I'm going to call it, the reason for its cost is it's synergy with seismic (action) torps. I bet you will be able to fire them at asteroids and cause splash damage, move them or some such. You will get 2 or 3 red dice to fire them but only need one hit result. Any eyes you then bank as an evade for use in the combat phase (when you likely won't be able to shoot).

It's a crazy stab in the dark I know :-)

I wish, but it seems unlikely. R3 works during an attack.

However, what we can see from Seismic Torpedoes is something like:

Action: Discard this card

to choose an enemy ship at

Range 1 - ? that is within your

primary firing arc. All ships within

Range 1 of that ship must roll

1 attack die and suffer all

damage (hit) and critical damage

(crit) rolled this way.???

of???.

I don't know what the last few words could say, but it clearly isn't an attack. (Perhaps they say "This cannot be obstructed" or something like that)

It's more like a lobbed mine that you throw forward and deal 1 attack die of damage to all ship at range 1 of the target. Think on Assault Missiles meet Proximity Mines, but without the safe 1 damage of the missiles, and without the 3 dice of the mines. Probably very cheap and good against swarms. If spammed, potentially good against aces like Soontir, that have no way to defend against this other than Palpatine.

If it costs 1-2 points, it could finally be the torpedo filler than many rebel ships could have on their single torpedo slot. But it isn't spectacular. And it certainly isn't the hardcounter to contracted scouts Alex promised, neither the ordnance that will bring Bombers, Punishers or K-Wings to an even level with the scouts.

So what you're telling me is I'll be disappointed by this card as well? It's Action based Anti-Pursuit Lasers!

Greeeat... x_X

To be fair, if thats what it is long as its cheap (1-2pts) you'd probably see a couple of the random torp slots on rebel lists with it. That would be unavoidable damage and anti-swarm all in one. It wouldnt take off Stealth Devices since its not an attack but it could cause crits that would piss off Soontir or finish him off.

i'd use it. If its cheap then its nice to have a couple "ace in the hole" type cards in case you see a certain list. When its 3+ points though its kinda hard to justify it as an "ace in the hole" since if you dont need it/cant use it effectively then you are at a disadvantage.

Cause legitimately if you had 3 ships with a normally blank torp slot take a 2pt upgrade with that effect and you just happened to face a swarm you are going to be VERY HAPPY because that is just as scary as bombs to a swarm.

I'm going to call it, the reason for its cost is it's synergy with seismic (action) torps. I bet you will be able to fire them at asteroids and cause splash damage, move them or some such. You will get 2 or 3 red dice to fire them but only need one hit result. Any eyes you then bank as an evade for use in the combat phase (when you likely won't be able to shoot).

It's a crazy stab in the dark I know :-)

I wish, but it seems unlikely. R3 works during an attack.

However, what we can see from Seismic Torpedoes is something like:

Action: Discard this card

to choose an enemy ship at

Range 1 - ? that is within your

primary firing arc. All ships within

Range 1 of that ship must roll

1 attack die and suffer all

damage (hit) and critical damage

(crit) rolled this way.???

of???.

I don't know what the last few words could say, but it clearly isn't an attack. (Perhaps they say "This cannot be obstructed" or something like that)

It's more like a lobbed mine that you throw forward and deal 1 attack die of damage to all ship at range 1 of the target. Think on Assault Missiles meet Proximity Mines, but without the safe 1 damage of the missiles, and without the 3 dice of the mines. Probably very cheap and good against swarms. If spammed, potentially good against aces like Soontir, that have no way to defend against this other than Palpatine.

If it costs 1-2 points, it could finally be the torpedo filler than many rebel ships could have on their single torpedo slot. But it isn't spectacular. And it certainly isn't the hardcounter to contracted scouts Alex promised, neither the ordnance that will bring Bombers, Punishers or K-Wings to an even level with the scouts.

So what you're telling me is I'll be disappointed by this card as well? It's Action based Anti-Pursuit Lasers!

Greeeat... x_X

Maybe that was ffgs insidious plan all along !?!?

