The Star Viper really isn't that bad a place. It's a touch overcosted but not horribly. I've had moderate success putting a couple 25 point Black Sun Enforcers into lists paired with Boba or an IG. Honestly I think the addition of the Khiraxz is going to help the Star Viper as its going to open up a lot of room for list building in the faction.

The one and only thing that is in dire need of help is the Scyck and at this juncture I have zero expectations of ever getting a Scum Aces pack. There are a ton of options that will be available to Scum players 9 months from now when we have all of the new stuff from waves 7 and 8 in play.

I think it's much more likely that we are just stuck with a dud ship for a long time. Perhaps an opportunity will come up for a fix elsewhere. I just can't see a Scum Aces pack being a big seller just to fix the Scyck and give something else that's already good more options.

It's fun to theorized but FFG needs something that will sell and the Scyck's will struggle to sell Aces packs.

What I don't understand about the Scyk is why they made all of the titles cost 2 points. Like, I get why they made the cannon title two points (for the HLC spamming), but why the heck are the missile and torpedo titles 2 points? That's just plain Major Rhymer point cost level of crazy and I don't understand it at all .

What I don't understand about the Scyk is why they made all of the titles cost 2 points. Like, I get why they made the cannon title two points (for the HLC spamming), but why the heck are the missile and torpedo titles 2 points? That's just plain Major Rhymer point cost level of crazy and I don't understand it at all .

They were maybe trying to be too elegant. They could have put a Torp and Missile slot on the basic fighter, and made the cannon Scyk the 2 point title, but maybe that would have caused problems with future cards.

I'm interested to see how the tractor beam will work, and if it has a dramatic force-multiplying effect it may be a good option for the Scyk. It could carry the tractor at 17 points, which is pretty cheap, and you wouldn't be losing a powerful attack each time you tractor. Tractor-Scyks might be the most cost effective tractor carriers, meaning you'll have enough points in the rest of your list to take advantage of the tractor effect, whatever it is.

I'm not optimistic about that being a good option, mind you. It'll probably be a little more pricey than what its worth. But it could be a good distraction ship (one you need to destroy first, rather than other dangerous targets), or it could be a relatively cheap force multiplier. Tractor Laetin may be a good ship.

In general, Alex Davy named the Scyk as one of the ships in need of a fix in his interview. It'll be getting some love, but it may be a while before we see something.

The Scyk either needs a Refit to reduce the cost a point or two or a A-Wing test pilot or both. The Star viper could be fixed by making the Virgo upgrade not dependent upon pilot skill. The current card says it cannot be used for PS 3 or less, but that just leaves the two aces. The wave 7 stuff is too know to know if it needs tweaked yet. The Z95 is fine for what it is, but another pilot or two would be nice. The same for the Starviper and the M3.

How about an aces pack that included the Syck and a new ship? Maybe a dune lizard? Nothing says you can't have an aces pack with a new ship. Scum needs a few more options to equal the other factions anyway.

.....

......... Personally, I'm not too worried other than we won't likely see an aces pack for S&V for quite some time given the hints of other things coming down the pipeline...

What hints do You mean?

I was referring to the FFG in-flight report @ gencon (specific mention of Wave 8 & hints about ships coming from episode 7)

I've said this elsewhere, but I'd be quite happy to see the following in a Scum & Villany Aces set:

Hutt Cartel Aces

• 1 x Dunelizard (as a Heavy Scyk variant)

• 1 x Vaksai (as a Kihraxz variant)

Would offer something a bit "different" to the standard repaint formula. New pilot cards for both ships, new illicit upgrades and modifications... maybe a modification which allows Salvaged Astromechs on the Vaksai.

Feasible to do two new sculpts for an Aces pack rather than repaints? I don't know. But those two ships occupy similar design space to the Heavy Scyk and Kiharxz, so it seems appropriate...

Either of the following could be interesting interpretations of the dunelizard:

1) Title. 4 points. Increase primary weapon attack by 1. Add crew or salvaged astromech slot.

2) Modification. 2pts. Increase hull value by 1. Add crew or salvaged astromech slot.

The former makes it more similar to basic TIE interceptor. Trades boost and green turns for flexible slot.

The latter option allows the heavy Syck title to be used in conjunction and offers slight durability discount. This would make 4 HLC Sycks with 4 health possible though. Could drop the modification to 0pts and lose the extra hull (but your stuck with flimsy 3 health for a supposedly more robust fighter).

As for the Vaksai, the Kihraxz looks like a decent ship already. Doesn't need a fix per say but we have seen FFG art in Roark and article header that proves the design team knows the Vaksai exists. The model would be great and it's rules could add another layer to what should be a great medium fighter.

Vaksai: Title, 2-3 points. Increase shield value by 1. Gain additional illicit slot.

