I have not been playing X-Wing for very long. Probably only about eight or nine months, but I do love the game and I think that they systems used are fantastic and really do provide a fantastic strategy game. A friend of mine got me hooked with a pickup game where points didn't matter and we were both able to see just how much of a difference good flying vs bad flying can make. After playing for several months, I decided to check out the forums, and though my posts have been few, my reading has been large. Apart from the "Intentional Draw" Debate that has been going back and forth (of which, I reserve my opinion becuase it is neither here nor there), I have been very interested in the "Fix" cards and suggestions.

It seems to me that a lot of the proposed fixes aren't really fixes at all. It appears that the best fix for the game is a rather simple one: fix your outlook of the game. X-wing has never been broken and has never really NEEDED a fix. Sure, cards have been introduced that have made the game more fun, or more challenging one way or the other, but at the end of the day, the game is about how you can outfly your opponent and put hits on your target. In order to do this, you must understand each faction and how they work. This includes ceasing the comparison of one ship to another or one faction to another, each ship has strengths and weaknesses, as does each faction, understanding this will allow a much greater understanding and appreciation for this game. Now, a detailed analysis of this would be great, however, I don't really care to write one, and let's face it, you don't care to read one, so I will keep it brief and somewhat relevant. I present to you: "X-Wing, An Unexpected Journey"

Now, most of us on these boards are confident in our nerd-dom and have probably all either read or watched "The Hobbit" and/or "The Lord of the Rings" and this is where I am going to take X-wing.

As for your factions and understanding them; The rebels, hearty, able to take a hit and deliver a blow, they work great as a team and have a fantastic synergy, willing and able to charge in to the heart of things and come out on the other side, probably having taken some hits, but otherwise, able to do what they were built to do. These are your dwarves. Gruff, somewhat rag tag, but fun to have around and even more fun to fight with. Your heroes (aces) truly stand out and can be numerous on the battlefield.

That brings us to the Imperials. A fan of good order and discipline. Where the rebels (dwarves) favor brute strength, with a trick here or there, the imprials are not fans of tricks and would rather dodge the blow than take one on the chin. They are elegant in how they fly and are more than a nuisance when they aren't where you thought they would be. Prefering a flight style of rank and file vs the rebels more unorthodox approach, these tend to favor those of the Elven race. Graceful, fragile, but able to hit hard and swiftly move from retaliation. Perhaps fewer heroes (aces) on the battlefield, but when one shows up, that is who you want to take out first, you just have to get through all of the foot soldiers in order to do it.

And finally, we have Scum and Villiany. Championed by Bossk, Boba, Kath, and most recently, Dengar. coming together in hastily put together vessels that weren't always designed to be fighters, and mostly shouldn't be considered space worthy. Tricks are the trade, and though working together can be possible, most of them would rather stay in their own hole and not bother with other pilots. These my friends, are the trusty hobbits. They may not look like much, and most people don't see them as much of a threat (triple toilet seats aside), but if given the chance, they will steal something very precious right from under your nose. Unorthodox in strategy, style, and ability, Not possessing the numbers of the elves, or the stout nature of the dwarves, the hobbits are an integral part of any adventure.

So before attempting to make a star viper fly like an interceptor, or a y-wing fly like anything but a y-wing, remember my readers, each ship has it's role to fill, yes, even the M3-A and the HWK, you just need to see the ship for what it is and what it can be. Stop crying out to fix this or that and correct your own idea of what these little plastic pieces of amazingness are capable of. With the right ability, the acquired skill, a bit of luck and a dash of talent, there is no list out there that is unbeatable and no list out there that can't be great given the right pilot to fly them.

Good luck and fly casual.

@OP,

Skipped the rest but the last paragraph when I saw how much you wrote after saying that you'll be brief.

Though I'm not a mathwinger, I understand why some people do subscribe to that kind of analysis of the game. Some ships are inefficient when compared to others, usually when old ships(outer rim smuggler, wild space fringer) are compared to newer ones (contracted scout).

There is an obvious difference in the strength of ships in the game. Some aren't costed correctly, so I don't really think I should stop hoping for a more balanced game and just resign myself to never playing the m3-a because 2 z-95‘s are better, cheaper and fulfill an actually useful role in the game. Because currently this is the case and m3-a's are mostly pointless, overcosted and even moreso when I take the title.

