So I have long since given up on this droid, but since I have 4 of them I find myself asking... what was the point of this droid. Clearly for the game designers to put it on a ship like the ARC and 2 copies of it, they must have had some idea to use it. Otherwise why not make a unique that's a little stronger? Autothrusters was released in the same way and had a clear use. My current theory is the idea was to shoot with a PTL Nora that has a focus and TL and instead of dealing a haymaker take the evade, and then have 2 effective evades when the locked ship fires... this seems like a lot of effort but I can think of no other way to make the droid remotely usable, and yes obviously R2-D2 is exponentially better. I'm just trying to figure out what it was intended to do.

I hadn't considered that combo, but it makes some sense. Maybe if R3 we one point? It's just that you takes Norra for the extra attack die. I don't remember many times I've seen someone use her ability for defense. She does suffer from similar survivability issues as any other ARC170, but that's why people take R2D2. Maybe I'll try R3 and R2D2 crew, but R3 just costs too much and has too big a deficit.

It was intended to mock Rebel players, nothing more.

Kind of inside joke on how Rebel tricks are built on Rube Goldberg synergies that require a lot of "ifs", cost way too much for what they do, and fall apart instantly if any of the pieces fails or goes missing. It's the decision to include 2 in the pack that makes it cross the line between lighthearted pun and bad taste. At least you've got one usable Astomech with the pack, though. Compare that to Sabine's TIE pack choice of included playable Crew upgrades, which is precisely zero.

1 minute ago, Engine25 said:

I don't remember many times I've seen someone use her ability for defense. She does suffer from similar survivability issues as any other ARC170, but that's why people take R2D2.

I probably use her ability defensively as often as I do offensively. It gets used offensively early in the game and defensively in the late game.

Hahaha

Yeah r3 is just an utter useless joke. Between it and x7 at the opposite end of the spectrum, i gotta wonder sometimes if ffg has bipolar disorder

Still love the game, but goddamn are there some sharply polar opposites in it

And a r3 does for norra, only against lower ps opponents, is allow you to do something you could already do against all ps with her ability (ie generate an evade result) except it also eats your offense

Just now, ficklegreendice said:

Hahaha

Yeah r3 is just an utter useless joke. Between it and x7 at the opposite end of the spectrum, i gotta wonder sometimes if ffg has bipolar disorder

Still love the game, but goddamn are there some sharply polar opposites in it

Yeah I am well aware, I just feel like at least one person at FFG thought this was a good idea, especially to put 2 in a pack... I was really disappointed by it, Astromech is such a unique and potent slot I always want new things for it, and it's a pity that we got a goose egg on the ARC

R3 is so close to being a decent card but misses in so many little ways that it ends up being horrible.

It would be a really solid Astromech with a slight change:

"Once per round, when defending, you may cancel 1 of your [FOCUS] results during the "Modify Defense Dice" step to assign 1 evade token to your ship."

27 minutes ago, WWHSD said:

R3 is so close to being a decent card but misses in so many little ways that it ends up being horrible.

It would be a really solid Astromech with a slight change:

"Once per round, when defending, you may cancel 1 of your [FOCUS] results during the "Modify Attack Dice" step to assign 1 evade token to your ship."

Then it would be autothrusters for x-wings... which would be awesome! FFG, please faq rewrite this card

32 minutes ago, WWHSD said:

R3 is so close to being a decent card but misses in so many little ways that it ends up being horrible.

It would be a really solid Astromech with a slight change:

"Once per round, when defending, you may cancel 1 of your [FOCUS] results during the "Modify Attack Dice" step to assign 1 evade token to your ship."

BRILLIANT!!! WWHSD for president!

I've found R3 to be pretty straight forward. It's for when you often take TL actions for your X-wing. You roll your attack dice and get your re-rolls. If you happen to roll an eyeball result after the TL re-roll, you turn it into an Evade action.

It's more "still get something good if your re-roll comes up eyeball" and makes the T-65 a little bit beefier.

3 minutes ago, Jedu said:

Then it would be autothrusters for x-wings... which would be awesome! FFG, please faq rewrite this card

I think it increases the durability of ships that take it without giving them the ability to stack up mitigation against a single attack like Autothrusters does.

