One of IA’s largest current flaws is simply that many of the unique characters are below the average power curve, sometimes to an almost comical degree. Both the competitive tournament meta and casual play suffer from this, and fixing this problem would instantly bring a dozen or more deployment cards into contention for playability.

The easiest way (and also the way that fits FFG’s distribution model) to fix this is by creating character-specific, skirmish card “patches” for the characters in need of rebalancing. They could take the form of raw deployment cost reductions for weaker characters like the rebel heroes, zero cost buffs for stronger characters like Han or IG-88, or a combination of the two.

The primary benefits of this method are:

• This fits with FFG’s established protocol of issuing card buffs for other systems such as X-Wing.
• The extra card space physically allows for additional rules that can provide sufficient “uniqueness” to the character as well as the statistical granularly necessary for proper point costing.
• The patch can be explained in a “fun and fluffy” manner, with the card title and accompanying picture detailing a particular piece of gear, training or trait the character possesses. This makes the balance patch feel more organic, and perhaps even like an outright enhancement of the game system.
• Imperial Assault’s product model involves regular large boxed expansions that these cards could be issued in. This would provide additional incentive for players to purchase these new sets, as well as boosting sales of the older, now useable packs, for an incredibly low marginal cost.

As to the specifics of why many unique characters are “weak” the problem is simple; they aren’t tough enough for their cost, they don’t do enough damage for their cost, and they don’t have enough actions for their cost. All of this is obvious compared to the regular, and especially, elite units otherwise available, which for 2-4 points per figure can easily perform at the same level as their comparable unique counterparts that cost 150%-200% as much.

What buffs a given character needs is dependent on their role, total point cost (more expensive characters definitely need pseudo-activations/alternate movement options), and the “fluff” behind them. Come on, you guys know that last one really matters; the denizens of this board are not actually a bunch of number crunching robots.

Before I give a few of my own suggestions for some balance fixes (let’s face it, that’s what this thread is going to become) there should be a moment to consider what makes a unique character good based on some of the ones that actually get used (other than the cheap support gods).

Jyn (5 points, lower medium point cost)

• Sort of durable for cost. More than a 1-1 hp-to cost ratio is at least a place to start. Cunning provides a meaningful increase in damage mitigation for such a cheap character (excellent use of dice result modification in terms of game design).
• Great surges. Seriously, stun and pierce together to get the effect through, +2 accuracy and +2 damage on the same surge, that’s crazy talk. Han Solo wished he had that second one.
• Two out of activation pseudo-actions; an out of activation attack and an out of activation (OoA? What are people calling this? Just “interrupt” as a noun?) movement.
• Speed 5 to get where the going is good.

Luke (10 points, upper medium point cost)

• Durable enough. The passive block, white dice for the potential dodge, and the “surge: recover 2” makes him blatantly more durable than the more expensive Han Solo.
• Variant attack (saber strike). This allows the player to use the optimum attack for the given target and situation.
• Inspiring is crazy good support. Huge 7x7 square that the friendly figure merely has to be in when they attack; they can move into range, attack, and then continue moving out of range.
• Son of Skywalker. Great command card is great, basically allows for 4 actions within a single turn.
• Speed 5 to get where the going is good.

RGC (15 points mid upper point cost)

• Black/white defense dice makes him pretty beefy.
• Hits like a truck.
• Brutality. He basically has an entire third action that is dedicated to an attack.
• Executor. Reactionary out of activation move and attack allows for up to three heavy attacks and a total of 9 movement points in a single regular turn with no command cards or outside support. That’s more than most figures could do with 5 actions and assault.
• Speed 6 to already be where you need to be.

As we can see these three characters share certain features, notably:

1. They hit hard enough to justify their cost (Or boost other figures’ damage in Luke’s case).
2. They have high speeds to maximize the value of spending an action on movement.
3. They have ways to surpass the limit of two actions per turn by performing more attacks than normal and can make out of sequence movements.

So without ado here are some of my suggestions, they favour adding some extra sauce for flavor rather than simply reducing points (although that’s probably necessary for some). I might have to stick them in a second post for TL;DR and formatting reasons. I haven’t done any hard-core number crunching or play testing on this so some of the values will be a range of what “feels right”.

