On 4/9/2020 at 6:52 PM, Boom Owl said:Why is First Order your favorite faction?
- They have a very "boss-like" attribute from a lot of videogames. Their strength is loaded towards late game quite often, where game progression and hurting them often makes them more powerful. Quickdraw, Tavson, Fanatical (especially on Quickdraw or Silencers), the Trap of triggering False Trad against a swarm, and Rush are all prime examples of fascinating wrenches to throw in the game. To a lesser extent, I'll Show You the Dark Side fits in there, but Kylo crew is trash and although Kylo pilot's ability is very handy in more situations than most realize, the idea of autothrusters is that you don't get shot at/only behind clouds or something.
- They're the only faction with 2 faction-locked Talents, and both are really good. Also, they play into separate ship types. Fanatical on Quickdraw and Silencers really shows the power of 3 die guns with a soft force charge for muggles, whereas Proud Trad on Omega's demonstrates the strengths of spammable action efficiency a la Networked Calculations (and open dials are fun). Sure, Scorch can take Fanatical and Holo is very good with Proud Trad, but aside from that, it feels cool and specialized that we have an ace talent and a filler talent.
- The best TIE fighter in the game. It was good value on launch (albeit very stunted by 9 pt Pro Torps, 4 pt Juke and Phantoms, Palob, Boba + tugs, etc.), but point changes and nerfs to its predators only boosted its value further. You can go generic for solid filler/blocker (with 3h 1s, you can dedicate your single action ship to a blocker role without feeling too afraid), elite generic for cheap I3 and Proud Trad, or you can select so many options out of a solid roster of uniques. Midnight, Scorch, Longshot, Muse, Null, and Rivas are all certainly worth a look at the least, and over half of those named demonstrate significant efficiency boosts over the generic.
- The Tech Slot. Biohexacrypt Codes make the Upsilon's all-white action bar very powerful, especially in tandem with Tavson. Advanced Optics on any Silencer with a Talent/Force offers high damage consistency. If you're one for just putting generic SF's on the field, Optics allow for some serious area denial. Primed Thrusters allow Blackout, Kylo, Rush, and Holo to all do some crazy stuff. Pattern Analyzer works on any piece that you don't mind sinking 5 pt for. I almost never use it outside Holo or specific Vonreg builds, but Deuterium Power Cells are an insight as to what kind of balance regen should be.
- They're very good in Hyperspace. I know that I am fond of degenerate extended things, but a balanced faction that trades away a lot of support options like bombs/cheap general coordinate/true turrets/etc. for just playing the game as one of an ace + support and action/board management (or perhaps triple aces/double aces + support) allow you to hone in on the basics of the game. Plus, the toned-down nature of Hyperspace allows interesting pilots to stand out to toy with, such as TN3465, various Muse builds, Ember, and Avenger.
- Some of the best support abilities or non-support niche are on ships that aren't locked into that sort of role, allowing them to make decisions on the fly. Holo, on a whim, can turn into the best iteration of a 2nd edition Manaroo-like effect. Tavson's ability might be best for offense, but can always do some fun things with coordinate. Avenger's ability is very niche, but the cost of bringing his ZwungZwang ability is so low compared to the instances where it would come in handy. Rivas is only 2 pt more than the generic TIE/FO. Muse works well enough on her own, but can pull shenanigans when in range 1 of a friend. Thannison's I1 status and highly conditional tractor ability seem rubbish were one to go by conventional guesses for similar ability pricings, but being a mere single point more expensive than Starkiller opens the window to many rewards and the nuances of the control aspect/NobodyExpectsTheSpanishInquisition! aspect of the ability. Ember is better than he ought be, and will only get better once Gideon is released for the Xi-class light shuttle.
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The Silencer is so over-the-top in a beautiful way. It has the tech and both munition slots, as well as most pilots having an elite slot of some sort. Not only does this offer a lot of customization, but it's customization that can survive thanks to the nimbleness of autothrusters either before a move with coordinate/force powers, after a move, or some combination of the two (although autos after a move are typically enough). This is on a ship with double the health of a TIE/interceptor, denying a lot of bad variance outcomes at the hands of enemy I6's. Typically, you should fill only 1 slot, (and not even that if you fly the I1), maaaaaybe 2, but the fun is that there are viable builds that run into 3 slots filled.
- As a result of what the Silencer can do, each Silencer ace can function as a point fortress, although Kylo and Blackout do this far better than anyone else. Kylo even moreso than Blackout because he can use passive mods on defense in addition to offense and is a native 13 pt pricier. A true-no-strings-attached-straight-up 3 attack 3 agi Force-Sensitive Interceptor-Class ship exists only the form of Kylo.
- Just do whatever with Kylo. Running him naked with a gang of efficiency ships or the intimidation of 2 Upsilons are both very powerful. Triple Aces work very well with him as well. Trading a bit off the support to give him Hate or Predictive Shot are some of the few truly useful instances of those cards. Likewise, Instinctive Aim finds most success on Kylo, given that optics allow him to modify those torps without locks. Supernatural and Precognitive Reflexes, extremely niche cards with typically 1 other use apiece (Super for Inky Generics and Precog for Luke), have been worked to niche success on Kylo. Sense allows Kylo to be his own mini-Snoke, also offering to turn his I2 or I3 coordinate friend into a Jerry-Rigged Supernatural Reflexes. Sometimes, combining tricks (Instinctive + Optics + Torps/Sense + Pattern Analyzer come to mind) results in a ship that has increasing returns on upgrades, a rarity in this state of the game where the vast majority of upgrades offer staggeringly diminishing returns.
- The game's never over if a Silencer is your closer.
- The I6's are not auto-includes, making list-building more intriguing, especially for the I5's. You take Vonreg only because a list needs a sort of I6 Interceptor in it, so don't go looking for Vader levels of power or Soontir levels of finesse here. Midnight is a diversion, and only in specific builds a pocket ace. Quickdraw is a trading piece, a la Wedge. Rush is an I2 that gets to be bolder than usual and is either promoted to I6 or made irrelevant with crippling crits in the process--he's still not a proper closer because the vast majority of cases that have that happen make him yield half points. Null is an I7 only for now.
- The self-nerfs of the TIE/ba offer a fun puzzle. The BA also makes Daredevil and other stress mechanics quite useful because the self-nerfs are the cost for efficiency, not stress. Thus, it is a ship with a perpetually present wide band for skill to function or to fail. I don't like it's green-token anemia, but coordinate helps with that in interesting ways and the Xi is coming with Terex.
