Hey guys,

Just started playing X-wing last month and have a few games under my belt. I have read a lot about all mechanics and expansions and wanted create a new stress hog build. Last night I played with Keyan Farlander and loved his ability. I tried using Dash and Han with him, but they take too many hits and are suspect against builds that have Vader/Soontir. To counter that, I wanted to create a 'tanky', but effective build. What are your thoughts on this?

EDITED - UPDATED

Squad Name: Golden Poke

Poe Dameron - 31

Veteran Instincts - 1

R2-D2 - 4

Autothrusters - 2

Keyan Farlander - 29

Opportunist - 4

B-Wing/E2 - 1

Jan Ors - 2

Gold Squadron Pilot - 18

BTL Title - 0

R3-A2 - 2

TLT - 6

Total Points - 100

I like the standard regenerating Poe along with the stress hog. With Keyan, it is something different and I like the idea of pairing him up with the stress hog. Once the hog does its thing and builds stress where the opponent cannot do any actions, Keyan will then take stress using opportunist, roll 4-5 dice (depending on range) and then remove that stress using Keyan's ability to change all focus to hits.

The only issue I think is survivability, but with Poe having R2-D2 for regenerating shields and Jan Ors as a risky, but nevertheless a good chance for defense on Keyan for extended survivability. This might be enough to do some damage on builds that may include Soontir/Vader.

Thoughts? Any feedback is appreciate, thanks in advance!

It's a strong concept. I do have a couple of recommendations, though:

(*) Keyan will have a problem generating stress if there's no valid target for Opportunist. If your opponent targets the stressbot first (and he or she probably will), you'll be relying on Poe to strip tokens. And that's not bad! But there is a risk there, which is why Stay On Target and Push the Limit are more typical choices.

(*) Lando has a 61% chance to generate at least one evade, which is good, but that means he has a 39% chance to blank out on evades. And Keyan (ideally, anyway) won't need focus on offense, and can't do much with it on defense. That makes Lando a questionable choice here.

Jan Ors is a cheaper and more reliable way to generate evade results, if that's what you want to do.Threepio (if you have one!) is the same price as Lando, and generates evade results without even requiring an action. If you're interested in diversifying your list's stress control, you could also substitute a Tactician.

(*) R2-D2 is a bit more expensive than R5-P9, but offers some moderate advantages if you can afford him. In particular, you can use him even if you end up stressed or have to spend Poe's focus on something else.

I like Lando, but the focus you get from him won't help much on defense because of your 1 agility. Jan guarantees an evade if you focus. With lando, it's 39% 0, 47% 1, 14% 2 evades. Plus, with Jan, Poe can get the evade if Keyan doesn't need it

Partially ninjaed...

Thanks for the insights guys!

I replaced Lando with Jan Ors (didn't know she applies the same action to the ship she's on!) and replaced R5-P9 with R2-D2.

I still like opportunist since the idea would be for the stress hog to give the enemy 2 stress, which should prevent the enemy from taking action the next round.

Then with Keyan, I can trigger opportunist, gain a stress, roll an extra die and remove the stress on any focus die I get. I also think the B-Wing dial is already pretty red heavy that I won't have too much issue generating stress.

I really like this as I have seen myself getting Keyan into range 1, which will allow me to roll 5 dice in that instance.

Bumping this post with updated team to get anymore thoughts/feedback

Don't forget that Keyan doesn't have to roll an eye to spend a stress. It wasn't clear to me that you're aware of that based on your previous post.

Don't forget that Keyan doesn't have to roll an eye to spend a stress. It wasn't clear to me that you're aware of that based on your previous post.

Yup, it was a great nice little piece of info. I really like Keyan in this game.

R5 has more synergy with Poe and makes you less predictable in your maneuvers

R5 has more synergy with Poe and makes you less predictable in your maneuvers

I originally had R5, but looks like R2 is a popular pick. If I did go R5, i would probably stick either VI, Lone Wolf or even Juke with Jan Ors on BWing giving Poe an evade token.

VI is a must on Poe. Otherwise he's a Bullseye for an ace

VI is only neccisary if you have no other way to kill aces, but that's what the Stresshog is for. So while nice due to the stresshogs short life expectancy, you can get away with not running vi

Recently, I've been flying Poe with VI, R5 and shield Upgrade and has been pretty good

Under the current build, Would it be crazy to go Poe without vi and autothrusters to get predator? It would definitely be more offense minded with only r5p9 as poes defense

Poe - 31

Predator - 3

R5-P9 - 3

Keyan Farlander - 29

Opportunist - 4

Kyle Katarn - 3

B-Wing/E2 - 1

Gold Squad Pilot - 18

TLT - 6

R3-A2 - 2

BTL A4 - 0

Total - 100

Depends on you meta. As for me, i like Predator more. So test it out and see.

Don't take Kyle on Keyan unless Jan crew is nearby. The defensive focus won't be that helpful.

Don't take Kyle on Keyan unless Jan crew is nearby. The defensive focus won't be that helpful.

Any thoughts on survivability for Keyan on his own? I think this build is dependent on Keyan lasting most, if not the whole game.

I was thinking maybe taking out BWing/E2 + Kyle and replace with advanced sensors. There is a chance where I might be able to outmaneuver the other fighters.

BWing with 1 green dice, can get focused down fast. You need to possition him better to be able to move out of possible arcs, so AS might be better here

And if you don't take a crew, you can haves engine upgrade. That, along with AS, well make him pretty slippery.

Thanks everyone for talking me through this! Looks like I can have a 'finalized' list to try out:

Poe - 31

Predator - 3 (replace with VI and AutoThrusters in situational games)

R5-P9 - 3

Keyan Farlander - 29

Opportunist - 4

Advanced sensors - 3

Gold Squad Pilot - 18

TLT - 6

R3-A2 - 2

BTL A4 - 0

Total - 99

It looks like a solid list. The only issue I see is opportunist. Personally, I prefer Stay on Target for Keyan; combos so well with Advanced Sensors and makes you slippery like an eel. Also gives you a few more points to play around with. Also, if you're not putting AutoThrusters on Poe, get Integrated Astromech. It's like a free hull upgrade.

It looks like a solid list. The only issue I see is opportunist. Personally, I prefer Stay on Target for Keyan; combos so well with Advanced Sensors and makes you slippery like an eel. Also gives you a few more points to play around with. Also, if you're not putting AutoThrusters on Poe, get Integrated Astromech. It's like a free hull upgrade.

Yeah I hear the advanced sensors/stay on target opportunity combo, but I really want to test the Opportunist ability. The first time I played this list, I found myself at range 1 with some of my opponents, which gave me 5 dice and it was a huge headache for him.

And very true regarding Integrated Astromech, looks like I will add that and test that list out

It looks like a solid list. The only issue I see is opportunist. Personally, I prefer Stay on Target for Keyan; combos so well with Advanced Sensors and makes you slippery like an eel. Also gives you a few more points to play around with. Also, if you're not putting AutoThrusters on Poe, get Integrated Astromech. It's like a free hull upgrade.

Yeah I hear the advanced sensors/stay on target opportunity combo, but I really want to test the Opportunist ability. The first time I played this list, I found myself at range 1 with some of my opponents, which gave me 5 dice and it was a huge headache for him.

And very true regarding Integrated Astromech, looks like I will add that and test that list out

5 dice is fun