Huh, I would have thought that Vessery's ability would boost his efficiency much higher. I still Think Vessery with Engine Upgrade makes up for it. Palp Aces also tends to have a little wiggle room points wise, so I don't think a few percentage points of inefficiency matter that much. I suppose it denies you Inquisitor Palp Shuttle Pmega Leader Wampa, but I'm not sold on that squad. Wampa dies immediately every time.

It depends how often you get Vessery's ability to trigger (that was assuming 50% of the time), and how often the x7 evade triggers (that assumed 75% of the time). If you increase his ability triggering to 100% of the time, then his efficiency increases up to 105% (with x7/VI/EU). Tactically that number will be lower if you use an action for boost instead of focus, but that's how it is with any ace.

As a reference point, Vessery + x7/Juke @50% TL ability trigger is worth the same amount in raw dice as Vessery + x7 @ 100% ability trigger. But the latter is PS8 so synergizes better with Inquisitor, letting you get closer to that 100% number. Vessery really has to be VI'ed with Inquisitor to work at all, otherwise you're better off with Ryad.

The other option with Inquisitor + VI Vessery is the TIE/D + TB/Ion option. You lose the Engine upgrade, but get more jousting value. It makes Vessery a really obvious target though.

Well if juke x7 vess is 35 and ptl x7 tiemk2 ryand is 36 you get omicron palp to be a snug fit

Have tried it. Love it. Ryad is an amazing TL buddy for Juke Vessery. Palp is just Palp. You pretty much have to kill him before the Defenders because they have so much health and token stacking that they will just not die while Palp is on the board. "Defend the Emperor" will be a thing my friends.

I actually wonder if Steele would be better then Vess in this list, as long as you are willing to use Palp offensively then he will be juking a lot of crits through

i can vouch that Stele's ability is crazy good. I run him in a trip-TIE Adv list with vader/juno from time to time and that picking the crit card is mean. **** near always draw double damage cards lol.

Probably going to bring the Defender version of him quite a bit.

I think TIE/D Vessery is one of those ships that you can spring on someone to great effect, but if anyone has any expectation that it might be coming in the meta, they've got a plan to nuke him before he becomes too much of a problem.

Huh, I would have thought that Vessery's ability would boost his efficiency much higher. I still Think Vessery with Engine Upgrade makes up for it. Palp Aces also tends to have a little wiggle room points wise, so I don't think a few percentage points of inefficiency matter that much. I suppose it denies you Inquisitor Palp Shuttle Pmega Leader Wampa, but I'm not sold on that squad. Wampa dies immediately every time.

It depends how often you get Vessery's ability to trigger (that was assuming 50% of the time), and how often the x7 evade triggers (that assumed 75% of the time). If you increase his ability triggering to 100% of the time, then his efficiency increases up to 105% (with x7/VI/EU). Tactically that number will be lower if you use an action for boost instead of focus, but that's how it is with any ace.

As a reference point, Vessery + x7/Juke @50% TL ability trigger is worth the same amount in raw dice as Vessery + x7 @ 100% ability trigger. But the latter is PS8 so synergizes better with Inquisitor, letting you get closer to that 100% number. Vessery really has to be VI'ed with Inquisitor to work at all, otherwise you're better off with Ryad.

The other option with Inquisitor + VI Vessery is the TIE/D + TB/Ion option. You lose the Engine upgrade, but get more jousting value. It makes Vessery a really obvious target though.

I was assuming you'd be able to trigger Vessery's TL ability most turns, considering that the Inquisitor ends up taking one most turns anyways, and the shuttle can TL something and just leave it there.

If you really wanted to, you could drop the Engine Upgrade from Vessery to get the points for the shuttle title or drop a point off something and spend the initiative bid on it. I don't think that's really worth it though.

Is anyone even seeing the Tie Defender on the table ? A young kid played one last Saturday and I'm thinking that it was the first time that I have seen one sense their release.

Only every week since it came out.

Glad to hear it. Where I play people tend to favor Rebel. I'm one of the few imperial players. The Defender just seemed to predictable but that may just be the players here

There are no predictable ships only predictable players.

Spoken true!

You play strangers completely different than your friends. I can call my friends' tactics 2-3 turns in advance perfectly but i routinely get caught off guard against someone i never play or only played once before.Even with a "predictable" ship with a "predictable" build.