Han Solo

Well into the double digits Han costs as much as six rStorms or four eStorms, and 50% more than Leia. Read that again, just so you get a feeling for how much heat this guy needs to bring. He’s only 3 fewer points than the RGC. Remember the lightning fast murder machine we talked about earlier? That guy. However, in reality, he’s only speed 4, cunning only triggers on half the white dice results compared to Luke’s flat +1 block, his surges are worse than 5 point Jyn’s, and his only “extra action” requires your opponent to totally flub an attack against him. Talk about a long climb up to usability, this is “full second card worth of special abilities” territory. He needs more durability, more damage, more movement, more getting things done, and more smug confidence that your opponent can truly feel seeping off the board. The good news is that he’s Han Solo, so he’s totally worth it.

I honestly don’t have an idea for what to name the card, “I make my own luck” is already in use.

• Lucky, R2-D2’s ability. The white dice’s blank is now a dodge. Han now has the best single white dice in the game.

He needs to stay alive, and giving him more health than Vader isn’t going to be thematic. 33% chance to dodge doesn’t just keep him alive in a Han Solo style way, it also indirectly buffs Return Fire by making it activate more often.

• After resolving “Return Fire” become focused.

He needs more damage; nothing clears the mind like being shot at. Becoming focused -after- making the shot rather than before, allows for the ability to factor more into player decision making and when Han is activated or attacked. Early activations mean he would have to wait until the next turn to use the focus, while shooting at an unactivated Han could spell disaster. It also dovetails together with his command card, allowing Han to potentially use return fire late in the turn, focus, then steal initiative, and blast someone with four dice. You know when it’s going to happen, your opponent does not.

• (Potentially): Hair Trigger, Jyn’s interrupt attack.

Han may or may not have enough firepower by now, but this would be the way to increase it further if it needed to be. Remember how many other figures Han is worth, multiple whole activations of entire groups. This could in theory allow for three attacks from Han in a turn (like what RGC can do), but it’s very unlikely, and nether Return Fire nor Hair Trigger can be targeted against a desired figure and both can be played around by your opponent.

• After attacking, gain 2 movement points.

Han needs to be faster, he is now pseudo-speed 6. Include the other special attacks, and now Han goes where he pleases. Also note, the other smugglers run away when they are shot at; Han runs around while shooting.

Han is now in “pretty bloody cool” territory and your opponent will enjoy being trolled by him.

IG-88

Same point cost as Han, two dice attack, no re-roll, he lives entirely by the assault keyword so he can stand in one place and pretend to be a stormtrooper. He was recently Gaarkhan’ed by the release of the new HKs with their cheap three dice attacks and epic re-rolls, and despite being notoriously flimsy, 12 points of them have 15 hp vs Iggy’s 10. Even his own campaign side mission that comes with his figure pack gives him blatant buffs so that the rebels don’t steamroll him.

IG-88 should be able to one-shot multiple weak figures a turn without your opponent having to feed them into his stationary red dice double-tap range like brush into a wood chipper. If you doubt this, think about what 9 points of eStorms can do, or 7 points of eSabs, or even 9 point Fenn with his assault and three dice. Assassin droids need to be able to assassinate targets. Crazy, named assassin droids need to paint the walls red with meatbag juice.

Card title seems to want to be something like “assassination protocols” or some such thing.

• At the start of your activation if you elect not to use the move action this turn gain 4-5 movement points.

Iggy is now able to use both actions for attacks (or maybe an objective and an attack) with a small/no movement penalty. With his individual attack actions being underpowered for his point cost, he needs pseudo-actions to backfill his activation.

• (Potentially)Targeting Computer.

Simple, free one point upgrade ripped out of an HK droid, if needed once the numbers get crunched.

• When attacking you may apply -1 dodge to the attack result. Limit once per activation

No need to rip off the HK’s a second time; you know what the re-roll is really used for, it makes sure he kills weak white die figures dead. Obviously this one doesn’t work on the black die’s triple block.

• Composite Plating (from the Heavy Trooper).

It gives a little bit of extra protection from fodder trying to stay out of wood chipper range. Also buffing Iggy’s health pool by too much could break him if he’s able to regularly attack multiple times per turn with his +3 recover surge.

• Return Fire (Han’s ability).

