Please critique this fun build I made recently. I am trying to make it into a tournament worthy build. Local meta is SuperDash, Fat Han, and Decimator heavy, with some 4 Rebel builds also used from time to time.
Soontir Fel
-->Autothrusters
-->Royal Guard
-->Stealth Device
-->Push the Limit
Whisper
-->ACD
-->VI
Turr Phennir
-->VI
-->Autothrusters
Soontir and Whisper are the main attackers. I could replace Turr Phennir but need help deciding what to replace him with.
No need to replace Turr, he is an awesome addition, when flown well is as deadly as the other two.
Is that 100 even? If any of the local Decimators have Vader on them, I'd look for a way to get Shield Upgrade on Soontir.
Looking at it from across the table, I am leaning toward running Ten Numb with a Mangler Cannon for the crits that cannot be dodged... But guessing he'll get overwhelmed quickly being such a threat to this group...
Any other thoughts on this build?
Looks like fun. If you're after a bit more durability you could drop Turr for a low-level Shuttle though? Then upgrade to taste, or put Recon Spec on Whisper?
Any other thoughts on this build?
Funny thing is, I came up with almost the exact build after my experiences at this weekend's store champion.
My only difference is, instead of Stealth Device on Fel, I took FCS on whisper, not only for the helpful bump in damage potential against high hull ships (you need to kill vader-crewed enemy ships fast!), but also because I saw a lot of whispers/soontirs, so having a bit of an initiative bid @ 99 is nice (or so it seems to me). My other thought was that when going against Vader shuttle/decimator, I'm going to lose one interceptor for sure, since that's the easiest way for my opponent to kill one of my ships, but in the mean time, Whisper and my other interceptor are going to be chewing through that ship's health fast....If I kill it while losing only 1 interceptor, its easy to mop up the escorts. If I kill it losing both interceptors, then its a bit more dicey, but whisper still has the advantage over the escorts, and points-wise, the decimator might be more than my 2 interceptors, so I might actually still win even if I can't kill any escorts before time is up (so long as whisper survives!). Unless its a decimator-phantom....then you kinda have to kill the opposing phantom first, hopefully before losing both interceptors, so giving initiative to your opponent helps with that.
Edited by blade_mercurialIve played this list recently against a Scum list, it's pretty potent!! We played twice to just to see if it was luck or skill - both times it ended the same way, Victory for the good guys!! The only change I did to Fel was PTL instead of SD.
Ive played this list recently against a Scum list, it's pretty potent!! We played twice to just to see if it was luck or skill - both times it ended the same way, Victory for the good guys!! The only change I did to Fel was PTL instead of SD.
The OP's list included PtL on Fel
I've had a few more playtests with this list and I'm liking it. Although I've decided an initiative bid is not worth it, so I added Intel Agent on Whisper. My reason is, I actually don't care who gets initiative when up against other PS 9 ships. If I win, both whisper and Turr are happy (Whisper gets cloak + focus token for defense and Turr gets his after-shot move) and the intel agent will really help here. If I lose initiative, I don't get to shoot first, but I get to move all my ships last and that still gives me a significant advantage.
So my modified list looks like so:
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, intel agent + ACD = 40
Fel w/ PtL + autothrusters = 32
Turr w/ VI + autothrusters = 28
100 pts even. Gonna take it to a tourney this Sunday!
Ive played this list recently against a Scum list, it's pretty potent!! We played twice to just to see if it was luck or skill - both times it ended the same way, Victory for the good guys!! The only change I did to Fel was PTL instead of SD.
The OP's list included PtL on Fel
I've had a few more playtests with this list and I'm liking it. Although I've decided an initiative bid is not worth it, so I added Intel Agent on Whisper. My reason is, I actually don't care who gets initiative when up against other PS 9 ships. If I win, both whisper and Turr are happy (Whisper gets cloak + focus token for defense and Turr gets his after-shot move) and the intel agent will really help here. If I lose initiative, I don't get to shoot first, but I get to move all my ships last and that still gives me a significant advantage.
So my modified list looks like so:
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, intel agent + ACD = 40
Fel w/ PtL + autothrusters = 32
Turr w/ VI + autothrusters = 28
100 pts even. Gonna take it to a tourney this Sunday!
The only real hard counter to this list is a Chiraneau with VI and Vader. Otherwise your list is pretty powerful when flown correctly.
Ive played this list recently against a Scum list, it's pretty potent!! We played twice to just to see if it was luck or skill - both times it ended the same way, Victory for the good guys!! The only change I did to Fel was PTL instead of SD.
The OP's list included PtL on Fel
I've had a few more playtests with this list and I'm liking it. Although I've decided an initiative bid is not worth it, so I added Intel Agent on Whisper. My reason is, I actually don't care who gets initiative when up against other PS 9 ships. If I win, both whisper and Turr are happy (Whisper gets cloak + focus token for defense and Turr gets his after-shot move) and the intel agent will really help here. If I lose initiative, I don't get to shoot first, but I get to move all my ships last and that still gives me a significant advantage.
So my modified list looks like so:
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, intel agent + ACD = 40
Fel w/ PtL + autothrusters = 32
Turr w/ VI + autothrusters = 28
100 pts even. Gonna take it to a tourney this Sunday!
Cool. Let us know how the tournament goes.
Cool. Let us know how the tournament goes.
Tourney done!
The list served me well since I was 1st place, but there were only 6 players, so that's not saying much, perhaps.