So if you want to put points into the platform, you have lots of great options. Many illicit are one use only, so it would be fun to be able to get multiple of the same or different types. If the discount on the extra shield is too much drop it to a Hull increase instead. I think the basic Kihraxz is not cast aside if you want the efficiency of its generic costs.

I doubt that FFG would release anything for the Scyk that invalidates the Heavy Scyk title. Which is a shame really because Titles are a great place to patch ships without interfering with the other upgrade options.

There is the mysterious Dual "something" rules card with the Mist Hunter expansion that we've yet to see, it'll be interesting to see what that does and how it could be applied to the Scyk.

I suppose there could be upgrades which benefit from the Scyk title for example:

2 pt Modification - M3-A armour plating

Scyk only

When defending against an attack immediately before damage is assigned you may discard this card to change one [ CRIT ] result to a [ HIT ] or cancel one [ HIT ] result.

Reduce cost of this upgrade by 1 point if it is equipped with the "Heavy Scyk" Interceptor title.

Gives the ship a minor amount of additional durability. Could possibly be a 1 point upgrade normally and 0 points for the Heavy Scyk.

Huge fan of the scyk here.... I really want it to be competitive but unique and interesting at the same time.

Seems like the ship was designed as a cannon/weapons platform and a manouverable semi-arc dodger, but its proving very fragile and not quite as manouvarable as we would like. Also the title-less scyk is not seeing any real table time due to the z95 being a better choice for the low point filler/swarm/blocker ship.

So how about this:

Modification - M3A Scyk Only:

'Improved Roll Thrusters' 0 pts

'You may use the two straight template when executing a barrel roll. You may equip one more modification to your ship.'

Now this would give the little scyk a nice buff in survivability due to improved repositional/arc dodging, but without resorting to giving it the boost action - keeping the M3A unique from the games other interceptors. It would also help in lining up shots, getting range 1 from time to time, and making its movements much more unpredictable. The extra mod slot would allow for the possibility of adding hull, shield or stealth device should you choose. Also, imagine the improved blocking potential with this mod - i think this might make the 14 pt title-less scyk a viable choice.

Might be fun

Thinking about ways of giving other options to the Scyk without making the default title redundant and without closing off too many upgrade options with auto-includes. So how about countermeasures for the missile slot; I doubt that I'm the first person to come up with using the missile slot for flares and chaff and the like, but offering it as a 0 point missile upgrade to the M3-A creates an alternate use for the Heavy Scyk title. Essentially for 2 squad points you get 3 free evade tokens:

M3-A countermeasures pod.
Missile - 0pts
M3-A Interceptor only
At the end of the deployment phase place 3 evade tokens on this upgrade card.

When you are defending against an attack, you may discard one of evade tokens from this card to cancel one [ HIT ] or [ CRITICAL HIT ] result.

What I don't understand about the Scyk is why they made all of the titles cost 2 points. Like, I get why they made the cannon title two points (for the HLC spamming), but why the heck are the missile and torpedo titles 2 points? That's just plain Major Rhymer point cost level of crazy and I don't understand it at all .

The title just offers you more options. Nothing wrong with having options, the problem with no missiles or torpedo upgrades taken on Scyks is more with the torpedo and missile secondary weapons themselves and not the Scyk or the title.

Much like when you go to the gas station you have the option of regular, plus or premium unleaded gasoline. Unless you have a top performance car or motorcycle it is alright to stick to the more economical regular gasoline. Nothing is stopping you from getting the higher octane gasoline it just won't be much of an improvement on the performance of your FIAT compact car. Sure you can choose a 2 point torpedo or a 3 point missile over a 7 point cannon, it just will only be good for 1 attack.

While I love the idea of having the Dune Lizard or Vaksai, I think we'll eventually see both as completely seperate ships. You guys seems to be taking the variant thing a tad far, they have more differences then your average TIE variant so IMO they deserve to be their own ship. Especially the Dune Lizard as it would give us a small base dog fighter that can take a crew or astro mech, this could lead to such fun shenanigans.

As for what we're likely to get then the Syck is the obvious candidate, along with possibly the Starviper. Both could use alittle more options to play with. The special K seems to of been designed to run with little to no upgrades seeing as it has very few slots, this I feel would make it a poor option for a Aces pack.

But honestly a dream come true would be a HWK ace pack, I have a special place in my shriveled black heart for this ship and would love to see what else they could do with it. Plus the Rebel version seems alittle lacking so they could use it as a opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

I honestly wish FFG would rethink their policy on card packs for this game. They don't even haft to give me anything that comes in the ship boxes, just new pilots would be great. Would allow a quick and easy way to catch scum up on that front.

