Competitive? Who knows. Fun? Absolutely!

As of right now, the ships that can take the Cloaking Device include the Z-95, Starviper (with Virago title) and Khiraxz fighter, and presumably the Mist Hunter when it is released. A Z-95 or Khiraxz gains some serious maneuverability with this upgrade, while a cloaking Starviper might just be the slipperiest fighter in the game.

Personally, I'm excited to try it with N'dru Suhlak. I like running him with Lone Wolf as a cheap flanker, but the Z-95 is not an agile ship and he struggles to arc-dodge effectively. The Cloaking Device is a game-changer for him, and at only 21 points I foresee myself including this ship in many lists.

What are your ideas for the Cloaking Device? Do you, like me, wish the M-3A and Y-wing had Illicit upgrade slots so you could teleport autoblasters right on top of enemy formations?

EDIT: The HWK-290 can also equip the Cloaking Device. The only thing more annoying than Palob Godalhi is cloaked Palob Godalhi!

I was pretty excited about it until I realized that there's a 25% chance that you lose it every round you are cloaked.

I was pretty excited about it until I realized that there's a 25% chance that you lose it every round you are cloaked.

Might not be that big a deal. Without ACD, any ship with this card won't spend anywhere near as much time cloaked as we're used to seeing, so it's not like you'll be making the roll every single round. You also know the drawback is there and can thus play around it to an extent by only cloaking when you know you'll be decloaking next round (then all you're losing is the ability to recloak, which is annoying but survivable) or when you just need the +2 agility (in which case the cloak will have done its job by the time you lose it).

It makes the fact that Stygium Particle Accelrator not having the words TIE Phantom only more interesting. IT also gives more power to Echo and Whisper as they are the only pilots that can use Adv Cloak effectively.

The question is what to give this unique illicit too. Since it is unique you would probably want to spend it on an expensive ship, I'm thinking Prince Xizor or Talonbane Cobra. Since it has a risk of self discarding means you only want to use it when you need it. Which means SPA might not be as effective as if it were on a Sigma/shadow pilot. Putting it on a HWK-290 would be good as it allows you to make use of Palob and Torkill giving them a defensive boost. I don't see this going on any Headhunters though, they would be worse than running a naked phantoms. As for the upcoming Mist Rain which brings the cloaking device perhaps but going from 1 to 3 really only works at range 3 when you get that bonus and with all the cannons and TLTs about I don't think the Mist Hunter will be the one using it.

Ships that could use it

• Star Viper with title, also adds in that autothrusters for some real defense and use Xizor ability to stay on the board.
• Kihraxz Fighter Especially with Talonbane Cobra rolling 6 green dice at range 3.
• HWK-290 for a defensive boost to Palob or Torkil.

Ships that could use it but wont

• Z-95 Headhunter, seriously this is worse than a naked phantom.
• Mist Hunter 3 agility without extra focus to back it up is not dodging anything.

Someone is going to break this thing wide open

cloaking device is exceptionally competitive

...75% of the time

cloaking device is exceptionally competitive

...75% of the time

I vote CD gets errata'd to not be discarded if the card is equipped with Stygian Particle Accelerator. Its still no ACD, but at least it gives you a choice between that and AT's.

cloaking device is exceptionally competitive

...75% of the time

and judging by your name you will get the 25% 100% of the time

cloaking device is exceptionally competitive

...75% of the time

and judging by your name you will get the 25% 100% of the time

nah it's 75%

red dice, baby

but it's true that something competitive 75% the time is effective competitive 0% of the time/ Only needs to **** you over once

I suspect it's a good buy for hwks - they can still seriously impact the battle whist still cloaked...

I was pretty excited about it until I realized that there's a 25% chance that you lose it every round you are cloaked.

Might not be that big a deal. Without ACD, any ship with this card won't spend anywhere near as much time cloaked as we're used to seeing, so it's not like you'll be making the roll every single round. You also know the drawback is there and can thus play around it to an extent by only cloaking when you know you'll be decloaking next round (then all you're losing is the ability to recloak, which is annoying but survivable) or when you just need the +2 agility (in which case the cloak will have done its job by the time you lose it).

That unreliability does make the things I wanted to do with it unlikely. I pictured using it to make N'Dru a quick and unpredictable flanker, letting Mux or Palob equip an Autoblaster turret and pop around into people's faces, letting the StarViper get in close and hang there and disengage if needed. I also pictured some shenanigans with SPA and PTL.

Now it seems like it'll mostly just be used as a GTFO button, which is a shame. With the change to decloaking and not having access to ACD, having a 25% chance of losing the card seems a bit much. I was much happier with my original reading of it. The way I had thought it worked was that you rolled at the end of the round. If you got a focus you could either decloak immediately or discard the card letting you discard the card. I thought that made the unreliability present an interesting choice. Most of the time it would be annoying to decloak before dials were set but not so bad that you'd want to burn the card. Then there would be those times that you really need to make sure your opponent can't plan for exactly where you'll be and it's worth losing the card.

It makes the fact that Stygium Particle Accelrator not having the words TIE Phantom only more interesting. IT also gives more power to Echo and Whisper as they are the only pilots that can use Adv Cloak effectively.

