With the Uboats making a scene on the tournament tables and Palp aces still being as good as they have always been, where is the stress list falling in this new meta order?

The Stresshog, the cheap and familiar herald of stress is now looking at possibly being taken off the table in the alpha strike by boats filled with anger and rage, while Aces still need to dodge it like the plague.

The Tactical Warden I think is in a very bad spot, being just too expensive and flimsy to the new heavy hitters out there on the tables today.

The Gunner/Tactican YV can still be a strong choice just for the fact it has so much health! But once again, if it's the only component to your squad worth firing at, 3 proton Torps will give it a bad day.

So what's the best option now?

I personally am looking at this with interest:

Kath Scarlet — Firespray-31 38

Deadeye 1

Rebel Captive 3

Concussion Missiles 4

Extra Munitions 2

Guidance Chips 0

Slave I 0

Ship Total: 48

It's 48 points, but it has the dice and shields to withstand a couple of barrages, as well as the firepower to hurt lower agility ships but stress the higher agility ones. I don't think it's the end all though, and I'm curious to other people's stressful ideas in the new wave.

I've pretty much abandoned rebel control after playing it for the past year, after turn 2 if you're using a traditional mix of bs ys and KS you're down two ships. It's a total NPE. I have one last idea cooking in my head that's block heavy but I've kinda just jumped to imperials.

Hera Syndulla — VCX-100 40

Fire-Control System 2

Gunner 5

Tactician 2

Ship Total: 49

Wild Space Fringer — YT-2400 30

Intelligence Agent 1

Anti-Pursuit Lasers 2

Ship Total: 33

"Zeb" Orrelios — Attack Shuttle 18

Ship Total: 18

How about saying goodbye to Stress Hog and hello to a stress whale? Hopefully using your intelligence agent to make sure Hera is in range 2. I will say that Chopper might be my first choice as a stress whale though.

I was using Stresshog, 2 Zs and 2 T-70s recently with great results, but that was pre-wave 8.

I have a Wave 8 version I want to try, see how it goes.

Y w/ Dorsal, Stressbot, Title

Y w/ R2, TLT, Thermal Det

T-70

2 Zs

Need to try and work out a way of getting soem scum control too. My Kath/Manaroo build has Thermal Dets, but that's it.

I still love my StressX.

Stresshog still parties hard with Biggs.

3x Guardian Squadron, 3x TLT, 3x Tactician, 3x Long Range Scanners

You could fit Miranda in there, but you'd lose a TLT. Autoblaster Turret is pretty good in this meta anyways though so it wouldn't be that bad.

The problem with stress control against it is that even with higher PS than the U-Boats, the one you pile stress on still gets to fire off a Torpedo. So weaponized stress isn't actually a hard counter to it.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Both of the Rebels' main control ships (the K-wing and the Y-wing) have nice open ordnance slots to fill holes in your squadron's toolkit.

And you know what really screws with alpha strikes?

Wes Janson and Biggs Darklighter.

T-65 pilots.

Stress Whale, did you say?

“Chopper” (48)

VCX-100 (37), Ghost (0), Fire-Control System (2), Autoblaster Turret (2), Gunner (5), Tactician (2)

Red Squadron Veteran (29)

T-70 X-Wing (26), R3-A2 (2), Wired (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

Ezra Bridger (23)

Attack Shuttle (20), Tactician (2), Rage (1), Phantom (0)

That's a list of pure beauty.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Yes. She is very good. I've been using her in this list

Wes- IA, Targeting astromech, VI

Biggs-IA, R2D6

Sabine- tactician, crack shot, tlt

Bandit.

Great fun. Seems good enough for most match ups but sometimes the limits of the t-65 are apparent.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Yes. She is very good. I've been using her in this list

Wes- IA, Targeting astromech, VI

Biggs-IA, R2D6

Sabine- tactician, crack shot, tlt

Bandit.

Great fun. Seems good enough for most match ups but sometimes the limits of the t-65 are apparent.

Both of the Rebels' main control ships (the K-wing and the Y-wing) have nice open ordnance slots to fill holes in your squadron's toolkit.

And you know what really screws with alpha strikes?

Wes Janson and Biggs Darklighter.

T-65 pilots.

In theory.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Yes. She is very good. I've been using her in this list

Wes- IA, Targeting astromech, VI

Biggs-IA, R2D6

Sabine- tactician, crack shot, tlt

Bandit.

Great fun. Seems good enough for most match ups but sometimes the limits of the t-65 are apparent.

I'd go with R3-A2 and Crack Shot for Wes. R3-A2 gives you more stress, and VI doesn't do much for Wes when he's the highest PS in your list since he can't reposition (Although VI+R3-A2 is a phantom's nightmare. The other problem is that proton torpedoes will mess Biggs up bad without the DTF+Regen combo that made LBW such a tough nut to crack in wave II.

