So was making a list for a tourney happening on Sunday and stumbled across r2d2 crew. I had seen him before but never payed much attention to him not sure why. Anyways I started thinking...1.)he costs no action and is something that can trigger no matter stress or ion 2.) is perfect for high shield ships (Falcons, outriders and bwings) 3.) does not require a green manuever or any other set manuever to activate. My thoughts are he may be better on an outrider with the double agility dice would take longer to eat through shields and maximize the length of time he can be used. After shields are gone it becomes risky using him. However to me he seems like an overlooked gem especially if using your outrider as a hlc sniper you would prolly be rolling 3 defense dice so it would become even harder to get more than 2-3 shields down per turn if your focus firing ( depending on the opponents list) in which case he regenerates 1. This really ups the outriders survivabilty a lot. Especially if your opponent is not keen to your set up and goes for the support ships first in which case it will really become a problem getting damage thru late game. Wondering which is better tho chewbacca crew for the guaranteed 2 extra hp or r2d2 crew? Any thoughts? And yes he is quite expensive for 4 points but imo that's a steal compared to a 4 point shield upgrade that only gives you 1 extra hp whereas r2d2 has the potential for 1+. More than likely at least 2-3. Also I would not use him once your shields are gone for risk of losing your hlc from that damage flipping to a crit. However his card says on a hit result flip a damage card face up so that's a 3/8 chance since crits and focuses are not counted in his card wording. So it's not a terrible risk if you chose to use him once shields are gone.
Has r2d2 crew card been overlooked or am I missing something?
You do see that he can only be used once your shields are gone, don't you? The window of opportunity when he can be used (no shields) without risk (no cards) is pretty narrow. Although there is no risk if ALL of your damage cards are already face up, silver lining.
That said, yeah, he is a really good card, he just got overshadowed by threepio.
Edited by ForgottenloreHe was on the worlds winning fat Han list. So I wouldn't say he has been overlooked.
Yeah. The 2014 worlds list had r2d2 crew which was widely considered why the list was able to beat other fat han lists.
Edited by Bloodstripe BaronYou do see that he can only be used once your shields are gone, don't you? The window of opportunity when he can be used (no shields) without risk (no cards) is pretty narrow. Although there is no risk if ALL of your damage cards are already face up, silver lining.
That said, yeah, he is a really good card, he just got overshadowed by threepio.
You know what I got so caught up reading the "recovers a shield" and started thinking of all these possibilities and completely forgot that part that says "if you have no shields" facepalm. Got too excited too quickly haha. I actually didn't see he was taken to worlds for 1st place either that is very interesting. I guess I just never have seen him played before and no one here seems to talk about it in their lists.
Yep, he's been a staple on the Fat Han. Between R2's shield regen, the Falcon title's evade token, and C3PO's reroll, it forces the opponent to deal a minimum of 4 damage if they want to actually deal damage cards to the Falcon.
But he's also just kinda boring, which makes him a rough play in casual games.
When he was first revealed there was a lot of backlash over the drawback and so threepio got talked about a lot more at the time. Once he was finally released (which took FOREVER with the Tantive), online discussion had moved on to the subsequent previews and the people who recognized him as good just started using him with little fan fare.
The 'no shields' drawback does as you say limit his usefulness compared to the astromech version.
My wife and i had a huge argubate once as she was convinced i had cheated in a game as she 'post game' looked up 'r2d2' as i'd used him to keep wedge alive for ages and she got confused between the two and thought the xwing mech had to work only when shields were down as well.
He's competing against r2d2 astromech, who is good on not-falcons.
If R2D2 crew constantly worked it would be a no brainer to play it. Because it only triggers when shields are gone there is far less to abuse and its drawback kicks in very quickly after he benefit starts coming online.
You're missing this
R2D2 on an Outrider looks interesting, but it isn't quite as useful, I think, as on a Falcon. The trigger for R2D2 is having no shields which both ships get to after the same number of hits, but you get more use out of R2D2 the more hull the craft has. To make it even more obvious, think about R2D2 on a B-Wing.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but there are probably better ways to spend those 4 points.
Also honestly it starts getting pretty unfun. Not the funniest game to play against a falcon that needs 4 hits a turn.
Congrats, you found the card that won the most recent World Championship.
It's still a viable alternative to Gunner/Luke on Fat Han against BBBBZ and YYYY, the problem is they need Gunnner/Luke to beat Interceptors and Aggressors and they can just rely on Engine Upgrade to beat the Rebel lists.
But yeah, preventing 3 damage a turn can be pretty frustrating to play against.
Also honestly it starts getting pretty unfun. Not the funniest game to play against a falcon that needs 4 hits a turn.
I agree. 4 hits beats most ships 1 on 1.
On Han he is always the third choice for durability upgrades and really only works because of the synergy with the Falcon title and C-3PO respectively (and it's high hull total).
Compare R2D2 on a HWK (which is essentially the next best option for him, only one shield so activates as soon as you take damage) and you see why. It becomes the only option for mitigating damage, it prevents using the slot for either Jan Ors (plus MC) for stacking focus/evade or for just using a good ol' Recon Spec, or Lando is also fun on HWK. In effect while it looks like it increases durability it actually makes durability worse than other potential options. I could see R2D2 as a potential addition to a crazy 3 HWK list.
In epic he is pretty good though I think, which really is what he was designed for.
On every ship other than the Falcon, Chewbacca is a better buy for the same amount of points. You get 2 shields whenever you want them with no downside. Only the Falcon has enough hull to have a high enough chance to regain 3+ shields with R2-D2 to justify running him over Chewbacca.
Ya I don't really follow worlds so I didn't even see that he was used. I just stick to my local scene here and store championships and here on the forum. Ya after it got pointed out he only activates once shields are gone I too think chewie is the better buy.
the real reason he was overlooked was because he took the wrong turn
maybe trying to escape from the most boring play-style in X-wing miniatures 
yeah, so sad he's relegated to that. =/
and Xs ... ugh. letsnot get started.
yeah, so sad he's relegated to that. =/
and Xs ... ugh. letsnot get started.
[/quote
And who's up for some talk about defenders jk
Congrats, you found the card that won the most recent World Championship.
It's still a viable alternative to Gunner/Luke on Fat Han against BBBBZ and YYYY, the problem is they need Gunnner/Luke to beat Interceptors and Aggressors and they can just rely on Engine Upgrade to beat the Rebel lists.
But yeah, preventing 3 damage a turn can be pretty frustrating to play against.
Cards don't win championships. Players do.
Edited by ForceMIn epic he is pretty good though I think, which really is what he was designed for.
Congrats, you found the card that won the most recent World Championship.
It's still a viable alternative to Gunner/Luke on Fat Han against BBBBZ and YYYY, the problem is they need Gunnner/Luke to beat Interceptors and Aggressors and they can just rely on Engine Upgrade to beat the Rebel lists.
But yeah, preventing 3 damage a turn can be pretty frustrating to play against.
Cards don't win championships. Players do.
Hopefully, players with cards do.
Congrats, you found the card that won the most recent World Championship.
It's still a viable alternative to Gunner/Luke on Fat Han against BBBBZ and YYYY, the problem is they need Gunnner/Luke to beat Interceptors and Aggressors and they can just rely on Engine Upgrade to beat the Rebel lists.
But yeah, preventing 3 damage a turn can be pretty frustrating to play against.
Cards don't win championships. Players do.
Hopefully, players with cards do.
indeed
at championships, players can't even play without cards 