Attani mindlink, although interesting, has been panned, competitively speaking. The ability to share a focus token is undermined greatly by the potential for distributing stress.

But what if the linchpin of your list didn't care about stress, and the other linked ships were built with the expectation of the spread of stress via mindlink?

Overclocked R4 has unlikely synergy with the attani mind-link. Yes, it will spread stress through the link, but it can also spread focus tokens throughout the link multiple times per turn. And the ship carrying the R4 can trigger the bot multiple times per turn without worrying where it's next turn's focus token will come from. (It will come back through the link).

The only ships with an salvaged mech and EPT slot are the jumpmaster and y-wing.

But while we're stacking stress with the R4 unit, why not stack on even more? Zuckuss allows you to Reroll enemy defense dice at a high cost- one stress per dice. But if you are action independent (and effectively riding a glitterstim high every round), you don't care about a little more stress.

For three points plus the cost of other mindlinks, you can have unlimited Zuckuss and R4 triggering. The cost is spreading 1 stress per turn across your list. Managing that cost can unlink some very powerful abilities on a ship... Say Dengar with punishing one. Finding the right pairing for that ship could unlock attani competitively. Maybe.

Something I seem to overlook here. What does trigger your OR4 here? You need something that has a mindlink and the ability to get a focus token, and spend it before the rest of the list in combat. What is your first trigger each turn to get this focus point to start the chain reaction?

Consider Manaroo + Attanni Mindlink + K4 Security Droid + Unhinged Astromech as your focus donor.

The focus is fed to the ship with OR4 via the mindlink. It would go like this:

1:Ship with OR4 activates (no action due to stress)

2: Ship with mindlink activates (probably taking a green move to clear stress from last round), takes focus action

3: Focus token is assigned to ship with OR4 via mindlink.

4: OR4 is triggered during attack or defense.

5: Stress is assigned to the ship with OR4 and any linked ships without stress.

6: Focus is also assigned to any linked ship with no focus token, via mindlink (triggering from the OR4)

Consider Manaroo + Attanni Mindlink + K4 Security Droid + Unhinged Astromech as your focus donor.

Manaroo is definitely an alternate source of focus tokens, yep. But since the best acceptor of the focus tokens is probably a Punishing One Dengar, I'm not sure Manaroo is good enough without the title to make the cut.

I cannot wait to see someone cuddle up to an unstressed, Mindlinked 4-LOM, thinking they are safe, only for my last ship to pull a red maneuver and propagate red triangles through the network.

I cannot wait to see someone cuddle up to an unstressed, Mindlinked 4-LOM, thinking they are safe, only for my last ship to pull a red maneuver and propagate red triangles through the network.

4-LOM is interesting, but alone the ability to hand off one stress isn't really big. If he has a tactician, I can see that being interesting. You may want to consider linking 4-LOM to a ship with OR4 for on-demand stress for 4-LOM to hand out.

I considered 4-LOM as a stress-sink for the OR4-Attani-Zuckuss combo, but ultimately decided he was too vulnerable and could be focused down too easily. I prefer cloaked Palob for a source of focus via mindlink.

my current list setup:

Dengar (51) w/ Attani Mindlink, Zuckuss, Overclocked R4, Punishing One, Counter-Measures

Kaato Leachos (16) w/ Attani Mindlink

Palob Godalhi (33) w/ Attani Mindlink, TLT, Intelligence Agent, cloaking Device, Moldy crow

Consider Manaroo + Attanni Mindlink + K4 Security Droid + Unhinged Astromech as your focus donor.

That's what I was missing. Thanks.

Consider Manaroo + Attanni Mindlink + K4 Security Droid + Unhinged Astromech as your focus donor.

That's what I was missing. Thanks.

It's important to point out that you don't need manaroo; just a ship with attani mindlink and preferably doesn't mind doing greens every turn. It also helps to have a backup source for focus (also linked), in case your primary source is focused down or can't take a focus action that turn.

I like Kaato leachos for this because not only can he cheaply provide a backup source of linked focus, he can also steal from Palob's Moldy Crow focus stack and spread focus via the mindlink. (in case of emergencies where no ships have an action)

One stress can make all the difference, it just matters when you deal it and to whom. But the main point was that with some creativity you can use the stress propagation to your advantage. Having a stress generating upgrade, particularly one that triggers during combat on a ship that fires before 4-LOM, creates a Range 1 "f*** off" bubble your opponent can never occupy without handing you the guaranteed ability to stress his ship.

Manaroo lets your Mindlink network generate an extra free focus when she gives hers away at the start of the combat phase.

One stress can make all the difference, it just matters when you deal it and to whom. But the main point was that with some creativity you can use the stress propagation to your advantage. Having a stress generating upgrade, particularly one that triggers during combat on a ship that fires before 4-LOM, creates a Range 1 "f*** off" bubble your opponent can never occupy without handing you the guaranteed ability to stress his ship.

Manaroo lets your Mindlink network generate an extra free focus when she gives hers away at the start of the combat phase.

But if Manaroo is part of a mindlink, everyone will have a focus if she is in the position to donate in the first place...

Here's the sequence of events:

Manaroo takes a focus action

All mindlinked ships gain a focus token if they do not have one

Manaroo donates her own token - one ship gains another focus token

Manaroo gains a focus token via mindlink

So you only give another ship one extra focus token in the end (compared to another ship spreading focus via mindlink). If you plan on liberally using OR4, then having another focus token doesn't matter, because you're generating your own anyway. You just need one to get started.

The big disadvantage to having a mindlink network with an active OR4 is that you're basically guaranteed that a stress will go out over the network every turn. And while the OR4/zuckuss ship doesn't care about more stress, the other ships in the network are more vulnerable to stress mechanics... although with Kaato leachos stealing from a Moldy crow focus stack, you can still make sure everyone has focus tokens as long as the stack holds out. Also remember that if OR4 triggers while another ship in the mindlink doesn't have a focus token, they'll pick also one up.

If you have a recon specialist and mindlink on one ship, does focusing that pilot give two focus tokens to each of the other ships in the network?

Some good ideas doing the rounds on this thread; I'm looking forward to seeing how the Mindlink exploits develop.

Mindlink could have serious potential, but it'll also need serious planning and concentration to pull off reliably.

If you have a recon specialist and mindlink on one ship, does focusing that pilot give two focus tokens to each of the other ships in the network?

Mindlink only gives a token if that ship does not have one. So after you've assigned the first the second one cannot be assigned through the link.

As for squadrons I posted in the Overclocked thread a squadron building on this concept. Went something like this.

Manaroo

- Mindlink

- K4

- Unhinged

- P1

Kavil

- Mindlink

- Overclocked

- Blaster turret

Palob

- Mindlink

- Blaster Turret

/99p

Manaroo is the primary Focus dealer, Palob can TL or Focus to modify his turret, Kavil grabs a TL. Manaroo can toss her tokens onto someone who needs a TL or extra focus. Palob works as a buffer and can steal a Focus for the squadron in case everyone gets blocked. Kavil milks the Overclocked as much as he needs. So you have one ship that is kitted to lose the stress, Palob can help but doesn't have to do green maneuvers.