I just realized that over the last month I've been building lists that take advantage of zero-cost upgrades ... and I think this is an idea that FFG needs to embrace to deliver even more variety and "unpredictability" to X-wing.

Sure, none of the zero-point upgrades that we have are "amazing" (and they shouldn't be overly powerful if they don't cost anything) but I've built plenty of lists where ships have upgrade slots that go unused.

Heck, most casual and competitive players end up flying lists with empty upgrade slots ... and that's a wasted opportunity for both players and the developers.

I'd like to suggest to FFG that every "non-weapon" upgrade type should have "at least" two zero-cost upgrades available to every faction.

Sure, some zero-cost upgrades can be unique (like the Rebel-only Chopper crew card or the Scum-only "Genius" salvaged astromech), but each faction should have access to "at least" two zero-cost upgrades for every upgrade type.

That way every player can do "something" with the otherwise empty upgrade slots ... even if that zero-cost upgrade doesn't provide much of a tactical advantage during each match.

Again, I'm excluding weapons (cannons, torps, missiles, turrets, etc.) from this list because you should have to pay points for weapons ... but I think it's fair to let players have free non-weapon upgrades as long as those upgrades aren't overpowered.

I like how Collision Detector allows you to avoid damage from debris and adds some variety to the game by letting you boost, barrel roll, or decloak onto obstacles. I like how Chopper lets me perform an action if I'm stressed and absolutely "need" to take an action even if it causes me damage. Similarly, we've already seen several zero-cost EPTs that aren't "amazing" but can be "useful."

Free upgrades also make small-ship swarm lists that much more viable and give players the freedom to risk adding higher pilot skill ships to our lists and add a unique pilot ability to a list without burning too many points on upgrades for that pilot.

So, bring on the zero-cost tech upgrades, the zero-cost illicit upgrades, more zero-cost modifications ... bring on the variety.

To spark some ideas, here's my first suggestion:

Target Scrambler (modification) - 0 points:

"When defending, if you have a target lock on your attacker you may spend your target lock to re-roll any number of green dice."

This would allow target locks to be used defensively and I think it's fair to make this ability a free upgrade because it only works if you have a target lock on the ship that's attacking you ... and if you spend your target lock you obviously can't use it for a future attack. Also, you're just re-rolling your defense dice so there's no guarantee you'll get an evade result.

The five primary problems with the idea are imo:

- complexity - now even the most basic squads will feature a load of upgrades spread across multiple ships.

- price to play - imagine the cost of fielding BBBBZ or whatever if every upgrade slot had to be filled.

- Variety - an array of viable 0-point upgrades will undoutably push more expansive upgrades out.

- autoinclusion - The best part of listbuilding is waying the pros of an upgrade against its cost. Without the secod part, listbuilding is less fun.

- Balance - Mltiple viabe 0 point upgrades will favour spammable ships and push them ahead in the meta. (to a point this is needed atm, but it will be hard to balance).

Edit : Target scrambler should cost about 2 points. Imagine Target Scrambler for free on Omega Leader.

Idea for a 0-point upgrade. (rebel astromech)

Panicdroid.

When defending, you may suffer 1 damage to increase you agility value by 2.

Well your suggestion is already in the game, just in the form of a 2 point astromech called R7.
Aside from that I like 0 point upgrades as well, but right now they are just giving them as titles just because they can.
I would like for them to have competing upgrades that do well in some scenarios and give them both niches to work on.

Well your suggestion is already in the game, just in the form of a 2 point astromech called R7.

Aside from that I like 0 point upgrades as well, but right now they are just giving them as titles just because they can.

I would like for them to have competing upgrades that do well in some scenarios and give them both niches to work on.

R7 re-rolls enemy Red Dice, not your green dice. Still, it's safe to say that such a modification would probably need to cost at least a point.

So here is an interesting thought- What if FFG went the errata route for 0 point upgrades? Here is a list of upgrades that see limitied play now, that may be candidates to see healthy play at 0 points.

ASTROMECHS

-R2-D6

-R2-F2 (maybe. Funny enough it might be too strong at 0)

-R3 Astromech (this seems like the quintessential 0 point card to me. Bad ability, that only works in certain scenarios, and even in the best scenarios, its still only "okay")

-R5 Astromech

-R5-D8 (the random element of this makes me think 0 points would be fine)

-R5-K6 (bad FCS is bad)

-R5-X3 (another really strong option for a 0 point card. Highly situational, single use, doesn't combo with integrated astro. I actually think it is undervalued by the community as is actually.)

