Well. The first of the Wave XI Preview articles is up, and the TIE Aggressor has been revealed. In case you've haven't seen it, see here: Play the Aggressor - FFG

In summary, here are the cards: Wave 11 - What We Know

My first read-through of all the cards, upgrades, and pilot abilities didn't really leave me with a strong opinion about the TIE Aggressor. My first thought was "huh." Now that's not necessarily bad. Nothing from the Aggressor reveal immediately jumps out at the reader and says "OMG THIS IS GONNA BE SO F*IN GOOD WITH _______". But then again, there's a couple really interesting standouts like the two named pilots and the upgrade Intensity. A more stress-resilient action economy EPT? Interesting. An anti-Autothruster turret ace? Interesting. A multi-attack mid-PS Gunner clone turret ace? Interesting.

We still don't know about the dials on the Aggressor, and that seems to be a sticky widget with most people. "Gotta wait to see what the dial looks like", is a pretty standard response that most people posted after reading the article. I'm in the same boat, the dial is big for me, and it's hard to judge the Aggressor without seeing it.

So what can I surmise from today's Aggressor reveal? Answer: Not very much.

However. I keep coming back to one thing. Even though the new stuff: Intensity, Lt. Kestal, DoubleEdge don't really 'wow' me, I keep seeing this:

The 'original' combo that everyone and their brother immediately pointed out when the TIE Aggressor was announced. Quad-TLTs on an Imperial frame. Four TLT spamming ships with LWF for defense, a barrel roll, and (maybe) a dial worth some salt. It's about the only standout from the the Aggressor that makes me go "**** that could be powerful. Man, that's gonna really suck to fly against, God help the poor soul on the receiving end of that."

So what's my point? Why do I fear a cash grab? Well, far as I can tell, FFG is releasing a pretty 'ho-hum' ship, that doesn't really showcase anything you HAVE to have, or anything that's going to change the meta in a big way. But when you think about spamming 4 of them with TLTs and LWF, suddenly it goes from 'ho-hum' to 'DAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNN'. In essence, this release feels really meh unless you plan on grabbing 3 or 4 of them and terrorizing your local scene with maneuverable TLT spam, revenge for all those rebel K-Wings and scum Y-Wings that touched you in your bathing suit areas way back when. But for the privilege, you need to shell out $60, and make a LOT of room in your case. I dunno, it just rubs me the wrong way that FFGs latest and greatest attempt at bringing Imps some love looks like a thinly veiled and deeply cynical way of moving as many plastic ships as possible. Once the dial is revealed, it's entirely possible that it's going to be an ABSOLUTE MONSTER when spammed- which I think we all know where that train ends up: TLTs will get nerfed, and hard. Heck a TLT nerf seems likely even without considering the Aggressor- it's complained about CONSTANTLY, and in post-FAQ land NO ONE IS SAFE. And if that happens, you'll be out $60 bucks, and these things will end up collecting dust on a shelf. Meh ships don't see play, and so you'll go from having 4 of them, to MAYBE running one of them as a flanker or controller, if they're good without TLTs.

I'd really like to see an official response from FFG on the issue. Do they plan on nerfing TLT in the future? If so, I want them to commit to doing it BEFORE the TIE Aggressor releases. Alternatively, if they're not going to nerf TLTs, are they aware of how powerful a 4-squad of these things might be if the dials are good? I basically just want some human to hop in here and say "Hey guys were not just trying to steal your money right before we pull the rug out from under TLT spam. We're aware TLTs are strong and think that they'll be kept in check by the meta, and have no plans to nerf them."

Maybe I'm just an cynic who's jumpy after the Nerfageddon, I dunno, what do you think?

TL;DR - Quad-Spam TLT/LWF prospects seem to be the only 'wow' aspect of the TIE Aggressor. Ship is possible bait to get you to buy 4 of them before they nerf TLTs. FFG needs to clarify their position.

Their Position?

FFG's position is to sell you X-Wing stuff.

That position doesn't need clarification.

Yeah, you're a cynic. They're not going to nerf the ship before they even have a chance to collect tournament data.

Iunno, the versatility of being able to have unguided rockets and a turret(both tlt AND synced turret) is more exciting to me than a boring quad-generic list. Especially since as far as I can tell quad-tlt is not really very good all things considered. Can't even make Heaver's stress-hog with the aggressor.

I just don't see a nerf for tlt coming. Its on par with other strong chips/cards right now, and I think we are more likely to see cards that uplift older ships than nerfs to EVERYTHING that is strong.

Also a lot of people are excited by Intensity.

24 minutes ago, Johen Dood said:

Maybe I'm just an cynic who's jumpy after the Nerfageddon, I dunno, what do you think?

TL;DR - Quad-Spam TLT/LWF prospects seem to be the only 'wow' aspect of the TIE Aggressor. Ship is possible bait to get you to buy 4 of them before they nerf TLTs. FFG needs to clarify their position.

Here's me, sitting at my kitchen table playing casual Epic not giving a **** what FFG does to the TLT.

3 minutes ago, codegnave said:

Its on par with other strong chips/cards right now

Is it? What other turrets see regular play? I only ever see the occasional Dorsal Turret on the Ghost- other than that it's all TLT all the time.

4 minutes ago, codegnave said:

Also a lot of people are excited by Intensity.

I hope it's good, kind of a PTL alternative. But if that's the best thing about the release, would you buy an Aggressor just for that card?

We don't know how good 4 tlt aggressors are yet.

