But mainly, the 2 dice is just really limiting without either gunner or some other means to improve dice output. Had Finn been more reasonably priced, I would've taken him over tailgunner on certain builds (probably involving Thane)

Been thinking about this: Thane with Finn, R2-D6 and LW is 34 points. Only two points more than R3-A2/Gunner Braylen... Hits hard on the approach (more consistent than putting plasma on him) and is a bit more defensive after Biggs goes down.

Don't discount the ARC-170 so quickly; Norra Wexley + R5-K6 + Veteran Instincts + Rey crew + Title is actually a pretty good buy for 34 points.

It's a (relatively) inexpensive way of getting a PS9 jouster on the table, that has both durability and good offensive output.

If you slow roll to build up a stack of tokens (hopefully at least 3), you're in pretty good shape for action economy for quite a bit of the game. R5-K6 doesn't need to go off, but those 3/8 times when it does, it puts you in pretty good shape to focus the next round, further helping the action economy.

Durability-wise, 6-hull/3-shields protected by one evade dice is normally not amazing, but considering that with Rey focus, you have at least one guaranteed evade versus a target locked ship (which is, I think, a good thing).

On the attack, if you get a range one shot with 4 dice (not impossible, given the PS 9), and don't roll blanks (a big if, I know), you can end up with a 5 hit attack. It may not seem reliable, but it's actually a 31% chance to get a 5 damage result.

Don't discount the ARC-170 so quickly; Norra Wexley + R5-K6 + Veteran Instincts + Rey crew + Title is actually a pretty good buy for 34 points.

I don't discount the ARC at all

I've been flying them exclusively for a while (because they're so **** beautiful ) and they're surprisingly effective

but if there's one thing you can't discount, it's how terrible 2-dice primaries are when you don't have the numbers, modifications and crackshots of crackswarm

my experience has shown, time and time again, that without gunner/tailgunner you just can't accomplish much of anything. Either you're plinking 0 agi behemoths or bouncing off of evade results, be they palp aces or humble tie fighters or anything (even a caster) with an evade token

and yes, even Norra with the extra hit gotten from a good attack roll + her ability will just plink off of most things without tailgunner. Hell, even with tailgunner, you have a hell of a time beating an x7 one on one (but luckily you brought r2-d2 and are worth more points; mod wins don't exist anymore )

because their playstyle is so built around that aux arc, you're going to be throwing those 2 dice a lot . you can't afford to let what is often a 30+ point ship accomplish nothing in your squad

about the only way I'd expect to see Rey on an ARC is if we got an astromech that did something cool with focus, and I'm not talking r5p9 (not the worst, but now you're not doing enough damage to justify your regen ship)

we'd need something more like "at the start of the combat phase, you may spend one of your focus tokens to remove a focus from an enemy ship at range 1-3 and in your firing arc"

or Kanan (pilot)

something like that would make it worth forgoing tailgunner/gunner

which is why I believe you're not going to see Rey in one, not yet anyway

The idea of VI Nora is to make her into more of a jouster than to focus on her Aux arc. Granted, without reposition, even PS 9 moving second isn't guaranteed to get stuff in arc, especially with how much crazy mobility there is in the game, but I feel like it's something worth exploring. Comboing her with R3-A2 Wes could really shut down aces hard. It would probably still struggle against Jumpmasters, but Wes is definitely a big help in those matchups.

I feel like Rey helps to open up Nora's EPT by providing the action economy she would otherwise get from that slot. Now, I'm willing to defer to your play experience on this issue. Do you think VI Nora would really struggle to keep ships in arc?

it's not really about keeping ships in ARC (heh) as much as you're forgoing Norra's ability without PTL

The TL droid is not a guarantee by any means and honestly r2d2 makes Norra work when Biggs isn't around. You kinda need that regen to win dice trades with just about anything that isn't a z-95 or tie fighter

the fact that Norra has aux arcs makes PS 9 far less of a necessity. Haven't had any issue with her being at 7, apart from Dash because he runs circles around her. VI wouldn't really change that fact, sadly.

if you want a high PS jouster, imo Poe is both cheaper and more effective overall. The ARC itself just isn't a good jouster (hence the aux arc )

Now Poe isn't anywhere near as sexy as Norra, obviously, but we can't have everything

Imo Rey doesn't add enough to Norra that I'd feel okay replacing tailgunner with her. Not even c3po adds enough to warrant losing that offense, imo, that's how necessary I feel tailgunner is

Note I have VERY high hopes for Rey, but I do not believe at all that the ARC is the ship for her

not until we see some awesome focus synergy upgrade (or if the ARC had two crew but then it'd be c3po or even nien nub before Rey )

Just skimmed and didn't see this mentioned but would she be worth anything at all on an ARC with adv proton torpedo? Keep your focus banked and tl when you can and when you get in range the focus is safely tucked into a gurantee. Lot's of what if's but is a use for her.

Try it on a K-wing, preferably Miranda with LRS. First and second turn you bank the TL and the focus. Then you slap them in the face with six dice APT

Just skimmed and didn't see this mentioned but would she be worth anything at all on an ARC with adv proton torpedo? Keep your focus banked and tl when you can and when you get in range the focus is safely tucked into a gurantee. Lot's of what if's but is a use for her.

Try it on a K-wing, preferably Miranda with LRS. First and second turn you bank the TL and the focus. Then you slap them in the face with six dice APT

hey, if Rey can make HWKs even a little bit more efficient, you can maybe squeeze Jan in for more jank

problem is TLT Rey Jan is still sitting at an uncomfortable 33 (1 point too much for r4-d6 integrated Biggs and homing missile + extra miranda w/LRS; no 6 dice homing missile fun )