Best missiles/torpedos for Quinn Jast?

By Zazaa, in X-Wing

So looking in to some Quinn Jast builds, obviously very good pilot with excellent ability!

My first choice was Homing missiles, no need to use the TL and target can't use his evade, but it seems like there is not too many ships at the moment who relay on evade, some Imperial ships, so would there be better option? Maybe Plasma torpedos?

Meh, genesis red with a cannon is considerably better value.

1 minute ago, Vargas79 said:

Meh, genesis red with a cannon is considerably better value.

You must be great at parties.

Homing missile, proton rocket, proton torpedo and plasma torpedo are my top picks.

Proton rocket is 5 dice but restricted to range 1. Main advantage is you do not need deadeye or any ept to work with it.

Proton torpedo has focus to crit, can not complain about modifiers.

Plasma would be great if it's the first ship shooting in a list.

Personally I'll try proton rockets and mindlink first. Dip in quick and get out of the way after the rocket shot to mindlink focuses and reload missile.

25 - Quinn Jast w/ Heavy Scyk Interceptor, Seismic Torpedo, Attanni Mindlink, Pulsed Ray Shield

Dual purpose Attanni focus battery / obstacle removal. Note: since Seismic Torpedo is an action, you can use it every turn if you are so inclined.

44 minutes ago, killerbeardhawk said:

You must be great at parties.

I'm a permanent no fun zone ?

1 hour ago, Vargas79 said:

Meh, genesis red with a cannon is considerably better value.

Well that's kinda off topic..

I would imagine that anything that keeps you on range 2-3 is good with Quinn Jast. I'm thinking that you want to play hit and run tactics and sink ships at distance, rather than flying in to knife fights, those ships are just way too fragile to play that game.

Is there reason why people are not using Assault missiles?

2 minutes ago, Zazaa said:

I would imagine that anything that keeps you on range 2-3 is good with Quinn Jast. I'm thinking that you want to play hit and run tactics and sink ships at distance, rather than flying in to knife fights, those ships are just way too fragile to play that game.

Is there reason why people are not using Assault missiles?

Swarms aren't exactly prevalent right now

I'm going to be slotting him into a Mindlink Scyk list I run:

2x Tansari Point Vets w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Mangler Cannon

Quinn Jast w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Proton Rocket, Guidance Chips

Serissu w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Tractor Beam, Stealth Device

1 hour ago, Transmogrifier said:

25 - Quinn Jast w/ Heavy Scyk Interceptor, Seismic Torpedo, Attanni Mindlink, Pulsed Ray Shield

Dual purpose Attanni focus battery / obstacle removal. Note: since Seismic Torpedo is an action, you can use it every turn if you are so inclined.

Not true. You'll only be able to use it 6 times. You might be able to push that up to 8, but it would require Rigged Cargo.

5 minutes ago, Innese said:

I'm going to be slotting him into a Mindlink Scyk list I run:

2x Tansari Point Vets w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Mangler Cannon

Quinn Jast w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Proton Rocket, Guidance Chips

Serissu w/ Mindlink, Heavy Scyk, Tractor Beam, Stealth Device

But you could fit four named pilots as well in squad, all with mindlink.

Seismics! Take the biggest rocks you can get, cluster them together, and herd your opponent towards them with, say, a YV and a Lancer. This way you'll force opposing aces into suboptimal moves to avoid damage, and clear the field for your big ships at the same time.

Prockets and Fearlessness w/Chimps!

16 hours ago, Zazaa said:

But you could fit four named pilots as well in squad, all with mindlink.

Yeah, if at any point you're using 2 TPVs, Genesis and Inaldra will provide better benefits for the same cost.

If you were to combine him with ships that benefit from having no debris on the field:

Quinn: heavy scyk, seismic torpedo

Blow it all up and watch those other ships wonder where they can hide!

Tracer missiles!

I built this last night (props to geordanr who had the idea for using Quinn)

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Scum and Villainy&d=v4!s!122:120,126,136,-1:-1:-1:;122:120,126,136,-1:-1:-1:;122:120,-1,136,-1:-1:-1:;246:170:19:-1:U.143&sn=Quinn Y-WING&obs= (Three hired guns with plasma, EM, GC; Quinn with title, tracers, GC, Adapt)

This would be my SC list if Quinn was out. The three ywings can bunker bust Jumpmasters at PS4 alpha, and the ABTs are anti "Infinite Procket" Fenn Rau tech.

