Vader (x1)

Vessery (VI)

Stele (x1)

And whatever other upgrades you feel like to taste; there's a whole lot of options. Vader is a must-kill ace, as always. But Vessery and Stele are sledgehammers, and Vessery will be stripping shields for Stele's super-crits...

None of them are really enemies you want to face in endgame. Even with target painters gone, a Defender is still a Defender, y'know?

Vader (x1)

Vessery (VI)

Stele (x1)

And whatever other upgrades you feel like to taste; there's a whole lot of options. Vader is a must-kill ace, as always. But Vessery and Stele are sledgehammers, and Vessery will be stripping shields for Stele's super-crits...

None of them are really enemies you want to face in endgame. Even with target painters gone, a Defender is still a Defender, y'know?

Well when I've used it Vader and vessery get the most attention people kind of ignore stele forgetting he can now guarantee getting his ability off with ATC.

Rexlar

AutoBlaster

VI

Mini swarm.

I love Vessery alongside the x1 Advanced, the Advanced Targeting Computer is just the best pairing for him.

Really the only thing I want on my Defenders (apart from the whole fire-linked cannons thing) is access to Evade. Not even Autothrusters! I'm trying not to be greedy here.

But I mean really, 5-Straight Green with neither Evade nor Boost? What?

I certainly DO enjoy looking at my Defender. In the box, on the table, on a display shelf, doesn't matter.

To all who posted info on the Defender in this thread: This is what makes this forum great! Taking a ship that isn't at the top of the meta, discussing how to use it along with its flaws, playing to its strengths, designing a list with it/around it ... it helps all of us who love the ship but who can't playtest 20+ games per week be a better pilot. Thanks again!

Vader (x1)

Vessery (VI)

Stele (x1)

And whatever other upgrades you feel like to taste; there's a whole lot of options. Vader is a must-kill ace, as always. But Vessery and Stele are sledgehammers, and Vessery will be stripping shields for Stele's super-crits...

None of them are really enemies you want to face in endgame. Even with target painters gone, a Defender is still a Defender, y'know?

Doesn't leave much for the upgrades.

ATC on both Vader and Steele - and thats 7 pts left to give all 3 an EPT and maybe a Mk2 for Vessery?

Colzet on the other hand... with AC, he will deal constant 2 dmg every turn he isn't in range 1 and he can use his ability on a ship he cannot shoot at, just by having a target lock on it and a damage card on it from vessery/vader to flip. Not sure Stele is worth it.

23 Colzet ~ TIE/x1, AC

33 Vader ~ TIE/x1, ATC, Predator (? not sure but seems to be a good idea)

43 Vessery ~ HLC, Crack Shot

99

When Wired was spoiled, I immediately thought of a knife-fighting Vessery. If you expect to get shot more than once, it can be better than a Focus, defensively. If you've got a target lock up on someone, it's not helping your offense that much, but there are many little corner cases where you'll switch targets and get a benefit, or re-roll eyes and bank your free TL for a later round. Really makes those 1-turns practical, though.

edit: this was in regards to Sergeant SPA5's post, which I forgot to quote.

Thanks for the comment Bio I'd love to put a HLC on Vessery, but in my personal experience, if he's too expensive (mid 40 point range) he just can't seem to break even in a 4 ship Imp build. That's where I thought of wired and twin ion engine - he can have both offensive and defensive versatility in multiple scenarios. I'm hoping that jax's debuff ability accentuates the lists capability - I'll report back tomorrow when I've playtested it

Also another wacky idea I had with wired is that you could possibly take debris fields with the list. Since Vessery is PS6 he could potentially block off a section of space whilst gaining wired (and maybe an obstacle bonus) and still being able to shoot.

Just some more of my thoughts on the matter

I love the Defender. Apart from the Gunboat, it was my favorite ship in Defender of the Empire. I think if the designers at FFG should have played TF:DotE before they designed the Defender, we might have gotten a more useful ship.

Fix it up at home... this guy did some fun stuff.

