Is it all its cracked up yo be? People claim it is a "super shield upgrade."

I've got to say, in my experience, having run it in lists 8 or 9 times it's never once actually worked for me. Either the ship carrying it (tarn with R7 or else poe with vi and r3a2) hasn't taken sufficient damage such that I use it, or else the ship carrying it gets blown to pieces with overkill damage that AI wouldn't be able to prevent anyway.

A shield upgrade goes "on top" of your existing hit points and so protects your ship from crits for that one extra shot, and it doesn't use your droid up doing so.

Sure, it's free, and should therefore probably go on x wings as a matter of course, but does it bring the t65 back up anywhere near contention?

I don't think so. I think the x wing fix is yet to come in the form of a title. To get around the problem of boosting the already decent t70, I think we'll see a title card - x wing only, can only be equipped for ships that do not have boost. Like an anti Autothrusters.

It's a free shield upgrade, but better. It boost the X Wings jousting efficiency, such that it is higher than the B Wing.

I'm not sure what there is to complain about...

To put bluntly: if integrated astromech hadn't helped your ship, a Shield Upgrade won't have helped either.

I do note that the two ships you've tried it on are two of the most famously durable ships of their class too; this may have skewed your perception of having never needed it.

As for the throwing out your driod, my favored way of looking at it is as an upgrade to astromechs instead of a detriment to them - it's a 0pt upgrade that makes 'em all mini-chewie. And Chewbacca is awesome.

It's a shield upgrade that you can determine which of your hull points to protect against a crit with. You get to see what crit you are being dealt before you need to decide to use IA.

I've been using it on 3x Rookie T65s with R2 units plus an Ace (Wedge, Poe, etc) and have found IA to be a great add on, saving my bacon a few times.

But I always have thought that T65s weren't that bad anyway.

When you draw major explosion or direct hit, you soon start to appreciate it.

Astromech? What Astromech?

I've had it save my bacon on 3 separate occasions, so I'm a big fan.

It's a free shield upgrade, but better. It boost the X Wings jousting efficiency, such that it is higher than the B Wing.I'm not sure what there is to complain about...

Does it? I thought that mathwingers had determined it was still a tiny bit lower than a B-Wing in jousting value. Or did they recalculate in the meantime and found oit something new.

I do largely agree with the OP, the real X-Wing fix will probably come as a title.

IA seems to be doing a decent job for generics with R2 or R5, as we start seeing a few X-Wings in top 8 lists of store championships again. I think i even saw a Biggs list with IA again, and Tarn Mison too.

So i would not say IA is not worth it, but it does not fix the X-Wing Aces. They got BB-8 now which makes one of them a tiny bit less static for as long as you don't have to throw the ball overboard with IA. But in a meta where there are still large turrets, hypermaneuvrable ships with Autothrusters, and TLTs, IA is not enough for ships as expensive as Wedge for example.

The PS8-9 aces cost 28-29 points, which is just too much to justify them in a list. Wedge in a playable fashion with BB-8, IA and a 3 point EPT sits at 34 points. With EU instead at 38. That's Poe and Doni Territory and unless he, Luke and Wes get a serious upgrade to their ship, they will still not see play at competitive level. People will try them, but then when things get seriously competitive they will continue collecting dust.

So: IA helps generics and cheap named pilots. But that's it!

I'm not sure why the board keeps talking about an upcoming x-wing fix. It is out, and it's called Integrated Astromech. Now FFG will sit back and do what it has done in the past... watch the meta. IF anymore changes happen with the T-65, it is probably a year off. FFG is very careful about not rushing changes and risking throwing off the balance of the game.

Biggs loves it.

The 3 times ive flow him since I got it kept him alive for another round to protect my guys from a strong attack. Ive put it on other X Wings and I don't regret it choosing not to take a crit when you want its almost like a 1 point week Chewe crew. it gives them a much needed defence fix they were looking for

It seems to improve the T-65's durability a *lot*. As has been said above, the ability to ignore a Direct Hit or Major Explosion is very strong, and even it's it's just effectively one extra hull point it's still good at 0 points. I like it a lot.

I'm not sure how much I'm likely to use it on any of the named T-70s, as Autothrusters seems to be the better bet from my experience, but again it's a solid way of adding a little more durability to the generics.

IA doesn't much help the Aces, IMO, but it DOES significanty approve lower Pilot Skill X-wings, such as Biggs, Tarn, and Rookies. Most Aces like Wedge will still want Engine Upgrade, and with Poe its Autothrusters or Bust. The Designers have stated in interviews that it is NOT the "Fix" for the X-wing, or at least not the single fix. They will iterate improving the X-wing over several releases. If Rebel Veterans becomes a thing, which seems likely, then that seems like a likely place for a new X-wing and title.

How about this:

T-65 X-wing

X-wing Only

Your action bar gains the (Barrel Roll) Icon and your primary weapon value increases by 1.

1 Point

Awesome? Definitely. Likely? Hardly.

But, it might be something like this. Something to make the older model behave differently than the T-70. And MAYBE hit a little harder, though I don't believe it will get 4 attack. The problem is, there are difficulties in improving the X-wing, because it fills a similar role at a similar price point to a few other ships. It has to make the T-65 viable at the same or very similar cost WITHOUT cannibalizing the B-wing and T-70. They must all remain viable choices, including their cheapest and most expensive pilots. And it also has to improve every pilot, including the cheapest and most expensive ones, without making Wedge a monster. In response to this, we may even see something Pilot Skill dependent with variable effects.

