive, and not so much of a threat - so he tends to be left alone - it's only in turn 6ish when he's dropped 6 consecutive ion hits on your opponent and left their formation in tatters that it occurs to them that he might actually be a lot more of a problem than they first anticipated - but by then they've lost a few ships and Kavil is sitting pretty on full health.

That's why he's a closer.

Well that's certainly a game plan. Ion Kavil is less threatening unless you've been the victim of getting Ioned off the board. Then you might not be so lucky. The only thing that saves Kavil from being target #1 for me is he's not able to carry Greedo. Now if he was Ioning AND FLIPPING CARDS on me...make your time buddy!

Now we get scum Boba and Kath, absolute badasses, plus the excellent security droid which opens up basically another action, making PTL a very desirable EPT (especially with the prospect of stacked focus + evade) and indirectly increasing the appeal of EU. Hell, even the 45 point MM looks pretty scary.

And that makes sense that any Mandalorian Merc is scary. Who's to say that pilot and his droid isn't Zuckuss and 4-LOM? That's who I'm going to say are in my MM from now on!

[edited for brevity.]

Well that's certainly a game plan. Ion Kavil is less threatening unless you've been the victim of getting Ioned off the board. Then you might not be so lucky. The only thing that saves Kavil from being target #1 for me is he's not able to carry Greedo. Now if he was Ioning AND FLIPPING CARDS on me...make your time buddy!

Yeah - probably more effective in a tournament setting where everyone is trying to optimize everything in their list and have more than likely never played you before - your opponent sees Kavil like that that and they'll take you for a sucker.

Which is exactly what you want.

Play it too much in casual play and your buddies will quickly work out what is up - which again is not necessarily a bad thing because it can give you a freer reign with your other ships.

And get him to PS9 and give him and engine upgrade and an unhinged astro and he can still be very hard to pin down.

IG-88A is incredible late-game as well. Regeneration + 3 agility + lack of incoming fire...

His regen is after killing a ship, though.

Assuming you haven't been losing the entire match (e.g. the opponent has similar numbers of ships left as you), his late-game shield regeneration is basically going to be nonexistent, because when you kill a ship or two in the late game, congratulations you've won.

IG-88A is incredible late-game as well. Regeneration + 3 agility + lack of incoming fire...

His regen is after killing a ship, though.

Assuming you haven't been losing the entire match (e.g. the opponent has similar numbers of ships left as you)

That's assuming your opponent is flying another Large Ship. You can be ahead while outnumbered in this game fairly easily.

Moreover, even if they are, you're going to be at a better health pool than their large ship, due to you healing when you kill ships.

IG-88A is incredible late-game as well. Regeneration + 3 agility + lack of incoming fire...

His regen is after killing a ship, though.

Assuming you haven't been losing the entire match (e.g. the opponent has similar numbers of ships left as you)

That's assuming your opponent is flying another Large Ship. You can be ahead while outnumbered in this game fairly easily.

Moreover, even if they are, you're going to be at a better health pool than their large ship, due to you healing when you kill ships.

the question then becomes: how many ships do you expect to kill with A before you can say he is better value than C?

IG-88A is incredible late-game as well. Regeneration + 3 agility + lack of incoming fire...

His regen is after killing a ship, though.

Assuming you haven't been losing the entire match (e.g. the opponent has similar numbers of ships left as you)

That's assuming your opponent is flying another Large Ship. You can be ahead while outnumbered in this game fairly easily.

Moreover, even if they are, you're going to be at a better health pool than their large ship, due to you healing when you kill ships.

the question then becomes: how many ships do you expect to kill with A before you can say he is better value than C?

That depends on how much action economy you get from the free evade vs. how many enemy ships there are.

So it's a problem that's under-determined.

Against a 2-ship list, IG-88A is a poor value, as the best you can do is regen two shields (between both of your Aggressors). Meanwhile, IG-88C can be evading and boosting all day long, and he'd clearly be the better choice.

Against an 8-ship list, IG-88A may have substantially better value, and not just from the potential health recovered; the value of an evade action drops significantly with the number of enemy shots fired.

Given how useless I've found 2-dice ships to be against aggressors, I'm going to go ahead and call IG-88A a "win more" option. It's not really going to help if you're losing, all it does is make you win harder against the match-ups you already have an advantage in.

IG-88C, meanwhile, lets you keep your aggressors' mobility without sacrificing a significant defensive advantage in the evade token which will cancel a damage almost every time regardless of whether or not you kill a ship.

Since IG-88B is just straight-up auto-include, I'd pick C every day of the **** week. D might also be an incredible buy for very experienced pilots who know how to abuse the maneuver. A is just epic game fodder, who becomes amazing because he gets to steal the other abilities

My guess is IG-88A was meant more for Epic play than Regular deathmatch. There is too many good 2-3 ship builds in the current game to make IG-88A a viable tournament ship. His ability might payoff against a swarm, but when you'll face all those low shipcount build, you'll wish that you picked another one. On the otherhand, in Epic play when there is over 10 enemy ships, his ability might actually be useful.

IG-88A seems designed for Epic. Can you imagine the havoc that 4 IG-2000s and an 8 ship Feedback Z Swarm could do!

Honestly Palob Godalhi is a pretty good late game pilot. His ability is to strip a focus or evade token from an enemy at Range 1-2, which-- if the enemy can't TL or stack tokens-- has a nice damage reduction effect. If it's an ion turret he's got, against a small ship 1-on-1 he's probably got the game wrapped up. The only defense against him is staying at Range 3, or having Autothrusters. These are limited for obvious reasons.

IG-88C/D are both very good late gamers, for different reasons. PtL C can boost while stacking focus/evade on top of 3 defense dice (Autothrusters for even more madness) and arc dodge or mitigate damage like it's his job. IG-88D has options, which means the opponent has to account for those options. Winning a PS bid at 6 isn't likely, but having a ship that's able to capitalize on arc-dodging in the face of this maneuverability is also unlikely.

I'm also a fan of Palob with ion and expert handling or engine for the late game. it's hard to get him to that point because he draws a lot of fire, but if you do he's hard to bring down.

Kavil is also good, but his agility certainly doesn't help.