So, I have a tourney coming up at the end of June at my LGS and I would really like to have a good showing. I have flown Vess, Ryad, Deathfire in various upgrade configurations and am debating sticking with them or switching to this:

H8ful 8's (97)

Colonel Vessery (37) - TIE Defender - Veteran Instincts (1), TIE/D (0), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1) (DO I USE ION OR TRACTOR BEAM?? CONTROL AND A DAMAGE OR CONTROL AND A BID?)

The Inquisitor (31) - TIE Adv. Prototype - Push The Limit (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

"Omega Leader" (29) - TIE/FO Fighter - Juke (2), Comm Relay (3), Stealth Device (3)

I am comfortable with OL and Vess/D... Need a little practice with Quizzie and the list as a whole. I think I might miss the alpha pop from deathfire's HM's and ussually a bomb before he pops, but he bleeds some points at 28ish and ussually downed in the second shooting phase. Is 10 hp enough??

Hitting with a Tractor Beam does a lot more than just one damage.

13 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Hitting with a Tractor Beam does a lot more than just one damage.

I don't disagree, but controlling where a small ship goes can be very useful too. I think I am leaning to TB, but I was looking for a spirited deabte versus the META. Though my LGS doesn't fly a lot of true META, but we expect an influx of individuals from out of town.

TIE/Ds aren't exactly meta in the first place TBH.

Ion cannons are great against some ships, but IMO you need weight of fire with them to really make a difference - just one, and possibly the first attack of the round, is easily dodged, and for the key ships you want to ionise RIGHT NOW, that means it doesn't work - those are either high defence small ships, or large ships generally.

PTL low agility small ships are hilarious to ionise though.

23 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

TIE/Ds aren't exactly meta in the first place TBH.

Ion cannons are great against some ships, but IMO you need weight of fire with them to really make a difference - just one, and possibly the first attack of the round, is easily dodged, and for the key ships you want to ionise RIGHT NOW, that means it doesn't work - those are either high defence small ships, or large ships generally.

PTL low agility small ships are hilarious to ionise though.

So... In Your Opinion.... Should I fly Vess as x/7 and what do I do with the extra points? Prockets? or should I stick with 2 x/7's and Deathfire?

Do you want to kill the enemy faster or survive longer yourself? TB + Prockets is very solid but Ion is powerful against small-base ships. Based on my recent experiences vs bomber K-Wings, I would lean towards Ion cannon. Those expensive bombs and ASLAMs are rather wasted if the K-Wing is stuck on a white 1-forward.

Ultimately it depends on your luck on the day who you end up facing off against. Vs large ships, Tractor beam is great for making sure your damage sticks. Against PTL aces and Attanni, Flechette cannon is good. Vs small-base ships in general, Ion Cannon. How well do you know the local meta?

25 minutes ago, JSwindy said:

So... In Your Opinion.... Should I fly Vess as x/7 and what do I do with the extra points? Prockets? or should I stick with 2 x/7's and Deathfire?

Did I say that at all?

Of the two options you gave, I said Tbeam is better.

I also said /D isn't very meta.

You inferred that you should run /x7, I didn't say that.

But you're probably right. With only two other ships without vast amounts of punch to follow up, I don't think you're getting enough out of the tractor beam to merit the three points and increased toughness.

23 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

Do you want to kill the enemy faster or survive longer yourself? TB + Prockets is very solid but Ion is powerful against small-base ships. Based on my recent experiences vs bomber K-Wings, I would lean towards Ion cannon. Those expensive bombs and ASLAMs are rather wasted if the K-Wing is stuck on a white 1-forward.

Ultimately it depends on your luck on the day who you end up facing off against. Vs large ships, Tractor beam is great for making sure your damage sticks. Against PTL aces and Attanni, Flechette cannon is good. Vs small-base ships in general, Ion Cannon. How well do you know the local meta?

From what I know of my group, I doubt they bring bombers. I would expect a few low PS 4-5 ship swarms and some ace lists, at least one will include a shadowcaster. The problem is there are at least a handful of people coming from out of area and I don't know what to expect. Basically I can't decide what I want to practice as I mix up my lists so frequently and am lucky to get 3 games in a week. I probably have the most experience competitively with the Defenders. HMM.... Maybe I'll stick with Deathfire and the Defenders. Guess I'm just looking for advise on what has the fewest holes in it.

Just because TIE/D isn't meta, doesn't make it bad. I think tractor beam makes your list more offensive. Especially with omega leader. My biggest problem with omega is he pushes so little damage thru, so less agility dice always helps.

I would go with Tractor Beam as well. Just be careful not to tractor beam someone out of arc for your primary shot. In general though, assuming you have shots with at least one of your other ships, that -1 agility is going to do more for you than a damage + an ion.

My favorite lust is very similar to what you have:

TIE Advanced: · Darth Vader (29)
Adaptability (Decrease) (0)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/x1 (0)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
TIE Defender: · Colonel Vessery (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Tractor Beam (1)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/D (0)
TIE/fo Fighter: · "Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)
-- TOTAL ------- 98p. --

I chose Vader to try and force that crit through with the last shot and that he can go to PS10 to get around the eventual Fenn.

I've taken down Miranda/Norra/Y- wings in one round of shooting.