Well if juke x7 vess is 35 and ptl x7 tiemk2 ryand is 36 you get omicron palp to be a snug fit

Have tried it. Love it. Ryad is an amazing TL buddy for Juke Vessery. Palp is just Palp. You pretty much have to kill him before the Defenders because they have so much health and token stacking that they will just not die while Palp is on the board. "Defend the Emperor" will be a thing my friends.

I actually wonder if Steele would be better then Vess in this list, as long as you are willing to use Palp offensively then he will be juking a lot of crits through

Stele is good, but I think Vessery is better. Same build on Stele (Juke/x7) gives you a Juke + Focus for offense. Vessery gets Juke, TL, and Focus, which is an incredibly powerful offense. While he may be one PS lower, he will hit harder than Stele. Besides, you will mostly be using Palp on defense with these guys. They have no AT, so they are vulnerable to the green dice just blanking out.

i'd wager the two are pretty even given Stele's crit shenanigans. Vessery on average will hit more but Stele will practically guarantee the nasty crits which can either nullify a ship's strat for easy pickings or just cause extra damage.

And if you run the Systems Officer somewhere for Stele, now he has all 3 as well. Considering most TL dumpers for Vessery cost about as much as a TIE Shuttle shmuck if not slightly less, not a bad comparison.

You try to fit the Defender into your understanding. Which is fine. If you are limited to one way to view a ship, go ahead. But just because that is how you think a ship should be run, doesn't make it so. Don't be surprised if other builds do better, because those players understand the ship better. The art of the fish tail is a wonderful thing.

I look forward to seeing how all the defensive power of Palpatine works against the offensive power of Vessery.

And the two are not mutually exclusive in the same squad.

Palpatine is always the right choice.

Aces + Palpatine is performing far better than just Imperial Aces without Palpatine this Regionals, and there is a reason for that. Palpatine remains one of the, if not THE, most cost effective upgrade in the game. The strongest Defender squads post-Vets should generally also have Palpatine.

I'd also like to add to your point that the best Defender pilot is the Inquisitor, with the second best being Vessery.

So the optimal Palp Aces (With a Defender in it) is Inquisitor Vessery Palp Shuttle. I just see no other option. Lower PS (generic) Defenders seems good on paper but they're going to get punished by arc dodging.

Look at quad TLT BTL-A4 Y-Wings. 12 attacks a round! But there is a reason no one flies that.

I had a game with the delta in place of omega, with whisper and Palmobile.

I played against my buddies winning store championship list which was fel, jax and palmobile

In the end it was the full health delta vs fel with full health

I ended up winning because arc dodgers can't dodge everything.

With the free evade and focus action, plus the hp 1vs1 it can be done.

It's a slow process for fel to get through that, and that white kturn can make it hard for him to scoot away.

If he's running, he's not shooting.

And my buddy is no noobs when it comes to running his list.

He's flown it a lot and know it very well.

If I had beaten someone I didn't know, or not as experienced I wouldn't say anything, but I did best someone I know. Someone I know is very good with that list, and a single delta did take out fel.

Once the shuttle is out of play fel is much easier to deal with.

His stealth device gets knocked off very quick and then it's only a matter of time

My favourite thing about the x7 Delta is that you begin to feel like a sheepdog. You run and chase and harry, and whomever you're chasing has little choice but to turn the way you want them to.

You fly headlong at something, then flip behind it. You take a wide turn, flip around again. Long bank, big straight, flip around and then bank again. It really handles unlike anything else in the game.

I actually ran some simulators to feel out Ryad and the difference between running her x7 with PTL or x7 with Outmaneuver (Mk II included). I honestly liked how Outmaneuver played on her a lot more. More than once I used her mid-PS of 5 to an advantage by landing in a spot directly in front of an Ace like Wedge or some other high PS pilot. Then they either run into you, lose their action and can't fire on her, or they end up in her firing arc facing away from her. It worked really well.

I got a small event coming up, 12 players, 4 groups of 3 followed by knock out.

I considering using this:

Whisper VI, FCS, Adv cloak, Weapons engineer

Vessery Ruthlessness, Ion Cannon, Engine Upgrade, Tie/D

Academy Pilot

99 points total

Use academy as a blocker

Whisper does his thing but collects 2 TL's which should easily set up Vessery. I really like Vessery and Whisper, I have used them both in different lists a number of times.

