It's something those people slating X-Wings, B-Wings, Kihraxz etc continuously overlook, because they lack the experience necessary to understand - flying at low PS has it's advantages.

That advantage is much more difficult to pull off, though.

Low PS blocking requires you to be accurate in your predicting of your opponents moves.

High PS repositioning doesn't require that kind of accuracy, because if you predict wrong, you get a chance to fix it afterwards.

you can arc dodge easily without repositioning. that's the MO of every auxilary/mobile arc, PWT or SWT

besides, if you block, you can easily play around your opponent without ever having to boost/roll

and blocking can be utterly devastating, but for some reason people keep forgetting it exists and keep believing arc-dodging is everything

That's replacing the repositioning with something else, because otherwise it'd be bloody hard.

What is this about people forgetting about blocking? Is this something you've noticed on the forums or in your local meta? I don't play very often and not with many people, so it's not something I've noticed.

The problem is if you either misjudge the distance you need to go to block even a little or mispredict your opponent , suddenly you're in a horrible horrible position and you're probably about to lose a ship. Conversely, high PS pilots are probably fine, unless they mess up so bad they hit an obstacle/ship.

Hang on, are we really saying that Soontir needs a fix now? Or are we talking about every other Squint other than Fel and Jax?

Well, the incoming Black Market Slicer Tools is going to nerf Soontir pretty hard - indeed, pretty much all PtL users, which has been a go-to EPT for many Imperial Aces for a while, now.

One would hope Interceptors are going to get some kind of buff to counter that...otherwise, they are going to disappear from the meta, completely.

I wouldn't count on Slicer Tools to do that. They are pretty balanced, nothing that could remove a force like Soontir from the meta. It just gives some lists in some circumstances a more fair chance. Staying at range 3 isn't terribly difficult as you might remember from ICTs. Slicer Tools won't deal damage all that quickly.

Well, the incoming Black Market Slicer Tools is going to nerf Soontir pretty hard - indeed, pretty much all PtL users, which has been a go-to EPT for many Imperial Aces for a while, now.

One would hope Interceptors are going to get some kind of buff to counter that...otherwise, they are going to disappear from the meta, completely.

eh...I honestly don't think this'll be the case

BMSTs are very nice, granted, but there aren't a lot of good carriers

imo, the rebel YTs with Smuggler's Compartment (or snuggler's, if you're feeling frisky) remain far too expensive and fragile to see use. They live and die on EU, unless you're a crazy awesome Dash Rendar player that can make due with just the roll

on scum, you're left with Zs (which can't hurt you, PTL or not), jm5ks (probably the most likely carrier, given how good they are in general), and maybe shadowcasters (esp ventress)

none of these will auto-delete your ship (esp given that they can't do more damage than you have stress and the effect isn't guaranteed) and even without PTL, palp + thrusters + 1 mod will keep you plenty safe

Currently low ps interceptors are trash

You don't want them holding back other ships

Repositioning moves really need high PS to be of value, that is why Interceptors are still stuck in the Wave 5-meta PS arms race.

Seems to add a green when red dice are more than green. With the continued trend of everything getting 3 red it's not quite the same but pretty close for when it matters.

If this is what the upgrade does, I wonder if it will make the Tie Punisher worth another look since it will double its agility against most shots.

I've been calling for more powerful (or at least PS punishing) mid tier PS pilots for a long long time. The Mid PS need the best abilities in the game to have a chance against higher PS. Right now the higher PS tend to have the best abilities AND higher PS so you always go in for 1-2pts more. Turr is a near perfect example. He has combat phase re-positioning and can't even see table time.

I hope the new tie mod does add a green when fired on by more red...Punishers need love too and this is a great fix for them, bombers, and an "in the box fix" for strikers. Depending on cost of course. Deathrain would probably see a lot of play with a mod that says "double your green dice" for 3pts or less. Pretty sure it will be 2, hope it's 1pt... giving up the mod slot and not always proc'ing for AG2 ships means it could cost 0 but probably not. At 0pts it's too good for the things that are aleady good.

