I am wondering how good OL is naked or with just something like VI? Does he really need the standard loadout to work?

Well no, his abillity is quite solid, but using those few points for Juke, Comm Relay really makes him potent, as he would otherwise arguably miss that much needed punch. He would be quite stale late game without them, should he be the last standing!

I like him with coms relay

Edit:

He's probably decent, but not great. Comm Relay effectively gives him something similar to Rebel shield regen. As long as you can take Evade actions, you can usually spend the token if needed to prevent a point of damage from most attacks and gain a new one later. Without it, you'll only have your naked, unmodified defense dice to protect you against any attacks against Omega during that first turn after you acquire a target lock. The fact that it also fuels Juke is just gravy.

And as long as you have an Evade token, then Juke is going to be superior to VI. Yes, VI lets you acquire target locks on PS9-10 aces, but your two dice will still have problems punching through high defense. Juke against a target-locked enemy is almost as good as the Advanced Targeting Computer. Instead of adding +1 damage to every attack, it's subtracting one evade result from every roll by your opponent. Even if you only roll one hit, they need to roll two evades to cancel it. Likewise, two hits requires three natural evades to cancel from a target-locked opponent. Even R3 Stealth Soontir will have trouble with that when he can't spend tokens.

yes, you need juke + relay

because naked green dice can and will **** you; why would you ever trust them?

He's fine with VI and a real threat, at 22pts, if and only if Palp is on the team. That said, his lethality about doubles if you can fly him with Juke and Relay for 26pts. It's so efficient that it's probably worth finding the less efficient 4pts somewhere in your list to make it happen.

Juke has excellent synergy with OL's pilot ability, and Comm Relay has strong synergy with Juke. As a package, it's powerful and offers strong action economy.

You don't NEED those upgrades, though, and I can definitely see the argument for other powerful EPTs--especially if you're squeezing OL into an already-crowded list.

It does leave me wondering why we don't see more of the A-wing: Comms Relay is comparable to Push The Limit in the sense that it's providing action economy on Evade and Juke is a nasty buff to any evasive ship.

I think you might take OL with VI if you're very short on points and the rest of your list is extremely weak to Soontir Fel. With PS10, he's a bit better at catching Fel than standard OL is, but he's a lot worse vs the field. Remember, you don't have to use his ability all the time for a PS8, Juking, Comm Relay TIE FO to be pretty solid.

Those Comm Relays are fantastic for keeping TIE/fos in the air. You can't rely on green dice alone.

It does leave me wondering why we don't see more of the A-wing: Comms Relay is comparable to Push The Limit in the sense that it's providing action economy on Evade and Juke is a nasty buff to any evasive ship.

it's not really comparable

with PTL, you have to always evade to juke and you can't have an evade after a red maneuver, except once with tycho or some Kyle + jan (Crew) jank

It does leave me wondering why we don't see more of the A-wing: Comms Relay is comparable to Push The Limit in the sense that it's providing action economy on Evade and Juke is a nasty buff to any evasive ship.

it's not really comparable

with PTL, you have to always evade to juke and you can't have an evade after a red maneuver, except once with tycho or some Kyle + jan (Crew) jank

In fact they are. Only difference is that red maneuver. With awing with title you gonna take offensive eye+evade if in no need of boost anyway. Jake will really like Juke imo.

It does leave me wondering why we don't see more of the A-wing: Comms Relay is comparable to Push The Limit in the sense that it's providing action economy on Evade and Juke is a nasty buff to any evasive ship.

it's not really comparable

with PTL, you have to always evade to juke and you can't have an evade after a red maneuver, except once with tycho or some Kyle + jan (Crew) jank

In fact they are. Only difference is that red maneuver. With awing with title you gonna take offensive eye+evade if in no need of boost anyway. Jake will really like Juke imo.

If your A-Wing has a solid offensive shot, you would usually take a focus/TL combo instead. But I'll agree that Juke is solid, largely because the threat of it is just always there. It makes people really think about whether they want to spend that focus token on the attack.

Well no, his abillity is quite solid, but using those few points for Juke, Comm Relay really makes him potent, as he would otherwise arguably miss that much needed punch. He would be quite stale late game without them, should he be the last standing!