CREW

- Greedo

- Dash Rendar

-IG-88D

-Leebo

-Moff Jerjerrod

-Nien Numb

-Saboteur (Another good 0 point upgrade. With BMST at 1, this seems objectively worse and well worth a 0 point change)

- Unkar Plutt (Hasn't seen the table yet, but it seems really odd to me that this is a 1 point upgrade where Chopper is 0)

ELITE

-Cool Hand

-Adrenaline Rush

-Bodyguard

-Calculation

-Intimidation

-Rage (this is one I would add the the current pool. The double stress is really big. It seems like the give and take here is enough to have it at 0 without any issues)

- Squad Leader

-Wingman

-Wired

MODS

-B-wing/E2

- Maneuvering Fins

-Munitions Failsafe

-Tactical Jammer

-Targeting Computer (now the question here is this- is the target lock action value equivalent to the value of a mod slot? Probably not. Targeting Computer should be probably 1 point though imo)

SYSTEMS

- Enhanced Scopes (of all upgrades, this is the one I think needs to be 0 points the most. Incredibly situational. In fact, it is usually a BAD card. Not because it is priced bad, but because the ability is literally bad for your ship. You have to build around the card to make it usable, likely through using it with bombs or similar)

-Electronic Baffle (This one is probably okay at 1, but I don't think it would be meta shaking at 0 either)

- Reinforced Deflectors (If only to disrupt the continual push towards more attack dice. I have literally never seen this card on the table, and I think the 3 points is a big reason for that. I would also make this available to small ships)

TECH

- Hyperwave Comm Scanner (Another one that hasn't seen the table, but am I crazy to think this would have no issue being 0 points? The second half of the card hardly ever will have an impact, and I think the forces placement is probably worth the value of the slot)

and just for the sake of tongue in cheek...

TITLES

- TIE/x7

I like them on EPTs. The mid-PS pilots already paid to get there, and the high-PS pilots have competition from other, more significant, bonuses.

I'm happy for unique upgrades to have the occasional, double-edged-sword type upgrade like Chopper (and arguably, Greedo should have been one too).

I'm much, much less happy for things like Collision Detector, which you could simply spam for no disadvantage on hulls that were theoretically decent, even without an upgrade at all.

The way at least some of the ships are costed you are clearly already paying for the upgrade slots, so there should be free options. They don't need to be great. I think collision detector is a good example of zero point upgrade, it can be useful and slapped onto a spam list without forcing you to change the list, but on ships that already see play there are better options out there. On my VCX I'm happily paying 2 points all day over taking collision detector for free. I'd like to eventually see at least 1 to 2 free options for every upgrade slot in the game. They'll sell more ships to competitive players that way also because nobody will want to leave upgrade slots empty.

I'm voting No on the zero cost unless it is something to help balance the game

I will echo that every discard EPT (except Crack Shot) needs to cost 0 points. Too bad they didn't realize that back then when they made them...

The way at least some of the ships are costed you are clearly already paying for the upgrade slots, so there should be free options. They don't need to be great. I think collision detector is a good example of zero point upgrade, it can be useful and slapped onto a spam list without forcing you to change the list, but on ships that already see play there are better options out there. On my VCX I'm happily paying 2 points all day over taking collision detector for free. I'd like to eventually see at least 1 to 2 free options for every upgrade slot in the game. They'll sell more ships to competitive players that way also because nobody will want to leave upgrade slots empty.

Very well stated. Couldn't have done better myself great input!

The five primary problems with the idea are imo:

- complexity - now even the most basic squads will feature a load of upgrades spread across multiple ships.

- price to play - imagine the cost of fielding BBBBZ or whatever if every upgrade slot had to be filled.

- Variety - an array of viable 0-point upgrades will undoutably push more expansive upgrades out.

- autoinclusion - The best part of listbuilding is waying the pros of an upgrade against its cost. Without the secod part, listbuilding is less fun.

- Balance - Mltiple viabe 0 point upgrades will favour spammable ships and push them ahead in the meta. (to a point this is needed atm, but it will be hard to balance).

Edit : Target scrambler should cost about 2 points. Imagine Target Scrambler for free on Omega Leader.

Idea for a 0-point upgrade. (rebel astromech)

Panicdroid.

When defending, you may suffer 1 damage to increase you agility value by 2.

I absolutly agree with your list of problems. They could most likely be dodged by adding a restriction like: A ship cannot equip more than one zero point card that is not restricted to a certain ship.