But if costed right (ONE POINT, FFG) those aren't horrible torps even if they fart out on you. For example, I'd certainly stuff it as filler on anything bringing munitions and an unused torp slot (bombers, punishers, connerKs etc)

Granted it can do jack ****, but unlike r3 it can also provide a significant advantage across all PS levels (favoring lower PS due to activating before higher PS) and is FAR less stringent about actually working

To be fair, if thats what it is long as its cheap (1-2pts) you'd probably see a couple of the random torp slots on rebel lists with it. That would be unavoidable damage and anti-swarm all in one.

Unavailable damage, or automatically avoided damage, since the enemy ace is rolling the die, and Palpatine just scoffs at you while he turns it into a miss?

And if he burns Palp on a lowly 1-2pt SINGULAR hit that doesnt remove stealth i still win. That means now he cant use it offensively or use it to block an attack that DOES remove stealth.

Not everything has to be cold-cut to be amazing. Theres a degree of sacrifice vs reward. I do it all the time with the x7 juking defenders. I'll willing tank a blow if you dont have a focus so i can juke you and do more. Cause i can get away with that once or twice.

Personally, unless Soontir was going to die from it or i rolled a crit i would never palp that.

To be fair, if thats what it is long as its cheap (1-2pts) you'd probably see a couple of the random torp slots on rebel lists with it. That would be unavoidable damage and anti-swarm all in one.

Unavailable damage, or automatically avoided damage, since the enemy ace is rolling the die, and Palpatine just scoffs at you while he turns it into a miss?

Also, 1 point "turn off palpatine for the round" isn't the worst

The big difference between those Torps and proxies is that proxies are far more difficult to compared to "in primary arc at range whatever"

Theyre also, hopefully, 1/3rd the price

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

Possible but still dumb. Shes PS7, so its possible she wont get a TL on the ship that she wants to attack/can attack since she might not move last. Meaning there are chances she wont get it even though her ability practically guarantees it.

She would get so much more mileage out of *insert regen droid here* because, while more expensive, it would be dependable.

Also designing a pilot ability to be pretty much pointless without a certain upgrade card is f'ing terrible design. I'll be surprised if we see her without PTL...ever...because that ability is useless without a focus.

Really wish she had a missile slot instead of torp. Homing Missiles, keep the TL, long as you didnt roll bad spend it to add another focus and then focus since Homers are insanely reliable if you get both TL/Focus as it is. Sadly no, random torpedo slot again.

At up to 1-2 points, they would be nice, considering that is a single use potential damage (let's say, 0.5 damage average), that is basically half what Crackshot is at 1 point. And after using them, you still have your normal attack.

However, seeing how uneven this wave is, I wouldn't be surprised if they price it at 3-4 points.

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

no, because R3 is still ass on Norra

it's not even a bad MF title (i.e, one action to evade), because an evade would

1. be useful against higher pilot skill
2. be tied to just an action, rather than an action AND your ability to shoot someone
3. be either cheaper or more universally useful (jan ors)

the only advantage to r3 is that it's action independent...if you took the TL prior to guarantee it. Otherwise it can be action independent...or it can do jack ****

point is, r3 is about the last astromech I'd use on Norra. It's got stern competition with r2-f2, r5-K6 and r5-D8, but it's down there for sure

as for the Thane torpedo, it'll work with his ability but one of the BIG advantages of ACTION: cards is using it during your activation before higher PS pilots activate as opposed to during combat after they've dodged your arc and stuff. Granted, you can just use your normal action to fire it off and then use Thane to recoup the modifiers you gave up by using the torpedo as your action.

SO, I'm not trying to say the torpedo somehow anti-synergy with Thane or that it won't be good to throw on thane (for 1 point, mind), but if its text is the same as predicted then it's not really a silver bullet for thane (though it is LEAGUES better than r3 on norra). At 1 point, though, it won't have to be.

finally, designing cards to only work with one pilot is kinda sh*tty game design.

