When ever a new way to regen shields is added to the game my mind starts working how to abuse that power.

Currently there are 6.5 ways to regen shields in the game:

R2-D2 astromech: a very reliable method for regeneration with the only downside being that it requires you to execute green maneuvers. However it does not require an action. Useful on all x-wings and E-wings, but hard to use on the Y-wing.

R2-D2 crew: this method has not seen a lot of play (although I used it to get to the semi finals at regionals) due to it coming in an expensive expansion, crew slot, and negative chance to flip Crits on the ship it is on. Mostly seen on heavy hull ships like the YT-1300 or Vx100, it takes a skilled player to use it correctly and the side effects can cost you greatly.

Chewbacca Crew: this method is a one time use but very useful. Essentially two shields it can save you from a bad crit and is cheap when compared to a shield or hull upgrade.

R5-P9: this astromech is restrictive in that it takes a pilot like Poe or a ship with multiple focus tokens to make good use of it. Better than R2-D2 in that it opens your dial, but it restricts your actions and if you can't get a focus token you are out of luck.

Gonk: The first non-rebel regen method that requires two actions to successfully get a shield. It's versatile with methods like shield stacking before combat and uses such as experimental interface. However it does require the actions which restricts it quite a bit.

Miranda Doni's pilot ability: This one is everyone's nightmare. With Twin Laser Turret Miranda can essentially regen a shield every turn without dampening her damage output too much. It's very effective and hardly costs a thing. Probably the regen most in need of a nerf. (I would suggest that her ability effects both her TLT rolls but that's just me)

as for that .5 method for regen... that's Reinforced Deflectors. But that method is mostly damage mitigation rather than a real regen ability.

Also shout out to R5-D8 as a method of hull regen dependent on an action and dice result.

Now let's look at Pulsed Ray Shield.

The biggest restrictions of this method of regeneration is that it gives you an ion token and can only be equipped (as of now) to the HWK, Kihraxz, Scyk, and Starviper.

First let's point out the obvious, Starvipers for the same price most likely want to equip Autothrusters. Also the Kihraxz and Scyk don't have a 1 straight so they can take advantage of the ion tokens effect to do that maneuver at the cost of advertising what they are doing. Out of all these ships only the Rebel HWK can equip alternate forms of shield regeneration in the form of R2-D2 Crew and Chewbacca Crew. R2-D2 crew and the Pulsed Ray Shield both counteract each other though.

Now having said that let's compare how good this method of regeneration is compared to the other known six.

R2-D2 astromech: unfortunately it fails here. The only advantage being that it's two points cheaper, but both restrict movements, however even on the Y-wing there is more movement options and the white is worse than green. Plus R2-D2 doesn't advertise your next move. So that's one fail.

R2-D2 crew: here we get a closer examination. Both trigger at the end of the phase and can only recover a shield if you are shieldless. Both have a negative side effect, except R2-D2 is a 3/8 chance of negative side effect. Pulsed Ray Shield is better cost wise, but does restrict movement. This one is gonna be a toss up, so I will say it's still just one loss for PRS, but zero win.

Chewbacca: there is no negative side effect of Chewbacca, but it is a one time use. If you can get your ship equipped with Pulsed Ray Shield to survive and regenerate 3 shields then you definitely got your money's worth. Again the biggest advantage to PRS is it's cheaper cost. I'd like to not however that the Rebel HWK can equip both of these upgrades which is pretty awesome! So I'm calling this one a loss as well.

R5-P9: on anyone else but Poe I would say PRS is better. It doesn't cost you an action and it isn't susceptible to bumps, stress, or HotCop. Plus PRS wins again on cost. I'll call this a tentative win.

Gonk: I'd have to say that PRS wins here again. It doesn't cost actions and it isn't susceptible to stress or bumps. Another win.

Miranda: hands down a loss. Sorry Miranda is just too good.

Score: 2-wins 3-loss 1-tie.

That's pretty good considering it's mostly competing with rebels who own the regen game!

I think this upgrade is gonna be game changing. It's gonna make Rebel HWKs with Chewbacca really tanky as well as give Kihraxz and Scyks some much needed love.

i don't think many people realize how game changing this upgrade is gonna be. Scum is getting access to a really reliable regen method on four of their ships. Rebels also get a little love but hopefully it won't be too broken.

H

Anyways there is my analysis please comment and let me know what you think.

5 minutes ago, Sir13scott said:

First let's point out the obvious, Starvipers for the same price most likely want to equip Autothrusters.

Check your math.

HIGH PS starvipers most likely want to equip autothrusters. But if the ship doesnt have the PS/action economy to arcdodge or control range out to range 3, and 3/4 die turrets arnt a major part of the meta, Autothrusters lose some of their appeal.