If you do not have another way to modify dice like Howlrunner or Palpatine, most of times you end up using your Target Lock to reroll the dice, losing all the benefit of his pilot ability.

So if you can't modify his dice, an Omega Squadron Pilot will do the same job for 4 points cheaper.

I was really disapointed by Omega Leader.

It does leave me wondering why we don't see more of the A-wing: Comms Relay is comparable to Push The Limit in the sense that it's providing action economy on Evade and Juke is a nasty buff to any evasive ship.

it's not really comparable

with PTL, you have to always evade to juke and you can't have an evade after a red maneuver, except once with tycho or some Kyle + jan (Crew) jank

In fact they are. Only difference is that red maneuver. With awing with title you gonna take offensive eye+evade if in no need of boost anyway. Jake will really like Juke imo.

PTL won't work on bump, obstacle or stress (apart from tycho, except he can't do red maneuvers)

PTL cannot que up an evade in advance to juke with

PTL has a variety of other action combinations that juke hamstrings, whereas relay doesn't care because it only does one job

when it comes to juke, PTL is nowhere near as flexible as relay

Well no, his abillity is quite solid, but using those few points for Juke, Comm Relay really makes him potent, as he would otherwise arguably miss that much needed punch. He would be quite stale late game without them, should he be the last standing!

If you do not have another way to modify dice like Howlrunner or Palpatine, most of times you end up using your Target Lock to reroll the dice, losing all the benefit of his pilot ability.

So if you can't modify his dice, an Omega Squadron Pilot will do the same job for 4 points cheaper.

I was really disapointed by Omega Leader.

gotta learn to plan ahead there

don't toss the TL to modify a crap roll, just try again next turn when you can focus (do toss if opponent needs to die and has no modifiers anyway)

not to mention no omega squadron is ps 8 or has a chance in hell of hitting through soontir or aggressors at range 3, even with crackshot

And that the lock also serves on defense. When I ran him in my last SC he always had a TL (though I forgot to move it defensively) and I filled up his evade ASAP. Using that lock defeats the purpose, think of it like an advanced's ATC lock, it's not there to reroll.

I haven't played Omega leader with juke or PTL, but being able to move after whisper and Fel and shoot before whispers re-cloak has made a huge difference for me. I like VI on Omega leader

Well no, his abillity is quite solid, but using those few points for Juke, Comm Relay really makes him potent, as he would otherwise arguably miss that much needed punch. He would be quite stale late game without them, should he be the last standing!

If you do not have another way to modify dice like Howlrunner or Palpatine, most of times you end up using your Target Lock to reroll the dice, losing all the benefit of his pilot ability.

So if you can't modify his dice, an Omega Squadron Pilot will do the same job for 4 points cheaper.

I was really disapointed by Omega Leader.

Never, ever, EVER spend Omega's Target Lock. I don't care if you blank out on a range 1 attack. You are playing a long game here, and you will have more chances to attack. That lock is there to keep your opponent from being able to spend tokens, period. You can spend the evade token if you need to on defense, but you should never voluntarily remove a target lock unless the target dies. It's like spending a TL with ATC Vader. Yeah, you might roll one or two hits, but you're going to have to waste an action later to get a new Target Lock and you'll pay for it in the long run.

Once you have a banked Evade token and a Target Lock on the defender, then you can start taking Focus actions or Barrel Roll to maintain firing arc. There is nothing an Ace hates more than to find themselves inside the arc of a Focused, Juking Omega Leader when they can't modify dice.

I haven't played Omega leader with juke or PTL, but being able to move after whisper and Fel and shoot before whispers re-cloak has made a huge difference for me. I like VI on Omega leader

Try it.

It's far better to get the offensive modification, and Juke is doubly potent when the opponent can't modify the die you Juke back into an evade. I'd prefer to block Soontir from spending his token stack then to move after him, especially when I'm unpredictable when unstressed and DGAF about taking stress.

But you need the Juke to make the 2 dice matter, otherwise when you're facing 3 or 4 dice, which you will, even with no mods you're not that likely to dent them.

Sometimes I spend OL's lock if there's a decent chance I kill the target with it, or if they don't have any tokens for defense (and can't modify anyway), or if I'm trying to draw out defensive tokens for another pilot.