After weeks of losing trying to make Imperial Boba work with Whisper I have finally given up.

Basically coming to terms with the following (Observations from a Newb...not Facts):

• ISTD is the Empire's best and maybe only unique advantage in this game right now besides Palp.
• RAC is the Last Arc Dodger
• Green dice is not enough to avoid damage anymore unless you are Intensity Poe with Regen.
• Tons of Ships on the table have 1 or 2 green dice and unavoidable arcs that require blinding to avoid.
• Whisper is cool and must be played but Nym at PS10 is causing a PS arms race to 10+. Only Kylo can restore balance to the force.
• Harpoons and Bombs and eventually Bullseye will make lists with more than 2-3 ships flying in formation sorta risky which plays right into Emo Kylos Emo hands.
• Obligatory ISTD is the worst....but its the best we got.
• Some variation on this list is the only thing consistently making it past cuts above the Store Champ level
• More importantly it appears to be the thing that can most consistently counter the other frustrating stuff people are putting on the table.

On to the questions:

• Is this a "normal" RAC build?
• Is there a way to kit him with VI and still get the kind of consistent ISTD suffered crits this can pump out with Rage in the follow up turn?
• Does Whisper need a bid around 97-98 pts for this to work consistently?
• Does Hux + Experimental Interface + ISTDs + Inspiring Recruit next round work if you use it in the right order? Or does Hux "cancel" a crit you want them to suffer?

I've always been wary of running Whisper and RAC together, since I feel like they both really want to have Rebel Captive. I'm way too scared of Expertise demolishing a 0 agility ship. That said, I love Whisper and I love RAC, so I can't fault you for wanting to have both.

I think Gunner is pretty much an auto pick on RAC, and I'd probably sacrifice Agent Kallus to do it. I feel like Kallus has too much potential to overlap with RAC's own pilot ability, and will generally get you nothing on defense, wasting half of his benefit.

If I were going to run Kylo, I'd probably go for Captive/Kylo/Gunner. With Captive already on Whisper, maybe Hotshot Co-pilot, as it synergises well with Gunner. I've never used Kylo, though, so I can't really comment on how best to get ISTD working with him and RAC.

I've recently been running Captive/Hotshot/Gunner and it's been working out pretty well for me. Trial by fire will be the store champs this weekend, though.

Regarding VI on RAC; I've been thinking on this recently and wondering if it's worth trying to compete on PS and bidding aggressively at the expense of taking a more impactful EPT. I'm not sure I'd want Rage on him, though. I feel like stressing RAC gives you very limited options for your next turn, with such a limited set of greens, and switching off your engine upgrade makes arc dodging that much harder. My usual pick if I'm not running VI has been Predator, but if you're not planning to fly Whisper close, you could save the point and go for Lone Wolf instead; though that has the Agent Kallus problem of wasting half the card when you have no green dice.

Take the Gunner/Hotshot advice, change Rage to VI. Move Captive to RAC and put Kallus on Whisper and that sounds good to me.

@wfain

So consensus is Hotshot/Gunner/Captive should do better than RAC + ISTDS?

I assume that means I would have to drop Whisper for QD for something like below. Not sure Whisper stands a chance against Nym TLT at PS10 and his PS10/11 Alpha counters without Damaged Cockpit.

Well, as I say, I haven't played with Kylo, so I couldn't say whether it's better than my build or not. The benefit of the Hotshot/Gunner combo is that you can token strip on the first shot, then use the second to get your damage in. It also protects RAC and your second ship by denying your opponent the focus for their own attack - assuming you've successfully won the PS race.

For what it's worth, I'm running the list below at my local store champs on the weekend:

"Quickdraw" (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Gunner (5)
Hotshot Co-pilot (4)
Rebel Captive (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

In an ideal world I'd probably have Adaptability on Quickdraw and a 2-point bid, but I don't own a Mist Hunter, so no Adaptability for me. I tried to build a RAC/Whisper list following my own advice, and it's bloody difficult to get everything in, unfortunately. The closest I got was the following:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Adaptability (0)
Gunner (5)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Kylo Ren (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)

"Whisper" (32)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Agent Kallus (2)
Advanced Cloaking Device (4)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

RAC can no longer contest PS10, but Adaptability at least keeps him able to compete with PS9 aces. No Captive in the list, points were too tight. You could potentially drop the Intelligence Agent on RAC to bump Kallus up to Captive, or vice versa, but I just don't think you can be competitive while following my advice about building RAC and trying to work your Kylo/Whisper idea. A hybrid of the two could look something like:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Gunner (5)
Rebel Captive (3)
Kylo Ren (3)
Engine Upgrade (4)

"Quickdraw" (29)
Expertise (4)
Electronic Baffle (1)
Pattern Analyzer (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Couldn't quite fit FCS on Quickdraw, but you could probably trim something somewhere else to get it. Baffle isn't an ideal replacement, but I was just filling points.

36 minutes ago, ArchHeretek said:

Couldn't quite fit FCS on Quickdraw

Switch to Intensity instead of Expertise, then Primed Thrusters instead of Baffle maybe?

In the current PS 10 meta VI on her is not as important any more. So I tried her with Intensity Advanced Sensors and gunner instead last weekend and worked great. In that case you need to have RAC at 10 to shut down the high PS elites and let her deal with the rest of the low PS squad.

I recently took RAC to a top4 finish in store champs (28 players). I'm pretty convinced that you should have it built this way:

RAC/VI/Kylo/Palp/Engine Upgrade

That should be 62 points, which leaves very little room for Whisper. You need engine to get arcdodging at PS10, and you pretty much need Palp to guarantee that range 1 crit after you boost by to deal the blinded pilot or other crit at ps10. That being said, there were a few games I never used Kylo (vs FSR2 I didn't really see a point as he rarely had any shots on me, but I could see dealing a damage card to biggs 4 times to kill him.) If you fit Whisper in, you need to be digging for the PS0 crit for the pilot that's the most dangerous, then let Whisper do her thing.

I will say that Kylo will not make you any friends. It works a little TOO well. I went 4-1, and each of my wins was a full tabling 100-0. Its pretty brutal. My list had Fel at 34 points with Targeting Computer, and Dauntless on RAC to guarantee the Kylo ISYTDS even after the inevitable bump.

1 hour ago, tsondaboy said:

In the current PS 10 meta VI on her is not as important any more. So I tried her with Intensity Advanced Sensors and gunner instead last weekend and worked great. In that case you need to have RAC at 10 to shut down the high PS elites and let her deal with the rest of the low PS squad.

Hum. I'd never thought about Intensity on Whisper, but I suppose it does actually synergise with her pilot ability. I'll have to give that a shot. Curious as to why you took Advanced Sensors over FCS; what's the thinking behind that?

"double post"

19 minutes ago, ArchHeretek said:

Hum. I'd never thought about Intensity on Whisper, but I suppose it does actually synergise with her pilot ability. I'll have to give that a shot. Curious as to why you took Advanced Sensors over FCS; what's the thinking behind that?

When RAC has brought someone down to PS0 you decloack to block, then AS barrel roll and 1 turn sharp to trigger intensity and go for the kill. Like I said, I also had gunner on her so the effect is usually devastating. You can change gunner to Kalus for a lighter version of her.

PS: I never fly her without AS, maybe an old time habit from the era when the phantoms ruled the meta.

So this is definitely insane.....I understand now why it was the only Imp List to make it to Top 16 at Worlds. It should probably be called "Kylo Ren Has No Friends" though.