I'm a Scyk fan. I only own 2, so I haven't tried the swarms, but I've sen them do amazing things. Their 3 agility makes it hard to predict how long they'll be around. Sometimes they survjve for a while and are a huge nuisance. Other times they crumple like paper. I think that sort of variance, combined with their cost, is what keeps them from being tournament-viable. However, that is exactly what makes them fun for casual games. As we consider fixes for tournament play, let us not forget that some ships are already fine for other play formats.

Personally, I am most looking forward to new pilots with EPT slots. Laetin has an awesome ability, but has trouble making the cut without an EPT. Push the Limit, Predator, Lone Wolf -- those all could have been awesome on Laetin. So I'm looking forward to new pilot abilities and more pilots with EPT slots.

I would be totally fine with a dual-Scyk pack, but I know others already have a full squad's worth of these, so I could see them doing the Starviper. It would be nice to have more pilots for them as well. A part of me also wants to see Khiraxz Fighters, judt to get more pilots, but maybe that can come with Jabba's Pleasure Yacht or some other epic ship.

M3-A countermeasures pod.

Missile - 0pts

M3-A Interceptor only

At the end of the deployment phase place 3 evade tokens on this upgrade card.

When you are defending against an attack, you may discard one of evade tokens from this card to cancel one [ HIT ] or [ CRITICAL HIT ] result.

The more I think about this the more I realise it's awfully close to a really cheap shield upgrade for the scyk. Basically cancel a hit by discarding tokens.

So a couple of more refined variations:

At the end of the deployment phase place 3 evade tokens on this upgrade card.

When you are defending against an attack, after rolling defense dice you may remove one evade token from this card to add one evade result to your results.

Or

At the end of the deployment phase place 3 evade tokens on this upgrade card.

When you are defending against an attack, after rolling defense dice you may remove one evade token from this card to change one of your dice results to an evade.

I prefer the former as it allows you to increase your overall evade by one per attack until the store runs out. It also opens you action selection while in combat. I don't see this working as a fix to the M3-A Interceptor, at least not by itself.

We may see a title or modification that gives illicit slots to the scyks.

It is hard to tell as with both aces pack the TIE Interceptor, A-wing, and B-wing did not have a title before the Ace pack came and gave them titles. Now just about every ship is coming in with a title. The Scyk already has one and the Star Viper as well. So there may not be a new title for the Scyk in the Scum Aces. May be something else.

I like also think that the two scum ships which need most love is the Scyk and the Starviper:

Zann Consortium used Starvipers in the game Empire at War, forces of corruption a RTS. game. so if FFG ever did a aces version of this ship it might not be the refined Virago but one with more cost value. The Starvipers in this game was so sort of grey, and looking way more mass-produced that the Virago. I like the idea about still being able to afford four Black Sun Enforcers but they need a little extra something. They could give it a Zann refit title: StarViper-class attack platform, grating a free torpedo costing up to 3 or 4 points. Or like someone else suggested used the Torp. slot for a free Buzz droid missile which can only be taken be a Starviper… maybe- Attack ((focus) 3att. 2-3 range) spend a focus token to preform this attack. When dealing damaged assign the defender a stress token instead of a hit and a ion token instead of a crit. Then cancel all damaged. discard this card. The aces for this pack could be the crime lord Typer Zann and his personly aid Uric Fen a Talortai warrior who was second in command of the Zann Consortium. They should have a low pilot skill PS6 for Ulic and PS4 for Zann still making it possible for them to take the Virago title but their abilities should somehow make it more reasonable to take some of the new upgrades… maybe something like when When attacking with secondary weapon that instructs you to discard it to preform the attack, do not discard it unless the attack missed. making a deadly combo with munition failsafe.

They could go a whole other way and make a aces box with three Scyks, all with difference paint jobs looking as various as possible. The box should contain lots of new named pilots, maybe all with a defensive ability of some sort, this already being the theme for the M3-A pilots to be slippery. Some could be more scum like and have the ability to use other ship’s focus tokens when defending while other could be more group minded being able to assign its evade token to friendly nearby ship. They could then give it a new title: Lightweight Scyk with a reduced price -1p or -2p but making it for unique pilots only thus making it possible to have mini swarm with uniques. They could take this a bit futher by also(or instead) making lots of crazy uniques ship titles going by the mantra that all these smugglers use their own(or a stolen) special customized ship. This could be something like “The Concealed Menace ”-you may equip a modification with the large ships only limitation 0p. “Timeslip”-your action bar contains the boost action 3p. “Rust-bucket” you may equip a turret paying its normal cost 2p. “Double trouble”- you may equip two difference illicit upgrades paying its normal cost 0p. “The Great Missiles Carrier”- You may equip two XX-23 S-Thread Tracers for free 0p. There are many funny possibilities going this route but it had to well balanced but this would be easy just price the titles right. This might open up for some really funny or weird builds but it could be a new new way of solving the problem that a ship is overpriced.

I have just startet this game, with S& V faction being my fovourite. And i am already missing a S & V option for my lovely YT1300.