I have been trying out the following list and I had a bit of a disappointing night with it last night. I won my first game against 4 Z's and 2 B's but my second game i just got trounced. Here is the list I ran with:

IG88B/D

VI

Hot Shot Blaster

Seismic Charge

"Mangler" Cannon

Auto Thrusters

Fire Control System

IG-2000 Title

I like this build as it has a huge tool box for throwing out damage when I really need it. This was also my first night trying out IG-D and I was not disappointed, his ability really allowed me to get into some tight places. Now for the list that wrecked me:

Gemmer:

Outmaneuver

Title

Refit

Keyan:

Mangler

Mercenary CoPilot

B/E1

Advanced Sensors

Opportunist

Wes Janson:

R2D2

VI

I managed to take out Gemmer pretty early on with out to much trouble but then I lost IG-B soon after that. For the rest of the game I just bounced around the board taking pot shots whenever I could but at the end I had to concede with only one hull left on IG-D and no shields left on Wes and a near untouched Keyan. Any thoughts on how I could make my list a bit stronger?

Advanced sensors. It cannot be stressed enough how valuable acting before k turning is.

The more IG builds I see, the more convinced I become that identical loadouts are not the most effective way to go.

In your case, I see too many situational upgrades that you are not going to even use in certain match-ups. For example, hotshot blasters---how often are you going to need them? Seismics are also not the easiest to use on a mid-PS ship. Not saying these things are useless, but you won't get value out of them every single match, so I would consider dropping them and only keeping some if you absolutely have nothing better to spend points on.

Also, your choice of secondary weapon being identical actually hurts you a bit once 'B' dies. I think its better to run an HLC on the non-B, because once you lose that 'gunner' effect, the mangler is only so-so.

Veteran Instincts is also not great for the IG's. Admittedly it will help you against other Aggressors, Dash and I guess Keyan, so if you see a lot of those specific ships, then perhaps you may want to keep them. If not, I would consider using a more potent EPT such as Predator, Outmanoeuvre or Lone Wolf (particularly good on the non-'B', since once B dies, it stays 'on' for the rest of the match).

Im more of a fan of IG-88 B/C myself. They synergize better i think. D can S-Loop with a hard 3, but its not all that usefull cuz you hopefull wont be S-Looping alot.

Im more of a fan of IG-88 B/C myself. They synergize better i think. D can S-Loop with a hard 3, but its not all that usefull cuz you hopefull wont be S-Looping alot.

Actually with D, you hope to s-loop a lot

The more IG builds I see, the more convinced I become that identical loadouts are not the most effective way to go.

In your case, I see too many situational upgrades that you are not going to even use in certain match-ups. For example, hotshot blasters---how often are you going to need them? Seismics are also not the easiest to use on a mid-PS ship. Not saying these things are useless, but you won't get value out of them every single match, so I would consider dropping them and only keeping some if you absolutely have nothing better to spend points on.

Also, your choice of secondary weapon being identical actually hurts you a bit once 'B' dies. I think its better to run an HLC on the non-B, because once you lose that 'gunner' effect, the mangler is only so-so.

Veteran Instincts is also not great for the IG's. Admittedly it will help you against other Aggressors, Dash and I guess Keyan, so if you see a lot of those specific ships, then perhaps you may want to keep them. If not, I would consider using a more potent EPT such as Predator, Outmanoeuvre or Lone Wolf (particularly good on the non-'B', since once B dies, it stays 'on' for the rest of the match).

I have used the hot shot blasters and usually at least one seismic charge every game I have played with this list. In the game I won agains the ZZZZBB I managed to knock the shields off of two Z's and damage another with the bombs. Hotshot blasters usually come in handy right when you least expect it but I have been very happy with them, especially if you manage to target a ship you already have a lock on. An impressive feature to the Hot Shots is that with IG-B's ability is that if you miss with your hot shot you can attack with your main cannon at a different target. It seems a little odd at to why you would want to do this but I does make sure that you are always getting the most out of you ship each turn.

I do hear you loud and clear about the EPTs. I like VI because it helps me adapt my movement a bit better, PS8 is is on the high end in my local meta. Most of the pilots I fight lately are 8 or below and I usually always opt to move second to get the most out of Boost. However, the damage output is still tricky sometimes and I wonder how Predator or Outmaneuver could help. Outmaneuver seems like it might be a little situational but Predator would allow for some decent re-rolls.

I have never really put much thought behind advanced sensors, I jumped on FCS the moment I saw IG-B's ability. I have heard multiple people tell me how good they are and I am not curious to give them a try.

