Hey guys,

with TLTs basically being the forums worst nightmare and overshadowing some of the other awesome cards in Wave 7 (such as conners and crackshot), I thought we'd be a little more creative about what the future may hold

after all, the supposed OPness of TLTs isn't stopping Vader/Soontir/Whisper (esp with palpie) from appearing to be very very powerful

with Crackshot being errated twice in the same day, finally being usable after the defender modifies dice, it seems like an attention drawing card for sure

Fickle's P-EPT theorem:

The biggest problem with Crackshot, and any EPT that isn't predator or ptl, is that they're not predator or ptl

The action efficiency offered by these EPTs are almost impossible to pass up, unless of course you have some way of providing an alternative.

We'll be covering those alternatives right now

A-wing Test Pilot: can't choose between PTL and crackshot? well, you don't have to!

FCS: not as flexible as predator, but gives more re-rolls and doesn't take your ept

K4-Security Droid: free TL on green maneuver. no need for predator.

Glitterstim: thanks to the folks at "Favorite Special-K builds" for pointing out the fact that the Special-K, crackshot, and stims come in the same pack TL for full mods and let fly!

Targeting Astromech: not fully spoiled, but worded almost identically to the K4 mech.

What to look for when finding a home for Crackshot:

you need to combine a 1.) Free Ept slot and 2.) either a System, Crew (scum-only), Illicit, or Astromech slot.

this leaves us with the following ships/pilots:

Awing Test Pilot -->

A-wing: Greenie, Jake, Tycho all have innate epts can can stack PTL with crackshot.

FCS -->

B-wing: both Ibs and Keyan probably want stress more than crackshot, but what about Nera. She packs an ept and a 360 degree torpedo shot. That can really put the hurt on some poor arc-dodger.

Targeting Astromech -->

X-wing: not incredibly solid on this because the Targeting Astro takes the spot of r2-d6, which means we'll need an innate EPT slot to get this combo rolling. Worse, it'll take BB-8's spot on an X-wing, and if you've ever flown that thing you know how irreplaceable it is

Of the available pilots, (Wedge, Luke, Wes, Jek) it only really synergies with Wedge (who will be taking BB-8 instead). Jek does nothing with the combo and Wes' ability doesn't help his own attack. I could see it on Luke, who already has a lot of game against Tie Fighters and, with crackshot, could take that game against the more elite interceptors as well.

T-70 X-wing: now we're talking! Red Vet is proving to be a surprisingly flexible little generic that can combo Predator, r3-a2 + wired, and now Crackshot + Targeting if that astro is flexible enough.

Special Mention -->

Sadly, Y-wings can't take advantage of targeting astro because they have no innate EPT slot

Horton, however, re-rolls his own dice even without Predator You might even make Proton Torps worthwhile, imagine that

Scum in general -->

with unique access to K4 and Stims, it seems Crackshot was made for these crafty bastards

Special-K Fighter: the pack that introduced us to both Crackshot and Stim as a HINTIHINT from FFG. Both Blacksun Ace and Cobra can run Crackshot + Stim. Target-lock your opponent's ace and watch him squirm

Z-95 Headhunter: the Special-K's little brother. His primary is far worse and there's no generic with EPT (only leechos; bleck) but at 15 to 17 points versus 23 to 28, he's certainly cheaper. Probably the preferred missile platform if you're really stressing "one shot."

Ironically, Leechos might actually have a home here. Clocking in at 21 points with Homing Missiles and Crackshot, he can TL and steal a focus for a fully modded 4-dice evade-ignoring attack! No stims needed!

Firespray: with access to Crackshot, stims, and K4, there's gotta be an enterprising Firespray pilot who can abuse crackshot. A bit expensive for a one-shot, though.

HWK: same access to Crackshot, stims, and k4, with the added efficiency of recon + moldy crow that keep you stock with enough focus to take Target-locks. Palob especially with be a goddamn monstrosity with crackshot (full mods + one less mod for the poor sod you're shooting at).