It would also allow a ship like an X-Wing to have a decent chance to only take a single point of damage from TLT attacks. Instead of spending a focus token against a first attack that they can't stop even if they spend the token, a focus result can be canceled giving them a chance of being able to cancel a second attack even if it has three hit results.

The other way r3 could be good is if it recovered a shield instead of giving an evade. Then low ps ships could use it well.

I did build a squad with the card and probably only mostly terrible:

T-70 X-Wing: · Jess Pava (25)
· R2-D6 (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Primed Thrusters (1)
· Swarm Leader (3)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Juke (2)
R3 Astromech (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
T-70 X-Wing: Red Squadron Veteran (26)
Juke (2)
R3 Astromech (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
-- TOTAL ------- 100p. --

6 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

I've found R3 to be pretty straight forward. It's for when you often take TL actions for your X-wing. You roll your attack dice and get your re-rolls. If you happen to roll an eyeball result after the TL re-roll, you turn it into an Evade action.

It's more "still get something good if your re-roll comes up eyeball" and makes the T-65 a little bit beefier.

Chadwick, I really thought this initially as well... the problem is it is inconsistent. Very inconsistent. It only works on pilots with higher skill than their enemies, and at least for me, it never went off when I needed it. Ever. I would much rather run Expertise and almost always have a focus TL shot that can take my enemies off the board. I get the idea of using R3 like that but he just isn't trustworhthy.

24 minutes ago, BlueMusketeer28 said:

Chadwick, I really thought this initially as well... the problem is it is inconsistent. Very inconsistent. It only works on pilots with higher skill than their enemies, and at least for me, it never went off when I needed it. Ever. I would much rather run Expertise and almost always have a focus TL shot that can take my enemies off the board. I get the idea of using R3 like that but he just isn't trustworhthy.

Yes, it is PS dependent. I totally agree with that.

I also agree it's not trustworthy. Still, though, does it have to be to be worthwhile? I know tournament folk like to remove chances, but this isn't that bad. Wedge could use it over...not sure what other astromech he takes.

I have used it on Luke and it did save my bacon twice in one game.

EDIT: I think it would be better if it were a blank. That way you can combine Expertise and R3.

So should I start a petition thread to errata R3 Astromech to read as follows?

"Once per round, when defending, you may cancel 1 of your <eye> results during the "Modify Defense Dice" step to assign 1 evade token to your ship."

16 minutes ago, ObiWonka said:

So should I start a petition thread to errata R3 Astromech to read as follows?

"Once per round, when defending, you may cancel 1 of your <eye> results during the "Modify Defense Dice" step to assign 1 evade token to your ship."

Basically luke at that point

Though id take that any damn day over r3 now

Might even be worth the points

Edit: sorry better luke

Cause your opponent can crap out and you keep the token for the next attack

No wait luke isnt once peround

Roughly same luke

Before anyone says, "Why not just convert an eye to an evade?", it does perform differently. It can't stack with another Evade token (not that most Astromech ships can Evade anyway), and it'll get stored on a T-70's Comm Relay if possible.

51 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Wedge could use it over...not sure what other astromech he takes.

Usually BB-8 + PtL, and rarely seen at that.

Wedge would readily take R3 and Juke IF he could take Comm Relay, so then he can just bank it for a while. But...you expect to get a focus result often? That you wouldn't just rather turn into a hit? I mean, if you're only taking a TL, sure, but as mentioned Wedge can usually get TL + focus with no detriment given BB-8, and canceling a result that you could otherwise change to a hit just so that you can (potentially) cancel a defense result is, at best, equivalent to just changing that result to a hit in the first place. Well, you get the defensive benefit later in the round, I suppose.

59 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Yes, it is PS dependent. I totally agree with that.

I also agree it's not trustworthy. Still, though, does it have to be to be worthwhile? I know tournament folk like to remove chances, but this isn't that bad. Wedge could use it over...not sure what other astromech he takes.

I have used it on Luke and it did save my bacon twice in one game.

