In light of the decloak change, is Veteran Instincts still as autoinclude on the phantom?

In light of the decloak change, is Veteran Instincts still as autoinclude on the phantom?

Probably as Eco and defenetly Whisper will want to use ACD as soon as possible.

It's even more important.

Since a phantom is slightly less able to reliabke arc dodge you are relying on firing and using acd to recloak before your enemy ships. This way you still have 4 evade die.

yup

Whisper's inane impossibility when it came to killing her was much more from the 4 agility + focus than the linear de-cloaking

However, now that it will be easier to catch them 'on arc', people may feel less compelled to bring PS9+ ships, since if you plan well, you'll be able to catch phantoms even with PS1 pilots, or even leaving them without anyone to shoot at.

Because you have now more chances of shooting them, you may be now more interested in weapons/abilites that are able to pierce through 4 green dice instead of winning the initiative bid. A full HLC roll is always a terrifying perspective for any defender, even if he has 4 green dice for the roll. After all, it is not that different from shooting against an interceptor with stealth device.

And if opponents low their average PS, phantoms have no reason to up theirs.

Plus, the shenanigans like Ten numb always securing a hit with manglers, dropping them to 0 initiative, forcing them to reroll defense dice, stealing their tokens, etc.., may seriously devaluate the use of VI in favor of better defensive options.

I have to agree, VI on Whisper is still mandatory. 4 Attack and 4 Defense is pretty amazing, and as the PS bid starts to drop from the "nerf", VI will remain important.

What I am most worried about is taking Veteran Instincts OFF of my anti-whisper ships... especially Fett.

(Spoiler alert, it wasn't a nerf)

I have to agree, VI on Whisper is still mandatory. 4 Attack and 4 Defense is pretty amazing, and as the PS bid starts to drop from the "nerf", VI will remain important.

What I am most worried about is taking Veteran Instincts OFF of my anti-whisper ships... especially Fett.

(Spoiler alert, it wasn't a nerf)

on the plus side, I'm less worried about running something awesome like EH and auto-blaster

yup

Whisper's inane impossibility when it came to killing her was much more from the 4 agility + focus than the linear de-cloaking

Disagree. It was the combination that was killer. If I can get 3 or more arcs on her now she will take damage. Before if I landed 2 arcs I either had ps10 maneuvers or the phantom screwed up.

I agree that the big difference here is the ships trying to kill Whisper don't "need" to be PS10 just to have an opportunity to shoot. Before, all the planning and insight in the world could not help PS8 Luke for example get Whisper in arc. You could read your opponent perfectly and then Whisper just changes the decloak lane or chooses not to decloak at all.

I love this fix as it levels the playing field for the phantom. Your skill as pilot and your ability to read your opponent matter again.

I also would not mind if they decide to just FAQ threepio to say guessing zero is a @#$% move and you can't do it no more.

I agree that the big difference here is the ships trying to kill Whisper don't "need" to be PS10 just to have an opportunity to shoot.

Yeah, this is the change I anticipate: VI will still be highly desirable on Whisper, but it will be less necessary as a counter to Whisper.

Things haven't changed that much, you still take vi on phantoms and you still go for ps10 to reliably kill the Phantom.

ACD is the key for Whisper to be as dangerous as she is. And to reliably keep her safe and minimize shots when she is decloaked you absolutely need VI on her or you will take far too many shots from enemies.

Here's a short and very incomplete list of threats you will see at PS8 and up that would rip her to shreds w/o VI:

Han, Luke, Wedge, Corran, Tycho (w/ pocket rockets), Keyan w/ VI, the Admiral, Soontir, 4x RGT w/ VI + Autothrusters (yes I think that's going to be a thing), Vader (he's going to be back in a big way), either Boba, 2x IG88 both with VI. Oh yeah, she will also get shredded by another Whisper (or Echo) that do have VI. And this is just some of the more common things. There are plenty of others.

I'm sure someone could get away with running Lone Wolf to some degree of success but over the course of a tourney there will likely be too many dangers our there.