Yv-666: only Bossk bears an EPT and using it on just one attack seems a tad wasteful. Still, with mangler knocking off an agility at range 3, K4 providing the mods, and then Bossk's ability pushing a crit for 2 damage through...might have potential

Misthunter: step aside boys, these badass have access to FCS, K4, AND Stims

considering Zuckuss adds both a red and a green to the equation, crackshot might benefit our little misthunter friends quite a bit

Pogostick: While I'm firmly convinced that Deadeye will be the ept of choice here (except on Dengar, whose multiple attack ability might not want Crackshot anyway), the Pogo has a crew slot which can house K4 AND a salvaged shot to house R4 to combo with Recon.

Fickle's personal hype:

I'm actually really hyped for Crackshot Palob. That guy seems bloody monstrous for any poor bastard running a high value, low health target.

Having initially written off the Special-K as the Cartel Marauder and nothing else, Crackshot gives me a lot of hope for the EPT-bearing pilots (especially because you can fit two Blacksun Aces w/Stims + Crackshot & 2 TLT Thugs in the same list)

The Misthunter was intitially the least exciting ship in Wave 8, for me. With the potential combos involving Crackshot/juke + the crew & system slots, though, this guy has really shot up in my book.

The T-70's Red Squadron Veteran is looking fine. This is very good, because beforehand I could only really see Poe as being competitively viable, but this little EPT-bearing generic has proven to have an extensive bag of tricks. Looking forward to seeing what Targeting Astromech triggers off of.

So forget your TLTs, guys, and get cracking

any ept that can be levied against the fickle green dice can only be a good thing

Nice post.

I hadn't considered the final list you mentioned (2 TLT Y's with 2 Aces). That would be nice pairing. The Y's can finish off targets that the aces put the hurt on. There is enough durability to survive for a few rounds. The aces are 1 trick ponies (maybe 2 trick) but then they become more expendable. You want them to draw fire off the Y's after they use their goodies. I'll have to try it.

Just a minor note: I know that you know but can't take K4 AND Recon on the HWK. Your wording implied it.

Crack shot + glitt is really good on talonbane and the generic aces.

I'm not sold on Wedge/ptl/bb8. I like bb8/CS better. He just doesn't quite have the greens.

Don't ever say OPness.

The other thing, for me, is how long you expect someone to last. Every time Palob or Talonbane are alive after 3-4 rounds I'm quite frankly amazed - in which case the concept of a one-shot cool talent is much more appealing than on a Soontier etc who's going to in it for the (hopefully) long haul.

The other thing, for me, is how long you expect someone to last. Every time Palob or Talonbane are alive after 3-4 rounds I'm quite frankly amazed - in which case the concept of a one-shot cool talent is much more appealing than on a Soontier etc who's going to in it for the (hopefully) long haul.

gotta agree here. I'd trade 31 point talonbane for Soontir/Vader in a heartbeat

Crack shot + glitt is really good on talonbane and the generic aces.

I'm not sold on Wedge/ptl/bb8. I like bb8/CS better. He just doesn't quite have the greens.

Don't ever say OPness.

hey, whatever makes the concept of OP TLT seem more ridiculous is fine by me

also, what's CS? Brainfart.

What do you think about A-Wings with both Outmaneuver and Crackshot? List example:

Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Crack Shot (1)
Proton Rockets (3)
Outmaneuver (3)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Crack Shot (1)
Proton Rockets (3)
Outmaneuver (3)
A-Wing Test Pilot (0)

Lieutenant Blount (17)
Advanced Homing Missiles (3)

Blue Squadron Novice (24)
BB-8 (2)
Weapons Guidance (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

The other thing, for me, is how long you expect someone to last. Every time Palob or Talonbane are alive after 3-4 rounds I'm quite frankly amazed - in which case the concept of a one-shot cool talent is much more appealing than on a Soontier etc who's going to in it for the (hopefully) long haul.

gotta agree here. I'd trade 31 point talonbane for Soontir/Vader in a heartbeat

Crack shot + glitt is really good on talonbane and the generic aces.

