I don't understand why this ship isn't seen more often at high level play. As a new player to X-wing this ship has it all and more with amazing stats and maneuverability (white k-turns are amazing), 3 attack and evade dice as well as shields. This ship is a monster and i see it as the empires direct response to the B-wing. Sure it has a steep point cost at 30 points but it needs very little if any upgrades to be amazing in almost any board position. At least that's what i see still being green to the game.

So why isn't the TIE defender run more often? Is it only the steep point cost or are there pieces of the puzzle i'm missing?

It's expensive and all its green manoeuvres are straights which makes them fairly predictable if they get stress for any reason.

The elite pilot abilities are okay but are to some extent conditional on other factors being in play, and aren't consistently reliable. Vessery is sometimes used but he's expensive for a PS of 6.

Tbh I think there's something to be said for generic defenders but for equivalent points you can have a larger number of standard TIEs. Or an ace in a different ship.

bang for points.

The low ps hurts the generics far too much at their cost, and there are better (and cheaper!) options over the aces.

The new titles will change that significantly when it drops

One action, has to use Focus for offense and defense, can't turn well, dies fast without Focus/Evade. Over-costed.

The main issue with the generics is cost effectiveness. The named ones are stronger because their PS is relatively cheap, and they can get a lot out of the upgrade slots. I've had a lot of success with them.

When you start comparing the cost to things like the t-70's it just doesn't stack up. While a white k turn is great, if you can do a 90 turn and a boost you're going to be able to get most things in arc. When you compare the aces to the likes of Darth Vader in an advanced with engine upgrade, he comes in at 3pts cheaper than Rex. Ok you have one less shield but it's Ps 9 and you still have points left for predator etc...

It's basically always a hard sell. But they are great fun to fly...

I've always liked the TIE defender, although I have had less success with it than Biophysical.

Some of the perceived problems with it are not actually problems: for example, the idea that it can't turn well or its dial is limited and therefore 'predictible' (newsflash: no ship in the game is predictible, only players using them) are really fallacies. Also, the 'named' pilots are actually a steal: compare their relative point costs to the generics, and you will notice they do not pay any points for their unique abilities. Do the same comparison with most other named pilots, and you will notice that is not the case for the majority of other pilots (examples, interceptors, advanced, x-wings, e-wings, etc).

Ok, so if the ship ain't so bad, why don't more people use it? Well I think it comes down to its specific cost in relation to other options available to Imperial players. For example, the generics cost 30 and 32 points. For a similar cost you can get Soontir f*cking Fel (or a little more nowadays, but back in wave 4 he was similar in cost) or Carnor Jax. For the named guys, to get value out of them, they often run 40+ points, and in that range, you can get a decimator or a mini-swarm of TIEs. So people just prefer these other options more often than not.

Even for myself (a devoted Defender fan), I was running a tricked out Vader with 2 delta defenders. At PS1, they were okay (they could block, grab a TL, k-turn and focus, now having TL + focus vs the opponent who k-turns and has no actions). But I found they still got killed a little faster than I would like because with just 2 of them, they struggled against 4+ enemy ships (interestingly, I find the generic defenders are at their best against no more than D+1 enemies, where D is the number of Defenders you have). Anyway, I tried switching out the deltas for a pair of royal guards suped up to the exact same cost (30 points), and suddenly I had A LOT more success. They couldn't joust like the defenders, but I found it much easier to keep them out of harms way (2 actions + autothrusters). Now I have to admit that I think my success has more to do with my playstyle (I have always had trouble using jousting ships really well and I tend to do better with arc-dodgers).

So yeah, TL;DR---Defenders are not bad ships at all. Its just for their price point, there are often other choices that are seen as more effective (whether its true or not, its the way it is).

Now I have been practicing on VASSAL with the new spoiled titles (coming out with Imperial Veterans) and I have to say that Defenders are going to be monsters when it drops. So far, I have not lost a game flying 3 ion trips (slang for defender). The TIE/D title is borderline OP, frankly. The control it offers allows them to exploit their white k-turn and just dismantle anyone foolish enough to joust with them. The white k-turn also makes it impossible for arc-dodgers to stay out of arc indefinitely, and if they get tagged with even 1 ion token,, its over for them...

