I've been looking over my inventory and every time I see pilot cards like Tala Squadron, Obsidian Squadron, & Black Sun Soldier, etc., I think to myself "Do I even need these? I've never used them". If I wanted pilots with abilities I use the named cards (or I use generics with the Elite talent slot like Green Squadron, Black Squadron, and Black Sun Ace), and for swarms I go for the cheapest pilots to make room for more ships and/or more upgrades. But other than that, is there any need for the pilots that are between worthy of having a name and the bottom of the barrel?

It's not often that I come across players who use generic PS 3 or 4 pilots. I've only played against one person who did, 2 B-Wing Daggers and 2 Red Squadron X-Wings.

So I'm just curious if anyone else finds use for PS 3 or 4 pilots and why do you use them? Like when to use Obsidian over Academy, Gamma over Scimitar, or Black Sun Soldier over Binayre Pirate.

TLT meta: Getting at/above ps 2 is a huge deal. Bids to 3 - 4 - 5 are great, gets PS on most quad TLT lists.

Dumb 2 ship Turretwing meta: Waste of points

Predator may be a reason to bid to PS3.

Entirely meta dependent. Obsidian bid is entirely worth it for me, dodges predator and gets me a leg up on both ties and tlt ships.

Yeah its entirely dependant on what your mates usually fly.

I mean i took three storm squadron and vader with swarm tactics against three PS8 rebels this evening and given vader got knocked out really quickly i would have been just as well off with tempest squadron and used the saved points on upgades.

Had Ste turned up with gold squadron TLT y wings though it would have paid off!

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v3!s!31:18,72:-1:-1:;31:18,72:-1:-1:;31:18,72:-1:-1:;31:18,72:-1:-1:;31:18,72:-1:-1:

I love this build, not only is it highly maneuverable, but it allows for a bait and switch style of play.

Obsidian over Gamma, Tala over Bandit, or Black Sun over Binarye: it's only one point for a +2 Pilot Skill gain. One or two won't hurt, and can actually be a boon. Just don't go overboard on it if you don't have to.

If you're playing Epic, being able to get up to PS4 can be the difference between "My ship dies before I shoot" and "simultaneous fire rule."

1 point upgrades to PS 3/4 is usually worth it to beat other generics and dodge predator. But 2 points for a maybe isn't worth it (without the right meta - the Wave 3 meta had a lot of Red Squadron and Dagger Squadron).

If I'm flying ion cannons, I usually want them to attack last, so I'll up any of my non-ion cannon generics to PS3 or 4. That way my ion cannons get through and I can place ion tokens.

so I misunderstood the point of the thread, yes there is a point for a high pilot skill for generics, especially in epic tournaments.

I think with the rise of the heavy bombers we will see more PS 3 and Lower because the ability to more before the enemy when dropping ordnance is everything. I know I run the PS2 K-wing.

When generics are popular, PS4 can be excellent - particuarly on generics with boost or barrel roll, so they can react to their PS 1 or 2 opponents.

When aces (which 2-ship builds almost invariably are) are popular, it's burning points; skip 'em.

Variations within are widespread - Green Squadron Pilots can be worth it just for the EPT; Talas and Obsidians are often taken because heck, it's only one point, and if the bid pays off against other filler, that can be a big deal all over again.

With that said, I've never seen a Grey Squadron Y-wing ever. I guess people never felt like bothering to init-bid their turrets.

3 Greys+TLT and a Grey+Autoblaster is totally a TLT thing; good counter to Golds.

I once played 3 Vigo and a Black Sun Soldier in prevision to counter BBBBZ or Panic attack, and I would do it again to counter 4 Advanced with AC+CM or 4 Y-Wing/HWK with TLT.

There is some archetype of units that make going PS3-4 worthy. Depends on your group of course, but when playing generics, people do tend to use the cheapest lowest PS pilot. You can use that to your advantage if you also plan to use generics. Of course, if you know that your playing group only go elite, no use to pay 1-2 point more to raise your PS.

