So we now have a lot of options for a 30-40 point imperial ace build outs

The inquisitor

Soontier fel

Darth Vader

Vessary/rexler

whisper

All these guys can sit next to a decimator or mini swarm or palpmobile shuttle ready to own your opponents squad without losing a single ship

So what do you think are the best and your favorite(two different choices)

It would be great if you included the builds you would use them in and what makes them better/more fun.

you can also include names I didn't mention if they fill that role for you, and I'd love if you take the possible future meta into consideration when making the choice

T

Look forward to hearing reading your opinions

Soontir is the best all-round ace in my opinion, he's so hard to kill that the optimal strategy in games with him is often to ignore him until last. I think Omega Leader is going to make him riskier to run soon though.

My favorite to fly is Whisper though, the cloaking mechanic is just a lot of fun.

I'm looking forward to this:

Vessery

x7

Juke

Stealth Device

38 points

Omega Leader "el presidente"

Juke

Comm Relay

26 points

2x

Omega Squadron TIE/fo

Crackshot

36 points

100 total

soontir is well rounded but i think omega leader as well as the inquisitor will make people think whether to bring him at all since both these buggers are a threat to him that you shall not underestimate.

People swear by Vader but my favorite has got to be Fel for anti-tlt goodness.

Currently my new pet fav is probably Vess with x7 title. Once pts cost is released I'll be running steele instead.

For legal builds I gotta give a shout out to Carnor Jax packing the usual interceptor kit with targeting computer. Love Everything about that build.

Soontir Fel is the ****.

Vader with ATC is also great.

But soon we get Vess with options that will be my go to Ace.

Juno with VI, x1 and ATC.

The options, oh all those options.

Three Deltas with ion cannons and tie/d. Ion the other aces and get behind them.rip

Soontir is the best, no doubt. Wanna talk about ships being over-costed? Soontir is under costed. 35 points gets you something that can do some truly incredible things. Guy is an absolute beast.

I think "Whisper" is still near the top as well. If you can't get multiple guns to train on her, she'll win. Consistently getting through four modified green dice isn't easy, and it's what makes both of these two so formidable.

Honorable mentions:

Carnor Jax- Being only a point cheaper, he's far too often over-shadowed by Soontir Fel... and personally, it's a shame. Losing evade and focus tokens/actions is absolutely killer, and he's still got the PS to be a nightmare to pin down. A well flown Jax will ruin your day, absolutely. Even if he's against PS9 pilots, he'll have an undeniable indirect effect of forcing them to fly elsewhere.

Omega Leader- Who cares if he only has two attack? He rolls, he Jukes a defense dice, and you take whatever else the math adds up to. Return fire and he Dark Curses you. For about a quarter of your points, he can be a mean one to face (without lucky dice).

Maarek Stele- Another "over-shadowed" pilot due to Vader, but you can get Maarek into a list for a lot less (not much economy there for EU, so you can save four more points if you're on a budget!) and still deal out some harsh damage. Heck, slap ATC and Predator on him and he's good to go! Or hey, if you're two points short go with him and EU over Vader. Now that he can actually do damage, Maarek can absolutely cripple his targets. It can also lead to hilarity when you shoot Boba Fett who has three hull left, pick the "Major Explosion", and have it result in a Direct Hit.

Honestly, just about any named Imperial Pilot who isn't "Fel's Wrath" is worth a try. I look forward to giving Valen Rudor and The Inquisitor a shot when they roll out, and all the new toys for the Bomber and Defender.

Steele is awesome. I recently took down Vander dealing 6 in one round with Steele. Even Vader can't do that (as reliably).

Rexler is my go to ace and now he has the title options it just lets me be more creative with his escorts.

Dark Curse, obviously. Best 16 points you'll ever spend.

Soontir Fel.duh.

Dark Curse, obviously. Best 16 points you'll ever spend.

QFT. Dark Curse and Fel will make your opponents go mad from frustration.

Soontir Fel was my first favorite Ace to fly. He's a lot of fun, but frankly there are two sticking points: one, I kept smearing my local opponents with him so badly that it kinda got a little old, and two, because of that, everyone who played in our local scene started copying the way I'd kit him out. So as cool as he is, I tend not to use him anymore just because I sorta got burned out on him.

Rexler Brath is another big favorite, just because he has those games where he's just so **** cool. Usually, you can only make use of his ability about once per game, but oh man is that "once" usually superb. My favorite one ever was him with only about 2 hull left against a full health Y-Wing with Adv. Protons and an Ion Cannon Turret. One round of firing at range 3 with HLC stripped the Y-Wing's shields, and he then had to take a green maneuver. Second turn was at range 1, so I fired my normal primaries, landing some regular damage and a critical hit. The Crit was Munitions Failure, so he lost his torps. I flipped it with a focus token once it resolved to blow off the turret as well. That Gold never got another shot off. And bless my opponent, they didn't want to concede either, they played out the whole match (which really only consisted of about two turns). Good game on both sides, really.

I love Rexler with TIE mk2, Ion Cannon, PtL, and TIE/D title.

Omega Leader (Duelist) is a beast in 1v1s. Comms Relay and Juke are tailor-made for him, and PtL does great work too.

Carnor Jax is by far my favorite imp ace in the game, used to be soontir but seeing as all he has to do is token up to live I've given him a break. Both pilots are monsters and interceptors are insanely fun to fly. The way I like to describe the difference between Soontir and Carnor is simple actually

Soontir Fel = I Win

Carnor Jax = You Lose

Looking to try a Juke Carnor + Kagi build when I get back from winter break, it's gonna be so gross and look something like this

Captain Kagi — Lambda-Class Shuttle 27

Advanced Sensors 3

Ion Cannon 3

Rebel Captive 3

Fleet Officer 3

Ship Total: 39

Carnor Jax — TIE Interceptor 26

Juke 2

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 33

"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter 21

Juke 2

Comm Relay 3

Ship Total: 26

At 98 points right now, but think I'm gonna move some stuff around just not sure what, like a sensor jammer on Kagi or something.

Carnor Jax — TIE Interceptor 26

Juke 2

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 33

Since you're not using PTL or the Emperor, wouldn't a Hull Upgrade be better here?

I plan on trying Vessery with Vader and Fel. But if I had to pick one ace I'll try to fly in every list, it has to be Vader.

The next wave is quite exciting, I can't wait to try the Inquisitor, Defender Maarek, the new bomber pilot...

Fel's Wrath.

Soontir, though I've had great fun with Carnor Jax, Vader, Whisper, Dark Curse, and Omega Ace.

Wondering if the Inquisitor might knock Soonitr off his perch, though.

Soontir Fel = I Win

Carnor Jax = You Lose

How gleefully accurate.

Soontir was the best when he came out and he is even better then when he was new. He is so disruptive to opponents because they NEED to kill him but they know that many shots will be wasted in the effort. No other pilot bring so much for so little. I run him at 35-36 (hull or shield) and he is a total bargain. Vader is a close second for best ace. Whisper is also still very good. The empire has the monopoly on affordable top tier aces.

The best Imperial Ace to me is the one I have just reduced to 0 hull points!

(In my playgroup I'm the only one not playing Imps)

Big fan of Juno with PTL. Throw on a Twin Ion MKll and that's a lot of green maneuvers.