So I've been trying to fix up old units and have been observing "what units don't people want to use?"

Back in April I've made some changes after playtesting:

AT-ST 14->10. Darth Vader 18->13. Han Solo 12->8. Chewbacca 15->12. IG88 12->8. Weiss 16->12. RGC 15->12. Boba Fett 13->10. Kayn Somos 10->7. Dengar 7->6. Sorin 8->6

Of course I noticed these calls for a whole new round of adjustments: How much should these units cost so that you'll want to use them again? The units after ‘;’ are the ones I’ve used for comparison

Loku 4->3; eAlliance Smuggler

Mak 3->2; rAlliance Smuggler

Biv 9->5; eProbe Droid

BRY ranged attack but fairly average surge abilities. His "close and personal" requires melee and triggering his bonus +1 block means you're not far from dead. Even with a 4-point reduction to 5 I’m still tempted to take eProbe due to its sweet pierce, +dmg and recover 2 means it can take much more than 7dmg to kill

Gaarkhan 8->6; Biv

Fenn 9->6; rEcho Base Trooper, rAlliance Rangers

Verena 8->6; eStorm, Leia, Davith, Shyla

Diala 7->6; Obi-wan, Biv, Gaarkhan, Vinto

I was going back & forth between 5 or 6. Her recover 2 and pierce 3 should be costly but she doesn’t roll that much surge on Red+Green vs. Obi. Her ability to reroll white and remove opponent’s defense dice makes her stronger than Vinto imo

Wampa 6->4; rNexu, Dewbacks, Terro

I’m not even sure what FFG’s original intention was: we got a 1x2 figure with dwarf movement and no mobile, high damage means nothing if you’ll be shot dead before you even attack. The bonus 2MP from Hunger helps very little on a melee figure. Nexu costs 4, can jump, can roll dodge and comes with free bleed and cunning (+1 block for each evade results)

eWampa 8->6; eNexu, Dewbacks, Terro

Saska 6->4; Greedo, eHired Gun, rHired Gun

Unfortunately the current meta is the opposite of Shady Contact: mainly-Merc HK/Bantha/Bossk army with Gideon+C3PO (and potentially Jabba later) sprinkled in. Unstable device = She suffers 1dmg for a 50% chance of 1-dmg grenade, 16% chance of 2-dmg grenade, and 33% chance of 0-dmg grenade, not worth it imo

Would these costs make them competitive again? All feedback are greatly appreciated!

The other problem you run into is the more balanced and potent attacks figures have as part of their profile in the newer figures as well as better command cards. I think the health/defense is a big part of why some of these figures aren't taken, or usefulness within their faction.

I disagree with comparing any figure to another figure in a different faction. Gideon has always seemed way to cheap compared to an Imperial officer, BUT he's the only guy in the Rebels (and Mercs) that can do what he does, so having him be a bit cheaper, doesn't hurt, because you can't take 4 of him.

AT-ST 14->10. too cheap

Darth Vader 18->13 too cheap

. Han Solo 12->8. Chewbacca 15->12. IG88 12->8. Weiss 16->12. RGC 15->12. Boba Fett 13->10. Kayn Somos 10->7. Dengar 7->6 not cheap enough. Sorin 8->6

Loku 4->3; eAlliance Smuggler

Mak 3->2; leave him, he's fine check out the new All Ranger

Biv 9->5; you can't take an eprobe in Rebels, at 5 he's a really hard hitting character. 3 dice ranged attack, and if you get adjacent he can attack twice, that may be a little too good. He needs a bit of a rewrite as with many of the Campaign characters (guys that were developed, but the designers weren't paying attention to skirmish at that time, really need a rewrite, not point changed to try and shoehorn them in. unfortunately that's half the deployment cards in the game)

Gaarkhan 8->6;

Fenn 9->6; He really needs MORE surge abilities is all, maybe 12 health, currently, or as is

Verena 8->6; Verena is actually pretty good, the problem is her regular gun is no better than most troopers, so her ability can be poor if your playing a lot of swarm lists. She should have more of a cost allowance for her weapon, so if your reinforcement cost is 4 or less, you get and extra green or something

Diala 7->6; Diala would really benefit from more health

Wampa 6->4;

eWampa 8->6; I think I'd be alright with that, their mobility will always be an issue.

Saska 6->4 built in temp alliance, really she needs a rework, because you'd never want to do damage to yourself, esp. with 7 health

Thanks for the feedback!

I would have to disagree on the principle "we shouldn't compare with other factions". I can see where you're coming from but imo a 5-pts Rebel should stand a decent chance&offer similar firepower as a 5-pts imperial. Otherwise I'd just take Imperial (which is the case with Sorin droids+people prefer imperial in worlds)

I also try to avoid changing other stuff (HP, ability...) if possible because then we're pretty much looking at designing a new game

Mak: I don't think he's close as good as Ranger

Biv: I used eProbe as the closest I can find. How much does he need to cost so you'll take him again?

Verena: don't quite understand, she's a single figure with no reinforcement cost

Diala: problem is Obi's so good. Same as Biv, given her current stat what's an acceptable point cost you'd take?

Saska: same as Diala&Biv, I'm curious on your thought on a "fair point"

yeah, but abilities are fit into the price

eProbe is one of the best stand alone deployment figures. Not everything is going to be as good

I like what your doing, as if we're going to see play with some of these figures, there needs to be a change, but I think that the overall design (admitted by the design team themselves) was flawed. So a total rewrite for some of these guys is necessary. If we're only going to change point costs, and keep all the old abilities the same, then that's a different exercise. Some of the cards are really not worth taking no matter what the point cost is, because their abilities are really worth it to me, unless your just looking for a cheap activation.

I think you have to look at everything as a whole as well. Sorin was greatly enhanced by adv. Comms as was any army that takes him. If you put your version of Sorin with Adv Comms in your version of vehicles and so on, you create a really unbalanced army that wipes the floor with anything it faces

6 sorin adv comms

10 AtSt

5eProbe

5eProbe

3regprobe

2officer

2officer

Rule By Fear

Zillo

or add HKs whatever, you've got self focusing blasting droids and vehicles that get to shoot out of turn, don't really have to move for themselves and can recover.

Some of these guys are probably too good for too cheap a point cost. I think some of the new figures would be better if they were cheaper (Weequays for example) but the design team prefers to err on the expensive side instead of make something too good and throw any balance out of whack