Hey there,

Looking for tips on flying the Decimator. New-ish to the game. Started a few months ago. Just got a decimator and I'm looking to fly it in my next store championship. My casual playtesting has been going alright. I've flown mostly Rear Admiral Chiraneau, and have tried Whisper and Vader as escorts. What I could use is some tips on actually flying the thing. I am a big fan of RAC, usually using EU, Ysanne, and Gunner if I go with whisper, and then I'll add a few more things if I go with the cheaper Vader.

Choosing targets?

Asteroid placement?

I typically take out a few things, but then RAC goes down and then I don't have the time or skill to clean up.

Any suggestions help!

I'm not an expert on RAC or the Decimator, but have flown it a few times (not recently mind you). I think your problem will be damage through TLTs and the like (focused fire etc.) - with zero evade, the Decimator can melt really quickly.

I've enjoyed flying Oicunn as you can get damage from the bump and, if facing TLT's, you can get into range 1 and avoid shots back. Pairing Oicunn with something else is always challenging - I had the most success using a list based on a suggestion from Paul Heaver I think - Decimator (kitted out with Pred, Isard, Dauntless), Doom Shuttle (Omicron Group Pilot on Lambda Shuttle with Darth Vader crew) and a filler Tie (Dark Curse or Backstabber at 16 points) - that leaves a few points for personal preferences.

Good luck.

Same here. I rarely fly PWTs but from my experience the main issue with the deci is how quickly it melts. The defensive version is much more durable btw although the sui build is more fun IMO and probably the stronger build. You want the debris clouds as they are more threatening to other ships than you. Prioritize the ship(s) that have the biggest guns for the least defense and eliminate. OR, the ship(s) most likely to give your ace escort trouble and eliminate. Fly erratically since you dunno care about arcs whaz arcs?

I play rebels almost all the time, but when Chirpy has been used against me, he normally flies down a board edge as fast as he can to try to get behind me - 4 straight + boost the first two rounds then 3 bank and bank-boost in round 3. 4 different opponents have done this to me on 4 separate ooccasions. I can therwfore only assume that this is a standard tactic for Chiraneu. I learned to counter it usually by bait and switch - pretend I'm going to fly forwards along the opposite edge but second round hard turn in and aim towards the expected 3rd round end point. Works better if the deci has a juicy target (the bait!) that can escape quickly. Jake or Tycho work well.

Usually lets me pop the deci quickly.

So, my advice: put it as far into a corner as you can (maybe leave around a small-ship base of distance between it and the board edge) and push it forwards quickly to circle behind. Just watch out for sneaky bar-stewards like me who will expect that, and then turn in a round earlier.

You can't let your opponent fire all of his ships into the decimator. I do this by ramming with Oicunn or boosting with the Admiral. I keep Oicunn cheap by only giving him predator. The admiral gets EU, rebel captive, issard, and maybe predator.

If you run oicunn try this list.

Oicunn

Intimidation

Mara Jade

Rebel Captive

Dauntless

X2 Storm Squadron Pilot

Title

AC

Mk2 Engine

Run the deci right in their faces and have the adv right behind him ot fly in from the flank. The ps 4 on the adv helps to deal with tlts and the like.

[Rule of Two]

98 points

PILOTS

Darth Vader (35)
TIE Advanced (29), TIE/x1 (0), Veteran Instincts (1), Engine Upgrade (4), Advanced Targeting Computer (5)

Commander Kenkirk (63)
VT-49 Decimator (44), Predator (3), Emperor Palpatine (8), Ysanne Isard (4), Engine Upgrade (4)

I'm a huge advocate of the above list. I'm 9-1 with it in my last 10 tourny rounds, and won my last 20 man tournament outright. That said, any donkey can have hot dice and lucky maneuvers once in awhile, so take it with a grain of salt. Also, it might be because in my meta, the standard list doesn't typically have more than 2 TLTs in it. If your region is thick with Quad TLTs, your mileage may vary (and I can't really tell you how this performs against it).

I echo keeping Oicuun cheap. I like mine with Mara Jade, Gunner, and Anti-Pursuit Lasers (maybe). He avoids damage by ramming and keeping as many ships as possible in contact so they can't fire at him. You will almost never have Actions, so a Gunner is good for doing damage to nearby targets. Predator also works. Gunner can strip tokens if you have lower PS ships to take advantage of it.

Even though the Decimaor should be a beefy and resilient ship, you can't just shove it people's face and expect it to live. It has 0 Agility and little Shields. It relies on Hull to survive, thus making it very susceptible to Crits. If you are facing 2 ships, it can tank a bit and be a target to save your other ships. However, if you are facing a swarm of any sort, it will be tough sledding. Try to keep in on the edge of the board and out of arcs, unless it is Oicuun. If you have Oicuun, try and cause a pile-up in the middle of the board and do a bunch of Action denial. Then hope to last long enough to do a lot of damage to the swarm before he dies.

One of my all time favorite builds is Soontir with stealth, thrusters, PTL, & title

+ RAC with PTL, Engine, Gunner, Vader, Isard.

Out of the 5 tournaments I attended in January, I went undefeated in 3 of them. The other two were me trying out other fun squads.

The main goal is to have RAC kill the biggest threat to Soontir, first, then cause as much damage as possible until he's taken out. In one of those tournaments I actually managed to keep him alive every round lol.

Staying out of arcs is critical & one secret is this, once you're able to trigger Isard, you can actually PTL off of her activation! So after everyone has already moved (here's looking at all those PS 9's & such)

You can boost out of arc, or to range 3. Plus with that combo, you can take manuvers that will Land you on asteroids, then just boost off of them at the start of the combat phase. Can't tell you how many times that cought my opponents off guard.

Like it was said earlier, 2 & 3 banks + boost are your friend, & help keep the Decimator alive. Basically you can focus on flying & keeping your distance, while Gunner helps you put out nice damage. Also, if your opponent does decide to chase the deci, that gives Soontir a perfect flanking opportunity.

Another thing, though extremely powerful, use Vader sparingly. Key targets, last few hp to finish off a ace.

A powerful combo is to shoot, not modify your dice, Vader, then after Gunner, modify your dice for the best possible damage, then Vader again.

That's 2 guaranteed hits/crits + whatever other hits you rolled. That's almost instant death against any opposing Soontirs.