Not so easy, is it?

Made a difference in 1/3 games for me so far. Considering the price that's pretty good.

IA is a defensively minded crackshot. Use it when you can. Stave off a crit when you don't want, or stay alive for one more round of firing.

I've had it keep wedge alive for many turns past his usual expiration date.

I enjoy it, I just hate the fact that only 1 copy came in the single expansion. There's always Ebay though. Still would have been nice to get at least 2 copies.

Really need to download that damaged R2 "WHA-oooooooooooooooooooooooo!" noise, so I can play it whenever I flip the IA card over...

It's a free shield upgrade, but better. It boost the X Wings jousting efficiency, such that it is higher than the B Wing.

I'm not sure what there is to complain about...

Right, that's factually false. Like, literally it isn't higher than the B-Wings.

It's a free shield upgrade, but better. It boost the X Wings jousting efficiency, such that it is higher than the B Wing.

I'm not sure what there is to complain about...

Actually the last time I saw MajorJuggler's math the B-wing was still just a hair ahead of the X-wing, even with integrated astro.

I'm not sure why the board keeps talking about an upcoming x-wing fix. It is out, and it's called Integrated Astromech. Now FFG will sit back and do what it has done in the past... watch the meta. IF anymore changes happen with the T-65, it is probably a year off. FFG is very careful about not rushing changes and risking throwing off the balance of the game.

Imp Aces 2 has been announced, and therefore Rebel aces 2 will come shortly after that.

I also agree taht the Defender needed help, but describing this as a careful change is really not describing the matter. Both Titles have the potential to catapult the Defender from unused to the top of the meta.

And why would the ship that gives the game it's name get a lesser treatment? So that makes me indeed very certain that they are not done with the T-65 X-Wing

IA is not nearly the fix that the X-Wing Aces would need. Generics, yes, but Aces, nope!

It's also an incredibly bland fix. Give it one more hp.

It is maybe a part of the cure, but i have no doubt here is more to come!

It's a free shield upgrade, but better. It boost the X Wings jousting efficiency, such that it is higher than the B Wing.

I'm not sure what there is to complain about...

Actually the last time I saw MajorJuggler's math the B-wing was still just a hair ahead of the X-wing, even with integrated astro.

Yes exactly that's also what i have seen, and the B-Wing still ahs the advantage in equipment and barrel roll if you look at it overall.

I'm not sure why the board keeps talking about an upcoming x-wing fix. It is out, and it's called Integrated Astromech. Now FFG will sit back and do what it has done in the past... watch the meta. IF anymore changes happen with the T-65, it is probably a year off. FFG is very careful about not rushing changes and risking throwing off the balance of the game.

Imp Aces 2 has been announced, and therefore Rebel aces 2 will come shortly after that.

I also agree taht the Defender needed help, but describing this as a careful change is really not describing the matter. Both Titles have the potential to catapult the Defender from unused to the top of the meta.

And why would the ship that gives the game it's name get a lesser treatment? So that makes me indeed very certain that they are not done with the T-65 X-Wing

IA is not nearly the fix that the X-Wing Aces would need. Generics, yes, but Aces, nope!

It's also an incredibly bland fix. Give it one more hp.

It is maybe a part of the cure, but i have no doubt here is more to come!

It's fun to speculate. We have a pretty good idea of what to expect from X-wing over the next 6 months. No X-wing fixes in sight. While I hope a Rebel aces pack is in the cards (as I would love Poe's T-70), we just don't know yet. In the mean time, IA is our fix and the proper amount of time will need to be spent with it to see its impact on the game.

It's fun to speculate. We have a pretty good idea of what to expect from X-wing over the next 6 months. No X-wing fixes in sight. While I hope a Rebel aces pack is in the cards (as I would love Poe's T-70), we just don't know yet. In the mean time, IA is our fix and the proper amount of time will need to be spent with it to see its impact on the game.

I'd say the E-Wing is most deserving of a fix at the moment - and would be the TIE Defender analog. Since most of the others are fine and have received fixes, the T-65 X-wing could be the "TIE bomber analog" in the pack.

Integrated is very powerful

It just doesn't resolve the issue of an Xwing that can only joust

What it did is change it to a jouster FROM a jouster that couldn't even joust

It's the placebo of the upgrade world. If it causes more people to dust off their x wings great.

My experiences range from never mattered (in those cases it wouldn't have mattered on a t70 either) to worth 2 hull for 0 cost. It's an excellent upgrade and what else are you spending those pts on?

People are unhappy about it because it's not flashy, they wanted a big shiny explosive TIE/x1 like bauble and they didn't get one.

However, it's probably one of the most thematic upgrades in the game (you've all seen A New Hope, right?) and buffs the X-wing mathematically to be on par with the B-wing. Before, the B-wing overshadowed the X-wing. Now they're balanced to each other and can shine on their differences, although the X-wing's having a hard time shaking its bad rep.

The 22pt X-wing can shrug off stress much more easily with the R2 or is even more crit resistant with the R5. If you're willing to get a 23pt X-wing instead of a 22, the astromech options open up further. The aces are also back in the game, especially with an integrated BB-8.

And to those who dismissed Targeting Astromech, I have only one word, and that is Hobbie.