The long-awaited Scyk preview is up here, and boy does it have some nice cards.

Sunny bounder is PS 1, which is a lot better than PS 2 for blocking reasons. It's a pitty that sunny can't take Lone Wolf, so I guess that some kind of cannon and a target lock is the most dangerous way to fly her. Good value for points.

Inaldra is copping a lot of flak due to her questionable pilot ability, but a 13 point Attanni Mindlink carrier is not to be scoffed at. I could see PTL (focus+evade) on a HLC Inaldra being very hard to actually kill though.

Quinn Jast is a cool pilot that draws your attention to the ignored Torp/Missile clause of Heavy Scyk. I think Proton Rockets will be the default, possibly in conjunction with Pulse Ray Shield (below). Good potential.

Genesis Red is now the ship in the game with the best action economy, because whatever another ship gets, he gets that plus a target lock. I think he's a counter to Attanni shenanigans, and think a VI, H-Scyk, HLC and Pulse Ray shield Genesis is going to be a pretty scary ace for 31 points.

Pulse Ray Shield is a game changer. Currently the ships that can take it are:

- HWK-290s. They kinda need it. I could see a Chewbacca HWK with this going a long way.

- Kihraxz fighters. Cloaking Device Talonbane just got better, as did all the generics.

- Starvipers. Wooh! Guri is back, and VI + Cloaking Device Xizor might make a comeback.

- And of course the Scyk. A swarm of these things (without a native 1-straight) can use the downside as an upside, and there's really nothing wrong with a 6 ship Attanni Mindlink swarm where every ship has regeneration and a reroll from Serissu is there?... I guess swarms are back.

The Arc Caster is a cool cannon that TIE/Ds would have loved (hence the non-imperial clause), and the article makes a lot of the synergies clear. Again an Attanni swarm is probably going to be the best use of this cannon, taking it down to probably a 5 named pilot swarm. Arc caster might give the Scyk love, but nothing else really wants to waste those 2 points when their primary attack is almost as good. Notice that you can damage yourself with the Arc Caster...

Let the proxies begin!

Already a thread for this.

11 minutes ago, Nhoj4 said:

Already a thread for this.

Or three.

I couldn't find any topics with card images. It's a pain to have to refer to the article when commenting. I also felt my lengthy post was more topic than comment.

Can't say I agree about PRS - seems almost entirely certain that the ion token you receive guarantees you'll lose the shield (and probably more) again the following round. The only ship I can see taking it is the HWK, and I wouldn't even put it there since shield regen is hardly going to help them in their task or realistically provide any longer survivability since they tend to go from full HP to 'danger zone' very quickly (likewise why Gonk is such a terrible idea on them).

Genesis Red and Quinn Jast look to be good, Inaldra is good for a cheap Crack Shot or Mindlink carrier (her ability is awful), and Sunny is hilarious fun and easy to drop into a list.

Arc Caster has far too many limitations on its use to be worthwhile - a 4 dice shot is not so special as to require so many hoops to be jumped through to use it. Ironically, the best place for it would have been a TIE/D Defender, but that's been specifically locked out so apparently FFG knows better on that one.

I think Genesis Red looks sweet. Maybe I can get one off the black market. :/

IG-2000 could be a decent carrier for the arc caster. With 2 canon slots and the lower cost of the arc caster, it could even make for a one use nasty shot at a swarm.

Quote

IG-2000 could be a decent carrier for the arc caster. With 2 canon slots and the lower cost of the arc caster, it could even make for a one use nasty shot at a swarm.

True. In fact, IG 2000 could do very well with 2 of them, considering both can be recharged on a single turn. With IG-B giving the gunner bonus it could be quite effective indeed.

1 hour ago, Astech said:

True. In fact, IG 2000 could do very well with 2 of them, considering both can be recharged on a single turn. With IG-B giving the gunner bonus it could be quite effective indeed.

Limiting an IG to Range 1 for it's effective shots seems like a dreadful idea. I can see the argument for including a single one alongside a normal cannon, but personally I still wouldn't do it - too much risk of damaging yourself and too likely that it won't trigger enough in a game to be worth it.

3 hours ago, MalusCalibur said:

Limiting an IG to Range 1 for it's effective shots seems like a dreadful idea. I can see the argument for including a single one alongside a normal cannon, but personally I still wouldn't do it - too much risk of damaging yourself and too likely that it won't trigger enough in a game to be worth it.

You mean 0 risk of damaging yourself, right?

Nobody is making you fire the cannon if it's a bad idea.

Then what was the point of taking it? Opportunities to use it (because of the limited range and recharge function) will be few and far between as it is. It is so situational as to just not bother including - at that point you're better off with almost any other cannon choice.

Why take it when the Agressor already rolls 4 dice at range one? The splash damage? The gunner of IG88-B? Really it's a waist of points.