Also only played 3 matches (3-0)
My closest game was against fat Han +3 bandits. In the end it was damaged Fel vs Han, and autothrusters paid off big time allowing Fel to eventually squeeze 5 damage through C3P0 (his remaining hull)
Also faced TIE swarm and dual aggressors. Turr died in those matches but no one else.
9
100 points
PILOTS
Darth Vader (37)
TIE Advanced (29), Expose (4), Engine Upgrade (4)
Soontir Fel (35)
TIE Interceptor (27), Royal Guard TIE (0), Push the Limit (3), Hull Upgrade (3), Autothrusters (2)
Turr Phennir (28)
TIE Interceptor (25), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)
9
100 points
PILOTS
Darth Vader (37)
TIE Advanced (29), Expose (4), Engine Upgrade (4)
Soontir Fel (35)
TIE Interceptor (27), Royal Guard TIE (0), Push the Limit (3), Hull Upgrade (3), Autothrusters (2)
Turr Phennir (28)
TIE Interceptor (25), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)
Edited by blade_mercurial
I ran this on the weekend past at a Store champion ship. Went 3-2 in the round robin and placed 4th after the top 4 was done.
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, ACD & IA
Fel w/ PtL & Autothrusters
Turr w/ VI & Autothrusters
This was with the current cloaking rules but I would ditch IA next time as I didnt once have a use for it that would benefit me. My 2 losses were to a Decimator w/ Vader & Echo (Deci was dead at the end of it though) and to a Stress Shuttle with Fel & Turr as well (I had my Fel left alive and running around with both his shuttle and fel almost dead and having the Turrs take each other out in the 2 round) Also faced this build in the top 4 and focused on the shuttle quickly killing it but finally losing Fel in the end after 3-4 round of avoiding everything thrown his way with only 1 hull left.
I ran this on the weekend past at a Store champion ship. Went 3-2 in the round robin and placed 4th after the top 4 was done.
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, ACD & IA
Fel w/ PtL & Autothrusters
Turr w/ VI & Autothrusters
This was with the current cloaking rules but I would ditch IA next time as I didnt once have a use for it that would benefit me. My 2 losses were to a Decimator w/ Vader & Echo (Deci was dead at the end of it though) and to a Stress Shuttle with Fel & Turr as well (I had my Fel left alive and running around with both his shuttle and fel almost dead and having the Turrs take each other out in the 2 round) Also faced this build in the top 4 and focused on the shuttle quickly killing it but finally losing Fel in the end after 3-4 round of avoiding everything thrown his way with only 1 hull left.
Actually you might want to keep it. Yes its totally useless against PS less than 9 (so most matches, probably). Its only there as an insurance against other PS9/10 builds. Also, with the new decloak rules, its going to be much harder for Whisper to arc-dodge, so there's more incentive to take the initiative against other PS9 builds so that both Whisper and Turr can shoot first (Turr does NOT like getting shot before he gets to arc-dodge with his ability - can even work against turrets). Having the initiative will allow Whisper to re-cloak before other PS9 ships shoot and Turr can arc-dodge, and intel agent lets you see their dial so they can't avoid your firing arc...
9
100 points
PILOTS
Darth Vader (37)
TIE Advanced (29), Expose (4), Engine Upgrade (4)
Soontir Fel (35)
TIE Interceptor (27), Royal Guard TIE (0), Push the Limit (3), Hull Upgrade (3), Autothrusters (2)
Turr Phennir (28)
TIE Interceptor (25), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)
I ran this on the weekend past at a Store champion ship. Went 3-2 in the round robin and placed 4th after the top 4 was done.
Whisper w/ VI, FCS, ACD & IA
Fel w/ PtL & Autothrusters
Turr w/ VI & Autothrusters
This was with the current cloaking rules but I would ditch IA next time as I didnt once have a use for it that would benefit me. My 2 losses were to a Decimator w/ Vader & Echo (Deci was dead at the end of it though) and to a Stress Shuttle with Fel & Turr as well (I had my Fel left alive and running around with both his shuttle and fel almost dead and having the Turrs take each other out in the 2 round) Also faced this build in the top 4 and focused on the shuttle quickly killing it but finally losing Fel in the end after 3-4 round of avoiding everything thrown his way with only 1 hull left.
What do you think plays better. Vader or Whisper?
Though I'm not fond of Expose on anything really.
Edited by Ken at Sunrise
What do you think plays better. Vader or Whisper?
Though I'm not fond of Expose on anything really.
With new decloak rules, Vader w/ engine up. is much more dodgy than Whisper. But Whisper hits much harder (ATC on vader will diminish that gap some, but Whisper will still hit harder even after the Raider is out). So depends on what you want: Vader is likely to live longer but deals less damage overall; Whisper may die faster but deals more damage.
I'm not really a fan of Expose neither. Even without the ATC, I think predator or outmanoeuvre are currently the best EPTs for Vader...
What do you think plays better. Vader or Whisper?
Though I'm not fond of Expose on anything really.
With new decloak rules, Vader w/ engine up. is much more dodgy than Whisper. But Whisper hits much harder (ATC on vader will diminish that gap some, but Whisper will still hit harder even after the Raider is out). So depends on what you want: Vader is likely to live longer but deals less damage overall; Whisper may die faster but deals more damage.
I'm not really a fan of Expose neither. Even without the ATC, I think predator or outmanoeuvre are currently the best EPTs for Vader...
Not a big fan of outmanoevure....and vader with double actions is the only one that I wold use expose on.