the countess gives me a woody

I think the Countess and Maarek are both better options for a "I want to put a Defender in my squad" option than Vessery is. Having more Imperial ships with the TL action makes it easier to build around Vessery than it used to be, but unless you're planning on bringing ships that prefer taking TLs, you need to fly your other ships differently because you brought Vessery along.

You say that like you even need to build around Vessery anymore. The Imperials have a bunch of pilots that not only can take TLs, but want to take them, and those pilots are all independently among the best in the game so it's not like you have to compromise your squad to set it up. Whisper, Vader, Omega Leader, and The Inquisitor all have disgustingly natural synergy with Vessery that doesn't require any effort on your part, but results in you having 2-3 of the game's best ships in one squad. Why would you not?

If you are bringing those ships, you are bringing ships that normally want to take target locks. Vessery is a great fit. Having multiple ships in an Imperial list that prefer the target lock action isn't really a default. It's a hell of a lot easier to find a list that compliments Vessery than it was a year ago but he has a dependency on the rest of your squad that Stele and Ryad don't have.

Rexler's ability is custom made for Prockets. I've used it with him in a TIE/D with Ion Cannon, Predator and Chimps. its pure gold against any large base. Not too healthy for smalls either.

Sure it's an expensive build, but it's so damned much fun when it works.

I am liking this build! 37+3+3+3+0=46 points, that is not too bad at all.

Whisper with VI, FCS, ACD and Kallus (the most popular build at the moment, it seems) is 41 points. She also rolls 5 dice at range 1. Every time, not just once. Just saying.

Edit:

And she doesn't need a focus token to do it. And she gets a free target lock afterwards. And a cloak. And a focus if she hits. Would you trade all that for something that is "fun when it works"? For an extra 5 points?

I don't think Prockets on any Defender is a good idea right now. To fire them, you're giving up an Ion Cannon shot and a 4 dice primary. There are very few targets where the Prockets will even be equal to that, let alone better, and certainly not 3 points worth.

They really need to put out flares that go in Missile slots so we have something cheap to fill those slots with. Plus, you know, something for this suddenly ordnance heavy meta we're in.

They really need to put out flares that go in Missile slots so we have something cheap to fill those slots with. Plus, you know, something for this suddenly ordnance heavy meta we're in.

Negative ghost rider. They just spent a few waves trying to fix ordnance, their not about to nerf it.

Rexlar's overpriced now? Ha.... I can't wait to run Rexlar/TieD/Ion/Mk2. (adaptability maybe- ah why not, for 0 points.) Ps 7/8/9 never felt so good. I don't much care for the pilot ability until late game, but in the early game I have a nice ace able to either pick something off or slow it down enough another ace can come in and finish the job.

Negative ghost rider. They just spent a few waves trying to fix ordnance, their not about to nerf it.

Is it really a nerf though if the other side has to spend extra points to deal with it?

I mean, right now those slots are mostly just going empty.

I'm honestly puzzled why they didn't open up TIE/d be [cannon] or [missile] secondaries of 3pts or less.

It's no longer on the card, and I can't think of anywhere a single-shot missile would ruin anything. Unless prockets, I guess?

Negative ghost rider. They just spent a few waves trying to fix ordnance, their not about to nerf it.

Is it really a nerf though if the other side has to spend extra points to deal with it?

I mean, right now those slots are mostly just going empty.

Agreed. I suppose it wouldn't be a nerf. I just don't see FFG wanting to create a counter to ordnance right after they fixed a majority of it.

I'm honestly puzzled why they didn't open up TIE/d be [cannon] or [missile] secondaries of 3pts or less.

It's no longer on the card, and I can't think of anywhere a single-shot missile would ruin anything. Unless prockets, I guess?

Throwing out a 5 dice attack followed by a 4 dice attack is probably the reason. With the 3 point cap on cannons they've capped the extra damage that a Defender can get in a round from their cannon attack to 1 point (without EPTs and other abilities).

Negative ghost rider. They just spent a few waves trying to fix ordnance, their not about to nerf it.

Is it really a nerf though if the other side has to spend extra points to deal with it?

I mean, right now those slots are mostly just going empty.

Agreed. I suppose it wouldn't be a nerf. I just don't see FFG wanting to create a counter to ordnance right after they fixed a majority of it.

If the counter to ordnance is more ordnance, is that really a nerf to ordnance?

