Nice to hear!

I think you're Deathrain build is solid. However, I've found Ion Pulse Missile really clutch on Deathfire. If you feel like being experimental, you might want to try this:

Deathfire w/ Ion Pulse Missiles, Cluster Mines, extra munitions & long-range scanners = 26

It comes in 1 point less, and although you lose LWF, you get the ability to lock an enemy down with ion. This allows you to put basically guaranteed bomb damage from one or even both of your bombing ships. In theory, that's 8 dice worth of potential damage between a bomblet and a cluster mine (although you may catch your own ships in bomblet range...)

15 hours ago, blade_mercurial said:

Nice to hear!

I think you're Deathrain build is solid. However, I've found Ion Pulse Missile really clutch on Deathfire. If you feel like being experimental, you might want to try this:

Deathfire w/ Ion Pulse Missiles, Cluster Mines, extra munitions & long-range scanners = 26

It comes in 1 point less, and although you lose LWF, you get the ability to lock an enemy down with ion. This allows you to put basically guaranteed bomb damage from one or even both of your bombing ships. In theory, that's 8 dice worth of potential damage between a bomblet and a cluster mine (although you may catch your own ships in bomblet range...)

Yep I've been drifting back and forth with that Deathfire and this one. Both seem solid, I need some more time with it, but yep it's on my radar to test it out some more

Instead of Deathfire why not trim down a couple points for Tomax with Unguided Rockets, Crackshot, and LWF. Not saying it would be better but it would be interesting to try.

Love Deathrain with Bomblets. All the barrel rolls.

4 hours ago, 4fox100 said:

Instead of Deathfire why not trim down a couple points for Tomax with Unguided Rockets, Crackshot, and LWF. Not saying it would be better but it would be interesting to try.

Love Deathrain with Bomblets. All the barrel rolls.

Mainly just want Deathfire because he seems more fun oh and he also has Death in his name, that's another good reason for him lol

Deathrain with bomblets is stupid maneuverable. He can legit play arc dodging ace with that and his native boost (Aside from his abysmal PS, at any rate). The bomb damage is just a bonus (though it's not hard to get them on target!). I wish so much he had an elite slot to finish the ace conversion. For maximum unpredictability you can go advanced sensors, though you face the unfortunate trade-off of picking between boost and rockets that way (though it also lets you focus>bomb>barrel roll>K-turn to set up a good punch on the area around where you started). That trade off though has me doubting the expenditure, versus just drop>roll>move>focus for 90% of turns (since with LWF he gets solid green dice...).

He does absolutely need to do more than just bomblets to be justified however. Another option of course is Accuracy Corrector and forgoing the rockets, your actions are then used solely for defense as you basically never need an offense mod (unless at range 1, in which case you focus anyways and can decide after seeing the dice). But the rockets have the added utility of denying range bonuses, so you can zip around and sling stuff at max range to get 3 greens on defense (since let's be honest, LWF on a 1-agility ship is almost always the same as having 2 natural agility).

I had a ton of fun flying him last night, he really works well - I just want a list that better takes advantage of his abilities.

Deathfire I question adding points too beyond the mines/EM - he's going to have enough trouble lining those up, not sure if the rockets are worthwhile there - please report back after flying this some since I do enjoy him (but deathrain absolutely has an easier time putting bombs on target). I don't know that he converts to heavy fighter as well (Tomax is probably ideal if you want a rockets/LWF bomber overall)

Deathfire has been working great for me since my return to the game.

I've had to keep him cheap in my list but I think the Ion control, with LRS gives a threat during the initial engagement then lots of control and good bombing options. The bomb is to taste/fit really. I can only squeeze prox mines, with a little bid for Echo, but that finished of a 2 hull whisper tonight after some Ion control and blocking.

"Deathfire" (25) - TIE Bomber
Ion Pulse Missiles (3), Proximity Mines (3), Extra Munitions (2), Long-Range Scanners (0)

"Quickdraw" (34) - TIE/SF Fighter
Veteran Instincts (1), Fire Control System (2), Special Ops Training (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

"Echo" (40) - TIE Phantom
Veteran Instincts (1), Fire Control System (2), Recon Specialist (3), Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Great responses guys! Love all the ideas! Definitely will try Ion Pulse again, however, I did get some mileage out of Unguided today. Here's a quick battle report of my two games.