R3 is sh*tty game design, because you have SO MANY hoops to jump through

1. gotta have higher ps for the evade to matter, or sink a lot of points into comms
2. gotta have a shot in a printed arc (no astromech ships have PWTs) to even have a chance at triggering it
3. gotta roll a focus to cancel
4. gotta be in a scenario where that canceled focus wouldn't be better as a modified result

that hypothetical torpedo, though, only has three and they're far less stringent than any of r3's sans the die roll

1. An ACTION
2. A target in your primary arc (note, far easier to do than with R3 because you can fire it before enemies activate)
3. and a dice roll, it seems (can see the icons on the card)

so the torpedo is almost certainly a better designed card

then again, I honestly believe expose is a better designed card than r3, so that's not saying much

To be fair, if thats what it is long as its cheap (1-2pts) you'd probably see a couple of the random torp slots on rebel lists with it. That would be unavoidable damage and anti-swarm all in one.

Unavailable damage, or automatically avoided damage, since the enemy ace is rolling the die, and Palpatine just scoffs at you while he turns it into a miss?

That depends on who rolls

Also, 1 point "turn off palpatine for the round" isn't the worst

The big difference between those Torps and proxies is that proxies are far more difficult to compared to "in primary arc at range whatever"

Theyre also, hopefully, 1/3rd the price

A 1pt cost is crazy optimistic though. Knowing how FFG prices utility stuff like this, and the fact that it also works on other ships in range, I'm guessing no less than 3pts. I would be shocked if they were less. I'm not saying they'd be unfair at 2pts, but I am saying that FFG won't price them that low.

1 point is optimistic

HOWEVER!

They did it right on zuckus and 4lom

(And crackshot actually)

there's also e-baffle and rage (i.e the quickdraw special), neither of which are particularly good but both of which are at least appropriately costed at 1 (well, e-baffle could be 0 but it is strictly better than chopper as it has the greater effect of removing the tokens, works on ion, and isn't unique)

and who could forget about tractor beams

Not all hope is lost!

1 point is optimistic

HOWEVER!

They did it right on zuckus and 4lom

(And crackshot actually)

there's also e-baffle and rage (i.e the quickdraw special), neither of which are particularly good but both of which are at least appropriately costed at 1 (well, e-baffle could be 0 but it is strictly better than chopper as it has the greater effect of removing the tokens, works on ion, and isn't unique)

and who could forget about tractor beams

Not all hope is lost!

All of those but Crack Shot are balanced around the fact that they have a detriment. Zuckess and Rage load you with stress, 4-LOM ionizes you, and Baffle trades stress for damage. Zuck and 4-LOM are also unique, so you can't spam them on multiple ships or run them alongside their M3-A counterparts.

All of those but Crack Shot are balanced around the fact that they have a detriment.

I heard that completely expending your EPT slot is a detriment.

1 point is optimistic

HOWEVER!

They did it right on zuckus and 4lom

(And crackshot actually)

there's also e-baffle and rage (i.e the quickdraw special), neither of which are particularly good but both of which are at least appropriately costed at 1 (well, e-baffle could be 0 but it is strictly better than chopper as it has the greater effect of removing the tokens, works on ion, and isn't unique)

and who could forget about tractor beams

Not all hope is lost!

All of those but Crack Shot are balanced around the fact that they have a detriment. Zuckess and Rage load you with stress, 4-LOM ionizes you, and Baffle trades stress for damage. Zuck and 4-LOM are also unique, so you can't spam them on multiple ships or run them alongside their M3-A counterparts.

they're also one use

like the torpedo

which also eats your action

sure you could em for another shot, but I somehow doubt that's enough to break it

I heard that forgoing a defensive/offensive modification for a round to make a pseudo-attack with no ability to modify the results that's a one use card is a detriment.

pseudo-attack being huge cause you can't chip the **** thing

on the plus side, if it's just an ACTION that doesn't attack...

oh yeah, baby, the conner K will fly again!

note doesn't do anything about its only truly horrible match-up (torp scouts), but it DOES give you a whole new dimension of play

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

The R3 on Norra is the only thing that makes sense for it having ANY value at all, but...

Norra is unique, and FFG is including two of these useless things, so...I dunno, man. I mean, yeah, you can put VI on Norra so she's shooting at PS9, and if she rolls all hits/crits, no sense keeping the TL, so might as well spend it for a focus to cancel and get an evade. But...that's *so* situational, even on her, I can't see that being worth two points.

