Hi there everyone,

It's been some time since I've been playing X-Wing (about 3 waves!). I bought a bunch of cards to catch up, not interested in any of the ships, although looking forward to seeing what Quadjumper is like.

My question is, how good is Dorsal Turret? I'm a Scum player and always wanted to have fun with Kavil, but since R4 Agromech got nerfed/reworked and Push the Limit/Unhinged was always a bit expensive for what it did, I'm thinking an alternative to Blaster Turret might be an idea.

I also love HWKs, especially Palob. I played with a mean Opportunist/K4/Moldy/Blaster Turret build, which dished out a lot of punishment, but is really expensive.

What works well with non-BTL Y-Wings and HWKs?

I've yet to play competitively. I might one day

It isn't bad, but definitly not spammable. I like it for a cheap Palob with Vectored Thrusters. Kavil can use it well, too. Torkil, too, again with the Vectored Thrusters so you can controll ranges a lot better.

The 2-dice at medium range makes it....so so.

Kavil, specifcially, can really make it effective, though. Three dice at medium range is respectable, and you can get shots easily enough to then concentrate on dodging enemy arcs of fire or on giving you dice modifiers.

Unhinged, Predator, Engine Upgrade is nice. Suddenly a Y-wing becomes hard to catch and he's still flinging pretty accurate attacks.

Alternatively, Unhinged, Opportunist Vectored Thrusters is quite nice - Vectored Thrusters is cheaper for an "iff you need it" option, but if you can dial it in right and get your focus, that's one hell of a punch.

It certainly dos not match in game what we see on the show... I mean dam, range two and two weak-ass dice... NAH!

Nah this thing is never gonna hit a TIE...FFG-Nah!

Hehe I remember you Joe Such fun positive posts.

It isn't bad, but definitly not spammable. I like it for a cheap Palob with Vectored Thrusters. Kavil can use it well, too. Torkil, too, again with the Vectored Thrusters so you can controll ranges a lot better.

Glad I picked up some Vectored Thrusters. It's a nice alternative to Expert Handling, occupying a different slot.

I guess Dorsal Turret counts as a good "backup weapon so it's not just a 1 ATK HWK-290", being only 3 points, outside of specific combos like Kavil's pilot ability.

The 2-dice at medium range makes it....so so.

Kavil, specifcially, can really make it effective, though. Three dice at medium range is respectable, and you can get shots easily enough to then concentrate on dodging enemy arcs of fire or on giving you dice modifiers.

Unhinged, Predator, Engine Upgrade is nice. Suddenly a Y-wing becomes hard to catch and he's still flinging pretty accurate attacks.

Alternatively, Unhinged, Opportunist Vectored Thrusters is quite nice - Vectored Thrusters is cheaper for an "iff you need it" option, but if you can dial it in right and get your focus, that's one hell of a punch.

I still don't have Engine Upgrade The card resellers never have it in stock. Have proxied it a ton for sure... I wonder what's better, Vectored Thrusters or Engine Upgrade? The distance covered by boost is definitely higher, but it's also twice as expensive on points, as you pointed out.

Thanks for the ideas guys I love my Y-Wings and HWKs Need to get my HWKs painted at some point to be all Scummy and awesome looking.

Dorsal is strong at range 1.

At range 1, Autoblaster is even better.

The card resellers never have it in stock. Have proxied it a ton for sure... I wonder what's better, Vectored Thrusters or Engine Upgrade? The distance covered by boost is definitely higher, but it's also twice as expensive on points, as you pointed out.

Depends entirely on the list.

I think Dorsal stands in a bit of an awkward spot. For range 1 ABT is better and cheaper, for range 1-2 I'd probably prefer to pay 2 extra points and get Ion Cannon Turret for the third die at r2 and some control. So the only thing it does well is cheap short range turreting, and there's a better option for that.

It's fine, it's just not better than other choices.

I'm not a big fan, a 2 dice turret is usually worthless enough these days to make going for the Autoblaster the better choice for a cheap buy. At least then I can do something at range 1.

Hehe I remember you Joe Such fun positive posts.

You went away for a bit...

Better than Blaster Turret but not TLT level of power.

The card resellers never have it in stock. Have proxied it a ton for sure... I wonder what's better, Vectored Thrusters or Engine Upgrade? The distance covered by boost is definitely higher, but it's also twice as expensive on points, as you pointed out.

Depends entirely on the list.

Vectored Thrusters being cheaper is nice. Barrel roll is probably better for a turreted ship - because you're not bothered about changing your facing, and barrel roll is good to move in and 'sideslip' out of an opponent's arc. Its also good for weaving through obstacles.

Remember the r4 nerf only affected using the focus to fire torps.

If you are using with tlt it still works as before

Not with the Blaster Turret, though.

For a point less you can get the ABT which is only Range 1 but is undodgeable and makes great cheap insurance. For 3 points more you can get a TLT which has longer range and is much more effective.

It is better than the Blaster Turret but that is not saying much. It is a compromise and as such, will often feel like the worst of both worlds rather than the best.

Hehe I remember you Joe Such fun positive posts.

