Just tried push the limit Ryad out last night. I knew going in that she would be good, I never expected how good though. I slotted her in soontir fel's typical slot in a palp aces list. She pulled more than her weight. First off she's a master of the waiting game. Just 2 k-turn until you are ready to pounce. Second, you really have no stress problems with tie MK2 on her there is always a green option available. Third, the feeling you get when you 3 k-turn and then barrel roll and catch a ps9 ship in arc (for me it was a han), and then doing it again and again because she is as close to unpredictable as echo... Man I think I am going to be flying this pilot in every game for the foreseeable future.

What is everyone elses experience with ryad?

I've only been able to play her once, alongside two Glaive squadron pilots with Adaptability. My loadout was the same as yours, and she was really, really awesome. A ton of fun to play, highly maneuverable, and did a surprising amount of damage. Easily my favorite pilot for the Defender now.

I don't find her unpredictable at all, especially at ps 5

What ryad is, to me, is a dice modifier FACTORY

It feels almost shamefully good to roll in with that sexy red defender and just start slapping down all the tokens

Every

single

turn

Due to PTL full mods and her lower pilot skill, she's Vess' partner in crime

Suddenly, two defenders with focus evade target lock

Feels really good

She's fun; I like her. Her insanity is balanced by the middling PS.

Got run over by a party bus twice, but that's a whole different story.

Ryad with PTL, mk II engine, and x7 is super strong and super fun to fly. that variable, green k-turn makes it really easy to keep people in arc. I've played with and against her quite a bit, and she's rarely missed turning.

I'm a little worried for this loadout if the Black One title becomes prevalent, but a slight change from PTL to Predator and she's pretty much back to her beast mode.

For 35 points I like to use her with x7, Juke and Mk II. It keeps her cost down and firing on someone with an evade to power Juke and a focus token is just mean. Last game I played she faced off against a super pimped out Tyco and mopped the floor with him.

I've also toyed around with using outmaneuver on her, which works well because she's the champ of getting behind people. It also lets you worry less about holding your evade to power Juke.

I have been running her in a list with VI RAC... she is so fun to play, and despite her low pilot skill, she is by far my favorite Defender unique...

For me, i love setting that little red Defender down and having my friend say "Not this slippery ***** again..." LOL

Palpmoble with Ryad (her usual loadout) and vessery with X7, Juke is all you could ever want in a list. She was great in the last game I played.

I have been running her in a list with VI RAC... she is so fun to play, and despite her low pilot skill, she is by far my favorite Defender unique...

For me, i love setting that little red Defender down and having my friend say "Not this slippery ***** again..." LOL

That's exactly why I love her. Because of her pilot ability, it's almost impossible for just one ship to take her on no matter how good their dial is.

For 35 points I like to use her with x7, Juke and Mk II. It keeps her cost down and firing on someone with an evade to power Juke and a focus token is just mean. Last game I played she faced off against a super pimped out Tyco and mopped the floor with him.

I've also toyed around with using outmaneuver on her, which works well because she's the champ of getting behind people. It also lets you worry less about holding your evade to power Juke.

I do like the x7 with Juke - only downside is that Palpy modifies the evade *after* you do. So if the enemy blanks out or rolls an evade and you convert it to focus - Palp can just flip it right back. Which, yeah, burns their once-a-turn use of Palp...but 2 points is kinda spendy for no real effect.

I dunno, it's not bad, but...I can see the attraction of PtL with her, too. You REALLY want the greens from the Mk2 engines when using PtL, though, so those two are kind of tied together. Using Juke, it's more okay to put Stealth Device on her. And, man - an x7 Defender with Stealth Device just DOES. NOT. DIE.

For 35 points I like to use her with x7, Juke and Mk II. It keeps her cost down and firing on someone with an evade to power Juke and a focus token is just mean. Last game I played she faced off against a super pimped out Tyco and mopped the floor with him.

I've also toyed around with using outmaneuver on her, which works well because she's the champ of getting behind people. It also lets you worry less about holding your evade to power Juke.

I do like the x7 with Juke - only downside is that Palpy modifies the evade *after* you do. So if the enemy blanks out or rolls an evade and you convert it to focus - Palp can just flip it right back. Which, yeah, burns their once-a-turn use of Palp...but 2 points is kinda spendy for no real effect.

I dunno, it's not bad, but...I can see the attraction of PtL with her, too. You REALLY want the greens from the Mk2 engines when using PtL, though, so those two are kind of tied together. Using Juke, it's more okay to put Stealth Device on her. And, man - an x7 Defender with Stealth Device just DOES. NOT. DIE.

