Man, I defend you when people bash you and try to dismiss your posts. I'm seeing why they get fed up with you.

Fickle: "if it's not a 100% guarantee, blow it out your ass"

Meanwhile lonewolf is still considered amazing, despite it have more restrictions to work

What planet do you live on?

Lone Wolf is 'considered amazing', the K-Wing is a 'meta staple' and R3 Astromech is comparable to Predator.

You're absolutely hilarious! This is almost JimbonX levels of cingeworthy 'not getting it', whilst also having the misplaced sense of self-importance to pour garbage-tier snark on people who know what they're talking about.

Another aspect is that R3 potentially adds defense when a ship cannot modify an attack at all (e.g. actionless due to being blocked or stressed). A 3 dice attack that round has a 75% chance to roll at least one focus.

In other words, an X-wing has a pretty good shot at K-turning and picking up an evade.

...in your opinion.

THE SCYK IS ONLY TERRIBLE IN YOUR OPINION! OXYGEN IS ONLY BREATHABLE IN YOUR OPINION! EVERYTHING I DON'T LIKE, AGREE WITH OR UNDERSTAND IS JUST YOUR OPINION!

Ok, so, back to discussion on the actual OP...

I found this observation striking in the linked blog:

"It is half as efficient as Autothrusters when you have one attacker at lower PS, but you have no range/arc restrictions, with better stats at range 1."

Better stats at range 1. This is worth considering. R3 helps the jouster when getting into range 1 mutual fire, by offering a higher chance of being able to bank an evade (you're rolling an extra dice)... where Autothrusters isn't even activated.

That's an interesting tradeoff.

...in your opinion.

THE SCYK IS ONLY TERRIBLE IN YOUR OPINION! OXYGEN IS ONLY BREATHABLE IN YOUR OPINION! EVERYTHING I DON'T LIKE, AGREE WITH OR UNDERSTAND IS JUST YOUR OPINION!

There is a difference between fact and opinion. A subjective view on whether a card is good or bad falls into the subjective manner. If you want to say things like "only in high level tournament play" for if cards are good or bad, I can see things being a bit different. You want to say the Tie Punisher is terrible, but it's been fantastic for certain missions and non-standard games I've played. Even Expose could be considered useful in just the right circumstance.

You want to say that R3 is terrible, but few people have even proxied it yet and I'm sure there are decent uses for it.

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

Even on a Decimator?

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

Even on a Decimator?

You'd probably be better off with a focus action and Predator, unless you got some seriously loaded dice.

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

I haven't found a single use for it yet, but I'm sure there is some crazy mission or something where it would be worth it.

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

I haven't found a single use for it yet, but I'm sure there is some crazy mission or something where it would be worth it.

"Vaccines still cause Autism, they just need to find the missing link that proves it does!" "All that evidence is just your opinion!"

"The Moon Landing was faked, there's some crazy evidence or something that proves it!" "All that evidence is just your opinion!"

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

Even on a Decimator?

You'd probably be better off with a focus action and Predator, unless you got some seriously loaded dice.

True, but "probably being better off" with something else is still better than "terrible".

Also pairing Expose with EI cost 4 more than Predator, which isn't bad given that HLC goes for 7 and has no range 1. If for nothing else, send out Oicunn out there with Expose, EI, Vader, Rec Spec and Gunner and ruin the days of some Palp Aces players.

Just curious, what are peoples standards for saying something is terrible, bad, OK, good, or awesome? It seems to me that while R3 isn't going to change the world, it's a decent use of points, hence I rate it as "OK"

Terrible - There is always a superior choice for every single situation it could be used (including going with an empty slot). (e.g. R2-F2, Flight Instructor)

Bad - Mostly useless, however there are a few niche builds that can make it worth it's points. (e.g. Adrenaline Rush, Navigator)

OK - It provides benefit but has limitations that hold it back. While it justifies it's cost, it may be overshadowed by better options. (e.g. Outmaneuver, Intelligence Agent)

Good - It is more than worth it's points, but taking it isn't a slam-dunk. (e.g. Tactician, BB-8, Rebel Captive)

Awesome - More than worth it's points, pretty much an auto-include on most builds if you can take it. (TIE Defender or TIE Advanced titles, predator, FCS)

I'm sorry, Jim, Expose is always terrible.

I haven't found a single use for it yet, but I'm sure there is some crazy mission or something where it would be worth it.

I won a local tournament (undefeated) with Exposed Chiraneau and Fel. People weren't ready for the offensive power. -shrug-

R3 Astromech was designed terribly from the start. I thought we had moved forward from the dice conditional dumpster-fire Astromechs. I was wrong.

It seems to me that the generic R3 Astromech was designed to be used with Norra Wexley. If that is the case, why not make it 1 point and change it to being a unique Astromech and save the generic R3 name for something better, like an Astromech that provides two focus tokens or maintains two target locks? All of the ships that take Astromechs could get a lot of use from those types of actions without becoming auto-include.

Man, it would be great to be able to generate free a action during an attack, especially when I'm bumped or have to k-turn, especially if those free actions came from a die result I couldn't use and cost less than most free actions. Too bad that idea is just literally the worst possible thing the game has ever seen.

Did the R3 cheat on you with a fat turret or something? Is that where the unyielding rage comes from? Have we finally painted the entire fickle picture?

Speaking of terrible Astromechs and K-turns, guess who uses Targeting Astro?

Nobody who wants to win.