It isn't bad, but definitly not spammable. I like it for a cheap Palob with Vectored Thrusters. Kavil can use it well, too. Torkil, too, again with the Vectored Thrusters so you can controll ranges a lot better.

Glad I picked up some Vectored Thrusters. It's a nice alternative to Expert Handling, occupying a different slot.

I guess Dorsal Turret counts as a good "backup weapon so it's not just a 1 ATK HWK-290", being only 3 points, outside of specific combos like Kavil's pilot ability.

The 2-dice at medium range makes it....so so.

Kavil, specifcially, can really make it effective, though. Three dice at medium range is respectable, and you can get shots easily enough to then concentrate on dodging enemy arcs of fire or on giving you dice modifiers.

Unhinged, Predator, Engine Upgrade is nice. Suddenly a Y-wing becomes hard to catch and he's still flinging pretty accurate attacks.

Alternatively, Unhinged, Opportunist Vectored Thrusters is quite nice - Vectored Thrusters is cheaper for an "iff you need it" option, but if you can dial it in right and get your focus, that's one hell of a punch.

I still don't have Engine Upgrade The card resellers never have it in stock. Have proxied it a ton for sure... I wonder what's better, Vectored Thrusters or Engine Upgrade? The distance covered by boost is definitely higher, but it's also twice as expensive on points, as you pointed out.

Thanks for the ideas guys I love my Y-Wings and HWKs Need to get my HWKs painted at some point to be all Scummy and awesome looking.

I'd go for Vectored Thrusters just because they onlöy cost half as much and aren't significantly worse. Boost allows you to change your facing and cover more distance in the direction you would manouver anyways, Barrel Roll allows for sidestepping which isn't possible through normal manouvers. Both allow you to turn your arc away from opponents, both allow you to controll range. They do it differently and sometimes you wish you'd have the other in a certain situation, but in the grand scheme of things neither is better than the other there. So for me the point discount wins!

I would say if you have the points, TLT is good, Dorsal comes in second. It depends on if you can keep your distance to the enemy. But since Kavil is pretty dangerous, i can see people go for him early if he has a TLT.

So maybe the Dorsal isn't bad. Makes him cheaper and a less obvious target, and out of arc he has the firepower of a Falcon.

looking forward to seeing what Quadjumper is like.

You and everybody else...

On a Y-wing I would say vectored thrusters are better than engine upgrade. You usually play a range game (either to get into range 1 with dorsal or autoblaster, or to get out with TLT), and it really helps you in that regard since you can move more flexible at the sides.

Dorsal for me is OK if you can take Firing Control System and get the TL through shooting 360 degree to use it for something else (i.e. Han Solo crew) while you accept the fact that you deal damage in R1 and/or only while having enemy in your arc. That way you can quite reasonably keep the TL, without using actions and get the modification of Han, even though you are flying stressed (via Hera) and get relatively good attack with Ghost. But I do not see that turret being useful with Scums.

I don't really like it - with the exception of Kavil. It's well below TLT and Ion, and if I'm looking for a cheap turret, I'll go for Autoblaster normally - it scares the hell out of a lot of good ships.

Personally, I think Dorsal Turret is great for what it is. It's the cheapest turret that can fire past R1. It's only 3 pts and doesn't require a Focus. I think it's great for what it is. It's not meant to be a crazy, game-winning turret....except maybe with Kavil.

It certainly dos not match in game what we see on the show... I mean dam, range two and two weak-ass dice... NAH!

Nah this thing is never gonna hit a TIE...FFG-Nah!

Hey....that was clearly at R1 and the Tie Fighter blanked out on 3 Green dice. The Dorsal Turret can one shot a Tie Fighter at R1. Not likely, but possible.

I've got a reasonable amount of use out of it, particularly on Torkil and Palob where it pairs nicely with the range of their abilities. Palob with Predator, Dorsal Turret and Zuckuss has been a pain for my opponents, and a nice distraction from the more dangerous elements of my list in the past. It's not a top-tier upgrade, but definitely fills a useful role in the game.

Personally, I think Dorsal Turret is great for what it is. It's the cheapest turret that can fire past R1. It's only 3 pts and doesn't require a Focus. I think it's great for what it is. It's not meant to be a crazy, game-winning turret....except maybe with Kavil.

It certainly dos not match in game what we see on the show... I mean dam, range two and two weak-ass dice... NAH!

Nah this thing is never gonna hit a TIE...FFG-Nah!

Hey....that was clearly at R1 and the Tie Fighter blanked out on 3 Green dice. The Dorsal Turret can one shot a Tie Fighter at R1. Not likely, but possible.

Major Explosion > Direct hit yeah. AKA the fate of about 90% of TIE fighters that let a single crit sneak through range 3 with focus and evade...

I've never tried the Dorsal Turret, although like a lot of people I thought Kavil could get use out of it.

However, I feel Kavil with VI, Autoblaster Turret and Vector Engines is just so much more fun.

I fly BTL Y-Wings all the time with a Dorsal Turret. They are fantastic at Range 1, and BTL helps it you get stuck at Range 2. Nobody expects to see a Y-Wing boosting or doing a barrel-roll.