Imperial Veterans is upending how we fly and use TIE Defenders. Which is good-- I have fond memories of it from the old "TIE Fighter" game, it's visually distinct on the tabletop, and the game is better when more stuff can see tables.
Now that all the contents of Imperial Veterans have been revealed, now's as good a time as any to do a way-too-deep analysis of the Defender's pilots and builds. Note that squad context may change many of these; for the purposes of this post we'll examine each pilot in isolation, and suggest at least two builds.
Two more points covering the whole article. First, I have a hunch that the X/7 title will combine very nicely with Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf hasn't seen much use outside of two-ship lists because it turns off when everyone gets bogged down in the furball. X/7 Defenders don't want to get bogged down in the furball; they wanna go fast! This would seem to naturally help your spacing, especially if your other ships either want to stay in the furball (like TIE F/Os) or have ways to control the range (Phantoms and Inquisitor). That would also help the Defender be even tougher. Throughout this article, whenever I mention Predator, keep in mind Lone Wolf may also be viable.
Second, people are suggesting Stealth Device might combo well with X/7 Defenders. A free Evade and a no-brainer Focus action, the thinking goes, go a long way to helping the Stealth Device last and milk it for value. I'm... open to convincing. So if you see an entry with X/7, feel free to mentally tack on a Stealth Device.
REXLER BRATH
Rexler shoulda been a contenduh. For quite a while the game was dominated by two-ship builds with one of those ships packing tons of hull. Rexler's ability at first blush seems like it should have been death to ships like that.
What went wrong? Using his ability requires a number of things to go right. You have to deal damage and still be carrying your focus token, meaning you can't use it to modify your attack. People used Heavy Laser Cannon and Predator to maximize his offense and give him more chances for his ability to work; that helped. That brought us to problem number two: using your focus token for offense necessarily meant you didn't have it for defense, and given Brath's cost, he was a logical choice for your opponent to concentrate on and burn down. And, of course, at PS8 he was shooting after the true ace crowd, which frequently forced him to burn his focus on defense, leaving him high and dry for his ability. All for half your total squad points!
Enter the X/7 title. Reducing his cost helps, but even more helpful is the free Evade token, which frees him to use his token for offense. We'll still need a method of modifying our attack on offense; keep Predator and we're there. 38 points and we're golden.
The other way to approach Brath would be to mimic his past build, but more cheaply. In this case, we'd use the TIE/D title and Tractor Beam to set up a big primary attack, and then burn his Focus on whatever gets through there. Predator would be mandatory, since it can apply to both attacks and lets us keep the focus. 41 points is high (equivalent to Whisper), but there's potential for sure... but his weakness on defense might be a problem. To be sure, I recommend the X/7 build much more highly.
MAAREK STELE
I really want Maarek's artwork to inform a decent build. Guidance Chimps' bonus for three-red ships would suddenly come into play given Maarek's love of crits. Homing Missiles or even Clusters, with the Chimps and his ability...
Sadly, missiles don't work with either of the new titles. You give up the missile slot with X/7, and you lose your primary *and* cannon shots with TIE/D. Poor, unloved missile slot.
Let's not overthink this. We want crits, don't we? Yes we do.
Maarek: X/7, Calculation, 34 points.
As with Brath, we're counting on the X/7's Evade to help free our Focus for shooting. But if we need it for defense, it's there (beating out Marksmanship, which is more expensive anyway). Our alternative is similar to Rexler, where we go all in for offense:
Maarek: TIE/D, tractor beam, Marksmanship, 39 points.
Tractor Beam here beats out Ion and Flechette-- those cannons don't crit any more than the Tractor Beam does, but the Tractor weakens our opponent, helping our primary attack (and its likely crit) hit home. The flechette and ion don't do that, so Tractor is the choice here.
COLONEL VESSERY
Oh, Vessery. The most viable Defender before Veterans came out is even better with Veterans. Frankly I'm only really considering the TIE/D title for him, just because the ability to get target locks on both attacks is so spectacular.
Vessery: TIE/D, tractor beam, Veteran Instincts, 37 points.