When you start comparing the cost to things like the t-70's it just doesn't stack up. While a white k turn is great, if you can do a 90 turn and a boost you're going to be able to get most things in arc. When you compare the aces to the likes of Darth Vader in an advanced with engine upgrade, he comes in at 3pts cheaper than Rex. Ok you have one less shield but it's Ps 9 and you still have points left for predator etc...

It's basically always a hard sell. But they are great fun to fly...

This is what I mean by the named pilots making use of their upgrade slots. Regular, pre-Vets Rexler Brath is kinda weak for the price if he's only got an EPT on him. He can take an HLC, though, and while it makes him more expensive than the other top notch Imperial Aces, that level of firepower on a fast, tough, high PS Defender is something that really no other ship in the game can bring. I have played a lot of Rex+HLC+Predator+Hull Upgrade (a cool 50 points), and it's a hell of a thing, but it uses a different set of tactics than pretty much anything else in the game, so it's hard to just pick it up and use it.

When you start comparing the cost to things like the t-70's it just doesn't stack up. While a white k turn is great, if you can do a 90 turn and a boost you're going to be able to get most things in arc. When you compare the aces to the likes of Darth Vader in an advanced with engine upgrade, he comes in at 3pts cheaper than Rex. Ok you have one less shield but it's Ps 9 and you still have points left for predator etc...

It's basically always a hard sell. But they are great fun to fly...

This is what I mean by the named pilots making use of their upgrade slots. Regular, pre-Vets Rexler Brath is kinda weak for the price if he's only got an EPT on him. He can take an HLC, though, and while it makes him more expensive than the other top notch Imperial Aces, that level of firepower on a fast, tough, high PS Defender is something that really no other ship in the game can bring. I have played a lot of Rex+HLC+Predator+Hull Upgrade (a cool 50 points), and it's a hell of a thing, but it uses a different set of tactics than pretty much anything else in the game, so it's hard to just pick it up and use it.

50pts is a lot. What do you run with it? Possibly a doom shuttle and a couple of ties as blockers? I tend to prefer PTL and mark ii.

It takes skill to fly and most people can't manage it so they blame the ship instead of their own ineptitude.

But with the new titles and tractor beam vessery is about to be very common.

When you start comparing the cost to things like the t-70's it just doesn't stack up. While a white k turn is great, if you can do a 90 turn and a boost you're going to be able to get most things in arc. When you compare the aces to the likes of Darth Vader in an advanced with engine upgrade, he comes in at 3pts cheaper than Rex. Ok you have one less shield but it's Ps 9 and you still have points left for predator etc...

It's basically always a hard sell. But they are great fun to fly...

This is what I mean by the named pilots making use of their upgrade slots. Regular, pre-Vets Rexler Brath is kinda weak for the price if he's only got an EPT on him. He can take an HLC, though, and while it makes him more expensive than the other top notch Imperial Aces, that level of firepower on a fast, tough, high PS Defender is something that really no other ship in the game can bring. I have played a lot of Rex+HLC+Predator+Hull Upgrade (a cool 50 points), and it's a hell of a thing, but it uses a different set of tactics than pretty much anything else in the game, so it's hard to just pick it up and use it.

50pts is a lot. What do you run with it? Possibly a doom shuttle and a couple of ties as blockers? I tend to prefer PTL and mark ii.

I've done it with 4 TIE Fighters, 3 TIE/fos, or another 50 point Defender. I know others have run similar builds with a 50 points Boba Fett, but I'm not good with Firesprays.

I have had moderate sucess with 2 generic naked Defenders with either Vader or Redline. Although, with Vader you can slap a Hull Upgrade on each Defender. I have found the Defenders to be surprisingly resilliant little ships. As one of the only ships in the Imperial Navy with a base 3 Attack, it can dish out some damage. I think some Ion Cannon TIE/D Defenders with Vader will be pretty tough.

I LOVE the Defender. It's not only the best looking, it's the most fun Imperial fighter. Sure, it's expensive. But it's fast, hits, hard, has solid defense and has great options. Once Imperial Veterans drops it will be just as common as the Interceptor. You watch and see.