When Quickdraw was first spoiled, I thought she was really cool. She's a PS9 TIE Fighter, she's a jouster, and she's got a cool gunslinger callsign. I wasn't really enamored with the TIE/sf, but I thought I'd try it out just because I thought Quickdraw was pretty cool.
I've run various Quickdraw builds now about 20 times total, in a combination of practice games (vs myself) and games vs actual opponents. In the process, I've focused on 3 builds. Note: all of these builds can make excellent use of TIE Mk2 Engines for a point, but it's not really required:
Rage/Electronic Baffles (31 points): This build is the cheapest, and most powerful on turns where Quickdraw is doing Quickdraw things. In best case scenarios (2 front attacks, 2 rear attacks), Rage is great. It's a little flat on all those other turns, though, where you don't really want to Rage, in which case she's just a 3-dice gun with a weenie rear arc.
PTL/Electronic Baffles (33 points): This build allows you to trigger Quickdraw at will, but doesn't provide the strong modification to all attacks in the turn. You can split TL and Focus between the two shots, or combine them, but if you're in the "sweet spot" of 4 attacks, at least half will be unmodified. That's usually okay, though, because you're not really relying on those attacks.
Predator/Electronic Baffles (33 points): This build forces you to use red maneuvers, asteroids, or debris to trigger Quickdraw at will, but simply waiting for your opponent to do it is pretty decent as well. It is an action-independent build, and gets light modifications for all of its attacks, but it's good at all times.
A build I haven't tried, but have read about, that I think looks good: Draw Their Fire (30+whatever else you want to add). Quickdraw has the shields to use it, and so can keep someone safer while putting out extra damage. If she becomes the target, things are still working as planned.
Soontir Fel Asassin, or something else?
The thing that sprang to my mind and the minds of many other players was that Quickdraw could use Electronic Baffles in the Action phase to get an extra attack, and if it happened before the target moved, they would have no defensive tokens. That's pretty cool if the target is Soontir Fel, and modestly useful if your target is anybody else that moves after Quickdraw, and not notably different from a regular attack if it's anybody that moves before Quickdraw. Here are my thoughts on this:
1.) Firing before Soontir Fel gets tokens is cool, but moving after Soontir Fel is still better, because you can arc dodge him and he can't arc dodge you. Getting the tokenless shot isn't the goal, it's a bonus against Fel and other dodgy PS9s that win the initiative bid. It lets you hunt them quite well in either case. If you move after you can Barrel Roll to gain and avoid shots, and still get a double-attack on them. They'll have tokens, but are not likely to be in as good a position as they would have been if they moved after you.
2.) Electronic Baffles is good in its own right. Even if you elect not to trigger Quickdraw's ability, the chance to take a damage to remove stress when you're not the target of the enemy squad is still very strong. You can fly through a Debris field or make a red move and still get an action (or two with PTL). Alternatively, you can PTL and leave a red move option open for the next turn. Being PS9 lets you make even better use of this, because you can see from the board position if it will be important. Say you S-loop, and find yourself outside the fight without a great shot. Keep your hit point and clear the stress next turn. Now imagine that several ships have brought guns to bear and you only have 2 HP left. Might as well burn one hull and get a Focus/TL with PTL to make one of your pursuers pay before you go down. Similar tricks will be possible when Pattern Analyzers comes out, but with Electronic Baffle costing only a point and letting you trigger Quickdraw's ability at will, it's an excellent upgrade. I'm pretty sure the TIE/sf that Poe flew was equipped with Electronic Baffles, because those things can really move.
3.) Quickdraw is a strong alpha striker. Forget assassinating Soontir Fel and other aces. Quickdraw can drop 6-8 dice on a target in one round. Are Ghosts popular in Rebel builds? Regen got you down? Really want finish off a ship before it fires? Quickdraw is your girl. Because of this, she's a target. Most people don't want a couple of turns of that damage coming their way. If you've got other winners, say, like everyone's favorite Omega Leader, they're either forced to weather 3 double-attack Quickdraw turns, or OL has a smooth path to the end-game. She's good against aces, she's good against beef, she's PS9. There's not a lot of ships that can claim those strengths in a modestly priced package.
4.) Quickdraw can punch through damage in weird ways. Think about Dengaroo, think about any 2AGI scum ship with Glitterstim, think about Rebel token passing. Think about Palob stealing Focus. Just about all of these things happen at the beginning of the combat phase. A self-triggered Quickdraw attack happens before this. You get to squeak dice through when all these defenses aren't yet up. It's not consistently useful, because it can only happen 3 times max, but let's say Dengar is targeting one of your ships going after Manaroo. Quickdraw in pursuit can put a Focus+reroll shot into him before he has any tokens or has blown countermeasures. Without much luck, that can drop a 3rd of Dengar's hit points, not even counting what the regular attack manages. That's a big hit against Dengar even if you only ever get to do it once.
I'm coming around to the fact that Quickdraw isn't just an ace-hunter. She's an equal opportunity meat grinder that has tools against every type of ship. She's not tough, and shes not going to last all game, but if you build your squad to take advantage of the damage she does, I think she's got a place in strong Imperial lists.
