If you're trying to build a list around a 2 point upgrade card, then you deserve to fail.

Lone Wolf, autothrusters, and R3-A2 say hi.

Cloak's failure possibility is going to keep it from being used at anything more than casual play, because adding more randomness to your list is not something you are going to do at competitive levels.

Now on a certain level that's fine. But would it be better if it was 3 points and had no chance mechanic? Certainly.

This expansion might be the one that I'm most looking forward to in Wave 8, because seemingly everything in it is fresh and interesting.

It's basically a cheaper Stealth Device packaged with the ability to reposition by decloaking. I say it looks pretty **** good.

At the loss of not being able to shoot that round. A not inconsiderable opportunity cost. ACD and the Phantom this thing is not.

Gaining +2 agility on someone like talonbane makes him nigh on impossible to kill at range three it needed a downside or it would be an auto include item.

On zuckuss having four agility at range four helps him close to really get into a position where that extra die can be most effective.

I do wish it wasn't quite so random, but I can get why they went the way they did. It's certainly not a bad price, though the burn-out-permanently effect does hurt the odds of ever investing with Stygium with it, which is a shame.

Better than - as it can actually be used in conjunction with a Stealth Device if you're really that confident in your green dice.

The absolute worst case scenario with the Unreliable Cloaking Device © - you get +2 green dice for one round of combat. So, that could be TBC or Guri with six green dice at range three for the opening exchange.

Best case scenario? 2 extra green dice for one round of combat, reposition prior to next round's movement, rinse, repeat. That's a HUGE potential boost to ships with no current repositional ability (Z-95's, Kihraxz), especially when you compare it to the 4 point Engine Upgrade or 2 point Expert Handling. And it doesn't take up that valuable Elite Talent or Modification slot, either.

Compare it to other current Illicit Upgrades - Hot Shot Blaster (more expensive, one use then discard), Glitterstim (one use, causes stress), Inertial Dampners (causes stress), Dead Man's Switch (only kicks in if you kick the bucket), Feedback Array (awesome upgrade, but causes damage & ion) and you'll see that not only is it very reasonably costed, but actually a really good option for elite pilots over the alternatives.

Thank you for posting this so I don't have to. I keep thinking that I'd it was a 1-shot cloak for 2 points, people would complain less than a 1-shot + 75% chance for additional uses.

Lone Wolf, autothrusters, and R3-A2 say hi.

You don't build your list around any of those cards, nor should you. Upgrades are called upgrades for a reason.

Cloak's failure possibility is going to keep it from being used at anything more than casual play, because adding more randomness to your list is not something you are going to do at competitive levels.

No, it's really not. That's a totally myopic approach to the upgrade that completely ignores it's most obvious and basic benefit, which is drastically improving a ship's survivability when you need it most (i.e. when facing multiple attacks during the initial joust, or when you're in danger of being shot but are unable to shoot back).

It's certainly no less viable than any other one-use upgrades, like Glitterstim or Crackshot - you just have to treat it as such, and not as a Scum equivalent to the TIE Phantom (which is what you appear to be trying to do)

You don't build your list around any of those cards, nor should you.

If you don't build your list around lone wolf it is literally useless. When you do it is one of the best cards in the game. I really don't see your point. Of course a good squad is built around its upgrade cards, that's the point of them.

That's a totally myopic approach to the upgrade that completely ignores it's most obvious and basic benefit, which is drastically improving a ship's survivability when you need it most (i.e. when facing multiple attacks during the initial joust, or when you're in danger of being shot but are unable to shoot back).

I get its benefit. Though I think you are overestimating the value of two additional unmodified green dice.

Its real benefit is in being able to drastically reposition when you need to, which is hampered significantly by it being unreliable, because you cannot rely on your pilot keeping the upgrade. So really I probably wouldn't take the time to practice with it, and would just take glitterstim instead.

Lone Wolf, autothrusters, and R3-A2 say hi.

You don't build your list around any of those cards, nor should you. Upgrades are called upgrades for a reason.

Cloak's failure possibility is going to keep it from being used at anything more than casual play, because adding more randomness to your list is not something you are going to do at competitive levels.

No, it's really not. That's a totally myopic approach to the upgrade that completely ignores it's most obvious and basic benefit, which is drastically improving a ship's survivability when you need it most (i.e. when facing multiple attacks during the initial joust, or when you're in danger of being shot but are unable to shoot back).