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

The R3 on Norra is the only thing that makes sense for it having ANY value at all, but...

Norra is unique, and FFG is including two of these useless things, so...I dunno, man. I mean, yeah, you can put VI on Norra so she's shooting at PS9, and if she rolls all hits/crits, no sense keeping the TL, so might as well spend it for a focus to cancel and get an evade. But...that's *so* situational, even on her, I can't see that being worth two points.

It also might be usable with whatever the Ewing Fix ends up being. Even a PS6 EPT generic with Accuracy Corrector/Juke would make better use of R3.

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

The R3 on Norra is the only thing that makes sense for it having ANY value at all, but...

Norra is unique, and FFG is including two of these useless things, so...I dunno, man. I mean, yeah, you can put VI on Norra so she's shooting at PS9, and if she rolls all hits/crits, no sense keeping the TL, so might as well spend it for a focus to cancel and get an evade. But...that's *so* situational, even on her, I can't see that being worth two points.

It also might be usable with whatever the Ewing Fix ends up being. Even a PS6 EPT generic with Accuracy Corrector/Juke would make better use of R3.

I think I'd rather just take an evade action than pay 2 points and hope I roll the right thing at the right time against the right target...

Is it just possible that Fantasy Flight intended the R3 Astromech to work primarily with Norra Wexley and the new torpedo to be primarily used on Thane Kyrell? Then all is well and good? Possibly?

The R3 on Norra is the only thing that makes sense for it having ANY value at all, but...

Norra is unique, and FFG is including two of these useless things, so...I dunno, man. I mean, yeah, you can put VI on Norra so she's shooting at PS9, and if she rolls all hits/crits, no sense keeping the TL, so might as well spend it for a focus to cancel and get an evade. But...that's *so* situational, even on her, I can't see that being worth two points.

It also might be usable with whatever the Ewing Fix ends up being. Even a PS6 EPT generic with Accuracy Corrector/Juke would make better use of R3.

I think I'd rather just take an evade action than pay 2 points and hope I roll the right thing at the right time against the right target...

Yup, this.

Only thing that "works" with it is a pilot ability that grants you a focus result for free, somehow. On a reasonably high-PS pilot (an evade token does very, very little good once everyone has already shot at you). Otherwise, you are practically always better off taking some other action.

Like, I dunno, a pilot whose ability is to, when attacking with a primary weapon, to add one focus result if he rolls no hits/crits. Or Norra, even (kinda). Something like that COULD make use of R3, but even then...

Feels overpriced, really, compared to the *other* droids that could also be used in that slot.

I think I'd rather just take an evade action than pay 2 points and hope I roll the right thing at the right time against the right target...

Yup, this.

But I thought some of the Rebel pilots didn't have the Evade Action???

But I thought some of the Rebel pilots didn't have the Evade Action???

Would have been nice if the R3 Astromech simply added the evade action to your bar, instead of all this jazz. Benefits most ships that can use astromechs, except E-Wings.

Correct. The only rebel ships with evade is E-wing, Falcon-title YT-1400, Ghosts, Phantoms, and A-wings. In fact i wonder if the reason the Ghost has it is because less than half of the rebel ships do, since it doesnt seem right that the largest non-huge ship has an evade action...yet an xwing doesnt...a ship that size has GOT to be so heavy that no amount of engines could swiftly move it. Max speed in space is limited more by what the engines can take heat-wise than their output, but acceleration still has an impact on it due to sheer mass.

it also doesnt really feel right seeing ships with Barrelroll and not an Evade. If you can flip your ship with no issues quickly then surely you can rotate to dodge an incoming attack, since nobody ever pulls a spot-turn and jets a different direction in starwars (or any scifi far as i know of)

"Could've been" R3 possibilities already:

Spend a focus to remove an attackers focus - good as a counter-meta tech, a solid 2 points if you ever saw it (especially on low-agility ships, which the ARC certainly is).

Cancel an evade result to gain an Evade token - good as a counter-ion/TLT tech; if you were being hit regardless might as well bank an Evade and hope it helps better next time.

Cancel an eye result to gain a Focus - pretty powerful, but great for 'are you sure you wanna' situations

Did I miss any?

The devs sure did.