So I want to make sure I understand a few things so I don't use these ships incorrectly.

So with Vessery, another ship must have a target lock on the defending ship so that Vessery's unique pilot ability kicks in...is that correct? His ability doesn't work like FCS where if he fires on a ship that HE has target locked (and then uses it to reroll) he doesn't re-aquire a target lock.

Ok...so I see that many Defender players prefer Vessery over Brath...why is that exactly? Is it just points?? I am thinking that Vessery, having PS6 and an ability that is dependent on another ship's target lock, is less effective than Brath who can pound out crits and is PS8 for 3 points more.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Shaner

Your spot on. Brath is usually like a 'generic' ps8 but when his ability does activate it can be devastating. Vess can be more consistent, at least early game but ps6 makes it tempting to run VI for some. plus reliance on another ship does bite you at times especially late game. He's also 2 pts cheaper which obviously can matter. I like brath but when the vets set is released vess' ability with /D title will basically say acquire 2 TLs a turn.. that's what the hype is about.

You have it right. There are people who like both, but I always preferred the Col. Part of the problem with Col. V was that there aren't a lot of Imperial ships that can give TL's. With the new TIE FO, that changes. I've been running him lately and having fun. It's been surprising the amount of damage he can dish out. I think it's the action efficiency that works.

Brath is alright, but he works best with HLC....and I've just been HLC shy too much. Also, you have to hit first and not use your Focus. That was always a hard part with some opponents. It's more situational and not used every turn. There are a lot of people who fly him with that and it works.

Now, with the new fixes coming out for the Defender, more people see the synergy of the new titles working with him better. /D title is obvious as you can get a free TL on both of your shots. /X7 is also good because he can get a free Evade....combined with a free TL....and he's cheaper.

Brath with /D will probably not have his Focus on him after firing two shots, but he could. Yeah, he can do damage, but it's situational. Maybe with /X7 he would use it more often. He wouldn't need to use his Focus for defense as much. Still....needs something to modify the offense.

Here's an example situation:

Your defender has been blocked, but still has a shot on his preferred enemy. Vess is bothered, but not much - if his wingmen have done their job (and that's on you the player, not him), then he gets to modify his attack. Not so Rexlar.

Now lets add that they both have the /D title - Vess gets to modify both his ion cannon shot and his primary, and he's really going to be pulling away from rex in terms of damage now. He's much more stress and bump independent than Rex, which is huge in this game.

Even if the defender did have a focus token, Vess can either keep it for defence or spend it to go with one of his attacks, which will now probably be pretty brutal. Rex has a third option - spend it to flip crits, but as he had no modifiers, he's relying on pure luck to be able to hit anything - and luck ain't too groovy in X-wing.

Finally, add in that Vess is cheaper and as we've seen, synergises with the new /D title much better, and you have a solid win for the colonel. Rex is better off, I suspect, playing boom and zoom with the /x7, ptl and mkII engine. Could be wrong there.

I really like vess, yes there's not a ton of imperial ships that generate target locks, but the tie advanced and Phantom are both exceptional options. Some of the new fos pair should see play with Vessery as well. Vessery will get even better with the title because you can trigger his ability on both shots. Brath is too reliant on unmodified dice to excel imo

Rex pairs very well with Predator, as it gives him the offensive modifications without spending his focus. I like to run Rex almost because of his Biggs effect. His damage can spike so severely, that he just can't be ignored. That allows the rest of my squad to fly more reckless and have a better shot at predicting where my opponent's aces are going to be heading. I'm really excited to run Rex with 2x Delta x7's, because the Delta's can pump out almost as much damage as Rex, but aren't going to be literally painted bright red.

There's now the /fo, Adv, the prototype adv., FCS phantom, Decimator, Firespray, Bomber, Punisher - I think we've reached, and passed, the TL tipping point as an empire

It's not just having Target Locks for Vessery, it's having them in the right place and time. A dedicated target painter will reduce your list efficiency even if it increases Vessery's, and locking to support Vessery might be a suboptimal action even for non-dedicated support ships. That's not to say he's not still very good in the right squad.

In general, the fewer times he needs to switch targets, the stronger he'll be. So he is pretty strong against squads with at least on big powerful ship, and progressively weaker as squads head toward the swarm end of the spectrum.

Brath's ability is harder to get off, or well it was before MK.II came along because clearing stress from PTL with straights was not always easy and there was no great way to give him that extra focus.

What people over looked was his ability is effectively free anyway your paying for his PS.

Of course now he can get three actions a turn and have a tie shuttle passing him focus all day long, people will realise the power of rexler!

It's not just having Target Locks for Vessery, it's having them in the right place and time. A dedicated target painter will reduce your list efficiency even if it increases Vessery's, and locking to support Vessery might be a suboptimal action even for non-dedicated support ships. That's not to say he's not still very good in the right squad.

In general, the fewer times he needs to switch targets, the stronger he'll be. So he is pretty strong against squads with at least on big powerful ship, and progressively weaker as squads head toward the swarm end of the spectrum.

I've found Tie FO's are great for this. They paint a target early, but generally don't need to use the TL on their attacks. I like it.

I've also found an ATC Tie Adv. is good, as well.

