Hello X-Wing Community!

I am wondering about the Porkins X-Wing pilot card of this game.

I still remember this guy from my childhood... he was one of the very first guys to fall in the battle of Yavin.

To be honest... even back then I was not convinced of his skills and his physical fitness. He seemed quite a bit unlucky and made incorrect assessments, which even cost him his life.

So how come he has got a Pilot Skill of 7 plus an Elite skill?

I mean, Dutch and Garven are both only a 6, without an Elite skill. And what about Hobbie Klivian and Biggs in comparison to Porkins?

Like you say, a bit unlucky. Perhaps he was a technically skilled pilot, but with a bit of bad luck. And as the saying goes, better lucky than good.

In canon, he was actually known as quite a skilled pilot. Resistance pilots even learn a maneuver named after him in training... The Porkins Belly Run.

I'm not joking, I swear.

Porkins died from overconfidence, not lack of flying skill. Also, Dutch and Garven are early mistakes from designers.

Porkins while he has a reasonably good pilot ability he has two things against him.

1. Upgrade slots, Porkins has that middling pilot skill of 7 now it can be upped with VI but that means Like Whisper and Soontir there really is no other option for any other EPT. I guess you could put adaptability but with Fen Rau running around you want 9.
2. Point cost, Porkins ability demands an astromech and only 1 is suitable (back to strike one) and that is the 3 point astromech R5-D8. Worse of all R5-D8 is dependent on a dice roll. Sure the Astromech allows you to use a dice roll to fix a bad dice roll but if you roll the hit on Jek's ability and roll a blank on R5, well you could just possibly kill your self. R5-D8 is not as good as a shield regen but cost nearly just as much.

So with Porkins you are stuck with a single optimal build at a staggering 30 points (as much as a TIE Defender).

• Jek Porkins
  • Veteran instincts
  • R5-D8
  • Integrated Astromech

Which is a huge point cost for an X-wing (Biggs usually runs around 28 points). Given the fact that he is also in a Rebel Transport which in standard is taken for R3-A2, you don't see too many people trying him out.

2 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

(Biggs usually runs around 28 points)

Biggs almost always runs at exactly 26 points for the record.

Just now, thespaceinvader said:

Biggs almost always runs at exactly 26 points for the record.

Yeah I suppose you can pick just about any astromech for the integrated astromech. But again for comparison I gave Biggs the same astromech point cost for Jek. So yeah my point still stands. Jek builds are insanely expensive for an X-wing build. be it 30 vs 28 or 30 vs 26 point is Jek cost too much to field.

No one really cares about Garven or Dutch. They smell.

Porkins is the real hero of the Rebellion. Anyone that hasn't loaded him up with Rage or PtL or EI or R3-A2 and given him a spin has never had fun in their life. Ever.

Also, his ship, pilot ability, cost and pilot skill have been all but replaced by Nien Nunb.

Ya-ha-ha.

7 hours ago, Schu81 said:

I mean, Dutch and Garven are both only a 6, without an Elite skill. And what about Hobbie Klivian and Biggs in comparison to Porkins?

I believe the lack of EPT on the Y-wing pilots has more to do with them being in a Y-wing than their ability. The designers have thought that a number of ships just can't really give the pilot any room to do something crazy. I'm thinking Y-wing and Tie Punisher. I think the idea is them being big and bulky. At least, that was the thought at first. Then, they gave Scum Y-wing pilots EPT. Doh! Early design mistake.

5 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Point cost, Porkins ability demands an astromech and only 1 is suitable (back to strike one) and that is the 3 point astromech R5-D8. Worse of all R5-D8 is dependent on a dice roll. Sure the Astromech allows you to use a dice roll to fix a bad dice roll but if you roll the hit on Jek's ability and roll a blank on R5, well you could just possibly kill your self. R5-D8 is not as good as a shield regen but cost nearly just as much.

Yes, it really is the point cost. I've tried to use him, but it gets really expensive to put him in lists. You really need R5-D8 to make him worth it and that gets him expensive.

As for his ability, though, it's not so bad, really. If you use it to remove the stress....and happen to get a hit from him....and then use that ability to activate R5-D8, then you only have an 11% that you will be left with a damage after that. 3/8% of getting a damage (through shields) and a 5/8% of removing it by droid. So....only an 11% of still having the damage, but a 63% that he will just remove the damage and still get an action.

I've also used R5-D8 to peel off and repair regular damage before. Not as good as R2-D2, but what is?

Maybe if there were more actions the X-wing could do then it might be worth it, but with only being able to Focus, TL, or use a droid/EPT, it's not that great. Him on a Y-wing would probably be better (which I hear he normally flew).

His pilot skill is perfect. Theoretically he can hold it, but not really.

