Had a brief try with an updated version of the TIE/fo All-stars the other day.
I had a play around with a four TIE/fo ace squad a while back and.....well, it was fun, but never seriously effective. Recent upgrades have opened up a few new options, and they've actually done a bit better. They're still fragile, but actually pack a bit more of a punch (historically their key weakness).
- Omega Leader - Juke, Comms Relay
- Zeta Leader - Predator, Comms Relay, Twin Ion Engines MkII
- Omega Ace - Swarm Leader, Comms Relay
- Epsilon Ace - Targeting Synchroniser
Targeting Synchroniser and Swarm Leader are the two newest upgrades that really help these dinky little ships out.
Omega Leader is an automatic first choice - by far the best TIE/fo pilot, and equipped with stuff that complements perfectly the pilot ability; Omega Leader is tougher and much more capable of engaging the ludicrous-dice-modification crowd than either points cost or raw stats would suggest. His weaknesses are an inability to fight multiple opponents at once, and the fact that his actual raw damage output against agility 0 targets like a Ghost or Decimator is actually pretty anaemic, it's just hard to dodge. But for the price of a generic X-wing, whaddya want, the moon on a stick?
Zeta Leader is probably my favourite TIE/fo, if only because he's normally overlooked in favour of Omega Leader. Getting a 3rd attack dice when [condition] is a pretty common TIE fighter pilot ability, but the condition of 'take a stress token' is a very tolerable one for a ship with the TIE/fo's awesome dial. Normally I'd take Wired and Weapons Guidance for a cheap toughness and damage boost, but saving points elsewhere means you can fork out for predator, which gives more damage on balance, and Comms relay, which is either a bigger toughness boost or fuel for Omega Ace.
Omega Ace is......always a gamble. Previously I used Push The Limit, Pattern Analyser, Twin Ion Engines MkII to try and make him self-sufficient. The resulting TIE was very efficient - able to do big speed 3 green banks and double-action....but I rarely, if ever, actually needed his ability. Most of the time either focus or target lock was sufficient to get all hits, and most of the time at least one hit was splashing against shields, green dice or tokens. Swarm Leader is risky - because you're taking evade tokens off your other top aces to fuel it - but the pull off a perfect strafing run and drop 5 criticals on someone and it can be game-winning, even at a cost of having to spend a turn token-ing Omega Leader and Zeta Leader back up.
Epsilon Ace is an amazingly cheap support craft. I always thought he was nice - and his ability was amazing - but he never really had a job until Targeting Synchroniser. Now he's a brilliant target lock spotter - providing Omega Leader with the rerolls he can't normally get without spending his own target lock and ruining his ability, or providing one half of Omega Ace's token cost. More importantly, if he's essentially a 20-point target lock buddy, he doesn't need to worry too much about getting his own shots off, so he can use his PS12 and decent dial to avoid action.