Tractor Beam will allow him to duplicate much of the functionality of his old Heavy Laser Cannon build for six fewer points. I went with Veteran Instincts here because PS8 is a pretty useful place to be these days (Inquisitor/Omega Leader). You want Vessery to be at least as high PS as his squadmates so that he can mooch their locks; doubly so if you're packing a tractor beam to help their shots in return. But, frankly, you can't go wrong here; if your squadmates are lower PS, like Gamma Vets with Long Range Scanners, you can painlessly swap EPTs. (I know I promised not to talk about squad context in this article but Vessery won't let us ignore it.) Any list that could use Vessery before can now reap the benefits of a more potent Vessery. Okay, fine, token second build:
Vessery: X/7, VI, Stealth Device, 37 points. Much less punchy than the TIE/D Vessery, but he can freely use his Focus for defense without crippling his offense because he can still mooch target locks. For that reason he could probably do a pretty darn good job defending that Stealth Device, which is why I explicitly called it out here. In a three-ship list, this Vessery could be your face-off ship and still carry his weight offensively. Still, I do not recommend this compared to TIE/D Vessery.
GLAIVE SQUADRON PILOT
Generics with EPTs are fun. Try this on for size.
Glaive: TIE/D, Ion Cannon, Predator, 40 points. Action-free mods for each attack from Predator, natural control due to the Ion and the white 4K, and firepower to spare. The PS matches Brobots, which is nice. It's on the expensive side for PS6, yes...
Or, for a tankier version, a Glaive with Lone Wolf, X/7, and maybe Stealth would probably be pretty obnoxious.
COUNTESS RYAD
Oh, yeah, her. There's been a lot of hubbub about Ryad lately, with people going so far as to make pictures with slogans like "Mother of K-Turns". (I prefer "Mistress of K-Turns", but no one asked me.) My fear is that, in their rush to annoint her an arc dodger, people will forget that she's PS5, and you need to be at least a step ahead of your foe (or pack an allied Intel Agent) to let her turn and burn with the big boys. Also, the difference between a Glaive at PS6 and Ryad at PS5 is significant in a world where Brobots exist. On the plus side, you always have the option of doing 5Ks to maximize coverage against slippery foes. And the green K-Turns ought to tempt you to run Opportunist or PTL (otherwise you'd take a same-cost Glaive). Opportunist can be clutch depending upon your squad, but Push the Limit is... well, you know by now.
The danger with PTL is getting locked into K-turns whether you like it or not. Being able to do 5s to run away and reset is nice, but no panacea. Some people have postulated that Engine Upgrade can help that by changing the arcs of your K-turns. Your other option (and three points cheaper!) is TIE Mk. II. That way, you break your K-Turn series with a surprise bank. It makes you much less predictable, and you can still proc X/7 with the 3-bank. 3-bank is the hardest maneuver in the game to visualize, though...
Ryad: X/7, PTL, Mk II, 36. K-Turns and dice mods for days, with just enough green elsewhere on the dial to keep the enemy honest. This is the build that's gotten a lot of attention, not least because it was on the preview article. Then again, the Jumpmaster preview article anticipated the U-boat craze, too, so maybe there's something to them... Anyway, people have focused on the X/7 title, and to some extent that makes sense, further maximizing her action superiority. Don't discount the TIE/D title, though. Think about her kit: because she can K-turn at any speed but 1, she can get behind the enemy *very* easily... as long as they don't turn around too. X/7 prefers to overwhelm the foe in that situation with extra mods and tokens. TIE/D, though, can keep the enemy from turning around in the first place.
Ryad: TIE/D, Ion Cannon, Push the Limit, Mk. II, 41 points. If I had guts I'd say Crack Shot, but here we are. Once the enemy is Ioned, you can dial up whichever K-turn suits your fancy, and stick to the foe like glue. Slightly higher output than the Predator Glaive I outlined above, and more flexibility on the K-turn turn, at the cost of some defense (or offense) on the jousting turn.
GENERICS
Builds with the generics are limited to "do you want a tougher, cheaper fighter" or "do you want a shootier, more expensive fighter"? And, if you choose the latter, what mix of cannon do you want? As this is more of a season-to-taste affair that depends upon your overall budget I won't delve into this. After all, this post is long enough.