I found when running Whisper in a recent tournament with a defensive build of Sensor Jammer and Rebel Captive that she/he suffers for the lack of red dice modification. The classic load out of VI, ACD, FCS works much better as the ship is a priority target and has a high chance of being focus targeted and brought down. Gunner is an option but at 5 points makes the phantom even more of a target. Also, with Sensor Jammer the opponent quickly learns to hold their focus until you have to commit which admittedly denies them use for their attack but does not really reduce the damage coming in to the phantom.

Rather than Reb Cap, go with Recon Spec.

Same points, and you get an offensive focus with 2x defensive.

I found when running Whisper in a recent tournament with a defensive build of Sensor Jammer and Rebel Captive that she/he suffers for the lack of red dice modification. The classic load out of VI, ACD, FCS works much better as the ship is a priority target and has a high chance of being focus targeted and brought down. Gunner is an option but at 5 points makes the phantom even more of a target. Also, with Sensor Jammer the opponent quickly learns to hold their focus until you have to commit which admittedly denies them use for their attack but does not really reduce the damage coming in to the phantom.

Rather than Reb Cap, go with Recon Spec.

Same points, and you get an offensive focus with 2x defensive.

Might try that on Echo in a build but if I run Whisper I will go full offense with Gunner and do as much damage as I can before space dust ensues.

I really want to try Whisper with Callus, Juke and sensor jammer. Of course, dropping VI sounds like blasphemy, but I'm seeing so much PS10 Poe lately that PS9 just doesn't matter.

It's certainly trickier to fly them well now but that's not a bad thing they were very easy to win with before which is why I didn't use them alot.

I need to try out the generics as the movement change actually helped them.

I really want to try Whisper with Callus, Juke and sensor jammer. Of course, dropping VI sounds like blasphemy, but I'm seeing so much PS10 Poe lately that PS9 just doesn't matter.

Eh, if you're dropping VI you may as well drop down to Echo IMO for lots more manoeuvrability. If you're expecting to be shooting last Whisper's defensive focus is a lot less useful, especially without Gunner.

What about Whisper+miniswarm in the new meta, is it still as good as it used to be?

And what about using the FOs for the miniswarm?

The Decloak nerf is an interesting one (and a little sad for Empire players) - against generics you can still arc dodge as before but it just need a bit of guessing (which is good). The problem though is 88's (and to a lesser extent Dash). That aside TLTs are also very bad for Phantoms (but they are bad for everything without Autothrusters) unless you take Sensor Jammer and Recce Spec (or similar).

Dash can react to your Decloak to avoid the doughnut and throw 4 TL+Focused HLC's at you. Add his support (generally VI Corran and it can be GG on the first exchange more often than not) - it's not unwinnable but it's not a good fight.

Brobots are the real killer though - before the nerf Whisper was a great Brobot counter now they simply see your Decloak move and use their extensive tricks to line you up for HLC/Mangler Gunner shots. Whisper does not last very long against a good Bot player. And with the Bots being so popular it makes Whisper a very risky ship to play unless you build her into an anti Bot squad which narrows your flexibility.

She used to be a consistent and reliable performer but now she is a high risk, moderate failure ship and generally you can get more consistent results with Soontir for far less risk (and points).

Things Whisper is still good against, so is Soontir, things Whisper is bad against Soontir is good. Soontir is a lot slower and can't spike damage/close out games like Whisper can but for tournament play - Soontir is more reliable.

Phantoms are amazing in Epic, they are honestly the best ships to throw against an Epic ship especially with Sensor Jammer. I also love Kallus on Phantoms these days. I ran this is pretty strong success

The Phantom is a great ship, however the 2-4 green dice (esp. vs a hard counter -> any top ace with VI) is not.

If only FFG had designed a cloak mechanic that wasn't 100% reliant on yourself having VI... anywho.

Over the course of a day (i.e. a tournament) those 4 dice will fail you at a critical time, which I believe is why they are rarely seen these days.

The results are in! Phantom performed quite well, partnered up with Admiral & Emperor. As someone above mentioned, IG88's did cause problems. Mainly because I forgot to decloak at the appropriate time, and that screwed Whisper's positioning for the remainder of the game. No big deal, really. It's a very casual atmosphhere.

The change to cloaking is definitely a huge change. Feels a lot more balanced now, though.

So uh....what exactly IS the cloaking nerf??

So uh....what exactly IS the cloaking nerf??

Decloaking, specifically. It was originally decloak when you reveal your dial, it got changed to decloak at the start of activation after everything else that triggers at the start of activation.

