Legit question.

I liked almost all of the FAQ. I might have chosen some different effects, but its elegant.

However, the JM and Biggs nerfs were so savage I really doubt the ships are even playable anymore. Once again I think FFG took the idea of nerfing something to mean ruining it, a la Zuckuss, Manaroo.

I never flew Biggs to begin with. But there are a few X-Wing pilots I fly. Wedge and Luke primarily.

I think that's an overreaction, though I'll confess to not being too worried if nobody plays Biggs again (I have never liked his ability from a design standpoint). The Jumpmaster in particular is still a very strong chassis, given the excellent dial and Dengar's pilot ability, and for the most part still does what it did before - it's just not so overpoweringly effective now given the greens are actually as limited as they are supposed to be without Unhinged, which in turn tones down K4 Security Droid on it. The Torpedo Boat is gone forever now, but I don't think it should be mourned given how much damage it did to the state of X-Wing for nigh on three waves straight, resisting every other nerf thrown at it.

Good players will still succeed with Dengar. His ability is still insane.

Bumpmasters are always worth the points.

The ship isnt completely dead, not with that dial, but it isnt a wrecking force and probably wont make worlds top tables this time. New cheese will emerge though. It always does.

Edit: forgot Biggs

Biggs is something else. Im gonna put him on the table with some rebel regen. If people attack say...Poe first, You kick in Biggs ability, Poe regens a shield, they attack Biggs, then Poe regens a shield before next combat. You are forcing them to split fire, where as before they just go all out blitz on biggs. His ability is a 1 round selflessness in a way. Stick BB8 on Biggs and let him actually get work in instead of being a pinata.

Really though, i think selflessness/dtf Lowhhrick is just gonna replace biggs. He basically has already, and was probably FFGs plan.

I think most single Jumpmaster builds are mostly still fine. In some ways the Attanni nerf (many such lists didn't use any of the removed upgrade slots) hits Jumpmasters more. That said, PTL Fenn + Attanni Scout and Attanni Asajj might not be that bad. Fenn still has to worry about a lurking Nym, tho, so I also doubt Manaroo/Old T/Fenn lists will come back either.

I think the death of Nym is going to be more like the death of Defenders than the death of Dengaroo (Manaroo/Zuckuss nerfs). He'll take more skill and be a bit more vulnerable to counterplay, but I think he'll probably still be a strong ship. Folks will panic, but find it's not all that bad.

I suppose there were still some folks who ran Jump + non-Jump ordnance lists. Well, Dengar is still fine (50 points for Lone Wolf and Recon Spec, 52 for Expertise/K4), but he can't really alpha, so the list will have to change. Tel didn't get used much outside of double-Jumpmaster Ordnance, but he's not that bad. It's just that Dengar's ability is so much better, and if you can only take one...

//

While I think Lowhhrick will be more popular than before, many Biggs lists already ran him. Here, it's kind of a question on who replaces Biggs in lists with Lowhh, if they do replace him. Jess Pava in a Lowhh/Miranda list seems pretty solid. However, I don't know that Biggs is necessarily that bad. In a bunch of lists, deciding not to use Biggs until they've already put some fire into another ship might be pretty strong. If they just burn down Biggs first, well, he was un-nerfed by play. I think some of this will reveal itself through play. He could be anywhere from dumpster fire to still OK.

8 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

Jess Pava in a Lowhh/Miranda list seems pretty solid.

I've been beating that drum for a while. It's definitely solid, although harpoon missiles will give it a hit.

59 minutes ago, wurms said:

Good players will still succeed with Dengar. His ability is still insane.

Bumpmasters are always worth the points.

The ship isnt completely dead, not with that dial, but it isnt a wrecking force and probably wont make worlds top tables this time. New cheese will emerge though. It always does.

Edit: forgot Biggs

Biggs is something else. Im gonna put him on the table with some rebel regen. If people attack say...Poe first, You kick in Biggs ability, Poe regens a shield, they attack Biggs, then Poe regens a shield before next combat. You are forcing them to split fire, where as before they just go all out blitz on biggs. His ability is a 1 round selflessness in a way. Stick BB8 on Biggs and let him actually get work in instead of being a pinata.

