Yeah, I'm of the opinion that no current cannon capable big ships would have been broken by having Linked Batteries. The closest that I can think of to being op is @Reiver's Kath build, but even then I doubt it would have been more than some janky fun. I definitely think the making it small base only is based on the future rather than past ships.

I am very divided on the "Imperial-Only" suggestion. On one hand, I want it for my B-Wings as well as for my Scum Firesprays and Aggressors. But on the other hand, Imps need more faction only upgrades and Linked Batteries could have been a way to give Imp Firesprays a boost up to their Scum brethren. Not a lofty place to be, but then a more universal Firespray fix could have come through, and both versions could have (potentially) been on more even footing.

An interesting thought is that it being Small Ship Only still leaves room for the idea of the FIrespray being given the ability to equip Small Ship Only upgrades as a fix...

Imp only with the effect that you could use it on an imperial Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Bobba Fett while you couldn't use it on a Scum Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Boba Fett dosn't make any sense to me.

6 minutes ago, Hannes Solo said:

Imp only with the effect that you could use it on an imperial Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Bobba Fett while you couldn't use it on a Scum Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Boba Fett dosn't make any sense to me.

Fluffwise, it makes as much sense as the Arc Caster being Scum and Rebel only.

Or Boba crew (or any of the bounty hunters for that matter) not being available to Imps.

14 minutes ago, Hannes Solo said:

Imp only with the effect that you could use it on an imperial Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Bobba Fett while you couldn't use it on a Scum Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Boba Fett dosn't make any sense to me.

Same thing with Fearlessness or Selflessness and Scum/Rebel Nym. Cross faction characters do screwy things. Don't get hung up on it.

2 minutes ago, SabineKey said:

Fluffwise, it makes as much sense as the Arc Caster being Scum and Rebel only.

I do not disagree (And I'd love an Arc Caster for the GUNBOAT) but you could still imagine it isn't compatible ith imperial technical standards (Only RebelScum would use such an immorale weapon)

2 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Or Boba crew (or any of the bounty hunters for that matter) not being available to Imps.

That SCUM can not be permitted access to imperial crafts, they have to bring their own ships. Also no Aliens and no Droids and no Ships that look like toilett seats. We have some dignity here.

Looking backward, yes it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to restrict to Small ship only. But looking forward, maybe they know something we don't? Perhaps FFG has plans to release another large ship with a cannon slot who would be broken with a Linked Battery.

I agree with the general consensus of the thread though; I lament the lost opportunity, especially of having Linked Battery on an IG-88, a Lambda, and a Firespray.

But I don't agree that replacing it with Imperial-only would have been any better. I mostly wish this could have gone on IG-88C+D, but will take it as a consolation prize that it can go on B-Wings, even if it isn't a perfect fit for them (yet).

I also thought the card would be the first "or" restriction, Small base or imperial only, in order to make it available to Lambdas and imperial firesprays (which REALLY need the help)

but I also thought it'd be a zero pointer, so shows what I know

small base only is probably a case of future proofing, but ofc this being FFG we can't say if it's a smart move or overcompensation

I think the thing to remember is FFG is designing simultaneously for the past and the future - the outline for Linked Batteries was made god knows how long ago, and tested in that mindset and timeframe before it is even being previewed let alone released, while similarly FFG presumably knows what the next Wave or two past this will be like, and so on.

If I had to guess, either some results of testing with Linked on large ships made people a little worried, or in general at the time it was designed people were not necessarily clamoring for Large ships (especially Scum large) to be improved, so they skipped it. Perhaps upgrades better suited to those ships will appear in the Scum Wave XII?

Or maybe it's just FFG edging on the side of caution as usual, at the very least they have not edged so cautious linked battery is worthless, it's pretty good where it can go.

For reference here are the current meta rankings of the large ships that could take linked batteries.

23) YV

32) Lambda

34) Firespray (scum)

42) Aggressor

49) Firespray (imp)

So no world beaters there to worry about giving a slight boost.

27 minutes ago, markcsoul said:

current meta rankings

So data the people who designed and playtested Linked Batteries would need futuresight to know?

Heck, whilst we're at it, does making it Limited even make any sense? There's only one ship that can equip two copies and it **** sure wouldn't be broken to give it two rerolls on every attack of its two freaking dice.

