First the Negative Upgrade cost Card.

The first Idea I had here is a EPT card that reduces a pilots PS by 2 and also reduces the cost of the pilot by 2.

IE Rookie Instincts (For lack of a better one) This is a negative squad cost upgrade card, decrease your pilot skill value by 2.

This would provide a way to reduce the cost of some pilots that have middle of the range pilot skill but see no play time because they are just too expensive.

Second Upgrade kit.

My idea here is a kit that does not have a plastic ship but contains upgrade card(s) with adjustments to an existing ships dial.

As an example a kit that has a new dial for an X-Wing that includes a 3 Sloop and the associated title card that changes the dial.

Absolutely not! One negative cost card is enough but the thing is that negative card has potential for such power creep it would break the game not to mention that A-wings don't need another discount.

Sure the Chardaan refit makes sense as A-wing were more points than what they were worth and because of the point cost that missile slot was practically unused, but you got to remember when you make one change it will effect everything else. The Chardann refit inadvertently made all missiles cost 2 points more on A-wings, making things like proton rockets even more unusable in the competitive scene. Sure the point limit is tight but it is tight for a reason. Being able to reduce point cost of power builds squeeze in more ships and would just make top meta lists more powerful. Now economey cards that provide discounts (such as EM) on upgrades that would be alright. But a straight up negative even if it did come with a disadvantage absolutely not.

As for the dial modifications we have a few of those such as maneuvering fins and lightning reflexes. I like the concept of more maneuvering fins the only thing is where to put it, thanks to engine upgrade you will almost never see maneuvering fins. The EPT slot again is already so saturated a new EPT has to be powerful to the point where it is **** near broken for it to be viable. Same for modification slots.

I don't know about negative point cost elite talents that don't actually add anything in the elite slot but minus points, that doesn't seem to fit for that upgrade type...however, I believe I read that they may be making zero point elite upgrades, this may have the desired effect your looking for.

Though many of us might like it, FFG has repeated several times that they will never release a card only pack.

I would like to see modification card called 'HUD' or Head-up Display giving you a EPT for some points and maybe with some slight disadvantage to be fair and not getting too costly either.

There's also the problem that a lot of middling PS pilots with nice abilities don't have an EPT slot to fit that downgrade into.

Quite often, that's more the reason that the pilots don't see play than that they are too expensive.

Green Squad + Chardaan + Rookie Instincts + AWTP + VI = 16 points for the same ship that used to cost 17. Hmmm...

What about something like this?:

Reduced Armor [-2]

Modification

This upgrade has a negative point cost

Reduce this ship's hull points by 1.

Finally a 10 TIE swarm! The madness! They'd also fall apart just looking at them, but hey why not.

A-wings got the discount because they were priced to be worthwhile with their ordinance, with which they were the single best missile platform in the game. It didn't work out, not least because missiles suck, and the naked frame cost too much accordingly.

Rebel Aces released the Chardaan Refit to solve the 'naked frame' problem, and Prockets (and Jake, kinda!) for if you want to throw missiles around... and they've been solid ever since. Not fantastic, but solid is enough.

The last thing you want is for this to become generic.

I'm ok with negative point costs that take up slots... On some ships. There are a few that are just strait up 1-2 points out of whack. While I appreciate the "creative" and "innovative" fix route, most of the time that just means the "more points route" and for filler ships and low PS ships that just isn't a real fix.

Scyk being the most obvious right now- a title card with -2 point cost and any benefit (like the illicit a lot that it is aweful that they don't have) would allow you to run a Scyk swarm or a few of them with mods or illicits. No cannons for you and if you weren't filling slots anyway they are at least a nice alternative to a z for filler. Make it so you have to fill that illicit slot and you get a 1pt deduction and inertial dampners... I'd fly that as filler. You'd still need a cannon fix (depending on what tractor beams do).

Picking on Scum the generic Starviper could also use a straight up deduction. -2 again me thinks. Would 4 PS1 star vipers + autothrusters suddenly sweep through the meta causing widespread destruction? Maybe. I think I'm also ok with that. It's about the same as 4 bwings with autocorrectors just more swingy both ways and a better dial to compensate.

And just so that scum doesn't feel totally picked on: HWKs. Make it non named only if you want. Give it -4 cost to have no primary weapon attack. You're putting a turret on it anyway and the new damage deck gets rid of the "what if they pull that 2/33 crit" argument.

Psst: those are just off the top of my head so do t spend too much time ripping them up. Those are 3 ships that pretty well just need to cost less to fulfill their intended slot in list building and all three actually already have "fixes" or upgrade potential increased and still don't see play. Sometimes keeping it simple is the right move and cost reduction (if restricted) is pretty simple.

There's also the problem that a lot of middling PS pilots with nice abilities don't have an EPT slot to fit that downgrade into.

Quite often, that's more the reason that the pilots don't see play than that they are too expensive.

Agreed. That is a different problem and hopefully FFG comes up with a great way to make those pilots viable.

Green Squad + Chardaan + Rookie Instincts + AWTP + VI = 16 points for the same ship that used to cost 17. Hmmm...

lol That I did not consider but if they make the Rookie Instincts a unique then, you can only get the upgrade once.

I'm ok with negative point costs that take up slots... On some ships. There are a few that are just strait up 1-2 points out of whack. While I appreciate the "creative" and "innovative" fix route, most of the time that just means the "more points route" and for filler ships and low PS ships that just isn't a real fix.

Scyk being the most obvious right now- a title card with -2 point cost and any benefit (like the illicit a lot that it is aweful that they don't have) would allow you to run a Scyk swarm or a few of them with mods or illicits. No cannons for you and if you weren't filling slots anyway they are at least a nice alternative to a z for filler. Make it so you have to fill that illicit slot and you get a 1pt deduction and inertial dampners... I'd fly that as filler. You'd still need a cannon fix (depending on what tractor beams do).

Picking on Scum the generic Starviper could also use a straight up deduction. -2 again me thinks. Would 4 PS1 star vipers + autothrusters suddenly sweep through the meta causing widespread destruction? Maybe. I think I'm also ok with that. It's about the same as 4 bwings with autocorrectors just more swingy both ways and a better dial to compensate.

And just so that scum doesn't feel totally picked on: HWKs. Make it non named only if you want. Give it -4 cost to have no primary weapon attack. You're putting a turret on it anyway and the new damage deck gets rid of the "what if they pull that 2/33 crit" argument.

Psst: those are just off the top of my head so do t spend too much time ripping them up. Those are 3 ships that pretty well just need to cost less to fulfill their intended slot in list building and all three actually already have "fixes" or upgrade potential increased and still don't see play. Sometimes keeping it simple is the right move and cost reduction (if restricted) is pretty simple.

As much as I would like to see more fix's like you suggest, FFG have had the opportunity to do this for other ships but seem to not like the idea.

Personally, I strongly dislike negative point cost fixes that take up slots because they make list building less flexible. Take Chardaan Refit as an example: because you have the option to reduce an A-Wing's cost by two points by sacrificing the missile slot, it effectively makes all missiles two points more expensive. I much prefer fixes that add new capabilities at a low cost, such as the TIE Advanced title or the upcoming Integrated Astromech modification.