Overall, I think it depends on a lot of things. For one, are you going with Guidance Chips or Pulse Ray Shield? Are you going to do Attanni Mindlink? This can make a difference.

Plasma are cheap, but they have no native dice modification. If you are doing Mindlink, you will get that Focus (most likely), so it's not as much of a big deal. If you go Mindlink Focus + GC, you get a 73.8% of 4 hits and 21% of 3 hits with a 41.3% of a crit. If you drop the GC for Pulse Ray Shielding, the chances drop considerably. You get a 31.6% for 4 hits, 42.1% for 3 hits, and a 21% for 2 hits. I wouldn't want to go this route if you are wanting PRS. I also don't really rate the bonus damage as the extra damage to shields only works if your opponent still has shields after you do your hits. That can be a dubious thing.

Proton Torpedoes get a little tricky. They have a native eyeball changer which makes Mindlink less important. I know Mindlink is the rage and it is currently blasphemy to take anything else on a ship that could take it, but.....maybe you just don't want to take it for once. Maybe it gets nerfed soon. Let's roll out the numbers for with Mindlink Focus and with/without GC...just to see the numbers. I'm thinking it's still not worth it for not going with GC on this lady.

  • Mindlink Focus + GC = 73.8% of 4 hits, 21% of 3 hits, and whopping 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • Non-Mindlink + GC = 59.3% of 4 hits, 31% of 3 hits, 8% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • Mindlink only = 31.6% of 4 hits, 42.1% of 3 hits, 21% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • No Mindlink or GC = 18.7% of 4 hits, 40.6% of 3 hits, 31.2% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.

Lots of people forget about Concussion Missile, but it's great for anyone with Mindlink, because it changes a blank result. Best situation is Mindlink Focus + GC for a respectable 94.9% of 4 hits. It would be the better option than Proton Torps for those who go Mindlink. If want to try it with GC, but not Mindlink, you end up 59.3% for 4 hits and 31.2% for 3hits. Swap out GC for Mindlink and you get better with 73% of 4 hits and 21% of 3 hits. That is actually pretty darn good when you compare with Plasma and Proton Torps. So....you want something other than Mindlink on her, you go with Concussion Missile.

The "best" combo is to have Mindlink and Homing Missiles. This gives you the TL and Focus combo that makes it so awesome. Sure, there aren't as many X7's around anymore, but TL + Focus is still the best way to ensure your dice don't crap out. It still doesn't answer the GC vs. Pulse Ray Shield. If we want to talk about pure damage output, it's hard to get a better attack than Homing Missile + Mindlink + Guidance Chip. Just looking at the numbers, you have a 97.8% of getting 4 hits and a 49.3% of a crit. Of course, that's only pure offense. You might want to have some shield regen ability if you are going to be putting so many points into this pilot. He's going to be "wasting" a turn flipping his card back, so it's not a bad idea to also ionize (at times). If you drop GC, you go to a 77.2% of 4 hits and 20.5% of 3 hits. Still powerful.

I did say it was hard to beat the previous combo, but I didn't say impossible. Proton Rockets can beat them for damage output, but I am not sure I would call it a better option. I don't like having to get into R1 to fire it. Of course, it can be fine and you only need a Focus token to fire it. Still, if I want to maximize my attack, I will say Prockets, GC, and Mindlink. The action will be used to TL and we come up with an outstanding 96.5% chance of 5 hits and 57.2% of a critical hit. It is much higher, but it would need to be in the perfect situation (Range 1, get a TL, and have a Focus from someone else). Not impossible, but would need to be perfect. If you want PRS as you are getting in R1, the numbers drop to 72.4% for 5 hits and 24.1% for 4 hits. Personally, I get nervous about getting that close to someone with Proton Rockets. People see it coming and make plans. I like the idea of blasting from R2-3 and being able to get away for a turn. Of course, this is all just preferences and "best" comes down to personal preference.

To summarize:

  • R1 max damage = Go with Proton Rockets, Mindlink, and Guidance Chip.
  • Best ranged damage = Homing Missile, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best affordable bang for buck = Plasma, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best 4 pt option = Concussion, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best option without Mindlink = Concussion and GC.

