I think the next rebel aces will be X and E wings, but I could see a Y wing with pilots with EPTs. I think the next imperial will be the defender, but I am not sure there is another small based Imperial ship that needs a bump, maybe the bomber but I think they will see how the munitions fixes affect the meta before they change the bomber.

Honestly, every time I look at the Chardaan Refit card I wonder why they didn't make it limited small ship only. I can't name a single small based ship (with a missile slot) that ISN'T overpriced. This would have helped the Defender.

Not sure how well Defenders would stand up to a ten Z swarm.

The key lies in splitting the swarm, and at a certain point they are forced to split.

Careful asteroid placing, play on the sides , and once they have split... The hunt begins.

Honestly, every time I look at the Chardaan Refit card I wonder why they didn't make it limited small ship only. I can't name a single small based ship (with a missile slot) that ISN'T overpriced. This would have helped the Defender.

Not sure how well Defenders would stand up to a ten Z swarm.

That was the first missile ship after CR wan't it? This is why changing the way the cost upgrade slots is so dangerous. It just speeds the "aging" of older ships. Looking at the Scyk, it seems silly stupid (that's my official term of the day ) that the Z95 starts at 12 points.

An Imperial Aces pack with a Defender could pair with a Bomber, but I agree that we're getting a slew of ordnance upgrades that seem to being doing a good job of making Bombers more interesting. Maybe you could do like Rebel Aces did for the B-wing and make some neat variants, like an Electronic Warfare version of the Bomber. That would be cool. I could see packing it with a TIE Fighter and emphasizing a "high-low mix" where you get some cool support cards for the TIE Fighter, to support the Ace, but that seems less likely with Gozanti TIEs upcoming. You could do two Defenders, but that seems excessive for such an expensive ship. Defender + Shuttle could be cool. The Shuttle hasn't gotten any love in a while, and you could play up the VIP/Bodyguard and Front-line/Support dichotomies.

At this point what stuff can we say definitely doesn't have an ace pack?

E-Wing and Defender as stated, both could do with a boost aside from Corran, who is now a much bigger risk in a world where Adv. Homing Missiles exist anyway.

Y-Wing? It got a big buff with Scum & Villainy, enough not to warrent an Ace pack upgrade though?

Z-95's probably don't need the buff, and pretty much everything else either has one, or is working fine.

Bomber's getting buffs in the form of Extra Munitions and newer meaner bombs and munitions to use with them.

What about Imperial Firespray? That could probably do with a few more odds and ends as the Scum Firespray stuff hasn't really done anything for the Imperial flavour.

What about Scum? A Starviper and Scyk ace pack would definitely be appreciated.

Most wanted was the y-wing aces pack it's got the option to be a bomber, a gunship and a control ship it's very flexible more so than most other ships.

The defender has the only problem of being overpriced already so any title shouldn't add a cent to the squad point cost.

I like the idea of a Juno Eclipse-like ability but why add something like that when we have Twin Ion Engine Mk2 now?

IMHO the only title that the defender needs is one that gives him the boost and sensors option, without adding any cost.

Price is well high already.

The Defender costs about 2 points more than it should. Engine upgrade is worth 4 points. The ability to put a sensor slot on the Defender would probably be worth a point. So: your proposal of giving the Defender 5 points of free stuff would be a bit much.

It seems like everyone is behind the general gist of my defender buff- increasing their conttol and firepower for less than 3 points (for 3 deltas). The exact wording is all thats being debated, depending on what kind of upgrade bias we give it. I feel the version in the OP offers the most flexibility while still biasing toward the control cannons- tractor token, stress, ion, autohit or crit.

The Ewing is a trickier one, as its really only 1 build that is competitive. Making generic ships useful without overbuffing corran is the goal. So what does the generic bring to the table, and how does corran abuse it?

A simple droid that is negative points cost would help generic e wings but not corran since he is pretty much always with r2d2. It would probably have to be a e wing only (or even possibly x wing too)

R067 astromech. -2 points

E wing only.

Lets see...