Just like how the only rebel ships that can take it are the B-wing (already rolling 4 at range one) and the YT-2400 which usually run the tittle limiting yourself to range 1 attack? No thank you.

Its primarily useful on alpha striking Scyks... not much else. If it wasn't faction locked I'm sure someone would find a cool tie/D build but it's locked sooo...

[ delete because i'm an idiot ]

• Sunny, If you are going to take cartel spaces one of them is going to be sunny
• Indala, the pulse shield is a must otherwise you would not take this
• Quinn Jast, More missiles and Torpedoes than a TIE Punisher (take that Imperials Empire of the weak order)
• Genesis Red, a great ship to counter Soontir if only Soontir was still on top of the meta. A fix for a meta long past

Now on to upgrades

• Light Scyk Interceptor. Already spoiled so nothing else to say. Other than Indrilla and Quinn will not take it
• Heavy Scyk Interceptor. Oh goody, updated cards since ours now say the wrong thing. Surprised they didn't ban all the non errata cards so we would have to buy this.
• Arc Caster, No Imperials Allowed, should I say more? The recharge dual card mechanic is intteresting but range 1 and must damage another ship at range one (yourself) this card is DOA as all other ships with cannons will have a 4 primary attack and not damage themselves.
• Pulse Ray Shield, another No Imperial's Allowed Upgrade (seriously I'm about to accuse FFG of racism against Imps). Should be priced the same as shield upgrade. It is more powerful than one but not as good as R2-D2 or Gonk Regen
• Jabba The Hutt, still no word on this. Next spoiler will likely include some information but if the latest FAQ is going to be an indicator of things to come this is going to be the new Palp. Now is there going to be another 2+ crew ship coming for scum (YT-1300?) of is he just goign to sit on the party bus all day? Who knows. One thing for sure, this is going to be the Age of Scum

So what it is going to be, Scum is going to be the competitive faction for those that want to win. Rebels is going to be the default Good guy faction for those that want to be on the good side and don't mind second place. Imperials are going to be the faction for those that want to get smacked down like lil whiny banthas that are going to go more emo than Kylo Ren because they just can't win anything.

17 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

• Quinn Jast, More missiles and Torpedoes than a TIE Punisher (take that Imperials Empire of the weak order)
• Genesis Red, a great ship to counter Soontir if only Soontir was still on top of the meta. A fix for a meta long past

Now on to upgrades

• Arc Caster, No Imperials Allowed, should I say more?
• Pulse Ray Shield, another No Imperial's Allowed Upgrade (seriously I'm about to accuse FFG of racism against Imps).
• One thing for sure, this is going to be the Age of Scum.
• Imperials are going to be the faction for those that want to get smacked down like lil whiny banthas that are going to go more emo than Kylo Ren because they just can't win anything.

I see the same thread. Scum was nerfed a bit, but is still the apple of FFG's eye.

6 hours ago, Sir13scott said:

Why take it when the Agressor already rolls 4 dice at range one? The splash damage? The gunner of IG88-B? Really it's a waist of points.

Just like how the only rebel ships that can take it are the B-wing (already rolling 4 at range one) and the YT-2400 which usually run the tittle limiting yourself to range 1 attack? No thank you.

Its primarily useful on alpha striking Scyks... not much else. If it wasn't faction locked I'm sure someone would find a cool tie/D build but it's locked sooo...

Yes, the reason to take it on IGs would be splash damage and IG-B's ability. If used opportunistically, as opposed to every time you have a chance to, it's not terrible. IG-A's ability would make it a wash if you need to use it to finish a ship off and there's nobody else to splash to.

The YT2400 doesn't have to take the title. Obviously it's a terrible idea to if you're packing an arc caster, just like it is with a tractor beam, ion cannon, or flechette cannon. Saying a card is bad because you can make poor choices about where to put it makes no sense. Is C-3PO bad because he usually does nothing if put on a ghost? No. Just don't out him there. Pretty easy solution.

Yes, it is primarily useful on alpha-striking scyks. That isn't a coincidence.

I just don't get. People demand a scyk fix, then they come out with one and everyone flips out that it only fixes scyks. The arc caster is a cheap, situationally powerful cannon that works best on the ship it was intended to improve and happens to have a couple minor uses besides. Whether or not you feel it is worthwhile is your decision to make. But "it's not useable on B-wings" or similar comments have no bearing on whether or not it's DoA.

6 minutes ago, Sekac said:

I just don't get. People demand a scyk fix, then they come out with one and everyone flips out that it only fixes scyks. The arc caster is a cheap, situationally powerful cannon that works best on the ship it was intended to improve and happens to have a couple minor uses besides. Whether or not you feel it is worthwhile is your decision to make. But "it's not useable on B-wings" or similar comments have no bearing on whether or not it's DoA.

