I started playing the RAC/Kylo and QD build this week, and I gotta say, it's a blast to play.

especially since I can actually win games and even when I lose, I feel like I had a solid chance of

winning. even against the worlds build of Dengar Tel. Dengar died in two turns thanks to blinded pilot, although

QD died in the same turn as Dengar due to some horrible greens on my part. but it was glorious to see that actually

go as planned. I am 3-3 with this build. I am new to this game but I am feeling more and more confident as well as

making less mistakes that costs me games.

so now to my question. after playing around a bit on yet another squad builder, I am thinking about this Darth Vader set up:

Darth Vader (29)

• Veteran Instincts
• Tie/X1
• Advanced Targeting Computer
• Engine Upgrade

this is the Quickdraw that I am currently using

Quickdraw (29)

• FCS
• Spec Ops
• LWF
• Primed Thrusters (I know it's suppose to be Pattern Analyzer, but a few players here like to stress ships out a bit)
• VI

as you can see, both come in at 35 points with Pilot Skill 11. How does Vader hold up to Quickdraw with this setup and partnered up

with RAC/Kylo? I am trying to justify buying the Raider which my local shop has for $80.

so for those of you who are far more experienced than me, what do you think?

Buy the Raider.

Either can be great, yes buy the raider, palp and the vader stuff is worth it. And it's a fun epic ship if you wanna get into that.

What Is you rac build out right now I am doing rac Quickdraw, my build is

Rac, vi, gunner, rebel captive, kylo, title, engine upgrade

Quickdraw, adaptability, fcs, title, lwf, pattern analyzer

But I must admit replacing rebel captive with hot shot copilot and running Vader with

Engine Upgrade, juke, title, atc, is super awesome just as long as you don't face any heavy stress lists like Braylen

I honestly think Intensity will be REALLY good on Vader:

Vader, Intensity, Prockets, Title, Adv TC, EU - 39 Points or 36 w/o Prockets

Intensity really has a lot of flexibility on Vader allowing him a lot more options for extra action economy- plus a great way to BR + Boost into range 1, and still have a focus to unload Prockets. Just a thought.

Considering either of them will die in a couple turns of combat, Quickdraw gives you more bang for your buck. Against Dengar/Tel, Fenn or the like, you'll lose anyway, so your only concern is doing as much damage as possible before dying.

3 hours ago, TheOz said:

Either can be great, yes buy the raider, palp and the vader stuff is worth it. And it's a fun epic ship if you wanna get into that.

What Is you rac build out right now I am doing rac Quickdraw, my build is

Rac, vi, gunner, rebel captive, kylo, title, engine upgrade

Quickdraw, adaptability, fcs, title, lwf, pattern analyzer

But I must admit replacing rebel captive with hot shot copilot and running Vader with

Engine Upgrade, juke, title, atc, is super awesome just as long as you don't face any heavy stress lists like Braylen

the RAC I currently use the exact same as yours.

but I am thinking about changing two things on it.

first is removing the title, I have yet to use it in any of my matches so far

second is changing rebel captive for inspiring recruit because of said stress

which will give me 5 points to play with, but since I am a new player and all. I would like to know if this sounds like a good

idea or is it horrible?

2 hours ago, Johen Dood said:

I honestly think Intensity will be REALLY good on Vader:

Vader, Intensity, Prockets, Title, Adv TC, EU - 39 Points or 36 w/o Prockets

Intensity really has a lot of flexibility on Vader allowing him a lot more options for extra action economy- plus a great way to BR + Boost into range 1, and still have a focus to unload Prockets. Just a thought.

that sounds pretty good

The thing is you have to actively use the title, remember if your facing 3 or 4 ships, you can make your rac run into one, then use the title to activate kylo, hit one of the other ships with blinded pilot, then only 1 ship can actually attack you. It also negates them trying to block you so you can't kylo or target lock. Also if someone does block you, you can boost over them and have a beautiful rang one shot, out of arc.

The thing is rebel captive is amazing with rac because it makes your opponent fly predictably, making it easier to arc dodge them, which is also key to winning with rac, I have flown him successfully for two years and in two regionals (one time getting 12th and being half points away from the top 8 cut)

But it's true you can fly him without those things, but it will make flying him harder, not easier, I can tell you that

Arguably the world's top 16 rac list is one of the most challenging versions but is amazing if you fly it right

Rac, engine upgrade, palp, kylo ,adaptability

Whisper, acd, vi, fcs

My top 12 finish I ran almost the same thing except with vader crew

You can replace whisper with vader pilot and run him with prockets, and that's not a bad list either

And like I said hotshot copilot is a great crew on ps10 rac because it pretty much strips focus so your opponent can't hit you as hard and can't defend against you as well

Countess Ryad is another awesome ace to pair with rac

Just food for thought

I would run Vader as this or on a budget drop Engine for chips. With Intesity in a single round Vader can get Target Lock/Evade/Focus and your opponent must change a hit dice that cannot be rerolled.