Corran seems to be built as an Engine Upgrade arcdodger, lacking the Intercepters Stealth Device/Autothrusters combo, but compensating with the ability to recover any damage he actually takes, and to take adantge of any momentary openings with twice te Ewing's normal firepower. To do this he needs Engine Upgrade for boost and R2D2 for regen, though you often see him supplemented with FCS and PTL (arcdodging power) or VI (arcdodging knowlege)

(Miranda Doni, the Kwing pilot, also seems poised to fill this role with a twist, where she selects regeneration or arcdodging each turn, in exchange for a PWT and a SWT.)

So, to make an ability that "corran doesnt want", it should involve a Mod slot (Ewing Series 4), and/or an astromech slot. (R8 series) Ideally, it should not be unique, and should have only a limited interaction with corran's ability.

One soluition might be to upgrade the ships jousting ability at the cost of the ability to take Engine Upgrade. (fixing the Ewings Legends-ary problem with the wingtip lasers) Another might be to emphasise it's arcdodging role- perhaps autothrusters or PTL as an astromech? Or both? (on different astromechs, of course)

It seems like everyone is behind the general gist of my defender buff- increasing their conttol and firepower for less than 3 points (for 3 deltas). The exact wording is all thats being debated, depending on what kind of upgrade bias we give it.

I actually think any Defender buff should focus on defense rather than control. They are a prime candidates for a regeneration in the Imperial fleet.

It seems like everyone is behind the general gist of my defender buff- increasing their conttol and firepower for less than 3 points (for 3 deltas). The exact wording is all thats being debated, depending on what kind of upgrade bias we give it.

I actually think any Defender buff should focus on defense rather than control. They are a prime candidates for a regeneration in the Imperial fleet.

not a fan of glass cannon defenders?

I'm not really a fan of just sayng "have extra hull/shields", and the clever idea I came up with to increase the Xwing's durability got confiscated by the Inquisition Tie.

Any suggestions for a mechanic that isnt "like what they did for X"?

I actually am a fan. I just think increasing defenses in one way or another makes it feel more like a heavy assault elite starfighter, which is what it is.

To be fair, the only thing more heavy-assaulty in the game is the IG2000, which is a different animal... er, mineral? The issue is that its so expensive it doesnt feel so powerful.

As somene with your defender expertise, what are your thoughts on the various versions of linking ion cannons and main guns?

Combining regular damage and an ion effect would be great, and it would probably be enough for generic Defenders to be pretty good, and it would give them a unique sort of niche that it feels like they should have for the points. Specific mechanics don't really matter to much to me.

I would be hard pressed to give up an HLC for it on named Defenders, as I think they need to dish out heavy damage. Combining HLC damage and control in the same shot would be... probably too good.

I like E'tahn much better than Corran. Corran's ability is OK, but E'tahn is amazing and buffs everyone around him.

I know everyone thinks Corran is just fine, but I'm concerned that he only ever seems to be in lists with Dash. I'd like to see him with options that let him be listed with other ships.

I would like to see something like this if the E-Wing is ever re-released.

-----------------------------------

E-Wing only. Modification

Your ship can not equip

Astromech or Torpedo

upgrade cards.

This card has a negative

squad point cost.

-2 (maybe -3?)

-----------------------------------

Since the original E-Wings could only equip R7 Astromechs, which were made specifically for the use of the E-Wing, it would make sense to think that they would have designed the ship before the droid. Then they could know how best to make the droid compatible for the ship. This would lead me to believe that perhaps some of the first prototypes may have been designed for testing without the Astromech. Also, I would think that the prototypes probably wouldn't have been equipped with a bunch of high explosives for safety reasons in the event of a crash or other mishap during testing, hence the no torpedoes. Plus, with this card being a Modification, it would keep the ship from being equipped with other Modification upgrades, which would make sense seeing that a test-stage prototype probably wouldn't be modified or upgraded. I think this makes sense thematically.

Opinions, please.

Combining regular damage and an ion effect would be great, and it would probably be enough for generic Defenders to be pretty good, and it would give them a unique sort of niche that it feels like they should have for the points. Specific mechanics don't really matter to much to me.

