Relatively new to IA and I can see from people's builds that the same choices come up again and again, for example you almost always see storm troopers as elites and you never see HKs being used as elites so what at the deciding factors?

Is it more about the extra wounds (lots of mentions about the significance of 5 wounds for example) or is it more about the ability (estorm focus for example)

At the moment I'm trying to sort something with Rebels including saboteurs and I can't decide whether it's best to take the elites for the extra wounds/blast damage or just stick with the normals and probably get another activation.

"depends"

Sometimes it can be a much better surge, sometimes it's an ability, sometimes it's the step up in health making them survive 2 attacks rather than one.

Couldn't really answer without going through each and explaining reasoning, and even then one person's reasoning may be completely different to anothers.

For rebel Sabs particularly since the FAQ you gain a lot for your extra 2 points and you'll almost always see them used as elites

It varies depending on the units....
Some are simply not worth the extra points for elite, others are simply too weak as regulars.

Generally, pretty much always go elite except for disposable or support units like Hired Guns, Ugnaugts, Officers etc...

Notable exceptions are Wookies and HKs which are usually not worth the upgrade cost.
Some units like the Nexu are pretty viable in both versions.

Other than that, it just depends on your list. Sometimes you just can't fit the elites in. Sometimes you really want an elite officer because you're using Vader or and ATST or something like that, in which case the list is built in a specific way.

You just have to look at the individual unit and decide if it's worth it.

Here's some examples

Probe droid.

For 2 extra points, you get 2 extra health, 1 extra speed, attack reroll, and an increase to ALL 3 surge abilities.
That's amazing value. The jump from 5 health to 7 doesn't sound like much, but it's the difference between being one shot and not.... and that's even more significant on a unit that has recover. Movement 3 is very slow, even on a Mobile unit. The extra speed is worth it for sure.

The attacking reroll alone is worth 1 point (see Targeting Computer Upgrade card).

Wookies

For 3 points you get 4 extra health (2 each) and 1 extra damage on the surge (each). The cleave is the same, they get no extra abilities. Going from 11 health to 13 is almost insignificant. They are already very tough to kill, 2 extra health isn't going to change that much. Other than that, it's 3 points for the chance of 1 extra damage.

I'll let you decide if that's worth it, but I'd much rather take Gideon or some other 3 point support unit instead.

HKs

Another 3 point upgrade. Similar to the Wookies, you get a tiny bit of health (1 each), and 1 more damage (which takes an extra surge).

You do get Target Priority, which is a significant and powerful ability.... but is it worth 3 points? It's good, but I'd argue it's situational.

The jump from 5 to 6 health can be significant as that seems to be roughly the area where you start crossing the line into "difficult to one-shot" .

Bottom line is this.... your HKs are squishy and usually hiding up the back. If something is endagering them back there, it's probably going to kill them so 1 extra health won't matter much. Realistically, you're paying 3 points to be able to shoot through other figures. It's good, but it's probably not 3 points good. Take an Ugnaught or something instead.

Rebel Sabs

Another easy one. For 2 points you get 4 extra health (2 each), extra speed (from 4 to 5 which is a big deal), 1 extra acc (which is also a big deal since they roll very low accuracy dice), extra pierce and the ability to shoot through stuff (which can make placing blast more useful or getting that pesky support unit hiding behind someone). Again, that's a lot of value for 2 point.

The regular ones are still useful of course, and their damage output is similar, but they are almost guaranteed to die in one shot (barring Xman) and are much less versatile by being slower, with shorter range. Eg, Elite threat range 8+yellow dice (5 move + 3 acc + yellow). Regular threat range 6 + yellow dice.

Wookies are probably an extreme example of a unit I'd NEVER consider using as elites. The probe droid and HKs do have uses in their various forms, but I was just highlighting how you can easily compare a few points and see if it's worth the upgrade.

It boils down to what you are getting for your points and if that's worth it. Sometimes it is widely recognized that it is, other times not so much. It's an individual consideration on a unit-by-unit basis, and as such there's no universal answer. The closest thing you can get to a 'rule of thumb' in the regular vs. elite discussion is that if the elite upgrade offers extra Speed, you should probably play elites, but even that isn't remotely the entire picture.

How do you guys feel about (what experience do you have with) Echo Base Troopers

The Elites get quite a boost in the health department but I've been underwhelmed with the special abilities of both.

I feel that the few times I played elites, I probably was too aggressive with them (I only roll 1's on black dice for defense anyway) I don't know that getting the red die is actually a good idea. I have switched over to playing the regular EBT just because they are "cheaper" elites as far as health goes and they still qualify for Reinforcements.

The combat suit has never come into play. Just thought I would discuss specifics here instead of starting a new post. You guys did a great job with the others above.

I generally find regular troopers just don't survive, so I normally use elites (except for HK, Wookies and Trandoshans) The Echo Base Troopers I would put in this catagory as the regulars have 5 health like most elite troopers (ie Wing, Estorm and Etroopers)

Rebel Trooper elites get a health buff AND their amazing double action to move 4 spaces and focus.

Elite officers can order another unit to attack, and if they order a unit to move, it gets to do a full movement still unlike the regular officers whose order action has been errat'ed to only be a max of 2 spaces. Elite Officers become more valuable if you're using them to fire off extra attacks with something that hits hard like an AT-ST or Vader or whatever.

Depends what you're trying to do with your list, and certain units aren't really worth the jump in points for the elite version, or get significantly better when they're elite.

Hired Guns are pretty good, but the elite ones aren't really worth it for example.

It varies depending on the units....

Some are simply not worth the extra points for elite, others are simply too weak as regulars.

Nuff said.

How do you guys feel about (what experience do you have with) Echo Base Troopers...

The elites are fantastic value. Upgrading from the regulars gives 3:1 health to cost (Literally the best of anything IIRC) and the upgraded surge is a lot of extra damage. WRT using the Red dice its only worth it if you're adjacent or at range 2 attacking with regular EBTs, otherwise the need to use a surge for accuracy rather than damage (and sometimes missing outright) outweighs the extra damage on the red die over the blue.