Just looking at the model, the turret has a big blind spot ahead of it and slightly to the sides (for ships on its level). Who put it there?

2 hours ago, Biophysical said:

Yeah, I like it on Vader a lot. Looks interesting on SFs, potentially. Barrel Roll out of a shot and keep your offense up. Pair Primed Thrusters to do this even while stressed. I'm not sure it's worth it, but definitely interesting. Combine with Comm Relay instead to load up the Relay on turn 1, pay off Intensity on turn 2, and on turn 3 you have effectively two tokens in reserve, although Comm Relay prevents you from having a double-evade.

I like it on some X7s. Perform Barrel Roll as needed, get a Focus for offense, then trade out your Evade if you didn't need it for defense.

S/Fs with that Comm Relay are gonna be tanky! And Quickdraw or Backdraft with Juke, yikes!

Intensity is the golden card of this wave. Holy hell. Most ships, its just "Eh" but some particular ships are gonna be powerhouses.

Poe is drooling for this card.

Poe w/ Intensity + BB8 + Primed Thrusters + AT

Cheaper than PTL and doesn't care if he gets blocked.

Poe w/ Intensity + Comm Relay + R2-D2 + AT.

Round 1 get evade. Now you can boost + focus (like a Snap), and on defense use Ability, AT, Evade, and Regen.

2 minutes ago, wurms said:

S/Fs with that Comm Relay are gonna be tanky! And Quickdraw or Backdraft with Juke, yikes!

Can't do both Juke and Intensity, sadly.

12 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

Too bad Imperials don't have ways to pass focus tokens so you can play it with snapshot.

I hope you're being sarcastic, but it's also very hard to tell.

9 minutes ago, Khyros said:

I think what you're failing to recognize in this list is the cost to flip it back over.

OK.....I will admit that I'm thinking of more than tournament play. I should always say that when I post things like that. So....with some of the lesser seen pilots, I think it is still viable, especially in missions. I've been doing a lot of mission play testing and I find the mid-PS guys to be amazing in missions.

OH, fixed two of those errors for people who couldn't take what I listed. Doh!

I do think that I haven't thought a lot on the whole flipping it over. It will be a big part of it. Surely it will change a few of these. I will also agree with some of your points on a number of these that maybe aren't the best, but even then....sometimes it can be fun. Some I do want to counter point:

• Turr Phenirr = The PS War is not as bad as it once was. So, you don't have to have PS 9 or die nearly as much at all.
• Valen Rudor = he might be able to peel off and flip. I know 2 attack are dead in tournaments, but not all are tournaments.
• T-70's = I think even a generic with EPT will like it. Yeah, it's not amazing, but it's not bad, either. It can work for almost any of those guys, even Ello as he can white T roll, Boost, and still get his Focus.
• Zeta Ace = he can BR for 2 and it's possible avoid some shots with that. Not OP, but I think it makes him definitely more viable.
• Attanni Mindlink = Just for something different.
• Serissu = She works best not with swarms, but when you have at least one ship that will take a lot of fire. Giving her the BR allows her to pretty much ensure she is near that one ship that you really want to defend.

Thanks for taking the time to seriously read it all and respond. Glad I'm not just typing for nothin'.

3 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

So my take, No dial which means absolutely nothing can be said about this ship and how good it is.

• Lt. Kestal, an interesting way to neutralize defender modification dice. According to timing you spend it before you can spend defenders focus tokens. Too bad Imperials don't have ways to pass focus tokens so you can play it with snapshot.
• Intensity, it is a focus loan that takes an EPT. True you don't have to remove stress and technically can pay it back (or not) whenever you want but with so many EPTs and Intensity being at an expensive 2 points (expensive for EPTs are concerned, Average is 1) It won't be getting much play anywhere.

Wat.

I realize being pessimistic is chic on the forums but I'm honestly impressed.