EDIT: I think it would be better if it were a blank. That way you can combine Expertise and R3.

Ok so Wedge is my main ship. He likes any regen droid, R2 Astro, Targeting Astro, and BB-8. Now as for R3 I tried that combo and Expertise is just so much stronger. Or PTL BB-8. Or a lot of things. In my experience if you are taking Wedge he wants to use his red dice as his protection. Swatting everything out of the sky before it hits.

2 hours ago, Mef82 said:

It was intended to mock Rebel players, nothing more.

Exactly this. It's been a design trend for awhile now. Just look at how hard some of the newest Rebel options to emerge are literally just crappier versions of alternative generic options:

Baze Malbus: just a crappy version of Gunner (since you can't attack the same ship again)
Captain Rex : just a really crappy version of Operations Specialists (since only triggers on own attack and only assigns to self)
Jyn Erso : just a crappy version of Recon Spec (but with some potential to be better in very rare match-ups, but worse in most match-ups)
Bistan : another version of Merc Copilot, one of the crappiest crew to ever exist (despite existing since Wave2, Merc Cop hasn't appeared in any lists)

While the unique Rebel counterparts might save you 1 point over their generic version, their generic versions are almost always the better investment.

12 minutes ago, ObiWonka said:

Before anyone says, "Why not just convert an eye to an evade?", it does perform differently. It can't stack with another Evade token (not that most Astromech ships can Evade anyway), and it'll get stored on a T-70's Comm Relay if possible.

Even without Comm Relay, the Evade token can be used against other attacks during the round. Like I mentioned earlier, this could be a decent increase to the durability of 1 and 2 agility Rebel ships against TLT attacks.

It's all academic since the change isn't likely to ever happen. I guess it might make it into someone's house rule collection and see some actual games though.

OK....so Wedge doesn't like R3. I don't fly him much, so I'll just listen to other folk. What about Luke, though? He's already a bit defensive with his native ability. He can use R3 in the same manner, right? Always get a TL and then get possibly an Evade? It makes Luke extra tanky. Or is there something else that is also as good?

Baze: you can use with Hotshot Copilot and basically use him to debuff two ships. It's not horrible.

Jyn Erso: Can be better than Recon Spec as it could get up to 3 Focus. Also, can work on any ship in range and not just the ship you are in. That's worth something there.

Bistan: Works with Ten Numb.

17 minutes ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

Jyn Erso : just a crappy version of Recon Spec (but with some potential to be better in very rare match-ups, but worse in most match-ups)

If that's what you think you are missing a big part of what Jyn does. She allows you to assign the tokens that she generates to other ships as well. Even if she generates a single token she's adding a capability to your squad that Recon Specialist doesn't. For 2 points, Jyn Erso brings a similar support function to a squad that Kyle Katarn (pilot) does without needing to add a HWK.

1 minute ago, WWHSD said:

If that's what you think you are missing a big part of what Jyn does. She allows you to assign the tokens that she generates to other ships as well. Even if she generates a single token she's adding a capability to your squad that Recon Specialist doesn't. For 2 points, Jyn Erso adds the same functionality to a squad that Kyle Katarn (pilot) does without needing to add a HWK to your squad.

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it really is worth it on the table. Even flying a lot of Kanan + Biggs (a seemingly awesome fit for Jyn, given dual arcs on Ghost and Biggs not minding an extra Focus or two) I still can't bring myself to use Jyn over a Recon Spec (or Rey). Kyle is far better than Jyn because he can toss his Focus token to an ally over greater distances, doesn't have to have an enemy in arc to do it, and has a better timing window for it (start of Combat vs Activation Phase). So, I think Kyle is better if you really need a Focus-sharing list, and even then Kyle's basically non-existant from the competitive game.

I'll change my tune if Jyn ever starts making T16 of big events, but that seems unlikely, whereas I saw two Rebels with Recon Spec in the T16 at the last Regional I intended (yet no Jyn).

Yeah, but you can have Biggs with Boost-the Agility droid. Have him do that and then get 3 Focus that turn. He's going to be a lot more survivable that way, especially for more attacks