Hello,

I am an avid Armada player and recently picked up a big lot of X-wing second hand. I played x-wing when it first came out but left it for armada. I have started filling out my collection already. I am looking for some good articles about fleet building, general strategies and tactics, and overall meta boogeymen. Not looking to jump back in and just net list, I enjoy the mental game of building fleets and trying to see what works and what doesnt. my emphasis would be on imperial or scum fleets but rebel is not out of the question.

Thanks in Advance.

nevermind i found the sticky thread. apologies, coffee hasnt hit the brain yet.

Don't ignore the casual side of things. It doesn't all have to be tournament meta.

5 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Don't ignore the casual side of things. It doesn't all have to be tournament meta.

Exactly. Play at more than 100 points. . .then, no meta.

"Fleet" isn't a term we use in X-Wing. We build squads .

I realize that's a step down for you, Admiral.

8 minutes ago, DagobahDave said:

"Fleet" isn't a term we use in X-Wing. We build squads .

I realize that's a step down for you, Admiral.

Well, I suppose he could hep it up to wings :

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fighter_wing

8 minutes ago, DagobahDave said:

"Fleet" isn't a term we use in X-Wing. We build squads .

I realize that's a step down for you, Admiral.

Well, that's not necessarily true in epic, epic you end up with pretty much fleets of fighters (that with my luck, I'd just run over my own guys)

I have signed up for nationals and potentially worlds if i can make it. This will be my "casual" game compared to armada but id still like to atleast be ready for random tournaments i attend.

2 hours ago, BergerFett said:

Not looking to jump back in and just net list, I enjoy the mental game of building fleets and trying to see what works and what doesn't. my emphasis would be on imperial or scum fleets but rebel is not out of the question.

In a way, to be competitive on any given day with knowledgeable players: "Pandora's box, opened you have."

As far as my limited knowledge goes, the meta is fairly diverse but there are some that have risen to the top.

Imperials: Palp Aces aren't quite what they were (from back in the day with beautiful flyers like Soontir, sad), but the Emperor has new decent sidekicks in Defenders and pocket-Aces. Defender squads are solid and tough (X7s being the best statistical ship in the game), but are in a predictable maneuver-box of sorts. Beyond that, mid-tier lists do OK with Whisper or RAC; not sure about the latest Wave of uniqueness in Kylo's Shuttle and his crew and mod cards. But, in any event, I'd say the Imps have the smallest and least-sharp toolbox of the factions now...they're struggling apart from the simple-minded Defenders.

Scum: Their crews are dead-cheap and awesome; and their ship dials are wicked good in comparison to the other similar sized ships in the other factions (freighters who out-fly fighters). Any Dengar/Wife-y Roo list is very good and quite tough. And, the recent hotness with Fenn (Scum Interceptor that hits like a super-truck) and friends, is probably the best list going right now. Yeah, Scum have all cylinders firing right now and are the ones to beat.

Rebels: Solid ships that have great synergies. I think the best performers I've seen have Miranda, Sabine, and Rey in the mix right now. There are so many tweaks that can be made, and, as always, shield regen and that sick-puppy Biggs makes any well thought out list really good. I'd say they are just a tiny step behind Scum right now.

There is so much info on this forum from great experts.....I'm the weak link in this train. Have fun! Cheers!

Yea I have a lot of reading and buying to so still but i also have all summer to figure out something fun and semi competitive by nationals.

I recommend aiming your ships at enemy ships and rolling lots of dice.

Really though, glad to have you back!

Try and make it to one Regional event before heading off to Nationals. A local store tournament won't prepare you for 8-10 hours of continuous game play against nearly perpetual meta-lists.

