Simply ignore Valen Rudor until he is the last ship.

A response might be "Good! Ignore him and I'll shoot at you!"

Well I say "Good! Roll your 2 attack dice at me!". Look, lets say you've got 3, or even 4 ships. I can't kill them ALL at the same time... I wish I could. But I can't. So I'm going to have to prioritize. I prioritize usually by threat, but sometimes I just might go for a ship that's easy to kill also. Maybe a naked z-95 is at range 1 of my Ghost and I can roll 5 dice on it.... sometimes I just might do that, especially if the game is running late and I need points. But the other 99% of the time I shoot at the biggest threat.

Valen Rudor is NEVER going to be the biggest threat. Ever.

I understand that he will be able to shoot at me, but so will every other ship you bring. Lets say you are running Aces. Vader, Soontir Fel, and Valen Rudor. Well Vader and Fel are OBVIOUSLY going to be my primary targets. You might kid yourself into thinking that I'm letting Valen Rudor run wild, but lets say you replaced him with an academy pilot - he'd STILL be the one "running wild" because he doesn't pose a significant threat to my fleet. He only has 2 dice, and he's NOT one of the ships that can make those dice into a threat. The Inquisitor is a threat. A TIE Advanced with the X1 title is a threat. Omega Leader is a Threat. Valen Rudor is about a threatening as a debris cloud. Sure I MIGHT roll a crit, but I'll take my chances and fly over it anyway.

What do you do against a Procket holding Rudor? With a Procket he's a serious threat.

I understand that he will be able to shoot at me, but so will every other ship you bring. Lets say you are running Aces. Vader, Soontir Fel, and Valen Rudor. Well Vader and Fel are OBVIOUSLY going to be my primary targets. You might kid yourself into thinking that I'm letting Valen Rudor run wild, but lets say you replaced him with an academy pilot - he'd STILL be the one "running wild" because he doesn't pose a significant threat to my fleet. He only has 2 dice, and he's NOT one of the ships that can make those dice into a threat. The Inquisitor is a threat. A TIE Advanced with the X1 title is a threat. Omega Leader is a Threat. Valen Rudor is about a threatening as a debris cloud. Sure I MIGHT roll a crit, but I'll take my chances and fly over it anyway.

Valen Rudor + Title + AutoThrusters + Juke. Those two dice attacks just became a little more potent. Granted not as devestating as the others you mentioned, but now he is making you spend tokens when you might not want to, and he is boosting in range 1 if possible to get a 3 dice attack with juke and target lock.

Was playing with rudor the other day. Flew bim with cluster missles. He vot blocked and lost his action. In flew Soontir. Soontir, full health, fires on rudor doing 3 damage. As a result of rudor's ability, he gets to target lock Fel. When he gets to shoot, I unload the clusters and take fel out. It was beautiful

And I was honestly impressed by how he performed. Title+Juke gave him consistent damage (I shot down an IG with him!), but more impressively is how hard he was to kill! Multiple times he was in a position where he'd take concentrated fire, but simply boosted or rolled after the first shot (which, more often than not, didn't touch him). And even when I could avoid a second shot, I could still add a focus for defense. Only taking one shot? Can still position myself for next turn! Only time he died is when I maroned him onto a rock and couldn't escape multiple shots.

So, firepower wasn't an issue? Excellent. It's one thing to look at it on paper, but it's another thing to fly it. Juke is perfect for him with the title as he gets the free Evade action. So, he'll get the TL to modify dice and then the Juke to reduce the defense. Also, maybe he Boost or BRs into R1 for the extra die?

Wasn't for me, no. I got about as much damage as you'd expect from someone like Omega Leader. He's not going to one shot a whole lot, but his output was consistent and, at the worst case, forced folks to use a focus token thanks to Juke. And yeah, definitely has opportunities to get into R1 with his ability, sometimes with his Evade token for Juke still intact.

Honestly, it's a fantastic ability that I'd wager a lot of the naysayers haven't seen the potency of in action, and even with some upgrades he'll come in at a cheaper price than you could ever hope to safely field The Inquisitor for. Though hey, no reason to not use both!

The Tacoma champ said how he'd boost into range 1 and PTL for attack mods if it was a higher PS ship. If they were lower, he'd PTL to get defensive mods or arc dodge initially.

That's... I really like that! PTL on him still makes me a tad nervous, but that's some nice versatility the player used. Might have to borrow that idea if I ever think "Juke" Rudor isn't how he fits in a squad.

Only time he died is when I maroned him onto a rock and couldn't escape multiple shots.

Ya know he can still take actions on the rock, right? I mean, you can't barrel roll or boost if the template crosses the rock, but it'd be an odd spot where *both* got blocked.

Got myself out of a TIE Defender's double-tap that way. He fired a tractor beam at me, used it to throw me onto a rock. Sooo...I just barrel rolled right off the other side of it. LOL...

(And yes, this was before the errata nerf to Rudor)

No, I didn't! We both just decided that's how it works and went with it. Well, ****, could've easily saved him then.

And what nerf?

As noted in the other posts - basically that the enemy MAY get to shoot twice before Rudor's action takes effect, if they have initiative instead of you.

IE., they shoot at you and it triggers both their second attack and Rudor's action. Which of those two things happens first (their attack or Rudor's action) depends on whether they have initiative or you do.

How most of us had previously been playing it is that any time a new thing triggers, that newest thing fully resolves before you return back to the flow of the game that triggered it. But new FAQ says it doesn't work like that.

Ohhhhhhhh.... right, that. Fun fact: I flew him with Turr Phennir and Whisper. My entire team was more than happy to take initiative whenever it mattered. Doubly so for Juke Rudor (Jukdor?), since he wants to go ahead and fire with his Evade token active and then spend it on defense afterwards if needed.