Remember composite plating from above, and relentless on his regular card? An enemy now has to contend with a 4+ range shot being potentially blocked by a black die and +2 passive block, or get in close where relentless can trigger. This also fills the “still needs more damage” category most of the double digit cost characters sit in.

Darth Vader

Darth Vader is actually the rare unique Character who is both tough as balls, and firmly sits in the “yea, that’s probably enough damage” class. His problem is movement. He doesn’t need faster movement, he needs more consistent movement. Relentless slow moving board control, rather than stun bait that locks down half of your list. We need Old Testament Vader .

• Action: remove one harmful condition and gain 2-3 movement points.

Stun no longer stops Vader; it merely slows him down, and let’s face it, if one movement point stops Brutality from killing two figures, that can win a game right there. If you want a condition to stick, they’ll have to be stacked up on Vader.

• When you deal damage outside of an attack move up to one space.

This allows Force Choke, and the force command cards to do double duty as little mini orders to help him reposition. It also combos well with his unique command card to get him into position for a clutch Brutality/super activation as shown below.

Darth Vader moves into the room. The rebel forces gasp; one trooper in front of Vader’s clenched fist falls to the ground clutching his throat. Darth Vader moves forward. Lighting arcs through the air seizing a whole group of the hapless insurgents. Darth Vader moves forward. A solider shouts and charges forward only to be thrown aside with a wave of the hand. Darth Vader moves forward and *Lightsaber Noises*.

You know deep in your heart you want it to happen, it can happen.

Loku

Loku and Mak frankly, kind of suck; they’re glass cannon snipers that someone forgot to load. Loku in particular really seems like he wants to be a force multiplier that demands your opponent deal with him as he rides a focus train popping troopers and officers, but he doesn’t hit hard enough, and doesn’t have the movement to get into the right position.

Title: something along the lines of “Mon Cal spec-ops training”

• When attacking add +1 surge (possibly restricted to “set your sights”).
• After becoming focused, gain 3-4 movement points.

The extra surge allows for his pierce 1 to activate far more often than it otherwise would to help punch through black dice and get at the juicy weak trooper inside. Luku seriously needs the ability to kill a single figure over the course of a match. The movement shenanigans allow for an early focus to be handed off to him for extra movement, and lets him “fire and relocate” when using “set your sights” to increase the viability of his focus train.

Do you guys think an extra surge is enough to make him worth his points given the power level of eStorms (or even rStorms) and rHK’s?

Gaarkhan

Haha. Man, this guy, am I right? Wookie warriors have made an absolute mockery out of him, and he’s just about the same power level as a single post-nerf regular Royal Guard, minus stun, despite being just 2 points less than Luke Skywalker. On the other hand he already has the ability set and command card to break out into serious contention with a few buffs.

Title something like “Ceremonial Armour” or “Ceremonial Armor” because FFG is American.

• +a lot of health, get him into the 13-15 range.
• New ability, Reckless Charge: when attacking, you may add +1 pierce to the attack. When your activation finishes you suffer 2 damage.

He needs three things, to be tougher, to do more damage, and to not simply have you opponent ignore him all game . The new special action justifies the greater damage dealt to Gaarkhan than is dealt to the opponent on the basis that the opportunity to finish off a figure that would otherwise live with 1 hp left is worth the opportunity cost of taking 2 damage, as is making sure an initial attack gets through to activate the self-focus.

Oh, and it obviously allows him to self-damage to activate his enraged ability next turn, even if your opponent ignores him, thus forcing your opponent to deal with him. Basically this would play out in two scenarios. First, your opponent plays his first turn conservatively, and Gaarkhan gets stuck in on turn 2. This allows for him to double attack starting turn 3, or latter in turn 2 if his command card gets activated. The other scenario is that your opponent overextends turn one and Gaarkhan ruthlessly exploits his lapse in tactical thinking.

Having a brutal, charging, melee bruiser that can have an effect on deployment/first turn meta allows another layer of strategic depth to the game of play and counter play from the first figure hitting the board. It also shows just how much a few tweaks could bring some characters up to speed.

Obviously there are many more who need buffs of different degrees. Also what order do you guys think the characters are ranked in order of how far they deviate from the power curve?

I think Han needs fixing the most. Give him a Chardaan Refit.

