Any news on new TIE/x1 pilots?

By Magnus Grendel, in X-Wing

...doesn't he have one? An EPT, that is.

Nope.

Allow me to take a step out onto the hypothetical branch for a minute, if you will.

What if the PS5 pilot is the anti-Biggs?

"You may not be declared as the target of an attack if the attacker could target another ship at range 1 from you instead."

I don't know that it would be as potent as Biggs is, but I'm sure it would find its uses.

The PS5 is Alozen.

Edited by TIE Pilot

The PS5 is Alozen.

Oh right, I knew that. Fixed.

...doesn't he have one? An EPT, that is.

Nope.

Allow me to take a step out onto the hypothetical branch for a minute, if you will.

What if the PS5 pilot is the anti-Biggs?

"You may not be declared as the target of an attack if the attacker could target another ship at range 1 from you instead."

I don't know that it would be as potent as Biggs is, but I'm sure it would find its uses.

The PS5 is Alozen.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/xwing-miniatures/images/f/f6/Commander-alozen.png/revision/latest?cb=20141220120611

Can he use PTL with his free TL? Maybe he gets the TL and then barrel rolls to get someone in his firing arc. Or maybe he does a Focus and TL.

As it reads I would say his TL is not an action, so he can't use PTL afterward.

This is the correct answer. He acquires a TL, he does not take TL action.

...doesn't he have one? An EPT, that is.

Nope.

Allow me to take a step out onto the hypothetical branch for a minute, if you will.

What if the PS5 pilot is the anti-Biggs?

"You may not be declared as the target of an attack if the attacker could target another ship at range 1 from you instead."

I don't know that it would be as potent as Biggs is, but I'm sure it would find its uses.

The PS5 is Alozen.
Except he does have an EPT...

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/xwing-miniatures/images/f/f6/Commander-alozen.png/revision/latest?cb=20141220120611

For some reason I read the EPT as not an EPT.

Brainderp.

In that case...

He can't PTL off the target lock because acquire a target lock isn't an action.

Edited by TIE Pilot

I don't know about wanting Advance Pilots to combo off of non-AC or ATC systems

The whole reason they're getting fixed is because their offense for their cost is like the soft kisses of a loving mother upon the forehead of her most cherished child (i.e, not conducive to violence)

I'd rather not relegate a potentially fun option to the bargain bin because a generic pilot will output more damage for cheaper.

On the plus side, Alozen can get his TL if he's stressed, so a PTL boost-BR into R1 to get his free TL is totally viable, assuming you don't mind the lack of a red maneuver the next turn.

I want that X1 upgrade!! My Darth Vader pilot is dying for some action!

I don't know about wanting Advance Pilots to combo off of non-AC or ATC systems

The whole reason they're getting fixed is because their offense for their cost is like the soft kisses of a loving mother upon the forehead of her most cherished child (i.e, not conducive to violence)

I'd rather not relegate a potentially fun option to the bargain bin because a generic pilot will output more damage for cheaper.

You and I had very different mothers.

Nah, the named pilots will autoinclude Advanced Targetting computer.

Generics auto include AC.

That's not a justifiable claim; only one of the named Adv pilots specifically wants ATC.

That's Maarek.

Vader is happy with either- his pilot skill and ability can let him utilize ATC far more reliably than any other pilot, but with AC he can become a defensive monster without sacrificing attack power.

Alozen (and I think I have to work hard to argue this one) wants AC. Because of his ability.

His ability seems to hint towards ATC, I will grant. However, at PS5, you have very little control over arc and range. So the possibility of being able to trigger his ability against a ship that you can use ATC for is marginalized.

But now consider this: with AC, Alozen's ability gives you action economy that, not incidentally, triggers at the only place where AC falls slightly flat- rolling 3 dice, e.g. at Range 1.

So Alozen wants AC more than ATC. At all ranges, you can use your 2-hit generator...but at Range 1, you got a free target lock, which you can use with your action phase focus to see if you do better with 3+TL+F than your 2-hit generator. And even if you whiff, you can still fall back on 2 hits.

With ATC, you can sometimes use his pilot ability (what happens if there's fodder at Range 1, but your priority target is Range 2? Your pilot ability isn't useful here, since ATC only works on the target you have locked) but the pilot skill and weak dial work to his disadvantage far more than with AC.