Im more of a fan of IG-88 B/C myself. They synergize better i think. D can S-Loop with a hard 3, but its not all that usefull cuz you hopefull wont be S-Looping alot.

Actually with D, you hope to s-loop a lot

Honestly, I think I end up S-Looping every other turn in some games!

I have used the hot shot blasters and usually at least one seismic charge every game I have played with this list. In the game I won agains the ZZZZBB I managed to knock the shields off of two Z's and damage another with the bombs. Hotshot blasters usually come in handy right when you least expect it but I have been very happy with them, especially if you manage to target a ship you already have a lock on. An impressive feature to the Hot Shots is that with IG-B's ability is that if you miss with your hot shot you can attack with your main cannon at a different target. It seems a little odd at to why you would want to do this but I does make sure that you are always getting the most out of you ship each turn.

I do hear you loud and clear about the EPTs. I like VI because it helps me adapt my movement a bit better, PS8 is is on the high end in my local meta. Most of the pilots I fight lately are 8 or below and I usually always opt to move second to get the most out of Boost. However, the damage output is still tricky sometimes and I wonder how Predator or Outmaneuver could help. Outmaneuver seems like it might be a little situational but Predator would allow for some decent re-rolls.

I have never really put much thought behind advanced sensors, I jumped on FCS the moment I saw IG-B's ability. I have heard multiple people tell me how good they are and I am not curious to give them a try.

There's no point in running predator AND FCS --- predator is nice on advanced sensors, because its almost the same consistent damage as FCS plus you get the extra utility of advanced sensors (allows you to always have an action before red moves and means you can bump without worrying too much about it---as long as you don't get bumped onto a rock or no targets to shoot).

If everyone is running PS6/7, then sure, keep VI. However, you might want to consider a slight change. For example:

IG88B w/ VI, FCS, mangler, hotshot + autothrusters = 47

IG88C w/ lone wolf, advanced sensors, HLC, hotshot + autothrusters = 53

This gives you both more durability and firepower after B is dead. You could also go with Predator or outmanoeuvre and change B's hotshot to a seismic to fit it in...

@Blade_Mercurial:

That makes a lot of sense, Advanced Sensors seems to pair really well with Predator. Advanced Sensors also seems to pair really well with IG-D which is super cool, D is my current favorite IG for some reason. The only thing I don't like in your list is Lone Wolf. I have had that backfire SO often that I recently swore it off. Can you think of any other defensive EPTs that might serve a similar role?

@Blade_Mercurial:

That makes a lot of sense, Advanced Sensors seems to pair really well with Predator. Advanced Sensors also seems to pair really well with IG-D which is super cool, D is my current favorite IG for some reason. The only thing I don't like in your list is Lone Wolf. I have had that backfire SO often that I recently swore it off. Can you think of any other defensive EPTs that might serve a similar role?

Expert handling for arc-dodging is the only other possibility. Use it with advanced sensors to make very unexpected moves (unless you want to k-turn/s-loop of course!) Other than that there is no defensive EPT's that are worth taking. Elusiveness is generally crap, and that stress token is almost worse than possibly saving 1 damage for an IG. The only other option I can see is Sensor Jammer instead of advanced sensors. But I think that is best if you have some blockers or some other way to deny your opponent their actions.

If you don't like Lone Wolf, Predator is still good on IG88D, because with it you can always use your action defensively, and with advanced sensors, you always have the action even on s-loop/k-turn and predator is always 'on'.

I ran an updated list this past weekend with some interesting results.

IG88-B/D

VI

Mangler Cannon

Ion Cannon

Advanced Sensors

IG-2000 Title

Inertial Dampeners

All in all I was pretty happy with this set up but I really felt the lack for FCS when using Bravo's ability. I didn't feel the loss of the bombs all that much but not having the Hot Shot for those one off bad moves was pretty disappointing. I know it doesn't seem like a great card but in the last few games I have played with it I have almost always killed one ship that got into a bad position on me. It is purely situational, I fully admit that, but it seems lately that I put myself in those situations more and more often. The Ion cannon mixed with ID was a lot of fun, I marched a stressed Soontir right off the board in one game and managed a similar feat with a fully loaded Super Dash. The utility between the two cannons was a riot and I am eager to keep trying them out. Advanced Sensors were very handy to have, especially when pulling s-loops, but It is still a hard call as to weather or not I stick with FCS. I am going to need a few more games with this build but I like where it is going!