It's not often that I come across players who use generic PS 3 or 4 pilots. I've only played against one person who did, 2 B-Wing Daggers and 2 Red Squadron X-Wings.

So I'm just curious if anyone else finds use for PS 3 or 4 pilots and why do you use them? Like when to use Obsidian over Academy, Gamma over Scimitar, or Black Sun Soldier over Binayre Pirate.

Bloody Daggers is still a thing. I'm sure I'll be ridiculed for this, but I like having all of my ships go at the same time for casual play. My most frequent opponent likes to take 1-2 aces and a bunch of Academy pilots, so PS 4 lets me avoid Predator and know what the TIEs are doing. I figure I'm not going to catch a TIE interceptor with Bs and Xs anyway, so I concentrate on cleaning up the riff-raff and taking opportunities when they're presented to me.

If I'm flying ion cannons, I usually want them to attack last, so I'll up any of my non-ion cannon generics to PS3 or 4. That way my ion cannons get through and I can place ion tokens.

I like to use Low-PS vessels as bait.

If I'm flying ion cannons, I usually want them to attack last, so I'll up any of my non-ion cannon generics to PS3 or 4. That way my ion cannons get through and I can place ion tokens.

How do you mean? Like, so your non-ion ships can clear focus tokens?

Exactly. Usually I have named pilots for that though. Named pilots and any attack generics (such as Grey TLTs or spare Talas or Dagger Squadron pilots) will attack first, do their damage and/or clear off any evade or focus tokens, and then my ion cannons (on my lowest PS ships) will attack last and have a higher rate of laying down the ion tokens.

Bloody Daggers is still a thing. I'm sure I'll be ridiculed for this, but I like having all of my ships go at the same time for casual play. My most frequent opponent likes to take 1-2 aces and a bunch of Academy pilots, so PS 4 lets me avoid Predator and know what the TIEs are doing. I figure I'm not going to catch a TIE interceptor with Bs and Xs anyway, so I concentrate on cleaning up the riff-raff and taking opportunities when they're presented to me.

Having all your ships move at the same time is very beneficial even if you're a player who makes 0 mistakes. Being able to choose which of your ships moves first/last allows you to set up self-collisions to avoid asteroids, bombs, keep things in arc, etc. in addition to just making life easier.

Bloody Daggers is still a thing. I'm sure I'll be ridiculed for this, but I like having all of my ships go at the same time for casual play. My most frequent opponent likes to take 1-2 aces and a bunch of Academy pilots, so PS 4 lets me avoid Predator and know what the TIEs are doing. I figure I'm not going to catch a TIE interceptor with Bs and Xs anyway, so I concentrate on cleaning up the riff-raff and taking opportunities when they're presented to me.

Having all your ships move at the same time is very beneficial even if you're a player who makes 0 mistakes. Being able to choose which of your ships moves first/last allows you to set up self-collisions to avoid asteroids, bombs, keep things in arc, etc. in addition to just making life easier.

Ive been flying all PS4s recently and like it for these reasons too!

It's not often that I come across players who use generic PS 3 or 4 pilots. I've only played against one person who did, 2 B-Wing Daggers and 2 Red Squadron X-Wings.

So I'm just curious if anyone else finds use for PS 3 or 4 pilots and why do you use them? Like when to use Obsidian over Academy, Gamma over Scimitar, or Black Sun Soldier over Binayre Pirate.

Bloody Daggers is still a thing. I'm sure I'll be ridiculed for this, but I like having all of my ships go at the same time for casual play. My most frequent opponent likes to take 1-2 aces and a bunch of Academy pilots, so PS 4 lets me avoid Predator and know what the TIEs are doing. I figure I'm not going to catch a TIE interceptor with Bs and Xs anyway, so I concentrate on cleaning up the riff-raff and taking opportunities when they're presented to me.

Now I really want to try testing out a variant of Bloody Daggers:

Two Red Squadron Pilots with R2 Astromechs and Integrated Astromech

Two Dagger Squadron Pilots with FCS