It's certainly no less viable than any other one-use upgrades, like Glitterstim or Crackshot - you just have to treat it as such, and not as a Scum equivalent to the TIE Phantom (which is what you appear to be trying to do)

It's okay- it'll probably be best on the HWKs who can do their debuffs without needing to shoot but honestly if you're tricking out an ace with it the loss of offense is a really high price for cloaking.

If you don't build your list around lone wolf it is literally useless. When you do it is one of the best cards in the game. I really don't see your point. Of course a good squad is built around its upgrade cards, that's the point of them.

You've got it back to front. A good squad is built around it's ships, and understanding how to use those ships. Upgrade cards are used to make those ships better, or easier to use.

I get its benefit. Though I think you are overestimating the value of two additional unmodified green dice.

Its real benefit is in being able to drastically reposition when you need to, which is hampered significantly by it being unreliable, because you cannot rely on your pilot keeping the upgrade. So really I probably wouldn't take the time to practice with it, and would just take glitterstim instead.

Two additional unmodified green dice on every attack you face that round for two points is pretty good value - certainly comparable in value to the Lone Wolf card that you consider to be potentially "one of the best cards in the game", but without the proximity restriction.

And yes, the Cloaking Device comes with the repositional benefit is an advantage as well, and no, it's not unreliable - just like the Glitterstim card you'd prefer to use over it, you're guaranteed to be able to use it once (either during the end phase, or prior to the activation phase of the following round). However unlike Glitterstim, there's the potential to use it more than once.

Two additional unmodified green dice on every attack you face that round for two points is pretty good value

Also at the cost of not being able to attack. Which is its biggest cost in addition to unreliability.

certainly comparable in value to the Lone Wolf card that you consider to be potentially "one of the best cards in the game", but without the proximity restriction.

If you read it in full you would notice I also called it potentially useless. Also I would not call it comparable because dice modification is almost invariably better than simply rolling more dice.

In the case of say Talonbane taking a range 3 shot, I would prefer 4 dice with a focus to 6 dice without every time.

you're guaranteed to be able to use it once

This is I think where the difference lies. The cloaking device massively affects what you can do with your ship and how it handles. If I'm going to learn how a particular build flies I want it to always be available. That I might be able to use it all game, or might not, is not an acceptable state. Every other discard illicit has a very specific effect that I can count on for one turn.

People in this game have a great, great fear of any upgrade that's based on a dice roll, even though a huge chunk of this game comes down to dice rolls. I guess reliability makes people feel safe, that's why TLT is a favourite blanky of the meta right now.

You've got it back to front. A good squad is built around it's ships, and understanding how to use those ships. Upgrade cards are used to make those ships better, or easier to use.

When I'm list building I tend to pick a pilot or upgrade card and ask "what other pilot abilities and/or upgrades synergize with this?" and end up building my list around that. Sometimes they have glaring weaknesses and are gimmcky but occasionally they're well-balanced and awesome. I imagine that most people end up with a number of suboptimal builds that never see the light of day so I can't see one list-building strategy being better than another. I flew a list based on double-bump Oicunn (with daredevil, dauntless and stress-removing support) for the hilarity of it and it did much better than I had hoped. I built a list based on Hobbie with R3-A2 that I've won over 90% of my matches with. My inspiration for flying Carnor Jax alongside two Sigmas with SJ came from asking myself "how can I get the most out of this upgrade card?"

Any effect can be the seed for a list and to me it doesn't matter if it's an upgrade card, a pilot ability or a combination of them. The only requisite is that the rest of the ships and upgrades complement or enhance that.

I'll just slip in the the thought that if this ship comes with the awesome reposition ability that is cloaking, it may be one more reason why the dial will be limited.

Also, I love the idea of putting this on a HWK.

The problem is randomness takes away from skill, if you do everything right but still lose because the other guy or gal rolled better that's frustrating.

But in this case the random factor is there to balance out the power and low cost, it's a powerful reward with a significant risk so it's fine.

People in this game have a great, great fear of any upgrade that's based on a dice roll, even though a huge chunk of this game comes down to dice rolls. I guess reliability makes people feel safe, that's why TLT is a favourite blanky of the meta right now.

Most competitive builds do their best to minimize the impact of dice roll outliers, that's why ypu usually see a ton of stuff that allows rerolls and/or modifications or just tons of dice. It's alsoa thing found in many games with dice (competitive or not) from m my experience.