Linked Battery should have been zero points and Imperial only. We need good faction only upgrades, and offering a one die reroll to the Lambda, Firespray, and Gunboat would have broken nothing. Of course, I'm disappointed in the other cannon as well, Jamming Beam doesn't seem worth giving up an attack that they likely would have spent the tokens on anyways. Jamming beam should have dealt one token per uncancelled hit or rolled more dice to make it more accurate. Discarding one token at range 1-2 in exchange for giving up an opportunity to do damage seems like a poor trade.

5 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

Linked Battery should have been zero points and Imperial only. We need good faction only upgrades, and offering a one die reroll to the Lambda, Firespray, and Gunboat would have broken nothing. Of course, I'm disappointed in the other cannon as well, Jamming Beam doesn't seem worth giving up an attack that they likely would have spent the tokens on anyways. Jamming beam should have dealt one token per uncancelled hit or rolled more dice to make it more accurate. Discarding one token at range 1-2 in exchange for giving up an opportunity to do damage seems like a poor trade.

The critical point with Jam is not that they discard the token - it's that they discard it to block, or lose it anyway, and that if they discard it to block, and end up with nothing (or didn't have anything to begin with), then they lose their next action, effectively. it's also very nice against low PS ordnance carriers like Jumpmasters...

I still don't think it's strong enough to give it a different range profile from Tractor Beam though.

3 hours ago, Hannes Solo said:

Imp only with the effect that you could use it on an imperial Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Bobba Fett while you couldn't use it on a Scum Firespray named Slave One and piloted by Boba Fett dosn't make any sense to me.

Boba Fett, while working for the Imps, has access to more expensive technology.

I mean, if it was Imperial only, then we'd be having this discussion about B-Wings. And rerolls on primary dice should never be free, not even 1 reroll. That's a net gain.

5 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

I mean, if it was Imperial only, then we'd be having this discussion about B-Wings. And rerolls on primary dice should never be free, not even 1 reroll. That's a net gain.

A trade (they do give up their cannon slot) for ships that just aren't very good.

I am guessing it should have been small ship only and 0 pts or 2 pts and unrestricted and somehow got both for good measure so we didn't end up with super predators.

23 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

A trade (they do give up their cannon slot) for ships that just aren't very good.

And Predator takes up your EPT slot.

Just now, UnitOmega said:

And Predator takes up your EPT slot.

Sure, but you can put Predator on good ships, the same could not be said of an Imperial only Linked Battery.

Well, in that case the issue is you're cutting out other "bad ships", who interestingly also don't have EPTs. If it was imperial only, maybe I could see the argument for less points, but seriously, not everything should be 0 points. Jamming and Tractor do literally no damage and take up your cannon slot, but they cost 1 point. I don't know how the math on discarding tokens or dropping an agility vs rerolling an attack die are but there's definitely some value in there somewhere. You don't even have to attack to get the benefit on Linked Batteries, how easy is that?

3 hours ago, HolySorcerer said:

A trade (they do give up their cannon slot) for ships that just aren't very good.

One should not release generic upgrades to rebalance ships unless you really do want to declare that the rest of the options are now obsolete. 0pt would be a balance patch - and a deceleration that B-wings no longer have a cannon slot, but a balance patch instead. And so do every other ship.

This happened with TLT, to an extent - it's so good that effectively the only turrets that see play now are TLT and the occasional autoblaster (when you're trying to skimp on points). Be wary of doing it to cannons too, because there's fun stuff in there.

8 minutes ago, Reiver said:

One should not release generic upgrades to rebalance ships unless you really do want to declare that the rest of the options are now obsolete. 0pt would be a balance patch - and a deceleration that B-wings no longer have a cannon slot, but a balance patch instead. And so do every other ship.

This happened with TLT, to an extent - it's so good that effectively the only turrets that see play now are TLT and the occasional autoblaster (when you're trying to skimp on points). Be wary of doing it to cannons too, because there's fun stuff in there.

What does the B-Wing have to do with a 0 point Imperial only Linked Battery? I'm not happy with what they did with Linked Battery, I think they priced it too high and restricted it too much. You'll only ever see them on Gunboats, likely always paired with HLC. Actual gameplay will have to determine if they're worth the two points anywhere but HLC Karsabi. They could have been a nice upgrade to our cannon carriers that aren't very good, instead we got a two point upgrade that only one ship can use.

I can't help but feel like Linked Batteries available on large ships would actually bring Eaden Vrill into viability. Barely, but enough that it'd be a nice combo with Braylen in a three-ship list with something more punchy.