I don't plan everything around Palp, but Juke can also be counteracted by a focus use since the order of actions goes: attacker rolls, defender modifies attack dice, attacker modifies attack dice. But when she's attacking an Ace firing at PS5, there's a good chance that the person you're shooting at has already burned their focus. Making someone burn Palp's ability or a focus doesn't count as "no real effect" in my book.

Stealth device on her is great with x7 and makes her super hard to kill, but that makes her start to get spendy really fast. And I've never really had a durability issue with her using x7 without a stealth device, so I'd rather put those points to better use. Also, do you really want to be put into a spot where you need to burn your evade to save your stealth device and then not be able to use Juke? I've been in more than one instance where I've soaked a 1 damage hit instead of burning the evade so I could have it to power Juke on my return shot. And that's the beauty of the x7 juke Defender, they have the HP to suck up a hit at high PS so they can hit back at that Ace even harder.

Forcing a focus or palp expenditure DOES NOT COUNTER JUKE

Juke is forcing the opponent's hand and getting you a disproportionate benefit for its cost by opening up the opponent to further damage from other ships or forcing him to burn a mod he could have used to push damage on your own ships

Literally THE ONLY thing that permanently Stonewall's juke us Dengaroo, and that's only Dengar (go for manny(

I thought "Go for Manny" was the basic strategy for Dengaroo.

I thought "Go for Manny" was the basic strategy for Dengaroo.

Don't think even Defenders have the modifiers necessary to risk that approach, though, juke or not

Even the "mere" Super Dengar (ptl k4 etc) scares me at range 1

I don't believe I have yet done a 4-speed K-turn with Ryad yet. I always want 5-speed or 2-3 speed.

So far I have only run the PTL build. So many target lock + focus shots, and you can still focus after barrel roll

I'm glad to hear that people like the juke build too. I'll run it next cause I want to save 2-points.

Countess Ryad + Juke + X7

= 34 points

Deathfire + Conner Net + Flechette Torp + Long Range Scanner

= 23 points

Bounty Hunter + HLC + Rebel Captive + Long Range Scanner

= 43 points

I don't find her unpredictable at all, especially at ps 5

What ryad is, to me, is a dice modifier FACTORY

It feels almost shamefully good to roll in with that sexy red defender and just start slapping down all the tokens

Every

single

turn

Due to PTL full mods and her lower pilot skill, she's Vess' partner in crime

Suddenly, two defenders with focus evade target lock

Feels really good

I think the unpredictability comes from an expectation by your opponent that she will Kturn.

With TIE mark II, her green 3 bank can let her disengage to set up a more advantageous matchup and still slap all those tokens down.

I love it so much...

Apparently alot of us are having a good time with the countess then. That's excellent. Getting a mid-ps pilot that's really worth flying has been few and far between with the game for a long time. Maybe a sign of things to come.

So far I have only run the PTL build. So many target lock + focus shots, and you can still focus after barrel roll

I'm glad to hear that people like the juke build too. I'll run it next cause I want to save 2-points.

Yeah, I'm going to be running the Juke build in my next list too because I was having trouble freeing up more points. It's a good budget option.

idk, even at 36 there always seems to be more than enough room for Ryad

PTL x7 Tie/mk2 Ryad

Juke x7 Vessery

LRS Deathfire with Homing, Conners and extras (could be palp, but that'd be boring)

it's called "The Mod Squad" because even Deathfire gets full mods

So far I have only run the PTL build. So many target lock + focus shots, and you can still focus after barrel roll

I'm glad to hear that people like the juke build too. I'll run it next cause I want to save 2-points.

Yeah, I'm going to be running the Juke build in my next list too because I was having trouble freeing up more points. It's a good budget option.

I have never ran Ryad with Juke, but if it's half as fun as two Juke Glaives with OL, it will be a blast.

Especially with the Countess's regular shenanigans.

Maybe not the most competitive list, and I have a hard time putting the TIE mkII upgrade away, but you can just BARELY squeeze in three named trips, all at PS7 to pummel as many shields as possible before Maarek takes his shot:

Feels scary dripping the Mk II engines, though...

that IS scary

you should see a doctor if you're dripping engines

She is a slippery little minx. And I love her.

I have run this with some success:

Vessery

-Tractor Beam

-VI

-TIE/D

Ryad

-PTL

-TIE MkII Engines

-TIE x7

Omega Leader

-Juke

-Comm Relay

If you can focus fire, this list tears apart ships. Vessery fires first with focus/TL then the others can shoot at a -1 Agility ship that probably has used some tokens.

Bounty Hunter + HLC + Rebel Captive + Long Range Scanner

= 43 points

I know it's a very minor quibble, but please don't forget to put Slave I title on your squad sheet, or you will be kicking yourself the whole tournament.