I wonder if this list has any potential once the Raider is released.

Kennkirk Vader (100/100)

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VT-49 Decimator: Commander Kenkirk (44 + 19)

+ Predator (3)

+ Emperor Palpatine (8)

+ Ysanne Isard (4)

+ Engine Upgrade (4)

TIE Advanced: Darth Vader (29 + 8)

+ Predator (3)

+ TIE/x 1 (0)

+ Engine Upgrade (4)

+ Adv. Targeting Computer

I've tried it a couple of times and it works really well as long as I save the emperor for defence. Kenkirk is as tanky as fat han once his in to hull and he can put out decent damage with predator and a focus if I don't have to boost. And Vader gets really hard to kill once his tokened up.

the only problem I can see will be the 4xtempest/Acc list, as tht trounces decimators and really any large ship with less than 2/3 defense dice

Idk but for me I like lone wolf on kirk

Gives ya that extra reroll on offense (not as good as predator) but when you get that defense dice I've seen it do wonders.

Along with Ysanne and the Emperor that's a good chance to prevent 3 dmg instead of two. If your real good at positioning behind asteroids or range, you'll increase your odds even more

I wonder though since kirk isn't a high ps is it worth having Engine upgrade?

I wonder though since kirk isn't a high ps is it worth having Engine upgrade?

EU is so incredibly useful on a large based ship, there's really no reason to leave home without it. PS matters a bit, but not enough that its value is significantly diminished on lower PS large ships

Actually I think engine is great even on a ps6 turret. You will probably meet a bunch of ps2 Bs in a tournament and they will eat the decimator alive if you can't dodge them. And I love engine in the first rounds when you try to set up the perfect attack angle too.

In my opinion predator is better on Kirk. I only got one defence die. And the emperor will change that to an evade. Lone Wolf will only help on the offence and predator is so much better. Reroll two dice vs. Ps2 or lower. Priceless!

My last match with this build was against two ps2 Bs. And a YT 2400 ps2. Predator totally destroyed them.

I like this list a lot, and it's pretty much the standard Vader/Emperor that everyone is talking about, although sometimes Lone Wolf options are discussed in relation to Vader, typically.

I think it's pretty solid. My only concern is having a PS9 Vader with a 0 point initiative bid. That's gonna be rough. If you move to a Lone Wolf, that's a 1 point bid, which is better than zero, but when it comes to PS9, you optimally want a 2 point bid, and I'm just not sure how to get there comfortably.

I wonder though since kirk isn't a high ps is it worth having Engine upgrade?

EU is so incredibly useful on a large based ship, there's really no reason to leave home without it. PS matters a bit, but not enough that its value is significantly diminished on lower PS large ships

If your flying against low ps then ya

If your up Against high ps which seems to be the way with all the two ship builds out there then I wouldn't say it'll matter that much.

The idea of Engine upgrade is to get out of arc

Against dash/Coran, fel/chireaneau, Han/Luke/Coran, duel aggressor etc it's not going to matter a whole lot

Your not going to be dodging any arcs, nor will you be able to stay in dash blind spot if he is using Outrider and hlc

Now if you went with ptl maybe

Then you could ptl off Ysanne which in that case make a world of difference

In this case however I feel that's 4 pts that could be spent otherwise

Edit well maybe there isn't a whole lot more options, so if had to spend pts somewhere, but again if your up Against high ps builds Engine isn't going to do a whole lot imo

Maybe add hull upgrade and have 1 pt initiative bid, or shield upgrade

If your in a tournament I think your more than likely going to run into more high ps ships. Bbbbz hasn't been on top much at all recently. It'll still do well, but maybe have the extra hp help survive, since your going extremely defensive.

But maybe not

Lone Wolf + Emperor is incredible, incidentally.

Just my two cents.

This I'll agree with

I've seen lonewolf prevent a lot of dmg on kirk, once the Emperor is out it'll be even better imo

I'd run Push the Limit.

Being able PTL of the Isard evade and boost at PS 12 is just silly. I love the look on peoples faces when you do it too. I had someone think his VI Corran was about to get a nice double tap range 1 shot on Kenkirk. Nope. Boosted right out of his arc. It does limit you down with stress, but the decimator has a decent dial for dealing with stress. Even if you bump you are still getting 2 evades no matter what.

Well i would prefer LW to Pred here too.

In this build it raises Deci defenses to insane levels. In current meta there are only few lists utilising low ps ships so that pred gonna be on par with LW, while LW gives you boost to defense: roll> LW reroll>palpatine bam! you dodged that crit or that 1hp duel with anything.

PTL is viable instead of pred cause you can TL>evade>into boost at pilot skill infinity :D

Its up to You if you want to have sure evades go with LW if you prefer to try arc dodge go with PTL.

That's pretty well my take on the subject

My only issue is with ptl is you get stressed and at times that two manuevers takes you farther away from the battle

I'll sure miss Gunner when running Palpatine + Ysanne. I might consider moving back to Gunner myself. Unless, of course, Palpatine is used for Offense against high agility ships to push through more damage. I think I'd be satisfied with that.

Actually I think engine is great even on a ps6 turret. You will probably meet a bunch of ps2 Bs in a tournament and they will eat the decimator alive if you can't dodge them. And I love engine in the first rounds when you try to set up the perfect attack angle too.

while true, I have to wonder why people keep overlooking one key fact

you don't need to arc-dodge to make boost or b-roll incredible. Just the ability to set up your approach vectors around obstacles is enough, not to mention that fact that your incredibly fat bus can now just boost right on up to soontir, block the **** out of him, and have Vader one-shot him off the table.

Actually I think engine is great even on a ps6 turret. You will probably meet a bunch of ps2 Bs in a tournament and they will eat the decimator alive if you can't dodge them. And I love engine in the first rounds when you try to set up the perfect attack angle too.

while true, I have to wonder why people keep overlooking one key fact

you don't need to arc-dodge to make boost or b-roll incredible. Just the ability to set up your approach vectors around obstacles is enough, not to mention that fact that your incredibly fat bus can now just boost right on up to soontir, block the **** out of him, and have Vader one-shot him off the table.

Wow, FGD and I actually agree on something. Weird.

For Kenkirk specifically, I like to run Hull Upgrade and Determination. You get that extra point of health buffer for once Kenkirk and Isard activate, plus you can outright discard potentially a quarter or so of the crits you take (and you'll take a lot of crits).

As for EU, it gives you a lot more range control, even aside from arc dodging or obstacle avoiding considerations. Gaining and denying range bonuses can help a lot.