People didn't 'demand' anything, and the 'fix' for the Scyk was changing the title to include an extra Hull - all the extras in the C-ROC are just gravy, and in a game with three factions I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a Huge ship to contain some cards that can at least be used by more than the faction it came from, let alone the ship.

An alpha strike is a bit of a damp squib if it can only be launched from Range 1 and risks damaging the user or just wasting a whole lot of time and points if you don't use it on the handful of chances you'll actually get. The Scyk is far too fragile to be charging headfirst into Range 1 (where they will promptly be obliterated) in the first place, and it isn't even that powerful (since 4 dice attacks are no longer all that big a deal in of themselves), so I fail to see anything that makes it good 'on alpha-striking Sycks'

There are just so many limits on its use that I wonder why you would ever take it over literally every other cannon on the M3-A, because I guarantee they will put out more consistent damage and probably live longer.

16 minutes ago, Sekac said:

Yes, the reason to take it on IGs would be splash damage and IG-B's ability. If used opportunistically, as opposed to every time you have a chance to, it's not terrible. IG-A's ability would make it a wash if you need to use it to finish a ship off and there's nobody else to splash to.

As I've said, I can see the argument for using it with IG-B's ability, but I still don't think it's worth the points and/or opportunity cost of the second cannon slot, or the self damage potential when you only have 16 total health.. IG-A is just bad, unfortunately, and the Arc Caster really doesn't change that by enough to make him worth including.

'Using it opportunistically' is one thing, but with so many limits on it already you can't afford not to take the very few shots you'll get with it.

20 minutes ago, Sekac said:

The YT2400 doesn't have to take the title. Obviously it's a terrible idea to if you're packing an arc caster, just like it is with a tractor beam, ion cannon, or flechette cannon. Saying a card is bad because you can make poor choices about where to put it makes no sense. Is C-3PO bad because he usually does nothing if put on a ghost? No. Just don't out him there. Pretty easy solution.

It doesn't, but if it doesn't there's little use in equipping a cannon on it since it's a large base turret - the times it will be facing the opponent and at Range 1 and with another enemy within Range 1 of them are even smaller than with a normal-arc'd ship. Is it worth 2 points for something so insanely situational? I don't believe it is.

And we arn't just pointing out bad places to put it, we're realising that there arn't any good places to put it.

1 hour ago, MalusCalibur said:

People didn't 'demand' anything,

A-heh haha ha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! A-heh a-heh hehhh...

*wipes tear from eye*

Ahem. Thank you for that.

Wisely said MalusCalibur.

For example most expansions come with upgrades that can be incorporated elsewhere in your collection. Heck one of the reason FFG sells so many starvipers is because of Autothrusters. Take the Concord Dawn Protectorate, Fearlessness is money combined with the tittle, but fearlessness also benefits a lot of ships such as Bossk and the Lancer-Class Pursuit Craft. The arc caster seems very useful on the Scyk, but on other ships? ...ehh... not so much.

now, the new shield regen mechanic is money for the HWK and K-fighter. That's a great upgrade. But the new cannon leaves me wanting.

1 hour ago, Sir13scott said:

Wisely said MalusCalibur.

For example most expansions come with upgrades that can be incorporated elsewhere in your collection. Heck one of the reason FFG sells so many starvipers is because of Autothrusters. Take the Concord Dawn Protectorate, Fearlessness is money combined with the tittle, but fearlessness also benefits a lot of ships such as Bossk and the Lancer-Class Pursuit Craft. The arc caster seems very useful on the Scyk, but on other ships? ...ehh... not so much.

now, the new shield regen mechanic is money for the HWK and K-fighter. That's a great upgrade. But the new cannon leaves me wanting.

So in other words, "Most expansions, including this one, come with upgrades that can be incorporated elsewhere in your collection."

The arc caster isn't supposed to be the next autothrusters. It's a very targeted fix at a ship that needs help. It also happens to have a couple of other very specific uses besides. I'm glad they didn't put the next autothrusters in an epic ship.

10 hours ago, Sekac said:

A-heh haha ha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! A-heh a-heh hehhh...

*wipes tear from eye*

Ahem. Thank you for that.

It's good to know that you clearly have nothing with which to attempt to refute the points I made, since you've already resorted to this kind of childish snark.

6 hours ago, Sekac said:

So in other words, "Most expansions, including this one, come with upgrades that can be incorporated elsewhere in your collection."

The arc caster isn't supposed to be the next autothrusters. It's a very targeted fix at a ship that needs help. It also happens to have a couple of other very specific uses besides. I'm glad they didn't put the next autothrusters in an epic ship.

