I see a lot of stuff on the forums speaking to the Starvipers lackluster capabilities and I'm curious as the where this comes from. I personally have had a lot of success with it, and I'm just wondering where the community concensus has come from.

People wanted it to be a TIE Interceptor/A-Wing and it isn't. It is more of a hyper-B-Wing that gets the damage mitigation of the former two.

The main problem is its heavy expense for what it is- if the SV had a really good ace, it would be different. If you want to see a similar effect- see the problem of the generic T-70s. The T-70 is good, but it's a Poe Dameron/Red Ace carrier, the same way the E-wing is a Corran boat.

Guri and xizor have a hard time taking out any other aces.

You know what they should do with scum I think: make the generics deadly as hell to aces. And make their aces deadly as hell to generics. Would be an awesome role reversal.

Xizor is an alright ace in the context of putting VI on him, but the need to put VI on him to really compete with other aces is his main issue. There's still not much like it in scum so you can make it work. The system at least gives you a chance in the action economy but he costs like Poe and is not anywhere near as good.

If I knew I was facing nothing but generics I would use the **** out of Guri. She's just ass against aces.

People moan about the cost and the fact they cannot put Push the Limit on them and constantly perform two actions due to the lack of green on the dial being too restrictive. Due to this, people don't like the StarViper.

I for one have flown the Viper in quite a few games now and frequently beat meta lists with it. In one tournament I managed wins against Dash/Poe, Poe/Miranda/ Poe/Stresshog swarm / Dual Aggressors and eventually lost to a scum swarm. . .

Its good but not what people expected.

Is it perfect? No, it IS over costed for what it brings to the table. The title being the only way to gain access to the sensor AND illicit slot which it so desperately needs is a chore and the lack of an evade action (or way to generate an evade token) means one unlucky roll will melt the Viper and roughly 35 to 40 points of your list.

It's strengths however are that you can make it completely immune to stress and it CAN survive quite nicely in the end game. As an example, I managed to take down an full health aggressor whilst only using Guri due to her ability, sensor jammer and her awesome one turn.

I think if it could evade, OR it had green 1 or 2 turns, it would be such a better ship. But as it is, it's just a very okay, expensive jouster.

Whats the deal with these Starvipers? I mean...are they knife-fighters or jousters? They're so confused they look like they belong in BSG! And whos this Xizor guy supposed to be? I mean, hes one of the most powerful guys in the galaxy, and he dates a robot? Yeesh, leave your luxury cruiser every now and then, pal. No wonder our glorious Empire avoids those freaks! *bassline*

Personally, i really like the ships all-around stats and action bar, what i don't like is it's aesthetic appeal. Or lack there of. Tis a fugly turkey. Even by Scum standards.

As others have mentioned, the StarViper's biggest problem isn't the stats and available upgrades ... it's the lack of worthwhile ace pilots (and worthwhile ace pilot abilities) at the current squad point price.

There are worse ships in terms of stats/upgrade slots and more expensive ships in terms of squad points that are FAR more popular simply because they have awesome named/unique pilots with killer pilot skills.

Just look at the popularity of the new standard TIEs from the Assault Carrier expansion (like Wampa) or the new TIE/FO named pilots ... those ships don't have the impressive stats of the StarViper but they have AWESOME pilot abilities AND they cost fewer squad points.

Here's another example; you could add a fully tricked-out Carnor Jax TIE Interceptor (PTL, Royal Guard TIE upgrade, Hull Upgrade and Autothursters) for the same cost of the Guri StarViper with just Autothursters and a comparatively "meh" EPT like Bodyguard.

In that comparison, Carnor Jax not only has a better pilot ability than Guri, but he can also afford a better EPT and has evade along with an arguably better maneuver dial.

That's just one of several examples but that right there is why so many people dislike the StarViper. If the StarViper's named pilots had better pilot abilities or if each StarViper was 4 squad points less than its current price then more people would run StarViper builds.

I agree with you. I think the Starviper is one of those ships that most people looked at and didn't get. So, they haven't actually really played with it. People are so used to being able to PTL with their super ace that anyone who can't do it isn't worth it in their eyes as they have become too reliant on it. The podcasts pan it. Not many try it. No one sees them and reads all the news and just thinks they are bad. People consider it bad and never really give it a chance.

I have flown the Starviper with Xizor and I like it. I think it's very effective. I've done very well with it. I think people need to just try it out.

At the moment, hyper competitive play doesn't like mid PS ships, which hurts Guri. You either go with super ace or you go with super cheap generics (or ones that shoot before TLT's). Hyper competitive players don't like mid-PS ships as they can't arc dodge the arc dodgers and cost more than the generics for not much (in their eyes). That doesn't mean these are bad ships, but read the first paragraph above.

FFG stated that they were trying to be conservative with it and it should've gotten more greens. I also think the generics are probably over-costed, but the aces are fine.

The Virago "tax" holds them back from seeing more widespread use, but they can be a fun ship to fly

It's not that it's bad so much that scum has better cheaper options.

Like the defenders I think they were too cautious about the sloop so over priced it.

The Starviper is the best fighter in the game. You heard me, and it is. It is not an Interceptor/A-wing and it is not a pure tanky jouster like the B-wing. The Starviper should be compared to the X-wing and the TIE Fighter. It is more maneuverable than a Tie Fighter and has the offensive power of an X-wing. Yes, it is also more expensive than both.

I love to fly two base PS 1s with Autothrusters, alongside a Firespray (Kath being my favorite). They can joust and arc dodge, but they can also block, force the fight to be where you want it, and cause your opponent to constantly guess about target priority.

