I don't know how many folks have tried this out, but I think Tie/D Ruthlessness Vessery with Tractor Beam is fan-freaking-tastic. Coupled with PTL Ryad and Naked Yorr, Vessery had free target locks every turn.

First round of shooting, I dealt 1 damage to BMST Z-95, and then 2 damage to his friend at range 1. Next round, they gone.

For those who don't know, this is how it alll goes down.

Vessery shoots with tractor beam and hits, I barrel roll the enemy ship closer to a buddy, then trigger Ruthlessness for free damage. I shoot my primary, and if I hit, Ruthlessness triggers again. Vessery gets target locks on both attacks thanks to Yorr or Ryad. It can be brutal, especially with tractor beaming enemy ships onto obstacles on top of everything.

However, since it was my first time with the list, I have some kinks to work out.

1) Accidentally killed Ryad before she made a range 1 shot into Asajj Ventress. Sorry gurl.

2) Ideally, there's a preferred order for my ships to die in, Yorr, Vessery, and then Ryad cleans up late game. That did not occur, Vessery was left with a close game, and blanked out on his final attack on Asajj, after I had SPENT MY TARGET LOCK ON GOSH DANG TRACTOR BEAM SHOT. Poor judgement, nothing more.

3) Large ships don't give two Gungans about the tractor beam, so positioning will be tricky with Ryad having to hang back.

4) I made a good decision early on, I took initiative. Shooting first is imperative since you can deny shots with tractor beam nonsense.

In the end, I did about 6 extra damage with Ruthlessness, and did another 3 to my own Ryad. Not a good trade, but with some practice its a nasty double-edged sword.

Try it out if you have the time, and tell me your thoughts. With enough practice, I may be tournament ready! Nah, jk.

Ruthless Tie/D Defenders are my secret weapon. They are amazing and it's fun hitting someone's low agility ship, and seeing the gloom on their face when you maul their ace as well.

Ruthless Tie/D Defenders are my secret weapon. They are amazing and it's fun hitting someone's low agility ship, and seeing the gloom on their face when you maul their ace as well.

My opponent was a real chill dude, we generally have good, close games against each other. After throwing his Z-95 on debris, and then making that he'd have to pass through again on his next maneuver, he reeled back.

He simply stated, "You f@$#er"

I've seen a few Vessery Tie/D builds that are fun, and the Ruthlessness one is the most popular. Understandable, as it is pretty flashy, and gives you a splash damage effect. Unfortunately, the Ruthlessness effect is NOT optional. You may very well hit your own wingmates with it.

Giving him Veteran Instincts is also fairly common, and while it seems a tad underwhelming, giving him the chance to fire that tractor beam BEFORE the rest of the squad means everyone else benefits from that -1 agility. But if you only have a couple ships to follow up with, it's less effective.

The third option I've seen is Marksmanship. I enjoy this one because it gives you enhanced focus on BOTH attacks. Combined with the TLs on both attacks, and it can get nasty. The drawback here is your defence is naked green dice, no focus. Leaves him a tad squishy, but he'll make a few dents before he's done.

I had put something together like this with a Ruthless TIE/D Defender. I haven't run it yet, but it made me giggle. Lots of explosions !


TIEs by Torgue (100)

"Quickdraw" (29)
Ruthlessness (3)
Electronic Baffle (1)
Special Ops Training (0)

Countess Ryad (34)
Ruthlessness (3)
Tractor Beam (1)
TIE/D (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (19)
Ruthlessness (3)
Extra Munitions (2)
Assault Missiles (5)
Guidance Chips (0)

Total: 100

Edit: Oh yeah, the Gamma Squad Vet is cheap enough to just make a list of 3 of them if you want to spam Ruthlessness Assault Missiles, but I found mixing it up a bit to utilize the double-taps from a TIE/D and baffle Quickdraw to be interesting.

Took my wife's 3 Defender list led by Ruthless Tractor Vessery to a small tournament, won out through the Swiss rounds before dropping. I dealt at least 6 damage with Ruthless every game. Of course, one of those games the 6 damage was all 3 shields from both of my Deltas.....

My favorite moment with Ruthless Vessery is having an opponent intentionally fly their nearly undamaged Shuttle off the board, just to prevent me from hitting his Whisper with Ruthless again. Good times, good times. :-)