Instead of Nerf, Lets Buff the Blaster Turret

By eagletsi111, in X-Wing

How about instead of Nerfing everything. We Buff some stuff.

First Blaster turret: Instead of having to remove the focus to fire, change it to state, you must have a focus to fire. Much like the new turret coming out which does this with target locks.

Basically the same errata everyone has wanted on Blaster Turret since it came out.

That has been suggested a whole bunch, yes.

IMO it still probably doesn't go far enough. It's less than two points better than ABT, and it's less than 2 points worse than TLT, so unless that crowded middle ground gets less crowded (i.e. by TLT not being too good or too cheap), I don't see a place for it, and I struggle to see a place for Synched either.

Perhaps not only make it simply "Attack: Focus" but also include the same ability as Expertise. So you can take a focus, fire the gun, convert focus results to hits without spending the focus, and then have it for defense too.

Just now, Sekac said:

Perhaps not only make it simply "Attack: Focus" but also include the same ability as Expertise. So you can take a focus, fire the gun, convert focus results to hits without spending the focus, and then have it for defense too.

Limit that part to targets in arc, and you've got yourself a deal.

Yeah that might be best, so as not to make synced turret instantly obsolete. But I'm not sure that would be good enough to justify the points otherwise. I leave that kind of analysis to better brains than mine.

I feel like making Blaster Turret into a synced turret that works off of focus might make it BETTER than synced turret, because the focus you would save could be used for defense. The Target Lock can't be used the turn you shoot, unless you have some kind of ability that spends target locks. However, the TL would persist into the next round, saving you an action in the future. Maybe that is an acceptable tradeoff. Some ships would prefer Blaster, others (like Y-Wings) might prefer Synced since they roll fewer green dice and might have a torpedo to spend the lock on later.

For sure they need to remove the "spend" requirement. That much is certain.

Edited by mkevans80

Blaster turret: Just add the text: you can turn one focus result into a hit

20 hours ago, eagletsi111 said:

How about instead of Nerfing everything. We Buff some stuff.

First Blaster turret: Instead of having to remove the focus to fire, change it to state, you must have a focus to fire. Much like the new turret coming out which does this with target locks.

Wouldn't this just make that new turret that requires TL utter garbage then? A Focus is far, far easier (don't have to juggle ranges and don't have to commit to a particular target until you attack) and if necessary you can spend that Focus on defense instead. So why would anyone ever run the Attack: TL turret if Blaster was it's Attack: Focus counterpart?

Blaster Turret is basically a niche card for a select few pilots in a select few scenarios, and I think that's okay. It's intended for ships like the Moldy Crow , especially when flown by Palob. It's also solid on a Mindlink Kavil, who can make it 4-Dice and can easily get Focus + Focus or Focus + Target Lock, thanks to Mindlink, so he's able to fire and modify the shot. if if weren't for TLT being so good, we might even see a few Kanan Ghosts with Recon Spec + Rey double-tapping with Blaster Turrets for it's uncapped damage. It's also an interesting choice in Epic, where things like Tarkin, General Hux, Comms Boosters, or Esege can all easily allow a wing of generic Y-Wings or TIE/Aggressors to make full use of their blaster turrets (which are still the only way outside of Dorsal Turret to have a turret that is uncapped in damage potential, which can be useful when fighting against AG0 huge ships that are hard to joust with since they can crush you).

So, it's true that in Standard you can't just slap Blaster Turrets onto generic Ys or HWKs. It's not your typical standard spam weapon. It really is a specialized tool of a few select ships/pilots and builds, and I don't think that is a problem nor is it grounds to buff the card. If your suggested buff was implemented, Mindlink Kavil would definitely be a thing, flying around with his 4-Damage TL+F turret and we'd definitely see some Kanan Ghosts double-tapping with it, since FCS + Recon + Rey means you could pretty effortlessly have a TL+F modified turret shot twice a round.

Blaster Turret isn;t a niche card for selected pilots in selected scenarios, it's just bad. In any situation where you could use it, you will be better off paying 2 more points for TLT, or 1 less for Dorsal.

Edited by thespaceinvader

So - you take some scissors, and you remove the attack:focus requirement from blaster turret, and paste it on TLT.

1 hour ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

Wouldn't this just make that new turret that requires TL utter garbage then?

I'd still take it on the Ghost. :)

2 hours ago, Stevey86 said:

I'd still take it on the Ghost. :)

Remember the new turret allows you to reroll primary weapon attacks in primary arc of ship up to it's attack dice. So still a unique weapon compared to the blaster turret with the focus change

TIE Defenders can't roll defense die against a blaster turret attack.

SOLVED

Either remove the "discard focus token" or add in some natural modifacation. You may turn one focus to hit, if inside firing arc turn focus to crit.

On ‎25‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 7:40 PM, Marinealver said:

Either remove the "discard focus token" or add in some natural modifacation. You may turn one focus to hit, if inside firing arc turn focus to crit.

I think this is the best way to do it.

Still force the spend of a focus token, but actually make it worth spending (unless your dice are terrible :P )