Game 1: RAC/QuickDraw

W 100-0

First engagement went well, his QuickDraw was out of position and took a Bomblet and had no arc on anyone. End of that turn he had 1 Shield left. I then missed a bombing opportunity on his QuickDraw with Fire that I thought I would get with a 3 Bank but the BR didn't fit, but instead I rolled the other way and dropped all three Clusters on RAC doing 4 damage. His QuickDraw got trapped by mine and Rain and died. Then I bombed my QuickDraw 3 times to shoot at his RAC before he moved at PS10 to do some serious hurt. That trick is amazing with this list. Seriously does not matter if other ships are higher PS.

Game 2

L 80-100

Dengar/Tel

I blocked Dengar a couple times. Got some bombs off on him, took him out. Tel was then facing my 2Shield QD and 5 Health Fire. Feeling good, made a mistake with a 3 Sloop though that I barely bumped with Fire which caused me to be in Torp Range next turn. QD lost all remaining shields and took a Weapons Failure crit which was brutal. Fire's bombs crapped out and I think he took 1/4 damage on 2 Cluster tokens. Ain't horrible though, however, I couldn't kill Tel twice with that game state. Took him down to 1 Hull, but could had still come back to life.

List is really good. Like I would feel good about taking it to a tournament.

Do you guys prefer Accuracy Corrector or Unguided Rockets on Deathrain?

See, I've been meaning to make a Deathrain squad, myself. One idea I've been baking is using Coordinate from an Upsilon shuttle to emulate Advanced Sensors on Deathrain. This way he can keep Accuracy Corrector since both occupy a System slot. He can also be able to boost while using Unguided Rockets and still keep a focus token for offense. This would keep his bomb placement unpredictable and his damage consistent.

EDIT: You can also put Palpatine on the Upsilon to change Bomblet Generator rolls to crits. He's like a pseudo Cade Bane or Sabine Wren with an emphasis on crit damage.
DOUBLE EDIT: Nevermind... I forgot Bomblets make the opponent roll, not you. Darn!

i've been trying to make a list for both deathfire/deathrain for awhile and it feels like every time i do it i got a massive void in my list the third ship cant fill.

Didnt think about quickdraw though. Not a bad idea. Though im curious, why Expertise AND Pattern Analyzer? SFs can pretty easily avoid their red maneuvers entirely, making PA kinda excess baggage. I'd try to squeeze Adv Sensors on Deathrain, it not only opens up his 4k but lets him get the bomb in a lot more places with premove boosts.

I'd rather have Unguided on him than AC. Both because if i can i really want Adv Sensors on there and Unguided still has pretty decent odds at 3hits, least it did for me and i usually ahve terrible dice luck.

Also you cant palpatine bomblet dice. YOU are not rolling the bomblet dice, your opponent is.

I think understand what you mean about the void. What's going through my mind is that at least one of your ships needs to be an endgame capable of handling aces, OR you're packing enough high-powered and accurate ordnance (like Tomax Bren) to take down an ace before the late game even starts.

Deathrain with bomblets is likely going to cost anywhere from 33-36pts. Assuming a 34pt Deathrain (LWF, ACC, Bomblet Generator), you can have enough room for Omega Leader (great late game) while leaving you 40pts for anything from a tricked out Vader to an Upsilon of choice, double LWF+UR Scimitars, or budget Whisper.

If not OL, then you're likely going to be running a ~36pt ace and a more budget ~30pt one. Still... I'm having trouble narrowing down proper wingmen, too.

Oh yeah when i just have Deathfire or Deathrain i can make a proper list just fine. I ran Deathrain + Vader + Sabaac at a store champ and did amazingly well.
Issue is running both lol. I am not known for running the most "op" list, i am known for throwing people for a loop and messing with their head both in movements and upgrade choices. However i wont run a list i feel is just going to auto lose, so i havnt ran both of the Deaths yet because like you said you lack either endgame power or something to eliminate the endgame power of the enemy team. Deathfire being PS4 pretty much removes him as an ordnance boat so hes stuck to just his guns or unguided rockets, and Deathrain being PS6 isnt much better but again either has issues getting the TL or flatout does not want his action tied down since boosting is so vital to bombdropping (or escaping).

