In a, by now not so recent, article champion Paul Heaver divided the field into Turrets, Jousters, and Arc-dodgers. (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/2/19/it-is-the-future-you-see-wave-6/)

Even though most squads will be a mix players do seem to have a preference for a certain class of figters.

What is yours prefered class of ship?

Do you think there is a class missing?

Or do you go against the grain and fly a jouster as an Arc-dodger?

Or a turret ship as a jouster (and therefore are more than happy to make the Y-wing into a true fighterbomber instead of a clumsy turret-wielder)

What about engage-disengage-rs? Things like Tie defenders whose have role changes within the game.

A more defined early mid late game would be cool. with upgrades that scale non-linearly.

lone wolf for instance at 2 points is incredible late game.

My preferred type is definitely the arc-dodger. This is a game of maneuvres, and while jousting (with formations) consists for a large part of going through a typical sequence of moves (and I won't even mention turrets...), you consistenly have to improvise with the evasive dodgy ships. A single shot can kill you. A single bump costs your actions, lethal for Interceptors. Where would a boost land me.. should I follow it up with a barrel roll? No other actions left, but will it get me out of all enemy arcs? Where will that leave me for next turn, can I get out of there?

Sure. Every few games, you roll a bucket of greens that all come up blanks. A third of your list destroyed, just like that. But is was enjoyable while it lasted!

Wish I had all ships available to me for an upcoming store championship, for I'd love to dust off the ol' Interceptors, finally viable again against turrets. Will have to make do with double IG88s, not exactly original, but still fun to fly. Will almost certainly bring 2 Interceptors to Regionals though. The were my love-at-first-piloting in X-Wing, and deserve to be used at every opportunity.

Doggy.

I'm not convinced that it's a particularly helpful set of distinctions.

The game, as I see it, is mostly determined on manoeuvrability. Increasing yours while shutting down your opponents. After all, you don't need to roll green dice if your opponent doesn't roll red dice.

I think you're better off looking at lists rather than the ships in the list (although I grant that some level of stratification of these is useful). It's nice to be able to have a number of different types of ships in a single list, but with the PS bid now being forced by fat han, phantoms, dash, et al, it is hard to fit a "rounded" force into a single list.

Arc dodging lists:

Builds:

Effectively interceptors & phantoms. The advent of autothrusters means that this is viable against turrets. Can include Vader + engine

Can be done with A wings if you're a masochist.

Super dash

High PS B Wings with advanced sensors

How it works:

You move so that the enemy can't shoot you.

The side effect of this is that it is very hard to run an arc dodging list with a low PS - effectively forcing Soontir/ Whisper/ Vader if you want to ruin this with any great effect.

Super dash can work (as he has other methods of affecting manoeuvrability with his turret) but as a pure arc dodger, his is out-dodged by the specialists

Big turret lists:

Builds:

Ones with powerful turrets - Named YT1300's, YT2400 outriders, decimators

Can be run with a mini arc dodging list (Dash & Corran), mini spread arc (chewie & z95's), or mini shut down (Han & ICT Y wings)

How it works:

You restrict the effect of your opponent's manoeuvrability by being able to shoot them anyway

Prevent incoming shots as much as possible through escort ships

Spread arc lists:

Builds:

Swarms (classic tie)

Mini-swarm (Etahn/ Biggs + z95s; echo + tie fighters)

How it works:

No matter where the opponent goes, you can get an arc on something - minimising the effect his movement, and restricting his options

In addition, as you'll be moving first, you can force his movement through blocking

Shut down lists:

Builds:

Multiple ion/ stress effects (ref: Panic Attack build)

Multiple tacticians, ICTs, Ion cannons, Flechette torps, R3-A2

Done best with low PS to increase numbers

Generally done best by rebels who have access to durable ICTs (Y wings) and heavy hitters with these effects (B wings with ion or tactician)

How it works:

You shut down your opponent's movement whilst retaining your own, means that they can't get you in arc - with ICTs you should always be able to shoot

Makes opponent's PS less relevant by reducing their movement and/or actions

In the whole rock/paper/scissors/spock/lizard, I'm not convinced that any of these methods are better than any other, but a poorly built archetype of any type will fare worse than another archetype which is built better.

It's also my explanation for why certain ships aren't doing well in the meta:

X Wings - aren't in any of the above, even High PS X Wings don't have the manoeuvrability to arc dodge (as they can't reposition), they don't have turrets, they aren't cheap enough to effectively spread arcs, and they don't have easy access in numbers to shut down lists

Defenders - as with X wings, but with a bit more manoeuvrability, not enough to compete with proper arc dodgers though

E Wings - see X wing, except that High PS pilot (Corran) does have the manoeuvrability (and can act on the manoeuvrability by firing twice when he has the chance)

I Like to mix all 3 in my squad. A pair of Z's and a B supported by roark and Jake is on of my favourite lists. Dash (the only turret dodger!) And a couple of b's is also very nice!

