This is entirely based on what ship I am equipping them to.

I'll take ECMs on an ISD2, MC80, or AF2. Advanced Projectors is good on ships that will die without the extra damage soak, such as CR90s. Advanced Projectors is also good as a second defensive retrofit on the MC80 Assault Cruiser. This is less about Xi-7s and more about the sheer number of blue dice being thrown now to get those accuracy rolls.

ANOTHER good defensive Retrofit is Redundant Shields, which can be combined with Engineering teams to let a medium or large ship constantly regenerate 3-4 shields a turn.

On the bigger ships I will go for ECM's mainly. This will be mitigated by Intel Officer though.

Personally I am trying to teach myself to not rely on either for a time.

I understand what you are saying but at the same time I can't help but question this statement. Almost as if a carpenter has a lot of nailing to do and decides to not use a hammer or nail gun.

Trust me. I am of the same mind but shmitty has proven that you can control the game without it. Same with our world's champion

I, like basically every Rebel, relied heavily on AP for a long time. Recently, though, I've been doing a similar exercise, running without either one, and I do have to say it's made me a better player. I've been adding ECM back in sparingly since, but it's still a valuable exercise, I think.

Personally I am trying to teach myself to not rely on either for a time.

This is the correct answer.

Well you are the inspiration.

How are you training yourself for this?

Not Lyraeus, but I'll answer:

By losing Assault Frigates horribly until you figure out how to not fly them like a drunken toddler. No faster way to learn than a long string of 0-10 losses.

Not Lyraeus, but I'll answer:

By losing Assault Frigates horribly until you figure out how to not fly them like a drunken toddler. No faster way to learn than a long string of 0-10 losses.

I'll have you know my 2 Year old Drunken Toddler flies the Assault Frigate around the Lounge Room with a great deal of grace... It doesn't crash into things, not even the Elephant or the Cars...