Not sure if it's been said yet, but based on icon placement it looks like only Cassian is getting the ept of all the u-wing pilots. Probably not the end of the world, but interesting.

Not sure if it's been said yet, but based on icon placement it looks like only Cassian is getting the ept of all the u-wing pilots. Probably not the end of the world, but interesting.

it's UPS shuttle allotment of PS and epts

it's annoying, but the U-wing is self sufficient enough (as in it has the upgrade slots, system and crew specifically, to give it all the modifiers it needs with or without epts) for it not to matter a huge deal

would've been nice for more expert handling, though

Can we just all agree that the PS8 TIE striker 'Duchess' is Archer?

WOO!

Who is Archer?

BMST isn't the PTL nerf. Latts is. Inquisitor effectively capped at 2,damage, fel capped at two when not range one, dengaroo taking a real hit to its output...

Stress-based aces are going to have a bad time, especially against ventriss

Turr is a near perfect example. He has combat phase re-positioning and can't even see table time.

But yes his ps7 does hurt him in most competitive matches since he is either going first (against low PS jumpmasters or Ywings, or TIE/Awing swarms) or last against most everything else people take.

I wouldn't count on Slicer Tools to do that. They are pretty balanced, nothing that could remove a force like Soontir from the meta. It just gives some lists in some circumstances a more fair chance. Staying at range 3 isn't terribly difficult as you might remember from ICTs. Slicer Tools won't deal damage all that quickly.

Staying out of range 2 for COMBAT is easy. Its significantly harder to keep something from moving into range 2 to slice you before you move in the activation phase

Yeah the range2 really just means you cant do it while disengaging. If you were attacking at range3 last round, unless you are moving away, you WILL be in range 2 next round and slice'm before they can move away from range2.

Only way to 100% dodge slicers is to destress. I suspect Epsilon Leader might see some light for awhile.... long as your self-stressers activate after the slicers he will destress them at the start of combat.

Bring yorr, ignore slicers. I mean, I guess you can slice the shuttle if you really want to.

Bring yorr, ignore slicers. I mean, I guess you can slice the shuttle if you really want to.

Yorr also means soontir doesnt get his free focus

Yorr also means soontir doesnt get his free focus

Yup. But if BMST poses an existential threat, Yorr probably lets you push the Baron or Inky into the endgame without having taken any damage from BMST. It also lets you neutralize Latts, sure.

And yeah, there are costs; Yorr in a Baron/Inky build means no Jammer and means much more careful flying. And maybe those costs are great enough that it's no longer worth flying the Baron. But that's nowhere near guaranteed, and in matches where you're not worried about BMST Yorr lets you do things like 5k Soontir over debris and then PTL, which has its own benefits.

Can we just all agree that the PS8 TIE striker 'Duchess' is Archer?

WOO!

Who is Archer?

Stirling archer only the world's best spy.

Greatest lover and not too shabby at lacrosse.

so maybe I'm crazy, but at a 2nd glance and given the reveal of the Rey crew, I actually think the U-wing could be incredibly solid

large base and b-wing stats made me very leery at first, but who knows? Green 2-bank and, despite probably not having a K it can at least spin itself right round, baby, right round

Yeah, I'm excited for the U-wing. Especially because of the model.

Yeah, I'm excited for the U-wing. Especially because of the model.

don't know if I'm ready for more wingspan (that FOLDS!!!!! :o )

I'm still drooling over the ARC

I am also cautiously optimistic about the U-wing. It looks like the kind of support ship the Rebels are lacking. Jan and Jynn on a cheap generic can hand out Focus and Evades to nearby friendlies. I currently run Poe, Red Ace and Kyle as my goto Rebel Regen squad but the HWK is pretty squishy and also needs a decent turret to contribute offensively. The U-wing can do the same job, is a few points cheaper, has a 3-dice primary and 60% more hit points. I am liking the look of it so far.

Seems like the HAWK is even more useless now!