I was comparing the costs of an imperial bounty hunter firespray and a scum mandelorian merc firespray. I don't quite understand why for only a 2 pt cost increase, the scum merc gains an increase of 2 to pilot skill, an illicit slot and an elite pilot talent? That seems an awful lot for only 2 pts. I guess I don't understand how they achieve their balance. Am I missing something?

Yup

They're the exact same ship. The MM just gets +2 Ps and the option to be even more expensive for +2 pts. The Bounty Hunter is a badass right out of the box, and he's cheaper for it.

The Bounty Hunter is one of the most cost-efficient ships in the game and it is the cheapest way to bring a firespray's combination of strengths in a nice, decently-priced package. The MM is not. You have to customize it for it to be effective.

You still have to spend points to equip illicit & ept (I really don't get where people think upgrade slots have a squad point cost). You're just paying 2 points for is the higher PS.

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

I believe FFG even mentioned that being the case?

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

Agreed. I don't like the ships that seemingly pay extra for empty slots (possibly excluding the System slot, since the options are so **** good), but if you read some of the descriptions from FFG the designers seem to think that way at times. Oh I have to pay points for a missile / torpedo slot ... thanks for that

Anyway, 33 for PS3 vs. 35 for PS5 and some empty slots isn't a huge difference, aside from the fact you can't fit three Mercs in a list. They also have different crew options (Imperial only vs. Scum only). It all works out in the end, since the Scum have to pay to make use of those upgrade slots.

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

Beat me to this one. Makes me less inclined to buy more, sadly

I am sure in the early days of X-Wing, slot pricing was a bigger factor. They have since seemed to realize ordnance is overpriced almost beyond usefulness (with a few exceptions) and are scaling back any concept of pricing for versatility. Versatility will take care of itself if the options are all priced fairly...

But back on point, the barenaked Bounty Hunter is fantastic. I enjoy the Mandolorian, but I certainly wish Scum could take the basic Bounty Hunter as well.

Well I knew I was probably missing something. Thanks for all the quick replies.

Probably because the current FFG designers figured out that paying 3 points for 2 PS was over kill on a ship that doesn't have the option of downgrading its PS level without changing factions, and that ships shouldn't have to pay for unfilled upgrade slots.

I don't think it has anything to do with running 2 or 3, what's the difference between 3 Bounty Hunters and 3 MMs? PS 3 to PS 5 will almost never matter, the only thing I can think of is Sabers which are pretty rare.

Is the jump from PS3 to PS5 actually worth any points? It puts you straight into the pilot skill no man's land of crap blocker, crap reactor.

Is the jump from PS3 to PS5 actually worth any points? It puts you straight into the pilot skill no man's land of crap blocker, crap reactor.

Agreed, I think the MM is paying 1 point for the 2 PS bump and 1 point for the EPT, with the illicit thrown in for free.

I do think that unfilled EPTs should cost 1 point, just because of how good certain EPTs are.

Is the jump from PS3 to PS5 actually worth any points? It puts you straight into the pilot skill no man's land of crap blocker, crap reactor.

in practice in the current meta, no, but it follows along with FFG's generic pricing +2 points for +2PS (see every ship ever except the Scyk, Z-95, and Tie Fighter)

Is the jump from PS3 to PS5 actually worth any points? It puts you straight into the pilot skill no man's land of crap blocker, crap reactor.

PS 5 with an EPT does let you get to PS7. That puts you ahead of all the other generics (assuming they don't take VI), IG-2000s that don't take VI, and ties the next to highest Scum pilots' native PS.

With all of the Scum PS7 aces available, being able to match their PS when building a squad could be handy. I don't know if it's 3 points of handy though.

It means I can play 2 of them with Push and Recon Spec or VI and Engine Upgrade. And you still have room for Ndru!

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

This

When you talk about balance there is a lot more going on than simply points in to power out. One of the reasons I am not a fan of jousting values and house rules that modify ships point value based on such numbers.

The Mando Merc is costed fairly at 35 pts. The EPT slot it gains makes it a GREAT support ship with minimal upgrades added. Put Bodyguard and Recon Spec on it and have it guard a high PS high defense dice ship like Serissu with an HLC or Guri with FCS etc. Four def dice plus evade or autothrusters is pure nasty. Do you attack the hard hitter ship or the one defending it?

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

Beat me to this one. Makes me less inclined to buy more, sadly

You don't necessarily need to buy more. You can use 2 Firesprays with 2 Slave-1 packs and a single most wanted pack.

You can run 3 bounty hunters and only 2 mandos. I think that's how it's balanced.

Beat me to this one. Makes me less inclined to buy more, sadly

You don't necessarily need to buy more. You can use 2 Firesprays with 2 Slave-1 packs and a single most wanted pack.

Who said I need more? I've already got three

I like repainting them.