So, I haven't seen anything on them since the cloaking nerf.

Does anyone still fly em? I'm considering it for tomorrow's game.

from №1 arcdodger that uses 0% brain power

it became a solid jouster

but jousters are dead.

The results are in! Phantom performed quite well, partnered up with Admiral & Emperor. As someone above mentioned, IG88's did cause problems. Mainly because I forgot to decloak at the appropriate time, and that screwed Whisper's positioning for the remainder of the game. No big deal, really. It's a very casual atmosphhere.

The change to cloaking is definitely a huge change. Feels a lot more balanced now, though.

The results are in! Phantom performed quite well, partnered up with Admiral & Emperor. As someone above mentioned, IG88's did cause problems. Mainly because I forgot to decloak at the appropriate time, and that screwed Whisper's positioning for the remainder of the game. No big deal, really. It's a very casual atmosphhere.

The change to cloaking is definitely a huge change. Feels a lot more balanced now, though.

I also broke my Whisper out for the first time in several months for a tournament this weekend. She performed quite well, leading me to a 3-1 finish. Where the ship failed is where I failed as a pilot, flying myself into bad situations that I should have recognized before I set a dial. Which really, is exactly what the nerf intended...

What was your squad list here?

You can get around the phantom nerf by taking an intelligence agent. This allows you to plan your deck oak after seeing a ships dial. It works great

The results are in! Phantom performed quite well, partnered up with Admiral & Emperor. As someone above mentioned, IG88's did cause problems. Mainly because I forgot to decloak at the appropriate time, and that screwed Whisper's positioning for the remainder of the game. No big deal, really. It's a very casual atmosphhere.

The change to cloaking is definitely a huge change. Feels a lot more balanced now, though.

I also broke my Whisper out for the first time in several months for a tournament this weekend. She performed quite well, leading me to a 3-1 finish. Where the ship failed is where I failed as a pilot, flying myself into bad situations that I should have recognized before I set a dial. Which really, is exactly what the nerf intended...

What was your squad list here?

Whisper

-FCS

-ACD

-VI

-RecSpec

Adm. Chiraneau

-Emperor Palpatine

-Ysanne Isard

I won a small tournament with:

Whisper [FCS, Intel Agent, VI, ACD]

5 x Academy Pilot

Points: 100

The APs are great against PWTs and TLTs, while the Intel Agent & 5xAP lets you ignore the typical ~97 initiative bid.

I won a small tournament with:

Whisper [FCS, Intel Agent, VI, ACD]

5 x Academy Pilot

Points: 100

The APs are great against PWTs and TLTs, while the Intel Agent & 5xAP lets you ignore the typical ~97 initiative bid.

I can't help but insist that 4 Crack Squadrons would be better.

Enhanced scopes is a good upgrade on the named pilots. You get to move where you want and not get blocked.

So, I haven't seen anything on them since the cloaking nerf.

Does anyone still fly em? I'm considering it for tomorrow's game.

Also, what change was made to the mechanic? It's been a long while, so I don't quite remember

They're still very good.

Pretty much what was said here. The only thing is that they are not the extreme re-positional arc dodger that they used to be. They can still dodge plenty of arcs and Whisper is always welcomed as Soontir's wingman but there are some things like TLTs and stress heavy mechanics that keep Phantoms out of the top of the meta.

I did face a couple TLT ships, but didn't have much of a problem with them. The 4 evade dice definitely give them a hard time, especially on top of the free evades and RecSpecs extra focus. And then Palpatine, too...

I won a small tournament with:

Whisper [FCS, Intel Agent, VI, ACD]

5 x Academy Pilot

Points: 100

The APs are great against PWTs and TLTs, while the Intel Agent & 5xAP lets you ignore the typical ~97 initiative bid.

I can't help but insist that 4 Crack Squadrons would be better.

I can't help but insist that I beat that exact list multiple times with ease.

I still hate Phantoms. The 4 attack dice is bad and the named ones force you to fly a high PS ace. It's too much of a rock/paper/scissors game with the Phantom.

I won a small tournament with:

Whisper [FCS, Intel Agent, VI, ACD]

5 x Academy Pilot

Points: 100

The APs are great against PWTs and TLTs, while the Intel Agent & 5xAP lets you ignore the typical ~97 initiative bid.

I can't help but insist that 4 Crack Squadrons would be better.

Maybe! But:

1. I don't own 4 Crack Shots (working on it though!)

2. 5 PS1 blockers work better with IA than 4 PS4 blockers.