Okay, so I haven't picked up any of the Wave 9 stuff yet, and fundage is quite limited. I have the following list, and was wondering what I could do to improve on it. I have enough to possibly purchase 1 small ship in Wave 9, but would like to make sure I get something that will benefit this for an upcoming tournament.

Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29

Veteran Instincts 1

Advanced Targeting Computer 1

Engine Upgrade 4

TIE/x1 0

Ship Total: 35

"Echo" — TIE Phantom 30

Veteran Instincts 1

Intelligence Agent 1

Advanced Cloaking Device 4

Ship Total: 36

Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21

Emperor Palpatine 8

Ship Total: 29

Echo is the choice most people don't look at, but the decloaking with the bank is by far the hardest thing to predict, because he can end up facing almost anywhere. VI bumps him to 8, which isn't the highest, but has the ability to outclass a few. Vader is there as VI because that is the highest, barring special 12 abilities. Vader hunts down those aces that Echo doesn't want to face lacking the ACD cloaking benefit.

Palp is Palp.

Of all the things I saw, the collision detector looks like it may actually have some use on Echo. Especially with the benefit of the decloaking shenanigans already, I feel that would allow for her to even fly into debris fields without worry.

Anyway, thoughts, opinions, and suggestions all welcome. Also anyone with suggestion for what pack may be worth picking up would be awesome as well.

yes. another person who likes echo.
i salute you sir

that said is there a reason to not take collision detector?

is there a reason to not take collision detector?

Original post said no wave 9 stuff.

Raven 19528: If you can get one small base, get TIE SF. Collision Detector for Echo is 0 point way to avoid damage on debris fields.

Awesome. I'll pick one up.

I'm seeing these protectorates running around throwing 5 dice fully modded shots. How do you battle against those guys? I think Vader will have the advantage being super PS, but how do the other two survive long enough to avoid that kind of offense? 4 defense dice doesn't have the draw it used to. Firesprays with their two agility and high health seem the better option overall. Haven't had much experience in the current meta, but just wondering how anything challenges those protectorates?

If you're worried about Pilot Skill issues on "Echo" - can I suggest swapping out Veteran Instincts for Decoy? That way you can 'pinch' Vader's PS11 for the purposes of getting your shot off first.

Vader wants his high PS in the movement phase (to use that lovely stressless Boost/Barrel Roll, and to target lock people for the Advanced Targeting Computer) whilst "Echo" is pretty much locked in to his moves in advance, whilst in the shooting phase it's "Echo" who lives and dies by pilot skill.

If you're worried about Pilot Skill issues on "Echo" - can I suggest swapping out Veteran Instincts for Decoy? That way you can 'pinch' Vader's PS11 for the purposes of getting your shot off first.

Vader wants his high PS in the movement phase (to use that lovely stressless Boost/Barrel Roll, and to target lock people for the Advanced Targeting Computer) whilst "Echo" is pretty much locked in to his moves in advance, whilst in the shooting phase it's "Echo" who lives and dies by pilot skill.

I like the idea, however, a few issues:

1. Decoy is 2 points, I would have to drop VI and something else to fit it.

2. Has to be in Range 1-2 of ship to switch PS with.

3. They both like moving a lot, so worrying about range is counterproductive IMHO

I just flew it on Vassal, and it did pretty well. I got some pretty fair dice rolls, but the opponent had some really bad ones as well. Last shot of the match was Vader v Fenn (untouched at this point) with Stealth Device at R2. Vader rolls Hit, Blank, and uses ATC for a crit. Fenn blanks on the greens. One hit and crit is Major Explosion, rolls a hit, pulls Direct Hit. Fenn blows up. I'm usually on the receiving end of things like that and I was just like, "****, I'm sorry. The dice don't like you today."

As far as flying, there were some really good maneuvers, and I fit myself into some really nice positions. And some not so nice positions. I keep forgetting about the IA on Echo, so I need to fly it more with something to go off letting me know to use IA. Especially since that procs before the decloak. I did make a nice decloak through a rock to turn and land a nice R2 shot on his Z95. The collision detector is really nice, as it allows me to put myself on the edge of rocks where the maneuver template isn't overlapping the rock. Definitely my next pick up and I think this is the list for the tournament this week.

Thanks for the help.