I'm drawing a blank as to what DTF+Regen is. My mind goes to places that it shouldn't. Maybe we could call whatever it is something else??

Draw thier fire along with r2d2 on a nearby ship

I've toyed with running something like;

Wes, VI, BB8, 32pts

Biggs, R7, IA 27 pts

Grey squad, R3A2 TLT 28pts

Bandit 12pts

Total 99

Or no bid and up the Bandit to a Tala.

Think it would be powerful against alpha lists but not sure it's up to dealing with ImpAces and the like. Plus it has all the normal T65 weaknesses.

If you're going to go with a stress build on Kath, I'd suggest:

Kath

Veteran Instincts

Mangler Cannon

Rebel Captive

Engine Upgrade

PS9 unfortunately means you'll have to go for the initiative bid against Soontir & Whisper, but she otherwise shuts down Corran (non-VI), Brobots, and Carnor (has seen an uptick in popularity now) pretty hard.

I've tried stress kath before, I always wound up ditching mangler cannon and just take calculation. Maybe it's just my playstyle but I end up taking mist shots out the rear arc.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Yes. She is very good. I've been using her in this list

Wes- IA, Targeting astromech, VI

Biggs-IA, R2D6

Sabine- tactician, crack shot, tlt

Bandit.

Great fun. Seems good enough for most match ups but sometimes the limits of the t-65 are apparent.

I'd go with R3-A2 and Crack Shot for Wes. R3-A2 gives you more stress, and VI doesn't do much for Wes when he's the highest PS in your list since he can't reposition (Although VI+R3-A2 is a phantom's nightmare. The other problem is that proton torpedoes will mess Biggs up bad without the DTF+Regen combo that made LBW such a tough nut to crack in wave II.

Nope. Tried it. It's okay but it really hurts Wes to have to stick to greens. You need the action economy for damage to actually take ships off the board and I don't really understand your protest against VI. You don't take VI to be highest in your list but rather to shoot before a high number of aces.

Would Sabine in an attack shuttle with TLT and Tactican be a solid stress platform?

She seems maneuverable enough to get ships in the right arc to activate her crew.

Yes. She is very good. I've been using her in this list

Wes- IA, Targeting astromech, VI

Biggs-IA, R2D6

Sabine- tactician, crack shot, tlt

Bandit.

Great fun. Seems good enough for most match ups but sometimes the limits of the t-65 are apparent.

I'd go with R3-A2 and Crack Shot for Wes. R3-A2 gives you more stress, and VI doesn't do much for Wes when he's the highest PS in your list since he can't reposition (Although VI+R3-A2 is a phantom's nightmare. The other problem is that proton torpedoes will mess Biggs up bad without the DTF+Regen combo that made LBW such a tough nut to crack in wave II.

I'm drawing a blank as to what DTF+Regen is. My mind goes to places that it shouldn't. Maybe we could call whatever it is something else??

But yeah, DTF is just draw their fire. The basic idea is to have Luke (or Poe, now that he's super Basically super Luke) use DTF to take Crits to Biggs on his shields while regenerating them so you extend Biggs's lifespan without spending tons of points on him, and you still keep Luke/Poe in good condition when Biggs finally does kick the bucket.

You don't see it much anymore because Luke Biggs Wedge has fallen out of favor, but the concept is solid.

Wow! This topic has really got my creative juices flowing. Here's an idea based off of Kath Scarlet. 100 points total

(46) Kath Scarlet

-Calculation

-Mangler Cannon

-Rebel Captive

Generating 2 crits means it's more likely they'll cancel one and get stressed. And maybe one will get through!

(38) Deathrain

-Extra Munitions

-Advanced Sensors

-Thermal Detonators

-Conner Nets

Deathrain is great for thermal detonators because he can drop them in front of himself, making it more likely that the enemy will run into them. Also, Advanced Sensors means he can drop a Conner Net before he moves, so the scouts run into it -- wait, what if he had Enhanced Scopes instead of Advanced Sensors so he'd be the first to move, and could put his Conner Nets wherever he wants? It's tough because the Detonators want high PS to see where everybody moved, and the Conner Nets want low PS so you don't get blocked and can ensure the ship runs into the net, instead of dropping the net on the ship.

(16) "Dark Curse"

Yeah. Why don't we see more of him now with Deadeye running rampant?

Maybe these pieces don't all fit together well, and need to be mixed around. I'm now toying with an idea for Captain Kagi to fly with "Dark Curse" so they don't target lock him to launch their torps. I'll come back when I have a squad I'm satisfied with, but if I had no limit to points, here's the Kagi build

Captain Kagi

-Flechette Cannon

-Rebel Captive

-Tactician

-Engine Upgrade

-Reinforced Deflectors

I know it's a whopping 41 points, so the trick is figuring out which upgrades are basically covered by other members of the squad so he can be an effective stress dealer and general thorn in the side of the opponent.