To add to that, when the lead designers of the game themselves are saying it's overcosted and needs help, I'm inclined to believe them.

@OP,

Skipped the rest but the last paragraph when I saw how much you wrote after saying that you'll be brief.

Here's another asinine response; your assessment is complete and utter tosh.

Cheers

Baaa

I've played the game since Wave 1 and I have championed taking ships that aren't that good and winning with them. I'm also not so into the tournament play as much and more into casual games. I love flying missions and all sorts of stuff. I find that many ships are good in missions that aren't so good in tournament mode. Even with that, I do think there were some fixes that needed to happen.

The fix to the Tie Advanced was needed. Oh, Vader was OK, but just OK. It also left all the other pilots as just bad. I really tried to make them work quite a bit, but they just weren't that good. That is once case that a fix was really needed.

I've been using Ordnance for a long time and especially using Tie Bombers. The Extra Munitions and Guidance Chips are a big boost to them. I've used a lot of types and I think they are just right. I'm pretty happy with them. I don't think they are over powered and I don't think ordnance was utterly useless before. It just fits it in just right.

I don't really have an opinion on Chaardan Refit as I never really flew A-wings much.

I don't really know about the fixes for the Tie Defenders coming up. People have actually started to play with them recently and they are doing pretty well. I am a bit worried that the new titles will make these things obscene. Still, as the peak of Tie design, they probably should be.

The Y-wings got bombs and the title which aren't really fixes in my mind, but just options. I think they are pretty cool and turn this work horse of a ship into the multi role beast that it should be.

I'm fine with the Scyk. I think it could be 1 pt cheaper and not be broken, but I've flown it a number of times and been happy with it. It's not a great ship, but it's not a bad ship. I would not be unhappy to see it get a little something.

I think the Kihraxz is fine. Too bad it doesn't have a Salvaged Astromech slot, but it's OK. I think more pilots would help it.

I think the T-65 is fine, but you know people can't deal without some sort of repositioning crutch. You know it's going to get a title that lets it Boost. I don't think it needs it.

I'm a big fan of really just trying ships out and making them work, but I do feel that some of the fixes have been well placed. I don't think all the ships need some sort of fix.

I think the T-65 is fine, but you know people can't deal without some sort of repositioning crutch. You know it's going to get a title that lets it Boost.

Hope it gets to barrel roll instead make it different from the t-70.

OP I have to disagree many ships need to be fixed. HWKs are just bad, M3as' have NO role, and Kihraxzs struggle with terrible dial/pilots/upgrade slots.

I understand that something different than the T-70 is appealing, but I don't understand the logic of it. I mean...how do you go from a T-65 that barrel rolls to a T-70 that boosts? I figure they just make a title that is the T-67 and gives it boost. Yes, it's a bit same-same, but.....it's the next gen of the ship.

Improving older ships is the nature of the game. No one would ever take Vader if it wasnt for the title card and the ATC improvements. People still cant believe that the Contracted Scout is PS 3 with an EPT, but dudes like Kir Kanos, a named pilot, doesnt. Maybe in the future there will be something to add an EPT for some ships, who knows. But that's the best thing about this game, nothing gets left behind or forgotten about. I love the Defender and I seriously cannot wait until the Imp Vets hit the shelves.

Here's another asinine response; your assessment is complete and utter tosh.

Cheers

Baaa

"Tosh" as in "nonsense"?

Yey, I learned a new word. Never heard/seen it before.

Are people too quick to dimiss ships that aren't part of a metagame staple as too weak? Maybe. That doesn't change the fact that even the designers admit they miss the mark on balance from time to time.

The original TIE advanced did need a buff. It was a hard ship to kill but had offensive power on par with a TIE fighter: worse if you look at offensive power/point cost. It had nothing else going for it: it couldn't do anything the rest of the faction's ships couldn't do better, and survivability doesn't help you if you can't damage the enemy. So the designers upgunned it.

Likewise, the original A-wing received the Chaardan Refit cost adjustment because it wasn't attractive at 17 points.

The M3-A can fill four roles: swamer, single missile carrier, cannon control piece or glass cannon damage dealer. As a swarmer it's about on par with the Z-95: it's a Scum TIE fighter. Problem is, despite being a similar quality ship it's two points more. That adds up quickly in a swarm. Hence we don't see it much in that role, instead seeing the similar quality but significantly cheaper Z-95.