If the counter to ordnance is more ordnance, is that really a nerf to ordnance?

Of the named pilots, Vessery is still the undisputed king. If you are building competitively and put a TIE Defender in your squad that isn't him, you're doing it wrong. Even if you're not putting TIE/D on him, he works just fine with TIE/x7, getting Evade, TL and your choice of Focus or Barrel Roll for little effort.

Col. (Meat Grinder) Vessery has been the king since the defender came out. The Tie advanced fix with its reliance on TLing made him a bit better and Vets will make him either harder to kill or MORE deadly. I don't know why anyone would not include meat grinder is any defender list, he is the most damaging pilot in the game IMO. I used to run him with Vader getting him TL's then have Col. Grinder follow up with HLC shots and it was so beautiful to see 1 agi ships just melt.

I like your thoughts/experience with Vessery and Vader; can you tell me the meta setup you've had success with? Thx!

I wonder if the presence of the final spoiler article means they're almost off the boat? Don't they normally try to have the timings coincide like that? Get everyone jazzed just before this stuff heads out to retailers?

Also, I'm really liking how Countess Ryad works. The PS 5 makes a lot of sense now, they didn't want her to be too strong with the post movement mods, but she can still get to a decent PS as long as you sacrifice other EPTs.

I'm honestly puzzled why they didn't open up TIE/d be [cannon] or [missile] secondaries of 3pts or less.

It's no longer on the card, and I can't think of anywhere a single-shot missile would ruin anything. Unless prockets, I guess?

Throwing out a 5 dice attack followed by a 4 dice attack is probably the reason. With the 3 point cap on cannons they've capped the extra damage that a Defender can get in a round from their cannon attack to 1 point (without EPTs and other abilities).

Maybe, but now the Defender has no reason to ever take a missile. The x7 doesn't have the slot, and the /D would be giving up its two shots (and possibly mk2 engines) to fire one.

I'm honestly puzzled why they didn't open up TIE/d be [cannon] or [missile] secondaries of 3pts or less.

It's no longer on the card, and I can't think of anywhere a single-shot missile would ruin anything. Unless prockets, I guess?

Throwing out a 5 dice attack followed by a 4 dice attack is probably the reason. With the 3 point cap on cannons they've capped the extra damage that a Defender can get in a round from their cannon attack to 1 point (without EPTs and other abilities).

Maybe, but now the Defender has no reason to ever take a missile. The x7 doesn't have the slot, and the /D would be giving up its two shots (and possibly mk2 engines) to fire one.

The only Missile I've been able to even consider with an Ion TIE/D is Homing Missile. The only real weakness the ship has is long range shots against high defense targets, and the Homing Missile is pretty strong against stuff like that. For non-Ion Cannon TIE/Ds, the Ion Pulse Missile remains a solid choice.

They really need to put out flares that go in Missile slots so we have something cheap to fill those slots with. Plus, you know, something for this suddenly ordnance heavy meta we're in.

I am really liking this idea. Or something like this in general...

Now that I think about it, didn't Tie Fighter the computer game have a missile that did absolutely no damage but drained the enemy cannons? From wookipedia:

The Magnetic pulse, also known as the Mag Pulse Warhead or Mag Pulse Torpedo, was a highly specialized missile-type projectile that inflicts no permanent damage upon impact but instead disables its target's weapons systems leaving it vulnerable.

A Mag Pulse missile can work well with the non-X7 Tie Defenders and we know that FFG is trying to put an end to ships roaming around with empty slots.

^ That is also the missile which the TIE/sf uses.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/sf_space_superiority_fighter.

My creds on it entering the game in a few months.

Mag Pulse Warhead (missile upgrade) 3 pts

Attack (TL):spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack.

Att 3

If this attack hits place a weapons disabled token on target ship. Then cancel all dice results.

Don't know if price or even requiring TL is correct. It should probably be a missile though. Pairing this with Epsilon Ace and Decoy would keep any of those pesky high PS aces from attacking, so mean.

Why bother? You already have to be target locked and you discard the lock to stop one turn's shooting? I'd rather just shoot the son of a *****. Not to mention that unless the shooter has a higher PS it's a waste of time to begin with. I'll pass thanks.

Place one Weapons disabled token and two tracking tokens. At the beginning of the planning phase replace one tracking token with a weapons disabled token.