I kinda enjoy flying with TC, I like it's punch at range 1, but if I face strong enough ship, that survives that strike, my ship is usually dead.
I wanna try to make Cobra more durable ship:

33(35)pts. Talonbane Cobra

• EPT?
• Cloaking Device,
• Stygium...(EU).

32pts. Manaroo

• Bodyguard?
• K4,
• Overclocked Astromech?

That's 65(67)pts. Have you got any ideas how to give TC evade token (even trough Manaroo)? And should I give her Long Ranged Scanners, or any other upgradages? Maybe you have other ideas how to use TC (some heavy controll build with ion, tactician and tractor)?

sadly, you can't really get ol T-bane to work. He's just not that good; you're just going to have to accept that until Scum Aces (scyk, viper, and K-fighter apparently) comes out

similarly, you can't give Manny long range scanners due to the upgrade slot requirements

there's also no way to get her evades yet, apart from Cool Hand (which is kinda crappy)

other than that, I find Manny mindlink to be pretty redundant since she's already flinging focus to cobra anyway, which is nice because it frees Cobra's ept. Manny doesn't really need an EPT (PTL seems to be a default, so you can run it instead of K-4 and slap on an intelligence agent for better blocking), but adaptability is 0 so hey. Crackshot's always alright even if it's arc-locked.

and since Manny's running without Mods, you're going to want to do your darndest to block the opponent with her. By extension, you'll want feedback array on her (doesn't care about dice doesn't care about mods; just good guaranteed damage).

if you achieve the dream scenario of a fully modified range 1 Cobra smacking some poor bastard what ran aground on manaroo, you're probably going to have a good time

If you're running Manaroo as a bumpmaster, throw anti pursuit lasers and intimidation on her. That lowers the agi of anyone touching her and gives a 50% of damaging them. If you have feedback on her as well, she can potentially do two damage in a round one ship without firing shot.

I'm poking around with the following:

JumpMaster 5000: · Manaroo (27)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Unhinged Astromech (1)

Kihraxz Fighter: · Talonbane Cobra (28)

Predator (3)

Stygium Particle Accelerator (2)

· Cloaking Device (2)

StarViper: · Prince Xizor (31)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Autothrusters (2)

It's designed to be my ace hunting list. I can mod up Manaroo as much as like, same potentially goes for xizor. I don't know if pred is the right ept, not played this enough. Maybe outmanuever? Not sure yet.

I think the trick to cobras survival is a juicier target shoot at. Maybe you take Zuckess and his five dice potential at range one. Force your opponent to choose whose more concerning.

Expose our outmanuever may also be good epts. Gotta play around with it all.

And the mindlink version I've been also planning to run.

JumpMaster 5000: · Manaroo (27)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Unhinged Astromech (1)

Kihraxz Fighter: · Talonbane Cobra (28)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Engine Upgrade (4)

· Cloaking Device (2)

StarViper: · Guri (30)

Attanni Mindlink (1)

Autothrusters (2)

This way there's plenty of focus to spare.

Engine Upgrade, Crackshot, Glitterstim

Expose our outmanuever may also be good epts. Gotta play around with it all.

They are not.

Sadly. They look good, but they are not remotely worth the points, and Expose in particular is equivalent to taking a focus or target lock action, in terms of offense, but those don't cost you defence.

Shadow345 boring and not durable, just the punch.

What about opportunist and Palob? Or crackshot is still better option?

I've had fun with this list:

Talonbane Cobra (35)

-Crackshot

-Glitterstim

-Engine Upgrade

4-LOM (32)

-Mist Hunter

-Zuckuss

-Tractor Beam

-FCS

-Adrenaline Rush (More useful than I originally thought)

Bumpmaster (32)

-Intimidation

-Anti Pursuit Laser

-Intelligence Agent

-Feedback Array

99 pts Total

Bumpmaster is the setup man for Talonbane while 4-LOM either covers the flank or follows up a Talonbane strike. 4-LOM stays in combat with Bumpmaster clogging up the enemy fighters as much as possible with bumping or handing off stress with 4-LOM while Talonbane bugs off and resets for another swoop in.

How to get Talonbane Cobra workin?

Answer: Put him in a little red dress, and post on the corner of Broadway and 42nd street.

Otherwise, he's uselessness incarnate.

I'm a firm believer in having Talonbane built with Mindlink/Cloaking Device and either Engine Upgrage or Stygium Particle Accelerator. Pair him with Manaroo with Mindlink/K4 Droid and Unhinged Astromech and your choice of 3rd ship (Guri, Palob and Zuckuss are all nice options).

I think its good for the following reasons:

1) You can take a boost/cloak with Talonbane and you will always have a focus for offense and defense, which is nice because the poor soul needs all the help he can get defensively - and he loves to reposition.

2) In the rare case where passing tokens to Talonbane would be redundant, Manaroo can pass to the other ship, or she can hang on to her TL to make her damage more reliable.

3) Manaroo won't always be able to generate a focus, sometimes she wants to barrel roll for a nice block, sometimes she has to avoid debris and can't clear a stress with a green move. In these situations, Talonbane can take the focus action and you will still get better than average action economy across your whole squad.

But, there's lots of ways to skin a cat, and there have been some other really good suggestions in this thread. I suggest trying him out in as many ways as you can.

I think that new fighter will be cobra 2.0 with same/better abillity, actions!, and much more durability.
Now my test roster:

33pts. Talonbane

• Crack Shot,
• Cloaking Device,
• Stygium Particle Accelerator.

35pts. Manaroo

• Intimidation,
• K4,
• Unhinged Astromech.
• Feedback Array,

32pts. 4-LOM8

• Adrenaline Rush (trial),
• Zuckuss,
• FCS,
• Mist Hunter,
• Tractor Beam.

Any feedback?

Looks pretty solid.

Manaroo looks like a formidable blocker and she will be generating a target lock almost every turn. Just be aware, that if you are using her as a blocker and flying her into a furball, chances are you will have a few turns throughout the game where you wont be able to take an action and pass off a focus, as she'll be restricted in movement.

4-LOM is a fantastic ship, and as your opponents will probably be focusing on Talonbane, he should be able to wreck some serious havoc, especially with Zuckuss and FCS.

Would you consider putting Crack Shot on 4-LOM as well? He'll have the potential to punch through aces with that set up.

Good luck!

The best build IMO for Talonbane would be Crack Shot, Homing Missiles, Glitterstim and GCs. He has the initial strike with the homing + crack shot combo which usually results in at least 2 hits even against aces and then if he ever happen to get to R1, he has the 5 dice burst.

But poor Talonbane will be obsolete when the new scum fighter comes out, since Fen Rau does exactly what Talonbane does, but does it much better and with a much better dial I would assume.

Manaroo looks like a formidable blocker and she will be generating a target lock almost every turn. Just be aware, that if you are using her as a blocker and flying her into a furball, chances are you will have a few turns throughout the game where you wont be able to take an action and pass off a focus, as she'll be restricted in movement.

But poor Talonbane will be obsolete when the new scum fighter comes out, since Fen Rau does exactly what Talonbane does, but does it much better and with a much better dial I would assume.

Will he be? Or will he finally have a true wingman to fly with who is more formidable, allowing Cobra to be the flanker he's supposed to be? With the Mandalorian being the jouster. If they can be squeezed in with the Shadow caster, it could be a formidable flight of destruction.