Its other three roles require the Heavy Scyk title, a disasterous costing mishap. As a missile carrier it's hands down beaten by the Z-95: at 16 points it's an atrocious missile platform. Constrast to the later TIE advanced Prototype if you want to see what an appropriately costed 16pt 2 die missile platform looks like. If the TIE fighter had a four point title to put a missile slot on it would anyone take it? No.

As a control piece Heavy Scyk stabs it in the foot again: the Scyk would be great for putting cheap control into your list if it were cheap. Instead that control piece is coming in at pretty much the cost of a Kihraxz or Y-wing for just PS2.

I feel like the Scyk was balanced around the damage dealing variety with a Heavy Laser Cannon, but that weighs in at 23 points, the cost of a G-1A.

And again, this is for the easily dodged, easily killed before it ever shoots Cartel Spacer. You want to stick that cannon on a mid PS Syck Ace? Looking towards 30 points. For TIE fighter survivability and none of the dodging or token stacking tricks other brittle 30 pointers have to help them survive.

FFG's fix cards aren't about turning ships into things they aren't, they're about allowing ships to perform attractively in their role. The Scyk isn't attractive in any of them.

X-Wing's in a good state but it's by no means perfect.

no list out there that can't be great given the right pilot to fly them.

Six Spice Runners.

I understand that something different than the T-70 is appealing, but I don't understand the logic of it. I mean...how do you go from a T-65 that barrel rolls to a T-70 that boosts? I figure they just make a title that is the T-67 and gives it boost. Yes, it's a bit same-same, but.....it's the next gen of the ship.

Bomber to Punisher.

To be clear, I think the TIE advanced is the only ship that was bad enough to be tantamount to throwing the game if you sent it against a powerful squad. I don't think a ship since has ever been pre-buff Maarek Steele bad. The others can win and can perform, but they won't perform as well as the ships that are closer to the TIE Fighter Watermark. You can make up for poor value for points by being that much better than your opponent, but unless your goal in using the Scyk is to use the Scyk people aren't going to take it when everything it can do is done better by another Scum platform.

Firespray-31. compare it with the punishing one.

Firespray-31. compare it with the punishing one.

25 versus 35. Both are EPT generics. The Scum Firespray is PS5 instead of PS3, so a statline comparison would be 25 versus 33, 8 points to upgrade to a Firespray.

Firespray has an extra attack die, aux arc, more health and a different array of upgrade options. The extra attack die is huge: the Jumpmaster pays 12 points for it.

The Firespray also has a very cheap upgrade from generic to ace: going to Boba Fett or Kath Scarlet is a mere 4 or 3 points. The Scum Firespray, unlike the Imperial Firespray, shines on its named pilots rather than its rather pricey generic.

Firespray-31. compare it with the punishing one.

25 versus 35. Both are EPT generics. The Scum Firespray is PS5 instead of PS3, so a statline comparison would be 25 versus 33, 8 points to upgrade to a Firespray.

Firespray has an extra attack die, aux arc, more health and a different array of upgrade options. The extra attack die is huge: the Jumpmaster pays 12 points for it.

The Firespray also has a very cheap upgrade from generic to ace: going to Boba Fett or Kath Scarlet is a mere 4 or 3 points. The Scum Firespray, unlike the Imperial Firespray, shines on its named pilots rather than its rather pricey generic.

The JM5K Title is overcosted because the extra die is 360 degrees, Firespray is still only front and back.

...and Kihraxzs struggle with terrible dial/pilots/upgrade slots.

Er, no. They have a great dial, and the Illicit slot is awesome.

...and Kihraxzs struggle with terrible dial/pilots/upgrade slots.

Er, no. They have a great dial, and the Illicit slot is awesome.

Personally I hate the dial. Maybe it's just my play style idk

but your right the illicit upgrade is great. I just think it needs something more.

The Kihraxz dial is okay but not particularly good. It's average in a different way from the X-wing.

It is pretty much a pure math ship and its math is weak.

Are people too quick to dimiss ships that aren't part of a metagame staple as too weak? Maybe. Yes

Fixed that little bit for you...

You can make up for poor value for points by being that much better than your opponent, but unless your goal in using the Scyk is to use the Scyk people aren't going to take it when everything it can do is done better by another Scum platform.

There are people who either won SC or came in Top 4 while using Serrisu. So, you can't say that the Scyk is utterly uncompetitive.