I would be hard pressed to give up an HLC for it on named Defenders, as I think they need to dish out heavy damage. Combining HLC damage and control in the same shot would be... probably too good.

Do the cannons need a price rebate too, or is the linked shot enough?

The defender has the only problem of being overpriced already so any title shouldn't add a cent to the squad point cost.

I like the idea of a Juno Eclipse-like ability but why add something like that when we have Twin Ion Engine Mk2 now?

IMHO the only title that the defender needs is one that gives him the boost and sensors option, without adding any cost.

Price is well high already.

The Defender costs about 2 points more than it should. Engine upgrade is worth 4 points. The ability to put a sensor slot on the Defender would probably be worth a point. So: your proposal of giving the Defender 5 points of free stuff would be a bit much.

I'm positive that it costs 4 point more than it should.

Look at the Aggressor as an example.

Completely naked it comes at 36 points and brings a pilot skill of six and a nice array of four pilot abilities. And it can equip sensors AND perform the Segnor's Loop.

And it has target lock, focus, boost AND evade. 3/3/4/4 stats. Only drawback (and I'm not completely sure that it's a drawback) is its large base.

Now let's take the lowest defender, pilot skill 1.

That's an academy pilot, shouldn't even THINK of getting his hands on a Defender. Stats are lower in both hull and shields. It cannot evade (/me shrugs) and it trades boost for barrel roll.

Six points less. For a white 4k-turn.

That's still too much for a ship that in such a setup would last two turns, with heaps of luck. It should have started at 26 points since it needed cannons and/or ordnance.

Let's get to Vessery. Or Brath.

Extremely useful pilot abilities for 35 and 37 points, that become 36 and 38 because no one would fly them without Tie Mk2 now, and still we have to pay for ept and cannons, so we easily get over 42/43 points.

My point is: the most advanced starfighter in the galaxy is.... Well... The second most advanced starfighter in the galaxy

It's like FFG designed it with hatred. *shrug* or they gave its development to a rebel fanatic.

Jokes aside, since it is so advanced, why doesn't it have access to sensors? Why such a restricted dial?

Since the original E-Wings could only equip R7 Astromechs, which were made specifically for the use of the E-Wing, it would make sense to think that they would have designed the ship before the droid. Then they could know how best to make the droid compatible for the ship. This would lead me to believe that perhaps some of the first prototypes may have been designed for testing without the Astromech. Also, I would think that the prototypes probably wouldn't have been equipped with a bunch of high explosives for safety reasons in the event of a crash or other mishap during testing, hence the no torpedoes. Plus, with this card being a Modification, it would keep the ship from being equipped with other Modification upgrades, which would make sense seeing that a test-stage prototype probably wouldn't be modified or upgraded. I think this makes sense thematically.

Opinions, please.

Instead of outright removing astros for a discount, what about limiting which astros can be taken with a title. An idea I had a while back was:

Title - E-wing Series 1

0 points

Reduce the cost of an equipped astromech card by 2 points to a minimum of 0.

You may only equip astromechs with R7 at the start of the title.

As you say, the early E-wings could only get R7 astros, so a card to discount those mechs for the E-wing kind of fits. It'd have to be combined with a couple of new generic R7 astromechs and maybe one or two unique ones.

Names for the generic astromechs would be a bit of a pain, R7-T astromech or a variation of that I guess, beyond that it's down to ideas for how to buff the E-wing. Also considering that any of these astromechs will also benefit X-wings and Y-wings at a slightly higher price.

Since the topic is rolling back round to Ewings, reposting...

Lets see...

Corran seems to be built as an Engine Upgrade arcdodger, lacking the Intercepters Stealth Device/Autothrusters combo, but compensating with the ability to recover any damage he actually takes, and to take adantge of any momentary openings with twice te Ewing's normal firepower. To do this he needs Engine Upgrade for boost and R2D2 for regen, though you often see him supplemented with FCS and PTL (arcdodging power) or VI (arcdodging knowlege)

(Miranda Doni, the Kwing pilot, also seems poised to fill this role with a twist, where she selects regeneration or arcdodging each turn, in exchange for a PWT and a SWT.)