Gaarkhan isn't that bad but he is pretty hard to use. The ability to move and attack as one action is incredible and lets him laugh off most conditions that would other wise cripple a melee unit. The ability to focus on a surge is also great as once he gets going he hits like a truck, Combat suit will help him stay alive and bodyguard will force your opponent to hit him to give him assault.

The biggest problem in general with uniques compared to non-uniques in this game is health/durability for the cost. Say you have just something like elite echo troopers, or grey wookies, and you compare the total health 2 of them have to someone like leia for the same cost. On top of that, let's say one of those troopers or wookies has 2 hp left and gets shot for 5 damage. It's dead, but you don't automatically put 3 damage on the other figure. So 2 x 8 hp is even better than 1 x 16. Now there are of course other factors like what defense dice are rolled and passive defense bonuses like leia's, but in general, this is one of the main issues. And then there is the burstiness of being able to do 2 attacks in one activation. Now leia basically does that, but let's say you're comparing 11 point wookies to han or something. In this case it's a bit more balanced since that one attack tends to be a 3 dice attack compared to 2 2 dice attacks, but again it will depend also on the defense and what color dice. On top of THAT one figure can die and give up no points. Now if an 8 hp guy dies, maybe the unique we are comparing him to is sill alive with 4-5 health and also hasn't given up any points. But, if he's in a position to be that damaged, he's likely in danger of continuing to get shot and die whereas the second figure in a group could be on nearly the other side of the map, and be in no real danger of you burning through his hp. On top of ALL THAT, this is a game about standing next to various control points, and spending actions to pick things up etc. More figures have that advantage as well. Somone like gideon, jyn, c3p0 works well, because they are essentially the same in most of these terms as a figure in a group, but more expensive characters that cost you bodies on the field to run them suffer.

I apologize for the wall of text.

P.S. And leia is one of the better characters!

I do like the op's points, and the old testament vader line had me falling out of my chair laughing. That is all spot on for how to help the man in black himself.

Kayn Somos isn't *bad*, he's just too expensive for being as squishy and tricky to use as he is.

I think if his deployment cost was dropped to 8-9 and he was given the ability to use his "Squad Command" special ability twice to focus two adjacent Troopers, he'd be more viable.

Also, his "Firing Squad" ability should have a range of 2. (Maybe. Not so sure on this one, but it'd certainly make him more tempting)

I am a fan of the 'team-up' cards that people have suggested, i.e. deduct 5 DP for deploying Han and Chewie.

I am a fan of the 'team-up' cards that people have suggested, i.e. deduct 5 DP for deploying Han and Chewie.

I would really like something like this. Their natural synergies make them great together, but it's just so many points for 2 figures. Just as long as we don't get a team up for the Twins, they have enough natural synergy for their point cost.

I could see something to encourage the use of some of the campaign rebels together, like small benefits if you field any combination of 3 of Garkhan, Diala, Gideon, Mak, or Fenn. Lower costs, extra unique abilities, maybe even tying their deployment together so you have to kill all 3 to score points, but keeping them as three separate activations.

@Toburk well after a year, we can say that you were in the right way. We already have igg 88 skirmish upgrade and i expect that other uniques gain his own ASAP.

We can only hope. Trouble is that there don't appear to be any Campaign fixes for some of these characters (although many would argue they are less needed, I have still experienced first hand the disappointment in my rebels when they realise an Ally isn't worth taking with them)

Perhaps I'm just too inexperienced, but if the problem is that cards cost too much, wouldn't the easiest fix be to simply reduce the cost of older uniques rather than trying to give them more abilities?

4 hours ago, jscott991 said:

Perhaps I'm just too inexperienced, but if the problem is that cards cost too much, wouldn't the easiest fix be to simply reduce the cost of older uniques rather than trying to give them more abilities?

its a business plan as well. rather than reprinting cards of old unique characters. they push out a new expansion with skirmish fix ups. everyone buys it. I dont mind these card fix ups. I would love for them to just overhaul all the costs and re-print cards and make an errata expansion. but i dont think they will.

the other thing they might do as well is make variants for the old unique characters. like jedi luke or maybe 'a general solo' but then those old models don't see the table. i love the old models so im glad they are helping them to the table