Overall, I think Guidance Chip is much better than Pulse Ray Shield on any of the ordnance.

8 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Overall, I think it depends on a lot of things. For one, are you going with Guidance Chips or Pulse Ray Shield? Are you going to do Attanni Mindlink? This can make a difference.

Plasma are cheap, but they have no native dice modification. If you are doing Mindlink, you will get that Focus (most likely), so it's not as much of a big deal. If you go Mindlink Focus + GC, you get a 73.8% of 4 hits and 21% of 3 hits with a 41.3% of a crit. If you drop the GC for Pulse Ray Shielding, the chances drop considerably. You get a 31.6% for 4 hits, 42.1% for 3 hits, and a 21% for 2 hits. I wouldn't want to go this route if you are wanting PRS. I also don't really rate the bonus damage as the extra damage to shields only works if your opponent still has shields after you do your hits. That can be a dubious thing.

Proton Torpedoes get a little tricky. They have a native eyeball changer which makes Mindlink less important. I know Mindlink is the rage and it is currently blasphemy to take anything else on a ship that could take it, but.....maybe you just don't want to take it for once. Maybe it gets nerfed soon. Let's roll out the numbers for with Mindlink Focus and with/without GC...just to see the numbers. I'm thinking it's still not worth it for not going with GC on this lady.

  • Mindlink Focus + GC = 73.8% of 4 hits, 21% of 3 hits, and whopping 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • Non-Mindlink + GC = 59.3% of 4 hits, 31% of 3 hits, 8% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • Mindlink only = 31.6% of 4 hits, 42.1% of 3 hits, 21% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.
  • No Mindlink or GC = 18.7% of 4 hits, 40.6% of 3 hits, 31.2% of 2 hits, and a 84.7% of a critical hit.

Lots of people forget about Concussion Missile, but it's great for anyone with Mindlink, because it changes a blank result. Best situation is Mindlink Focus + GC for a respectable 94.9% of 4 hits. It would be the better option than Proton Torps for those who go Mindlink. If want to try it with GC, but not Mindlink, you end up 59.3% for 4 hits and 31.2% for 3hits. Swap out GC for Mindlink and you get better with 73% of 4 hits and 21% of 3 hits. That is actually pretty darn good when you compare with Plasma and Proton Torps. So....you want something other than Mindlink on her, you go with Concussion Missile.

The "best" combo is to have Mindlink and Homing Missiles. This gives you the TL and Focus combo that makes it so awesome. Sure, there aren't as many X7's around anymore, but TL + Focus is still the best way to ensure your dice don't crap out. It still doesn't answer the GC vs. Pulse Ray Shield. If we want to talk about pure damage output, it's hard to get a better attack than Homing Missile + Mindlink + Guidance Chip. Just looking at the numbers, you have a 97.8% of getting 4 hits and a 49.3% of a crit. Of course, that's only pure offense. You might want to have some shield regen ability if you are going to be putting so many points into this pilot. He's going to be "wasting" a turn flipping his card back, so it's not a bad idea to also ionize (at times). If you drop GC, you go to a 77.2% of 4 hits and 20.5% of 3 hits. Still powerful.

I did say it was hard to beat the previous combo, but I didn't say impossible. Proton Rockets can beat them for damage output, but I am not sure I would call it a better option. I don't like having to get into R1 to fire it. Of course, it can be fine and you only need a Focus token to fire it. Still, if I want to maximize my attack, I will say Prockets, GC, and Mindlink. The action will be used to TL and we come up with an outstanding 96.5% chance of 5 hits and 57.2% of a critical hit. It is much higher, but it would need to be in the perfect situation (Range 1, get a TL, and have a Focus from someone else). Not impossible, but would need to be perfect. If you want PRS as you are getting in R1, the numbers drop to 72.4% for 5 hits and 24.1% for 4 hits. Personally, I get nervous about getting that close to someone with Proton Rockets. People see it coming and make plans. I like the idea of blasting from R2-3 and being able to get away for a turn. Of course, this is all just preferences and "best" comes down to personal preference.

To summarize:

  • R1 max damage = Go with Proton Rockets, Mindlink, and Guidance Chip.
  • Best ranged damage = Homing Missile, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best affordable bang for buck = Plasma, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best 4 pt option = Concussion, Mindlink, and GC.
  • Best option without Mindlink = Concussion and GC.

