Hello, just to clarify: I'm a n00b, and I just don't get what makes a loaded Xizor and 5 of his most expendable friends such an effective build. (Disclaimer: a build is only as effective as the player flying the ships).

That being said: Why Xizor over Guri? Is it a meta thing? Higher PS and so on. Or is this build just as simple as I imagine it: Xizor hangs back behind his "friends", and once they're dead (along with some enemy ships, hopefully) Xizor goes for it in the endgame.

There's gotta' be more to it, surely? I can't see it myself, but then again, I'm a rookie pilot.

Why not Guri? She seems like a better pilot overall, with the free focus at range 1, she seems to be able to get to where she's going, and get a token for her troubles. Combine with PtL and/or Adv. S to your liking.

What of the Z's, what do they do? Just semi-swarm it and gang up on a ship til it's dead, classic swarming tactics yes? They seem to expensive with any kind of Illicit, and that means you'll only get 4 of 'em with F. Arrays. Worth it?

In general; would you go for bodies over upgrades with these low-PS swarms?

I really like the generic Star Viper(s), I won't pretend I get a lot of milage out of it, but it's a cool-looking ship, and sometimes in casual play, that's good enough. Any tips for using the Enforcer rather then Xizor/Guri. (Can't see why you'd go Vigo).

However I fear the new Kihraxz Fighter might push it out of builds all together, along with Heavy Scyks'. Wrong?

It's about the Pilot Skill Xizor has. It says: 'When defending, a friendly ship at Range 1 may suffer 1 uncancelled Hit or Crit result instead of you.'

It's about the Pilot Skill Xizor has. It says: 'When defending, a friendly ship at Range 1 may suffer 1 uncancelled Hit or Crit result instead of you.'

Granted, but why shoot Xizor in the first place in such a build? He's not that scary on his own. Sure it's 3 dice, but many ships have this and Xizors ability actively makes your own forces weaker does it not? Seems like Guri could be used more offensively with her ability.

I will try it out today non the less, to bad you only get better with lists the more you fly 'em... I have a feeling Xizors going down, ability or no.

Thanks for the reply!

Xizor and the Z swarm is one build but I think as you say, it's probably not the best way to use him. I think the best way to run Xizor is to try to bid up to PS9 and use your actions to be a primo arc dodger, that's his only real advantage over Guri. He's not much more expensive.

Boy do I wish the generic SVs were more competitively priced.

Xizor and the Z swarm is one build but I think as you say, it's probably not the best way to use him. I think the best way to run Xizor is to try to bid up to PS9 and use your actions to be a primo arc dodger, that's his only real advantage over Guri. He's not much more expensive.

Boy do I wish the generic SVs were more competitively priced.

I think the generics are competitively priced. The problem is, they pay for a great dial and a good choice of actions, but its not always easy to get good use out of these things.

5 zeds are kinda the best support for Xizor and its a good list, so I disagree with your assessment. The reason it works is because normally, an opponent wants to kill Xizor first (since he's the biggest threat), but with the zeds nearby, that is very difficult. The Xizor player will just spread the damage around sharing it on all the zeds making the likelihood of any ship dying very low, giving the list more durability than you'd think. So obviously the smart thing to do is focus fire zeds (which is not hard to do admittedly). But this allows Xizor to fly very aggressively, using his TL from FCS and his focus on attacks with every shot. This means he is doing 2, 3 or even 4 damage every shot and with his great dial, he's always got a shot.

Guri on the other hand is dangerous but you have to fly her very cautiously because she doesn't hold up to focus fire so she works best as a flanker. For that reason, she really doesn't support or add as much value to the zeds and so doesn't work as well in this kind of list.

As to the OPs original questions; the answer is basically yes. You fly this list at the enemy and joust, trading zeds for enemy ships and hope to have a favourable endgame with Xizor vs whatever the opponent has left. You should obviously kill the stuff that might be difficult for Xizor to deal with first...

It's about the Pilot Skill Xizor has. It says: 'When defending, a friendly ship at Range 1 may suffer 1 uncancelled Hit or Crit result instead of you.'