If you're looking for competitive builds, you'd never be thinking beyond boring Biggs in a T-65 anyway, so forget that binding, itchy sweater. Have fun with Jek; this is fun, and fast:

Fast Porkins

• Push the Limit
• R5-D8
• Engine Upgrade

And @heychadwick will agree, putting Rage on him is lots of fun too:

Ragin' Porkins

• Rage
• R5-D8

7 minutes ago, clanofwolves said:

And @heychadwick will agree, putting Rage on him is lots of fun too:

Ragin' Porkins

• Rage
• R5-D8

Ragin' Porkins is absurd!

The more I think about it, the cooler Porkins would be in a Y-wing. All that hull to chew through. Still take his repair droid. With all those reds on a Y-wing, he could still do stuff.

6 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Porkins while he has a reasonably good pilot ability he has two things against him.

1. Upgrade slots, Porkins has that middling pilot skill of 7 now it can be upped with VI but that means Like Whisper and Soontir there really is no other option for any other EPT. I guess you could put adaptability but with Fen Rau running around you want 9.
2. Point cost, Porkins ability demands an astromech and only 1 is suitable (back to strike one) and that is the 3 point astromech R5-D8. Worse of all R5-D8 is dependent on a dice roll. Sure the Astromech allows you to use a dice roll to fix a bad dice roll but if you roll the hit on Jek's ability and roll a blank on R5, well you could just possibly kill your self. R5-D8 is not as good as a shield regen but cost nearly just as much.

So with Porkins you are stuck with a single optimal build at a staggering 30 points (as much as a TIE Defender).

• Jek Porkins
  • Veteran instincts
  • R5-D8
  • Integrated Astromech

Which is a huge point cost for an X-wing (Biggs usually runs around 28 points). Given the fact that he is also in a Rebel Transport which in standard is taken for R3-A2, you don't see too many people trying him out.

The middling PS isn't a real issue anymore, the range has opened up significantly and with top ps arc dodgers no longer completely dominating the meta you really don't have to worry about spending the extra points on an ace only to have him never catch an opponent in arc.

Personally I don't think R5-D8 is worth it even on him, it burns your action, doesn't always work and costs three points. If even one of those things wasn't true it'd be a different story but as is it just doesn't give you what you pay for.

1 minute ago, Princezilla said:

Personally I don't think R5-D8 is worth it even on him, it burns your action, doesn't always work and costs three points. If even one of those things wasn't true it'd be a different story but as is it just doesn't give you what you pay for.

I would disagree and say that R5-D8 is excellent with Porkins. I've used him a lot. The chance of Porkins hurting himself is low, but if you remove that stress and use R5, then you have a really high percentage that you won't have damage. Yes, it takes his action, but he's not stressed anymore after whatever it was that stressed him. It is rough that he costs 3 pts, though. I only think R5-D8 is worth it on Porkins.

59 minutes ago, Princezilla said:

The middling PS isn't a real issue anymore, the range has opened up significantly and with top ps arc dodgers no longer completely dominating the meta you really don't have to worry about spending the extra points on an ace only to have him never catch an opponent in arc.

Personally I don't think R5-D8 is worth it even on him, it burns your action, doesn't always work and costs three points. If even one of those things wasn't true it'd be a different story but as is it just doesn't give you what you pay for.

Question is if not R5-D8 then what do you put on him? Certainly not R2-D2, that droid is good but not good enough to keep Porkins from blowing himself up after 3 bad die rolls. Still droid or no droid, bottom line is we are all agree on, he cost to much for what he gives you.

Rage and experimental interface ,R5d8.

The ultimate porkins party

24 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

Question is if not R5-D8 then what do you put on him? Certainly not R2-D2, that droid is good but not good enough to keep Porkins from blowing himself up after 3 bad die rolls. Still droid or no droid, bottom line is we are all agree on, he cost to much for what he gives you.

Depending on the build either a generic R2 for the Rage build and those similar to make it so you only need to risk his ability once per round or R4-D6 others.

Basic X-Wings are never going to be super durable so I wouldn't waist a lot of points on something like R5-D8.

The R2 Rage build is only 28 points and in the long run using his ability half as much is more likely to increase survivability then waisting an action to gamble on R5-D8.

28 minutes ago, Princezilla said:

Depending on the build either a generic R2 for the Rage build and those similar to make it so you only need to risk his ability once per round or R4-D6 others.

Basic X-Wings are never going to be super durable so I wouldn't waist a lot of points on something like R5-D8.

The R2 Rage build is only 28 points and in the long run using his ability half as much is more likely to increase survivability then waisting an action to gamble on R5-D8.

Uh you do know rage would just kill Jek, Come to think of it maybe Jek's ability isn't that good since it restricts him so much and what you can use it for is so limited.