Sunny Bounder (14)
Tractor Beam (1)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)
"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (Cannon) (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Having a high agility, regen has good payback on the Viper- I've had vassal games where a wounded ship holds off Mango dash by ion moving, focusing, and regening the shield that dash picks off, while the other ships whittle away his health. (Poe already having been traded for a viper, so it's 1 attack vs a focus token)

Just now, Rakaydos said:

Check your math.

HIGH PS starvipers most likely want to equip autothrusters. But if the ship doesnt have the PS/action economy to arcdodge or control range out to range 3, and 3/4 die turrets arnt a major part of the meta, Autothrusters lose some of their appeal.

Sunny Bounder (14)
Tractor Beam (1)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)
"Heavy Scyk" Interceptor (Cannon) (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Black Sun Enforcer (25)
Pulsed Ray Shield (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Having a high agility, regen has good payback on the Viper- I've had vassal games where a wounded ship holds off Mango dash by ion moving, focusing, and regening the shield that dash picks off, while the other ships whittle away his health. (Poe already having been traded for a viper, so it's 1 attack vs a focus token)

No you make a good point. Especially when considering that Starbipers can boos or barrel roll after the efffects on the Ion one straight maneuver. It definitely makes the generic starvipers more enticing. I was just pointing out that if you want to load up points into Guri or Xizor, you are most likely gonna want to take Autothrusters especially which imperials getting TLT soon. However I think the PRS can be quite effective on the starviper too.

Thanks for pointing that out.

If you are taking a generic starviper... you are probably doing it wrong anyway. Protectorate is just better.

In my limited experience, PRS is surprisingly effective and becomes more useful when you have more ships than your opponent.

Works fantastic on a TLT HWK that also uses 4-Lom. If you're gonna get an Ion, may as well get 2.

Also means that, providing you keep it safe it makes Feedback Array useable too.

HWK - Cikatro, Cloaking Device, Pulsed Ray Shield, Moldy Crow.

Planning on trying this. Cloak, ditch it with Cikatro for Feedback Array and spend the rest of the time focusing and saving them up.

5 minutes ago, gamblertuba said:

If you are taking a generic starviper... you are probably doing it wrong anyway. Protectorate is just better.

In my limited experience, PRS is surprisingly effective and becomes more useful when you have more ships than your opponent.

Protectorate cant take regen.

Just now, Rakaydos said:

Protectorate cant take regen.

You aren't wrong but at the current prices I'll trade out any generic viper for equal points in a protectorate every single time.

6 minutes ago, gamblertuba said:

If you are taking a generic starviper... you are probably doing it wrong anyway. Protectorate is just better.

In my limited experience, PRS is surprisingly effective and becomes more useful when you have more ships than your opponent.

Sadly, I have to agree with this. The only thing the StarViper has going for it is that 1-straight, but even that costs you the ability to do hard-3s. They have the same action bar and hull, so it's ultimately a matter of if you think it's worth 7 points to get a regenerating shield that ionizes you.

I'm still upset about no Imperails allowed. I heard the argument about Omega Leader, but seriously give the Imps a bone.

10 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

I'm still upset about no Imperails allowed. I heard the argument about Omega Leader, but seriously give the Imps a bone.

They also don't want the new tie to get them either seemingly.

19 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

I'm still upset about no Imperails allowed. I heard the argument about Omega Leader, but seriously give the Imps a bone.

Omega leader doesn't need ANY help. Seriously

2 hours ago, Sir13scott said:

Miranda Doni's pilot ability: This one is everyone's nightmare. With Twin Laser Turret Miranda can essentially regen a shield every turn without dampening her damage output too much. It's very effective and hardly costs a thing.

This nerf proposition alone made this post lose at least 50% of its worth.

16 minutes ago, Sir13scott said:

Omega leader doesn't need ANY help. Seriously

Nor does Soontir Fel... Though it would be an interesting debate - SD+AT or SU+PRS...

10 minutes ago, Embir82 said:

This nerf proposition alone made this post lose at least 50% of its worth.

You are entitled to this opinion. The K-wing is my favorite ship and I am a heavy Miranda user and I still feel like she needs a nerf

Just now, Khyros said:

Nor does Soontir Fel... Though it would be an interesting debate - SD+AT or SU+PRS...

I would never give up Autothrusters, however I'm not sold on stealth device as best 2nd upgrade

4 minutes ago, Sir13scott said:

I would never give up Autothrusters, however I'm not sold on stealth device as best 2nd upgrade

Though now that I think about it, Soontir always stresses himself, the ion for regen would mean that he doesn't get any actions. Disregard...

4 hours ago, Sir13scott said:

Omega leader doesn't need ANY help. Seriously

Sure since he made top 4 and dominated worlds oh wait, no he didn't . Omega leader was no where close to the Top Cut.

But yeah Imps are OP, just take a look at Tyrion Lanister, he killed his father and still became the hand, oops wrong Imps .

Yeah Imperials to include Omega Leader needs help.