Granted, but why shoot Xizor in the first place in such a build? He's not that scary on his own. Sure it's 3 dice, but many ships have this and Xizors ability actively makes your own forces weaker does it not? Seems like Guri could be used more offensively with her ability.

well, it's not that simple

see it goes like this:

1.) enemy shoots Xizor. Xizor laughs at their futile efforts as he passes the damage, effectively evading once every attack. Damage is spread amongst the crappy pirates; your opponent accomplishes very little

2.) enemy shoots crappy Zs. Xizors ability does not trigger and Zs do not take damage from him. Xizor is now free to do really stupid **** like hang out in range one firing focus + TL into people's faces.

Xizor's ability is amazing, basically giving you soontir level survivability every turn without action investment. If he doesn't get shot, it's essentially making him invincible, like some weird kind of inverse Biggs.

furthermore, Xizor's ability has some fun interactions with things like IG-88B or Gunner (because the attack already hit for Xizor's ability to trigger, so even if Xizor takes no damage there is no 2nd attack). He also frusturates the hell out of PWTs, because Guri can still succumb to awful green dice

PS 9 in a Starviper is just gravy.

37 points for V.I, Virago, FCS, thrusters gives you one hell of an ace pilot, not to mention a late game monster (TL + focus is brutal), who is basically guaranteed to be the last man standing in your squad. It's up to you to make the most of him during the time your enemy is wasting on crappy Zs.

then again, it's not like 5 crappy Zs are pushovers because their price makes them some of the most efficient jousters in the game (plus they're hellishly annoying blockers). I'd like to see a PWT dumb enough to try and joust them.

Guri's also great, but given the amount of 2-ship stagnation many areas are facing her ability simply doesn't come into play that often (or, if it does, she's screwed)

It's about the Pilot Skill Xizor has. It says: 'When defending, a friendly ship at Range 1 may suffer 1 uncancelled Hit or Crit result instead of you.'

Granted, but why shoot Xizor in the first place in such a build? He's not that scary on his own. Sure it's 3 dice, but many ships have this and Xizors ability actively makes your own forces weaker does it not? Seems like Guri could be used more offensively with her ability.

well, it's not that simple

see it goes like this:

1.) enemy shoots Xizor. Xizor laughs at their futile efforts as he passes the damage, effectively evading once every attack. Damage is spread amongst the crappy pirates; your opponent accomplishes very little

2.) enemy shoots crappy Zs. Xizors ability does not trigger and Zs do not take damage from him. Xizor is now free to do really stupid **** like hang out in range one firing focus + TL into people's faces.

Xizor's ability is amazing, basically giving you soontir level survivability every turn without action investment. If he doesn't get shot, it's essentially making him invincible, like some weird kind of inverse Biggs.

furthermore, Xizor's ability has some fun interactions with things like IG-88B or Gunner (because the attack already hit for Xizor's ability to trigger, so even if Xizor takes no damage there is no 2nd attack). He also frusturates the hell out of PWTs, because Guri can still succumb to awful green dice

PS 9 in a Starviper is just gravy.

37 points for V.I, Virago, FCS, thrusters gives you one hell of an ace pilot, not to mention a late game monster (TL + focus is brutal), who is basically guaranteed to be the last man standing in your squad. It's up to you to make the most of him during the time your enemy is wasting on crappy Zs.

then again, it's not like 5 crappy Zs are pushovers because their price makes them some of the most efficient jousters in the game (plus they're hellishly annoying blockers). I'd like to see a PWT dumb enough to try and joust them.

Guri's also great, but given the amount of 2-ship stagnation many areas are facing her ability simply doesn't come into play that often (or, if it does, she's screwed)

Point #2 is definitely why it can be a scary build. Yes, you can just elect to not shoot Xizor but that allows him to jump in your face range 1 in your arc if he has to. Take a TL or focus and blast you with no concerns about being shot back. Because you either won't, or if you do he just passes the damage.

Also remember that damage mitigation is amazing when you think that your opponent has to clear 11 shields before touching a hull, so it's even better against people who rely on crits to really finish a fight. If they've invested in manglers or calculation, or a pilot like Numb/RAC those crits don't do much when they are just landing on shields