I dont know why i did not realize that before having the product in hand but the Tie Aggressor comes with everything needed to gear it. It remains to be seen how good it will be for high level competitve events but for a starting player it's IMO the most forgiving ship to learn how to play. On top of that when the player decide to try out some tournaments, he would start with something at least quite decent.

What's needed:

1 core set + 4 Tie Aggressor, thats a pretty good starting price to get into a wargame...

10 minutes ago, Thormind said:

thats a pretty good starting price to get into a wargame...

And a pretty boring one

4 minutes ago, Nitratas said:

And a pretty boring one

For a new player learning all the rules, upgrade interactions and maneuvering, simplicity might actually not be a bad thing. Would have been my starting set if available when i started.

Omega Leader too isn't that hard to get together, with his standard build coming in the /fo expansion pack. Though he does lack the simplicity of quad Aggressors.

31 minutes ago, Thormind said:

the Tie Aggressor comes with everything needed to gear it.

21 minutes ago, Nitratas said:

And a pretty boring one

The TIE Striker would also fit the bill of "everything's included" and add some spice (besides salt).

actually i would advise against a turret user for a new player. You dont learn how to properly fly when you have no arc woes to deal with.

I'd say flying Strikers would be better as they hit hard, are cheap so you can run several, and the slight difficulty of the pre-move maneuver will rapidly teach you how to predict movements. Its nowhere near as unforgiving as phantoms since theyre cheap and dont have AS many potential positions to think about.

Learning to fly without worrying about normal primary firing arcs seems like a potential set up for later frustration or failure. I've been playing for a while and after flying the lancer too much I find myself flying large based arc bound ships wrong; flying to get a broadside mobile arc on people. For a player just starting out the ability to fire outside of primary arc seems even more warping.

But, with sales and such for the older expansions, you could combine the above suggestions (at a cheaper price), and get 1 Core, 1 F/O, 1 Striker, 2 Aggressors, and have a pretty sweet set of Imps to roll out on unsuspecting Rebel Scum

FA Core, TIE/fo, Aggressor, Aggressor, Striker. You can make a solid list out of that and the Striker will teach you how to manoeuvre REAL fast.

ner, still Imp Vets and Tie/FO for me

blue core, imp vets and Tie/fo get you easy access to the three named FOs in the Tie/FO expac (eps Ace, Zeta Leader with wired weapons guidance, and juke relay Omega) and imp vets get you a crack x7 Defender (probably steele for ps tie with zeta)

Actually yeah, Imp Vets. How did I forget that?!

idk, x7s disappeared from everyone's minds after the errata despite still being amazing

For me they mostly disappeared because people learned to predict them well enough that it was tough to use them any more.

nah, they're more fun now because they require a lot more thought

all you gotta do is predict that they'll predict what you predicted they'll predict

Nah Defenders are still quite common, theyre just not "THIS IS THE ONLY SHIP THAT STILL WORKS" anymore.
The nerf didnt really hurt them that much. Defenders were a bad bumpership to begin with, even if they still got the evade bumping was bad. Now its a little worse since no evade.

Turns out, there is a limit on 50 likes for day. Attempting to like every post in this thread has exceeded my limit.

... Shucks.

X-Wing 101, anyone?

I can't help but feel that just flying some TIEs is the best way to learn how to fly Imperial for a new player. They'll learn how to maneuver, and they'll learn why you should never count on green dice.

29 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

idk, x7s disappeared from everyone's minds after the errata despite still being amazing

Haven't been keeping up with the rules. What got changed? Do you no longer get your evade if you collide?

Just now, That One Guy said:

Haven't been keeping up with the rules. What got changed? Do you no longer get your evade if you collide?

yeah, no overlap on ships/obstacles and it's a free action now so can't do it when stressed

2 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

yeah, no overlap on ships/obstacles and it's a free action now so can't do it when stressed

Would you say this has been a good decision for the game?

Just now, That One Guy said:

Would you say this has been a good decision for the game?

idk, but I like flying the x7s a LOT more now because you have to put in a lot more effort into flying them

I had a game pre-errata where I just couldn't care for whatever reason (must've been a long day) and just dialed in consecutive 4ks on Vess and a Glaive. Still won (though I guess Backdraft did kill Rau on his own)

So I like this new x7 a lot more, and they're still great. Managed to take 2nd place at an SC a few weeks back.

21 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

Would you say this has been a good decision for the game?

They should have done the x7 errata or Palp, not both. That combo needed to be knocked down a peg, but they were a bit heavy handed knocking it down two pegs.

I will always contend FFG screwed up the Defender titles from the start. Tie D should have been -2 points and x7 0. That would have made the original x7 title more balanced and made the decision for either title that much harder.

2 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

The TIE Striker would also fit the bill of "everything's included" and add some spice (besides salt).

But is less forgiving, harder to maneuver, more fragile and has a firing arc. Also if you buy 4 striker it's money wasted since eventually to be competitive you wont be using more than one. 4 Agressors is a good entry even for competitive play.

Palp went to being on almost every (Imperial) table, to now being on almost none.

I think they went a tad too far with the change. I'd have been happier with a range restriction.

Defenders feel pretty on-point now. While I miss them being OP, this setup makes the most sense and is healthiest for the game.

... The Scum nerfs seem to keep missing the issue with their fixes. I felt Manaroo's fix was excessive and missed the point entirely.

In terms of ships that are good to learn with, I'd probably recommend sticking with more standard dial patterns. When I say that, I mean, a healthy mix of red & green (reds at least for any turn around options), and without any additional mandatory shenanigans (ie, Adaptive Ailerons). Being able to adjust AFTER moving is pretty important to learn, however...

So I'd recommend a new (Imperial) player cutting their teeth on a TIE Interceptor.