So, to make an ability that "corran doesnt want", it should involve a Mod slot (Ewing Series 4), and/or an astromech slot. (R8 series) Ideally, it should not be unique, and should have only a limited interaction with corran's ability.

One soluition might be to upgrade the ships jousting ability at the cost of the ability to take Engine Upgrade. (fixing the Ewings Legends-ary problem with the wingtip lasers) Another might be to emphasise it's arcdodging role- perhaps autothrusters or PTL as an astromech? Or both? (on different astromechs, of course)

I am just excited that there is an x wing fix coming shortly, and I assume, as part of an episode 7 release based on Alex davys interview. And that the e wing is going to get some love. Woot woot.

Like I said before, an e wing only astromech that reduces squad cost. Horn wants r2d2, so he won't take, or if he does it will act as a bit of a nerf for him as he will die sooner.

Combining regular damage and an ion effect would be great, and it would probably be enough for generic Defenders to be pretty good, and it would give them a unique sort of niche that it feels like they should have for the points. Specific mechanics don't really matter to much to me.

I would be hard pressed to give up an HLC for it on named Defenders, as I think they need to dish out heavy damage. Combining HLC damage and control in the same shot would be... probably too good.

So, two cannon slots, and the ability to link a (damage weakened) cannon to the primary guns. Tie Fighter enthusists can go ion and tractor, you can go ion and HLC. (Or autoblaster/hlc?)

Do the cannons need a price rebate too, or is the linked shot enough?

I think you go either price rebated control cannon or linked cannon. My gut says you probably don't need both. A free Ion Cannon on a Delta or Onyx seems like a pretty decent buy, and I'm a bit hesitant about those right now. I would consider trading an HLC for a free Ion Cannon for the aces, it just depends on the list. This is a conservative change by the designers.

33-35 points for a generic that can throw an ion token out when it does damage with primaries seems both unique and powerful, and is probably a bit more out on a limb. Of the various proposals for this mechanic, combining full primaries with a damage-less control shot has some interesting effects on the game. As the target has to decide whether to use tokens to stop damage or a control shot. It helps Defenders power through token stackers. I would probably think a lot harder about replacing my HLC with this setup on an ace, because EPTs like Predator, Lone Wolf, and Outmaneuver can work on both shots.

Overall, I don't really like two cannon slots, but it's mostly for thematic reasons. It doesn't feel right to me. Ion and HLC feel like they take the same position on the ship, the Tractor Beam is clearly a different sort of device from the video games. I think a Mist Hunter type title that gives the Defender a free slot for a Tractor Beam is a good solution, but you seem to want different sorts of solutions than have been proposed before. I would certainly like the "canonical" version of the Defender (Ion Cannons, Tractor Beam, Missiles) to be a strong option.

I would like to see something like this if the E-Wing is ever re-released.

-----------------------------------

E-Wing only. Modification

Your ship can not equip

Astromech or Torpedo

upgrade cards.

This card has a negative

squad point cost.

-2 (maybe -3?)

-----------------------------------

Since the original E-Wings could only equip R7 Astromechs, which were made specifically for the use of the E-Wing, it would make sense to think that they would have designed the ship before the droid. Then they could know how best to make the droid compatible for the ship. This would lead me to believe that perhaps some of the first prototypes may have been designed for testing without the Astromech. Also, I would think that the prototypes probably wouldn't have been equipped with a bunch of high explosives for safety reasons in the event of a crash or other mishap during testing, hence the no torpedoes. Plus, with this card being a Modification, it would keep the ship from being equipped with other Modification upgrades, which would make sense seeing that a test-stage prototype probably wouldn't be modified or upgraded. I think this makes sense thematically.

Opinions, please.

Not too much of a fan of this. It's a trade of a modification slot, a torpedo, and a droid for a couple points. That doesn't fix the generic e wing, it castrates it.