With the Raider being release with all the goodies for the Tie Advanced, I believe that Carnor Jax is a good support ship’

Here is my build;

34 pt = Carnor Jax (26) + VI (1) + RGT (0) + Shield Upgrade (4) + Stealth Device (3)

Since his ability prevents Enemy ships at Range 1 from perform focus or evade actions or spending focus or evade tokens. I think Stealth Device would be very effective. The VI makes sure that he is one of the last ship to move. And the Shield Upgrades keeps Vader away form awhile.

The question is, "How would you equip Carnor Jax to maximize his ability?

As far as Carnor himself, I would drop the Stealth for Autothrusters and VI for PtL, personally -- moving last is nice, but it's not going to come into play in a lot of games. The ability to take two repositioning actions strikes me as more important.

As far as what to put him with, I would say that the new TIE advanced pilot and/or Sensor Jammer are must-haves just for the crazy synergy you get.

Hard to ignore autothrusters on an interceptor...

I ran Jax with PTL, thrusters and stealth device. Bad dice luck torpedoed the stealth device each game, sadly. But he was definitely a thorn in people's side.

The question becomes whether VI is better or PTL... Do you see lots of higher PS?

Ah, Carnor Jax. The best TIE Interceptor pilot.* My favorite pilot in my favorite ship.

So, how to equip Carnor to maximize his ability? Well, let's start with how I would best maximize his ability, and I do that by keeping him alive. If he's dead, then his ability is no good. So, roll well with green dice; it's as simple as that. Every turn he is alive and on the board is a turn your opponent has to think about Jax. If he's in combat somewhere, he's usually interfering with your opponent's plan. So, here's my 3-part plan to maximizing Carnor Jax, and by extension optimizing his upgrades.

Step one of Max-Jax: Don't force his ability. I've seen people overextend Jax, either through maneuvers or boost/roll to try to push him in range. Don't. If you're at range 1 and getting shot, that's an extra dice they have to punch through your agility (remember what I said about keeping him alive?). Of course, you will want to get him in range 1 for his ability to do anything, but be patient about it. It will happen naturally - occasionally boost or roll to push him in range and penalize someone who used Focus or Evade, but I generally Focus+Evade with my actions and rely on the psychological warfare component of his presence - reluctance for my opponent to move close, or reliance on Target Locks (and unmodified defense as a result - and we all know how well unmodified green dice work when Interceptors are shooting you...). I tend to fly him like a normal Interceptor - Focus+Evade most of the time, with Boost and Roll seldom used. Speaking of Focus+Evade...

Step two of Max-Jax: Push The Limit. Carnor Jax flies a TIE Interceptor. He has an EPT slot. You will take PTL. It is the best ship for that upgrade, and the best upgrade for that ship. Always take PTL on an Interceptor if you can. Even if you think you'll take something else, even if it's for some cool strategy...don't. Take PTL instead. Sure, high-skill pilots may move after you, but just Focus+Evade and watch as your ability has dictated their movement and action choice. I prefer Focus+Evade over some other combination because, again, we're trying to keep him alive as long as possible. Fly patiently. Also, in the interest of keeping him alive, I will often forgo spending Focus on an attack in earlier rounds in order to save it for defense. On the topic of defense...

Step three of Max-Jax: Modifications. Again, the idea is to keep Carnor alive as long as possible - and for this, I prefer the combination of Autothrusters+Hull Upgrade. Keeps him relatively cheap (for more goodies in the rest of the list), and increases his durability. I don't think I need to advocate for the Autothrusters; I'll only mention that I'm an Interceptor player who absolutely loves them, and let more eloquent people extol their virtues. The Hull Upgrade, on the other hand - sure, Shield can block a crit, but it is more expensive...and the crit risk is well worth the reaction I get when my opponent has finally dealt 3 damage cards (or 1+Direct Hit!) to Carnor and he doesn't die. Try it a few times with people who are used to Interceptors only having 3 hull - it's hilarious. The other option here is Stealth Device, of course, but there are enough abilities floating around that impact or ignore green dice (Ten Numb, Outmaneuver, Wedge, Vader Crew, Autoblasters+Turrets, etc.), in addition to the fickle nature of green dice, that I'd rather trust the guaranteed +1 hull than a gamble that might not work and is usually unnecessary.


So, just quite a few words from a long-time Interceptor fan (seriously - they're what got me into this game; I bought four Interceptors before a starter), and someone who has used Carnor Jax quite a bit recently (and plans to use him at Regionals).

*Yes, yes, I know Fel is technically a 'better pilot' going by Pilot Skill...but Carnor's ability is far, far better.

... If there are Feedback Arrays around, you still can play Jax like a 'normal' PTL Interceptor.

And usually those FA ships have a lower pilot skill then Jax...

PTL, Shield, and Autothrusters. With Mangler and Vader seeing plenty of use, the point for a shield us worth it.

I am wondering how Determination, Autothrusters and Hull Upgrade would fare.... or even a Shield over Autothruster, since you're fighting in close range more often than not.

But, PtL and Autothrusters are definetly the go to upgrades for me.

High ps will go away as you don't need it to catch phantoms in arc to the same degree as before, four green dice will fail if you throw enough red dice at it which is why we see the rise of bbbbz.