I have a few cards too. One of mine allows to four dice an ass because this ship has at least as much firepower as the Phantom.

I hated that Phantons got four red meanies and Defenders got only three... BLEH!

FFG mucked up on this wonderful ship... they do that once in a while.

Rex with Lone Wolf, HLC, Ion Pulse Missile, and Engine Upgrade is my favorite Defender. I matched him with a buzzsaw Whisper for a fun 100pt dogfight tourney.

That won against a 5 ship imp list, an 8 TIE swarm, a 3 ship imp list, and a mangler-Dash with 2 B escort.

I am 1-2 vs Bio and his dual defender list .. yes, they are strong ...

First two times I was flying Kath and IG.B, third time was Kath with a Y and 2 Z.95s

Still want another match against him, try and even it up...

Editbomb.

I have no specific list with the defender, but last week I through together a quick list to play (because I'm a filthy casual).

It was a Delta Squadron Defender with 3 Royal Guard Pilots. I played against a Scum list and it won.

I've loved the Defender since it came out and I play with it any chance I get.

I'm really excited for the TAP to fly alongside the x1 and vessery. Though I have run 2 tie adv and vessery many times, and even vessery, 2 tie bombers, night beast /w TC and an academy

Vader (x1)

Vessery (VI)

Stele (x1)

And whatever other upgrades you feel like to taste; there's a whole lot of options. Vader is a must-kill ace, as always. But Vessery and Stele are sledgehammers, and Vessery will be stripping shields for Stele's super-crits...

None of them are really enemies you want to face in endgame. Even with target painters gone, a Defender is still a Defender, y'know?

Doesn't leave much for the upgrades.

ATC on both Vader and Steele - and thats 7 pts left to give all 3 an EPT and maybe a Mk2 for Vessery?

Colzet on the other hand... with AC, he will deal constant 2 dmg every turn he isn't in range 1 and he can use his ability on a ship he cannot shoot at, just by having a target lock on it and a damage card on it from vessery/vader to flip. Not sure Stele is worth it.

23 Colzet ~ TIE/x1, AC

33 Vader ~ TIE/x1, ATC, Predator (? not sure but seems to be a good idea)

43 Vessery ~ HLC, Crack Shot

99

7 points is plenty of room for upgrades. OK, you might not be piling on Predator and EU everywhere, but you can still manage acceptably.

That said, Colzet is also a decent pick as a dedicated target painter for sure - I just love Stele's nasty, nasty crits.

Rexlar Brath - Predator, HLC, Twin Ion Engine Mk.II

Backstabber - Targeting Computer

Mauler Mithel

Dark Curse

Run this list a few times recently and have been getting some encouraging results. Any excuse to break out the Defender, love seeing it on the board.

Now there's a thought; given - as mentioned earlier in the thread - that a Defender can fight fairly well whilst stressed (white K-turn and hard turns, etc) is Wired a worthwhile choice?

The Elite Defender Pair is a nice one; tempted to have a try myself.

• Rexler Brath with Lone Wolf, Heavy Laser Cannon, Engine Upgrade
• Colonel Vessery with Veteran Instincts, Ion Cannon, Assault Missiles, Engine Upgrade

Hey there, i enjoyed reading all the tips and lists here and i am off against a brobot list tomorrow and would like to hear some suggestions for a list utilizing at least 1 defender against it.

Edit: speaking of control and the ion cannon, i thought about bringing a flechette cannon. But its not possible to double stress the bots after they executed a S-loop :-(

Vader (x1)

Vessery (VI)

Stele (x1)

And whatever other upgrades you feel like to taste; there's a whole lot of options. Vader is a must-kill ace, as always. But Vessery and Stele are sledgehammers, and Vessery will be stripping shields for Stele's super-crits...

None of them are really enemies you want to face in endgame. Even with target painters gone, a Defender is still a Defender, y'know?

Doesn't leave much for the upgrades.

ATC on both Vader and Steele - and thats 7 pts left to give all 3 an EPT and maybe a Mk2 for Vessery?