It sounds like you left the game wave 4-ish. Be aware that scum's main trick is doing damage you can't do anything about (have a look at Zuckuss and 4-Lom crew), whereas the empire's claim to fame is avoiding damage continuously (Palpatine and X7 Defenders). The two of them are kind of gridlocked on that note, and Rebels are off to the side with much weaker upgrades (Kanan and Sabine), but far stronger pilot abilities (Corran, Mranda, Rey, etc). The three factions are diverging from each other, and each of them have their own play style.

general rules of thumb from my skewed perspective

FIRST is "fuck dice"

nothing takes the fun out of a tactical game like variance screwing you over.

and while dice are essential for keeping engagements varied, x-wing has a pretty big problem in that dice provide far too much of a swing because there are relatively few rolls (compared to other games), which allows for exceptional variance, and there are essentially saving throws (Green dice, yuck) that can make or break games regardless of your tactical decision-making

i.e, this isn't Armada wherein you just have to worry about offensive dice and you have plenty of ships/squadrons to chuck enough such that said that largely confirm to statistical normalcy. Dice can and will decide games well before your flying does, especially if you let them

so when you're list building, try to add dice modifiers to everything and avoid the more gimmicky maneuver-based stuff (like Navigator)

most ships in the game now have at least one way of being built with enough modifiers to allow your input to have them actually matter, regardless of how competitively viable they are. Once you've figured out what looks cool, you can work on building it to not spontaneously com-bust on the table and, largely, have a good time with it (unless it ends up not fitting your style, but you need table time to figure that out)

some safe picks for beginners are Tie/x7 Defenders (Imperial Veterans), which are forgiving and almost universally powerful even with just the Tie/x7 title (Crackshot in the expac also works wonders)

for rebels, the K-wing's Miranda Doni with TLT is a powerful pilot that will always keep you in the fight (for as long as she lives) and can later be customized in many different ways

Scum doesn't really have a "safe pick" because imo, they're a more complicated faction. They have very very powerful options that easily rival/exceed their peers, but they're all buried under more complicated upgrade card interactions.

SECOND is proxy

I cannot imagine a local group that will not allow you to proxy specifically upgrade cards that you do not own. Doing so is great for the growth of the community as it allows players to experiment with new options before committing cash to what may be completely unsatisfying results

so, don't be afraid to proxy upgrade cards. Just make sure your opponent knows what you have, ideally by bringing print-outs of at least the card text and which ships they're on.

Or, even better, hand-draw them!

proxying actual ships is a far more complicated matter due to dial and how visually unappealing/confusing it is on the table. Would not recommend. Seek prior approval from your opponent.

Proxies should be a-okay for casual and local tournaments (provided the cards are available to the general public, as opposed to previewed for an upcoming wave). Store championships, regionals, nationals and worlds official tournaments DO NOT accept proxies and require FFG products to be used

but, as always, communicate with your local group

THIRD "faction identity"

there is no such thing as an overall defining theme for each faction.

People might say rebels have synergistic elements, until someone else points out the far more powerful synergistic elements of the empire (specifically Howlrunner, Palpatine and now probably the Upsilon shuttle and General Hux)

People might say that Empire have maneuverable glass cannon ships, but the rebellion can field those quite easily and the Tie Defender is anything but fragile

basically, each faction can reliably support most playstyles

To get into how each faction distinguishes itself, you have to get into the nitty-gritty of their ships and faction restricted upgrades, which are simply far too numerous to go into HUGE detail. There are, however, a few unique things about each faction

REBELs are the only faction with reliable ("good") shield regeneration capabilities, mostly from R2-d2 astromech and Miranda. Scum has Gonk and IG-88A to regenerate shields, but they're situational to say the VERY least

REBELs are also the only faction with a small ship that can SLAM, namely the K-wing. It and Sabine Wren (crew) make them, by far, the most effective faction to leverage bomb upgrades with

IMPERIALS do not have access to turret upgrades, though they have a primary weapon turret ship in the VT-49 decimator

Generally, as far as I can remember, their ships have the most flexible maneuver dials on average (but they also have the single most restrictive dial in the game in the lambda)

Emperor Palpatine is crazy

SCUM is weird as hell and requires a personal journey to understand fully. Currently, though, their most infamous pilot is Manaroo (a support ship with unlimited range on her support capabilities) and their most infamous upgrade is Attani mindlink

and that's all I can think of for now

Good luck!

13 hours ago, Astech said:

Try and make it to one Regional event before heading off to Nationals. A local store tournament won't prepare you for 8-10 hours of continuous game play against nearly perpetual meta-lists.

our regionals was 2 weeks ago. so prolly wont happen but i will see whats local.

I've played competitive Warmachine/Hordes for years. 8-9 hours of tournaments is a nice change from the 12-14 hours....

...and when you feel frustrated and as if the game is just kind of OP/broken, then pick up HotAC or a mission to have some fun.