Tomax could work, it would also get you another bomb (though probably only a seismic, a bomb nontheless) on top of give you a high PS ordnance hammer spewing either plasmas, homers, or cruisers with permacrack. You'd want GChips on him though just to solidify that alpha strike, so he'd be easier to kill due to no LWF (or no shields vs the punisher), but his PS makes that less of an issue. However i have rather strayed away from bombers purely because of Black One completely middlefingering bomberstrats....god i hate that title... the deathfire build wouldnt have that problem since hes not using a Tlock.

I have terrible luck with OL for some reason. Feels like every time i manage to get him in a 1on1, my opponent rolls naturally insane and i blank out on defense.
Sabaac is usually my goto 24-26pt filler, but he's also a throwaway glass hammer not endgame dogfighter. I'm used to him dealing around 6-10 damage then dying a horrible death regardless of what im facing.
Vader lacks a consistent punch. Cruise missiles gives him the ability to utterly ravage one ship, but just 1 ship. And has the same Black One issues mentioned before, though he can somewhat bypass it with double actions hoping eventually he can catch them where they couldnt risk a boost/barrelroll (i noticed if you just keep slapping them with tlocks they tend to either submit to the targetlock or keep boost/brolling to get rid of it and actually screwing themselves over with bad positioning).
Quickdraw probably fits the bill perfectly, i'll have to try to build a list around that. Generally people hate hitting her first and she hits hard even w/o free attacks. And can hold cruise missiles

What do you guys look for in wingmates for Deathrain?

Oh man, that looks like a ton of fun. I'd like to try this variant of it, because I've been looking for a good bomblet list that wasn't Nym. I'd been playing around with the Firespray, but it's so many points.

Use FCS and Targeting Synchronizer to let Deathfire not worry about grabbing the TL and focusing to get fulling modded rockets and Torps off.

I haven't forgotten about this thread! Just gotta come back and go through all the comments and update my status on the squad

9 hours ago, LHyoda said:

Oh man, that looks like a ton of fun. I'd like to try this variant of it, because I've been looking for a good bomblet list that wasn't Nym. I'd been playing around with the Firespray, but it's so many points.

Use FCS and Targeting Synchronizer to let Deathfire not worry about grabbing the TL and focusing to get fulling modded rockets and Torps off.

Total: 100

“Quickdraw” + Adaptability + Fire-Control System + Targeting Synchronizer+ Special Ops Training + Lightweight Frame (36)

"Deathfire" + Extra Munitions + Plasma Torps + Ion Pulse Missiles + Cluster Mines + Lightweight Frame (31)

“Deathrain” + Collision Detector + Unguided Rockets + Bomblet Generator + LWF (33)

No point in giving Deathfire two ordnance. Instead, I think it would improve the list to drop either Plasma torps or Ion missiles and give Quickdraw cruise missiles. Personally, I'd drop the plasma torps, because then you can upgrade Adaptability to VI. You don't have to fire the Cruise Missiles in the first turn. Quickdraw with shields and Cruise Missiles is a very daunting target to shoot at...

Going to give this a try tonight

(100)

Captain Oicunn (60) - VT-49 Decimator
Rage (1), Cluster Mines (4), Inspiring Recruit (1), Inspiring Recruit (1), Rebel Captive (3), Extra Munitions (2), Dauntless (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

"Deathrain" (40) - TIE Punisher
Enhanced Scopes (1), Extra Munitions (2), Unguided Rockets (2), Cluster Mines (4), Proximity Mines (3), Lightweight Frame (2)

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 1:35 PM, f0rbiddenc00kie said:

Do you guys prefer Accuracy Corrector or Unguided Rockets on Deathrain?

See, I've been meaning to make a Deathrain squad, myself. One idea I've been baking is using Coordinate from an Upsilon shuttle to emulate Advanced Sensors on Deathrain. This way he can keep Accuracy Corrector since both occupy a System slot. He can also be able to boost while using Unguided Rockets and still keep a focus token for offense. This would keep his bomb placement unpredictable and his damage consistent.

EDIT: You can also put Palpatine on the Upsilon to change Bomblet Generator rolls to crits. He's like a pseudo Cade Bane or Sabine Wren with an emphasis on crit damage.
DOUBLE EDIT: Nevermind... I forgot Bomblets make the opponent roll, not you. Darn!

Accuracy Corrector may be good on him, but Unguided Rockets is nice for spike damage. With the focus I usually can get 2-3 hits. 3 dice I expect 1.5, plus the focus modification. I just like the potential there. I haven't found a need for Advance Sensors on Deathrain except for when I wanna K-turn. I'd rather keep him cheaper though.