I've tried stress kath before, I always wound up ditching mangler cannon and just take calculation. Maybe it's just my playstyle but I end up taking mist shots out the rear arc.

I can see the utility of Calculation. Comes down to playstyle I guess. I'm too used to having EU which often takes up my action anyway, and the VI synergizes well.

Stress Whale, did you say?“Chopper” (48)VCX-100 (37), Ghost (0), Fire-Control System (2), Autoblaster Turret (2), Gunner (5), Tactician (2)Red Squadron Veteran (29)T-70 X-Wing (26), R3-A2 (2), Wired (1), Integrated Astromech (0)Ezra Bridger (23)Attack Shuttle (20), Tactician (2), Rage (1), Phantom (0)

Alternatively you could put enhanced scopes on Chop to make him a super blocker that causes stress.

VCX-100 falls to 3 scouts and Aces lists every time. 3 plasma torps with all modifiers 3 scouts gets strips all shields and takes the VCX to 6 or so hull on the first round of shooting. Furthermore, autoblaster turret on Chopper is a complete waste of time and points. Soontir Fel is going to have exactly zero issue getting outside of range 1 of a PS4 ship that lacks boost. might as well save the points for something better. Even IF you manage to bump Soontir, the turret won't matter since you don't have Zeb on board to take advantage of the opportunity.

X-Wings that arent Hobbie generally have no right to run R3-A2 considering they're, y'know, X-Wings, whom live or die based on their actions, and if they can't get a green maneuver out, then thats a dead X-Wing against anything. Now, if you took Kanan on the VCX..... that's a different story. Assuming you keep the X-Wing in range, it can get rid of that stress token no matter what maneuver it does. Granted, the VCX is still an enormous expenditure of points for... not much practical gain, thus the list in itself is flawed to begin with, but that's honestly not your fault.

Rebel stress used to be the big counter to Aces, but now it means the following:
Problem 1: Who do you shoot at? Which Ace do you want gone more? Target priority issues play hell on your decision making. If you pick the wrong Ace, you just lost the game.

Problem 2: The Stresshog will be dead by turn 3-4. If you havent killed one of their Aces by this point, you will not be winning this game.

Problem 3: Running a stresshog is the equivalent of saying "Even if i win, you are guaranteed 26 free points."

Problem 4: Stress control ships in general have poor agility and fall extremely quickly, and tend to cost more as well. Thus, it's generally a toss up whether a straight offensive list will be better.

Problem 5: Rebel ships don't offer much in the category that could follow up on a stressed Ace easily: a high-attack, high-agility, highly mobile small ship with an open, maneuverable dial at a reasonable cost, like a TIE Interceptor. A-Wings can't do enough damage in a short enough time to follow up on a double stressed Ace, E-Wings are too expensive and lack boost and 1 hard turns, T-70s are a decent middle ground and Poe is generally able to do the dance when he needs to, but without Predator or PTL an additional action for a target lock and you could whiff completely, but you need VI on Poe to be able to tail a PS9 Ace like Vader or Soontir or VI Whisper, so you could miss your opportunity to kill the Ace before it de-stresses and gets it's actions back, at which point it's basically untouchable again.

Problem 6: Fel, Vader, and Whisper all have damage output equal to or higher than most Rebel ships they face, with a superior action efficiency, agility, and maneuverability. Palpatine is largely unnecessary; he merely acts as a last resort when a damage would go through, or when the Imperial player really needs damage on the enemy. So assuming that your stresshog or whatever you're using gets you that one turn window you need to kill or damage an Ace, the high agility coupled with Palp makes you missing anyways a very real possibility. Additionally, the Imperial Aces generally are able to match or exceed your own firepower in terms of damage pushed through.

Incidentally, the only lists stress control works best against are Rebel lists. Unlike Soontir Fel who generally spends every turn stressed, a stressed Poe is a dead Poe. Without his focus, Poe is just another T-70; just one that costs around 38-40 points instead of 30. Additionally, the mid to low agility of Rebel ships means rolling 2 hits on a stresshog's TLT roll means it probably hits, and 3 is a guaranteed hit.

Basically; In Wave 8 you need to either be the 3-time World Champion to be able to stare down a Palp on a thing plus 2 things list with stress control and come out on top, get a hard read and trap an Ace, or just get really lucky on your dice rolls. And that's not any of you guy's faults. That's just the way Wave 8 is. And it's only going to get worse when Imperial Vets drops and banishes Poe from the tables with the TIE/D title and Ion Cannons and Tractor Beams.