The first point is just blatantly false, see coordinate, fleet officer, and general hux to start. The second point is maybe the most pessimistic way I've ever seen an upgrade described. Yup a focus loan is an accurate way to describe an ept which allows you to take a focus or evade token after doing repositioning and is reactivated by spending an unused token later. Also reasonable is the arbitrary suggestion that the average cost of an ept is 1. I would love to see support for that statement (looks more like 2 to my math of taking a literal average).

I mean guys, I know being excited for new releases is less fun than complaining about the state of the game but please.

Since this also works on boost we desperately need an FO Interceptor type ship with boost and a tech slot.

Intensity, AT and tech to flavor. Boost into dat range one and POW.

Dang I love this card.

Onyx Squadron at PS 5 isn't a bad deal. I'll agree that you will probably go with Double Edged over the generic, but the high PS generic isn't too bad. PS 5 means he's going after a lot of ships. You can actually use those Missile slots for real missiles. Also, if you go with Autoblaster Turrets on them, you know where to go to get into R1 with a lot of ships. Yes....there is always Fenn Rau at PS 9, but there are enough mid to low PS ships out there it can beat.

Jake is going to love intensity.

5 action PTL Jake: Focus action, boost, focus token, BR, push for TL or evade if you don't need the 2nd focus you get to flip it every round.

Intense Loner Jake: Focus, boost, focus, BR get rerolls on offense and defense and not be stuck on greens.

Intense Juker Jake: Focus action, boost/BR evade. Not as good as PTL but 1 pt cheaper.

Veteran intensity Jake. Moves at PS9 with both boost/BR and 2 focus or focus/evade and one movement (cheapest of the set 32 w/PR and AT)

Snap will enjoy it also as a cheaper alternative to PTL, R2, PA. Dropping to 32 points (intensity, R2, PT) instead of 34, opening more points for other ships and he can get an evade if needed.

1 minute ago, heychadwick said:

OK.....I will admit that I'm thinking of more than tournament play. I should always say that when I post things like that. So....with some of the lesser seen pilots, I think it is still viable, especially in missions. I've been doing a lot of mission play testing and I find the mid-PS guys to be amazing in missions.

OH, fixed two of those errors for people who couldn't take what I listed. Doh!

I do think that I haven't thought a lot on the whole flipping it over. It will be a big part of it. Surely it will change a few of these. I will also agree with some of your points on a number of these that maybe aren't the best, but even then....sometimes it can be fun. Some I do want to counter point:

• Turr Phenirr = The PS War is not as bad as it once was. So, you don't have to have PS 9 or die nearly as much at all.
• Valen Rudor = he might be able to peel off and flip. I know 2 attack are dead in tournaments, but not all are tournaments.
• T-70's = I think even a generic with EPT will like it. Yeah, it's not amazing, but it's not bad, either. It can work for almost any of those guys, even Ello as he can white T roll, Boost, and still get his Focus.
• Zeta Ace = he can BR for 2 and it's possible avoid some shots with that. Not OP, but I think it makes him definitely more viable.
• Attanni Mindlink = Just for something different.
• Serissu = She works best not with swarms, but when you have at least one ship that will take a lot of fire. Giving her the BR allows her to pretty much ensure she is near that one ship that you really want to defend.

Thanks for taking the time to seriously read it all and respond. Glad I'm not just typing for nothin'.

Haha, no problem. The biggest competition (especially in the tourney scene) I see is Crackshot. Mainly because if you don't have a way to flip it over, it's basically a one-time focus/evade (though I would suspect it will more often be used as a focus). The issue between the two is that Crackshot is close to a guaranteed damage (I say close because you can die before getting it off, and if you go against 0 agi ships it's next to useless). If you only use Intensity once (because you fail to flip it back over) then you better hope you roll 2 eyes and they both end up doing damage. So not only is it dependent on your dice rolls, but its dependent on your foes as well.

Obviously there are times when you don't roll any Focuses to modify. Those times will be when you can flip Intensity face up again. You can use it kinda like an alternative to Rey/Comms Relay in that regard (you can think of it as a 2pt upgrade that stores a token, and you can take the token after you do a br/boost, and put a token back on in the end phase). But if you don't roll focuses, it means that it provided you with NOTHING that turn (since you didn't use the token it provided)... So no value add, and you get to try and add value next turn. Obviously the exception is Poe, as he can use that F token and pass it back gaining the benefits of it while not spending it.