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 2:50 PM, Vineheart01 said:

i've been trying to make a list for both deathfire/deathrain for awhile and it feels like every time i do it i got a massive void in my list the third ship cant fill.

Didnt think about quickdraw though. Not a bad idea. Though im curious, why Expertise AND Pattern Analyzer? SFs can pretty easily avoid their red maneuvers entirely, making PA kinda excess baggage. I'd try to squeeze Adv Sensors on Deathrain, it not only opens up his 4k but lets him get the bomb in a lot more places with premove boosts.

I'd rather have Unguided on him than AC. Both because if i can i really want Adv Sensors on there and Unguided still has pretty decent odds at 3hits, least it did for me and i usually ahve terrible dice luck.

Also you cant palpatine bomblet dice. YOU are not rolling the bomblet dice, your opponent is.

Quickdraw's back arc sucks. If I had Backdraft I wouldn't need PA, however, I absolutely need it on Quickdraw. Expertise also shuts down when stressed, so you need the focus on those turns where you have to turn around.

4 hours ago, Iksentrik said:

Going to give this a try tonight

(100)

Captain Oicunn (60) - VT-49 Decimator
Rage (1), Cluster Mines (4), Inspiring Recruit (1), Inspiring Recruit (1), Rebel Captive (3), Extra Munitions (2), Dauntless (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

"Deathrain" (40) - TIE Punisher
Enhanced Scopes (1), Extra Munitions (2), Unguided Rockets (2), Cluster Mines (4), Proximity Mines (3), Lightweight Frame (2)

Rage Oicunn sounds fun! I would switch one of the Inspiring recurits out for Intel Agent though and maybe put Boshek in the Rebel Captive spot. You'll be wanting to run into them anyways and can really screw up their day.

41 minutes ago, Tbetts94 said:

Rage Oicunn sounds fun! I would switch one of the Inspiring recurits out for Intel Agent though and maybe put Boshek in the Rebel Captive spot. You'll be wanting to run into them anyways and can really screw up their day.

I took my version of raging oicunn to top 4 at store champs, I don't think I'll change it. Trust me I've tried every iteration of oicunn you can think of and this has been the best. The point is to not force oicunn ability and use rage off a bump, that causes 3 stress then when you do a green next turn you clear all stress and drop clusters on the poor sucker you bumped previous round. I took down dengar, bossk, fen rau etc etc in this fashion. It works a treat

1 minute ago, Iksentrik said:

I took my version of raging oicunn to top 4 at store champs, I don't think I'll change it. Trust me I've tried every iteration of oicunn you can think of and this has been the best. The point is to not force oicunn ability and use rage off a bump, that causes 3 stress then when you do a green next turn you clear all stress and drop clusters on the poor sucker you bumped previous round. I took down dengar, bossk, fen rau etc etc in this fashion. It works a treat

Ah I see, I like that. I didn't think about the Dauntless stress. I wanna try this!

This is what I took, more or less, a few tweaks since the tourney but you get idea

Raging Expert

(99)

Captain Oicunn (60) - VT-49 Decimator
Rage (1), Cluster Mines (4), Rebel Captive (3), Inspiring Recruit (1), Inspiring Recruit (1), Extra Munitions (2), Dauntless (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

"Quickdraw" (39) - TIE/SF Fighter
Expertise (4), Fire Control System (2), Pattern Analyzer (2), Special Ops Training (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

i keep trying different wingmates for oicunn, punishers are next on my list of to try

5 hours ago, Tbetts94 said:

Accuracy Corrector may be good on him, but Unguided Rockets is nice for spike damage. With the focus I usually can get 2-3 hits. 3 dice I expect 1.5, plus the focus modification. I just like the potential there. I haven't found a need for Advance Sensors on Deathrain except for when I wanna K-turn. I'd rather keep him cheaper though.

Really? That's interesting. I thought that going from 2 different bomb drop locations to 6 would be a big deal since pre-maneuver boost allows you to rotate your front and back drop locations by 45 degrees, allowing for an insane amount of coverage.

I can also easily see now why Quickdraw is such a great pair with Deathrain. The lists here are good stuff.

Can someone explain to me why bomblet generator on deathrain?

I keep seeing people put it on him but I just don't get it? He's ps6 surely that's a pretty terrible position to be dropping a manoeuvre bomb?

Am I missing something cause I just see it as "just because you can doesn't mean you should" situation