Either way I'm pretty sure we disagree on which overcosted Jek build is better, yours is completely horrible and will kill Jek at turn 2 (kind of thematic but not what we are trying to do, we disagree on R5-D8 being a must take for Jek to reduce the negative of Jek's ability, you think it is too expensive either way.

However despite continuing this conversation which might be better suited for a different thread. I can say we both agree on two things. R5-D8 cost too much for what it does, and any Jek Porkins build you use (including naked) is going to cost too much for what you get.

11 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

Uh you do know rage would just kill Jek, Come to think of it maybe Jek's ability isn't that good since it restricts him so much and what you can use it for is so limited.

Either way I'm pretty sure we disagree on which overcosted Jek build is better, yours is completely horrible and will kill Jek at turn 2 (kind of thematic but not what we are trying to do, we disagree on R5-D8 being a must take for Jek to reduce the negative of Jek's ability, you think it is too expensive either way.

However despite continuing this conversation which might be better suited for a different thread. I can say we both agree on two things. R5-D8 cost too much for what it does, and any Jek Porkins build you use (including naked) is going to cost too much for what you get.

If you aren't self stressing with Jek you really aren't using him to his full potential. Rage is risky but it has very high damage output so you can make the most of the time he's on the table, because as I said X Wings just don't last under sustained fire so full offence is the way to go. Jek has a 3/8 chance of taking damage every time he uses his ability so realistically he'd either die to enemy fire or kill what's shooting him before he burned through his health.

The biggest reason R5-D8 isn't worth it is that you loose more health for not having a focus for defence then you'd get for using it.

Just now, Princezilla said:

If you aren't self stressing with Jek you really aren't using him to his full potential. Rage is risky but it has very high damage output so you can make the most of the time he's on the table, because as I said X Wings just don't last under sustained fire so full offence is the way to go. Jek has a 3/8 chance of taking damage every time he uses his ability so realistically he'd either die to enemy fire or kill what's shooting him before he burned through his health.

yeah stress is what Jek's ability circles around but because of the negative without a way to cancel that either through a reroll or something you don't want to be double stressing Jek. PTL is okay but again X-wings doesn't have that good of an action selection to justify it. Expert Handling burns your action just like the droid (which acts pretty much like a reroll if you take a look at the odds (3/8 to receive damage, 3/8 failing to remove received damage). Also if you are taking a damage after Expert Handeling you are not using a droid.

You know what, Jek's ability is garbage, sure it has potential but there is no opportunities to use Jek very well, at least not without suffering the drawback.

Point is Jek sucks, don't ever take him. Put your points into something like Tycho instead.

3 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

yeah stress is what Jek's ability circles around but because of the negative without a way to cancel that either through a reroll or something you don't want to be double stressing Jek. PTL is okay but again X-wings doesn't have that good of an action selection to justify it. Expert Handling burns your action just like the droid (which acts pretty much like a reroll if you take a look at the odds (3/8 to receive damage, 3/8 failing to remove received damage). Also if you are taking a damage after Expert Handeling you are not using a droid.

You know what, Jek's ability is garbage, sure it has potential but there is no opportunities to use Jek very well, at least not without suffering the drawback.

Point is Jek sucks, don't ever take him. Put your points into something like Tycho instead.

That's why you use the R2 mech. You then only need his ability once per round because you can clear the one stress easily the next turn with all that green on his dial.

6 minutes ago, Princezilla said:

That's why you use the R2 mech. You then only need his ability once per round because you can clear the one stress easily the next turn with all that green on his dial.

You still kill him with 3 bad rolls. So that gives you a limit of 2 guaranteed use of the rage gimmick. You need hull regen but as it is obviously stated there is simply is no good hull regen options.

If you are going to rage, Tycho, but that's for another thread.

3 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

You still kill him with 3 bad rolls. So that gives you a limit of 2 guaranteed use of the rage gimmick. You need hull regen but as it is obviously stated there is simply is no good hull regen options.

If you are going to rage, Tycho, but that's for another thread.

I disagree, it's less than 50/50 chance of taking damage and X-Wings don't last long enough to make Regen worth it. The idea is to do enough damage before he dies to make it worth it.

Personally, I like using Porkins with R3-A2 and either VI or Adaptability. Being able to eat stress at will makes him pretty flexible if you can plan your maneuvers well. If you're not going to need a red maneuver next turn and can afford to clear the stress, then just use the droid normally. If you will need a K-turn, then eat the stress and risk the damage. Plus, you can also eat the stress after that K-turn if you want to keep things easy to clear later.

His pilot skill is high enough that you'll usually have a good idea of the board state, so you'll be able to make informed decisions about what you're going to want to do later, and the Adaptability variant comes in at only 28 points with Integrated Astromech.

You can always stop removing Stress for Rage after the first one hits you.

Also, what if someone else had Inspiring Recruit? You only need to chance it once a turn and can remove both!