Intensity actively makes ships that are good against TLT even better by providing a new, cheap way to reposition and focus.

You have yourself worked up over imaginative conspiracy.

7 minutes ago, Johen Dood said:

Is it? What other turrets see regular play? I only ever see the occasional Dorsal Turret on the Ghost- other than that it's all TLT all the time.

I hope it's good, kind of a PTL alternative. But if that's the best thing about the release, would you buy an Aggressor just for that card?

I would buy an Aggressor or four because I got into this crazy little collectible miniatures space ship game called X-Wing.

So, nerf or no nerf, FFG is going to grab my cash like the ***** they are, and I'm gonna like it!!

1 minute ago, Ohnoeszz said:

You have yourself worked up over imaginative conspiracy.

I'll have you know that the only imaginative conspiracy I'm worked up over is the **** chem-trails that are turning all the frogs gay. /s

6 minutes ago, Johen Dood said:

I'll have you know that the only imaginative conspiracy I'm worked up over is the **** chem-trails that are turning all the frogs gay. /s

WHOA! WHOA!! WHOA!!!! Does Miss Piggy know about this??

8 minutes ago, Johen Dood said:

Is it? What other turrets see regular play? I only ever see the occasional Dorsal Turret on the Ghost- other than that it's all TLT all the time.

I hope it's good, kind of a PTL alternative. But if that's the best thing about the release, would you buy an Aggressor just for that card?

I was not comparing it to other turrets, it is clearly stronger than other turrets because it goes out to range 3. I was comparing it to things like attani mindlink and other things that win games at that high level of competition.
And no, its not the only reason I would buy the aggressor, as I stated I like its versatility. It brings sorely needed variety to the imperial lineup. Intensity is a cross-faction icing on the cake.

EDIT: Also I would buy the aggressor just for unguided rockets honestly. I'm hoping there is a torpedo equivalent for Y-wings somewhere in our future.

31 minutes ago, PhantomFO said:

Yeah, you're a cynic. They're not going to nerf the ship before they even have a chance to collect tournament data.

They have a ton of tournament data on TLT though.

4 minutes ago, Rinzler in a Tie said:

They have a ton of tournament data on TLT though.

I guess he missed that I was worried about a TLT nerf and not a nerf of the Aggressor directly?

previous quad TLT required:

• two K-Wings ($40)
• two Most Wanted packs ($80)
• two Y-Wings ($30)

for $150 outlay of cash. You could save $20 with the Rebel version, if you liked going speed 2 instead of 3 for some reason.

So, now that they're selling a quad TLT list that only requires you to pay $60, you're accusing them of a cash grab? I think not. I think they're finally (for once!) putting the upgrade cards that people want in with the ships people want to use them on.

They already did this with Palpatine so I wouldn't be suprised if they did this with TLT.

1 minute ago, skotothalamos said:

So, now that they're selling a quad TLT list that only requires you to pay $60, you're accusing them of a cash grab? I think not. I think they're finally (for once!) putting the upgrade cards that people want in with the ships people want to use them on.

I'm only accusing them of the cash grab if they then immediately nerf TLTs and leave all the people who bought shiny new aggressors with quad-paperweights. Read the whole article, or at least the TL;DR for Christ's sake.

1 minute ago, Embir82 said:

They already did this with Palpatine so I wouldn't be suprised if they did this with TLT.

Hardly what they did with Palpatine. They adjusted him over a year after the Raider hit the shelves. And it still comes with Advanced upgrades and pilots. Not to mention that its still a good ship in Epic.

13 minutes ago, Johen Dood said:

I guess he missed that I was worried about a TLT nerf and not a nerf of the Aggressor directly?

Clearly.

You're not crazy. Cynicism is subjective. FFG is a business, and while they have no obligation to tell us their FAQ plans, we are in an at-will relationship with them lol

Just now, codegnave said:

Hardly what they did with Palpatine. They adjusted him over a year after the Raider hit the shelves. And it still comes with Advanced upgrades and pilots. Not to mention that its still a good ship in Epic.

I don't care how much time passed.

One of the greatest assets of Raider expansion was Palpatine card. Now it is useless.

And Palpatine card wasn't adjusted, it was destroyed.

3 minutes ago, Embir82 said:

I don't care how much time passed.

One of the greatest assets of Raider expansion was Palpatine card. Now it is useless.

And Palpatine card wasn't adjusted, it was destroyed.

I have yet to see any evidence that it is useless. He was in the runner up list at the store championship I went to the other day. I won't argue that it was one of the greatest assets of Raider, and that it got nerfed somewhat, but you are being rather hyperbolic about this. Nerfing things is part of the game, you shouldn't expect every element of the game to be the same when you buy a ship.

I only see happy endings,

Either TLTs get nerfed, or imperials get full operational TLTs.

They just need to change the general rule for Turrets to be that the Defender gets +1 green dice vs the attack if it's not in the arc of the firing ship.

1 hour ago, Embir82 said:

I don't care how much time passed.

One of the greatest assets of Raider expansion was Palpatine card.

Son of a. . .

Here I have spent 2 years tabling the Raider thinking it was one of the greatest asset of the Raider Expansion.

Color me stupid.

Do FFG really need a cash grab? Last I heard, the game was pretty popular and selling well. I really don't think their marketing strategy works the way you think it does.

I think you are being a bit too cynical. I can't picture them intentionally releasing this knowing they were going to nerf it immediately after. I hope that isn't the case because I don't think TLTs need nerfing either.