Ps 8 is high enough so go ptl+at+sd for a fighter that will frustrate the hell out of turret users.

I like Target CPU + Shield/Hull.

That way, when I do make a silly choice to fly range 1 into a ship's arc, I can TL + F stack to net a solid number of hits and feel confident that they will go through with no defensive focus/evade for the opposing ship.

I know a lot of people like auto thrusters on squints,

but I personally like to make Jax a tank

PTL + Hull + Shield

I fly this tandem to a decimator that just wrecks the day.

Same as any other elite Interceptor: PtL, Autothrusters, and then Stealth, Hull or Shield if I have the points. Then fly him like you would any other elite Interceptor. His ability will take care of itself.

I know a lot of people like auto thrusters on squints,

but I personally like to make Jax a tank

PTL + Hull + Shield

I fly this tandem to a decimator that just wrecks the day.

If Autothrusters helps once, just once - either by blocking an attack that would have otherwise connected, or by reducing the damage from a lucky shot - then it just did the job of a Shield Upgrade for half the cost. Anything more than that is just money in the bank.

And remember, this is Carnor Jax we're talking about - people are going to go to great lengths to shoot him from far away. If they're shooting him at R3 to try to kill him before he gets to R1, you might as well stack the odds in your favor as much as you can. Plus, with Autothrusters, that means that your opponent won't want to be at R1, but won't really want to be at R3, either...

I consider the TIE Interceptor to be the ship that I'm better at using than any others in my collection, and I almost never fly Interceptors without Carnor Jax in the list, pretty much always equipped as follows:

Royal Guard TIE
Autothrusters
Stealth Device
Push the Limit.

When facing something with an auto-crit mechanic (Ten Numb or Vader [crew]), that just has to be your first priority to kill. Personally, I can't spare a point to upgrade Stealth Device to a Shield Upgrade in the builds I use him in (you can read about those on my site), but if Carnor's the one getting hit with those crits, that means that my other Interceptors / Phantoms (depending on which build he's in) live, and I'm okay with that.

I found that I much prefer skipping ptl on squints, except for fel. Don't like the maneuvering constraints. I prefer using an upgrade that gives me a partial action all the time without stress. Or just use Turr Phennir, the best interceptor pilot, who always is taken care of as far as BR and boost are concerned

Thinking of Jax purely as support, I might still choose PtL in order to turtle, but certainly use Autothrusters and Stealth Device.

Well first you'd need some fresh bodies... A lab with a bunch of random sparky things, and a henchman/assistant.

Auto-thruster is mandatory on any ship that can take it

and beardy pointed out, it only needs to trigger once to be worth it.

With turrets still reducing the overall quality of the game in noticeable numbers, it's going to see far more use than that

The other mod slot is debatable, but I know I feel much safer with an A-wing than a Tie Fighter. I agree whole heartedly with calls for hull/shield. The only (literally only) pilot that can transcend the fickleness of green dice is Soontir motherloving Fell and no one else. He's uniquely capable of running Stealth device (and he still manages to roll four blanks )

I got the skills to roll 5 green blanks at range 3, when the attacker rolled 3 native hits.

I got the skills to roll 5 green blanks at range 3, when the attacker rolled 3 native hits.

I once saw the mighty Baron get his Stealth Device slapped off by a Range 3 HWK-290 primary attack.

I wasn't even mad, that was amazing.

Auto-thruster is mandatory on any ship that can take it

Well, not mandatory, but still better than any other option those ships can take for the slot. Whether the slot needs be filled is another matter.

The answer to that question is, in fact, "Usually", but you can still run ships naked if you truly need to.

Turr Phennir + Autothrusters + PTL > Soontir Fel + PTL.

PTL, of course.

360 opposition? Stealth device + Autot

No 360? Choose between those and Shield Upgrade. Only 1.pnt over Hull upgrade.and you do not want the first hit to dealt a faceup damage

I run squints all the time (they are my favorite ship overall) and I couldnt imagine using one without Autothrusters now. It is simply too good. Not once have I had a game since I started using AT that it hasnt blocked at least one damage. This means that every game i took AT in it acted as a shield upgrade for 2 points. Then there are many games where it blocked a good bit more. Squints are very good at controlling distance so during reengages or when dogfighting one ship and staying away from others its easier for them to keep a ship or two at R3 depending on how tightly in formation the opponent flies (and since arcs are widest at R3 a lot of people will try to spread arcs so I cant arc dodge them all). This has led me to getting the AT free evades usually more than once per game. Then if you go against any turrets other than the autoblaster turrets you will get so much free HP its insane!

Nothing is auto-include but I highly highly recommend taking AT every time you take an interceptor. Whether you are support or not 2 pts isnt very much at all and the added survivability is simply unparalleled by other mods.

I like Jax with intimidation. If you end up bumping its not as big of a deal. PS 9 isn't as pivotal as it was during the Whisper era. PTL ends up making him very predictable after stressing. Thrusters and stealth are the best way to go still.

I've been thinking about it, and I wonder how Stay on Target would fare on Jax: Reajust your maneuver so you get out of sight, or bump, while still denying your opponent from using focus and evade. Then get the hell out next turn.