Palob/Torkhil: 4-LOM, Pulse Ray Shield, Turret of choice, and maybe Feedback Array.

Might as well stack the Ion tokens since they all fall off at once.

I think pulse ray shield could see the most use on the hwk and syk. Hawks usually have turrets equipped so losing arc due to pulse ray shield, especially on the second round of combat where all ships tend to be clustered together, it can support and attack fine. Syks generally will die around the same time if they have already gotten hurt so getting ioned and just hoping the extra health is enough seems appealing to have that chance of keeping them alive.

5 minutes ago, rafcpl6868 said:

I think pulse ray shield could see the most use on the hwk and syk. Hawks usually have turrets equipped so losing arc due to pulse ray shield, especially on the second round of combat where all ships tend to be clustered together, it can support and attack fine. Syks generally will die around the same time if they have already gotten hurt so getting ioned and just hoping the extra health is enough seems appealing to have that chance of keeping them alive.

Especially on Inalda where she can spend that shield to maybe roll maximum evades

In my early tests with the upgrade on vassal, it has been amazing. You'd be amazed how many times you are fine doing a 1 white straight even if your opponent knows all about it. HWKs and Scyks are real threats with this thing. K-fighters ans Vipers I'm not quite sold on.

The big problem with the PRS is the metagame of heavy hitters. In a, say, Wave 7's damage mitigation's reality regenerating your only shield for an Ion would honestly not be a bad deal, but as it stands right now, the chances of actually getting to regen more than one shield oscillate around 0 in most matchup.

There are several factors that cause most PRS users to be pretty bad at using it. Let's look at them one by one:

The HWK is, unfortunately, too easy of a target to really make use of PRS. The combination of it's very mediocre dial and relatively low effective health mean that the best way for it to survive (and, therefore, be effective) is usually to be the lowest priority target. If you're not being fired at, the regen is wasted, and if the opponent decides to focus on the HWK there's almost no way it's going to survive more than two rounds, which would make the two points more valuable if they were spent on a different ship; especially since most rebels and scum lists have a nearly limitless ability of adding upgrades to their ships.

An exception can be made for an HWK with TLT, Chewbacca and PRS- assuming at least one round of PRS, it becomes fairly bulky. Needs testing.

The only ways I've ever seen the Kihraxz being even slightly effective was through either Vectored Thrusters or Engine Upgrade, and using PRS prevents either of them from being equipped. Similarly to the HWK, this ship would be too easy to annihilate after it ionises itself.

The StarViper is too heavily outclassed by the Fang Fighter. While more defensive and agile than the above ships, it is also noticeably more expensive.

Unsurprisingly, the Scyk seems to be the perfect candidate for PRC- after all, those two were literally designed to work together. At least two pilots synergise with it quite well.

Also, while I do belive the K-Wing deserves a nerf (even if only because it is basically unbeatable for the average Imperial list) I wanted to point out that Miranda's regen does , in fact, have a pretty important condition: You need to shoot. That means she is unable to regen shields after SLAMing, and the regen is also more of a damage mitigation effect against turret-heavy lists.

Yeah, but if she's slamming she's probably nuking a enemy ship. Or just gotten completely out of danger for a couple turns.

12 minutes ago, Elavion said:

Also, while I do belive the K-Wing deserves a nerf (even if only because it is basically unbeatable for the average Imperial list) I wanted to point out that Miranda's regen does , in fact, have a pretty important condition: You need to shoot. That means she is unable to regen shields after SLAMing, and the regen is also more of a damage mitigation effect against turret-heavy lists.

To be fair when she isn't shooting it's usually because she has slammed to drop bombs/get out of firing range. She can't do the Corran thing where she bails out, regen a the shields, and then returns to the fight, however with TLT she can stay effectively in the fight without taking damage fairly easy. Blinded pilot and by extension "I'll show you the dark side" are the only real counters to her regen power.

Like I have said, she is tough. I do not think she needs nerfed, just her power to regen. If TLT is considered one attack for the purposes of tactician and FCS then I think her ability should affect both rolls of the dice. That means if she wants to regen, her damage output is damaged pretty bad, but if she spends a shield on TLT her damage output increases greatly. Call it a Miranda Nerf/buff. That is all I'm suggesting.

3 hours ago, Sonikgav said:

Works fantastic on a TLT HWK that also uses 4-Lom. If you're gonna get an Ion, may as well get 2.

Also means that, providing you keep it safe it makes Feedback Array useable too.

HWK - Cikatro, Cloaking Device, Pulsed Ray Shield, Moldy Crow.

Planning on trying this. Cloak, ditch it with Cikatro for Feedback Array and spend the rest of the time focusing and saving them up.

My Mind:
<<Breath... Just Breath... What do you see?

Light...

Darkness...

Cikatro Vizago shenanigans...>>

Man... this is amazing