Is this list sound or just doomed to fail?

i'd wager the two are pretty even given Stele's crit shenanigans. Vessery on average will hit more but Stele will practically guarantee the nasty crits which can either nullify a ship's strat for easy pickings or just cause extra damage.

And if you run the Systems Officer somewhere for Stele, now he has all 3 as well. Considering most TL dumpers for Vessery cost about as much as a TIE Shuttle shmuck if not slightly less, not a bad comparison.

Stele is a perfectly useful pilot waiting for the right meta.

That meta involves hostile ships that are hittable yet crits, and PS7 imperial pilots actually being worth a ****.

... Yeah, it's not this week.

Stele would be good with TIE/D and Marksmanship. The Marksmanship "token" isn't spent, so it works across multiple attacks.

Stele would also be good with either title and Palpatine in order to trigger his ability.

Otherwise I wouldn't bother. In general, Vessery is going to be better unless you really want the potential for PS 9 with VI.

I have been thinking about this simple list:

Patrol Leader (40)
Darth Vader (3)
Intelligence Agent (1)

Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

I really wish the x7 didn't kill the missile slot. I feel like there could be some great possibilities with x7, a missile, and Guidance Chips. It would let the x7 deliver one big punch and give you a good excuse to make a Maarek build that looks like his artwork.

I really wish the x7 didn't kill the missile slot. I feel like there could be some great possibilities with x7, a missile, and Guidance Chips. It would let the x7 deliver one big punch and give you a good excuse to make a Maarek build that looks like his artwork.

can't have everything

especially not on top of juke

I have been thinking about this simple list: Patrol Leader (40)Darth Vader (3)Intelligence Agent (1)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2) Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

Good vs aces, good vs Uboats, but Intel Agent isn't doing anything in that list. I'd feel pretty good with that in a tournament.

I have been thinking about this simple list: Patrol Leader (40)Darth Vader (3)Intelligence Agent (1)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2) Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

Good vs aces, good vs Uboats, but Intel Agent isn't doing anything in that list. I'd feel pretty good with that in a tournament.

Yeah it aint doing much, maybe just help with aces again to set up a block with one delta.

Not sure what to do with the 1 point left over?

Im def going to try it once vets is out,. Painted up my deci and then its sat in the case ever since

I was thinking Intel Agent worked on the ship's activation, not the beginning of the phase.

My bad, probably no better use for 1 point there.

I have been thinking about this simple list: Patrol Leader (40)Darth Vader (3)Intelligence Agent (1)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2) Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

I have been thinking about this simple list: Patrol Leader (40)Darth Vader (3)Intelligence Agent (1)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2) Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

Good vs aces, good vs Uboats, but Intel Agent isn't doing anything in that list. I'd feel pretty good with that in a tournament.

Honestly keep off the 1 point; run at 99 for initiative so your Deltas can always move first. I still see enough Academy Pilots and Binayre Pirates that it's worth the insurance, and those lists typically don't have an initiative bid.

I have been thinking about this simple list: Patrol Leader (40)Darth Vader (3)Intelligence Agent (1)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2)Delta Squadron Pilot (30)TIE/x7 (-2) Its beefy and you have Vader crew to handle any aces. Certainly not top tier and will struggle against the Uboats but its going to be a big pain in most lists sides.

Good vs aces, good vs Uboats, but Intel Agent isn't doing anything in that list. I'd feel pretty good with that in a tournament.

Honestly keep off the 1 point; run at 99 for initiative so your Deltas can always move first. I still see enough Academy Pilots and Binayre Pirates that it's worth the insurance, and those lists typically don't have an initiative bid.

I have seen this list in action in the VASSAL league. The mistake I see opponents making is they target the deltas first. This leaves a relatively untouched decimator with vader on board in the endgame when the opponent simply doesn't have enough firepower left to take him out...

Of course, ignoring the deltas means they can easily get behind and do some damage, so yeah, its a solid list I think.

why on earth would you target a defender before a decimator? yeah, they have **** near 1/3 the hp but theyre nimble as hell. Decimator's main issue is its reaaaaally easy to crit the sucker to death.

Barring really bad dice, the defenders would take longer than the decimator. But its also a dice game with them, so potentially kill them in 1-3 rounds while the Decimator is a fixated 4-6 at best.

Urks me when people dive for the deci first because once he starts getting hit i know i only got ~5 turns left with him