Overall, I think Guidance Chip is much better than Pulse Ray Shield on any of the ordnance.

This is a very solid analysis, but I think you've first got to answer the question 'would I be better of with an HLC (or Mangler, or Autoblaster) TPV instead?', and I'm not sure the answer is ever going to be anything other than 'yes'.

2 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

This is a very solid analysis, but I think you've first got to answer the question 'would I be better of with an HLC (or Mangler, or Autoblaster) TPV instead?', and I'm not sure the answer is ever going to be anything other than 'yes'.

Well, it can come down to price.

  • TPV w/ HLC and Mindlink is 27 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Homing Missile is 26 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Concusion is 24 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Plasma is 24 pts.

So, yeah, overall I would think TPV w/ HLC is worth it for not much more....but if you are just trying to scrap by.........

I also think you get great control with Ion Pulse Missile, which I haven't bothered to calculate.

IPM is a really solid thought. RUnning IPM on Quinn and some cannon Scyks would be a fun list I think.

I think chasing max damage might be a trap in the end since (in general) cannon Scyks are going to be able to generate more offense without having to jump through hoops for a similar points investment. The more irregular ordnance options though give Quinn the ability to offer something other ships cannot:

Seismic Torpedoes - being able to use these to repeatedly remove obstacles is janky but potentially really useful depending on what the rest of your squad looks like.

Ion Pulse Missiles - large ships are everywhere these days and these are cheap, easy to generate 3 hits with and hand out double ion tokens.

Assault Missiles - these aren't super relevant in the current 2-3 ship meta but maybe someday?

S-Thread Tracers - action economy wins games.

Flechette Torpedoes - 5+ hull ships being immune to the stress effect on these makes them a bit lackluster in the current meta, probably better off with the Flechette Cannon sadly :(

5 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

Flechette Torpedoes - 5+ hull ships being immune to the stress effect on these makes them a bit lackluster in the current meta, probably better off with the Flechette Cannon sadly :(

Well....I think it depends. There is less PTL than there used to be, so Flechette Cannon maybe isn't a bad option these days. Flechette Torpedo does get the Guidance Chip...which can really help with putting the damage on. You can't fire it every round, though. Hmm.....Flechette Cannon + Mindlink does actually let you TL, though, which could end up better odds than the Torpedo! You...might actually be selling me on Flechette Cannon?!?!?!

Flechette Torpedo w/ Mindlink Focus + GC:

  • 52.7% 3 hits
  • 40.4% 2 hits
  • 6.2% 1 hit
  • Crit = 37.4%

Flechette Cannon w/ Mindlink Focus + TL:

  • 51.4% 3 hits
  • 41.1% 2 hits
  • 6.8% 1 hit
  • Crit = 39.8%

Hmmm....there are really close! I feel like I'm going to have to try a Heavy Scyk w/ Flechette Cannon at some point.

I don't think you'd ever want more than one in a list though - not being able to multi-stress hurts a lot, and not being able to do more than one damage is REALLY painful, trust me, I tried running quad Ion Scyks...

Yeah, I don't think Flechette Cannon is a horrible option these days since the first stress is the one that is most relevant when fighting Mindlink and the 1 damage cap is fine for the cost.

Inaldra w/ HSI, Mindlink, Flechette Cannon

is only 20 points - not bad for a Mindlink Focus Battery/light control piece. On a higher PS platform, you can also create some gross synergy with Latts Razzi crew.

38 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Well, it can come down to price.

  • TPV w/ HLC and Mindlink is 27 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Homing Missile is 26 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Concusion is 24 pts.
  • Quinn w/ Mindlink and Plasma is 24 pts.

So, yeah, overall I would think TPV w/ HLC is worth it for not much more....but if you are just trying to scrap by.........

I also think you get great control with Ion Pulse Missile, which I haven't bothered to calculate.

Well in the end it comes down to the points in this game. Missiles and torps will have chance to deliver some critical hits where with HLC it is close to nothing, I would say that ordanance will have more bang for buck, but needs a bit more cautious approach because you can have shot every other turn, wouldn't be so bad gap to recharge shields. Proton rockets are bit obvious when you have them, maybe adding bit more effectiveness by adding Fearlessness would make them very scary ordanance with chimps.

Of course ordanance also offers good variety of attacks!

Heychadwick, good analysis!