As the game moves forward, and we see token staking, free actions and power creep, I began to wonder is players would have found ships of this kind to be more acceptable if the pilots were Force Users.

What if Fenn Rau was Darth Maul? Would it feel less "unrealistic" to see this kind of ability on a Sith or a Jedi??

Would it allow for 2 kinds of play: "Power X-Wing" with Jedi vs. Sith and "Maneuvering X-Wing" with 'mundane' pilots?

InB4 FGD's obligatory "Game play > fluff" comment.

... But, seriously, game play > fluff. And FFG managed to nail some of their abilities thematically, even considering the lot o' mundy pilots we have.

Yeah, powercreep is a thing and will probably ruin the game. But I'm glad that the meta and the ships that evidence that powercreep is a diversified list. There is something ubiquitously viable from every faction now, an aligning of the stars that has not happened in the few years I've been playing. Scum has the most, which is annoying to me personally, but everyone has something...

Imperials may have lost their Aces, but the Defenders and the war machine that is RAC aren't fun or easy to face. Also, Kylo Ren.

Scum has jank, Attanni, and the mathematically absurd Dengaroo.

Rebels have K-Wing bombers, and for some strange reason, a resurgence of super-Dash. And maybe that Ghost/Phantom shenanigans..

The love hath been shared. Thanks, FFG.

a lot of games in the past have made Sith/Jedi demigod levels of powerful compared to other people, regardless of how skilled they are with their tactics. And usually it promotes really stale gameplay as "Be Jedi/Sith or be pathetic" is the motto.

In hand to hand, 1on1 combat not many would beat a Jedi/Sith but in a starship? The Force is a lot less impacting when you cant divert your attention from flying to attack with force powers as easily.

2 hours ago, Vineheart01 said:

And usually it promotes really stale gameplay as "Be Jedi/Sith or be pathetic" is the motto.

Which is a little bit my point. If they want to introduce some crazy 7 die combo mechanic, make it a Force thing. And then maybe say only 1 Force User per list. It could dampen power creep.

Each wave gets a new-gee whiz killer, which at certain times could be filtered out by saying "no Force Users this time."

kinda surprised that nobody has brought up poor old luke skywalker, outdone by almost every other ace in the game

48 minutes ago, mad mandolorian said:

kinda surprised that nobody has brought up poor old luke skywalker, outdone by almost every other ace in the game

Just wait till the episode 9 core set lol

56 minutes ago, mad mandolorian said:

kinda surprised that nobody has brought up poor old luke skywalker, outdone by almost every other ace in the game

Or old Vader, whose 2 Action Economy seems about as powerful as 2 Attack Dice these days.

3 hours ago, ArbitraryNerd said:

... But, seriously, game play > fluff. And FFG managed to nail some of their abilities thematically, even considering the lot o' mundy pilots we have.

And actually, this is about gameplay. It uses the fluff to explain why some pilots get over-the-top power-creepy in-game mechanics.

17 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

Or old Vader, whose 2 Action Economy seems about as powerful as 2 Attack Dice these days.

Vader is fine. On a one-on-one basis, he's still a strong ship. It's just that he has too many weaknesses that are popular in the meta.

1 minute ago, Darth Meanie said:

Or old Vader, whose 2 Action Economy seems about as powerful as 2 Attack Dice these days.

vader, while not the OP monster that he should be is by no means UP he's a cornerstone of my triple aces list

11 minutes ago, ArbitraryNerd said:

Vader is fine. One a one-on-one basis, he's still a strong ship. It's just that he has too many weaknesses that are popular in the meta.

10 minutes ago, mad mandolorian said:

vader, while not the OP monster that he should be is by no means UP he's a cornerstone of my triple aces list

OK, ok, I retract my statement. . .Vader's good.

While the power creep has really been felt for me the last couple of waves, the fixes to old ships seem to be making them unique into themselves. With the introduction of unique titles(arc and tie SF) and ships with new combinations of upgrade slots, I think the game is coming together. There are obviously different tiers of upgrades and pilots, but I think FFG is doing a great job of adding something for everyone. Between epic and leagues, sometimes having cards that aren't played competitively make those experiences better.