So you could use 0 point titles and up to one zero point upgrade. (No clue whether GC/LRS included in that list of "unique" 0-point cards is a problem or not)

The ONE point Modifications are lonely. I like the price of ZERO, but those 1's need company.

Zero point titles aren't a bad way to boost ships that need boosting.

I don't like FAQing changes on cards without doing reprint packs so we can obtain the proper text on the card and not have to refer to a book to find out what the card actually says now.

I've been mulling over a zero point bomb upgrade.

Given that most people (on the battlefield) would "freak-out" (i.e. get a stress token) about a bomb being dropped in their vicinity and would try to pull up & do some kind of evasive maneuver, this would cause a stress token to be generated. When time passes, and no explosion happens, too bad! The stress has already been generated, even if no damage was actually done. So essentially, it would be like any other bomb, that you would measure out to range 1 and if someone's in that range, they get a stress token - if outside of range 1, just like a normal bomb, then nothing happens.

I mean, if it was just an empty bomb casing to house the explosives, would that really cost much of anything? Maybe it should have a caveat of a Limited upgrade? (though I don't know how that would work with extra munitions).

Anyways, how about " Decoy Bomb "...what do you guys think?

[Edit: Spelling Error]

I've been mulling over a zero point bomb upgrade.

Given that most people (on the battlefield) would "freak-out" (i.e. get a stress token) about a bomb being dropped in their vicinity and would try to pull up & do some kind of evasive maneuver, this would cause a stress token to be generated. When time passes, and no explosion happens, too bad! The stress has already been generated, even if no damage was actually done. So essentially, it would be like any other bomb, that you would measure out to range 1 and if someone's in that range, they get a stress token - if outside of range 1, just like a normal bomb, then nothing happens.

I mean, if it was just an empty bomb casing to house the explosives, would that really cost much of anything? Maybe it should have a caveat of a Limited upgrade? (though I don't know how that would work with extra munitions).

Anyways, how about " Decoy Bomb "...what do you guys think?

[Edit: Spelling Error]

That 's a cool idea. A pure stress bomb would probably be worth 1 point, but I guess 0 is fine as well. It would be useful in the 4xTLT squad making it even more of a pain (but also more fun) to play against. Other than that, Sabine could use her ability to push damage through. That's ok by me, mainly just a bit illogical.

I'm not a big fan of zero-cost upgrades, they just unnecessarily add to the complexity of the game with more upgrade cards to have to remember. As an experienced player this isn't an issue for me, but it makes it harder for new players.

For example a new player, fresh from playing the Core set, decides the ARC looks cool and buys it and wants to play with it. They can't just put it on the table, they have to remember to equip the title, and then they can't just look at the stats on the pilot card (2 attack dice), they have to remember to look at the title and roll 3 attack dice out the front and get free focus conversion out the back. And then for example they decide to equip the Proton Torpedo from the Core Set, and instead of slowly learning that ordnance is bad, they find out there is another card (Guidance Chips) for zero points that makes it objectively better, which they could proxy, but then have to remember about it when firing their torps. And then there is also a zero-point crew card (Chopper), which could give them another ability for no points.

The game is getting too complex and harder to get into.

I'm not a big fan of zero-cost upgrades, they just unnecessarily add to the complexity of the game with more upgrade cards to have to remember. As an experienced player this isn't an issue for me, but it makes it harder for new players.

For example a new player, fresh from playing the Core set, decides the ARC looks cool and buys it and wants to play with it. They can't just put it on the table, they have to remember to equip the title, and then they can't just look at the stats on the pilot card (2 attack dice), they have to remember to look at the title and roll 3 attack dice out the front and get free focus conversion out the back. And then for example they decide to equip the Proton Torpedo from the Core Set, and instead of slowly learning that ordnance is bad, they find out there is another card (Guidance Chips) for zero points that makes it objectively better, which they could proxy, but then have to remember about it when firing their torps. And then there is also a zero-point crew card (Chopper), which could give them another ability for no points.

The game is getting too complex and harder to get into.

Everything can't be monopoly. I had a game early on that i probably lost because i had 3 ships with Crackshot and didn't remember to trigger a single one. Didn't make that game any less fun or any more complicated; I simply forgot to use an upgrade which in a casual game is no big deal and if i played competitively i don't consider it a problem that someone more experienced beats me because i forget to take advantage of upgrades.