And then there are others like Mauler who get specific bonuses, but not every time, who might benefit from it. Corran is another one potentially (though PTL is probably better since he's doing greens anyways) because he's designed for hit&run.

2 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Onyx Squadron at PS 5 isn't a bad deal. I'll agree that you will probably go with Double Edged over the generic, but the high PS generic isn't too bad. PS 5 means he's going after a lot of ships. You can actually use those Missile slots for real missiles. Also, if you go with Autoblaster Turret s on them, you know where to go to get into R1 with a lot of ships. Yes....there is always Fenn Rau at PS 9, but there are enough mid to low PS ships out there it can beat.

The problem with the Onyx is the lack of EPT. If you look at exisitng generic ships, you almost never see mid-PS generics if they don't have an EPT slot to make it worth the extra points to take them over the lower generic.

2 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

The problem with the Onyx is the lack of EPT. If you look at exisitng generic ships, you almost never see mid-PS generics if they don't have an EPT slot to make it worth the extra points to take them over the lower generic.

^ I'll save @heychadwick the effort and say 'But you do in epic and mission and..."

Besides, 4x TLT at PS 5 (although more fragile without lightweight frame) sounds nasty.

Depending on dial, Lieutenant Kestal may like Swarm Leader.

2 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

The problem with the Onyx is the lack of EPT. If you look at exisitng generic ships, you almost never see mid-PS generics if they don't have an EPT slot to make it worth the extra points to take them over the lower generic.

The jump from PS (blocker) to PS (blocker but not predator bait) isnt worth 2 points.

But there's enough PS3 and 4 with EPTs in the meta now that a jump from PS blocker to PS mid may actually be worth 2 points to some people.

Can I request people stop saying "if the ship can find a way to flip it over"? Currently there are no ships without the focus action. You don't have to sacrifice a virgin it's literally just "don't use a focus or evade".

3 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

The problem with the Onyx is the lack of EPT. If you look at exisitng generic ships, you almost never see mid-PS generics if they don't have an EPT slot to make it worth the extra points to take them over the lower generic.

1 minute ago, WAC47 said:

^ I'll save @heychadwick the effort and say 'But you do in epic and mission and..."

Besides, 4x TLT at PS 5 (although more fragile without lightweight frame) sounds nasty.

Yeah.....Epic is big on PS, especially if it fires before any of the Epics that shoot at PS 4. Missions are also good for those mid PS guys.

So the real question is what turret will people use with the lieutenant?

Now that we know her ability I think using something that can deal a good amount of damage in one go without having to get a whole lot of setup would be good.

Synched turret is an option with it's rerolls in arc so you might not have to spend the focus token on offense itself and save it for her ability.

I could see going with Homing Missiles on her and cackling maniacally as that x7 defender can do nothing against your onslaught (unless they roll really well, that is) only issue is setting up the TL and having a focus for her. (Not hard to do with coordinate, Hux, Fleet Officer, etc)

TLT is definitely a solid option for those pesky Fenn Raus, low health X7s and low health in general, where you just need that one or two damage to go through to get rid of it.

If you can get her a whole stack of focus tokens she can go to town with Cluster Missiles, cause in my experience the thing that kept me from that upgrade was usually the second evade roll, it just always seemed to work out for the defender...

Intensity also breathes new life into unguided rockets, considering a lot of times you would need to barrel roll to get a shot/block with whatever you have it on and be left with nothing to use to shoot it.

The Lt is definitely my favorite pilot, probably in this whole game.

3 minutes ago, WAC47 said:

^ I'll save @heychadwick the effort and say 'But you do in epic and mission and..."

Besides, 4x TLT at PS 5 (although more fragile without lightweight frame ) sounds nasty.

I'd rather have 4 tlts at ps2 with 2.5 agility than 4 at ps5 with 2 agility.