The question is what to give this unique illicit too. Since it is unique you would probably want to spend it on an expensive ship, I'm thinking Prince Xizor or Talonbane Cobra. Since it has a risk of self discarding means you only want to use it when you need it. Which means SPA might not be as effective as if it were on a Sigma/shadow pilot. Putting it on a HWK-290 would be good as it allows you to make use of Palob and Torkill giving them a defensive boost. I don't see this going on any Headhunters though, they would be worse than running a naked phantoms. As for the upcoming Mist Rain which brings the cloaking device perhaps but going from 1 to 3 really only works at range 3 when you get that bonus and with all the cannons and TLTs about I don't think the Mist Hunter will be the one using it.

Ships that could use it

• Star Viper with title, also adds in that autothrusters for some real defense and use Xizor ability to stay on the board.
• Kihraxz Fighter Especially with Talonbane Cobra rolling 6 green dice at range 3.
• HWK-290 for a defensive boost to Palob or Torkil.

Ships that could use it but wont

• Z-95 Headhunter, seriously this is worse than a naked phantom.
• Mist Hunter 3 agility without extra focus to back it up is not dodging anything.

It makes the fact that Stygium Particle Accelrator not having the words TIE Phantom only more interesting. IT also gives more power to Echo and Whisper as they are the only pilots that can use Adv Cloak effectively.

The question is what to give this unique illicit too. Since it is unique you would probably want to spend it on an expensive ship, I'm thinking Prince Xizor or Talonbane Cobra. Since it has a risk of self discarding means you only want to use it when you need it. Which means SPA might not be as effective as if it were on a Sigma/shadow pilot. Putting it on a HWK-290 would be good as it allows you to make use of Palob and Torkill giving them a defensive boost. I don't see this going on any Headhunters though, they would be worse than running a naked phantoms. As for the upcoming Mist Rain which brings the cloaking device perhaps but going from 1 to 3 really only works at range 3 when you get that bonus and with all the cannons and TLTs about I don't think the Mist Hunter will be the one using it.

Ships that could use it

• Star Viper with title, also adds in that autothrusters for some real defense and use Xizor ability to stay on the board.
• Kihraxz Fighter Especially with Talonbane Cobra rolling 6 green dice at range 3.
• HWK-290 for a defensive boost to Palob or Torkil.

Ships that could use it but wont

• Z-95 Headhunter, seriously this is worse than a naked phantom.
• Mist Hunter 3 agility without extra focus to back it up is not dodging anything.

Getting a temporary 3 Agility on what is essentially a B-Wing is pretty cool. Being able to not get melted by 2 dice attacks is a big plus. How much it gets used on the Mist Hunter is going to depend on what the Tractor Beam does and what some of the pilot abilities are. Who knows, there might be a new crew that gets rid of the unreliability which would make the card much better on the HWK and Mist Hunter than on other ships.

I doubt that they would do anything to keep the cloaking device going. For the most part it seems to fit the theme as Imperial technology and some how a black market trader got one for themselves but don't know how to use it so it is less reliable.

As for the rebels, nope we don't need stinking cloaking device. Cloaking devices are for cowardly bad guys.

Why are you calling the glorious Romulan Empire bad guys?

I don't see cloaked headhunters being a big issue they don't have the fire power to really be threatening.

Cloaked starvipers on the other hand could be very fun indeed.

If only you could entice the Emperor to go work for Prince Xizor.

Why are you calling the glorious Romulan Empire bad guys?

hmm, Romulan Empire, Galactic Empire, coincidence? I think not. If you are an empire in space opera science fiction then you are always the bad guy

However if you are the Federation, well you are obviously the good guys no matter what you do

As for the rebels, nope we don't need stinking cloaking device. Cloaking devices are for cowardly bad guys.

Don't tell that to the Klingons

Look at it this way: You pay 2 points for a one use cloaking device to use on a key turn, say to protect someone from a round of fire and to gain a maneuvering advantage. In this regard it's a lot like Glitterstim and Inertial Dampeners. It's just that you also have a 75% chance of getting to use it later in the game, too.

we need a salvaged astromech which adds an illicit slot.

It is absolutely essential for Y-Wings to be able to equip a cloaking device

( Just because I love Y-Wings - no better reason that that )

we need a salvaged astromech which adds an illicit slot.

It is absolutely essential for Y-Wings to be able to equip a cloaking device

( Just because I love Y-Wings - no better reason that that )

So a scum equivalent of R2-D6 only this time it would coast 0 instead of 1.

I really like it for improving the initial approach. A ship like the Mist Hunter will struggle to avoid damage in the early rounds with a full squad bearing down on it. It seems good for muddling the initial approach and allowing a ship that normally enters the fight head-on to come from a strange angle. That could be worth its low cost.

this is a card i cant wait to try.....

As for the rebels, nope we don't need stinking cloaking device. Cloaking devices are for cowardly bad guys.

You do know that 3 good guys decloak about 10 seconds after this picture is taken, don't you.

Look at it this way: You pay 2 points for a one use cloaking device to use on a key turn, say to protect someone from a round of fire and to gain a maneuvering advantage. In this regard it's a lot like Glitterstim and Inertial Dampeners. It's just that you also have a 75% chance of getting to use it later in the game, too.

imo, not good enough

Xizor and Guri will be estatic for the emergency teleport, but they already come in with built-in defensive mechanisms that let them see the light of day

poor Cobra, on the other hand, would've actually been competitive with a stygium + cloaking device getting him across the battle-field and trading dice in one piece. Now he can still do that, but when that evil eye comes up he's going to be left adrift with an absolutely worthless mod