Gunner is 100% the way to go, potential tondouble stress against all 3 arcs and against stuff that doesn't care about stress like dengar helps get damange through. Stresshog is nice if you expect high hp low agi ships, but it's ususally worth the 6 points to go to braylen. Braylen is also predator proof.

I have been running him with Tactician, not Gunner with very good results (9-0 and did not lose a single ship at a tournament last weekend). I have vectored thrusters on my build to make him a bit more flexible.

Is Braylen or Thane better btw for 2 Arc Biggs lists?

The big part of the stresshog is the double stress. A double stress is massively more powerful than a single stress.

Does TLT not do that?

Stressbot triggers when you declare the target, which happens only once fot TLT. But after the recent timing changes TLT never doublestresses, not even with tactician.

The problem I see regarding a 29 plus point Braylen is that at 6h3s he becomes a fat target like the named B-wing pilots. Whenever I saw one of those around I knew I could reliably bag 30 plus points. The Arc has one more combined hit point, but the B-wing has 5 shields so I think the endurance is about the same since the Arc will take more crits.

The problem I see regarding a 29 plus point Braylen is that at 6h3s he becomes a fat target like the named B-wing pilots. Whenever I saw one of those around I knew I could reliably bag 30 plus points. The Arc has one more combined hit point, but the B-wing has 5 shields so I think the endurance is about the same since the Arc will take more crits.

Tried out Gunner, R3-A2, Title Braylen and loved it.

The title says you "may" add a die to your front arc shot. So don't!

Roll 2, don't modify and miss. Then gunner a 3 dice attack and use your focus/lock.

If you are shooting at a 0/1 agility ship then use all 3 attack dice since even a 2 dice attack may hit. You may as well try an get the most damage in that situation.

His ability also means that once you've slowly drifted from the fight, firing backwards, if you've cleared the stress you can K-turn and maybe even lose that stress. Then come back into the fray.

--

Compared to the StressY, he's fantastic.

Sure he's more points but you definitely get what you pay for.

Not sure you have to fly Biggs with him. If the opposition choose to shoot him first, then the rest of your list is safe. He basically becomes Biggs himself. If they don't shoot him first, more stress is dealt out. Win-win.

(Plus I'm not a huge fan of flying Biggs but that's personal preference)

Gunner is better unless you cant spare the extra 3pts over tac. Remember, the title says "may" so you can opt out of the title for the first shot to have a much weaker/pathetic attack that odds are will miss, then opt in for the title for the 2nd attack. This way, it works at range 1-3, not just range2, with the small drawback of if your initial roll does damage then no double stress.

even after the nerf to "perform this attack twice" i never, ever understood the title on the y-wing stresshog. That thing cant turn for gak why on earth would you remove its turret power? i'd rather only deal 1 stress and be at a distance skirting around rocks to stay alive and piss people off than do 2 stress and probably do nothing else.

Dunno how many times ive seen that build when im flying Echo and i just sidestep him and destroy him. If he didnt have the title, he'd instantly stress me and no cloak = dead echo.

BTL-a4 was there for the double stress, because even before the errata TLT only ever did one stress with r3-a2

(r3-a2 triggers on declaring target; TLT only ever declares one target only once and then shoots it twice; you needed BTL-a4 to fire your primary for the 2nd stress)

even after the nerf to "perform this attack twice" i never, ever understood the title on the y-wing stresshog. That thing cant turn for gak why on earth would you remove its turret power? i'd rather only deal 1 stress and be at a distance skirting around rocks to stay alive and piss people off than do 2 stress and probably do nothing else.

Dunno how many times ive seen that build when im flying Echo and i just sidestep him and destroy him. If he didnt have the title, he'd instantly stress me and no cloak = dead echo.

Don't forget that R3-A2 only works in arc, so you can only stress if you've got your target in arc. I think that makes it more worthwhile to go for the title and double stress rather than keep the turret, although YMMV.

Gunner is better unless you cant spare the extra 3pts over tac. Remember, the title says "may" so you can opt out of the title for the first shot to have a much weaker/pathetic attack that odds are will miss, then opt in for the title for the 2nd attack. This way, it works at range 1-3, not just range2, with the small drawback of if your initial roll does damage then no double stress.

even after the nerf to "perform this attack twice" i never, ever understood the title on the y-wing stresshog. That thing cant turn for gak why on earth would you remove its turret power? i'd rather only deal 1 stress and be at a distance skirting around rocks to stay alive and piss people off than do 2 stress and probably do nothing else.

Dunno how many times ive seen that build when im flying Echo and i just sidestep him and destroy him. If he didnt have the title, he'd instantly stress me and no cloak = dead echo.

A single stress doesn't stop a phantom cloaking, because it happens after they've cloaked this round and they clear it next round.

That's why BTL is so necessary.

Also R3A2 being in-arc only.

Let´s not forget that the Stresshog is a very potent damage dealer in a joust situation. If you have a target at range-1 you can use your primary against that one (throwing 3 red dice) and then attack a target at range 2 or 3 (denying the defensive range bonus) twice with the TLT. We shall also not forget that the Stresshog can decide not to use R3-A2 (it´s only a 2pt upgrade anyway) and keep the option of a K-turn open. Since it has basically 3 attacks it can still do reliable damage despite being actionless.