That 's a cool idea. A pure stress bomb would probably be worth 1 point, but I guess 0 is fine as well. It would be useful in the 4xTLT squad making it even more of a pain (but also more fun) to play against. Other than that, Sabine could use her ability to push damage through. That's ok by me, mainly just a bit illogical.

A good point.

Well, maybe their can be a "may not add compounding effects" (or something like that) so that, as you mentioned, Sabine's ability can't be used.

I'm not a big fan of zero-cost upgrades, they just unnecessarily add to the complexity of the game with more upgrade cards to have to remember. As an experienced player this isn't an issue for me, but it makes it harder for new players.

For example a new player, fresh from playing the Core set, decides the ARC looks cool and buys it and wants to play with it. They can't just put it on the table, they have to remember to equip the title, and then they can't just look at the stats on the pilot card (2 attack dice), they have to remember to look at the title and roll 3 attack dice out the front and get free focus conversion out the back. And then for example they decide to equip the Proton Torpedo from the Core Set, and instead of slowly learning that ordnance is bad, they find out there is another card (Guidance Chips) for zero points that makes it objectively better, which they could proxy, but then have to remember about it when firing their torps. And then there is also a zero-point crew card (Chopper), which could give them another ability for no points.

The game is getting too complex and harder to get into.

For new players, could they not simply field pilots with no upgrades (other than munitions)? Or could they not also field generic pilots - keeping it simple? Rather than limiting ALL players the gift of getting new and more upgrades, would this not be a better solution? If you wish to keep your squadron build very simple - that's the beauty of this game design - you can ! As it is the player's own responsibility to keep track of their upgrades, I believe the game has been uniquely designed to allow for individual complexity - has it not?

In all fairness, if my six year old son can keep track of fairly complicated builds with ordnance, unique pilots and modifications - what will that present for - in terms of complexity - for anyone older?

[Edit: Additional Content Added]

I'm not a big fan of zero-cost upgrades, they just unnecessarily add to the complexity of the game with more upgrade cards to have to remember. As an experienced player this isn't an issue for me, but it makes it harder for new players.

For example a new player, fresh from playing the Core set, decides the ARC looks cool and buys it and wants to play with it. They can't just put it on the table, they have to remember to equip the title, and then they can't just look at the stats on the pilot card (2 attack dice), they have to remember to look at the title and roll 3 attack dice out the front and get free focus conversion out the back. And then for example they decide to equip the Proton Torpedo from the Core Set, and instead of slowly learning that ordnance is bad, they find out there is another card (Guidance Chips) for zero points that makes it objectively better, which they could proxy, but then have to remember about it when firing their torps. And then there is also a zero-point crew card (Chopper), which could give them another ability for no points.

The game is getting too complex and harder to get into.

For new players, could they not simply field pilots with no upgrades (other than munitions)? Or could they not also field generic pilots - keeping it simple? Rather than limiting ALL players the gift of getting new and more upgrades, would this not be a better solution? If you wish to keep your squadron build very simple - that's the beauty of this game design - you can ! As it is the player's own responsibility to keep track of their upgrades, I believe the game has been uniquely designed to allow for individual complexity - has it not?

In all fairness, if my six year old son can keep track of fairly complicated builds with ordnance, unique pilots and modifications - what will that present for - in terms of complexity - for anyone older?

[Edit: Additional Content Added]

It's not that I'm against lots of upgrades, I don't like zero-point upgrades where a player could be disadvantaged by not having them.

It's not that I'm against lots of upgrades, I don't like zero-point upgrades where a player could be disadvantaged by not having them.

Well, that's different. I understand.

It can be a tad frustrating when FFG keeps releasing such fantastic new ships and upgrades, and it feels like "Aaarrggghhh!!! Another ship I have to buy!" indeed, when I made the transition from Board Games into Miniatures I had no idea just how unrelated the two were (financially speaking). Sigh...yes it does seem like FFG has declared war on our hard earned money. But! Like new sports cars and technology, one has to make a choice (at some point) of accepting that it may become difficult (if not impossible) to keep up with the Jones' and to be satisfied with what we have.

Still...no reason to stop making new stuff for others who may wish to continue their support/investment in this game... no?

[Edit: Spelling Error]

I am a big fan of the zero point upgrades as well and would love to see more of them. As for them making the game more complicated no one is forcing new players to use most of them aside from the ARC title type. New players should be encouraged to use upgrades so that they get accustomed to the timing and remembering additional effects but most are not mandatory to make a ship work.