Simply ignore Valen Rudor until he is the last ship.

A response might be "Good! Ignore him and I'll shoot at you!"

Well I say "Good! Roll your 2 attack dice at me!". Look, lets say you've got 3, or even 4 ships. I can't kill them ALL at the same time... I wish I could. But I can't. So I'm going to have to prioritize. I prioritize usually by threat, but sometimes I just might go for a ship that's easy to kill also. Maybe a naked z-95 is at range 1 of my Ghost and I can roll 5 dice on it.... sometimes I just might do that, especially if the game is running late and I need points. But the other 99% of the time I shoot at the biggest threat.

Valen Rudor is NEVER going to be the biggest threat. Ever.

I understand that he will be able to shoot at me, but so will every other ship you bring. Lets say you are running Aces. Vader, Soontir Fel, and Valen Rudor. Well Vader and Fel are OBVIOUSLY going to be my primary targets. You might kid yourself into thinking that I'm letting Valen Rudor run wild, but lets say you replaced him with an academy pilot - he'd STILL be the one "running wild" because he doesn't pose a significant threat to my fleet. He only has 2 dice, and he's NOT one of the ships that can make those dice into a threat. The Inquisitor is a threat. A TIE Advanced with the X1 title is a threat. Omega Leader is a Threat. Valen Rudor is about a threatening as a debris cloud. Sure I MIGHT roll a crit, but I'll take my chances and fly over it anyway.

What do you do against a Procket holding Rudor? With a Procket he's a serious threat.

I would say that, at that point cost, Rudor may be replaced with a different pilot. Don't get me wrong, I love him and would have zero problem with it, but more often than not the price to get a Procket Rudor on the table will be spent on someone else entirely.

But IF he's on the table, then yes, you can't really ignore him. Maybe slap on PTL and chimps, and if you get shot at you boost in, Focus or TL/Evade, and unleash hell.

That said, I disagree with the guy you're quoting and don't think Rudor is a pilot easily ignored.

So the original poster had:

PILOTS

Valen Rudor (27)
TIE Advanced Prototype (22), Juke (2), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

So for my 28 points: Instead I would use this as an Arc Dodger:

Turr Phennir (28)
TIE Interceptor (25), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)

After you perform an attack, you may perform a free boost or barrel roll action.

Between the two:

Valen allows you a target lock, an evade, and an action AFTER being attacked. You have 2 dice to attack with, plus Juke and a target lock, but your at PS 6. You have 3 dice to defend with and an Evade. and an extra shield. You can take an extra action ONLY after your being attacked. This makes Valen a Jouster

Phennir gives you three attack dice, but at a PS 9. So you can maneuver into position, boost or barrel roll (or focus if your in a good position), and then shoot first (at Ps 9), and then boost or barrel roll out of arc. Phennir though a shield down is much more of an Arc Dodger. Im not saying that Valen is bad. He is an awesome low level ace for his points cost.

The big thing about either of these builds is that 28 points is the MAGIC NUMBER for an ace + other stuff in Imperial builds. (Ace + 2 defenders, Ace + 3 Tie Advanced, Ace + 3 tie bombers, etc). Once you get to 29+ points, you loose a lot of math that allows you to squeeze 4 ships into 100 points.

My only thought is this: Valen rudor says "After defending, you may perform a free action". This does not appear to be limited by any means other than the fact that you cant do the same action more than once per turn. So he could effectively defend, take an action, defend, take another different action, defend, take a third action.

How useful that is, I don't know.

So the original poster had:

PILOTS

Valen Rudor (27)

TIE Advanced Prototype (22), Juke (2), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

So for my 28 points: Instead I would use this as an Arc Dodger:

Turr Phennir (28)

TIE Interceptor (25), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)

After you perform an attack, you may perform a free boost or barrel roll action.

Between the two:

Valen allows you a target lock, an evade, and an action AFTER being attacked. You have 2 dice to attack with, plus Juke and a target lock, but your at PS 6. You have 3 dice to defend with and an Evade. and an extra shield. You can take an extra action ONLY after your being attacked. This makes Valen a Jouster

Phennir gives you three attack dice, but at a PS 9. So you can maneuver into position, boost or barrel roll (or focus if your in a good position), and then shoot first (at Ps 9), and then boost or barrel roll out of arc. Phennir though a shield down is much more of an Arc Dodger. Im not saying that Valen is bad. He is an awesome low level ace for his points cost.

The big thing about either of these builds is that 28 points is the MAGIC NUMBER for an ace + other stuff in Imperial builds. (Ace + 2 defenders, Ace + 3 Tie Advanced, Ace + 3 tie bombers, etc). Once you get to 29+ points, you loose a lot of math that allows you to squeeze 4 ships into 100 points.

Hey, psssst, buddy....

Fun fact: I flew him with Turr Phennir and Whisper.

Alone you have one arc dodger. Together your opponents hate you.

Hey, psssst, buddy....

Fun fact: I flew him with Turr Phennir and Whisper.

Alone you have one arc dodger. Together your opponents hate you.

Awww when you said "Pssst.. hey Buddy... I thought you were going to sell me the letter "Y", or the number "8".

Rudor fits snugly into a Palp aces Whisper list. The last points are a trade off between Whisper's crew and Rudor's ept.

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!55:-1,-1,132,-1:-1:-1:;79:27,36,-1:-1:9:;164:18,-1:27:15:&sn=Palp%20Aces%205

I thought he would be good with Marksmanship, seeing he will go somewhat later in the round, if he gets to use a free action,

giving his attack a boost is not bad at all.

TIE/v1, Autothrusters, and with Targetlock, Boost, Barrel Roll he will have a good shot when he finally gets to shoot