Shouldn't they take away a shield token BEFORE dealing damage?

I mean, it basically makes their special ability useless against most starfighters, because most of them won't have shields anymore anyway after getting hit by a 4 attack torpedo.

Seems an odd design choice is all.

I think the idea is that they are most effective against heavily shielded targets, and not hull. This is a common point that people make, though.

If that were the case, they'd have to be costed at 4 points (or they'd be much too good, imo). I'm comfortable with them being a smidge worse in exchange for a solid, 3pt torpedo option.

you'd be surprised

assuming you're shooting at a B-wing or anything with shields and 3 agility that can get incredibly lucky, you can bet plasma's ability will be relevant on the first shot

incredibly useful v aggressors

I was also a bit underwhelmed by the card initially thanks to that little catch. I would have been fine with it if the shield drop happened even on a miss, but simply removing the shield after damage seemed counterintuitive.

But, at 3 points, with Chips, it's probably going to be just fine.

Its so that the special ability to only good vs shields. If the extra shield was removed first, they would basically just be doing extra damage vs most targets, not specifically messing with shields.

Working as intended. They're good as an alpha strike against heavily shielded ships: B-Wings, Hound's Tooth, Shuttles, etc. Beyond that, they are simply a strength 4 attack, which is why they are priced cheaper than Proton Torpedoes.

It's a cheap 4 attack torpedo the shield removals a bonus, like you said not great against small ships unless it's a b-wing or g-1a but if you roll badly or the target spends some tokens it's a nice bonus.

super fun against huges, because you can strip aft shield by hitting fore!

I think the ability is fine given that it is a 3 cost 4 damage torpedo, which is the main reason to take it over Proton.

That said, the plasma torpedo is good vs a lot of targets. The defender doesnt have to have 5 shields for the plasma to be good. From a math perspective, the effect essentially increases the minimum damage rather than the max damage (although that is possible if the defender has 5 shields). For example, against Poe, sure the ability doesnt kick in if you are doing 4 damage but since you just inflicted 2/3 of his health, it isnt a big deal. But let's say you get 3 hits to 1 evade (or 4 hits to 2 evades), you would still get 3 hits due to the ability.

I did the math for plasma vs proton on a torpedo scout (with guidance chip and R4)

Plasma Torp has a 74% chance at 4 hits with the ability on top.

Proton Torp has a 88% chance at 4 hits with a strong crit chance.

super fun against huges, because you can strip aft shield by hitting fore!

Did we get a ruling on that?

I fired two of them at full-health Y-wings during a game this week. Both times, the Torpedo shot resulted in only 2 hits on the dice, while the Y rolled a natural evade. So I was glad to at least get 2 shields down when otherwise the shots would have only taken 1.

Not being a believer in proxies, I was hating the fact that Guidance Chimps aren't out yet!

Removing a shield first would just be funny for 1 shotting hwks. It's already a 3 point 4 attack torpedo, that's pretty dang good even without extra wombo vs. most large ships and bwings/scum bwings.

just remembered about the incoming Defender fixes

yeah, you'll love plasma's ability then

Think of it as a 4 attack torpedo with a guaranteed damage against a shielded target. They're not 5 die weapons unless you're shooting a target with five or more shields.

They are my go to torpedo just for the simple reason of forcing them to use tokens or if I botch the roll it still does something positive for you.

It's a cheap 4 attack torpedo the shield removals a bonus, like you said not great against small ships unless it's a b-wing or g-1a but if you roll badly or the target spends some tokens it's a nice bonus.

Against 1-shield ships like a number of scum ships or unshielded targets, Plasma Torpedoes obviously don't get their extra effect. But the extra consistency is a pretty big draw even against ships without tons of shields.

The idea is that it messes things up so bad, that it effects things it's not even directly attacking.

The idea is that it messes things up so bad, that it effects things it's not even directly attacking.

How's that? It still has to hit to take off a shield.

Shouldn't they take away a shield token BEFORE dealing damage?

I mean, it basically makes their special ability useless against most starfighters, because most of them won't have shields anymore anyway after getting hit by a 4 attack torpedo.

Seems an odd design choice is all.

Just to clarify, are you suggesting one auto damage to shielded targets or that the bonus damage applies before the dice results? The first could run into some brutal interactions against phantoms and the occasional intercaptor with say stealth device and shield upgrade. The second, and I'll admit my own limitations here, but the second I'm not sure how you'd make the that wording clear.

Shouldn't they take away a shield token BEFORE dealing damage?

I mean, it basically makes their special ability useless against most starfighters, because most of them won't have shields anymore anyway after getting hit by a 4 attack torpedo.

Seems an odd design choice is all.

Just to clarify, are you suggesting one auto damage to shielded targets or that the bonus damage applies before the dice results? The first could run into some brutal interactions against phantoms and the occasional intercaptor with say stealth device and shield upgrade. The second, and I'll admit my own limitations here, but the second I'm not sure how you'd make the that wording clear.

If this attack hits, remove a shield token from target ship before dealing damage

If this attack hits, remove a shield token from target ship before dealing damage

This. Even if it means increasing the cost of the Torpedo.

If you increase the cost, you defeat it's niche - the cheapest 4-die ranged weapon in the game, which is why you really buy it.

Also consider: it's currently extra effective against heavily shielded targets, and a slightly weaker proton torp the rest of the time.

Shift the damage to before instead of after, and you've got a 5 damage weapon.

How much is that worth? More than a PTorp. Do you really want a 5 damage torpedo?

I'd much prefer a pair of the current one for the same price, thanks.

Working as intended. They're good as an alpha strike against heavily shielded ships: B-Wings, Hound's Tooth, Shuttles, etc. Beyond that, they are simply a strength 4 attack, which is why they are priced cheaper than Proton Torpedoes.

Sure but the problem, okay maybe not problem but over-dominating feature is not ships with lots of shield tokens. It is ships with a fair amount of tokens and have shield regeneration.

The plasma torpedoes while are great against B-wings and shuttles, against T-70s and E-wing which only have 3 they tend to not get the bonus damage and that is the bargain you hope for when paying those 3 points. However against shield regeneration ships the only attacks that matter are those that deal damage cards (face up or face down). If you are dealing damage cards then you are not getting the bonus damage. However if you are getting the bonus damage then there are no damage cards being dealt. It is in the same category on Munitions Failsafe, it only works when your point investment is failing thus you still suffering a loss not a gain.

Eh, you most likely will, if the Torpedo is your first shot. I think you may be overestimating just how much damage a 4 ATK weapon can do. And extra damage is extra damage, even if it is just regenerated. The point is, now that that damage was done, you have less work to eat through the regen shield. Ideally, you will have more attacks following the Torpedo.