I'd put an engine upgrade on Vader, and if you're locked in on taking Vessery, swap Lone Wolf for PTL/VI and MK2 ions. 3 ships will make it hard to consistently trigger lone Wolf, especially when he needs to share their target locks to trigger his ability. If you split him off to utilise lone Wolf you run the risk of him getting focused down with minimal return fire from his pals.

I'd put an engine upgrade on Vader, and if you're locked in on taking Vessery, swap Lone Wolf for PTL/VI and MK2 ions. 3 ships will make it hard to consistently trigger lone Wolf, especially when he needs to share their target locks to trigger his ability. If you split him off to utilise lone Wolf you run the risk of him getting focused down with minimal return fire from his pals.

Lonewolf is mostly there if Vessery ends up being my last ship.

I'd put an engine upgrade on Vader, and if you're locked in on taking Vessery, swap Lone Wolf for PTL/VI and MK2 ions. 3 ships will make it hard to consistently trigger lone Wolf, especially when he needs to share their target locks to trigger his ability. If you split him off to utilise lone Wolf you run the risk of him getting focused down with minimal return fire from his pals.

Lonewolf is mostly there if Vessery ends up being my last ship.

He very likely will not. And it's better to plan for an upgrade that is always useful.

On the note of PtL, though, I don't recommend it. Ryad is the only viable PtL Defender, due to her green K-turns. For the rest, you remove one of their major advantages by using PtL.

Consider Juke for Vessery, or VI to help him with some of his least favorable match ups (Dash).

I second EU on Vader, though.

Mostly, I wanted to put Deathfire on the table with this list. With LRS and a target lock that he doesn't really ever need to spend it seemed like Vessery was a natural addition to the squad.

Vader seemed to fit well into the remaining points while being fairly durable and having decent punch. Both Vessery and Vader seem like they are decent enough closers if the other gets taken out.

If I scrapped Vader, I'd probably try something like this:

You could also consider The Inquisitor. He is a decent closer, and could cover some weakness your list would otherwise suffer from (because Autothrusters are great).

You could also consider The Inquisitor. He is a decent closer, and could cover some weakness your list would otherwise suffer from (because Autothrusters are great).

The Inquisitor is cool and all but I suck with him because keeping things at range three doesn't end up happening with the way I set dials. The couple of times I've used him he ends up getting blown up with a quickness.

I wish the Protectorates would have gotten a dial like the TAP instead of the the TIE/fo.

You could also consider The Inquisitor. He is a decent closer, and could cover some weakness your list would otherwise suffer from (because Autothrusters are great).

The Inquisitor is cool and all but I suck with him because keeping things at range three doesn't end up happening with the way I set dials. The couple of times I've used him he ends up getting blown up with a quickness.

I wish the Protectorates would have gotten a dial like the TAP instead of the the TIE/fo.

Haha I have a similar issue. It's a matter of knowing when to completely disengage, which is going to be more often than with most other ships. He's a constant flanker, and a real pain for PWTs that traditionally benefit from keeping at range/moving away from enemies.

That's why I slap Prockets on him and get at least one good bop on the nose, if I find myself getting too close.

Back in the days before Defenders were cool (i.e. before Imp Vets came out), I used to run this list quite a bit (even won a small tourney with it):

Vessery w/ VI, HLC & hull upgrade = 46

Vader w/ lone wolf, x-1, ATC & engine = 36

Epsilon pilot = 15

97

Simple strategy: Epsilon dives in for a block, grabs a target lock if possible, and Vessery hangs back to lay smackdown with the HLC. Vader flanks or acts as bait.

After Imp Vets, I updated it to:

Vessery w/ crackshot, TIE/D & ion cannon = 39

Vader (as above) = 36

Zeta Leader w/ crackshot & comm relay = 24

99

ZL hits much harder than Eppy, and even with ion cannon, Vessery can still hit like a truck. The list is not easy to fly, however. If you make any positional errors, or misjudge your opponent's moves, you can end up in deep do-do. I'd say Dengaroo is probably the worst matchup these days (not impossible, but its so easy to lose Vessery fast to bad dice and then it takes a long time to kill Manaroo especially since only Vader can chase her effectively).

Anyway, you could totally do something similar by running Deathrain instead of Zeta Leader, although honestly, I don't think Deathrain is needed. He's kind of anti-ace tech, but you have Vader who does that well enough, imho.

I also tried a Gamma bomber before going with Zeta Leader:

Gamma w/ homing missile + LRS = 23 (or 25 with extra munitions). However, he's just not durable enough in this kind of list. Zeta Leader w/ comm relay survives much better.

Another option for 3rd ship is Epsilon Ace. At 17 points and PS 12, its easy to get a TL for Vessery and you can toughen up Vess:

Vessery w/ crackshot, TIE/D, ion cannon + hull upgrade = 42

Vader (as above = 36

Epsilon Ace w/ comm relay = 20

98

I actually used this list in the VASSAL league a few times back in february, except I had Soontir in there instead of Vader. Its not bad, but Epsilon Ace doesn't hit very hard, so his only real contribution is painting target locks, and honestly you kind of need a bit more oomph from your third ship, imho.