Brath is actually very similar to Stele, and suffers from the same problems. Vessery's ability lets him hit more reliably, while Brath and Stele's let them do more damage if they actually hit. Also, Brath needs focus for his ability to work, and Stele needs a target lock to be able to use his ATC, making them even more action dependent. I think Brath's main strength is his pilot skill, and I wouldn't be surprised if a Predator/VI/Lone Wolf x7 Brath will show up in a few lists in the future, since unlike Vessery, he's completely self-sufficient and can be run alongside, say four named TIE Fighters. (VI x7 Mk II Brath, VI Scourge, Dark Curse, Night Beast and Chaser = 100 points).

“Omega Leader” (26) TIE/fo Fighter (21), Comm Relay (3), Juke (2)

Colonel Vessery (40) TIE Defender (35), Ion Cannon (3), Crack Shot (1), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

Darth Vader (38) TIE Advanced (29), TIE/x1 (0), Predator (3), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1), Advanced Targeting Computer (5)

... Basically, I like Vess lists in which the necessity to take a TL isn't determined by Vessery's needs, but would have been taken anyway. Vess profits, while his wingmen are just doing what they needed to do anyway, as determined by their own builds. Anything else can represent a drop in action efficiency, I think.

Yeah, this is a great Vessery list.

Brath's ability is harder to get off, or well it was before MK.II came along because clearing stress from PTL with straights was not always easy and there was no great way to give him that extra focus.

What people over looked was his ability is effectively free anyway your paying for his PS.

Of course now he can get three actions a turn and have a tie shuttle passing him focus all day long, people will realise the power of rexler!

You mention 3 actions per turn...can you clarify?

Thanks Hobojebus.

Vessery is incredibly action efficient with x7 title and since there's not much dodging the defender does ps6 isn't a drawback really. Also rexler basically costs 40 since I haven't found an occasion I didn't like predator on him in to give him any chance at all at still having a focus after punching damage through.

As for activating the big V, well Vader is his best friend since he doesn't spend locks anyway and if you happen to be carrying the emperor around as well in a shuttle, it might as well paint a target for Vessery.

The only imperial ship that I've found that wants to consistently target lock and not use it the high PS advanced, and I guess Omega Leader will as well.

That said, with evade options like comm relay and the defender title there may be more opportunity for Vessery, but as I said elsewhere, his ability doesn't tend to synergize with most imperial lists, he puts demands on them that restrict them tactically. He's very good, but his ability does have limits and I bet that as he appears more, people will become much better at exploiting them.

The only imperial ship that I've found that wants to consistently target lock and not use it the high PS advanced, and I guess Omega Leader will as well.

I still say Tie FO's don't really use them. They grab one early and then usually just use their Focus.

I'd been flying both a lot lately, and Vessary simply has more consistent damage output than Rexlar. It's not hard to trigger his ability consistently (Kenkirk and Chiraneau both love Target Locks, and you can get Vessary's pilot skill to match them both). His ability allows him to actually want to spend his tokens to maximize damage output, and even works with things like Cluster Missiles. And the extra damage that he gets from those target locks applies to the target regardless of shield status. He's basically rolling with focus and target lock on almost every attack without stress, which is huge.

Compare that to Rexlar, who either needs Predator/PTL to get a dice mod without spending the focus token, so either his average attack roll is lower or he never gets to use his ability. His ability also doesn't work or is at least limited if the target still has shields.

The two actually pair really well together, though. PTL Rexlar paired with VI Vessary is a classic, as it gives you two PS8 beatsticks. Vessary shoots first, uses Rex's target lock to pound the target and hopefully knock down shields, and Rexlar follows up with a hammer and the potential to use his ability to finish or cripple the target.

There's now the /fo, Adv, the prototype adv., FCS phantom, Decimator, Firespray, Bomber, Punisher - I think we've reached, and passed, the TL tipping point as an empire

Don't forget with xx-23 tracers coming with the TAP any ship in a formation with a ship that has a missile slot can have a target lock. So you can run like vessery with Vader with decoy and a tempest squad with tracers. Leading to fully modded dice from Vader and vessery.

It's not just having Target Locks for Vessery, it's having them in the right place and time. A dedicated target painter will reduce your list efficiency even if it increases Vessery's, and locking to support Vessery might be a suboptimal action even for non-dedicated support ships. That's not to say he's not still very good in the right squad.

In general, the fewer times he needs to switch targets, the stronger he'll be. So he is pretty strong against squads with at least on big powerful ship, and progressively weaker as squads head toward the swarm end of the spectrum.

I've found Tie FO's are great for this. They paint a target early, but generally don't need to use the TL on their attacks. I like it.

I've also found an ATC Tie Adv. is good, as well.

I understand what you're getting at here, but when I played Vess with FOs, I found those early target locks equated to more early damage to my list.

Brath's ability is harder to get off, or well it was before MK.II came along because clearing stress from PTL with straights was not always easy and there was no great way to give him that extra focus.

What people over looked was his ability is effectively free anyway your paying for his PS.

Of course now he can get three actions a turn and have a tie shuttle passing him focus all day long, people will realise the power of rexler!

You mention 3 actions per turn...can you clarify?

Thanks Hobojebus.

You take PTL so you can focus and TL, you take x7 and when flying fast get an evade, and you take mk.ii so you have ten greens to clear that PTL stress.

He's fast highly accurate with good defence and can ruin anyone's day flipping cards face up