I'm not sold on Wedge/ptl/bb8. I like bb8/CS better. He just doesn't quite have the greens.

Don't ever say OPness.

hey, whatever makes the concept of OP TLT seem more ridiculous is fine by me

also, what's CS? Brainfart.

Crack Shot, I imagine

Latts razzi with k4 security droid and weapons engineer makes a good support ship for anyone that has crackshot.

Pair with

talonbane, crackshot, glitterstim, and engine upgrade

N'dru, crack shot, glitterstim, homing missile.

Each guy gets to fire 5 dice, latts kills one die, crackshot kills another, homing missiles skip over evade tokens. Then latts cleans up whatever is left with a still formidable 3 dice/target locked attack.

Bye soontir.

Herpderp too much counterstrike for fickle

CS wedge then

It sounds pretty nice to hit through 2 green dice if you get him out to be similarly expendable as Cobra.

Targeting will be the droid for that though (full mods!). Bb8 + ptl is too valuable a combo for added mobility and full mods with no stress; using it on an X without ptl makes it feel much more situational

I think there's a couple of things that are being missed in where crackshot is useful.

First, I'll point out that while it looks like a one use card, it has positive effects beyond that. Opponents have to get an extra evade result in order to be safe, which can mean spending a token to do so.

With regard to other EPTs you mention above, the term you're looking for is opportunity cost. IE, if I fill my EPT slot with X the cost isn't just the card, it's the other EPTs it prevents me from taking. There are ships where PTL and Predator are just not going to work out because those ships just won't live long enough (for whatever reason) or they increase the cost of the original ship too much. A couple of thoughts:

Captain Jonus (or other missile boat that can combine an EPT) w/Homing Missiles+Crack Shot. This combo is very effective burst damage on any ship, but even tokened up 3 agility aces should be concerned by this combo.

I have some other ideas that I'm playing around with that I think will be effective, but it's probably not worth getting into them until they've been tested out, but the basic idea is that they're good on ships that you don't expect to live long and are cheap where crackshot ends up being 1pt for 1 damage or a minimal loss if it goes down without being used. What that threshold is (could be anywhere from Black Tie at 14pts to Black Sun at 23), I'm not sure.

I think you're forgetting old IG-88. Most brobots were running VI +FCS in wave 6, so with the decrease in popularity of PS6-8 and the increase in PS9, Crackshot would make a pretty good replacement 1 point EPT.

I ran Crack Kihraxz (3 Aces w/ Crack Shot, Drea w/ TLT) in TC Aces one week. The Crack Shots really added to the threat level the Aces presented - ships like Soontir have to overdodge to keep their stealth device.

Also, I'm currently running Imperial Crack (Howl, 4 BSPs w/ Crack, 1 Saber w/Crack) in the Galactic Cup. It's like a normal TIE Swarm, but it's really hard to dodge the first round of fire. Games have been snowballing pretty quickly once you spend your crack.

Rebels don't really have a good crack user, IMO. Maybe A-Wings, but Juke might be better on them once it comes out. Like you mention, the RSV is probably the best user.

Guaranteed damage for 1 point is really flying under the radar.

I think you're forgetting old IG-88. Most brobots were running VI +FCS in wave 6, so with the decrease in popularity of PS6-8 and the increase in PS9, Crackshot would make a pretty good replacement 1 point EPT.

good ole scum get all the crackshot mods

I doubt we'll see it on IGs, though. They seem wedded to V.I in my area and they'd never take stims for fear of stress

Rebels don't really have a good crack user, IMO.

well, FFG was pretty much asking for that shorthand after they packaged it with glitterstim

Y U miss out Scum Z95's, fickle?

N'dru and the Leech both offer cheap Crackshot delivery systems, and can combine it with Glitterstim and Homing Missles for uber accurate alphastrikes.

Y U miss out Scum Z95's, fickle?

N'dru and the Leech both offer cheap Crackshot delivery systems, and can combine it with Glitterstim and Homing Missles for uber accurate alphastrikes.