I flew Gray (TLT, R3-A2, BTL-A4) + Vrill (Recon Spec) + Poe(VI, R5-P9, Autothrusters) a few times and it was very solid. Now I'm thinking this could be fun too:

Braylen (R3-A2, Gunner, title)

Vrill (HLC, Recon Specialist)

Biggs (R4-D6, Integrated Astromech)

100 points

Of course, in my previous build Poe was doing an amazing job at flanking/cleaning up. No ace with this new one, but it could still work.

I flew Gray (TLT, R3-A2, BTL-A4) + Vrill (Recon Spec) + Poe(VI, R5-P9, Autothrusters) a few times and it was very solid. Now I'm thinking this could be fun too:

Braylen (R3-A2, Gunner, title)

Vrill (HLC, Recon Specialist)

Biggs (R4-D6, Integrated Astromech)

100 points

Of course, in my previous build Poe was doing an amazing job at flanking/cleaning up. No ace with this new one, but it could still work.

I like that list. Eaden Vrill is a highly underated Pilot. I'm looking forward to Rey crew for Eaden. Also, Eaden with Smuggling Compartment and the debris elicit is almost auto-include.

Eaden sounds great when coupled with some solid stress action from Braylen.

A well flown stresshog is more efficient than the ARC, IMO. That said, the ARC is easier to fly effectively (and against a wider variety of enemies) than the Y.

...don't you guys love Decimators?

Have you tried... Decimator + Gunner??!?

Left this way too long, but on the initial replies - I hadn't actually considered gunner, though it seems an obvious choice and synergy with Braylem. That said, the extra three point hit takes some very important stuff away from what I want to fly with him, so I think I'll go the tactician route to begin with.

Even in isolation, gunner seems a somewhat riskier buy. Flub Braylen's ability roll more than once in a row and those stress tokens will start to stack up. Plus, I feel like you're more reliant on your opponents dice to trigger gunner - vs, say, a VCX, that's 5 points you'll never use. Granted, VCXs care little for stress, but the example holds for all zero, most one, and even two agility ships. Granted, as Vinehart pointed out, you can weaken that first attack, but even so, very dicey...


I wonder if a high PS barrel roll would help Braylen? Adding Vectored Thrusters and pairing him up with a VI Cracken would achieve that, but then you're investing a lot of points into a stress mechanic that... feels like it's going to be less valuable in a meta that is adapting to BMST and is full of lists with Zuckuss or Hera or whatever which are built to handle stress.

As a rebel player who prefers control to regen

Points, put simply. You can build a regen list with control elements, but it's really hard to build a proper control list with regen elements. Regen cards are inevitably expensive, and take up such important slots (R3-A2 and Tactician are the best stress cards, and they sit in the same slots as R2-D2 (astro or crew), Gonk and R5-P9, the best regen cards).

Maybe a list with a Conner net Miranda at its core could lay claim to being a true regen and control list, but a decently kitted out Miranda (With Sabine, Conners, EM, TLT and Adv. Slam) is 45 points. I'm not sure you could fit another decent regen element and another decent control element into the remaining points. Maybe a Stresshog and Jess Pava with R2-D2? Honestly, I think I'd rather have a couple of ICT Y-Wings and let the regen go.

So happy to run across this thread today! I have been mulling the numbers and play styles for a couple of days now. I should note that I ran a Kanan/Biggs/stresshog list.

I, too, ran the typical stresshog and tried many techniques to keep him in the fight. I usually ended up frustrated by the overall output from the stresshog as it would throw some dice, stress, and then the scrum would pass by the y-wing which would never be heard from again. I later dropped the BTL title to keep the TLT "in the fight"; there was some improvement for me, but the stress mechanic was largely wasted beyond the initial engagement by being tied to my forward arc.

I am tantalized by the thought of Braylen fitting into my list for many of the above noted reasons: an additional hit point, a better primary, a rear arc that is not easily dodged, the potential to better clear stress and regain actions etc. I ran gunner on Braylen for 2 stress at any range, and to pick up a "2nd attack" against token stackers, Emperor lists, etc.

Downside? He is more expensive.

In my list, I had to sacrifice RecSpec and and Tactical Jammer on Kanan. Sounds silly at first to lose the RecSpec, but I find that I am getting more mileage out of the stress dealer. It's not clear to me how much I miss the second focus token on Kanan after the initial joust.

So, done deal for me then, right? Not so fast.

If I run tactician on Braylen, I can put RecSpec back on Kanan. Thus, for me, the question is:

"Is a more situational second stress outweighed by the need for a second focus on Kanan?" I.e., is gunner more valuable than RecSpec?

Would love to know your exact list here. I finally get to test mine in a few days. I'm planning:

Kanan Jarrus (38)
Fire-Control System (2)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Recon Specialist (3)

Biggs Darklighter (25)
R4-D6 (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Braylen Stramm (25)
Tactician (2)
R3-A2 (2)
Alliance Overhaul (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

What do you sacrifice off Kanan for those extra three points? Just teh Rec Spec?

@MacchuWA:

If I were to run tactician on Braylen, it would be the list you posted. Gunner on Braylen would require the dropping of RecSpec.

As I noted above, it felt "silly" to drop Recspec because it pairs with Kanan's ability so well. However, I realized that I just wasn't getting a lot of production from my stresshog. Kanan, then, took a step down, while Braylen stepped up.

Am I sold on a RecSpec-less Kanan? No. It's one of those situations where I am never happy. Run RecSpec, and I am noting how often I have an used focus token left. Don't run RecSpec, and I am suddenly counting how many shots I could have mitigated. lol