Colzet on the other hand... with AC, he will deal constant 2 dmg every turn he isn't in range 1 and he can use his ability on a ship he cannot shoot at, just by having a target lock on it and a damage card on it from vessery/vader to flip. Not sure Stele is worth it.

23 Colzet ~ TIE/x1, AC

33 Vader ~ TIE/x1, ATC, Predator (? not sure but seems to be a good idea)

43 Vessery ~ HLC, Crack Shot

99

7 points is plenty of room for upgrades. OK, you might not be piling on Predator and EU everywhere, but you can still manage acceptably.

That said, Colzet is also a decent pick as a dedicated target painter for sure - I just love Stele's nasty, nasty crits.

How about a compromice? Alozen is cheaper than Stele, a better ATC carrier than Colzet, and has a pseudoextra action, so can take evade of focus actions if up close. He's also PS5, reducing the need for VI on Vessery, and with his ability he can draw some attention away from Vader by getting up close an personal pretty early in the game. If Alozen and Vessery do the knife fighting, Vader can Lone Wolf it up at R3. Maybe:

Vader

- X1

- ATC

- Lone Wolf

- Engine Upgrade

Vessery

- MKII

- Crack Shot

Alozen

- X1

- ATC

- Crack Shot

I'm thinking of taking the Colonel to an escalation tournament, starting out with:

Colonel Vessery (VI, HLC, TIE mkII) 44

Epsilon Squadron 15

and adding

Maarek Stele (Title, ATC, Predator) 31

Darth Vader (Title, ATC) 30

Epsilon Squadron x2 30

Would this have a shot and what order should I add in my extra ships?

Just received my 2nd Defender. Yey

Hey there, i enjoyed reading all the tips and lists here and i am off against a brobot list tomorrow and would like to hear some suggestions for a list utilizing at least 1 defender against it.

Edit: speaking of control and the ion cannon, i thought about bringing a flechette cannon. But its not possible to double stress the bots after they executed a S-loop :-(

Hmmm.....

Delta Squadron Pilots can fit three ships in a 'pack' - I keep forgetting the Flechette cannon.

• Delta Squadron Pilot - Flechette Cannon, Twin Ion Engines MkII

• Delta Squadron Pilot - Flechette Cannon, Twin Ion Engines MkII

• Delta Squadron Pilot - Ion Cannon, Twin Ion Engines MkII

Three Defenders with Ion Cannons is something I thought about ages ago but forgot, but dropping two to flechette weapons allows the coveted stress/ion pairing, and leaves room to free up their dial a lot with engines.

Well quite nice idea but you can not stress them if they are already stressed so the question is whether its worth it. maybe just to cut off their sloop ability.

The problem is that i only own 2 defenders

THIS IS A FREAKING AWESOME THREAD

It's also a cannon - the act of swapping from a 3-dice primary weapon to a 3-dice cannon knocks out the possiblity of a range 3 bonus defence die.

Against an agility 2-3 ship, the odds of landing more than 1 hit are minimal anyway, so you might as well fire the cannon.

And yes, you can't stress an already stressed target. But whilst that's not going to break one of the push the limit brigade, it's good at stressing other people - especially jousters like B-wings, since your next move after a firing pass will probably be a K-turn.

The Ion cannon is broadly better than the Flechette cannon. That's why it costs more. But what I'm really after there is the combination of the two weapons - one ion hit and one flechette hit is worth far, far more than two of each.

Arguably two ion and one flechette is a better combination - so you can get the magic two ion tokens to shut out a big ship - but then you only have 2 points spare, not three, so can't get the wonderful Twin Ion Engines MkII to open out your green dial, which helps a lot if you have to knife fight and/or you find yourself chasing some bugger with a rebel captive aboard.

You also don't have to fire both stress cannons, you fire one see if it hits if it does you go to primary guns if not try to stress your target again.

A ship ioned and stressed is an easy target for two turns, Luke or Poe Arnt so tough if the can't take an action.

I've done the three ion cannon build it worked well despite giving away the ps advantage, but this update gives far more flexibility.