I think I agree that we need to see how the new pilots' abilities will interact with the upgrades before determining if they will like AC/ATC better. Vader has better efficiency with the ATC over the AC and a very suitable abilitiy and PS bid to get needed target locks more often. AC is still really good with vader and a case could be made for a vader that trades a tiny bit of joust efficiency for a more free action economy used for positioning/defense.

Maarek's ability suits the ATC and still has a decent PS bid for acquiring the locks. AC with maarek, however, makes his ability quite nearly useless, and with no value added from his card text, his cost puts him under the efficiency of other options--you may as well save points with a cheaper pilot or simply pay the extra point for ATC.

MJ's numbers appear to corroborate this corollary.

As for your judgement of Alozen, I think I actually agree with you there. His ability is a bit more difficult to sucessfuly use than it appears, and people who have tried guri would see a resemblance; you cannot always guess when you will be at range 1 of a desired target above PS5, and your action choices need to predict before you see their move. If alozen takes target locks often outside range 1, and isn't spending them with ATC, his ability is not seeing use. However, if you expect a range 1 alozen opportunity and focus, but are denied range 1, you are denied use of your ATC as well.

Meanwhile, with AC on alozen, the range 1 case is the one where your primary can achieve a definitively better result better than the 2 hits the corrector guarantees.

Going back to MJ's Mathwing numbers and scrutinizing them hard enough...

Alozen with a 50% duty cycle on ATC is 97% efficient, and at 100% duty cycle on ATC is 107.3% efficient. (for reference, the PS2 generic with ATC has 92.9% and 109.3% respectively).

Alozen with AC has a 103% efficiency, and it appears MJ valued his ability directly in the expected damage output calculation. (compared to 100.5% for the PS 2 generic)

The conclusion I come to is that if I expect my alozen to have 100% duty cycle on ATC, what duty cycle would he have without his ability? If his ability is rarely responsible for the target locks, I think I may as well drop 1 PS (which I doubt will affect turn order much) to save 2 points. If I am not achieving 100% duty cycle with my alozen, am I getting above 103% efficiency I would have with AC? If not, I seriously should put AC on alozen. The role he then serves with AC is a cheap and joust-efficient option for PS bid above generics that also has a slight potential boost in damage at range 1.

Edited by zero9300

Guri and I are good friends... I have yet to be disappointed by her ability, only on my own flying. If she doesn't get massive use of her focus, its because I second guessed myself. That range 1 bonus ability is quite nice.

You can also give Alozen Vet. Inst., which makes him PS 7. While it doesn't help against the elites, it does help against almost everything else.

I look as Alozen's ability w/ ATC as an opportunity to switch your TL to a new target once the fray happens. I'll probably always run Predator on him with ATC, so I am not really too worried about losing my action to TL. If I kill my target I can always maneuver into range 1 to get the TL on the next victim, thus freeing up for other actions.

I think Alozen + Predator + ATC for 29 points is going to be a very solid ship and when paired with Vader or something more scary, will likely be ignored.

Edited by Jo Jo

Guri and I are good friends... I have yet to be disappointed by her ability, only on my own flying. If she doesn't get massive use of her focus, its because I second guessed myself. That range 1 bonus ability is quite nice.

imo, Guri's is vastly more useful

you don't have to have a shot at the triggering enemy to get immediate use out of your free focus. You can use it on the defense or use it to modify and attack against another ship, or just use it to sharply cut down on the impact of blocking Guri (which is basically nothing between predator and her ability).

Alozen's ability will only use immediate use if he can shoot the triggering ship, otherwise it's just setting up for future turns. That restriction hopefully won't make it terrible, but Guri's ability is operating on different mechanics (focus) that make it much more flexible than Alozen's

I look as Alozen's ability w/ ATC as an opportunity to switch your TL to a new target once the fray happens. I'll probably always run Predator on him with ATC, so I am not really too worried about losing my action to TL. If I kill my target I can always maneuver into range 1 to get the TL on the next victim, thus freeing up for other actions.

I think Alozen + Predator + ATC for 29 points is going to be a very solid ship and when paired with Vader or something more scary, will likely be ignored.

No doubt he is good with either case, perhaps one or the other is better suited to particular matchups. ~97-107% coefficient at 50-100% duty cycle on ATC is very good. Few ships get those kinds of numbers and even a 97% would be very competitive.