Except, as I have pointed out more than once, the cards in this expansion don't even help out the Scyk. PRS leaves you so wide open to attack the following round that the single regenerated shield is worthless, and regeneration of a single shield is going to do little if anything to help the survivability of the handful of ships that can even take it. The Arc Caster, meanwhile, is a painfully underwhelming attack completely hamstrung by the number of restrictions and limits on it that no more belongs on the fragile Scyk than anywhere else.

I'm yet to see any supporting arguments for those cards that address these pretty basic and clear weaknesses.

Arc Caster is a cheaper assault missile, that has some balancing effects.

It seems like a nice insurance policy for 2 points to make my opponent think twice before keeping his ships in formation.

Or not even against swarms. It could be a way to put damage on something hard to hit like a cloaked phantom or stealth device interceptor.

In the hands of a creative player, on a ship that doesn't even need two canon slots, I think the Arc Caster will see some effective use on the IG-2000.

Quote

Except, as I have pointed out more than once, the cards in this expansion don't even help out the Scyk. PRS leaves you so wide open to attack the following round that the single regenerated shield is worthless, and regeneration of a single shield is going to do little if anything to help the survivability of the handful of ships that can even take it. The Arc Caster, meanwhile, is a painfully underwhelming attack completely hamstrung by the number of restrictions and limits on it that no more belongs on the fragile Scyk than anywhere else.

Light Scyk argues with your first point. the Scyk is now at least as good as a TIE, with added options via heavy Scyk.

PRS is an effective tool for 2 points, especially on Genesis Red. In lists with only 1 copy of PRS, it's a way to encourage shots elsewhere. The ion can be bad or good depending on the situation. A TIE Swarm would adore a 1-straight, and so would scyks. It's just not a useful tool while running away.

ARC Caster is the hardest to justify, given it's shortfalls. I think it will come into it's own during epic games where finding a second ship at range 1 is super easy. In standard play you can fit 4 Cartel Spacers with ARCs for 72 points, leaving you room for a bumpmaster or mini ace like Genesis Red. It's not meta-defining, and I'd say its somewhere in the Jyn Erso realm of cards - good, but hard to use well.

4 minutes ago, Astech said:

Light Scyk argues with your first point. the Scyk is now at least as good as a TIE, with added options via heavy Scyk.

I wasn't considering the Light Scyk title, really - the errata to the Heavy Scyk title felt more like a 'fix' for the ship than anything in the C-ROC does. Light Scyk seems like a nice alternative but hardly the card that propels the M3-A into the game.

6 minutes ago, Astech said:

PRS is an effective tool for 2 points, especially on Genesis Red. In lists with only 1 copy of PRS, it's a way to encourage shots elsewhere. The ion can be bad or good depending on the situation. A TIE Swarm would adore a 1-straight, and so would scyks. It's just not a useful tool while running away.

I'm not sure I understand what you're driving at here. How does equipping PRS on something encourage the opponent to shoot something else? And I do not see a 1-forward being much of a benefit when it is completely telegraphed to your opponent, allowing them to plan accordingly in order to deny you actions or shots altogether, and punish you (likely with more damage) for using the upgrade.
It cannot be a good sign that a card revealed in an article called 'Hit and Run' and that was clearly designed with that tactic in mind is actually awful when used that way!

9 minutes ago, Astech said:

ARC Caster is the hardest to justify, given it's shortfalls. I think it will come into it's own during epic games where finding a second ship at range 1 is super easy. In standard play you can fit 4 Cartel Spacers with ARCs for 72 points, leaving you room for a bumpmaster or mini ace like Genesis Red. It's not meta-defining, and I'd say its somewhere in the Jyn Erso realm of cards - good, but hard to use well.

I think it's niche is so narrow as to render it almost a non-entity, though. It definitely does not belong on a Scyk, who will be comprimised offensively at every range except for Range 1 and if they get there they are highly likely to get PS-sniped by whatever they just gave an additional die primary attack to. The main thing keeping the Heavy Scyk in the game at present is it's ability to stay at range where it gains the defensive bonus from distance, but thanks to its cannon the opponent does not, while other threats are more immediate to the opponent and draw attention away.

There is some circumstantial use with IG-B, but I'd argue it is not worth taking over the other common circumstantial back-up cannons (Autoblaster or Tractor Beam), or indeed taking at all instead of any other 2pt upgrade the Aggressor can get.

I think some of the responses here are bad first impressions and I have to agree with some of them. Dismissing them is a mistake. Without sitting down and doing some serious theory crafting it's easy to miss something. The cards mentioned may only be good in Epic or one of the evil geniuses that frequent these forums may come up with an off the wall squad that employs some of these cards very effectively. Calling new cards and pilots useless and D.O.A. before they're even released is a little harsh. Besides, no one knows what's coming after the C-ROC. There might be something in the next wave that makes these cards good.