As a regular follower of the forum, I observe what those best at the game are upset (or happy, occasionally) about.

Right now it's Scum, where once it was Imps. As much as Rebels win, they don't seem to get as much grief. But anyway, I digress...

I think FFG's problem with Scum is that they believe that Scum pilots should have "personality". That is, that nigh all Bounty Hunters or the like, especially those on bounty hunter type ships, should have an EPT to reflect their individuality. That's why the Skurrg heavy bomber gets EPTs but the K wing and Punisher don't. Their pilots lack the flair of a Rogue...

Of course, it's opened up a sad environment where your king arc dodgers, Soontir and buddies, are absolutely out-trumped by Nym. Low PS Tie bombers and Y wings are humiliated by the generic Jumpmaster. And so on.

I haven't looked at all ships using percentages, but it seems to be a thing that FFG believes Scum are the EPT faction, and it's making unhealthy combos that push out the other two factions. In other words, it seems that Fluff > Balance.

I would love to see the number on this: occurrences of EPTs for each faction at each PS.

Regarding the 'Scum love affair': rumor has it the FFG development cycle is about 18 months. This means most of the stuff we're currently seeing was started when Scum was the red-headed step child of competitive X-wing (waves 6-7) and it's possible it was designed to be more competitive than average.

Yeah, especially with Guns For Hire making the SV and Kihraxz "good", I think we're still in a left over evolution phase of Scum being the "FFG learned from past limitations and mistakes" faction. Scum gets more EPT generics, because EPTs, especially EPT generics are really good. Just the increase in pilot skill is rarely worth it over a lower PS generic. FFG has tried to rectify this in some releases for factions with pilots like Gamma Squadron Vets, etc, though at the same time they're very leery of 5 ship lists. People might say the TIE Aggressor shows they haven't learned, but the other factions' cheapest TLT carrier doesn't get EPT generics either, that might be intentional, and it has native BR and PS on those. The Scout is pushing the needle too far, but at the same time, you look at it, and ask yourself "Okay, but before that how many people were flying WSF or ORS? And now how many people fly Shadowport Hunters? In the same wave even we have the Ghost, with the Lothal Rebel actually being another generic in a large ship cheap enough you can actually want to use him for the platform.

That said, I think the H-6's EPT is part of it's design flavoring. They want it to use stuff like Deadeye or whatever (or even in casual games there are a lot of fun EPTs) but that costs its maximum upgrade bar - this is counteracted by the Havoc title, which is unique and requires sacrificing slots further, and I think is actually how a lot of titles SHOULD be. However, Nym (either version) is just so good that Havoc's uniqueness doesn't necessarily cost over all and can be turned into a ghetto SLAM trick as far as bomb coverage goes. Scum Nym's ability in particular meshes a little too well with Genius. This is intended clearly, but perhaps the current environment was not predicted. Is there a circumstance where Nym's magical bomb powers would not be so dangerous?

Also, in 6-12 months I'll bet you we'll start seeing anti-bomb cards. We already kind of can see the mechanics going away from bombing as the shiny new Reload action doesn't cover Bombs.

It's a shame that warheads and bombs have gone from a waste of points to OP and need a nerf when it's one crew and two pilots that are the problem, one pilot in particular. At least missiles and torps are effective for other ships after the Scout got neutered.

1 hour ago, LordBlades said:

Regarding the 'Scum love affair': rumor has it the FFG development cycle is about 18 months. This means most of the stuff we're currently seeing was started when Scum was the red-headed step child of competitive X-wing (waves 6-7) and it's possible it was designed to be more competitive than average.

Power Creep! its why most early wave ships are left on the scap heap. Just don't cut it anymore in competitive play. as the last faction developed Scum has reaped the power reaped rewards.

Scum gets to Reap the Creep! Why Dengar hasn't been nerfed by now is anyone's guess.

FFG gas two options. make each new expansion slightly more powerful that the last or nerf the stuff that's just skewing the game towards one faction, one pilot or one mechanic.

Nym is a meta defining card. Cheap. Versatile. Better than most of its predecessors. That fact that Scum still has jumpmasters gives them serious threats in the competitive game. i'm a Scum player so I am loving the power that Scum has right now. Sooo many options for competitive squads. Its an embarrassment of riches. Shadow Caster, Protectorate, IG88...

The meta will right itself again. The nerf gun will be fired at Scums arsenal of resources and when the dust settles we will have a new ship or two terrorising the meta. Question is will those ships be rebel or imperial?