So I've been playing some version of this ship for months now:

Ps 9 Poe, bb8, intensity, primed thrusters, autothrusters 41 points.

He flies like a dream. I LOVE pre maneuver barrel rolls. I LOVE the action efficiency. But I am falling out of love with this build because it is too fragile and lacks damage output. In today's meta, he needs some more oomph. Regen Poetensity is so boring to fly in comparison. dial greens and boost straight left or right. No boosts or barrel rolls off of red maneuvers or debris clouds. But Regen Poetensity can outlast many other ships.

I've flown BB8 Poetensity with Jess and Snap; Dash; Leebo; Han; Rey; you name it. I've tried adding a plasma torpedo as well but grabbing TL and focus, while not impossible) is difficult and even then without guidance chips it is lackluster.

I am about 33% with any list using this build. Some match ups are near auto lose others, I've been able to do well.

Might be my tactics, I'm no ace, and I make mistakes all the time, but I am about ready to retire this build, though I have fun flying it when it clicks.

Personally I have struggled with Poe (in general) also. Multiple versions, and all have proven weak in my hands. I think the main trick, that I am horrible at, is to keep Poe on the edges of battle and avoiding multiple arcs aimed at him. Taking pot shots and drawing enough attention to try and get your opponent to split fire. Then in the late game he shines. He is just too juicy a point target to let him get focus fired, but if you can work it out that he can only take one shot he is juicy enough that wingmen shouldn't take all the shots. Personally I have been debating using LW & R5-P9 and fly him separate from Jess and a pair of A's, If I can squeeze it together. Point being, I feel your pain, I want him to be super deadly and mobile (just like when he drops like 11 TieFO's in one 8 second scene during TFA, and he didn't even have BB8 in that scene).

Swap Primed Thrusters for Comm Relay, to store away the first evade token. Then, as long as you don't need another evade, you can always have Focus + TL, boosting your dmg output.

I ran my Intensity Poe and Snap Wexley (plus a Blue Novice) against a Defender list. The trick is careful positioning. Intensity Poe isn't really a jouster, it's an arc dodger, at least, I tried flying him (and Snap) like that, and then I had results.

You've voiced my own opinion after seeing my friend take to Poetensity so strongly. He hits like a pillow. I think I still prefer PtL BB-8 Poe. Barrel Roll -> PtL Focus -> green maneuver -> Target Lock is pretty darn awesome. Now granted, Poetensity can do it, too, but most people I've seen reach for an evade token instead of focus token with Intensity, and then focus for their action, increasing the likelihood of resetting Intensity. Is that what you do?

13 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

You've voiced my own opinion after seeing my friend take to Poetensity so strongly. He hits like a pillow. I think I still prefer PtL BB-8 Poe. Barrel Roll -> PtL Focus -> green maneuver -> Target Lock is pretty darn awesome. Now granted, Poetensity can do it, too, but most people I've seen reach for an evade token instead of focus token with Intensity, and then focus for their action, increasing the likelihood of resetting Intensity. Is that what you do?

I usually grab an evade, because I can, and it is so useful for defense. Maybe forgoing the utility of primed thrusters in favor of comms link to store an evade might be the way to get focus/TL on other rounds? But in a typical game I take a K turn or T roll at least 2-3 times and I'll miss being able to boost out of it or barrel roll the next round.

Really, I'd just save BB-8 Intensity Poe for fun matches. For the reasons you already stated, he's just not enough of an ace for his point cost. He's 1 point more expensive than Miranda with TLT, Bomblets, Sabine and LRS. I can kit out a really good Nym for around 40 points, too. It's a bummer, but it's not even a contest. There's no way a non-regen Poe stacks up to either of those ships. PtL/R2-D2 Norra is probably better, too.

He's a distraction, which is why the regen version of him is so much better. He may be kind of boring to fly and running away a lot, but he's one tanky son of a *****.

For Intensity I really prefer Snap ... the free boost means you get a lot more actions, so you can tank with focus/evade or go offense with focus/TL while having a regen droid on board -- or take Targeting Astromech and get four actions off of a T-roll or K-turn!

I have been flying the same build of Poe as the OP, usually with Dash, but occasionally with other ships as well. I have won about 66% of those games. One of the many reasons I prefer bb8 Poe to r2d2 Poe is that I often can take target locks.

I made mistakes when learning to fly it - I was too conservative and would not get shots or just made flying errors and ended up getting shot too much. With experience, I've learned how to keep my options open as much as possible, and I'm ready to take the TL when it's available. I find I get shot less and do more damage.

There's no doubt that Poe's got his weaknesses. If he is not moving last he loses most of his advantages and can be gunned down in a reasonable fashion. With Dash, I fly the list with a 4 point bid just to make sure I've got the biggest chance of moving last that I can hope for. My winning percentage for matches in which Poe moves last is probably more like 75%.

I'm sure the OP, with the months of experience he's got knows this already, but for other readers : Poe lives on bonus defense dice. Range three, obstacles, or preferably both, are essential to making the most of his defensive powers, namely: pilot ability, autothrusters, and the frequent evade token. I try to fly Poe at range 3, slowly strafing around the battles with barrel rolls, 1-banks and 1-forward maneuvers. He can open up his dial to close distance and even to turn around with a primed thrusters boost/focus intensity action following a k-turn or talon roll if needed. If I am going to have to be in arc at range 1 or 2, I make sure to have both focus and evade. If I've got 3 defense dice and autothrusters active, however; I forego the evade for a target lock, even if there are multiple shots on Poe.

All that said, in the end I don't think Poe is currently top-tier. Imperial Alpha Strike and Scum Nym, both very popular, have a higher PS than Poe and he is put seriously in trouble by those lists.

Finally, as already mentioned: Poe really fun to fly. Each green maneuver on the dial allows for 21 different final positions on the table - not as many as Soontir's 34 final positions, but pretty respectable

3 hours ago, Incard said:

All that said, in the end I don't think Poe is currently top-tier. Imperial Alpha Strike and Scum Nym, both very popular, have a higher PS than Poe and he is put seriously in trouble by those lists.

Maybe he's not a meta-shattering monster, but I'd say he's on the same level as imperial pocket aces, although more expensive than them points-wise. I think he's a good choice for 2 ship lists, as a wingman for Slooping Rey, or Super Dash.