It's not a completely inept ship, but like others have said, it suffers from a slight over-cost and weak aces. There is a flipside of that, though. Most serious players don't view them as a threat, so if your list has a bigger distraction, the StarViper can deal some damage undeterred. I recently went to Top 4 in a 43 player Store Championship with a 2 Ion Warthog/2 TLT list. Lost one game in the Swiss rounds, to a list that included a StarViper. Came back around to beat him in the first round of Top 8, but the Viper dealt the hurt when it needed to, while I was focused on an IG-88 and a TLT Y-wing.

Edit: Faced him again in the first round of the Top 8 and eliminated him, before getting stomped in the Top 4.

I really don't get the "weak aces" comment. Just because someone doesn't have PTL doesn't mean it's a bad ship. I do think Xizor needs to take VI, but so what? Load up with FCS and Autothrusters and he's good. What's "weak" about him?

I really don't get the "weak aces" comment. Just because someone doesn't have PTL doesn't mean it's a bad ship. I do think Xizor needs to take VI, but so what? Load up with FCS and Autothrusters and he's good. What's "weak" about him?

Nothing weak about Guri and Advanced Proton Torpedoes....

There is no problem with starvipers. Scum ships tend to run in 25 and 50 point blocks. That makes the generics really easy to plug into a big ship and wreck havoc, unchecked, while the big 50 point guy does his stuff. I love with pair with an aggressor and scum boba.

It's not a completely inept ship, but like others have said, it suffers from a slight over-cost and weak aces. There is a flipside of that, though. Most serious players don't view them as a threat, so if your list has a bigger distraction, the StarViper can deal some damage undeterred. I recently went to Top 4 in a 43 player Store Championship with a 2 Ion Warthog/2 TLT list. Lost one game in the Swiss rounds, to a list that included a StarViper. Came back around to beat him in the first round of Top 8, but the Viper dealt the hurt when it needed to, while I was focused on an IG-88 and a TLT Y-wing.

Seconded. That starviper player nailed the top 4, and held his ground all day. I clipped him and got a modified win by 6 points to squeak into the top 8. Can't wait to get back into it.

It's not a completely inept ship, but like others have said, it suffers from a slight over-cost and weak aces. There is a flipside of that, though. Most serious players don't view them as a threat, so if your list has a bigger distraction, the StarViper can deal some damage undeterred. I recently went to Top 4 in a 43 player Store Championship with a 2 Ion Warthog/2 TLT list. Lost one game in the Swiss rounds, to a list that included a StarViper. Came back around to beat him in the first round of Top 8, but the Viper dealt the hurt when it needed to, while I was focused on an IG-88 and a TLT Y-wing.

Seconded. That starviper player nailed the top 4, and held his ground all day. I clipped him and got a modified win by 6 points to squeak into the top 8. Can't wait to get back into it.

Negative. I had to play him again in the first round of the Top 8 and eliminated him. But he got into the top 8 of a large tournament with a StarViper.

A 39 pt Guri beat the snot out of me last night 3 times. With the title, wired, SJ and autothrusters she was a PITA to try and kill. Expensive? Yeah but evidently worth it.

I really don't get the "weak aces" comment. Just because someone doesn't have PTL doesn't mean it's a bad ship. I do think Xizor needs to take VI, but so what? Load up with FCS and Autothrusters and he's good. What's "weak" about him?

Yes, you need to make him PS9 to improve him. The issue is, in order to get the most out of his ship, you have to break away and essentially ignore his ability. I don't think every ace needs Push the Limit, but most perform the best with Push, Predator, or Veteran Instincts, barring specific interactions with certain pilots. Point is, once you get Xizor to a powerful state with upgrades, he is similarly costed to Soontir Fel or a Phantom, and quite frankly cannot compete with their survivability or maneuverability at the same cost. If you play him a lot, you'll win some games, even against weak matchups, but on the whole he costs far too much for his ability. Guri suffers from similar issues. It isn't so much that the ship is weak in theory, it is that it is weak in the meta because similarly priced ships can perform far and away much better than he can.

I've seen StarVipers work, and I've seen them perform well. But, any time I have seen them perform well, it was a naked or mostly naked Generic. Take the cheapest one, give it Autothrusters at maximum, and then fill your lists with bigger threats.

The big problem I see is that the title is Unique. A-wings have a non unique title, Interceptors have a non unique title all for free. And the title cannot be put on a 3 PS ship, like the a-wings. It's seriously undermines the title. They should have a made two title if they wanted this unique to just Xi or Guri. The 1 and 3 ps pilots really suffer from no extra bonus, like the A-wings and Interceptors.

I really don't get the "weak aces" comment. Just because someone doesn't have PTL doesn't mean it's a bad ship. I do think Xizor needs to take VI, but so what? Load up with FCS and Autothrusters and he's good. What's "weak" about him?

Yes, you need to make him PS9 to improve him. The issue is, in order to get the most out of his ship, you have to break away and essentially ignore his ability. I don't think every ace needs Push the Limit, but most perform the best with Push, Predator, or Veteran Instincts, barring specific interactions with certain pilots. Point is, once you get Xizor to a powerful state with upgrades, he is similarly costed to Soontir Fel or a Phantom, and quite frankly cannot compete with their survivability or maneuverability at the same cost. If you play him a lot, you'll win some games, even against weak matchups, but on the whole he costs far too much for his ability. Guri suffers from similar issues. It isn't so much that the ship is weak in theory, it is that it is weak in the meta because similarly priced ships can perform far and away much better than he can.

I've seen StarVipers work, and I've seen them perform well. But, any time I have seen them perform well, it was a naked or mostly naked Generic. Take the cheapest one, give it Autothrusters at maximum, and then fill your lists with bigger threats.

Thats a good joke. Xizor might be the most survivable ship in the game, even if it is just by people not wanting to shoot at him (because it isn't worthwhile anyways). With 4-5 other ships around you will be able to proc his ability pretty much everywhere.