I did (derp!)

fixing...fixed

problem is there's no generic w/ept, but there is leechos who, ironically, doesn't even need stims

at 21 points for Crackshot Homing missiles, that little twerp might having finally found his calling! Exceedingly one-shot (might be too much of a crutch) but it is 5 points cheaper than the Black-sun ace.

Stims N'dru we already know about, and he seems more suited to the LW + cluster barrage of pain imo

Crackshot + Plasma torpedoe. All you need is one hit to go through to take out to shields

This dovetails with either Leachos or the Black Sun Aces, but I like it on ships with Ion Pulse Missiles. Lots of ships can reliably shrug off an IPM, or at least have enough dice/tokens where it's not a very reliable hit. If you can drop an Evade result, however, you're entering a whole new world of reliability for that guy, and it can really cause some problems to the unsuspecting.

Problem is there's no generic w/ept, but there is leechos who, ironically, doesn't even need stims

at 21 points for Crackshot Homing missiles, that little twerp might having finally found his calling! Exceedingly one-shot (might be too much of a crutch) but it is 5 points cheaper than the Black-sun ace.

Stims N'dru we already know about, and he seems more suited to the LW + cluster barrage of pain imo

True - Big Blue Super N'Dru with Lone Wolf, Clusters and Stims puts out a fair old whack of damage on low agility targets - he could potentially one shot a Y-Wing or B-Wing and causes nasty decisions for a YT, Shuttle or Decimator.

But Crackshot, Homing Missile, N'Dru on stims is precise. A casual glance suggests he could POTENTIALLY one shot a maxed out Soontir Fel at Range 3 (assuming he can get the Target Lock). 5 dice, rerollable, all focuses to hits. The target can't use Evade tokens and gets no bonus for long range. I'm not much of a stats man, but I'd like to see the numbers on that range 3 exchange.

But anyway, both the Scum Z-95 named pilots offer a Crackshot/Stim combo platform - and the cheapest platform too.

Single-use cards are pretty jazz, really. I don't mind spending an Elite slot on crackshot when I know its going to count!

What about a 4-ship swarm of Omega or Black squads, eack with crackshot. The former has TL to really make it count. You could do the same thing with tansarri point vets and have the HLC make people cry.

Latts and a group with crackshot is an easy choice - you're so likely to swat whatever is buzzing around you.

I think you're forgetting old IG-88. Most brobots were running VI +FCS in wave 6, so with the decrease in popularity of PS6-8 and the increase in PS9, Crackshot would make a pretty good replacement 1 point EPT.

How do you know my secrets? Hahaaaa.

Nice breakdown. In particular, I like the idea of the 2 TLT 2 Ace squad, Zuckuss using Crackshot to counterbalance his green-giving, and Leechos' mention. Like most, I wasn't too fond of his ability on first read. I have played him, however, and found him surprisingly annoying. That 21 point combo (super, SUPER cheap for something carrying that deadly a missile!) and "surprisingly annoying" sound very Scum-y. Even without a missile, after the first time your opponent ignores him pulling a 3 dice F+TL shot they won't make that same mistake again and quickly swat him (i.e. instead of at the rest of your list).

I think you're forgetting old IG-88. Most brobots were running VI +FCS in wave 6, so with the decrease in popularity of PS6-8 and the increase in PS9, Crackshot would make a pretty good replacement 1 point EPT.

I don't see that happening on top tier lists as VI still dominates the mirror matchup at the very least. Competitive, sure, but I think VI is still the better option there because while the loss of VI makes the ship vulnerable to two PS levels it hadn't been before (assuming it was the 98 point version that has a good initiative bid).

When I think about what PS 8 ships will not be in the meta as much, the only one I can think of is RAC. Horn and Dash (7) will still be out there, Poe will get added to the mix, SJ+VI Echo, etc... may see some more play. I really don't think we'll see PS 6-8 vacated (it wasn't really popular anyway but VI was still ideal for Brobots), though we will see more overall variety.

Crackshoot, looking to the future

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