Between Wave 8 and Imperial Veterans, I feel like we're seeing a return of powerful pilots who aren't PS8-PS11. There are a lot of studs in this batch who are just sitting at PS5-PS7.

On the Imperial side, Vessery is going to wreck faces at PS6 once Veterans comes out, while elite generic bombers and defenders seem poised to do very well.

On the Rebel side, Shuttle Sabine and every Ghost pilot look really powerful despite their PS5-PS7 status. Guidance Chips will also make the PS5 Nera a threat, and make Ordnance Z swarms a thing with the help of the PS6 Blount (admittedly probably PS8 after VI) and a host of PS2-PS4 ships.

As for Scum, which is already a bastion for the PS5-PS7 pilots such as IG-88 and Bossk, we have Zuckuss, 4-LOM, Tel Trevura and Manaroo set to flesh out the roster, with only Dengar clocking in higher than 7.

With pilot skills dropping, do you think this will only make the existing aces seem more powerful, or do you think these will help devalue the need to have such high pilot skills in your list?

glad im not the only one hyped to run nera with chimps.

dunston is gonna check in permanently when i get my hands on a punishing one

I think FFG is attempting to push the meta that way with the next wave. While we are seeing some new 9s and 8s, ships like The Ghost are only seeing as high as PS 7 (and no EPT).

All the new love given to the TIEs also are attempting to push the meta away from the 3+ attack or nothing meta that has been popular for awhile now.

Bring balance to the force, this could.

The Ghost's most obviously powerful ability is on a PS 5; ditto the Attack Shuttle's (or, ito pure dice mods, on the PS 4)

The jumpmaster, despite having a stupidly good PS 9 pilot ability, can also double as a scary torpedo boat at PS 3 for relatively cheap (34 points)

The misthunter's named pilots are both intriguing in different ways. Both seem decent at PS 8 or 9, but the same can be said of PS 6 & 7 with crackshot

The Defender's got Vessery, PS 6, carrying by far the most influential ability. Ps 7 mareek has no particular synergy with either title; Brath might as well have flavor text.

The bomber's stupid solid as a scimitar @ PS 2. Bren @ Ps 8 seems very promising.

The Inquisitor Tie's Inquisitor is, sadly, leagues above the lower PS at first glance

ordnance in general loves nothing more than expensive single targets. High PS pilots tend to be these

The Inquisitor Tie's Inquisitor is, sadly, leagues above the lower PS at first glance

Rudor's isn't that bad.

Here's hoping midrange pilots do indeed get their day. Poor Red Squadron, even Obsidian Squadron had a place in the 8 TIE swarm.

Do it for the Reds, man!

I have to confess to being a recent Guri convert. There's just something incredibly satisfying in flying these 'mid-tier Ace' types well, even though I am yet to try my luck against Soontier...

glad im not the only one hyped to run nera with chimps.

dunston is gonna check in permanently when i get my hands on a punishing one

Hate to tell you even with Jan boosting her it's not scary faced it just last week and never once broke out in a sweat.

The Inquisitor Tie's Inquisitor is, sadly, leagues above the lower PS at first glance

Rudor's isn't that bad.

He's in that area though were you can take one of the good named FOs instead.

glad im not the only one hyped to run nera with chimps.

dunston is gonna check in permanently when i get my hands on a punishing one

Hate to tell you even with Jan boosting her it's not scary faced it just last week and never once broke out in a sweat.

Well, yeah. You don't team Nera with Jan. That's just five dice with only one modifier. Your average attack roll before Guidance is only 2.5 hits.

You run her next to a Juking Kyle with Jan crew, possibly with the Moldy Crow title. A Focused torpedo will average 3 hits before Guidance, and you have the flexibility to take the Evade with Kyle for a lean, mean, focus-stripping machine.

And wouldn't you know it, Kyle is also part of the PS6 Revolution!

I think crack shot is also pushing the change, it's such a good ept and competes well with veteran instincts.

The main reason PS9+ became so important in the first place was whisper, but it's no longer a big deal. Soontir and Vader can be dealt with in many other ways besides just higher PS, and VI Poe is not as good at arc dodging with only boost. It's still worth it for Dash and Corran maybe, but they are less common than before too.

Unless Dengar causes some kind of issue, we could probably see more mid-PS pilots. I don't necessarily expect a return of PS4s like Dagger squadron though

I think crack shot is also pushing the change, it's such a good ept and competes well with veteran instincts.

I agree. I think the other thing that has helped is Omega Leader and other effects which prey on aces (like Crack Shot). That jerk eats higher PS aces, and is making people re-think if they will take aces and how much they will bid for the PS given the existence of the ace murderer and other ace-hunting tricks.

I do hope that we settle out on PS. Where it can be an advantage, but one that comes with a good bit of risk too. I think the game/meta would benefit from having PS4-7 be the 'norm' with the 8+ range being a similar risk as the <=3 range.

Omega Leader and Wampa combine to put a real pinch on people who spent too many points making pilot skill bids. PS1-2 is economy, PS3-4 avoids predator, PS5-6 beats PS4 elite generics, and 7 and up are bidding for the top slot.

I believe this to be the case as long as FFG keeps adding generics with EPTs. Those are always going to be mid-level PS, and people are always going to find a place for the cheapest they can get a ship with an EPT slot.

It's nice to see aces with epts that isn't vi. Even with glitter crack brobots there's a rest niche of aces that don't need to bid up to 8 and can do interesting things with epts at a lower ps.

Yeah, also with Chimps Drea just got even better at landing Protons on big shots. Even Fel's likely to succumb to a hit if he's already spent tokens dealing with Juking McCoolname.

We just hope to see precedent of mid-PS ships having better abilities than top-PS ones.

right now more often than not the top-PS also has the best ability, and as such makes the low-mids look completely noncompetitive.

Yeah, also with Chimps Drea just got even better at landing Protons on big shots. Even Fel's likely to succumb to a hit if he's already spent tokens dealing with Juking McCoolname.

Or even a Leechos TL/F Hotshot blaster. With failsafe, you keep the hotshot if fell dodges- with crackshot, if he lets you hit, you do 2/3 of his life. THEN Drea can follow up with a torpedo.

I'm relatively new. What are the tricks for handling high PS arc-dodging pilots, other than having a higher PS? Swarms?

I'm relatively new. What are the tricks for handling high PS arc-dodging pilots, other than having a higher PS? Swarms?

Turrets.

I'm relatively new. What are the tricks for handling high PS arc-dodging pilots, other than having a higher PS? Swarms?

Turrets for one. Realizing how big a range 3 arc actually is helps as well.

Red Ace has helped the mid-range Rebel ships, I know I'm running him. Or her, surely that's supposed to be Jessica Pava?

I am glad to see some mid-range PS ships as well. For a while it seemed like a case of "go big or go home". Either you went for the highest PS you could or you plumped for the cheapest generics. Now we are seeing mid-range generics with EPTs and also some more lower PS named pilots who are worth taking for their abilities. This makes PS less of a binary choice and more of a sliding scale.

Anything that introduces more variety makes the game more interesting.