Really though, i think selflessness/dtf Lowhhrick is just gonna replace biggs. He basically has already, and was probably FFGs plan.

I think the smart players will find a way to keep Biggs on the table. Maybe even fly him with no regen to keep the cost down. It'll be situational I'm sure. He's taken a big hit today, but the more I think on it, the more I can see him still being viable.

Biggs is stilla metacall against Alpha Strike lists. He is a specialist now you get out for a special job not someone you see in every other rebel list. That said I am sure there is an X-Wing fix coming soon and Biggs will be buffed by that too.

I never flow the toilet seat caus my dignity wouldn't allow it but for 25 Points the Scout looks still like a pretty solid investment with 9HP and a 2dice PWT. I guess they could have added the Salvaged Astromech slot to the PO title so dengar can have is bot.

Yes. Biggs is still a decent 25pts, it just matters that he's in a T-65 now and you're going to have to get damage out of him rather than just hugging your teammates.

Jumpmasters take a big hit but the Contracted Scout is still a lot of ship for 25pts. It's still the best blocker in the game, and with Cad Bane crew or Rigged Cargo Chute it's still got great area denial abilities.

15 minutes ago, Stay On The Leader said:

It's still the best blocker in the game, and with Cad Bane crew or Rigged Cargo Chute it's still got great area denial abilities.

I've flown; that version for awhile in my casual games and the "Sloop & Poop" is fun (PTL and ConnerNet).

Though i will have to remove EM and replace with Scavenger Crane.

Biggs and Dengar are still both strong, I just think the way Biggs is used needs to change. As with Palp, it’s about calling your moment.

I agree with a couple things above. I think the Wookie was designed to replace Biggs as the go to meat shield. Long before the first Biggs nerf, FFG said they could not improve the T65 due to overpowering Biggs. The first nerf didnt work, so they replaced him, and majorly nerfed him. Now, they can perform the most needed buff for the x wing ( and ewing if done through a mech) which is a point reduction and maybe some extra mod access. Now that Biggs is more like a speedbump rather than a wall, it wont break the game to make the chassis cheaper.

Just my opinion.

The day the FAQ was release, my local gaming store had two people trying out different builds. One used a Lone Wolf/Recon Specialist Dengar and another used a bumpmaster with intimidate and anti-pursuit laser. They were both sold builds. A big ship barrel rolling, knowing where your opponent is going, is a pain to handle. Dengar still can put out the hurt. Sure he doesn't get the K-4 plus unhinged combo, but lone wolf and predator can take over rerolls while other upgrades can pick up the slack.

It will take time for everyone to settle in. They are both still good ships. People just need a bit of time to figure out how to use them and what to do with all those points from the missing torpedoes/astromechs.

First some background: I fly mostly Rebels, and I keep track of all of my games. I have flown Biggs in hundreds of games, including exactly one game using the post-nerf rules. Here are my preliminary thoughts on nerfherder Biggs.

He's still ok. I won the single game that I played using nerfherder Biggs, and it was in part due to him being in the list. However, for that particular list, I have also tried swapping him out for other pilots and I found pilots that are just as good as old Biggs, maybe even better in that particular list. So Biggs is still ok, but his drop in power seems significant.

That being the case, it is unlikely that I will continue to run Biggs in my builds. I'm a little sad about that, because I really liked him.

However...the flip side is that I'm learning to fly my sans Biggs build in whole new ways that are pretty exciting. I used to really enjoy flying my ships into and out of formation with Biggs to tempt my opponent to split their fire. Now I can do that with any of my ships, not just Biggs. That's been a pretty cool realization.

*looks over records* As for Jumpmasters, I own two, and only twice have I played with both of them at the same time. In total, I have 13 games in with Jumpmasters — 2 with Dengar, 7 with Manaroo, and 4 with Contracted Scouts. I will probably play with the Jumpmaster still, especially Dengar.

TL;DR: No, I probably won't fly Biggs anymore. Yes, I will probably play the Jumpmaster again.