Deathrain seems like the "dorky kid sibling" of the real bombers Nym and Miranda, insisting on their bombing ability (although not necessarily being able to pull it off). At very least, bomblets can provide a great pre-move source of barrel rolls. Combine with Advanced Sensors (mostly for focus tokens, but there are options), and it is an incredibly fun ship. Granted, I wasn't super effective, dealing 3 damage to my own ships with bombs (Over 3 games, I took 11 out of 12 possible damage today from any player's Bomblets, Asteroids, and Seismic Torpedoes, only missing on the last Bomblet roll), and a grand total of 2 to my opponents, only from Unguided Rockets. However, I was amazed by how well I was able to keep a Boosting, Raging, Tycho Celchu in arc (bomb into barrel roll into hard 3, frequently). Anyhow, the rest of the list around Deathrain I had wasn't that great, so I figured I'd try to come up with something a bit better. Here's my best attempt.

I can Bomb too, guys! 99 pts.

“Deathrain” (36)
TIE Punisher (26), Advanced Sensors (3), Unguided Rockets (2), Bomblet Generator (3), Lightweight Frame (2)

“Quickdraw” (37)
Special Forces TIE (29), Veteran Instincts (1), Fire-Control System (2), Cruise Missiles (3), Special Ops Training (0), Lightweight Frame (2)

“Omega Leader” (26)
TIE/fo Fighter (21), Comm Relay (3), Juke (2)

Omega Leader is pretty standard and cheap, and a Cruise Missiles Quickdraw seems like a solid ship. Anyone have any other good pairings for a Deathrain? Wise adjustments to other ships? Tactics for being brave crazy enough to fly a Punisher?

I used that Deathrain build a few days ago (with typical mutitions instead of the rockets as I don't have them), and can confirm that it was an absolute blast. Granted, it was a 3-player match so there were more ships on the field than usual, but his ability to boost before dropping a bomb (or moving in general) made him a lot more difficult to predict than your typical punisher. Although I can confirm you need to be careful with him - my Rhymer went down to a bomblet after getting blocked.

As far as wingmen go, Quickdraw and Omega Leader are definitely solid options; you could also replace QD with Vess (score to settle, ion cannon, TIE/D). They fill similar roles - heavy hitters you can't afford to ignore, so as to draw fire of Deathrain - and both work pretty well with him. Although with PS 10 Nym running around QD at PS 11 might get the edge at the moment. Let me know how it goes, Deathrain is one of my favorite pilots in the game and I love seeing other people trying to make him work.

Actually I'm playing tomorrow with this list:

Deathrain: Collision Detector, Unguided Rockets, Bomblet Generator, LWF

Quickdraw; VI, Fire Control, Pattern Analyzer, Spec Ops, LWF

Onyx Squadron Pilot: TIE/x7, Twin Ion Engine

100 pts.

I am trying Collision on Deathrain. Am bring debris so only stress will affect me if I drop a bomb and barrel roll. Gives me a little more freedom of movement at the cost of a possible focus. Will post tomorrow night on my list's results.

Yeah I crafted a similar build with Chirpy as wing buddy. This way he can use his 360° arc and boost to stay the **** out of the way.

I also feel that decimators make good counters to other bomb lists around. 16 HP don't care bout your silly bombs.

Only difference is Sensor Jammer over Advanced Sensors for survival purposes and because RAC has HSCP / Gunner going on to murder the focus tokens. Also a mindlink counter!

TIE Punisher: · "Deathrain" (26)

Unguided Rockets (2)

· Bomblet Generator (3)

Sensor Jammer (4)

Lightweight Frame (2)

VT-49 Decimator: · Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Engine Upgrade (4)

Gunner (5)

· Rebel Captive (3)

Hotshot Co-pilot (4)

-- TOTAL ------- 100/100p. --

Fun fact: if you need to drop a bomblet in the front guides, a barrel roll all the way forward and a 4K maneuver will get out of range of the bomb going off. Happy bombing!

I've always loved Ho-Co RAC, but could never really figure out what 2nd ship could carry Sensor Jammer. Most ships with the sensor slot really want other upgrades. This could work (I'd been thinking of a Ho-Co Han, paired with a Sensor Jammer/Opportunist Keyan, but but my Han build is 64 points, and that Keyan is 37...). There's a logic to Collision Detector, too. I'm going to find it hard to move off Advanced Sensors, though, with either this or Nym.

Great to know on the 4k. Playing around on my desk, I don't think it needs to be full-forward, but it does need to be at least somewhat forward. That barrel roll can be incredibly useful. I had a move where I dropped the bomb back, barrel rolled back, and then 4k'd right at the board edge. Without the BR back, it'd have flown off. As to avoiding front-bombs, with banks, a BR forward followed by a 1-bank in the same direction won't clear a front-bomb, but a 2-bank will. If you fly 3 straight or 3 bank back in front of the bomb, you'd need to Boost afterwards to clear the explosion.

Sensor Jammer is definitely a solid defensive option, but I'd be hesitant about losing the advanced sensors. Not only do they let you boost before you bomblet (giving you a lot more places to park it) but they also ensure you can focus before doing a 4k maneuver, which means your rockets stay online. I guess it comes down to whether you want Deathrain to have more offense or defense.

That build of DR is super fun but still expensive. WHen running it I've usually found the Unguided Rockets to be a bit useless - he very rarely gets arc anyway, and quite often has to K turn to get in the right position.

It's worth nothing that if you're stressed you literally cannot get out of range of a bomb dropped in front of you. None of your green moves plus a boost will do it.

My current pairing for him is a double SF build:

Unguided Rockets ended up being pretty useful as AS practically guarantees you a focus (especially useful with 4k) and most of the time Deathrain acts as a flanker and runs unchallenged as SFs are a bigger threat. What i found is that range 3 is where UG+LWF Deathrain usually likes to be as it maximizes his offensive and defensive potential and often sets him up for front bomb maneuver next round.