Remember, for the evade to be useful, it has to be spent to prevent damage. This is not possible if you are flying low PS generics who fire after everyone. The high PS guys want action independent mechs that will proc when they want them to.

Speaking of terrible Astromechs and K-turns, guess who uses Targeting Astro?

Nobody who wants to win.

Remember, for the evade to be useful, it has to be spent to prevent damage. This is not possible if you are flying low PS generics who fire after everyone. The high PS guys want action independent mechs that will proc when they want them to.

By this logic, I can say:

"PTL is terrible, there are ships with awful green moves will be forced into predictable movement because they're always using PTL."

Obviously, you don't put an R3 on a low PS generic that can't make use of it. What action independent mechs are there that these elites so desperately want? Not R5-P9, it requires a Focus token. That leaves R2D2, who seriously limits movement options and costs 2 points more. R3 itself is, in fact, not action dependent, which you state as important.

Consider the OPs example:Ello Asty.

Assuming you want to run Ello, what astromech would you put on it (you want one at the very least for IA)?

R2-D2 and R5-P9 are bad choices, so what droid would be better than R3 on Ello?

Dang! I had thought about this just recently and was going to talk about it tonight when I record my next podcast. I thought I was going to be first about it. Oh, well.

I absolutely agree! There is always the age old argument of "should I TL or should I focus"? Whenever I argue one, the luck blows the utter opposite. So much so, that the next time someone asks me, I suggest the other....and the wind blows so far the other way that I just shut up on the subject now. I don't offer TL or Focus to anyone.

With the idea of Always going for a TL, you have a chance to get that Eyeball result with the re-roll and improve your defense. So, you are increasing your damage out put at the same time you are increasing your defensive output.

Yes, it works best on higher PS pilots. Still....what's one of the worst aspects of Wedge? He's a monster on offense, but not the best on Defense. So, R3 might actually give him a better chance to stay alive. Wedge can use the free Evade more than most.

Luke is a perfect pilot to use R3, as well. He usually doesn't need the Focus as he gets a free one every round on 2 dice. With R3, he becomes even tankier as you know he's going to TL every round.

If you have Comm Relays, it's good for getting in that banked Evade. It works with Juke.

I think a lot of people are dismissing it without even trying it. I think it's one of those that you look at first and it doesn't seem that great, but you try it and it actually works much better than one thinks.

Juke Skywalker for the win

Just curious, what are peoples standards for saying something is terrible, bad, OK, good, or awesome? It seems to me that while R3 isn't going to change the world, it's a decent use of points, hence I rate it as "OK"

Terrible - There is always a superior choice for every single situation it could be used (including going with an empty slot). (e.g. R2-F2, Flight Instructor)

Bad - Mostly useless, however there are a few niche builds that can make it worth it's points. (e.g. Adrenaline Rush, Navigator)

OK - It provides benefit but has limitations that hold it back. While it justifies it's cost, it may be overshadowed by better options. (e.g. Outmaneuver, Intelligence Agent)

Good - It is more than worth it's points, but taking it isn't a slam-dunk. (e.g. Tactician, BB-8, Rebel Captive)

Awesome - More than worth it's points, pretty much an auto-include on most builds if you can take it. (TIE Defender or TIE Advanced titles, predator, FCS)

I rate it as better than OK towards Good. "Situational" would be a more fitting term. My argument is that it favors TL greatly (and can be run in those conditions without drawbacks) and that it's not a bad card.

I do find the droid extremely convoluted in design. They've exhausted synergy mechanisms with Rebels so they're going for extra complicated stuff. In the meantime, Scum get very cool, simple and powerful abilities. "You're shooting out of your back? BOOM! extra die" "You're shooting from far away? BOOM! extra die" "Have you used your focus? BOOM! Stress! get another one!" , none of this spend-a-TL-to-get-another-focus-result-which-you-can-convert-to-an-evade-if-you're-stupid.

Ok, so, back to discussion on the actual OP...

I found this observation striking in the linked blog:

"It is half as efficient as Autothrusters when you have one attacker at lower PS, but you have no range/arc restrictions, with better stats at range 1."

Better stats at range 1. This is worth considering. R3 helps the jouster when getting into range 1 mutual fire, by offering a higher chance of being able to bank an evade (you're rolling an extra dice)... where Autothrusters isn't even activated.

That's an interesting tradeoff.

I am referring to the chance of generating a useless focus symbol while rerolling dice. It jumps up to 41% when you're rolling 4 dice.

Umm what? Trying to compare Targeting Astromech's reliance on a single maneuver with the X-wing, two maneuvers with the E-wing, and 4 with the Y-wing to the near universal benefits of taking two actions when you choose to do so because you think the next maneuver will get telegraphed as a green is silly.

R2-D2, R3-A2, and BB-8 are excellent on High PS pilots. The fact that R5-P9 needs the focus to last through the whole round is relatively simple on Poe.

Generic R3 is not good despite having an action independent ability and the whole reason why I mentioned the action independence is because having a mech that does not eat your action is a good thing. It's not the whole argument though, just a thought about what the high PS guys want to use.

Edit: of course I respond to Biophysical without quoting him. Ugh, stupid phone.

R3-A2 and BB-8 are different enough from R3, I think, that you pick the one that works best for what you need from the ship. It's less of a direct comparison than R2D2, which is different enough in implementation than R3 that there are ways to leverage R3's advantages in certain situations.

Juke Skywalker for the win

Dude. Dude. -high five-