In the end, I guess people feel better if they win/lose due to their own calls rather than luck.

The problem is randomness takes away from skill, if you do everything right but still lose because the other guy or gal rolled better that's frustrating.

But in this case the random factor is there to balance out the power and low cost, it's a powerful reward with a significant risk so it's fine.

...which is why you need to consider it as a one-shot upgrade like Crackshot or Adrenaline Rush, because you're guaranteed that one use. If you get more than that out of it, then it's a bonus.

I keep thinking that I'd it was a 1-shot cloak for 2 points, people would complain less than a 1-shot + 75% chance for additional uses.

That's exactly how I Iook at the card. It's a one shot that you get to keep on anything but an eyeball. As long as that is how someone is setting their expectations they won't be disappointed with the results.

It's failure rate is a larger problem than its uniqueness. Having a 25% of a failure that causes the cloak effect to come off and forces you to discard the card is going to relagated this upgrade to GTFO usage instead of being a card you can really build a list around.

Pffffft, what a load of claptrap. It's 2 points, has a FANTASTIC upside, and competes in the same slot as a number of one use or disposable upgrades.

If you're trying to build a list around a 2 point upgrade card, then you deserve to fail.

"Load of claptrap" and then you make a number of posts about how it makes a great GTFO option. Which is exactly what I wrote.

Anyone that sees this card for what it actually is will be pleased with it. Anyone that thinks it is going to make Guri or Talonbane Scum Phantoms, make N'Dru a hyper mobile flanker, let Autoblaster Palob pop around to ruin people's days, or to use it for PTL+SPA shenanigans is going to be gravely disappointed.

The absolute worst case scenario with the Unreliable Cloaking Device © - you get +2 green dice for one round of combat. So, that could be TBC or Guri with six green dice at range three for the opening exchange.

Worst case scenario is actually that you use it while engaging and have to decloak early so your opponent can set their dials to react to where you ended up or just burn the token to keep from over-committing.

"Load of claptrap" and then you make a number of posts about how it makes a great GTFO option. Which is exactly what I wrote.

My apologies. I read your "GTFO usage" comment as "GTFO of taking it altogether". Which naturally I disagreed with.

But yes, it's not meant to turn Scum ships into Phantom equivalents, it's meant to be a limited-use boost to a ships' capabilities. A desperate times/desperate measures sort of thing. Whether that's to help soak damage from incoming fire or to provide a degree of hypermanueverability when needed, it offers remarkable value even when viewed as a one use, 2 point Illicit upgrade.

Too bad the Scyk can't use the cloaking device. Serissu might have been interesting. Poor, poor Scyks.

I'm wondering if the dial on this ship may be a bit weirder than we can imagine, the fluff makes it as "The ship's specialized repulsor lift technology made it surprisingly versatile" So I am wondering if it will have bank 1s, stops, and other close in type movements at the sacrifice of long range movements (like a bank 3), maybe even a green bank 1? I think they are really trying to mix up the dials these days, especially for Scum, since they are already the weird faction.

Also what others have said about juke is totally right, this will be a really cool home for the upgrade.

Sensor Jammer + Juke. This would be an intriguing combo, especially on Zuckuss when he hits with 4x red dice

Honestly, I like it how it is, but if they had made it 3 points and only removed the part where it discards itself, I think that would have made it even more interesting. Having a random chance to have an unplanned decloak you could mitigate a bit, but losing the card is pretty harsh.

I'll probably still toy with it, since I love the idea of putting cloak on random stuff. But I can see where the idea of relying on it in a competitive setting without being able to control it may be a bad plan.

Honestly, I like it how it is, but if they had made it 3 points and only removed the part where it discards itself, I think that would have made it even more interesting. Having a random chance to have an unplanned decloak you could mitigate a bit, but losing the card is pretty harsh.

I'll probably still toy with it, since I love the idea of putting cloak on random stuff. But I can see where the idea of relying on it in a competitive setting without being able to control it may be a bad plan.

The way I had initially read the card I thought that it worked somewhat like that. If you rolled a focus you could either:

1. Remove the cloak token.

2. Decloak immediately and discard the card.

I thought that gave an interesting choice on failure and thematically made sense, either the device fizzles as soon as it starts having problems out with a lesser effect or holds together for a bit longer but burns itself out.