Whatever category the swarm falls under. I want to say jousting, but every turretwing player in my group has gotten good at setting up asteroids and dragging my swarm through them so I haven't been able to actually joust anything in a while. Every time I setup a conventional single large formation joust I get arc dodged by a turret or super corran or whatever.

Really I get no lolz?

I like flanking manoeuvres and arc dodging with a healthy dose of blocking.

I don't agree with "arc-dodger" as a class. This would ONLY include the high level Interceptors, Phantoms, A-wing, and the like. What these ships should be called are Flankers.

Flankers are fast and excel at attacking from unexpected angles. While high PS Flankers are also good at arc-dodging, the lower PS Flankers must predict the movements of the lumbering jousters and set traps for their enemies to fly into.

So how would one label E-wings and Defenders? Assault Class fighters. Assault class ships excel at quick surgical strikes that soften the target for the rest of the fleet. They tend to work best when they quickly engage the enemy and bug out to set up another strafing run while the rest of the fleet finishes off their target.

Finally, there is the Control Class. This class makes the rest of the fleet better and/or creates significant disadvantages for the opposing fleet. HWK-290 and the Lambda Shuttle are examples of this class.

Really I get no lolz?

I would've said Gangum Style.

For me, I like one or two elite arc dodgers and the rest a mini swarm of jousters. I expect most people to take some sort of super elite arc dodger and I primarily set up my block of generics as the bait and then go after the arc dodger with my arc dodgers.

Advanced and Inters.

Fast, dodgy yet can strike hard.

Seems the most honourable duely form of combat.

In a, by now not so recent, article champion Paul Heaver divided the field into Turrets, Jousters, and Arc-dodgers.

Also known as rocks, papers and scissors.

So looking through the above comments, where would you put dual-Aggressors? On the surface, they look like an arc-dodger, but the low PS and large base makes it less likely they'll actually dodge many arcs. Most people seem to use them as hit-and-run fighters, so I guess that's Stone37's Assault Class fighters. But they can also run a mean control game with Ion Cannons.

Man, I am so in love with that ship. I don't care what archetype it is, I'm flying two of those!

Really I get no lolz?

I like flanking manoeuvres and arc dodging with a healthy dose of blocking.

I don't know if you're talking about x-wing or "other" but I think I like the idea either way.

Fortune cookie says "soon you will try flanking and arc dodging...in bed."

Really I get no lolz?

That desperate for attention, huh?

I rarely play the same force more than once, I even like taking randomly selected ships and then selecting upgrades. I have recently tried to use at least one upgrade that I haven't tried before even. I also like to see if I can use every upgrade selected at least once in the game. Nothing worse than having no bombs or torpedoes fired if they were bought.

Getting stuck in a style rut is abit lame.

All styles are fun. This game isn't JUST ARC DODGING despite what FGD or other Imp homers will tell ya.

Turrets are fun, Arc dodger is fun, dual arcs like the Firespray are very fun, Swarms are very fun.

I honestly don't think there is a "Best" style and have no personal favorite style. Having the real variety of choice on all styles is what makes this game fun.

Bombers do need help but that should be coming according to dev comments.

Really I get no lolz?

That desperate for attention, huh?

Arnt I always?

Hmnm well I guess I should make one change...I do find stress lists boring as hell however to be honest. I would only run them if it seemed absolutely necessary. I like Ion turrets just not a full blown stress build list.

I honestly don't think there is a "Best" style and have no personal favorite style. Having the real variety of choice on all styles is what makes this game fun.

Since wave 4 the lists at the top tables seem to mix several styles. Turret and jousters (Han and Tala's), dodger and jousters (Whisper and mini Swarm), turret and dodger (Whisper and Chiraneau). Though lately pure jousters (rebel flavored) have (re?)appeared.

I really like that since wave 5 we've seen some pilots that combine several styles into one ship. For me those are the most fun to fly, as they give you a lot of flexibility in how to fly your list against a certain match up. Dash with engine is a great example of a ship that can both dodge and joust, but relies more on the strategy then tactics part of the game (unlike A/Int/phantom).

I'm not sure where the Aggressor fits in. It can Dodge pretty well, but not as good as a A/Int/Phantom due to blocking and max PS8. Like a Jouster it has a good durability and attack to cost ratio (due to IggyC, B, and AT), but it won't beat Ties/Z or even B's for efficiency. And it can take a hit or two like a fat Turret ship but doesn't shoot 360* or even backwards like a Firespray.

Whew.....when I read the title of this post I thought, "Man this could go south quick".

Well Bjorn there is still time

I did my best i swear but they kept right on topic.

Well i prefer to roll the dice with well not the app. lol