Vader (38)

Darth Vader (38) - TIE Advanced
Intensity (2), Cruise Missiles (3), TIE/x1 (0), Engine Upgrade (4), Sensor Jammer (4)

Seems pretty good. Cruise missiles actually seem really nice on the dark lord of the sith, helps with his meager damage output at Range 2-3. I'll actually try this build:

Or maybe like this?

7 hours ago, TheOz said:

The thing is you have to actively use the title, remember if your facing 3 or 4 ships, you can make your rac run into one, then use the title to activate kylo, hit one of the other ships with blinded pilot, then only 1 ship can actually attack you. It also negates them trying to block you so you can't kylo or target lock. Also if someone does block you, you can boost over them and have a beautiful rang one shot, out of arc.

The thing is rebel captive is amazing with rac because it makes your opponent fly predictably, making it easier to arc dodge them, which is also key to winning with rac, I have flown him successfully for two years and in two regionals (one time getting 12th and being half points away from the top 8 cut)

But it's true you can fly him without those things, but it will make flying him harder, not easier, I can tell you that

Arguably the world's top 16 rac list is one of the most challenging versions but is amazing if you fly it right

Rac, engine upgrade, palp, kylo ,adaptability

Whisper, acd, vi, fcs

My top 12 finish I ran almost the same thing except with vader crew

You can replace whisper with vader pilot and run him with prockets, and that's not a bad list either

And like I said hotshot copilot is a great crew on ps10 rac because it pretty much strips focus so your opponent can't hit you as hard and can't defend against you as well

Countess Ryad is another awesome ace to pair with rac

Just food for thought

Wow, never thought of using his title that way, I will keep the RAC setup as is

thank you for your insight on this.

also quick question, if I were to Kylo a ship on it's last hull point, and it still has several shield tokens left(regen a la r2d2, Miranda etc.)

does the ship get destroyed?

Yes it does. Hence kylo can help you kill an inquisitor or a wing or corran in two hits

On 9.7.2017 at 7:20 AM, Johen Dood said:

I honestly think Intensity will be REALLY good on Vader:

Vader, Intensity, Prockets, Title, Adv TC, EU - 39 Points or 36 w/o Prockets

Intensity really has a lot of flexibility on Vader allowing him a lot more options for extra action economy- plus a great way to BR + Boost into range 1, and still have a focus to unload Prockets. Just a thought.

Thought so too, it's a non-stressing but limited PTL, and Vader with his double action is quite likely to have one token remaining. I also like it much more than juke.
Cruis missiles are another nice option instead of Prockets. But both are a bit expensive on him IMO.

I just played him yesterday with this and the lack of autothrusters really hurts. He blew up when autothrusters would have kept him at 3hull. So I'm hesistant to load him up to 39 points.

But Quickdraw, Vader and a third is really fun to play!

15 hours ago, TheOz said:

It also negates them trying to block you so you can't kylo or target lock.

I'm going to highlight that point here. If I come up against your build and I don't see Dauntless title, my strategy is to force a bump on the Decimator so Kylo Ren can't be used.

FCS makes Quickdraw do much more damage than Vader imo.
Yes, Vader's 3rd die is an auto crit which is technically better than 3die attacks, but its at the cost of rerolls. That hurts, ive had way too often i roll all blanks with him and i either went for a 2hit attack or kept my TL and only had a crit (and a single hit/crit never goes through if they actually have evasion/tokens, and since he fires first thats pretty likely)
Vader can be outmaneuvered due to medium speed dial, suffering horribly if he kturns, and only a main arc. QD may not get 3die at the aux arc, but its better than 0 and usually if you outmaneuver a high PS like that you probably cant hit him, he just cant hit you, while QD can. QD also has access to PA/PTs so even if she sloops or redturns she has a focus/broll into position AND of course has FCS support. Vader aint got jack.
If stress attacked, Vader is bound to his insanely bad green placements. Usually if he destresses someone is wizzing right by him as a result, rendering him useless for a couple turns. QD's slow-roll greens benefit her because of the aux arc and the "shoot me i dare you" methodology.

I still like vader and use him a fair bit when im playing casual, but if im being competitive he stays in the **** box. Defenders, SFs, or Strikers do insanely more work for me than he does.

If you're holding focus for defense that Vader's ATC is pretty comparable to FCS.

I was running QD/BD/Vessery and dropped BD for Vader with Juke. He was fine in the role. I wouldn't have replaced Quickdraw but he was a pretty fair replacement for Backdraft at the same cost - a lot tougher than the /SF and shipping the same amount of damage, though gave up on the rear arc obviously.

10 hours ago, MortalPlague said:

I'm going to highlight that point here. If I come up against your build and I don't see Dauntless title, my strategy is to force a bump on the Decimator so Kylo Ren can't be used.

Yeah its a good strategy if your running 3-4 ships. But be careful because sometimes risking it to have all guns on the decimator is worth it because the decimator key to survival is avoiding getting shot

thank you everyone for your input

I am going to try Vader a few times to see how it goes, but I'm set on RAC and QD for the upcoming tournament

again, thank you very much