1 minute ago, heychadwick said:

Yeah.....Epic is big on PS, especially if it fires before any of the Epics that shoot at PS 4. Missions are also good for those mid PS guys.

I'll grant that epic seems to like the mid-ps better, though almost every time I've played or seen epic games with actual epic ships, the lists have had ways to let those epics shoot at high PS (roark, decoy vader, etc) so taking mid-ps to get shots ahead of the epic ship hasn't actually helped. Havne't done any missions outside of HotAC yet to speak to that.

36 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

Probably for the best the PS5 doesn't have an EPT, you could load three of them with Ruthlessness and TLT and have quite a few points to spare for other stuff.

But ... then there might be a purpose for Ruthlessness. (Seriously, if anyone knows a good use for Ruthlessness, PM me. I'd really like to use that card.)

~

Intensity is the perfect upgrade card for me. It buffs my Poe and Guri. Finally I can get an evade on these people. And not only does it not restrict their other actions, it actually opens them up. Further, I love its art!

I'm also looking forward to flying the ship. Really, with the upgrade mix and interesting pilot abilities, this is a great expansion.

1 minute ago, Warlon said:

So the real question is what turret will people use with the lieutenant?

Now that we know her ability I think using something that can deal a good amount of damage in one go without having to get a whole lot of setup would be good.

Synched turret is an option with it's rerolls in arc so you might not have to spend the focus token on offense itself and save it for her ability.

If you go synced turret you also need deadeye so you can actually fire it with the focus token, or else you have to spend at least the first round of combat target locking to be able to fire in the first place.

How can you give out imperials focuses? I don't have a lot of Imperial ships or boxes, but going through the crew cards it seems to be all geared towards rebel and scum for handing out focuses.

Did Corran just get a bump with Intensity? I haven't seen his name pop up (someone point it out if I missed it)...

I'm thinking 100-point Corran.

Corran moves, Focuses. Ahsoka passes an action, let's Corran Boost or Barrel Roll+(Focus or Evade) and no stress. R2-D2 may still be mandatory but greens are not... it's a point cheaper, allows Biggs to take R2 if you choose:

TIE Fighter: •Ahsoka Tano (26)
•Captured TIE (1)
•Sabine's Masterpiece (1)
Veteran Instincts (1)
•Sabine Wren (2)
Scavenger Crane (2)
Seismic Charges (2)

E-Wing: •Corran Horn (45)
Engine Upgrade (4)
Intensity (2)
Fire-Control System (2)
•BB-8 (2)

X-Wing: •Biggs Darklighter (29)
Integrated Astromech (0)
•R2-D2 (4)

Total: 100/100

1 minute ago, BlueSquadronPilot said:

How can you give out imperials focuses? I don't have a lot of Imperial ships or boxes, but going through the crew cards it seems to be all geared towards rebel and scum for handing out focuses.

There's posts talking about it on this page. General Hux, Fleet Officer, Coordinate action from an upsilon, Operations specialist...

2 minutes ago, BlueSquadronPilot said:

How can you give out imperials focuses? I don't have a lot of Imperial ships or boxes, but going through the crew cards it seems to be all geared towards rebel and scum for handing out focuses.

Fleet Officer, General Hux, Operations Specialist

44 minutes ago, nigeltastic said:

The easiest example is if you don't get shot in a round and either roll no eyeballs or just roll perfectly anyway. Other examples from there are just as simple as rolling no eyeballs in a round which also happens. Another key is tokens work in two ways, they're both good for modification and good for intimidation. If I'm picking targets and Vader has just a focus or evade I'm significantly more likely to a shot there than if he has both. By giving that extra token ostensibly for free you disincentive shots coming in which makes extra tokens more likely.

Try keeping track of instances in which you'd get to use and flip it in a few games before pooping on it.

Now I say this mostly in jest but, since the best case examples for using this card outside of the niche synergies are as a deterant and when your dice roll hot, I now believe saboteur is a good upgrade to use. Because watch out if you're in range 1 with damage cards and my dice are hot!!! Saboteur will create a donut hole like a madman!